Chapters The early morning sun’s rays shined in through the bottom of Flurry Heart’s nursery room window. Shining Armor was laying on the rug with his daughter, blowing raspberries on Flurry Heart’s chest, making her flail her tiny legs about. Her pink padded nursery had been built for her many months ago, complete with a cradle and too many foal toys to count. Shining heard hoofsteps come from behind, so he looked up just in time to find his wife come into the room. He saw her smile, full of love and adoration as she watched them play.
As Cadence lay down next to him, he nuzzled her neck and asked, “Hi honey. How was your morning?”
Princess Cadance giggled and whispered, “Pretty good, I suppose. Oh, she’s already up?” She looked down upon her beloved daughter and tickled her foal’s exposed tummy, eliciting a happy, “Mama!” from her.
“Yeah, she’s been up for a while. I don’t know how she does it...” Shining felt his daughter roll over onto her stomach before she crawled her way over into her mother’s spread forelegs. “You know, I’m going to miss this.” As he watched his daughter nuzzle Cadence’s breast, he looked up at Cadence and murmured, “She’ll never see me as a father. To her, I’m just going to be a younger brother.”
Princess Cadence’s ears flicked back. “Are you trying to weasel out?”
Shining rolled his eyes. ”Nah, I’m just stating the truth. I understand why we’re doing this, but it’s still strange to me. I still think it’s a good idea for Flurry to always have a sibling for her to play with, and now that you can’t have foals anymore... we aren’t really left with any options.”
Cadence smiled and said, “I’m glad you see it my way, dear.” She nuzzled her daughter again, making her giggle. “Now, little Flurry Heart can have a playmate as she grows up.”
Shining Armor sighed. “Yeah, but as a foal how can I protect her?”
His wife took a bottle of milk from underneath the changing table and placed the amber nipple into her daughter’s mouth. As Flurry Heart suckled the bottle at she looked at him and said, “You know, you’re going to be with her every day as a foal. Even as a younger brother she’ll have you to watch her back in school and teach her about the world. You can be there for her in ways that a father never could.”
Shining, with a smug grin, looked at his wife and asked, “Are you still trying to bait me?”
Cadence laughed at that. “No, like you said, I’m just stating the truth.”
Shining Armor scooted over and kissed her, most likely for the last time. He felt her lay a wing across his back, tugging him close. Many seconds passed as she held him. ”I am going to miss waking up next to you, though,” she murmured.
He nuzzled her neck and whispered, “You know I’m not going to be a foal forever.”
His ears lay flat on his head as he blushed. Then, after a few moments, he whispered, “How long do you want to wait before we, um... you know...”
She giggled. “Not until you get past puberty. Ponies might get the wrong idea about us otherwise!”
Shining nibbled on her ever-flicking ear and cooed, “I don't know if I can wait that long.”
Princess Cadence kissed him again before they looked down at their daughter, who was still suckling from the bottle in her tiny hooves. She sighed. “You’re so lucky getting a restart on life. Many ponies would give a leg or a wing to be in your position.”
Shinging got up again, looked up, and contemplated what she had just said, then replied, “Well, it’s going to be interesting to live through a whole new set of adventures.”
Cadence looked up at him and said, “Well, when we regress you, Flurry Heart will be more like another sister to you. Don’t you remember how much fun you had growing up with Twilight?”
Shining armor paused for a second and looked back at his wife. “Yeah, but... I don’t know if I want to do this again...”
Princess Cadence nuzzled his cheek and said, “Think about it... If we keep bathing you in the fountain of youth you’ll never have to die. You and I will get to live long lives.”
Shining armor sighed and as he got up, he said, “I… Of course I don’t mind. Doing this so young still makes me unsure about you and Flurry Heart’s safety.”
Cadence chuckled. “Fine, but you really are overprotective.”
“I bet i’ll be twice as bad with Flurry when she grows up,” he said with a smirk.
Princess Cadence then lifted Flurry and placed her in her crib. As she tucked her in, she replied, “Are you ready to tell your father?
Shining groaned, “This is going to be the most awkward conversation ever... Hey Dad, nice to see you! I’m going to let my wife turn me back into a foal! Yeah, that’s gonna go over great...”
Cadence looked at her husband as she placed a binky in Flurry’s mouth. “It’s not going to be that bad. I’m sure he’s gonna be thrilled to hear his son is going to be adorable again.”
Shining laughed. “I doubt that! Where do you think Twilight learned to be so panicky when things didn’t work out, or how she obsesses over check lists along with organizing everything around her?”
Princess Cadence got up from the crib and turned on her mobile and asked, “Is he that bad?”
“It’s not bad, it’s just that he’s the one who taught Twilight and I how to work hard and stand on our own four legs. He never liked shortcuts or stepping out of his comfort zone. To him, this would look like I’m giving up on my duties to just to spend my days as my daughter’s brother.”
Princess Cadence trotted up to him and nuzzled him as she whispered, “But you’ve done so much already. If he can’t see that keeping you alive isn’t a good thing then he can kiss my plot.”
Shining was surprised at that, but he still whispered sarcastically, “Woah Cady, go easy on him.”
He then looked over at his daughter, “Did I ever mention how he taught us to do our taxes before we were ten?”
Cadence laughed, “Alright I get it your dad’s strict.”
She kissed him again, listening as Shining whispered in her ear, “So how long do we have?”
She grinned. “About two hours.” She trotted over towards the door and whispered, “I’ll meet you in bed.”
As she called for Flurry’s nanny, Shining came upon his sleeping daughter and kissed her on the forehead then brushed her little mane as he whispered, “Next time we see each other I’ll be your little brother.” He then left the room quietly as the nanny, a dark brown mare with yellow eyes, a light yellow mane, and a cutie mark with a red book and the letters ‘ABC’ on it, came in. Princess Cadence hugged her and whispered “Thank you for everything.”
As Princess Cadence trotted off Shining went to the nanny and said, “Also Butterscotch I just wanted to say that you do an excellent job with her ”
Butterscotch bowed with a grateful smile, then whispered, “It’s my pleasure.”
Twilight spotted the Crystal Express as it came into view from the Crystal Empire’s station. A light snow was falling over the crowd of ponies waiting for their loved ones and friends. Twilight was anxiously waiting in the group, grinding her right front hoof in the snow as she thought, Don’t be nervous, Twilight! He’ll see that turning into a foal is for the best. I know Dad has to see the reality of the situation. He just has too.
When the train finally arrived at the port slowing down before making a complete stop, The doors slid open on the passenger cars with dozens of ponies exiting them. Twilight looked around to see if she could spot him. She saw a middle-aged dark blue stallion with two crescent moons for a cutie mark slowly trotting from a door looking around with tired golden eyes. Twilight, with a huge grin on her face suddenly fell a bit as she thought, “He still misses her so much. At the funeral he cried the whole time and during his speech I had to help him. I’ll make sure his stay is relaxing try to get him to forget about her for a bit.” and shouted, “Dad over here!”
Night Light turned to see that it was his daughter who called out for him, so, he with a wide smile on his face,saw her trot up to him and hugged him, with all her love. They held the embrace as tears of joy dripped down her cheeks. “I’m so glad you came,” she whispered.
She then thought about how he was always loving, and caring. As foals he took care of Twilight and Shining as much as their mother.After wiping her tears (she just realized she had them) away on her father’s coat and looked back into her father’s golden eyes.
Night Light whispered back, “I’m so happy to see you too, my little Twilie.”
She blushed at him using her nickname from when she was a filly. As she looked at him with a shy grin, she asked, “So was the train okay?
Night Light nodded and replied, “The ride was fine, but like always, it was much too long. My butt’s sore from sitting all day! I think they should make the seats more comfy.”
Twilight sighed in relief and said, “They better! I’ll talk to Cadence and see what we can do.”
Night Light ruffled her mane as she groaned at that. “So, where's your brother and sister-in-law?”
Twilight smiled up at him and replied, “They were back at the palace caring for Flurry heart when I left. I’m sure they’ll be be free by the time we arrive.”
The two trotted off with the rest of the Crystal ponies going about their business. They made their way through the main streets which glowed with the shine coming off the crystal buildings and crystal streets. All the main streets converged in the center to the Crystal palace, so it made it hard to get lost.
“Gosh, everypony seems so happy here!” Night Light said with a chuckle.
Twilight blushed and said, “ It’s really all thanks to Cadence. Because of her, the citizens here seem to all have forgotten about King Sombra.”
Night Light whispered, “It wouldn't have been possible without you.”
Twilight looked at her dad lovingly and said, “Thanks Dad.”
Night Light sighed as they continued their trot and said, “With your mother gone, life at the old place has gotten lonely. So I was thinking of moving up here with Shining.”
Twilight smiled. ”That’s a wonderful idea. You can help raise Flurry Heart and..”
Night Light looked at her with a lifted eyebrow, then nodded and said, “Yeah, that’ll be nice. You can’t ever disappoint foals.”
Twilight held her father’s hoof as she spotted Cadence and Shining on near the palace's doorway. She cleared her throat rather obnoxiously, making Shining Armor look sideways.
“Dad!” he exclaimed.
Night Light hugged his son. “Hey Shining” As they went inside the Crystal palace and went to a small foyer with some comfortable chairs and a table with lunch of assorted sandwiches laid out. As everypony else but him glanced at each other, Night Light asked, “So is there something all three of you want to tell me?”
Shining glanced at Cadence, then looked back at his father. “Yeah, but I think we need to go somewhere more private.”
Night Light slowly chewed his sandwich, stunned after his children and daughter-in-law finished explaining their plans for Shining. They were all sitting in the castle, eating on one of the many balconies. After swallowing his food, he just looked at them with wide eyes and said, “So let’s get this straight ... you’re opening a portal to a pocket dimension, where, in this dimension, is a fountain of youth. And to make sure he keeps his memories, you're using a spell to let him keep those during the transformation, right?”
Twilight nodded and replied, “Yes Dad, we went over every possible solution and this is the only way to keep Shining from dying and to let him live with his wife and daughter.”
Night Light sighed then looked at his son and asked, “Why would you agree to this crazy scheme of theirs?”
Seeing the obvious disappointment in his father’s eyes, Shining looked at his dad and thought, I knew he would be against it... Shining still managed to look calm and collected and looked straight back at his dad and responded “Because like Twilight said dad; there’s a chance I can get a brain aneurysm before I turn thirty and my chances increase every day. As a foal, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that, and yes, I’d be helpless for a while. But If I’m dead, I’m no good to anypony. Dad, I know you’ve never been for one for strange solutions, but this is the only option to my problem,(gulps) and I know it’ll work out.”
Night Light asked, “How do you know that?”
Twilight replied with a bit of pride, “I helped decipher the clues in Starswirl’s diary to open the portal, and on top of that I researched a matrix spell will make sure to keep Shining’s memories intact during the transformation.”
Night Light smiled at his daughter then leaned back in his chair as he let their idea sink in.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she thought, This is my chance! “Dad, considering mom’s death, would you consider going in the fountain too?”
Night Light looked at his daughter. As tears formed in her eyes, he replied, “Twilight,I have misgivings about what you’re doing to Shining. But, I understand and will live with it, considering it’s not my decision. But, I won’t do the same, as I want to see your mother someday in the Elysian fields.”
“But...”
Shining shook his head. “Twilight, he doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to.”
Twilight sighed, then looked at her food and took a large bite from her sandwich.
Night Light ate the rest of his meal, then looked at Cadence, who, for the last several minutes, had stayed absolutely quiet. “Cadence, I hope you know that I’m not mad at you for doing this. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through when you found out Shining could die soon.”
Princess Cadence looked up at him and said, “Thank you, Night Light. Say, while we’re in the pocket dimension, would you mind watching Flurry?”
Night Light smiled and replied, “I would love too; she’s half the reason I’m here.”
Shining bowed his head and said, “Thank you, Dad.”
Night Light chuckled and continued, “No problem Shiny.” He turned to Cadence and said, “But Cadence, just so you know... There are some things you should know about Shining as a foal…”
Sunburst was in the tower where the spell circle was drawn around the mirror, studying the rune circle. He circled it many times as he scrutinized each rune drawn on the outer edge. He looked down and thought, “I hope I did this right.” Twilight then walked into the room, slamming the door behind her. Sunburst murmured to himself, “Woah, Somepony is in a bad mood.” Then asked, “ Princess Twilight, you doing okay?”
Twilight sighed. “Yeah, is the circle ready?”
Sunburst nodded and said, “I doubl-no, I triple checked the spell circle. I think we have everything we need for the spell to work.”
Twilight said, “Alright, just make sure we have the spell book and diary on hoof just in case.”
Sunburst nodded. “Is Prince Shining and Princess Cadence ready?”
Twilight nodded, “They’ll be here soon, so let’s look over the spell and make sure there aren’t any mistakes.”
Sunburst took out the spellbook and they looked it over together. Sunburst asked, “So how’d the visit with…”
Twilight cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Sunburst nods as he pushed his glasses back on his nose. He then replied, “alright...but is the circle drawn correctly?”
Twilight scrutinized the circle herself she then shakes her head and said, “There’s a few more adjustments that have to be made.”
She then took the chalk from the desk and finished the circle as Sunburst bowed his head he thought, “I knew it, no matter how hard I try to study I’ll never be as good as her.”
Both Princess Cadence and Shining walked into the tower. Shining sighed as he finally laid his eyes upon the giant mirror. He turned to his wife and said, “This is it.”
Cadence kissed him and pulled him into a hug. “Don’t worry, my love... Everything will be fine.”
Shining looked at his sister and Sunburst, then asked, “Is everything ready?”
Twilight then looked up at shining, “yeah the circle is finished.” and trots next to Sunburst as she whispered, “Hey you did a great job. Don't be so hard on yourself.”
He looked up as he pushed his glasses back on his nose, “Ok Twilight.”
Twilight turned to Princess Cadence and Shining. “I need you two to step back.”
They both go near the door as Twilight and Sunburst turned towards the mirror. They both breathed in and out of their noses and then their horns flared with their magic auroras, lighting the circle as it glowed green. The mirror burst into light, flooding the room with its light. “Alright, we only have twenty minutes, so we have to make this quick,” Twilight said.
And without wasting another second, everypony stepped through the portal.
They stood in an open field with bright, twinkling stars illuminating the strange world. The area surrounding them held a murky haze of fog swirling around. The only object they could see was a giant golden basin that lay a little ways away. It was was wide yet short with milky water brimming at the surface. There were two golden statues of alicorn foals on either side shooting water from their mouths into the pool.
Twilight let her eyes rest on the pool and whispered, “I never felt power like this in my life. Not Celestia and Luna combined, not the Alicorn amulet, not even the elements of harmony... it’s overwhelming.”
