//------------------------------// // Tiny Sparks // Story: Little Jolts of Shadow // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// 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.