//------------------------------//
// 03 - Shining Smarty Pants 
// Story: Shining Cadence 
// by Yosh-E-O 
//------------------------------//

	“Sweetie,” panicked Cadence.  “Oh, please be okay.”
Shining Armor’s eyes fluttered open and his focus quickly feel upon his wife’s beautiful face.
“Cadence?” he asked.  “Are you babysitting me today?”
Cadence said nothing.
“Oh!” exclaimed Shining Armor.  “I love it when you foal sit me!”
Shining Armor leapt to his feet and faced his wife with a look of pure joy.
“Sunshine!  Shunshine!” he exclaimed while bouncing into the air.  “Ladybugs awake!  Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”
Cadence was at a loss.
“Cadence?” asked Shining Armor.  “Is something wrong?  You haven’t forgotten our special greeting, have you?”
Cadence watched as her husband went through all the motions of what had become her and Twilight’s special greeting for each other.
“Oh!” she said.  “Sorry.  I just, uh, had a big day today and completely forgot.”
“No worries, silly!” exclaimed Shining Armor.  “I’ll show you.”
Cadence watched as her husband, like the young, Twilight Sparkle she foal sat, went about meticulously explain how to do each motion of their special greeting.
“Ready?” asked Shining Armor in a tone frightenly similar to how young Twilight would ask after she went a longwinded discussion on how to play a simple, board game.
“Ready,” said Cadence as she and her husband did the special greeting together.
“So,” asked Shining Armor as he moved alongside Cadence.  “What are we going to do together today?”
Cadence didn’t know what to say.  Her mind was too busy trying to figure out what had happened and how to reverse the effects of it.
“I know!” exclaimed Shining Armor upon seeing Cadence’s open wardrobe.  “Let’s play dress up!”
“Uh, yeah,” said Cadence as she watched her husband begin to frantically go through her dresses.
“How do I look, Cadence?” he asked as he winked his eyes, tilted his head, and showed off a purple gown he had accessorized with a sapphire encrusted tiara.
“Wonderful,” she replied while trying to hold back a giggle.
“Hey!” exclaimed Shining Armor.  “How about we pretend to do homework now?”
Cadence didn’t get a chance to say a word as Shining Armor went about tearing their room apart in search of what, no doubt, was Smarty Pants.
“What’s all my brother’s stuff doing around here?” asked Shining Armor.  “Mom must’ve mixed up our stuff again.  That’s why I always tell her to she needs to keep a list.  So she doesn’t forget whose things are whose.”
Cadence knew her magic had accidently put the thoughts and memories of young Twilight into her husband’s mind.  Though, reversing the effect so that she wouldn’t do any damage to her husband’s memory would pose a real trick.
“Are you looking for Smarty Pants?” asked Cadence.
“Yeah!” cried Shining Armor.  “I can’t pretend to do homework with you without her!”
Cadence waited until her husband’s back was turned to put a spell on one of her plush animals that transformed it into an exact replica of Smarty Pants.
“Found her!” she exclaimed whle hovering the toy in the air.  “She’s even got her quill and notepad.”
“Alright!” exclaimed Shining Armor as he came closer and used his magic to bring Smarty Pants into his hooves for a big hug.  “Ready to do some homework?”

Foal Twilight was a handful and having her husband thinking that he was his sister definitely made for an even greater challenge.
“I really wish we could go to the park,” said Shining Armor as he magically walked Smarty Pants alongside him towards the window.  “But, it’s too dark and mom says that I can’t play outside when the moon is out.”
“And you’re mom is right,” stated Cadence.
“Where is mom?” asked Shining Armor.  “Better yet, where’s my BBBFF and my dad?”
There was an awkward pause as Cadence tried to think of something before her husband went as crazy as Twilight did when things didn’t go according to her daily routines.
“They’re at your brother’s school!” she proclaimed.  “Shining Armor had, uh, a conference.  Yeah!  Your mom and dad told me they wouldn’t be back until after your bedtime and that I was to tuck you into bed.”
“Oh,” said Shining Armor.  “My brother is so amazing.  Did I ever tell you about how he showed me how to fly a kite?”
“How about you tell me as we get you in for your bath?” suggested Cadence.
“Okay!” cried Shining Armor.  “Can Smarty Pants come, too?”
“Of course,” she replied.

It was a most awkward experience drawing bathwater for her husband as he kept going on-and-on about the proper way to fly a kite.  It was even more awkward having to talk to him like she did when she foal sat Twilight.
“I can’t wait to go to school!” exclaimed Shining Armor as Cadence dried him off.  “I’ll get just as smart as you and be able to write down complete lists on how to do everything so that no pony forgets what needs done and when!”
Cadence couldn’t help but chuckle at how true this statement was to present day Twilight.
“So,” said Shining Armor.  “Now it’s time to brush our teeth and get ready for bed.”
“Right,” said Cadence as she levitated her husband’s toothbrush to him.
“This isn’t my toothbrush,” said Twilight.  “That one looks like my dad’s.”
Cadence had to work her magic again.  So, after telling Shining Armor to check to make sure the tub had properly drained, she mystically manipulated her husband’s toothbrush into what she could remember Twilight’s used to look like.
“Yep!” stated Shining Armor.  “The tub has drained just as it should.  No clogs!”
“Great,” said Cadence as she brought the toothbrush with toothpaste on it to her husband.  “Now brush your pearly whites nice and good!”

Once Cadence had gotten through helping Shining Armor brush his teeth, comb his mane, and given him a glass of water, it was time to finally put him to bed.
“Bedtime is at 8:00,” stated Shining Armor.  “But the clock says its 11:00.”
“Oh!” said Cadence as she used her magic to hide the clock.  “It just needs wound.”
“Oh,” said Shining Armor as he allowed Cadence to put a gown and night cap on him.  It was one of Cadence’s, of course, and it was royal blue and very soft.
“I feel like a princess,” said Shining Armor.
“You are,” replied Cadence as she began to pull the covers over her husband.
“Wait!” he cried.  “What about my Smarty Pants?”
Cadence had almost forgotten how Twilight, for as smart as she was for a foal, had some bedwetting issues in which she was working on overcoming.  To make her feel better about having to wear a diaper at night, her mom and dad came up with the idea of calling the diaper her ‘Smarty Pants’ that, if she woke up dry, showed the rest of her body was getting just as smart as her brain.
Thinking fast, Cadence brought over a blanket that looked very much in design like the pants in which the actual Smarty Pants toy wore and wrapped the fabric around his waist in such a way that would allow it to work just like the ups-and-downs diapers Twilight’s parents would get for their daughter.
“Perfect,” yawned Shining Armor.  “Kiss goodnight and then off to dreamland.”
Cadence kissed her husband and watched as he cuddled into the Smarty Pants toy she had made for him.  It was actually kind of cute, but still far too strange to allow to continue past the night.  After all, what would the Royal Guard think if their leader came out with a stuffed animal with bows in his mane and tail?
Cadence gave Shining Armor one last kiss, reminded him of where the bathroom was so he could show how much of a ‘Smarty Pants she was’, and left the Royal Bed Chamber to research a proper counterspell so that the next day wouldn’t start out with a full grown stallion in foal-filly mode.