The chiming of the school bell signalled the end of another period for all of the students of Canterlot High School. Students poured out of the classrooms quickly, and occupied the hallways almost immediately. Teenage boys and girls of all shapes and sizes could be seen all around, each of them eager to take some time off and get together before their next lessons.
Among those students were three girls. Trixie Lulamoon, and her two friends and fellow bandmates; Fuchsia Blush and Lavender Lace. The three of them had been friends for a long time since the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands, and had done almost everything together. It was almost as if they were practically sisters. Trixie herself was identifiable by her blue skin and silver curled hair, whilst Fuchsia and Lavender both had similar skin colours, but differentiating hairstyles. Fuchsia's hair was rose-coloured, whilst Lavender was blonde.
Trixie was on her way towards the vending machine in one of the eastern corridors. It was there that she would collect her usual snack; Peanut Butter Crackers.
"You know, there's something I've been meaning to ask you, Trixie..." Fuchsia Blush put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"What is it, Fuchsia?" Trixie turned her head, but kept on walking towards her destination.
"Why do you like Peanut Butter Crackers anyway?"
"Well, I personally like them for how chewy the peanut butter makes the crackers. But aside from that, I guess I just like the taste..."
"It's best not to question her, Fuchsia," Lavender chimed in, "Everyone has different likes and dislikes. There's nothing we can do to change that..."
"Anyway. Our next period is in thirty minutes, so that gives us plenty of time to get something to eat," Trixie's gaze returned to her front. She almost crashed into another student, but was able to swerve out of the way in time. "I'll meet you two in the cafeteria shortly."
"Alright then. See ya, Trixie." Lavender gave Trixie a wave, and then departed with Fuchsia close behind her.
With her friends gone on their own way, Trixie leisurely strolled with her head held high, and her hand already in her pocket. It wasn't long before she would arrive at her favourite vending machine.
"A hundred calories of crunchy crackers dipped in heavenly peanut butter..." Trixie could already imagine the taste. "And soon, it will be Trixie's once again..."
It took her a few minutes, but she finally arrived at the machine. However, she wasn't the only one there.
Leaning gingerly against the side was Rainbow Dash, who was talking to Sunset Shimmer about something. They were lost in conversation, and unaware that Trixie was approaching them.
"So, Rainbow Dash. What do you want to do after you graduate from CHS?" Sunset asked.
"Well, I haven't really put much thought into it, but I figured that I'd try to train to be a part of the elite daredevil pilot group; The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow threw out her arms to emphasize the point. "What about you, Sunset?"
"Personally, I haven't decided much on it either," Sunset confessed, "Mostly, I want to try and pursue a career in studying this world better," she explained with a few tips of her hand. "I mean, while Equestria is my home, it would be nice to see just how big and historic this world can be as well..."
"Um, excuse me?" Trixie cut in with a raised eyebrow. "How long will you two be babbling on here? The Great and Powerful Trixie did come for her Peanut Butter Crackers, after all..."
"Oh! Sorry, Trixie," Sunset stepped away from the machine willingly, with Rainbow Dash following close behind. "Didn't see you arrive..."
"Honest mistake to make," Trixie humbly forgave the two girls. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with three crunchy strips of cracker and a vat of delicious dip..."
Trixie whipped out a wallet from her right pocket. It was blue, purple, and had her Cutie Mark embroidered onto it. She opened it up, unzipped a certain compartment, and pulled out four quarters. Sparing no time, she put them into the machine and tapped the code to bring down her snack.
"There we are," Trixie saw the device push down Trixie's snack. Then, she reached into the flap at the bottom and pulled it out with ease. "You can get back to whatever you were talking about, you two..." She said to Sunset and Rainbow Dash.
Paying no mind to the conversation starting up again, Trixie pulled the protective seal off of the top of the box and dunked a cracker into the peanut butter. Licking her lips, Trixie drove her teeth into the food and bit off a large portion of cracker. She ate it thoroughly, and swallowed afterwards.
Then, it happened. Trixie's chest suddenly felt pain unlike any she had ever experienced. She clutched it tightly with her other hand, dropping the rest of the food as she did so. She kneeled down and cried out in pain as the feeling climbed upwards through her body and eventually reached her brain.
This had gotten Sunset and Rainbow's attentions immediately.
"Trixie? What's wrong?" Sunset was the first to ask. "Should I get a nurse to see you?"
"Oh god! It feels like something's eating me alive from the inside!" Trixie shouted with tears dripping down her face.
"Yeah. Rainbow Dash, you get a nurse, right now!" Sunset said, getting Rainbow Dash to nod in compliance and run off.
"Sunset, you've gotta help me..." Trixie felt woozy and started to black out. She let out a weak gasp for breath and collapsed, but not before a bright burst of white light consumed the area.
Trixie woke up again, but she saw Canterlot High School in an entirely different view than before. For one, everything was much bigger than usual, including the machine, lockers, and Sunset Shimmer. The blue girl rubbed her head and groaned, failing to notice that her voice had increased in pitch by a drastic amount.