Sunburst was just as astonished. He pushed his glasses back on his nose and whispered, “I’m actually surprised that the legends are true.”
Shining kissed his wife one last time and murmured, “I guess it’s time for my bath.”
Cadence hugged him one last time and said, “Have fun, sweetie.”
Shining Armor then stepped over the rim of the golden pool as Twilight and Sunburst readied their horns for the memory spell. Many moments passed in silence as Shining stood in the pool. Twilight was a bit scared watching her brother look at them with a frightened look.
They waited for a few more minutes then Shining sighed. “Well, looks like it doesn’t work.” He stepped out of the pool but the moment his hoof touched the grass, a golden light enveloped him. At the same time Twilight and Sunburst shot their magic into the golden tendrils of light, giving the light a green glow. Then the light turned into a white flash and the rest of them had to shield her eyes from the intense light. Cadence had to blink to get her eyes adjusted, then she heard, “Cady wha happe,my voi wha happe ta ma voi?”
Princess Cadence looked down and saw a white coated, small, plump foal with two round blue eyes and a wisp of blue for a mane and tail.
He kicked his little hind legs, making all of the other ponies say, “Daaaw...”
Princess Cadence came up to him and asked, “Do you know who I am?”
Shining Armor babbled, “Ya Cady ma wifie.”
Twilight came forward and asked, “Do you remember me?”
Shining Armor nodded and said, “Ya Twilie my wittle sista.”
She giggled and said, “I’m your big sister now!” (Shiny pouted on that)
Princess Cadence, still unsure if the spell worked, asked, “Who led the attack on our wedding?”
Shiny paused for a second then babbled, “Queen Cwysalsis.”
Twilight paused then asked, “What was your favorite toy as a foal?”
Shining bounced up and down as he shouted, “Bwutus fowces!”
Princess Cadence smiled, then picked him up in her magic and sat down in the grass. She hugged him and placed him in her lap, then asked, “Do you remember your daughter?”’
He nodded. “Fwuwwy hweat.”
Princess Cadence sighed and said, “It worked...”
Shining wrapped his tiny forelegs as far around Cadence’s neck as he whimpered, “I fweel cold, Cady.”
Sunburst took of his cloak and wrapped it over Shining’s back, then said, “He can use that for now.”
He snuggled into the cloak as Princess Cadence looked at her now foalfied husband and with tears of joy, she whispered, “He’s perfect, just perfect. Thank you Sunburst, Thank you Twilight.”
Twilight and Sunburst bowed as Princess Cadence used her magic to place the now foalified Shining Armor onto her back. As they walked back to the portal, she cast a glance over her shoulder, wondering if it would be prudent to save some of the liquid from the fountain, just in case.
Shining rubbed his eyes in disbelief when he saw Flurry’s nursery. Half of it had a blue padded floor with a mural of Canterlot and the Royal Guard in the right half over the nursery’s walls. In the back of the room was a crib with his old cutie mark. Thrown his side of the room were several foam blocks, stuffed knights, a small bookshelf near his crib, plus a giant stuffed dragon. He asked, “Cady the staff bwuilt this while we we gone?”
Twilight laughed. “We had them working since we got back from dinner.”
Shining looked at his sister and with a smile replied, “Ya did thi fa me?”
Princess Cadence nodded and said, “We spared no expense in building this nursery for you. Now I think you’re missing something?”
Shining replied, “Wha I missin?”
Twilight poked him in the tummy, making him giggle, as she said, “A diaper, silly!”
His eyes lit up and he shakes his head, “Na diapees I ca use ta potty.”
Princess Cadence lifted him with her magic and placed him on the changing table as she said, “Sorry honey, but until you’re there, you’re gonna have to wear diapers. We don’t want you to have an accident, right?”
He frowned bit as she brought out a fresh diaper. It was plastic with four tapes and on the back lay his old cutie mark. Princess Cadence asked, “Like it? We had them specially designed just for you... Thick, super soft, and extra crinkly!”
He giggled as he said, “I wanda if I will ge the swame cwutie mar as beofwe.”
As she started to tape his first diaper on him she replied,” We’ll just have to see, my little shiny.”
Twilight watched as Princess Cadence lifted his rear to poke his small tail through the slot in the back, taking care to make sure each little hair was pulled through. Levitating the fresh bottle of foal powder, she twisted the lid open and covered his crotch and rump in the lavender-scented powder. She used her magic to rub it all in, then as an afterthought, spread a light layer of rash cream on his rear end. After that, she lifted the front up the diaper and pulled it down against his lower belly, making sure that it was nice and tight. With a quick burst of magic from her horn, she held the top flaps down as she pulled the bottom flaps up, taping it all up. She smiled as she watched Shining get used to wearing such a thick diaper. He kicked his rear legs back and forth, making audible crinkling noises.
Twilight couldn't help but daaaw at her now little brother. Then it dawned on her that she had only seen her brother as a foal from pictures and never realised how adorable he was.
Seeing his eyes start to droop, Princess Cadence cooed, “I think Shiny needs a nap. You’ve been through so much today”
He yawned and murmured, “Okay Cady.”
Cadence then used her magic to place him in his new crib, tucking him in with his new blanket. Night Light walked into the room with Flurry Heart on his back. As he looked at the room in amazement, he asked, “Wow when the workers said they work fast, they really meant it.”
Shining, upon hearing his father’s voice, looked up and babbled, “Dada!”
Night Light smiled as he placed Flurry in her crib. As he walked over to Shining, he thought, “He’s so small and fragile.” Lighting his horn, he levitated one of Shining’s old foal toys, a dark blue pony in gold armor with a gold mask over his button eyes.
Shiny gasped, “Bwutus fowces? Wha he doin hewe?”
Night Light placed the doll in Shining’s legs and cooed, “Well, I brought him over for Flurry originally but it seems you can have him back.”
Shiny hugged his doll and babbled, “Thanks dada.”
Princess Cadence hugged Night Light and whispered, “Thank you. That was very thoughtful.”
Night Light chuckled and said, “Well, I’m just glad my two favorite foals are doing fine.”
Twilight lowered her gaze as Night Light walked over to her. She whispered, “Dad, can we talk later?”
Night Light nodded and said, “Sure thing.”
As he left the room Shining placed his front hooves into his mouth and started to suckle on them. Princess Cadence daawed at that, then brought out a pacifier with his old cutie mark on it and slipped it into his mouth, pushing it past his little hooves. As he suckled on it, he slowly drifted to sleep. As Princess Cadence rocked him, Twilight looked at the sun setting through the window and gasped, “I forgot Flash is waiting for me!”
Princess Cadence replied, “Go, you don’t want to be late on your first date.”
Shining Armor mumbled in his sleep, “Na Fwash if ya da my sisie ya goin to be demote to maid.”
Princess Cadence hushed him as Twilight tried her hardest to stifle her giggles.
It’s been three months since Flash sentry has seen Twilight. Since he has been transferred his only contact with Twilight was through some light hearted letters. But he’s also been saving a ton of bits so they could finally have a date.
As Flash Sentry sat at a table outside a local luncheon at the Crystal empire. He had two sandwiches, one on either side of the table. He was looking down wondering “I hope I sent Twilight the right directions to this place.”
Twilight flew into the chair across from Flash and said, “I’m so sorry my family was holding me up.” She chuckled nervously as she folded her wings.
Flash Sentry smiled and sighed. “Don’t worry, it’s fine, really. I’m just glad you’re here.”
She smiled at the sandwich as she lifted it up with her magic, and as started to eat she savored the food, realizing she hadn’t eaten since that morning. She swallowed her food and asked, “So, uh... Flash, you like it here?” Several seconds passed in silence before Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face. “Flash?”
He shook his head and replied, “Wha...yeah I like it here. The Crystal Empire is very...uh...shiny.”
Twilight smirked at that, then said, “Ok.”
They both ate in silence for a while then Flash whispered, “If you don’t mind... what do you do here?”
Twilight swallowed what was in her mouth, then took a sip from her glass of punch and said, “Um...well actually I can’t tell you...top secret. I know you have a security clearance, but this is really up there. I don’t know if you’re cleared for this sort of stuff, so I think it’d best for us to stay on the safe side.”
Flash Sentry blushed and stuttered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Twilight said, “Don’t worry, you aren’t.” As their conversation lapsed into silence again, her thoughts drifted to her dad again, a tear slipping down her face.
Flash Sentry sat there, at a loss of what to do. Knowing that he’d regret not being there for her, he slid around the table and sat down next to her. He placed a hoof on top of hers and simply sat there, giving Twilight as much time as she needed.
After another minute, Twilight sighed. “Sorry... I... I think I need to tell you some things; get them off my chest.”
Flash looked up and replied, “Are you sure?”
Twilight nodded. “It all started with my mom’s death…”
Shining Armor woke to Cadence's smiling facing as she cooed, “ Did my shiny wet himself?”
Shining’s eyes furrowed. “Na I didn we my diapee.”
Cadence laid her front hoof on his tummy, making him giggle as she gently pushed down on his lower belly. He spat out his pacifier, then he felt his diaper filling up with hot pee.
Shining tried to lift the baby blanket but Princess Cadence lifted him with her magic instead, having his soggy diaper sag a little. Cadence couldn’t help but daaw at her husband-turned-foal in his wet diaper. She then placed him on the changing counter and started to change, and as she stripped off the wet diaper, powdering his flank with fresh foal powder, she placed another plastic diaper with his cutie mark on the back under him.
He babbled,”How many of those diapees di ya get?”
Princess Cadence chuckled. “Oh, so Shiny likes his diapees? Well I found a company who specializes in diapers. I set up a delivery schedule so that I get a new case every week, just in case, so you won’t have to worry about running out.”
Shiny kicked his legs feeling the snugness of his new diaper. He smiled and said, “Than ya Cady I wike these diapees, but I aint gonna go thwough alot of them.”
Cadence smiled and said, ”From what your dad told me, you were quite the wetter.”
Shining blushed and asked, “What else di he tell ya?”
Cadence finished taping his new diaper. “That you were a picky eater, you cried if somepony took your favorite toy, and that you loved raspberries.” Before Shiny could think, she blew one on his tummy, making him squeal in laughter.
He babbled, “Stop it, Cady, ya gonna make me pee again.”
Night Light strode in with his granddaughter on his back, bouncing happily. Princess Cadence smiled and said, “Place her wherever you want; Shining will be with her soon.”
Shining’s eyes glowed as he babbled, “I’m gonna pway with fwuwwy hewat?”
As she picked him up, she cooed, “Of course you are.” She then placed her new foal with Flurry and after a few seconds, the two of them looked at each other before Shining babbled, “Fuwwy hewat I dada!”
Flurry Heart, in shock, crawled to her foalified dad and touched his face, then ruffled his mane and poked his plastic diaper. She squealed as she hugged him, shouting, ” Dada fowl!”
Shining Armor hugged his daughter and soon the two were crawling around and exploring their new nursery.
“Where am I?” “Who am I?” These questions kept repeating themselves in her head as she roamed the halls of the strange place. She saw maids cleaning and dusting, the guards roaming and talking. She didn’t understand who or what they were, then she whispered, “Pony... I think that’s what they’re called.”
She looked up and saw a ceiling and then at the walls. A maid went through her and shivered as the spirit thought, “How? How is that possible?”
She continued to go down the hallway and soon she came upon a strange room. It was padded in blue with two younger ponies laughing and playing with stuffed dolls as two older ponies watched them closely. One was dark blue and had a horn while the other was pink and tall with a horn and wings. She just looked at them and muttered, “Unicorn... Alicorn…”
Another guard walked through her. He shivered too as he muttered, “Woah, it got really cold all of a sudden.”
His partner muttered, “Probably a ghost.”
The other guard rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, really? What makes you say that?”
The other guard replied, ”Well, we are in the palace once held by King Sombra. Who knows how many ponies died within these walls...”
As the two guards continued on their patrol, she whispered, “Dead... I’m dead?” Then as she said the words something shrieked in her ears. She looked up and saw the alicorn filly she whispered, “She’s alive... can I be alive?” She flowed through the room, and as her eyes lay on Flurry Heart, she stepped forward and entered her body.
Shining Armor and his daughter were making two of the toy soldiers move on the ground. Flurry Heart grew still for a second, then Shining looked back at her and asked, “Fwuwwy heawt, awe ya okay?”
Flurry Heart smiled and babbled, “Ya dada I fin.”
Shining giggled and said, “Ya know I we my fiwst diapee.”
Flurry Heart squealed as she bounced up and down. She said, “I'm in pull ups now.” Shining bounced up and down too as she asked, “Dada why ya a fowl?”
Shining replied, “I wana be with ya as a little bwotha. Is that okay?”
Flurry Heart hugged him and whispered, “I wan ya to be a fowl foreva.”
Shining hugged his daughter then Princess Cadence looked outside, spotting the rising moon. She cooed, “Alright you two, time for night nights.”
They both groaned and Shining whined, “I wana pway mowe.”
Flurry Heart babled, “Ya mama I wana pway.”
Night Light laughed. “Told you; Shiny’s a stubborn foal.”
Princess Cadence lifted the two with her magic and cooed, “I bet that’s where Flurry gets it from.” She then settled them in Shining’s crib. As she tucked them in, Night Light came up to Shining and Flurry and kissed them both on the forehead as he whispered, “Good night, my little troublemakers.”
Shining murmured, “Ni ni, Dada.”
Flurry Heart lisped, “Ni ni Grampa.”
Princess Cadence daawed at the scene as he hugged his daughter-in-law, and with tears in her eyes, he heard him whisper, “Thank you.”
Princess Cadence whispered back, “No problem... Dad.”
He smiled at her then turned and left the nursery.
She then cooed, “How about before you go to sleep, I tell you a bedtime story?”
They both shouted, “Stowie! Stowie!”
Princess Cadence placed a pacifier in each of their mouths and whispered, “Alright you two, I’ll tell you how Daddy and I defeated the big mean Sombra.”
Shining giggled. “Ya mean when I was a big pony.”
Princess Cadence nuzzled him, making him squeal as she cooed, “That’s right, when you were a big pony.” As she sat down, she took a moment to organize her thoughts, then said, “Once upon a time, the Crystal Empire was conquered and ruled over by a big meanie named Sombra. He was mean and cruel, enslaving every pony using the crystal heart that links every crystal pony to the city. However, Princess Celestia and Luna defeated and banished him, but he used his dark magic to make the city disappear along with the crystal heart for a thousand years. Then when the Crystal Empire returned, Twilight and her friends helped the crystal ponies gain back their confidence, and when almost all hope was lost, Twilight found the Crystal heart. But it was up to me and daddy to defeat Sombra. And Daddy had to throw me and with the crystal heart, I banished his dark soul from the city.”
