//------------------------------// // Picked Back Up // Story: Little Jolts of Shadow // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer returned to the Little Miracles Daycare with her backpack slung across her, with some sweat running down her forehead. She'd been thinking about the Shadowbolts all day since she dropped them off here, but had somehow managed to survive another day within the regimented walls of her own education so as to be rewarded with seeing their little faces once again. A number of routes played out in her heads about what the girls would have thought about the situation; with some being upset about it and not liking it at all, while others pointed towards some if not all of them fully embracing the revelry of being a baby once again and living it up to the fullest now that they had the chance to do so. "Oh, I just hope that they've been alright in there..." Sunset fiddled with her fingers as she walked into the reception of the building, coming eye-to-eye with the receptionist once again. "I mean, if the others there knew that they could talk, there'd be panic for hours on end. I just hope that they've not let that secret out..." "What was that, miss?" The receptionist asked, looking up from the computer once again. "O-oh! Nothing, miss!" Sunset leapt on the spot, arms rocketing up towards the ceiling. "I was just... talking to myself. Cause, that's what we teens do. We're always blabbing on about stuff." She chuckled lamely as she lowered her arms down, pupils shrinking slightly as she fumbled with her excuse. "In any case, I'm here to collect Sunny, Sugar, Lemon, Indigo, and Sour." "Alright then. Let me come with you." She walked out once again and took Sunset's hand, leading her down towards the nursery once again. "And while we're at it, you forgot to take your little carrier home. Don't worry, though, as I put it in the back for safekeeping. I'll go and get it for you while you collect your babies." "Thanks. I could really use that." Sunset nodded at her as the two of them arrived at the door once again. On the inside of the nursery, naptime had come and gone, so the babies were back to doing whatever they wanted, giddily babbling to themselves or others as they lost themselves in their games and toys. The Dazzlings and Shadowbolts were still together, though now, they were all gathered around the Cuddle Alcove, with plush animals of their own in their hands and pacifiers still in their mouths. The eight of them were having a little game with their animals, moving their limbs so that they shook hands with the others, high-fived them, or even brought the other plushes into hugs. Infant puppet masters with their toys as the puppets. "I really have to thank the three of you, Dazzlings." As Sour talked, she still tried to keep the pacifier from falling out of her mouth. She only moved her mouth slightly, so as not to dislodge the bulb. "Thanks to you and this place, we feel much more comfy with being babies. We still want to grow up, yes, but there's no harm in having some fun before that happens." "Yeah. I know that we still want to grow up whenever Sunset and her friends find a fix for these whole magical baby shenanigans, but now I feel that we've been reunited with a part of ourselves that was long gone." Sugarcoat hugged with the stuffed elephant, hearing a squeaking noise emanate from it. "Who knew? Being a baby is actually fun." "Well, yeah. People seem to take it for granted because they don't remember it. But if people could actually be babies again and remember that they were babies before and all the fun they had, they'd have such a better appreciation for it." Sonata was brushing the back of her giraffe, thinking that there was some actual fur on it. "Baby life is the best life. There's nothing that's gonna compare with that. Like, ever." "By the way, we never got to ask something." Sunny Flare looked at the Dazzlings' pacifiers, namely the crystal backs on them. "Why is it that your pacifiers are shiny? As if they were made out of something else?" "Oh, these?" Adagio put her hand on the back of her pacifier, grinning as she suckled it for a bit more. She looked around for witnesses, then leaned in and whispered to the Shadowbolts. "Can you keep a secret? Our pacifiers are magical too. When we suck them, we don't age at all." "We don't know why, but whenever we're sucking on these things, we don't ever age. Not a single second." Aria lifted a finger as she gave hers some more sucks, causing the back to light up dimly. "So, when we said that we didn't want to grow up and that we wanted to be babies forever? We totally meant it. We don't ever grow up with these things in our mouths." "That means we never get to leave the nursery! We don't ever have to worry about growing up, about trying to live for ourselves, about any of the bad things in the outside world." Sonata clasped her hands, choke-holding her stuffed animal. "We can live here forever, play forever, and think about nothing but baby things forever! Yay!" "Wow... You're really, really, REALLY LUCKY, Sonata." Lemon crawled over, stamping craters into the hippo toy that she had been previously cuddling. "I'd do anything to stay a baby forever. You three are living one of the best lives you could ever live. Sure, there's no jobs and money to be had, but you don't need money. Or anything else other than food, drink, a nice home, and yourselves. Plus, having the big girls as caretakers is another bonus." "You know what? I think this calls for a toast. Not exactly with bottles, but we can make do with these things." Adagio picked her animal toy up and held it like a drink at the table. "A toast to new friends; to magic bringing us together; to being here in this wonderful daycare; and most of all, to being babies." "Say it with us, girls. To being babies!" Sonata hastily shot her arms into the air with her plushie. "To being babies!" The Shadowbolts raised their stuffed animals into the air in response to Sonata's words, as did Adagio and Aria with theirs. Then, they all pressed the toys together into one mass, creating a cacophony of squeaky noises. A lion, bear, hippo, giraffe, penguin, panda, turtle, and seahorse toy all came together before being released from their torment as the babies brought them back down to their sides, cuddling them once again as the pacifier suckles resumed. Behind the group, the door opened, as Sunset walked into the room alone, eyeing up all of the babies within the room. Her eyes darted from one corner of the room to another, almost enraptured with how idyllic everyone looked as they let their toys, bodies, and other accessories do all of the talking for her. When she eventually pulled her