Oh...by Arbiter BalemeadChaptersAn Odd PredicamentCalming Down (Maybe)Settling InBefore the StormBabysittingAn Odd PredicamentIt was pretty much an average day in Ponyville. Seriously, nothing special. Twilight was studying, Pinkie was baking, Rarity was designing, Applejack was bucking, Rainbow was crashing, and Fluttershy was...shying... Anyways, the day was going as they usually did between friendship report-worthy events. In fact, Rainbow even crashed in threw Twilight's window at exactly ten thirty-eight, as usual. Twilight heard the cries of the incoming daredevil and barely glanced from her book as she magically unlatched her window to avoid shattering. Once she heard the *thud* and "Umph!" of Rainbow's daily visit, she closed her book and looked up, eyes bright and hopeful for possibilities she'd told herself were improbable. She watched Rainbow stand back up, shake herself, and stretch out the usual sore muscles. "Sup, Twi?" She asked without looking. "Not much more than yesterday. You?" She answered as Rainbow performed a stretch of her back, her front hooves spread out before her and her posterior promptly in the air. Twilight quickly looked away, blushing madly. Rainbow finished her stretches and walked over to sit on Twilight's bed, rubbing the shoulder she always hit, although it never seemed to bother her before. "Meh... Not much." She glanced at her shoulder, rubbing it a bit more. " 'cept I tried to land differently, and now my shoulder hurts..." "Oh... Is it very bad?" Twilight asked with genuine worry. "Nah. You know me; nothing ever hurts that bad." Rainbow answered, holding her head up a little bit higher. "Oh, right." Twilight replied, grinning wittily. Rainbow smiled and rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She said, using her good hoof to shove Twilight onto her back on the bed. The librarian laughed and rolled out of the bed. "Okay, did you wanna do anything today, or did you just happen to crash like every other day?" She asked, again grinning at Dash. She received a roll of the eyes in response, but still got a smile out of the daredevil. "Nah. Just wanted to hang out." Rainbow said nonchalantly. "Although I did hear that you got a copy of the newest Daring Do..." She trailed off. "Oh I see how it is." Twilight laughed. "Yeah, I got a copy. I haven't read it yet. I figured you'd want to. Wanna go read it?" "You bet!" Rainbow answered. She followed Twilight out of her room and down the stairs to the main entry area of the library, where Spike was lazing on the couch. He opened one eye at the sound of hoof beats, saw them, and 'randomly' decided to quietly move to a different room. Twilight levitated the newest Daring Do book over from where it rested on the table. They laid down on the couch next to each other as the book floated in front of them and opened to the first page. They read together as Daring Do explored the ruins of a dead desert nation. It was truly an epic tale. Rainbow kept getting excited, causing Twilight to simultaneously take mental note of how cute the excited daredevil was, and blush madly while looking away. Once they finished the last of the first few chapters -leaving Do in a rather suggestive romantic situation with a stallion whom she knew from a previous book in the series- Rainbow got up from the couch, immediately limping and falling back against the couch. Twilight sat up worriedly, concern contorting her face. "Are you alright?" She asked, hurriedly getting up to examine the shoulder Rainbow had just stepped on. "Uh... maybe? I don't know. It hurts a lot, suddenly." Rainbow said weakly as Twilight squinted at her shoulder. "It doesn't look that bad..."A memory flashed through Twilight's head. Something she'd read before Rainbow got here... a "renewal" spell that supposedly "rejuvenates and refreshes everything in a pony." Why not try it out? "Hey, uh... Lemme try something." Rainbow quirked an eyebrow, but nodded consent. Twilight tilted her head forward, placing her horn near Rainbow's shoulder. She took a deep breath, then her horn began to glow a shade of lavender. There was a brief silence, followed by Rainbow saying, "Wow... that feels good. Don't stop." Then something happened; Twilight got the odd sensation she only felt when she exerted too much energy and overshot a teleport, then there was a quick flash, and when Twilight looked up, the cyan pegasus in front of her was awfully small. Foal-sized in fact... Twilight stared in shock as the foal-form of Rainbow Dash slept on her couch in the very spot where the adult Rainbow had just been sitting. Now, usually, in a stressful situation Twilight was very calm and collected. In fact, she's only really freaked out once over writing a friendship letter late. She'd also freaked out when she had received a visit from her future self, but that had been a wild goose chase for something that never happened. Aside from all that, she really was calm and collected at all times. But right now, she was staring at the mare she had a crush on, except that that mare was now a tiny little filly, sleeping on her couch. She couldn't be more than ten by the looks of it. She looked so peaceful that the first coherent thought to finally cross Twilight's brain was that she shouldn't make any noise that would wake her. So she walked out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom where she promptly levitated a pillow to her face, then screamed into it as loudly as she could before collapsing forward, landing unconscious on the pillow. Twilight woke up to the site of familiar magenta eyes very close to her own. For a moment, she thought something very special had happened under the influence of alcohol, but then she remembered that Rainbow doesn't drink, and neither does she. Then, she remembered the events of earlier that day. She immediately recoiled from the face that was pressed against her own. "Oh good, you're awake. Can you tell me where I am? I don't know, and I don't know where I live, or who I live with. I don't even remember anything." The little filly looked terribly frightened. She kept looking around, but never let her eyes drift from Twilight's face for more than a few seconds. Twilight, for her part, managed to keep herself calm now that Rainbow was looking scared. She sat up and took a deep breath. "Wh-wha-" She stammered for a second, then took another deep breath. "Wh-*ahem* What do y-" "Do you know my name?" The little filly interrupted. "Uh- Yeah. It's Rainbow Dash." "What's your name?" "Twilight Sparkle." "Where are we?" "The Ponyville library. I live and work here." "Are you my mommy?" "No! Er- No. You're my... friend." "You're twice my age. How'd we get to be frie-" "Okay, you're working yourself up. What you need is something to drink. Some nice, cool water will do you some good." Twilight interrupted. Rainbow nodded silently and sat down on the floor. Twilight walked downstairs, repeatedly taking deep breaths, and walked into the kitchen. Spike was asleep on the floor, curled up under a blanket. If he's still napping from this morning then it could be midnight by now. No wait... she glanced up at the clock. It was almost two. She'd been out for about two hours. She quickly used her magic to pour a glass of water from the tap whilst simultaneously kicking Spike to wake him. "Ah! I'm up! I'm up! What is it?" He sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Go get the girls. NOW." Spike looked on confusedly for a moment as Twilight got some bread out and made a daisy sandwich quickly. When she glanced over and saw him still standing there, she levitated a broom near him up and whacked him in the head. "Now!" "Ow! Okay!" He ran out of the library quickly. Ten minutes later, Rainbow was upstairs eating her sandwich while Twilight was downstairs, waiting for the others to arrive. There was a tap on the door, and it flew open before the pony could even finish knocking. Pinkie Pie tumbled through the doorway, quickly followed by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. They all sat down in the room, probably wondering why Rainbow wasn't present. "What's wrong Twi?" Applejack spoke up first. "Yeah, and where's Rainbow?" Pinkie added. Twilight took a deep breath, staring at the floor. "Okay. So uhm...Rainbow came by today, like she always does, but this time she hurt her shoulder. I tried out this renewal spell and...Uh-" "Did you make it worse?" Pinkie asked. "No." "Did you teleport 'er?" Applejack asked. "And now ya can' find 'er?" "No." "Did you- oh please tell me you didn't-" Twilight interrupted Rarity. "No, she's fine. She's upstairs, but-... Look I'll just show you, but don't look surprised. She doesn't know anything is wrong, and I don't want her to freak out." They all nodded their understanding, so she led the way up the stairs, then stopped at the door to tell them to take a deep breath. They did, then she opened the door. They promptly gasped. Calming Down (Maybe)The rainbow-maned filly looked up from the crusts on her plate at the mares who were standing in the door. Twilight was with them, putting a hoof to her face, while the rest of them gawked at her. She knew it! She knew there was something wrong! These four new mares looked familiar though, which had to be impossible, because she couldn't remember anything before waking up in this building only a few hours ago. The one with the yellow coat was the most familiar. She felt like she'd grown up with the mare... Was she Rainbow's mom? "Don't let on that there's anything wrong, girls." Twilight whispered too quietly for the filly to hear. They nodded their understanding, but this time she wasn't sure she should believe them. She turned to face Rainbow , whom was staring at the other mares, Fluttershy in particular. "Rainbow? These are Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They're all friends of ours." She introduced them, gesturing to each one respectively. The little filly started flapping her wings and hovered over to Fluttershy. "I know you..." She said, her voice betraying her own confusion. "Y-yes, you do. We grew up together." Fluttershy glanced at Twilight, who merely looked on silently. "But you're way older than me! How did we-" "Oh dear! You didn't finish your sandwich!" Fluttershy exclaimed, cleverly changing the subject. She hovered over to the plate and started trying to coax Rainbow into eating her crusts. It