The Shadow Five have been turned into babies. How will Sunset and the others handle them?
The Rainbooms and Shadowbolts had only been friends for a few days, but Equestrian magic decided to stick its' nose into their friendships, causing the Shadowbolts to be turned into five little babies, gifted with the magical ability to talk.
Now, Sunset and her friends must find a way to take care of the five Shadowbolts and keep them out of trouble while they find a way to fix this. But that's easier said than done...
The cover art was created by the legendary artist known as Jongoli245. Feel free to check out his stuff and support all that he does.
Sunset Shimmer and the Shadowbolts were all gathered around the local park, all deep in conversation with each other. It had only been a couple of months after the Chance to Prance contest, but the seven of them had really closer to each other as friends. And now that they weren't trying to outdo each other, now was a great time for the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts to grow together as friends; even if the rest of Sunset's weren't there.
"So. How have you been keeping, Sunset?" Sugarcoat was the first to ask. "I mean, after the last contest we had? Surely, things at CHS have calmed down for you and your friends, right?"
"Well, yeah. You could say that." Sunset smiled and coiled some hair around her middle finger. "There was some shenanigans involving a girl named Juniper, a play we made that had more than a few bumps along the way, and there was that road trip we had with Granny Smith."
"Granny Smith?" Sunny Flare parroted and lifted a brow.
"Yeah. She's pretty old, but that doesn't mean she's not a great person. Plus, she's in Applejack's family, so as you could tell, we're pretty close as friends." Sunset nodded. "That, and she makes some pretty nice food at Canterlot High, so that's a plus."
"And you're saying CPA doesn't have great food?" Indigo could smell a challenge from a mile away, and she was ready to take Sunset on in whatever came her way; even comparing cafeteria food from their different schools. "Care to put your money where your mouth is, Sunset?"
Sunset just chuckled. "Well, maybe some other day, Indigo."
"What? Are you scared, Sunset?" Indigo mildly teased, putting her hands to her hips. "I'm pretty sure you're scared. And I think I know why. The food at CPA is to DIE for."
"No, no. It's not that." Sunset was still smiling, even when Indigo was being her usual tomboyish self. "I just don't wanna have another chat with you girls that turns into a contest between us. It's just nice to talk, y'know?"
"I agree." Sunny Flare clasped her hands together. "I know that it feels invigorating to lock horns every now and again, but even I agree that there needs to be some time where we can just be friends, instead of rivals. Too much rivalry can really lower your opinion on someone else."
"Yeah. It ain't nice if we just keep on fightin' and fightin' like this." Lemon took her headphones off and slipped them around her neck. "I don't wanna keep on going head to head with that Pinkie Pie girl all the time. She's such a great girl. Especially with those sweet moves she has on the dancefloor."
"Totally. That Pinkie Pie knows how to bust a move." Indigo wrapped an arm around Lemon's shoulders. "You should totally invite her over to Crystal Prep's next dance, Sunset. She'd really help put everyone else in the mood for a good time."
"I'll see if she's available for that day." Sunset smirked. "Pinkie's a very busy girl outside of being friends with me and the others."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Sour Sweet had a smile, but struggled to maintain it. "I always thought she lived a pretty sad life outside of that happy face of hers, where her parents were born on a quarry or something like that."
"Technically, her parents were born in a quarry, Sour. So you're not wrong there." Sunset nodded. Even though Sour couldn't decide which emotion she could keep, she could still tell she meant well. "But yeah, Pinkie's got a pretty swell life going for her. She's got that new job in that 50's nostalgia cafe, she's making some good pay, and her grades have been pretty good since Twilight gave us all that crash course for the finals."
"That's good to hear." Sugarcoat cracked a small smile. "Keeping your grades up is vital; especially with graduation on the horizon for you and your friends. Must be, what, next year or so?"
"Yeah. We've got a couple of months before the summer holidays. It's gonna be a blast!" Sunset giddily threw her arms to the side. "There's so much stuff to do! Waterparks, the beach, racing each other to the ice-cream stand, you name it!"
"Yeah. It's a great time to be alive!" Lemon Zest beamed just as brightly. "What could possibly be better?"
"The answer is that there is nothing better!" Sugarcoat broke out of her reserved face and burst out into glee as well. "I mean, I know I'm a bit of a stuffy study-face as Lemon calls it, but even I have a sense of fun and happiness."
"I just hope that we don't have any magical mishaps along the way." Sunset Shimmer rubbed the back of head. "Wherever we seem to go, magic always seems to follow us."
"How so?" Sunny Flare tipped her hand. "The only time we've ever seen magic before is the Friendship Games. What other times did you and your friends see magic?"
"Well, I could tell you, but it's a pretty long list if I do say so myself." Sunset could only let a lame laugh as she counted all the times magic flashed through her mind. From the first day she arrived at CHS to the present day, she had seen some things that others would freak out over. It had happened so many times to her that the paranormal just seemed normal to her. "But let's not talk about that. I wanna know how you girls have been doing since we last met each other. Don't be afraid to leave anything out."
"I became the head of CPA's newest drama class." Sunny Flare smiled and pulled out a small badge from her pocket, showing off a pair of masks. "Check it. The students there say that I can fit any kind of role, from the lead to a supporting cast member." She took a look at her own badge, watching it glisten in the light of the sun. "They call me the Crystal Thespian. And it's something I hold with pride."
"Well, yeah. You're a pretty good actor, Sunny." Indigo pushed through her. "But let's get into the real juicy stuff here. Me and my team are gonna play this great game soon. We've had to pull a lotta strings, but we're gonna play in the Cloudsale Coliseum soon! So we've gotta practice, practice, practice!"
"I got some sick new beats coming next week!" Lemon Zest bursted out. "It's the newest album from Cold Steel, and it's radical to the max! He's really gonna blow my ears to pieces once I slip those songs into my ears!" Lemon threw her fist into the air.
"Well, maybe he appeals to you, Lemon. But I'm more of a fan of the works of Songbird Serenade, if anything." Sour Sweet stepped forward. "And besides, Serenade's music is far better than that of that snooze-fest, Cold Steel."
Lemon felt a record scratch in her head. "What did you just say, Sour Sweet?"
"I said. Songbird Serenade. Is far better. Than Cold Steel." Sour took intimidating steps forward, causing Lemon to hunch herself backwards.
"Don't you dare talk about one of my top three favourite heavy metal superstars, Sour Sweet!" Lemon snapped back up and jabbed Sour in the chest with her index finger. "He's a true legend in his own time. Songbird's songs are all just trashy pop music."
"Oh, it's ON, Lemon!" Sour rolled up her sleeves; her sour side now on full display. "You and me. Right now! Let's go!"
"Girls! Stop this!" Sour Sweet stepped forward and grabbed both Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest's ears and twisted them tightly. "You're acting like children. And about some insignificant singers, no less."
"I have to agree with Sugarcoat on this one, you two." Sunny turned round to face the others. "You've really gotta let that stuff go. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and we should respect them." Sunny broke up the fight and pushed the girls aside. "Besides. Sapphire Shores is clearly the best singer."
"You take that back!" Sour and Lemon yelled in unison.
As Sour, Sunny, and Lemon started squabbling with each other, Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap just stood there in awe, watching as their insults very quickly turned into grabbing and pulling at each other. The two of them just face-palmed as the catfight finally started to erupt.
While Sunset was watching the girls fight with each other, she failed to notice a large cluster of magic flying in the air. Even though her geode began to glow brightly, she was drawn in to how hardly the Shadowbolts were fighting to protect their favourite singers. She was tempted to move in to stop this herself, but the moment she took a single step forward, that was when she noticed it.
The magic, growing in size, finally caught her attention. And when she saw that her own gemstone was reacting to it, she knew that she had to take action. "Girls! You might wanna look behind you..."
"Sunset. I appreciate the gesture, but right now, these two are bad-mouthing the greatest singer of all time!" Sunny pulled her face out of the grass. "We'll look at it later!"
"Yeah, Sunset! We've got some issues to settle here!" Lemon Zest was pushing her hand into Sour's face, her fingers messing with her mouth and eyes.
"Don't worry about them, Sunset." Sugarcoat crossed her arms. "These girls can be a bunch of babies sometimes whenever it comes to pop music."
"I mean, I don't really get it." Indigo Zap crossed her arms. "Why'd ya wanna spend all your time listening to some random guy you don't even know when you could be out there training for a big game?"
"Oh, can it, Indy!" Lemon cried out from the dog-pile of girls.
"No, but that's not what I wanted to tell you. It's just, I, augh!" As Sunset began to complain, the orb finished growing in size and started shooting down towards them. "MAGIC! COMING IN HOT!" She finally screamed, pointing up at the falling globe of energy.
The Shadowbolts finally broke up and took one brief look at the ball before it smashed into the five of them like a truck. The resulting explosion engulfed them in a small, yet powerful eruption of magic that knocked Sunset Shimmer away into a nearby tree. The five Crystal Prep girls could barely even muster up a word, let alone some screams as their entire beings were smothered by the orb's power.
Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat tried fighting against the will of the magic, trying to make out the other girls in the chaotic spiral of rainbow lights. Just as the two of them found Sour, Sunny, and Lemon, the five of them suddenly felt an odd change in their bodies. As if, they were being transformed into something else entirely. As they clutched their hands to their hearts, they fell to their knees and writhed around in anguish as the spell worked its' enchantment upon them. And with one final burst, the spell came to an end, and the maelstrom of light around the five girls vanished into thin air.
"Ungh..." Sunset Shimmer rubbed her back as she climbed back onto her feet. Of all the things she had seen and done today, flying into a tree was not one of them. "Can't we just go ONE day without this stupid stuff? It's driving me nuts!" She groaned as she came back over to where the Shadowbolts had been hit, sighing as she examined the damage. "Alright. What happened this time?"
As the dust and magic cleared, the five Shadowbolts were nowhere to be found. But instead, there were five tiny silhouettes emerging from the wake of the blast. They were much smaller than what she had usually expected. Some of them tried to stand up, but ended up wobbling and falling on their butts from how tiny they were. When the winds finally cleared up the mess, Sunny, Sugarcoat, Sour, Lemon, and Indigo were all alive and well. But the one difference was that they had all been turned into babies, with onesies around their arms and legs, and diapers tucked underneath the groin areas of said clothes.
"What the...?" Sunset squatted down and got a closer look at the five babies. Their hairs were much shorter, but they stuck true to the Shadowbolts' main hairstyles. Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest were devoid of their glasses and headphones, Sunny's broach was nowhere to be seen, and they all had big bows in their hairs, with different colours for each of the girls. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat's bows especially were holding up their pig and ponytails. "Girls? Is that... you?"
"Sunset?" Sunny Flare spoke normally, despite having no teeth in her mouth. "Wait, what the—" She looked down at her hands, and then the rest of her body. Once she saw what she had become, she let out a large gasp "—NO WAY! This can't be real!"
"What can't be real?" Indigo also had a higher-pitched voice, and was still able to communicate normally. Once she got a look at Sunny, her jaw fell wide open. "Oh my god. Sunny! You're a... a..."
"You're a baby!" Lemon Zest finally came over and pointed to her. "In fact, we're all babies!"
"We're ALL babies?!" The other Shadowbolts chorused loudly and squeakily. "And we can talk too?!"
As Sunset watched the Shadowbolts flail and look around in pure shock, she noticed a magical glow around their bodies. That glow resonated with her geode, and she tightly clutched it in her hands. Five different coloured streams of light popped out of the girls' mouths and traveled into her crystal, which sent another thin wave of magic up to her ears.
"I... I can't believe this!" Sunset flopped down to the infantile Shadowbolts. "The magic. How did—I mean—that is to say—" She was fumbling over her own words just trying to make any sense of the situation "—why did the magic do this to you?!"
"I don't know!" Sugarcoat moaned as she gazed up at Sunset. "But I can't be a baby! I only JUST got that last project in! Mr. Svengallop's gonna be furious at me if I can't come in for my results!"
"What about the rest of us?" Sunny Flare added. "Our lessons, our events, our dances and parties, what's gonna happen to them?!"
"The tickets I had to see that movie tomorrow! I'm not gonna be able to get in now!" Sour Sweet groaned and flopped her arms down to her sides. "And I was so looking forward to seeing it too!"
"What about my game?! My big game?!" Indigo's head snapped in all directions. Even though she hadn't lost a toy, she was definitely acting like she had lost one. "The team's gonna be furious with me if I can't help 'em win it!"
"Aww, chill out, girls. It's not all that bad..." Lemon Zest was the only one in the group who had a small smile on her face. "It's not like we're really in danger or anything..." She reached backwards to try and put her headphones on, but no matter where she reached, she couldn't touch them. As she turned around, she noticed that they were nowhere to be seen at all. "My... My headphones. My custom-tailored headphones! WHERE ARE THEY?!" She finally joined the party of babies who had all lost something important to them. "I take it back, girls! This isn't nice at all!" Lemon Zest moaned, and transitioned into a full-grown wail as she started to cry, shedding tears all over the place.
"We're not gonna graduate, we're not gonna get our dream jobs, and we've lost pretty much everything!" Indigo also began to tear up. "This is the worst thing ever!" She joined Lemon and began to bawl loudly.
Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare also started to cry, adding to the cacophony of noise Lemon and Indigo were already making. Now, they were a full set of five crying babies, with no-one to protect them, fix them, or even help them out. It had been a long time since they had cried before, but now was the perfect time to break that little tear-less streak.
As Sunset Shimmer looked down in horror at the sight, she couldn't help but feel like she was the only one who could help. Even if she hadn't encountered magic that could turn people into babies before, she knew that she had to do something. She couldn't just leave them out like this! That would only add insult to injury.
"Girls..." Sunset tried to talk to them, but the babies were crying so much that she couldn't get through to them. "Girls?" She tried again, but still got no verbal response. Sunset just took a deep breath and started to pick the babies up. One by one, she fit all five of them in her arms, even though it was a bit of a hassle.
I've got so many questions right now. But I don't think I'm gonna get my answers straight away... Sunset began to walk away from the park with the five crying Shadowbolts in her arms. First things first, I should get these girls somewhere safe. I'll take 'em home with me, then figure out the rest as we go along. As she struggled to firmly hold all of them together, she could tell that it was gonna be a long couple of weeks. It might not be a lot, but right now, I just need to get the five of them away from here.
Sunset left the park, carrying the Shadowbolts all the way with her as she did so. She wasn't even fazed with the number of people watching her as she fumbled around with the five babies in her arms, without so much as a buggy or stroller to support them all. Still, she grinned, bore it, and was able to finally start the long trek home to her house.
Sunset Shimmer, still carrying the five infant Shadowbolts, finally arrived at the front door of her house. Since her hands were full, she had to use one of her shoes to pull the handle down and push the door open. It might've looked silly, and on other occasions, it would've gotten a chuckle from the five Shadowbolts, but right now, Sunset just needed to lay down some foundations.
The living room of Sunset's house was very warm and welcoming, with a small fireplace in the living room, accompanied by a couple of cream-coloured couches and a wide TV tucked into one of the corners of said room. There was a kitchen connected to the living room which had a breakfast bar, as well as a series of cabinets and drawers circling around the room. The last thing of notice was a fruit bowl which was overflowing with oranges, bananas, and apples.
Sunset looked down at the five baby Shadowbolts and noticed that they had fallen asleep; most likely having tired themselves out from crying so much. She tried her hardest not to make so much noise as she walked past the living room and kitchen and started to climb the stairs.
I don't know how it happened, but I do know that these girls aren't gonna be comfortable with this when they wake up. Especially not Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap... Sunset tried holding her grip together as best as she could to avoid dropping any of the babies. Until we figure out a way to counteract that magic if we can, then they're gonna have to make do with this. Even if they don't like it, it's the hand that they've been dealt...
As Sunset finally made it to the top floor of her house, the Shadowbolts all slowly began to wake up, rubbing their eyes as they did so. Some of them woke up faster than others, but all of them saw they were somewhere they hadn't been before and were coming up to one of the doors in the corridor.
Sunset opened the door and walked into her bedroom, again, having to use her feet since her hands were full. She was partially glad that this wouldn't be an issue when her other friends knew the situation, but as it was, she was starting to struggle—and not just because of her lack of child-care skills. Maybe, after this day was done, that it would be a good time for her to get some lessons from Pinkie Pie on raising kids.
Sunset's bedroom was nothing like what the Shadowbolts had been expecting. For one, her bed wasn't even on the ground. It was instead, atop a mezzanine with no rails around it. Indigo thought that it was easy for Sunset to jump off of it if she needed to get up and out of bed quick, but none of the other Shadowbolts thought that it looked safe. Underneath said mezzanine was Sunset's desk, which had a powerful-looking computer. If Sugarcoat had to guess, it would've been the new XZ-59 Aurora model that had just hit the shops. There was a large window on the other side of the bed which stretched from the ceiling down to the floor, and another window just behind the bed. Finally, there was also a simple couch sitting right next to a TV and a video game console.
"Wh... Where are we?" Sour Sweet curled into Sunset's body, taken aback by how huge everything was around her.
"Oh, hey, girls." Sunset looked down at the five of them. "Good to see you've all calmed down now." She took them all over to the couch and sat them down on it.
"Sunset? Why's everything so big?" Indigo Zap cocked a brow at Sunset once she had put all five of them down. "You too. Why do you look like a giant?"
"Indy? You forgot already?" Lemon gave her a gentle pat on the cheek. "We all got turned into babies, remember?"
"No we didn't!" Indigo pouted and snapped her head towards Lemon. "This is all just a bad dream. We just gotta pinch ourselves and we'll be back in our beds with our real bodies."
"You really think that works, Indigo?" Sugarcoat tried her best to stay mature, despite how high-pitched her voice was now. "That's just something people say when they want to admit the world's wrong but they don't want to accept it."
"Okay. Well, I'll pinch you anyways just because Indy said it." Lemon reached over and did so to Sugarcoat, then followed up with the others, and then finally her. "Nope! We're all here. Awake and super-duper cute!"
"But we can't be babies!" Sunny Flare moaned. "We've got families, friends, Crystal Prep! How can we do all of that if we're stuck like this?!"
"Exactly!" exclaimed Indigo. "Sunset! You have to turn us back right now! We can't stay like this! Like, we REALLY can't!"
"I'm sorry, girls, but this kinda just... happened." Sunset patted Indigo's tiny hair down, gently brushing her fingers against the yellow bow in her hair as well. "I wish I could fix you right here and now, but that's not really how Equestrian magic works in this world. Heck, I don't even know how it works if it's not one of me and the girls' pendants."
"Then how are we gonna go back to full-size teenagers?" Sour Sweet asked. "Because if I start pooping myself involuntarily, resulting in me having to get a change every hour or so, I think I'll lose it!"
"Or having to be spoonfed everything like we can't do it ourselves." Sugarcoat folded her arms. "That's the one part I would HATE about being stuck like this for too long."
"Don't forget how we're so tiny that we'd have to rely on Sunset to do everything for us." Sunny Flare raised one of her own miniscule fingers. "The poor dear would be exhausted after a couple of days picking things off of shelves for us or carrying us down for feeding..."
"Well..." Sunset blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "I don't think it'd be that hard."
"And what if we start calling her 'mama' out of nowhere? Then she'd REALLY be in hot water!" Indigo was the last one to speak up. "She's not even married, has a boyfriend, or anything!"
"Indigo..." Sunset gritted her teeth.
"Oh, girls." Lemon Zest was the only one out of the Shadowbolts who was smiling. "You're too quick to judge. This could be super-fun if you play along with it." She reached up for Sunset Shimmer, who immediately picked her up and held her before the others. "Plus, who here even likes that stuffy old CPA anyway?"
Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare, unsurprisingly, raised their hands. Indigo and Sour kept theirs down.
"Oh, c'mon, girls." Lemon chuckled. "You've just gotta play along with this and it's not so bad. And, it's already much better than having to listen to one of Mr. Svengallop's lectures or do that awful cooking class by Ms. Gourmand. She doesn't even, like, know what kind of food is good these days!"
"Lemon, we were just turned into babies around an hour ago and you already like this?" Indigo tilted her head and cocked what remained of her eyebrows. "What's gotten into you?"
"I have to agree. Who would love being turned into an infant again? That's, like, SO last decade." Sour Sweet also raised the little tufts of hair that were once her brows. "It might've worked for all those cartoons that dropped off the face of the earth or got worse back in the day, but it DEFINITELY doesn't work here! Especially not for us!"
"I mean, when was the last time you saw a TV show do age regression?" Sunny asked, only to be met with silence from her fellow baby Shadowbolts and from Sunset. "I rest my case."
"It doesn't even matter how creative those age-regressions got. They're a dying genre that nobody's gonna try and recreate any time soon." Sugarcoat mumbled to herself, only to get everyone staring at her. "What? I used to watch those episodes. Oh, don't look at me like that, you probably watched them too because of the fact the characters looked cute when they got regressed down."
"Well..." Sunset wasn't sure where the conversation was going, but she was kind of grateful to know that the Shadowbolts weren't all entirely whining about being babies. Or, not to the extent she had been expecting. "Still, I'm gonna try my hardest to make sure you get through this safe and happy."
"But we're babies! Five of them, to be exact!" Sunny finally broke out of the conversation she had been having with the Shadowbolts and toddled up towards the edge of the couch. "You'll have to stop us fighting, clean up after ourselves, feed us, and cater to our every whim! It might not sound like much to start with, but have you seen the way how babies are these days? They're nightmarish if you're dealing with them en masse..."
"Also, and I'm not gonna judge you if you already have one, but babies like us... we need a room," said Sugarcoat. "An actual room. One that's made safe for us, one that's full of things to kill our time like toys or blocks, and one that just looks generally pleasing for an actual baby."
"Well, I don't have one at the moment, but I do have a spare room." Sunset lifted a finger. "Not much in there, though. It's just where I keep all of my old stuff. I could easily move it all out and get my friends to help make it perfect for all of you."
"Ooh! I like that idea!" Lemon's eyes lit up. "Please, Sunset. Can you get us all some super-duper cutesy-wutesy bonnets too?"
"Oh no. Absolutely NO WAY!" Indigo tried to stand up on the couch, but only ended up tumbling onto her back. "Lemon, girl. I appreciate you trying to make the best out of this situation, but if I'm seen in a bonnet, the rest of Crystal Prep will NEVER let me live it down."
"Indy, we're babies. Sunset's not gonna let anyone do that to us." Lemon tipped her hand casually. "And besides, who's gonna wanna spy on a group of little cuties like us anyway?"
"It's still very wrong. We're teenagers, not babies!" Indigo moaned, fumbling around as she tried to sit upright again. "We should be studying for finals, not playing with blocks or giggling at cute pictures and colours!"
"Or messing around with pacifiers and stuffed animals," Sour added.
"Look, girls, I don't like this as much as you do, but this is where we are right now thanks to that orb of magic." Sunset put Lemon down with the other babies. "Unless we can somehow pull a miracle cure out of our butts, you five are gonna stay babies for a pretty long time. Heck, I'd say you might even have to grow up all over again, worst case-scenario."
The news hit most of the Shadowbolts like a truck. As if on cue, Indigo, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet all teared up and began to cry, wailing in their high-pitched voices as Sunset pulled the three of them into a kneeling hug. Sunny wasn't as heartbroken by the news as the others were, but she was still frowning about it. But Lemon just watched the whole thing blankly, not happy or sad about it.
"We're not babies!" Sour Sweet bawled as she tugged at Sunset's jacket. "We're fully-grown teenage girls!"
"Why do you hate us, world?!" Indigo added, drenching Sunset's left shoulder in tears. "I don't wanna be stuck as this little stinker!"
"Was all of my hard-work all for nothing?" Sugarcoat was the next to cry her frustrations into Sunset's body. "Valedictorians, highest honours, potential summa cum laude, and then I wind up as a baby! Was any of it even worth it?!"
