It took all day, but Windy eventually made it to the Pies' home. It was unlike anything Starlight had ever seen, being a literal farm in a somewhat barren wasteland. She couldn't imagine anypony living out here, and she was literally from a town in the middle of nowhere.
Windy flew towards the front door, giving a few knocks, which made Starlight feel squeamish about meeting Pinkie Pie's parents for the first time. The group waited for an answer until the door opened, and an earth pony couple stood there.
The stallion wore a golden brown coat, dark gold eyes, dark gray mutton chops, a hat, and a long black tie. The mare had a light gray jacket with a cloudy gray color, teal-colored eyes, and glasses on a brass chain. Starlight couldn't believe how these two stern, drab ponies were Pinkie Pie's parents.
Windy smiled and waved a hoof. "Hello, um… I'm sorry to bother you."'
The gray-coated mare eyed Windy and asked. "Exactly who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"Um, well, my reason for being here is a long story, but my name is Windy Whistles." Windy began.
"Well, Windy,” Cloudy said with a bow. “My name is Cloudy Quartz, and this here is my husband, Igneous Rock."
"Pleasure." The stallion replied in a monotone voice.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Cloudy. Igneous,” Windy replied. “May I come in?"
They both whispered to each other, and then Cloudy raised a hoof. "I was about to feed my foals their breakfast; you might as well join us."
"Thank you," Windy sighed as she trotted into their home.
Starlight looked around as she was brought inside. She had thought Pear Butter's home was rustic; This place made that home look like some fancy mansion. What with the Pies having less furniture and everything decorated in drab grays or dark purples? It was like walking backward in time.
The group then entered the dining room and approached a table with bowls of light green soup surrounding a rock in each bowl. Starlight squeaked upon seeing Pinkie's siblings, with a toddler Limestone running around shouting at Maud, who easily avoided her attacks.
"Girls! No roughhousing around the dinner table!" Cloudy sternly berated the two toddlers.
"Yes, Mama." The older gray-coated filly replied in a monotone voice.
"Yes, Mama!" The dark purple-coated filly snapped back, sounding rather unhappy about being told off by her mother. Still, she went onto her chair and begrudgingly drank her soup.
Meanwhile, sitting across from the two toddlers were two babies: One was a lighter gray filly who shared the same coat color as her mom, squeaking upon seeing the newcomers and throwing the bowl of soup over her face to try to hide. The other baby was unlike the rest of her family, a bright pink baby chomping down on a bunch of rocks and giggling happily.
Starlight couldn't help but see how utterly different Pinkie Pie was from the rest of her family. Was she adopted or something? It seemed almost impossible to believe that Pinkie could’ve naturally been born into such a drab and dull family.
"I apologize,” Cloudy said to Windy without changing her tone of voice. “My daughters can be quite rambunctious, especially Pinkie Pie. She especially seems incapable of ever sitting still. I can already anticipate that she will have difficulty toilet training when she’s older."
Windy was looking just as surprised at the baby pink filly chomping away. "They have their teeth already?"
"Yes. My side of the family is known for growing harder teeth than most ponies, which is why we can eat rocks. And rocks are good for the teeth; it helps them grow." The stallion replied in a monotone voice. He then trotted to the head of the table, standing by his wife.
Windy went over and grabbed a bowl of the rock soup as Cloudy asked. "Does your daughter require any sustenance or nourishment?"
"Oh, Starlight?!” Windy blinked and then hastily replied. “No, she's fine. I uh, I just fed her," Starlight sighed in relief, having no intention of eating rocks, as Windy continued. "Actually, this foal isn't my daughter. In fact, she's the reason I came to see you…" She went into a long-winded explanation of Starlight and other adult ponies messing up "time traveling" here, and how they needed Pinkie Pie to be friends with some other foals to get home.
After Windy finished her story, Cloudy adjusted her glasses and said, "Well, that is quite a tale. Do you have any proof?"
Starlight sighed, seeing it was up to her to convince Pinkie's parents that everything Windy had said was true. She put in one of Dr. Whooves’ pacifiers that let her talk and said. "Yeah, tats wight. Evewyting we said was twue," Everyone blinked as Starlight continued. "I weawwy am a time twavewew twying ta get home. And Pinkie Pie might be owa onwy chance to do tat. So pwease wet hew, come with us."
