//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten: The Party // Story: Starlight Glimmer's Time Travel Mishap // by Foal Star //------------------------------// Upon hearing of the success of Dr. Whooves's visit to Appleloosa, the other foals were all now together at Applejack’s home for their big playdate. The time travel device Starswirl and Dr. Whooves had worked on together was now glowing with energy, and Starlight just looked at it with tears in her eyes. For months, she’d been a baby, having seen firsthoof the ponies' lives she planned on ruining at first. To think, now she was the reason they’d become friends (even though they wouldn’t remember much about how she’d done so), and she realized that it was all coming to an end.  Windy came over, took a deep breath, and said. “The foals are all playing together and enjoying each others’ company. It’s almost exhausting having to keep up with them all.” Dr Whooves looked over with an annoyed look on his face. “Yes, it seems to be wowking. But thewe’s stiww not enough juice. If we wanna weave; this ting needs mowe powew!” The unicorn Twilight let out a sigh. “Weww, me and my friends are babies. Tey pwaying, but tey pwobabwy not with each othew,” Then she realized. “Tey gots to do stuff togetha, ow theiw fwiendship won’t be enough.” “Wight, wisten, ya and ta others just stay in ta time machine and get weady to weave.” Alicorn Twilight turned to face Starlight then said, “Wisten we need ya to come and help get ta babies to pway with each othew so tey can become fwiends.” “Otay.” Starlight whimpered, seeing that a lot was riding on this playdate. She and Alicorn Twilight were then taken by Windy as she flew off towards Sweet Apple Acres. Upon arriving, Windy Whistles knocked on the door and waited patiently for Pear Butter to open it.  When Pear Butter did so, she saw Windy and happily chirped. “Windy! It's so glad to see you again!” “You too, Pear,” Windy replied. “How’s my little Dashie doing?” “Oh, she’s doing great,” Pear Butter smiled. “Come on in! The party’s just getting started.” Windy was led into the house, and then she placed Starlight and Alicorn Twilight down to let the two trot over. They saw the other babies were all playing alone (except for Fluttershy and Marble).  The pink-coated unicorn was somewhat relieved that the foals were getting along and playing alone, seeing as they’d just met. She then turned to see Alicorn Twilight, giving a loud sigh as she said. “Wisten, we gots to get these babies to pway togetha if we wanna make it back home.” “Wight, but how do we go about doing tat?” The baby alicorn pondered as she stuck her hoof into her mouth, suckling on it for a moment. Then at last she said. “Wooks wike we need to gathew tem up fiwst, ten I’ww tink of someting tey can pway togethew.” “Otay.” Starlight did as Alicorn Twilight had asked, going around the playpen, gathering the foals, and then herding them into the middle.  Alicorn Twilight then stood up and cleared her throat to get the babies’ attention. “Awwight, I uh gonna twy ta hewp ya be fwiends, so we aww gonna do an activity one by one. Tat way we aww gets to plwy togetha, otay?”’ “Otay!” All the foals cheered in unison. Then Starlight waddled over to alicorn Twilight and whispered. “Otay, so what shouwd we pway fiwst?” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and shouted. “I wanna do a wace!” Applejack started bouncing up and down in excitement as she chimed in. “Yeah, a wace! Tat does sound wike fun.”  “Is tat otay with ta rest of ya?” Starlight asked the other foals in a hopeful tone of voice. “Yeah, tat sounds wike fun!” The other foals all cheered all at once.  Alicorn Twilight and Starlight then cleared the playpen, and the foals all went to the back of the plastic fence. Alicorn Twilight then cleared her throat, explaining the rules of the race. “It simpwe, ya gots to wun fwom one end of the pwaypen and back! Whoeva is ta fiwst to make it back is ta winnew. Otay?” “Otay!” The foals all bent their heads as they prepared, then alicorn Twilight trotted over and cleared her throat. “At the count of thwee, ya can start.” Starlight trotted over near Rainbow Dash and whispered. “I gonna beat ya tis time.” “Yeah wight,” Rainbow Dash stuck out her tongue, taunting. “Ya gonna be wost in my foaw powdew!” “One.” Starlight bent forward as did the baby pegasus, both getting ready. “Two.” Applejack then whispered. “I gonna beat ya, Wainbow Dashie. I fastew tan ya.” “Weew see about tat, Abbwejackie.” Rainbow Dash whispered back. “Thwee!” Alicorn Twilight lit up her horn, and a rush of crinkling echoed across the living room as the babies went to the far end of the playpen.  