Sunny Flare watched as her friends continued to cry into Sunset Shimmer, who kept on patting their backs and reassuring them that everything would work out. All of that just made her think more about her current dilemma. Would it be a bad thing to start all over? Were all the years she had spent in her past life a waste? And would Sunset and her friends really be all the help that they were cracked up to be? As all of that ran around in her mind, she tried to wander off of the couch and explore for a bit, only for Sunset's leg to keep her from going any farther by getting in her way.
"Girls. Like I've been saying, it's not easy trying to adjust, but I'm right here if you need me." Sunset Shimmer kept on comforting the crying babies and watched them begin to calm down again. "And it's like Lemon said, it's not all bad if you just play along with it. Don't sweat the details and just leave everything up to us."
Indigo, Sugar, and Sour all sniffled and wiped their eyes clean before Sunset picked them all up and hugged them. Everything wasn't right for them and yet, Sunset was trying her hardest already to make sure they were happy. All they could respond with was silence as Sunset's arms continued to press them into her chest.
"Sunset?" Sunny Flare finally broke the silence. "Are you... sure that you can do this?"
"Sunny, I've battled demons that nearly tore the world asunder, stopped people from going mad with whatever power they had, and even fought to protect myself and my friends' memories." Sunset gave Sunny a gentle smile. "I'm pretty sure that I can handle a few babies."
"You promise?" Sunny's eyes widened as she clasped her hands together. "No breaking that promise?"
Sunset put the other babies down and started performing some gestures. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"What's that?" Lemon asked, a big grin forming on her face.
"Oh, that's just a Pinkie Promise." Sunset smiled as she tousled Lemon's hair. "It's something Pinkie Pie often does when she wants to make some big, serious promises to people. She says that, if you break a Pinkie Promise, you could end up losing that friend—"
"—Forever!" Pinkie Pie burst in through the door to Sunset's bedroom and darted up to her side. "Also, sorry for barging in, Sunset. I was gonna come by and discuss this with you another day, but Pound and Pumpkin were REALLY conflicted over what I should get 'em for their birthday, so I came to you for advice. I also just happened to hear you were making a Pinkie Promise, and thought I'd jump in on cue. So, what was it?" She stood on one leg and pushed her smiling face into Sunset's.
"Hey, Pinkie." Sunset lightly pushed her away. "I was going to tell you and the other girls about this, but now that you're here, I think you deserve to know." She held an arm out towards the Shadowbolts.
Pinkie turned towards the five babies and gave a massive gasp, holding her hands to her ears. "Oh. My. Goodness! You've adopted a group of super-cute babies?!" She wasted no time hosting them high and hugging them much tighter than Sunset did, almost popping their eyes out of their skulls. "Sunset, that's great! I've always wanted a bestie to babysit with and now, I have one!"
"Sunset..." Indigo began choking as Pinkie crushed her body against her. "Make... her stop!"
Pinkie heard Indigo talking and she just ended up gasping again, dropping the babies back onto the couch. "Sunset? Did those babies just... talk?"
"Of course we can talk!" Indigo cried out. "Sunset knows we can talk, right, Sunset?"
"Sunset, I am SO jealous right about now." Pinkie Pie glowed from ear to ear as she looked down at the five baby Shadowbolts. "Not only did you get some of the cutest kids on the block, but they have the power to talk too! I should tell the others right away!"
"By others... you mean the rest of the Rainbooms, right?" Sunset lamely lifted a finger. "No-one else, right?"
"Huh? No, Sunset. I mean EVERYONE at CHS! Pinkie Pie already whipped out her phone. "You've got your hands on some super-cute babies! Who wouldn't wanna see 'em?"
"Pinkie! Stop!" Sunset barrelled into Pinkie, rolling with her over towards the corner of the room, flinging the phone over to the couch, right by Lemon's stubby little hands. "They don't want anyone finding out that they were babies!"
"Huh? Why's that, Sunset?" Pinkie asked as she slipped out of the mess that was her and Sunset ragdolled across the floor.
"Because, Pinkie, these babies are kinda special." Sunset Shimmer climbed up and put a hand on Pinkie's shoulder, turning her towards her.
As the two grown-ups started talking to each other, Lemon Zest noticed that Pinkie's phone was still open. Using her little fingers, she played around with it as she opened the messages app. She noticed that there was a group chat in the messages with the Rainbooms all in one group, so she opened that message stream up and started tapping something out.
"Everyone, come to Sunset Shimmer's house. Fast." Lemon tapped as the girls finished talking to each other. She sent the message just as Pinkie turned back around, and she dropped the phone like she had never even touched it, blushing slightly as Pinkie reached down and picked it back up.
"So what you're saying is, that the five Shadowbolts we met at the Friendship Games, and then again at that music video contest, were turned into babies after getting hit by some freaky-deaky Equestrian magic?" Pinkie asked as she put the phone back away. "I mean, they do look an awful lot like those five, but I can never tell, really. They shouldn't wear those stuffy uniforms with those plaid skirts all the time. I don't think that it really suits them."
"And you think we have the choice to wear something else?" Sour piped up. "It's not our fault that we've got a horrible fashion sense because of ex-principal Stench!"
"Actually, now that you think about it, that does sound like Sour Sweet." Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin as she examined the tiny Sour. "She's definitely got the fussiness down, that's for sure. Might wanna be careful with her when it comes to feeding."
"Anyway..." Sunset just rolled her eyes. "For their sakes, and for mine, I think we should only let the Rainbooms know about this. They're the most understanding. Plus, they're our best friends. Why wouldn't they want to help?"
As if it had been a scripted action in one of her favourite video games, Sunset Shimmer's pocket began to vibrate. She took out her phone and watched as Pinkie did the same with hers. When she opened it, she immediately saw that her message group with the other Rainbooms had some new messages in addition to the one that Lemon had sent through Pinkie's phone.
We heard ya right away. I'm comin!
I'm on my way, everyone. I'll see ya at Sunset's house in a couple minutes!
I don't know what's going on, but I'm on my way too.
I'm sure that whatever Sunset has planned, it's going to be quite special. I'd better come prepared.
I'm just finishing playing with Spike for the day. I'll be there once I'm done.
"Pinkie? When did you send this message?" Sunset took a good look at all six of the messages in the group chat.
"I dunno, Sunset. Maybe I left my phone's voice-to-text setting on..." Pinkie Pie scratched her head as she looked at the messages as well. "Which is kinda weird too. Usually, that system HORRIBLY misspells what I say. Like, when Rarity said I should try out macaroons, it ended up talking about macaroni!"
"Either way, we've got the girls coming, so that's good. I guess..." Sunset shrugged as she slipped the phone away. "C'mon, girls. Let's start setting up your new room." Sunset picked up Sunny and Lemon, leaving the other three babies in Pinkie's arms.
As most of the Shadowbolts looked confused, Lemon Zest poked her head out of Sunset's arms and looked down at the others. She gave them all a wink and a smile before she slunk back towards Sunny, winking at her too. Of all of the people in the house, she was the only one who knew about it. As she wallowed in the satisfaction of calling the other Rainbooms without another soul knowing, she started to suckle on her thumb, slipping more and more into her life as a baby.
Sunset's spare room was, to put it bluntly, a mess. Dust littered every corner of the room and the items that she had left in storage. Old pieces of furniture, some lava lamps, and more were just strewn about, with no pattern or sense of organization. If Rarity was here, she would let out a scream that could shatter glass.
"Okay, Sunset. This is a pretty funny joke." Little Indigo did not look amused in the slightest. The way she crossed her arms and pouted was all the clarification she needed to show. "But seriously, where's our new room?"
"This is you're new room, silly!" Pinkie pinched Indigo's chubby cheeks. "It's just not ready yet. We've gotta put up the wallpaper, put the toys in, get all the other baby-raising furniture all set up, everything!" Pinkie very nearly threw her arms out, remembering that she, Sour, and Sugarcoat were still in her arms. "What? Did you think we were just gonna put the five of you in a stuffy, icky, boring room like this?"
"Yes." Sunny, Sugar, Sour, and Indigo all chorused in perfect sync with each other.
"Girls, it's totally fine." Sunset chuckled. "I'm not gonna put you in a dusty room where I keep all my old stuff."
"Yeah, that's why the others are coming." Pinkie nodded. "Twilight and Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack, and even Dashie too! They'll be sure to get this place all nice and tidy for you girls in no time!"
"But we don't need all this baby stuff." Sugarcoat groaned. "We're fully-grown teenage girls! We're too old for that kind of stuff!"
"And yet, you've got the body of an infant." Sunset smirked and gave Sugar's left cheek a tiny pat. "Trust me, girls. It's all gonna be fine. And plus, you won't be like that forever. We'll find a way to turn you back in no time."
"Plus, Sugar, you've gotta enjoy this a little more." Lemon Zest smiled at her. "People never get a chance to be babies again. We're super-duper lucky to have another shot at it. And, this time, you'll be able to remember all that stuff; instead of having mom and dad tell you everything and show those pictures."
"Lemon, I think you're enjoying this a little too much. And you've not even started playing yet." Sour gave her a little glare. "You're probably gonna think it's boring, or that you'd want more and more toys. There's a reason why babies don't remember things, y'know."
"Yeah. It's so they can actually enjoy their time." Sugarcoat folded her arms.
"Hey, don't knock something up until you try it." Sunset shrugged. "It was a magical incident. Magic in this world's really been a bit of a hassle for us. For all we know, it could make your minds like playing with those toys and blocks."
"Anyway..." Pinkie Pie stepped outside and went back into the living room, placing Lemon and Sunny back on the couch. "This is gonna be a pretty busy job, Sunset. So we're gonna all gonna have to chip in one way or another."
"You sure you can keep 'em occupied?" Sunset asked, coming back into her room with the other babies. "It's a big job, turning a spare room into a baby's nursery in one day. "If it wasn't for the other girls, it'd be an all-night task. But that's not the point. How are you gonna manage with their..." She put a hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, "Bladder problems?"
Indigo's eyes shrunk even smaller than ever as the thought of messing herself popped back into her mind.
"Pinkie, if you've not got a secret stash of diapers with you, I swear to god..." She growled, crawled up to her chest and grabbed the collar of her shirt.
"Chill out, silly-willy." Pinkie pulled Indigo off and reached into her hair, pulling out a little pack of them. "Rule #1 of being with babies: Always come prepared. That's a little thing I came up with after sitting Pound and Pumpkin for Mr and Mrs Cake."
"Pinkie, just how deep is that hair of yours? And why does it have all of that stuff that shouldn't logically fit in it?" Sugar climbed up Pinkie's chest and tried to reach into her hair, barely even making it past the teenager's eyes.
"It's Pinkie Pie, girls. Best not to question things." Sunset nodded, patting Pinkie on the back. "And Celestia only knows what's in her hair at this point. Last I remember, she put an entire bucket of pudding in it."
"Yep!" Pinkie licked her lips. "And good quality, straight-from-the-movie-set pudding it was!"
Just as Sunset finished setting the Shadowbolts into the room, the doorbell rang, which Pinkie Pie went down to answer. As she left the room, Sunset placed Lemon's green onesie on her, putting it over the fluffy, white undergarment. Lemon herself giggled as she wiggled in Sunset's arms, feeling her diaper contort and bend with her.
"Hey, Sunset? When's that room gonna be ready?" Lemon asked as she was carried back over to the other padded Shadowbolts.
"Well, first, we need to get the rest of the Rainbooms." Sunset sat Lemon down before taking a seat on the couch herself. "Making a room for a bunch of babies is a hard job. And considering that this came out of absolutely nowhere, we've gotta work overtime to try make it good for you."
"I don't care about quality, Sunset. Just as long as you get us a decent room." Sour Sweet squeaked, putting her little hands on her hips. "Please? The least we could be now is comfortable."
"The girls are here, Sunset!" Pinkie Pie chimed as she poked her head back into the room. Once she stepped back into it, the other Rainbooms came in with her. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle.
"We got Pinkie's message and came right over." Twilight moved to the front of the group. "What's the problem—" She took one look at the five baby Shadowbolts "—here?"
"Sunset..." Rarity slowly inched herself forward towards the couch. "Are those... babies?"
"Yeah." She blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "It's kind of a long story."
"Oh my gosh." Fluttershy burst out of the girls and looked down at the five infant Shadowbolts, her face making the biggest, toothy smile it could ever make. "You. Are. Adorable!" She quickly brought all five of them into a big and strong hug, almost crushing them all with how tight her embrace was. "Oh, I just wanna eat you all up, yes I do!"
"S-Sunset!" Indigo violently patted Fluttershy's shoulder as her face turned blue. "Tell her to let go! Geez!"
"Yes, please! I don't wanna die this way!" Sugarcoat could barely muster up that sentence as she choked for breath.
As Fluttershy heard the babies' chatter, her grip quickly broke on them and they fell back onto the plush couch. She stood back up and stepped back to the other girls, whose mouths had all hung wide open.
"Uh, Sunset?" Rainbow was the next to walk forward. "Am I going crazy, or did I just hear those babies talk? And not in the whole gibberish sense, either. Like, properly saying actual sentences?"
"Yep!" Lemon grabbed onto the armrest and pulled her head up to the girls. "We can talk alright. That little lightshow that hit us was very nice if I do say so myself. Be sure to let it know I say thanks the next time you see it, K?"
"That... is a talking baby." Applejack pointed at Lemon Zest.
"We're ALL talking babies!" The other Shadowbolts groaned in unison. "Geez!"
The other Rainbooms didn't know how to react to the babies at first, but in the end, they replayed the outburst over and over in their minds and simultaneously swooned over them all, choosing cuteness over any sense of shock and horror.
"Aww..." They all cooed together and came over to the Shadowbolts, picking up one for themselves, leaving Sunset and Twilight without one in their hands.
"Oh no..." Sugarcoat groaned as Applejack pressed her against her cheeks. "Now they're gonna think we're cute. This is a disaster."
"Aren't you just the cutest little talking bundles of joy ever?" Rarity pinched Sunny's cheeks and held her up to her face. "You would look so much cuter in cute dresses and outfits. Maybe once we get you into a cosy room, we can talk about it."
"Look, before we get out of hand with this whole cute thing, we'd better get started on that room right away." Sunny Flare pointed towards the dusty, musky, disaster area of a room that was Sunset's spare room. "The quicker we're all settled in, the faster we can think of a way to change us back to normal."
"Back to normal?" Twilight walked up to Sunny. "You mean that you're—"
"Yes. Yes. OMG. YES." Indigo snarled, pulling her head out of Rainbow's hold. "Twilight! It's us! Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet from the Friendship Games! Remember us? We used to mock you and force you to use that freaky magic on yourself?"
"Indy..." Lemon's little middle finger slowly raised.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Twilight backed up and pushed her hands out in front of her face. "This isn't right. You're not babies. Last I recall, you were close to graduating Crystal Prep."
"Were being the keyword, Twilight." Sugarcoat's tinny voice broke through the resounding murmurs of the Rainbooms. "I don't know what kind of magic's been messing with this place now, but it's made the five of us into babies, and now we can't seem to turn back to normal. And while you and the other Rainbooms are acting all lovey-dovey over us, I personally don't like this one bit."
"I'm still shocked as it is, Sugarcoat." Twilight approached her and held her stubby little hand. "How did magic turn you five into babies like that? And why did you come to us specifically for a cure?"
"Because, last I checked, you and your friends were the ones with the magical stuff down." Sour Sweet huffed. "Can't you just do one little spell and wave your little magic wands around to fix this? Or is that too 'outdated', 'last season', and 'a poor representation'?"
"Still as feisty as always, Sour Sweet." Twilight deadpanned. "Even as a baby, you've not lost your touch."
"Well, duh. It's in her name, after all." Pinkie cocked a brow as she patted Lemon's head and hugged her.
"Well, if everyone's all done with the introductions, can we get started on that room now?" Sunset asked. "I want to make sure their room's ready by tonight. We don't know how long we're gonna have to keep caring for them."
"I've got you covered on the shopping, Sunset," Rainbow smirked and shone her geode in the light of Sunset's ceiling lights. "Just give me the list, the cash, and I'll be back in a flash."
"You might need to make a few trips, Rainbow Dash." Sunset walked over towards her desk and pulled out a small notepad and pen from the drawer, before scribbling down the items she needed. "Wallpapers, supplies, some toys, and some furniture in general. "Now, I know for a fact that it's not all sold in the same place. And even with your super speed, you've only got two arms as it is."
"Eh, it's no biggie." Rainbow slid her hand down her chest and took Sunset's finished list. "I barely even get tired anymore thanks to that crystal from Camp Everfree. Doing a few supply runs for these little stinkers is gonna be a breeze."
"Good." Sunset climbed off of the chair. "While she's out, Rarity and Applejack, you can help me with getting all the old junk out of my room and making it a bit more presentable."
"I can do that." Applejack nodded and flipped her hat up.
"I suppose I could provide some assistance of my own." Rarity dressed in a pair of blue latex gloves and strapped a surgeon's mask over her mouth and nose. "There. Now, I'm ready." She gained some stares from the other Rainbooms and from a couple of the babies. "What? The dust in that room is hard to get off my hands. And inhaling it is just as bad."
Sunset just rolled her eyes at Rarity's remark. "Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. You seem like the most capable with kids." She watched as the three of them picked up the baby Shadowbolts. "I want you to try and keep the kids busy while we get everything else sorted. That sound good?"
"Mmhmm." Fluttershy nodded.
"Absotivelutely, Sunset!" Pinkie added.
"I know them all the best, so I think I know all the best methods of making them feel comfortable." Twilight looked down at the five babies. "Though... maybe not so much personally. Just, as far as Crystal Prep goes."
"Eh, good enough for me, I guess." Indigo shrugged.
"Alright. We've all got our jobs, so let's go, everyone." Sunset clapped her hands together. "Rainbow, you make the runs. Rarity, Applejack, give me a hand with the room. Everyone else? Just enjoy yourselves."
"Let's do this!" Everyone called out, immediately leaving the room or settling down with the other Shadowbolts.
On Rainbow Dash's end, it was a little bit of a shock, having to get used to taking care of babies. She was still deep into her time at CHS and hadn't even considered trying to raise a kid yet. Mostly due to her awesomeness being "too raw to ignore." All of her training at the track, combined with the super speed from her geode was about to pay off, though, as she quickly shot into the first store and started to poke around for the items she needed, zipping back to Sunset's house once she was happy with her choices.
As for Rarity, Sunset, and Applejack, Applejack handled the work just fine, while Rarity seemed to hesitate as she sifted through the chaos of Sunset's stowed, dust-coated objects. She often picked some of them up like she was performing a medical procedure, only she had to look away at how grimy everything was. All the while, Applejack just lowered her brows as she continued on with the work; not bothered by a single thing on display. In fact, on a few occasions, she blew the dust off of the items, scattering it all over the room like a sprinkling of icing sugar over a large cake. And as for Sunset, she too didn't seem to mind as much as Applejack, but she knew the stuff much better and handled it the proper way. Some old guitars, clothes, and even some stuff from a few trends and phases she went through were picked out and properly dusted off.
Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy knew how well the Shadowbolts operated but weren't expecting them to be babies in the slightest. It was a little bit of a rocky transition, trying to think about what would be best for them, but also best for babies, and trying to think of a way to bring the two together without trying to disturb, displease, or make the girls feel uncomfortable. Or, at least, Fluttershy and Twilight were. Pinkie had already taken the initiative and did some entry-level playing with the baby Shadowbolts, blowing raspberries into their tummies and tickling them in sensitive places like their armpits. For the most part, it seemed to work, as the five infant Crystal Prep girls couldn't control their fits of laughter.
The Shadowbolts, while still adamant in the lie that they were still teenage girls, just trapped within the bodies of babies, found themselves at the mercy of the Rainbooms. There were kisses, hugs, and many more of Pinkie's shenanigans to come in the future, and they couldn't do a thing about it; much to some of their dismays. Lemon Zest, on the other hand, was enjoying every second of it, relishing in Pinkie's playfulness and keeping a big smile plastered on her face the entire time the room was being set up for them.
It took everyone a while to do their jobs, but in the end, Rainbow Dash finally arrived back with her shopping goods, while Applejack and Rarity helped Sunset clean off the last of the things in the spare room. The three of them wiped the sweat off of their brows as Rarity took the gloves and mask off.
Finally, all of the Rainbooms came together, leaving the Shadowbolts in Sunset's care as they all went off to the spare room with the paint and wallpapers, shutting the door behind them.
"We're nearly there, girls." Sunset smiled and booped each of the Shadowbolts on the nose. "You've done a good job of being patient for us."
"If by patient, you mean being tortured by Pinkie Pie's raspberry blowing and tickling, then yes, we've been patient." Sour lifted one of her little eyebrows.
"It was fun, though. You can't say no to that." Lemon Zest was still smiling and clasped her hands together. "Ooh! Can you do it to me now, Sunset?"
"Maybe once we're done, Lemon." Sunset patted her back. "For now, all we can do is wait..."
"It's ready!" Pinkie Pie sing-songed as she eventually popped out of the spare room's door. "And I think you're gonna love the results, Sunset!"
"About time!" remarked Sugarcoat as the five babies were all picked off and carried to their new bedroom. "It only took, like, three hours to make. It's almost sundown out there." She pointed to the setting sun in the distance, clearly visible through Sunset's ceiling-high windows.
"Alright, girls. Let's see just how much work the girls put into this..." Sunset opened the door into the nursery; the bright lights almost blinding the babies as they all went inside.
Once everyone's eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, they were met with a very tranquil sight. Bright colours of cream and aqua lined the walls, with cartoon stars painted on the ceiling. The floor itself was entirely padded, and slightly squishy underfoot. There were a few toys already set out if neatly organized for a baby's room. Five cribs laid against the wall, each with the Shadowbolts' names and some little items drawn onto the front. A teddy bear for Sour and Lemon, a book for Sugarcoat, some clouds for Indigo, and a sun with some clouds on it for Sunny Flare. The cribs looked readily made, with pillows and tiny covers for each that looked much comfier up close. There was a tiny wardrobe, a couple of toy chests, and a changing table with some drawers beneath it for the excess diapers and powder. Truly, it was everything the Shadowbolts would need for their situation.
"I do hope that you like it, girls." Twilight bowed before them. "It was a lot of hard work."
Before anyone could say anything else, some tears began to form in Lemon Zest's eyes. "Girls... This is... perfect!" Her eyes twinkled like the stars in the nursery rhyme she'd be hearing for a good few months to come.
"Alright. I might not like my body, but I have to agree. This is pretty high-quality stuff." Sunny Flare marvelled at how well-placed everything was. "Plus, the cribs aren't all in separate locations, so we don't have to look far for each other at night."
"It all looks so big..." Indigo stared out at the room as if she was standing on top of the world's tallest mountain. "Maybe it's because we're all so small."
"Well, it could use some touching up here and there, but I suppose it's acceptable." Sugarcoat was the first to critique the room as an actual adult trapped in a baby's body. "If I were actually younger in mind, I'd like this too."
"Mmm..." Sour tried her hardest to find something wrong with the room, but no matter what she found, it quickly evaporated with how seemingly perfect it all looked. "Okay, if you can't beat them, join them. I like it too." She gave a small grin. "But that doesn't mean I'm still OK with this whole baby thing."
"I'm glad that you all like it." Sunset set them all down onto the floor. "Why don't you all break it in before we go to bed? Go on, do whatever you want." She watched them all wander off around the place; knowing full well that this was only the beginning of a long job.
The Shadowbolts, after all having been set down in their new multi-coloured, strain-on-the-eyes room could only move forward. In their infantile states, everything in their line of sight looked giant to them. Even some of the smallest-looking items like pacifiers and balls seemed like it would have taken both of their hands to hold them properly.
Lemon Zest, out of all of them, was the most enamoured with the room, a big smile planted on her face as she examined plush toys, small books, the cribs and playpens, and even a small plastic slide that had been set up just for them. With so much to do, it was hard for her to choose where to start, but knowing her, she wouldn't be thinking about it for long.
