//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - At the Farm // Story: Pony Daycare // by FIckle //------------------------------// Big Macintosh heaved another cart of ripened apples into the family barn cellar on Sweet Apple Acres. He had been working more than usual that day because of Applejack. Earlier this morning, his sister had rushed into the house, rambled something about a spa day with her friends, and left Big Mac with her share of the chores for the day. At first, he was of course irritated with Applejack. He had planned to give her a long and stern talking to when she got back. But, as the day went by, Big Mac couldn't stay mad at his sister. He had far too much work for any time to be frustrated and Applejack did deserve a day off once in a while, even if it was very last minute. When Big Mac unloaded his haul and left the cellar, he could see his sister coming back from her spa day. As he trotted along to greet her, Big Mac noticed that Applejack was carrying something with her. Perhaps, he thought to himself, Applejack had brought some souvenirs back from the spa for the family. What he'd do with an expensive bottle of shampoo, he'd have to figure out later. As Big Mac approached his Applejack, he could hear a slight babbling and cooing. "Hiya, Big Mac!" called Applejack. Big Macintosh merely waved at her. As Applejack drew closer, he had to do a double take. On either side of his little sister, Big Mac saw a pair of squirming foals. Applejack could tell this was quite the shock to him judging by his half open mouth and unbroken stare. Applejack chuckled as she thought how strange it would be to see one's little sister coming back after one afternoon with two little fillies. Big Mac, with his eyebrows furrowed and mouth ajar, gave Applejack a look. She could tell by this look that Big Macintosh meant to say 'Who in tarnation are them? I thought you went to the spa, not a day care. What are you doing with those two? And why do they have pegasus wings and unicorn horns?' Applejack saw this look and immediately knew what he was about to say. To take this moment of confusion further, Applejack knew exactly what she was going to say. "Lookie here, big brother!" she said, "Where're yer manners? You are in the presence of royalty!" Big Mac's jaw dropped. Again, he looked at the two foals hanging off of Applejack's sides. The white one was was chewing on her own mane and the darker one was confused by the butterfly that had just landed on her nose. Big Macintosh merely pointed to the tiny ponies and looked at Applejack with the hint of saying 'You're kidding me, right? Pulling my leg? Yanking my chain? I remembered the princesses to be a lot bigger.' Applejack chuckled. "I know," she said, "It was quite the spa day." As Applejack made her way back to the house with Big Mac, she explained how Twilight had demonstrated a spell for the princesses and how it went all wrong. After she arrived at the house with her brother, Applejack handed the two foals over to Big Mac to go and find the old baby crib they had used for Applebloom when she was but a foal herself. While Applejack was away, Big Macintosh couldn't help but notice how adorable the two baby princesses were and how odd babies smelled. They looked up at him with their large eyes. Big Mac had trouble hiding a small smile and the two fillies smiled back. Taking it another step further, Big Mac puffed out his cheeks and made a face for them. Luna and Celestia cooed with laughter and clapped their tiny hooves together. He then stuck out his tongue and made another face, then another face, then another, then another, and then another. Celestia and Luna were rolling in his forehooves in a fit of laughter. Behind him, her could hear his sister's telltale chuckle. "Havin' fun there, big brother?" Applejack asked. She had found the crib. Big Macintosh grinned sheepishly at her thinking something along the lines of 'How long were you watching?'. Applejack merely grinned back. As Applejack swept the Celestia and Luna from Big Mac's hooves, she set up the crib and placed the two foal in it. It was just big enough to act as a play pen for the princesses. It would keep them safe until Twilight had worked out how to fix this predicament. Applejack and Big Macintosh watched the two princesses as they explored their knew enclosure. This seemed like easy work. Everyone would take turns watching the foals while everyone else carried on with their work. Applejack scoffed a bit at the idea of how difficult she thought taking care of two royal babies would have been. As Applejack got her hopes up and Big Mac made funny noises at the foals, Granny Smith and Applebloom entered the house. "Hey," said Applebloom, "What's my old crib doin' out?" "We have guests!" replied Applejack. She pushed the crib towards Granny Smith and her younger