Living in a cloud house had its ups and downs as far as Rainbow Dash was concerned. On one hand, living in a house made entirely of condensed water made for some very chilly mornings. This was especially true during the wintertime when the frosty morning air breezed in through any open windows or cracks that the lazy pegasus hadn’t seen fit to patch yet. While pegasi physiology was definitely more adapted to colder climates than the other tribes, anypony would still feel perturbed when waking up to a draft of freezing air circulating throughout the room. This was the case for the cyan pegasus who was trying her best to ignore her uncomfortable wakefulness by snuggling tightly into her bedcovers and being grateful for the upside of cloud houses: comfy beds.
“Ungh…” the pegasus moaned in duress as the sheets did little to protect her from the draft. She tried curling even tighter into her sheets, but all seemed to be in vain as her body temperature seemingly continued to drop. She tossed from one side of her bed to the other in a feeble attempt to get comfortable before giving up with a grunt of exasperation. It’s too early to be cold, she thought to herself. She sat up in her bed, letting the covers fall over her hind legs, and wrapped her forelegs around her midsection tightly. For a moment, she thought she had left a window open again as she was wont to do from time to time, but a quick scan of the room found all windows to be closed. Then where is that darn draft coming from?
A stronger gust of wind picked up, blowing more cool air into Rainbow’s bedroom with more force than before. That was enough to alert the sleepy pegasus to the location of the issue which for some reason was just to the left of her bed. Lifting an eyebrow in confusion, the young pony shuffled to the side to see the problem. Her eyes widened at the sight of a considerably large hole in the floor of her bedroom, probably about nine inches in diameter, and perfectly round.
“What the hay?” the pegasus let out in a sleepy and confused voice.
A voice that was… higher pitch than she was used to. And significantly scratchier than it had been in years. Eyes widening further, Rainbow’s hoof immediately clamped over her mouth in surprise.
Was… was that my voice?
The chill was all but forgotten as the rainbow-maned pony slowly released her muzzle again and cautiously opened her mouth.
“T-testing?” The voice that sounded out was not Rainbow’s, but it was very similar. It was high-pitched, rough, and squeaky. Kind of like a filly’s.
Like a filly…
In her morning haze, Rainbow Dash hadn’t noticed until then anything else peculiar about her surroundings. The bed she was laying in seemed much wider than normal. It also seemed higher off the floor than normal. The room seemed more spacious than normal. To Rainbow, it seemed everything had gotten larger than normal.
What is going on?
Rainbow Dash abandoned the comfort of her cloud bed by throwing her sheets haphazardly to the side before spreading her wings. With a sharp push of her hind legs, she catapulted herself from the oversized bedframe and flew to the bathroom door on the other side of the room. Or at least she tried to.
“ACK!” she squawked as she promptly faceplanted onto her bedroom floor. She took a deep breath and let it out in a whine as she looked around her room from her new vantage point. Everything was definitely bigger than before. Rainbow could feel her heart beating slightly faster.
W-what just happened?
With a shake of her rainbow-capped head, the pony got to her hooves again and flapped her wings in the direction of her bathroom door. Her body rose into the air and she outstretched her forelegs as she moved closer. Almost immediately, gravity brought her down on her face again.
“What the hay is going on!?” she shouted in her now squeaky voice. With a turn of her head, the scowling pony glared at the wings on her back. At the sight of them her glare vanished and was replaced with shock. Her feathery appendages were smaller than they should be. Her primary feathers barely stretched out more than a hoof-length from her torso, making them only slightly larger in comparison to her body mass than Scootaloo’s.
And Scootaloo can’t…
The small pegasus franticly tried flapping her wings again but only rose a couple inches from the floor before falling to her hooves again. She repeated the action without delay only to achieve the same result. She persisted.
“No… No, No, NO!” she muttered, getting louder (and squeakier) with each subsequent “no”. After the seventh failed attempt, she gave up and looked to her bathroom again. She needed a mirror. It had been a long time since she had last run on a cloud, and the spongey cloud floor did not make it feel any less awkward than it did before she could fly. She tripped once over her own hooves and quickly corrected as she reached for her bathroom door handle, silently cursing her decision to use cloud flooring in her bedroom rather than something more solid. The door handle was definitely higher than it should be. It rested at eye level to the rosy-eyed pegasus where it had once been below her chest. She told herself to ignore it for now and pushed the door open quickly.