Sour Sweet on the other hand, curiously eyed up a small teddy bear, her hand planted on its' fuzzy belly. Even when she was a teenager, she had a bear like that one. When things seemed bleak, when she felt that life was there solely to beat her down, she always turned to her bear, aptly titled "Mr Fuzzykins." In a way, this new bear seemed almost identical to that one. She pulled it into a hug, finding solace in the fact that she was nothing more than a baby now, unable to control herself or do things for herself.
"Y'know, as much as I admire the room, I'm still not happy with this whole baby thing." Indigo folded her arms. "I mean, I was one of the most athletic, most nimble, top-of-the-game Crystal Preppers out there. Now look at me! I'm small, I'm in diapers, and worst of all, I'm fat again!"
"You were fat, Indigo?" Sugarcoat lifted a brow.
"No duh, I was fat, Sugarcoat. Babies are born fat and chubby. That much I do remember about 'em," said Indigo. "That's why, when we grow up, we're glad to have gotten rid of all the excess baggage."
"And you're worried about this, why?" Sugarcoat's arms were still tightly folded. "Get over it, Indigo. You've got at least eighteen years to work it off when you grow up."
"If we grow up. IF we grow up, Sugarcoat." Indigo seethed. "By the time we get back to our regular ages, Sunset and her friends will be going off to university for all we know, living happy-go-lucky lives while we're stuck in cribs, being rocked to sleep while being read bedtime stories or sung lullabies..."
"Oh, stop being such a party pooper, Indy," Lemon called from a distance, before hurling herself down the slide, giggling all the while. Ironically, as soon as she stopped, she ended up unloading a mess in her own diaper. "Speaking of which, Sunset? I uh... I kinda need some help here."
"Wait, as in right now right now?" Sunset asked, eyes wearily gazing at said Shadowbolt's diaper. "B-but, I'm not prepared! I've never had to change a diaper before!"
"Wait, you haven't?" Lemon Zest cocked a brow at Sunset. "You've never been to 'that class' or babysat for someone before?"
"Well, considering that this magic stuff happened literally today, I've had pretty much no time to prepare for this kind of stuff, so, you'll have to forgive me if I mess this kinda stuff up." Sunset trudged over to Lemon Zest, picked her up, and carried her over towards the changing table.
"Ah, c'mon, Sunset. How hard can it be to change me?" Lemon Zest asked.
Sunset planted Lemon on the table, laying her down and reaching for the straps that kept her diaper secure. Sunset bit on her lip a tad as she took off Lemon's clothes, tore the diaper straps and removed the soiled undergarment from Lemon's butt. Sparing absolutely no time at all, she turned her attention to the trash can, opened the lid with the foot pedal, and dumped the poop-ridden diaper into it.
"Okay. That's the easy part done." Sunset opened a drawer and pulled out a wet wipe, using it to clean off the remnants of Lemon's mess. It quickly met its' demise in the unholy trash bin shortly afterwards. "Now. About this next step..." Sunset pulled out a fresh diaper out from the drawer next to the other one, placing it down on the table.
"You're almost there, Sunset." Lemon just put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. "If anything, this is just as much of a cakewalk."
"Easy for you to say, Lemon." Sunset just rolled her eyes and begun to slide the diaper under Lemon's butt, only for her to push it back out to her. "Wait, what?"
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Lemon lifted a brow. "Y'know, it's not as easy as just putting it on me and tightening it up."
"But you just said that it—"
"There's a reason why the product's called baby powder, Sunset." Lemon pointed towards a nearby bottle of the aforementioned powder. "You use it so that it makes these things a lot more comfortable. Because let's be honest, it's no fun to get diaper rash; even if you can think about it."
"Well, excuse me, little miss smarty no-pants..." Sunset muttered to herself as she took the bottle of powder, sprinkling a sizeable helping onto the diaper. This time, when she moved to put it under Lemon's rump, it was gladly accepted by the pink-skinned, green-haired baby girl. "There. Now it's just a matter of putting it together..." She reached for one corner with one hand, then the other with her other hand. That just left the singular flap hanging out. With nothing but her thumbs, Sunset managed to take the last part of the diaper and put it with the sides. "There we go. Now we've just gotta find... something to keep this all... together."
"Oh my stars, Sunset, this is just a mess..." Sugarcoat grumbled from behind her, then started the agonising process of climbing the table, using the knobs on the handles and edges of the draws to hoist herself up. "It shouldn't be this hard to change a baby. All you need is a pin or an adhesive strap or just... something to keep this thing from falling apart."
"Pins? But those hurt..." Lemon Zest rubbed her arm.
"Look, I'll bail you out this time, Sunset, but only this one time. Okay?" Sugarcoat reached for the diaper that Sunset was holding, grabbed a small waist-strap that poked out of the sides, tightened it up, and planted it directly at the intersection where the three edges met.
"I'm sorry, Lemon. Guess I still need to learn a few things before I'm properly ready for this whole childcare stuff." Sunset put Lemon Zest's onesie back on, then picked her up with one hand, using the other to collect Sugarcoat from the table.
"Don't worry, Sunset. Day one stresses, I get it. You'll be a natural in no time." She just put on a big, almost goofy smile as she looked into Sunset's eyes. "Now, do you think you can put me down in that little pen there? There's a pretty cute-looking blanket in there and I want it."
"You can just drop me off wherever you want, Sunset," Sugarcoat added. "I don't really mind at all."
Sunset walked through the nursery, her moves slow and her legs stretching outward as she took each step so as not to disturb Sour, Indigo, or Sunny's exploration of the room before arriving at the playpen, putting both Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat down in the pen together.
"Anywhere but here, Sunset!" Sugarcoat groaned, slapping a hand to her head.
"Well, that's what you get for saying that you wanted to be put down anywhere, Sugarcoat." Sunset chuckled to herself. "Plus, I think that you need to lighten up a little and have some fun with this."
"Yeah, Sugar. You've been all big-brained and no-fun. But now, you can be fun just like me!" Lemon squirmed towards the blanket she had mentioned earlier, before wrapping her and Sugarcoat up in it. "See, look at how close we are already..."
"Sunset, I will pay you whatever I can to get out of this right now..." Sugarcoat whispered, before a coo from Lemon tightened the blanket around them even more, the comforting fibres burying into her body.
"And exactly how do you plan to pay me? With toys and drool?" Sunset asked, laying an arm on the rails of the crib. "It's not an easy jump from teenager to baby, but magic is magic, I'm afraid. As much as I want to help you all fix this, I'm afraid that, without a proper understanding of Equestrian Magic, your stay in this room is gonna be a very long one, girls."
As Sugarcoat despaired, Lemon simply squealed mutely.
Sunny Flare, on the other hand, crawled through the room with a look of uncertainty on her face. The toys, colours, and everything did seem like they fit the situation at hand, but she was doubting herself more than anything else. As she came to grasp the concept of her playing and having fun with these baby toys, the rest of it seemed to be more of a mystery than anything else, even more so than she cared to admit it. She was not a big fan of surprises; especially magical ones.
She took a look at the rest of her peers, at Sour Sweet clutching the teddy bear and carrying it around with her wherever she went; at Indigo Zap, who was still sat in place, pouting with folded arms at the scenario; and then at Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat, where one was extremely happy to be in this place while the other seemed more upset than anything.
"So many mixed feelings... Happiness, sadness, anger, and neutrality. How am I supposed to feel about going forward? About doing things in this room?" Sunny asked herself as she looked at the nearby set of building blocks. "I guess... maybe an attempt at using these things would help?"
Sunny toddled over towards the building blocks, sitting herself down in front of the cluster that laid before her. All different shapes and sizes, some with numbers, some with letters, some even had pictures on them, but that didn't matter much to her right now. All that was on her mind was appraising her situation, so she took the first two blocks that she could find and held them in her hands, checking each and every face from top to bottom. Nothing much seemed to catch her attention about looking at it, so she decided to put one on top of the other.
Sunny thought to herself, looking at the rest of the blocks that had been strewn about. As much as she felt indifferent, she wanted to do something with them, so she took as many as she could and brought them closer to her and the diminutive tower that she had built. Following that, Sunny decided to arrange the blocks by colour, then by what was actually on it. All the while, as she got lost in her little organization, she was completely oblivious to everything around her.
"There we go. All colour-coded, letter-coded, number-coded, even picture coded too." Sunny smiled, looking at her little accomplishment. But that quickly seemed to fade as she took another look at the blocks, this time, with her head tilted slightly to the side. "Now what do I do with them?" As that thought wracked her brain, she felt a hand plant itself on her shoulder. A small one, roughly around her size. As she turned around, she noticed Sour Sweet was right there, the bear still clutched in her other hand. "Oh, Sour. What is it?"
"Can I... uh... join you?" She asked, her eyes meekly scanning the ground before they locked with Sunny's again. "If that's not too much trouble, I mean?"
"Join me?" Sunny's eyes widened, caught off guard more by the way she said it more than anything. "I don't see why not, Sour. But why do you wanna join me with these blocks?"
"Well, I've been spending some time with Mr Cuddlebutt and I've had some time to think. Namely, to think about what I was like before all of this magic stuff happened," Sour said, holding the bear up in front of Sunny's eyes. "And... well, I wanna start over. I want to have a new life. One where I'm not an angry, hormonal mess of a teenager who gets aggressive at the drop of a hat. I just... I want to have a happy life."
"A happy life?" Sunny parroted. "So that's why you looked so complacent earlier... You're... okay with being a baby again?"
Sour Sweet just nodded, words failing to come out of her words as she just tightened her grip on Mr Cuddlebutt. She then watched as Sunny took her hand and invited her to her side. She just gave Sunny a smile as she crawled over and sat down with her.
"Thank you, Sunny," said Sour as she took the first block that she could find and put it by the others, forming what looked like a small square.
"No problem, Sour. I'm glad to know that you're enjoying this." Sunny Flare took another block and placed it at the top of the tower that jutted from the square they were forming. She still didn't know what to make of the situation herself, but at least she could find solace in the fact that some of her friends were okay with being infants again.
Sour Sweet, lulled into the block-related playtime did her best to grow the square more and more, planting blocks around the perimeter until she thought it was big enough. Then, once all that was said and done, she took the next set and put it on top of some of the others, forming the start of what looked like a pyramid of blocks. All the while, her new teddy bear, Mr Cuddlebutt never fell from her hands. She had only just been like this for a few moments, but as long as she was with him, everything seemed to be that little bit more enjoyable for her.
Now that the others were busy, Indigo Zap was all alone, sat in the middle of the room, still upset with her current scenario. She just watched as the others did what they were doing. She saw Sunny and Sour continue constructing their blocky pyramid, then watched as Lemon played in the pen with Sugarcoat being her bemused audience member.
"Stupid magic..." Indigo huffed to herself. "Why'd it have to do this to us? We were much happier before it came to town." As soon as she stopped saying that, Sunset came over and sat down with her.
"You know, Indigo, there's a saying that you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. This isn't all a bad thing, you know." Sunset said, her hand laid on Indigo's shoulders. "In fact, you should consider yourself very lucky. You get to get out of Crystal Prep for a while, you get to do whatever you want in this room without anyone judging you."
"It's still pretty degrading..." Indigo pouted again, turning her head from Sunset's. "It was a great honour to be one of Crystal Prep's best athletes. I was always leading the team to big things, no matter the occasion; not just the Friendship Games. And now, well... how am I supposed to be an athlete when I'm so tiny?!" She threw her arms out, fighting back some tears.
"Indigo... All that I can say is that I'm sorry. I truly, truly am. But there's nothing that we can do to fix this at the moment." Sunset picked Indigo up, saw that her tears were beginning to grow, and pulled her into a big hug, patting her back. "I know that you hate this, but please don't take it out on me or make life a misery for any of us."
"Sunset, it's more than just that why I'm so angry and upset about this. I had a LIFE! I had FRIENDS! I had a FAMILY! And now they're all... all gone!" Indigo then started to cry her eyes out, bawling like the baby that she was as Sunset just took her to her chest, letting her be the sponge that would soak up all of Indigo's tears.
"It's alright, Indigo. Just let it all out. That's why I'm here..." Sunset continued to pat Indigo's back, the tears she let out completely drenching her shirt in the process. At least it was better than having to deal with another messed diaper.
Indigo continued to cry until she lost all of the strength in her body. Usually, she'd be committed to whatever she was getting riled up about, but in the case with Sunset, it only took her around fifteen to twenty minutes before she fell asleep, completely drained by all of her sorrow.
"There we go, Indigo." Sunset stood back up, carrying Indigo towards the nearest crib. She laid her down, tucked her in, and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "Have a nice nap, girl. You'll feel much better after it, trust me." She stood by Indigo's side, watching as she entered a deeper state of slumber, letting out small snores as she drifted further and further into the realm of dreamland.
Don't worry about this, girls. I'll find a way to make this right someday, but until that day comes, I just hope that I can do my best for all of you. Sunset looked around at the rest of her 'kids'. Sour and Sunny had finished their pyramid of building blocks at long last, while Lemon Zest had curled up into a ball with the blanket over her. Sugarcoat just sat there, waiting for someone to free her from her prison. As much as it is a daunting experience to be turned into babies again right as you were about to graduate or move to your next years, I want you all to know that what I'm doing makes you comfortable with it all. Trust me on that...
“Good night, everyone.” Sunset stood by the door and had her hand over the light switch. From the outside, the sun had long set and the dusk skies were beginning to set in
“Night, Sunset.” The five Shadowbolts called from their cribs, all tucked under the covers.
“Try to get a good night’s sleep, you five.” She flicked the lights off. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow, so no trying to wake up while I’m gone.”
“Not like we can do anything like this.” Sugarcoat flopped back onto her pillow, gazing up at the ceiling. “See you in the morning.”
Sunset closed the door and walked off, plunging the Shadowbolts into darkness. Sunny and Lemon fell asleep first, with Sugarcoat following suit. Indigo and Sour Sweet stayed awake, however, not comfortable with the idea that they were babies. But that wasn’t the only thing that kept one of them awake.
“Indigo?” Sour whispered in the darkness. “You still awake?”
“How could I not be?” Indigo pouted. “I don’t wanna sleep this early! I’m not a baby!”
“But we have to go to sleep, Indigo. We can’t go anywhere or do anything with these cribs.” Sour reached over to the bars and rubbed them gently. “So tall, so close together, so secure…” Suddenly, a frown washed over her face. “And we’re just sitting ducks in here.”
“Huh?” Indigo turned to Sour. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sc-sc-scared of the dark…” Sour shivered. “I mean, I could do it when I was a teenager, but now that we’re babies, it’s much easier for us to get hurt by something nasty…” She looked out at the lightless room. “There could be monsters in here, waiting to gobble up little babies like us. I don’t wanna get eaten, Indigo.”
“Wait. You’re seriously afraid of the dark, girl?” Indigo smirked,
“I can’t help it, Indigo!” Sour shouted in her tinny baby voice. “We’ve got nothing to defend ourselves with and there are all kinds of scary things in the dark!”
“You’re probably just a bit paranoid.” Indigo flopped back onto her pillow. “Look, if anything does get us, then Sunset’s just a scream away. She’ll save you.”
“B-b-but… you must be scared too.” Sour’s eyes shot all over the place. “Not knowing where anything or anyone is. With things hiding behind our toys and building blocks, it’s far too dangerous to sleep. So terrifying…” Sour put her thumb in her mouth and nervously sucked on it as she felt the air around her grow colder.
“Sour, I grew out of being afraid of the dark when I was five years old.” Indigo rolled over onto her side. “And besides, just look at the others. They’re asleep, aren’t they?”
“Indigo, first of all, you’re now five months old.” Sour cocked a brow. “And second of all, the others aren’t afraid of the dark like I am.”
“Just think of some baby things or whatever and you should sleep fine.” Indigo buried her face into the pillow. “Like, imagine yourself playing with those toys or sucking on something. Anything that takes your mind off of the darkness is a good thing. In fact, don’t you have a pacifier or a teddy bear with you?”
“I do.” Sour reached to her feet and picked them both up. “Your point is?”
“Just suck on the pacifier, hug the bear, and shut your eyes.” Indigo pulled her face up. “Besides, it’s not like it’s gonna get any darker, right?”
“I… guess?” Sour just tilted her head.
“Sour. You’re a baby, but that doesn’t mean you’re a scaredy-baby.” Indigo just laid her head on the edge of the pillow. “Trust me. Once you get into this kinda cutesy-wutesy cuddles and sucking thing babies do, then you’ll have no problems sleeping.” She tried to stay awake, but the comfiness of the crib was finally starting to overwhelm her. “Just—“ she let out a big yawn “—do what I said.” And she finally fell asleep.
“Al...right.” Sour, still shivering from head to toe, wriggled into her covers and laid down ever so slowly. She put the pacifier in her mouth and began to hug the teddy bear. As she suckled on the pacifier and closed her eyes, her grip on the toy got ever so tighter. “Is it good to be a scaredy-baby?” she asked herself in her sleep, still haunted by the blackened room.
Just as Sour was sinking deeper into her sleep, a loud crashing noise came from downstairs and she jumped back awake, clutching her covers tightly. She was shivering from her head to her tiny toes as she felt hopelessness creep into her head. She did the only thing she could do at the time: Cry like the baby she was, calling for her parent’s help.
Tears formed in her eyes as her lips started to quiver. She whimpered, moaned, and eventually bawled loudly. “SUNSET! I’M SCARED!” she screamed through her tears.
Footsteps charged towards the room as the other Shadowbolts were shaken from their slumbers. Sunset opened the door and came over to Sour, scooping her up straight away.
“Sour? What’s wrong, sweetie?” Sunset asked, tightly hugging her close.
“I...I’m scared of the dark!” Sour whimpered and sobbed, feeling safer already in Sunset’s embrace. “Monsters everywhere and we’re so small… so tiny… and so helpless!”
“I’m sorry.” Sunset pulled Sour into a tight hug. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Sour…” She patted her on the back. “Say, would you like to sleep with me tonight?”
“Y-yes…” Sour whimpered. She knew that it was embarrassing enough that the other Shadowbolts knew of her phobias and that they had been magnified by her infantile body. But at this point, she needed something to make her feel more comfortable.
“C’mon then.” Sunset took Sour by the hands and carried her off out of the room. Before she left, she turned back to the other Shadowbolts. “Anyone else afraid of the dark?” She was met with four heads shaking side-to-side. “Alright. Sleep tight, everyone.” She turned the light back off and shut the door behind her, taking Sour away.
“I’m sorry, Sunset.” Sour Sweet cooed softly. “I wanted to prove that I was still a big girl like Indigo, but it turns out that I’m a baby both ways now.”
“What’re you apologizing for, Sour?” Sunset smiled. “It’s not your fault. It’s perfectly fine to be scared of the dark at times.”
“I know, I know!” Sour gently tugged at Sunset’s pyjamas. “But I’m supposed to be this girl that’s not scared of anything, then here comes the darkness to ruin that streak. I feel like I’m even less of a big girl now…”
“Sour Sweet. Who you were before this magic incident isn’t gone.” Sunset sat Sour down on her bed. “She’s just tucked away. Sleeping. Right here…” She gently tapped on Sour’s forehead. “This magic’s not a curse. It’s a blessing.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Sour asked, tilting her head.
“You and the others are very lucky.” Sunset smiled and laid down on the bed. “It’s not everyone who gets to be a baby twice in their whole lives. Usually, they just get the one shot and that’s that.” She pulled Sour in and tousled her hair.
“B-B-But we’re—” She tried saying more, but Sunset just put a finger to Sour’s mouth and made a shushing noise.
“You should save that energy for tomorrow.” Sunset curled up under the covers and pulled Sour close into her. “And again, you’re lucky. Babies don’t have to do anything. You can just play, build, and be happy for as long as you want without any repercussions. It’s like a massive vacation.”
“You think so?” Sour asked.
“I know so.” Sunset tucked Sour under and patted her on the head. “Sleep tight, Sour.” And she flicked off the lamp beside her bed.
Sour felt the darkness creeping up all around her once again, but this time, she had Sunset Shimmer by her side. She looked towards her and then towards the window, gazing at all of the twinkling stars in the night sky. She always had wondered what they really were, always illuminating the cosmos without fail. But that was a question for another day. With Sunset’s hand around her body, Sour now felt a sense of peace. Her eyes began to close and she easily found herself in the realm of dreams.
The next morning, Sunset was carrying all five of the Shadowbolts in an oversized carrier. Due in part to the car didn't have any seats that'd fit them, or if she could even be trusted to drive them around at all given her reckless habits. She didn't mind, though. She'd always walked to Canterlot High on days like this. Today, she had to make a quick stop, though, as she couldn't bring her little 'friends' to school with her. That, and trying to carry them around all day would've made her ripped by the end of it.
The Shadowbolts, on the other hand, found it rather cramped to be so close to each other. Tiny hands and feet were being unintentionally pushed into faces and other parts of their bodies, they couldn't find a single comfortable spot, and all in all, the only thing that was keeping them from throwing a fit of tears was their higher intelligence.
"So, why do we even need to go to daycare, Sunset?" Lemon Zest asked, popping her head out of the pile of babies. "Can't we just stay home and play in our room more?"
"As much as I'd wish that was possible, I don't trust you to behave yourselves for that long. That, and you'd need to eat and drink too," Sunset replied. "If only we all didn't have to go to Canterlot High together, then I could've gotten one of my friends to look after you instead."
"Y'know, I was willing to put up with all of the other stuff attributed to this whole baby nonsense, but I have to draw the line here." Sugarcoat folded her arms across her chest. "I'll have you know that I was to be a valedictorian in all of CPA's classes, become a professor at university and live a happy life as one of the one percent in the world of knowledge. And now, you're stuffing me in a room full of babies with no escape until you come back."
"Oh, you'll be fine, Sugarcoat." Sunset just blew a raspberry, casually rolling her eyes. "Who knows? You might just make some more friends there. You kinda need them, given how much you've been isolating yourself."
"Just for the record, I can keep Mr Cuddlebutt, right?" Sour Sweet asked. The teddy bear was still in her hands, yet buried underneath the others in the carrier.
"Yes, Sour. Yes, you can. But just be sure you don't leave it behind." Sunset nodded.
It took a few more blocks for Sunset to slog through, but in the end, she finally arrived at a small little building that looked akin to a cottage, with a brightly coloured sign that read "LittleMiracles." Hauling her carrier through the door, she walked up towards the reception, where a lady with bright blue hair and lime-green skin was casually typing away at a computer. As soon as she saw Sunset with the carrier, she quickly turned from her work to face her.
"Hello, there, miss." She said, with her hands clasped into each other. "Welcome to Little Miracles. A special day-care where we believe that every single child is one in a billion. Walk-ins and their babies are always welcome. And I can tell that from what you're carrying, you're looking to leave them here for the day, right?"
"Y-yeah." Sunset put the carrier down on the desk, freeing her hands from the titanic weight that had previously shackled her down. "See, I've gotta get to school and my parents are out of town. Do you think you can hang on to these five while I'm gone?"
"Well, of course." The lady gave Sunset a nod, before reaching back over to her computer. "Have your parents decided on names for these little ones?"
"Yeah. Their names are Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, and Lemon Zest." Sunset pointed each of the five baby Shadowbolts out for the woman, who wasted no time in pounding the names into the computer, cataloguing them for future reference.
"Wonderful. Now, if you could just follow me, I can show you all to the playroom where we'll take the utmost of care with Lemon, Sour, Sunny, Indigo, and Sugar." The woman stood up from her chair, came around the side and gestured towards Sunset, prompting her to pick the carrier up, lifting the baby Shadowbolts off down the corridors.
It didn't take long for them to make it to the room, which couldn't have stuck out more if it had tried. With bright paint splattered all over the door, a small, blurred window where they could just faintly see inside but not enough to make out overly specific details, and a handle that was only high enough for adults to reach. The sign that said "Playroom" might as well not have been there at all, yet still was as the point hadn't been hammered home enough.
