My Little Pony: Nine Elements Book 2

by BlueBioWolf

Chapter 16: Baby Cakes (S2:E13)

One week after Tornado Day, Pinkie spread news of a big development to her closest friends: Mrs. Cake had given birth.

Outside the maternity ward at the Ponyville Hospital, Pinkie had gathered her friends to offer moral support and show them the new babies after they were born. “Carrot and Cup Cake must be so proud!” Twilight said softly. “And in this new maternity ward, too.”

“Uh, this here maternity ward’s always been here,” Applejack said softly. “It was standard installation with the hospital.”*

“Oh,” Twilight said sheepishly. “Sorry, I haven’t seen all of Ponyville Hospital before today.”

“I haven’t been able to see the Cakes up close to know for sure whether their new foals are going to be born as,” Rarity said softly. “So, I’m just as in the dark.”

Pinkie could hardly contain her excitement. “I want to see the new baby ponies!” She squeaked. “Which ones are they?”

Just then, Mr. Cake arrived. He looked like he'd been to war given how rugged and unkempt his mane and tail were compared to their usual state of appearance. He then strolled through the ward on the other side of the glass, stopping in front of three cribs: One on his left, one on his right, and one in between. "Meet our son, Pound Cake," he smiled as he pulled the blanket off the crib on the left, revealing a pegasus foal. "Our first daughter, Pumpkin Cake." He then pulled the blanket off the crib on the right, revealing a unicorn foal. “And our second daughter, Velvet.” He removed the blanket from the one in the middle, revealing an earth pony foal.**

“Aww~” chorused Spike and the ponies. Pinkie was figuratively over the moon with excitement.

“There are the three new additions to the family!” she said ecstatically while stage-whispering. “This is the greatest day ever! We need to celebrate your birthday because you were just born today~!”

Nurse Redheart, however, immediately ushered Pinkie out while shushing her. "Pinkie, the babies are trying to sleep. And this is a sterilized environment, authorized personnel only. Got it?"

Pinkie sighed reluctantly and scuttled out to rejoin her friends.

“Am I the only one who noticed that they’re three different breeds?” Spike asked. By now it was clear to everyone what the triplets looked like: Pound Cake had a light goldish gray coat, dark grayish-brown eyes, and a brown mane and tail. Pumpkin Cake had a light yellow coat, brilliant blue eyes, and a light orange mane and tail. Velvet had a bright red coat, a white mane and tail, and, most unusually, heterochromatic eyes. Her left eye matched her father’s while her right matched her mother’s.

“Ah noticed that, too,” Applejack said. “How in thunderation’s one o’ them triplets a pegasus while ‘nother one’s a unicorn?”

“Cup Cake and I had noticed that,” Carrot replied. “But, we were able to look up our family trees. As it turns out, my great grandfather on my mother’s side was a unicorn, while Cup’s great uncle from her father’s side was a pegasus.”

“So, those two genetics must’ve skipped a couple generations,” Spike observed.

“Yes, that’s right,” Carrot said. “Though, so far, there hasn’t been any babies born in our family tree that were born alicorns.”

“Sired alicorns*** are quite rare,” Twilight said. “And for good reason. Too many immortals would lead to overpopulation.”

"Oh boy!" Rainbow Dash excitedly declared. "Just watch! Once little Pound Cake is a bit older and those wings of his have grown a bit, he'll be having flying bouts all the time! You might want to look into a way to keep him grounded so he doesn't get hoof prints on the ceiling."

“And be careful around Pumpkin Cake,” Twilight added.

“Going from experience of growing up with a unicorn baby sister,” Rarity added. “Baby unicorns get strange magic surges that come and go.”

“When she’s old enough for school,” Spike said. “It wouldn’t hurt to send her to magic school.”

Carrot nodded understandingly. "I'll be sure to keep all of that in mind. Cup Cake and I will have to make some adjustments to Sugarcube Corner, but, nothing too major."

"And just wait until they see how much of an amazing big sister I can be to them! They're going to love playing with me!" Pinkie insisted. "And for every birthday and big milestone, I'm going to be sure to throw them lots and lots of parties!" But, she was soon going to learn her excitement about the triplets was going to be a problem. There was going to be more than just playing with them and throwing parties. And the surges her friends were warning about now were going to become a real problem.

One month later, the triplets had grown a little bit, but, they were still very small and cute. They were playing together happily in the center of the bakery while they were wearing diapers. The Cakes were still moving the last of their supplies to the new nursery upstairs. Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, had her own celebration planned for this milestone. She came bouncing over with a small cake and started singing:

“Happy month-a-versary to the three of you today

I can’t believe you’re already a month old

Time sure flies fast, doesn’t it

Seemed like only yesterday you were born

But, now you’re a month old today

Hey!”

