Barrier groaned as he started to rouse from his slumber, the sun’s light striking his sealed eyelids.
Urgh… That was a stupid dream. He rolled over beneath his sheets, taking his blanket with him. How insane would it be if Forge found some ancient magical artifact by accide— WHOA!” He exclaimed just before taking a face-first tumble off the bed. As he stood up and groaned, he saw that the room was much larger than it had been the day before.
“Oh, son of bitch…” He grumbled as he lit his horn, briefly struggling to untangle himself from the sheet then tossing it back on the bed. The rumbling in his belly and the smell of bacon, hashbrowns and fresh coffee from the kitchen overrode the will to properly make the bed.
Wait a second… Barrier halted in his steps as a dark thought came to mind. If I’m a foal, that means Verdant is too, and if he’s too short to reach the stove, then who’s cooking right now?!
The charcoal colt dashed into the kitchen. When he spotted who was cooking, he let out a sigh of relief. Verdant was standing on a countertop while overseeing Daring cooking up the food.
“You sure bacon should be this crispy, Verd?” the bespectacled mare asked as the food sizzled. “I’d say if it gets any crisper, it’s gonna be burnt.”
“I always make it this crispy after the one time I made it less crispy and nearly choked on it.” Verdant shuddered before hopping back as a bubble of grease burst, almost spitting at him.
“As fascinating as your near death experience is,” a yawning voice came from the living room. Looking up, Barrier saw it was Trixie strolling in, wearing the blanket that covered the couch in place of her star-spangled cape. “Can you tell Trixie when breakfast will be ready? Trixie doesn’t wish to start her day off with cold pizza.”
Barrier rolled his eyes before focusing the energy in his horn. In a flash, he disappeared from the kitchen entrance and reappeared in one of the seats at the table. When he rematerialized, he immediately regretted the spell he cast. It felt like he had just finished a long run in full gear, on top of the nausea. All in all, a resounding reminder of his first teleport so very long ago.
“Urgh, that was a bad call…” Barrier said as he lowered himself into his seat.
“Alright, I’d say the food’s ready,” Verdant squeaked. Once Daring had turned off the heat, the others started to arrive from upstairs.
Wind Whistler yawned as she took her place at the table. “So, what’s everypony gonna be doing today?”
“Well, we’re pretty much all taking the day off of work,” Hatty said as Daring started to place plates around the table for the housemates and Trixie. “Just about all of us told our bosses we won’t be in today, so we’re free to do whatever.”
“Oh, crap,” Fleet muttered, smacking a tiny hoof to her forehead. “I didn’t do that. Guess I’ll head in and tell them I’ll be out.”
“I’m actually gonna head to Snow’s place after breakfast,” Forge interjected from his seat. “I’ll ask him to pass it along if his sister’s not there.”
“As for me, I’ll be paying Erica a visit in a bit,” Verdant said from the counter, looking at the gap between him, the table and the floor. “Um, could somepony gimme a lift?”
“Trixie will oblige,” the caped mare said, her horn glowing brighter as she took a bite of her hashbrowns. Verdant found himself whisked off the counter and floated over to a free chair before she let go, causing him to plop down into the seat after falling over half a foot. “At any rate, Trixie will be staying here to practice some bits for her new routine. Also, we’re out of peanut butter.”
“How’s that possible?” Barrier’s eyebrow shot upwards at her statement. “We had more than half a jar’s worth in the fridge.”
“Peanut butter makes a good pizza topping,” she flatly stated in reply, as if what she was saying was the most obvious thing in the world.
Barrier sighed in annoyance before turning his attention back to his breakfast. “Guess I’ll get some after heading to the bank.”
“Do you really think they’ll let you make a withdrawal, sir?” Swift asked in between nibbles of her hashbrowns.
“Probably not, but it’s worth a shot,” he answered before looking towards the mare who was now taking a sip of coffee. Still, it’d be nice to get rid of the uninvited guest A.S.A.P.