sister. "Ooh ho!" laughed Granny Smith. She stared down at Luna and Celestia. "Young'uns! And whose are these?" "They look like the princesses..." said Applebloom staring down at the foals. "Mmm..." mumbled Granny Smith as she rubbed her wrinkled chin, "No no, they look like yer auntie Cinnamon's kids!" Applejack and Big Mac glanced at each other. "Uh, Granny," Applejack said, "Don't these two look really familiar?" Granny Smith gave them another hard stare. "Yer uncle Peach's kids?" she asked. "Nnope." said Big Macintosh. "Great auntie Fritter." "Look at their horns and wings," chuckled Applejack. "Yer cousin Nanny Bananers?" "No, Granny, its the princesses." "Oh! Cousin Braeburn! When did he have kids?" "Luna and Celestia!" cried Applebloom. Granny Smith looked from Applebloom and stared again at the two foals. "Consarnit.." she mumbled, "I'm gonna have to look through the family albums again." All three of the Apple siblings sighed in exasperation. She'd figure out sooner or later. "We're just foalsitting them for today, Granny," said Applejack, "We need to watch them for Twilight for a bit." Granny Smith hooted in excitement. She trotted up closer to the crib and scooped up Celestia and Luna into her hooves and gave them an enormous grandmotherly squeeze. "Oh, seein' foals like these makes me feel like a grandma again!" she said, a hint of laughter in her old voice. Big Mac gave Applejack and Applebloom a funny look that meant something like 'Then waht were we to her before?'. His sisters merely shrugged. "Alrighty then," Granny Smith said finally, making her way to the sofa, "Y'all go and do yer chores. I can handle a few fillies myself for y'all, yes I can!" She gave the two foals a mushy goochy goochy goo. Granny Smith placed Celestia and Luna on the sofa and pulled out one of her old family albums. "Now, would you two like to learn a little somthin' about the Apple family history?" Granny Smith asked as she sat herself down between the foals. They gave her a confused stare as Applebloom, Applejack, and Big Macintosh made their way back to the fields. A few hours went by as the siblings finished up what was left of the chores. It was only a few hours into the afternoon at the time and thanks to Big Mac's earlier hard work, there was a thankful little else to do. As Applejack baled the last of the hay, she saw that Big Mac and Applebloom had also finished their share of the chores. "Welp," said Applejack wiping some sweat off of her brow, "I think we can call it a day for now!" "Eeyup," agreed Big Mac. "Can we go inside now?" asked Applebloom hopefully. She had been dying to get back to the house and play with Celestia and Luna. "Yep," replied Applejack, "Let's go check on the young'uns." With a whoop from Applebloom and a nod from Big Macintosh, the three siblings made their way to the house. As they crossed the orchards, Applejack had no doubt that the fillies would be taken well cared of by her grandmother. Heck, Granny Smith practically raised Applejack and Big Mac all by herself while their parents were away. And on top of that, all three of the Apple siblings grew up to be well mannered, well loved, and especially well fed. Everything was going according to plan. Upon arriving at the house, Applebloom was the first to burst in. "Granny Smiiiiiiiith!" she called, "We're back!" She stood in the doorway waiting for a response. A few seconds went by as Applebloom glanced around. Applejack and Big Macintosh poked their heads through the doorway. The house was peacefully quiet. Too quiet. "Granny Smith?" called Applejack. The three siblings entered the house. The house was far too quiet. There was no crying, no laughing, no giggling, no whining, no nothing. As they entered the living room, Applejack and her siblings had expected to see Granny Smith reading the Apple family history to a pair of bored and dozing foals. However, before them sat Granny Smith passed out on the couch. Her mouth was wide open and slack as she snored in her deep slumber. The family album was left open on her lap and by the looks of it, it seemed that she did not get very far through it. Luna and Celestia were no where to be seen. "Oh no..." groaned Applejack, panic starting to swell in her chest. She galloped to the crib in a vain hope that the two princesses were in there. She craned in her head and saw nothing. Applejack's mind was racing. She had lost the foals. And not just any foals, the two princesses. "They're gone!" she cried turning back to her siblings. She turned to Granny Smith, "Where'd they go?!" Granny Smith continued to snore loudly. Applejack held her by the shoulder ans shook her in an attempt to awake her, causing Granny Smith's head to bob up and down. Applejack stopped shaking. Surely that would have awoken her. However, Granny Smith's head drooped to her side and she continued to sleep. Realizing that waking her grandmother might be harder than finding the missing princesses, Applejack released Granny Smith and turned to her siblings. "We have to find them!" she yelled. Applejack grabbed her hat over her ears in panic. "But-" started Big Mac. "NOW." bellowed Applejack. "But where would we start?!" asked Applebloom, "We don't how long Granny's been asleep! There could be anywhere!" As Applejack started pacing, terrible thoughts ran through her mind. Missing foals, vanished Celestia and Luna, high treason, hearings, scandals, dungeons... But as these consequences flashed through her brain, there was a loud crash from outside. Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom all looked up at the sound. It didn't sound too far off. They were still near by. And from a distance it sounded like the noise came from ... "THE BARN!" yelled the Apple siblings in unison. In a mad dash to save what dignity they could salvage, Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh sprinted towards the barn. The barn was where they stored most of their work tools. Their pointy work tools. If anything, the barn was the last place you would want any child to play. As they approached the barn at a full gallop, Big Mac thought fast, ducked his head in, and unceremoniously bashed into the twin barn doors. The doors flew off of their hinges and landed scattered and splintered across the saw dust covered floor. Big Macintosh felt like his eyes were rolling in their sockets as he saw stars and steadied himself. He had thought fast, but it was a wonder if he had thought wisely. "Luna?!" called Applejack disregarding Big Mac, "Celestia?!" The three siblings huddled up at the center of the barn. They each craned their necks high and low in search of the two princesses. The barn was quiet. Ghostly quiet. Applejack could have sworn the commotion came from within the barn. There wasn't a sound except for the occasional creaking of the wooden beams in the ceiling and the slight drip drop of a leaky wall faucet. "Oh giiiiiiirls!" called Applebloom, "Come out 'n play with you cousin Applebloom!" As the sibling continued to search, an eerie giggle echoed around the seemingly empty barn. Applejack's head shot left, right, and every other direction. She couldn't tell where the giggles were coming from. It sounded like they were coming from every where. Big Macintosh was visibly trembling. Even for such a big fellow, the giggles of a disembodied foals in a huge empty barn was terrifying. "There!" shouted Applejack, causing Big Mac and Applebloom to jump out of their skins, "Near the ceilin'!" Applebloom and Big Macintosh followed their sister's gaze upwards. What they saw made their jaws hit the dusty floor. Celestia and Luna were crawling across a support beam nearly twenty feet in the air. Luna and Celestia were crawling along carefree, apparently going for a shiny decorative horseshoe on the wall next to them. Celestia leaned out off of the beam to try and reach the horseshoe while Luna held on to her sister's diaper in an attempt to support her. As Applejack's mind raced to find a solution, both Big Mac and Applebloom looked back down. Applebloom gasped and Big Mac screamed. Right beneath where Celestia was perched precariously on the wooden beam, there was a perfectly placed rack of pitchforks, rakes, and shovels. Sharp pitchforks, rakes, and shovels. Applejack looked back to her siblings at the sound of their commotion, looked at the rack of farm tools, and yelled as she pulled her hat down over her ears. "TARP!" yelled Big Mac pointing to a large grey tarp in the corner. Applejack and Applebloom wasted no time in grabbing the tarp. The Apple siblings moved the rack of tools to the side and between the three of them, they stretched out the tarp right underneath the two foals. Even though she was expecting it, Applejack still gasped in horror as Luna lost her grip on Celestia's diaper. The diaper snapped back to Celestia's little rump and sent her tumbling forward. At the same time, Luna fell backwards from the release. There was a mad shuffle as the three siblings tried to catch Luna and Celestia in the tarp. For a brief moment, the plan was a success. The fillies, while giggling their hearts out, landed in the tarp. However, as if the stretched out tarp was a large trampoline, it catapulted Luna and Celestia back into the air. With the tarp with clamped in her mouth, Applejack tugged the make shift safety net in hot pursuit of the air born fillies. Again, Celestia and Luna bounced and bounced off of the tarp, each in a fit of laughter, not realizing the imminent peril that they were in. After about ten more bounces into the air, Big Macintosh again had to think quickly. After a final toss into the air, Big Mac dropped his end of the tarp, yelled "NOPE.", and stretched his forehooves