//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Foalish Revelations // Story: Finding Sunburst // by Foal Star //------------------------------// Gemstone woke up as she spread her forelegs and looked around her crib. She gasped upon seeing that Flurry Heart was nowhere to be found! She quickly got up and began crawling around shouting “Fwuwwy Heawt, whew di ya go!?” A colt suddenly replied, “Gemstowne, is that you?” Gemstone turned to see Turquoise getting up from his crib and hanging onto the bars as Gemstone quickly went over and asked, “Hey, whew di Fwuwwy Heawt go? Di ya see hew?” Turquoise shook his head and said, “No, and Fwuwwy Heawt neva comes to the daycawe, why would she be hewe?” “Is a wong stowie, bu she gone and we gots to find hew!” Gemstone bellowed. The colt put his hoof in his mouth as he looked around and said, “Well, I didn see Fwuwwy Heawt, bu anotha stwange colt was hewe not too wong ago.” “Wha colt?” Gemstone asked. “A owange coated one,” Turquoise replied, then he added “I think he said he was Sunnybuwst ow someting wike that..” Gemstone gasped and asked Turquoise, “Do ya know whew he went?” Turquoise shook his head and replied, “No, bu wha happe to him? I though he jumped thwough the window.” Gemstone shook her head and cried, “The cawetake must of gotten him and he weft with a stwangea! We betta find hi befowe he goes away foweva!” Turquoise giggled as he pointed, “Well, maybe ya mommy can hewp.” Gemstone turned her head to the door and saw her mom and Twilight were now at the front of the nursery. She giggled and shouted but they were too far off to notice her. And the caretaker came up to her and Turquoise whispering, “Stay calm, stay calm.” “Um, excuse me?” Twilight called, drawing the caretaker’s attention. The caretaker shrieked and turned with a sheepish smile as she replied,” Princess Twilight, it’s so good to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Twilight looked at the caretaker and told her, “I’m sorry, but I heard you had Flurry Heart and a foal named Gemstone here. Is that true?” The caretaker gulped. “Umm, I did, but..” “But what!?” Sunstone shouted with concern. The caretaker whimpered, “Princess Flurry Heart flew out the window.” “She what?!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening! Sunstone peered over and saw Gemstone bouncing up and down in her crib while shouting gibberish. Sunstone instantly rushed over, picked Gemstone up, and held her close, “Oh, I was so worried about you, Gemstone. What happened to you, how did you end up here?” The little filly seemed to be trying to tell her mom about something but only foal babble came out. Sunstone gave her a kiss on the cheek as she cooed,” “Aww, normally I would spank your naughty butt for running away like that. But I’m just relieved to see that you're safe.” Twilight turned back to the caretaker and politely told her, “Thank you for at least keeping Gemstone safe. Do you know where Flurry Heart could have gone?” The mare scratched her chin as she replied, “Not really, but I think she was friends with an orange coated foal so..” “Did you say, orange coated foal?!” Twilight and Sunstone shouted together. The caretaker replied, “Yes. In fact, she and him seemed to cry when they saw each other. If i'm not mistaken a stallion took that orange coated colt not too long ago.” Gemstone turned her head, pointed to the feathers on the window sill and started babbling frantically. Twilight turned and smiled upon seeing what Gemstone was trying to tell her, ”What’s this? Feathers? Good job, Gemstone. They could be a clue,” She gave the filly a pat on her diapered rump, making her giggle. Twilight then turned to the caretaker again, ”Thank you for your help. I think we can find Flurry Heart if we follow the trail of feathers. If she comes back though, make sure she doesn’t escape! And keep an eye on Gemstone, make sure she doesn’t escape either!” Both mares rushed out of the room, as the Caretaker stared at them, bewildered at what was going on. Flurry Heart followed the stroller, going down the street with the mysterious stallion pushing it. Sunburst looked around, desperately searching for a way to get out of the stroller. But he was soon pushed inside a small house with a simple living room and decorated in blue and white crystals. He didn't have much time to take in the new scenery, as he was lifted from the stroller and seated on the lap of his dad, before the stallion cuddled his son in his forehooves. The stallion took Sunburst and hugged him close, hushing him as he felt his soft fur and whispered, “This is so weird holding you like this again,” Sunburst smiled back with drool pouring out. His dad simply wiped his face and kissed him on the forehead with tenderness. The adult unicorn then took out a photo album