> Little Jewels > by Shadowmane PX-41 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Starting All Over > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fer the last time, Diamond, Who cares if Sweetie Belle can't do magic yet?!" Said a quite angry Applebloom in the school's playground, "Sweetie Belle seems quite content that she can't do it yet, why need to turn a blessing into sorrow like that?!" "Those are some big words coming from a country-bumpkin like yourself, Applebloom." Diamond said in response with that sly grin showing. "WHAT DID YA SAY?!" "You heard me, COUNTRY, BUMPKIN!" Applebloom did not speak back, she just thought Screw this argument. I'm gonna kill her this time! and lunged forward at the pink filly, knocking her to the ground and knocking her Tiara from its perch on top of her head. The pink filly decided to meet Applebloom's assault with an assault of her own, throwing punches and kicks in quick succession, causing Applebloom to get thrown onto the cold hard ground and groan in pain. "And here i thought conflict could have been avoided." Silver said to herself as she saw the two fillies going all out once more, "Why doesn't Diamond Tiara get it yet? It's fun to make fun but you have to know when to stop. And this little filly never knows when enough is enough. If only there was some way she could get a fresh new start and make amends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders for once in her life. If only..." "Cash hoardin scumbag!" Applebloom said in a neck hold. "Upstaging Blank-Flank!" Diamond said once she kicked Applebloom's private areas with her back hooves. "Stop!" Said a feminine voice in the distance which caused the two fillies to stop their tussle. The speaker was eventually revealed as a purple coated earth pony with pinkish hair and a look of disapproval starting to reveal itself, "What is going on here?!" "Diamond Tiara made fun of us again." Applebloom was the first to speak. "Applebloom attacked me!" The pink filly said next. "Alright that's it! I can see now why you three are such live wires now." She spoke sternly, "I have only one choice." She then turned to face Diamond Tiara, "Your attitude towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders is inexcusable, Diamond Tiara! I've tried to give you so many second chances in the past but this time, you've torn it now. You've crossed the line and there's no way back now!" "Big whoop." Diamond said in both denial and scorn, "Besides, you can't do anything about it, Ms Cheerilee. My contract states that i am to attend the same class that Applebloom and her friends attend because i am the same age. And there's nothing you can do to break it!" "Oh yes there is." Cheerilee said as she pulled out a chart from her flank pocket show ing the pictures of all the ponies in her class as well as three boxes, no doubt for crosses to be put it, "I warned you, Diamond Dazzle Tiara the 3rd, never scorn your fellow classmates, but you forgot what i told you and now you've earned your 3rd strike." She said as she placed the 3rd and final cross on Diamond Tiara's box, "With three strikes, you are now a year lower than your classmates, you have ten minutes to clear out your locker and then you're moving into Miss Firestorm's class. No excuses!" "Miss Firestorm?!" Diamond said with fear, "But everypony hates her! She's always interrupting and boasing during our speeches, She doesn't let anypony finish early or late and to top it all off, her recess time is different to mine. If you think you can keep me from my Silver you're dead wrong! Right, Silvs?" "Actually, Diamond Tiara, we're through!" Was all that Silver Spoon had to say. "WHAT?!" "I thought it was harmless child's play, all the time we spent together. But now i know, you're a cold-hearted bully who never knows when to stop, even after getting her flank handed to her." She speeched to Diamond, "You're no filly, you're a disgrace to your people and your family's name! Get out of my face, NOW!" "But, but, but." Was all Diamond could repeat as she was being dragged off effortlessly by Ms Cheerilee. After she was taken inside to her locker, she punched it and said to herself, "I'll get you, Silver, you and your pathetic classmates as well!" "Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. I'm sorry for all i've done to you in the past." Silver started to apologize to the CMC, "I always thought it was just a game to us, but now i see the truth, Diamond Tiara was lying to me, making me turn to darkness and hatred, when all along i was seeking friendship and happiness. Can you ever forgive me?" "All is forgiven, Silver Spoon." Applebloom started once the grey filly had finished her apology. "And if it's alright with you, there's something i need to confess." She said as she lowered her head to her flank, and bit at a little sticky-tape point pointing out of her flank on both sides, once she had a firm grip on each point, she pulled her cutie mark right off of her flanks, leaving all the flesh on top and leaving her marks in the grass, "I'm a blank flank, i should have told you all earlier when i had the chance. I'm sorry." "How? Why'd ya do it, Silvs?" Sweetie Belle started. "I knew from the moment i got to this school that i was going to be picked on for being untalented and cutie mark-less. I tried my best to earn a cutie mark, but all my attempts just seemed in vain, so i took some stickers from a sticker book i had and looked for two identical copies of a silver spoon cutie mark. After finding the perfect match, I decided to apply them to myself after applying some never-wear sticker assistant on the sticky parts. Everypony bought my little scam and congratulated me on my cutie mark, even Diamond Tiara. I kept it secret for so long, that i'd completely got caught up in my own self-indulgence. Until now." "Silver, do you know what this means?" Scootaloo asked. "No, what does it mean?" "It means you can enroll for a place as a CUTIE MARK CRUSADER!!!" Applebloom said with glee. "Really, after all i did to you? You still want me to be part of your club?" Silver asked, making sure that it wasn't a trick. "Of course, Silver. It doesn't matter what ya did to us before, as long as yer blank and have apologized, you're more than welcome to join the crusaders." "Thanks girls." Silver said after she was led to the clubhouse to begin the ceremony, "I know that this will be a brand new way to start all over. No more lies from now on." _____________________________________ "I can't believe that stupid Silver, kicking me out of our bond like that." Diamond said once she got back into her room, "Next time i see her, i'm gonna bucking kill her!" "Diamond Tiara???" A voice sounded from downstairs, "Are you coming down to dinner?" "Coming, Daddy!" She said as she began to trot downstairs to the kitchen. Her journey to the kitchen was stopped abruptly when she fell on to the floor on the bottom step and felt a headache was seeping in. Once she was writhing in pain, her vision was completely obscured by darkness and Diamond Tiara fell unconscious. ____________________________________ "It's nice to have you in the club, Silver." Scootaloo said as they were having a little party in the clubhouse. "Thanks, Scootaloo. Sorry about that remark on your disability of flying." "It's alright, i've gotten over it now." "I feel like a new life is starting for me now, a wonderful life full of happiness and friendship." She said as she took a bite of a bobbing apple, "Nothing could possibly go wrong!" It wasn't until she bit the apple, that she underwent the same headache and darkness that Diamond Tiara had earlier undergone. The other crusaders noticed this and tried to help her up and cure her physical pain, but as soon as they got close to her, she dissapeared in a pillar of baby-pink light. ____________________________________ When Diamond came to, she immediately took notice of her surroundings. She was in Applebloom's room, with a few noticeable changes. half of the room had been foalproofed and decorated in a foalish design. She noticed that there was a range of foal toys and blocks on the floor near the bed. This was very confusing to her, until she decided to turn her head. She immediately saw bars of a crib-like design around her. She was being covered up by a pink blanket of sorts with somepony sleeping underneath a blanket covered pillow next to her. "Owwww, my head." She spoke in a much higher pitch than usual, "Whewe am i?" She then got the idea to look underneath the blanket next to her. To her surprise, there was a foal version of Silver Spoon sleeping with her head placed comfortably on the pillow. She wasn't wearing her glasses or her pearls and her cutie mark seemed non-existant. In it's place, was a white diaper, covering her whole flank. "I don't have a good feewing about dis." She said as she felt the top of her head. Another surprise she got, more shocking this time, was her Tiara was missing. She screamed before calming down and checking underneath her part of the blanket. Diamond Tiara was also in diapers. This reaction was a scream followed by crying of a foalish nature. "Ah think she's awake." Said a voice she knew all too well. The door swung open, revealing a now giant Applebloom looking into the crib with, as a surprise, a smile on her face, "Good morning, mah Little Tiara, nice to see ya awake." "Appwebwoom?" She said to herself. Applebloom herself didn't understand Diamond's foal gibberish at this time, so she just hugged her instead, "Ah think somepony had a nightmare last night." She cooed at the blushing filly, "Don't worry though, mama's gonna make ya feel better. "Mama?" Diamond spoke once more, only this was a word that Applebloom knew all too well. "That's right, silly little filly. Ah adopted you from the nursery, remember?" She said as she was rocking Diamond gently in her arms. This action made Diamond Tiara start to snuggle into Applebloom's coat like a regular foal would. "How can Siwvew Spoon sweep thwough dis?" She spoke to herself as she pointed towards the foal Silver. "Now now, give yer sister some time to rest." She said to the pointing Diamond, "She had a really rough night last night and she probably needs all the sleep she can get." What's happened to us? Was the only thing that Diamond Tiara was thinking right now. > A New Life In Another World > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Tiara was trying to look around the room, to see if she could find any clues on how she was age-regressed. But everything seemed legit to her, except for one thing. On a drawer near Applebloom's bed, was a picture with the foal versions of Diamond and Silver being hugged in Applebloom's arms. Underneath the picture, Diamond quickly saw what looked like adoption papers, even though she did like to snuggle into Applebloom's coat, it didn't stop her from reading the papers from afar. The papers was what surprised her the most, as the names on the papers clearly read, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She then felt something wet on her flank. She quickly noticed that she had wet herself without even noticing it. She tried to take it off herself but her foal mind said other wise and made her speak instead, "Mama, I made my diapee wet." She immediately covered her mouth at what she had said, she called her rival, mama. the only 4 letter word she'd never had thought of using around her before until now. "Aww, did mah little Diamond bust her drainpipe again?" She cooed once she had picked up Diamond's foal talk and blushing, "Don't be ashamed, everypony wets themselves at yer age, even yer sister, Silver. I'd best get ya changed then." She was then lifted up in Applebloom's muzzle and carried over to a changing table near the door. As she was lifted across the room, she was shaking herself. But she wasn't doing it in fear or anger, she was actually having fun being picked up and carried over to the table. Once she was placed on the table, Diamond Tiara was laid down with the help of Applebloom. It was after this little task was done, that Applebloom took off Diamond's current diaper, carried it over to the bin and dropped it in. Once she was done there, she pulled out a draw and took out a new diaper. Once shutting the draw again, Applebloom began to unfold this new diaper and add some foal powder before applying it to Diamond Tiara's foal flank. She made sure to slip her tail through the hole at the back before making the three ends meet and tying the tapes up nice and snug. "There ya go, Diamond, nice and snug just the way ya like it." Applebloom said as she put her on the padded floor and let her explore her new surroundings. It wasn't long after Diamond had began looking around, when Silver Spoon awoke in the crib. She could feel the blanket covering most of her body and she could also feel the diaper on her flank. She was surprised to be in a crib until she saw Diamond was looking around the room with content. "Dat was some pawty." She said as she rubbed her head in confusion and pain, "howd on, why am i in a cwib?" "Well looky there." Applebloom said as soon as she noticed Silver had awoken, "Looks like yer sister's finally awake." "Hi Siwvew." Diamond said once she greeted the foal silver. "Diamond Tiawa? What awe yoo doing hewe?" Silver quickly asked. "Twust me, it's a weawwy wong stowy." Diamond replied as she sat down on a pink mat. "And what's wong wid our-" She was stopped once she peered out of the crib to get a better view of Diamond Tiara, "Diamond, you'we a foaw!" "So awe yoo." She said calmly as she pointed at Silver.with her small hoof. What seemed odd to Diamond though was she had this urge to suck her own hoof whenever she saw/used it. And while her willpower was strong, it wasn't strong enough and she plopped the hoof right into her mouth. However, she didn't really seemed too embarrassed about her hoof-sucking taking place. In fact, she seemed happy to suck it and kept on doing so whilst Silver quickly examined herself and the room around her. "A foaw, me?" She said in a confused tone, "But dat can't be, i'm a big fiwwy." "Morning, Silver!" Applebloom said once she got closer to the foal Silver and lifted her out of the crib, "Did ya get a good sleep last night?" "I had a wonderfuw sweep wast night, Mama." She said and covered her mouth after saying the last word. She'd just called her newest friend mama, a phrase that was just as confusing for Diamond to use as well. "Good ta know ya feel like that." Applebloom said once she felt Silver's diaper and felt another wet patch, "But ah think somepony opened their floodgates as well last night." "Wha?" Silver said as she felt her wet patch as well, "Oopsie, my diapee wet." "Don't ya worry, mah little Silver. Ah'm gonna get ya changed as well." She said as she was lifting Silver over to the changing table now. Once Silver was set down, she let out a few giggles as her current diaper was pulled aside and binned and her new diaper was being powdered with foal powder. Once this step was done, Applebloom wrapped the diaper nice and snugly around Silver Spoon's flank and carried her over to the bed before picking up Diamond Tiara and dropping her on the bed as well. "Diamond?" Silver began to ask, "Why did i caww Mama, Mama?" Diamond stopped sucking her hoof to answer Silver's question, "Honestwy, i have no cwue why we cawwed her Mama." She started sucking her hoof again and was quickly stopped once Applebloom revealed her teats to them. "It's time fer some breakfast, Mah little jewels." She said as she pulled the two foals closer to her teats and wrapped her hooves around them like a cocoon to give them privacy and warmth. "Bweast miwk?" Silver asked as she watched the teat that was produced to her, "Isn't Mama supposed to be a fiwwy wike us?" Both their stomachs started to rumble once Silver stopped talking. "Weww, i tink it's fow the best." Diamond spoke once she got closer to the teat, "Fowmuwa and foaw food could be bad for us at dis time and Bweast Miwk doesn't sound bad, awso i don't know about yoo but i'm pwetty hungwy." Once Silver nodded her head in agreement, the two foals began to nurse on the two teats. Their actions were met with delicious breast milk and they both closed their eyes in satisfaction as they let the milk travel down their mouths and into their stomachs. After they stopped, Applebloom patted their backs a respectively equal amount of times and they let out cute little burps that would make anyone d'aww if they saw it. "Wasn't that delicious?" She asked the two foals who nodded afterwards, "Good ta hear it, it's no use having fun with yer aunties on an empty stomach isn't it?" "Aunties?" Silver shrugged, clearly confused at what she had heard. "Of course ya wouldn't remember, no foals ever do." She said as she picked them both up in her muzzle, "We all live together as a family but only ah'm allowed ta make sure yer alright. Come on, girls.. Let's go see yer aunties, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo." And with that, Applebloom took them out the door and carried them downstairs. Both Diamond and Silver were puzzled that both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would be with Applebloom at this time, but they quickly forgot their suspicions as they were having fun being carried around once more. > Cutie Mark Crusader Aunties. Yay! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two foals were carried over to the living room of the barn, where two very familiar faces were sitting on a nearby couch. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were reading newspapers relating to some very weird articles. On the front page of Sweetie Belle's newspaper was a picture of a batpony silhouette with the headline saying "Batponies. Myth? Or Reality?" Meanwhile, Scootaloo was reading a different newspaper with a different front page pic and headline. The picture depicted Filthy Rich wearing a headset and playing a video game of sorts. The headline read, "Billionaires. Behind The Scenes." "Morning, girls." Applebloom said once she placed Diamond and Silver on a comfortable padded mat and let them roam free in their new living room, "How was yer night?" "I had that nightmare again." Sweetie Belle said as she put her newspaper down and went over to the nearby kitchen. "Was it about the sky raining fire again?" Applebloom asked as Sweetie Belle was making actual toast this time. "Nah, that's my nightmare." Scootaloo said as she went to get the mail from the mailbox outside, "If the sky did rain fire, i'd be afraid that it would burn my wings as i was heading home." "My nightmare is a little different to hers." Sweetie Belle began to use her magic to butter the toast, "I was a filly again whilst you were asleep." "Uh huh. And what's so bad about being a filly again?" "It wasn't because of my youthful state. It was the fact that little Diamond and Silver over there were about my age and making wise-cracking comments on my childhood form being unable to use magic." "Oh, THAT nightmare." Applebloom said as she wrapped her hoof around Sweetie's shoulder to give her some comfort, "Don't worry about it, we've all had that nightmare before at least once." "How are things on the farm then?" Scootaloo asked as she came back inside and laid the letters on a coffee table, "Must be a really big honor to take over your family's legacy huh?" "Yeah, to tell ya the truth girls, i fell pretty stressed about farm work now." Applebloom said as she sat down near the coffee table and took a bite of a coffee table shortbread that was made earlier, "Applejack and Big Mac are over in Fillydelphia, hoping to attract business to the apple farm in fillydelphia. And Granny Smith is..." She sighed, "Long gone." "Yeah, sorry about losing her." Scootaloo said in a mournful tone. "Well, we all have to go to that great apple farm in the sky some day." Applebloom said calmly before heading over towards Diamond and Silver, "But as long as ah have mah little jewels, Diamond and Silver. I don't feel at all sad or lonely." "Aww, Mama weawwy feews dat way abowt us?" Silver said as she turned towards Diamond Tiara, who was now stacking blocks in a tower-like design. "Aww dese yeaws, i've been a buwwy to her, i nevew thought i couwd be happy awound hew untiw now." Diamond turned to face Applebloom, "I wuv yoo, Mama. And yoo too, Aunties." This earned 3 "D'awww."s from the CMC in perfect unison. Of course they didn't understand most of it, but they had a pretty good grasp on what they thought Diamond was saying. "Hey, let's see what's in the mail." Scootaloo said once she started organizing the mail with her hooves, "Let's see now... 3 letters for me, 2 for Sweetie Belle and-" "Oh, here we go, a letter for you, Applebloom." "Fer me?" Applebloom said as she ripped open the paper with her teeth and spat out the end before reading the letter itself. Dear Applebloom. I've been having trouble dealing with the Marefia back in Manehatten. For some reasons unknown (I think they found me tipping them off to the cops.) So i'm gonna lay low in Ponyville with you guys for a while. Hopefully 2 months should be enough to take the heat off my tail. Yours truly. -Babs Seed. P.S: I can't wait to see little Diamond and Silver again. "Babs is coming to town!" Applebloom said once she finished reading the letter, "Isn't that great?" "Yeah, of course it is!" Scootaloo said, "We can finally see who's the tough one of the crusaders. And after 37 consecutive losses, i feel pretty lucky this time." "Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom said as she was watching Sweetie Belle blow raspberries into the two foals stomachs, causing them to laugh hysterically with each raspberry. "Yeah, Applebloom?" She said once she set the two foals down on the mat again, "Sorry, i couldn't hear you over the raspberries i was producing. "Babs is coming back to Ponyville again." Applebloom was now bouncing in glee, "She's what keeps this place going whenever we get bored. The last time she came round, there was this one time where she took down these two bullies and bought us a round of smoothies afterwards, remember?" "Oh yeah. That was cool of her." "When do ya think she'll get here?" Scootaloo asked. "Well, this message was sent just yesterday, and it usually takes a day to get to Ponyville from Manehatten. So ah reckon she'll be arriving just about-" Applebloom was stopped by a knocking on the door. As she went over to answer it, she was greeted by a very familiar pony with a brown coat and red hair. "Hey, girls." Babs said once she was invited into the house, "It's nice to see the 5 of you again." > The Six Friends Go Out For A Picnic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nice ta have ya back, Babs." Applebloom said as she let her friend into the house and helped her with her bags. There was only two of them but it still turned out to be an arduous task for both the mares, "Geez, what's in these things? Cinderblocks?" "Just a few essentials for my time here in Ponyville." Babs said as she hauled the other bag up the stairs into the spare room with her bare hooves, "When you're born in a a big city like Manehatten, you gotta be prepared for any trips outta town, ya know what i'm sayin?" "Ah guess yer right." Applebloom agreed since she knew Manehatten covered 1/10th of Equestria in size. "Speaking of which, Babs. How are things going in Manehatten besides the incident with the Marefia?" Sweetie Belle asked as she was reading her letters (Mostly bills and other things) "Fine i guess you could say." She started once she was unpacking her 1st bag, "Same old business with the Manehatten CMC, i've handed down my priorities to a strong-hearted filly named Skyrocket. She's quite hyperactive and very optimistic, you could say she's just like Applebloom here." "So this Marefia..." Scootaloo started, "What kind of beef do they have against you?" "For someponies in Manehatten, telling friends and families about urban bullies ain't enough. So the Marefia started this protection business for ponies of all ages." Babs began, "They vowed to keep you and your friends safe from pain and suffering, for a small fee of course." "Don't know why they'd want ya dead thou-" Applebloom was stopped. "But there's a catch too. If you can't pay the Marefia within the deadline, they just decide to turn on you and side with the bullies to make your life a living hell. Someponies including me leaked their latest hideout and called the cops on them. But when the Marefia broke out of jail, they sent out letters to their clients. They all said, We're gonna have your flanks cut off for your crimes! And they started stalking the very customers they worked with." "Jesus, how many ponies were hunted down by this Marefia?" Applebloom asked. "I think i'm the only one left on the kill list. The Marefia always have a 2 month time limit every time they take down another target. And since their last kill was yesterday, i thought to myself I need someplace to hide for the next two months, but where? And that's when it hit me. I could stay with my girls until the time passes over. The Marefia only leave Manehatten if it's crucial business matters. So as long as nopony in Ponyville asks for their assistance, i'm fine here." Babs finished both her sentence and unpacking her last bag at miraculously the same time. "I've noticed there's a lot of food here that you've taken out." Applebloom began, "Is there a reason for that?" "Well it's such a nice day here in Ponyville so i brought some food for a little picnic." Babs started once she got her vest on, "After all, it's the first day of summer and it would be ideal for us to have a picnic. Seeing as the grasslands get quite busy at summertime." "That sounds like a great idea." Sweetie Belle began, "Nopony would want to stay cooped up indoors on a sunny day like today." "It sounds like the perfect opportunity to spread my wings and try out some new moves i've been working on" Scootaloo agreed, "What about you, Applebloom." "It sounds like a nice choice fer an activity." She said as she was looking through a closet, "Now where did i put it... AHA!" She pulled out a double foal carrier and equipped it to her back, "I could bring Diamond and Silver with me. They've always wanted to see the outside world up close and personal." "Alright then, a picnic it is." Babs announced, "And i have the perfect spot already in mind." Diamond and Silver were playing hide-and-seek as the four mares came down the stairs and into the living room. Silver was looking carefully for Diamond who was hidden underneath the coffee table, silently letting out a few giggles when Silver passed by. Once Applebloom unlocked the door, Diamond said, "Awe yoo going somewhewe, Mama?" "Found yoo!" Silver said once Diamond had stopped speaking and revealed herself. "Howsefeathews." Diamond said as Applebloom came closer to them both. "We're all going out fer a picnic and yer both comin' with us." Applebloom said as she leaned her head closer to them, "Now who wants upsies?" Both Diamond and Silver were flailing their hooves in excitement once Applebloom asked the question. Applebloom quickly picked Silver up first and strapped her into the left side of the carrier. Before quickly leaning back down and picking up Diamond into the right side. Once both foals were content with their seating positions. The 6 girls were heading outside. "Siwvew?" Diamond spoke as Applebloom was traveling with her fellow mares. "Yes, Diamond?" "I don't want to weave dis Equestwia. I feew happiew as a foaw. And i'm even stawting to wike Mama and her fwiends. What about yoo? Do yoo wanna weave and go home?" "Actuawwy, no. I tink dis is a fwesh stawt for both of us, and hopefuwwy tings get bettew from here." "Good to know yoo feew dat way, nice to have yoo back Siwvew Spoon." "Nice to have yoo back as weww, Diamond Tiawa." _____________________________________ The sun was beating down on the grasslands vigorously, but not to the point where sunscreen was required for everypony who came out for picnics and other summer stuff. There were some other groups of ponies in the fields, mainly fillies and colts playing with balls and kites and other related summer stuff. There was also someponies playing in a nearby stream of water, splashing their friends or playing tag or mainly to wash the dirt off their hooves. Once Babs and the CMC found a good place, they quickly laid out the blanket and got some food out of the bag. "The pegasi are really doing their job today, huh?" Scootaloo said as she could feel the sunlight wrapping around her face. "Alright then you two. Play nice and don't wander off." Applebloom said to Diamond and Silver as she let them out of the foal carrier and let them go and play with the other fillies and colts. She quickly took the carrier off and set it down someplace safe before sitting down with Babs and Sweetie Belle and tucking into some food. "Applebloom i've gotta ask." Babs started, "Why are your family's apples the greatest tasting apples i've ever tasted?" "I can't tell ya, trade secret. ya know what i mean?" Applebloom responded. "Don't you find it a bit worrying that you're letting Diamond and Silver off by themselves? I mean they're just foals for Celestia's sake." Sweetie Belle asked. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo is keeping a watchful eye on them both." Applebloom said, "Besides, she likes to work herself up to a reward such as picnic food." Applebloom turned to face the sky, "Speaking of which. HOW ARE YA DOING UP THERE, SCOOTALOO?" "Fine!" She called from the cloud layer, "I can't really see anything dangerous or suspicious over Diamond or Silver's area right now. and by the looks of things, they're really having fun with the other fillies and colts." "GOOD TA HEAR IT!" Applebloom then turned towards the other two mares, "Cloud layers, ya have ta yell ta pegasi on the ground when one of those is in the area. Suddenly, from afar, Sweetie Belle saw a pink speck falling towards the pond underneath it. It might looked like a speck to her, but she could quickly make out that it was a pony falling towards the water, "SCOOTALOO! SOMEPONY'S ABOUT TO HIT THE POND OVER THERE!" "Don't worry, i'm on it." Scootaloo said before dashing off towards the falling speck, "Keep an eye on Diamond and Silver whilst i'm gone!" The three mares followed orders and made sure that Diamond and Silver were out of harm's way. Whilst they were busy, Scootaloo gathered speed with her wings and flew like a jet towards the falling pink speck. The speck was almost about to splash down onto the water floor below when it was stopped by an orange and purple blur. Scootaloo made a successful catch and lifted the pony back up to the top of the hill, "You shouldn't wander off the edge of a cliff, silly little filly. You could have gotten hurt or worse." Scootaloo saw another picnic once she arrived at the top of the hill and returned the pink pony to its owner. There was 6 foals, including the one she had just caught on the hilltop. They were playing tag whilst their caretakers were eating food and conversating with each other. The six foals were all fillies, with different coloured hairs and coats. there were 2 unicorns, one white and one purple. two pegasi, a blue and a yellow one, and lastly there was two earth ponies. An orange one and the pink one she had saved from a rather nasty fall. "Is this filly yours, ma'am?" Scootaloo asked one of the older ponies. She was caught off guard once she had noticed the two alicorns looking at her. They were of course, the princesses of Equestria, Celestia and Luna, "Princess Celestia?" Scootaloo said with her jaw dropped before closing it up again, "I never thought i'd see you and your sister here in Ponyville today." "Pinkie Pie." Celestia said to the pink foal as she took it back in her aura, "You shouldn't be that close to cliffs like that. You could have met a bad ending if this courageous mare here hadn't stepped in." The foal hung her head in shame once taking Celestia's words, "Promise me this won't happen again, OK?" "Otay, Mama." The foal said. this caused Scootaloo to drop her jaw again. She had just saved a talking foal, something she'd never done before. Sure she'd saved a ton of other foals in the past, but this one was talking. And everpony could understand her. "She can talk?" Scootaloo asked once she picked up her jaw again. "All foals can talk." Luna said, "Grown ponies don't understand what they say though. A little hinder in the art of mothering." "Do you have foals then?" Celestia asked. "No Your Highness, but my friend has some." Scootaloo began, "We all live together, but technically she filled out the adoption papers herself because she wanted to make a good impression on the orphanage ponies. My friend Applebloom has two beautiful earth ponies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." "And can they talk?" "Yes, but none of us can decipher their words. It's mainly nothing but foal gibberish to us." "That's a shame, it's actually a blessing to have foal talk normally, it makes the job much more easier and cute for motherly ponies and their friends." Luna said with a smile growing "Sorry, i forgot to introduce myself. My name's Scootaloo. How did you get your foals to talk?" She asked once she stood up from her bow. "Well first you should meet them. Then i'll tell the story." Celestia said as she picked up all 6 foals with her magic and set them down in front of Scootaloo, "Scootaloo, i'd like you to meet, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle." She said as she pointed each one out to them with a spotlight spell. "Hold on, Applebloom said that Applejack was away in Fillydelphia attracting business to the apple farm there." Scootaloo said looking a bit confused, "How is it that she's a foal again?" "I suppose i have some explaining to do." Luna said, "I entrusted a special spell to Princess Twilight a few weeks back. A special age spell that only Alicorns like Celestia and me can accomplish without burning our magic out. Each of Twilight's friends was called to try out her spell on a few things in particular. So we entrusted them to make a cover story for each of them, just in case they had any family or friends. It was hard to convince Applejack to lie to