//------------------------------// // New Digs // Story: Little Jolts of Shadow // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// 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.