"Not to sound too overprotective, but even Trixie thinks this is too much..." said Trixie as she watched Sunset Shimmer hook Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo up to a machine. The entire group were in the same room that Sunset had once used to try and figure out the deeper workings of Equestrian magic in the other world, but now, she was planting small squishy receptors onto the babies' bodies, while cords spiraled out and traveled towards a large device.
"Don't worry about it, Trixie. This is a completely harmless experiment." Sunset gave Trixie a smile as she did up the buttons on her lab coat. "If we're going to find out a way to fix Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Scootaloo, then we need to figure out just what caused them to turn into this. And I have a hunch that it was Equestrian magic that did this, but I just want to be sure."
"If we calibrate the device to the optimal settings and adjust the wavelength to decipher incremental DNA, then we can figure out exactly what's wrong with these three and figure out an optimal path which can return them back to normal just in time for the end of the talent show." Twilight was already tapping away at a nearby computer, which was also hooked up to the other machine. "In less confusing language, we're going to figure out what caused the babies to transform into babies and we'll find a quick way to fix them."
As the girls outside were all talking, the babies looked down at the pads on their bodies and tilted their heads. Fluttershy plucked one off of her belly and brought it to her mouth, suckling on it as if it were a pacifier. Rainbow Dash began to pick them off one by one, while Scootaloo tried pulling on the wires with her tiny hands.
"I've gotta admit, they're super-cute when they're like this." Pinkie Pie watched the babies continue to play with the equipment as Sunset tried to calm them down. "I kinda wanna keep one for my own, but our little Dashie's close to graduating and leaving CHS, and I don't want her to go from high school back to day-care. Although, that would be pretty fun..."
"Alright, girls. Just stay still for a minute or two..." Sunset rubbed the babies' stomachs on small circular motions, making them giggle lightly. "We're gonna have you all put back to normal soon. But you need to co-operate with us. If we can't fix you, then you could stay like this for a pretty long time. And we don't want that now, do we?"
Each of the babies looked into Sunset's eyes, cooing as they felt her compassion transmit onto them. Despite their minds being tiny, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo couldn't help but obey Sunset. They drooped their arms down to the sides and stared at her, reaching their arms out like they wanted her to pick them up and hold them close.
"There we go. Good babies." Sunset brushed her hand down their faces and put all of the pads back on their proper places, cleaning up the ones that had been laden with drool. "Alright. We're ready to go here, Twilight."
"Alright. Just make sure that they're not tempted to pull the pads off while I'm working." Twilight tapped away at her keyboard, activating the machine. "Try and keep them occupied. Make some silly faces or blow into their tiny bodies. Anything that keeps their attention on you and not on this experiment would be wonderful."
"Alright." Sunset shrugged and limbered herself up. "The only time that I've played with babies was when I was helping Pinkie babysit Pound and Pumpkin. So forgive me if I'm a little bit rusty."
She bent her knees and squatted down to the babies, giving them a goofy smile as she put her hands on the ground. "Hey, girls," she said. "Don't worry about all of this weird squishy stuff on you. It's all for your safety. Let's have some fun while we're waiting." She put her hands in front of her eyes. "Where's Sunset?" she sing-songed.
Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo began to look around, cooing as they tried to find Sunset, despite her being right in front of them.
"Here she is!" Sunset pulled her hands from her eyes and beamed down on the three babies.
The babies turned towards Sunset's face again and cheered, laughing giddily as they flailed their arms around.
"Aww... you're just the cutest little teenagers-turned-babies I've ever seen..." Sunset pulled out her phone and took a picture of the laughing babies. Once that was done, she put her phone away and picked Fluttershy up, blowing a little raspberry into her, causing the pink-haired infant to laugh even more. "Especially you, Fluttershy. I just wanna gobble you up right now." She brought Fluttershy into a small cuddle, nuzzling her body.
"It's so cute that it's almost sickening..." Trixie scoffed as Sunset played with the babies. "Trixie just wants this to be over soon... We must be halfway into the talent show by now and the acts must be getting shorter and shorter." She bit her lip. "If we can't save these girls, then Trixie will lose, and be responsible for having three of CHS's best students go back to day-care! Oh... I'm never gonna live that down..." She slapped her head and groaned.
"Alright. It's time for some tickles!" Sunset exclaimed, beginning to tickle both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's armpits, reaching up through their tiny baby clothes. "Coochie-coochie-coo!" Her response was even more laughter from her little audience.
"Keep it up, Sunset. I'm getting their vitals in now. All good here," called Twilight from the computer. "Just keep them happy while I read their DNA. If Equestrian magic got into their systems, then I'm sure that we'll be able to research a cure."
"Alright, Twilight." Sunset nodded. "Now, everyone. It's time for something that'll get these babies really hysterical." Sunset took her hands and messed around with her face, moving her arms in big, flamboyant movements. Once she took them away from her head again, she puffed her cheeks out and stuck her tongue out at the infants. "Ta-da!"
The babies looked up at Sunset's silly face and squealed in delight, crawling up to her. They clambered up her body and put their own hands on her face, beginning to play around with it. They pushed and pulled at her skin, trying to shape her face into something else entirely, smiling all the while.
"H-Hey! Stop it!" Sunset tried to pull the babies off of her face, but they were also messing around with her eyes. Her speech was also slurred because of the babies stuffing their hands into her mouth and playing around with her cheeks. "Ra—ry, Pin—mmph. Smm mmmmh!"
"Dashie! Flutters! Scootsy!" Pinkie smashed through the door and plucked the babies off of Sunset's head. "Bad! Bad babies! Apologize to Sunset!"
