While the events at the Rich’s house was going on. Nanny De’Foal was at Barnyard Bargains. She was happily running the cash register, selling stuff and marking things down, while the customers went about their business as if nothing was wrong. She looked around the quaint shop with a smile, as a white coated unicorn filly came trotting in. De’Foal recognized this filly as Sweetie Belle, and turned to see Sweetie looking about.
When Sweetie saw what to her was unknown mare approach her, she nervously asked, “Uh who are you, and what are you doing here?”
The mare replied, “I am Nanny De’Foal, and I’m in charge of the ztore, little one.”
Sweetie Belle eyed her suspiciously and asked, “Really? Because I know the Riches run this store, and I’ve never seen or heard of you before.”
Nanny De’Foal quickly replied, “Oh, I zoory for the confusion. Master Filthy Rich left me in charge of ze store while he is away. And I am also going to take care of ze house and Diamond Tiara for the week.”
Sweetie Belle gulped, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about Diamond Tiara...she’s fine on her own.”
De’Foal smirked as she thought, “This little filly must of seen what happened to Spoiled. I’ll just play along to avoid suspicion.” She proceeded to ask, “And why do you think that? Spoiled Rich want’s me to be sure zat Diamond behaves like a good filly.”
Sweetie shook her head, “Oh don’t worry, Diamond said her butler is there, and I think he’s going to be okay by himself.” She answered.
De’Foal chuckled slightly, “Is he now? Well, I shall take his word for it, but be sure to tell him zat, if he needs help, I’ll be here for the rest of ze day. And zat I should be home around dinner time.”
Sweetie eyes went wide! De’Foal couldn’t know about Spoiled’s condition, nopony could! Nervously, she stammered, ”Oh, don’t worry about coming over to the house. Randolph has everything under control. He told me to tell you so.”
De’Foal eyed Sweetie Belle with suspicion as she asked. “Are you sure that’z alright?”
Sweetie nodded despite. Then her sweating and shaking nervously she asked.“Um...just asking, have you seen any weird ponies lately? Like really, REALLY, weird?”
De’Foal shook her head, “No, I'm afraid I have not zeen any strange poniez since I’ve arrived in Ponyville. But I’ve seen this strange creature with green scales walking about.”
”That’s Spike, and he’s just a baby dragon.” Sweetie explained.
“A baby you say? But he doez not wear protection?” De’Foal replied in astonishment.
Sweetie burst into laughter and had to catch her breath, before she continued, “He’s not really a baby like you’d normally think. I don’t really know why he’s a baby dragon, but I don’t know much about dragons and how they age. I think he’s potty trained though, so you don’t have to worry about diapering him..”
De’Foal giggled, “Oh, don’t you worry. I only pad up ponies who need it. Now is zere anything else you need to ask me?”
Sweetie shook her head, “Nope, I’ll just tell Diamond not to worry about the shop. That’s what she wanted me to check on.”
De’Foal nodded and replied, “Well, tell her everything is fine here,” Then, feigning ignorance she asked. “By the way, do you know where Spoiled Rich is? I haven't seen her all day, and she was supposed to run the shop.”
Sweetie stopped in her tracks and turned her head, sweating profusely. She hadn’t expected anyone to ask that question. “Oh...um, Mrs. Rich is back at the house. But uh..”
“But what?” De’Foal inquired.
Sweetie gulped as she thought to herself, “Should I tell her about what happened to Spoiled Rich? No, she probably won’t believe me, or freak out. Besides, I promised Diamond I’d keep it a secret.” She then hastily replied. “She’s….. at home, sick with uh…. horsey hives. Yeah, horsey hives. It’s probably best that you don’t come by the house and catch it too. Diamond got vaccinated just recently, as did I.”
It took all of De’Foal's willpower not to burst out laughing at the lie. But she managed to just give a gasp and whisper, “That's horrible! Should we get ze doctor or a nurse to go check on her?”
Sweetie shook her head and gave a sheepish smile as she explained, “No. Like I said before, Randolph has everything under control. I’m pretty sure he’s gotten vaccinated against horsey hives. Just um, make sure you close up shop, and...um stuff.”
