After Celestia and Discord get into a heated argument (and generally being cranky), a magical discharge makes them regress in age. You are a member of Luna's royal guard. And you have been tasked with being little Tia's caregiver until this is fixed.
Celestia tends to be cranky when she's stressed. So when Discord wakes her up to complain about feeling like Fluttershy has been ignoring him. She doesn't take it well. After a heated argument, a magical mishap between the two causes them to regress in age.
You are Anon, a member of Luna's royal guard and a unicorn with a special talent for transference magic. And when a magical mishap happens in Celestia's quarters, you become charged with being little Tia's new caregiver for when Luna is busy with her royal duties. And you soon learn that Tia was not an easy filly to take care of.
And between Tia, Luna having no experience with raising children, and Fluttershy's issues with little Dissy, life is certainly not going to be the same.
One night during your rounds as part of princess Luna’s royal guard, you hear a commotion going on in princess Celestia’s chambers. But you think nothing of it, since you are one of the few in Equestria who truly understand that when she’s not dealing with royal duties, Celestia can get a bit cranky. Perhaps she should get to know one of her guards so she can have someone to talk to and vent. That’s what Luna does. You know this because she goes to you personally.
Luna seems to bond with you in a way that she doesn’t with her other guards. It’s never really been clear why this is. Maybe it’s because you have a gentle nature. And of course there’s no romantic relationship. It’s purely platonic…
…right?
The reason you were chosen to be part of Luna’s royal guard was because of your special talent. You know a special type of magic. Transference magic. You can temporarily transfer the magic of one pony into that of another of a different race. For example, earth ponies and unicorns can be given a pegasi’s cloud walking ability, or pegasi and unicorns can be given an earth pony’s strength and farming skills, or earth ponies and pegasi can be given a unicorn’s ability to control magic. That magical transference can go even deeper, even to the point of an individual’s special talent.
You notice another night guard walking up to you, “I’m here to relieve you of your shift.”
Is it that time already? “Thank you,” you say as you head back to your own quarters to get some rest. Before you get in bed, you think you sense something. But it was so faint that you assume you’re just tired.
You open your eyes to see that Luna is in your quarters waiting. It wasn’t often that she came to your quarters while you were asleep. But it wasn’t unheard of if she felt she needed somepony to talk to. You also notice that it’s still nighttime, which was odd. You never wake up in the middle of the night, since it’s the middle of the night when you go to sleep.
“Anon, I need to speak with you. And it’s urgent,” Luna says, “Do not be alarmed. This is currently a dream, which is why it’s still night.”
“Well, it must be urgent if you’re coming into my dream to talk with me,” you say as you sit up, “Is everything alright?”
“No, everything is not alright,” Luna says as she hangs her head, “Last night, Discord came to talk with Celestia. Being as late as it was, She did not appreciate being woken up.”
You put your hoof to your chin as you think about last night, “I wonder if that was the commotion I heard. Perhaps I should’ve taken notice of how late at night it was,” you say, “I just figured she was being cranky again.”
“Well, she was cranky. Which is why the situation got as bad as it did,” Luna explains, “But Discord has also been getting cranky lately. Fluttershy’s attention has been divided lately. And Discord has been feeling left out because of this.”
You remember Fluttershy. Before you became a member of Luna’s royal guard, you and Fluttershy grew rather close.
“Because both Celestia and Discord were a bit cranky, their discussion grew a bit heated and…” Luna pauses for a moment, trying to think of the right way to word it, “…there was a magical mishap. And I believe it’s best if you see for yourself what has happened.”
“Before I went to sleep, I remember thinking I sensed something,” you say, “But it was so faint, I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about. I just thought it was because I was tired.”
“The fact that you sensed the magical discharge shows how alert you actually were,” Luna says, I didn’t even sense it happening. But I would like to ask if you would be alright with me waking you up early so that you can see what has happened for yourself.”
This catches you off guard. Luna has never asked to wake you up early. Whatever happened must be urgent. You’re not sure how you can help. But if it’s this urgent, you can’t bring yourself to refuse. So you nod to Luna in confirmation.
With a look of gratitude, she thanks you before leaving the dream to allow it to fade away.
You’re woken up from somepony nudging you. After a few moments, you regain your senses and remember your talk with Luna in the dreamscape. You turn to see that it is in fact Luna who woke you up.
“I do appreciate you agreeing to waking up early,” Luna says as she leads you to Celestia’s quarters. You know something is wrong. The tension is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. You also notice that the sun is only just rising. But you can’t shake the feeling that something’s off about it.