with his magic, illuminating it with a golden yellow glow. “Now, how about we look at some photos while we wait for mommy,” He opened it up and flipped through, soon stopping and pointing to a picture as he said, “Look, here’s you on your first birthday.” A young Sunburst was covered in frosting and cake, smearing it all over. Yet in spite of that, he seemed to be rather pleased with himself. Sunburst put his hooves in his mouth, completely surprised at how even when he was an actual foal, he was just as messy as he was now. His dad chuckled and turned the page, soon finding one with him and Starlight Glimmer as toddlers playing with blocks. He whispered to Sunburst, “That’s you and Starlight Glimmer on your first play date. You two were so inseparable you might as well have been siblings. Heck, you were even out of diapers within a day of each other.” Sunburst poked at the picture with a hoof, as memories of him playing with Starlight glimmer flooded him. He smiled and began babbling frantically. His dad chuckled and turned the album's page again, soon finding one with his mother holding Sunburst inside a baby blue blanket, and he whispered, “That’s you when you were born. I’d never seen your mom happier than she was at that moment.” Sunburst’s eyes fell on the picture as his dad nuzzled his chest. Sunburst felt a familiar warmth and he could even hear his dad’s heartbeat. The older stallion with tears welling up whispered, “I’m so sorry for what we did to you when you got your cutie mark. We should of asked you if you wanted to go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, not just shipped you off right then and there. ” Sunburst blinked at his father as he babbled, “I fowgive ya, bu whas goin on?" All Sunburst’s dad heard was “Dada” as he nuzzled him, making Sunburst squeal and shove his hooves onto his dad’s nose, making the stallion laugh. Then they heard a door open wide and they turned to see a strange mare in a black robe appear. She threw the cloak aside revealing herself as Sunswirl as Sunburst babled, “Mama?” Sunswirl smiled at her son and dawwed, she lifted him into her embrace and while nuzzling him she cooed, “Yes, Mommy is here, there’s nothing to worry about.” For some reason Sunburst felt comforted and hugged her close. Sunswirl kissed her son on the forehead, then she turned to her her husband Sunspot, "Twilight and Sunstone could be here any minute now, so we’d better discuss what we're going to do.” Sunspot, Sunburst’s dad put his son on the ground in as Sunswirl said to him, “Now sweetie you know that Mommy and Daddy love you very much, and I need to tell you that we were the ones who turned you into a foal,” Sunburst gasped as his dad continued, ”This was supposed to be a surprise and we were going to ask to turn you into a colt again and have some fun. That’s all.” Then Sunswirl added, “When I saw you at the park I thought it was a perfect opportunity so...I blew that powder towards you, hoping you would turn to a colt and let me be your mother for a bit.” Sunspot turned to his wife with a glare. He then scratched the back of his mane as he replied, “But it seems that the powder turned you into a foal instead, and I only realised that when that mare got to you first. From there I gave you to the daycare nanny, so I could talk to your mom about what happened.” Sunswirl sighed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did. But you see, we were trying to make up for ruining your foalhood. We shipped you off to Celestia’s school without even discussing it with you. All we could think about was that we would get to boast that our son would be the next Starswirl The Bearded. We never even considered whether your magical abilities would be good enough for Celestia’s high standards. Sunburst could well remember that, being carried away by the mob of ponies. He remembered being happy at first, but he soon began to get homesick. Night after night he’d gone to bed missing Starlight Glimmer, and all his other friends, including Party Favor. Sunburst looked back at his dad who replied, “The original plan was to talk to you and ask if you wanted to be our colt again. But clearly your mom was a bit hasty in using the regressing powder.” Sunswirl ignored her husband's remark and turned to Sunburst as she asked, “Anyways, we’re going to make it up to you now and have you stay with us as a foal for a bit. Doesn’t that sound like fun?! It’ll be just like old times!” Sunspot turned to his wife and nervously replied, “Um...honey, we can’t do that. We need to turn him back to normal.” But Sunswirl snapped, “Princess Twilight will probably have me sent to jail anyways, so I think it’s fair I get to baby my son again before that happens!” Sunspot replied, “Please, you're overreacting. We should just turn him back to