The First Day
Minor Side Effects
“What. Did. You. DO?!”
Those were the word’s that came out of her mouth because, well, Sunset Shimmer’s brain was malfunctioning right now. She’d seen a lot of crazy things before, but this was on a different level. Big, magical monsters? Pft, no problem. Magically enhanced tyrant’s? A most-likely-future-friend. Six of her friends magically turned into toddlers in the time it’d taken her to run to the bathroom? What?!?
But, there they were. Miniature versions of her friends sat on the asphalt, unmistakably aged down to two or three years old. Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, and Twilight were all bawling their eyes out, Rarity and Timber Spruce both looked shell-shocked and on the verge of following the others’ example, and Rainbow Dash was happily looking around her surroundings without a care in the world. She did spare the others a confused look. Briefly.
And standing just one table over, both with their hands clasped and Twilight’s now broken Vitalimeter, was a stunned-faced Trixie Lulamoon and… “Adagio Dazzle?”
Yeah, it was going to be one of those days.
Sunset saying her name seemed to snap the siren to reality. Adagio released the device as if it had grown hot all of the sudden. She took a few steps back and raised her hands a little. “I’m just… gonna go…”
“Um, no you aren’t,” Sunset glared at her and placed her hand on her hips. “Not till I get a full expiation as to what exactly happened here.”
Adagio didn’t back away any further, but by the way she was glancing at them she seemed more intimidated by the toddlers than by Sunset.
“It was her fault,” Trixie wasted no time in pointing a finger at Adagio.
“You little-“
“Stop!” Sunset jumped between the two before the siren could do Trixie any harm. The Dazzling’s and the Rainbooms had reached relatively neutral terms, but she still didn’t trust them, not fully. That didn’t mean Trixie hadn’t earned the Siren’s ire though, as even the most patient souls could be tested by the magician. She needed to hear what’d happened.
Sunset looked Trixie directly in the eye. “Just tell me the full story from the top.”
She huffed and folded her arms, but Trixie complied. “Well, Trixie and the girls were chatting at our selected table when a very important notification went off on Trixie’s phone. Trixie can’t just ignore an important client, but she’s not so rude as to text while in the middle of a conversation, so she moved a table over to deal with it.”
Adagio snorted. “From what I saw, your ‘important client’ was a character on that dumb Hex High app.” With a roll of her eye’s, she added, “Sonata’s obsessed.”
Faced flushed and teeth grit, Trixie pointedly ignored her and continued. “As your designated vital monitor, Sunset Shimmer, Trixie kept the vita-whatsit right next to her in case anything happened. Well, as you can imagine, Trixie was doing an excellent job when who should swoop in from behind her and snatch it up!” She whirled and pointed an accusatory finger at Adagio, stamping her foot for good measure.
Adagio raised an unimpressed eyebrow. When she saw the look Sunset was giving her, however, she shrugged and said, “It looked like equestrian tech.”
“It wasn’t yours!”
“And?”
“Stop, stop, stop,” Sunset sighed. She sent a quick ‘please hurry up’ text to Applejack and Pinkie Pie who had been with Sunset in the bathroom but detoured for some cinnamon pretzels. Their friends-turned-toddlers were almost making as much racket as the two adult children she was having to deal with, and it was giving her a headache.
She was glad there weren’t many other people around thanks to today being an early-release from school. Adults weren’t off work yet to witness the scene. Still, an open dining patio outside the mall wasn’t the best place for a bunch of distraught kids.
Sunset took a deep breath. “What happened next.”
“Naturally, Trixie tried to take it back, but she wouldn’t give it!”
“I just needed to see if it had any good magic. I’d’ve given it back. Probably.” Adagio examined her nails. “Figure’s it’s a piece of junk.”
Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s a vitalimeter. It’s just supposed to measure the extent that our equestrian magic can heal us. I’ve been having Trixie carry it around so she can use it if and when we stumble across rogue magic.”
“Rouge magic, did you say?” Adagio now seemed genuinely interested.
“No.” Sunset glared at her sternly.
Adagio glared right back. After a minute, however, the siren relented. “Fine. Probably more work than it’s worth anyway.” She tucked her hands in her pockets and looked away. “A heal-factor scale, did you say?”
“That’s the theory, yes,” Sunset sighed. “Of course, we’ve barely gotten any readings. Just regular bumps and bruises. But there’s definitely a difference, especially if an injury occurs while we’re ponied up or using our magic.
Trixie nodded. “Rainbow Dash runs into a lot of things.”
“Of course,” Sunset continued, “we now know that it can achieve some…” She looked over to the toddlers, some of which had dried themselves out tears, “…unexpected side effects.”
“What in the hay..?”
Finally! Sunset turned to find Pinkie Pie and Applejack laden with cinnamon pretzel bites, though the latter looked about ready to drop hers.
“Awe, I want in!”
“Pinkie, I don’t think you can- welp, okay then.”
Pinkie tossed her treats on the nearest table and planted herself in the midst of the toddlers. She squatted down to their height and pressed her fingers to her temples, eyes screwed shut in concentration. “Okay, Pinkie Pie, time to get in the zone. Rocking horses. Baby bottles. Pacifiers. Maracas…”
As Pinkie Pie continued to list off random items associated with early childhood, Twilight and Flash stifled their cries to watch her curiously with Timber and Rarity. Rainbow Dash watched for a few seconds, then got up and tried to mimic Pinkie’s pose. She’d manage to squat down after a couple tries, but every time she tried to raise her hands to her head she’d throw her balance again and topple over.