didn't work very well. Twilight pulled the other three into a huddle while Rainbow was distracted. "She doesn't remember anything." She whispered, "And I mean anything. She even asked if I was her mom. She's definitely out of it..." She glanced over at Rainbow and Fluttershy to make sure the filly was still distracted. "Ya di'n't mention that she's a filly." Applejack noted. "I didn't know how to put it without you girls freaking out and asking a bunch of unnecessary questions..." Rarity and Applejack glared at her while Pinkie simply gave a blank stare. "Okay, so maybe I could've explained a little bit more before showing you, but I'm still a little shocked at what happened, okay?" "Darling... what happened?" Rarity asked. "I-...I'll explain later. After I explain to Rainbow. She needs to know more than you do." Twilight quickly stepped out of the huddle to avoid further questions, as well as suspicion from Rainbow, who had finally finished eating her crust. "So, Rainbow, you've met Fluttershy..." She turned to gesture towards the other three as she introduced them. "...and these are Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity-" "You already did that. Wh-..." Rainbow hesitated a moment, not quite sure if she should ask this question. She decided to ask, whether it was smart or not. "Where are my parents?" Twilight gave a sideways glance to the other girls. "Uhm... probably in Cloudsdale..." "Where's that? And where are we?" Rainbow asked. "This is Ponyville. Cloudsdale is... not very close." "Why are my parents there when I'm here?" "Okay, listen Rainbow. I need to explain something. Girls, can you give us a moment?" They all agreed quietly and walked out of the room, leaving Twilight to explain her grievous error to its only victim. Well... only apparent victim... She sat Rainbow down on the bed and sat on the floor in front of her. She looked the filly over quietly, taking note of the fact that she still had her cutie mark. She also made mental note that Rainbow was a very adorable filly. "Okay, Rainbow. I need to tell you something..." She trailed off hesitantly. "What is it? There's something wrong with me isn't there?" The filly asked pleadingly. "Y-yes. And it's my fault. Don't worry, you're fine... sorta..." "Whatya mean? What's wrong?" Twilight took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, Rainbow. You're twenty-one. We both are. Or at least we're both supposed to be. The problem is that you're not anymore." Rainbow was looking more confused than concerned. "What?" "Well, you came by earlier today, like you usually do, but you tried something new on your way in -you always fly here and you usually crash- and... this time you hurt your leg-" "But I feel fine..." "Yeah... I was trying a new spell I'd found. It was supposed to 'renew' you, but I guess I did a bit too well..." Twilight kicked at the ground nervously. "What do you mean? How did you do it 'too well'?" "I guess I put too much effort into the spell or something...but the big thing is that you're a filly now, and you don't remember anything." Twilight gave a faint smile, trying to look more confident than she was-that is to say, not at all. "I have a spell that can fix the memory thing, and I'm sure if there is a spell that turned you into a filly, I can find one to reverse it." "O-okay..." Rainbow said, sounding none too confident herself. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while. Twilight kept glancing around the room, but her eyes kept drifting back to the little filly. Rainbow, for her part, just looked like she was thinking very hard. After a moment, Twilight noticed something was there: a feeling. A very familiar feeling... Attraction. The cyan-coated, rainbow-maned, magenta-eyed pony sitting on the bed in front of her was still Rainbow Dash, but just a very frightened, very young version of her. It scared Twilight that she could still feel something for Rainbow, despite the fact that now, not only was she the same gender as Twilight but she was also a minor. A minor by far. Well buck. It was about ten minutes since they'd gone downstairs to wait before they finally heard the door to Twilight's room creak open slowly. They looked up quietly, to see Rainbow descending the stairs slowly, followed none-too-nearly by Twilight. Rainbow looked a little shocked while Twilight looked a little worried. The first one to react was Fluttershy, her caring instincts kicking in immediately, and she sat down Rainbow on the couch gently, cooing softly that she was going to be just fine. All the while, Twilight was explaining in very few details how Rainbow had come to be ten years younger than she had been that morning. Pinkie reacted with little surprise, and much enthusiasm, as well as an astounding level of optimism. She simply seemed to be under the firm belief that, whatever did happen, it would end well. Similarly to her, Fluttershy also seemed somewhat optimistic, although she didn't voice it in nearly as many syllables as Pinkie Pie did, and she also seemed to be a bit unsure, despite her own optimism. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Rarity, who seemed to believe that the effects of the failed spell would be permanent, as an aging spell would be impractical and likely not exist. Lastly, sitting smack in the middle of the spectrum, was Applejack, who simply wanted to reserve her honest opinion for when there were more details and possibilities to go on, but for now simply said she hoped this would end well. All of these opinions left Twilight shaking with a fake smile. She knew this was her fault, and all of them but Pinkie seemed either unsure or sure that it would end badly. She knew there were only a few things she could do to fix this: Find spell to reverse this failed one, restore Rainbow's memories, and lastly, take care of Rainbow while she grew up again. Yeah, that last one probably would be the oddest to work out, especially since she had the romantic feelings to work around until she could fix this, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least take care of the little filly to make up for her mistake. Of course, anypony could see that it would be more sensible to have Fluttershy or maybe Applejack take care of the filly, but Twilight didn't care about sensible right now. When Rainbow was distracted by Pinkie's inane attempts to make her feel better (working, by the way), Twilight pulled Fluttershy aside and pitched her case. "I want to take care of her." She said quickly. "Wh-what?" "She's a filly right?" Fluttershy nodded. "Somepony is gonna need to take care of her. I want to do it." "Twilight... I think I would be a be-" "I know, I know but..." She glanced over to see if the other girls were listening. They all looked quite distracted by Pinkie's... wow that's impressive...How does she- Twilight shook her head and brought herself back to the present conversation. "But I wanted to make up for my mistake and-" "Twilight. Y-you don't need to make up for anything. I-it was an accident; you couldn't help that." Twilight nodded, hanging her head a little bit as she tried to work up the courage to say what she was about to say. "I uhm... I kinda- I li-..." A deep breath. "I-I-I-..." Another one. "I uhhh...." "Twilight?" She looked up at Fluttershy. "I-I think I get it..." "Y-you do?" Oh what a relief! If Fluttershy understood the situation then she wouldn't have to say it out loud. Maybe she could just have Fluttershy tell the other girls, then leave it up to Twilight to tell Rainbow! This was s- "Yes. You want her close by so you can study her and try to find a way to reverse it...right?" Fluttershy asked, losing confidence as Twilight's face went more and more towards the 'I hadn't even thought of that' face. "Eh, well that contributes I guess..." Twilight mumbled. She looked over at- How does Pinkie do that?- the other girls. They were still distracted by... rather Pinkie things... She turned back to Fluttershy. "Okay, the truth is...Well I uh...I like... Rainbow..." For a moment, she thought she should repeat herself louder because she had gotten pretty quiet, but Fluttershy seemed to hear quite clearly. Twilight supposed that it came from being so quiet herself. "Oh..." She looked only a little surprised. "W-well I uhm... I guess you can take care of her..." A realization seemed to suddenly flash into her eyes. "B-but she's just a filly, Twilight!" She whispered quietly. "A-are you sure you shoul-" "Don't worry about that. I'm sure I can restrain myself from... base things like that." She said it a little sarcastically to show Fluttershy a little more confidence than what she actually had. "O-okay... If you think so." Fluttershy said weakly. Twilight smiled bravely and led the way back to the group of girls. Luckily, Pinkie had stopped...doing her thing, and was now sitting, none too distractingly, on the couch. Rainbow was smiling and it looked like Pinkie's 'thing' had cheered her up quite a bit. "Okay, Rainbow, we've decided that you're going to stay with me and Spike. Okay?" "Okay!" Rainbow grinned, seeming really excited. "Do I need anything?" "Uh, no. I think I have it covered." "Okay." Twilight took a deep breath. Okay, so that's one of her hardest things on her mental to do list down. That leaves 'Fix Rainbow', 'Confess feelings to Rainbow', and 'Get Spike to stop making fun of me about Rainbow' on the list. Two of those seemed possible... Twilight just wasn't sure which... Settling In"Okay, so you can stay in here, and I'll be just upstairs, okay?" Twilight asked. The little filly looked up at her, still carrying that half-confused, half-worried expression on her face. "O-okay." She seemed so small and helpless. It was odd how Twilight had always wanted to feel like Rainbow was the one protecting her and now she's the one who's protecting Rainbow. A complete and utter paradigm shift. The little filly walked into the room gingerly at first, probably trying to get used to the idea of living here. Twilight watched he quietly, still trying to think of her as a little filly, not her best friend whom she had a crush on and even once had a very steamy dream about.. Twilight coughed and turned to walk back into the main room of the library. All the other girls had left, except for Fluttershy who had stayed behind to make sure that Twilight did, in fact, have this covered. "Y-you're sure you can handle