Starlight did her best to keep up, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash were far ahead of her and gaining distance. The unicorn filly pushed harder, gasping for breath as she tried to catch up, but the two fillies had way more energy than her as Starlight made it to the end, and she fell right into Rainbow Dash’s padded bottom.  The little pegasus giggled and pounced on Starlight shouting, “I win again! Tats wike a miwwion to zewo” “Yeah, ya fastew.” Starlight panted in exhaustion.  Applejack pouted, then whined. “Na uh I won!” “Nah uh, I was here fiwst!” Rainbow Dash protested. As the two bickered about who won, Starlight watched as the other racers crossed the finish line with Pinkie Pie bouncing on her diaper, happily taking fourth. Unicorn Twilight waddled along at her own pace alongside Rarity. Then Fluttershy and Marble followed suit as the two little foals were last, plopping onto their diapered flanks as they started to cry.  Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash waddled over to the two. “Stop cwying, I’ww cwoss with ya. Ya stiww has to finish ta wace.” She struggled to get the two shy ones back to their hooves, clumsily waddling with them the whole way to the finish line as the other foals snickered at the display. When the race was finally over, Alicorn Twilight clapped her hooves, quick to draw attention away from how it had ended. “Weww, tat was a fun fiwst game. Now, what’s ta next activity? Anypony, have any ideas?” Applejack raised a hoof, declaring. “I wana play buck ta bwocks! We make towews of bwocks and buck tem! Who eva can buck ta most bwocks ovew wins!” “Otay!” The others all cheered in excitement.  Applejack then brought out a box of wooden blocks. “Ya can use mine, thewe’s wots of tem ‘cause I pway this with my bwothew aww the time,” She told them. “Just make suwe ya put tem back when ya done, ow my mama’s gonna be weaw mad with ya.”  The foals all took turns building up towers one by one until each felt they’d stacked their respective towers as high as they could go and promptly knocked them over! Each foal had a different method of doing so: Rainbow Dash got a good chunk of her blocks with her buck, surprising everypony with how strong she was despite being the youngest in the group. Pinkie Pie tried using her diaper to wack the tower, getting a few blocks to tumble, and making everypony laugh as she toppled over onto her diaper. Marble tried to imitate her sister but wasn’t able to knock over as many blocks. Rarity did a dainty little buck and got a few blocks, almost as few as Marble. Unicorn Twilight also didn’t do too well; her lack of hoof coordination really showed. Fluttershy, however, was only able to get one block knocked down and started to tear up at the prospect of having finished last again. Pinkie Pie waddled over, nuzzling Fluttershy to make her feel better. “Hey, is okay. Ya made a weawwy big tower. I couwdn’t buiwd mine as high.” Meanwhile, Applejack was the last to buck her tower, sending every block flying in the process and leaving the other foals speechless! “Weww, guess Abbwejackie is ta winnew of tis one.” Starlight proclaimed. “Yeah! I gonna be bucking abbwes soon too!” Applejack proudly puffed out her chest. “Ten I gonna be just wike Mama and Papa! I'm even gonna find out what they do since they don't need diapers and do it!” Alicorn Twilight then quickly saw fit to change the subject, not wanting to risk any arguments starting about who was truly the “oldest” or the most likely to start potty training. “Otay, time fow ta next activity. Who’s got an idea?” Rarity wiped the sweat from her brow and then said. “Dun know ‘bout ta west of you, but I wana do someting mowe cawming and wewaxing. Can we have a tea pawty?” “Of course! Tat sounds wike fun!” Starlight chimed in, eager for any activity where she wouldn’t lose to physically strong foals like Applejack or Rainbow Dash. The foals then gathered in a circle with little sippy cups of tea that Pinkie Pie somehow managed to pull out of her mane as Rainbow Dash asked. “Wait, how do we win tis game?” The fashionista rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Ya dun win at tea pawty. We just dwink tea and wewax.” “I dun mind tat, but taught tat tese activities needs a winnew.” Rainbow Dash mumbled and grumbled. Rarity gave her diaper a pat. “Weww, how’s ya diapees?” The foals all looked at them, and Starlight saw that, surprisingly enough, they were all still dry and clean. Rainbow Dash quickly got a naughty idea, as she suggested. “How ‘bout whoeva pees thewe diapees woses, and whoeva keeps ya diapee cwean tiww ta end wins.” “Otay!” The foals all cheered as they immediately agreed to the idea. They then all started to drink their tea, sipping together before Pinkie squeaked as she started to fill her diaper. “Guess I wost awweady!” One by one, the foals all started peeing, but they continued to chat without a care, which surprised Starlight a little. Then a shade of red grew on her cheeks, and she put a hoof to her face upon remembering that they were actual babies and hadn’t turned back into them as she had.    