The triplets blew the party blowers and they giggled happily after Pinkie finished her song. Velvet hugged Pinkie’s forehoof.

“Are you three ready for your favorite game with Pinkie Pie?” she asked happily.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake watched the whole scene unfold from the kitchen with smiles on their faces. They were glad to see Pinkie taking to her role of "big sister" so well, at least on the play side of things. Any worries they might have had about Pinkie becoming jealous of all the attention the foals would get had left them.

“The foals really like Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake said. She still had a bit of weight from her pregnancy, but, it was lower now that the triplets were born.

“And Pinkie does like the triplets,” Mr. Cake smiled.

Pinkie zipped into the kitchen, hiding herself behind the door. "Where's Pinkie Pie?" She called before poking out from the door. "Here I am!" And she repeated the process several times over to the delight of the triplets.

“Is everything good out there,” Cup called. “Do the foals need a diaper change?”

Pinkie turned back to inspect the triplets and she immediately had her un-prepared nostrils assaulted by a powerful yet familiar stench. “Yes,” she said. “Very yes.”

“I’ve got it,” Carrot said coolly. He gently set the triplets on a nearby changing table that was generously gifted to the Cakes. It was so there wasn’t a risk of contamination if he or Mrs. Cake changed them on the bakery’s counter. He swiftly changed the triplets, disposed of the used diapers in a wastebasket, wiped them, and applied baby powder before putting fresh clean diapers on the three foals. Afterwards, he made sure to wash his hooves. “Is anypony hungry?”

“Uh, that was for the foals, right?” Pinkie asked.

“Yep,” Cup smiled as she walked in with a tray carrying three bottles filled with formula. “And I’m on it.”

“You’re not giving them any of your own milk?” Pinkie asked.

“Doctor’s orders,” Cup said. “All those sweets I’ve eaten over the years made my milk too sugary for little foals. Until the doctors can find a medicine that lowers my blood sugar, I have to serve them formula.****”

So, she gave each foal a bottle filled with formula and they suckled.

“Don’t you feel backed up holding in all that milk?” Pinkie asked.

“Let’s just say I found a way to deal with it,” Cup said while blushing.*****

“Oooh…” Pinkie said, realizing what she meant. “I have no more questions I want answered.”

After the triplets finished their formula, they had uncomfortable expressions.

“The triplets need to be burped,” Carrot said.

He picked up Pumpkin and Velvet while Cup picked up Pound. They gently pat the foals on their backs and three satisfied sounding burps escaped their throats.

"Anything else you want to take care of for them?" Pinkie asked while impatiently tapping a hoof. "Come on, let's get back to playtime!"

The parent ponies set the foals down gently. Pound was running back to join his two sisters when, at the sight of a pile of blocks, he pounded them out of his path. His mother scolded him for that. “Ah, ah, ah, Pound. No pounding things.” Velvet went to work stacking the blocks again. 

The bottle of powder had fallen off the changing table and Pumpkin grabbed the base end with her mouth. She contently started chewing on it, but, Mr. Cake stopped her. "Ah ah ah, we don't chew on things, Pumpkin Cake."

"Except for food of course." Pinkie pointed out.

On the mention of food, Mrs. Cake gasped. “Oh no! I completely forgot!”

“No, you didn’t,” Pinkie said. “You gave them their bottles.”

“Not the foals’ food!” Mrs. Cake said in alarm.

“Oh, no!” Mr. Cake gasped, suddenly remembered. “The extremely large and important catering order today across town!”

The plump baker exclaimed anew. "With the new babies, we've been so distracted! Oh, how could we forget?!"

“Oh, we’ll have to find somepony to watch over the triplets while we take care of this!” Mr. Cake said in a panic.

"I want to do it! Pick me! The twins love playing with me!" Pinkie Pie insisted and was quite surprised when she was not immediately given the honor.

The first stop for the earth pony parents was Fluttershy's cottage, knowing that she not only had a quality track record with baby animals but had also looked after young ponies with little trouble.

They were quite dismayed when Fluttershy answered. "I'd love to. But, I can't today, sorry. I promised Angel we'd go on a picnic. I can't go back on a promise I made to him."

“Alright, Fluttershy, but, thank you all the same,” Mrs. Cake said as they turned to leave.

"You're not mad, are you?” asked Fluttershy. “Oh, please don't be mad. Any other day I'd gladly do it."