your friend Applebloom, but she did it nonetheless." "OK, you're making sense so far." Scootaloo stopped them, "But that doesn't answer the question on how they're all talking foals?" "The spell proved to be too powerful for even Twilight to handle." Celestia followed up, "It grew wildly in power, it escaped the hold of Twilight's magic, and it ricocheted off the library's walls like a pinball on walls and bumpers. all six ponies were caught up in the spell's power, reverting them to their foalhood states. At the same time, they'd also been teleported to my castle since Spike had a bad case of the hiccups at the same time. I was surprised myself that they could talk, but i was even more surprised that no counter-spell could cure it. So it fell upon me and Luna to raise the Spirits Of Harmony ourselves until they grew up all over again. An arduous task, but a fun one nonetheless." "So these foals were already full grown mares?" Scootaloo finally pieced the story together in her mind. "That's right. How they retained the ability to talk is still a mystery to us." Luna said. "That's so cool!" Scootaloo said, her wings flapping wildly, "But aren't they gonna keep you from performing your royal duties?" "We made a fair decision upon agreeing to take care of them, Whilst i watch over Equestria in the daylight, Luna spends her time with the foals, vice versa, when Luna's overlooking Equestria, i'm overlooking the Foals Of Harmony." Sounds fair, don't you think?" Celestia told her. "That sounds more than fair, but won't Applebloom and Sweetie Belle get worried that their sisters have been turned into foals though?" Scootaloo asked. "They haven't seen them since?" "No, and they're starting to get a little worried about it." "Oh, i didn't account for this." Luna started. "I'll make sure that they know this has happened, by writing them a letter." Celestia then materialized a scroll and quill and began writing a letter describing how Rarity and Applejack were age-regressed. Once she had finished writing, Celestia cast a powerful magic, leaving a perfect copy of her cutie mark on the bottom of the paper, so as to validate that it was from her. Once she was satisfied with her work, she rolled up the scroll and placed a wax seal over it before hoofing the letter to Scootaloo, "I hope this makes it clearer to them." "It sure will, Your Highness." Scootaloo said as she put the scroll in her flank pocket and started to take off back towards the picnic area, "I'll see you all soon someday." __________________________________ "Scootaloo's been gone fer far too long!" Applebloom said once she had finished another sandwich. "Maybe the Marefia captured her and are keeping her hostage until they get information on where i'm hiding!" Babs started to panic, "The Marefia has very... Convincing methods on extracting information." "Calm down, you two. Here she comes now." Sweetie Belle said as she pointed towards Scootaloo heading back towards the picnic food. "So, ya caught the pony?" Applebloom asked. "Yeah, sorry it took me a while to get back." Scootaloo said as she pulled out Celestia's Letter, "I met some very special ponies up there and one thing led to another." "Who was it?" Babs asked. "Princess Celestia and Luna." "No way!" Sweetie Belle squeed. "It's true, they gave me this letter to give to you and Applebloom, just to clear up any suspicion." Applebloom and Sweetie Belle took the letter and broke the wax seal with their hooves. The letter had an icon of Celestia's cutie mark on it, a way of validating that it was indeed from Celestia. To my subjects, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. It was brought to my attention that you miss your sisters a lot recently. Well this letter is kind of a confession to you both. Applejack and Rarity are with me and Luna right now, as well as the other Spirits Of Harmony. You see, an aging spell of Twilight's got... out of hand, and turned them all into talking foals. So they're all gonna spend some time with us until the effects wear off. I just want to warn you all that you may never see them as your eldest sisters again. But i'm sure you'll find this letter as an Ok Apology. Sincerely, Princess Celestia. "Ah can't believe it." Applebloom said as she dropped the letter out of her hooves. "What is it?" Babs asked, clearly dumbfounded. "Applejack and Rarity were turned into foals due to a spell caused by Twilight." Sweetie Belle began, "So we're probably never gonna see them again for a while now. Nor any of their friends." "That's a tough blow." "Then that means that only Big Mac went off to Fillydelphia." Scootaloo said, "He must have bought that cover story as well." "Cover story?" Applebloom asked, "What cover story?" "Celestia and Luna persuaded Applejack and Rarity to make up a phony cover story for you and Sweetie Belle to believe." Scootaloo started, "It wasn't easy to convince Applejack, but she did it nonetheless." "Then that means." Applebloom hung her head, "The burden of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon is on my hooves now. Since Big Mac never leaves his post until satisfied." "I'll have to run my sister's business now." Sweetie Belle also hung her head, "Thank Celestia it's the weekend or i'd have to be working my flank off right now." "I've got jobs working with the Wonderbolts on specific weekdays so, forgive me if i'm out of the house for a while." Scootaloo said as she took a bite of an apple from the bag, "What about you, Babs?" "Me, raising foals?" Babs started, "Geez, i thought i'd only have foals with a very special somepony someday but..." She sighed, "Looks like i've got some training to do." "Glad ta hear it!" Applebloom leapt up in delight, "After all, you know the old saying: Many Hooves Make Light Work!" "Speaking of which, where's Diamond and Silver?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh, they're over there playing tag with some other foals." Applebloom said as she pointed towards Diamond and Silver playing with two earth ponies and a pegasus. "I wonder what they're saying?" Scootaloo said as she watched Diamond land a sucessful tag on Silver, "If only we could understand foal talk..." > Babs Undergoes Mother Training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "First off, let me say it is wonderful ta have ya helpin' me out here, Babs." Applebloom began in the living room when nopony else was around, "Especially since i'm so busy with the farm work and all." "It's no trouble at all, Couz." Babs modestly replied as she shut the doors to make sure this was private training, "It's the least i could do for you hiding me from the Marefia for a while. Who knows? I might end up moving here once the Marefia business blows over." "Alrighty then, ah'll start ya off with a few simple steps." Applebloom said as she flipped over a piece of paper on a portable whiteboard, "This is what mothers call Breastfeeding." Applebloom said as the picture revealed a foal sucking at another pony's teats. "Breastfeeding? I thought you needed to have a womb for that sorta thing." Babs said, looking a little confused. "That's not true, ya see, a few months back, it was scientifically proven that anypony in Equestria could breastfeed, as long as they take two of these mothering pills a day." Applebloom explained as she showed a bottle full of the yellow pills, "Just make sure to take precisely TWO pills. Any more could make the breast milk taste wrong and any less could produce no breast milk at all." "Take two pills a day, no more, no less." Babs was writing into a small notepad she took out of her flank pocket, "OK, got it!" "Ah see yer using a notepad." Applebloom said once Babs had finished writing, "It's always a good thing to keep infermation close by in case ya ferget anything when working." "Well, my family always said i had to be ready for anything." "Let's move on." Applebloom flipped over the paper again revealing a drawn-in diaper, "Ah suppose ya know what this here thing is." "I know, it's a diaper." Babs said as she let Applebloom continue. "When yer affixing diapers to yer foal, make sure ya take the old one off first. It's very bad mothering to cover up a soiled diaper with a fresh one!" Applebloom said as Babs took in every word, making sure to write the last words in capitals, "Now then, when yer applying a new diaper, make sure ya sprinkle foal powder on it first. Diaper Rash often occurs when ya don't apply the powder, and that doesn't really end well for the foals, or yer night's sleep." "So i've got to take off the soiled diaper first and then start with the new one?" Babs asked once she stopped writing. "Eeyup. Oh, and make sure ya throw the old diaper into the trash, nopony wants to smell soiled diapers at any given point in time." Babs raised her hoof once Applebloom stopped. She wanted to ask a question. "Should i change them when they poop? Or when they wet themselves?" Babs asked, looking a little confused. "Whenever either one of the two options occurs." Applebloom said, "Do it if they poop or wet themselves, they may even do both, so just be ready to change them and watch those diapers at all times. They could wet and/or poop themselves without even knowing it." "Alright now, ah'm gonna take ya upstairs so ya can apply what ya...." Applebloom and Babs continued their little lessons as the camera shifts upstairs to the top floors. _________________________________ Diamond and Silver were chasing each other round, swiftly dodging some of the toys and blocks scattered on the ground to avoid getting caught on some occasions. Eventually, they both tripped over, but instead of crying, they were actually enjoying their time on the floor. They picked themselves up and moved over to a nearby arrangement of blocks and began to arrange them to their desires. "What do yoo tink bwought us to dis awtewnate weawity?" Silver asked as Diamond built the tower up higher and higher. "I don't weawwy know what bwought us hewe." She began after setting another block down on top of another, "But someting tewws me it doesn't wanna take us back to ouw Equestwia." She was looking at her hoof again after she put the last block on top, "And i tink dat's good, i nevew wanna weave dis wowwd, i've been a hawdfwank aww my wife, and wooking back now, i feew kinda wegwetfuw fow what i did. I don't wanna go thwough dat same wife again and again and again. I wanna fwest stawt, and dis new wife as a foaw is pewfect." Silver knocked over the tower and giggled as the rainbow of colours was tumbling in front of her and Diamond. Once she clearly saw her friend again, Silver noticed Diamond was sucking on her hoof again. "Actuawwy, i wondew what dat feews wike in dis state?" Silver raised her hoof slightly and brought it closer and closer to her mouth. Once she plopped it in, she felt a lot more content and blissful and toppled onto her back, still sucking, "Wow, dis is wondewfuw. I don't evew wanna stop." She was kept sucking until she fell asleep. Diamond quickly followed suit and the two of them were next to each other, sucking on their hooves at they napped on the floor. "Aww, that's cute." Applebloom said faintly as the two foals started to wake up, "Afternoon, girls. Did ya have a nice nap?" The foals were about to speak, but then remembered that Applebloom and Babs could not understand their foal talk yet, so they nodded in cute unison. Applebloom was about to say something, before she saw a wet patch on their both Diamond and Silver's diapers, "Babs, this is the perfect opportunity to test what ya learned today." "I see." Babs nodded her head as she looked down on the foals. "Mama, ouw diapees awe wet." The foals said together, causing D'aww faces to grow on the two apple farmers' faces. "Ah know, ya both wet yerselves, didn't ya?" Applebloom said as she picked Silver up in her muzzle and took her over to the changing table. "Applebloom, you handle Silver. I've got Diamond." Babs said as she took Diamond up in her mouth and laid her down next to Silver Spoon. Applebloom quickly took Silver's soiled diaper off and took it over to the trashcan, with Babs quickly copying her actions. After that little chore was done, Applebloom took out two diapers and the bottle of foal powder and hoofed a diaper over to Babs. Applebloom then sprinkled the foal powder onto Silver's new diaper before giving it to Babs, who quickly did the same with Diamond's diaper. Once they finished that step, Applebloom and Babs quickly and gently raised the two foals' flanks before setting them down again on the foal powdered diapers. Then they finished the changing process by making all three ends of each diaper meet and tying the tapes at the sides snug and secure. "Nice work, Babs!" Applebloom said as the two foals were set back onto the padded part of the room, "Ya changed a diaper." "No sweat, if that's all it'll take to raise little Diamond and Silver here, this mothering business should be a snap." Babs said as she took in her accomplishment. It wasn't long before the foals started playing again, that Babs and Applebloom both heard a rumbling noise coming from the two foals. "Oh, they're hungry." Babs said once they both picked up the noise. "Babs, quick. Take two of the pills." Applebloom hoofed the pill bottle over to her and Babs swiftly downed two yellow pills before walking with Applebloom towards the two foals. "I think somepony's hungry." Babs cooed with a sweet yet urban tone as she lifted Silver up in her muzzle and set her down on Applebloom's bed. "Ah think it's time ya had yer supper, you two." Applebloom quickly did the same thing with Diamond Tiara, picked her up in her muzzle and set her next to Silver Spoon. After that, the two mares cocooned the two foals in their legs. They were a bit surprised when they were feeding separately, but they quickly shrugged it off once their tummies rumbled again. They quickly headed over to Applebloom's/Babs's teats and began to nurse once more. They slightly fell asleep as they received their equal portions of breast milk and quickly woke up a little once they had stopped feeding. It was at this time that Applebloom and Babs patted their customer's back ten times at the exact same time, forcing out decent foalish belches from the two foals. "How do ya feel, Babs?" Applebloom asked once they let the foals play for their last minutes of the current day, "Not too embarrassed or anything like that?" "Actually, i feel great." Babs said as she gently stroked Diamond on the back whilst she was being fitted into a foalish dress with Applebloom's help, "I thought at first i would be embarrassed, but then i remembered, we're all alone up here, and tomorrow, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo have to wake up early for work tomorrow. So it's not all that bad, at least my couz is right here beside me." "Glad ta know ya feel that way." Applebloom then got another dress, different in colour but almost the same, and gently clothed Silver Spoon with it, "There we go. My sweet little sisters, no matter what happens from here on out, always remember, you'll always be our little princess foals." "Hehe. Tanks, Mama." The two foals said before chasing each other again in their new foalish outfits, giggling all the while. For the next 30 minutes, Applebloom, Babs, Diamond and Silver played as the sunset began to form in the windows. After the two foals had stopped, Applebloom and Babs were playing peekaboo with Diamond and Silver, making them giggle uncontrollably every time Applebloom and Babs revealed their faces again. "Aww, is it really that time already?" Applebloom said as the sunset finally vanished, revealing the night sky. Once she saw the moon in its' prime position, she gestured towards Babs that it was bedtime for Diamond and Silver. "Girls. It's bedtime now." Babs said as she picked up the two foals, interrupting their princessy roleplaying and set them down in the crib again. "Aww, weawwy?" Diamond said as Applebloom tucked them in. "Ah'm afraid so, girls. but don't be sad just because one day is over." Applebloom reassured them, "A new day will start soon and then when it does, we'll have ever so much more fun together. And always remember, Mama's gonna keep ya'll safe." Babs quickly pressed a secret switch on the back of the crib, and a mobile with rainbows and clouds appeared above Diamond and Silver. Babs quickly pressed another button, and the mobile started to play soothing music to the two foals. "I wuv yoo, Mama." Diamond said before the mobile's music carried her off into dreamland. "I wuv yoo too, Mama." Silver said before she too was moved by the music and fell asleep. "Have a good night's sleep, Diamond, Silver." Applebloom then kissed their foreheads and waited until the mobile had stopped playing its' song before she turned out the lights and headed back downstairs with Babs Seed. > The Nightmare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As they slept, Diamond and Silver dreamed that they were flying with some oversized wings. They saw many familiar faces in the town below as they were soaring through the clouds. The joyous dreams that foals can have, huh? "Wow. Wook how high we'we fwying." Silver