De’Foal saluted, “You got it then. Tell Spoiled Rich and Diamond Tiara, zat they have nothing to worry about here.
Sweetie nodded, and ran out of the store in a hurry, while De’Foal chuckled to herself. “Sweetie Belle is still just a child, nopony will believe her if she tells.” But all the same, De’Foal began to wonder what she might do if Sweetie became suspicious of her.
Sweetie Belle ran straight to the treehouse, where the rest of her friends were cleaning up and closing up shop for the day.
Upon seeing Sweetie Belle burst through the door, Scootaloo turned and asked, “Hey Sweetie Belle, is Diamond Tiara okay?”
“Yeah, Scootaloo and I were gettin’ worried.” Apple Bloom replied with a worried expression.
Sweetie Belle sighed, as she shook her head and caught her breath, “No, everything's not alright. Something weird happened at Diamond Tiara’s house.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up as she asked. “What kind of weird? Is it a friendship problem? Ooh, or maybe a cutie mark problem?! Please say it’s a cutie mark problem!”
Scootaloo meanwhile whispered with a downtrodden look, “Is Diamond in trouble with her mom again?”
Sweetie shook her as she reluctantly explained, “No, it’s none of those. This is more like a magical problem.”
Scootaloo skipped about and chirped. “A magic problem you say?! Should we go research some of Twilight's books, or maybe go see Twilight herself?!”
Sweetie groaned, “No, we can’t do that! Please, sit down, and let me tell you two what’s going on, and why we can’t let Twilight or anypony else know about this!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both reluctantly sat down, as Sweetie sighed and started her story. “You both know how I went to talk to Diamond Tiara earlier?” The two fillies nodded, so Sweetie Belle continued, “Well, Diamond got upset and ran off. So I stopped by her house to make sure she was okay. And you’ll never guess what I found out.”
The two fillies gulped. as Scootaloo whispered, “Wha..what happened next?”
Sweetie looked all around, as if worried someone might overhear. When she was certain that wasn’t the case, she continued the story, “Well, Diamond answered the door and took me upstairs. That’s when I found that Diamond’s Mom had turned into a foal.”
“A what?!” Both crusaders shouted! Sweetie Belle glared at them, making them both sit down. Then Apple Bloom whispered. “A foal? Ya mean a diaper wearin’, droolin’ all over the place, makin’ messes kind of foal?”
Sweetie Belle nodded, and despite the situation a faint smile seemed to form on her face as she explained. “She’s the full package, wearing diapers and everything. She can’t even talk anymore, I saw it with my own eyes.”
Scootaloo responded with astonishment, “Whoa, Spoiled Rich a foal?! I should totally get a camera and take some snapshots!”
But Apple Bloom only asked. “We should try to fix her ourselves?”
Sweetie shook her head and then explained in a nervous tone of voice, “I know that’s the right thing to do in this situation. But what ponies don’t know and we do, is that Diamond’s mom is really mean. Like, really, REALLY mean. Filthy Rich left for a business trip to Manehattan, so Diamond’s all alone with Spoiled Rich, with only her butler to help her. But I think she wants to enjoy the situation while she can. Diamond asked me to keep this quiet about this, at least until her dad comes back from his trip. Then we can tell Twilight about it and turn Spoiled back to normal.”
“What?! That’s crazy talk!” Apple Bloom shouted, requiring Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to shush her. In a lower tone of voice she explained. “If my big sis finds out we kept somthin’ like that a secret, I’m goin’ to be grounded until I'm as old as Granny!”
Scootaloo nodded and commented, “Yeah, not to mention Rainbow Dash would probably tell my folks, and I don’t think they’d be very happy to find out what I did. Look, Sweetie Belle, we all know that Spoiled’s mean. And to be honest, I’d love it very much if she could stay as a foal, just for a little while. But we can’t just leave her if she’s stuck like. We have to tell somepony what’s happened.”