Meanwhile, Pinkie held Angel and rocked him back and forth while declaring. "I'll do it! Pick me!" But, her request wasn't acknowledged. Mr. and Mrs. Cake instead went to the Golden Oak Library to see if their second choice would be available.

Twilight's credit as a foalsitter wasn't as immediately provable compared to Fluttershy's, but, having hatched and raised Spike (though, to what extent on her own, nopony knew), she clearly knew what children needed. Alas, Twilight also declined the offer. "Sorry, but, I'm updating my records. That means writing a report to Princess Celestia summarizing all the other reports I've sent to her. Plus, Spike doesn’t do well with babies. I’m sure you’ve seen his temper from time to time."

“Alright, but, thank you,” Mr. Cake said as they went to the next pony, completely ignoring Pinkie as she cradled a book in a diaper and again pleaded.

"Pick me! I can handle it!" she said.

The third choice was Rarity since it was a known fact she'd basically raised her little sister more often than their actual parents. And perhaps it was because of that the fashionista rejected in no uncertain terms. "Moi? Babysit? Oh no no no! I've little interest in having to tend to noisy and smelly little ones again," though, she added. "I am honored you would think of me, though."

“Alright, thank you, though,” Mrs. Cake said.

And so, it went on and on for a good several more minutes, with the Cakes asking everypony they could think of who might be qualified to serve as a foalsitter on such short notice. But everywhere they went and everypony they asked all resulted in the same answer of "No" to varying degrees. To Rainbow’s credit, she had the credible excuse of needing to care for Tank before she felt ready for the responsibility of foals******. When all hope seemed lost, Pinkie went up to the Cakes and gave an eager smile.

When the Cakes had exhausted all other options, they turned to a Pinkie Pie whose grin was growing wider with each passing second. After exchanging reluctant glances with one another, they seemed to resign themselves to the inevitable. "Um, Pinkie? Would you be interested in foalsitting the triplets for us?" Mr. Cake reluctantly asked.

“Why, I’d love to~!” Pinkie said eagerly, before jokingly saying. “I mean, I don’t know… I’ll have to check my schedule… but, I’m sure I have time to help out.” She gave a knowing smirk.

So, it was that Pinkie was given the job of foalsitting the triplets. And understandably, because of that the Cakes were quite hesitant to leave. Mr. Cake was even nervously prancing as he asked. "Now, Pinkie, are you absolutely sure you're up to the task? It's a very big job, you understand! Probably the most important job Cup Cake and I have ever given you!"

“You can count on me, Mr. Cake,” Pinkie saluted with her chest puffed out. Seconds afterwards, the chest muscles fell to Pinkie’s belly, making it look round. Pinkie looked at it and simply shrugged.*******

“Remember, Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake said. “You’ll have to take care of our babies and not just play with them. You have to feed them, change them, you name it!”

“I can handle it, Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie said. “Why, if my mom hadn’t given me the middle name of Diane, she would have given me the middle name of ‘Responsibility.’”

"Well, just to be safe," Mrs. Cake replied as she took a huge scroll off a nearby storage cabinet and tossed it down, unfurling it before the foalsitter. "All your responsibilities are on this list. Just follow them to the letter and you'll be fine."

“Whoa,” Pinkie gasped as she looked over the list. “That’s a lot of-” Pinkie stopped and cleared her throat. “I mean, consider these responsibilities followed to the letter, all the way down to the punctuation marks!” She saluted again, only to have the same result.********

Soon, the Cake parents were nearly ready with their order. Mrs. Cake was frosting a cake, but, Mr. Cake stopped her.

“We can frost it on the train ride there,” Mr. Cake stated.

“You’re taking the train across town?” Pinkie asked.*********

“We’ll be using the Dessert Transport Express,” Mr. Cake explained. “But, we don’t have much time to talk about that now. Come on, sugar plum! Tick tick! Time is money!”

But, Mrs. Cake ended up needing to be pushed out the door by Pinkie as the plump baker pleaded. "Oh, please watch over our little angels and keep them safe. I hope they won't give you too much of a hard time."

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie smiled. “Everything is under control!”  The pink party pony reassured the panic stricken parents as she watched them depart. Then, she turned back to the triplets. "I got this. Right, guys? You're not going to give your Auntie Pinkie Pie a lot of trouble, are you?"

But, the triplet foals, having never been separated from their parents before this moment, took a second to process the situation and they did what any distraught baby would do in that situation… bawl loudly.

"Uh-oh," Pinkie commented to herself as the gravity of the situation began to sink in. "This is a problem."