Fluttershy was still hiccupping out sobs and shaking, so with another sigh Sunset scooped her up to try and calm her down a little. Fluttershy grasped her jacket as if her life depended on it and hid her face from the world as soon as Sunset had her. Trying not to think about how weird this all was, Sunset rubbed her back soothingly while returning to the others.
Taking advantage of Pinkie inadvertently entertaining the little ones, Sunset briefed Applejack on what Trixie and Adagio had told her.
“Consarnit..” Applejack muttered under her breath. “This is a really bad time to be havin’ this mess. Pinkie and I have to meet up with the Cakes in less than two hours! This baking competition only happens every other year.” She kicked at the ground with her boot.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry, AJ,” Sunset shifted Fluttershy to her other hip.
“S’not your fault, so don’t apologize.” She gave the kids a long look. “But we can’t stick around to help you out with this for long.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie pie agreed, “as cute as everyone is right now, we’ve been planning this for months. And we’re already taking the Cake twins with us.” Pinkie had given up trying to turn herself into a toddler and was now sitting cross-legged and making balloon animals. “Lemme tell you, even two kids is a handful. You might want to figure out how to turn them back.” She gave mini Rarity a side hug as she handed her a purple balloon flower.
“That might be kinda tricky…” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck uncertainly. “In Equestria, age spells are some of the most difficult to master, even for ponies like Twilight. I don’t know how we managed to do this, but with any luck Princess Twilight might. AJ, can you get my journal out for me?” She turned so that the farmer could easily pull it out of the backpack she was wearing.
Once she had it, Sunset sat down at the table with Fluttershy in her lap and wrote out a quick note to the Princess. “Okay, we’ll see what she says. In the meantime, we should probably get these guys to a safer place, at least until we hear back.”
For the first time, Sunset took a moment to get a good look at her toddler-fied friends. They all had sugar coating their faces due to the pretzel bites Pinkie was offering them, and all their tears had been replaced with smiles and giggles. Fortunately, Equestrian magic had once again accounted for wardrobe accommodation.
Of the bunch, Rainbow Dash was the shortest, and her hair was sticking out in every which way despite the ponytail that tried to contain it. She had dark grey pants, a red shirt, a deep bule little hoodie on. She was eager to play with Pinkie and the other kids, happy to be with whoever would pay her some attention.
Twilight was helping Pinkie Pie hand out more cinnamon pretzels, her glasses crooked on her nose with a strap kept them from falling off her face completely. She had a deep purple shirt and skirt with matching silver stars on both, and her hair was still tied up in her regular ponytail.
Rarity was the tallest of the girls, and she wore a sleeveless cream dress with a purple floral pattern and blue trim. A plastic silver bracelet had taken the place of her actual bracelet, and her hair was wound in tighter curls.
Flash was just shorter than Twilight, clad in a striped button up shirt and green khakis. He sat cross legged on the ground, smiling up at everyone who walked passed.
Timber was the tallest, but still pretty lanky. He had a green shirt that matched his hair and brown pants. He kept reaching out in hopes of sneaking a few more Pretzels, but Pinkie always managed to pull them out of reach in time, eliciting a displeased pout.
And then there was Fluttershy, still curled up against her chest. She still wore a long blue dress, but now it had sleeves, pink trim, and a pink bow in the back with a single large butterfly across her chest. Her hair was still draped in waves that came just below her shoulders, but the front strands had been pulled back and tied behind her head. She’d calmed down enough to stop crying and peaked out around Sunset every so often, but her eyes were still wide and frightened.
Not that Sunset could blame her or any of the others for being so distressed. For all they knew, they’d just been dropped into a strange place surrounded by total strangers.
Sunset grabbed one of the pretzel bites as Pinkie passed by and offered it to Fluttershy, but after staring at it blankly for a moment, she went back to hiding under the jacket.
“We can take ‘em on over to the farmhouse,” Applejack finally suggested. “Pinkie and I might not be able to stick around, but Grannie knows a thing or two about dealing with kids. She’ll help sort you out util we know how to fix this.”
Adagio clasped her hands together. “Great, you’ve got it all sorted out. I’m leaving now.”
“No you’re you not,” Sunset growled. “You’re the reason you’re in this mess, so you’re going to help us clean it up.”
“And you’re going to make me how, exactly?”
“I’m not, she is,” Sunset inclined her head towards Applejack. Picking up on the cue, she dug her fingers into the back of the chair she was leaning against, warping the metal audibly.
The only outward sign Adagio gave was the slightest dilation in her eyes for a moment. But then she was back to casually shifting her weight with a shrug. “Whatever, I could use an excuse to get away from my sisters anyway. I don’t have much else to do.”
Applejack frowned at her. “Don’t you be causing any trouble. If I hear of any issues thanks to you-“
Adagio put her hands up, “Look, we may’ve had our issues in the past, but even I wouldn’t hurt children this small. I do have some boundaries.” She frowned at Timber Spruce and Rainbow Dash as they ran past her in a game of chase.