said as they did a sweet barrel roll through clouds and could not stop giggling as they swooped through the softness of the puffy clouds. "I'm sad dat dis dweam is onwy a dweam fow us." Diamond said as they landed on the floor and retracted their wings giggling, "I wish we couwd fwy fow weaw." Once they landed, they ran around in the grass for a while before playing hide-and-seek in the playground nearby. They looked like they were so happy when they found each other. Like they were taking a very realistic trip down memory lane. "Well, well, well. How the mighty have fallen." A voice out of nowhere spoke, interrupting the two foals' dream playtime. "Who's dewe?!" Diamond said as the entire world around them disappeared, leaving nothing but a pitch black darkness. "You know who we are." Another voice said as hoofsteps were heard in the distance, "In fact, you could say. You are who we are." Suddenly, a swarm of black orbs with the lost cutie marks of Diamond and Silver slammed into each other into the middle of the darkness. Once all the orbs were mashed together, it clearly revealed the actual age Diamond and Silver, only these two had darker coats and purple flames for eyes. "Yoo! I mean me." Foal Diamond said as she recognized the two fillies well, "What do yoo possibwy want wid us now?!" "That paradox must have done more damage than i thought." Grown Diamond said in response, "It's turned our vessels into foals again." "Vessew?" Foal Silver asked with a tilted head, "What awe yoo two tawking about?" "Do you know how this happened to you two?" Grown Silver asked as she furled her mane a little, "Allow me to explain-" "It's really quite simple actually." Grown Diamond butted in, "When you two broke up, it secretly created a dimensional fissure that nopony noticed until it struck. When we were consumed by the pillar of light, our souls were separated from our bodies. Leaving nothing but a body with a new soul that remembers the past and feels remorseful for it. As for us, we were left to wander a different dimensional plain, with no chance of salvation whatsoever." "But when we found our new bodies in this world, we initially thought to ourselves; What the hay is going on?!" Grown Silver said. "And now the truth comes out, our bodies are now foal bodies." Grown Diamond said, "This complicates matters." "Why do you stiww want to make wives a wiving heww?" Foal Silver asked to her grown double. "This cutie mark you see, is real this time." Grown Silver said as she revealed her mark with a black spiky background, "The fabled Angel Of Darkness gave it to me during his last mission to destroy Equestria." "In addition, he gave us all-powerful dark magic that we can conjure without the use of a horn." Grown Diamond said as she extended her front right hoof at a spot in the darkness where there was absolutely nothing and suddenly a black hole appeared with some diamond spikes poking out of it every few seconds. "Speaking of which, where's your cutie marks, Bodies of us?" Grown Silver came closer to the two foals' flanks and saw nothing but a diaper with no cutie marks at all. "OMG! The paradox removed the cutie marks of our bodies?" Diamond said with a smirk growing, "Silver. You know what this means..." "Ok on three." Grown Silver motioned, "One, two, three..." "BLANK FLANK!!!" The two grown fillies started chorusing. "Dat's what we used to sound wike when we said dat?" Foal Diamond asked once the taunt went by. "Their not cracking, Diamond." Grown Silver conjured a black flame in her hoof, to which Grown Diamond did the same thing, "Time to go with the heavy artillery!" The two fillies hurled the black flames into the air, and once they hit each other, the flames started showering mini black flames that surrounded Foal Diamond and Foal Silver before materializing into what looked like clones of Grown Diamond and Grown Silver. "Once more, Silver!" Grown Diamond and her clones said in unison, as if they were all one, "This time from the top!" "BLANK FLANK!!!" The clones and the real Grown Diamond and Silver said in an endless loop, causing the two foals to eventually cover their ears. "NOO! MAKE IT STOP!!!" Foal Silver eventually screamed, "YOO CAN'T DO DIS TO US!!!" "MAMA!!! HEWP US!!!" Foal Diamond screamed once the grown fillies got louder and louder with their song of despair and crestfalling, "MAKE DEM AWW GO AWAY!!!!" "You can wake up from this dream, but remember this one thing." Grown Diamond said as the other clones kept saying their taunt, "You and i are exactly the same, nothing will change that." ________________________________________ Both foals screamed at the same time at the top of their voices, they suddenly calmed down once they realized they were back in the nursery again. They took the nightmare to heart and began to cry like the foals that they were. "Babs, they must have had a nightmare." Applebloom said to Babs once the scream had woken up and they now heard the crying foals. "Now's the time to used what i learned in lesson 32; how to comfort your foals when they have a nightmare." She said as Applebloom quickly got out of bed and came closer to the crib, to which Babs quickly followed. "Aww, sounds like somepony had a bad dream last night." Applebloom said as she picked up Diamond in her muzzle and took her over to the bed. "Mama, it was awfuw." Diamond said in a futile attempt to communicate with her in her time of need, "We saw ouwsewvves, onwy they wewe owdew and meanies." "Must have been a really bad dream last night." Babs said as she saw Diamond's tears before they fell out of her eyes again, "How would you like to sleep with your Mamas tonight?" "Yes pwease, Mama." Silver nodded with some tears trapped in her eyes before they started to fade away with her confidence growing again. Babs quickly lifted Silver up in her muzzle and laid her next to Diamond in the middle of the bed. She then pulled out a pillow from underneath the bed and put in the middle of her and Applebloom's pillow and laid Diamond and Silver on it. Once the two mares hugged the two foals with their front hooves, Diamond and Silver fell asleep again. "And never forget, mah little jewels." Applebloom said in a comforting tone, "Mama's always gonna look after ya. As long as me and Babs are here fer ya, nothing will ever harm you two. Not even a bad dream." "Tank yoo, Mama. Tank yoo, Auntie Babs." The two foals said before drifting off into dreamland again. They returned to the nightmare, only this time, Applebloom and Babs charged at the clones, and by simply touching them, the clones and the grown fillies vanished into thin air. After that, the two mares hugged the foals, turning the darkness into a foal's heaven with a rainbow coloured sky. > The Next Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the next day, the sunlight was streaming down onto the four ponies' faces. With Diamond and Silver getting the most sunlight albeit being hugged in the arms of Applebloom and Babs. The two mares stirred a little as the sunlight wrapped around their faces. They stirred until they finally woke up with the two foals still in their arms. "Morning, Couz." Applebloom said once she was out of bed and walked over to the nearby draw. Once she did, she swiftly downed two more of the yellow pills before hoofing the container over to Babs. "Morning. Applebloom." Babs finally got out of bed once she saw the pill container in front of her and took two more of the yellow pills. After they heard their moms talking, Diamond and Silver awoke at almost the same time, each making the cutest little foalish noises as they stirred. They felt almost instantly that they had wet themselves as they slept. "Mowning, Siwvew." Diamond said once she sat up, listening to and then feeling the wet patch on her diaper, "Do yoo feew dat?" "Mowning, Diamond." Silver said as she did almost the same thing, only she felt the patch first before she sat up, "I tink I wet mysewf." "Mama, we wet ouw diapees." The two foals said, grabbing the attention of Applebloom and Babs pretty quickly. "Babs. Ah took Diamond last time, so ah was thinking that you take Diamond this time and ah've got Silver, sound fair?" Applebloom asked her as she started to kneel down towards the two foals. "Sure thing." Babs quickly agreed as she lifted Diamond up in her muzzle and carried her over to the changing table. The two mares stood side-by-side as they laid down Diamond and Silver and removed their current diapers. Once they were off, Babs quickly took both of the diapers over to the bin whilst Applebloom pulled out two more diapers and some foal powder. Once Babs got back to the changing table, Applebloom was sprinkling the foal powder onto the diapers before hoofing one over to Babs. The two mares then lifted their foals' flanks up with one hoof whilst sliding the diapers underneath their flanks with the other hoof. Once the two foals were set down onto powdered diapers. Applebloom and Babs quickly wrapped the diapers around the two foals and tied the tapes up nice and snug before picking the two foals up again and taking them over to the padded floor where they started to play again. "Hehe, tanks, Mama." Silver giggled as she ran off to play with Diamond again. Diamond and Silver were now doing some role-playing in their little princessy outfits. Sometimes about logical things, and sometimes about things that didn't even make the slightest bit of sense. Even though Applebloom and Babs couldn't follow a word of it, it went something like this. "Yoo have committed cwimes beyond youw natuwe. Do yoo have anyting to say in youw defense?" Diamond was talking to a pile of blocks and got no response, "Vewy weww den, Siwvew! Give ouw guest a wittwe timeout!" It did look Diamond was being an ass again, but actually it was just a game to her, and she was still acting sweet and lovable in her foalish state. Silver followed orders and hauled the pile of blocks out of her sight and stuffed them into a box with great difficulty before giggling and returning to Diamond. "What was dat guy in fow?" Silver asked Diamond with curiosity piqued. "He was wocated steawing miwk and diapees fwom da townsponies." Diamond explained, "I knew I had to do was was wight, hopefuwwy ouw pwisonew wiww change his tone aftew his day in da box." It was at this time, that Diamond and Silver heard a rumbling coming from their stomachs. Indicating to Applebloom and Babs that they were hungry and needed feeding. The two mares overheard this and rushed over to the two fillies, picking them up with their muzzles and placing them onto the bed before lying down on it themselves. This time Silver fed from Babs whilst Diamond fed from Applebloom, it seemed weird to Diamond at first, but the warm, delicious Breast Milk made her think otherwise. After they had stopped feeding, Applebloom and Babs gently patted the two foals on their backs, forcing out the cutest little burps any foal could make. After this, Applebloom and Babs went over to the nearby drawer and pulled two pacifiers, one white and one pink. They then returned to Diamond and Silver and plopped the pacifiers into their mouths before picking Diamond and Silver up in their muzzles again and carrying them over to the nearby padded climbable shapes. They set the two foals down gently on their diapered flanks and let them explore the padded forest of shapes, sucking their pacifiers all the while. once they got going, they moved the shapes with their bare hooves to make a ramp and a slide. They did a few runs on their slide before they played a game that entailed bouncing across the tops of the shapes and making it to the other side without touching the floor. It was a good game at the time until... "Owww!" Diamond had taken the risk of making a jump too long for even herself, she had leapt for a shape but only one hoof touched it, the others were still dangling, causing Diamond to take a little fall to the ground. It was only a little drop to Applebloom and Babs, but to Diamond, it felt like she had fallen off of a pedestal. She landed with a THUD! Onto her belly, the resulting crash had also knocked her white pacifier out of her mouth. And it wasn't long after this little fall, that Diamond began to cry. "Aww, what's wrong, Diamond?" Applebloom cooed as she lifted the crying foal up in her muzzle and sat her down onto the bed again. "Mama, I feww ovew and huwt my bewwy." Diamond sniffled a little before crying again. "Don't cry, Diamond." She made shushing noises soon after, causing the pink filly to calm down a little, "Just tell yer mama where it hurts." Diamond rubbed her belly with one of her hooves, thus pointing out to Applebloom where she felt the pain of the fall. "I've got this." She laid Diamond Tiara down and began to kiss the area Diamond had rubbed earlier. Diamond found this to be quite soothing and relaxing and had stopped crying and sniffling all together, "Now, let me do something to help ya recover." Applebloom leaned over and gave Diamond a good raspberry on her stomach, causing the pink foal to giggle and laugh as the raspberry tickled her stomach. "Auntie?" Silver said through her pacifier to Babs, stretching her arms out and pulling them in again, signalling that she wanted Babs for something, "Can I get some waspbewwies as weww?" She looked up at Babs with puppy-doy eyes as she pointed to Diamond getting her raspberries. "How can I say no to a cute little foal like you?" Babs cooed as she lifted Silver up in her muzzle and laid her down next to Diamond Tiara. Silver was asked to remove her pacifier for the moment and she did so quickly. Soon Silver Spoon got her fair share of raspberries from Babs and this occured some laughter to come from Silver as well. "Looks like they like them." Applebloom said as she regained her breath, "Hey, how about we do the next raspberries together?" "Sounds good to me." Babs said once she caught her breath as well, "Let's do them on three." "One... Two... Three!" The two mares blew the next raspberries at the same time, Babs working with Diamond and Applebloom working with Silver now. With each simultaneous raspberry, the two foals laughter got cuter and longer. It was a clear sign to both the mares that Diamond and Silver loved their raspberries. "Hehe, dat tickwes!" Silver said during the final set of raspberries. "Tanks, Mama, tanks, Auntie." Diamond said once the raspberries had finally stopped and they were sitting up again. "What do yoo wanna pway now, Diamond?" Silver asked Diamond. "Weww, wet's see whewe Mama and Auntie dwop us dis time." Diamond said as she and Silver were lifted up in Applebloom and Babs' muzzles again. Every time they were lifted up, they laughed and swung around. This time, Diamond and Silver were dropped off by the building blocks. "Wooks wike we'we pwaying wid bwocks next." Silver said with glee as she clapped at the activity that was presented to her and Diamond, "What shouwd we buiwd?" "I know!" Diamond lifted up her hoof in inspiration, "Wet's buiwd a pwincess castwe! One dat fits ouw foawish tastes." "I wike da sound of dat idea." Silver pulled a large bundle of blocks closer to herself and Diamond, "How many do yoo tink it wiww take untiw we finish constwuction?" "Wet's keep buiwding untiw we wun out!" Diamond said as she began frenzically and carefully stacking blocks in a base-like design, making what looked like the foundations for their castle. "Otay den, wet's get to wowk!" Silver clapped her hooves and began to aid Diamond in the construction of their new fortress of foalitude, "Wet's make da pwettiest castwe in aww of foawdom!" > A Shopping Trip > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond and Silver had finally ran out of blocks to stack and were now gazing upon their magnificent structure. It was large enough for them to fit inside and it was all lightly coloured, so as to excite them and make them happy. They had only added the roof recently with a few new pieces that Applebloom and Babs had bestowed upon them during the long break I took. They crawled inside their castle and took a look around, for a foalish castle it was quite impressive. There was enough space for both Diamond and Silver to get around and have a nap in secrecy if they felt like it. "Weww, Siwvew, we did it." She sat down next to her sister and put a hoof over her shoulder, "We finawwy have ouw own wittwe home away fwom home." "Feews wike it took fowevew to buiwd dis castwe." Silver finally relaxed herself and slowly flopped backwards onto her back, making sure not to disrupt the balance of the stacked blocks, "Aww dis hawd wowk has made me quite tiwed." She placed a hoof in her mouth and began to suckle away as she entered a hard earned sleep. "Come to tink of it, I wanna sweep as weww." Diamond said as she gently laid herself down on her back, right next to Silver, "I'ww see yoo when I see yoo, Siwvew." She placed her hoof in her muzzle and began to let the soothing feel of hoof-sucking send her into a deep slumber, As the two foals slept, Applebloom and Babs were headed downstairs to make breakfast for themselves. Once arriving in the kitchen, they got to work quickly and made some toast with