this?" "Yeah. Yeah, I'm positive. Hey, would you mind heading to her house? Y'know, pick up random stuff you think she might need. You know her about as well as I do, I'm sure. You'll know what she needs, right?" "Oh, yes. I'll go do that in a bit, but... Twilight, are you sure this is the best idea?" She asked. "Yes, for the umpteenth time, I'm sure. I'm the best choice, both ethically and scientifically." "B-but not experience-wise." Fluttershy replied. "Twilight, I'm the best with foals, and I knew Rainbow when she was actually ten years old. I'm the best choice for this." She finished, then suddenly hid behind her mane. "I-I mean... No offense." "None taken." Twilight said offhandedly, looking over at the door to make sure Rainbow was still out of earshot. She turned back to Fluttershy, her face a mask of seriousness. "Fluttershy. I want to do this. I want to fix my mistake, I want to keep her nearby so I can study he-er... *ahem* not that wa- you know what I mean." Fluttershy nodded. "*sigh* And besides... I just want her to be nearby so if and when I fix this, I might be ready to tell her how I feel..." She stared at the wooden planks of the library as she finished. "Twilight..." "*sigh* Just-... Just please go get those things for me, and let me do this." Twilight pled, still looking away. Fluttershy watched her with a slightly pitying look before deciding to consent. "Okay, Twilight. I'll go get them." And with that she stepped outside and flew off to Rainbows house. Twilight stood there a moment, trying to convince herself that she'd made a good decision. For a moment, she was pretty sure she'd succeeded. There was a loud crash from the guest room, bringing Twilight's attention back to the present. "Dashie?" She called, using the pet name she reserved for joking and when Rainbow did something Twilight found adorable or cute, which (apparently) was 'always' when her friend was a filly. Oh, and that one dream... "*cough* W-what are you doing in there?" She trotted into the room quickly to find Rainbow on her back on the ground, looking like she was in pain. "Oh ow ow ow!" She whimpered. Twilight was at her side instantly, trying to ease the pain. "What's wrong? What happened?" "I-I thought I could fly. I got-" She stopped mid sentence, hissing as Twilight lifted a wing for examination. "Ow!.. I got the urge to just... hover. Do I do that?" Twilight finished examining Rainbow, smiling with relief when it turned out she was fine. "Oh... Only a lot. Almost always. You love to fly; it's your special talent after all." Twilight replied, helping the little filly back to her hooves. "But I can't do it anymore!" Rainbow's voice cracked mid-sentence, eliciting an even wider grin from Twilight. "I miss it, and I can't even remember doing it!" She limped over to the bed on three legs, flailing the last one around in a dramatic, angry manner. She flopped onto the bed, crying out weakly when her newly-sore wing made impact. "But that's okay, because..." Twilight faltered, fumbling for a good reason. Rainbow sat up and looked at her, her bottom lip protruding in that adorable way fillies' lips do when they pout. "...Because you'll... Well, I'm sure you'll learn to fly again really soon." "B-but I wanna fly now!" Rainbow cried. She flopped onto her side, facing away from Twilight. Twilight let out a sigh, looking out the window to see how close to bed time it was. The Sun was still high in the air. "*sigh* I hope parenting wont always be this hard." She mumbled quietly, sighing again. "What?" "Oh, nothing." ~~~~ The Day Before ~~~~ The completely adult Rainbow Dash was laying on her bed, rereading the most recent Daring Do novel. None of it surprised her, seeing as this one had been out for nearly six months. The author had seriously taken his sweet time on the newest one, which came out tomorrow. Rainbow was of course aware that she'd end up visiting Twilight tomorrow. She just had to hope that maybe, just maybe, the book might help her say something... Now, anypony who knew Rainbow Dash knows that she is the most daring, brave, raucous, and audacious pony in Ponyville. She won't back down from a challenge and isn't afraid of anything, she speaks her mind when she has something to say, and she's certainly never choked, messed up, or even faltered once. At least, that's what they see. Most ponies don't know the real Rainbow Dash. The one that has a lingering fear of dragons after her experience on the mountain -a fear only one other pony knows exists. The one that thinks, deep down, that she might not have what it takes to get into the Wonderbolts, despite what everypony else -Wonderbolts included- says. The one that can't manage say three little words to a particular purple librarian to save her own life. Sighing, Rainbow closed the book, realizing that her own thoughts were overtaking the words on the pages in front of her. She sat up, glancing at her picture of herself and her six friends. She picked it up, looking only at the purple unicorn in the center of the picture. Placing it down she looked across the room at another picture. It was one of her and Twilight together on the floor of the library. They'd been wrestling because Twilight had been teasing Rainbow's exceeding interest in a romantic part of a book. Pinkie had- for whatever reason- walked in with a camera, said "Cheese!" to catch their attention, taken a picture, and decided to give the it to Rainbow. Rainbow had of course pretended to dispose of it, tucking it under her wing when Twilight thought she'd thrown it away. It was the only picture she had of just the two of them, and she swore to get rid of it the moment she had a better one. After a moment, frustration with herself got to her, and she flopped onto her back on the bed. It wasn't fair! She could do anything she wanted to, but she couldn't say three little words to this friggin' mare? "Is it really so hard to say?" She grumbled aloud. She thought for a moment, then sat up and looked at the picture, taking a deep breath before saying, "I...really like you..." weakly. She superstitiously glanced around the room to be sure that Twilight wasn't there, as if the unicorn would be in her cloud home. Besides, she couldn't even work up the guts to say the right phrase to a picture. She flopped back onto the bed, letting out another frustrated groan. ~~~~Present~~~~ Hovering through the cloud home, Fluttershy looked around at Rainbow's huge house. It seemed a little dead without Rainbow in it compared to every time Fluttershy had visited her. She landed at the top of the main staircase, casting a glance around trying to decide what exactly she should grab. Mostly, she assumed, the only things Rainbow would really want were her random assortments of Wonderbolts decorations (posters, blankets, pillowcases, et cetera). Figuring most of it would be in Rainbows room, she went there, looking about for said memorabilia. She found the walls plastered with two posters of them, her bed with aforementioned pillowcases and blankets covering it. She wasn't surprised to find a Daring Do novel laying on the nightstand next to a picture of Rainbow, herself, and their four other friends. She gathered up some things that Rainbow would probably want to have over night. While she was gathering the things into a single pillowcase (for easy transportation), she looked at the small desk across the room from Rainbow's bed. At first she didn't much care for the thing, until she noticed the sole picture on the desk. Fluttershy landed in front of the library door, still a little surprised by what she found in Rainbow's room. It really wasn't that odd, was it? Anypony would keep a picture of themself and their best friend, right? This picture just seemed... a little different. For a moment, she considered not showing the Twilight the picture. Would it be better that she doesn't know? Maybe, maybe not. Celestia knows it would make her happy, and maybe relieve some of the stress of caring for a filly, but maybe she would over react to it. Of course, it's possible this is just the only picture Rainbow had of herself and her best friend. After all, Twilight's not much of a camera pony, and the only time Fluttershy could recall having a picture of herself taken with Twilight was in that big group photo -the one that Celestia had been sent a copy of. On the one hoof, this was probably the one thing Twilight wanted to see, but on the other hoof, it could be a false hope for her to just give this to her... Gah! Trying to make decisions like this is so frustrating! Sighing, Fluttershy decided to just give it to Twilight, figuring that it couldn't hurt anything if Twilight just had something nice to think about for when this all had blown over. She knocked on the door, which was answered by Spike. He took the things, thanking Fluttershy quietly. She stepped inside, requesting that he send Twilight back in to talk to her as she took a seat on the couch. He agreed, placing the few things on the table, then ran into the guest room. A moment later, Twilight stepped out, looking slightly exhausted, and sat on the couch next to Fluttershy. "*sigh* Hi." Twilight greeted. "Hi." "So, what'd you get for her?" "W-well... I got her some of her favorite Wonderbolts things..." "And..?" Fluttershy looked at her blankly. "Come on, Fluttershy, you're leaving something out. What is it?" "Well, uhm..." Fluttershy dug through the pillowcase until she came up with the picture. "H-here." She handed it to Twilight. She stared at it for a moment, uncomprehendingly, before Fluttershy explained. "I-I found it in her room, on her desk. I-it looked like she really... treasured this picture... t-to me at least. I could be wro- eep!" Twilight grabbed her in a sudden hug. After a short second or two, Twilight broke the embrace, grabbed a nearby pillow with her magic, pulled it into her face, and squealed loudly into it. Before the StormExcitement and joy are marvelous things, but as any pony knows, they eventually die away. Whether it is a memory of a terrible experience, knowledge of an outcome, or just the simple realization that they don't have as much reason to be excited as they thought they did. The latter is what happened to Twilight as she began to realize what the problem with this recent development was: Rainbow was a filly. Sure, adult her was sort of likely to maybe have had a possible crush on