Applejack gave a curt nod, but still said to Sunset, “Do let me know if there’s trouble, and I’ll fix ‘er straight.” Then, addressing the rest of the group, “Alright y’all, everyone grab a kid and head to the van. It ain’t got any car-seats so try to keep them below the windows while driving so we don’t get pulled over.” She bent down and stopped Timber mid-run, effortlessly lifting him in one arm while snagging Rainbow Dash with the other. She started herding them to the van, which they had carpooled in earlier.
“So, uh,” Trixie fidgeted with the broken vitalimeter, “I know I’ve told you that the Great and Powerful Trixie is amazing at everything, naturally, but she’s never really considered children to be a part of… everything.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “You’re going to have to help, Trixie, whether you like it or not. I know it’s not your fault,” mostly, she added to herself, “but there’s no way I can do this without backup. Especially if Adagio turns out to be more of a hindrance than help.”
“Well, when you put it that way,” she flicked her hair, “of course Trixie will help.” She looked uncertainly at the remaining children. “So, um, what do I…?”
“Here!” Pinkie Pie thrust little Twilight into Trixie’s arms, letting go before the magician had a chance to protest. She then grabbed Flash for herself and guided them all to the van.
Sunset looked down at Fluttershy. “I guess we’re all set then.” Sunset bounced her lightly a bit before getting up, happy to hear that she’d earned a small giggle in return. “There you go, see?” She bounced her again, getting Fluttershy to laugh and look up at her happily. “The world’s not ending after all.”
“I swear, if you don’t hold still you little-“
A shrill cry of “Nooooo!” cut Adagio off mid-curse, causing Sunset to swivel around.
What she saw was Adagio trying to wrangle Rarity at arm’s length while Rarity was doing everything in her power to squirm free. Adagio was glowering at the child while Rarity had an equally determined scowl. Adagio managed to grasp Rarity under the armpit after a bit more struggle and lifted her up and away from her.
Groaning, Sunset walked over to them. “Put her down, Adagio.”
“What? I just got her!”
Rarity was doing her best to prove the siren wrong. When wiggling didn’t work, she let out a shrill scream.
Cringing, Adagio followed Sunset’s advice and released her. As soon as she was free, Rarity ran around to hide behind Sunset, tears brimming in her eyes but not quite crying.
“What, so you’ll go with her then?” Adagio snarled out of frustration.
Now Rarity was crying.
Adagio threw her hands up in defeat. “This is already turning out to be a bad idea.”
Yes it is. “Adagio, you can’t hold her like that, you have to hold her close. And you could have just offered to hold her hand or something, not wrestle with her.”
“Fine then, miss magical unicorn, show me how it’s done,” she gestured at Rarity, expression clearly stating that she doubted Sunset could do any better than she had.
“Sure, take Fluttershy for me.” Sunset tried to hand Fluttershy over, but the minute she started to Fluttershy latched onto her, curling her shirt and vest in her small fists while her pupils shrank. Sunset tried to pry her off gently, but gave up as soon as Fluttershy looked up at her with her large pleading eyes.
“Okay then, never mind,” Sunset gave Adagio a helpless shrug. “You’ll have to calm her down yourself.”
“How, exactly?” she gave Rarity an uncertain look.
“I don’t know, apologize maybe?”
“Apologize for what? She’s the one who wouldn’t hold still.” Adagio crossed her arms.
“She’s two, Adagio, and you’re pretty intimidating, especially when you’re in a mood.”
Adagio gave her an evil look.
“Just try, alright? The others are waiting for us.”
With a sigh that sounded like it was half growl, Adagio knelt down so she could look Rarity in the eye. She closed her eyes and focused on relaxing her face for a moment. “Look, little keytarist, I’m sorry if I scared you or hurt you, alright? I was just trying to get us to the van.”
Rarity sniffled, then came out of hiding and hugged Adagio.
Sunset had to refrain from snorting at the blur of emotions that crossed the siren’s face before she settled on looking at Sunset with a confused plea for help.
Sunset shrugged and walked to the van, but she did sneak a glance to see Adagio stiffly return Rarity’s hug before picking her up and hurrying after.
“What took y’all so long?” Applejack griped as Sunset settled into the passenger seat.
“Sorry, we had some stubborn children.” Sunset could feel the glare through the back of her seat.
~*~
The ride to the farmhouse was… loud, to say the least. But, they made it without any wrecks or getting pulled over, so it was a victory in Sunset’s eyes. And, as a bonus, Princess Twilight had replied with a promise to come over with Starlight in a couple hours. With any luck the whole situation would be resolved soon.
Of course, they first had to get all the kids into the house, which was proving to be a lot harder than it sounded.
Twilight was crying for some reason, and Sunset honestly didn’t know why. Timber and Rarity both had sour expressions as they were herded forward. Flash walked about as fast as molasses, and Rainbow was…
“Um, guy’s, where’d Rainbow go?” Sunset scanned around the grassy lawn and the first line of apple trees, but with growing worry she caught no sight of any rainbow hair.
“Are you kidding me, we were almost at the house!” Adagio glared at Sunset like it was her fault Rainbow had run off.
“Don’ worry, I see ‘er.” Applejack waved them off. “She’s under the van.”
“Oh, good, that had me really- Did you say she’s under the van?”
“Eyep.” Applejack marched over and tipped the vehicle up with one hand. And there, indeed, little Rainbow Dash was playing while covered in a layer of dust. She sat up curiously when the van was no longer above her head. What she was doing under the van, of all places, Sunset could only guess. “Can someone come grab her?” Applejack called out.