The woman opened the door and both of them walked inside to a colourful sight. A brightly-lit room with painted walls depicting cartoons and other infantile stuff surrounded them. The floor was padded and squished beneath their feet, and the other babies and the toys that held their attention were already in there. A head count revealed at least fifteen other babies, with three other women watching over them, tending to their needs, making sure that they were happy. A glass door lead to a fenced garden, with grass so small that it almost wasn't visible and beams of wood so tall that no-one else could see inside.
"Whoa..." Sunset almost couldn't believe how much space there was for the Shadowbolts. "This is perfect." And without another word, she put the carrier down on the nearby table behind her and unloaded the Shadowbolts, with the help of the receptionist.
"Now, are there any specific times that you want to come in to collect the babies, or do you want to walk-in again to pick them back up? We don't mind." The receptionist asked, as Sunset took Indigo out last and put her down with the other Shadowbolts.
"Yeah. School should be done for me at around three, so I think that 3:15 would be a good time to pick them up," said Sunset. "Also, before I go, I wanna make some things clear. The teddy bear that Sour Sweet's holding? That's her bear from home. She'll go ballistic if she loses it here, so do you think you could let everyone else know that it's hers to keep?"
"Oh, of course. We'll make sure that Sour keeps it close to her at all times," one of the assistants; namely, one with bright-green jagged hair and skin of a similar shade spoke up. "Leave it to me, Warm Embrace. And my sisters, Loving Embrace and Sweet Embrace."She pointed out the other two workers. Loving Embrace had cool red hair and a golden skin-tone, while Sweet Embrace had pink hair and turquoise skin.
"Alright. Also, Sugarcoat and Indigo Zap might be a bit fussier than usual, but that's fine. They'll eventually succumb if you stay patient with them. Aside from that, I think that we're good to go." Sunset walked over to her five kids and squatted down. "Now, I've gotta go, you five. Behave yourselves and try to have fun. Heaven knows that you need it after all you've been through." She gave each and every one of them a kiss before they could get a word in, then started to walk off towards the door, waving them off as she left with the receptionist.
As the door closed, a faint locking sound could be heard over all of the other commotions within the room. The Shadowbolts were all alone, trapped within baby bodies, with this day-care as their cage until Sunset came back from CHS to retrieve them from it. Naturally, they huddled up together, unsure of what would happen as they eyed up the room, examining all of the other babies and their escapades within. Most, if not all of them were lost in their games, playing around with their toys and blocks, while uttering absolute gibberish.
"Well, now what do we do?" Sunny Flare asked, breaking up the silence between the group.
"Since we can't get out, and there's no point in sitting around, we might as well try and survive until three," said Sugarcoat. "But I want to make it perfectly clear that I don't enjoy this. Not one bit."
"You're not enjoying it because you don't want to enjoy it. Please, Sugarcoat, just learn to live like a baby a little." Lemon toddled off to a group of three babies with their backs turned. One of them had a large ball of gold hair with yellow stripes while wearing a lavender shirt and booties, the second had a purple and green pigtail style haircut with a bright green shirt and booties, while the third one had blue hair and dark blue stripes, while dressed in a pink shirt and booties. All of them had giant bows that held their hairs up and they were seemingly lost in their playtime. That was until Lemon Zest came over and tapped on their shoulders.
The three babies turned around to face Lemon and the group, revealing the pacifiers in their mouths and the strings that draped from them around their little necks. All three of them had a red, crystal design on the back that glowed in the room's lighting. Curious, they turned away from whatever they were doing and moved towards Lemon and her friends, prompting her to move back. The pacifiers never left their mouths the whole time as they cornered the five baby Shadowbolts, the rhythmic suckles almost like some kind of war chant in the language of infant.
When they were within touching distance of the Shadowbolts, they stopped, still with the pacifiers in their mouths. They tilted their heads, examined their five new 'playmates' and crawled around them, looking at them from top to bottom. It went on for what seemed like an eternity when at last, the gold-haired one reached for the pacifier and took it out, letting it hang from the string around her neck.
"Who are you?" It spoke, not in garbled baby talk, not as if she couldn't properly pronounce the words, but as if she was all grown up like them. This caused the Shadowbolts to jump in shock, nearly causing them to topple onto their backsides. "Are you new here?"
"You... you can talk?!" Indigo Zap replied, pushing herself back up into a seated posture. "B-but how?!"
"Well, duh. We can talk," the second baby, the one with the purple and green hair spoke next. "Did you think that we were that dumb?"
"N-no, we just thought that..." Sugarcoat waved her hands in front of her face, trying not to earn the ire of these three new faces. She took a deep breath, pushed her arms out and said, "You know what, never mind? Who are you?"
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I think these girls are cute," said the third baby, finally freeing her mouth from the rubber bulb that had once closed it tight. "You don't normally meet other babies who were hit by some rogue magic."
"Rogue magic?!" The five Shadowbolts repeated, this time, causing all of them to tumbled onto their backs, arms and legs splayed out as if they had been run over by a truck.
"Looks like we're not the only ones then. How interesting..." The first one said, pulling up Indigo and Sugarcoat with her hands, prompting the other two to move in and lift the others back up. "Who knew that after that little stunt we pulled, magic would still find its' way back to us?"
"So... you're magical babies as well?" Lemon Zest asked as she was hoisted back up.
"Mmhmm. I'm Sonata Dusk. Nice to meet you, new friend!" She threw her arms around Lemon Zest, hugging her as tight as could be.
"I'm... Lemon Zest." She said, the hug compacting her lungs and making her gasp for breath in between words, but she still pulled through. "Nice to... meet you too."
"I guess if we're introducing ourselves, then my name is Sugarcoat." She said, pointing to her chest. "And forgive me if I'm not as overenthusiastic as the rest of you, but magic has pretty much ruined my chances at university."
"Eh, we all get messed up by magic sometimes. I'm in the same boat as you," said the baby with purple and green hair. "Name's Aria Blaze. Good to know there's not just one punching bag for magic to pick on around here."
"And I'm Adagio Dazzle," said the golden-haired baby as she looked at the rest of the group.
"Name's Indigo Zap," Indigo said.
"Sour Sweet," Sour added.
"Sunny Flare," Sunny finished.
"Anyways, now that the intros are out of the way, let me give you the lowdown on what's happened to you," Adagio said, putting her hand on the crystalline pacifier once again. "The five of you, much like us, were struck with Equestrian Magic. And for whatever circumstance, it turned you all into babies, yet allowed you to keep being who you were. The only other people who can understand you are other talking babies, I.E. us. You try talking to anyone else, be it one of the grown-ups here or another baby, they're not gonna understand a word you're saying."
"For example." Aria took in some air, turned to Sweet Embrace and said, "Do you know what time it is, Sweet?"
"Aww... Such a sweet little girl you are, Aria..." Sweet just came over, tousled her hair and gave her a tender kiss. "Do you want to play a game with your new friends?"
"See? What'd I tell ya? Everything just flew over her head like that." Aria used her hands and made a whistling noise as she let one finger shoot over her hand. "No use trying to ask them to let you out. All you can do to get any point across is if you point out whatever you need."
"Like this!" Sonata toddled over towards Warm Embrace and said, "Can you get me Mr Stuffington?" And pointed to a bear so as to show to the others what Aria meant. Sure enough, her request was granted, as the bear was given to her, which she promptly cuddled with.
"So, like it or lump it, you're stuck. You can't do anything for yourself unless you point out what it is that you want. The only ones who can really understand you are yourselves and us. If anything, it's both liberating and humiliating at the same time, depending on how you want to look at it." Adagio nodded.
"But wait, what about Sunset Shimmer?" Indigo Zap interjected, lifting a finger of her own in response. "Sunset and her friends can understand us just fine. You just said that no-one else could. So... how is that even possible?"
"Sunset? I... prefer not to talk about her or the Rainbooms after what they did to us." Adagio blushed, looking away from the five girls. "Same goes for Aria and Sonata. We want to forget about the past. Forget about her."
"Every time I see that girl, all I see is hate and suffering," said Aria as she reached for her pacifier as well. "You would too if you were in our boots."
"Well, maybe not literally, but you get the idea." Sonata showed her booties off to the group. "Besides, the less you think about anything, the better it is when you're this small, cuddly, and free from everything. Though I do wish I could at least try tacos again. Just once..." Her hand drifted off, reaching for the pacifier around her neck too.
"In fact, girls, let's just change the subject before we start getting into a contest about whether or not Sunset Shimmer is a good person or not. Why don't we give you the grand tour instead?" Adagio asked, making a move with her hand that prompted Lemon, Sour and Sunny to follow them. "Come along now, everyone. No point in sitting around filling your diapers when there's so much to see."
Indigo and Sugarcoat hesitated for a while, but followed regardless, letting everything sink in. These three new babies, their opinions on Sunset, the fact that they knew about and were afflicted by magic as well made them worth their time. If anything, it would prove to be the one interesting thing about this whole day-care thing; and one that warranted a lot more observation.
"Now, the first thing that you should know about being a baby, girls, is that you don't ever have to do anything to get everything you could ever want," said Adagio, leading the group across the day-care room. "Before that magic hit us, we used to have to work for what we wanted, but now, when we're this small and—dare I say—cute, people fall head-over-heels for us and cater to our every whim. No singing needed, no fingers lifted, everything is ripe for the taking here."
"If you have any doubts about being a baby, don't. There's nothing to have doubts about," Aria spoke up next. "Don't ever think about growing up, because that's only gonna make your life a misery. If you try so hard to think about something that's gone, you're just gonna be crying all the time."
"I know that it can be a bit of a shock to the system having to change, but it's definitely a blessing. I mean, think about it, who in their life ever gets to be a baby twice?" Sonata asked, looking at the Shadowbolts. "Nobody! So we have to take this chance, run with it, be happy with what's happened and forget about the future."
"You three seem like you're pretty biased towards this whole baby thing..." Sugarcoat rolled her eyes at the Dazzlings. "Always acting like everything's so happy-go-lucky, forgetting about the consequences that this magic had on you, the fact that you have to grow up all over again."
"Well, that's because being grown-up sucks." Aria huffed, gruffly lowering her brows. "You have to do everything for yourself. No-one bothers to give you a helping hand in anything. And in this world, you amount to nothing when you grow up. At least, we didn't amount to anything when we grew up."
"That's why we're happy that this magic stuff changed us." Sonata grinned from ear to ear. "Now that we're babies, we get all of the love and adoration we ever wanted. That's why we don't ever want to grow up. We want to stay babies forever because we know that the grown-up world is a nasty place and that being young means being happy."
"So... if I may ask, what exactly caused you to think this way?" Sunny Flare asked, tipping a hand outward.
"I don't want to tell you. It involves Sunset and her friends and that's all you need to know." Adagio turned back, a small fire lit in both of her eyes. "Forget about them. Move on and be happy without them. You don't need them in your lives."
"See, that's the thing. They got us into this mess, so they're gonna get us out of it too." Indigo crossed her arms. "Look, whatever gripes you might have had with Sunset and her friends before, all I can say is that we're sorry. But don't try and talk smack about the girl who's trying to fix us."
"Why would you want her to fix you?" Adagio asked, her hands stretching around the day-care. "You're free in this room. You can play with anything that you want, with anyone you want. You don't have to worry about the world. The world doesn't have to worry about you. Just enjoy babyhood once again. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, girls. Why would you ever want to give it up?"
The Shadowbolts tried to find a response to Adagio's question, but nothing came to mind. Even with all that they knew about their past lives, they could tell that there was going to be no easy way to restore it. They were to be chained within these bodies until they grew back up naturally, or if a miracle was pulled.
"Trust us, girls. You'll feel so much happier when you rediscover the innocence and carefree nature of being a baby..." Adagio crawled off again, resuming the tour of the day-care. "Now, then. Let's talk about exactly what kind of facilities this place has to offer, shall we?"
"First, I think we should talk about the needs that'll be catered for while we're on the subject." She sat down and looked around the room. "At Little Miracles, you don't ever have to worry about the bad parts of being young. Messed diapers? Instantly changed upon request. Hungry or thirsty? There's designated feeding times unless it's urgent. No matter what you're struggling with, the staff here are gonna make sure that everything's alright." As soon as she finished saying it, she unloaded a large poop into her diaper. "Oh, hang on a second. Can I get some help here?" She called out to the room, and Sweet Embrace hastily scooped her off towards the changing tables.
"In terms of what you can do, every single toy in the room is yours. No-one here owns anything special, so there's no need to fight over things," said Aria, taking over for Adagio. "As for your imagination, just go wild with it. That's what it's there for, right?"
"Yep! Imagination is super-duper fun!" Lemon Zest nodded vigorously. "You can be whatever you wanna be, do whatever you wanna do, it's a total blast if you let yourself go like that."
"See? She gets it." Aria came over to Lemon Zest and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "The rest of you should think more like Lemon."
"The day I think like Lemon Zest is the day that I admit that Crystal Prep was a bad school to go to." Sugarcoat cocked a brow, tilted her head, and glared. "We're not really that close on the outside. More like... acquaintances."
"Eh, suit yourself." Aria shrugged. As she did, Adagio was returned to the group, clean diaper and all.
"Sorry about that. Just one of the habits of infancy." Adagio patted her new diaper, the thickness evident from how much it crinkled at her touch. "That just comes with the whole package, I'm afraid."
"We're used to it by this point." Sonata pointed out, as she too let loose a load into her diaper. "Oop! There goes another one. I need a change too!" She waved to Warm Embrace, and she was carted off to the table thanks to the caretaker's hands.
"Next, I think it's clear to talk about the timetables," said Adagio as she continued to lead the group around the room. "While you're free to do what you want, there's designated timeslots for feeding, baths, and naptime. You don't need to worry too much about those. Just play along with them." She eventually led the group towards the garden door, laying a hand on the glass. "You can go outside any time you like, but you'll be carried in when it's time for any of the stuff on the timetable."
"By the way, naptime is pretty strict, so if you're still awake, just try and do nothing. You don't wanna end up getting spanked like Sonata did when she tried to stay awake last week..." Aria murmured.
"I heard that!" Sonata called from afar, the changing just about done as she was lifted back up and over towards the Shadowbolts.
"By now, you should've seen some of the landmarks on our little trip around the room," said Adagio. "The Plush Shape Fort where you can climb to your hearts' content; the Ball Corner where you can roll, bounce, all kinds of ball-related activities; Cuddle Alcove, where there are plushies coming out of the wazoo. One of Sonata's favourite spots, mind you."
"It's where I met Mr Stuffington. It's the perfect place to have a little plushie party if you know what I mean..." Sonata nudged Sour's shoulder playfully, taking notice of Mr Cuddlebutt in her tiny hands.
"There's also the Toybox, a needed addition in any room like this. Any toys that you don't like the look of, well there's sure to be something in here that catches your eye." Adagio held a hand out towards a large blue chest with a golden lining. "Who knows? You might find something in there that you love with all of your heart and never want to be without..."
"Then there's the last little place that we have on our current part of the tour. Nothing really special about it whatsoever, but it's a quiet place where you can read some books or do some things with paper and junk." Aria just jabbed towards a small table and bookshelf, wherein only one baby was seated, idyllically dotting a paper with a crayon. "And that, ladies, is the end of that part of the tour. There's more to see, but we'll get to that in time."
"For now, we're the Dazzlings; Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Welcome to Little Miracles, girls." Adagio said as she brought her sisters to her side, wrapping her arms around them.
Lemon Zest could only give them a round of applause for a tour like that, with the other Shadowbolts just sitting there, giving her looks. When she saw their response, she just lifted her shoulders and said, "What?"
"Now what do we do?" Sunny Flare asked her peers. The tour had come and gone so quickly that she hadn't really given herself some time to decide where she'd go and what to do with herself.
"I call dibs on the Cuddle Alcove!" Lemon dashed over towards the bunch of plushies.
"H-hey! Wait up!" Sour Sweet reached after Lemon, then gave chase. Not so as to catch her friend, but rather to surround herself with the other stuffed animals. Heaven only knew that Mr Cuddlebutt could use a friend or two.
"Well, I'd say that we've done our job pretty well, haven't we?" Adagio said to the three remaining Shadowbolts. "If you girls need any more questions asked, feel free to let us know. But for now, I think it's time to just let yourselves run wild." She slipped the pacifier back into her mouth, as did Aria and Sonata with theirs, before the three of them crawled off together, leaving Sunny, Sugar, and Indigo alone.
Sunny didn't even say anything and went off to follow Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, leaving Indigo and Sugar behind. The two remaining Shadowbolts looked at each other for a while, before they chose to pursue Sunny and the Dazzlings.
As time passed, the Shadowbolts found themselves going around the room, jumping from one area to the next. While Lemon and Sour spent most of their time cuddling the plushies, they soon found themselves at a scattering of building blocks, while Sunny spent her time at the nearby drawing table. With Indigo and Sugarcoat being the only ones left over, all they could really do was keep with the Dazzlings, seeing as how they were the only other ones that they could understand. And, if anything, they needed something to do that would take their minds off of the whole thing.
"So, how long have you been babies for?" Sugarcoat asked, clambering up the plush shapes to where Adagio was sitting.
"I'd say maybe a month now. Two months, even?" Adagio levelled her hand, tilting it like a seesaw. "Honestly, I stopped counting once we discovered how wonderful the sensation is."
"And you've not wanted to grow up since?" Sugarcoat cocked a brow, planting her hands down. "You've always wanted to stay a baby, from the moment you were struck by magic?"
"Well, not entirely. We did want to grow back up the day we were hit," said Aria, poking her head out from underneath the fort. "But then we found this place, Little Miracles, and we've never been happier to be young again."
"You'd be too, given how we've had to live for ourselves as grown-ups. After the Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High, we were pretty much up a creek without a paddle. Or a boat for that matter." Sonata curled some hair around her fingers. "We couldn't do anything, we couldn't afford anything, things were just about to come apart at the seams for us."
"Wait, you were living ALONE?!" Indigo Zap's eyes bulged so much that they almost popped out of her sockets. "You mean you don't have any parents or somebody to take care of you?"
"Mmhmm." Sonata nodded in response, hands clasping together. "Now that we're babies, we're the complete opposite of down-and-out, run-down singers with a failed music career. And, since there's no-one to come and collect us, we live here full time!"
"It's so cozy, girls. You've no idea." Adagio tipped her hand towards Indigo and Sour. "When you're alone like us, playtime is all the time. There's no such thing as a break. You'll never be bored or wanting something to do. Never overthinking things or worrying about yourself or others. When you're a baby in a place like this, no owners means no heartbreak."
"And it's really reassuring to know that you never need to go anywhere either. We can stay in this nursery 24/7. No ifs, ands, or buts," said Sonata.
"So what you're saying is that, the longer you stay as a baby, the less you have to feel worried about?" Sugarcoat lifted her finger.
"Yes. The magic is a bit weird at first, but all this time passed and now we're perfectly fine with it. You'll be the same before long if everything plays out the same way." Adagio stuffed her pacifier back in her mouth and resumed suckling it, letting herself drift further and further into her own little landscape as she climbed off of the fort and went away.
"We'll be... the same?" Indigo fretted, looking into Sugarcoat's eyes with a look of unease on her face. She could tell from Sugar's own reactions that she felt the same way. "We'll be happy to be babies?"
But just as the two begun to think about that, they saw that every baby in the room was being picked up and carried away by the three caretakers and towards a row of high chairs. One after another, the little ones were plucked from their playtimes and planted on the seats. In the kerfuffle, Indigo and Sugarcoat were carried as well, along with the Dazzlings. And within no time at all, everyone was seated on the chairs, subjects to what they could only presume as feeding time.
An opened jar of applesauce, followed with similar jars confirmed the Shadowbolts' theory. They were going to be fed whether they liked it or not and they couldn't do a thing about it. The first spoon was filled with food and poised at Lemon Zest's mouth. She opened wide and swallowed the mush, letting it trickle down her throat and land in her gullet, letting out a coo of affection afterwards.
"Mmm... Yummy!" She said, letting the aftertaste kick in. "Girls, you've gotta try this stuff. It's amazing!"
"For you, maybe. But f—" Indigo was cut off by another spoon burying its' way into her mouth. The food went down her throat as usual, but she ended up coughing in response instead.
"Oh, just go with it, Indigo. Stop complaining." Sour opened her mouth freely and plucked another morsel of food from the spoon hanging around her mouth. "The less that you fret, the easier it'll get."
"You're just saying that because of that bear you're always holding onto..." Sugarcoat muttered before a spoonful slipped its' way into her mouth so smoothly that she didn't even notice.
"Hey. Mr Cuddlebutt's one of the only things that's keeping me from going utterly crazy here. Don't shoot him down, Sugarcoat." Sour snapped her head towards Sugar, letting a fiery glare burn into her skull.
"Calm down, you two. No need for any tempers to flare here..." Warm Embrace reached over to both Sour and Sugarcoat, gently tapping on their shoulders.
As soon as the two Shadowbolts were warned by Warm, whatever it was that had been on their mind quickly dissolved into nothingness. Once the conflict had been resolved, she went back to tend to the others, letting the cycle of feeding resume once more.
After that, the Shadowbolts didn't have a lot to say. One, because of how draining the experience was for them without Sunset and her friends; Two, due to the fact that all of the other babies outside of themselves and the Dazzlings behaved as such; And three, because the food was beginning to capture all of their attention. The flavours of applesauce, bananas, kiwi, all of it came together one after the other, creating a mystifying feel that didn't happen too often in their lives. And to think. All of that from mushed up, packaged baby food that they would never have tasted otherwise.
Eventually, the spoons stopped coming, and the jars were sealed back up by Warm and Sweet, Loving came out from the kitchen with one of the first of many bottles. Filled with warm, white milk and sealed by a plastic top with a rubber bulb, this would be the drink that would clean the palettes of everyone involved.
The first to be blessed with the taste of said bottle was Adagio, who lifted her arms and waved them around, quickly earning a lift out of her chair from Loving, who cradled her with one arm and fed her with the other. For her, it was the same old taste, but a classic regardless. She needed no prompting, no bargaining, she just drank. Eyes shut, a fuzzy feeling filled her body as she quickly emptied the bottle before everyone's eyes.
All the while, the Shadowbolts were witnesses to Adagio's pleasures, still thinking about all of the words that she had been saying along with her sisters. Though the five former Crystal Prep girls had no intention of giving up Sunset for some pursuit of happiness, they were beginning to think more and more about what they were saying in terms of complacency and acceptance of their new infantile states. Just as it seemed that they were beginning to dive deeper into their realms of thought, Sugarcoat and Lemon were picked up next and fed all the same by Warm and Sweet.
Sugarcoat, despite much resistance of letting herself succumb couldn't pull herself away from the drink and found no choice but to consume it. When the first few drops went down, she found herself unable to stop, as if she had lost all control of her mouth as more and more suckles drained the bottle dry. She looked over to Lemon, who had already finished ahead of time and just had herself burped by the staff, with Sugar quickly following suit.
The process was then repeated for Sour, Indigo, and Sunny. Indigo, much like Sugarcoat, couldn't hold her nerve forever and caved in, while Sour and Sunny drank merely out of curiosity more than anything. All of them came to the unanimous decision however, that the taste of warm milk was akin to that of something from heaven. They were burped as well, then set back down on the padded floor with Adagio and the other two Shadowbolts, with Aria and Sonata not too far behind them.
"So, how was your first meal here, girls?" Adagio asked, looking in the directions of the Shadowbolts.
"It was amazing!" Lemon swung her arms into the air. "For real, I don't think I've ever had food that good in a long time! And that's saying something, considering Crystal Prep's food was golden from start to finish."
"Hate to admit it, but for once, Lemon's right." Indigo Zap pointed to Lemon, a faint grin on her face. "It came as a shock for sure, but it was actually pretty darn good."