Desperate to keep her young charges from getting any further upset, Pinkie immediately tried to get their attention. "No no no! Don't cry, guys!" she tried to plead with them. "Come on, let's play your favorite game!" She then disappeared behind the kitchen doors. "Where's Pinkie Pie? Where's Pinkie Pie?"

But, that made the babies cry even harder. They wouldn't cooperate even after Pinkie poked her head out. "Don't cry. I'm right here! I'll take care of you. You like me. Remember?" And she made a funny face while shaking her head.

The triplets stopped crying a bit to see their big sister figure. They were still feeling uneasy from their parents stepping out, but, knowing that somepony was there to be with them caused them to ease up. It was clear that they were going to start crying again if their pink coated foalsitter didn't do something fast to catch their attention.

“You may be sad now,” Pinkie said. “But, I’ve got just the thing to cheer you up.”

So, she scooped the triplets into the kitchen and set them up at a makeshift table that’s level enough for them. She then turned off the lights and placed them before a small make-shift stage she'd set up, a small spotlight shining down on the stage's center. "Thank you, thank you all so much!" she declared, speaking into a broom like it was a microphone. "You're all a wonderful crowd here tonight. Where’re you all from?"

Pinkie held the handle of the broom close to Pumpkin, but, instead of talking into it, she leaned in closer to try and take a bite of it. Pinkie noticed and pulled it back to herself. Pumpkin was unamused.

“Hey, that’s great,” Pinkie said, pretending she got a response. “You know, I used to have an ant farm, but, I had to get rid of it, because I couldn't find tractors that small.” The foals seemed confused, clearly not comprehending the joke.********** “Get it? Tractors… that… small?” Pound looked to his sisters, who shrugged. Pinkie, not getting any responses, decided to try a different joke. “The other day, I spilled spot remover on my dog… and now I can’t find him!” The triplets still had looks of confusion. “Sheesh, tough crowd,” she remarked before looking over to the stage and saying to herself. "Tell me about it. For babies, they have pretty poor taste."

The triplets seemed to comprehend this and began crying. "What?! Oh no no no! I didn't mean it that way, you guys!" Pinkie protested. "Please don't be upset, I hate it when you get like this!" But, her pleas were ignored, prompting her to sigh and declare. "Fine. I didn't want to have to do this. But, you guys are asking for it. It's time to pull out the show stopper! I haven't even come up with a good song for it yet."

So, she briefly stepped behind the makeshift curtain and stepped out wearing a prop pig nose. She bounced happily around the triplets. But, because she was so distracted she forgot to watch where she was going. The pink party pony bounced straight into a nearby cabinet, bumping her head in the process. The impact caused a sack of flour hanging above to fall down. It landed on top of her, coating her entire coat in the white, powdery substance. The triplet foals saw Pinkie covered in flour and they giggled from how silly she looked. "Oh, good," Pinkie sighed to herself before dramatically putting a hoof to her forehead. "Nothing to this babysitting business." Though, she silently thought, I sure hope I don't have to do that again. We'll go through way too many flour sacks!

Later, after Pinkie got herself cleaned up, she looked over the responsibilities list. “Snack time,” she said. “That should be easy enough.” She took out three trays of prepared foal food from the fridge, one in a blue colored bowl and two in pink colored bowls. Then she placed the triplets in their respective high chairs before placing the bowls in front of them. “Bon appetit, foals,” she said in her fanciest waiter voice. They didn’t seem interested at first until Pinkie picked up one of the pink bowls. “Like this.” She then pretended to eat from the bowl. “Nom nom nom nom, nom nom nom nom nom.”

But, Pumpkin seemed much more interested in the table cloth. She shoved her bowl of food aside and grabbed an edge of the aforementioned cloth, placing it into her mouth to start slobbering on.

“No, Pumpkin!” Pinkie squeaked, pulling the tablecloth out of Pumpkin’s mouth. “We eat food, not tablecloths!” Velvet ate from her bowl like a good foal.

Pumpkin started to cry. Pound was so grouchy that he slammed the table, launching his food bowl in the air and it landed on his head, spilling the contents on his head. This caused him to start crying as well. Hearing her siblings cry made Velvet start crying. Pinkie could see the situation escalating and in a haste, she grabbed a nearby flour sack.

“Uh, hey, guys, look over here!” Pinkie called. The triplets paid attention and saw Pinkie dump the contents of the sack over herself. “Ah… choo!” Pinkie sneezed, launching a white puff from her nostrils. The triplets laughed once again at the display, which annoyed Pinkie. "Yeah, I think I can see where this is going," she snorted and sighed, either not noticing or not caring that she was still standing on her hindlegs.