“ So, Ever Filly? Is this how you dealt with your guilt? I thought I taught you to be better than this.” A older voice with light hearted tone replied
“At least they’re not dying of a plague. I cured them of all diseases, and rid them of pain and fear. Isn't this what you strive for? Peace? And Harmony?” The more arrogant young filly’’ voice responded
“This isn’t peace or harmony. This is slavery, they’re bound to your will and they have no control!” The older voice shouted.
“What is control? Every day ponies died by the hundreds! Is it better for them to die with their free will?” The young arrogant voice asked.
“Yes, at least they can make that decision! You took it away and now there are more dead than there are alive.” The older voice retorted.
“You talk as if you can understand. Have you watched a pony die from plague? I watched as it consumed my mother and I stood by helpless. I wish I had this power sooner so she could have had the same life as every pony.” The arrogant filly voice shouted again.
“You’re insane! Now release them!” The older voice whispered.
“No, they’re loved and happy, and i’ll never leave them. They’ll never die!” The filly voice shouted.
“Then you leave me with no choice!” said the older voice with a sadder tone...
Flurry Heart woke with her heart thumping in her chest, sweat pouring from her brow. She sneered, “I’m the ever filly...”
She looked at Shining sleeping soundly and snickered, then heard a sound in her head, saying, “Leave Dad awone.”
She mentally replied, “Shut it Flurry, you’re no longer in control.” She then used her magic to levitate herself from the crib and crawled across the ground towards the door. She crawled through the halls . She peeked around a corner when she saw a guard find her. She heard him sigh, then said, “Looks like our little princess is out of bed.”
As he came up to get her, her horn glowed and she zapped the guard. Then all of a sudden, a giant pink diaper grew around his flank. He tried to tear it off, but his armor also became pink and plastic, making him stumble backwards. He was going to shout but she zapped him again and a giant pink pacifier went into his mouth. He tried to spit it out but found that he just suckled on it more. His coat then turned from purple to a light yellow, his boots turned into pink foal booties with a white frill at the ends, his spear turned thinner, the iron tip turning into a pink rattle. The last thing that changed was his helmet which turned pink then it extended over his head, white frills appearing on the end of it. The filly shouted, “Sit!”
The stallion sat on the ground with his giant pink diaper making a loud crinkling sound. She continued to crawl through the hall mentally laughing, “I still got it. But that crystal heart will increase my power ten fold!”
Twilight was trotting back to the palace with Flash Sentry. They were both silent as he grinned sheepishly and asked, “So you like the food?”
Twilight nodded, “It was delicious, thank you.”
Flash Sentry sighed, and said, “You know that I’m here for you.”
Twilight sighed, “I know you are, it’s just hard when you have power. I want to save every pony I love. But no matter what I do, time will be the one factor I can never stop.”
Flash Sentry trotted up the steps with his date as Twilight felt a surge of chaotic energy come through the palace. She muttered, “Discord.”
Flash Sentry stopped. “Discord... wait, what?”
Twilight just galloped up the steps and entered the palace’s throne room. It was empty but she followed the trail of chaotic energy with Flash following right behind her. They both entered Shining’s nursery and found him sleeping. Twilight sighed as he woke, babbling, “Twilie wha-”
She looked around and said, “There’s nothing here.”
Flash sentry replied, “No, but who's that?” pointing at the foal.
Shining screamed, “Fwash ya datin my sissy!” Flash Sentry stifled a laugh realizing it was Shining Armor.
Twilight picked him up and said, “Alright baby bro don’t get all mad at him…”
Flash sentry replied, “I’ll go find Night Light and Princess Cadence! Maybe they know what’s going on.”
Sunburst was in his study when he heard a clang then a giggle. “What the buck was that?” Curious, he went down the hall from his study and found a guard in foalish armor laying on the floor suckling on a pink pacifier.
Sunburst had to take off his glasses and put them back on in complete disbelief at what he was seeing.
Sunburst came up to the guard and pulled the pacifier from his mouth, making him cry a bit. As Sunburst looked at the guard in astonishment he asked, “Who did this to you?”
The guard whined, “I wan my paci!”
Sunburst was stunned, “Wait what?”
The guard was whimpering now as he babbled, “I wanna paci.”
Sunburst coughed and pushed his glasses back onto his nose as he said, “You can have your paci, but I need to know who did this to you!”
The guard whimpered, then babbled, “Fuwwy heawt.”
Sunburst pushed his glasses back and said, “No lying, now tell me the truth.”
The guard whined, “Is the twuth fuwwy heawt did this.”
Sunburst placed the pacifier back in the guard’s mouth darted down the hall.
Princess Cadence was in tears, looking around the nursery. The nanny was being questioned by Night Light while Shining was yelling at Flash. “Ya gonna have latwine dutie for the wet of ya cowew. Ya gonna be a dish washa col.”
Twilight was bouncing him on her back as Night Light went up to Princess Cadence. He whispered in her ear, she nodded, and turned to the nanny who was crying. Princess Cadence said, “It’s not your fault, please go to your chamber and wait for my instructions.”
The nanny just nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes as Princess Cadance turned to Shining and said, “Shining, Flash is helping us and we need to focus so honey please calm down.”
Shining became quiet as Twilight asked, “So what did the nanny say?
Princess Cadance replied, “She told Night Light that Flurry Heart was in her crib, then she went to use the bathroom and she just got back.”
Twilight sighed, “So how do we find her?”
A scream filled the hall and the ponies all galloped down it to find the nanny and a foalifed guard suckling a binky.
Twilight muttered, “You have to be kidding me.”
Twilight and every other pony came upon Sunburst who was galloping down the hall. He asked, “I passed a guard in a diaper; do any of you know what’s going on?”
Twilight shook her head and said, “Your guess is as good as ours. We passed six guards wearing diapers and foal armor.”
Flash Sentry whispered, “So? A baby alicorn can do that?”
Twilight insisted, “This has to be Discord. He’s “reformed” but he can still be quite devious with his tricks.” (A flood of memories about the draquenious came at the forefront of Twilight’s mind with his mismatched body parts and seemingly able to bend reality to his will only to use it for his mischievous games on her friends. But oddly enough she didn't think this was his style.”)
Night Light interrupted her and said, “We can ponder who did this later! Right now we need to find Flurry Heart.”
Sunburst nodded and replied, “Okay, if some evil pony or Discord did this, what would he or she be really after?”
Princess Cadence said, “The crystal heart, whoever has my daughter could be using her to activate it. Since, only a being with immense power can wield it.”
Flurry Heart was now climbing the steps leading to the chamber with the crystal heart. The real Furry heart mentally screamed, “Give me back my body!”
“Flurry stop pushing, I just want to play again.”
Flurry mentally asked, “Bu why ya bein so mean to me?”
The Ever Filly replied, “Because I lonely and ya be mean to me first. I didn’t even touch your daddy, and wasn’t making those tough guards dress in diapees funny?”
Flurry giggled, “Ya, it was pretty funny.” Flurry fell silent and asked, “Where were ya all this time?”
The Ever Filly responded, “ I was in a fowtian. There was nothin ta do and I had no fwiends.”
Then Flurry softened up. “Okay eva fwilly we can shawe the body.”
The rest of the guard who weren’t foalified were coming through the halls. They gathered around Shining Armor, Cadance, Twilight, and Flash Sentry. Shining shouted, “Alwight ya gonna go to the cwystal heawt and stop whoevea is twying to take it.”
The guards laughed as Princess Cadence got frustrated and shouted, “All of you shut up and help us find my daughter!”
The guards stood at attention, then they all continued towards the crystal heart chamber.
As the guards were coming around the corner Flurry Heart was already in the chamber with the crystal heart.As Twilight and her firiends were nearingte chamber Flash sentry whispered, “Remember twilight no matter what i’ll always be here for you.”
Twilight nods and whispers, “Thank you Flash.”
The Ever filly laughed, “I did it! After almost two thousand years I’ll be more powerful than even King Sombra!” She walked up to the crystal heart, staring it with hungry eyes moments before a bunch of ponies burst through the doorway.
Twilight sighed on seeing Flurry and sighed,“She must have just crawled in here by herself.”
After looking about, she said, “Hold it sweetie.” Twilight tried to hold the foal alicorn with her magic, but started to feel very weak. She thought, “What the buck is this?” She cried out.
Shining Armor, sitting on Twilight’s back, tried to support his big sister but only a stutter of sparks came from his horn.
Flash Sentry shouted, “I’ll just grab her and end this!” He was about to go get the filly but heard Twilight shout, “Flash, stand down!”
He nodded reluctantly.Twilight was straining from the pressure as she grunted, “I need all of you to help me hold her.”
Sunburst, Cadence, and Night Light then added their magic into Twilight’s hold. Princess Cadence strained the most as she thought, “Flurry what’s happened to you?! Something is wrong, very wrong.”
The Ever Filly sent a surge of energy back at the ponies holding her. Sunburst, Cadence, and Night Light’s magic failed and Twilight barely held on, keeping Flurry in her power but straining under the pressure. The guards began to form a circle around Flurry Heart. Princess Cadence was the first to get up as she tried to talk to her. “Flurry, it’s mommy.”
Flurry Heart laughed evilly and a more sinister filly’s voice echoed from Flurry Heart’s body as she shouted, “Any closer, any of you, and I’ll release Flurry’s soul!”
Twilight shouted, ”Whoever you are in Flurry Heart’s body, leave now!”
Flurry heart laughed and replied, “I can leave this brat’s body, but it’ll kill her in the process.”
Princess Cadence’s gaze fell to the ground as the guards got a bit nervous looking at each other, unsure if they could do anything. Night Light had tears welling up in his eyes as Flash Sentry got pissed. “I should have taken her when I had the chance.” He stomped on the ground and yelled, “Who are you?!”
Flurry heart responded, “The spirit of the ever filly. You fools released me by entering my pool. Now, I have no desire of leaving and if you want this brat alive, I say we make a deal.”
Twilight, still holding onto her, scoffed, “What deal? The only deal is you’re going to leave and keep Flurry Heart alive or I will find a way to tear you out of her.”
The spirit laughed, “Fine, waste your time looking for a spell but every second you waste I grow stronger and little Flurry Heart’s soul goes bye-bye.”
Princess Cadence got up, and in tears, she shouted, “We’ll do anything you want, just don’t hurt her!”
The spirit cooed, “Now there’s the voice of reason, a distressed mother.”
Night Light was going to attack but Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. He shook his head.
Princess Cadence turned to Flurry Heart and asked, “What’s the deal?”
Flurry Heart chuckled, “It’s simple; I’ll take control of the Crystal Empire and get complete control for a few years. I won’t completely turn you into slaves and in return I’ll keep Flurry Heart’s soul safe. Then after I’m done I’ll leave and Flurry Heart will return.”
Twilight shouted, “No way!”
Princess Cadence shouted, “Twilight this is not your call! I’m the princess of the Crystal Empire and my answer is yes. However, how can I be sure that my daughter is alive?”
The ever filly replied, “You can visit her once in awhile and I’ll let you talk to her. Only as long as you let me rule, she won’t move onto the next life.”
Princess Cadence muttered, “Twilight, release her.”
Twilight’s legs were buckling and her purple coat was a bit pale as she shook her head, whispering, ”No, Cadence, I can’t.” Twilight thought for a good few seconds and asked, “How can we know for certain that you’ll leave in a few years? How can we be sure we won’t be in your thrall for the rest of our lives?”
The Ever Filly sighed. “How about this, if you don’t let me have the crystal heart now, I’ll kill Flurry Heart.”
Twilight swore then Shining cried into her neck and babbled, “Twilie, we got ta we her go.” Twilight reluctantly placed Flurry Heart on the ground. She crawled up to the crystal heart and wrapped her hooves around it. She rose with the heart into the air.
The Crystal Heart glowed in many colours, reflecting light off it like a prism as it shined down onto the ponies below. The guards started to change into foal guards with their pee yellow coats, pink plastic armor rattle spears, a pink pacifier wrapped around their necks, pink foal booties with white frills, a helmet that looked like a foal bonnet, and the big puffy diapers. As they waddled around, surrounding the other ponies, they made cute crinkling sounds from their fresh diapers and the crunching sound from their pink plastic armor. Flash Sentry actually chuckled as the rest of them just looked at the foalified guards in confusion. Shining shouted, “All ya stop suwoinding us!”
The spirit laughed, “It’s too late, they only see me as their leader and I think it’s about time that you all joined them.”
Twilight thought she could try to snatch her with telekinesis, but, the Ever Filly’s pulsating magic destroyed her energy trail as she cursed, “That’s it, now it’s your turn to be a foal!” She shot a wave of energy at Twilight, knowing there was no way to dodge the oncoming blast. Twilight hid her body with her wings and closed her eyes.
She only heard a stallion shout “No!” and an explosion and a cackle echoed throughout the chamber. Every pony was dead silent as Twilight opened her eyes, flexing her wings as she scrutinized her body for injuries. She then heard a foal’s cry starting to echo throughout the chamber. She looked down and in amazement, seeing an orange foal with a blue and yellow striped mane and tail with two blue eyes looking at her as tears poured out. Twilight realized it was Flash Sentry, so she bent down to Flash’s level and asked, “Why would you do that!”
Flash sniffled and whimpered, “I tol ya Twilie I will alwaw be hewe fo ya.”
Twilight swore and hugged her foalified coltfriend. The spirit stared at them with utter confusion and asked, “Why? Why would he do that?” The spirit paused for thought and then she asked, “Twilight, I see that this colt means a lot to you. If you wish to be his nanny instead of being a foal, I’ll give that to you, but only if you bow to me.”
Night Light was going to shout something but Sunburst placed a hoof on his shoulder shaking his head. ”There’s nothing we can do.”
Twilight looked down at Flash and for a long time no pony spoke. Twilight then placed Shining next to Flash and with nothing to say stepped before the foalified guards and bowed before the spirit.
The spirit smiled and pondered, “Good, now let’s have some fun. From Flurry Heart’s memory her rag doll gives me an idea. ” The spirit looked up and down at Twilight as she replied, “Alright, stand up.”
Twilight reluctantly rose and the filly’s horn glowed and shot another beam of energy. This time her body began to get plumper with her legs growing fatter and her belly grew as her cheeks puffed out. The first part of the transformation made her look slightly overweight with puffy cheeks and a mildly heavy body. Then a diaper grew between her legs. It was bright baby blue with little purple stars and yellow crescent moons decorating the outer cover. It was already strapped together using plastic velcro and her tail was neatly-threaded through the back, and the leg holes having white frills from the excess material.