eyes away from everyone, she finally saw her babies, the Shadowbolts enjoying their time with their new friends. A small grin fell onto her face as the tension disappeared from the situation. Every bad scenario she had been thinking of before burned away into nothingness. "There you are, girls." Sunset walked over to the Shadowbolts, knelt down to the five of them and hung over their bodies like a retractable roof at a shop on the streets. "Seems like you're all having a good time." "Huh?" Indigo looked up and saw Sunset above her. A smile grew on her face as she looked into her eyes, and without any hesitation, she started reaching up for her, saying, "Sunset! You're back!" "Sunset's back?" Lemon looked up and saw Sunset next out of the group. "Sunset's back!" "Sunset's back!" The others turned to face Sunset, trying to stand up as best as they could in their tiny unbalanced bodies, hands reaching up for her face as they quickly forgot about their toys, not counting Sour Sweet and Mr Cuddlebutt. Well, there goes that plan. Adagio rolled her eyes as she went back to her toy. They're still too invested in Sunset. But I'm sure that they'll be back soon. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but Sunset's got to have to go back to school again. "Ooh! Ooh! Did you meet our new friends?" Lemon asked as Sunset picked her up first. "They're right there! Adagio, Aria, and Sonata!" "Adagio, Aria, and Sonata?" Sunset looked down at the three other babies, within the group. A small memory came to mind, but it seemed a bit too fuzzy for her to make out. One because she couldn't draw a solid conclusion off of the hunch that was only just starting to form, and she was too busy trying to pick up her children. "Well, it's good to know that you made some friends here, girls. I'm sure that you can't wait to see them again next time." "Oh, for sure. They've been super-duper friendly in showing us around, making us feel more comfortable with being babies, and they've just been nice company in general," said Sugarcoat, looking down at her friends as the receptionist came in with the carrier, moving towards Sunset. "Do you think that we can take them with us, Sunset?" Sunny Flare asked. "They'd totally love it." "Wishful thinking, girls. But they're here because they've got someone looking out for them, and I don't want to end up snatching someone else's kids. Now, come on. It's time to go home with me." Sunset put Lemon and Sugar into the carrier, then did the same to the other Shadowbolts, until once more, she found herself having to use two hands to carry the thing again. "But don't worry. Tomorrow's another day at Canterlot High for me, so you can come here again. That sound good to you?" The babies all nodded, chattering to themselves as they tried to find some comfort in the carrier once more. Their stuffed toys had been left behind, collected by the Dazzlings and brought back towards the pile of others. Once they started to walk away, though, the Shadowbolts instantly felt some of the joy fade. They were being taken away from a heavenly place, brought back down to earth and reminded of the situation. It had just passed their minds now, but they had worked so hard in repressing it and trying not to let it overwhelm them. Maybe it was their other halves fighting back after being quelled for so long. They still didn't want to leave but knew that they couldn't fight it. They had no choice, after all. Sunset took one more look at the Dazzlings before she left. A vague memory was beginning to form of her seeing similar girls, yet much older than the ones here. Was it just a coincidence that these girls had such a striking resemblance, or was there something more? She let the thought fester for a while as she read more into the designs of the three babies but still found the resolve to turn away and leave, instead of getting consumed by a single thought that may or may cause her to dread what happened prior. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata still sat there, still suckling and hugging as they watched their friends being taken away from them. Though it wasn't a permanent departure, the three of them knew that they were intertwined with that of the Shadowbolts. Even when they thought about how their old enemy was treating them, the Dazzlings knew that, for whatever reason, their new friends were free from harm, and starting to loosen up on the old, crusty stubbornness that had anchored them since they had been regressed. "Hey, Dagi? Can I ask you a question?" Sonata took the pacifier out of her mouth, causing the glow to stop. "Do you think the Shadowbolts see Sunset as their mama?" "Mama? Her? Fat chance." Aria rolled her eyes at Sonata. "The chances of her being a mother are about the same as us wanting to grow up at all. Slim to none." "You shouldn't think too much about these things, Sonata." Adagio patted Sonata's shoulders. "In fact, it's best if you just give up on the idea altogether. There's no need to go about chasing any kind of fantasy that would strip you from paradise. The only fantasies that you need are the ones you imagine." "I guess so. This kind of stuff is good, but I kinda wish that we could do the same for the Shadowbolts. They've got no magical powers of their own and they're gonna grow up anyways. So... I feel bad for them. Having to depend on Sunset to take care of them when they could rely on no-one and be happy forever like us." Sonata's eyes widened as she gazed at the door. Adagio and Aria wanted to say more, but they ended up pooping in their diapers, prompting them to lift their arms and be carried away by Warm and Loving Embrace. Leaving Sonata alone to ponder a ponderable ponder with Mr Stuffington back in her hands. She remained steadfast to the ideals of her sisters, but what exactly was stopping her from seeing how the other half lived? How babies were without having to be left behind in a room while the parents were free from stress. As she imagined it, she wanted more and more to see what they did outside of the nursery. Sunny, Lemon, Sour, Indigo, Sugar. Don't give in to Adagio and Aria's words. I know that your life is yours to live. If you still want to play with us and be with us in this nursery, that's fine. But you shouldn't let someone else dictate how you want to live. She toddled over towards a ball in another corner of the room, rolling it around with her dinky hands. Sunset Shimmer or no Sunset Shimmer, I want to see what it's like for the five of you. I want to feel what it's like to be a baby with a mama. Someone who always focuses on you, and not just the crowds in this room. In fact, I can't wait for you to come back so I can see for myself how it's like...