Lightning Dust sighed as she sat in the mess hall of Wonderbolt Academy. Not long ago she had almost killed five civilians after she lost control of her own tornado. Had it not been for the efforts of five fearless recruits, and the quick thinking of Lightning Dust's wing pony Rainbow Dash, those five ponies might not have survived.
Rainbow Dash had taken the time after the whole ordeal to lash out at Lightning Dust. But Lightning Dust didn't see what the big deal was, after all nopony had gotten hurt. However she soon realized just how much her actions had cost her when Acadmey Head Spitfire stripped her of her leader badge. The words she had said to Lightning Dust still echoed in Lightning Dust's mind "I'll deal with you later. I'm very disappointed with your reckless behavior."
That had been five minutes ago but it had seemed like forever to Lightning Dust. How could she have been so stupid? And more importantly why couldn't anyone understand? She had never meant to cause any harm, and it certainly wasn't her fault if those five ponies just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So why did everyone suddenly hate her, or at least refuse to come near her? It's not like she was a heartless monster. She was only doing what she thought was right.
"Lightning Dust?" a voice called out, interrupting her thoughts. Lightning Dust looked up. It was none other then Wonderbolt Co-Captain Soarin, her idol. "Spitfire will see you now."
"Thanks." Lightning Dust said, rising from her seat. She proceeded to walk with Soarin down the long hallway to Spitfire's office.
"That was quite a stunt you pulled back there kid." Soarin said, breaking the silence "A tornado for cloud busting! Talk about overkill."
"Yeah yeah I know, I shouldn't have done that!" Lightning Dust said "I've heard that at least a million times already."
"Sorry if I touched a nerve." Soarin said sympathetically "But I hope you realize how much trouble you're in. I don't think I've ever seen Spitfire this angry."
Lightning Dust gulped "Just great." she said "Like I wasn't worried enough just thinking about what Spitfire will do to me."
"Relax kid." Soarin said "Spitfire's actually a really nice gal at heart, and I know what I'm talking about. I'm sure she won't be too harsh on ya."
"Somehow I doubt that very much." Lightning Dust said.
"Well, here we are." Soarin said, stopping in front of Spitfire's office "Good luck in there."
Lightning Dust gulped. Slowly she placed her hoof on the door and knocked.
"Come in." Spitfire said. Lightning Dust did so. "Ah Lightning Dust, glad you decided to show up." Spitfire said "You know why you're here right?"
"Yeah." Lightning Dust said "You're here to punish me. Well just so you know it wasn't my fault what happened. It's not like I meant to hurt anypony."
"I know that." Spitfire said "But that doesn't change the fact that your actions endangered the lives of five innocent ponies. And I'm pretty sure they don't feel the same way right now."
"So why don't you just go ahead and expel me from the academy already?!" Lightning Dust asked "It's not like I've got anything else to lose."
"I'm not gonna kick you out of the academy Lightning Dust." Spitfire said "Though I admit that option is very tempting. Instead in regards to the academy rules I'm going to offer you a choice of two punishments."
"And if I refuse to do them?" Lightning Dusk said.
"Then you can pack your bags and leave." Spitfire said "And I doubt that's what you want."
"So what are my choices?" Lightning Dust asked, even though she wasn't sure she'd like what she would hear.
"Well, you can either clean the bathrooms for a week, or you can choose to do a more 'private punishment'." Sptifre said.
Without even thinking Lightning Dust said "I choose the 'private punishment'!"
"Are you sure about that?" Spitfire asked.
"Yes." Lightning Dust said "So what do I have to do?"
"Well actually, I'm not charge of this punishment." Spitfire explained "But I know who is."
"Who is it?" Lightning Dust asked.
"You'll see in a second." Spitfire said. Lightning Dust could've sworn she saw Spitfire trying to hold back a smirk. Spitfire then stepped out into the hall.
A moment later Spitfire returned with Soarin.
"What's he doing here?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Soarin is in charge of the 'private punishment'." Spitfire explained "And from the looks of things you two have already met."
"You've certainly got a lot of guts agreeing to the 'private punishment' kid." Soarin said "But I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. What with your thrill seeking nature and all."
"I'm sure you know what to do Soarin." Spitfire said "Take Lightning Dust to be fitted for her" she paused for a moment "'Punishment Garment'."
"Right." Soarin said "Luckily I always keep the key in a secure location. Follow me kid."
"Would you stop calling me that?" Lightning Dust asked as the two of them left Spitfire's office. Needless to say she was getting tired of the nickname.