Sweetie looked at the ground, “I know this sounds bad, but Diamond is our friend, and I promised her to keep this all secret for a while. Besides, if we turn her mom back to normal now, who knows what her might do to her? Heck, she’ll probably blame Diamond Tiara for turning her into a foal and make this whole week miserable for her. We have to keep quiet about this, for Diamond’s sake.”
Scootaloo and Applebloom both gave each other uncertain looks. The risks of keeping such a secret were awfully high. Apple Bloom let out a long sigh before she said to Sweetie Belle, “Alright, guess you have a point. But, why don’t we tell Twilight about Spoiled Rich being mean to her daughter? Surely the Princess of Friendship could do somethin’ to make Spoiled see sense, right?”
Scootaloo again agreed with Apple Bloom, “Yeah, we all know Spoiled Rich treats Diamond horribly. We saw it first hoof when she yelled at her daughter for losing the election for student pony president. Why don’t we tell Twilight about that too?”
Sweetie Belle shook her head again, “Diamond is scared that Twilight won’t believe her, and Spoiled will make up stuff about her being bratty and such. It is Diamond’s word against her own mother’s, and even if we speak up, how is Twilight going to know we’re not making things up? Most ponies know Diamond Tiara has changed, but they don’t know what the reason for that change was. If Miss. Cheerilee couldn’t do anything to Spoiled Rich even after she acted so mean in front of all our classmates, then how do we know Twilight will be any different? We already learned that the grown-ups don’t always have the right answers, even if that was just our big sisters.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both groaned. Sweetie had brought up a good point. Even assuming Twilight believed them (and perhaps she would), would she actually be able to do anything about Spoiled’s behavior? Reluctantly, Scootaloo looked up at Sweetie Belle and asked, “So... if we're not going to tell anypony about this, and if Spoiled is still a foal, does that mean we're going to help Diamond take care of her?!”
Sweetie Belle gave another nod as both fillies groaned again. “We can’t just leave Diamond to do who knows what now that her mother’s a foal. Spoiled may be a nasty pony, but she is just a foal now. Besides, I don’t think Diamond’s ever had to change diapers or feed a hungry foal. It probably wouldn’t hurt to make sure she has the help she needs. Think of this as our chance to prove to Spoiled that we’re not as mean as she is.”
Apple Bloom sighed, once again Sweetie had brought up some good points. Regardless of the circumstances, they couldn’t just leave the foalified Spoiled with only two ponies to take care of her, not when one of them likely harbored at least partial thoughts of revenge. “Well, okay, guess we can help a little,” Apple Bloom considered. “But we’re goin’ to have to make up some good excuses about why we're helpin’ Diamond Tiara. If we’re keepin’ this secret, we’ve got make sure nopony suspects anythin’.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Sweetie replied and pondered for a second, before an idea came to her, “We can just say, we're busy with cutie mark problems. Let’s not forget that we recently took Diamond Tiara’s advice and turned our occupation into a business.”
Apple Bloom seemed to very reluctantly respond by saying. “I don’t like lyin’ to my sister or my family, but if it means helpin’ a friend, I guess it’s alright just this one time.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Okay, so we're going to help. But what exactly are we going to say to Filthy Rich when he gets back from his trip?”
Sweetie Belle pondered this as well. Then, a light bulb lit up inside her brain as she exclaimed, “We may not be able to tell Twilight about Spoiled Rich’s behavior, but we could tell him the truth about everything! And then we’ll leave it up to him to explain to Twilight about why we kept it all a secret.”
Both Scootaloo and Applebloom both nodded in approval as Scootaloo chirped, “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!” She began to rub her hooves together. “Oh, I can only imagine how many photo opportunities Diamond’s mom is gonna give me in her current state. Just hope I don’t have to change her diapers.” And she proceeded to make a gag expression.
Apple Bloom nodded as well, then she asked, “So, should we take turns going over to Diamond’s? Or should we go together?”
Sweetie chirped, “We should just stay there, at least for the night. I asked her nanny if it was okay.”
Apple Bloom eyed Sweetie Belle as she said. “Uh, Sweetie Belle. Last I checked, Diamond Tiara doesn't have a nanny.”