Igneous talked to his wife, and they both nodded. She then turned, "So you wish for us to attend this ‘party’ of foals? We must see the location for these festivities and see if they meet our standards. If we are satisfied, we will allow Pinkie to be at this party."
"Thank you so much!" Windy chimed, feeling somewhat relieved. She then got up and said, "I’ll inform Pear Butter, as she’s the one hosting it.”
“There’s no need to rush, so why don’t you stay the evening? We don’t get much company out here.” Igneous insisted.
“As long as we don’t overstay our welcome,” Windy replied as she sat down and then the mare sat across from the couple as Starlight sat by, suckling on a bottle of milk while hoping she wouldn’t have to eat any of that rock soup. The broth did not look appetizing, and she doubted her teeth could handle crushing up solid rocks.
The following day, back at Sweet Apple Acres, the “regressed adults” were all downstairs. Unicorn Twilight had her attention on Dr. Whooves, who was fixing a toy wagon for Big Mac, as he let it roll about, making sure it worked.
The colt squealed in delight. “Thank you for fixing my toy!”
“No problem.” Dr Whooves chimed, then he saw unicorn Twilight trotting over with a worried look on her face as she asked. "Hey, doctow, can I ask ya to do a favow?"
"Wha is it?" Dr. Whooves asked.
Unicorn Twilight explained. "Listen, awicown Twiwy and I wewe tawkin’ and we both tink ya gots to do someting that might mess up a timewine."
"Wike what?" The time traveling little colt questioned. The idea of intentionally altering a timeline any further was of grave concern to him, enough damage had been done already as far as he was concerned.
"Ya and your mom needs to go to Appwewoosa and make suwe a hot air bawwoon thewe doesn't expwode." Unicorn Twilight told him.
"Oh, I see!” Dr. Whooves nodded, putting a hoof to his chin. “I wemembew ta accident is known as the Whinnybuwg! The foows used hydwogen to wift the balloon instead of hewium! Tat’s not good to use, especiawwy in a pwace as dwy and hot as Appwewoosa!"
Unicorn Twilight nodded. "Wight. Tat means ya and youw mom should twy getting whoevew is making ta pwans to stop! If ya do tis, ya can save wike a wot of wives!"
"Right…but wha about a timewine?" Dr. Whooves questioned with concern.
Unicorn Twilight rolled her eyes. "At tis point, we’ve awweady messed up a timewine! Owa, mommy is tinking of going on tat hot aiw bawwoon wide with Appwejack’s mommy! Besides, ta cutie map wants ya thewe, and tat’s got ta be a weason why it bwought us aww hewe as babies!"
The baby colt nodded along. “Tat actuawwy makes a wot of sense. As I checked over my time machine, I dun see how it couwd have us go back in time as foaws.”
“Does tat mean ya wiww hewp us?” Unicorn Twilight hopefully asked.
“Of couwse!” Dr. Whooves nodded and promised. “I ta onwy hewe who might know how to stop ta accident!”
The baby Twilight hugged him and squealed. "Oh tank you! Ya gonna be a hewo fow tis!" She hugged him. And as they clutched each other, she turned to see that Starswirl was just sitting on his diaper, forehooves over his chest with this cute pouty look on his face.
The doctor blushed, then whispered, "I, uh, shouwd get out of youw way." He then trotted off as Starswirl came towards Twilight, pointed a hoof at her, and snapped, "Otay, teww me ta twuth! What happened to ta owd castew, and why’s Wuna in ta moon!"
Baby Twilight gulped. "Wisten, I ca-"
The regressed colt held up a hoof. "Wook, I know what ya gonna say: We gots to keep ta timewine safe, but ya bweaking ya own wuwes by tewwing Dw. Whooves bout tat accident. At tis point, ta timewine has been pewmanentwy awtewed awweady, so ya might as weww spiww the beans."
The unicorn Twilight relented and explained everything about what happened not long after Starswirl disappeared.
Starswirl was stricken with horror! "Can we stop tat?!" He gasped!
"I…I dun know if ya even shouwd,” Twilight confessed. “But honestwy, I wiww wet ya decide.”
“Wight…otay…Tank you for telling me," Starswirl mumbled as he waddled off.