normal and resolve this now. Maybe if we plead our case hard enough, the princess will understand and go easy on us. As Sunburst’s parents were arguing, Flurry Heart flew in through open door as she shouted,”Sunnybuwst!” She flew into Sunburst knocking him over as they both landed together with giggles, prompting Sunburst to ask, “Fwuwwy Heawt, wha ya doin hewe?” “I came to wescue ya, siwwy!” Flurry Heart squealed. The two turned and saw that Sunburst’s parents were too busy arguing to notice anything, so Sunburst asked, “Fwuwwy, how di ya find me?” Flurry Heart giggled as she told Sunburst, “I just fowwed ya and the stwange stawion fwom the dawcawe.” Sunburst gave Flurry Heart a smile and told her, “Bewieve it ow not, that weiwd stawion is my dad.” Flurry gasped, “Weally?! Then why he foalnap you?” Sunburst shrugged,”I dun know whas goin on wit him or my mommy, I thin they thin tat they wuined my foal hood, and awe twying to make up fow it by tuwning me into a foal fow abit.” Flurry giggled and asked, “Well, thats a siwwy pwan. Ya thin adwlts make betta pwans then that." Sunburst looked up at his parents, who were still arguing, and jadn’t noticed that the door was still open up. “Fwuwwy, we gots ta go, now!” He exclaimed. “Why, awnt they ya pawents?” Flurry asked. “Yeah, but ..um they not actin wight, and I thin my mommy wants ta take me away.” Sunburst replied to Flurry gasped, “Oh no, I dun wan ya to weave, ya wets get out of hewe!” Sunburst took a hold of Flurry Heart’s hoof and lead her out the door before either Sunswirl or Sunspot had a chance to stop them. Sunstone and Twilight came bursting into the house a short time later, and gasped upon seeing Sunswirl and Sunspot arguing! Twilight glared at Sunswirl and shouted, “You knew where Flurry Heart and Sunburst were this whole time?!” Sunswirl turned slowly, “Flurry Heart? I thought she was at the Crystal Playplace?” She asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Twilight immediately replied, “Oh, don’t you dare act innocent! We followed the trail of feathers here, and we know that Flurry Heart is looking for Sunburst!” The parents looked around as Sunspot asked, “Um... but where is Sunburst?” “What do you mean?! Isn’t he with you?!” Twilight demanded. “He was just a short time ago,” Sunspot commented. “I set him down right here,” Then he gasped! “He must’ve wandered off somewhere!” The adult ponies all started looking around the small house looking under furniture and shouting Sunburst’s name! They checked every room in the house, the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, and of course the bathroom! But they couldn’t find Sunburst or even a lock of fur that might indicate where he’d gone! Suddenly, Gemstone noticed small hoof prints leading outside and started bouncing on Sunstone’s back to get her attention. “What’s wrong?” Sunstone asked, before, she saw the hoofprints her daughter had spotted earlier. She turned and gasped, shouting, “Twilight! I think Flurry Heart and Sunburst are out on the streets again!” Twilight came over and groaned upon seeing the hoof prints. She glared back at Sunburst’s parents who were now trembling! She then sighed, “Look we can talk about why you guys turned Sunburst into a foal and how you should be punished later. But right now Sunburst is out with Flurry Heart in the Crystal Empire all by themselves, and we need to work together to find them before something bad happens to them.” Sunburst’s parents nodded as Sunspot reluctantly replied, “You’re right, let’s go. They couldn’t have gotten far!” Twilight sighed as she mumbled,”I hope not.” Sunburst and Flurry Heart were now in a small patch of grass near the park, trying to find their way back to the palace. Suddenly, Flurry Heart’s tummy grumbled and she asked, “Sunnybuwst, do ya hawe any food?” Sunburst took out the small diaper bag from earlier and found the bottle of milk. He clumsily gave it to Flurry Heart, who took it and started to chug it down. Sunburst’s tummy grumbled too, prompting Flurry Heart to giggle and hoof the bottle over to Sunburst, who shook his head, “Is fine. Ya need the milkies mowe then me.” Flurry shook her head, “We both nee to keep owa stwegnth if we wan ta get home.” Sunburst sighed, took the bottle and suckled it. When Sunburst had finished the bottle, Flurry Heart asked, “So do you know how to get back to the cwystal pawace?” Sunburst placed the empty bottle in his diaper bag. He then looked around trying to get his bearings and sighed, “I did, bu as a fowl everwythin is so big it’s hawd to know whew we awe exactwy.” The two foals suddenly heard a stroller rolling by, they turned to look and a white coated crystal mare smiled down at them. Just then a familiar white coated colt popped up from the seat asking, “Hey, ya two nee a wift?”