But Sweetie Belle shook her head in protest, “She does have a nanny, and she’s working the store right now! Come on, I’ll show you!” She quickly led the two out of the treehouse, and down the road to Barnyard Bargains.
As luck would have it, Nanny De’Foal was still working the counter. She was talking to Mrs Cake, who was telling her a story about her twins, “Then, after Pound Cake went potty in their training potty, Pumpkin Cake got jealous and tried to go at the same time. Pound Cake was nice enough to let her sit right by him, but they peed all over the bathroom floor!”
Both mares burst into laughter, then Nanny De’Foal cooed, “Oh your foals are just adorable, I must foalsit for you one of theze dayz.”
Mrs. Cake blushed and whispered, “I would love for you to watch the twins, but I don’t think I could afford your rate. A nanny like you must be quite expensive.”
Nanny De’foal waved a hoof, “Not a problem, Mrs.Cake, I would gladly watch your foalz for free. You work too hard, and you and your husband both need a break once in awhile.”
Mrs.Cake nodded, “You're right, especially now that we're potty training the twins. It’s been such a hassle, even with Pinkie’s help.”
De’Foal pondered for a second, before she exclaimed, “I have an idea! I was supposed to be sleeping at Spoiled Rich’s place for the duration of my time here. But sadly, she has contracted ze horsey hivez, and I’d rather not get them myself. Would it be okay if I stayed at your place for a few days? In return I will watch your foalz for free whenever you go out with yor husband. I will even help in their potty training! After I run the shop for the day of course.”
Mrs. Cake blushed, but nodded. “Of course, that would be just wonderful. We usually leave the foals with Pinkie Pie when my husband and I go out. She’s good at it, but I think she could also use a break. The foals can get rather rambunctious from what I heard. Also for the help, I’ll bake you whatever you want for breakfast tomorrow.”
De’Foal winked, “oh that’s no problem, I have dealt with all kindz of foalz. But if you insisit I love crossencets, they remind me of home. If you can make me a dozen of those, that would be just perfect.”
Mrs. Cake nodded and shook De’Foal’s hoof, “Oh thank you. Hopefully when you come by later, the twins will still be up. They would be so happy to meet you.”
At that moment, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, all entered the shop. Mrs. Cake smiled, “Oh hello you three, so nice to see you again.”
Momentarily forgetting why they’d come here, the crusaders all chimed together, “Hi, Mrs. Cake!” Then, Nanny De’Foal chuckled and came over, as Mrs. Cake turned and said to the crusaders, “You three must meet this lovely mare. Her name is Nanny De’Foal, and she’s running the store here.”
The three fillies looked up and eyed the nanny. Scootaloo was the first one to ask a question. “Are you really Diamond Tiara’s nanny?” She inquired.
Nanny De’Foal nodded. “Yez I am. I was supposed to be watching her, but Sweetie Belle said something about Spoiled Rich having ze horsey hives.”
Sweetie Belle bowed her head, delighted in having proven her point. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom gave the nanny a sheepish smile and said to her. “Excuse us for a moment.” The nanny nodded as the fillies exited the shore and began discussing the situation.
“Don’t know about the rest of you, but she's really suspicious if you ask me,” Scootaloo whispered. “I mean, this nanny pops up out of nowhere and starts running the shop while Filthy Rich is away and Spoiled Rich is a foal.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Ya know, you’re right, Scootaloo. You think maybe she knows somethin’ about who could’ve turned Spoiled into a foal?”
Sweetie pondered this. “Well, we won't know unless we talk with her,” Then she suggested. “We could ask her questions and make her try to say something only the culprit would know.”
Scootaloo gulped and whispered, “But what if she turns us into foals though? Maybe we should just tell somepony and have them investigate?”
But Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nopony would believe us. We’d better just keep an eye on her ourselves.”
They all went back into the store, surprised to see Mrs. Cake and Nanny De’Foal talking, as if nothing was amiss.
When De’Foal noticed the crusaders had returned, she asked them. “So, what did you fillies talk about, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Sweetie gulped as she hastily explained. “We were just….. talking about Diamond Tiara, and how she needs somepony to give her comfort right now.”