The babies recoiled at Pinkie's anger and began to sniffle, whining quietly under their breaths. Soon, tears began to form in their eyes as they began to whimper, then cry, and then explode with sorrow, screeching as loudly as their bodies would let them, right into Pinkie's ears.
"JEEZ LOUISE!" Pinkie pressed hard against her two ears. "I'M SORRY, GIRLS! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU SAD!"
"Pinkie! Why are you shouting?" Sunset asked. "They aren't even crying that loud."
"I KNOW, BUT I LIKE SHOUTING WHEN BABIES ARE CRYING!" Pinkie still had her hands planted against her ears as she turned towards Sunset. "IF I DON'T SHOUT, THEN HOW ARE YOU ALL SUPPOSED TO HEAR ME DOING MY SUPER-SILLY ANTICS?"
"Pinkie! Stop it!" Sunset shook Pinkie as hard as she could. "You're not helping the situation!"
The babies opened their eyes and watched as Sunset shook Pinkie around wildly. Some of their tears began to subside, but they still frowned, sniffling weakly. They crawled over to Sunset and climbed her once again, hugging her as tightly as they could as they buried their little heads into her body.
"Sssshhhh." Sunset shushed the crying babies. "Don't be sad, little ones. I'm here. Nanny Sunset's here to take care of you all..." She patted their backs and brushed their tears away from their eyes, ending their sorrow almost instantly. "Auntie Pinkie didn't mean any of you any harm either, but she did scare you, didn't she?"
The babies nodded, then turned their heads to Pinkie and blew raspberries at her, holding their thumbs downward at the bubbly pink CHS student. Fluttershy even babbled incoherent gibberish at her as if to insult her.
"There, there." Sunset pulled the babies back into her cuddle and let them fiddle around with her face again, only this time, they did it more gently. "We'll soon have you back to normal, then you can forget that any of this ever happened."
"Speaking of getting them back to normal," Twilight walked into the room and unplugged the babies from the padding. "I've got all the readings back now. And I can confirm that it was Equestrian magic that turned these three into babies."
"Oh, good." Trixie sighed in relief as she walked into the room. "So now, you and the rest of your friends can use your magical powers and fix them for me? Please, Sunset... Time's running out, and Trixie fears that her position as number one will go up in smoke!"
"Trixie. It's just a silly little talent show." She rocked the babied gently. "Don't think too much about it. There's no way that we'll be able to fix these three in time."
"Better luck next year, Trixie." Pinkie nodded.
"Next year?! There won't BE a next year!" Trixie roared, her face tightly scrunched up as her hands were balled into fists. "The Great and Powerful Trixie MUST be adored and respected! She will not be put in her place by the Rainbooms, or thrown to the side like a piece of plastic wrapped from a peanut butter cracker packet! SHE. WILL. BE. FAMOUS!"
"No. She. Will. Not." Sunset pushed her face into Trixie's. "You NEED to stop this, Trixie. The Dazzlings are evil, and anything that they said is also evil. So in a sense, because you want to be popular, that means that you want to follow in their footsteps and be evil like them." She crossed her arms, squeezing the babies against her chest. "And, if anything, you'll get booed and jeered off every stage if you keep up that attitude of yours."
"Tch! You're just saying that because you were once on a high horse yourself, Sunset Shimmer. But now that you've put yourself with those Rainbooms, you've gotten soft." Trixie snarled.
"Don't. Trixie." Sunset's face got hotter and hotter as the memories burned into her head.
"Trixie can and she will." She crossed her arms. "Trixie will find a way to turn the babies back to normal, but she certainly isn't putting her faith in you and the rest of your miserable friends anymore!" She yanked the three infants out of Sunset's grasp and ran off. "I hope that for your sake, you wake up and become a mean and horrible person again, Sunset Shimmer. Nice isn't your shtick in this world."
"TRIXIE!" Sunset watched her dart out and started to give chase. "You get back here right this instant!"
"What was that? I can't hear you, Sunset!" Trixie jeered, sticking her tongue out at her. "Maybe I would listen if you were a mean girl again!"
"Ugh! That girl is really starting to grind my gears..." Sunset gritted her teeth together and pulled out her phone. She started stamping in the numbers as fast as she could and made a secure connection. "Applejack! I need you to get over here right this instant! Something's gone wrong to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo, and Trixie's trying to kidnap them from us because she thinks I should be evil again!"
"What?!" Applejack's voice burst through the phone's speakers. "Ah'll be right there, Sunset!"
"I'll provide some assistance as well!" Rarity took her own geode and shot out a shield that would have cut Trixie off, but she dived through the open gap in time and skidded down another corridor. "Get back here, you tramp!"
"Stop this, Trixie!" Twilight took her geode at last and clapped her glowing hands together, smashing the lockers against each other. When she slammed them back into place again, Trixie was still running, only now, she had leapt off of the top of them with the remnants of a smoke bomb lingering behind her.
"If you want me, you're going to have to try harder than that, Rainglooms!" Trixie didn't turn back and kept holding onto the babies as tightly as she could. She wasn't even fazed by the noise they were making as they began to cry out again, desperately reaching out for Sunset and the others. "Trixie will win. Trixie MUST win. Trixie cannot be ignored by the students of CHS any longer!"
"Well, after this, Trixie's going to get ignored by EVERYONE at CHS." Sunset began to pick up the pace and slingshotted herself off of the lockers and corners. "You're never going to win anything if you have such a mean and nasty attitude. If anything, you're not original, you're not clever, and you're no celebrity like you think you are. Now give back the babies and stop thinking about winning, Trixie, because you've LOST!"