Twilight, but right now, Rainbow had no memory of ever even befriending Twilight. She stopped squealing and bouncing around the room rather suddenly as the realization hit her. She turned to face Fluttershy, suddenly appearing close to tears. Fluttershy immediately stepped forward to calm Twilight, giving her a hug and guiding her to the couch. "Twilight? What's wrong?" Of course, she already knew, but it would probably seem a little arrogant to act like she did. "I still don't have a chance with her. *sniff* It's always something with her. Either she's too busy to listen when I try to say something, or she's not there when I have the guts to say it outright, or she accidentally intimidates me into being afraid to say it, or -now- she's too young! Why can't I ever have a chance with this mare?" "Oh, Twilight. You know you have a chance with her!" Fluttershy attempted. "Not now? What if I can't fix this? What if I do fix it, but she's mad at me for this? What i-" "Twilight. Calm down. This isn't that bad. I'm sure you can fix this, because you always do. And she won't be mad at you. Even the princess has accidents, right?" Fluttershy smiled gently and comfortingly at Twilight as she spoke. "Well, yeah..." Twilight agreed. "Then Rainbow'll understand that you didn't mean to turn her into a filly." Twilight took a deep breath, letting it out in a deep sigh. "Yeah, I guess so..." "Twilight. It's going to be fine. You'll just have to take care of her until you figure out how to fix her. That won't be hard, right?" Twilight laughed softly before answering. "No. I just need to invent a whole new spell. That'll be easy!" She said with a humorous sarcasm. "Oh... Um-" "Don't worry, Fluttershy. It won't be easy, but I'm sure I can fix this." Twilight got up from the couch, brushing away the drying tears with a hoof before walking over to the guest room. She peaked in to see Rainbow and Spike having a fun wrestling match. Actually, it seemed more like Rainbow was having fun, giggling happily, and Spike was fighting for dear life, sweating and breathing rapidly. Smiling gently, Twilight walked back over to the couch. "I think I can handle it 'til then." "Okay, Rainbow, bedtime." "Awww! C'mon Twilight! Please?" Rainbow begged, putting on a pair of puppy-dog eyes that normally would've convinced Twilight of anything, but she had put on a steel resolve and decided that two hours past the original bed time was enough for the first night. "No, Rainbow. It's bedtime, and that's final." "Aw, alright." The little filly trudged over to her bed and laid down quietly, pouting a little bit. Twilight walked over and flipped off the lights. "Um... Are- w-..." Twilight looked at her curiously. "Yes?" she asked. "C-could you please tuck me in?" Rainbow asked in a small voice and a shy face. "Sure." Twilight replied, chuckling quietly to herself. She walked over and helped Rainbow into the bed comforters, and all the other little whatnots that a OCD adoptive mother would tend to on her first time tucking a foal in. She turned to leave, but Rainbow spoke up again. "A-aren't you gonna kiss me goodnight?" Twilight froze. She'd dreamed of hearing Rainbow say things like that. Literally. But now? Now Rainbow was a filly and Twilight was completely and utterly afraid to do anything like that. Hay, so far today she'd barely touched the little filly at all. And yet, here they were, Rainbow asking her to kiss her good night, which was actually sort of odd considering that Twilight had told her before that they were friends. Twilight didn't even feel like a motherly figure to her, nor did she think that Rainbow found her to be one right now. In an attempt to avoid the situation, Twilight voiced this last thought. "I-I'm not your mom or anything-" "I know, but I just-" Rainbow hesitated a moment. "I just kinda feel like... you should kiss me... or something..." She looked down at her lap, shyness still evident on all her features. 'Feel like you should kiss me' ran through Twilight's head repeatedly for a moment before she fully comprehended all the implications of this innocent foal's request. Even when she finally realized what this could mean, she still stared at Rainbow, completely frozen in place from shock. "Twilight?" Rainbow asked, looking up a little confusedly. Twilight quickly shook her head to clear it. "Uh, sorry... Y-yeah, sure. I uh- I get it." She walked over carefully, as though the floor was constructed with egg shells, and gave Rainbow a fast peck on the forehead. "Goodnight, Rainbow," she said through heavily heated cheeks. "Thanks. Goodnight, Twilight." "What a long day..." Twilight was relaxing in her bed after all the work she'd been through today. She heard rumbling outside, probably from the thunder storm Twilight had been told was scheduled for tonight. It took longer to roll in than she was told it would, but she was sure that was due to reduced horsepower tonight. After all, the 'Best Flier In Equestria' was only a filly and wasn't working tonight. There was a bright flash of light that lit up the room, then a loud, thunderous (go figure) crack that shook her bed. She found herself wide awake suddenly. There was a sound of scampering hooves from the staircase, then a rapid tap on the door. Twilight used her magic to open the door, finding a frightened, rainbow-maned filly standing in the doorway. "T-Twilight, the thunder's scaring me... C-can I sleep with you tonight?" Oh dear Celestia. She should say no, right? There was nothing good that could come of th- "Sure." Oh... Dear... Author's Note Sorry if there are any gramatical, typing, or spelling errors that wouldn't normally get by me, but for some reason what little spell check this site had is now not functioning on my cpu. Also, yay authors note section! Oh, and I was planning to make this chapter more than two-thousand chapters, but this felt like a good place to stop. BabysittingSpending the night with Rainbow in the bed really wasn't all that hard, but trying to get her out of bed in the morning? Right... It was hectic for Twilight. She had to pull the covers off and lift Rainbow into the air with her magic, then proceed to take her to the bathroom, where she dunked her head in the bathtub before making her take a morning bath. No reason to waste the water she'd filled the bath with, right? Once that was taken care of, there was the simple matter of beginning the studies to solve the conundrum they were in with this spell. After all, that was why Rainbow was staying here in the first place. Twilight commenced with some basics, such as examining her proportions and weight, figuring her exact age, and even seeing if her taste in food had changed (she was fit, about eleven, and her favorite foods were mostly the same). Twilight noticed right away that Rainbow was already appearing slightly older. Yesterday, she had only barely reached Twilight's chest, but now, she was almost as tall as her chin. Another thing was that Rainbow had matured slightly; she behaved a little bit more willingly and thought things over a little more before doing them. Granted, this was still Rainbow Dash, and a filly version of her, for that matter, but the maturity difference between today and yesterday was noticeable. "She's aging quickly..." Twilight mumbled to herself as she jotted down a set of notes. She looked up at the patiently waiting, rainbow-maned filly in front of her. "You appear to be just fine." "Oh, okay. Cool," came the neutral response. Twilight didn't seem to notice the inflection in her voice, but that was a good thing because Rainbow wasn't even sure what it meant. As far as the filly could tell, she seemed to enjoy the tests, watching the 'scientist' tend to all this nerdy, sciency stuff. However, there was something more to the close attention she'd been receiving from the purple mare that she wasn't quite sure about, deciding to ignore it rather than look into it. "Okay, so since you seem mostly fine, I guess we can just attend to the normal daily routine," Twilight said thoughtfully. "Which is?" Rainbow asked. Twilight took a moment to think about that. "Actually, I think we'll have to improvise on that..." "Why's that?" "Because my daily routine doesn't include having a filly following me around, and from what I can guess, yours doesn't include you being one." Rainbow seemed to take a moment to think about it, then mouthed the word 'Oh', nodding with understanding. Twilight's first idea was to go visit Pinkie Pie, Rainbow's best friend aside from herself, so as to find a way to pass the time for her. It was a short trip that would attract little attention to Rainbow Dash's 'predicament' from the random ponies of Ponyville. Of course, what few ponies that did see them were in for quite the site, stopping in their tracks to make perfectly certain that they were seeing the Rainbow Dash at the age of eleven walking side by side with a full grown Twilight Sparkle. Sugar Cube Corner was a nice little spot, and it certainly was a popular place with fillies and colts, seeing as it was a sweet shop. Understandably, when Rainbow realized that this was where she was going to be spending most of her day, she was elated. The moment the two stepped through the door, her face lit up, and almost as if in response, Pinkie Pie appeared to accommodate them. "Hi! How's it going, Dashie?" she asked in her usual, chipper tone. "Uh... Good?" "Awesome! Hey, how would you like to help me run the shop for a day?" Rainbow face lit up a little bit more. "Wow, would I!" Pinkie waved her over to the counter and she ran over to start playing with the register there. Pinkie turned to smile politely at Twilight. "So, what's up?" she asked. "I-" Twilight started, a little confused at what just happened, seeing as she was planning to ask Pinkie to do what she'd just done on her own. "I was going to ask you to help me keep her entertained." "Sure. Wait, am I already doing that?" Twilight nodded. "Oh... Cool!" And she trotted off. Twilight stood there, shaking her head, and mumbling to herself: "Oh, Pinkie." Author's Note Okay, sorry it's not very long, but at least I updated. I think I can manage to work on this story, but I don't think I'll be working on my other pony fics for a long LONG, time. As it is, I already have three other stories on my plate, all of which are much bigger than this thing will ever be, so this thing is just a side project. If you want to see my other stuff, check out my blogs.