into the air in an attempt to catch the flying fillies. Celestia and Luna landed squarely on his back. Applejack sighed in utter relief. "Oh thank heave-" "GIT. THEM. OFF!" bellowed Big Mac suddenly springing onto all fours. As much fun as they had, Luna and Celestia were evidently not through playing. They were each perched on Big Mac's head and neck. Luna had one of Big Mac's ears in her mouth, giving it a nice hard one sided game of tug-o-war. Celestia on the other hoof, was tugging hard on Big Macintosh's mane. Big Mac galloped around in pain as the two foals' tugs guided his trampling. Applejack and Applebloom raced around the barn trying to catch Big Mac and the foals. Big Mac bumped into shelves of tools, crashed into bales of hay, and then finally collided head first into the wall. He slumped down into a heap, Celestia and Luna laughing as they sat on his sore neck. From the chase, Applebloom ended up getting her rear end stuck in a bucket and Applejack was hanging by her hooves tied up in rope from the ceiling. Big Macintosh scooped the fillies off of the back of his neck. "Gotcha..." he groaned. The fillies seemed disappointed that the fun had stopped. Big Macintosh, on the other hoof, could already feel his pain ebbing away. There was another creak and Big Mac looked up. The decorative horseshoe was dislodged from its holding and fell right on Big Mac's head and bounced off in the eager hooves of Celestia and Luna who cheered. A large bump could be seen issuing from Big Macintosh's forehead. *********** "Yoo hoo!" There was a knock at the Apple Family house but nopony answered. It was Rarity's turn to watch over the foal princesses and she had come to pick them up from Applecjack's. She knocked again at the door. "Hello?" she called, " I'm here to pick up the two darlings!" As she knocked for a third time, the door creaked open. Somepony was evidently too tired or too lazy to have shut it properly. Taking this as an invitation, Rarity, in a regal sun hat, entered the house. She trotted over to the living room where an odd scene met her well makeup-ed eyes. The whole Apple family was passed out on the sofa. Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh were all in a pile snoring with the force of bellows. They were covered in saw dust and Big Mac was covered bandages. While the Apples were knocked out on the sofa, Luna and Celestia were playing and cooing happily in a foals' crib toying with an old horseshoe. Rarity rolled here eyes and smirked. Such lack of care! You can't just put two fillies in a play pen and sleep on the sofa! That's not proper foalsitting. Foals need to be cuddled and babied, not left all alone! Rarity knew that Applejack was a country ruff 'n tumble, but that didn't mean laziness in the care of children had to be involved. Using her magic, Rarity lifted Celestia and Luna out of their crib and placed them in an old fashioned and ornate foal carriage she had brought with her. Luna was still holding the drool covered horseshoe. Rarity cringed, pulled it away from her, and left it dripping on Applejack's lap. Applejack, being passed out, didn't seem to mind. Rarity wrote a note saying that she had picked up the princesses and stuck the note on Big Macintosh's forehead. "Now that you're in the hooves of a proper lady," whispered Rarity, "I'm sure we'll have a splendid time at my boutique!" Celestia and Luna merely looked up at her and smiled innocently. Rarity let out a small 'awwww!' They were so cute! This foalsitting would be anything but difficult. ************ "Spike!" Twilight was in her lab suit and goggles in the basement of the library. "Spike!" she called again, "I did it! I figured out a way to fix this! Ha ha HA I'm a genius genius GENIUS!!" "What is that?" Spike asked as he entered the dark basement. Twilight held up a round bottle. "It's an aging potion!" cried Twilight maniacally. Her mane was frizzy and her grin worried Spike. "Great!" said Spike, "So this will fi-" "We just need to test it" interrupted Twilight, "Spike! Bring in the test subject" "Was that lightning?" asked Spike as he brought over a potted flower. "Nevermind that!" cried Twilight, "Behold! Science!" Twilight tipped a drop of potion onto the flower. The flower fizzed and popped and started to grow. Twilight laughed a laugh that would have made Discord proud. She looked again at the flower and her ears drooped. The flower made a fart noise, flopped over, and turned to ash with a slight poof. "Darn," mumbled Twilight, "A failure." "What now?" asked Spike. "Time to think of something else..." sighed Twilight, "But first, to get rid of this flower in the garbage shoot. Spike, pull the lever!" Spike ran to a set of levers on the wall and yanked one. A trap door swung open underneath Twilight. As she fell through, Spike could hear Twilight's screams. "WRONG LEVER!!!