"I agree with the both of them," Sunny Flare chirped. "That was a delicious little meal."
"Mmhmm..." Sour and Sugarcoat both nodded as well.
"See? You are starting to like this. Just like I said you would!" Adagio beamed from ear to ear before pulling Indigo into a tight hug.
"W-whoa! I didn't mean I liked it THAT way!" Indigo's arms shot up at the sudden and unexpected cuddle attack, but Adagio still didn't let go. "I... I just meant that I..." Her cheeks flushed red as she tried to look away.
"Oh, don't be so shy, Indy. It's totally fine." Lemon Zest joined in on the hug, adding a further layer of constriction to Indigo Zap. "You're starting to get with the program. Babies do baby things and enjoy those things. And that's completely fine."
"We're... starting to enjoy this." Sugarcoat repeated those words in her mind, still unnerved and wracked with uncertainty on how it would play with the rest of her and the others' psyche. For all that she knew, the Dazzlings were right. They had been right since the moment they met them and now she was starting to see things from another perspective. The food was good. She had no right to nitpick or hate it.
"So. You've all taken your first steps into being free. Let us help you take more and more." Adagio went over towards the toybox and picked some pacifiers up from the ground, before coming back over to the Shadowbolts with them in hand. "Take these. Put them in your mouth. Then, just do whatever you want."
"I... suppose it wouldn't hurt." Sunny Flare reached out for one of the pacifiers, getting a firm feel for it with her tiny hands. "Seeing as how we are in this position, after all. No use trying not to commit when there's nothing else we can do." And without any other words, she planted the bulb into her mouth, sealing her mouth off with the pacifier. She gave it one suck. Then another. A third for good measure and soon became lost in the sensation.
"Sunny? How is it?" Sugarcoat asked, eyes locked on Sunny as she continued to slip further and further into her little trance.
"She's liking it, I can tell." Aria squirmed over, laying a hand on Sunny Flare's back. "Here, if someone gets a pacifier, they have it for as long as they physically can. At least until the next feeding time happens."
"And from the looks of things, the others are starting to join her." Sonata pointed towards Sour and Lemon, who had pacifiers of their own now bobbing within their mouths, with only faint coos managing to escape the otherwise blocked part of their faces. "C'mon, girl. Don't wait for an invitation. Here, the fun never stops. Ever." She took another pacifier out of Adagio's hands and held it towards Sugarcoat.
"What have we got to lose, huh?" Indigo rolled her shoulders and took the last one out of Adagio's hands, looking deep into Sugarcoat's eyes. "Listen, Sugar. If we're doing this, we have to do it together. So at least we know that we're not alone."
"Right." Sugarcoat clutched her hand and put it to her chest. "On the count of three, they go in our mouths. Ready?"
"One..." Indigo started the countdown, opening the palm of her hand.
"Two..." Sugarcoat brought her pacifier closer and closer to her mouth. "See you on the other side, Indigo."
"You too." Indigo too brought her hand within touching distance of her own mouth.
"Three!" Both of the remaining babies said together, hastily jamming the pacifiers into their mouths and letting them rest. The two of them conformed into suckling them for a few moments, before, in the end, they too found contentment in using them. They both gave the thumbs-up to the Dazzlings, before being hugged by the other Shadowbolts.
"Excellent. That's another step taken to your happiness, girls. I have to say, you're doing a lot better than I thought. Here I thought at least one of you would've backed out or tried to keep denying it, but you proved me wrong on that front." Adagio watched as the five Shadowbolts lined up, like students in her class. "But just in case there are any leftover bad vibes, we can still help out with that." She crawled away, making hand gestures to follow her, which the Shadowbolts did without a word. Aria and Sonata stayed by Adagio's side all the while. "You know how to play baby. Well, now it's time to think baby..." And with that, she put her crystal-back pacifier back into her mouth, as did the other two Dazzlings, leading their 'students' off to their next 'lessons'.
The Dazzlings led the Shadowbolts towards the Toybox, opening it wide so that they could get a proper look into the contents inside. There were a plethora of toys on the inside, ranging from towers with rings on them, rattles with varying designs, even a few things that they could dress up in like bonnets and tutus. That was just on the surface, however, as many more treasures were hidden underneath. Seeing as how they were more well-versed with the place, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata reached down into the deepest depths of the box, where they pulled out their toys.
A bunch of animals that were balloon-like in shape and texture. Squeaking upon being squeezed and pulling silly faces, the toys demonstrated this when the Dazzlings squashed them with their hands.
The Shadowbolts, easily yet mysteriously impressed with the actions went to get some toys of their own, scrambling through each other and pushing them around as they tried to get their hands on something they wanted before the others scooped it up for themselves. In the chaos, the five babies got their prizes. For Sour Sweet, a pink tutu and bonnet which she quickly put on; for Lemon Zest, a tiny rattle with a zig-zag design curling around it; for Sunny Flare, another animal akin to the Dazzlings’ ones; for Indigo Zap, a flippable board with shapes poking out of both sides accompanied with a dinky mallet; and for Sugarcoat, a little rubber ducky that must have gotten lost from the bathroom.
Letting naught but their own bodies lead the way, the Shadowbolts played with their items. Sour Sweet tried to stand up and dance, but her wobbly moves ended up with her falling onto her bouncy diaper. Lemon Zest made one shake of the rattle, becoming enamoured with the noise. It didn’t take long for her to shake it about as wildly as possible; calling back to the days when she would rave with her headphones on her head. Sunny Flare crawled to the Dazzlings and let the animal she was holding do the talking, causing a group hug to ensue between the three of them. Indigo picked up the mallet and begun to nail the shapes into the frame. It took a couple of hits to sink each one, but she quickly flipped it back over and repeated the process once they were all wedged in. As for Sugarcoat, she held the duck in her hand, with the pacifier still in her mouth. She tightened her hold on the tiny toy, letting another squeak noise emanate. She made another squeak. Then another. It was hypnotically satisfying to crush the duck if only to hear that noise.
Though none of them could tell, their worries and thoughts were starting to fade away, drifting off into the bliss of infancy. The pacifiers were doing as they were advertised, the toys captivating and commanding their attention the whole while, and the Dazzlings were on hand if they ever needed a playmate to join in with their little adventures. No matter how smart they were, how much they remembered, or what their futures were, one thing was certain. They didn’t want to stop playing.
Sunset Shimmer. Your little friends are starting to see the truth. They don’t want to grow up anymore. Adagio thought to herself as she watched the Shadowbolts losing themselves in their fun and games. Even though they don’t have magic pacifiers like we do, at least they see things our way now. When you come back for them, they might not even want to come with you. The perfect revenge for you taking our powers, don’t you think?
Y’know, I’m glad these five came along. Aria’s thoughts were vapidly different from Adagio’s. As much as this whole magic-made baby stuff is fun, it gets kinda boring when the only other company is Adagio and Sonata. I just hope Sunset drops them off here more often. I could use the extra fun.
Whatever my sisters are thinking, I’m just gonna go along with it. After all, thinking’s for big people. And we sure as heck aren’t that anymore... Sonata rolled her eyes. As long as we keep thinking these baby thoughts, we don’t need anything else. Why would we ever need anything else anyway? This is perfect through and through. Still, a part of me wishes babies could eat tacos. Then it would be as if we’d gone to heaven...
Time passed for the group and once again, they found themselves carried into the air by the caretakers. At first, they thought it was another feeding time, but that quickly dissolved when they were taken into an entirely separate room.
The walls were made of white ceramic tiles, with little pictures of bubbles and aquatic creatures painted over it. A set of large baths filled with hot, bubbly water sat before everyone, with some bath toys resting on the surface of the water. Everything looked inviting for the babies, but before any of them could enter the water, they were all fully undressed by the Embrace Sisters, hair bows included.
The Shadowbolts tried to cover up their shame with their hands, but it didn’t take long for them to be dropped in a bath together, with the Dazzlings in one right next to them. The pacifiers still kept in their mouths as everyone was being loaded, but they were taken away as soon as everyone was in place, perched on a nearby shelf. The same could be said for Mr Cuddlebutt, who had been snatchedfrom Sour Sweet's hands as well. At first, everyone wanted to cry over the loss of their soothers, but that notion vanished when Adagio grabbed their attention with a wave of water over their backs.
“If you’re upset about those, you’ll get them back after bathtime,” she said as her hair was filled with shampoo. “Speaking of which, now’s the time for us to resume that little tour you were all so in love with.”
“With that being said, welcome to the Bubble Bathhouse,” Aria swung her arms up. “There’s much less to do and you’re in a confined space, with much more time being spent with the caretakers, but at least when you’re getting cleaned, you can have fun with it.” As she said that, she put her face into the water and blew into it, causing bubbles to emanate around her. That got her a laugh from the Shadowbolts.
“The bath water’s made with this special stuff to make it extra comfy. And it makes our skin smooth as... well as our butts.” Sonata gave an innocent smile before dunking her head under the water, returning seconds later with a drenched hairstyle that hung down her shoulders.
“Ooh! I wanna do that too!” Lemon mimicked Sonata’s movements, dousing her head in the water. She burst out of it with her own hair slithering down her back.
"Oh, Lemon. You are such a silly-billy at times..." Sunny Flare reached over and tickled Lemon's armpits, laughing all the while, as did her poor, hapless victim as she spasmed with glee. She barely even noticed the shampoo being moulded into her hair as she continued to tickle her friend.
Indigo Zap didn't say much during the bath. Rather, she wanted nothing more than to get a feel for the water. She let it run between her fingers as she lifted it up, splashed it mildly with the palm of her hand, pushed it towards the others, and stayed utterly motionless as the water seeped into her pores. The smile came back, as did the feelings long lost since the days when she was a baby for real, and not just made that way due to Equestrian Magic. By the time it was her turn to get her hair lathered, she gladly took it without any hesitation or resistance.
"I wasn't going to admit it, but it turns out that this is more pleasurable than I was hoping," Sugarcoat said, watching the others being washed down. When her gaze turned to Sour, she saw that she was curling up, as if ashamed to be there with the rest of them. "Huh? What's the matter, Sour? You seem a bit crestfallen."
"M-m-m-m... Mr Cuddlebutt." She shaking pointed her hand towards the shelf where her teddy bear had been plopped, a small tear forming in her eyes. "I... I want him back. Why can't I take him in the bath with me?"
"Because, Sour. Teddy bears don't do so well in the bath." Sugarcoat reached over, put her hand on Sour's shoulders, looked her in the eyes and patted her back. "If you took him in with you, he'd be soaked from the inside out and he'd potentially... break apart."
"Break? As in, he'd... go away forever?" Sour asked, the tears in her eyes still welling up with each second. "I don't want Mr Cuddlebutt to go. I... I need him to be happy."
"Oh, Sour..." Sugarcoat pulled Sour Sweet into a hug without even thinking it. It didn't matter to her whether or not her friend got waht she wanted back; just so long as she didn't have to see her cry in her position. "You'll get her back once your bath is done. Now, c'mon. Let me see that little smile of yours again."
Sour Sweet fell into Sugarcoat's cuddle; the rest of the world draining away around her as she let some tears fall into the bath, vanishing just as rapidly as they appeared. Despite her being unable to be reunited with Mr Cuddlebutt, the main tether to her sanity and complacency, when she looked at the others enjoying themselves, she couldn't feel anything else other than calmness. Any thoughts of her going off of the handle and reverting to her old bipolar personality seemed long gone. With her smile returning, Sour reached for the corner of the bath and retrieved a small octopus, one big enough for her at least.
"There it is. Now—" Sugarcoat got a devilish smirk on her face as she flung a small wave of water into Sour's face.
"Oh, it's on, Sugar." Sour got the very same look on her face as she pressed the head of the octopus with her hands, spraying a stream of water into Sugarcoat's face. She fist-pumped after her retaliation, only for Sugarcoat to respond in kind with another watery strike, hitting Sour's chest, but mostly leaving her upper parts unscathed.
The two babies let their watery battle rage on. Sugarcoat relying on her own two hands to get the job done, while Sour Sweet resorted to the toys to act both as her defence and her offence, using whatever she could to avoid meeting a soaking. Within the chaos, a stray blast struck Sunny Flare, who turned her back to the both of them.
"Uh oh..." They both said together, watching as Sunny Flare got the attention of Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap, whispering in both of their ears and pointing towards her assailants. It didn't take long before the third party returned fire on both Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet, creating a five-way conflict between them.
Water was slung in every direction from all five babies. All sides were being blasted for each of the Shadowbolts, leaving them trapped and yet with clear shots of their opponents at the same time. If there was one thing that carried over from their past lives, it was their desire to win against the odds. That was exactly what they did, as the pool turned into what could only be described as a whirlpool of chaos and confusion. Rather than show displeasure or anguish in taking a hit, the five babies couldn't help themselves and just ended up laughing the whole while; the satisfaction in getting their peers deluged in water was enough to keep them going at it.
Pretty soon, though, the war came to an end. The intervention of Warm and Loving caused the Shadowbolts to stop, as the two of them cleaned their hairs, filling their bath with suds. Once the attacks stopped, the babies quickly calmed down, as did the waters they were battling on.
After the diminutive oceans settled, the Shadowbolts were lifted out of the water and set down on towels. They were dried from head to toe, then promptly redressed into diapers, then back into their onesies. Sour got her tutu, bonnet, and Mr Cuddlebutt back, as she and everyone else was rewarded with the return of their pacifiers. The feeling of serenity returned once more as they resumed suckling on the bulbs once more, almost autonomously.
"Doesn't it feel wonderful to be clean, girls?" Adagio asked as she and her two associates were also laid down to be cleaned. Their replies were a unison of nodded heads, as none of the Shadowbolts wanted to drop their pacifiers. "You all seemed to have a lot of fun in there, I could tell."
"We could all tell," Aria added. "You really are starting to enjoy this, aren't you?"
"Letting go of everything. Of all your worries, of all the past, of pretty much everything stopping you from having fun, it's the bestest-ever feeling on the planet!" Sonata threw her arms up, while simultaneously having her bottom powdered in preparation for her new diaper.
Everyone else in the room was properly dried off, clothed, diapered, and carried back off to the nursery by the Embrace Sisters. Business then resumed as normal for the Shadowbolts and Dazzlings. Pacifiers in mouths, their minds continued to dissipate as they let their bodies do all of the thinking for them. The first thing that they saw that wasn't on hand, they went to play with.
You're beginning to change, girls. No more of that stuffy old past life on the brain. Now, there is this life and only this life to think about. Adagio thought as she watched the Shadowbolts once more resume their playtimes, letting go of all their inhibitions. Growing up is so overrated. That's why this new life is perfect for you. For us. For everyone who's been dealt the roughest hand. And I hope that, by the end of today, you'll be wanting to come back again. And again. Eventually getting to the point where you'll want to cast Sunset out and live here with us. It's only a matter of time now...
Whatever Adagio's planning, forget about it, girls. We're not gonna force you or anything like that. We're long past that. Aria just idly batted her hand outward. If we did have a plan now, it'd probably get shot down by Sunset, her friends, or whatever schedule we've got. You just take it easy and enjoy it how much you want.
Y'know, I've never had a real friend for all my life. Well, technically, my sisters count, but they're less of friends and more like sisters. There's a total difference... But I digress. You've all changed that, girls. Sonata went over to Mr Stuffington, a blue bear with a bow tie on its' chest. Whatever dumb plan Adagio may or may not be thinking about, I don't really care. Just as long as we can keep playing forever and ever...
It grew closer and closer to 3 o'clock. Not that anyone in the room really cared about the time with their undeveloped or unattentive brains. The Shadowbolts were frolicking in the garden, taking in the sunlight as their hands brushed across the grass. Sour and Sunny tried to stand up again, but their diapers foiled that plan in an instant; their balance severed and jagged. The falls barely even hurt, as their bodies flattened the grass.
"Oh, the sun feels so wonderful today, doesn't it?" Sugarcoat spoke through her pacifier, looking up beyond the wooden planks of the fence toward the sky. "I never really gave it the love and appreciation it deserved when I was a big girl. Maybe because I was too busy with my studies. But now, I've got all the time in the world to change that."
"Hey! That looks fun!" Sour Sweet pointed over to the corner of the garden, where a dinky, yellow tricycle laid undisturbed. She wriggled her way over to it, rubbing the seat with her hand. “I wanna give it a ride.”
“Well, go ahead. No need to wait for an invite here, girl,” said Lemon Zest, shooting Sour another smile.
Sour used the bike as a prop to help herself stand up, maintaining her balance by tightly gripping the frame. Then, she tried to lift her leg up and over the chair so that she could properly take her seat, ready to carve up the grass, but that proved easier said than done, as her flimsy legs were hindered by her diaper. The process went on and on, with each attempt failing the same way.
Just as it seemed like Sour wanted to go back in and get some help, she found herself lifted off of the ground by the others, who had put their arms around and under Sour’s waist and diaper. With their combined effort, the girls put Sour onto her chair, though not without causing the other Shadowbolts to collapse after the fact with their balance stripped from them.
“Aww... Thanks, girls!” Sour clasped her hands together as she watched them get back on all fours. Then, she put her hands on the bars and positioned her feet when she was stopped by Indigo, who held Mr Cuddlebutt in her hands.
“Don’t forget your plus one, Sour.” Indigo gave her a wink as she returned the bear to her.
“Thanks, Indy.” She took the bear back instantly. “Now, take a seat, Mr Cuddlebutt. We’re gonna go for a ride together...” Sour planted the teddy bear in front of her, just resting on her diaper. As soon as he was comfortable, Sour began to peddle, the tricycle moving forward as she did so. She began her adventure across the open, rolling grassy fields of the Little Miracles garden.
“Ya think there’s some more trikes around here?” Indigo asked, before her eyes were caught by a small wooden shed tucked away in the corner.
“There might be in there...” Sugarcoat pointed to the shed that Indigo was fixated on. “But how are we supposed to open it on our own? The handle’s much too high for us to reach...”
“Why don’t we just climb on top of each other? Just like little kids do in those cartoons?” Lemon lifted a finger. “Ya never know, it could work.”
“Any other ideas?” Indigo asked the group, who could only shrug in response. She just gave a sigh after that. “Alright then. Tower of babies it is.”
The four babies went over to the shed door, which had turned the whole thing into a titanic monolith from their perspective. What seemed like something simple now stood imposingly over them, blotting out the sun and leaving them in the darkness of its’ shadow. Within the veil, they all discussed over how the tower was going to be formed, with some of them even arguing over who was going to be on the top and bottom. In the end, they decided on an order. With Sugarcoat at the bottom, Sunny Flare on top of her, Indigo after that, and Lemon at the apex. The Shadowbolts had propped themselves against the wall so as not to make their little tower wobble, or to give anyone the added pressure of walking with three others on their head. For Sugar, Sunny, and Indigo, the sensation of their peers’ diapers on their head was more plush than they were expecting, as if they were wearing a cushion hat covered in fabric.
“I’ve... almost... got it!” Lemon’s little arms stretched from her position towards the nearby handle and was just about to grab a hold of it, when a certain bodily function intervened. Just as her fingers touched the handle, she let loose a poop into her diaper, causing her to freeze up.
“Well, Lemon? Ya got the handle yet?” Indigo called from underneath her.
“I... I...” Lemon was still in a state of shock from her messed diaper. Unable to speak, she could only whimper as the gooey substance squelched underneath her. Lips quivering, she started to cry, retracting herself back to the tower. “I pooped myself!”
“Wait, what?!” Indigo’s eyes widened, realising just where she was in the tower. “OH, GROSS!” Indigo freaked out, shaking herself in an attempt to get herself away from the soiled diaper.
And that was what did it. The equilibrium disrupted, the tower if babies began to wobble as Lemon, Indigo, and Sunny fell from their positions and tumbled to the floor. Though they landed on their butts and chests, that didn’t stop Lemon from bawling. The very same messy sensation happened to Indigo and Sunny, and they too began to cry their eyes out over their ruined undergarments.
Sugarcoat, seeing her friends upset, crawled as fast as she could towards the door leading back into the day-care. She banged on it to get the attention of Sweet Embrace, who saw the crying babies instantly and charged onto the scene, with Sugarcoat toddling behind her.
“What’s wrong, girls?” Sweet asked, but didn’t need to hear the answer from them. She could tell from the smell, her noise picking up the acrid stench in seconds. Sweet recoiled from the smell, but quickly took the three crying babies and lifted them back into the room, ready for a change. “Warm, Loving? We’ve got some messes to clean up!”
Now Sugarcoat was truly alone in the garden, save for the lone Sour Sweet still being the biker baby that she was, it felt like all of her dreams of riding with her had died as quickly as they were made. With no-one else to understand and help build the tower of babies to reach for the door, any hope of riding a bike was gone. A small tear formed in her eyes next, and she ended up letting out a small cry as well.
“Sugar? What’s wrong?” Sour Sweet asked, looking at the tear-ridden baby.
“I wanted to play with you, Sour. To ride on a tricycle like you and Mr Cuddlebutt. But my friends pooped themselves and there’s no-one else to help me get another one...” Sugarcoat whined, then continued to sob into her hands.
“Oh, Sugarcoat...” Sour Sweet reached down to Sugarcoat’s head, tousling the hair on it; making sure not to disturb the bows that kept her two tiny pigtails in place. “You don’t have to be sad. It’s okay to not be able to do anything. That’s why there are big people who do it for us.”
“B-but the caretakers are changing my friends!” She pointed to the changing tables where Indigo, Lemon, and Sunny were getting a fresh diaper applied. The noise almost inaudible but their tears noticeably gone.
“But it’s okay. Sugar. It really is.” Sour reached a hand out for Sugarcoat. “If you want, we can share this thing. And hey, maybe after our friends get back, we can all ride together.”
Sugarcoat sniffled, looking towards Sour’s offer. She reached out for Sour’s hand and watched as she got off the trike, helping Sugar climb into the seat in her place. After she picked Mr Cuddlebutt off, she even helped put Sugar’s hands and feet in the right place so as to properly control the trike.
“There you go, Sugar.” Sour patted Sugarcoat’s belly, then crawled over behind the little bike. She held onto the back and lifted herself back onto two feet, then used her strength to push the trike off on its’ next ride, catching her fall with her hands as she transitioned back to her hands and knees again. “Go, Sugarcoat!”
Sugarcoat felt a giddiness in her heart as she rode the tricycle around the garden, the wheels leaving marks on the grass all the while. She hastily forgot all about her sadness as she rode on, the wind flowing through her little hair as she thundered along. Although she was in for the drive alone, she knew that it would be the last time. Whether it would be today or another day, she and her friends would ride together. In her imagination, they would be the world’s youngest biker gang. Eventually, ride stopped and the door reopened, as Warm Embrace took Sour and Sugar back into the room, closing the door behind her and drawing the curtains closed.
The majority of the toys and objects in the room had been pushed to the corners and walls or packed away, as a series of pillows and different-coloured blankets had been laid out in their place. Some of the babies had already been laid down, with only the Shadowbolts and Dazzlings left to be positioned. But once they were, they were tucked underneath the blankets, given back their pacifiers, and simply watched as the caretakers dimmed the lights. Only one thing came to their minds: Naptime.
“So, time to sleep?” Indigo asked as she looked at her friends. Who all chattered softly among themselves as they got themselves comfortable.
“Mmm.” Sunny nodded. “I wonder for how long, though?”
“Who cares. It’s naptime. Now we can sleep and dream of anything we want!” Lemon’s hands were locked into each other as a smile ran along her face.
As the others started to think about where they would go into the world of dreams, their invitation came sooner than they expected, as the Embrace Sisters began to sing a lullaby. Their harmonised voices were akin to an angel’s choir, and their calming tones coiled around the ears of all of the babies in the room, causing their eyelids to grow heavier and heavier with each lyric. By the time they were halfway, the non-thinking babies were asleep,. Only the Shadowbolts and Dazzlings made it all the way through the song before nodding off, their dreams beginning to form as they left the real world behind in their slumber.