"Heh, I can't help it." Soarin said, chuckling slightly "Besides in a little bit it'll really fit you."
"Where are we going anyway?" Lightning Dust asked.
"You'll see in a minute." Soarin said as he led Lightning Dust even further down the hallway. Eventually the two of them turned to the left. There was only one door but it seemed different from the other ones in the academy. Unlike them this door seemed to be more brightly colored. Perhaps even foalish in design. And unlike the other doors this one was locked.
"Well, here we are." Soarin said, digging into the pocket of his Wonderbolts flight suit. After some searching and fumbling around he pulled out a bright yellow key. He inserted it into the key hole and turned it. The click seemed to echo everywhere, at least to Lightning Dust. That didn't stop Soarin from opening the door. "This is it kid. Step inside please."
Suddenly however Lightning Dust seemed to freeze right on the spot. Reluctant to enter the room. She wasn't really sure why, she had agreed to this punishment after all. So why did she suddenly feel so hesitant to take another step forward?
"What's wrong kid? Are you nervous?" Soarin asked.
"Nervous? Me? Never!" Lightning Dust said, trying to hide any hints of how she really felt.
"Nice try." Soarin said "I can see right through you kid. If it makes you feel any better just about everyone who's gone through this has felt that same way, at least once."
"You mean I'm not the only one who's done this?" Lightning Dust asked.
"You'd be surprised at how many ponies have been inside this room since it was reconverted." Soarin said.
"Why?" Lightning Dust asked.
"You won't know until you step hoof into it." Soarin said "Or would you rather be kicked out of the academy? It's your choice."
"I'm not getting kicked out of this academy if I can help it!" Lightning Dust said. A second later she boldly trotted into the room. She was prepared for anything.
Or so she thought. What was inside the room rendered her completly speechless. She had never seen something like this before. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, just to make sure that she wasn't somehow seeing things. She wasn't.
Unlike the rest of the academy the walls of this room were sky blue, foalish in design, with white clouds. The floors were a bright yellow, also foalish in design. In one corner of the room stood a changing table, modified for a fully grown pony. And next to it was a stack of adult diapers along wih a bottle of foal powder and diaper wipes. In another corner there was what looked like a giant crib with a matching blanket. And there was even a high chair that could fit an adult pony, and a toy chest with foalish toys like alphabet blocks. In short if Lightning Dust didn't know better she would've assumed she was looking at some sort of giant nursery.
"Big shocker isn't it?" Soarin asked, locking the door and putting the key back in his jacket pocket. "But your eyes don't deceive you. This place is what it seems."
"I never knew Wonderbolt Academy had a place like this." Lightning Dust said "Heck I never even knew this sort of thing even existed."
"Yeah well there's a whole history behind it." Soarin said "But I won't bore you with the details. Now then hop up on the changing table."
"What?" Lightning Dust asked.
"I said hop up on the changing table." Soarin said "It's my job as the overseer of this punishment to fit you with your 'Punishmnet Garment'."
"And by that you mean a diaper?" Lightning Dust asked. She was not keen on wearing such a thing, she was certain the bulky object would weigh her down and hinder her flying abilites.
"Yup." Soarin said "So are you gonna do as you were told? I'm not a fan of using force but don't think I won't resort to it if I have to."
"That won't be necessary." Lightning Dust replied. Reluctantly she flew over to the changing table and carefully positioned herself on it. Soarin meanwhile was smiling like this was the happiest day of his life.
"Glad to see you can follow orders." Soarin said "Most recruits don't tend to cooperate on their first time."
"I can see why." Lightning Dust said. She wanted to laugh but she was so nervous that she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Alright then." Soarin said "First things first. Let's remove that flight suit of yours so it doesn't get in the way. The same goes for your goggles." He carefully removed both Lightning Dust's goggles and flight suit, and placed them off to the side. He then grabbed one of the fluffy diapers and carefully unfolded it.
"How can you be so good at this?" Lightning Dust asked as Soarin diapered and powdered her, carefully fastening the straps. He then put her flight suit and goggles back on.
"Do you really want to know?" Soarin asked "Because it's kind of a long story."
"Well I'll listen to it." Lightning Dust said "On one condition."
"Name your price kid." Soarin said.
"I want you to put on a diaper as well." Lightning Dust said "Unless you've got a problem with that."
"Hardly." Soarin said and climbed up onto the changeing table while Lightning Dust flew back down. The diaper made flying rather difficult but somehow she managed. Soarin meanwhile took off his Wonderbolts flight suit, quickly powdered himself, slipped a diaper under his rump, strapped it up, put his flight suit back on, and then slid down off the changing table. As if he'd done it all before.