Sunset nearly volunteered, but then she remembered the other problem she had yet to find a solution to. Every time she tried to set her down, Fluttershy panicked. So instead, Sunset had to sit back watch as Trixie awkwardly tried and failed to figure out how to pick up Rainbow Dash.
Trixie bent down to grab her around the ribs, but Rainbow dashed forward in a fit of giggles. She stopped to watch what Trixie would do next. Trixie tried again, coming from the front, but Dash dodged to the side, clearly loving this new game they’d invented. Trixie took a step forward, and Rainbow ran to her other side.
Getting frustrated, Trixie stood tall and swiped for her, but Dash simply ducked under and between her legs.
Trixie whirled around, threw her pointed hat on the ground, and stamped her foot. “Will you hold still!”
“Oh for the love of…” Applejack let the van drop and grabbed Dash from behind. She held her like a brightly colored football as she speed-walked the rest of the way to the house.
Rather red with embarrassment, Trixie dusted off her hat and followed with her head ducked.
“Alright, we got everyone now?” Applejack did a silent headcount before giving a nod. “Right then.” She knocked on the farmhouse door.
A little shuffling, then the door opened to reveal the matriarch of the Apple clan, Granny Smith. Granny took a long look at the bunch, from the teary and grouchy kids to the frazzled teens, and burst out laughing. “Well now, aren’t you all a righteous mess!”
“Just let us in, Granny,” Applejack sighed.
“Alright, alright, don’t get your hair in a twist.” She gave them a backward glance. “Though it might be a bit too late fer that.”
Sunset looked at her own main, but while it might be a little frizzed it wasn’t that bad. It was a good thing little Rarity didn’t seem to care that her ringlets were in disarray.
They all shuffled into the apple family’s living area. When they spotted it, Trixie and Adagio both raced to claim the couch, but as soon as they saw the other about to sit, they glared at each other, each daring the other to sit next to them. That left enough time for Timber, Flash, and Rainbow Dash to crawl up onto it before either siren or magician could. And with Applejack already sitting down in the recliner with her elbows on her knees and Granny taking her rocking chair, that left the rest of them to stand. Or sit on the floor, as Pinkie opted to do.
“Ah almost didn’t believe her when Applejack called and told me about this, he-he,” Granny chuckled again. “Y’all look flustered as a cat who's just met water, and clueless as a white-tailed rat.”
“They haven’t exactly been cooperative,” Sunset said.
“Phooey,” Granny waved her hand, “You just have ta’ know how to treat ‘em right. Applejack, run upstairs an’ grab us a load of blankets.”
“Yes, ma’am.” With a tip of her hat, she went to do as asked.
“Are you kidding Trixie?” Trixie huffed, “We’ve been treating these kids like royalty and all we’ve gotten is fusses and fits. Trixie did not sign up to have her eardrums blown out by winy kids.”
“Well o’ course they’re throwin’ fits. The dears are plum-tuckered out! Just look at the time, it's nearly two o’clock. They all should’ve been asleep ages ago. We’ll get ‘em all down for a quick napper, then they’ll be right as rain. And lookie there, one’s already out.”
A quick glance around confirmed that Rainbow Dash was passed out on the couch, her head resting on it’s arm. Wasn’t she running around nonstop just three minutes ago? Now that she was taking a closer look, Sunset noticed how much Timber and Rarity were blinking, as well as how tired Twilight looked as she idly fidgeted with the Rubik’s cube Pinkie had provided her. Looking at the one in her arms, Sunset saw how Fluttershy’s eyes were half closed, only becoming a little more alert if Sunset shifted her weight.
That… explained a lot actually. Sunset knew that when she was sleep deprived… it wasn’t a good idea for her to be around other people. Having known these girls for so long now, Sunset had witnessed most of them when they were sleep deprived at least once. Though she could never tell in Pinkie Pie’s case.
All in all, it pretty much lined up with what she was seeing now. Fluttershy tended to get rather emotional after too many late nights at the shelter, Rarity’s built up stress with workloads make her high-strung, irritable, and dramatic, Twilight kinda just goes a little crazy, and Rainbow Dash tends to lack the ability to think things through. Even more so than usual.
“Ah, thank you Applejack.” Granny Smith took a soft blanket off the pile that Applejack offered. “Go on an’ give me that one there, Sunset Shimmer,” she ordered.
“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good-“
“Now, missy.”
Sunset went over to wear Granny Smith could reach and tried to hand Fluttershy off to her, but as with the other times before she started to whimper and look for a piece of Sunset to hold onto. Granny was fast in wrapping the blanket around her and pulling her off quicker than Fluttershy could latch on.
Sunset cringed, expecting Fluttershy to start crying again, but other than those initial whimpers she quickly quieted down as Granny held her close and rubbed her back as she rocked in the chair.
“Well, what are you all standin’ around for?” Granny scolded, “Grab a kid an’ get ‘em to sleep! I was too old to be doin’ this years ago, s’why I took the easy one, so you lot need to get on it!”
Sunset, Trixie, and Adagio quickly complied by accepting the blankets Applejack passed out to them.