When the two of you arrive at Celestia’s quarters, What you see certainly isn’t what you would’ve expected. Granted, you didn’t know what to expect in the first place.
Laying on Celestia’s bed are two sleeping figures. One of them is a small draconequus child. And the other is…
“Is that Celestia?” you ask Luna, pointing to the small, white, pink maned, alicorn filly.
“It is,” Luna confirms. Then a realization comes to your mind.
“Then the draconequus must be Discord!” you exclaim in surprise before another thought comes to mind, “Discord is cute as a child.”
You hear Luna let out her own laugh, “Yes, it’s fascinating how a creature that can be so intimidating could have come from such an adorable form,” Luna says. But she returns to her serious demeanor, reminding you of the seriousness of the situation.
Then another realization hits you like a ton of bricks, “How is it the sun is rising if Celestia is asleep?!” you ask.
“For obvious reasons, Celestia cannot raise and lower the sun in her current condition,” Luna explains, “So I’ve taken on that duty. And this is where you come in. Raising the sun is not as easy as I expected. In fact, it’s supposed to be mid-morning by now. I’d prefer to do this with Tia’s permission. But the urgency of the matter can’t wait for her to wake up.”
“You want me to transfer her talent of raising the sun to you?” you ask, realizing what you’re needed for. You’re answered with a nod.
Seeing as you’re transferring the magic of one alicorn to another alicorn, the magic is not limited to a specific time frame like it would be between two different pony races. But when somepony receives the special talent of another, it can be disorienting at first. But since it shouldn’t be much different than controlling the moon, Luna shouldn’t have much problem getting used to it.
You begin to focus your magic on Celestia’s cutiemark. Then as you pull on the magic, you begin focusing on Luna as the target of where the magic is to go. Celestia didn’t lose her cutiemark. But Luna’s moon cutiemark was now half moon and half sun.
With her new addition to her talent, Luna effortlessly raises the sun to where it should be at this time of day. It’s then that you and Luna notice Celestia opening her eyes. When she starts looking around, it’s obvious that she’s confused as to what’s going on.
“Luna, what’s…going…” Celestia begins to say, “My voice…what happened to my voice?! And why is everything so much bigger?!”
“Tia, do you remember what happened last night?” Luna asks.
“Of course. Discord came into my room and woke me up, complaining about Fluttershy ignoring him,” Celestia says, “And then…something involving magic…” she seems to be having trouble recalling exactly what happened. Perhaps the magical discharge knocked them out.
“There was a magical discharge that affect both you and Discord,” Luna says, “The effects of which being…a regression in age.”
You can tell Luna feels awkward telling this to her own big…well, little sister. You watch as Tia gets out of bed to look at herself in a mirror. However, she didn’t anticipate how much further away the floor was now. So she falls to the floor and bumps her head. As the tears begin to fill her eyes, she starts crying the way a filly would if they got hurt. The regression isn’t just physical. Her mind is now that of a child’s
You have the feeling that this is going to be…an interesting experience.
“You want me to do WHAT?!” you exclaim in shock at Luna’s instruction. Normally you wouldn’t turn down an order from Luna. But Luna has never given you an order like this before.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” Luna replies with a stern voice, “I have never known you to turn down a request from me.”
You try to recompose yourself. But the situation prevents you from succeeding, “I apologize, Luna. But…It’s not that I’m turning down your request. It’s just…” you keep stumbling on your words.
“Do you believe my trust in you is misplaced?” Luna says, causing you to feel guilty. You honestly don’t know if this duty is something you’d be able to do.
“I don’t want to say you’re judgement is wrong. But I have no experience with foals!” you point out, “Are you sure I’m fit to be your sister’s caregiver?”
“She may have regressed to the form of a filly. But she still has the knowledge and wisdom of somepony who has lived several thousand years. So she knows the difference from right and wrong,” Luna explains as her expression softens, “And besides, I trust you to this task not because of your ability to do so. I trust you because of the fact that out of all my guards, I know you will take this task seriously, and not just do it because you’re told to.”
Luna’s words are flattering. You know that Luna trusts you more than the other guards. It’s why she talks to you if she needs to vent her feelings. She trusts you not to tell anypony else. And she’s right. You would take the task seriously. You just hope that you’re up to the task.
Tia, who had been outside the door listening, comes in and looks up at you with large, pink, puppy dog eyes. It was so cute, how could you not accept the task? “I’ll do my best,” you say with a defeated sigh.
“Thank you, Anon. And this is only for while I’m busy with my…with my sister’s royal duties,” Luna says. But then she came close to whisper something into your ear so Tia couldn’t hear, “But if it is true that her mind has regressed to the mindself of a filly, keep on your guard. Believe it or not, when we were fillies, it was Tia who was the more mischievous one of us.”
