"Hello, Rarity, my favorite older sister." Sweetie Belle greeted innocently. Rarity looked up from the dress she was designing, giving her little sister a skeptical look. Sweetie Belle followed up with a sweet smile, along with another compliment.

"What do you want, Sweetie Belle?" Rarity addressed her younger sister formally.

"Can't I just say hello to my favorite sister?" Sweetie looked up at her older sister with a pair of big blue eyes that begged for her whatever she was asking for.

"Make it short and address your request immediately."

"I need one of your sapphires." Sweetie requested bluntly.

"What do I get out of it?" Rarity said, keeping her attention fixated on her dress.

"I'll owe you one. Big time." Sweetie said, coming close to begging your sister.

"Like?" Rarity asked, making sure she kept her business attitude.

"I'll model some of your dresses." Sweetie bargained, hoping to seal the deal with something she was already accustomed to. But with her luck, (and a sister that can see through almost any lie), Rarity gave her a disinterested look and turned back to her dress.

"And?" Rarity pushed, nearly scaring her younger sister.

"Uhh, I'll clean your room for a week."

"Go on." Rarity continued, adding a small tiara on the head of the ponyquin.

"I'll do what ever you want me to for three days." Sweetie, bit her lip while anticipating an approval.

"A week," Rarity negotiated. "Just get one from that box over there." Sweetie Belle knew that there was no more dealing with her after this point, so the filly just went up to the chest. The unicorn opened the box and immediately found out she was played; the entire box was full of sapphires! Sweetie cursed herself for being dumb, and signing herself for a week of slavery by Ponyville's number one taskmaster.

"So the thing called for a large sapphire." Sweetie mumbled to herself while comparing the sizes of the blue gems. The unicorn found a large one that she deemed appropriate for the potion. The white filly smiled at the thought of her sister being the same size as one of the gems. Sweetie Belle tried to walk out the door, but she was stopped by her older sister.

"Hold up, show me the gem." Rarity demanded, using her magic to pull in the filly close to her. "You never specified the size... I guess we could go back to the negotiation table."

"Oh come on! What more do you want from me!?" Sweetie screamed, frustrated at her sister. Rarity began to smile lightly at the expense of her little sister's anger. Sweetie finally caught on to Rarity's joke and she began to chuckle awkwardly.

"It's okay, Sweetie Belle. Run along now, go back to your friends." Rarity said, happily turning back to her dress making.

"Does that mean I don't have to do any of that?" Sweetie asked, looking up at her sister.

"Well you agreed to it. So... yes." Rarity teased, closing the door to her studio.

***

Apple Bloom was just as unlucky on getting her ingredient as Sweetie Belle. The yellow earth pony chased the brown dog all around the orchard. Apple Bloom ran after Winona, chasing her up and down the hills of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom would collect the drool that blew out of the dogs mouth.

"Come on, Winona! Ah just need your spit." Apple Bloom begged, chasing her in circles around the barn.

"Whoa, hold on there, little miss." Applejack ordered, sticking her hoof out to block her sister. The yellow filly couldn't stop in time, and she ended up hitting the orange hoof of her older sister. Apple Bloom was sent flying towards the red barn.

"I almost had her." Apple Bloom pouted, crossing her forelegs across her chest. The filly was hanging upside down from a dent from the barn, causing the older mare to laugh.

"You've been chasing her for an half an hour." Applejack pointed out.

"She's  harder to catch than you think." Apple Bloom warned her sister, getting down from the hole in the wall.

"Just let your big sister handle this." Applejack said confidently. Applejack got out her lasso, twirling it quickly and aimed it at the dog that was still running around wildly. The orange mare roped up Winona and slowly dragged the dog to her. Winona panted happily while she was being dragged towards the ponies. Her tongue stuck out, and she barked at her owner when she finally arrived in front of them.

"Why do you need Winona?"

"Ah just need her spit." Apple Bloom explained, earning a confused look from her sister.

"Okay then. Ah'll just leave you to that." Applejack said confused.

"Bye, Applejack," she said, forcing the canine's head; specifically the muzzle was forced against the jar's opening. "Come on just a little more." Applejack rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of her sister.

***

"Okay, Scootaloo. You can do this," she said worriedly, looking up at a patch of clouds. The orange filly looked down at her scooter; the filly scanned the area for any leverage to grabbing the cloud. She had several plans of attack, but she was having a hard time finding anything that could help. Surely her idol Rainbow Dash could help her out right? She rode her scooter to the nearest hill, looking back up to the sky for another cloud.

"There's no way I'm going to get that cloud." Scootaloo remarked.

The orange pegasus began to climb a mountain top that they had used for other Crusader related activities. She reached the peak and looked up to see patches of clouds in the sky. Scootaloo looked down from a conveniently shaped cliff that served as a ramp. She used her hoof to feign a revving motion on her scooter.

"Here goes nothing," she said, swallowing a lump in her throat. She kicked at the ground as a way to jumpstart her leap of faith. Her scooter began to pick up speed and she felt the wind run through her face. "The things I do for the Crusaders." She reached the bottom of the ramp; already past the point of no return. She jumped off and she felt another rush of wind.