Applejack draped the last blanket over Rainbow Dash, then addressed Granny Smith. “Pinkie and I’ve got a little over an hour before we need to meet the Cakes. We’ll do a quick shopping run to grab some essentials in case it takes a while for this mess to get sorted out. We’ll leave you the van once we’re done, Sunset, but we probably won’t come in for the sake of time. Text us what the Princess says soon as you know, alright?”
“I’ll do that,” Sunset agreed as Pinkie Pie handed her little Twilight. “See you guys in a few days.”
“Don’t worry, Sunny,” Pinkie reassured her, “babysitting can be a little scary at first, but once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot of fun! Feel free to call or text me if you have any questions or issues, cause if I don’t know the Cakes probably will, and I can just ask them.”
“Thanks, Pinkie,” Sunset said sincerely, “we might need to. I hope we don’t, but we might.”
“All right now, off y’all go to your baking thingamajig. I’ll get this lot sorted out,” Granny shooed them from her rocking chair.
“By!” Pinkie gave one final wave, and they were gone.
“So, um, how does Trixie get him to fall asleep?” Trixie had seated herself where Flash had been sitting now that he was on her lap. For his part, Flash didn’t seem all that opposed to the idea of a nap, but Trixie flinched every time he tried to make himself more comfortable.
“Oh, every kid is different, you kinda gotta try things out and see what works. Holding their hands, scratching their backs, and especially stroking their faces tends to help.” She started to rub the back of her index finger up and down the bridge of Fluttershy’s nose in demonstration. It was visibly coaxing her to sleep.
Huh, I never would have guessed that one, Sunset thought as she took Applejack’s abandoned recliner.
“Another somethin’ that works real well is singin’ to them,” Granny continued.
“Sing?” Trixie’s face paled. Adagio glowered, but she didn’t say anything.
Part of Sunset’s brain was thinking, Come on Trixie, you sing on stage all the time, while the other part was equally reeling at the idea of having to awkwardly sing a kid to sleep. Somehow it seemed more embarrassing than to go on stage and perform.
Granny nodded. “Don’ need to be anything fancy, somethin’ lowkey and repetitive is best. Works a bit like white noise, ‘cept better.”
“Um, are there any other ways?” Trixie tried hopefully.
“Well, rocking ‘em works most of the time.”
Trixie visibly brightened and opened her mouth to say something.
“I ain’t getting out of this chair, hon.”
~*~
As promised, Princess Twilight and Starlight eventually gave Sunset a ten minute heads up so she could go and meet them at the school. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had already come and gone, and all the kids were finally, finally, asleep. She was never again singing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,’ no matter how many times mini Twilight asked for it.
Sunset had just parked when two familiar girls stumbled out of Canterlot High School’s mascot statue. What was left of It, anyway.
Sunset waved them over and they joined her in the car. Starlight fumbled a little more clumsily with her seatbelt, having not crossed over to this world as many times as Twilight had. But once she had it fastened, she clasped her hands and rubbed them together eagerly.
“Alright, where are they? I want to see some baby humans!”
“They’re back at Sweet Apple Acres,” Sunset pulled out of the parking lot. “It’s a short ride.”
“Remember, Starlight,” Twilight lightly chided, “We’re here to figure out how to turn them back, not admire them.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t do both though,” she pointed out.
Twilight gave an amused eye roll. “Sunset, describe this vitalimeter thing you were- Oh! Perfect!”
Sunset had handed the vitalimeter back behind her before Twilight finished talking. It resembled a telescope, having a cylindrical form meant to be pointed at the target that you wanted to read. It also had several ring dials that could be adjusted for this and that.
“This is a very good design,” Twilight praised, “especially for a non-magical world. Buy all accounts, it should work perfectly. And it’s only a little broken.” She gave it a small shake to confirm there were a few loose pieces inside. Did she use magic while building it?”
“Oh, definitely,” Sunset confirmed. “She almost always uses her magic to help her construct stuff. I mean, just two hands is pretty limiting compared to telekinesis.”
“I can agree with that.” She frowned briefly at the device. “So I’m going to assume this has a tiny magic imprint of it’s own, but I don’t think it’d be big enough to be a consequential factor. As we know, technology and Equestrian magic have already proven to be very compatible, especially when the other me is involved. So what I need to decide is if this is a fluke accident triggered by a one in a million event or if this is actually a dormant ability that you’ve just unlocked.”
Sunset quirked an eyebrow. “You think that our magic let’s us change our age? Even the most powerful unicorns can’t do that on a whim.”
“No, they can’t,” Starlight agreed, “but healing magic combined with your shape bending abilities can make some interesting results. We’ve already determined you can do both by a small margin despite the complexity of those spells back in Equestria, and there’s always that major ‘unknown’ factor when dealing with magic in this world. The possibility of you being able to change your age is definitely there, but still probably the least likely of the options.”
Sunset thought that over as she drove under the ‘Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres' sign. It may have been a while since she’d reviewed the material, but she had been a magic prodigy once upon a time. Shifting between forms (and outfits) and being able to passively endure and heal from injuries is unheard of. Sure, powerful unicorns like Twilight and Starlight could cast shape changing spells, but they required a lot of power, require a model, and aren’t stable for exceedingly long periods of time.
A healing spell like they were experiencing, on the other hand, is even more immense than simply changing form. A powerful unicorn, or more likely several, would have to enchant an object to carry the spell. It’d be a powerful and sought after relic.