A simple light blue frilly dress started to appear around her. It had white frills growing in the back, and it stopped short of the back of her diaper, exposing her cushy behind. Then, the front puffed around her with a white-laced frilled collar, and crescent moon buttons going down to her waist. The sleeves were pulled around her front legs and puffed out like a pompous filly dress, with white frills being exposed underneath the blue. Next came a ribbon, which magically appeared around her tail. The baby blue ribbon in the back twirled her tail like a corkscrew in the back and tied a giant bow exposing, a the rest of her tail like a filly.Then, her entire mane grew around her head in tight curls. Then, a foal bonnet was placed around the top of her head above the horn with a white frill decorating the edge and it was tied in a neat bow around her neck, with baby blue Mary Jane shoes were slipped over her hooves. Lastly, a white apron came around her, and was tied in the back and the apron’s front exposed the frilly dresses white top even more.
The filly clapped at her first nanny as Twilight waddled over to both Flash and Shining and she then cooed, “You need a diapee flashie.” Her horn glowed and a big puffy pink diaper was strapped around Flash’s rump along with with a pink foal bonnet, which was tied around his neck, and pink foal booties slipped over his hooves. Twilight then lifted both Shining and Flash and with a sudden urge she cuddled them and cooed, “Don’t worry i’ll take good care of you.”She then placed the two on her back
The filly then stared at Cadence and asked, “So Cadence, do you wish to be my head nanny?”
Princess Cadence still shocked and uncertain on what’s going replied, “I’ll do as you ask; just don’t hurt Flurry.”
She muttered, “I’ll need you to be cute but something to also prove your authority.” The filly’s face brightened up as she exclaimed “ A pretty princess that’s what she should look like!” she then zapped her and her changes began. She stayed the same at first, then a puffy light purple diaper appeared around her rump with little light pink hearts decorating the outside. A frilly purple princess dress appeared with it being even more overly pompous than Twilight’s. The back of it grew right around her rump still exposing the diaper and it had light pink frills instead of white. The pink laced front exposed her chest and it grew around her shoulders and puffed out. Little pink hearts buttoned along her middle and then her mane and tail were braided. Like Twilight’s, a purple bow tied her tail in the back and this time a purple bow tied her mane in a single infantile lock and lastly black Mary Jane shoes were slipped over her hooves. She looked over at Shining and in a strict tone said, “Come here young colt.”
She had him hover over to her where she hugged him and then zapped his white diaper and turned it even more puffier and pink and as with Flash Sentry around pink foal bonnet was tied around round his head, and pink foal booties slipped over his hooves. Shining in his frustration shouted, “Eva fwilly ya gonna pay I swea!”
Cadence scolded him shouting, “Shiny! Don’t ever insult the Ever Filly or you’ll get a spanking!” Shining was quivering all over as cadence lifted him onto her back.
The filly nodded and turned to Sunburst and pondered for a second. “I’ll need a nanny myself and you were Flurry’s Crystaller and I think you’ll be perfect.” She then zapped Sunburst. Sunburst’s green cape turned into a green sundress with stars decorating the two puffy sleeves. His light yellow diaper was huge with little yellow suns decorating the back of it. His beard falls off then his mane was combed into two pigtails with light green bows tied on both ends. A giant light-green bow was tied on his back tail, his white socks with light green foal booties with white frills and a light yellow apron tied around his back with a light green pacifier wrapped around his neck. Lastly, dark blue Mary Jane shoes were snapped over over his hooves.
She then cooed, “Now Sunburst, who’s the pretty filly?”
Sunburst pushed up his glasses and felt himself blush as he said in a high pitched voice, “Uh, I am!?” He gasped and placed a hoof around his mouth realizing how feminine his voice was now.
The Spirit then turned to Night Light and said, “I’ve heard of your wife passing, so tragic. If you wish I can turn you into a mindless foal and have you begin anew.’”
Night Light shook his head and replied, “No, I wish to be a nanny.” and thought “I want to see my wife again and I’m still committed to that.”
The filly grinned, “I have a special role for you then.”
The Ever Filly then zapped him as his body bulged out. His hips grew wide and his cheekbones expanded. A giant white diaper, the biggest diaper yet, grew around his waist bulging outward with silver geese decorating the back. A giant black dress with the same design as Twilight's grew around him. It grew outward like before, only being big enough to expose his diapered rump. White frills grew around his neck and the cloth around the shoulders puffed out. Then his mane was tied with a black ribbon creating a large bun in the back and glasses grew on his nose and a black bow was tied around his tail. For the final touch, black Mary Jane shoes buckled over his hooves. With his transformation complete, he smiled lazily and looked at Shining as he cooed, “Cadence, can I cuddle him?”
Shining’s eyes grew, now looking at what his dad had became, and before Cadence could even agree, his dad was squeezing him with his forelegs cooing, “Oh, Shiny, you’re so adorable.”
Cadence looked at the Ever Filly who shrugged and said, “We needed a granny; thought he would like it.”
As Night Light placed Shining back on Cadence’s back, the Ever Filly smiled at her work and shouted, “Alright! Now let’s make this empire mine!”
Everypony bowed in front of her as she then sent all of her energy into the crystal heart, more than she had ever done, making a white flash of blinding light exploded in front of everyone.
The light that expanded from the Crystal Heart chamber spread throughout the castle, engulfing every hall and room. The floors became a soft pink carpet, the artwork that hung on the walls were degraded to crude drawings, and the statues lined the halls morphed into big teddy bears while the walls themselves turned from crystal to baby pink.
Maids and butlers were swept up in the magical energy and their uniforms became foalish; with the maids being dressed in frilly pink maid outfits with large pink diapers that poofed out in the back while the butlers had blue onesies covering their diapers only exposing the white frills through the leg holes.The onesies themselves looked like tuxedos with the fronts with cute little ducks for buttons lining the middle.
The magical energy didn’t stop there, as it entered the rooms as well, transforming normal bedrooms into adult sized nurseries. The main throne room was transformed as well with the red carpet lining the middle transformed into a baby blue carpet decorated with foal toys, and the columns transformed into what looked like giant foal bottles. The throne itself became more comfy and became what appeared to be a pink sofa with two high chairs on either side. One had Shining’s cutie mark while the other was pure gold and has jewels lining it.
After the Ever Filly came down, she was exhausted as she fell on Sunburst’s back as she muttered, “Princess Cadence, I gave you your orders. Take charge. Sunburst? take me to the royal bedroom. I need a nap.”
“Uh... R-r-right away Ever Filly.” Sunburst stumbled with his voice being weirdly high pitched.
Sunburst bounced away as Princess Cadance turned to meet the rest of her servants. They quivered in fear with hissing sounds now echoing throughout the room. She then levitated Shining onto Night light’s back and barked, “Night Light? Take Shining to his nursery. It’s very late and he needs his sleep.”
“nice.” Night Light cooed as he walked out of the room.
“Twilight? You’ll take Flash to your new room.” Cadence turned at last to her with her cold uncaring gaze. “While you’re there, I need you to study the spell books the Ever Filly has provided you. She says that they are mandatory for keeping her empire in check.”
Twilight slowly stepped forward and shuddered. “Cadence why—”
“-Don’t ever question my orders!” Cadence snapped and gnashed her teeth at Twilight, silencing the alicorn immediately.
Twilight sweated, gulped, and bowed her head and ran off with Flash.
“Come on, Nanny Twilie. I’ll get ya to ya woom.” One of the infantile guards stepped forward and took Twilight’s hoof, leading the way down the corridors.
Twilight followed the guard slowly out the door as Cadence turned to the rest of the guards that remained. She was going to give them more orders, and Twilight’s eyebrows contorted a look of uncertainty as she looked back at what had become of her sister-in-law.
Twilight was trotting down the halls of the palace with Flash on her back. She saw the guard in front of her waddling back and forth with his huge padded rear. She looked back at Flash, who was burying himself into her dress trying to stay warm.
“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to find a way to fix this.” She turned back towards Flash and whispered into his ear. But truth be told, I’m not sure how I can solve this...
Along the way, Twilight saw how the castle had changed. She looked upon them with remorse she could only imagine what beautiful art was destroyed and replaced by this foalish decor. She shed a single tear at how it had all changed, but that wouldn’t deter her from stopping the Ever Filly and saving the Crystal Empire.
They were eventually led into a room where many other different butlers and maids were cantering down with eager smiles on their faces. Twilight, looking at the commotion asked, “Um excuse me? What’s going on here?”
“The Eva Fwilly told us we gotta go to the thwone woom fow a special anowcement,” the first butler babbled like a foal with teeth would.
“I neva got such ordas?” The guard that was leading Twilight and Flash retorted.
“Well maybe we got diffwent odas.” The butler walked out, still smiling.
He then waddled off with the rest of the servants. Twilight just looked at the faces of the dumbstruck crystal ponies who were unsure of what’s going on. Twilight could only stand there and wait until they all waddled off before the guard continued to lead them through the hall.
They finally came upon a room where the guard opened the door. Inside was a simple room with a bed that looked more like a crib with purple plastic rails and a mobile hanging over it, with small moons and stars hanging from each end. Across from her bed was Flash’ crib, made entirely out of pink plastic with a pink blanket covering the small mat inside There was another mobile hanging from that one too, but it instead had suns, moons, and a big pink planet hanging above.
Near the cribs was a small book shelf filled with picture books. On the top it read Twilight and near the bottom read Flash. Twilight just looked at the room mournfully and settled Flash in his crib, placed the pink foal blanket over him, and kissed his forehead. “Ni ni, flashie.” Twilight began to mutter as well, but failed to notice how much as she walked over to the bookshelf.
Twilight eyed up all of the books on the bookcase until her eyes were fixated on a blue book at the top. On the cover was a picture of a pink unopened diaper on a baby blue background, with a caption that read,“How to change diapers.” But when Twilight read it out loud she said, “H-ho-w-t-ta-ch-ch-chwange-diapees.”
It was only now she noticed that her voice was beginning to deteriorate. What happened? Why can’t I read a simple phrase like this? What is going on?! she thought as she began to open the book.
Twilight turned the page to a a big picture of a simple unicorn with it’s horn glowing. She looked down at the bottom, seeing another caption that read, “To change a diaper you have to make your horn glow.” As much as she tried to say it, all that came out of her mouth was, “To c-ch-change a d-diapee- ya gotta ma- ya hown gwow.”
Twilight turned the pages and each page was the same with a picture of unicorn using it’s magic to change diapers with the captions written as sloppily and as squiggly as a foal would have written it. What was more unnerving was the fact that Twilight was having trouble even reading it. She shrieked and dropped the book, stumbling back against her crib and falling inside of it with her head planted into the blankets.
She heard something thump against the wall as she turned to see the guard that escorted her, who was now outside the door and had tears in his eyes, “Nanny Twilie, I… I did a wettie in my diapee and I don know how to change it,” he whined.
Twilight smiled at him and cooed, “Don’t worry sweetie. I’ll get it changed for you.” She picked him up and put him down on the changing table. The Ever Filly may have taken my ability to read but she hasn’t taken my magic.
She then lit up horn and shot a stream of energy at the guard. She smiled, thinking she broke the spells the Ever Filly placed on him, when instead, all it did was make the diaper fall off and materialize pair of baby blue pull-ups in its’ place.
“Na twilie I can’t be weawing pull ups.” The guard looked at his new undergarments and frowned.
Twilight tried zapping him again, but this time a bunch of foal powder was dumped all over his head. “Nanny Twilie what ya doin!?” He cried out as the powder turned him a shade of pale white.
Twilight gave a grimace as she looked at how worse the guard looked. None of my spells are working! What the buck is going on?
All of a sudden the guard started crying his eyes out. Twilight, feeling bad for what she did, came over and hugged him, cooing, “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m still learning these new spells.”
“Nana Cady is gonna yell at me,” he whimpered.
“Just tell her I did this, okay?” Twilight whispered in his ear.
He nodded softly.
“Young colt what is going on over here?!”
Twilight and the soldier bit their lips as they turned to see Cadence marching towards them with fire in her eyes.
“It’s not my fawlt! Nana Twilie was just twying to change my diapee!” The guard blurted out as his training pants began soak and a yellow liquid began to drip on the floor.
Princess Cadence’s horn glowed causing the foal powder to disappear as the baby blue pull-up turned into a fresh pink diaper. “Alright, little one. You won’t be punished.” She gave the diapered pony a big hug and sent him towards the door. “Now go to the throne room and wait for me.”
He just sniffled and dropped his head as he slowly trotted out of the room.
Princess Cadence’s gaze met Twilight’s. She stomped forward and yelled, “Twilight! I suggest you read your spell books and make sure you know how to change a diaper properly!”
“Cadence! Why is all my magic gone?!” Twilight showed some pang of resistance, but then recoiled at what she had just said.
Cadence’s horn glowed, and she sent a bolt of energy that slapped Twilight across the face a few times before doing the same spell on her butt. “Don’t you talk to me like that, you little brat!” The Cadence Twilight knew was long gone as she wiped Twilight’s tears from her eyes. “Now are you going to read your books and learn to change diapers like a good little foal? Or do I have to get even nastier?”
Twilight, unwilling to fight back simply shed a few more tears as she wiped her aching butt from the spanking spell. “Y-yes, Nana Cadence.”
Cadence shoved the book into Twilight’s chest and opened it up. “Then start studying. We’ll be very busy tomorrow morning.”
She walked out of the room as Twilight just stood there. She didn’t even look back and see her burst into tears. Scoffing, she merely shut the doors behind her and returned to the Ever Filly’s room.
“Twilie, don cwy. Ya gonna make me cwy too.” Flash looked at Twilight with big, pleading eyes.
Twilight turned to see Flash grasping the bars of his crib. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she picked him up and brought him into a cuddle. “Come here...” her tears had stopped but from her tone of voice, she was still in shambles over what Cadence had done and said to her.
“Twilie? Can I have some milkies?” Flash asked, reached out for the cabinets under the changing table.
Twilight nodded slowly and stepped over towards the small doors. She pulled out a bottle of milk and heated it up with a smaller spell. She inserted the nipple of the bottle into Flash’s mouth and watched him drink and look around gazing at his new nursery, while she had time to slip into her own train of thought.
First the Ever Filly conquers the Crystal Empire, then everyone gets turned into foals, I can’t use my magic, and Cadence has turned into a monster of a pony. How can this get any worse?! she said in her mind while she continued feeding Flash.
That night, Shining’s old friend and captain of the guard in the Crystal Empire, Steel Horn was waddling to the barracks. His appearance, much like the other ponies, had changed drastically. He now had a bright yellow coat and a big poofy pink diaper around his flank. His armor was pastel pink with foal booties, and he wore a visor that looked like a foal bonnet.
The only thing that made him any different was his binky which was bright baby blue. He unintentionally sucked on it as he waddled out in the night air. He carried his long rattle—which had replaced his spear—that the Ever Filly had assigned him in case anyone tried to fight back against her.