"Whoa! What the hay are you doing!?" A tomboyish voice screamed in concern. Scootaloo felt her momentum stop in an instant as she was caught by her role model. Scootaloo's scooter was sent flying without her, going through the cloud that she wanted to gather. She muttered to herself that she could have caught that if she wasn't stopped.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo greeted unenthusiastically. Normally she would be glad to see her idol, but in a situation like this she knew she'd be grilled. Ever since the camping trip with The other crusaders and their respective sisters, Rainbow Dash took on the duty as the older sister Scootaloo never had.

"What were you thinking?" Rainbow scolded, floating back to the ground of Ponyville.

"I was trying to catch the cloud..." Scootaloo answered quietly.

"What for?" Rainbow Dash inquired, knowing the overall uselessness of clouds other than rain or beds.

"Nothing important." Scootaloo lied, putting her hooves on the safety of the surface.

"I'll get a hooffull of cloud if you promise not to do anything stupid with it." Rainbow Dash bargained.

"Deal," the filly answered; she was glad that her problem would be solved quickly. Rainbow Dash bolted straight towards the air, leaving behind a rainbow streak. The pegasus spared no time in grabbing the cloud high above, but right after on her decent she began to do several Wonderbolt-esque tricks.

Rainbow Dash landed cleanly on the ground, and she stopped to take a short bow to showcase her skill.

"Rainbow! That was awesome!" Scootaloo complimented, looking at the pegasus who flexed confidently.

"As usual," she added. The cyan mare gave the small patch of fluffy white cumulus to the exited filly.

"Thanks," she said gratefully. Rainbow Dash nodded and flew away to continue her training as a possible  Wonderbolt. Scootaloo waved goodbye, and faked an innocent smile. 

"I'm so going to do something stupid." Scootaloo said, returning to the library.

***

"Okay, so you mix this here and add this... Now." Sweetie Belle said, stirring a pot that they had "borrowed" from Twilight's kitchen. The Crusaders had also commandeered Twilight's entire kitchen for their experiment. Of course the Crusaders eventually ransacked the kitchen and left it in a terrible condition, but they figured their sisters would help clean it up in their future diminutive states. Apple Bloom would read the instructions while Scootaloo would pass them to Sweetie Belle, and she would follow what Apple Bloom instructed her to.

It was one of those rare occurrences of teamwork that the hardly experienced. The CMC usually competed against each other; even if they were supposed to work together. They were different enough to argue on just about everything, and whenever the chance to disagree on something they did. The three followed the instructions carefully; another thing the Cutie Mark Crusaders almost never did.

"I think we're done girls." Sweetie Belle stated, looking into the cooking pot.

"You sure? It kind of looks undercooked." Apple Bloom asked, looking at the orange liquid inside.

"Like you have made a shrinking potion." Sweetie scoffed, admiring her work.

"Did you make one?" Scootaloo asked, challenging the unicorn.

"Just now, and I say it's fine," she declared. "What does it say next."

"It says to engulf the user in the potion. Oh it also warns that the slightest drop could shrink anypony."

"Then we have to be extra careful with it." Scootaloo said. Trying to bottle up the liquid safely. The pegasus slowly dipped a bottle Into the contents of the cooking tool, scooping out small amounts at a time.

"Give me that," the southern accented pony ordered, sticking her hoof to reach for the bottle.

"No." Scootaloo stated bluntly. The pegasus moved the potion away from the yellow filly.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo pushed and shoved each other for the potion. Both fillies yelled excuses to the other on who did more work. Sweetie Belle tried her best to cut off the fighting, but after a few seconds of them ignoring her the unicorn joined the bickering that seemed to plague them for life.

"It was my idea." Scootaloo claimed.

"You wouldn't have thought of that if Ah' didn't tell you about Applejack." Apple Bloom retorted.

"I had to sacrifice a week of indentured servitude to my sister!" Sweetie Belle argued, noting her own contributions.

The three members of Ponyville's branch of the Crusaders began to fight against one another. Scootaloo was the first to get physical with the other two. She shoved the earth pony and in return she pushed back; only to have Sweetie Belle caught in the crosshairs. Sweetie yelped in pain before she grabbed Scootaloo and pushed her in return. They insulted each other as they usually did until they felt the fight ended in a usual draw,

       Apple Bloom began to sway side to side because of the shoving. The increased rocking of the pedestal caused her to push things out of the way and off the counter, starting with extra, unused ingredients and utensils, and they eventually reached a certain shrinking brew. They argued as they fought, and they all stopped paying attention to the volatile liquids in the pot. A loose hoof from Apple Bloom was enough to douse them with the warm liquid and was enough to ruin their plans for Rarity and Applejack. They all shared a moment of silence as they anticipated what came next.

     The world around them grew, but a moment later they knew they were shrinking. It was always every pony's first thought; it was an ignorant thought to guess that the whole planet decided to grow without you, and that you didn't change at all. The ceiling was pushed farther away than the ponies could have ever hoped to reach. They all screamed as they lost their stature, shrinking away until they were no talker than bugs. Their stool that they used now formed into a giant mountain that towered above them.

"What just happened!?" Sweetie shouted; her voice cracking at her last word.

"Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked. A smile forming on her face. Sweetie Belle was about to answer before she stopped.

"No. I'm not doing it!" Sweetie denied. Looking at her her friend angrily.

"Sweetie." Apple Bloom said again in a sing song tone.

"Nope. Not saying anything."

"Sweetie..."

"What!?" Sweetie Belle snapped, looking at Apple Bloom who just smiled a goofy grin.

"Sweetie, we shrunk Ah-selves."