jam, added with some freshly squeezed orange juice sent over from the orange family in Manehatten. Because, why not? "So tell me." Applebloom asked Babs once they took a seat on the couch in the living room, "How was life in Manehatten before this silly Marefia business started?" "It was alright." She took a sip of the OJ, "Same old, usually hustling and bustling with many ponies either heading to work, or to the shops. Oh and the Horseway district is still in business, always coming up with new shows to wow the crowds." "Have ya seen any of the Horseway shows in Manehatten?" Applebloom asked after taking a bite of the jam toast and washing it down with the OJ. "Well, not yet." Babs hung her head a little, "I always seem to come up 5 bits short when tickets go on sale, I've been meaning to earn some more for some time now." "How come?" "The hours I worked in buckboxing class don't really pay well unless I teach for all classes." Babs begain to explain, "And sometimes they dock my pay just because some students mess up their steps a little. It wasn't my fault! Why do they have to hog all the bits for themselves?!" "Calm down, Babs!" Applebloom restrained Babs's hooves, causing her to calm down a little, "Just calm down, yer away from you're problems now, here with me, Diamond and Silver." "Sorry." Babs said in a neutral tone, "Guess I let my emotions consume me again." She shuffled her front hooves a little as she hung her head, "It's been this way ever since the Marefia started hunting me." "Ah know what it's like ta be in an emotional funk." Applebloom spoke to Babs with her hooves on her chin, "There was this time where me and Sweetie Belle had a little... falling out before the adoption." Applebloom got to her hooves again, "Ah didn't know whether or not she'd fergive me fer what I said. But luckily, we were able to talk things over and fix our friendship before the adoption." "Good for you then. I don't think this will go away for me until the deadline passes." "Cheer up, couz." Applebloom now had a hoof wrapped around Babs' shoulders, "Ya need to lighten a little, enjoy life." Applebloom headed over to the kitchen cupboards again and noticed the first issue. They were out of eggs, "Darn, and today was the day I make me and Babs on apple pie." "What's going on in there, couz?" Babs came in to see that Applebloom was just closing a cupboard. "Babs, ah've gotta head out into town fer a while to get some more eggs fer the pie ah'm making tonight." She took her saddlebags from the door at the side and started to walk back upstairs, "While ah'm gone, you should have no problem with bucking the apples down from the trees today. "But if I've got the apple trees, who's got Diamond and Silver?" Babs asked just as Applebloom disappeared from the top of the stairs. "Ah got em." Applebloom poked her head back to say those words before heading back into her room. She opened the door to see that Diamond and Silver were still sleeping peacefully, with hooves wrapped in their mouths. Applebloom took both of them in her muzzle and sat them on the bed, whilst she poked through a nearby closet to pull out the foal carrier. She took Diamond into her seat on the left side first and then placed Silver in the right side before gently walking out the door and back downstairs again. "Now, Babs, before ah go, let me give ya a few tips on apple-bucking." She whispered from this point on, so as not to wake Diamond and Silver, "Think ya can do it now?" "Yeah, it should be no problem once I get onto the field." Babs nodded before heading out a separate door into the apple orchard, "I'll see you when you get back, OK?" "Sure." Applebloom opened the door and stood on the other side of the frame with her hoof on the handles outside, "Remember, grab the ground with yer front hooves fer support." Applebloom walked out of the door and quietly shut the door with her hoof before heading into town with her two foals. They slept peacefully as Applebloom neared her location. _______________________________ Applebloom took one of the trolleys at the back of the set and used her muzzle to guide it in. It was large enough to house what Applebloom needed and more, with everything neatly sorted into different aisles so she could find it easily. But just in case it wasn't a clue, the merchandise was labeled next to the aisle numbers so everypony could find them without fail. "Well as long as ah'm here, ah might as well reload on a few other stuff ah'm running out on." Applebloom said as she headed down aisle 7, which contained the eggs she was looking for. She found the best pack of six eggs in the aisle and gently dropped it into the trolley. "Well, that's the eggs fer the pie done." She started moving the trolly to the next aisle to find some other things she was looking for. She headed down a few more aisles, grabbing what she needed along the way. Ranging from butter, milk, flour, basically the necessities. "One more thing to get, and this one's for mah little jewels, Diamond and Silver." She headed down one last aisle that was painted light pink for some reason. She walked down to find the cutest little fairy costumes for them both. Diamond and Silver were finally starting to stir a little once Applebloom took the costumes for them. "Whewe awe we?" Silver asked once she finally arose from her slumber and dropped both of her front hooves in awe, "It wooks so pink and pwetty, awmost wike it was deisgned fow us." "It wooks wike da supewmawket in Ponyviwwe." Diamond said to herself once she awoke and got a glimpse of what Applebloom was buying for them, "And dat wooks wike Mama, getting us someting pwetty and foawish." "Weawwy!?" Silver saw that Applebloom was putting the costumes in the trolley, making sure to grab them by the hanger and not the material itself, "Dey wook beautifuw, wike someting you'd wanna sweep in and nevew take off." "Tanks, Mama." The two foals spoke in unison once more, elicting a smile from Applebloom. "Yer welcome, girls." She took the trolley down to the checkout to validate her purchases. The clerk scanned each item carefully with his barcode laser. Holding both the item and the barcode laser with his unicorn magic he went through all the items in quick succession. The final price came to 60 bits, Applebloom responded to that price by pulling out a bag of bits from her pocket and placing it on the counter, before placing a discount card that was only valid for Apple Family members, thus giving her a 10% discount, bringing the new total to 54 bits. "I trust this should be enough to get everything?" Applebloom asked, seeing as there wasn't going to be a downside from saying the question. "It certainly is, Applebloom." The clerk placed all the items into two saddlebags and levitated them onto Applebloom's back, right behind the foal carrier base, "We hope to see you here again very soon." He said as she headed back to the house with two very happy foals. "Wow, Mama weawwy wikes us, even aftew I mistweated hew in da past." Diamond said as they headed back through the streets again. "Don't fowget, Diamond, dis is anodew weawity." Silver finally came to a conclusion, "Why ewse do yoo tink dat Mama wooks wike a fuww-gwown mawe instead of a fiwwy?" "I was initiawwy gonna say gwowth spuwt, but den I weawized it wouldn't be enough." Diamond said as they started to head back up the hill to Sweet Apple Acres, "So my second guess was gonna be dat somepony cast a speww on hew." "Weww, whatevew yoo tink, awways wemembew." Silver began to comfort her, "Dis is ouw new Equestwia, and dis is ouw new wife. I'm quite content wid being a foaw again and I actuawwy feew safe and happy when I awound Mama and hew Aunties." "Me too." Diamond perked up, "Why shouwd ouw wives be da same owd bwutaw ways odew and odew again?" She asked, "I just wanna be happy and have a cwean swate." "Weww, we do have a cwean swate now, Diamond." Silver said as they finally got back into the house, "And It's gonna be da best wife evew if I know you'we gonna be wight hewe with me, Mama and Aunties." "Aww, tanks, Siwvew." Diamond lightly said in a comforted voice. "You'we wewcome, Diamond." She replide as they finally made it back into the nursery to try out their new outfits. > An Afternoon Of Enjoyment > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond and Silver were quickly forgetting all of their old memories as they got lost in their playtimes. It would not be long before they forgot everything about their past completely. Of course, they didn't even notice as they were playing with their caretakers, Applebloom and Babs. There was a rumbling noise coming from Diamond and Silver's stomachs, and the two earth pony parents knew that their foals were hungry. Carefully and gently lifting Diamond and Silver up onto the bed, Applebloom and Babs cocooned the foals in their legs and let them nurse once more. Diamond and Silver shut their eyes in content as the milk trickled down their throats and into their stomachs. They were sat back up by Applebloom and Babs once they had had their fill of breast milk. Once they were sat back up, Applebloom and Babs quickly and gently burped them, afterwhich, they giggled. "Siwvew. Is it otay to nevew wanna gwow up?" Diamond asked as she and Silver were let off the bed to play again. "I nevew weawwy thought about dat untiw yoo bwought it up." Silver was running around in her new costume, "But I guess dat if dey bewieve hawd enough, foaws dun evew gwow up." "Otay den, I'ww wish upon Cewestia's wight and Wuna's night, dat we nevew gwop up." Diamond kneeled down and did what sort of looked like a prayer before getting back up again. "By da pwincesses of Equestwia." Silver began to get down onto her knees and pray also, "We ask Cewestia fow one wittwe favouw. We ask dat we nevew, evew gwow up. With da moon and da sun watching ovew us, I wish we wewe foaws fowevew." The two got up from their prayers and walked over to Applebloom and Babs again, with smiles. Applebloom and Babs could not help but smile as they lifted Diamond and Silver onto the bed again and started to play one on one with them. It mainly comprised of games such as pattycake, face making and even some rounds of peekaboo at some times. And Diamond and Silver loved every minute of it. Eventually, Diamond and Silver wet themselves from laughing too much. Applebloom and Babs quickly got the foals to the changing table and worked their magic once more. The foals giggled as their new diapers were powdered, slid under their flanks, and then tied up tight around their flanks. "Siwvew, Yoo know too, wight. Why we nevew waanna gwow up again?" Diamond talked to Silver as they were flown up into the air by Applebloom and Babs. "Yeah, I see dat now, aww I wanna do is pway. I wanna stay a foaw and awways be abwe to pway wid Mama and Auntie." Silver smiled as she was being carried over to the floor again. "Me too, I weawwy don't wanna gwow up." Diamond was put onto the floor, next to Silver, who had already started to wander over to the dresses from earlier. Silver got to the dresses, but she had some trouble putting them on. It's quite common for foals not to be able to dress themselves. So she made come gestures to Applebloom and Babs and it quickly brought them over. "Ah think Silver wants to dress up." Applebloom cooed at the little filly and lifted her up in her muzzle. She was then brought over to the bed, with Babs carrying the dress. Silver was quickly fitted into her foalish dress, she made slight squeals of content as she let the two caretakers slide her into the sleeves and put the hat atop her head. Once the dress was on, Silver made some foalish noises of content as the soft satin dress lightly rubbed against her skin as she walked. Meanwhile, Diamond was playing with the nearby padded shapes, bouncing and jumping across the tops like the foal she was. She giggled with each successful jump and eventually saw that Applebloom and Babs were taking some of the padded shapes and were rearranging them. She saw them stacking the shapes, until they finally made a little padded slide for Diamond and Silver. Applebloom lifted Diamond up to the top of the slide and gave her a gentle push down. Diamond giggled once more as she enjoyed the ride. Suddenly, there was a knocking on the bedroom door, and Babs decided to answer it. She opened the door to find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo standing on the other side, looking quite happy.to see the foals. "Hey girls!" Scotaloo charged into the nursery, making sure not to collide with anything as she came closer and closer to the two foals. "Sorry we couldn't be back sooner." Sweetie belle said as she walked in, at a slower pace than Scootaloo, "I had a LOT of orders to fill today." "And how are our little jewels doing?" She was cooing at the two foals, eventually making her voice whimsical and random, this made Diamond and Silver make some babbling noises of excitement as Scootaloo lifted them up in her muzzle. "Don't throw your voice out, Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle joked as she stood next to her pegasus friend, "You need it for that Wonderbolt job you've got going." As the two mares conversated, Diamond and Silver could not help but nuzzle their coats and fall asleep in the softness of their fur. This make Scootaloo blush a little once she realised. "Anyways, how was yer days?" Applebloom asked her two friends once they had settled in, "Ah hope none of it were too strenuous?" "Nah, it was fine for me today." Scootaloo said as she took a seat on applebloom's bed, "By the way, guess who just got promoted to Wonderbolt Trick Coordinator!" She announced to the three mares before receiving a round of applause. "Nice going, Scoots!" Babs complimented Scootaloo, who was taking all the praise to heart. "How much money does it pay ya now?" "I get an extra three bits for every hour I work now." She said as she walked over to nuzzled Diamond and Silver, "It's a lot I know, but I've gotta work hard for it." "Why do you say that?" Sweetie Belle asked, "I thought you had to work hard no matter what job you had?" "This one, I have to work super-duper extra hard." Scootaloo got to her feet and came up next to Sweetie, "I'm in charge of the Wonderbolts' routines in shows. I determine what's crowd pleasing and what isn't." Scootaloo said calmly, "Furthermore, I'm in charge of leading them through their tricks when they're off stage, basically, I tell them which ways to fly and what to do at certain moments in these tricks." Sweetie Belle listened as she blew a raspberry on Silver's stomach, before immediately moving onto Diamond. The two foals liked as the raspberries tickled their stomachs with each blast. Once they had finished, they were carried over to Scootaloo, who was looking down on them with a playful face. "I've got a gift for you two." Scootaloo reached over to her pocket and pulled out some coloured crayons and paper. "I used to play with these all the time when I was just a filly, but now that I've got such a prestigious job, I thought I'd give them to you." She walked Diamond and Silver over to a little table that Sweetie Belle had levitated out of the closet and set the crayons and paper down on it. Diamond and Silver applauded as they were set down on some little stools that were attached to the table and began to draw like there was no tomorrow. "When you think you've drawn something good, show it to Mama and me." "Sweetie Belle, I have to ask." Babs said as she and Sweetie Belle watched Diamond and Silver drawing like there was no tomorrow. "Did you or Rarity ever have kids?" Sweetie Belle was taken off guard with that question. "I mean I know how you two are so kind and compassionate, but I just wanted to make sure you made it past the foal-raising stage." Sweetie Belle sighed. "Yes we've had kids before." She then hung her head. "But they didn't make it past 3 months." Just the memory of Sweetie losing her kids made her tear up on the spot. "Why couldn't it have been me?!" Sweetie Belle was shedding tears just thinking about it. "I should have played with those wires! Not them!!!" "Come on, Sweetie Belle. Don't kick yourself for that, it was an accident." Babs patted her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "I know, it's just... They were adorable!" Sweetie Belle broke down into a crying phase that showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. "It's just not fair that death had to take them not long after birth!!!" "Sweetie, just calm down!" Applebloom wanted to try something and held Sweetie's tearful head. "Ya think it's that bad?!?!?!" "YES! WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO LOSE MY OWN OFFSPRING BEFORE THEY EVEN GROW UP?!?!?!" "Listen. ah've lost possibly the only inspiration and mentor ah've ever known due ta an age-spell mishap." Applebloom started to lightly crush Sweetie's head in her hooves, causing her to calm down slightly. "Ya think it's hard ta lose a newborn?! Try losing the only thing that comes close ta being yer mother!!!" As Sweetie Belle and Applebloom tossed their misery back and forth, Babs decided to shield Diamond and Silver from