Sugarcoat imagined the very same tricycle gang she had thought about coming to fruition, as she and her friends tore up the road on their five little trikes, with not a soul around to disturb them. Lemon and Indigo’s dreams were pretty much identical to each other, with the two of them in a world where everything was as bouncy as a trampoline. With every single bounce launching them higher and higher into the air. As for Sunny’s dream, she envisioned herself in a tea party with her friends, while Sour dreamt about being in a world where every stuffed animal could walk and talk. In reality, the five of them were sleeping. Pacifier in their mouths and dreams in their heads, not a single one of them wanted to wake from their little worlds. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the Shadowbolts were truly happy with being babies, and didn’t want anything to change...
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...
The day seemed to progress normally for the Shadowbolts. Or as normal as it could get for a group of five babies. Time seemed to just fly by for them as they let the stuff in their new room occupy their thoughts. Memories of their time with the Dazzlings still filled the rest of the gaps. If not for them, then most of them would have continued to find the ordeal to be a tough one to stomach.
Eventually, the sun began to set on Canterlot, but none of the Shadowbolts knew that part. Their room had no windows, so it was hard for them to tell the time by thinking of where the sun was. Not that any of them wanted to check the time, however. They were still busy living a lifestyle that had once left them. Sour Sweet was still clinging on to Mr Cuddlebutt, Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare were creating a fort out of blocks, while Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap were trying to chase each other around the room in a two-player game of tag.
Sunset had been keeping an eye on the group most of the time, leaving at only brief intervals to get something to eat for herself. Outside of her trips, she had been a vigilant caretaker for the baby Shadowbolts. If someone was having trouble, she would come and fix it. If one of the group was in need of a change, she would be right on it. And, on the odd occasion that the group got restless, she would try and entertain them in more creative ways, seeing as how they still kept some semblance of minds that could think. When she noticed the time—around 7:30PM on her phone—she started to pluck the Shadowbolts from the ground and lay them to rest in the cribs.
"Okay, does anyone need anything before I leave you for the night?" Sunset asked as she hung by the door. She waited for a response, but not a single one came. "Well, goodnight then, girls."
"Night, Sunset." The Shadowbolts all chimed before Sunset flipped the lights off and left the room, blanketing the Shadowbolts in a veil of darkness, blotting out the world around them as they fell into the embraces of their warm, cosy blankets. It didn't take long before they closed their eyes and went completely still in motion, save for some suckles and light yawns.
Their ventures into the world of dreams was once more a joyous one, with each and every one of their dreams a far contrast to the one before it, bursting with life and colour. Some of them dreamed of other worlds, some dreamed where everything around them was alive and jolly, even some who dreamt that they were old again, but still saw the others as kids and took care of them.
For Sour Sweet, though, her dreams were rudely interrupted by herself; or rather, the noise that her body was making. A low rumble came from her belly, cutting out the dream that she was having as she opened her eyes, trying to find the source of the noise. She thought that it was a monster at first, but the vibrations of her tummy said otherwise.
"Lemon? Are you still awake?" Sour Sweet whispered from across the room towards Lemon's crib, only to hear a small coo come from it. "I... I have a problem."
"No. Don't let the dragon take the princess, Indy..." Lemon muttered to herself, deep into her dreams. "You're the bestest-best friend and knight in the whole kingdom."
"Lemon... I need your help..." Sour whispered again, but at a slightly higher pitch than usual, hoping that, in waking her, she'd wake all of the others up too.
"Nngh... What is it, Sour?" Sugarcoat answered in Lemon Zest's place, still half-asleep. "Did you use your diaper again?"
"No, nothing like that. If I did, I'd be crying right about now. It's something totally different to that," she said, turning her head in the darkness hoping to find Sugarcoat, yet saw nothing but a black abyss. "I'm hungry."
"Hungry? In the middle of the night?" Sunny Flare woke back up, rubbing her eyes as she tried looking to Sour's crib in the darkened room. "How is that even possible?"
"I don't know, but I am. And Sunset thinks that we're fast asleep, so there's no way that we're gonna be able to get any food from her." Sour blinked, pulling Mr Cuddlebutt close to her chest, causing another rumble from her stomach to sound out, reaching everyone's ears.
"Well, what do you want us to do about it?" Indigo Zap asked, breaching her dream to return to the real world once again. "We're babies, we're in our cribs, and the door's closed. And Sunset thinks we're still sleeping, so there's no chance that she'll be able to feed us now. Look, can't you just hold it off until morning?" As soon as she finished, her own tummy began to rumble. "Oh, great. Me too?"
"Me three," Lemon answered Indigo with her the noise of her own stomach. "We're gonna have to eat something, girls. And I think I know just how to do it."
"Lemon Zest with a plan? Now there's something you don't see every day." Sugarcoat blinked as she wriggled out of the covers of her crib.
"I'm being serious, girls. This one's a sure-fire success." Lemon grabbed her blanket and toddled towards the edge of the crib. She tied the blanket to the top of the frame, using the excess that hung back into her crib to form a rope. "Just because we're babies doesn't mean we're totally trapped in here." She climbed the rope, sat on the top of the frame, slung the rope over the other side, then slid down it like a fireman on a pole. "For those of you that didn't see that, I just climbed out of the crib using nothing but my blankie. You girls wanna follow me?"
"You... you got out?" Sugarcoat's eyes widened. She hadn't seen Lemon think like that in a long time. Not since the last Friendship Games, at least.
"Yeah. It's not that hard. Now, let me tell you the rest of my plan," she said, crawling over to the door in the darkness. Thankfully, a small sliver of light poking out of the bottom edge was enough for her to follow. "We make a tower of babies just like we did at the daycare to open the door—minus the pooping, that is—, we go down the stairs to the kitchen, we eat like queens, then go back to the room before Sunset even knows what's up. Simple."
"Normally, I'd question that, Lemon, but you did get out of the crib, so... I'm in." Sunny Flare mimicked Lemon's advice, creating a rope out of her crib that she climbed up, slung over the edge, then slid down.
"I suppose I should go along too, to make sure that you don't get into trouble." Sugarcoat followed the same steps everyone else did, quickly finding herself back on the padded floor of the room again.
Sour and Indigo didn't need to respond. They just climbed out of the cribs and formed up with Lemon and the others. Together, the five babies huddled up together, setting their plan into motion.
Like before, the babies stacked themselves one on top of the other, leaning against the wall for support. Sugarcoat at the bottom, Indigo on top of her, Sunny after that, Sour next, and then Lemon at the top, as she was masterminding the kitchen heist. She reached over for the handle, her fingers mere inches away from it as she leaned over, disrupting the balance ever so slightly. It wouldn't have been much in any other scenario, but atop a precarious tower of four other babies? That was enough to cause some wobbles. She eventually grabbed onto the handle, but in doing so caused the whole tower to tumble, dropping the Shadowbolts onto their backs and diapered rumps, leaving her gripping on for dear like to the door handle, which drooped under her weight. She yanked the door towards the darkness, prying it open slightly before the other four grabbed on to the open end of the door and pulled it open. Their ticket out of the room presented itself as the small sliver grew wide, filling out most of the shadowed corners of the nursery.
"Yes!" Lemon fist-pumped under her breath, before sliding off of the handle and landing on her bottom, causing the handle to flick back up to its' original alignment on the door. She crawled out of the door with the other four Shadowbolts, leaving the nursery behind as the next phase of their plan came into action.
They all crawled through the corridors of Sunset's house, briefly passing by her room in the process. A quick peek inside showed that Sunset was deeply engrossed into another one of her games, headphones over her ears silencing the noise around her so that she could solely focus on the score that she was wracking up for herself. They all went on past except for Lemon and Sunny Flare, who were pulled away by the tiny hands of Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Indigo Zap.
The next issue then presented itself to the babies in the form of stairs. It might not have been much to them when they were older, but in their minuscule forms, these stairs were gargantuan. They all knew that if they tried to walk down them normally, it was going to end in catastrophe. Indigo went first, turning her back to the stairs and climbing backwards down them, gripping on to the edges of each step as she laid her knees down on the next. When she got halfway, the other babies copied her actions, following her down the mountainous path until they arrived in one more corridor coated in darkness.
"Okay. Now, where's the kitchen again?" Sugarcoat asked as she tried to make out the slightest of shapes within the darkness, as shadows jutted out from every direction as the dusk moonlight started to creep in through the windows.
"I think it was this way?" Lemon Zest went over to the door behind the stairs, following the smallest little glimmers of light that came from it. At the same time she did this, a creaking noise came from the side, causing her to yelp and jump onto her feet in seconds. This stance lasted less than a second as she swung her arms in circles before falling back onto her diaper again. "What was that?!"
The noise repeated itself, causing all of the babies to jump. It wasn't a sound that they were unfamiliar with, but the fact that they were hearing it, in the middle of the night, with no-one there to come and save them. They all huddled up together into one, big, shivering crowd as the noise sounded off again. And again. And again.
Sour Sweet couldn't handle it anymore and started to cry softly. She closed her eyes and tightly clutched Mr Cuddlebutt. She soon found her mouth corked by a pacifier that Lemon Zest had been carrying with her as the others patted her back and hugged her tightly. She took a look at her friends, letting their faces coat out the rest of the world as the noise started to diminish. She took out the soother and breathed again, saying "Thanks, girls. I needed that."
With the danger averted, the babies all continued on Lemon's route towards the kitchen, where the moonlight was leaking in from every window in sight, illuminating the room in a pale glow. Their eyes went wide at the sight as they went inside, moving towards the tabletops in particular. Fruit from the bowl was on their mind due to how squishy the majority of them were. With the lack of teeth, they could just crush an orange in their mouth with their gums and slurp the remains. At least, that's what they thought.
"See anything good yet?" Indigo asked as she crawled around the counters, looking in little drawers to find anything that resembled food.
"Nothing over here," said Sour from another cabinet by the back door. "Just some icky stuff on cleaning over here."
"Girls! I've found the jackpot!" Lemon squealed as her eyes laid themselves on something very appealing.
"What? What is it, Lemon?" Sunny Flare asked as she hurriedly scampered over to her side with a grin on her face.
"Cookies!" Lemon squeaked as she pointed to a jar seen hanging on a shelf by the fridge. The cookies themselves weren't visible, as an opaque, striped pattern ran across the object in question.
"Cookies, eh? Sounds just about what you'd find, girl." Indigo came over, patting Lemon on the back as she looked up at the jar. "So. Wanna tower up again? Or are there other ways we can get up there?"
Lemon didn't even wait for the girls to respond and grabbed onto the drawers. She climbed up to the counters using nothing but the knobs and edges of the drawers, acting as miniature footholds. The other babies could only watch in both awe and nervously as Lemon made her way up. She made a slip and nearly toppled off, but quickly stretched her arms out and grabbed onto the counter's edge. She dangled and was about to lose her grip when she found herself boosted up by the other four Shadowbolts, who had hastily taken up a small two-by-two square formation for her to stand on.
"Thanks for the help, girls." Lemon gave them all a thumbs up.
"No prob, Lemon. Now, go and get us those cookies!" Indigo craned her head up from the square.
Lemon examined the counter for a while until she noticed something by the sink. A tea towel with a white and blue square pattern poked out of the drying rack. She moved over to it, pulled it out of the rack and held it by two ends, making a scarf out of it. Holding the towel, she moved back over to the cookie jar and stood back up, swaying slightly as she stayed as still as possible. Using the scarf she had made, she slung it over and behind the jar, then yanked at it a few times, causing it to fall from the shelf. She jumped and grabbed it, with her posterior once more being cushioned by the padded white undergarment as she fell back to the counter.
"Got it!" Lemon whispered as she came to the others, lowered the jar down to them, then climbed down the square they had made. Now Lemon, her friends, and the cookies were all together.
"Nice!" Indigo grinned widely. "Good job, Lemon."
"Open it! Open it! I wanna see the cookies!" Sour clasped her hands as Lemon put the jar in the middle of the group of five.
Lemon reached for the top of the jar and opened it up, revealing the reward they had worked for so hard to get. Sure enough, the insides of the jar contained chocolate chip cookies. All of them round, all of them a feast for the eyes. She reached into the jar and plucked out one, causing the others to follow suit and take their own cookies.
"Girls. Thank you. This was a team effort." Lemon Zest smiled as the others held their cookies in hand. "I don't think I could've ever done this alone."
"If anything, we should thank you for coming up with the idea, Lemon. I don't think I've had an adventure like that in ages!" Indigo pointed at Lemon. "If you didn't come up with this, I don't know how we would have dealt with the whole hunger situation."
"Yeah. This one's all you, Lemon." Sour Sweet gave Lemon Zest a high-five, with the little paw of Mr Cuddlebutt accompanying it.
"I have to agree. You really managed to pull through with this, Lemon. I was expecting something to go wrong, but you've proved me wrong on that front." Sugarcoat grinned as she felt the cookie all over. "This is going to taste so much better now that we've earned it..."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's tuck in, girls!" Sunny Flare giggled as she brought the cookie to her mouth.
"Here's to being babies, girls." Lemon held her cookie high over the jar.
"To being babies!" The others followed by raising their cookies to hers before they all wedged the cookies into their mouths, letting the flavours dance on their tastebuds as they bit down hard with their gums, causing the cookies to break, with the tiny chips resting in their mouths. They all broke the smaller parts down until they were mushy, then let the foodstuffs run down into their bellies.
"Mmm... Tasty!" Sunny said as she took another bite of the disk of food. "This is one of the best-tasting cookies I've ever had!" Her comments were replied to with coos and murmurs of agreement as the other Shadowbolts continued to eat.
As the moon rose into the air on that night, the underbelly of the Shimmer household was mostly silent, with only the sound of babies munching on cookies coming from the kitchen could be heard. As the moon trickled down into the room, five little souls did nothing but eat; sharing their rewards with their peers and plush toys. A sight that could only be seen once in a generation; a sight of utter tranquility and contentment as the five infants ate until they could eat no more.
And when it came time for them to go back to their cribs to sleep the rest of that night, the evidence of their little escapade was gone. The jar of cookies had been planted back on the shelf in its' rightful place, the crumbs vanished after a quick little sweep from the girls, and the room vacated. With their work done, the Shadowbolts climbed back up the stairs, passed by Sunset's room once more, went back into the nursery, climbed back into their cribs, and converted the ropes back into the blankets. Then, they fell asleep, returning once more to the dreams that they had once cocooned themselves in. Another prize for them after going through their cookie-related quest.
The next morning, the girls were back on the route to the daycare. Only this time, the Shadowbolts were chattering among themselves as to what they could do there, be it on their own or with their new friends. Either way, they were giddy at the thought of returning. Sunset went into the building, checked the Shadowbolts in, carried them back into the nursery, set them down, then went on her way. But not before giving them a small kiss. She watched as they all blushed, then promptly grinned and left them.
It didn’t take long for the girls to find the Dazzlings again. They weren’t hard to miss with their poofy, vibrant hairstyles and magical pacifiers. Lemon Zest went over to greet them, with the other Shadowbolts close behind her.
“Welcome back, girls. Nice to see you’ve taken to this place.” Adagio smiled as the Shadowbolts sat down with her and her two sisters.
“Ready for another fun day in daycare, girls?” Sonata asked, gripping Mr Stuffington in her hands. “I know we are.”
“You always say that, Sonata. But it is true.” Aria patted her back softly. “Daycare has such a wonderful effect on people. You can really lose yourself in the toys and games like us. I don’t think I’ve had this kind of life for a long time.”
“Hear hear. I thought that I would have hated this thing, but some time here really managed to change that for us.” Sugarcoat felt the other Shadowbolts wrapping their arms around her shoulders.
“Yeah. Everything’s been so good since that regression. In fact, last night, we all went down to the kitchen and ate cookies together!” Lemon Zest tossed her arms skyward.
“Cookies? Lucky son of a gun...” Adagio’s eyes widened at the mention of cookies. Of everything babyhood had to offer, she had yet to taste the phenomenon Lemon was telling her of. “Here, all we get is mush and milk. Nothing really special when compared to a cookie.”
“What did it taste like? Tell me!” Sonata put her elbows to her chest, planting her hands on her chin at the same time. “I’ve always wanted to have a cookie as a baby!”
“Well, it was just the nicest little thing ever.” Sunny Flare crawled up, replying in Lemon’s place. “The rough, yet smooth texture. The gooey chocolate chips. The fluffy crumbs in your mouth. We all went ga-ga for them.”
Lemon Zest ended up laughing, wiggling her legs at the sound of Sunny's unintentional pun. “I get it! Ga-ga!”
It took a few moments to register, but next Indigo laughed. Then Sour, then Sugarcoat, then even Sunny realised what she had done, joining in on the chortle-festival.
“Aww... They made a baby pun. That’s just so cute!” Sonata squealed and clasped her hands together. “And so well-done too. They went ga-ga for it because they’re babies. That’s just such a great pun, isn’t it?”
The Dazzlings waited patiently for the girls to stop laughing. Then, when they did eventually stop, Adagio and her sisters went to retrieve five more pacifiers, before delivering them back to the Shadowbolts. They all held out the soothers in their little hands, watching as the five babies squeaked in delight, then took the binkies and popped them in their mouths, once again letting their suckles start back up.
“Now then, let’s play!” Sonata beamed as the eight of them begun another day in daycare.
As the girls went past the other toys and babies in the room, their eyes eventually found something new. A small slide could be seen by one of the walls in the room, with steps leading up to it made out of more fluff-filled shapes. Another baby had just sent themselves down it and crawled off to another part of the room, leaving the slide open for eight more padded rumps to grace its’ incline.
Sour Sweet cooed at the sight and quickened her pace, brushing past the others as she made it to the shapes and climbed up them, finding her way to the apex of the slide in no time at all. Pacifier still bobbing, she brought Mr Cuddlebutt to her chest and hugged him securely, then hurled herself down the slide, letting out a cry of delight as she slid to the bottom, skidding a few inches on her diaper before she landed on her belly.
Indigo Zap was next to go down the slide. She lifted her hands and squealed as she fell down the slide. After her was Sugarcoat, then Sunny, and finally Lemon Zest, with the Dazzlings all following suit. All of their reactions were similar; screams of unbridled ecstasy as their little bodies careened into the softness of the floor.
"Oh, that was cool! I mean, I've done a lot of slides before, but I never knew just how much of a rush the small ones had." Indigo Zap pushed herself off of the floor. "Guess that's just another one of the benefits, huh?"
"I'm happy that you're all liking this, girls. It has been a long time since the three of us had any friends to call our own." Adagio nodded at the Shadowbolts. "After a couple of thousand years, friendships have been hard to come by for the three of us."
"Unless you count friendships with all the other kids here, then... yeah. Not really much in the way of friends. And even if we are friends, all they can really say is gibberish we don't understand." Sonata looked over to some of the other babies in the room, their mindless natures showing as some tried to eat some of the toys, or blindly flailed them around.. "I guess that kind of friendship doesn't really count, when you think about it..."
"Wait, a few thousand?" Sugarcoat's eyes widened. "B-but you're not that old, girls..."
"If you're not counting magic turning us into babies, I turned 3,678 last week; Aria hit the age of 3,254 six months ago; and Sonata's birthday is going to be in two days time, where she's going to turn 3,199." Adagio lifted a finger."But if you are counting the magic, then we're all just a month old—not that it matters any more thanks to the pacifiers able to keep us young."
"Age is just a construct, really. Nobody ever needs age to be happy with themselves." Aria went back over to the slide's apex, readying herself for another run down it. "The only thing age really does for you is decay. You lose your innocence, your imagination crumbles, and you lose whatever fun you ever had when you were a little kid. That's why I don't ever want to grow up ever again. I've been down that road once before and all it's gotten me, Adagio, and Sonata is trouble and regret."
Adagio sighed as she watched Aria slide back down to her side. "Seems like a lifetime ago that we were sirens thrust into a world we knew nothing about, doesn't it?" She asked. "Now, we're permanent residents of a daycare centre, living our lives in heaven; free from the tyranny and twisted rules of the outside world..."
"Speaking of which, how did you get here? How did you get regressed like this?" Sour Sweet asked.
"Well, I could tell you, but it's a bit of a long story. But, I suppose babies do love a good story, so I might as well oblige." Adagio watched as the five Shadowbolts crawled over to her, then sat down in a semi-circle around her. "Well, it was just another day in Canterlot. We were three big girls wandering through the streets, trying to find something to do after we'd lost our magic."
"We had magic before all that. But when we went into Canterlot High and tried hosting a Battle of the Bands to try and get some more, a girl named Sunset Shimmer and her friends intervened. I'm sure you know them by now, right?" Aria lifted a brow. "After all, Sunset is your caretaker."
"Basically, we were meanies back then. We thought about ourselves and nobody else. We sung our songs, they all got angry with each other, we ate up that anger, and that was our past life," said Sonata, tipping her hand. "So Sunset, being the superhero that she is, decided to get her friends together and fight back with some of her own songs. Things happened and we were put into a showdown situation. Needless to say, we lost."
"After that, the three of us fell into utter disarray. We were constantly arguing with each other, all trying to shift the blame on to others, even got into a few fist-fights or whatever they're called..." Adagio rolled her eyes.
"I think the term is a catfight," Lemon Zest interjected. "That's what we always call it whenever two girls get into a fight."
"Well, whatever you want to call it, we were pretty angry with each other. And we just happened to take that anger near Canterlot High in the middle of the night. Nearly woke up the whole neighbourhood with our spat." Sonata twiddled her fingers as she thought back to the night of her regression. "I remember Adagio saying we were both weak and undeserving of being sirens, followed by Aria trying to throw her a left hook, with me trying to stop them from fighting. It was a horrible sight, girls. You wouldn't have liked it."
"Yeah. It was right before that magical moment, I guess you could say." Aria looked into the other Dazzlings' eyes. "While we were fighting, some magic spat out of that statue and landed on us. Turned the three of us into these little wonders and gave us these pacifiers."
"At first, we were so scared when we turned into babies. We ended up crying for at least ten minutes, give or take maybe three to five. But after that, we decided to see if we could get some help, so we wandered around for a while. Again, still at odds with one another." Adagio pushed her hands together. "We found this place one night, fell asleep behind a bush. The next morning, we went inside and we've been here ever since, raised by the Embrace sisters. Warm, Loving, and Sweet. They've been like mamas to the three of us and I'm never going to forget them; even when they move on and find another line of work."
"The first day when we were babies, we were just as shocked and mortified as you were, girls." Aria toddled forward to the Shadowbolts. "We had no idea what to do, we had no idea where to start, we'd basically been caught with our pants down. The only one who really seemed to be on board with the idea was Sonata."
"Yeah. What can I say? You've gotta stay somewhat positive about something like this." Sonata twisted her wrist clockwise. "Plus, I was one of the first to discover that the pacifiers we had were magic. But I didn't know what kind of magic it was. Either way, I made the situation somewhat more bearable."
"After a few weeks or so, we were completely calmed down. We accepted that we were babies and we've moved on from our past. We didn't need our past to be happy, to be free, to enjoy everything and everyone around us." Adagio stretched her arms out, pulling both Aria and Sonata into a hug. "Others think that growing up is a blessing. But it's nothing more than a curse. To be truly free, you must be a baby."
"Babies don't ever have to think. They don't ever have to worry or feel like it's their fault when something goes wrong. They just go on their merry way and play all day. And it's going to stay that way for the three of us." Sonata hugged her sisters tighter. "We're never going to grow up. We don't ever want to grow up. No-one and nothing is going to change our minds on that front."
"And if Sunset and her friends want to try and be the heroes that everyone wants them to be, then we'll just let them go about their lives. Us, on the other hand? We'll be in here. As far away from her as possible and as happy as possible." Aria closed her eyes. "To being babies."
"To being babies..." The other two sirens parroted as their foreheads met each other, drifting off once more into the wordless bliss of pacifier suckles.