"Ouchie... My head..." Trixie spoke, then looked at her clothes. She could no longer poke her arms out of her sleeves, nor get her legs out of her skirt. Her head was still poking out of the top, but to her, it felt like she could take her clothes off the other way around. The last piece of evidence was that she was no longer wearing her shoes, but that they were next to her. Eventually, she put two and two together and discovered that she had become smaller than usual. "H-Hey! What happened to me?! What sort of trickery is this?!"
"Trixie? What happened?" Sunset got down onto her knees and found that the girl was now no bigger than a small child. "You're a toddler..."
"What do you mean, Sunset? I can still walk good..." Trixie got onto her feet, noticing that she was now smaller than Sunset's legs. She tried taking a few steps forward, but she stepped on her clothes and fell on her chest. "Ow! That hurt..." She wanted to still prove herself to be mature, but she couldn't help but cry in how feeble she looked.
Sunset looked down at Trixie with a sad look on her face; but she also had her eyebrows raised. That's odd... she thought to herself. Age-Regression doesn't exist in the Human World. Not yet, at least... her eyes never shifted from the crying little girl that was once Trixie Lulamoon. So why is it that one bite from a cracker dipped in peanut butter would turn Trixie into a four-year old girl?
Feeling bad for her, Sunset picked Trixie up and cradled her gently to soothe her. She put the clothes into her backpack and caringly kissed where Trixie felt the most pain from her fall. "There, there, Trixie. Don't cry..." she said, "I'm here. And I promise that we'll find a way to fix this little mess..."
"I got the nurse, Sunset!" Rainbow Dash returned with Nurse Redheart next to her. "It's a good thing that her office was the next corridor down, otherwise we'd never have gotten to her... in..." she looked at the shoes on the ground, then saw Trixie being caressed in Sunset's arms. "Uh, Sunset? Would you care to explain what the hay's going on here?"
"It's hard to explain, Rainbow Dash," Sunset said, "After you left, a powerful flash engulfed us, and when my eyes readjusted, I just saw Trixie this way..."
"How is this possible?" Nurse Redheart examined Trixie extensively. Nothing else had changed aside from her age and height. "It's like she's reverted back to kindergarten age..."
"I'm not even sure how it happened either," said Sunset, "Age-Regression is something this world hasn't developed, studied, used, or even mastered for that manner..."
"Age what now?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head and raised a brow.
"Back in Equestria, there was a powerful type of magic that enabled ponies and other such creatures to turn younger; the most common example being that they turned from adults back into toddlers and/or babies," Sunset Shimmer explained. "The ponies who were capable of using this power eventually gave it the name 'Age Regression' and made it an advanced spell for only the highest level unicorns."
"But how would something from your world possibly have seeped into ours?" Redheart questioned.
"Like I said, I don't have any clue as to how Age-Regression magic snuck into Canterlot High School and afflicted Trixie," Sunset spoke back in defence, "But what I am aware of is that the effects usually aren't permanent."
"So, we can fix this?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"But this is real kicker with Age-Regression spells..." Sunset hung her head. "Sometimes, there's no easy way to fix and undo the damage..." she sighed. "Without a discernible cure, Trixie will have to go back through her childhood, her teenage life, and so on and so forth normally until she returns to her regular age."
"How are we going to break this to her friends and family?" Nurse Redheart asked.
"I'm not sure," Sunset looked down at the sleeping Trixie. "But I know that right now, she needs someone to keep her safe from danger," with a confident look on her face, she balled up her free hand into a fist. "And I'll be the one to do it."
"Are you sure about that, Sunset?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah. After all, children aren't hard to deal with at such a young age," Sunset gently rubbed Trixie's cheek. "Rainbow Dash? You text the rest of the girls. I'll send a message to Twilight..."
"Got it." Rainbow Dash whipped out her phone and began typing on it.
Sunset Shimmer sat down by the side of the vending machine, pulled out her book from the back, flipped it open to an empty page and began writing on it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle.
I know this might seem weird, but could you come to Canterlot High School again sometime? Something... weird happened, and now Trixie's feeling a little under the weather. And before you get any doubts about this, I'll just put it bluntly and say that magic has done this to her. Either way, your help would be most appreciated.
Your friend.
–Sunset Shimmer
"Sunset? You're going to need some time to get Trixie comfortable before we start looking into a cure for this," Nurse Redheart pulled Sunset up helpfully, then let her put the book away and pick Trixie back up. "I'll take you to Celestia and Luna. I'm sure they'll be happy to give you some time off to sort this out," she said mellifluously as she led the way. "But don't expect any less homework for this..."
Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash followed Redheart towards Principal Celestia's office. It was a long and silent walk with many thoughts buzzing in both of their heads. With Trixie as a child, there would be a lot of things to account for until the effects were reversed, and they needed to be ready to deal with the consequences that would come from them.