Shining and Cadence were both sleeping in Minuette’s while Moondancer and Flurry Heart were sleeping together soundly right beside them in their crib.
Twilight was downstairs going over spell books muttering to herself as she flipped through the countless pages. After a quick frisk of one book, she tossed it away and picked up another one.
“Twilight what are you doing?” asked Minuette.
“What does it look like I'm doing? I’m looking for a cure, Minuette” Twilight shouted and violently rubbed her temples. “I can't do this anymore! I need to find a cure right now!”
Minuette sighed. “Twilight, you can go if you want. Nothing is stopping you. I can take care of her on my own.”
“I mean it's not just me, Minuette. Look at yourself, you look like as if you haven’t slept for days!” Twilight threw her hoof out towards Minuette’s disheveled mane. “I'm sure it's been some time now. There could be some spell here that could change her back.”
Minuette shook her head. “Twilight. It’s fine. I’m telling you, there’s no need for trying. You should just go home. I’m sure Ponyville and your friends miss you.”
The purple alicorn just slid her hoof down her face. “Oh, stop it, Minuette. If you're going to have to endure this then I will too. I was just trying to help you out.”
Minuette shouted back, “Oh, really!? Because it seems to me you're more interested in just turning Moondancer back to normal for yourself! Like I said, if you can’t handle it, then leave!”
Twilight stomped her hoof as hard as she could. “I won’t!” In her fury, she caused a magical blast to erupt around her feet and knock everything around her over.
“Twilight…?” Minuette shakily got back to her feet, looking Twilight in her fiery eyes. “What the heck’s gotten into you?”
Twilight, seeing her friend trembling on the floor beneath her, slowed her breathing and finally regained her consciousness. The fire in her eyes faded away as the aura around her horn vanished. “I… I need some time alone…” Hurriedly, she scampered out the door and ran out onto the streets of Canterlot, leaving the door wide open in her wake.
A few hours later, Cadence and Shining were packing their things and getting Flurry Heart back in her foal buggy. They all came downstairs to see Minuette just finish tidying up Twilight’s outburst.
“Leaving already?” she asked.
Cadence nodded. “Yeah, sorry. It’s just that with what happened this morning, Shining and I really need a break and we’d rather not have a repeat of what happened back at the castle.”
“Yeah. We better get going before Flurry causes another disaster.” Shining Armour already began pushing her out. “It was nice meeting you, Ms. Minuette
“Yeah. You too.” Minuette curled her tail around her Cutie Mark and looked away. “Maybe when Moondancer calms down, we can have the two play again.”
“Speaking of which, I heard what you two were fighting about earlier.” Cadence walked over to Minuette and stroked her mane. “You and her shouldn't blame each other for—”
“Cadence, I appreciate what you’re trying to say, but Twilight got really angry at me and just ran off. In fact, she’s the reason I was cleaning everything up earlier.” Minuette groaned and flopped onto her flanks. “She’s desperately trying to find a cure as we speak, but I don’t think she’s gonna come back anytime soon.”
“Well…” Cadence looked out into the streets of Canterlot, feeling the cold wind dance around her mane and across her coat. “I can’t chase after Twilight. And neither can Shining Armor. But I do know that Twilight’s gonna need to calm down if she wants to fix this.”
“Y-yeah. I guess so…” Minuette gave a reluctant nod to Cadence. Before she could say or do anything else, she heard Moondancer whine and reach out for Flurry as she did the same. “I should let her say goodbye real fast.”
Minuette hovered Moondancer down with magic and made her give Flurry Heart a big hug. They both giggled and started babbling. Flurry was going to light her horn but, Minuette pulled Moondancer away, cooing softly into her ears. The words she said made Moondancer kick about in her diaper in frustration until she gave a small pout.
Flurry heart waved goodbye as Cadence put a pacifier in the little foal's mouth and nuzzled her gently. “Alright, cutie. You're still in big trouble when we get home. Time out for a day, and you're going to think about how much trouble you caused, little lady.”
She pouted as well.
”Oh no, you don't.” Shining smirked. “The pouty eyes aren’t gonna work this time.”
As they slowly pushed Flurry Heart out the door, Cadence turned and waved goodbye to Moondancer who gave a little wave back. Minuette pulled Moondancer close as she went to the kitchen to feed the little foal.
No sooner had she started when Twilight landed back at the door and closed it up properly. She proceeded to lock it as she looked out through the window. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”
Minuette nodded silently. “You can catch up with them if you want. They just this second.”
“No. I'll write to them later…” Twilight brushed her tail down. “Seems like inviting Flurry was a bad idea.”
“I wouldn't say it was all bad.” Minuette lifted a hoof. “I mean, Moondancer did make a good friend.” She started spoonfeeding mashed peas into the foal’s mouth.
“I suppose. But it also made me think of how well of a mother you are.” Twilight curled her wings back up to her sides.
“You're always so calm, gentle, and understanding, Twilight.” Minuette didn’t even look back. “But with me, I freak out everytime I lose sight of Moondancer and her magic’s impossible to handle. To be honest, I think you're right... I'm no good with foals.”
“Minuette, I know this isn’t you…” Twilight came over to Minuette’s side and wiped her hoof down her face. “You’re always so bubbly, cheerful, and full of life. I’m sure that somepony with a can-do attitude like that can handle foals; even if they’ve got no experience on the line or never had a kid themselves…”
“Y.. You sure about that?” Minuette felt a teardrop hang from her eyelids.
“I know about that.” Twilight nodded and pulled Minuette into a small hug. “We’ll get through this together, I promise.”