Just then, the door opened, and Windy came in while panting. "I did it! Pinkie Pie is coming!"
Twilight gave a sigh of relief, maybe they'd all be able to leave and turn back into adults after all.
For some time, Pear Butter and Windy talked about prepping the house for the Pies.
Starlight, meanwhile, was placed down with the other foals, seeing how they all looked worried, Unicorn Twilight looked up and said. "So, Stawwight, um…some tings came up whiwe ya was gone."
"Yeah, like what?" Starlight questioned. “Did I do someting wong?
Unicorn Twilight shook her head from side to side. "Weww, we supew happy you wewe abwe to get Pinkie, but we got to do someting fiwst befowe we go back to owa timewines."
"Wike what?!” Starlight blinked in confusion. “I taught ya wouwd all wana be out of diapees and not have to go thwough potty twaining again."
The unicorn Twilight then added. "We do wanna avoid aww tat, not tat I have a pwobwem with doing potty twaining again ‘cause I know I was twained weaw fast. But when we found ta cutie map, thewe seems to be someting we gotta do to save Appwejack's pawents, and my mommy too."
"Wait…awe tey in twoubwe?" Starlight asked.
"Yes …tey um die in an accident,” Twilight explained. “And I tink we can pwevent it with Dw. Whooves hewp."
"What happened ta pweserving ta timewine?!" Starlight frowned. This whole mess had started thanks to her going back in time to try to get revenge, something that had been made abundantly clear to her multiple times by now. Now she was being told that messing with time was okay?
Twilight explained the reasoning. "At tis point, I tink tat ta cutie map bwought us hewe fow a weason. Why ewse wouwd we aww be hewe as babies?"
Starlight paused. "Ya gots a point…” Then she thought of something. “But if ya found ta cutie map, tat means we can go home togethew and go back to being big ponies togethew."
Twilight nodded. "Wight, but not untiw aftew we get evewyone ewse back to their pawts in ta timewine, and save Applejack's parents."
Starswirl nodded, and so did Dr. Whooves and alicorn Twilight.
"Ok, so wha’s ta pwan?" Starlight asked the others.
"Weww, we got to wet Windy know and have hew take us to Applewoosa as fast as we can,” Unicorn Twilight explained. “But aftew Cwoudy came, we need Windy to ensuwe tey wet Pinkie Pie to come to ta pawty. I member Appwejack tewwing me they awe awmost the opposite of Pinkie Pie.”
Starlight confirmed with a nod. “Yeah, I bet, tey awe kind of odd, tey eat wocks and stuff."
"Tats so weird." Unicorn Twilight commented.
"Yeah, it is,” Starlight commented back. “Weww, we won't be awound when tey bwing Pinkie Pie, so we’d bettew weave."
“That’s right, we should have the actual babies become friends with each other. We’ll go back to Elizabeth’s house and plan from there.” Windy chimed in as she picked up the foals and then flew off.
The next day came with a lot of anticipation with Pear Butter, as she was about to meet this earth pony from some rock farm to help many regressed-time travelers. It was crazy, and she was somehow smack in the middle of all this. She then heard a knock, rushed to the door, and opened it, revealing the middle-aged gray-coated mare. She looked pretty unamused and much like her grandparents: Relatively old-looking and cranky, and she always seemed to be in a sour mood. Still, she cleared her throat, held out her hoof, and said. "Hello, my name is Pear Butter, and I'll be hosting the foal get-together."
"I see. My name is Cloudy Quartz," the mare said, trotting through the home. "Seems simple and plain. I like it."
Pear Butter almost took that as an insult but then shrugged it off. "Yes, we are rather simple. We don't need a lot of flashy things."
"I see that,” Cloudy replied. “And your foals?" She then trotted towards the playpen, seeing baby Applejack, and then saw a pouty colt. "Oh, you have a colt?"
Pear Butter felt rather proud as she proclaimed. "Yes, he's my son, Little Macintosh! Named him after his father.”
Cloudy then gave a nod. "Well, let's see how they play together."
The mare set Pinkie Pie next to Applejack, who eyed her. Then she also brought out her sister Marble, and Pear was quite surprised, "Oh, I didn't know you were going to bring more foals."