When snack time ended a short time later, Pinkie decided it would be necessary to give the triplets a bath. So, she brought them into the bathroom and prepared the tub, making sure the water wasn't too hot or too cold. Once it had filled up enough, she turned off the tap. "Okay, now how about we..." But, she turned to find that the triplets had fled, obviously not wanting to take a bath.

After a bit of searching about the bathroom, the triplets were discovered in the cabinet above the sink. But, they fled once again, prompting Pinkie to give chase.

“Get back here!” Pinkie said. “Come on, bathtime will be fun!”

Pumpkin Cake took advantage of the opportunity to grab a towel and start slobbering on it, even after Pinkie protested and pleaded. "Towels are not food, Pumpkin Cake! Drop it right now!"

Pinkie then grabbed hold of the towel and used it as a way of getting Pumpkin into the bathtub. She did the same with Velvet shortly thereafter.

“Now, where are you, Pound Cake?” Pinkie asked. She found him and put him in the tub by stumbling into it herself. “Now, then, let’s get you three all squeaky clean.”

Fortunately, the triplets didn't put up too much of a fight during the bath, largely thanks to being distracted by the bubbles and the floating bath toys Pinkie had given them. Drying them off was another story, though, and it frustrated their foalsitter to no end before she finally accomplished the task.

“I don’t think I should do the flour poof thing again,” Pinkie said. “I’m still a little wet from the bathwater and mixing flour with water wouldn’t look pretty.”

Sometime later, while in the nursery and checking over the scroll to see what else needed to be done, the pink party pony turned foalsitter became aware of the all too familiar odor as she sniffed the air. Hoping against hope it wasn't what she thought it was, she turned her attention to the triplets as they were currently occupied playing with some blocks. But, it was soon clear that the smell was indeed coming from them, which meant only one thing.

“Smells like somepony needs me to changy-wangy their diaper-wiaper right now a-wow,” Pinkie said with a hoof covering her nostrils. She grabbed three fresh diapers, sneaking over to the triplets. “It’s times like this I wish I were a unicorn.” So, as bravely as she could, she got closer to the foals.

Neither foal seemed aware of the odor coming off them or what Pinkie Pie was about to do. They just kept playing, perfectly content with the way they were now.

Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie ended up giving herself away as she stood near the cribs, diapers in hoof. And it was just her luck that the triplets decided they weren't done playing, so, they gave chase. They even giggled in delight at the prospect of giving her the slip. But, their celebration was premature as Pinkie cornered them behind the changing table. "You're not getting away this time!" She warned them and proceeded with the diaper change. “Stand still, I’m almost…” Pinkie scrambled to get the triplets’ diapers adorned. But, when the dust settled, it was revealed that the triplets weren’t diapered. Instead, Pinkie diapered herself. One was on her head, the second was on her waist, and the third was on her tail. “How did that even happen?!”

The triplets giggled happily and scampered off to play some more.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" The pink party pony whined to herself as she looked at her rump and up at her head. "Everypony makes it look so easy! Where did I go wrong?!"

Just then there came the sound of the doorbell ringing, which filled Pinkie with joy. "Oh, thank goodness they're home already. This was a terrible idea!" she said to herself, before shaking the diaper on her rump off completely and kicking it into the nearby wastebasket. Looking across to her young charges she decided. "You guys should be fine without diapers for a few minutes. I just changed you and it's not like you're going anywhere, right?"

The triplets seemed to acknowledge this as they babbled and cooed in some way.

Satisfied with that answer, Pinkie made her way downstairs and opened the door. To her surprise it wasn't the Cakes who were there to greet her, but, Applejack. "Howdy, Pinkie. Mah family n’ ah finally got our worm problem under control, so ah thought ah'd swing by n’ see if ya needed any help," the farm mare greeted.

Pinkie Pie immediately pulled her fellow earth pony inside. "Oh, you have no idea!" she pleaded. "These babies are out of control, they won't listen to a word I say. And don't even get me started on their taste in stand-up comedy. I'm running out of flour sacks!"

"Oh, so they gave ya a hard time, huh, sugarcube?" Applejack said with what appeared to be a smirk. "Is that why yer still wearin' that diaper on yer head er is that just the latest fashion statement?"

Pinkie looked up and saw that a diaper was indeed still on her head. She hastily took it off. "Still, I guess maybe you could help a little. Cleaning up this place is going to be a nightmare."