"So... you haven't had friends in a long time?" Sugarcoat repeated the question. "And we're the first things you've seen in years that could fit the bill, right?"
"If you want to say it like that then—" Adagio didn't even get the chance to finish as she felt something wrap around her belly. From behind, Sunny Flare was giving her a hug, grinning as she pressed her body into Adagio.
"You need a friend, girls. If you've forgotten what it's like to have them, then maybe we should teach you," said Sunny Flare. "After all, you've taught us how to feel better about this mess we're all in, so it's only fair that we help you rediscover what it means to have friends by your side; ones that'll help you feel much happier."
"Yeah. The best thing you could use right now is a best friend." Lemon Zest came over with Sour Sweet, pulling Aria and Sonata into small hugs of their own. "We're all babies, we're all happy to be babies, so what's stopping us from being the bestest of best friends?"
"Yeah. We're all going to be like this for a while, so I think it'd be in both of our best interests to be friends with each other. Friends who play together, who laugh together, who cry together, all that kind of stuff. It's the least that we can do after all of the stuff that you've done for us in terms of introducing us back into the good part of our babyhoods..." Sour Sweet added, and before long, all of the Shadowbolts had surrounded Adagio and company.
"Here's to you, Dazzlings. You've not had friends for a while, so we're going to be the newest ones." Indigo pulled everyone into a group hug with the Dazzlings at the heart of it all. "To our new best friends, everyone."
"To our new best friends!" The other Shadowbolts called out gleefully as they wriggled into the snuggles of each other and the Dazzlings.
Wh-what am I feeling? Adagio asked herself mentally as a warm sensation filled her chest. Maybe it was because of all of the babies around her hugging her into submission, or maybe it was something else entirely. All this talk about being friends is... No, no, I'm not ready for another friend. I don't think I even remember what friendship is supposed to be!
Friends? You've only really known us for two whole sessions in daycare, girls. I think acquaintances is more the term you're looking for. Still... Aria did roll her eyes to begin with, but when she saw the happy smiled tucked behind the Shadowbolts' pacifiers, she couldn't help but think more about the prospect of friendship. I've gotta admit, this isn't something that I was expecting to see today. But if it's natural for babies to make friends with anyone, then I guess it kinda goes with the territory. What the heck, girls? I'll be your friend if that's what you really want...
Ooh! This is going to be one of the most fun days ever! I mean, it already was fun thanks to the whole forever babies kinda thing, but now that the Shadowbolts actually wanna be our friends? It's gonna make things all the more fun! Sonata squealed internally while on the outside, she just continued to suck the pacifier and fall into the group hug some more. I wonder if the other girls are just as giddy as I am, to know that we finally have friends after so, so long? Maybe they're just as excited as me but don't know how to say it? Either way, I'm so so so ready for friendship!
Time had passed, and all eight of the talking babies were outside in the sunlight, letting the rays beat down upon them as they idly toddled through the grass; small blades tickling their hands with every motion they made. They would have laughed if not for the pacifiers still bobbing in their mouths. Of everything they had been given in their extended infancy, these were the one things that they did not want to let go of the most; especially in Sour Sweet’s case, even when she had Mr Cuddlebutt with her.
I don’t understand it. I’m pretty sure that babyhood said nothing about trying to make friends along the way... Adagio thought to herself as she crawled towards a bush, following a small ladybug that she had been chasing after. After all, the concept seems so far out of the ordinary that it feels almost impossible to grasp. I mean, do babies even have friendships? They can barely talk, let alone think! Perhaps it’s because we’ve got better minds than the others. Yeah. Maybe that’s it... No, come on, Adagio. You’re better than this. You were born young, you’ll stay young, and you’ll think young too. I refuse to let any complex thoughts get to me...
“H-hey! Stop it! I’m ticklish!” Came the gleeful cries of a young Indigo Zap, who swung her arms and legs out in all directions as Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest used their fingers to tickle her armpits. The noise was enough to attract Adagio’s attention away from the shrubbery and make her a witness to the game between the three Shadowbolts.
“Come on, Lemon. Laughter’s the best medicine. And Doctor Indigo says that you need at least 2 minutes of laughter to be the healthiest little baby in daycare.” Sugarcoat smiled at her as she extracted another round of uncontrolled laughs from her ‘patient’.
“Yeah, Lemon. Listen to Doctor Indigo and Nurse Sugar. They just wanna make sure every baby’s as happy as they can be...” With a sadistic grin, she thrust her hand deeper into the armpit and let another wave of tickles ring out on Lemon’s tiny body.
Aria and Sonata had been watching all the while and couldn’t help but let some chuckles come out. It had been a while since they had seen slapstick like this. Their rapidly tuning infantile minds were a benefactor to their happiness as they came over to the helpless Lemon Zest and joined her tickle treatment as well, holding her arms and legs so that the others could properly get at her ticklish parts.
Aria and Sonata seem to be smitten by it, so... maybe I could—Adagio got closer to the game, but then promptly smacked herself on the face. Get it together, Adagio. You’re a big baby. You’re supposed to be the one who keeps a level head. We might be young, but friendship is something we don’t need. We never needed friendship before to be happy like this, so why now are they trying to hammer it in for us? Just try and empty your mind and play with the first thing you see, alright?
She pulled herself away from the game and looked around, still letting the sound of laughter fill her ears as she tried to think of something else to do. She saw one of the bikes by the shed and went for it. Adagio stood herself up, gripped onto the frame, lifted one of her stubby little legs as high as she could, trying to plant it on the frame. A series of slips, stumbles, and slides severed the siren’s seating chances. After one final attempt, she fell onto her diapered butt once more, the cushion-like padding keeping her safe from any real harm.
Alright then. Guess we’re not having that kind of fun today... Adagio moaned internally. Aria? Sonata? When are you going to see me and realise that I need help? We’re supposed to be a trio, right?
Aria and Sonata didn’t notice, though. They were now sitting with all five of the Shadowbolts in a ring. They were all patting each others’ hands and clapping their own. A seven-way game of patty-cake, with not a single one of them letting words slip. With their rhythmic hits, they lost themselves to the beat, letting it go on as much as they could. The seven babies went on with their round until they all laughed, then went back to the door inside together, leaving Adagio alone at the bike.
Oh, don’t you dare do this to me. Friendship’s already ruined one thing for us, it’s not going to ruin this too... Adagio lowered her brows, crawled over towards the door, went inside and pursued after the other babies, only to find that when she got back inside, the others were being picked up by the Embrace sisters and carried away.
Adagio gave chase to the babies, crawling as fast as she could with a small scowl on her face. Her chase was a rather pitiful one at that, as the others were already leagues in front of her. It didn’t take long for them to stop, however, as they were lowered down towards a small chest that Adagio sword was new. The chest itself was white, with a small latch on the front keeping it closed.
The sisters opened the chest up, revealing a bunch of clothes, crumpled up into one mangled pile. Every single article of clothing was brightly coloured, with some even having zips that went all the way up to the neck. Then, they stepped aside and let the seven magic-infused babies get their tiny hands all over the clothes, rummaging for ones that they liked the most.
Playing dress-up, are we? Well, at least that doesn’t require such a silly thing as friendship... Adagio rolled her eyes as she saw the babies finally choose their favourites, with the sisters dressing each of them in them. For a second, I was really worried there. I thought that the magic of friendship was going to cause me to lose everything again. Crisis averted. Now, let’s get back to our little fun, shall we?
As Adagio left the others behind, the newly-dressed babies went off together in one large group of seven. None of them followed after Adagio, though. They went off on their own towards the building blocks. They took whatever blocks they found and brought them together, creating a huge pile between the seven of them. They all shared smiles with each other as their hands dove for the blocks, little fingers clutching on tight to the first thing they could lay them on as they got to work on their first big build.
Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. Such wonderful souls they are now... Sugarcoat thought to herself as she laid her first wave of blocks down. And quite lucky too, given the hand they were dealt. Stripped of everything, reincarnated as infants, and granted agelessness with those pacifiers of theirs...
[i wonder if we can get magical pacifiers too. I’d like to have the option to stay a little squirt forever. They don’t have anything to worry about, they love their lives to the max, and I’m one of those lucky little ones. Lemon Zest planted her blocks down as well. Wait, I said that in my head, not with my mouth. Of course, I’m such a stupid-head. I don’t need to talk anymore. I’ve got this little beauty in my mouth. I can just let it do all of the talking for me!
“You know, Shadowbolts, you’re the first ever babies that I think we’ve ever seen who willingly want to be our friends after all of that stuff that we did when we were mean grown-ups.” Sonata spoke briefly as she lent her own hand in the construction. “In fact, I think you’re the first friends we’ve had in... well, forever.”
“I can’t remember the first time we had friends. We were so young back then, so carefree. Guess that’s just another reason why growing up sucks,” added Aria. “When you get old, it’s harder to make friends. When you get old, it’s not that simple as just going up to them and being nice. But when you’re babies, making friendships is as easy as breathing. You just have to play nice with others and they’ll never want to let go of you. Or maybe they can’t even think about things as abandonment. Or friendship, for that matter. All that the others really care about here is spouting off incoherent babbles while they poop themselves, eat, and sleep.”
“Speaking of pooping, I... uh, kinda need to go for a second.” Sunny Flare winced as she felt the steaming residue squelch around her rump. “You girls don’t mind if I just—“
“It’s fine, girl. We’ll be here for a while. You just head off and clean up, kay?” Indigo winked at Sunny and watched as she went off towards the changing table.
As Sunny went to the changing table, she passed by Adagio, who couldn’t help but look once again at the other babies putting their blocks together as one giant mangle of coloured shapes. A strange sensation formed in Adagio’s throat, a feeling that she didn’t want to have felt, but did anyway. She, Aria, and Sonata had been a unit since the first time they were children, and now it felt as if she was the only left. All of that talk about Sunset’s babies being stolen by her and her sisters, when in reality, it was Adagio’s sisters being slowly ripped away from her instead. Was this what she was trying to do? Had she really stooped so low for a petty revenge act against the human who had mortalised her?
No. No, that’s not it at all. We’re babies. We don’t think about anything. I shouldn’t have to think ever again. I just need to let my body handle everything else... Adagio shook her head vigorously. Babies don’t think of friendship, so it doesn’t exist. Why would friendship be a thing we need anyway? We don’t get any benefits off of it; we don’t get stronger from it. The only real people who need friendships are those pathetic Rainbooms. And while they delude themselves with something they don’t need, we can just do what we want without anyone trying to—
Adagio’s monologue was interrupted by a hand from Sunny Flare, who had been cleaned up and had been heading back to her friends. “Are you alright, Adagio? You aren’t with the other Dazzlings like you usually are.”
“Wh-what? Me? Not okay? I’m fine, Sunny. Totally fine. I was just... uh, distracted by something.” Adagio didn’t have much time to make up an excuse. Her eyes frantically sprinted around the room. “It was... uh... I mean...” She sighed and hung her head. “Okay, there’s no digging me out of this one, is there?”
“Hey, it’s alright, Adagio. We’re friends now, and that’s all that you need to think about.” Sunny wrapped her arm around Adagio’s shoulders.
“But babies can’t have friends. They don’t even know how to say their own names...” Adagio pulled the arm off of her shoulders. “We’ve never needed friends before and we don’t need them now...”
“But you’re not just some mindless baby like everyone else, Adagio. You’re magical.” Sunny pushed the crystalline end of Adagio’s pacifier deeper into her head. “You’re a thinking baby, a talking baby. Who’s to say that the ‘no proper mind means no friends’ rule applies to you or your sisters?”
“The rule still applies in any format. The thing about babies is that they’re already perfectly happy as they are. They don’t need friends because they’re too busy playing. They can’t have friends because of the fact that they can’t even remember things or say proper words. And if it’s possible for either of those two to be overlooked, who’s to say that they’ll forget those friends when they grow up? Not that we ever plan to.” Adagio asked, tipping her hand.
“You know, you need to stop thinking too hard about this. You said it yourself just then. Babies can’t think too much about things. So why would you ever think too much about this kind of deal?” Sunny asked, putting the palm of her hand on Adagio’s tummy. “You’re completely right about things in your way, but we know the script unlike everyone else. What’s stopping us from changing it? We can be friends and think like babies, right? Why is that so hard?”
"Because, well, it's just... how do you... I mean given the..." Adagio fumbled with her own words so much that she couldn't even think about the answer. Her search was brought to an end when Sunny Flare just brought her into a hug, prompting her to let out a small cry. "I don't know how to have a friendship. I just... don't. Truth is, when you girls said that we were going to be friends, I was shocked beyond belief. I didn't know how to react. For once, I didn't know what to say."
"Well, let me give you a little helping hand with that, Adagio. There's nothing wrong with friendship. If anything, everything is even better when you have friends. No matter how much you want to try and deny it, the truth is that you never wanted a friendship. You needed a friendship. And after what you and your sisters told us, we can't just let you keep on going without friends now, can we?"
"I... I..." Adagio wanted to say, but found the pacifier pushed back into her mouth again by Sunny.
"Come on. Let's do this together. That's what friends are for." Sunny Flare crawled back to the other Shadowbolts and Dazzlings, pulling Adagio along with her.
The other six babies had already done quite a bit of work with the blocks, forming a wide cylindrical tower that spanned the inside of the ring. There were only a few blocks left, but Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Aria, and Sonata handed them over to Sunny and Adagio.
"You sure about this? That friendship's actually going to make this better?" Adagio asked, looking into Sunny's eyes as she took the first of the blocks. "After all, we're just making this thing together, right? Nothing really special or out of the ordinary, is there?"
"Does it have to be special?" Sunny Flare blinked at Adagio. "Come on, girl. We need to let go of ourselves and just enjoy this for what it is."
"I don't really know about this, Sunny. It just seems like this is a normal game of building a large thing with blocks to me. Not really overly selling me on this friendship thing that you're talking about..." Adagio's arm, shaking slightly, reached up high towards the top of the tower, placing a block in one of the open spaces, blending it into the vertical kaleidoscope.
"Hey, as long as you're doing this together with us, that's considered friendship." Sour Sweet, clutching Mr Cuddlebutt tight watched as Adagio took another block and reached higher to begin the next layer of the tower.
"Friendship isn't really made by a lot of special experiences. It's made when two or more people enjoy something together, bond over it, and create a deeper affinity with one another. In less thinky-talk, if you and Sunny both like it, then you're doing it as friends," Sugarcoat spoke as she crawled over to Adagio's side. "So... do you like it?"
"Well, I always love this kind of baby stuff. Just whether or not in the way that Sunny's thinking of is a different matter entirely..." Adagio took the next block, then tried to reach up for the top of the tower with it, only to find that her arm was too short. She tried to stand up once more, her tiny body wiggling as she tried to find some form of balance. "If everyone here likes what they do, then aren't we all technically friends with each other then?"
"I... guess?" Lemon asked, looking at all of the other babies once more. Again, all doing what they wanted without any real thought about it. "Man. If only every baby could talk, then this kind of stuff wouldn't be so awkward," she said to herself, thinking about how much difficulty it would be to make friends with a non-magic baby.
As Adagio finally stood up properly, her legs trembled. The excessive weight of her body was beginning to prove counteractive to her situation. She reached for the tower's apex once more, only to find that her whole body was about to give way. She was about to topple over when the other Shadowbolts and Dazzlings stood up and held onto her body, giving her some form of support.
"Thanks for that..." Adagio looked at the other girls, who gave her smiles as she once more tried to reach the tower's top. She leaned forward to put the block down. Then, as it was set into place, it happened.
Because Adagio had to lean forward, the others found it hard for her to keep her stable while at the same time hanging onto their own balances. They themselves started to sway and swing, trying desperately to stand upright while keeping Adagio supported. In the end, Sugarcoat ended up falling first, prompting Adagio to topple forwards, which then sent the others down with her. The babies crashed head-first into the tower of blocks, causing it to crumble in the blink of an eye, forming two twisted piles on the floor. One of magic-infused babies and their limbs, and the other of their ruined creation.
Adagio looked at the mess that had been caused, then turned to the others. Once again, friendship had caused them all a great deal of sadness. All of the work that they had put into the tower had been for nothing as it laid in pieces before their eyes. As she was about to hurry off away from the shame again, she couldn’t help but hear laughter from behind her.
The Dazzlings and Shadowbolts had little chuckles coming out of their mouths, which escalated into full-blown laughter on no time at all. Instead of letting pain or misery be their focus, they were instead laughing at all of the bedlam that had ensued for them.
“Wait, what? You’re not... upset by this?” Adagio cocked a brow as she turned to the others, tilting her head as well.
“Why would we be upset? This kind of stuff happens all the time.” Sour Sweet sat back up with Mr Cuddlebutt still in her hands. “It was only just a matter of time, really.”
“Building blocks never stay fully built for long. Usually because some other babies or toys come along to knock the whole thing down once again.” Sugarcoat nodded. “The real fun in these things is seeing how big and creatively you can build them before the inevitable destruction happens. Then, if you get bored, you can just cause it yourself.”
“B-but you did so much work together... How are you so happy about this? I even caused the mess. Shouldn’t you be scolding me for ruining all the work you girls did?” Adagio waddled over to them.
“No, Adagio. Don’t you remember when we did that building block day together?” Sonata asked, pulling Adagio in close to her. “We never really finished any of the things we were building. We always just got our work trashed or one of us made an oopsie. Heck, that’s what you did right there. Nothing wrong with that, is it?”
“I...” Adagio didn’t even try to think, seeing as how the last few attempts had ended so poorly. Eventually, a warm feeling filled her heart and a smile painted itself onto her face. “You know what? You’re right. That actually was kind of fun. For real.”
“Did you enjoy playing with us, Adagio?” Aria asked, joining Adagio on her other side. “Us and the Shadowbolts?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. It’s so strange, but... I think I might actually be starting to open up to this friendship thing of yours, girls.” Adagio grinned wider and wider. “In fact, I have a sudden urge to try building that again. Do you wanna give me a helping hand?”
“Of course. It was so cool to build that thing up, Adagio!” Lemon threw her arms up.
“It did look pretty well-made, so I’m also on board,” said Sugarcoat.
“Sure. Anything for fun, right?” Indigo Zap added.
“Anything for our new friends, Adagio.” Sour Sweet got back onto all-fours again.
“Because friends always do things together, no matter how good or bad they may be.” Sunny Flare finished with her and the others joining the Dazzlings.
“Then it’s settled. We’re going to build the biggest, best tower ever!” Adagio jubilantly swung her arms skyward. “Together, as friends!”
“Yay!” Everyone else let out a cheer and gathered around the strewn mass of blocks, letting their little arms reach out once again for the blocks. Once they had all gotten their blocks together, they got to work once more on their large, cylinder tower. Piece by piece, they once more found themselves deep within their playful trance, planning on making their creation as big as they wanted to imagine.
As Sunset Shimmer sat silently scrawling notes in class on her lessons, a myriad of thoughts ran through her mind; namely about the Shadowbolts and how they would be coping without her guidance. She had never been one to overly panic about these kind of things, but in the case of people being turned into infants granted the magical power to talk, a part of her couldn’t help but feel cautious about the future. A part of her wondered if they had acclimated too much and didn’t want to grow back up in the first place, while the other side worried about the possibility of them escaping the daycare to either find her or something else.
With the ringing of the bell, Sunset was liberated from such thoughts, packing her stuff up for the next lesson of the day. As she let everyone else leave after her so as to give her proper time to put everything back into her bag without making a mess of it, another thought sprung to mind; namely, about the babies she had been introduced to by her friends after the end of their first day at the daycare. She had been trying to put it off for the longest of times, but another part of her didn’t want to. If it was true and they were the Dazzlings in infant form, she could only wonder how they were treating her children.
Sunset trudged into the corridor and was about to call her friends, when she felt a hand tapping her shoulder. She leapt into the air with a little yelp, turned on the balls of her heels and stared into the eyes of Pinkie, who slid backwards to show the rest of her friends into Sunset’s field of view.
“Hey, girls. How’s your day been?” Sunset asked, limply waving at the Rainbooms.
“Well, aside from all of the boring egghead stuff in science class, I’d say that things have been pretty chill, really.” Rainbow folded her arms.
“But more to the point, how are you doing, Sunset? I’ve been meaning to properly ask you what with all of the chaos that’s been going on in your life with the Shadowbolts. I mean, five babies all at once? As a lady of fashion myself, that kind of stuff could end my career as a seamstress without someone else lending a hand...” Rarity placed a hand to her head. “No matter how adorable they may be, I have to admit that it’s a heavy burden to bear.”
“I know. That’s why I’ve been trying to think about how we’re going to change them back, whether it’s a song or some other kind of magic. But right now, all we really can do is care for them.” Sunset let a sigh slip out of her mouth. The Shadowbolts didn’t deserve this kind of treatment, especially after what they had been through in the past. “And because I can’t really stay at home all day, I always have to leave them at this centre until I can come back for them.”
“Well, at least you’re doing the right thing, Sunset. Ah have to admit, much as it would be sad, Ah would’ve done the same if ah didn’t have Granny Smith or Big Macintosh to pick up the slack.” Applejack patted Sunset on the shoulders softly. “I’m sure they don’t mind a thing or two about it.”
“Yeah, but... that’s not the only thing I’ve been thinking about recently.” Sunset pried Applejack’s hand off of her body. “Se, there were some other babies that the Shadowbolts like there...”
“And what’s so wrong with that? If I were a super-tiny baby, then I’d take every chance I could get to play around and make some new friends. Then, we could share our toys together, talk on and on and on and on and on about stuff, sleep together, even get diaper changes together. But that’s just me.” Pinkie tipped her hand. “In fact, I still do all that kind of stuff when I have to babysit the Cake Twins. Those two can be really fun to play around with sometimes. Plus, it’s kinda juicy to hear Pound going on about slaying the cuddle dragon of Paddington, or Pumpkin saying that she’s gonna advocate for baby rights someday.”
“Pinkie, at times, I don’t think we’ll ever understand you.” Rainbow Dash deadpanned with a lifted brow.
“Well, I guess it would be normal if other babies could understand them, but... those babies looked awfully familiar.” Sunset scratched her chin, picturing the infant Dazzlings with the baby Shadowbolts. “In fact, I’d say that they were the spitting images of Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk; the three sirens who turned CHS into a Battle of the Bands a while back...”
“Well, I’m sure it’s probably just a coincidence. Babies these days look so much like people do, so it’s easy to get them mixed up with someone else.” Fluttershy walked forward with her hands clasped together. “So if they looked like baby Dazzlings, then I’m sure that they mean no harm. They might not even know who they are and just be ordinary, regular babies like all the others at the daycare centre.”
“I guess... but then why would the Shadowbolts be so buddy-buddy with them? If they’re the only babies that they know can talk properly, then how could they establish a friendship with those other babies? If we were being realistic, their friendship would probably only be conveyed with actions, rather than with words.” Sunset paced back and forth, trying to envision the conversations between the talking baby Shadowbolts and their new ‘friends’. “I mean, I’m happy for them finding some kind of happiness in their situation, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel that something fishy is going on here. I guess when I come and get them again after school, I could try and get a better look at them, see if they really do have some kind of hidden secret between them...”
“Oh, Sunset. You worry too much. Perhaps we should all come with you together, see just how the little ragamuffins are getting on with each other.” Rarity gave Sunset a nod. “I’ve got nothing really urgent on my deadlines anyway so I can spare a visit with you.”
“If it’s alright, I want to come along as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of those babies myself, and to see these new friends that the Shadowbolts are making.” Fluttershy’s smile grew cartoonishly wide as her hands slid down her sides.
“Ah, shucks. Guess I’d better tag along too. Ya’ll might need the extra help bringing the Shadowbolts back home.” Applejack tipped her hat to Sunset and the others.
The others chattered in agreement as they laid their hands together in a stack, before throwing said stack into the air. Once everyone’s hands came back down, the bell rang, signalling the beginning of their next class. As everyone dispersed, their thoughts were full of the Shadowbolts and their baby friends, rather than that of the potential lessons they were about to face.
