Scootaloo froze in her seat the moment she saw her father walk into the house. Normally, she would be happy to see him, but judging by how he was talking to her mother, he didn't seem to approve of Scootaloo being treated like a foal. And who could blame him?

Sweetie Belle didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell Mr. Twister that this wasn’t hurting anypony. But part of her didn't think she should interrupt this argument.

Dizzy Twister wasn't exactly sure how to handle this, but she didn't want her foals to be here for the conversation, this was an argument between her and her husband. So she walked past him, pulled both foals out of their seats, and instructed them both to go upstairs and play “Now, I know it's time for breakfast and you two are hungry, but I need to talk with daddy alone,” She instructed. “Scootaloo, please be a good girl and listen to Mommy while she talks to her husband. Okay?”

Scootaloo was about to protest and suggest that she and Sweetie provide their own arguments, but her mother gave her a look that told her if she argued with her, Scootaloo would likely be grounded for three months. She knew this, because this wasn't her first time seeing that look. She sighed. “Fine.” And she took off, with Sweetie not far behind. However, when Scootaloo got upstairs she pretended to shut her door, so as to make it seem that she and Sweetie Belle were in her bedroom.

“Uh, Scootaloo, your mom told us to go to our room, we can't just disobey her!” Sweetie commented, a little scared of what could happen if they were caught not listening to orders.

“I know but… I have to listen to this. I don’t want Dad to get the wrong idea about all of this.” Scootaloo told her friend, as they listened to her parents. The filly didn’t want to admit it, but part of her was starting to actually get used to the idea of being treated like a foal, just a little.

Once Scootaloo was out of sight (hopefully distracted playing with Sweetie Belle) Dizzy followed her husband to the living room, and sat down next to him on the couch. She knew it was going to be difficult to explain this to Quick, if the disapproving scowl on his face was any indication. But there was so much he didn’t know about, and she hoped that she could at least get her point across. “Before I tell you why I’m doing this, I just have one thing to say,” She began, looking at her husband. “I’m not hurting these fillies, they agreed of their own free will. And I’m not making them go out in public all diapered,” She decided to leave out the fact that Rarity, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike all knew, If her husband became aware of such a fact, he’d surely be furious. “So, is it really so bad if they agreed to it, and I’m only doing it here, where nopony else can see them?

Quick Shot was anything but satisfied with this answer. “Really, that's what you're going to ask me, Dizzy?” He frowned, and shook his head. “First off, Scootaloo is too old for diapers, diapers are used for three year olds, or ponies who need them for medical reasons. As far as I can see, Scootaloo doesn't need them for either of those reasons, and you know that they sell special nightwear for foals with bedwetting problems, so it can’t be that either,” He paused for a bit, then added. “I get that you miss taking care of her when she was a foal, really I do. It really pains me everytime I go on the road, knowing my little filly is getting bigger and bigger each time I come home. But you don’t see me trying to turn back the clock on her development. You don’t see me diapering her and treating her like some two year old foal, let alone dragging one of her friends into it.”

“But Sweetie Belle agreed to it on her own terms, after she found out about it,” Dizzy protested. “I even told her to get permission before she did this, and her older sister said it was fine.”

“Great, now you’re roping others into your scheme,” Quick frowned, raising his voice a little. “Dizzy, this can’t go on! If you continue this treatment, our daughter will think this is normal, when this behavior is anything but! Whatever she might be going through, treating her like a foal is hardly the proper way to deal with it! And I’ll be darned if I have to start buying diapers for Scootaloo again, you know how expensive they can be!” He scolded. “I especially don't like this, because you of all ponies should understand how hard it was to potty train her! We didn’t get her fully trained until she was almost in kindergarten, and were it not for the fact you needed to be out of diapers to get into kindergarten, she probably would’ve still been in them by the time she started grade school! Just imagine all the ridicule and bullying she would’ve faced then!”

Dizzy sighed. Indeed, Scootaloo’s potty training years had been quite difficult. For the first year, just getting Scootaloo to accept the idea of using the bathroom instead of her diapers had been a struggle. And then, the whole process of getting Scootaloo comfortable with the training potty, then transitioning to the toilet, had taken another year and a half.

In hindsight, Dizzy couldn’t help but feel sort of guilty. “We tried a little too hard to get Scootaloo potty trained. I know we were getting tired of changing her diapers, but we started training her before most ponies her age do. Maybe that’s part of what caused all of those feelings she now has. I’m still glad we got her trained, but we really shouldn’t have been so pushy. We needed to adapt to her pace, not put her on some artificial timeline and force her to adapt to it.” She thought, and then to her husband she replied. “I know, and I get your concerns. But I’m not trying to un-potty train Scootaloo or anything, she can still use the bathroom just fine. She really doesn't mind this treatment all that much, and Sweetie Belle sure seems to like it. Yes they’ve used their diapers, but aside from a few accidents they’ve been just fine.” Dizzy confirmed, hoping that might make her husband feel a little better about all this.

