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// Foals Really Are a Laughing Matter 
// Story: Feathered Foal Fiasco 
// by Ribbon Sketch 
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“There!” Spike said, admiring his handy work. Fluttershy lay on her back, looking back up at the dragon curiously, a small towel tied sloppily around her waist into a makeshift diaper. “Huh, maybe this foal care stuff isn’t so hard after all,” the dragon said to himself, a small, confident smile on his face. “I’ve practically handled Fluttershy all by myself.” When Spike said this, Owlowiscious suddenly twisted his head around to face him, giving a hoot in his direction and flapping his wings out a bit. Spike rolled his eyes at this before giving a small shrug. “Okay so maybe I had a little help from you,” he said. With that, the owl spread his wings and flew back to his perch to return to his daytime slumber. Fluttershy got a small frown at this, waving her front hooves towards Owlowiscious and babbling a bit as she watched him fly to his perch. “Hey,” Spike called up to the owl. “Aren’t you gonna stay and help me?” Owlowiscious simply looked at the dragon with sleepy, narrowed eyes. Spike raised a brow in return. “Aw come on, I know you’re nocturnal but…” The dragon trailed off, frantically thinking of an argument that would convince his winged coworker to stay awake. “F-Fluttershy really likes you!” He said, motioning to the yellow foal. Despite the fact that Spike was using this fact as a means to convince Owlowiscious, it was still true nonetheless. The yellow foal in question was now sitting up, looking up at the owl with curious turquoise eyes. Owlowiscious turned his head to look at Fluttershy, hooting softly to her. The pegasus giggled happily at this, babbling back at the owl and eagerly reaching her front hooves for him. However she then let out a small, squeaky yawn. Spike saw this and let out a small sigh of relief. “Are you sleepy, Fluttershy?” He asked the pegasus, not really expecting any sort of response. Fluttershy just continued to coo and babble up at Owlowiscious. The owl on the other hand remained still on his perch, his eyes slowly closing as he let sleep overtake him. It was then that the unexpected happened, at least for Spike. Having had enough of birdwatching from afar, Fluttershy opened her tiny yellow wings and used them to slowly lift herself off of the ground. She wasn’t nearly as fast or agile as her rainbow maned friend, however with her foal mindset, Fluttershy was willing to do anything to get a closer view of Owlowiscious. “Oh not you too!” Spike cried, making a quick grab for the yellow foal. Unlike with Rainbow Dash, Spike was actually successful in catching Fluttershy, much to the baby pegasus’s dismay. Fluttershy’s look of wonder turned sour as she squirmed a bit in the dragon’s arms. “Please Fluttershy, can’t you take a nap for a little bit?” Spike asked, keeping ahold of the squirmy foal. Fluttershy’s only reply was a quiet whimper that slowly got louder. And for about the fifth time that day the dragon panicked internally as the foal in his arms began to sniffle. 

Twilight opened the door to the library, and she and Applejack walked in, Applejack still holding Rainbow Dash, who had fallen asleep during the walk. 

“I can’t begin to thank you enough for this, Applejack,” Twilight said, a small look of apology on her face. 

“Aw it’s nothin’ Twilight,” Applejack replied, giving her unicorn friend a sincere smile. “Now then, how about ah start a bath for Rainbow while you jus’ focus on findin’ a solution to all this.” Before Twilight could respond a loud wail suddenly echoed from upstairs, and within seconds Spike came running down the steps, holding a crying Fluttershy. 

“Thank Celestia you’re back Twilight!” The dragon said. “I-I need help with Fluttershy!” Seeing this, Applejack turned to Twilight. 

“Here, hold Rainbow for a sec please,” she said, before carefully passing the blue pegasus to her. With all of the sudden commotion, Rainbow Dash had woken up. She looked up at the purple unicorn that held her, her eyes still a bit heavy from her sleepiness. Applejack walked over to Spike and gently took Fluttershy from him. She held the wailing pegasus over her shoulder with one hoof, gently bouncing her as a means to soothe her. It was then that the southern mare noticed the towel that was sloppily tied around Fluttershy’s waist. “Now what in the hay did ya tie a towel around her for?” 

“I didn’t wanna have to clean up anymore puddles,” Spike replied, bluntly. Applejack got a small look of realization

“Oh that’s right,” she said. “Ah forgot y’all probably don’ have any foal supplies.” She then sat on her rump and used her front hooves to cradle Fluttershy, who was still crying. “Shhh shh, no need to cry, Sugarcube,” Applejack said as she began to rock the yellow pegasus gently. To Twilight and Spike’s surprise, it didn’t take long for Fluttershy’s cries to be soothed into quiet whimpering and the occasional sniffle. The pink maned foal looked up at her apple bucking friend with teary eyes before burying her face into the pony’s orange coat. Applejack couldn’t help but smile at this as she patted her foal sized friend’s back gently. “How’s about ya nap with Rainbow for a bit huh?” 