An Odd PredicamentIt was pretty much an average day in Ponyville. Seriously, nothing special. Twilight was studying, Pinkie was baking, Rarity was designing, Applejack was bucking, Rainbow was crashing, and Fluttershy was...shying... Anyways, the day was going as they usually did between friendship report-worthy events. In fact, Rainbow even crashed in threw Twilight's window at exactly ten thirty-eight, as usual. Twilight heard the cries of the incoming daredevil and barely glanced from her book as she magically unlatched her window to avoid shattering. Once she heard the *thud* and "Umph!" of Rainbow's daily visit, she closed her book and looked up, eyes bright and hopeful for possibilities she'd told herself were improbable. She watched Rainbow stand back up, shake herself, and stretch out the usual sore muscles. "Sup, Twi?" She asked without looking. "Not much more than yesterday. You?" She answered as Rainbow performed a stretch of her back, her front hooves spread out before her and her posterior promptly in the air. Twilight quickly looked away, blushing madly. Rainbow finished her stretches and walked over to sit on Twilight's bed, rubbing the shoulder she always hit, although it never seemed to bother her before. "Meh... Not much." She glanced at her shoulder, rubbing it a bit more. " 'cept I tried to land differently, and now my shoulder hurts..." "Oh... Is it very bad?" Twilight asked with genuine worry. "Nah. You know me; nothing ever hurts that bad." Rainbow answered, holding her head up a little bit higher. "Oh, right." Twilight replied, grinning wittily. Rainbow smiled and rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She said, using her good hoof to shove Twilight onto her back on the bed. The librarian laughed and rolled out of the bed. "Okay, did you wanna do anything today, or did you just happen to crash like every other day?" She asked, again grinning at Dash. She received a roll of the eyes in response, but still got a smile out of the daredevil. "Nah. Just wanted to hang out." Rainbow said nonchalantly. "Although I did hear that you got a copy of the newest Daring Do..." She trailed off. "Oh I see how it is." Twilight laughed. "Yeah, I got a copy. I haven't read it yet. I figured you'd want to. Wanna go read it?" "You bet!" Rainbow answered. She followed Twilight out of her room and down the stairs to the main entry area of the library, where Spike was lazing on the couch. He opened one eye at the sound of hoof beats, saw them, and 'randomly' decided to quietly move to a different room. Twilight levitated the newest Daring Do book over from where it rested on the table. They laid down on the couch next to each other as the book floated in front of them and opened to the first page. They read together as Daring Do explored the ruins of a dead desert nation. It was truly an epic tale. Rainbow kept getting excited, causing Twilight to simultaneously take mental note of how cute the excited daredevil was, and blush madly while looking away. Once they finished the last of the first few chapters -leaving Do in a rather suggestive romantic situation with a stallion whom she knew from a previous book in the series- Rainbow got up from the couch, immediately limping and falling back against the couch. Twilight sat up worriedly, concern contorting her face. "Are you alright?" She asked, hurriedly getting up to examine the shoulder Rainbow had just stepped on. "Uh... maybe? I don't know. It hurts a lot, suddenly." Rainbow said weakly as Twilight squinted at her shoulder. "It doesn't look that bad..."A memory flashed through Twilight's head. Something she'd read before Rainbow got here... a "renewal" spell that supposedly "rejuvenates and refreshes everything in a pony." Why not try it out? "Hey, uh... Lemme try something." Rainbow quirked an eyebrow, but nodded consent. Twilight tilted her head forward, placing her horn near Rainbow's shoulder. She took a deep breath, then her horn began to glow a shade of lavender. There was a brief silence, followed by Rainbow saying, "Wow... that feels good. Don't stop." Then something happened; Twilight got the odd sensation she only felt when she exerted too much energy and overshot a teleport, then there was a quick flash, and when Twilight looked up, the cyan pegasus in front of her was awfully small. Foal-sized in fact... Twilight stared in shock as the foal-form of Rainbow Dash slept on her couch in the very spot where the adult Rainbow had just been sitting. Now, usually, in a stressful situation Twilight was very calm and collected. In fact, she's only really freaked out once over writing a friendship letter late. She'd also freaked out when she had received a visit from her future self, but that had been a wild goose chase for something that never happened. Aside from all that, she really was calm and collected at all times. But right now, she was staring at the mare she had a crush on, except that that mare was now a tiny little filly, sleeping on her couch. She couldn't be more than ten by the looks of it. She looked so peaceful that the first coherent thought to finally cross Twilight's brain was that she shouldn't make any noise that would wake her. So she walked out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom where she promptly levitated a pillow to her face, then screamed into it as loudly as she could before collapsing forward, landing unconscious on the pillow. Twilight woke up to the site of familiar magenta eyes very close to her own. For a moment, she thought something very special had happened under the influence of alcohol, but then she remembered that Rainbow doesn't drink, and neither does she. Then, she remembered the events of earlier that day. She immediately recoiled from the face that was pressed against her own. "Oh good, you're awake. Can you tell me where I am? I don't know, and I don't know where I live, or who I live with. I don't even remember anything." The little filly looked terribly frightened. She kept looking around, but never let her eyes drift from Twilight's face for more than a few seconds. Twilight, for her part, managed to keep herself calm now that Rainbow was looking scared. She sat up and took a deep breath. "Wh-wha-" She stammered for a second, then took another deep breath. "Wh-*ahem* What do y-" "Do you know my name?" The little filly interrupted. "Uh- Yeah. It's Rainbow Dash." "What's your name?" "Twilight Sparkle." "Where are we?" "The Ponyville library. I live and work here." "Are you my mommy?" "No! Er- No. You're my... friend." "You're twice my age. How'd we get to be frie-" "Okay, you're working yourself up. What you need is something to drink. Some nice, cool water will do you some good." Twilight interrupted. Rainbow nodded silently and sat down on the floor. Twilight walked downstairs, repeatedly taking deep breaths, and walked into the kitchen. Spike was asleep on the floor, curled up under a blanket. If he's still napping from this morning then it could be midnight by now. No wait... she glanced up at the clock. It was almost two. She'd been out for about two hours. She quickly used her magic to pour a glass of water from the tap whilst simultaneously kicking Spike to wake him. "Ah! I'm up! I'm up! What is it?" He sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Go get the girls. NOW." Spike looked on confusedly for a moment as Twilight got some bread out and made a daisy sandwich quickly. When she glanced over and saw him still standing there, she levitated a broom near him up and whacked him in the head. "Now!" "Ow! Okay!" He ran out of the library quickly. Ten minutes later, Rainbow was upstairs eating her sandwich while Twilight was downstairs, waiting for the others to arrive. There was a tap on the door, and it flew open before the pony could even finish knocking. Pinkie Pie tumbled through the doorway, quickly followed by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. They all sat down in the room, probably wondering why Rainbow wasn't present. "What's wrong Twi?" Applejack spoke up first. "Yeah, and where's Rainbow?" Pinkie added. Twilight took a deep breath, staring at the floor. "Okay. So uhm...Rainbow came by today, like she always does, but this time she hurt her shoulder. I tried out this renewal spell and...Uh-" "Did you make it worse?" Pinkie asked. "No." "Did you teleport 'er?" Applejack asked. "And now ya can' find 'er?" "No." "Did you- oh please tell me you didn't-" Twilight interrupted Rarity. "No, she's fine. She's upstairs, but-... Look I'll just show you, but don't look surprised. She doesn't know anything is wrong, and I don't want her to freak out." They all nodded their understanding, so she led the way up the stairs, then stopped at the door to tell them to take a deep breath. They did, then she opened the door. They promptly gasped.