It didn’t. “Maybe I should just drop Scootaloo off at her aunts’ place, maybe they could fix this problem of hers,” Quick suggested, glaring at Dizzy. “And as for you, I think I’m going to have get you into to the doctor for a check on your mental health. Because that’s the only reason I can think of that would make you do this sort of thing. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t do that right now!” He asked, for he was scared that something might be wrong with his lovely wife. But there had to be something wrong with her, because why else would she treat their daughter like a one year old, let alone allow one of her friends to join in? It was certainly not something one just decided to do out of the blue.

“Quick, please,” Dizzy pleaded. “Let me explain. Do you remember when I sent you all those letters about me having a hard time with Scootaloo? You know, about how she refused to do her chores and everything? Surely you remember that, right?” Dizzy asked.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with the way you’re treating her now?” Quick replied.

“Well you see, the idea of Scootaloo being put in a diaper was originally a punishment,” Dizzy explained. “One that Twilight and Starlight put on Scootaloo, while I was in Cloudsdale for a few days. They told me everything Scootaloo confessed to while I was away. I learned then, that she missed her foalhood, and was worried about growing up. And because she was so afraid of what I’d think, she lashed out. She’d even been covering up the fact that she’d been wetting the bed off and on for a couple of months. So don’t you see? I was trying to help her our daughter. I was never trying to regress her or un-potty train her. And I only agreed to let Sweetie Belle join in on this, once she got permission from Rarity. I didn’t want to do it behind her back.”

Having heard of all this, Quick now realized that he might have been a little fast to judge this. He wasn't too fond of the idea at all, but he’d known Dizzy for years. Surely, she would’ve told him about all of this eventually. And he could always ask Scootaloo if Dizzy was telling the truth, Scootaloo wouldn’t lie to him. “I just hate to see Scootaloo put back into diapers after it took us so long to potty train her,” Quick sighed. “She was still in diapers while in preschool for pony’s sake!” He commented, though not quite as mad anymore.

“I know, believe me I know. But I think part of that was our own fault, we were way too hard on her and didn’t allow her time to enjoy her diapers before she moved on from them,” Dizzy commented. “But you need to understand that even though she kind of likes this, that doesn't make her a completely different pony. She still likes sports and enjoys her flight training, nothing in her has changed, she’s still the same Scootaloo we know and love. It’s just that sometimes she gets stressed, and this helps her cope with it. At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand of this. Who knows? Maybe one day when you get stressed out, I could do that same to you, just a little? Wouldn't you like that?” Dizzy suggested. “I could always send Scootaloo to stay with Holiday and Lofty, she’d never have to know.”

Quick instantly shot the idea down. He had his own ways of relieving stress, and he wasn’t exactly sure he’d like the idea of being diapered and dependent on someone else. “No. Leave me out of it, okay?” He told his wife, before he then added. “I…. guess I’m okay with this now, so long as you’re telling me the truth. But please, for pony’s sake, don't ever take her out In public like this! And please don't make her go number two in her diapers! If she wants to pee in them, or has bed wetting problems, that’s okay. But those other two things are a no no.”

Dizzy nodded. “Of course, honey,” She smiled, relieved that her husband had come to something of an understanding, “Now, I do believe I need to get my foals fed. Could wait down here while I get them? It's way past their breakfast time, and they’re starving.” She instructed and slowly walked away.

Quick obeyed, before he took a look at the messy kitchen and frowned. “Scootaloo must’ve tried making breakfast again.” He thought, as he went to get some wet rags and a mop.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Sweetie Belle was surprised at some of the things she’d learned. “Wait, you didn't know how to use the potty until you were out of preschool?” She asked Scootaloo. “I was the same way, Scootsie,” She confessed. “Though that was more because Mom and Dad didn’t really wanna potty train me, they thought they’d made Rarity give up her diapers too soon, and they wanted me to really enjoy them. Rarity sort of ended up potty training me herself, though there was this one time she accidentally flushed me down the drain.” She said with a blush.

“That’s nice, Sweetie,” Scootaloo commented, not really having paid much attention to the conversation. “But we should really get back to my room before Mommy catches us, I’d hate to get a spanking. Sure, it wouldn't hurt with a diaper on, but it doesn't feel good.” And with that, Scootaloo opened the door to her room. She and Sweetie Belle picked up some random toys, and played with then until Dizzy came in to get them for breakfast.

Author's Note

I was going to update this an hour ago but forgot, anyway, I hope I can finish the next chapter soon, been having anxiety lately.