After hearing Luna’s words, you suddenly get the feeling that Tia’s puppy dog eyes had ulterior motives.
“What about me?” the three of you turn to see that Discord was now awake. When did he wake up? “Am I gonna have to be babysitted too?”
“If anything, you need to be babysitted more than me,” Tia says, a bit of venom in her voice, “I am a princess and will behave as such. You just do whatever you want whenever you want.”
You look to Luna with pleading eyes. Tia is one thing. But Tia and Discord would be too much for you to handle.
“Perhaps I’ll suspend your duties as caregiver until tomorrow. I’ll take today off from royal duties to take care of Tia,” Luna says as she grabs a roll of parchment, “Today, your task is to take Discord to Fluttershy. She can take care of him until we can figure out how to fix this. While you’re at that, I’ll send a letter to Twilight Sparkle informing her of the…situation.”
“I don’t need to be escorted to Fluttershy like a child!” Discord says before snapping his claws…and nothing happening. This catches Discord off guard as he snaps his claws several more times with no results.
“First of all, you are a child, dummy!” Tia said, “And second, your powers are far weaker than they had been.” Tia stuck her tongue out at Discord, receiving a glare from Luna.
You accept the task of taking baby discord to Fluttershy. You think it would be good to get in touch with her again and see how she’s been.
You’re almost to Fluttershy’s cottage. And you’re thankful that this ride is almost over, seeing as how troublesome Discord can be even as a child.
“I want a cookie!” Discord whines.
“I don’t have a cookie to give you!” you exclaim in frustration, “And besides, are you saying that your powers are so weak, you can’t even make a simple cookie appear?”
“Oh,” Discord says a little sheepishly. He then snaps his claws and a cookie appears, “Thanks.”
“What are you thanking me for?” you ask as you look down to the draconequus youngling, “Technically, you did it yourself.”
“Well…you reminded me I could do it,” Discord says, “So I’m thanking you for that.”
“Fair enough,” you say as the carriage you’re riding comes to a halt as it lands, “We’re here.” You get out of the carriage before picking Discord up and carrying him. You can tell he’s not fond of being treated like a child. And you’re enjoying it.
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK…
You knock on the door. At first, you don’t hear anything. Any other pony might assume nopony’s home. But you know better than to just assume that. You know Fluttershy well enough to know that she tends to be the quiet, shy type that may not always answer the door. Which is why you have a trick up your sleeve…if you had any.
KNOCK… KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK… KNOCK…… KNOCK… KNOCK…
That’s a special knock you came up with so that Fluttershy would recognize that it’s you.
“We don’t want any!” a male voice came from inside the cottage.
“Zephyr, don’t be rude! That’s an old…friend…of mine,” you’d recognize that gentle voice anywhere. Though you’re curious as to who Zephyr was. Did Fluttershy get married during their time apart?
Your thoughts are derailed as the top half of the door opens up. There she is, just as you remembered her. That kind, gentle, butter yellow pegasus, “Anon! You’re here!” she exclaims.
“It’s great to see you again, Fluttershy! We should catch up with each other while I’m here!” you exclaim before returning to a serious expression, “But I am here on official royal business. Last night, Discord and Celestia got into an argument. And there was a magical mishap, and both Celestia and Discord were affected.”
“Oh?! Are they okay?” Fluttershy asks with concern.
“That depends on how you want to look at it,” you say before holding Discord in front of you.
Fluttershy is shocked to see Discord as a child. She then grabs him herself, “Discord, what happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Discord mopes.
Fluttershy then surprises you when she smiles and hugs Discord, “You’re just so cute as a child, Dissy!” You smile as you see the blush on Discord’s face. You can see that he’s embarrassed, but his lack of struggling shows that there’s a part of him that likes it.
“Luna feels that you are the best choice for taking care of Discord,” you explain, “Luna will be taking on Celestia’s job until this issue can be fixed.”
“Hey, mom, who’s at the door?” a female voice says from inside. The words ‘mom’ rings in you’re head as you realize Fluttershy is a mother.
“You have a daughter?!” you exclaim at the realization, “Does that mean that Zephyr is your husband?”
You watch as Fluttershy’s cheeks go a cute shade a pink, “What? No! Zephyr isn’t my husband! He’s my brother!”
“Oh…heh,” Now it’s your time to blush.
“But perhaps you should come in. There’s other things we should talk about,” Fluttershy suggests. You’re curious as to what this could imply, so you take her up on her offer.