“Hmm, this is a good blend,” Trixie said before taking another sip. “Trixie knows they make hazelnut cream, but now wonders if stores stock peanut butter cream.”
“Don’t know, but I might check and pick some up if you behave yourself.” Barrier hopped out of his seat and started to walk back to his bedroom. “I should hopefully be back in an hour or two.”
“Oh! Remember!” Verdant leaned out of his seat. “There’s a four for eight bits sale on oatmeal at Einar’s!” He then proceeded to tumble out of his seat, landing on his rump. For an instant, Barrier thought he heard the sound of a toy squeaking when he landed.
“I’ll be sure to remember that,” Barrier said as he summoned his now oversized saddlebags to him.
***
The charcoal pony let out a small muttering of curses as he departed the bank. It seems none of the staff were willing to believe his claims about being a thirty seven year old stallion turned into a foal by a magical accident.
Can’t say that I blame them, really. How many foals have tried to pull that as a way to get out of school?
“Hey, colt in the giant saddlebags!” a harsh mare’s voice shouted. Looking to his right. He spotted a mare in a blue uniform with a tie and hat that greatly contrasted against her wild black mane and light grey coat. Her cutie mark was a dark gold lock. “What are you doing out of school?” She harshly inquired as she rushed up to him, her horn occasionally flaring red.
“I’m an adult who was turned into a foal by a magical accident,” Barrier replied, giving a roll of his eyes before he started to walk to the left. Because he wasn’t looking, he was caught off guard when he bumped into someone. To his surprise, it was a mare that looked almost identical to the first mare. The only differences he really noticed were how this mare’s mane and tail were neatly brushed, her cutie mark was a golden badge with a star and her horn was flashing blue instead of red.
“Not to be rude, sir, but that does seem a wee bit far fetched.” The second unicorn spoke in a far gentler tone that her compatriot. She then pulled from her uniform’s pockets a pencil and a notepad. “Could you please give us your name and address so we can check your story?”
“Seriously, Bright Star?” The gruff unicorn gave the gentler one a glare. “This is a clear cut case of truancy. We should just take him back to school and get this over with.”
“Now now, Lock-Up,” Bright Star said as she drew closer. “This could really be the truth. Remember how blue flowers make Beanstalk turn two-hundred feet tall or how a few weeks ago, our badges turned into chocolate and the shower covered you in strawberry jam, sticking you to the wall?”
“Oh, fine…” Lock-Up pouted before focusing back on Barrier. “You’d better not be wasting our time, kid.”
“My name is Magic Barrier,” the charcoal colt gave the gruff officer a glare of his own. “I’m a former captain of the Equestrian guard. I am thirty-seven years of age and my address is 380 Starflower Street. Ask any of the ponies there and they’ll confirm it.”
“380 Starflower. Check,” Bright Star cheerfully said before stowing the notepad and pencil back in her pockets. “Right, Mr. Barrier. Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna head over to your place to check your story out. While I’m doing that, Officer Lock-Up will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t get into any trouble. I’ll be able to radio her once we get to the bottom of this. Alright?”
“As long as I can finish up my errands, it will do,” Barrier replied with a flat look at the overly cheerful officer.
“Hey, why do I have to be the one stuck on babysitting duty?” Lock-Up asked as she gave her twin a glare. Bright Star simply gave her a smile in return.
“Because of what happened at the cook off. That’s why.” Bright Star chuckled before heading away.
“You can’t hold that over me forever, Sis!” Lock-Up shouted at the departing mare, uncaring that she was drawing the eyes of other ponies or that her target might be out of earshot. “Everypony recovered fine and the court found that the store was liable!”
“Now, Miss Lock-Up,” Barrier spoke up, drawing the mare’s eye down to him. “I need to head to Einar’s to do some shopping, so please try to keep up.”
The uniformed unicorn growled, but fell in line behind Barrier, keeping a close eye on him.
The pair arrived at the store without incident, though Barrier did occasionally need to ask for the disgruntled officer’s help to reach items on shelves that were now out of range for him.