Rainbow Dash’s master bath was as extravagant as the rest of her house. It was spacious with a bathtub resting in the corner and a separate glass-cased shower area next to it. A sink rested on a countertop with a vanity mirror mounted on the wall. She ran up to the larger than normal countertop and stood on her hind-legs, her forelegs holding onto the counter. A gasp left her in a fit of shock as she looked at the image in the mirror.
It was her. A smaller version of her, with stubbier legs and a shorter barrel. Her magenta eyes stared back at her in a mix of confusion and pitched horror. She unfurled her cyan wings and stretched them as far as she could. Just as she saw earlier, they were nothing more than puffs of feathers jutting from her sides, not nearly large enough to provide her lift. Her multi-hued mane was shorter than she usually kept it. It was shaggier and much more unkempt, even for bed-head standards. But the style was not unfamiliar to her. She remembered wearing her mane just like that when she was younger, back when she lived in Cloudsdale. Back when she was…
“…A filly… I’m a…”
The shrill childish scream that billowed out of Rainbow Dash’s cloud home that morning could be heard mile away.
---
“Rainbow Dash? I heard screaming. Are you okay?”
The newly regressed filly heard the concerned soft-spoken voice coming from her front doorstep, but she barely registered it. She was too busy at that moment curling into a ball on her bathroom floor and staring into space, utterly catatonic. She was trembling slightly as the reality of the situation started to sink in.
I’m a foal again… I’m just a little filly…
She could barely think of anything else. Every now and then a stray thought entered her mind, telling her it was all a bad dream. She would wake up in her cloud bed just before noon just like any other day, ready to get some flight practice in before doing her usual ten-second flat cloud clearing. Just like usual.
My life's over. I can't even fly anymore.
“Rainbow?” A hoof knocked against the door again. “Oh, dear. Rainbow, could you please open the door?”
The Wonderbolts are sure to fire me. Why would they want a little kid with them anyway? Sweet Celestia, what about Scoots? What will she think of me?
The voice was getting increasingly less soft as the knocking became slightly louder. It was enough to finally knock the multi-colored filly out of her stupor as her ears pivoted in the direction of her home’s entryway. The voice registered finally and sent a wave of fresh panic through her tiny body.
Fluttershy! No, she can’t see me like this!
The idea of someone seeing her was humiliating. She was supposed to be a proud and awesome mare. Instead, she was a tiny, shaking, scared little filly barely keeping herself from sobbing at the sight of herself. Fluttershy always looked up to her, and she refused to ruin that now. Granted, of her friends, she probably trusted Fluttershy the most, but her pride was still on the line. She briefly thought of calling out to her friend to tell her she was fine but stopped herself when she remembered her newly prepubescent voice would give her away immediately.
Right. Okay, Rainbow, be cool. You can figure this out, just pretend you aren’t home and she’ll go away. She took a deep breath, then another, and got to her hooves again. She quietly stepped out of her bathroom and into her bedroom again. She crawled on top of the bed again and sat down to think.
Maybe Twilight can fix this? But I can't go out iike this, and Tank is hibernating, so he can't send a message for me...
Another round of knocking sounded out sending another wave of panic shot through the filly. She took a deep breath to keep it down while tuning out her friend’s incessant calling. She curled into a ball again and tried to stop her trembling. She almost didn’t notice when the knocking stopped, but curiosity gripped her when it did. She carefully stepped down from her bed, minding her new size, and cantered towards her bedroom door. A quick look through the hallway and down the stairs showed her nothing through her front windows, which must have meant Fluttershy gave up. She let out a sigh of relief.
Rainbow Dash felt a little bad about ignoring her friend, but she just couldn’t get herself to face her. She didn’t really think Fluttershy would laugh, but others certainly would. Rainbow Dash was not a laughing stock! Her pride wouldn’t allow her to be. She could figure this out somehow without involving others. At least she told herself that. Honestly, she didn’t have the first clue what had happened. Perhaps it had involved that hole in her floor?
With the immediate concern of being found out by Fluttershy over with, the blue filly curiously turned around to look at the offending opening in her home that was still letting in chill winter air. Instead her eyes were attracted to the window just above her bed. The one that had a butter-yellow, pink-maned pegasus with saucer-wide blue eyes looking in. Staring directly at Rainbow Dash. She froze.
”R-Rainbow Dash?”
Horseapples!