In the midst of the contest, Applejack looked over and asked. “So uh, Stawwight, ya gonna be weaving tomorrow, wight?” Starlight paused, then said. “Yeah, tat’s twue. Aftew today, I gonna be going away.” The little orange coated earth pony filly then ran over, hugged her, and said. “Weww tanks fow coming, and I hope we meet in ta futuwe.” “Me too, ya been gweat.” Starlight replied with a sweet smile. Rarity then came over and asked. “So uh, Stawwight, gotta ask, do ya wike dwessies?” “Weww, not weawwy,” Starlight confessed. “But I wouldn’t mind twying one on.” “Could I put ya in a dwess?” Rarity all but pleaded. The other foals giggled, having overheard. And Starlight, seeing that it was her last day as a foal, figured she might as well make the most of it. “Yeah, why not?” Rarity then took a cute frilly purple dress she’d managed to hold onto and sloppily put it over Starlight’s chubby little body. “My mommy got tis fow me, but I want ya ta have it instead.” The pink-coated unicorn snickered, then twirled about in it, seeing how great it looked on her. “Tanks, I wuv it!” “It wooks gweat on ya!” Rarity cheered. “Awso, ta diapee doesn’t show as much, seeing as ya used to be a big pony.” Starlight then hugged Rarity, and they continued to suckle on their sippy cups of tea. It wasn’t long until they were the last two foals with clean diapers and drinking down another round of tea. Then, suddenly, the pink-coated unicorn foal saw Rarity’s diaper sagging and turning yellow, and she giggled. “I win!” “Ugh, no faiw!” Rarity whined. “Ya used to be a big pony, so ya can howd it wongew!” She frowned. “I dun wike using my diapee, and tis is why.” The unicorn Twilight let out an adorable laugh. “Otay, guess is time fow ta next game, aftew a diapee change of couwse.” After their moms changed their diapers, the foals sat around the dining room table in high chairs. They were spoon-fed mashed apples and yams for lunch alongside baby bottles filled with milk.  After everypony had settled in, Pinkie Pie started to bounce up and down and excitedly declared. “I gots an idea, whoever can eat their foaw food ta fastest wins!” Starlight giggled, then hesitated. “I dunno. We gonna get aww messy.” “So what? We babies. Come on, tat sounds wike fun!” Rainbow Dash cheered. So all the babies started to shove hoofuls of foal food into their mouths, and the mothers all gathered became surprised. They stopped briefly and switched to bottles, and by the end, they turned to see Applejack slamming her bottle down with a burp, and some spit coming out of her mouth.  Applejack then proudly showed off her bowl and bottle and cheered. “I won!” Pinkie Pie let out a louder burp and whined. “Awww, tat means ya won two times now!” “I can’t hewp it if I good,” Applejack replied with a smile before she saw her mother come over with a rag to clean her face. After all the foals were cleaned up, they were placed back into the playpen, and then alicorn Twilight said. “Awwight, time fow ta next activity.” Baby Twilight raised a hoof rather quickly just as Fluttershy slowly nervously lifted a hoof. Alicorn Twilight squeaked upon seeing this. “How ‘bout Fluttershy goes first since she so shy?” “Otay.” Baby Twilight reluctantly replied.   The baby pegasus then whispered. “Um, how about, whoever can find my pwush bunny? I wost it…” The other foals nodded, still eager for anything that could be made into a game. They all went about looking throughout the playpen. They bustled about, looking over blocks and even digging through a small toy box nearby.  Starlight, for her part, pondered where the plushie could be. Then she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. At the other end of the room lay a small bunny plushie. That had to be the one Fluttershy had lost! The pink-coated unicorn filly realized that there was no way she could get to it on her own hooves and thought about using a spell. So Starlight lit up her horn, and then, with all of her might, she teleported outside the playpen, grabbed the plushie, and teleported back into the playpen. She then hoofed it to Fluttershy, who squealed and giggled. “Ya gots ya pwush bunny!” Fluttershy threw her hooves over Starlight, making everypony cheer. Applejack then waddled over. “Wooks wike we tiwed since ya won the wace eawiew..” “Yeah, I wondew what ta next activity shouwd be?