Applejack chuckled and grinned. "Ah can tell. Ah kind o’ had a feelin' ya'd end up in over yer head. But, ah never expected things ta be this bad."

"Excuse me?!" Pinkie exclaimed with narrowed eyes.

“Growin’ up with a li’l sister,” Applejack explained. “Ah can tell ya that raisin’ foals takes a lot o’ work. N’ someponies learn the hard way that they ain't quite cut out fer it. Unfortunately, it seems yer one of 'em.”

The pink party pony spun around. "What?! Of all the nerve! I only asked for a little bit of your help, not a lecture! I’m still more responsible than Rainbow used to be."

At that, Applejack realized that she had probably come across as more arrogant than she'd intended. So, she tried her best to defuse the tensions. "Sorry, sugarcube. Ah didn't mean ta imply ya couldn't ever handle it. It's just," she gulped hard. "Yer remindin' me an awful lot o’ mahself durin' the whole 'Applebuck Season' incident. I don't want ta see another one o’ mah friends make the same mistakes ah did."

“Well, I’m not making the same mistakes,” Pinkie snapped. “I can handle these babies on my own! I don’t have a bunch of things to do on top of foalsitting. I don't have an entire orchard to harvest all on my own, I just need to keep three little foals occupied for a few hours. And despite some 'hiccups,' everything is totally under control! So, as it turns out, I actually don’t need any help!” She slammed the door on Applejack’s face.

The farm mare sighed. “There ah go, puttin’ mah hoof in mah mouth again.”

Inside, Pinkie was still indignant from what she thought Applejack was implying.

“Darn her!” Pinkie said with a frustrated groan. “Where does she get the idea of me not handling things on my own! Who does she think she is telling me I'm becoming just like her during that one applebuck season?! She thinks I can't handle things on my own." She then realized. "Perhaps because I haven't been doing a very good job of that. Things obviously haven't gone exactly how I hoped they would." Then, she resolved to herself, "But, I can handle this! I've had a few setbacks, but, now the kid gloves are coming off! I'll show everypony how serious I can be!"

So, Pinkie found the triplets in their room. Pound was jumping in his crib while Pumpkin was contently chewing on a rubber chicken toy. Velvet was stacking building blocks. So, Pinkie put on her big girl voice and got close to Pound.

“Pound!” She said. “That is a crib. It is only to be used for napping, sleeping, and on occasion with permission, as a pretend old-timey western fort. It is not a trampoline, so, stop jumping on it this instant!” Her stern words and harsh glare seemed to do the trick as Pound ceased his jumping instantly. She then bent down to talk to Pumpkin. “And you, young filly, while we can grab and hold things with our mouths without magic, we do not put anything in your mouth that we cannot safely and easily digest, so, stop slobbering on that toy this instant!” Like her brother, Pumpkin Cake seemed to obey when she saw how serious Pinkie seemed to be about enforcing these new rules.

Pinkie then gently picked up Pumpkin and Velvet, setting them in Pound’s crib alongside him. “Now, we have all had a very exciting afternoon, but, now it is time for all good little foals to take their nap. So, fall asleep!”

The triplets didn't seem to hesitate for even a second. They immediately closed their eyes and began to snore. Satisfied with this display, Pinkie pulled a blanket up to the triplets' necks and kissed them softly on the forehead. "Sleep tight," she softly whispered to them.

She closed the crib, turned off the light, and left the triplets’ room. She wiped her brow confidently. Now that’s what I call handling things, she thought to herself. Still think I can't manage on my own, Applejack?

Still confident, she peeked into the room to check on the triplets. But, to her horror, she found that Pound and Pumpkin were gone while Velvet was still sleeping.

"Oh no no no! Not good! Definitely not good!" Pinkie exclaimed as fear swiftly took hold of her. She could've sworn she'd only taken their eyes off them for a minute or so, they couldn't possibly have vanished so quickly, could they?! Her panic stirred Velvet. “Oh, sorry, Velvet. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she whispered. “I’m just looking for your brother and sister, but, don’t worry, they’re okay.” I hope… she thought to herself. Velvet then noticed her siblings were missing and began crying. Pinkie cradled the distraught Velvet and rocked her gently. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Tell you what, you can come with me to help look for them.” Velvet looked up at Pinkie as if saying, “You mean it?” “Of course.”

Suddenly, the two heard the slightly muffled squeaking sound.

“Bingo!” Pinkie said.

She followed the sound to a closet door. She opened it and she and Velvet found Pumpkin casually chewing on the rubber chicken toy again. Velvet cooed at the sight of her sister. Pinkie gently picked up Pumpkin and put her back in her own crib.