“How did you get her to calm down so easily?” Spike asked. Applejack chuckled a bit at this. 

“Ah’m a big sis, Spike,” she said. “Ya think Granny Smith handled Apple Bloom all on her own? No way in Equestria Big Macintosh and ah were gonna jus’ leave all that work for her.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile at this. 

“Well we appreciate your help and skills,” she said. That was when Rainbow Dash began to whine, a pouty scowl appearing on her face as she squirmed in the unicorn’s hooves. Seeing this, Twilight hesitantly tried to mimic what Applejack had done with Fluttershy, sitting on her rump and rocking the blue pegasus with her front hooves. However this did nothing, as Rainbow Dash continued to pout, kicking her little hooves out unhappily. After taking one look at the pouting pegasus, Applejack bit her lip. 

“She’s feelin’ a little cranky,” she said. “Fussin’ over all the commotion from Fluttershy.” 

“W-What should I do?” Twilight asked, nervously trying to comfort her fussy friend. Applejack thought for a moment before replying. 

“Well when Apple Bloom was gettin’ cranky, ah’d usually feed her a warm bottle. It’d put her right to sleep. But since we can’t do that…” The pony trailed off, biting her lip once more as she tried to think of an alternative. After a bit she sighed. “Ah’m sorry Twilight. Ah guess ah’m a little rusty with foal care. Ah think the best thing we can do is to jus’ try to lull her back to sleep.” The pony thought for a moment before speaking again. “Can Fluttershy borrow your bed for a little while?” Twilight nodded in response before leading Applejack to her room and walking over to her bed. Spike followed behind. Quickly and carefully, Applejack tucked the sleeping yellow foal into Twilight’s bed. “Thank you kindly Twilight,” she said, before taking Rainbow Dash from the purple unicorn. 

“H-How are you gonna get her to go back to sleep?” Spike asked, watching as Applejack sat on her rump once more, cradling the fussy foal in her front hooves. 

“Ah don’ know,” Applejack said with a slightly uncertain frown. “A-Ah figure ah’ll jus’ comfort her for a little while.” With that she began to try rocking the whining, squirming blue foal. “Shhh, hush now Sugarcube,” she cooed. “No need to fuss. Jus’ rest your little head and drift off to dreamland.” The blue foal suddenly stopped squirming for a second, though not because of Applejack’s attempts to calm her. Instead Rainbow Dash got an odd look on her face before she absentmindedly spread her back hooves a tiny bit. Going wide eyed at this, the orange earth pony did the only thing she could think to do, and she held the foal away at hoof’s length. No quicker than Twilight had opened her mouth to question this did she get her answer. All three watched the relieved look appear on Rainbow Dash’s face as liquid began to trickle down her back hooves and onto the library floor. 

“O-Oh,” Twilight said, biting her lip a bit. Spike gave a huffed sigh. 

“I’ll go grab another towel…” He muttered, before he began to trudge down the stairs. Applejack couldn’t help but give a small chuckle, looking at the foal she held in her hooves. 

“Guess ah ain’t too rusty,” she said. “Ah still remember Apple Bloom makin’ that face once in a while before she’d need changed.” However the orange pony’s moment of humor was cut short when Rainbow Dash let out an unhappy wail, scowling and kicking her hooves out as she did. Not only was she cranky but now her back hooves were wet. Applejack’s ears flattened a bit nervously at this, and she tried her best to comfort the crying foal while still holding her at hoof’s length. “Shh, Rainbow it’s alright,” she said, trying her best to stay calm so that she wouldn’t upset the foal even more. It was no use either way however, as Rainbow Dash only cried louder. 

“W-What do we do?!” Twilight asked, looking at Applejack for help as she winced at the sound of Rainbow Dash’s wailing. 

“A-Ah don’ know!” Applejack replied. “B-But we gotta think fast or else-.” The southern pony was suddenly cut off by the wailing of a second foal. Her ears flattened in dismay as she and Twilight looked over to see that Fluttershy had been awoken by all of the noise, and she too was now wailing loudly. “O-Or else we’ll have two fussy foals…” Applejack said, finishing her sentence. 

Spike was just about to head back upstairs with a towel in hand when suddenly he heard a rather odd sounding knock at the door. The dragon gave a small groan at this, sighing as he approached the door. 

“What now?” He muttered, before answering it. Upon opening the door, Spike was nearly trampled by a bouncing pink blur as it zipped past him and towards the stairs. Stumbling back, the dragon saw that it was none other than Pinkie Pie. Though she was carrying a double saddlebag on her back and a bag in her mouth.