The rational part of the filly’s mind whispered to her that it was okay. She was found out, but it was her closest friend. Fluttershy could help her, probably. She was found out anyway. She just had to pony-up and let her in.
The irrational part of the filly’s mind was much louder. It screamed in her ear that her reputation was over and she should run and hide. With a panicked yelp of her own, the filly threw the bedroom door open wide and galloped as fast as her short little legs would allow her. She heard Fluttershy shout her name again, but she didn’t stop. She need to hide. Hide from her best friend. Hide from her best friend and never let herself out again. In a childish fashion, she sprinted down the stairs, past her spacious foyer, and to the kitchen. She danced in place while looking around the room for some kind of hiding spot. She decided on an empty cupboard under the sink and dived into it before slamming the door shut.
Alone in the dark, the former adult let herself hyperventilate again. “I’m doomed,” she whispered to herself and tried to ignore the crack in her voice as she said “doomed.” Fluttershy would probably run and tell somepony in an attempt to get help, but then they would tell somepony else. Soon enough everyone would know.
No, Rainbow! Don’t think that way! Fluttershy is your best friend. You can trust her to keep a secret.
She told herself that, but she struggled to believe it.
You’re Rainbow Dash. You’re a Wonderbolt. Or at least you were. Another tremble shook her body. You can handle pressure. This is just… a lot more pressure. Just stay cool. Just… chillax!
She couldn’t get herself to chillax. Her head fell into her hooves as she tried to hold back tears. She stayed like that for a couple minutes, trying to steady her breathing, but struggled to do so. Quiet whimpers slipped past her lips. Her limbs continued to tremble slightly as the anxiety of the situation beat upon her. It was in the middle of another long breath that light poured into the dark cupboard as the door was pulled open. Rainbow instinctively pulled her head out of her hooves and looked to the intruder in terrified surprise. Fluttershy knelt down and looked at her in utter shock.
“Rainbow? Are you okay? Oh, dear, what happened to you?”
Be strong, Dash. Be cool. Rainbow Danger Dash. You got this!
“I-I…. I-I….”
The filly suddenly shot from the cupboard, wrapped her hooves around the yellow pegasus faster than she could blink, and simply sobbed into Fluttershy’s fluffy chest. Fluttershy, unsure of what was going on and with her forelimbs trapped by rainbow’s tiny arms, could only stare in shock. After a few seconds, she wriggled her right limb free from the filly’s grip and wrapped it around her in turn, still confused.
“Um… there, there?” She hesitantly but sweetly cooed, trying to calm the filly down. She started rubbing the blue foal’s back between her wings with her free hoof in a way reminiscent a mother trying to comfort her own foal. It was awkward, but it was the only thing the startled and confused pegasus could think of. Rainbow held onto her even tighter.
She continued to rub the filly’s back as she sat on her haunches in the kitchen, the filly wrapped tightly around her and filling the air with her cries. “It’s okay, Rainbow. I, uh, don’t know what’s happening, but I’m here.” Over time Rainbow’s cries seemed to lessen, and each sob happened further apart from the last. “Just let it out. I’m here.”
---
It took a few more minutes, but the filly finally calmed down. Rainbow Dash had since released her friend they were now sitting side by side on the couch in Rainbow’s living room. Fluttershy’s eyes kept glancing around the room, frequently landing on the small form of her once larger friend before drifting away again. One of her hooves twirled the pink scarf she was wearing unsure of what to say. Rainbow’s eyes simply focused on the floor below her as she continued to wipe the last remaining tears from her eyes.
“T-thanks, Fluttershy,” she hesitantly stated.
“Um, it was no problem.” Neither of the two looked each other in the eye as an awkward silence filled the room. Neither was sure what to ask. Fluttershy was the first to break the silence. “So… um… You look… cute.” Rainbow whined at that. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to say… uh…”
“It’s fine, Fluttershy. I get it.”
“Oh, sorry… Any idea why you… uh…”
Rainbow let out a deep sigh and rubbed her still glistening eyes again. “I… woke up this way.”
“Oh, well, that’s odd.” Her voice trailed off uncertainly and the awkward silence permeated for a moment.
“I take it you heard me?”
“Um, yes. I spent the morning helping some of the less seasonal animals settle down for hibernation and I was walking home when I heard you scream. I thought something awful had happened.” She turned her head and rubbed her hoof on the back of her neck. “I, um, thought the scream sounded… different, though.”