If those babies really are the Dazzlings, then I’ve got quite a few questions to ask them. Sunset clutched her bag as she approached the next classroom on her regime. How did they survive after the Battle of the Bands? How did they get turned into babies, and what would they want with the Shadowbolts? Maybe I am overthinking things, but I haven’t seen them in a long time, so who knows what they’re up to?
When the hour came for the students CHS to be dismissed for another night, Sunset Shimmer and her friends all met up together by the portal, before all venturing off down the streets towards the daycare centre with one another, all talking about how their days had been and about the baby Shadowbolts. For the most part, they were chipper and eager to see the little ones, with Sunset being the only one deep in thought out of the group. From her perspective, she thought that the Dazzlings would be bending the Shadowbolts to do something devious, or that they might have been swayed to lose faith in her and her friends.
“You know, I kinda hope that, if they are the Dazzlings, that they have changed; that they’re not the same sociopathic hate-eating monsters we knew them at Canterlot High.” Fluttershy chirped as the group walked away from CHS. “If they really have changed, I want to give them another shot, so that they get taught all of the right things this time. Plus, I bet they’re super cute and cuddly as babies...”
“If they’re babies, Fluttershy. If.” Rainbow Dash brushed Fluttershy’s hair with the palm of her hand. “For all we know, they could still be out there and Sunset’s mistaken three squirts at daycare for them.”
“Yes, yes, we don’t know yet. But it always helps to remain optimistic about the whole thing, doesn’t it?” Rarity flashed a grin. “Personally, I always have a soft spot for little ones. So pure, so uncorrupted, so much a treat to watch.”
“Personally, if it weren’t for whether or not they like or dislike this, being a baby again is something extraordinarily rare for someone. It’s a second chance at being able to have that innocence that you once forgot about.” Twilight pushed her glasses closer to her face. “If we all had the chance to be babies again, it would be such a treat.”
“If only, Twilight. But personally, I’d kinda wanna put that stuff off unless I’ve really not got a lot going for me.” Rainbow twisted her wrists. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d be down for the chance to be a squirt again, but my life’s too awesome for me to toss away like that.”
“Same here. Ah’ve already got a good life down on the farm. Ain’t gonna give that up for nothin’, even if being a baby again does sound like a good way to get back that part of me ah lost.” Applejack tipped her hand ouward.
“What about the opposite? What if the Shadowbolts find too many positives with being babies that they don’t want to grow up?” Sunset asked, grabbing the attention of the whole group. “What if they choose to stay babies because they don’t want to grow up because of how much fun they’re having?”
“Huh?” The Rainbooms all chorused.
“If the Shadowbolts like being babies too much and they don’t want to grow up, then what are we going to do? We could turn them back to normal, but they wouldn’t like it or even try to run away from us, or stay at the daycare centre instead...” Sunset never wanted to be the kind of person to see the worst possible outcomes, but in the case of the baby Shadowbolts, her claims had some ground to stand on. In the midst of her internal debate, Sunset slapped herself across the face. “No. What am I saying? That’s not going to happen. They’re smart babies, they want to grow back up when we find the cure for them. They’re just enjoying the moments and nothing more. Right?”
The other Rainbooms could only look at Sunset as she tried to forge a phoney grin, showing some kind of hope that her words could be credible. But because of how little they knew about the Shadowbolts, due in part to the fact that they barely spent any time with them, all they could do was force lame faces of their own, in an attempt to give her some form or solace.
“It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. They like being babies but not too much that they want to stay that way forever. Someway, somehow, they’re resisting the urge to keep that way.” Sunset kept telling herself those words as she saw the daycare in the distance. “They’re fine. They’re totally fine.”
The girls walked into the daycare and saw the receptionist working at the desk again. For Sunset, it had been only the fourth time, but for the rest it was the first. As soon as she saw Sunset, the receptionist said. “Had a nice day at school, Sunset?”
“Yeah. It was alright. Nothing really too special, just another day at the books, writing down answers to questions. Same old, same old.” She chuckled, trying to hold back the worries that she had surfaced when it came to the babies she was caring after.
“Good. And are these your friends?” She asked, looking at the other Rainbooms.
“Yes. Yes they are. They’ve come to help me take Lemon, Indigo, Sour, Sugar, and Sunny back home.” She nodded. At least that was something she didn’t have to fret over or overcomplicate. “I hope that’s alright with you.”
“Of course it is. Let me show you all to the room.” The receptionist walked out from behind the desk and headed down the corridors, with the Rainbooms following closely behind her. “I must say, they’ve really been enjoying their stay, according to the Embrace sisters. They’ve said how there’s not a single thing they do without a smile, especially with their new friends.”
Those words hit Sunset more than they should have. Her fears were beginning to come true. If it were possible that the Shadowbolrs were diving deeper and deeper into contentment with their babyhoods, then the chance of them growing back up was beginning to fade more and more.
Everyone came to the door and the receptionist led them all inside. Immediately, the girls were hit by a bright kaleiodscope of coloured walls, toys, padded floors, and babies playing around with the toys inside, with the Shadowbolts and Dazzlings sprinkled into the mix in different groups. Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare were building things with Aria Blaze while Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap were playing tag with Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk. As well as the babies, Sweet, Warm, and Loving Embrace were either changing diapers or overseeing the activities with a grin on their faces.
“Aww...” the Rainbooms all swooned in unison with each other, awestruck with the sight of the playing babies.
When the Shadowbolts saw that Sunset had returned with the rest of her friends, they all stopped what they were doing and crawled over to them, with giggles in their voice as their little hands and knees shuffled across the floor, before they all came to a halt by the titanic teenagers.
“Sunset!” Lemon threw her arms up, clutching Sunset’s thighs with an eager grin on her face. “You’re back!”
“Hey, Lemon. Did you and the others have fun?” Sunset asked, picking Lemon Zest up as the lady went off to collect the carrier she had left behind.
“Yeah. We’ve been having lots and lots of fun with our new best friends!” Lemon squealed in delight as she looked down at the Dazzlings. “Dagi, Aria and Sonata!”
At the mere sight of the Dazzlings looking at the Rainbooms, and the Rainbooms looking at the Dazzlings, both sides could only widen their eyes and turn away. It really was true. The Dazzlings were babies again, and the Rainbooms had finally found them at last. It had seemed like forever since they last saw each other, with neither side knowing exactly what the other was pulling.
“So... it really is true. You found the Dazzlings, girls.” Sunset took the other babies in close to her body with the help of her friends. “I should be mad that they’re here, furious even for what they did. But... for some reason, I just can’t bring myself to hate them.”
“Maybe that’s because they’re super-duper tiny babies who’re super fragile now? That they can’t sing to turn anyone into a screaming, anger-driven maniac so that they can make themselves stronger?” Pinkie looked down at the three baby Dazzlings. “I gotta say, all my anger towards ‘em just went up in smoke. And not the smoke used in parties when you bring out a big name.”
"So... how did they get turned into babies again?" Rainbow Dash asked, sliding over to the three former sirens. "I mean, I thought that magic for them was all but gone, wasn't it?"
"I think they got turned the same way that the Shadowbolts did, by having a bit of a fight with each other while magic was near the proximity. One of them probably said that they were acting like babies and the magic just kicked in like that." Twilight squatted down and took a closer look at the girls, mainly at their clothes, the bows on their hairs, and the booties on their feet.
"Don't think there's any chance that they're pulling something mean like they were before. But still, ah gotta wonder what in the hay they're doing here? Wouldn't they want this kind of stuff to be over like the others do?" Applejack leaned in to the infant trio herself.
"Oh no, trust me. Growing up is a bad thing for us right now." Sonata shook her hands out in front of Applejack. "If we grow up, we have to do big girl things like think for ourselves, feed ourselves, survive for ourselves. Here, we can just have everything given to us like that." She tried clicking her fingers, but no snapping noise could be heard.
"It's true, Rainbooms. The grown-up life is absolutely terrible. At least, it was for us. So, we've decided that we're not going to grow up. We are going to stay babies until the end of time, because that way, we have a free and easy life with nothing trying to shoot us down for doing what we do." Adagio lifted a finger of her own as she glanced over into Sunset's eyes. "So, any thoughts that you might have had about us pulling some kind of revenge scheme are entirely out of the window. I mean, yeah, I admit right here and now that we had something up our sleeves, but your little ones were able to just... break that idea. They made themselves our friends and we've just gone along with it."
"Wait, for real?" Rainbow Dash cocked a brow. "You're being serious, right? You really don't want to grow back up again?"
"Why would we ever want to grow back up? Growing up is a terrible thing. When you have to live for yourself, it's so hard to juggle money, jobs, commitments, others, everything around you." Aria twirled her hand around. "If we wanted to grow up, we'd have to accept the fact that we'd be getting nothing out of it, that we'd be slaves to the outside world. When you really think about it, the entire outside world is just one big prison, with this little daycare centre being the only place where we can be free, be who we truly want to be. Be babies until the planet implodes or something or whatever. I don't really care, so long as we get to live the life of luxury."
"But how are you gonna stay babies forever when you have to grow up eventually?" Pinkie held her hands out to the baby sirens. "I mean, I'd totally love to be a diaper-butt, gurgling little kid forever, but I knew when to grow up and I grew up. How are you gonna fight that?"
"You think you're the only one with magical things, girls?" Adagio tapped the pacifier in her mouth. "With these, we don't age. At all. As long as these things stay in our mouths, we can stay babies forever, no matter how much you beg, plead, cry, or anything else."
"Yep. Magical pacifiers are the bestest thing ever, aren't they?" Sonata asked before she resumed suckling away at hers.
"Well... O...kay then?" Sunset couldn't bring herself to find any other words as she saw the carrier being returned to her. She laid each of the Shadowbolts down in it, before lifting it back up. "In any case, it's, uh... nice to see that you're finding your place in this world, girls. Don't let us keep you from it." She chuckled lamely once again, dumbfounded and caught off-guard by the Dazzlings' new ideals.
"They really do mean it, y'know." Sugarcoat nodded as she poked her head out of the carrier. "We've been with them all day, they don't want to grow up. At all."
"Yeah. They told us how, after the Battle of the Bands, their life was horrible." Sour Sweet cuddled Mr Cuddlebutt as the group lifted the carrier holding her and the other Shadowbolts out of the daycare. "I can't really feel that they're making the wrong choice now that they've laid out their blocks on the situation."
"But... were you really meanies to them, Sunset?" Sunny Flare blinked as she lifted her eyes to Sunset's field of vision. "Did you and the girls do something bad to them that made them come here?"
"Well, I wouldn't really say bad, per se. But... I guess, looking back at it, we did kind of cause this." Sunset took one last look at the Dazzlings as they went back to playing with the other babies in the daycare. "Though... I suppose, what we did was bad... and good at the same time. I'm just happy that they're happy, and that they're not hurting anyone else." Sunset closed the door once more, parting ways with the Dazzlings again, at least until the next time she had to leave the Shadowbolts behind.
Later that evening, the Shadowbolts had all been taken back home to Sunset's house, together in their room once again. Only now, they were accompanied by Sunset and her friends, watching over the lot of them as they went back to playing once more. It seemed that their old lives didn't even matter anymore, as they lost themselves for the umpteenth time in the joys of baby games. Stuffed animals, blocks, toys, clothes, and a nimiety of other things littered the nursery, trampled on or plucked from the ground by the babies and their unrestrained hands.
Sour Sweet kept Mr Cuddlebutt close to her chest all the while as she toddled around the room. On occasion, she would also comb through her hair, held up by the large bow in it. She had never shown so much happiness before the day when she had been regressed. Usually, she would be jumping back and forth between her good side and her bad side with no middle ground to stand in. But as a baby, she could only ever see the good side of things, the happiness that she had been clinging onto while also wrangling frustration was clear as day.
Lemon Zest had always been the child out of the group, always playing around and letting her music blast out through her ears, completely oblivious to the world around her. For her, the world had always been one big playground for her. But now that she had turned into a baby, it was just an even bigger playground with a lot more things to do rather than just jam out to her tunes or hang out with her friends. And the best part for her was that she wasn't alone. The others would gladly pitch in whenever they wanted to, making it seem like they had always been a group since they first met. That alone was what made this experience perfect for Lemon zest; one that she wouldn't forget any time soon.
Sugarcoat had always been the brainiac of the group, always scoring the highest in tests and overachieving on all fronts. But when it came to letting herself go and trying to find some joy in the stuff that she did, it had always been a challenge for her. Sugarcoat had always been geared towards studying, working, and letting nothing come between her and that. But since her regression, there was no need for her to study. None of it would be useful now. She wouldn't even be able to remember it, let alone the hordes of other stuff that she had learned. Sacrificing what Sugarcoat had learned for the chance to show some kind of happiness when playing with the others was one of the hardest that she had made, but one that she was glad to have done so. If there really was no way for Sunset and the others to fix her and the other Shadowbolts, at least she wouldn't always be miserable in her new state.
Sunny Flare had always been the one out of the Shadowbolts that never really could stand out. Try as she might, everything that she did was always overshadowed by the others in both her class or in the school in general. She had always tried as hard as she could to get some form of recognition and adoration, even if at the same time, she had been pushing herself too far. But, in the case of being a baby, Sunny Flare didn't have to do anything, really. The smallest of things brought her delight and the other Shadowbolts were always eager to play along with her whenever she asked or came along to see what she was doing. The saying was true. The smallest things did please the smallest minds.
And for Indigo Zap, it was one thing to win all the time, but another thing to be so blind in doing what you did that everything else seemed to lose value. At first, when she had became a baby again, she was mortified; shocked that she had been reduced to something so low. Whether it was a punishment for what she had done in the past against CHS and its' students, or a revelation that the other things outside of winning mattered, she didn't care at this point. She had been an infant for much too long to think about her old self. As long as she could stay young, stay happy, then that was the greatest victory she'd ever had.
Sunset had been deep in thought about everything. About what the Dazzlings had said about staying young forever, to never grow up and to always remain as a baby, free from any form of obligation or physical labour. If the Dazzlings' ideals had indeed gotten into the minds of the Shadowbolts, then she truly was stuck. She couldn't turn them back anyway, but the idea that they would want to willingly stay babies forever, completely throwing away their past lives; their families, friends, CPA work, all for their little want to be young, it sent a chill down her spine. Though the idea of staying young and alive forever was appealing, there were certain pros and cons to it. And right now, she could see nothing but the cons.
"Aww... Who's a cute little Shadowbolty? You are! Yes, you are!" Pinkie cooed from the distance, breaking Sunset's train of thought. She then promptly blew a raspberry into Lemon Zest's chest, making her laugh at the top of her tinny, squeaky voice.
"I have to agree, Pinkie. These little ragamuffins are simply adorable..." Rarity rubbed her wrists together with a giddy grin on her face as she brought her head down to the ground, watching as Sunny and Indigo crawled over towards the nearby slide. "You know, had I no obligations of my own, I wouldn't mind shaving a few years off myself, to relive that infancy that I once held in high regard.”
“Yeah, but still. They’ve gotta grow up eventually. Magic might’ve made ‘em this way, but it sure as heck can’t keep ‘em like it. Plus, I’m sure a part of them still misses being a teenager.” Applejack squatted down, splaying her fingers across the floor as her legs became jagged, almost like a heart monitor in shape. As she watched Sugarcoat and Sour, she couldn’t help but crack a blush. “But, you’ve got a point there, Rarity. They are pretty darn sweet. Heh, almost like Applebloom when she were littler.”
“Yeah. But... it’s still not right.” Sunset knew what was going on. The Dazzlings had buttered the Shadowbolts up so much that they didn’t mind being babies anymore. They had been shown all of the good of being young while ignoring all of the bad of being young. If they stayed like that for longer, then their families and friends would be in a real panic. Sunset couldn’t let all of those people get upset over five baby teenagers. “Twilight? Do you know a way to fix this?”
“I wish I did. But the data I’ve been getting from all of my research is still quite sporadic. I don’t exactly know what wavelengths or frequencies did this kind of spell, so I can only really grasp at straws here.” Twilight adjusted her glasses. “If only we knew exactly where that magic came from and how it reacted. Then, I could get some progress done.”
As Twilight said that, Lemon Zest wriggled over to Twilight’s side, grabbed hold of her leg and started to climb it. Soon after her tiny trek, she was latched onto Twilight’s chest, causing her to jump rather suddenly at the sight of a baby on her body. Lemon then went even further to climb onto Twilight’s face, completely blocking out her vision and replacing it with a blinding shade of onesie and diaper.
“Twilight? Did you ever want to grow up when you were a baby?” Lemon Zest asked, leaning over into Twilight’s ear.
“Lemon, please. I need to speak with Sunset.” Twilight picked Lemon off of her face and held her out in front of her. This caused Lemon’s little legs to limply dangle over the floor. “And no. I don’t ever remember wanting to grow up when I was that young. In fact, I don’t remember ever having any baby memories like that, period.”
“Aww... That’s a shame. You should have been turned into a baby too. You’d be so much more happy that way.” Lemon reached over to Twilight’s face, almost swimming in the air with how far she had to reach. “There’s no boring stuff, no worries whatsoever, you get fed and changed on sight if you need it, and baby things are actually fun to do. You just forgot about them...”
“Yeah. It’s just so good to forget about being a big girl and just throw yourself to your imagination!” Sour squealed as she tightly clutched Mr Cuddlebutt in her teeny hands. “Isn:t that right, Mr Cuddlebutt? Isn’t it?” She grabbed 5 ebakc of the bear’s head and nodded it while speaking with a deeper, more gruff voice, so as to make it seem like the teddy was speaking. “Oh yes, Sour. There’s nothing wrong with being young.” She gave the bear another deep cuddle.
“I know that you’re liking it now, girls. But everything else is just as important, even if you don’t think it is.” Sunset walked into the middle of the room with Lemon in her hands, watching as the others gathered around her. “What do you expect to do when years and years go by and you eventually get tired of these baby games?”
“That’s just it. We never get tired. And if we do, we can always go back to the Dazzlings and play along with them.” Indigo clutched her hands together. “Plus, I’m pretty sure that, with this magic stuff settling in, we’ve got this extra bit of pep in our step. Or, is it pep in our crawl? We don’t really walk a lot anymore...”
“Also, if magic made us into babies, maybe it’ll do the same to you someday too. Anything’s possible, right?” Sunny Flare shrugged with a minuscule smile on her face. “But... if you find some way to use it to turn us back, then that’s another story.”
“Yeah. You can’t force us to be big girls again.” Lemon pouted with folded arms. “We actually love being babies again. Would you make the five of us sad by taking away our fun? Because if you do, then... well, it ain’t gonna be pretty.”
“Trust me. Lemon’s a demon when she’s angry. Best not to do that, girls.” Indigo put her hand to her side and spoke in whispers.
“Sunset. You’re overthinking this way too much. The point of being born isn’t to grow up. It’s to live the life that you have.” Sugarcoat took her crawl forward to address the group of grown-ups. “You’re all much too focused on the world around you that you’ve forgotten what it was like to be babies like us. We’ve been given a second chance; a way to relive that infancy that we’ve forgotten that we had. And now that we’ve seen and known how much fun it is as opposed to our old versions of life, we’re happy to stay as we are. And at the end of the day, you don’t make the final decisions for us. We make them for ourselves.”
“And together, we’ve decided that we don’t want to grow up anymore.” Sunny Flare reached her arms out, grabbing onto Indigo and Sour’s hands, who held Lemon and Sugarcoat’s hands. “We might have been shocked about this whole baby thing when it first happened, but now that we’ve had some time to get adjusted, we’re much better off staying like this. We don’t need grades or jobs to be happy with things. We just need ourselves and less stuffy minds to be happy.”
“But girls, your—“
But nothing!” The babies all clamoured together at the Rainbooms, causing the seven teens to lurch backwards. Not wanting to look at their ‘caretakers’ anymore, the Shadowbolts went into a group hug with each other. And as they did, it was then that Sunset noticed something.
From underneath the Shadowbolts, a ring of light began to form, with magical symbols forming at each different part. It started small, but it quickly expanded around the group of babies, circling them in. Little particles of magic surged up from the ring, like a column of bubbles from the depths of the ocean.
"Wh...What is this?" Sugarcoat asked as the light began to glow brighter and brighter, causing her to put her hand to her eyes. "Gah! It's too bright! Turn it off!"
"I... I don't know what's going on. Sunset? What's happening?" Lemon Zest asked over the light as her body began to become enveloped in it. "Make it stop!"
"I... I don't know how!" Sunset replied as the light just continued to get brighter and brighter. Within seconds, the Shadowbolts had all but disappeared and the Rainbooms were to be next, lost in the light.
When the light faded, the room was empty. Stripped of everything related to do with a nursery. Nothing but blank floors and walls, with twelve teenagers sprawled around it in a mess of bodies and limbs. All of them were dressed back up in their regular clothes and the Shadowbolts were noticeably without any diapers or any of their old toys with them. The magic had been reversed and they were finally back to normal.
Sunset Shimmer was the first one to wake back up and stand on two legs once more. She looked down at the sleeping Shadowbolts and noticed that they were grown up again instantaneously, with all of their old clothes from the day before. The rest of her friends were also there, and nothing had changed about them whatsoever.
"It's... It's finally over." Sunset saw the Shadowbolts shake from their slumber and wake up once again, pushing themselves off of the ground with their hands. "You're back to normal now, girls."
"No duh, we're back to normal. Why? Did something happen to us?" Indigo Zap asked, rubbing the back of her head vigorously. "I've got a bit of a pounding headache and I can't even remember what happened to me."
"Me too. I remember we all got into some kinda fight with each other and the rest is blank. Can't remember squat afterwards." Lemon Zest joined in on the head rubbing as her knees wobbled on the spot. "And it's not the fun kinda forgetfulness you get after such a rockin' night out on the town or anything like that."
"It's kinda hard to explain, but I'll try the best that I can." Sunset had a lot to explain since the magic had wiped the Shadowbolts memories. If she let any of them know about how much they adored their infancy during their time regressed, they might have wanted to turn back again. "Basically, magic happened and the five of you were turned into babies for a few days. It was a weird experience, to say the least. That's the shortest and best version I can give at the moment."
"Wait? Babies? Now why in the heck would that have ever happened to us? We're totally grown-up." Sunny Flare was the next to stand back up. "Besides, we're on the cusp of finishing another year at CPA. In what context would magic have to do that to us? Some kind of cruel joke or something?"
"It can't have been all that bad. Once you had to deal with all of our whining, complaining, shouting, even fighting, I'm sure that Sunset had the time of her life if this whole baby nonsense is true or not." Sour Sweet cut in, shooting up to her feet like a rocket. "But, it could've been all bad, you could have had frazzled hair, wanted to drop us off at an orphanage, leaving us to struggle on our own, alone, with no good food or anything like that. You weren't thinking about that, now, were you, Sunset?"
"N-No! Nothing like that. I'm just glad that you're all bad to being yourselves again." Sunset threw herself into the CPA students once Sugarcoat got back up as well, making a tight hug out of her advances. "And now, we can get you back to CPA without any hesitating, right? I'm sure that your friends and family are missing you all so much. And I'm sure that your studies will have fallen behind without you girls there leading the charge, right?"
"Y-yeah... I'm sure. Come on, girls. We'd best get back to it." Sugarcoat readjusted her glasses, her pupils as small as pinpricks. Though, from the look on her face and her unsightly limbs splayed outward, it was as if she had walked in on the most embarrassing and awkward situation that she had ever encountered. "I... Hope that you have a good day, girls. Let's not make it any more of a problem than it needs to be."
"Well, I'm glad that's over..." Sunset lead the Shadowbolts out of her house and watched them walk down the road, splitting off to their own homes so that they could once again resume the lives that they were meant to have. The grown-up lives that they had been given and deserved, rather than an eternity as infants.