As Twilight and Minuette hugged each other, Moondancer just gazed at them, drool hanging from her lips. She was about to coo and reach out for the spoon, but her hoof started to glow a bright shade of gold. Babbling, she looked down at herself as the rest of her body began to shine as well. Slowly but surely, she started to get bigger and bigger, rapidly growing more hair on her mane and tail. Her diaper struggled to keep up with her body and tore into pieces. Just as her expanding flesh began to break the highchair to splinters, her teeth grew back, and she started to feel her mind restore as well. She became a filly, then a teenager, and then all the way back to a full-grown mare shortly after.
“Nggh… What happened?” She asked, sitting in a pile of torn diaper cloth, wood splinters, and baby food. “And why do I smell bad?”
“Moondancer?” Twilight slowly broke out of Minuette’s hug and turned around. Sure enough, Moondancer sat before her, a full grown mare once more. “Oh my Celestia! You’re back!” And she threw herself on her.
“Uh... you OK, Twilight?” Moondancer pulled Twilight off of her body. “Did I miss something since you did that spell on me?”
“Oh, you missed out on a lot of stuff, Moondancer.” Minuette’s wide smile returned. “But first, we should get everything cleaned up.”
Twilight was about to wipe Moondancer’s body clean, but her wipe was blocked and pushed away.
”Thanks, but I can take care of myself.” Moondancer stood up and tiptoed around the wooden shards by her feet. Once she was clear of the mess, she used her magic to easily gather all the pieces and stack them in a neat pile. She then proceeded to take Twilight’s wipe and clean herself from top to bottom. “Anyway, you were saying?”
Moondancer was now sitting on a couch in Minuette’s living room, sipping a cup of tea, she tried and struggled to keep her tea in her mouth as she absorbed each of the events that had happened since she was a foal. Finally, she said, “I was that bad?”
“Yeah. You were like Flurry’s evil twin or something!” Twilight nodded.
Minuette just gave Twilight a scowl. “What she means to say is that you were a bit of a handful at times, Moondancer. But now you’re back to normal.”
“Wow... It just surprising, is all.” Moondancer rubbed the back of her head and sniffed the acrid smell of her old diapers. “I mean, how long has it been?”
Twilight sighed. “About three weeks. And we were expecting you to be foal for at least another.”
“It just seems so strange,” said Moondancer. “I mean the spell seemed to have stripped me of all my memory of being a foal. I don't remember anything. I just thought I teleported from the library to here.”
”So… you don't remember anything?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Running to Celestia’s palace? Causing a ruckus at the child’s library? Waking up ten times a night because you didn’t have Minuette or you pooped yourself?”
“Twilight, you're doing it again...” Minuette snickered.
Twilight just blushed and forced a grin. “Sorry. Got carried away there.”
Moondancer shrugged. “Seriously, I have no idea. And I do apologize for all of this. Both of you sacrificed a lot just for me…” she started tearing up about the whole thing before Minuette came and gave her a big hug.
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” she said. “Even though it was a bit difficult. I loved you like you were my own and I enjoyed being a mother.”
Moondancer hugged Minuette close and Twilight smiled at the touching scene only to look downtrodden as she got up. ”Well I better report to Celestia and tell her you're okay, and that we should get this place cleaned up.”
Moondancer nodded. “Right. It's the least I can do.” Soon the three went upstairs to start taking all the foal things away.
After the last of the toys and foal clothes were stored away onto a wagon, Moondancer let out a hefty sigh at the sight. “Wow… This must’ve cost a lot.”
Twilight flew over and laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that, we're giving all of this to the Canterlot daycare. After all, one mare’s trash is another’s treasure, right? Plus, it's my fault for turning you into a foal.”
“Twilight. Stop blaming yourself.” Moondancer stroked Twilight’s shoulders. “I pushed you into using the spell without testing it first, this was my fault too.”
“Hmm… I guess you’re right about that…” Twilight could barely even remember the day she had cast the spell on her. So many restless nights had passed since and she was still shuddering at the memories. “I guess we can both share the blame on this, right?”
“Yeah. You could say that.” Moondancer smiled and bobbed her head. “Now you’d better get going. I’m sure the kids there can’t wait to see all this.”
“See you later, Moondancer.” Twilight smiled and waved her off before strapping herself to the carriage and walking off. Despite the heavy load, she was still able to haul it all with ease.
“Hey, Minuette?” Moondancer turned to her. “Thanks for caring for me.”
Minuette slowly walked up and brushed her mane out of her face. ”It’s alright. I mean, despite all of it, I thought that being a mother was one of the best feelings I've ever had.”
Moondancer smiled back into Minuette’s pupils. Then, she leaned in close to her ears. “For some reason, even though I can’t remember much from when I was a foal… I do have feelings for you. I...” Her whole face flushed red as her eyes shifted around. “I better get going.”
“Wait!” Minuette held Moondancer by the rump just before she was about to take off. She stepped forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, only to receive one back “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Moondancer said. “One more thing. I have a copy of the spell that regressed me. Maybe you might wanna… hold onto it? Just in case.”
“Well… not yet.” Minuette shook her head. “Perhaps in a year when I have a breather from your last crazy exploits.”
Moondancer cracked a coy smile. “Maybe you’d like to have a go at being the kid. Then maybe I could see what you had to go through…”
“You would do that to me?” Minuette’s mouth drooped open. “I… I don’t even…”
“Not right now, silly filly.” Moondancer let out a chuckle. “Whenever you feel comfortable with it. I don’t wanna make you into a baby out of nowhere; especially not after the last three weeks.”
“I was about to say!” Minuette gasped.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not gonna do it to you right away.” Moondancer smirked. “Maybe one day when you feel like you need a vacation or something, I could give you a little helping hand…” Her blush still retained even now. “...Mom.”