“Now, you be a good little girl, Pumpkin,” Pinkie said. “And stay in your crib for your old pal, Pinkie, while your sister and I go and find your brother.” Pumpkin responded by chewing on the chicken again.

So, Pinkie and Velvet looked around the triplets’ bedroom and outside the upstairs hall.

“Pound?” Pinkie called. “Pound Cake? Where are you?”

Both she and Velvet suddenly heard the sound of cooing. They looked to see where the sound was coming from. Pound Cake was on the ceiling. And that could only mean one thing. "You can fly?!" Pinkie gasped in shock and dismay. "Oh, why'd the surges have to kick in now?!"

Pinkie carefully set Velvet in her crib and then went to deal with Pound. She jumped up and down trying to reach him.

“Come down here, young colt!” she said. “I’m responsible for you!” Eventually, she had to stop to catch her breath. "Why are you making this so difficult? I'm supposed to be responsible for you," she groaned. Fortunately, once she had a moment to think, the party pony was able to come up with a solution. Using a series of little plungers tied to her hooves, she made her way up the side of the nursery wall and onto the ceiling proper. This allowed her to grab Pound by the mouth and carry the little pegasus down.

The two suddenly heard Pumpkin squeaking, trying to reach for a plush butterfly toy, but, it’s far out of her reach. So, she concentrated hard and her horn illuminated with a powder blue magic aura. It surrounded the butterfly toy and it began to flutter as if it was an actual butterfly. Pinkie gasped, meaning that the strange magic surge that Rarity mentioned was happening to Pumpkin. Pumpkin levitated the delightful toy into her own mouth and chewed on it.

"No no no, Pumpkin," Pinkie scolded as she pulled a stuffed butterfly out of Pumpkin's mouth.

Pumpkin just replied by stuffing a stuffed turtle into her mouth and chewing on it instead. That caused Pinkie to pull it out. "No no."

But, once Pinkie removed the stuffed turtle, Pumpkin started to chew on a blue stuffed monkey. Pinkie then took all the stuffed toys and put them in a toy box that she locked shut. "I'm the responsible one and I said no. And no means no."

Pound still had his wings going and he was happily flying all over the triplets’ bedroom. "That goes for you too, Pound Cake," Pinkie scolded. "No flying is allowed in the house, mister! Because I'm responsible for you that means you have to do what I say. Or do you want to end up in time out?"

Pound didn’t seem to care. He continued to zip and zoom up in the air. Velvet cooed at the sight. Pinkie made a good effort to grab Pound and bring him back down to earth.

“Gotcha!” Pinkie said, only to find herself being lifted by the pegasus foal. “I think…”

Pinkie proceeded to cling to Pound Cake for dear life as he was able to somehow drag her out of the nursery, through the hallway and down a flight of stairs to the kitchen. Several pies on a counter splattered onto her face, causing her to lick the mess away with her tongue. "Mm, razzleberry," she said while licking her chops, all the way continuing to maintain her grip as Pound flew her back and forth in and out of the kitchen several times. "I'm not letting go! I'm responsible!" She roared even as she was pulled back up the stairs, through the hallway and back into the nursery.

Pumpkin was watching Pound fly around and eagerly wished she could join him in the air. She concentrated and soon her whole body was enveloped in her own personal magic aura, levitating herself to float alongside him. Velvet tried reaching for her sister. Pumpkin, seeing her sister’s plight, concentrated and enveloped Velvet in her magic aura as well, levitating her out of her crib.

Pinkie Pie was shocked beyond belief, her mouth dropping wide open. "Oh, not you too, Pumpkin and Velvet! Why oh why are you making this so difficult?!" Believing that there was only one thing to do, the party pony judged her moment carefully and then leaped up to grab all three foals. She proceeded to place a closed playpen over them and then tie it firmly to the ground with several large rolls of tape. "There! Now who's the responsible one?!"

But, Pumpkin used her unicorn magic to phase herself through the netting. She squeaked happily as she scampered around the room. And Pound Cake was able to make the tapes snap by flapping his wings hard enough, freeing himself and Velvet from the closed playpen.

The triplets were now running free and out of control. Pound was flying all about, enjoying his new found freedom. And Pumpkin was able to break the lock on the toy box, surrounding herself with every single stuffed animal in a small pile as she then placed the rubber chicken in her mouth to chew on. Velvet began stacking blocks again.