The outside of the palace had changed too with the ground now covered in soft padded grass. The bushes were cut into the shapes of foal items such as foal bottles and pacifiers. The barrack doors were bright pink with a giant heart over it and two rattles crossed in an ‘X’ shape.
Steel Horn opened the doors and walked through. Inside the barracks was a long pink room with padded walls and floors. The sides of the halls had bunk-cribs with pink bars and ladders that came down connecting the high and low bunks. The guards were sleeping under the blankets with their coats turned pee yellow and giant puffy diapers wrapped around their butts.
Steel then reluctantly took out his pacifier and said, “Alright, little ones. Time to get up.”
The guards all woke and yawned as they looked up at their newly decorated barracks.
One guard near him lisped, “Bu we still..” as he rubbed his eyes and saw what had become of the barracks.
“Don’t worry. We were changed by the Ever Filly. “ Steel Horn picked the guard out and put him on the floor. “I’ll explain more later, but you all need to get ready.”
The guards were confused as they began to climb out of their cradles. Some of them were crawling down from the top bunks and accidentally hit their padded rears on the guards coming out from the bottom bunks. Some guards just climbed over and plopped to the ground, while others tried to crawl over head first over the bars only to fall on their protected rears .The ones that fell on accident started to cry as the captain went over and comforted them.
“It’s okay come on get up.” He gave them hugs until they were all standing on their own four legs. He then barked, “Now form a line quickly!”
The stallions all gathered in front of each other pushing and shoving each other as they tried to get to the front of the line.
“If you push or shove, you’ll get a public spanking,” The guard warned as he watched their behaviour.
The guards all stopped and quickly formed a line in front of their cribs, unwilling to receive any more warnings from their captain.
Steel Horn went to the back of the line and slowly trotted forward looking at each and every stallion. They lost a lot of their former military experience as some were crying from when he was yelling earlier. He went to the sobbing guards and helped place their pacifiers in their mouths. “I don't want to be tough, but if you don’t listen to me, I will have to get mean.” His tone had degraded into a much calmer one. “Now if you’re sad or you need to cry, just suckle on the binkies around your necks okay?”
“Okay, captain.” The guards all mumbled as some of them popped the pacifiers in their mouths.
One guard had his hoof in his mouth and began to suck on it. It was seconds later that the captain quickly swatted it out and shouted, “No! That's dirty.”
Steel then took the guard’s pacifier and placed it into his mouth and continued trotting down the line. “If I catch any of you sucking your hooves, you’ll be getting a public spanking,” he said.
He then heard a loud hissing sound and watched as of the guards’ diapers turned a shade of dark yellow.
“Captain! I did a wettie!” The guard with the wet diaper cried.
The captain walked over to him and draped his hoof around the soldier’s shoulders. “It’s okay. We’ll get you out of that wet diapee soon, okay?”
The guard nodded as the captain took his binky and placed it in his mouth.
“Alright. You're all ready now. Follow me.” The guard instructed as he walked towards another door in the barracks with a sign that read Changing Room.
Inside the changing room was a nimiety of pink padded changing tables; each one with visible bottles of foal powder and a stack of fresh diapers sitting on the top. The floors were just as brightly coloured as the rest of the carpets in the castle and barracks, and there were cartoonish designs scribbled onto the walls.
“Alright. Now tell me who used their diapers.” Steel Hoof turned to his infantile troops.
Immediately, a large number of guards raised their hooves and stepped forward to face Steel Hoof, who pointed out the tables they were to be changed on.
They all went to their own tables and laid down on the top. They waited for Steel Hoof to continue.
“Now I’m going to show you all how easy it is to change with this new device.” Steel watched all of the guards get comfortable as straps secured them in place. “First, tell it that you’re a guard.
“I a gwad,” the guards on the changing tables chorused.
The changing tables hummed to life as the captain said, “Now just tell it what you did in your diapee.”
“We pooped ouwsewves,” half of the guards blushed.
“We wet ouwsevwes,” said the other half.
The changing tables hummed to life as the guards’ diapers were soon unstrapped magically. With their bottoms exposed, wet wipes appeared and wiped their bottoms clean. They giggled and squirmed as the other guards just watched in astonishment.
Then, their crotches and rumps were rubbed with foal cream and powdered before new diapers wrapped themselves around the ponies’ rumps. After that, pink foal armor appeared around the guards with foal booties strapped onto their hooves. The straps were gone and the changing tables stopped glowing.
The newly changed guards got up and waddled to the Steel Hoof.
“See how easy that was?” he asked. “Each of you will go on the changing table each morning and night and do as they did. The table will change your diapees and give you the clothes you need.
“Now when all of you are changed and ready, I’ll give out your rattles and we’ll go to throne room.” He escorted the changed guards out of the room and turned towards the others.
“Okie, captain.” The remaining guards formed lines at each of the changing tables.
The guards had their second inspection as they were now in front of their cribs in their foal armor with their long rattles placed upright in their hooves.
“Alright. Now I’m going to demonstrate how the rattle works.” Steel Hoof lightly tapped the end of his on the floor repeatedly. ”Can I have a volunteer?”
All the stallions looked at each other, their eyes darting rapidly back and forth as they looked at how menacing their captain looked. None of them wanted to be a part of this demonstration.
Steel Hoof sighed and pointed at one of the guards, who yelped and hid behind a few others who pushed him out to the front. He saw the guard approach him and turned to the others.
“Now the rattle is only used if a foal is being naughty and trying tell others that the Ever Filly is bad,” said Steel Hoof. “If you hear this, then lightly tap the foal on the head like so.” He raised the rattle and placed it on the guard’s head, watching it spontaneously cry as he retracted his toy. “The Ever Filly enchanted these rattles with the power to make someone demoralized and unable to resist. Use them whenever you see a pony causing trouble, or saying mean things to her.”
Steel then took the binky around his volunteer's neck and slipped it in his mouth, hugging the pony for being brave. He whispered in his ear, and the volunteer slowly waddled back with the rest of the group.
“Easy, right? Just do that and report what you did to me or a nanny.” Steel handed out more of the elongated rattles to the rest of the guard. “You can’t miss them. Just look for a pony with a big yellow dress. Understood?”
“Yes, captain,” the guards all said.
“Good. Now let’s go.” Steel started to lead the way towards the exit. “We don’t want to be late.”
The guards all turned and waddled out the door with Steel Hoof leading the way.
Later that night, the throne room was packed full of ponies. The ones on the left side were the servants and the ones on the right were the foal guard. The doors opened, and a plethora of mares trotted forward with the foal guard escorting them. They stood before Princess Cadence, sitting on her pink sofa looking over the ponies in the room.
“Now that every pony is here, we can begin.” Cadence nodded her head as everyone turned their gaze towards her. “First off, all of you are now under the rule of the Ever filly, and I shall become the head nanny,” she said. “Tomorrow, all of the Crystal Empire will be padded and made foal-friendly as you were.
“It sounds like a wonderful place, but it will be chaos without order. That’s why all of you are here.” She turned to the servants. “Each of you was given a map of the city and the location of where you will work. There, you will go among the infant-minded ponies and make sure everything is cleaned; from the changing rooms, to the dining rooms, and even their play areas.”
“Yes, Nanny Cady” The servants all bowed and mumbled together.
“You will all be assigned areas to patrol as well.” Princess Cadance turned to the guards next. “Not every pony will like being a foal again, so your job is to lightly bop them on the head with your rattles and report to us if there’s trouble.”
“OK, Nanny Cady,” they all chorused again.
“As for you, you’re all here because you are now nannies. And as such, you have a job and prior experience in caring for foals.” Cadence looked at the mares who had entered the room last. ”I need all of you to stay behind and wait for further instructions.
“Servants will go with the head butler. He’ll show you how to use the changing rooms.” Cadence began issuing orders to the ponies. “The guards will go gather the ponies.” She waved her hoof. “I want every pony in the Crystal Empire standing at the front of the palace by sunrise. Understood?”
“Yes, Nanny Cady.” Everyone nodded before stampeding out of the room to do their jobs, leaving only the mares that were escorted earlier were standing in the middle of the throne room.
“Your jobs are the most important.” Cadence held the hooves of the nannies she had been assigned. “You'll be caring for the ponies that will be regressed.”
“Wait, what?!” The first mare jumped at Cadence’s statement.
“As you can see, the Ever Filly is changing some things with her powers.” Cadence let out tiny streams from her horn that mesmerized and hypnotized the ponies in the room. “I have succumbed to her power, and as her second-in-command, you have no choice but to follow my orders.”
The nannies simply nodded as Cadence continued.
“Now, I will link each of you to my horn telepathically and I’m going to place the exact instructions of the Ever Filly into you,” she whispered. “These rules must be followed. No exceptions.”
The nannies nodded once again, unable to talk or respond as Cadence amplified the streams of magic and planted the spells in their minds. All of their original minds and consciousnesses were absorbed into the Ever Filly, as yellow flowing gowns were placed on each of them, along with large green hats and giant yellow diapers around their waists.
Cadence smiled at her handiwork as she gazed upon Butterscotch. “Now you will stay here until the Ever Filly is ready. Understand?.”
They all bow in unison. “Yes, Head Nanny Cadence.”
Cadence turned and left the throne room as the nannies started chatting amongst each other. With their new mindsets they couldn’t wait until the Ever Filly turned everyone into foals.
Twilight was dealing with a cranky Flash Sentry, trying to stop him from running all over the place and throwing his toys everywhere. She eventually caught him in her magic and and brushed his mane, calming him down as she wrapped her hooves around his body
“I wanna cuddle wit ya!” Flash smiled, looking up at Twilight.
Twilight chuckled, “Flashie I have to get ready for tomorrow.”
Flash then peed his diaper and pointed down at it. “Well ya can twy to change me now.”
Twilight rolled her eyes as she placed Flash Sentry on the changing counter and began to change his diaper manually. She undid the straps, cleaned Flash’s bottom, powdered and creamed it, and applied a new diaper.
“I‘m serious, Flash. If I’m not ready by tomorrow, Cadence is going to have my hide.” Twilight picked Flash up and carried him over to the crib.
Flash cried as she strapped a big poofy pink diaper over his body. “Why do I have to have a pink diapee?
“It’s the rules, okay?” Twilight sighed, “If I don’t follow them,bad things will happen.”
Flash crossed his front hooves and pouted. “It’s not faiw.”
“Now you get some sleepies so I can practice.” Twilight laid Flash down and tucked him in while plopping a pacifier into his mouth.
Flash just spat it out. “No, Twilie. I can’t go to sweep!” He wailed.
All of a sudden, there was a knocking noise coming from the door. Twilight looked over and saw Cadence step into the room.
“Twilight? I’m sorry about earlier, but I need to speak with you.” Cadence walked up to Twilight.
“What do you need, Head Nanny Cadence?” Twilight decide to use her new title instead of just her name, as she knew that falling out of line would be grounds for punishment either by her or the Ever Filly.
Cadence chuckled for a bit, but then brought her serious demeanour back. “I’ll be blunt, Twilight. The Ever Filly is going to need your help tomorrow to turn the clothes in this city into foal clothes.”
“With all due respect, Head Nanny Cadence, I’d like to help, but my magic’s been limited ever since the Ever Filly took over the empire,” Twilight said.
“I know that. That’s exactly why I got some mares to help you.” Cadence clapped her hooves together two times, causing two maids to come rushing in right to Twilight’s side. She then went over to Twilight’s book shelf and pulled out a book called, “How to make a pretty filly dress and diaper.”
“This is the spell that the Ever Filly needs you to master.” Cadence opened the book and flipped past the table of contents to the first numbered page. ”You still have all of your magic ability from before. She just made you forget all the spells you learned in case you tried to be a naughty filly and dethrone her.”
“Well, will I ever get those memories back?” Twilight batted her eyebrows at Cadence.
Cadence’s smile turned into a frown. “Highly doubtful. With the Ever Filly in charge, there will be no traitors in her kingdom—not even from the most powerful alicorn of all,” she said. “Just read the book and learn the spells. You are not allowed to read anything else.”
“Twilie! I did a poopie!” Flash blurted out as loud as he could.
“And make sure that you change Flash as well.” Cadence walked off towards the door. “I will see you tomorrow to see if you have learned the spells.” She stopped and lit up her horn. “And if you haven’t…”
“I know, I know. More spankies…” Twilight hung her head in resentment as she glanced at the book.
“Good. Looks like you finally understand…” Cadence walked out of the room and shut the door.
Twilight groaned, This is going to be a long night.
Shining was being squeezed by Night Light in his old nursery. Despite the Ever Filly’s takeover, the room was mostly unchanged. There were only some minor differences, such as the pictures of the royal guard being replaced with the foal guard, the walls blue instead of pink, and the floor having much more toys than usual.
“Daddy wet me go!” Shining thrashed around as hard as he could to get out of the hold, but to no avail.
“Oh shiny you’re just too cute to let go!” Night Light giggled.
“Daddy ya squishing me!” Shining squealed at the top of his voice.
Night Light looked out at the setting sun and sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” He loosened his grip and put Shining down in the crib. “It’s time for your ni ni’s anyways.”
“I don wan ni nis!” He wailed and shook his hooves erratically. “I wana things to go bwack to nowmal! I wan my old daddy back!”
Night Light brushed Shining’s mane and whispered, “But this is what you wanted. You’re immortal and I’m going to stay here for a very long time. You can thank the Ever Filly for that.”
Shining began to cry. “No this wasn suppwose to happen! I whan my Cady back! I wan my sistew back!”
Night Light hushed him as he placed a binky in Shining’s mouth.
”No. What you NEED are some sleepies, little one.” Night Light tucked Shining in for the night and activated the moblie.
Shining Armor found the pacifier quite soothing, and as much as he wanted to try and plead and beg to be turned back to normal, those thoughts were soon lost with the soothing taste of the amber nipple of the binky now bobbing in his mouth.
“Don’t worry, Shiny.” Night Light reassured him. “Soon we’ll both have everything we ever wanted.”
Shining woke up a few hours later. He looked around in the darkness, thinking that Night Light was gone. He slowly climbed up out of the crib, landed on the ground, and began to explore in the shadows.
On the ground, Shining saw that things were a lot bigger and scarier the moon outside. As clouds ran across the bright celestial body, they made shadows dance in front of him. The shadows were basic, but from his point of view, it looked like he saw strange shapes move back and forth.
“Awe those monstas?” He whimpered, shuddering as he got closer to them.
As much as he wanted to crawl back into his crib, he noticed that the bars were too high. Shining then saw something with glowing eyes underneath the crib. He cried as he crawled away screaming. He was right back at the shadows from before making him think he was trapped.
With nowhere to run, Shining’s tears got louder and louder. He was alone, he was an foal, and he was absolutely helpless. All that he could do was cry and wait for someone to save him.