the noise by cocooning them in her hooves again. This was also handy for the foals as they did feel a little hungry after their adventure today, making them burp once more, Babs took the foals out of her cocoon to return to the fighting Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. "LOOK SWEETIE!!! AH DIDN'T WANNA DO THIS BUT YA LEFT ME AT AN IMPASSE HERE!!!" Applebloom reached into another drawer at the side of her bed and pulled out a syringe. with a blue liquid inside of it. Applebloom held Sweetie Belle down before inserting the syringe into her arm. Sweetie felt light headed and Applebloom started to calm down rapidly. "She'll be out for the rest of the night. She'll have forgotten about her dead kids once she wakes up, thanks ta a little amnesia plant sap. Ah didn't add to much, so as not ta completely remove all of her memories as a Cutie Mark Crusader." "Applebloom, you're just full of surprises, ain't ya?" Babs complimented as she took the foals up in her muzzle. "Well, ah do have a degree in potionmixing and alchemy." Applebloom said as she petted the sleeping Sweetie Belle. "She'll be calm in the morning, Girls. Believe in yer mama." Applebloom said to Diamond and Silver and nuzzled their necks gently. "Otay, Mama." The foals were now being carried into Applebloom's arms and rocked gently. She wanted them to forget the fight that sher had with Sweetie Belle, luckily for them all, Diamond and Silver were foals, and foals had a appalling memory. The two foals completely forgot about Sweetie's fight instantly and almost fell asleep before being met with Scootaloo and Babs again. "Uh, Babs?" Scootaloo tapped Babs' side to get her attention. "I think now's not a bad time to tell you, I've never really interacted with foals before." Scootaloo hung her head lightly before looking back up at Babs again. "I just thought it was uncool before I met Diamond and Silver." "Just watch what we do with the girls and you'll pick up the routine in no time." Babs said as she started to tickle Silver, causing the grey foal to laugh again. "Ok, I'll just watch for now." Scootaloo leaned against the wall and watched as the two earth ponies played with the two foals. She observed many things. One, the foals liked having raspberries blown onto their stomachs, they showed this by throwing fits of laughter. Two, the foals liked to wander off on their own when Applebloom and Babs relinquished their hold on them, Diamond and Silver usually used their free will to walk over to another foalish activity and begin to use it. Three, Diamond and Silver always seemed to grow drowsy once Applebloom and Babs gave them pacifiers. Whether it was a natural thing or not, Scootaloo found it all to be very insightful. "OK, I think I've got it now." Scootaloo came over to Silver and sat down by her. "Hey, Silver. Remember me?" She was at least wondering if she remembered her, but all Scootaloo got was a light hug and some foal talk. "It's okay, I'm your aunt Scootaloo." "Scoo, taa, woo." Silver was having a hard time trying to place that all together. Her memories were almost all but long gone, and even her memories of the other crusaders was falling to pieces. "Scoo taa... Scootawoo." "That's it, Silver! You're getting it now." Scootaloo encouraged her to keep going. "Once you say it once, it'll roll of the tongue and be easier to say." "Scootawoo, Scootawoo. Scootawoo!" Silver finally remembered and wanted to say nothing more that Scootaloo. She went a few laps around the nursery speaking nothing more than "Scootawoo." over and over again. "Ah think somepony likes you." Applebloom said as she heard Silver chanting the orange mare's name over and over again. Scootaloo then decided to interact with Silver and sat her down on the floor, causing her diaper to crinkle. Scootaloo then proceeded to play pattycake with Silver, elicting some random chants as she did. She saw a smile showing on Silver as she saw Silver eaching out and quickly pulling her hooves back in, Silver wanted to be picked up and carried. "Mama?" Diamond tugged at Applebloom's mane lightly. "Can I pway wid Siwvew?" Diamond gurgled and spoke random after she said it. "Of course, Diamond." Applebloom carried Diamond over to Silver and sat her down next to Silver. The two mares then proceeded to to hug Diamond and Silver. Diamond and Silver giggled and gurgled randomness as they nuzzled into the two mares' fur and began to hug in return. Suddenly, Diamond and Silver felt a little drowsy. Applebloom noticed this and gave Diamond her white pacifier and Silver her pink pacifier. The two foals felt themselves fall asleep instantly, making light whimpering noises of content and relaxation as they slept. "Aww, they look cute when they're asleep." Scootaloo admitted as she and Applebloom carried them over to the crib where Babs had just finished getting everything ready for the foals to sleep. The two foals were laid down on the bed and had the sheets pulled over them, they snuggled into the bed as they allowed themselves to accept the tuck-in and cooer some more noises of content through their pacifiers. Then, to ensure a good night's sleep. Applebloom gave Diamond a giant panda bear plushie before giving Silver a giant plushie of Princess Celestia. The two foals hugged the plushies the second their hooves touched them, cooing some more, the foals stopped moving altogether. "Nighty Night, girls." Applebloom kissed the two sleeping foals and walked out of the door to get Scootaloo to her room for the night. She also decided to drap the sleeping Sweetie Belle to her room and let her get some sleep, she needed it to forget the traumatic experience of losing foals. "See you in the morning, Diamond. You too, Silver." Babs kissed them and hopped into bed. It was at this point that Applebloom came back in, turned off the light and crawled into bed also, enabling herself, Babs, Diamond and Silver to venture into dreamland once again. > Heading To Town > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the morning of the next day, Diamond and Silver were greeted with rays of light, compliments of Applebloom and Babs opening the blinds for them. The sunlight gently caressed their bodies and they made gentle noises of content as the sunlight stroked them all over. Diamond woke up first, she did it slowly and cooed happily as the light made her warm. She smiled as she looked out of the crib to see the room as it was, she didn't notice straight away, but there were some extra toys to play with and more foal outfits to wear. She walked over to the bars and was about to attempt to climb out, but she was hoisted into the air by Applebloom before she even got there. As the pink foal was carried up, she laughed happily and then turned those laughs into happy sounding foal gurgles. That finally turned into light coos of content as she was positioned on Applebloom's chest, so that she could sink into her warm embraces. "Morning, Diamond." Applebloom said gently, so as not to awaken Silver from her slumber. "Ah see ya had a nice slumber." "Oh, yes, Mama." Diamond smiled as she hugged Applebloom's body. "I hope dat today is as fun as da west." Applebloom carried Diamond over to an assortment of plush animals, each one was soft as a pillow and brightly coloured, with a smile on their faces. Applebloom set Diamond down facing the animals, and immediately, Diamond pulled them into a massive hug and began to fall asleep with them. Making adorable little noises of content as the fur stroked her softly. "Ah see ya need more sleep." Applebloom whispered as she saw Diamond was sucking on her hoof as she slept, her arm still wrapped around the animals. "Let me check on Silver then." Applebloom left Diamond to her sleep-sucking and walked quietly over to the crib where Silver was just waking up. She stretched her hooves in the air and let out a high-pitched yawn before Applebloom picked the gray foal up into the air. "Mowning, Mama." Silver said as she nuzzled Applebloom's neck and hugged her chest. "Morning, Silver. You're looking well today." She then felt Silver's diaper and felt that it was moist. "But I can feel your diaper is another story, isn't it?" "Aww, don't be embarrased, Silver." Applebloom said as she saw that Silver was blushing from the wetness in her diaper. "Let's clean that right up." Applebloom carried Silver over and proceeded to remove the saggy diaper from her rear. Once the soiled diaper was off, Applebloom powdered a new one and slipped it under Silver's flank, making sure the tail went through the hole in the back. After it was in a comfortable position, Applebloom made the three ends of the diaper meet together, so that it was secured onto Silver's flank. Once it was, Applebloom blew a raspberry onto Silver's stomach, causing her to giggle with happiness. "Now then, let's give you something to do, shall we?" Applebloom carried Silver off of the table and to a large chest which she and Diamond hadn't seen the first day they were there. Silver was set down at the chest so that Applebloom could see inside. After a few seconds of rummaging, Applebloom pulled out a purple ball with white stars all over it. She gave it to Silver, who immediately began crawling with the ball, so that it followed her every step of the way. After a while, Silver got bored with crawling and decided to bounce the ball with her tiny little hooves. This time, she was laughing all the while. Her cute noises in that tone made anyone believe that Silver was the cutest foal in the world. At the same time that Babs awoke, Diamond woke up as well and crawled over to Silver, who bounced the ball to Diamond. Diamond caught the incoming ball and rolled it back to Silver. "Well, Applebloom, do ya know what today is?" Babs asked her cousin with a smile on her face. "Uhh, Saturday?" Applebloom responded with a puzzled look. "Well, that's one way of putting it. But it's also Sugar Cube Corner Clearout Day! Everything half price, but 100% satisfaction guaranteed or your bits back!" Babs told Applebloom, who now too was smiling. "We should totally get something from there today!" Applebloom said, before turning to Diamond and Silver. "But ah can't leave Diamond and Silver behind without somepony ta take care of them." "Why not take them with us?" Babs suggested. "I'm sure we can get them something they can keep down over there." "I'm not actually sure for one, and fer two, all they can keep down at the moment is our breastmilk." Applebloom walked over to the pills and downed two more of them before hoofing it to Babs. "Speaking of which, you'd better take your share." Babs quickly swallowed two of the yellow pills before clearing her throat to speak again. "Okay, okay. I have a way to make this work out. We take turns on breastfeeding them in the bathroom once they get hungry. While one of them feeds them in privacy, the other can hold down the table so that it doesn't get taken." "Ya sure it'll work?" Applebloom said, her head tilted in concern. "Trust me, I've seen many other parents head into a bathroom with their foals, most of the time it was to change a soiled diaper, but it could also work for breastfeeding as well." Babs explained. "Also, I heard that the bakers have foals of their own, so that would keep little Diamond and Silver here occupied as we eat." Applebloom sighed. "Fine, ya win, Babs. We'll head ta Sugar Cube Corner with Diamond and Silver." Applebloom reached into the closet again and pulled out the double foal carrier. She strapped it to her back and then motioned for Babs to pick Diamond and Silver up. "Come on, you two. Time for your upsies." Babs said as she picked the two foals up from their activity and placed them into the carrier. Diamond on the left side, and Silver on the right side. "We're gonna be heading to Sugar Cube Corner today." Babs told them as Applebloom began walking downstairs with the two foals. "Do ya tink anypony ewse fwom schoow wiww be thewe?" Silver asked Diamond as they saw Applebloom opening the door "Pwobabwy. But dis is an awtewnate weawity." Silver decided to bring out her logical side. "Dey might be foaws wike us, ow they'we gwown up wike Mama and hew aunties." "We'ww, we'we just gonna hafta find out fow ouwsewves." Diamond said as the four ponies went out of Sweet Apple Acres and went down into Ponyville. Ponyville was as you'd expect it really. The ponies were working, doing their daily errands, or just talking to one another. They were also worried about the disappearance of Princess Twilight (As the newspapers clearly showed them all) but Applebloom and Babs knew there was nothing for the townsponies to fear. They walked through the streets, greeting many familiar faces along the way, before finally arriving at Sugar Cube Corner. Upon walking into the confectionary's door, they were met with the sweet smell of candy wrapping around their noses. Many of the ponies here, had their kids with them as well. Most of the classmates were foals, the others were full grown mares like Applebloom and Babs. Diamond and Silver had longed for some friends after being taken to this reality, and they thought that this would be the perfect time to make some. "Morning, Applebloom, Babs. What can I get you two today?" Mrs Cake said once the two mares stood at the counter. "I'll have the double chocolate whipped cream spongecake with a side of lemonade." Applebloom placed some bits on the table. "And I guess I'll have the Earth's Crunch ice cream." Babs said as she too placed her bits on the table, right next to Applebloom's. "It'll be out shortly, girls. In the meantime, why don't you take a seat and drop your foals off in the play area while you wait." Mrs Cake directed the two to a table before pointing out the location of said play area for Diamond and Silver. "Alright, Diamond, Silver. Me and Babs are gonna keep a close eye even as we eat." Applebloom and Babs turn their chairs to face the play area, so that they can watch over the two of them. "Now remember, you two. Best behaviour in there, alright?" Babs explained as she let the two down in the area to interact with some of the other foals. "So, Babs. Ah wanted ta talk to ya about this here Marefia that's hunting ya." Applebloom began to talk to Babs in an attempt to kick up a conversation. "How can ya tell somepony from the Marefia out of a regular townspony?" "Well, the last time I checked, Ponyville ponies didn't have scars, ripped clothing, or switchblades." Babs gave a short yet descriptive answer. "The real jerk to look out for is a pony named Gunshot. He's a Pegasus with wings so sharp, they could be classified as an official weapon." "Ah might not know much about this here Marefia, but ah do know that it's physically impossible ta sharpen yer wings." Applebloom had to deny Babs' explanation on Gunshot. "Believe me, I've seen him. As the cops brought the Marefia out of their stronghold, kicking and screaming. Gunshot glared at me and me alone before he got stuffed into the cell at the back of a police wagon." Babs got a little deep as she envisioned the story in her head. Babs' POV, The Fall Of The Marefia, 4:25 PM Babs and many other victims could only watch, as the cops hurled molotov grenades into the Marefia's stronghold, lighting it up in flames. As some of the Marefia tried to make a break for it, they were locked in a standoff with the cops. However, some ponies weren't going to go down without a fight, and some lit up their horns to fire back at the cops. The Marefia were advanced in magic, but even with their Unicorn troops, they were still outnumbered and outmatched. After a brief 2 minutes of magic bolts being slung back and forth from the front of the building, the last line in the Marefia's defense fell, and the cops charged in to take their enemies prisoner. They fended off the minimal remaining forces inside, before taking down Gunshot. "Take your hooves off of me, you piles of trash! I have rights!" Gunshot said, a massive dose of venom in his voice, and looks of fury in his eyes as he tried to break free of the cops' hold. "And if you remember clearly, Gunshot, the cops have the legal authority to suspend those rights whenever somepony does something that could land them in deep trouble." Babs decided to get the gall to make a witty remark on the chained Marefia leader. "Your days are over, Gunshot. The Marefia is nothing now, once you end up in the slammer." He stopped moving, a silhouette of his face was a clear sign that he was not going to take that remark lying down. He turned his head slightly, so that Babs could only see his scarred eye and a hint of his mouth. He remembered that voice anywhere. "You, I should have known you'd decide to pull this crap off!" Gunshot's anger sparked up again as he got a clear sight of his next target. "I should have never accepted you as a protection client! Babs Seed!!!!" "Well, you did, and this is the inevitable consequence." Babs said slyly as Gunshot was taken from her personal space and dragged ever so slowly to the cell carriage in which he would be riding in. "Get him out of here, boys." Babs said to the cops who were holding Gunshot down. "Mark my words, Babs Seed. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide, no matter what town you leave Manehatten for, I will have my vengeance!!!" He said as he was hauled into the cell with a thud noise. "I'll have your head, Babs Seed. IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!" The carriage was driven away, out of Babs' sight. But even after it had disappeared, she didn't feel safe. Present Day, Sugar Cube Corner, 11:03 AM "Make no mistake, Cousin, Gunshot will find me eventually. He has tabs in every other major town in Equestria. Even Canterlot." Babs said as she finally returned to reality. "And once he finds me, I'm done for, finished. My days are over! OVER I TELL YOU!" "Babs, calm down." Applebloom said as she held Babs' flailing arms down to calm her down a little. "If this here Marefia did have tabs in Ponyville, they would have found ya by now." "This means the tabs in Ponyville aren't very competent lackeys and don't think to check on an apple farm." Babs finally saw what Applebloom was coming on to. Sure the Marefia had tabs in Ponyville, but think about this. Sweet Apple Acres is just on the outskirts of Ponyville, away from the Marefia's reach. "Cousin, I'm glad I have a friend like you to keep me safe." "Here you go girls." Mrs Cake placed Applebloom and Babs' orders on the table. for Applebloom, there was a sponge cake with a brown colour base and a dollop of whipped cream on top, and for Babs, there was a brick of ice cream with a crunchy chocolate skin covering the ice cream itself. "Thanks, Mrs Cake. It's so nice that you and yer husband are keeping this place running smoothly, especially after Pinkie Pie went missing and all." Applebloom complimented as she received her dish. "Oh yeah, that. I wonder where Pinkie Pie got off to? She hasn't been home for 3 days now, and we're all starting to get worried about her." "Do ya think ah should tell her?" Applebloom leaned in so that she could whisper to Babs as Mrs Cake walked back to the counter. "It's best she doesn't know." Babs whispered back to her cousin. "She wouldn't be able to comprehend the age-spell that Twilight tried to control on that day." "Ah guess yer right." Applebloom took her fork and began eating her food, a smile growing as she chewed and swallowed the chocolate cheesecake. The whipped cream left a small mustache on her face, but she licked that off quickly, but not before Babs could get a light chuckle in on how ridiculous Applebloom's stache looked. > Reuniting With Former Classmates > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond and Silver were gently dropped into the "Play Area" and let onto their foal hooves so that they could walk. They saw that the Play Area was much more complex and much more padded than they initially expected, but they didn't let it hinder them in their foalish playtime. They crawled all over the place and through some padded wringers, letting them wring the foals through. They came out as usual, besides the high amounts of laughter that they were now exerting. Their laughter was almost stopped by the fact that another foal was coming to greet them. "Hi dewe." She smiled as she helped Diamond and Silver up. It was hard for our two foals to make out the helping hoof until they got back up to their hooves to get a good look. The pony was an Earth Pony with a pink coat and two-toned green hair. Diamond could vaguely remember this pony as Aura, a former classmate of hers. "Yoo awwight?" "Yeah, we'we fine." Silver said as she started to recollect herself. "It's nice ta meet yoo." She smiled. "Weww, it's awways a pweasuwe ta meet new faces." Aura smiled as she led Diamond and Silver towards another group of foals, who were playing with no worries in the world. "Sowwy, I nevew said hewwo to yoo two yet. My name is-" "Hewwo, Auwa." Diamond said as she finally remembered that voice, albeit it being a little bit more foalish than she remembered. "I wemembew yoo. Yoo used ta be one of my owd cwassmates." "Excuse me?" Aura looked surprised, which is what Silver would expect, seeing as this was another world she and Diamond were in. As she asked for answers, she saw that Silver and Diamond were having a private huddle, to chat in secrecy. "I tink yoo mean de odew Auwa. Da one in de odew Equestwia." Silver explained to Diamond, who had been wondering why Silver pulled her into a private chat. "It's a common mistake ta make, Diamond. Wat wid a new wowwd, meeting famiwiaw foaws and aww." "Oh, wight." Diamond hung her head, she was starting to remember more and more of her past life, and the more she remembered, the more she started to miss it all. She then shook off her sadness when she was being invited to play by Aura and her friends. "Otay, I can wowk wid dis." She said as she decided to follow Silver and join with Aura and her group of foals for a much more fun activity. "I just gotta make suwe I act wike I dun know dem, and tings shouwd be fine." And with that, Diamond was off to join a foal group. Diamond and Silver were having games of Foal Talk with a few of the foal classmates they had met. They were trying to make their words sound more like what a foal would usually sound like to their parents, and all in all, it was generally good fun for them. The two had also gotten to recognize a few familiar faces such as Rumble, Twist, Archer, Coronet, and even Pip. Diamond had also done a convincing job of acting like she didn't recognize her foal classmates when she met them. "Ooh, nice one!" Diamond complimented as Coronet finished off another foal talk sentence. "Now it's my tuwn again." Diamond smiled as she prepared another foal talk sentence ready. "Apa bwa goo go dei da bwah ma teh coo." Diamond said, in the best foalish accent she could muster up. It seemed to wow her crowd though, the foals were cheering her, showering her with affection, compliments, and even a few hugs on the side. Silver just smiled, walked up next to Diamond and gave her a pat on the back. "So, Diamond. If I couwd intewwupt da game fow a teensy bit. I'd wike ta know evewypony's Mamas a wittwe mowe." Archer asked with a curious look in her eyes. "Oh weww, me and Siwvew have da same Mama." Diamond spoke on both hers and silver's behalves. "She's ovew dewe wid Auntie Babs." She pointed over to a table where Babs and Applebloom were tucking into their ordered dishes. "We wive tagedew at Sweet Appwe Acwes." Silver continued. "Evew since Mama adopted us fwom de owphanage, we've been having a wondewfuw wife wid hew and hew aunties." "Wait, you'we owphans?" Twist asked. The main difference, was that her voice was much more understandable in this world, due to the fact that she was a foal. "Fow some weason, yeah." Silver said as she began to scratch the back of her head. "I dun know wat happened ta ouw weaw pawents." "Dat's kinda sad when yoo tink abowt it." Pip spoke to the both of them with a worried expression on his foalish face. "Nopony evew wants ta wose deiw Mama. Especiawwy not me." He pointed towards his mother, who was eating some scones, of all the things here. "Mine's stiww awwight." Coronet pointed at hers, who was taking in some of the rare eclairs the Cakes had to offer her. "She's just eating some Mama food." "Ouw Mamas awe aww tagedew at da same tabwe now." Rumble said as he suddenly noticed the parents were starting to gather around a much larger table to talk about things, even Babs and Applebloom took their food over to join in. "Weww, if evewyting's accounted fow, wet's get back ta ouw games, shaww we?" Twist smiled as she prepared another foal talk speech. "Awthough, I'm stawting ta get a wittwe bowed of pwaying Foaw Tawk. I was tinking one wast wound, den maybe a game of hide-and-seek?" "Suwe, if evewypony ewse hewe agwees wid youw decision." Coronet turned to face the rest of foals, who were instantly nodding with Twist's idea. "Guess I didn't need ta get de opinions of evewypony ewse didn't I?" She chuckled akwardly. "Awwight den, aftew evewypony finished deiw foaw tawk speeches, we begin hide-and-seek." Twist said as she watched the other foals sat around her, like children excitedly waiting for a teacher to tell them a story. "This one's gonna weawe yoo in stitches..." The foals were recollecting themselves after they said their final speeches in foal talk. It took them a while to stop laughing, due to how funny they all sounded, and after a good minute or so, they were finally ready to begin their little game of hide-and-seek. "Awwight, who shouwd go fiwst?" Coronet asked the group, who were also pondering who should find them first. "I pewsonawwy nominate yoo, uhhhh... Sowwy, I didn't catch youw name eawwiew." She said to Silver. "Oh, I'm Siwvew Spoon and dis is Diamond Tiawa." Silver said, breaking out of her train of thought to talk to Coronet. "Nice ta meet yoo, Cowonet." "I personawwy tink Siwvew hewe shouwd go fiwst." She announced to the group, grabbing their attention. "Who ewse agwees?" "Me!" The other foals burst out into a chorus, raising their hooves up. They didn't care who went first, just so long as they could get the game started. "Den it's settwed." Aura smiled as the foals stopped at last. "Otay, Siwvew. We'ww aww wun and hide, whiwe yoo count ta 10. Onwy when yoo find aww of us, do yoo win." "I kinda knew how ta pway hide-and-seek befowe I came hewe." Silver explained as she covered her eyes with her hooves. "No offense." "None taken, just stawt counting whiwe we hide." Aura said to Silver as the other foals began to run around the large, multi-leveled play area, looking for a great place to hide from Silver's eyes. "1... 2... 3..." Silver began counting giddily whilst the other foals took hiding spaces all over the complex, making sure not to bump into each other as they frantically looked for a place to hide. "7... 8... 9... 10! Weady ow not. Hewe I come!" Silver announced to the play area, so that her group knew that she was coming to find them. Silver crawled up to the top floor first. She had a plan, she was going to work her way from the top all the way down to the bottom. It might have been complex for some foals to make a plan like this, but then again, Silver was a former filly with a foal's body, and a rapidly disintegrating regular mind. She looked around the hanging padding pillars, to see if anypony was here, she checked the corners to be perfectly sure she wasn't missing a foal she was looking for. She couldn't find anypony there, so she then checked the the mini maze. She heard chuckling inside the maze, so she could tell that somepony was here. Foals are usually given away by the number of times they laugh on a regular basis. She went inside the maze to look closer. She checked all the paths and eventually found Diamond, curled up against a corner wall, chuckling until Silver found her. "Found yoo, Diamond!" Silver smiled as she tapped the giggling pink foal, who had just now noticed that Silver had found her. She calmed down and cursed herself mentally for giving her location away. "Why dun we find da west of da gwoup tagedew?" Silver asked Diamond as the two walked out of the mini-maze together. "It shouwd be wots of fun wid yoo and me tagedew." "Weww, I guess so." Diamond's spirits were lifted when Silver suggested the idea. "If we go tagedew, we couwd find dem quickew and easiew." "Yeah, it wiww." She looked around the rest of the top floor of the play area and found that she had found everyone that she wanted to find up there. "Time ta head down ta da next stage." She smiled at Diamond Tiara as she looked at their way down to the next floor, a slide. "Yoo fiwst." Silver gestured to Diamond as she outstretched a hoof towards the slide. "Be sure ta wait fow me." "Hehe, otay, Siwvew. I wiww." She smiled and launched herself downwards, wizzing down the slide and landing gracefully on the padded lower level of the play area. "Now yoo, Siwvew." "Awwight den, jut gotta position mysewf, and... WHEEEEEEEE!!!" Silver literally threw herself down the slide, zipping at a speed that would make any foal jealous just from watching it alone. She landed with a tiny thud, but shook it off as she regrouped with Diamond Tiara, making sure to listen for giggles and check all the corners they could see. This worked effectively as the two could hear some whispering coming from the ball pit. They crawled over and checked the area. It didn't take the two of them to find foals, as they saw Aura and Coronet trying to disguise themselves in the ball pit. "Do yoo tink dey'ww be abwe ta notice us in hewe?" Aura asked Coronet. "Pwobabwy not." She smirked as she snuggled into the ball pit a little more. "We'ww be fine, so wong as we don't tawk so woud." "Otay, but I'm stawting ta get pinkeye in hewe." Aura looked a little concerned. "I'm wowwied if I stay in hewe too wong, I might cwy and give away ouw position." "Who said yoo wewe giving away anyting?" Silver smirked as she quickly reached in and pulled out Aura, whilst Diamond pulled out Coronet. "Gotcha!" "Aww, howsefeathews." Cornet said as she clambered back onto her hooves, to follow Diamond, Silver, and Aura. "So, how many foaws awe weft ta find?" Diamond asked Silver as she checked the rest of the middle floor. "We onwy need ta find Twist, Wumbwe, Pip, and Awchew." Silver counted them off in her head as she checked each corner she could find. "I'ww check hewe fiwst." She crawled inside some kind of padded structure with no other open spaces. It was dark in there, this made Silver a little worried as she fumbled around to find one of the foals she was looking for. She had to rely on her sense of sound to find a foal in this area. The only specks of light she had were from the main entrance and the little holes in the wall on the higher floor of the structure. She heard giggling and climbed up to find somepony was chuckling in the room. Silver felt around for the source of the laughter, and suddenly found her hoof was caught in something, and if that wasn't enough, her hoof was starting to get moist all of a sudden. Someone was sucking on it, and she knew all too well that she wasn't. She pulled her hoof back and felt somepony's forehead. "Thewe yoo awe!" She said, triumphant that she had found someone, leading the foal out of the darkness, the mystery foal was revealed as Archer, much to Silver's delight. "Awwight, wet's head to da bottom of da pway awea." Silver rallied her group of found foals. "No doubt dat Pip, Wumbwe, and Twist awe waiting dewe. Hiding fwom ouw sights." Silver's foals were led to a slide leading to the bottom floor of the play area. The others went first and Silver went down last. They landed in the order of Coronet, then Aura, then Diamond, then Archer, and Silver last. Silver looked at the padded shapes first and decided to check there first. She had to move some of the shapes to travel around better and to find another foal hiding behind one of the padded shapes. "Found yoo." Silver said as she removed a shape to find Pip hiding behind it. He giggled when Silver had found her and crawled out of his little shape garden without any fuss whatsoever. "If you'we wooking fow Twist, I saw hew hide behind dose pwushies ovew thewe." He pointed towards a bunch of oversized plush animals, some of which were being hugged by other foals who weren't part of the group. "Tank yoo, Pip." Silver giggled and gave him a little hug before moving in to find Twist. She checked behind all the plushies she could find, getting closer and closer to Twist's giggles with each plushie. Eventually, Silver found Twist, who was napping behind the last plushie. Silver gently tapped her forehead in an attempt to grab the attention of the sleeping Earth Pony foal. "Mowning, sweepyhead." Silver smiled as Twist finally woke up and yawned in a cute little fashion which would make any mother swoon at how cute she looked. "How wong was I out?" Twist asked as she got to her hooves and regrouped with the rest of Silver's little band of foals. "Is Mama done wid hew food yet?" "We onwy need ta find Wumbwe." Coronet told Twist when the group was finally together again. "Den Siwvew wiww have found aww of us." Aura finished up talking to Twist as Silver checked the final position that Rumble could have hidden in. Rumble wasn't so easy to find, unlike the others. Silver checked all the corners in the area but couldn't find Rumble anywhere. She could still hear his laughter, but couldn't see him anywhere. "How is he doing dat?" Silver asked herself as she slid her hooves on the wall and felt the wall moving as she moved her hooves along the wall. "Oh, dat might expwain it." Silver then got the idea to move every wall she could, so as to find Rumble hiding behind at least one of them. She had to think about this, she was playing some kind of foalish puzzle, and needed to play her cards right as she was listening for Rumble at the same time she was sliding the walls. Eventually, Rumble recoiled in a little shock as Silver finally found him as she slid a wall to find him. He hung his head in defeat as he and Silver walked out of the sliding walls room and back to the group of foals. "Da gang's aww hewe." Silver smiled as Rumble walked out to greet the rest of the group again. "Dat was