When Barrier was getting ready to head for a cashier, a distorted voice seemed to come from Lock-Up’s hip.
“Lock-Up, this is Bright Star. I’ve just confirmed Barrier’s story. Apparently he really was an adult that got turned into a foal due to a magical accident. Over.” The voice came from a rectangular brick that the uniformed unicorn pulled from her hip. “Also, one of the ponies there asked to make sure he checks for peanut butter creamer. Over.”
“Copy that. Over and out.” Lock-Up sighed before stowing the device away. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Barrier.”
“Don’t sweat it too much,” Barrier replied as he stepped into the check-out line. “You were just doing your job.”
“Well, take care and hope this gets fixed soon,” she said before starting on her way to the exit.
“Trust me, you’re far from the only one.”
***
After needing to climb up a few tall floors and catch his breath at the top, Verdant had arrived at Erica’s door. He knew Erica had the day off today and they planned to watch some movies together later, but life happened to get in the way.
Verdant let out a sigh before letting loose a series of quick raps on the griffin’s door. “Hello? Anyone home?”
“Just a second!” Erica’s voice came from the other side, along with the sounds of shuffling about. “What kind of cookies are you selling?”
“I’m not selling cookies or anything, Erica. I need to tell you something,” Verdant replied, feeling nervous about what was to come.
“What do you need to tell me, little gi…” The hen was taken aback when she opened the door and spotted the tiny colt. “What the… Verdant?”
“Yeah. It’s me,” Verdant said as he moved closer to the stunned griffin. “Can I come in? It’s a bit of a long story.”
After a few minutes, Erica was caught up to speed on what happened yesterday and what was being done now.
“I… wow, your household seems to be a magnet for weirdness.” Erica said as she sat on one end of the couch with Verdant on the other. “Now I’m kinda glad I had a cold yesterday.”
“Well, I really missed you,” the grass colored colt said as he laid against the couch’s pillow. “Still, you dodged a bolt here. It really sucks being this small. Not to mention I hate this voice.”
“I’m sure that Yearling will find the counterspell for what happened soon.” Erica leaned closer, gently giving his back a pat. “So… do you still want to watch some movies later?”
“You don’t think it will be too awkward?” Verdant looked Erica in the face and saw an unsure expression upon it.
“I will admit, it probably will be a bit weird,” Erica said as she moved a bit closer to Verdant. “Still, as long as we don’t do anything too adultish, I think I’ll be able to handle it.”
“That’s good to hear,” Verdant said, giving her foreleg a nuzzle. “Say Erica, I was wondering if you’d be willing to try something with me. It’s something I haven’t really been able to do in a very long time.”
“What would that be?” she asked, leaning down towards the small stallion.
***
“Whooo! This is great!” Verdant loudly cheered as Erica carried him in her talons and they flew over the city. He enjoyed the autumn wind in his mane, seeing the buildings whizzing by below and enjoying the sound of the griffin’s heartbeat as he was held so close to her chest.
“You really like flying, huh?” Erica asked as they banked, coming close to the tops of some trees.
“Yep! I haven’t been able to do this since I was a foal,” he cheerfully replied as he looked up at her face. “My Aunt Silver Rain used to take me flying until she got pregnant with Parsley. After that, I was too big for her to carry.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun,” Erica said with a slight chuckle. When she banked once more, she saw the school was letting out and there were several ponies coming out of the building that stuck out like a sore thumb. These ponies in school bags were twice as tall as the rest of their classmates. “Hey Verdant, is that one pony there Wind Whistler?” She pointed a talon towards the blue mare with the pink mane who was talking to a colt with a winged bucket of fried chicken for a cutie mark.
“Yep. Say, can we swing by and say hi?”
“You’ve got it. Hold on.” Erica tightened her grip before she reangled herself and headed down towards the chatting pair.
“Hey, Wind Whistler!” Verdant caught the mare’s attention as Erica leveled out just a few feet from ground level, flying by at their walking speed. “How was school today?”
“Urgh…” Windy rolled her eyes. “Do you really want to know?