"Well I'm all ears." Lightning Dust said.
"How about I tell you while I feed you?" Soarin asked "After all you look kind of hungry."
"I suppose I am." Lightning Dust said "I couldn't really eat earlier, what with my stomach feeling like Spitfire made it fly 100 laps and all."
A few minutes later the bar of the high chair was latched close as Soarin tied a bib around Lightning Dust's mouth. "Wouldn't want you to make a mess kid." he said teasingly. He then dipped a spoon into a bowl of oddly colored goop. Lightning Dust stuck out her tongue at it.
"Sorry kid but I have to feed you this." Soarin explained "It's part of the punishment rules."
"Speaking of which let's hear that story of yours." Lightning Dust demanded.
"I will." Soarin said "Now open for the aeroplane." Reluctantly Lightning Dust did as she was told. "Well like with all good stories I'll start at the beginning." Soarin said "Originally this room was just an exercise room. Nothing really fancy, just a plain old exercise room."
"So when did that change?" Lightning Dust asked as Soarin continued to feed her.
"Patience kid, patience." Soarin said "Anyways after Spitfire took over as Captain we had a new state of the art exercise room installed. So this room no longer had a purpose. For a long time we just used it as a storage room. Nothing more, nothing less."
"And then it became this giant nursery right?" Lightning Dust asked.
"That's right." Soarin replied "Spitfire was the one who suggested such a thing. She said that it could serve as a punishment room because as she put it, if the cadets were going to get into trouble then they deserved to be treated like the foals they were."
"Wow! That's intresting." Lightning Dust said "I never knew Spitfire was an adult foal."
"Well actually she's not." Soarin said "Though I can see why you might think that. I don't really know what Spitfire's motivation behind the conversion was. Even to this day she still won't tell me. Anyway this place has seen quite a lot of ponies in the time since. I've even heard of cadets that get themselves into trouble on purpose just so they can come back here. And when they do they enjoy every minute of it."
"You're not one of those ponies are you?" Lightning Dust asked. She never would've pegged her idol as one to get into that sort of stuff. In fact even though she'd heard about this from word of mouth Lightning Dust herself was experiencing this for the first time. And it felt really weird.
"No." Soarin said "Though I did once get this punishment. But that's another story."
"I see." Lightning Dust said.
"Well looks like feeding time's over." Soarin said, dipping the spoon into the empty bowl to prove his point.
"Then can you let out of this high chair?" Lightning Dust asked.
"What's the magic word kid?" Soarin asked.
"Magic word?" Lightning Dust asked "What are you talking about?! Let me out of this thing now!"
"I know you know the word kid." Soarin said "So say it."
"No!" Lightning Dust said.
"I'm not going anywhere til I hear it." Soarin said.
"Still no!" Lightning Dust said.
"Okay be that way." Soarin said "Hope you weren't planning on going anywhere. Oh and fyi I'd reconsider if I were you, because in a little bit you're going to need a diaper change."
"You're bluffing." Lightning Dust said "There's no way you could know that."
"Oh but I do." Soarin said "I didn't tell you this earlier but that food I fed ya? It was foal pureed."
"You've gotta be kidding me." Lightning Dust said.
"I'll prove it to ya." Soarin said. He picked up the jar containing the goop he had just fed to Lightning Dust. On the jar in large bold letters was a warning that read "DO NOT EAT!".
"You tricked me!" Lightning Dust said.
"No I didn't." Soarin said "That stuff is part of the punishment. Spitfire insisted. I personally don't really like giving it to others but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Now then what's the magic word?"
"I'm never gonna say it." Lightning Dust said, her pride forbid such a thing.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Soarin said "Especially because of what's going to happen any moment now."
"No!" Lightning Dust said "There is no way in Tartarus I'm using this diaper!"
"Sorry to break it to you but that's part of the punishment as well." Soarin said "Probably should've explained this earlier. You can't take the diaper off at all. Once it's it stays on, no exceptions."
"Buck you!" Lightning Dust said "As soon as this punishment is over you're gonna be sorry!"
"Oh really?" Soarin asked "You sure weren't thinking that way when this all began."
"Yeah well that was all an act." Lightning Dust lied "And further more", she never got to finish that sentence. At that very moment nature finally took its course. Lightning Dust felt incredibly embarrassed as she felt the very unpleasant feeling. The strong smell of manure soon began to fill the air.
"Told you." Soarin said, not even plugging his nose at the horrible smell.
"How can you be so comfortable?" Lightning Dust asked, trying and failing to hold back tears. "Do you have any idea of how bad this smells?"