You’re about to follow Fluttershy inside when suddenly you hear somepony running up to the cottage. You turn around only to be tackled by allot of lavender.
“Is it true?!” the lavender mare asks you as she gasps for air, “Was Celestia in an accident?!”
It takes you a few moments to realize it was princess Sparkle. You didn’t recognize her at first from how disheveled she is. Then you think about what princess Sparkle said. ‘Was Celestia in an accident?’
“Would you mind telling me what Luna’s letter to you said, princess Sparkle?” you ask.
Princess Sparkle got off of you and attempted to regain her composure somewhat, “Luna sent me a letter saying that Celestia was in an accident and will be unable to perform her royal duties!”
“It’s true. But it’s not as bad as you think. Though it is interesting,” you say to princess Sparkle, “I think the best way to explain what happened is to show you what happened to Discord.”
Fluttershy holds up the child Discord for princess Sparkle to see. The look of shock on her face is priceless, “Wow, Discord is cute as a child.”
“Why does everypony keep saying that?!” Discord whines.
“So, did this happen to Celestia too?” Princess Sparkle asked.
“Yes. The ‘accident’ was simply a magical mishap,” you explain, “She’s unable to perform her duties because in her filly-like state, she’s unable to raise the sun herself. And because her mind has also regressed to the mind of a filly, she can’t perform her other duties.”
Princess Sparkle sighs with relief, though not entirely pleased with the situation, “Well, at least she’s safe,” she says before looking to you directly, “But when you return to Canterlot, is it alright if I come with you? I mean, I’d like to see her for myself.”
“I don’t see why not,” you say with a smile, “I’ll be in town catching up with Fluttershy for a little while. But when it’s time to leave, I’ll come get you.”
“You know Fluttershy?” princess Sparkle asks.
“It’s been awhile since we last saw each other,” Fluttershy says, “But yes. I actually grew really close with Anon before he joined Luna’s royal guard,” princess Sparkle was studying Fluttershy’s words as if something wasn’t right about them, “Perhaps you’d like to come in as well. I wanted to talk to Anon. But one of the things I have to talk about…perhaps it’d be a good idea if you heard it too.”
With that said, Fluttershy led the two of you into her cottage. Laying on the couch, you see a bluish green pegasus with a 5 o’clock shadow.
“Anon, this is my brother, Zephyr Breeze,” Fluttershy motioned towards the green pegasus, “He’s staying here for a few days while his home is being renovated. Zephyr, this is an old friend of mine, Anon.”
“Hey…” Zephyr says halfheartedly. Then he noticed your royal guard emblem and he sits up with wide eyes, “Fluttershy, you’re friends with a member of the royal guard?!”
“Back then, I wasn’t a member of the royal guard yet,” you explain to Zephyr, “But yeah, we were…close.”
“Would the princesses be interested in a mane stylist? Because I’m rather good with mane styling. And I have a few ideas in mind that could…” Zephyr then spots the child-like draconequus, “…is that Dissy? He’s cute as a child.” Discord grumbles under his breath at the comment.
“Mom, what’s going on down here?” it’s that same voice from earlier. You see the preteen pegasus filly on the stairs as she eyes Discord, “Is that you, Dissy? You look so cute as a kid!”
You notice an underlying sinister smile on the filly’s face. You have a feeling that her and Discord aren’t on great terms, and she’s gonna take advantage of the situation. But something crosses your mind. It’s the filly’s age. If she’s Fluttershy’s daughter, then you should’ve known about her by now. She should’ve been a few years old when you last saw Fluttershy. And you were at Fluttershy’s allot.
“Anon, this is Gene,” Fluttershy says, introducing you to the filly, “Soon after you left to become a member of the royal guard, I found Gene as an orphan. So I took her in.”
“Hey…” Gene said halfheartedly. Something tells you she spends too much time around Zephyr. But now it makes sense. Gene is adopted. That explains her age and why you haven’t seen her.
“But…that’s not the only reason I wanted to talk to you,” you recognize that tone in Fluttershy’s voice. Something that she feels uncomfortable about saying. Fluttershy then walks over to the stairs and calls up the stairs, “Echo, can you come down here?”
This peaks your curiosity. Another child? “Coming,” you hear a second voice call down. This voice has a similar gentleness that Fluttershy has. And it is a voice that is recognizably younger than Gene’s.