fun, Wumbwe. Yoo and youw fwiends pwayed a good game and hid weawwy weww." "Now I tink Mama's aww done wid hew food and dwink. I tink it's time we headed back ta meet hew." Diamond said as she turned Silver's head to see that Babs and Applebloom were walking over to the entrance to collect them both. "Weww, it was fun meeting yoo aww, but we have ta get back ta ouw Mama." Silver said her goodbyes to the other foals and walked with Diamond over to the entrance again. "Bye-Bye, Siwvew! Bye-Bye, Diamond!" The foals said their farewells back as Diamond and Silver made it back to the entrance at last. They waved to the two of them, to which Diamond and Silver waved back. Diamond and Silver were picked up by Babs and placed into Applebloom's carrier. Silver on the left and Diamond on the right. "Nice ta see you two again." Applebloom smiled as she walked out of Sweet Apple Acres with the foals by her side and Babs behind her. "Did ya'll have a nice time with the other foals?" "Oh, Mama. It fewt wondewfuw." Diamond smiled as she basked in the sunlight of daytime again, with Silver doing the same. For the first time, Diamond actually felt like she had friends. And she liked it. > The Ponyville Tabs > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond and Silver spent most of the walk home snuggling in Applebloom's fur. They had really grown to appreciate her for all the stuff they had done for them in their time of need, as Applebloom had grown to appreciate their companionship. They also found it very easy to sleep in Applebloom's coat, and were doing so with shallow breaths. "Aww, cute little rascals couldn't last the trip home." Babs lightly chuckled at how adorable the sight of Diamond and Silver's nap was as she and Applebloom made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres so that Diamond and Silver could rest easily. As Applebloom and Babs walked down the roads and up to the road that went to the farm, a figure was watching them from afar. He was a unicorn with a scar running through his right eye, with white hair which had silver streaks and a brown coat with a Cutie Mark depicting hand of cards with an Ace, Queen, Jack, King and 10 of the same suit. "Gunshot, I've got something here in Ponyville." He said as he used his horn to bring up a talk screen, so he could talk to the imprisoned crime lord in Manehatten. "The pony you've been after, Babs Seed just walked past me." "Hmm..." Gunshot said, rubbing his damaged wings gently with his hooves, so that he didn't aggravate the wounds. Even though he was locked up in his cell, the police didn't have any restraints in his cell which would hold him down, so that was a compromise for him, if he needed to stretch a little. "Where is she headed, Royal?" "She's traveling with another Earth Pony, who is the mother of two Earth Pony infants." The unicorn said as he got one last look at the two ponies walking up the road. "What do you suppose the course of action is, Gunshot? Should we take her out now, while she's seen?" "No, Royal Flush." Gunshot said, in a very serious tone towards his long-distance lackey. "If we kill her in front of all those witnesses and foals, we could start a panic, and after the crap back in Manehatten, I'm not receiving the death penalty for co-ordinating crime from prison." "So what DO you suppose we do?! Just let her get away again?!" Royal Flush looked a little angry as he slightly raised his voice in sync with when he banged his hooves against the table. "Patience, Royal. We need to wait this out, strike when Babs is at her most vulnerable." Gunshot smirked as he unfurled his wings, wincing at pain when the pain returned. "The next time she's alone, then you can strike. Oh, and try to make this a stealth kill, we don't want her calling for help now, do we?" "Very well, Gunshot." Royal said as he got served his food and paid the waitress pony with a few bits. "But If this fails and Babs manages to escape again..." "Stop your worrying. She's not getting out of it this time." Gunshot walked over to the prison sink in his cell and began to take a drink of the arctic tap water. "Just watch her for now, and only strike Babs when there are NO other witnesses to watch. I'll talk to you later, Gunshot out." Then Royal Flush cut off the talk screen and took the hay fries with him to go, as he followed Applebloom and Babs from afar. "Make no mistake, Babs Seed, you may have escaped our wrath in Manehatten, but coming here to Ponyville was a big risk, even for you..." "The question now, is how do you plan to beat Royal Flush?" He smirked at his own joke and followed Babs and Applebloom on their trip through town, letting them leave for Sweet Apple Acres. "Well, there's no place like home, after all." Applebloom said as she and Babs walked into the barn and quietly went up the stairs, to make sure they didn't wake Diamond and Silver. "Ah'm sure that after the fun they had with the other kids today, Diamond and Silver deserve a little nap." "And who could blame them? They look so cute while they're asleep." Babs smiled down on the sleeping foals as Applebloom carefully lifted them out of the carrier and onto the bed. Once they were out of the carrier, Babs helped Applebloom get the carrier off so that she could get Diamond and Silver into something else. "Yeah... But ah bet they'd look even cuter in these!" Applebloom pulled out two pink blankets from a nearby closet and began to wrap Diamond in one of them, leaving an empty pink blanket for Silver to be wrapped up in. "Alrighty, Babs. Just do what ah did, and this should be no problem at all." "Hmm... Alright then... Now how does this..." Babs was already starting to struggle with this. She had learned a lot of things from Applebloom, but nothing about wrapping a foal in blankets. She tried it a few times but managed to fail every time as the blanket unraveled around Silver. "How she's still sleeping, I'll never know." "Here, let me try it..." Applebloom said as she picked up where Babs left off. She laid Silver Spoon back down on top of the blanket, then wrapped the blanket around her, so that her limbs were constricted by the soft material. Then, for a finishing touch, she used the remaining part of the blanket to make a little hood part for Silver. "There we go, now they look like they were just born." Applebloom and Babs picked up the two ponies and laid them down in the crib to get some peace. "Oh, ah can't wait fer them ta wake up later, so that they can see fer themselves." "Well, I guess I should get a few apples bucked." Babs said as she began to walk downstairs so that she could get back to the farm to earn her keep and keep the farm going. "I don't want you to lose the farm. It'd break my heart, and the hearts of Diamond and Silver." "Alright, Babs. I'll see you at dinner then." Applebloom said as Babs left the room and walked downstairs so that she could get to the apple trees which needed to be bucked. Once Applebloom closed the door, the foals got up and yawned in high-pitches, which let Applebloom know that Diamond and Silver had woken up again and were now feeling the soft blankets with their hooves, and were partially wondering why they couldn't move their hooves out of the soft fabric. "Hewwo, Diamond." Silver said, awakening in the soft blankets, smiling at how soft they were. "Hewwo, Siwvew." Diamond said before she discovered the fact that she was being held by the pink fabric. "Wait a minute. Why awe my hooves stuck?" "Umm... I tink it's dese bwankets." Silver said as she rubbed the soft materials with her restrained hooves, smiling at how soft to the touch they were. "Hehe, dey'we actuawwy quite nice." "Actuawwy, now dat yoo say dat. Dey AWE pwetty comfy." Diamond said, no longer hiding her love for the soft and cushy material she had been wrapped in. "But I do wondew how dis is going to affect ouw wawking..." "Afternoon, Girls. I see you had a nice nap." Applebloom said as she picked Diamond and Silver up and carried them over to the bed. They were obviously famished, so Applebloom was going to give them something to eat. "Umm... Mama? Why awe we wwapped up in dese tings?" Diamond asked once Applebloom revealed her teats to them, to which them smiled. "I'll explain later. But fer now, ya'll need something to eat." Applebloom pulled the two foals in so that they could eat their fills without the blankets unraveling whilst they did so. "Ah don't want ya ta starve, and neither does Auntie Babs." Diamond and Silver nursed from Applebloom's teats once more, feeling an even warmer sensation of love than ever before for some reason. Due to the calming warmness of the blankets, the breast milk tasted much better to Diamond and Silver, and they cooed happily as the delicious milk trickled down their throats. The two foals smiled once they had finished their drinks and giggled when Applebloom picked them up to burp them. Their forced belches were always a humorous noise, both for Applebloom, and for the two foals as well. "Ya'll must have been mighty thirsty ta let out burps like that." Applebloom smiled as she picked the two foals up once more and then placed them on the padded floor to get some more time to play. "Let me just get these off..." Once Babs was out on the orchard once more, she was ready to pound some trees and get some apples in return. She remembered all the traits that the Apple Family used for bucking trees and placed the buckets in the positions where she would collect the most apples. A mighty Applebuck brought down 3 dozen apples and Babs was quite pleased with her result. She took the apples out of the bucket and loaded them into the nearby cart, so she'd be able to cart home all the apples at once. She moved over to the next tree and was about to strike it, until... "Hello again, Babs Seed..." Royal Flush's voice appeared from out of nowhere, causing Babs to stop and wonder where it came from. "How we've longed to see you again..." "Marefia Goons, of all the worst possible times..." She facehoofed as she prepared for a physical fight. She tried looking around each trees to find the assaulter in question, but to her shock, found nothing. "Where are you?! Show yourself!!!" She called out, not even flinching at the possibility of death anymore. "I prefer not to introduce myself until after my goal is completed..." His voice was easy for Babs to pinpoint, and eventually she came to the realisation that her attacker was either a Pegasus or a Unicorn. "Master Gunshot authorised me to make this a stealth killing. It's nothing personal, Babsy dear, it's just business..." "But... For you, I could make an exception..." He appeared right in front of Babs' eyes with a flash of light, so that she at least had the chance to look at her assailant. "The name's Royal Flush, Equestria Poker Champion, 10 years running, Marefia Ponyville Division Leader, and the last face you'll ever see before you join your buddies down in Tartarus!" "Ya know, for a Marefia Goon, I was expecting a little more muscle and stupidity, not some snobby gambler." Babs smirked as she looked closely at the attacker in question. "Are you suggesting that ALL Marefia Goons are stupid muscular tough guys?" Royal Flush recoiled at that insult and readied a concussive blast, ready to strike Babs head on. "Maybe." Was the only response that Royal got. "Believe me, Babs Seed, things have changed since you threw Gunshot in the slammer..." Royal Flush said as he teleported behind Babs, as if he was trying to take her out mid-sentence. "Things have changed BIG TIME." "I don't see anything different, do you?" Babs said, tilting her head to look like she was confused and wanted the answer to Royal's statement. "I still see arrogant Unicorns with scars down their faces, eyeing me up, as if they want to do something naughty to me." "Eewwwww! That's completely different now!" Royal Flush wretched at what Babs had just implied. "And besides, you're not my type... I like my mares with a little more... Fire!" He shot a fireball spell at Babs, who quickly dodged it, letting a tree take the fall instead. "That's gonna come out of my salary." Babs said as she looked at the scorched tree with a little hint of fury in her eyes. "You're paying for that, Royal!" She charged at Royal, and struck him with a series of blows, mostly to the facial area. Since his opponent was an Earth Pony, each of those punches hurt Royal Flush with even more pain than he was expecting. He brushed some dust off his cheek and shot lasers at Babs, as if he wanted to take her down at long range instead of close. But still, Babs was far too fast for him, she had spent most of her time teaching martial arts back in Manehatten, and had learned to deal with all these Marefia idiots for quite some time now. He uppercut Royal Flush and then punched him into another tree as he fell. "Timber!!!" Babs said as the tree and Royal Flush collapsed to the ground, landing with a thud and bringing up a dust cloud. "Ya had enough, Royal?" "Argh! I can see now why Gunshot wanted me to make this a stealth killing, you're far too powerful to fight!" Royal Flush said as he turned tail and was began to run back to town. "I'll be back, Babs. And when I return, I'll have help!" "Not likely..." Babs said as she returned to her Applebucking. She took down a hefty surplus of apples and loaded them into the cart. Thankfully, it hadn't been damaged during the fight with Royal Flush. "I've never seen a Marefia Goon act so sneaky and upper-class like that. Something's up in the Equestrian Underworld, and I don't think I'm gonna like what it is they're cooking up for me..." Babs thought as she brought down the last of the apples for the day. "If Gunshot is still leading the Marefia from within the walls of jail, I should remain on my guard..." Babs hooked herself up to the now full apple cart and took it back to the barn, keeping a close eye out for any more Marefia Goons that either missed the party, or were too stupid to attack her straight away. Once Babs made it back to the barn, she put the apples inside and unhooked herself from the cart. She then took a little swig of Apple Family Cider before walking back up to Applebloom, Diamond and Silver. "Babs? What took ya so long?" Applebloom said as she sat back up from a little table, where Diamond and Silver were having a make-believe Tea-Party. " Diamond and Silver were almost finished with their tea." "Trust me, Coz, you do NOT want to know." Babs said in between gasps for breath. That fight with Royal Flush, on top of all the other Applebucking she got done, was starting to take its' toll on her. "What?! You just ran?!" Gunshot yelled as he angrily addressed Royal Flush, back in his hideout. It was filled to the brim with poker tables, betting chips, and even a few minibars with lovely assistants, ready to give Royal a drink if he needed one. "I didn't think she was that goddamn powerful!" Royal said as he rubbed his bandaged bruises, making sure that they weren't agitated if he did it too hard. "She's an Earth Pony unlike any I've ever seen before, and this is coming from a Unicorn's perspective!" "Even so, I can't let this failure go unpunished!" Gunshot calmed down a little now and clicked his fingers, causing two tough Earth Ponies, who presumably worked as Royal's security appeared behind him. "Let this beating be a lesson to you, that nopony fails Gunshot!" Royal tried to run, but the Earth Pony security guards began to wail on him, beating him up with their powerful physiques. He winced in pain as they accurately struck him on his bruises, which hurt him even more. He knew now what true pain felt like, and then he snapped. "NO!!!" He roared, causing a massive explosion of magic which knocked out both of the security guards. "Babs can't hurt me this time, I've got some Aces up my sleeve." He used his magic to conjure up some humanoid figures out of nothing but playing cards. "Say hello to my Aces, the covert ops specialists for one Royal Flush. Impressive, dont'cha think? "Ahh, your magic IS getting stronger after all..." Gunshot now smirked before putting his serious face back on. "But even so, you clearly need supervision after failing to take Babs down. Which is why I'm sending Seductress and Dominatrix over from Las Pegasus to aide you in taking her out." "B-but, I'm strictly a one-pony fighter!" He said, clearly appalled at the atrocity which was said in front of his ears. "Well, a one-pony fighter WOULD have gotten the job done by now." Gunshot said as the guards were letting inmates out to the exercise yard. "Now, I have to go for a mandatory inmate exercise session. YOU will be stuck with Seductress and Dominatirx until further notice. End of conversation." The screen disappeared in front of Royal Flush and he looked angry now. He took a swig of one of the drinks from the minibar before he flipped one of his poker tables in a fit of rage, sending the betting chips flying everywhere. "Damn that Gunshot, who does he think he is, forcing me to be stuck with sexy mares who never kill anyone?!" He said as he put the table back up, only to flip it again. "I WILL take your head off, Babs Seed. Me and my Aces will see to that..."