"Well, I felt that it would be better to keep the younger foals together. Igneous can handle their older siblings. Limestone’s a troublemaker, but Maud is very well-behaved and never makes a fuss about anything. Pinkie and Marble seem to take after her more than Pinkie." Cloudy explained.
"Oh, they’re twins?!" Pear Butter blinked in surprise.
Cloudy replied with a simple. "Yes."
"Wow, I did not expect that." Pear Butter commented in amazement.
Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, instantly bounced over to Applejack as Marble reluctantly ran behind a plush bear to hide. Big Mac eyed her and trotted over to her as the two older mares trotted off.
Pinkie Pie bounced over, literally using her diaper to do so. She went right up to the orange-coated foal, booped her nose, and exclaimed. "Hey, ya Abbwejackie, wight?"
"Yeah, tat me," Applejack babbled, waddled over, and asked. "Ya,Pinkie Pie, wight?"
“Yeah, tat’s me!” Pinkie Pie excitedly squealed! “And it's so gweat to finawwy see othew babies tat awen’t my sibwings!”
"Yeah, I have been fwiends with wots of othew babies wecently. But I gwad ya is here,” Applejack replied, and then asked. “Do ya wanna pway?"
"Tat sounds wike so much fun!” The pink-coated foal exclaimed, but then looked rather sad as her coat color seemed too dark. “Ya wucky. I dun gots wots of fwiends. My famiwy wives out in ta middwe of nowhewe.”
Applejack took out a hoof. “Weww, why dun we pway togetha and I can be ya fiwst fwiend?”
Pinkie started to get excited again, then exclaimed! “Otay, what we gonna pway?!”
“I wike to make towews with bwicks, ten buck tem over!” Applejack explained. “I pwacticin’ because I wanna buck appwes wike my mommy and daddy.”
“Oh! Tat sounds fun! I wanna twy!” Pinkie excitedly squealed.
The two foals then went off to build towers together, knocking them down with their hooves (or their padded bottoms). Pinkie Pie, however, soon wanted to see what her sister was up to and was surprised to see that Big Mac was scribbling silently on paper with crayons with Marble by his side.
Applejack then looked over and asked. "Soooo, ya gots a sister?"
Pinkie gave a nod. "Yeah, tat’s my youngew sistew, Mawbe. She onwy a few minutes youngew ten me."
"So she weawwy a twin?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, but she's supew shy,” Pinkie Pie explained. “So I'm suwpwised she's pwaying with tat cowt. He ya bwuda, wight?"
"Yeah, and he's awso kinda shy, so maybe tey both can be good fwiends." Applejack suggested as she observed the scene.
“Wooks wike it. She dun weawwy pway with me, so it supwise me tat ya bwuda is pwayin’ with hew,” Pinkie pointed out, then squealed! “But tis pwace is so coow! Hopefuwwy, we gets to stay fow awhiwe.”
“Yeah, me too,” Applejack booped Pinkie as she finished stacking the last block on the tower, and then the foals chanted together. “On ta count of thwee…one…two…thwee!” The two then smacked the tower together with their padded bottoms, and it collapsed with a solid thud as the two foals giggled and hugged each other.
After playing together for several hours, Cloudy and Pear Butter came back, and they both gasped upon seeing all four foals all napping together, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie hugging each other tightly while Big Mac held Marble Pie.
Cloudy was utterly surprised as she whispered, "Well, it seems they tuckered themselves out. That’s so remarkable, especially for Pinkie Pie. She hates naps!”
"Indeed they have, even your other little one, Marble, was it?" Pear Butter pointed towards Marble and Little Mac, fast asleep together.
"Yes, it seems your foals are well-behaved, and your home is in proper order, so I came to the conclusion that we will commit to this foal get-together." Cloudy declared.
Pear gave a sigh of relief and whispered. "Thank you. You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear that,” she said. She then continued speaking to Cloudy. “You traveled quite far. Why don't you and your twin foals stay in Ponyville for a while?"
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Cloudy agreed. “Why don’t we have some time to ourselves before they awake? You were telling me a story about how you and Bright Mac met?"
“Well, that is a long story, but I don’t mind telling it. Come, let’s have some lunch,” Pear Butter insisted as she led Cloudy away. “My mother-in-law just baked a fresh apple pie.” The two mares then went off together to the kitchen to continue their chat.