Soon after, you see another pegasus filly, a gray one, coming down the stairs. You notice that she takes her time, going down the stairs slowly and carefully. The interesting thing is that she seems to be relying on feeling the steps. About halfway down, you notice one of her hooves miss a step. Taking quick action, you catch her in your magic before she can actually fall. She seems confused, but thankful that she didn’t fall. Fluttershy goes up the stairs to carry the filly the rest of the way down the stairs. She’s just as thankful as the filly is that she didn’t fall.
As Fluttershy brings her over, you notice a bandaid below one of her eyes. This also draws your attention to her eyes themselves. Like her coat and mane, her eyes are also gray. But that isn’t what catches your attention. Her eyes aren’t normal. They have no pupils. Not only that, but where the pupils should be is white, and extending outward is a gradient into gray. You then realize that she’s blind. You even notice that her ears seem to be constantly at attention, working to pick up any sound they can. You also notice that her ears are larger and more…feral than normal.
You also notice that the soft expression in her eyes, and her mane are so much like Fluttershy’s. And that’s when a sinking feeling came over you. This was Fluttershy’s biological daughter.
“Anon, you know that night a few days before you left?” Fluttershy asks. You know exactly what night she’s referring to, “Well, when I found Gene, what I didn’t know was that I was pregnant. Anon, Echo is your daughter.”
Your senses begin to numb as your mind tries to process what Fluttershy just said…
“I thought you said you didn’t know who the father was!” is the first thing you hear. It’s princess Sparkle.
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it. I never said I didn’t know who the father was,” Fluttershy’s voice says, “I didn’t tell you who it was because I didn’t want any of you to try to drag him back from Canterlot after being accepted as a member of Luna’s royal guard.”
“Do you really think I’d do that?!” princess Sparkle exclaims. You open your eyes to see that you’re laying on the couch and Zephyr, the girls, and Discord aren’t in the room.
“Can you speak for all the girls, Twilight?” Fluttershy asks, showing a more assertive side of her, “Rainbow Dash would most likely fly straight to Canterlot and drag him back herself! Applejack would probably be so angry that he left that she’d buck him so hard, he’d have to be hospitalized! I can’t even guess at how Rarity would react! And Pinkie Pie…well…Pinkie Pie would probably just throw a party…”
Princess Sparkle’s expression softened, “You really care for him, don’t you?” she asks with a sigh, “You chose to be a single mother than to sacrifice Anon’s chance at being a royal guard.”
“Well, I did have Discord to help…” Fluttershy says, “Even though his maturity level makes him more their their big brother at best.”
“Considering the current situation, I think Discord has now been demoted to ‘little’ brother,” you say as you sit up, causing the two mares to turn towards you, “I’m just disappointed that you’d think I would’ve had a problem coming back to you if you had asked. I would’ve gladly returned without regret.”
“Then will you come back now?” princess Sparkle asked.
“That would be more complicated now,” you begin to explain, “You see, Luna relies on me not just as a royal guard, but also as a friend. She comes to me when she needs someone to talk to. And yes, there are things that she wants to talk about that she prefers she doesn’t talk to Celestia, her own sister, about. And though I’m sure something can be arranged, I can’t in good conscience just abandon Luna like that. And besides, Luna gave me the task of being Tia’s caregiver while Luna is busy with royal duties.”
“So in other words, you’re princess Celestia’s babysitter?” princess Sparkle asked, “Something about that just sounds so wrong to me. She…well…I don’t even know if she remembers how old she is. It doesn’t feel right that she has a babysitter.”
“Do you think it’s any less strange for me?” you explain, “But the fact is that Tia regressed in age in both body and mind, which in essence makes her a little filly who needs to be babysat. Her memories are still intact though…but I guess that kinda makes things stranger.”
“Why do you keep calling her ‘Tia’?” princess Sparkle asked.
“I guess when they were fillies, Luna used to call her Tia. And now she’s calling her Tia again,” you explain, “I guess I’m getting into the same habit too. But it’s hard not to use a pet name for a filly. After all, Gene called Discord ‘Dissy’.”
“Actually, they’ve been calling him ‘Dissy’ for a while now,” Fluttershy says, “But I guess that’s an indication of Discord’s immaturity even before being turned into a child.”
“It’s getting late. Shouldn’t we be heading to Canterlot soon?” princess Sparkle asks.
“I guess you’re right,” you say as you notice the time, “I’m sorry we couldn’t catch up as much as I’d have liked. But I was…incapacitated for a large chunk of time.”
“Will you be coming back soon?” Fluttershy asks, “Echo was happy to have finally met her father…you know…before you fainted that is.”
“I’m sure I can arrange plenty of playdates so that I can see her more,” you explain before grinning mischievously, “Besides, Tia is gonna want other foals to play with.”