Calming Down (Maybe)The rainbow-maned filly looked up from the crusts on her plate at the mares who were standing in the door. Twilight was with them, putting a hoof to her face, while the rest of them gawked at her. She knew it! She knew there was something wrong! These four new mares looked familiar though, which had to be impossible, because she couldn't remember anything before waking up in this building only a few hours ago. The one with the yellow coat was the most familiar. She felt like she'd grown up with the mare... Was she Rainbow's mom? "Don't let on that there's anything wrong, girls." Twilight whispered too quietly for the filly to hear. They nodded their understanding, but this time she wasn't sure she should believe them. She turned to face Rainbow , whom was staring at the other mares, Fluttershy in particular. "Rainbow? These are Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They're all friends of ours." She introduced them, gesturing to each one respectively. The little filly started flapping her wings and hovered over to Fluttershy. "I know you..." She said, her voice betraying her own confusion. "Y-yes, you do. We grew up together." Fluttershy glanced at Twilight, who merely looked on silently. "But you're way older than me! How did we-" "Oh dear! You didn't finish your sandwich!" Fluttershy exclaimed, cleverly changing the subject. She hovered over to the plate and started trying to coax Rainbow into eating her crusts. It didn't work very well. Twilight pulled the other three into a huddle while Rainbow was distracted. "She doesn't remember anything." She whispered, "And I mean anything. She even asked if I was her mom. She's definitely out of it..." She glanced over at Rainbow and Fluttershy to make sure the filly was still distracted. "Ya di'n't mention that she's a filly." Applejack noted. "I didn't know how to put it without you girls freaking out and asking a bunch of unnecessary questions..." Rarity and Applejack glared at her while Pinkie simply gave a blank stare. "Okay, so maybe I could've explained a little bit more before showing you, but I'm still a little shocked at what happened, okay?" "Darling... what happened?" Rarity asked. "I-...I'll explain later. After I explain to Rainbow. She needs to know more than you do." Twilight quickly stepped out of the huddle to avoid further questions, as well as suspicion from Rainbow, who had finally finished eating her crust. "So, Rainbow, you've met Fluttershy..." She turned to gesture towards the other three as she introduced them. "...and these are Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity-" "You already did that. Wh-..." Rainbow hesitated a moment, not quite sure if she should ask this question. She decided to ask, whether it was smart or not. "Where are my parents?" Twilight gave a sideways glance to the other girls. "Uhm... probably in Cloudsdale..." "Where's that? And where are we?" Rainbow asked. "This is Ponyville. Cloudsdale is... not very close." "Why are my parents there when I'm here?" "Okay, listen Rainbow. I need to explain something. Girls, can you give us a moment?" They all agreed quietly and walked out of the room, leaving Twilight to explain her grievous error to its only victim. Well... only apparent victim... She sat Rainbow down on the bed and sat on the floor in front of her. She looked the filly over quietly, taking note of the fact that she still had her cutie mark. She also made mental note that Rainbow was a very adorable filly. "Okay, Rainbow. I need to tell you something..." She trailed off hesitantly. "What is it? There's something wrong with me isn't there?" The filly asked pleadingly. "Y-yes. And it's my fault. Don't worry, you're fine... sorta..." "Whatya mean? What's wrong?" Twilight took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, Rainbow. You're twenty-one. We both are. Or at least we're both supposed to be. The problem is that you're not anymore." Rainbow was looking more confused than concerned. "What?" "Well, you came by earlier today, like you usually do, but you tried something new on your way in -you always fly here and you usually crash- and... this time you hurt your leg-" "But I feel fine..." "Yeah... I was trying a new spell I'd found. It was supposed to 'renew' you, but I guess I did a bit too well..." Twilight kicked at the ground nervously. "What do you mean? How did you do it 'too well'?" "I guess I put too much effort into the spell or something...but the big thing is that you're a filly now, and you don't remember anything." Twilight gave a faint smile, trying to look more confident than she was-that is to say, not at all. "I have a spell that can fix the memory thing, and I'm sure if there is a spell that turned you into a filly, I can find one to reverse it." "O-okay..." Rainbow said, sounding none too confident herself. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a while. Twilight kept glancing around the room, but her eyes kept drifting back to the little filly. Rainbow, for her part, just looked like she was thinking very hard. After a moment, Twilight noticed something was there: a feeling. A very familiar feeling... Attraction. The cyan-coated, rainbow-maned, magenta-eyed pony sitting on the bed in front of her was still Rainbow Dash, but just a very frightened, very young version of her. It scared Twilight that she could still feel something for Rainbow, despite the fact that now, not only was she the same gender as Twilight but she was also a minor. A minor by far. Well buck. It was about ten minutes since they'd gone downstairs to wait before they finally heard the door to Twilight's room creak open slowly. They looked up quietly, to see Rainbow descending the stairs slowly, followed none-too-nearly by Twilight. Rainbow looked a little shocked while Twilight looked a little worried. The first one to react was Fluttershy, her caring instincts kicking in immediately, and she sat down Rainbow on the couch gently, cooing softly that she was going to be just fine. All the while, Twilight was explaining in very few details how Rainbow had come to be ten years younger than she had been that morning. Pinkie reacted with little surprise, and much enthusiasm, as well as an astounding level of optimism. She simply seemed to be under the firm belief that, whatever did happen, it would end well. Similarly to her, Fluttershy also seemed somewhat optimistic, although she didn't voice it in nearly as many syllables as Pinkie Pie did, and she also seemed to be a bit unsure, despite her own optimism. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Rarity, who seemed to believe that the effects of the failed spell would be permanent, as an aging spell would be impractical and likely not exist. Lastly, sitting smack in the middle of the spectrum, was Applejack, who simply wanted to reserve her honest opinion for when there were more details and possibilities to go on, but for now simply said she hoped this would end well. All of these opinions left Twilight shaking with a fake smile. She knew this was her fault, and all of them but Pinkie seemed either unsure or sure that it would end badly. She knew there were only a few things she could do to fix this: Find spell to reverse this failed one, restore Rainbow's memories, and lastly, take care of Rainbow while she grew up again. Yeah, that last one probably would be the oddest to work out, especially since she had the romantic feelings to work around until she could fix this, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least take care of the little filly to make up for her mistake. Of course, anypony could see that it would be more sensible to have Fluttershy or maybe Applejack take care of the filly, but Twilight didn't care about sensible right now. When Rainbow was distracted by Pinkie's inane attempts to make her feel better (working, by the way), Twilight pulled Fluttershy aside and pitched her case. "I want to take care of her." She said quickly. "Wh-what?" "She's a filly right?" Fluttershy nodded. "Somepony is gonna need to take care of her. I want to do it." "Twilight... I think I would be a be-" "I know, I know but..." She glanced over to see if the other girls were listening. They all looked quite distracted by Pinkie's... wow that's impressive...How does she- Twilight shook her head and brought herself back to the present conversation. "But I wanted to make up for my mistake and-" "Twilight. Y-you don't need to make up for anything. I-it was an accident; you couldn't help that." Twilight nodded, hanging her head a little bit as she tried to work up the courage to say what she was about to say. "I uhm... I kinda- I li-..." A deep breath. "I-I-I-..." Another one. "I uhhh...." "Twilight?" She looked up at Fluttershy. "I-I think I get it..." "Y-you do?" Oh what a relief! If Fluttershy understood the situation then she wouldn't have to say it out loud. Maybe she could just have Fluttershy tell the other girls, then leave it up to Twilight to tell Rainbow! This was s- "Yes. You want her close by so you can study her and try to find a way to reverse it...right?" Fluttershy asked, losing confidence as Twilight's face went more and more towards the 'I hadn't even thought of that' face. "Eh, well that contributes I guess..." Twilight mumbled. She looked over at- How does Pinkie do that?- the other girls. They were still distracted by... rather Pinkie things... She turned back to Fluttershy. "Okay, the truth is...Well I uh...I like... Rainbow..." For a moment, she thought she should repeat herself louder because she had gotten pretty quiet, but Fluttershy seemed to hear quite clearly. Twilight supposed that it came from being so quiet herself. "Oh..." She looked only a little surprised. "W-well I uhm... I guess you can take care of her..." A realization seemed to suddenly flash into her eyes. "B-but she's just a filly, Twilight!" She whispered quietly. "A-are you sure you shoul-" "Don't worry about that. I'm sure I can restrain myself from... base things like that." She said it a little sarcastically to show Fluttershy a little more confidence than what she actually had. "O-okay... If you think so." Fluttershy said weakly. Twilight smiled bravely and led the way back to the group of girls. Luckily, Pinkie had stopped...doing her thing, and was now sitting, none too distractingly, on the couch. Rainbow was smiling and it looked like Pinkie's 'thing' had cheered her up quite a bit. "Okay, Rainbow, we've decided that you're going to stay with me and Spike. Okay?" "Okay!" Rainbow grinned, seeming really excited. "Do I need anything?" "Uh, no. I think I have it covered." "Okay." Twilight took a deep breath. Okay, so that's one of her hardest things on her mental to do list down. That leaves 'Fix Rainbow', 'Confess feelings to Rainbow', and 'Get Spike to stop making fun of me about Rainbow' on the list. Two of those seemed possible... Twilight just wasn't sure which...