“Sowwy Spike!” Pinkie said, her voice muffled by the bag handles she held with her teeth. “Foawlsitting emewgency!” And with that, the pink pony trotted up the steps at full speed. Spike stood up and went to follow after Pinkie, however he was once again stopped when he heard yet another knock from the door. This one was odd too however, as it was just a singular thud against the wooden door, rather than the standard two or three thuds that made up a typical knock. Once again, the dragon walked over and answered the door. Only this time he was greeted by somepony slower than Pinkie. Much slower. Tank the tortoise slowly glided past the dragon, his propeller buzzing softly as it led him up the stairs. Spike followed the tortoise. 

“Never fear! Your foalsitter friend Pinkie is here!” The pink pony exclaimed after setting her bags down. 

“P-Pinkie? How did you…?” Applejack asked. Pinkie just giggled before she started unpacking a bit of the contents of the saddlebags. 

“Well you see Applejack,” the pony began. “I had just finished running to Sweet Apple Acres with Twilight when my ears started to twitch! And then my left eyelid fluttered a bit, followed by my back hoof getting all wobbly! And I knew that my Pinkie senses were telling me that there was a foal related problem with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy at the library!” Applejack and Twilight were both dumbfounded at this. 

“You got all that information from your Pinkie sense?” Twilight asked. Pinkie just chuckled at this. 

“Well not all of it. Fluttershy had an order she was planning to pick up today at Sugarcube corner, and Rainbow Dash and I were planning to go pranking today,” she said as she retrieved two diapers, foal powder, and foal wipes from the saddlebags. “And since neither of them showed up, I just assumed that it involved them. Fluttershy’s pretty good with picking up orders on time, and Rainbow Dash wouldn’t miss a day of pranking for anything!” Pinkie then thought for a moment before speaking again. “Well, anything except for being turned into a foal it seems.” Before Twilight or Applejack could respond, Pinkie carefully took the wailing blue pegasus from the orange pony, holding her at hoof’s length when she noticed her back hooves were damp. “Uh oh, did widdle Dashie have an accident?” Pinkie cooed before she laid Rainbow Dash down on a changing mat she had rolled out. Rainbow Dash just continued to kick her hooves and cry. “Aw, look Dash! I brought you a friend!” Pinkie said. The blue pegasus’s cries suddenly stopped as a green, reptilian face looked down at her, smiling slowly at her. Rainbow Dash hiccupped a bit, looking up at her tortoise companion with tear filled magenta eyes. However she suddenly let out a giggly squeal of glee as Tank licked her cheek. Applejack smiled at this, however her smile suddenly faded before she looked over at Fluttershy, who was still wailing. 

“W-Well that takes care of Rainbow,” she said. “But what about Fluttershy?” Pinkie just smiled before she picked up the bag she had been carrying in her mouth. She skipped over to Twilight’s bed before promptly setting the bag down upon it so it faced Fluttershy. She then turned to look back at Applejack. 

“Don’t worry AJ,” she said. “I brought her a friend too!” After a couple seconds, movement suddenly came from the bag. And Pinkie just smiled as a small white rabbit hopped out of it. 

“Now how in tarnation did you convince Angel to get in that bag?” Applejack asked, a surprised look on her face. 

“Oh, that’s easy,” Pinkie said. “I just told him that Fluttershy was in a tough situation, and that she needed his help.” 

“And that worked?” Twilight asked, just as surprised as Applejack. Upon seeing the crying yellow foal in front of him, Angel’s jaw fell open in shock. However without a moment more of hesitation the white rabbit hopped over to his wailing caretaker and nuzzled at her side in an attempt to comfort her. There was no doubt that he recognized her even as a foal. Fluttershy’s cries were cut short when she felt the fluffy rabbit nuzzle against her. And upon seeing her rabbit companion, the yellow pegasus let out a squeal of joy before throwing her hooves around him and hugging him happily. All tears were forgotten as the winged foals were greeted by their pets. 


…


“There we go, nice and snug,” Pinkie Pie said, after tucking Rainbow Dash into Twilight’s bed next to Fluttershy. The two foals lay fast asleep in the bed, both of their animal companions resting with them as they slept. 

“Well Pinkie Pie, ah gotta hand it to ya,” Applejack said. “You certainly know your way around foalsittin’.” Pinkie smiled at this comment. 

“Aw gee Applejack, it was nothing!” She said. 

“Well we appreciate it a lot either way,” Twilight said. Applejack nodded, smiling. Pinkie just giggled. 

“Well then, now that Rainbow and Flutters are clean, calm, and asleep, I’m kinda curious to know how they became foals in the first place,” she said. “I mean, I couldn’t become a foal even if I wanted to! Not that I have wanted to.” The pink pony thought for a moment before continuing. “Well actually there was this one time when I was watching the Cake twins that I thought I could better understand them if I was a foal myself. That was just a thought though.” Applejack looked to Twilight, waiting for her to answer Pinkie’s question. Twilight gave a small sigh before looking down a bit. 

“It’s a long story…” She said.