He cried for a good few minutes before Night Light opened the door to his room and turned the lights on. Shining giggled in relief as the shadows and darkness disappeared in the bright flash.
Night light took him into his hooves and carried him back to the crib. “Oh, Shiny! How did you get out of bed?”
“I jus wana go away. I don wana stay hewe.” Shining’s tears returned as he looked down at his body.
“I’m so sorry, Shiny. You must be lonely.” Night Light stroked Shining’s mane.
“Kind of…” Shining Armor looked at the door. “Can I go see Twilie and Fwashie?”
“Of course, little one.” Night Light put Shining Armor on his back and walked out of the room. “Let's go see your big sister, okay?”
Shining nodded as he clung on to Night Light’s neck to avoid falling off.
Twilight was in front of the two mares Cadence had left her. They were now wearing pink foal bonnets and puffy pink diapers. Unlike the other ones, these diapers were flexible, allowing the two mares to trot around comfortably. Twilight smiled at her handiwork as she picked Flash up out of the crib.
“Twilie, they wook weally cute,” Flash complimented. “You did a good job.”
Twilight sighed and slumped back down onto the floor. “I’m just absolutely tired out from trying to get that spell right. I’m just glad that I did it.” She wiped the sweat off of her brow. “That would’ve been a disaster if I hadn’t.
Then she heard another knock and heard her dad’s voice as he strolled into the room. “Hey Twilie, it’s granny Night Light.” The first thing that he noticed when he came in was Twilight’s foal clothes. ”Oh, wow. You look so pretty in that pretty princess dress.”
“Daddy?” Twilight looked at her Dad. “What brings you here?”
Night Light lifted Shining Armor into Twilight’s line of sight. He lowered him into Twilight’s hooves and watched her cuddle her little brother. “He won’t go to sleep, so I guess having him see you for a bit should calm him down.”
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud hissing sound coming from Night Light’s diaper. “Whoops. Looks like I did a wettie myself. I’ll go get a quick change, just be a good colt, Shiny.” And he walked out of the room and waddled down the hall.
“Ya weally wet yoself go Twilie,” Shining chuckled.
“Shiny, you still make messies and wettie in your diapees too.” Twilight smirked.
Shining pouted and crossed his front legs. “All wight, Twilie. Ya win that one.”
Twilight looked around and saw that the mares were now sleeping on the ground, suckling on pacifiers. She surveyed the room to see if there was anyone listening to or watching them. When the cost was clear, she pulled Shining Armor close to her and whispered, “Shiny, we need to make a plan to save Flurry heart and defeat the Ever Filly.”
“I know, but you got a pwan?” Shining nodded. “Cady’s been acting awfuwwy weiwd too. She second in command to Evew Fiwwy.”
“Queen Chrysalis has probably turned herself into Cadence again.” Twilight peaked out of the window, saw Cadence talking to someone, and shut the door quietly. “But we’ll get back to that later.
“As for the plan, there is the library.” Twilight took one more look out the crack in between the doors. “I don’t think the Ever Filly will transform the rest of the empire. She just wants everyone to be a foal, so she’ll probably have no time to read books with all of the stuff she’s doing..”
“But how we get past the gawds?” Shining raised an eyebrow. “Dey aww act wike foaws, and wid dose wattwes, just one bop on the head ya be cwying fo mommy.”
Twilight’s smile still persevered as she picked Shining Armor who was squriming and was a bit restless backup. “Well I’m going to be helping the Ever Filly keep her power and attention on the ponies,” she said. “I can use my status to get close to her and get access to the rest of the castle. I can even make an excuse to care for you and we can help each other.”
“Alwight, Twilie, bu we can twust any otha pony. Dada has been acting weally stwange too.“ Shining nodded again. ”I think he’s been bwainwashed wike de othews. I also heawd fwom otha gwads dat Sunbuwst is acting kind of wike a wittwe filly.”
“For now, it’ll be just me, you, and no-one else.” Twilight nuzzled Shining’s neck who was more concerned with Twilight’s purple fur. “We’ll get through this together.”
Flash who was still in his crib—and had been listening to the whole conversation, but was staring at the asked, “Wha ya two talkin abou?”
”Oh! Nothing, Flash!” she lied. “Just talking about our old childhoods.”
“Just shut it, Fwashie. It’s none of ya bwisness.” Shining Armor blew a raspberry at Flash.
“Well, Shiny, I won’t tell ya any of my buisness.” Flash crossed his arms and glared at Shining.
“Wike I cawe.”
“Good.”
“Now, now, you two. Calm down.” Twilight used her hooves to separate the two bickering foals. “It’s an hour past midnight, and you’ve both been up all night,” she said. “You’re going to be very cranky foals tomorrow.”
Night Light eventually came back into the room, smelling a fresh scent akin to that of roses in place of foal powder and messed diapers.
“Thanks for covering for me, Twilie.” He took Shining Armor out of Twilight’s hooves and put him on his back again. “I should start feeding my little Shiny-Whiny now.”
“No problem. See you two in the morning.” Twilight waved both of them off as they went back to Shining’s bedroom.
As soon as both of them walked out of the room, Cadence walked in and the maids in the back who were completely silent began to quiver as the pink Alicorn princess examined the room.
“Good evening, Twilight,”As she turned her cold gaze to Twilight. “Did you perform the spell?”
“Yes, Head Nanny Cadence.” Twilight stood up and nodded, showing Cadence the two mares.
As Twilight revealed them, the two mares woke up and made a big mess in their diapers. But instead of a foal scent, the air was filled with the scent of lilac and mint. Cadence let the smell hit her nose, and she gave Twilight a pat on the back.
“You even got the scent blockers working!” She showed a genuine smile for that one moment. “Twilight, I knew you could do it.”
“Of course, Head Nanny Cadence.” Twilight humbly bowed.
Cadence’s horn glowed and she snapped the mares snapped out of their trance. “Good work, you two. Now go and get changed and back into your normal maid uniforms.”
The two maids obliged, and walked out of the room to get changed again.
“Now do you think you can do that for a few hundred more ponies?” Cadence looked back at Twilight with another grin.
“Of course. The spell isn't that complicated.” Twilight picked the book up and put it back on the shelf. “I got it on the first try after you left.
“Great!” Cadence exclaimed, nearly jumping into the air. “Keep that up, and we might just make it through this.” She then ran out of Twilight’s room to attend to other duties in the castle.
Does Cadence really think the ever Filly will keep her word? Twilight thought as she watched Cadence run off, her diaper lightly bouncing as she did so. She seems to be too trusting towards this filly, and I don’t really like it that much...
The royal bedroom that was once Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s royal quarters was decorated like the rest of the palace; with the walls and carpet a bright shade of pink. The bed was replaced with a royal crib that was made of pure gold and had soft pink silk sheets covering the Ever Filly in Flurry heart’s body. She woke with a yawn and she smacked her lips she felt her diaper was soaked and had something squishy was in it.
I’m still in this accursed body of a foal. Too bad I can’t find a more suitable host. she spluttered mentally. Oh well. At least it’s better than being stuck in some cursed fountain for all eternity.
“Sunburst! Diaper change!” The Ever Filly called out as loud as she could.
Sunburst burst through the doors of the room and pushed his glasses back onto his nose. “Yes, Ever Filly.” He scurried to pick her out of the crib and put her down on a nearby changing table.
“Did Cadence make all the necessary preparations last night?” the Ever Filly asked.
“Yes.” He nodded, looking out of the window. “Everyone’s dressed as a foal now, and Twilight’s already used the spell to make changes to the rest of the clothes.
“Good,” she smiled. “Then every pony should be in front of the palace, correct?”
Sunburst froze up at the question and stopped changing.
”What’s the matter, Sunburst?” The Ever Filly tilted her head sideways as she watched him stop changing her. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“I-I can’t tell you.” He swallowed and went back to changing her. “You’ll punish me if I do!”
“Tell me what's on your mind, and I promise that no punishment will come to you.” The Ever Filly squinted her eyes into a malicious look.
Sunburst quickly finished strapping the Ever Filly’s pink diaper and said, “Well, you turned every pony in the palace into an adult foal and now you’re going to do the same to the whole kingdom.”
“And why in Equestria is that such a bad thing?” She sat up and paced back and forth on the table. “Think about this: None of you will have to work anymore. You’ll always have time to play,” she said. “With my magic, I’ll provide this kingdom with more food and happiness than this world has ever seen!
“At first, every pony will hate me and my ways, but they’ll crack in the end.” She too looked out at some of the ponies in their diapers and adult foal clothes. “Everyone does. I assure you.
“You too, Sunburst.” She jabbed a hoof at him. “You’ll see that this way is so much better; living carefree without worrying about a silly thing like mortality.”
A silence took the room as Sunburst processed what the Ever Filly had monologues about into his head. As much as he did partially enjoy that prospect, he still showed signs of uncertainty. His forehead began to drip, and he bit his lip as his eyes shot around the room.
“Still nervous?” The Ever Filly leapt up onto his back. “Don’t be. This is the only way that we can live forever, Sunburst.” She stroked his neck. “I’m not doing this for my own selfish gains or anything like that. I just want everypony to be the same: Unaging, immortal, and eternally happy.”
“But..But if we have no freewill then what’s the point?” Sunburst gulped as he asked.
The Ever Filly rolled her eyes, “Please tell me that if you could dress like this now and not be scoffed for it. Is that Free Will?”
Sunburst blished, “I’m not sure, but we have tal...talents ya know? that’s what defines us.”
The Ever Filly laughed, “you’re a stuttering old stallion who can’t do much but be a fool for Shining and Cadence.”
“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose that it can’t be that bad…” Sunburst seemed to gain a bit more confidence at the prospect of the Ever Filly’s Equestria, unaware that her influence was seeping into his mind.
“Excellent.” The Ever Filly jumped back into her crib “Now, tuck me in. I want to sleep in just a bit longer.”
What if the Ever Filly is right? Sunburst’s old train of thought battled against his new one.Maybe I should just accept this. I mean, it’s not like we can beat her. She’s limited everyone’s magic—even Twilight’s! He had been thinking so much that he almost forgot to tuck the Ever Filly in. He did so, giving her a light kiss on the forehead, and walking out of the room to let her sleep.
Shining was now in a large dining room devoid of a table. Only rows of pink high chairs lined the walls, with servants and foal guards being served foal food with enchanted spoons that the Ever Filly had conjured up with her magic. Shining himself sat in a special high chair that was much smaller than the others, with Night Light personally putting spoonfuls of yellow gloop into his mouth.
As he swallowed bite after bite, he slowly became attached to the food. It tasted like honey and cream and was easy to swallow. Night Light just kept on stuffing his face with spoonfuls. Shining wanted to shout at him, but the only noises he could muster up were grunting noises which only made his dad smile more.
“Oh does Shiny want more num nums?” he asked in a childish voice before putting another spoonful of food in Shining’s mouth.
Shining felt full, but the foal food was also making him fatter faster than food should. Then he moaned. He then felt the pressure build in the back of him, and as he tried to hold it in, he eventually let it all loose with one massive blast from his butt.
“Whoa! P.U!” Night Light dropped the spoon and pinched his nose. “Shiny! You’re a stinky little foal.”
“Ya ova fed me dada!” Shining Armor went red in the face as his dad picked the spoon up and levitated it off to the kitchen to get cleaned.
Night Light then picked Shining up with his telekinesis and revealed that the foal’s pink diaper was sagging, with a brown patch on the bottom. He took him to the changing room nearby and laid him down on the table. “Manual change, Shining.”
Then a tray of diapers and wipes opened up above Shining, and Night Light began changing his diaper, wiping him clean of his mess.
“Now I have to go the opening ceremony of the Ever Filly’s new Crystal Empire, so you’ll be watched over by an old friend of yours.” Night Light picked Shining up yet again and carried him out of the room.
“Who?” Shining asked.
“Wait and see...” Night Light flashed him a patient smile as he took Shining Armor back to the nursery.
Before long, both Shining Armour and Night Light arrived in another room where a yellow mare was playing with Flash Sentry, helping him stack blocks to make the highest tower that he could. She notice that the two boys had walked into the room, so she stood up and faced them.
“Hello, granny Night Light. It’s good to see you,” the mare said.
“Yes it is, Butterscotch.” Night Light bowed. “I just fed and changed Shiny, so he should be little trouble.” Using his telekinesis, he placed shining next to Flash who was too busy building blocks to notice. “Now you two behave, alright? If I hear either of you were naughty, Cadence will have a talk with you two.”
Both of them quivered, knowing that Cadence was the only one who delivered the punishments. And they knew that Cadence was very, very nasty with her punishments. They nodded together, and gave each other a small hug.
Night Light smiled and waddled out the nursery door.
Shining tried to get up, but his fattened body wouldn't budge an inch.
“Oh, Shiny. You ate a lot, didn’t you?” Butterscotch tickled him in the stomach, making him giggle like a maniac. “Well, I guess that just makes watching you so much easier.”
I wonder if that was the intention of me being overfed Shining pondered as Butterscotch sat back down to help Flash with his tower again.
Dawn came as Celestia’s sun rose over the crowd of ponies that were now surrounding the courtyard. The citizens felt uneasy seeing the foal guard creating a semi circle around them to keep them from escaping. They were all separated into groups of five with a foal guard assigned to each group. The servants were also with their perspective group and the ponies tried to ask them questions about why they were wearing foal clothes, but none of them responded.
Then the crowd saw the Ever Filly riding on top of Sunburst, strapped in a small foal seat. She was garbed in a beautiful white dress with a gold foal bottle in the middle with her mane curled around her head. A small crown with a heart sat on her head, which was made of diamond.
In her clutches was the Crystal Heart, and at her sides were Twilight and Cadence. Steel Hoof was in the back of the crowd watching everyone and keeping the foal guard in check. Then the Ever Filly starred among the crowd and cleared her throat, silencing the murmuring crowd instantly.
“Many of you are wondering what is going on, and why the guards are dressed like babies,” she started. “Well, I’ll tell you. The kingdom has been taken over by me, the Ever Filly. I have taken Flurry Heart as my hostage, and I will rule the kingdom for… well, forever.”
The ponies grimaced at the thought of an infant ruling over their home. They were quickly corrected by the guards with a quick bop on the head with the enchanted rattles. Some of them cried briefly, while others simply hung their heads apologetically.
“Nopony will be harmed under my rule,” the Ever filly continued.”Instead, you will be given back what was once lost to all of you: the lives of foals living without worry or fear.
“My one and only rule is to follow the nannies I appoint over you and enjoy a life of freedom from the shackles of maturity.” She pointed over to the nannies around her. “You are also probably worrying about your own fillies and colts. They’ll stay with me at the palace, and they have already been moved to a safe room where they will watch over and play with me too.
