Phoenix Flu

In the palace gardens, dozens of foals running around playing their "war games" again. But this time, the "battlefield" was much bigger, with the entire garden being set up with toys and other craft material to make two massive fortresses made of cardboard. Still, this time, they were much more rambunctious as they were running around slapping each other with wooden swords and shooting bows and arrows with plungers on the tips at each other. Cannon was doing his best to get across and capture the flag, but one foal slammed him, sending him across the dirt, "Stay down, Cannon!"

"Yeah, stay down!" another laughed, and some of his comrades just shook their heads and continued towards the fortress. Then, he turned to see Sea Breeze fly over and held out a hoof. He reluctantly grabbed it, sighing, "This is the one part of being a foal; I don't miss the bullying."

"Guess ya got bullied a lot as a foal?" Sea Breeze replied.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm not good at these kinds of games." The stallion mumbled as he brushed the dirt from his coat. Sea Breeze held out a hoof, "It's okay. You're not alone being a filly trying to do stuff; only Colts do it."

"Don't say that; yeah, there are more colts in the royal guard than mares."

"Right, sorry. We both didn't have it easy as foals; why don't we try to have fun?"

"Ok, let's try to have fun!" They then both worked together, running across the garden and going to work fighting off other foals. Sea Foam got rather aggressive and started smacking colts left and right. Meanwhile, Cannon Feather was beginning to feel somewhat nervous, but Sea Breeze was able to see an opportunity going up through the fort made of cardboard and was able to snatch the flag, holding it over him and shouting, "I did it!"

The foals were around, and many were angry, but his team cheered, chanting his name as they came over, carried up Cannon, and threw it in the air. He got annoyed and cried," Wait, Sea Breeze did this, not me!"

They also carry her, and they both get carried away. Then they fix things up and start playing again, with Sea Breeze and Cannon leading the charge.

Princess Celestia was looking over the foals and trying to keep them from hurting each other too much. And was trying to keep them from getting hurt and running back and forth, patching scraped knees and scolding foals getting too rowdy. By the time the sun was setting, she saw most were tuckered out from their game, wrapping up and herding the foals inside the castle. Then, she decided to make a pizza for all the hungry foals and got them together, and soon everypony chipped in to gather the ingredients. She got out some premade pizza dough, and they all joined in, pouring sauce and cheese on it, throwing all kinds of topics that made her grimace a little with things like mustard, hay fries, and pickles being tossed on there, but she let them be creative, and the cooking kept the now pre-teens and teenagers engaged. By the time they finished, she saw most foals start arguing with others, bullying, and some getting rowdy and picking fights with each other. She put a swift end to their conflicts by coming over, putting on an "angry mother" tone, scolding them like they were her own kids, and keeping all the rowdy teens in line. The worst part is that some the teen actually replied with, "Yes, Mom,"

"Don't call me mom!" Celestia snapped, feeling somewhat awkward, making some guards wince and others look downward, embarrassed at their remarks. She had to put a hoof over her face as she didn't mean to come out so rude, but it was really offputting to be called "mom." Then she said, "Listen, I didn't mean to snap. This ordeal is mostly my fault, but please do not call me mom. I just cared for you all because it's my duty as a princess to care for the subjects of Equestria. Thank you."

They all nodded in agreement and tried their best not to call the princess "mom" anymore as they went and started to eat and enjoy their meal, and things seemed to calm down afterward. But as they grew, they began to smell more, with their body odor being pungent. That alone put her over her limit, and she slammed a hoof and ordered, "When you finish your food, please go to the barracks and take showers."

Many paused, grumbling about not wanting to take a shower, but the princess was having none of it and snapped, "It's not a request!" The soldiers then quickly got in line and marched away as fast as they could.

After finishing, Princess Celestia had to clear the baby's stuff. She set up a place for some quiet activities, such as setting up several board games and books. Some then went to work preparing sleeping mats with spare blankets and pillows. At least they were all exhausted from playing all day and mostly just relaxed. As the teens started to fall asleep, Princess Celestia started to feel her eyes droop and realized how exhausted she was. She then spotted her sister coming back downstairs, looking around. She was surprised at what she saw and commented, "Wow, they grow up fast, and I mean that quite literally. Just a few hours ago, they were picking their noses and eating glue."