And she and her friends had both (sort of) without even trying. Age spells, which are on par with the complexity of time spells, might not be so far fetched in this world without magical rules. At least their magic had proven to be a little bit logical if you squinted at it right.
Sunset put the car into park. “So the question comes down to the method the magic used, and from there we can find the reverse method.”
“Yes,” Twilight agreed. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to figure that out once I see them for myself.”
“Well, here they are,” Sunset let them into the farmhouse and back to where all the kids and Granny Smith were asleep.
Starlight let out a quiet squee. “Look how cute you are, Twilight!” Little Twilight had been moved onto the couch with the others and had a finger hooked onto her lower lip as she slept.
“Focus, Starlight, we can admire them later.” Despite her words, Twilight was struggling to hide her own snicker as she looked at all of them. “I think the fact that both Flash and Timber seemed to have gotten caught up in the spell that this isn’t any dormant ability you’re magic has,” she said to Sunset as she looked over the boys. “It’s probably still sourced by your magic, but as a reactive burst where they got caught in the radius.”
“So we’re just going to call it a magical fluke then,” Sunset agreed.
Twilight nodded.
“There’s two primary methods for age magic,” Starlight said thoughtfully. “True age spells are more like time spells, where you have turned back the biological clock on every cell and nerve in the body. They’d be exactly as they were at this age and could essentially relive life.”
“It's nearly impossible to do,” Twilight said. “The one account I know of that was successful is for a wrongdoer who wanted a chance at repentance, so at his request Celestia returned him to foal hood, and he grew up without knowing that he was once a villain. He just knew it was his destiny to clean up the mess of a bygone evil. It’s a fascinating story really-“
“The other one,” Starlight hurried forward, “Is a physical age spell that doesn’t fully revert the pony, not on a cellular level. It’s closer in line to shape shifting. Their mind’s are that of a toddler’s but, their true selves are still locked away within. It’s an unstable spell that never lasts for extended periods of time.”
“Okay, I’m following,” Sunset nodded. “But how do we tell which one it is?”
“If it’s the second one, they might show little signs of their former selves. Triggered memory flashes, odd inclinations, stuff that relates to them as teenagers that shouldn’t matter to them now,” Twilight explained. “They might even sense that they should be friends. Of course, that’s easier to tell when an age spell only goes back a few years and the pony can just tell you they had a flash. With these guys you’ll just have to pay attention.”
“Or you could just wait it out,” Starlight shrugged.
“No, no, that would be…. Huh,” Twilight touched her chin thoughtfully. “That might actually be the best solution. If it’s the physical spell, it’ll just wear off on its own anyway. Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” Twilight said to Sunset, “Starlight and I will go back home and keep reviewing age spells. You watch our friends here and write to me anything that might hint at locked memories. Anything at all. We’ll give it a week to see if they turn back, and if they still haven’t returned to normal by then we’ll bring them over to Equestria and enact a counter spell.”
“Did Trixie just hear you say she’d be stuck with these kids for a week?” Trixie was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a hot cup of coco in hand.
“At most,” Twilight clarified. “Chances are it’ll only take a couple days.”
“There you are Trixie,” Sunset said. “Where’s Adagio at?” They still hadn’t told the sirens about the portal back to Equestria, and Sunset would prefer not to have Adagio find out about it now.
“She’s out back yelling into her phone,” Trixie gestured toward the back door. “Trixie thinks she’ll be a while.”
“Even so, you guys should probably get going,” Sunset told them.
“Aww, can’t I hold one first?” Starlight was kneeling by Sunset’s miniature friends again.
Sunset grimaced, “I don’t really want to wake them up just yet, it feels like we only just got them to sleep.”
“Too late for that, Rarity’s awake.”
“She is?” Sunset realized that Starlight was right when she looked at Rarity. Rarity was still laying down quietly, but her eyes were open and she was watching the adults curiously.
“Okay fine, but make it quick.”
Starlight grinned and held out her arms, and Rarity clumsily untangled from her blanket to greet her. Picking Rarity up, Starlight said, “You guys are going to have so much fun with this.”
“Trixie doubts that,” Trixie folded her arms. “They aren’t so sweet when they’re awake.”
“Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad. They’re just so cute!” She gave Rarity a little squeeze.
“Trixie… supposes they are rather cute,” she sighed. “But there’s a reason Trixie doesn’t babysit.”
“Well, you’ll get lots of practice now.” Starlight handed Rarity to Trixie, who took her reluctantly.
“I can drive you guys back.” Sunset dug her hand in her pocket in search of her keys.
“No, that’s okay,” Twilight said. “I’d rather get a bit more practice walking around like this. I know the way.”
“Alright then,” Sunset shrugged.
“So, Twilight,” Sunset heard Starlight say as they headed out the door.
“We are not doing this to our friends back home.” The click of the door closing behind them signaled they were gone.
“Sunset, Trixie only heard half of what they said. Are we really going to have to babysit your friends for a week?”
“Don’t worry, Trixie,” Sunset smiled as she gave Rarity’s crown of hair a rub, “I’m sure the spell will wear off before then. For all we know, it’ll just take a couple hours.”
“Trixie doesn’t know if she can do this for more than a day.” She sat down on the recliner. “I mean, what about school?”
That… was a valid concern. It was only Tuesday, and they were all expected to be in class early tomorrow morning. “Grr, I forgot about that,” Sunset rubbed her face. “Okay, I’ll go call Principal Celestia. It’s not the first time we’ve skipped out because of extenuating circumstances.” She pulled out her phone. “You stay here in case any more of them wake up.”