“As for the rest of you who don’t have foals, you will get to experience life in a whole new perspective…” She hid a wicked grin as Sunburst carried her off inside the castle again, with Cadence and Twilight following her. Her horn began to glow with Twilight’s and Cadence’s as they all cast a spell. “I’ll make sure of it…”
The crystal ponies down below were freaking out and were charging at the foal guard. But their attacks were halted in seconds with a few swings and taps of the rattles, making them cry and stopping their antics.
A powerful wave of energy came from inside the castle, and soon the mares were dressed in giant frilly princess dresses of different colours, with foal bonnets and cut manes and tails. The stallions wore big poofy sailor suits with bright blue diapers and foalish sailor hats instead, with their manes and tails still cut like everyone else. The one thing that they did share in terms of clothing were the pink and white diapers that materialized onto their flanks.
The nannies dispersed across the courtyard and tended to each of their perspective groups, hugging and calming their new foals. The crying and whining subsided as the nannies took their foals, servants, and foal guards assigned under them away throughout the city.
Even in a shiny—yet fragile—city like the Crystal Empire, not everything is happy and perfect. That was a lesson that the rest of Equestria would learn the hard way.
It all began when Twilight Velvet, the mother of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Shining Armor; Prince Consort to the Crystal Empire and Captain of the Guard, died from an undetected brain aneurysm that suddenly ruptured without warning. This death cast a dark shadow among the residents of the crystal empire, all of whom mourned the loss of their unicorn prince’s mother.
For his ascended alicorn sister, Twilight herself became downtrodden, and locked herself up in her castle, refusing to come out for anything. And nothing her friends said or did could get her to emerge, her sorrow seemed to have no end.
For his alicorn wife Princess Cadence, she wasn’t fairing much better. Although she went to great lengths to hide it, the loss of Twilight Velvet saddened her to almost no end. But somepony had to put on a brave face for the Crystal Empire and the royal crystal family. Tending to her alicorn infant daughter certainly helped, but even that couldn’t ease the pain. Time would be the only healer, and it seemed to be moving in slow-motion ever since that tragic event.
One winter afternoon, Shining Armor sat in the royal bedroom with his dirty white coat. His light blue mane and tail were rough and unkempt, he had not slept well for several days as was obvious by the noticeable bags beneath his eyes. He was completely in the dark with the only source of light coming from a dying fire. Alone in the giant stone hearth, his blue eyes once full of light were now dim and seemed to be void of happiness. He starred methodically into the flames as they hissed and cracked amongst the logs, lost completely in thought.
That was when, (her pink royal highness) Princess Cadence opened the door, somewhat surprised to find her husband in his depressed and unclean state. She sighed, “He’s been like this all the time lately, but I need to try to make sure he’s okay” she thought, before she calmly whispered, “Shining, darling?”
Shining Armor didn’t respond for a few seconds. “I don’t know if I’m relieved you came in or scared…” he thought, but replied in a depressed tone, “Hey, honey. Is Flurry Heart asleep?”
Princess Cadence answered back with a feeble smile, “She’s doing fine, my love.”
Shining Armor nodded his head and replied sullenly, “Sorry for not being with you two.”
Princess Cadance then sat beside him on the bed and said, “Honey, there’s no need to apologize. You need to be alone for a bit, I understand. Flurry Heart misses you though,” Her tone quickly evaporated and she quivered as she asked,” What about the report from the doctor’s visit?”
Shining Armor looked at his wife and paused for thought, “ Should I just tell her that I’m fine? No, I can’t lie to her not to my wife!” thought, and told her, “The doctors told my sister and I that there is a chance we could get something similar to what our mom had later in our lives. But because Twilight is an Alicorn, he believes that there’s no chance of her receiving such an ailment.”
“What the hay is that supposed to mean?” Princess Cadence thought as she shouted, “ Later?! What do you mean by later?!”
Shining Armor turned back to the flames and continued, “I don’t know, we gave him our blood samples and he’s running tests. It’ll probably be a month before my sister and I get the results back.”
“Isn’t there a cure? Or something we can do to make sure the same doesn’t happen to you?” Princess Cadence slowly stepped forward, her face looking rather grim.
“We can cut out hay fries, sweets and start eating more vegetables, drinking less alcohol, and get plenty of exercise. Other than that there’s not much more I can do.” Shining Armor replied.
Princess Cadence sat by him on the bed and whispered, “You know I can’t ever lose you.”
Shining Armor let her head fall on his shoulders. “We talked about this before we got married. I was hoping you would understand.”
“That was before we had our daughter! Now that we have a foal, everything’s changed!” Princess Cadence protested.
Shining Armor looked at her and sighed. “I know what you’re feeling right now, and if I could change into an Alicorn for you, I would.”
Despite what she was feeling, Cadence managed to let a small chuckle slip. “Maybe we should send you to Ponyville to learn about friendship. It worked for Twilight.”
Shining Armor also laughed at the remark. “Yeah, but then I’ll have to find five random mares to be friends with.”
Princess Cadence snuggled next to him and whispered, “I wouldn’t mind as long as I’m around.” “Finally I got him to laugh.” she thought to herself.
Shining Armor then nuzzled Cadence’s neck gently. “So what should I learn tonight?”
Princess Cadence kissed him, then they held the embrace as she pressed him onto the bed. “That even when there’s death, there’s still love.”
Shining looked at his wife intensely in her eyes as he said, “ I love you, and nothing changes that.”
Princess Cadence bent low and whispered in his ear, “Show me.”
Shining Armor pulled her down to his level and they both held the kiss for a while. This went on until he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Then the two crawled into the bed, and as Princess Cadence snuggled against her husband, another thought crept into her mind. “(‘)What if there was a way to make sure you never leave me? What if there’s a spell that could make you immortal?(’)”
That night, Princess Cadence stayed awake in her bed. Unable to sleep and full of anxiety, while her husband slept soundly next to her. Still thinking about the idea of immortality she slowly got up from the bed, so as to not wake her sleeping husband. Once she was out of the bed, she slowly walked towards the door and out of the room.
Cadence trotted through the almost vacant halls to the imperial library. It was quite grand with two stories full of old tomes and books. She passed by the shelves of books, with covers pertaining to all sorts of things from weather, to history, to magic, to science, and even literary works such as old novels, epics, and poems. She went through the shelves and took out hundreds of books, stacking them on a desk.
Each of the books was either about age spells, alicorn immortality, or soul transfer. Cadence then scoured through each book one by one, and it seemed to her each one she read was all just speculation, magic only powerful alicorns could do. Others just seemed so unlikely that they were probably hoaxes, or spells that were only half finished.
Just as she was going to give up, Princess Cadance noticed a book at the bottom of the pile, it was an old dusty tome with a cover that read: “Myths and Legends of Ancient Empires”. Cadence lifted it with her magic, and found a comfortable sofa to sit down. She then took the book into her lap and skimmed through the table of contents. It was full of stories and tales about ancient battles, myths and legends of gods the ponies worshiped before the alicorns, and of old empires long gone. She skimmed through many of the stories and came across an interesting passage that read, “The Immortal Unicorn.” Princess Cadance’s heart skipped a beat at finding the story. Curiously she flipped through the thousands of pages to the chapter she was looking for and began to read.
There is an old myth about a empire ran by an immortal filly that has been long forgotten and was only discovered in an ancient diary of a former alicorn princess. The story and the events transcribed cannot be proven, and due to Princess Celestia and Luna’s censorship to protect the namesake of their relative and those affected, I cannot record the names of the ponies within this story. But Princess Celestia and Luna have allowed me, for the sake of posterity and the honor of this long dead princess to write down this strange story, and record its place in history.
“Roughly 1700 years ago, there was a powerful unicorn filly known as the “Ever Filly” and her reputation rivals that of King Sombra. Not much is known but from what could be transcribed she was prideful and arrogant, but her ability in magic was beyond powerful, and almost surreal in nature. According to the text, she surpassed all her peers in magic by the age of four and soon outgrew her teachers by age six. Sadly, she saw the death of her mother from a plague that came into the empire. Scared of her own mortality, the filly spent almost an entire year doing nothing but researching a spell to stop herself from aging and from dying. Before her seventh birthday, she discovered her query; a “Fountain of Youth” which stopped her from aging. However, the story didn’t end there. To keep its regenerative power, she crafted canals throughout the empire. She then activated a sealing spell around the empire forcing every pony to her will. She crafted swaddling clothes for foals from that period and made them wear cloth diapers. No pony escaped her strange spell; even the royalty fell to her power, turning the King and Queen into nannies and the prince into a colt. A few she reversed to actual foals but most of the time, Every pony was either a foal, or dressed and acted like foals. From then, all recording of her doings stopped since every pony within the kingdom lost the ability to write.”
“(‘)That can’t be how it ends.(‘)” Cadence thought to herself, Her eyes went wide but at the same time, she couldn’t help but look back down at the book. Wanting to know how the story ended, she read on.
“Ten years passed before a lone crystal pony, with the help of Princess Celestia and Luna, managed to defeat her and save the subjects. The sister shattered the connection to the fountain, and the filly herself vanished and was never seen again. The child’s curses were then revealed within their full magnitude and what was done to the citizens was horrifying. Every pony either was a foal or were dressed as well as acted like foals. The ones that just acted like foals were bathed in the fountain of youth to restart their lives as foals.The fountain stayed within the kingdom as a reminder of the Ever Filly’s defeat but soon—mostly due to accident—more ponies fell into its’ waters and were magically transformed into foals. They were almost exactly one year old and the side effect of the fountain was that they lost all memory of their former life. The tale of the magical fountain spread throughout the land, causing other small empires to want to claim the fountain for their own. As a result, Princesses Celestia and Luna sealed the fountain into a pocket dimension, and all traces of it were destroyed in the process.”
It was then that Cadence noticed a disclaimer at the end of the book, which read: “Final note: All information from this tale are within the diary of the princess (who shall remain unnamed under order of Princess Celestia and Luna) and is now within the Canterlot Library’s restricted section. Please be advised that this story is for historical documentation and is meant to be included in the normal study of magic.”
Princess Cadence stopped reading. She sat in the dark library and thought,’This could be the solution I've been looking for…’
“Of course I’ll need to find a way to get to ‘this’ diary first and see if I can have some other pony who’s good in magic open the dimension.” She began to pace back and forth.
“Granted, it could be just a tale and I could be doing all this for nothing. But for my daughter’s sake, I have to try! I won’t let her go through her life without her father!”
She came close to nearly shouting the words in reality. “I’m sure I can find a way to counter the fountain’s side effects and keep Shining Armor from regressing too far. I can’t tell him yet, though, at least not without a plan, so who else can I trust?” And with that, she put one of her hooves to her chin.
Sunburst was in his study, copying notes from ancient scrolls into a large tome on his desk. His light orange coat was covered by his starry cloak, and his mane and tail drooped around him. His eyes were drooping from the lack of sleep with his round rim glasses slipping down his nose constantly. With only a small candle melting in it’s holder the room was was dim and quiet. It was just the way that he liked it. He didn’t want to be disturbed unless it was important business.
Then a knock broke the silence making Sunburst jumped in his chair. His glasses launched off of his body as he fell backwards. As he stood up and slipped them back onto his face a voice called out, “Sunburst it’s me, Princess Cadence.”
Sunburst said, “You can come in, your highness. The door’s unlocked.”
Princess Cadence entered the study and coughed from the dust that flew from the room. Sunburst trembled slightly as he got up from his chair and bowed towards his ruler. “Princess Cadence, So how can I be of service?”
Princess Cadence looked around the room then whispered into his ear, “Can you keep a secret?”
Sunburst looked up and swallowed. “Uh... a secret?”
Princess Cadence took a deep breath. “Sunburst. as you know Prince Shining Armor’s mother passed away a few days ago and it’s been gnawing at the back of mind how mortal he is. I know it will be at least another eighty years before it’s time but I can’t shake the feeling of my daughter going through that same pain.”
Sunburst tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Well, how do you plan on solving his mortality?”
Princess Cadence blushed and gently wiped the ground with her left foreleg. “Well… have you ever heard of the legend of the Immortal Unicorn?”
Sunburst pushed his glasses back onto his face and replied, “Yes, I've read the tale. But I was always told it was just a story for foals.”
Cadence rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Please. I know my aunt Celestia. She’s very good at hiding secrets. It wouldn’t exactly be the first legend proven to be true.”
“I’m sorry, your highness, but even if it is true there’s a few reasons why pursuing this fountain is impossible. First, we’d have to break into the heavily guarded restricted section of Canterlot’s library. Second, we have no idea how complicated opening a dimension is and I doubt any pony in this era can pull it off. Thirdly, even if we can open the portal, the fountain will erase your husband’s memories, making it impossible for him to ever have a true relationship with his daughter. Not only that, but we’ll have broken about a dozen Equestrian laws, and we will eventually have to tell Celestia and Luna what happened to Shining. We can’t keep such a secret from them forever.”
Princess Cadence replied, “That’s why I’ll take all the blame, and say that I forced you into helping me find a way to have Shining Armor keep his memories, and open a portal to the pocket dimension.”
Sunburst jumped back his glasses nearly tumbled off of his again. As he readjusted them, he asked, “Wait, you want me to help him retain his memories and open the portal?”
Princess Cadence then said, “I was just thinking if there’s any pony in the Crystal Empire that can find a way to have him keep his memories and open a portal to another dimension, I was sure it was you.”
Sunburst smiled and blushed from the compliment as he took a number of books from the shelves and stuffed them into his nearby saddlebags. Once that was done, he slipped the bags onto his back and said, “Alright, Princess. I accept the challenge.”
Princess Cadence came around his desk and hugged him vigorously.“Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me!”
Sunburst’s face turned blue as he choked for air. “You’re welcome.”
Princess Cadence broke the embrace and Sunburst slowly collected his breath. “I’ll resarch mind spells and dimension spells as well and see if there’s anything useful.”
As she left, she looked back at him and said, “Seriously though, thank you, Sunburst.”
Sunburst bowed his head again. “It’s my honor, Princess Cadence.”
She nods back and trots out the door. “I’ll see you soon. Oh, and just Cadence is fine.”
The following week, Cadence sat with Twilight Sparkle in the main parlor of her castle. They were sitting in comfortable purple sofas with a hearth on each side, and cups of tea in their hooves. Twilight was the first to speak, “So you think that finding this Fountain of Youth will save my brother?”
Princess Cadence exhaled and took another sip of her tea. “I know it’s a lot to take in but let’s face it. You and I are going to live for a long time and we both know that he’s not immortal like us.”
Twilight cracked her own little smile and said, “It’s funny, really. my brain is telling me this is a bad idea while my heart is screaming to say yes.”
“Besides that how are you holding up?” Cadence slowly reached out to Twilight.