Princess Celestia yawned and said, "Yes, but the older they got, the more rowdy they became. These foals were running me ragged. Luckily, it seems them playing outside all day, and their sudden growth spurts are taking a toll, and they are all quite exhausted. Just let them sleep in tomorrow and ensure they get a proper breakfast. I'm sure everypony will return to their appropriate ages by then."

"That's good to hear; I won't have to change diapers, I hope."

Princess Celestia blushed and looked around momentarily, then said, "Hopefully not; they all are way beyond "potty training years," so tonight should be easy. Just make sure nopony sneaks out. "She yawned again as Princess Luna whispered, "Well, I'll keep a good eye on them; I think it's about time to get some sleep, dear sister."

"Yes, thank you. Please take care of yourself," Princess Celestia yawned again and started to trot upstairs to her bedroom to get a good night's sleep, not wishing to be a mother anytime soon.

Early the following day, Sea Breeze nudges Cannon to wake, groaning, seeing she was older, and looking down at her with a smile, then said, "Well, it seems we've been turned back to normal."

Cannon got up and looked around. He saw his fellow soldiers wrapping up the bedrolls and tidying up the place, with Princess Luna fast asleep nearby. He sighed, "Yeah, I guess the Phoenix flu is finally over."

He looked around, seeing ponies all around him, and then they started to all look themselves over, seeing they didn't have anything missing. Princess Celestia briefed them on how to deal with the media and what to say, and things went relatively fast afterward. The soldiers were all given the day off after dealing with the press outside, pressing for questions, and they all followed a script about how the strange "phoenix flu" just made them all have cold-like symptoms and nothing more and that they were cured.

After their dealings with the press, Cannon Feather, Sea Breeze, and Bucket Bridle all decided to go to a bar, all just talking and laughing about their experiences as being foals again. Cannon took a swig of a beer and joked, "Well, we're old enough to drink again huh?"

This got a laugh from the table as Bucket Bridle drank and then said, "Yeah, well, back to the old grind for me, and I guess we all have to go back to the responsibilities of adulthood." They all nodded begrudgingly as Bucket's comment put a damper on things, and three finished their drinks, then paid their tab, and Cannon was going to start trotting back to his place. Sea Breeze then flew over and asked, "So, um, Cannon hold up!"

The stallion turned around with a smile and asked, "Yeah?"

The mare started to twist a hoof, then said, "I, um, just wanted to say I had a lot of fun and was wondering if you would want to hang out sometime?"

Cannon perked up and said, "Of course! So what did you have in mind?"

She looked around, then took out some dust in a vial and a baby bottle filled with milk. "I stole some of Celestia's milk and the phoenix dust; we can be babies again for abit and play as school foals as well."

Cannon's face lit up, and he started clapping on the ground and squealing, "That sounds like fun! But we'll need a caretaker, and Princess Celestia was pretty strict with that gag order."

Then, they both heard a loud cough and cried out. They turned around to see the older earth pony stallion Bucket Bridle looking back at them with a smirk and asking, "So you were going to do that without me?"

Sea Breeze's cheeks flushed red, and she replied, "Well, I didn't know if you wanted to, and you have a family, so I thought it would kind of awkward to ask to have you regress yourself on purpose."

"So? I liked being a foal too," he rolled his eyes and said, "but as you said, Princess Celestia wants to keep this whole incident hush-hush." He then pointed a hoof to his chest and suggested, "Then why not let me be your caretaker?"

"You would!?" the two pegasi asked in surprise.

"I already have a lot of experience with my son, and it sounds alright as long as we're in a controlled environment and you don't go spreading that stuff to others. We can set up a time and date and have some precautions set up."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sea Breeze cheered in excitement as Cannon nodded, "Yeah, my birthday is coming up; how about we do it then?"

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Sea Breeze cried once again.

Bucket nodded and said, "Alright, it's settled. We hold a foal-style birthday party for Cannon Feather."

They then went their separate ways as Cannon skipped to his home as he anticipated the best birthday ever!