Pinkie was soon reaching her breaking point with two of the three triplets being rambunctious and giving her a hard time. She had hastened thoughts to get them, but, she found herself so overwhelmed and stressed that she did what she could do at that moment… was screech and bawl her eyes out. Tears streamed like waterfalls out of her eyes and she sobbed loudly. The crying soon caused the triplets to stop what they'd been doing. Looking at their foalsitter they now seemed to realize that they'd taken their antics a little too far. And remembering how said foalsitter had been cheering them up throughout the day, they decided there was only one thing to do. They approached Pinkie slowly, making sure she could see them. Pinkie stopped crying temporarily as she exhaled softly.

The triplets dumped an entire sack of flour onto themselves, causing all their coats to become a ghostly white. Wiping away her tears, the pink party pony giggled. "You know, you're right. That is pretty funny," she giggled as she brought the triplets close. "Oh, I can't stay mad at you, you little imps. You're just too cute." Then, she asked them. "Does this mean you're not going to drive me crazy again?"

They nodded cutely. This was all the proof Pinkie needed. "Okay, good," she sighed. "Now, come on, let's get you cleaned up and back to bed."

Some time later, the triplets had been cleaned and rediapered. They all were sleeping soundly in Pumpkin’s crib. Pinkie looked over them and went off to clean Sugarcube Corner. As she cleaned, she thought of the friendship letter she would ask Spike to write for her later. It went along these lines:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I’ve always had fun playing with little kids and I thought being a babysitter meant more playtime. Boy, was I wrong. Being a caregiver is way more responsibility than being a playmate. Today, I learned that our desire for responsibility can outrun our actual ability to handle it.

Yours truly,
Pinkie Pie.”

At very long last the cleaning work was done, and an exhausted Pinkie Pie could finally rest and wait for the Cakes to come home.

It was dark when Mr. and Mrs. Cake finally returned from filling the catering order. "Oh, why did it have to take so long?!" Mrs. Cake complained. “I just hope the triplets weren't too much for Pinkie to handle. We really should've just brought them with us."

Mr. Cake tried to reassure his wife. "There's no way we could've kept an eye on the triplets and filled out the catering order the way the customers wanted it. You had enough distractions with the desserts on the train. From now on, we'll just have to be careful with our commitments and do a better job of keeping a schedule so things like this don't sneak up on us unexpectedly."

So, the parents returned to Sugarcube Corner. They had their eyes shut tight.

“Pinkie, we’re home~” Mr. Cake called.

“How did everything go with the triplets?” Mrs. Cake called.

But, when they opened their eyes, they saw that the inside was sparkling clean.

Just then, Pinkie Pie appeared from the top of the steps. "Oh, thank goodness you're finally home," she whispered to them. "The foals are asleep. In fact, I just put them to bed for the night."

Pinkie took the parents to their foals’ room to see their three foals sleeping soundly. Neither parent could believe what they were seeing.

“Pinkie Pie,” Cup said softly, yet happily. “This is just… so…”

“Amazing, is what it is,” Carrot finished, also speaking softly. “We had no idea you were so responsible.”

The pink party pony tried to be modest. "Well, it wasn't easy. Really. I thought for sure I was going to lose my marbles and I don't even play marbles."

“Well,” Cup said. “It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but, it really can be a wonderful thing.”

Cup and Carrot looked towards each other and they gave each other knowing nods. They then turned their attention back to Pinkie

“Would you be interested in being our go-to babysitter on a permanent basis?” Carrot asked.

However, the pink party pony blinked and stepped back in uncertainty. "Uh, I don't know... Let me check my schedule real quick!" she insisted with a nervous smile as she pulled out a clipboard, scanning over it really quickly before adding. "Ah, yeah, let's see! I should be available a week from... never!"

But, they heard light cooing from the triplets’ bedroom. At that moment, something amazing happened.

“Auntie,” Velvet said in her sleep.

“Pinkie,” Pound said in his sleep.

“Pie~” Pumpkin said in her sleep.

The heartwarming scene melted Pinkie's heart. Any will she might have had to say no to the Cakes' offer had completely faded away. "You know what? I think I might have some free time next Tuesday," she told them. With any luck, Pound and Pumpkin’s respective Pegasus and unicorn surges would fade away as quickly as they had come and they would give her no further trouble.

Few would ever believe that Pinkie Pie of all ponies would mature enough to become a permanent foalsitter for the Cake Triplets. But, all who were around to witness her skills for themselves came away impressed. She truly was like a big sister to Pound, Pumpkin, and Velvet, one that the triplets knew better than to try any tricks on. They behaved even better for her than they did their own parents, which was quite a surprise to a lot of ponies.

End of chapter.