“What do you mean?” De’Foal inquired, not seeming to suspect anything.
Apple Bloom continued. “We mean, since her mom has horsey hives, she probably needs somepony to help give her support. Her butler certainly ain’t gonna cut it. You think you could come with us to check on her and make sure everythin’s alright?”
Nanny De’Foal nodded eagerly. “Of course I'll come. Just be sure I do not come into contact with Spoiled or anything she has touched, I do not wish to contract ze horsey hives as well,” She then turned to Mrs. Cake and said politely. “Thank you zo much for your generosity, I'll be by in a few hours.”
Mrs. Cake smiled eagerly. “I can't wait. It's so nice to meet somepony who really knows about foal care around here.”
As Nanny De’Foal followed the crusaders down the road, Scootaloo decided to ask to nopony in particular. “So, have you heard that somepony may be turning ponies into foals?”
Apple Bloom gave a fake laugh. “No way?! Turnin’ ponies into foals?! That's just silly.”
Sweetie Belle smiled and continued. “It's probably true! I mean, Trixie turned Snips and Snails into foals, once.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “That was because she had the alicorn amulet.” She replied.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo looked up at De’Foal and asked her. “Hey, you must know a lot about foals. Can somepony really turn other ponies into foals?”
Nanny De’Foal shook her head. “No. Zorry, that iz just zilly. From what I know, nopony can turn another pony into a foal.”
Scootaloo continued with persistence. “So, what if somepony could turn a pony into a foal? Is there a rumor among nannies about a magic diaper or something?”
De'Foal snickered as she replied. “Zorry, we nanniez don't know anything about magic diapers, or how to turn poniez into foalz. Assuming such things exisit”
Scootaloo turned her head away, and grumbled something, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with uncertain expressions, unsure of what to say.
When the group reached Diamond’s house, Sweetie Belle knocked on the front door. A stallion sang in a cheery voice. “Coming!” The door opened a short time later, revealing Randolph, squealed and hugged De’Foal as he shouted. “Nanny De’Foal, what a surprise! Did you close up shop early?”
De’Foal shook her head. “Oh no, I just came by because I heard Diamond Tiara was distressed about her mom.”
Randolph smiled and shook his head as he replied. “Oh, dont worry, everything is under control. In fact Diamond has been just wonderful to little Spoiled Rich. She fed her, changed her wet diaper, and she's right now dressing her up in an adorable dress.”
De’Foal gave an astonished look! “But, I thought Spoiled Rich was an adult?!”
Randolph laughed. “She was, but now she's just an little adorable foal.”
The three fillies watched De’Foal’s expression for any signs that might give her away. But her response was one of shock. “She's a what?!” She shouted. De’Foal rushed upstairs and went straight to Spoiled Rich’s room. She practically burst through the door (which was already open) and she looked around as her mouth soon dropped open, looking upon the nursery that used to be Spoiled Rich’s room!
Diamond Tiara was sitting on the floor, struggling to get little Spoiled into an adorable (but quite embarrassing) pink poofy dress, full of frills and ribbons. The whole time, Diamond was laughing. “Come on, Mom, you have to look your best.”
“Diamond! What iz going on here?” De’Foal demanded.
Diamond looked up at the nanny with wide eyes as she replied. “Oh, you must be the nanny Father hired.”
Spoiled, upon seeing the nanny, started throwing a tantrum, squealing and flailing her tiny hooves all about.
De’Foal came over and picked up the angry foal. With her left hoof, she had a bottle.of milk ready, and placed the nipple in Spoiled’s mouth. Nanny De’Foal looked at the foalified Spoiled with a motherly smile, as the foal calmed down, sucking away at the bottle.
Diamond was amazed as she replied. “Wow, you’re good. I don't think even Randolph got her to calm down that fast.”
At that moment, the crusaders came rushing into the room, and they all were shocked as well when they saw the nursery. They all gazed at the foalish Spoiled in the big poofy dress, drinking from her bottle. To think that this was the same mare that was the source of so much trouble in Diamond’s life.