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We awweady used ouw diapees, and had bottwes and num-nums.” Baby Twilight then let out a yawn as she said. “Gots an idea fow ta next activity, and hewe’s ta idea. Tey gonna put us aww down fow a nap soon and wead us a bedtime stowie. Whoevea stays up ta wongest wins.” The rest of the foals nodded as they started to lay down, looking tired. Starlight also started to feel her eyelids droop and couldn’t help but agree that a bedtime story and a nap were a great idea. Meanwhile, Windy and the other mares went about changing their foals as Pear couldn’t help but remark. “It seems that this playdate was an amazing idea. I’ve never seen Applejack so happy before in all my life.” Cloudy Quartz blushed. “I have to admit this was such a good experience for my foals, especially Pinkamina. I think that we should have our foals visit each other often so they can be…friends…” Posey, sipping a cup of tea, gave a nod and then said. “Yes, I can see that would be wonderful. We can all have the foals play together and share milestones together. Fluttershy especially needs friends.” Twilight Velvet’s cheeks flushed red as she replied, “Yes, my little Twilight could use friends as well. She only has her brother now, and he’s almost old enough for kindergarten. She needs friends her own age.” The parents then settled the foals down for a nap, giving them each another bottle as Twilight Velvet started to read to them. Cookie Crumble, meanwhile, took pictures and whispered, “Oh my it seems Rarity gave one of her dresses to Starlight. How cute!” Windy looked over and dawwed at Starlight, still in her dress, suckling away on her bottle and whispering. “Indeed.” They watched as the foals went to sleep, even the two Twilights, but then Starlight was the last one to fall asleep and collapse onto her little mat. The mothers just looked over the nine foals, all sleeping together peacefully, finding it so adorable. Pear whispered to the others, “How about we hang out in the kitchen? I’m sure the little ones will tell us when they wake up.” “Good idea,” Windy whispered back, and then the mares all trotted quietly out of the living room so as not to wake up the little ones.  When the foals all got up later, alicorn Twilight yawned as she groggily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Do we have any othew activities tat ya want to do?” She asked the other foals. Starlight had an idea. “Weww, since I won ta wast of the chawwenges, we shouwd do wha I want ta do,” And she proposed. “What if we made a hoof painting togethew?” “Yeah, tat sounds wike fun!” Baby Twilight chirped. Soon, she and Rainbow Dash were working together, making a picture of themselves: Cute little blobs of pink, white, orange, purple, blue, and yellow with a messy rainbow smeared overhead.  Afterward, Starlight sat back with her hooves and body covered in paint. Even so, she admired the picture as she blushed and said. “T…this is gweat, tank you,” She teared up, and they all hugged each other. Then Starlight gasped upon seeing the rattles around them glow! They shone bright, and then the little filly blinked and whispered to herself. “Wha…wha happened?!” Alicorn Twilight trotted over, “I tink we did it…tey best fwiends now.” Starlight watched as the other little fillies went to work on other paintings and nodded. “Yeah, I tink we did it.” Later, after a bath, Starlight and alicorn Twilight were back in Elizabeth Whooves’ home, and they came down to see that the time machine was gone, along with the other time travelers: Dr. Whooves and Starswirl. Starlight waddled about and sighed. “Guess it wowked, evewypony’s gone home and back to whewe tey bewong.” Elizabeth nodded, looking at Starlight and Twilight. “Yes, that just leaves you two and the egg. I think Windy will be the one to take you all home.” “Yes, but I dun see ta hawm of being with hew for one mowe night.” Alicorn Twilight declared Starlight gave a nod as she and alicorn Twilight were brought to the playpen, and there alicorn Twilight asked Starlight. “So, we finawwy going home tomowwow. Ya weady?” “Yeah, I weady,” Starlight nodded. “‘Bout time, weawwy.” Twilight nodded back. “Yeah, as much fun as being a foaw is, I tiwed of diapees.” Starlight looked up. “I sowie, tis is aww my fauwt. None of tis wouwd have happened if I hadn’t twied to go back time to stop ya fwom becoming fwiends with ya fwiends..” “Yeah, none of tis wouwd have happened,” Alicorn Twilight pointed out. “My fwiends wouwdn’t meet each other as babies, but now we gonna be fwiends as foaws. Abbwejackie’s pawents awe now waive. Stawswiww might stop Pwincess Wuna and Cewestia fwom fighting…” Starlight gulped. “-Yeah,, but ta timewine.” Twilight shrugged. “Ta timewine is gonne get wewrd when we get back. But I tink is gonna be awwight tanks ta ya.” “Yeah, who knew a bunch of foaws would change time and histowy?” Starlight giggled Alicorn Twilight then nuzzled into Starlight’s side as they laid down together, and drifted off to sleep on their last night as babies.