Settling In"Okay, so you can stay in here, and I'll be just upstairs, okay?" Twilight asked. The little filly looked up at her, still carrying that half-confused, half-worried expression on her face. "O-okay." She seemed so small and helpless. It was odd how Twilight had always wanted to feel like Rainbow was the one protecting her and now she's the one who's protecting Rainbow. A complete and utter paradigm shift. The little filly walked into the room gingerly at first, probably trying to get used to the idea of living here. Twilight watched he quietly, still trying to think of her as a little filly, not her best friend whom she had a crush on and even once had a very steamy dream about.. Twilight coughed and turned to walk back into the main room of the library. All the other girls had left, except for Fluttershy who had stayed behind to make sure that Twilight did, in fact, have this covered. "Y-you're sure you can handle this?" "Yeah. Yeah, I'm positive. Hey, would you mind heading to her house? Y'know, pick up random stuff you think she might need. You know her about as well as I do, I'm sure. You'll know what she needs, right?" "Oh, yes. I'll go do that in a bit, but... Twilight, are you sure this is the best idea?" She asked. "Yes, for the umpteenth time, I'm sure. I'm the best choice, both ethically and scientifically." "B-but not experience-wise." Fluttershy replied. "Twilight, I'm the best with foals, and I knew Rainbow when she was actually ten years old. I'm the best choice for this." She finished, then suddenly hid behind her mane. "I-I mean... No offense." "None taken." Twilight said offhandedly, looking over at the door to make sure Rainbow was still out of earshot. She turned back to Fluttershy, her face a mask of seriousness. "Fluttershy. I want to do this. I want to fix my mistake, I want to keep her nearby so I can study he-er... *ahem* not that wa- you know what I mean." Fluttershy nodded. "*sigh* And besides... I just want her to be nearby so if and when I fix this, I might be ready to tell her how I feel..." She stared at the wooden planks of the library as she finished. "Twilight..." "*sigh* Just-... Just please go get those things for me, and let me do this." Twilight pled, still looking away. Fluttershy watched her with a slightly pitying look before deciding to consent. "Okay, Twilight. I'll go get them." And with that she stepped outside and flew off to Rainbows house. Twilight stood there a moment, trying to convince herself that she'd made a good decision. For a moment, she was pretty sure she'd succeeded. There was a loud crash from the guest room, bringing Twilight's attention back to the present. "Dashie?" She called, using the pet name she reserved for joking and when Rainbow did something Twilight found adorable or cute, which (apparently) was 'always' when her friend was a filly. Oh, and that one dream... "*cough* W-what are you doing in there?" She trotted into the room quickly to find Rainbow on her back on the ground, looking like she was in pain. "Oh ow ow ow!" She whimpered. Twilight was at her side instantly, trying to ease the pain. "What's wrong? What happened?" "I-I thought I could fly. I got-" She stopped mid sentence, hissing as Twilight lifted a wing for examination. "Ow!.. I got the urge to just... hover. Do I do that?" Twilight finished examining Rainbow, smiling with relief when it turned out she was fine. "Oh... Only a lot. Almost always. You love to fly; it's your special talent after all." Twilight replied, helping the little filly back to her hooves. "But I can't do it anymore!" Rainbow's voice cracked mid-sentence, eliciting an even wider grin from Twilight. "I miss it, and I can't even remember doing it!" She limped over to the bed on three legs, flailing the last one around in a dramatic, angry manner. She flopped onto the bed, crying out weakly when her newly-sore wing made impact. "But that's okay, because..." Twilight faltered, fumbling for a good reason. Rainbow sat up and looked at her, her bottom lip protruding in that adorable way fillies' lips do when they pout. "...Because you'll... Well, I'm sure you'll learn to fly again really soon." "B-but I wanna fly now!" Rainbow cried. She flopped onto her side, facing away from Twilight. Twilight let out a sigh, looking out the window to see how close to bed time it was. The Sun was still high in the air. "*sigh* I hope parenting wont always be this hard." She mumbled quietly, sighing again. "What?" "Oh, nothing." ~~~~ The Day Before ~~~~ The completely adult Rainbow Dash was laying on her bed, rereading the most recent Daring Do novel. None of it surprised her, seeing as this one had been out for nearly six months. The author had seriously taken his sweet time on the newest one, which came out tomorrow. Rainbow was of course aware that she'd end up visiting Twilight tomorrow. She just had to hope that maybe, just maybe, the book might help her say something... Now, anypony who knew Rainbow Dash knows that she is the most daring, brave, raucous, and audacious pony in Ponyville. She won't back down from a challenge and isn't afraid of anything, she speaks her mind when she has something to say, and she's certainly never choked, messed up, or even faltered once. At least, that's what they see. Most ponies don't know the real Rainbow Dash. The one that has a lingering fear of dragons after her experience on the mountain -a fear only one other pony knows exists. The one that thinks, deep down, that she might not have what it takes to get into the Wonderbolts, despite what everypony else -Wonderbolts included- says. The one that can't manage say three little words to a particular purple librarian to save her own life. Sighing, Rainbow closed the book, realizing that her own thoughts were overtaking the words on the pages in front of her. She sat up, glancing at her picture of herself and her six friends. She picked it up, looking only at the purple unicorn in the center of the picture. Placing it down she looked across the room at another picture. It was one of her and Twilight together on the floor of the library. They'd been wrestling because Twilight had been teasing Rainbow's exceeding interest in a romantic part of a book. Pinkie had- for whatever reason- walked in with a camera, said "Cheese!" to catch their attention, taken a picture, and decided to give the it to Rainbow. Rainbow had of course pretended to dispose of it, tucking it under her wing when Twilight thought she'd thrown it away. It was the only picture she had of just the two of them, and she swore to get rid of it the moment she had a better one. After a moment, frustration with herself got to her, and she flopped onto her back on the bed. It wasn't fair! She could do anything she wanted to, but she couldn't say three little words to this friggin' mare? "Is it really so hard to say?" She grumbled aloud. She thought for a moment, then sat up and looked at the picture, taking a deep breath before saying, "I...really like you..." weakly. She superstitiously glanced around the room to be sure that Twilight wasn't there, as if the unicorn would be in her cloud home. Besides, she couldn't even work up the guts to say the right phrase to a picture. She flopped back onto the bed, letting out another frustrated groan. ~~~~Present~~~~ Hovering through the cloud home, Fluttershy looked around at Rainbow's huge house. It seemed a little dead without Rainbow in it compared to every time Fluttershy had visited her. She landed at the top of the main staircase, casting a glance around trying to decide what exactly she should grab. Mostly, she assumed, the only things Rainbow would really want were her random assortments of Wonderbolts decorations (posters, blankets, pillowcases, et cetera). Figuring most of it would be in Rainbows room, she went there, looking about for said memorabilia. She found the walls plastered with two posters of them, her bed with aforementioned pillowcases and blankets covering it. She wasn't surprised to find a Daring Do novel laying on the nightstand next to a picture of Rainbow, herself, and their four other friends. She gathered up some things that Rainbow would probably want to have over night. While she was gathering the things into a single pillowcase (for easy transportation), she looked at the small desk across the room from Rainbow's bed. At first she didn't much care for the thing, until she noticed the sole picture on the desk. Fluttershy landed in front of the library door, still a little surprised by what she found in Rainbow's room. It really wasn't that odd, was it? Anypony would keep a picture of themself and their best friend, right? This picture just seemed... a little different. For a moment, she considered not showing the Twilight the picture. Would it be better that she doesn't know? Maybe, maybe not. Celestia knows it would make her happy, and maybe relieve some of the stress of caring for a filly, but maybe she would over react to it. Of course, it's possible this is just the only picture Rainbow had of herself and her best friend. After all, Twilight's not much of a camera pony, and the only time Fluttershy could recall having a picture of herself taken with Twilight was in that big group photo -the one that Celestia had been sent a copy of. On the one hoof, this was probably the one thing Twilight wanted to see, but on the other hoof, it could be a false hope for her to just give this to her... Gah! Trying to make decisions like this is so frustrating! Sighing, Fluttershy decided to just give it to Twilight, figuring that it couldn't hurt anything if Twilight just had something nice to think about for when this all had blown over. She knocked on the door, which was answered by Spike. He took the things, thanking Fluttershy quietly. She stepped inside, requesting that he send Twilight back in to talk to her as she took a seat on the couch. He agreed, placing the few things on the table, then ran into the guest room. A moment later, Twilight stepped out, looking slightly exhausted, and sat on the couch next to Fluttershy. "*sigh* Hi." Twilight greeted. "Hi." "So, what'd you get for her?" "W-well... I got her some of her favorite Wonderbolts things..." "And..?" Fluttershy looked at her blankly. "Come on, Fluttershy, you're leaving something out. What is it?" "Well, uhm..." Fluttershy dug through the pillowcase until she came up with the picture. "H-here." She handed it to Twilight. She stared at it for a moment, uncomprehendingly, before Fluttershy explained. "I-I found it in her room, on her desk. I-it looked like she really... treasured this picture... t-to me at least. I could be wro- eep!" Twilight grabbed her in a sudden hug. After a short second or two, Twilight broke the embrace, grabbed a nearby pillow with her magic, pulled it into her face, and squealed loudly into it.