Trixie nodded.
Sunset walked to the far side of the kitchen and tapped on Principal Celestia’s contact. Her teacher was quick to pick up.
“Sunset? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you girls tonight. Is everything all right? None of you got into trouble again, did you?”
Yep, she’d made these calls way too often. “No, no, everyone is fine. Well, sort of. You see, it’s- well, it’s kind of a funny story, but…”
The line was quiet for a few moments after Sunset finished recounting what’d happened. “Well, I’m glad none of you girls are hurt,” Celestia sighed. “But I don’t like the idea of you missing a full week of school because of this.”
“I don’t either, but I don’t think even Twilight can do algebra as a two-year-old.”
“No, I don’t see any work-arounds for that,” Celestia agreed. “And I don’t want to pawn this mess off to their parents either.” She thought for a minute. “You girls can’t afford many more absences, excused or not. So here’s what I can do for you: I’ll give you tomorrow off so that you, Trixie, and Adagio can get a handle on looking after six toddlers. I’ll notify their parents and Timber’s sister. But on Thursday and Friday, I want you to bring them to school. It’s a stretch, but they’ll technically be present for their classes and so I won’t count it as an absence. You three will need to take notes for them so they can catch up.”
“You want us to bring them? To school?”
“I’d say it’d provide quite the learning experience for everyone. I’ll come to see you on my lunch break tomorrow to get a gauge for any preparations I might need to make.”
“…You just want to see my cute baby friends, don’t you?”
“That may be a part of it, yes,” Sunset could hear the mirth in Celestia’s voice, “But it could be a very fun experience for the school. Feel free to call me if you run into any trouble before Thursday.”
“Okay, thank you, Principal Celestia.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sunset.” The phone beeped and went silent.
“Sunny girl!”
Granny’s awake. Sunset pocketed her phone and went back to the living area.
“Good, that’s two of ya’,” she nodded. Granny was still in her rocking chair with Fluttershy, but now she was alert and ready for business. Twilight and Timber were blinking blearily over on the couch, probably awoken by Granny’s shout. “Now where’s that cotton-custard friend of yours?”
“What did you just call me?” Adagio had found her way back inside, and if the sour expression on her face was anything to go by, she was not in a good mood.
This, of course, Granny Smith was oblivious to. “Ah, there you are. Come on in so I can make sure you girls are all set for tonight. Gotta make sure you actually know how to care for these little kiddos.”
Adagio briefly seemed to wrestle with what to do before deciding to comply and claim the recliner.
Satisfied, Granny started her lecture. “Now to start, kid’s don’ need to eat as much as you big girls, but they do need food more frequently. Give em’ a snack sometime before an’ after lunch and they should be fine. A little trick I’ve learned is to give em’ the good stuff before the crackers an’ whatnot. Hehe, they don’t complain if they don’ know there ain’t nothin’ to complain about.”
A tap on her leg caused Sunset to look down. Flash was looking up at her with his blanket in hand. We he saw that he’d been acknowledged, he reached up to her.
Sunset smiled and sat down so that he could climb in her lap. She shuffled his blanket so it wrapped around him as he leaned up against her. He watched Granny as she spoke.
“As y’all now know, they need a nap or it’s a right mess. Just put em down after lunch, and get ‘em to sleep at about eight o’clock. Lemme see here,” Granny thought for a moment. “Ah, yes, kids are awfully messy, so you’ll wanna give them a bath about every other day. An’ try to keep everything clean in a given space, you never know what they’ll decide to put in their mouths. Speakin’ of which, keep anything potentially dangerous out of their reach and have poison control on speed dial.”
“Poison control?” Trixie asked.
Granny nodded. “Apple Bloom liked to eat anything that smelled good. We had to padlock all the cleaning sprays and whatnot.”
“Noted,” Sunset said. “Do we need to pad corners too?” She’d seen that done in movies and shows before.
“Nah, that’s just for when they’re learning to walk and tripping over their feet a bunch. Kids are bound to get a few bumps and bruises, it’s a part of play. Takes a bit of tough love, but they learn to bounce back.”
“Great,” Adagio said with an impatient tone, “So we know how to keep them alive. Anything else?”
Granny gave Adagio the ‘I don’t like your tone’ look. “Play with ‘em. Teach them things, entertain them. They rely on you for everything, and that includes being their example. For all intents and purposes, the tree of you are their mothers now.”
That was a weird notion to Sunset. Having foals was never something she’d given much thought to, in Equestria or as a student at Canterlot High. and now she was going to have to be one.
“I’ll give you girls till they’ve all woken up, but then it’d be best if you go and get them all settled.” Granny sat up and set the still sleeping Fluttershy on the couch next to Rainbow Dash. “I’ll go slice some apples for them.
“So, Trixie was wondering where we are going to take them all.”
“It’ll have to be one of our places,” Sunset said.
“They are not touching my van,” Adagio growled. “Besides, I wouldn’t trust my sisters around them. Sonata wouldn’t notice till light the place on fire, and Aria might give them knives to play with.”
“Trixie supposes they could stay at her house. How safe is it to leave kids around crates of fireworks?”