"I do." Soarin said "But after all the recruits I've looked after I've gotten use it. Still we'd better get you changed."
"Then let me out of this high chair already!" Lightning Dust demanded.
"Not til you say the magic word." Soarin said.
"I told you I'm never gonna say it!" Lightning Dust said.
"Oh I think you will." Soarin said "Especially considering if we don't act fast you'll get a diaper rash."
Lightning Dust tried to come up with another arguement but she couldn't. She most certainly didn't want to get a diaper rash, and of course the sooner she was out of this used diaper the better. Sighing and admitting defeat she finally said "Please."
"See. Now that wasn't so hard was it kid?" Soarin asked, unlatching the bar. "So do you wanna try to fly to the changing table or just trot over to it and hoist yourself up?"
"I can still fly." Lightning Dust said, flapping her wings. But the weight of her used diaper was too heavy and she fell to the ground.
"I gotcha." Soarin said. He carefully caught Lightning Dust before she hit the floor. Preventing her from making even more of a mess. "You probably shouldn't try that again." he said.
"Guess you're right." Lightning Dust said, at this point she really didn't feel like fighting back. With Soarin's help she carefully but quickly trotted over to the changing table and hoisted herself onto it so she wouldn't make things any worse then they already were. With Soarin's help she removed her flight suit and goggles.
"Okay kid let's get you cleaned up." Soarin said, making sure to act fast. He quicky but carefully slipped off the old diaper, not recoiling or gagging even the slightest from the smell of the opened diaper. In the blink of an eye he dropped it into the trash. Next he took the diaper wipes and wiped Lightning Dust down until she was completly clean. Then he pulled out a new diaper from the nearby stack, unfolded it, and slid it under Lightning Dust's rump. Finally he sprinkled some foal powder and then strapped the diaper up. "Feel any better kid?" he asked.
"I guess." Lightning Dust said "I certainly feel more comfortable. And somehow I also feel so relaxed."
"Well a fresh diaper can do that for ya." Soarin said "I don't know how or why but it just does. Now excuse me while I go wash my hooves." And he did just that. He then helped Lightning Dust slip back into her flight suit and goggles.
"Sorry for the way I acted earlier." Lightning Dust said "I suppose I just kind of panicked."
"That's alright." Soarin said "You actually did much better then a lot of other ponies. I've had some that fought me every step of the way."
"Really or are you just saying that to make me feel better?" Lightning Dust asked.
"I mean it." Soarin said.
The rest of the day passed by quickly for both Soarin and Lightning Dust who began to relax little by little as the minutes ticked by. Several hours later Soarin gently lowered a sleeping Lightning Dust into the giant crib. The exciting afternoon with her idol had completly worn her out.
As Soarin tucked her in he couldn't help but think she looked cute. Here she was, sleeping peacefully, without a care in the world. And it seemed like she had finally learned what the punishment was intended to teach, how to relax. Soarin hoped that Lightning Dust wouldn't forget this lesson as he looked at her. "Something's missing here." Soarin thought to himself. Suddenly an idea came to him. Digging into his jacket he pulled out a sky blue pacifier and gave it to Lightning Dust. It was his but he felt she deserved it more then he did.
"Sweet dreams kid." Soarin whispered as he gently tiphoofed to the door. He really hoped Lightning Dust would remember this lesson. It pained him so much to think of someone going down the same path he had gone once.
It had all started back when he became a Wonderbolt. Back then he was the youngest member on the team but he was eager to prove himself. A little too eager as he frequently pushed himself way too hard and became incredibly reckless. His teammates tried to talk some sense into him but he wouldn't listen.
Eventually Sptifire who had recently been promoted to the rank of Captain decided that enough was enough. She took it upon herself to discipline Soarin, and she did that by making an example of him. He ended up becoming the very first pony to be given the so called "Private Punishment". It worked like a charm, and from that day forward Soarin became a lot more mellow and laid back, just like Spitfire. He still carried a pacifier around in case he ever got stressed but now he truly felt like he didn't need it. But Lightning Dust certainly did.
After looking back at Lightning Dust one last time Soarin turned off the lights, locked the door, and left. He'd be back to check on Lightning Dust first thing in the morning. He was hopeful that the pony who would greet him would be as relaxed as he was. And this hopeful thought was all that he could focus on as he trotted back to his quarters. Not even caring if anyone saw him in a diaper.
Author's Note
A polished up take on my contest entry, tagged Alternative Universe because of what the writers say happened to Lightning Dust after "Wonderbolt Acadmey".