Before the StormExcitement and joy are marvelous things, but as any pony knows, they eventually die away. Whether it is a memory of a terrible experience, knowledge of an outcome, or just the simple realization that they don't have as much reason to be excited as they thought they did. The latter is what happened to Twilight as she began to realize what the problem with this recent development was: Rainbow was a filly. Sure, adult her was sort of likely to maybe have had a possible crush on Twilight, but right now, Rainbow had no memory of ever even befriending Twilight. She stopped squealing and bouncing around the room rather suddenly as the realization hit her. She turned to face Fluttershy, suddenly appearing close to tears. Fluttershy immediately stepped forward to calm Twilight, giving her a hug and guiding her to the couch. "Twilight? What's wrong?" Of course, she already knew, but it would probably seem a little arrogant to act like she did. "I still don't have a chance with her. *sniff* It's always something with her. Either she's too busy to listen when I try to say something, or she's not there when I have the guts to say it outright, or she accidentally intimidates me into being afraid to say it, or -now- she's too young! Why can't I ever have a chance with this mare?" "Oh, Twilight. You know you have a chance with her!" Fluttershy attempted. "Not now? What if I can't fix this? What if I do fix it, but she's mad at me for this? What i-" "Twilight. Calm down. This isn't that bad. I'm sure you can fix this, because you always do. And she won't be mad at you. Even the princess has accidents, right?" Fluttershy smiled gently and comfortingly at Twilight as she spoke. "Well, yeah..." Twilight agreed. "Then Rainbow'll understand that you didn't mean to turn her into a filly." Twilight took a deep breath, letting it out in a deep sigh. "Yeah, I guess so..." "Twilight. It's going to be fine. You'll just have to take care of her until you figure out how to fix her. That won't be hard, right?" Twilight laughed softly before answering. "No. I just need to invent a whole new spell. That'll be easy!" She said with a humorous sarcasm. "Oh... Um-" "Don't worry, Fluttershy. It won't be easy, but I'm sure I can fix this." Twilight got up from the couch, brushing away the drying tears with a hoof before walking over to the guest room. She peaked in to see Rainbow and Spike having a fun wrestling match. Actually, it seemed more like Rainbow was having fun, giggling happily, and Spike was fighting for dear life, sweating and breathing rapidly. Smiling gently, Twilight walked back over to the couch. "I think I can handle it 'til then." "Okay, Rainbow, bedtime." "Awww! C'mon Twilight! Please?" Rainbow begged, putting on a pair of puppy-dog eyes that normally would've convinced Twilight of anything, but she had put on a steel resolve and decided that two hours past the original bed time was enough for the first night. "No, Rainbow. It's bedtime, and that's final." "Aw, alright." The little filly trudged over to her bed and laid down quietly, pouting a little bit. Twilight walked over and flipped off the lights. "Um... Are- w-..." Twilight looked at her curiously. "Yes?" she asked. "C-could you please tuck me in?" Rainbow asked in a small voice and a shy face. "Sure." Twilight replied, chuckling quietly to herself. She walked over and helped Rainbow into the bed comforters, and all the other little whatnots that a OCD adoptive mother would tend to on her first time tucking a foal in. She turned to leave, but Rainbow spoke up again. "A-aren't you gonna kiss me goodnight?" Twilight froze. She'd dreamed of hearing Rainbow say things like that. Literally. But now? Now Rainbow was a filly and Twilight was completely and utterly afraid to do anything like that. Hay, so far today she'd barely touched the little filly at all. And yet, here they were, Rainbow asking her to kiss her good night, which was actually sort of odd considering that Twilight had told her before that they were friends. Twilight didn't even feel like a motherly figure to her, nor did she think that Rainbow found her to be one right now. In an attempt to avoid the situation, Twilight voiced this last thought. "I-I'm not your mom or anything-" "I know, but I just-" Rainbow hesitated a moment. "I just kinda feel like... you should kiss me... or something..." She looked down at her lap, shyness still evident on all her features. 'Feel like you should kiss me' ran through Twilight's head repeatedly for a moment before she fully comprehended all the implications of this innocent foal's request. Even when she finally realized what this could mean, she still stared at Rainbow, completely frozen in place from shock. "Twilight?" Rainbow asked, looking up a little confusedly. Twilight quickly shook her head to clear it. "Uh, sorry... Y-yeah, sure. I uh- I get it." She walked over carefully, as though the floor was constructed with egg shells, and gave Rainbow a fast peck on the forehead. "Goodnight, Rainbow," she said through heavily heated cheeks. "Thanks. Goodnight, Twilight." "What a long day..." Twilight was relaxing in her bed after all the work she'd been through today. She heard rumbling outside, probably from the thunder storm Twilight had been told was scheduled for tonight. It took longer to roll in than she was told it would, but she was sure that was due to reduced horsepower tonight. After all, the 'Best Flier In Equestria' was only a filly and wasn't working tonight. There was a bright flash of light that lit up the room, then a loud, thunderous (go figure) crack that shook her bed. She found herself wide awake suddenly. There was a sound of scampering hooves from the staircase, then a rapid tap on the door. Twilight used her magic to open the door, finding a frightened, rainbow-maned filly standing in the doorway. "T-Twilight, the thunder's scaring me... C-can I sleep with you tonight?" Oh dear Celestia. She should say no, right? There was nothing good that could come of th- "Sure." Oh... Dear... Author's Note Sorry if there are any gramatical, typing, or spelling errors that wouldn't normally get by me, but for some reason what little spell check this site had is now not functioning on my cpu. Also, yay authors note section! Oh, and I was planning to make this chapter more than two-thousand chapters, but this felt like a good place to stop.
BabysittingSpending the night with Rainbow in the bed really wasn't all that hard, but trying to get her out of bed in the morning? Right... It was hectic for Twilight. She had to pull the covers off and lift Rainbow into the air with her magic, then proceed to take her to the bathroom, where she dunked her head in the bathtub before making her take a morning bath. No reason to waste the water she'd filled the bath with, right? Once that was taken care of, there was the simple matter of beginning the studies to solve the conundrum they were in with this spell. After all, that was why Rainbow was staying here in the first place. Twilight commenced with some basics, such as examining her proportions and weight, figuring her exact age, and even seeing if her taste in food had changed (she was fit, about eleven, and her favorite foods were mostly the same). Twilight noticed right away that Rainbow was already appearing slightly older. Yesterday, she had only barely reached Twilight's chest, but now, she was almost as tall as her chin. Another thing was that Rainbow had matured slightly; she behaved a little bit more willingly and thought things over a little more before doing them. Granted, this was still Rainbow Dash, and a filly version of her, for that matter, but the maturity difference between today and yesterday was noticeable. "She's aging quickly..." Twilight mumbled to herself as she jotted down a set of notes. She looked up at the patiently waiting, rainbow-maned filly in front of her. "You appear to be just fine." "Oh, okay. Cool," came the neutral response. Twilight didn't seem to notice the inflection in her voice, but that was a good thing because Rainbow wasn't even sure what it meant. As far as the filly could tell, she seemed to enjoy the tests, watching the 'scientist' tend to all this nerdy, sciency stuff. However, there was something more to the close attention she'd been receiving from the purple mare that she wasn't quite sure about, deciding to ignore it rather than look into it. "Okay, so since you seem mostly fine, I guess we can just attend to the normal daily routine," Twilight said thoughtfully. "Which is?" Rainbow asked. Twilight took a moment to think about that. "Actually, I think we'll have to improvise on that..." "Why's that?" "Because my daily routine doesn't include having a filly following me around, and from what I can guess, yours doesn't include you being one." Rainbow seemed to take a moment to think about it, then mouthed the word 'Oh', nodding with understanding. Twilight's first idea was to go visit Pinkie Pie, Rainbow's best friend aside from herself, so as to find a way to pass the time for her. It was a short trip that would attract little attention to Rainbow Dash's 'predicament' from the random ponies of Ponyville. Of course, what few ponies that did see them were in for quite the site, stopping in their tracks to make perfectly certain that they were seeing the Rainbow Dash at the age of eleven walking side by side with a full grown Twilight Sparkle. Sugar Cube Corner was a nice little spot, and it certainly was a popular place with fillies and colts, seeing as it was a sweet shop. Understandably, when Rainbow realized that this was where she was going to be spending most of her day, she was elated. The moment the two stepped through the door, her face lit up, and almost as if in response, Pinkie Pie appeared to accommodate them. "Hi! How's it going, Dashie?" she asked in her usual, chipper tone. "Uh... Good?" "Awesome! Hey, how would you like to help me run the shop for a day?" Rainbow face lit up a little bit more. "Wow, would I!" Pinkie waved her over to the counter and she ran over to start playing with the register there. Pinkie turned to smile politely at Twilight. "So, what's up?" she asked. "I-" Twilight started, a little confused at what just happened, seeing as she was planning to ask Pinkie to do what she'd just done on her own. "I was going to ask you to help me keep her entertained." "Sure. Wait, am I already doing that?" Twilight nodded. "Oh... Cool!" And she trotted off. Twilight stood there, shaking her head, and mumbling to herself: "Oh, Pinkie." Author's Note Okay, sorry it's not very long, but at least I updated. I think I can manage to work on this story, but I don't think I'll be working on my other pony fics for a long LONG, time. As it is, I already have three other stories on my plate, all of which are much bigger than this thing will ever be, so this thing is just a side project. If you want to see my other stuff, check out my blogs.