Twilight hung her head as the words hit her hard. “I’m fine. I cried out everything at her funeral. I think I've finally accepted her passing.”
Princess Cadence did a simple one-note hum and said, “ Did you get the results of those tests?”
Twilight nodded and replied, “My doctor confirmed that me getting a brain aneurysm is 99.99% improbable. In fact he said I can’t even get sick. My body will age a bit more but when I hit my late twenties, I’ll stop aging completely and my body will stay like that for a long time.”
“My doctor who helped me for Flurry Heart’s birth said the same thing to me as well. But I think they’re just going by the medical tests Celestia and Luna had. Heck I don’t even know if I’ll age anymore.”
Princess Twilight’s eyebrows elevated and she unintentionally fiddled with her hooves as a feeling of dread crept onto her face. “So what did Shining’s tests say?”
“There’s a 5%-30% chance of him getting one before he reaches seventy. After that his chances grow almost to 80%,” Cadence explained.
Princess Twilight drunk more of her tea and continued, “That’s why you want to do this right now?”
Princess Cadence nodded silently. “So how is he doing right now? I haven't had the chance to speak with him since the funeral.”
Princess Cadence replied happily, “He’s been doing great. He’s been with Flurry Heart more than I expected and I think the two of them get together like a house on fire. Soon, he’ll helping her use the potty more often.”
“That’s good.” Twilight put the cup of tea back down on the saucer and walked up to her. “A foal needs all of the love and support they can get from their parents—even if those parents have a lot of royal business to attend to as well.”
Princess Cadence nodded. “I agree, Twilight. With all of the stuff we’ve had to go through since her birth, I’m surprised that the two of us haven’t passed out from exhaustion yet.”
Twilight merely laughed at that sentence.
“Do you need me to give you some time to think it over?” Cadence asked once Twilight had calmed down.
“No, no. I made my decision…” She paused and gave Cadence a small hug. “It’s yes. I’m not gonna lose my BBBFF.”
Princess Cadence returned the hug. “Thank you.”
“So you’re going to need help with a spell to retain his memories, and help making a portal to this pocket dimension.” Twilight pulled out a blank scroll, a quill, and a pot of ink from the nearby shelf and jotted down a checklist. “Not to mention a way to then seal it back off if the other effects spring to life all of a sudden. Do you have someone helping you with that?”
Princess Cadence nodded.“Sunburst is doing his best, but he’s struggling. I finally confronted him with the fact we were going to need your help.”
Twilight laughed again and replied, “I’m sure he didn’t want to agree to your plan in the first place.”
“It took some convincing but he couldn’t deny a challenge to his intellect.” Cadence smirked.
“Alright, but first we’re going to need that diary.” Twilight added it to the list. “I must say, the legend of the Immortal Unicorn is a fascinating tale, Cadence. I’m surprised that you couldn’t get access to Canterlot Library’s restricted section with you being a princess.”
Cadence walked up to Twilight as she continued to write on the scroll. “That’s also why I’m here. You’re the only other pony who has access to the library, and I’m pretty sure that Celestia and Luna won’t let me in without good reason.”
Twilight pulled her head from the squares she was making. “Pinkie Pie told you about that?” She almost raised an eyebrow before she looked back at the list. “Yeah, I know how to get into the restricted section alright. But we are gonna breaking a few rules and I need you to follow everything I say.”
“Alright. So when should we pull our little heist?” Cadence asked as Twilight rolled up the list and put it away neatly.
“First, I’ll make arrangements with Spike for him to take care of things here, then I’ll tell my friends that I’m helping Sunburst with a project.” Twilight walked back up to Cadence. “I won’t tell them the full truth. It’ll be just enough to keep them from asking questions. But that means I’ll be pretty busy today, so let’s do this tomorrow.”
Princess Cadence let her gaze fall to the floor as Twilight walked off to attend to other matters. “I actually didn’t expect you to agree so readily.”
Twilight levitated the empty teacups and saucers with her as she walked towards the door. “You’re not the only one who has been thinking of a way to give immortality to non-alicorns. If this Fountain of Youth works and we can pull this off, I was thinking of convincing my friends to do the same.”
Princess Cadence smiled at Twilight’s sentence, but then thought, Let’s hope this works and not just be a fool’s errand.
It was midnight over Canterlot and everything seemed to be at peace. A single cloud passed overhead with the moon shining down on the ground below. Cadence and Twilight were flying overhead wearing black jumpsuits and black masks that only revealed their eyes. They flew towards the palace and silently landed in some nearby bushes.
Twilight peaked through the leaves to look around, and saw no-one else in the current area. She and Cadence were all alone. They moved stealthily through the garden, transitioning through multiple bushes in case one of the castle guards came through. They took turns looking out of the shrubs to make sure that they stayed alone. They went past the center of the garden, identifying the fountain that served as an homage to the four princesses.
It was at this moment that Twilight and Cadence saw a few guards chatting as a gardener was trimming a bush. They carefully tiptoed through the foliage, trying to make as little noise as possible. Things were going well, but all of a sudden, Twilight stepped on a twig, making it snap. She froze up as she noticed the ponies start to look in her direction. She and Cadence immediately darted for cover. The old earth pony with the gardening apron muttered, “Damn raccoons...” before he went back to work.
One guard replied, “ It sounded like it was something bigger, I’m going to check it out.”
As he approached the bush, Princess Cadence threw a twig and it hit the bushes on her left. The guard turned back to his business as well, and the two alicorns crawled carefully behind the foliage. They soon came upon the doors leading to the ballroom. Seeing the entrance was clear, they quickly snuck up to the giant double doors and Twilight used her horn to pick the lock.
After successfully opening it, they carefully sneaked down the hallways towards the library. She saw two guards around the corner and wait until they left. Once they did, she walked up to the heavy doors and magically unlocked the door. She heard a clicking noise, and the door slowly opened up.
Cadence was the first one to go through the opening followed by Twilight to find themselves among the enumerable bookshelves. They quickly passed by them without so much as a glance. They came to the back and arrived at another set of doors with a sign that read, “Restricted section: authorized ponies only.” Princess Twilight of course ignored the sign and started to work the lock on the next set of doors. This time, it was more complicated, and she cursed every time she heard it readjust when she messed up. Eventually, the doors open and she cheers, “Yes I did it!” She threw her left hoof into the air in triumph.
“Hey Twilight!” A voice responded to her mild victory.
Twilight flew into the air as Cadence hid behind a bookshelf. Once she landed again, she saw Flash Sentry with his dark orange coat and dark blue eyes. He was wearing the classic gold armor of the royal guard with a spear in his left front hoof.
“Flash what are you doing here?” she raised a brow. “I thought the night guard handled security at this time…”
Flash Sentry surprised replied back, “Celestia left me in charge of guarding the restricted section of the library after that security breach in Restaurant Row. What are you doing here?”
Twilight walked up to him and laid her hoof on his shoulder. “‘Flash, you can’t tell any-pony I was here. You can’t tell Princess Celestia if she found out she’ll…”
Flash Sentry blushed and patted her back. “Twilight. I’m not going to tell anypony. You’re a princess. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
“Yeah. uh… l... thank you,” Twilight had trouble getting the words out of her mouth.
Flash Sentry’s face was now beet red as he started to brush the carpet with his right hoof and as he started to shake all over he stuttered, “How about... next time I’m in Ponyville, we go out, maybe?”
“C’mon Flash. Just say what you have to say.” Twilight walked up closer and almost got in his face. “I won’t mind.
“HowaboutItakeyououtonalunchdate,” Flash rapidly blurted out.
Twilight drooped her neck and shook her head. “That’s a very nice offer, Flash, but I’m afraid I have to decline. I’ll be at the Crystal Empire for the next few months.”
Flash Sentry’s face lit up at that response. “That’s even better! I’ll be transferring there in a few weeks, so we’ll have plenty of time to hang out.” Then he put on a sheepish grin. “As long as your brother doesn’t mind.”
“Well he can’t dictate who I can and can’t date.” Twilight crossed her front hooves.
Twilight realized that she just got angry at her brother so she face-hoofed before she looked at Flash again.
“So is that a yes?” Flash asked.
Twilight then realized that by the time Flash Sentry would be in the Crystal Empire, Shining would be a foal. She giggled at the thought of Shining as a foal in a giant puffy diaper clinging to her to try to stop her from dating. When she broke out of her thought she replied, “No. Not yet. I’ll talk to him and make sure he doesn’t have any problems.”
Flash Sentry perked up a bit more, “Alright. When I arrive, you pick the place we’ll eat at and I’ll pay for everything else.”
Twilight looked back into his eyes and softly cuddled him. “It’s a date.”
Flash Sentry stared at her for a while as she comforted him. He returned the favor and said, “I guess I’ll let you go.”
Twilight Sparkle let go of him and she shook hooves with him before he walked off. A single tear escaped her eye. “Thank you, Flash…”
As he trots away with a skip in his step Princess Cadence came out of hiding and giggled. “I just got the cutest images in my head of Shining in a diaper,”
“Come on, let’s just get that diary.” Twilight smiled as she turned towards the door and led the way.
Twilight and Sunburst were with Princess Cadence. The three of them stood before Shining Armor, who was sitting on the side of the bed, rubbing his head. It had been three months since Twilight and Cadence had found the spells needed to open up the portal, keep the stallion’s memories, and to make sure that everything stayed under control in case the magic started to corrupt the other Crystal Empire ponies.
“So let me get this straight? You’re going to open a portal to another dimension then bathe me in a fountain of youth and turn me into a foal!?” Shining Armor lurched backwards against the wall. “No way. Nuh-uh. Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m being turned into a foal.”
Princess Cadence coyly winked at him. “Come on. It can’t be that bad?”
“You can’t be serious!? This is a joke right!?” Shining Armor was completely dumbfounded at what he was hearing.
“My prince, please listen to your wife and sister before you make your final decision.” Sunburst stepped forward and raised a hoof between the two royals.
Shining Armor sat back down on the bed and sighed, slumping his hooves to his side. “Fine. I’ll listen to what you two have to say but I’m not making any promises.”
“Do you remember after your mother died how we talked about you dying the same way?” Cadence crossed her front hooves and raised her brows. “Well, what about the results from your blood test? It could happen sooner than we think, and right now I’m thinking of our daughter Flurry Heart and what will happen to her if she had to watch you die before she grew up?“
“That’s life, dear. I’m going to die one day. We discussed this more than once.” Shining Armor rebutted.
“That was before we learned about this brain aneurysm. If we let the doctors work on a cure while you’re a foal, we could turn you back to normal again!” Cadence slowly raised her voice, almost sounding desperate.
“So what? Then who will protect you and Flurry Heart while I’m a baby?” Shining was beginning to argue with her.
“You think we need protection?! After we defeated King Sombra together you think i’m some helpless maiden who can’t do anything?!” Cadence stomped her foot on the ground as hard as she could
“No! I mean that if i’m a foal, then who else is gonna save you?!” Shining Armor roared. He was not going to lose this fight. “My mom’s dead. Yes. But I’m not just gonna stand idly by while you turn me into a newborn and potentially risk dooming the Crystal Empire!”
“Brother! Calm down!” Twilight threw herself in between the two arguing ponies to break them up. ”You still have me and my friends, don’t you?” she said. “We’ll keep Equestria and the Crystal Empire safe.”
Sunburst fixed his glasses again. “My prince. I’ll be by your wife and daughter‘s side. The thing is if you died when Flurry Heart is older, who will protect her then?”
“But I’ll lose all my memories if I become a foal!” he cried, trying to persuade the others not to go through with the idea.
“Sunburst and I have been working on a memory spell that will have you retain all of your memories when you bathe into the fountain.” Twilight pulled out the first book from the orange pony’s saddlebags.
“What about my duties as prince? How will I be able to perform those if I’m back in diapers?” he had less confidence in his voice this time.
Sunburst again bowed before him. “I'll act as regent in your stead. Then when you come of age, you can resume your role as prince.”
Shining Armor let out an exasperated huff and wrapped his hoof around Sunburst’s body. “Sunburst, you’re a capable mage and one of my most trusted advisors. But there’s no way you can handle everything by yourself.”
He has been doing a lot and has proved himself time and time again.” Cadence gave Sunburst a few pats on the back. “He helped our daughter during the Crystalling, remember? He doesn’t have anything against her. He’s proved his loyalty and his ability to keep calm even under the most delicate of situations. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle all of your work just fine.”
“What about Flurry? You think our daughter will like it that her mother turned her dad into a foal?”
“At least you’ll be alive.” Cadence’s voice had almost no weight behind it as she sunk her head into one of her arms.
Shining Armor now seeing his wife in pain relaxed a bit and whispered, “Honey, my cutie mark represents me as a protector and it’s the reason i’m concerned for everypony’s life here in the Crystal Empire.”
Princess Cadence wiped the tears from her face and raised her head from the floor and in a whispered, “Yet it does matter. If you die, who else can protect the Crystal Empire?” Shining Armor bowing his head without a rebuttal he realized “(‘)Maybe she’s right. Dead, the crystal empire is vulnerable forever. As a foal it'll only vulnerable until i’m in my teens again. Wait a second what if…(’)”
He turned to Sunburst and asked, “Why can’t you just turn me into a teen again or a colt? Does it have to be a foal?”
Sunburst readjusted his glasses as he replied, “I also researched many possible ways of altering the fountain’s properties to change you into teen or at least a colt. However, I ran into a problem, it seems (at least from the diary) Princess Celestia and Luna tested the power of the fountain and they realized that nothing they did could alter the magical properties of the fountain… You can read the diary yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Shining Armor smiled at his friend and replied, “I believe you.” He then turned towards Twilight. “Sis? why do you want to turn me into a foal?”
“Have you thought of Dad? He’s already seen mom die.” Twilight was slowly started to tear up. “If we lost you as well, it would be even worse for him. I haven't told him yet because I don’t know how he’ll take what we're trying to do as your are now. But would you rather have him mad at us? Or risk the chance of him seeing his only son die before he does? No pony wants to lose you, Shining and if we risk waiting, it could be too late...” She started choking down sobs as she leaned in towards him and gave him a big hug. “I’m not ready to lose my BBBFF...”
Shining Armor’s head fell to the floor as all of the thoughts ran through his head. With a remorseful gaze, he saw both Twilight and Cadence were slowly starting to cry. He watched both of them weep for quite some time before he stood up from the bed and brought both of them into a hug. “I’ll do it.”
Cadence stopped crying and looked up at him. “You will?”
“The curse of love I guess,” he let out a pitiful chuckle. “I told you I would do anything for you and my daughter. I guess that even means turning into a foal.”
Twilight continued to cry, but a smile started to appear on her face. She was so relieved to have Shining Armor agree to being turned back into a baby. She and Cadence both gave him a few kisses as their tears started to subside at long last.