Apple Bloom rubbed her eyes a few times in disbelief, while Scootaloo just gaped at the scene and whispered. “Woah, you weren't kidding, Sweetie Belle.”
Nanny De’Foal turned to the fillies with a smirk. “Yes, it's quite something, isn’t it? But now I see why you three were acting so weird earlier.”
The three fillies blushed and bowed their heads, as Sweetie Belle sighed and apologized. “Sorry Nanny De’Foal, but we didn't know if we could trust you, you were awfully suspicious. Especially since we hadn’t seen or heard of you before. But seeing how Randolph knows you, I think we can trust you.”
All the crusaders nodded their heads in agreement, as the De’Foal just smiled and cooed. “I understand. There is quite a mystery as to who did this. But I do need to ask, did any of you see or do any of you know what happened here?”
All the fillies shook their heads, and Diamond Tiara explained. “No, I just got home from school, and I found the house like this. Then Sweetie Belle came over to check up on me. That's when I told her to go to the shop to close it up. I didn’t know you were already there, or that you were the nanny Father hired. I guess he must’ve told you to wait at the store until Mother arrived.”
Nanny De’Foal nodded. “I see,” Then she cleared her throat and added. “Well Diamond Tiara, I'm happy to see how responsible you are. Both in making sure the store was secure, and making sure your mom was taken care of. But despite your mom being adorable, we need to tell somepony who knowledge with magic, so we can turn her back to normal.”
“No, Nanny De’Foal, you can't!” Diamond protested.
“Why not?” De’Foal asked.
Diamond firmly protested. “If you’ve met my mom, then you know what she’s like. I know that it's wrong to make her stay like this, but if we turn her back now, she's just going to make my life even more miserable.”
Nanny De’Foal turned to Spoiled (who was now pouting and glaring at De’Foal), as she said. “I did meet her briefly earlier, and I can see why I was to watch over you while your father was way. Maybe, this is for the best, at least until Filthy Rich comes back. Perhaps some time as a foal will teach Spoiled a thing or two.”
The fillies all looked up as Sweetie Belle chirped. “Do really you mean that?!”
De’Foal nodded and replied. “Now, that also means we must find a way to keep this from getting out. And that means we all have to keep this to ourselves. Even Randolph must not be allowed to tell.”
Diamond nodded in agreement. “He has been more talkative lately. I guess I’d better answer the door from now on.”
Nanny De’Foal then added. “Now we need a good excuse to explain Spoiled Rich’s absence, least other ponies suspect zomething is wrong.”
Sweetie instantly replied by suggesting, “Well, we could just go with her having the horsey hives and being stuck at home. I’ve heard horsey hives is very contagious if you’re not vaccinated against it.”
Nanny De’Foal nodded in agreement. “Zhat is a good idea. I have already told Mrs. Cake zat. I could tell anypony who asks zat such is ze the reason behind Mrs. Rich’s sudden leave of absence. I could even tell Miss. Cheerilee that Diamond has it too, so she can get this week off from school.”
Diamond squealed in delight. “Really, you would do that for me?!” She asked.
Nanny De’Foal nodded with a smile. “As much as I think school is important for you, zis does count as an emergency. And now that we have that settled, if you need me, I will be living with Mrs. Cake to sell the idea. And I will run the store in Spoiled’s place. But that means you three will be here with Randolph, helping Diamond take care of Spoiled Rich.”
The fillies all hugged De’Foal as she hugged them back. Then she placed the now sleeping Spoiled Rich safely in Diamond’s hooves. The pink coated filly looked up at the nanny and said to her. “Thank you, Nanny De’Foal. I have to admit, I didn't imagine a nanny could be fun.”
De’Foal winked at the filly, “Well, I’m glad you like me. Now, I’d better get back to ze store.”
But before De’Foal could turn to leave, Sweetie Belle asked, “But, you will come by once in awhile to check on us, right?”
“Of course, just make sure you take good care of Spoiled Rich.” De’Foal advised, then bounced out of the room as Sweetie Belle thought, “She’s way too nice. There is no way she could be the one who turned Spoiled Rich into a foal.”