“We’ll take them to my place!” Sunset quickly offered. So long as they stay off the loft, I think they’ll be fine in there.” The stairs were wide enough that she didn’t think they’d be too dangerous, but the loft where she slept had a high railing, too high to be effective for the size her friends had become.
“My apartment is small, so it might be better if Trixie goes home to sleep, and you can sleep on the couch Adagio. But be there in the morning. I don’t care if you show up at five, just don’t wait till after breakfast.”
“Trixie hates getting up early,” Trixie grumbled.
“Then suck it up,” Adagio snapped. She gave Sunset a sharp nod. “I’ve talked with my sisters already, so I should be free for at least a few days. We’ve got a concert on Saturday though, and I’m not missing that.”
Sunset nodded. “AJ and Pinkie Pie get back Sunday evening, so I think we’ll be fine after that.”
Sunset half choked as something jumped onto her back from behind. She reached around and pulled off a grinning Rainbow Dash. “Do you just have an on/off switch or something?”
She set her down, but instead of running off, Rainbow just settled herself on Sunset’s lap next to Flash and gave her an expectant look.
“Well,” Sunset said to them, “are you guys ready to go see your new home?”
~*~
For how short on time they’d been, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been pretty thorough with the collection they’d loaded into the van. It was also pretty clear how they’d divided and conquered. Pinkie’d supplied colorful blankets to match each kid, gummy snacks, goldfish, animal crackers, a stack of paper, large crayons, a few stuffed animals, a toy tea set, a box of cars, some dinosaurs, a few balls, and a box of simple blocks. (Perhaps AJ had some sway in that one).
Applejack’s contribution consisted of matching bedrolls, three two-packs of sippy cups, a set of small plastic plates, bowls, spoons, and forks, (thank goodness, because Sunset only had a couple of each for herself in her apartment), toothbrushes, toddler toothpaste, a couple hairbrushes, kid shampoo/soap, a toilet seat attach on to keep them from falling in, a basic first aid kit, outlet covers, a variety of vegetables, a crate of apples, a big bag of apple chips, and two jugs of apple juice.
All things considered, it was a very decent array. After getting the kids inside, blocking off the stairs, and dumping out all the toys, Adagio and Trixie helped Sunset get everything inside and put away.
Sunset silently thanked Applejack for her forethought with the outlet covers, because she had a lot of cables and extension cords for her gaming and music equipment. Halfway through loading the food in the fridge, Sunset had to run half of her equipment upstairs to keep Rainbow and Timber from dialing all the knobs and pressing every button.
She also took out everything potentially harmful from her lower cabinets and locked them in her bathroom.
Thankfully, unlike earlier the kids were pretty chill as Sunset made sure everything was settled. Having all the new stuff and being well rested seemed to keep them happy. Their backpacks had been left in the van when the mishap spell occurred, so Sunset brought them all in and up to her loft. She’d look through them in case they had things their owners might like to toy with and to remove any food that might go bad.
By the time everything was put away, Sunset was getting pretty hungry herself. She opened her fridge to see what she had, and grimaced. Even with Applejack and Pinkie’s contributions, she didn’t have all that much food, and certainly not stuff for six two-year-olds.
“I’ll have to run to the grocery store sometime tomorrow,” she muttered to herself. Grabbing her jug of milk she announced, “We’re having cereal for dinner tonight.”
The kids listened pretty well as Sunset sat them all down on the floor with their bowls of Fortune Charms. She didn’t really have a dining table as she normally just ate on her couch, but this worked. They all seemed happy with their meal, which wasn’t surprising considering how much sugar was in it. The only one who didn’t seem interested in eating much was Fluttershy, and Sunset wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t accepted any of the apples Granny offered either.
Once they finished, it was already about seven o’clock, so Sunset did a quick free-week subscription to a kids channel and put on a cartoon for them as she set up their bedrolls around the couch.
After watching Sunset roll out the first two, Twilight attempted to help her with the rest, apparently uninterested in the screen.
Sunset was really hoping that the cartoon would keep them entertained until they fell asleep, but it took less than fifteen minutes for all of them to grow bored.
“Trixie thought all kids loved TV,” Trixie grumbled as Rarity insistently handed her a teacup.
“Apparently not,” Adagio growled. She was busy pulling Rainbow off the boxes that served as a makeshift blockade to the stairs. Again.
“Come on guys,” Sunset encouraged, “we just have to play with them for thirty minutes, than we can put them to sleep. She rolled a ball past Timber, and he eagerly chased after it. Twilight and Flash were playing with blocks and cars respectively, and Fluttershy was unsurprisingly hugging a plush kitty.
It was equally the most boring yet entertaining thirty minutes Sunset had experienced in a while. Boring because she wasn’t on what all to do that wouldn’t feel embarrassing or awkward, entertaining because it was kind of cute watching Rarity and Twilight pass around teacups and saucers before promptly taking them back to ‘refill.’
It was a bit of a pain to get Rarity to finally put the toys down and to keep Rainbow in her bedroll for longer than thirty seconds, but by eight thirty they’d succeeded in getting them all to sleep.
It technically wasn’t that late, but Sunset felt exhausted.
“Okay,” she sighed. “Trixie, you can go home now. Just be back here by seven tomorrow. I’ll grab you a spare blanket, Adagio.”
With Trixie gone and Adagio scrolling through her phone, Sunset flopped onto her bed up in the loft.
“Well… that happened.”