Rainbow dipped her head again. “Sorry for ignoring you, Flutters. That was uncool of me, but I was kinda freaking out about… this, and, well… yeah.”
“It’s okay.” She paused again for a moment before hesitantly continuing. “Do you, um, feel different?”
“Just a size difference”
“Well, yes, but… are you still… or are you… um…”
“I’m still me if that’s what you’re asking.” the filly replied tightly. The yellow mare flinched a bit. “Sorry, I’m just… a little uptight.”
“Maybe we should go find Twilight?” the mare suggested. “Maybe it’s something magical. She’d know what to do.”
“NO!” the filly shouted as she jolted to her hooves again and faced her friend. “I can’t be seen like this! My reputation will be ruined!”
“B-but Twilight may be your only chance of fixing whatever happened to you. She’s our friend, too! She’ll understand.”
“I-I know, but…” The filly trailed off as she gathered her thoughts. “I’m embarrassed. I’m supposed to be Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony alive! But… now look at me.” She let out a sigh. "I'm probably too young even for junior flight camp again, let alone the Wonderbolts! Not that I can fly anymore anyway."
"You can't fly? Oh dear, that's terrible!"
Rainbow just nodded as she fought back more tears. Flying was her life. It was what she was best at. Now it was gone, and she could do nothing about it. Fluttershy inched closer and wrapped a wing around the sniffling filly. Rainbow Dash didn't resist.
"We need to get you to Twilight."
"I..." She sniffled again and looked to her much larger friend. "C-couldn't you just go and get her for me? A-and bring her h-here?"
Fluttershy looked a little uncomfortable at that question. “Um…. Well… Normally I would, but… how should I say this?” The blue pegasus looked at her curiously as the yellow mare fumbled her words. “I uh… I don’t know if I should leave you… alone. Like this.” She gestured to Rainbow. The filly, in turn, simply stared at her for a moment before the implication of her friend’s words dawned on her.
“Huh? But you know I’m not actually a little filly! I don’t need you to babysit me!”
Fluttershy flinched slightly, but continued to meet Rainbow’s gaze. “I-I didn’t mean to say you were! But… well… you kind of are.” Rainbow glared a bit harder at her, but Fluttershy didn’t back down. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I don’t mean to babysit you, but you're going through a lot right now. You know you need me with you right now!”
“But-!”
“No buts! You’re just going to have to stay with me until we get you fixed.”
Rainbow Dash tried to stay strong in her indignation, but found herself withering at her friend’s newfound assertiveness. She at last sighed and hung her head.
“This is so uncool,” the filly squeaked.
“I know. Let’s just think for a moment. If you really don’t want to be seen, we could, well, just take the long way around Ponyville.”
That could work. Rainbow and Twilight both lived on the edge of town, though on different sides. It would be a bit of a walk…
“Or, um, I guess you could, well…”
Rainbow’s wide eyes locked on to Fluttershy as she looked around nervously. “What is it, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, well… you’re a bit smaller now, so maybe you could… ride on my back?” She offered an uncertain smile. Rainbow just stared slack jawed at the implication of that statement. She was small enough now that even Fluttershy could most likely carry her. Fluttershy! And not even Fluttershy in emergency mode.
I really am just a filly again…
Nevertheless, it was quick, efficient, probably easy, and so long as Fluttershy was careful nobody would see her. It was a degrading idea, riding on her best friend’s back, but it would have to do.
“Well… it’s not exactly cool, and it’s a bit embarrassing, but it’s the best idea we’ve got.” The filly shuffled nervously again. Fluttershy was right, Twilight would know what to do. She was a princess and the embodiment of magic, after all! Twilight can fix this. Everything will be okay. Then you can go back to be the raddest pony in Equestria at full size. Just keep it together. She took another deep breath, and, for the first time since she woke up, Rainbow Dash was able to think clearly again. “Let’s do it!”
Fluttershy returned the smile. “Are you ready now?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said with a nod of her rainbow-capped head. She looked up to the mare who had a wing around her and smiled. “Thanks for finding me, Fluttershy. I’m sorry for hiding from…” She trailed off for a moment. Her smile faltered. “Wait… how did you get in?”
Fluttershy shuffled a bit and once again averted her eyes. She sheepishly replied, “The, um, large hole in your floor.” Rainbow blinked for a moment before responding.
“Oh.”