Author's Note

Inhibitor rings are a concept that has cropped up in quite a few diaper fics, and I find them to be quite interesting. However, I feel like the implication behind them is kind of disturbing. It's not like tying hair back. It's actively restricting a child's natural abilities simply because the parents can't control them otherwise.

And for someone like Starlight, who takes great pride in her magic, I can imagine she would despise the idea of having to wear an inhibitor ring for any length of time.

I know a lot of the stuff here is mostly implied, but with a fic genre like this I find it to be a case of better safe than sorry, hence the Mature rating. But this is about as far as we're gonna get into the foalish themes.

If any of you have any suggestions about some things Firelight could do around the house with his little one, feel free to post them in the comments section. You never know, inspiration can come from the most unexpected of places.

The Treatment Begins

Delighted that his daughter had agreed to be diapered, Firelight quickly set to work on preparing a suitable changing location. He soon decided that the bed was the best option, and motioned for Starlight to lay down on it. She reluctantly obeyed.

"Okay, Pumpky Wumpkin," Firelight cooed, as he took up a diaper and some foal powder with his magic and held them in front of Starlight. "Can you do Daddy a favor and spread your legs, please? It'll be easier to put the diaper on that way."

Starlight muttered something in reply and reluctantly obliged. She felt every moment of the embarrassing process, as her blush returned with a vengeance. Slowly but surely the poofy undergarment was slid up her legs and under her rump, her tail poking its way out of the hole in the back. The tapes were fastened one at a time, while the diaper crinkled loudly as it pushed her legs further apart. Then the front was opened up, as tufts of foal powder were added and a strong smell of cornstarch filled the air. A scent that the mare had only faintly experienced with the Cake Twins and Flurry Heart.

The unicorn with a coat of light grayish-purple coughed. "Dad, you overdid it on the powder!" She whined, her tone sounding more like a cranky foal who'd just woken up from a nap, rather than an embarrassed adult.

"Sorry, Honey Bun. Just making sure you're protected against rashes," Firelight apologized. And the stallion then floated over a small metal ring. "Now to complete the look. Your trusty inhibitor ring." He smiled.

But Starlight took one look at the ring and immediately her eyes started to widen and her breathing started to accelerate rapidly. "No, no, no! Celestia, please, anything but that!" She pleaded desperately with her dad. "I always hated wearing that stupid thing as a foal! It was so heavy, and it gave me headaches! I don't wanna wear it again, Daddy!" The mare didn't have time to be bothered by the childish term that had slipped out.

Firelight seemed to oblige his diapered daughter's demand, he pulled the ring back and set it down where his daughter could no longer see it. He then approached Starlight, gingerly stroking her mane with a hoof. "It's okay, we don't need to put the ring on. You have much more control over your horn now. Daddy's sorry if he gave you a scare, that wasn't very nice of him." After a moment of calming down his daughter, the stallion then got an idea. Using his hooves, he carefully styled her mane and inserted two hair bands in the back.

Starlight looked at herself in the mirror, surprised to see that her dad had styled her mane into the twin pigtails she'd worn as a filly. It was a look she hadn't worn in years (aside from that one instance where she'd briefly turned herself and Sunburst into foals). "Dad! Seriously?!" She protested and moved a hoof up to undo the pigtails.

A grayish-purple hoof stopped her. Firelight looked his daughter square in her blue eyes and calmly told her. "Ah-ah-ah, Chipmunk Cheeks. No playing with your mane. You look so cute in your precious little pigtails," Firelight cooed. "Come on, at least wear it for Daddy Waddy. If you're gonna be a foal again, at least look the part."

"Why do I feel like I don't have a choice in the matter?" The mare thought to herself, though she was relieved to at least have control of her horn. "I guess it's better than inhibitor ring. I'd sooner die than wear that again!" She pondered and shuddered at the very thought.

Satisfied with his daughter's state and apparent contemptness, the stallion rose from his spot on the bed. Then he floated over the purple colored pacifier and popped it into her mouth, before helping his little filly to stand. "There we go. Oh, just look how cute you are! You're Daddy's little star!"

Starlight tried to whine, but the pacifier muffled her voice. "Dad, dish is soh embawashing!" She lisped, her cheeks raging out of control at the sound of her own voice sounding so foalish. And it didn't help that trying to move caused the bulky padding to crinkle, while her legs wobbled and wiggled. She was not used to moving with such added weight to her hind quarters. But she didn't want to crawl.

"You just tell Daddy if you have to go potty, okay Sugar Plum?" Firelight cooingly asked of his daughter. "And if you have an accident, that's okay. Daddy doesn't mind changing your diapees."

Annoyed and frustrated beyond all belief, Starlight spat out her pacifier (though she quickly used her magic to hold it in place. She didn't want it touching the floor. If it did, she was NOT putting it back in her mouth). "If you're gonna keep this up, I'm ripping off this diaper and leaving!" She firmly protested and stomped her hoof down. "I may have agreed to let you treat me like a foal, but I draw the line at foal talk. I'm not a two year old, I can say bathroom and diaper just fine. And I most certainly don't need your help to use the bathroom or take off my diapers."

"Are you sure?" Firelight asked with the most ridiculous grin on his face.

"Yes, I am one hundred percent sure," Starlight firmly insisted as her blush finally started to die down again. "If I want your help, I will say so. Do you understand?"

Her dad nodded in confirmation. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry if I went overboard. But you just look so cutesy-wootsy like this. It's like I stepped back in time!"

Starlight just groaned. Something told her that was the best she was going to get out of her father, she would just have to grin and bear it as best she could.

Leaving her bedroom and following her father to the living room was quite the difficult task for Starlight, thanks in no small part to the poofy diaper that always reminded her of its presence with audible crinkles every time she took a step. On more than one occasion, the padding pushed her legs apart so much that she couldn't maintain her balance and stumbled to the ground.

And every time that happened her dad was right there to lift her back up and check her for "owies". On one occasion, he even opted to give the diaper an inspectory pat. Which caused Starlight to let out an eep and swish her tail. "Dad, don't!" She protested in vain.

"Well how else am I to know if you need a change?" Firelight playfully inquired. "You can never be too careful with foals, even big ones like you."

"Celestia help me! This is gonna be an even longer week than I thought!" Starlight thought, as her still squeaky clean diaper crinkled anew and a few tufts of foal powder spilled out. She wouldn't put it past her dad to intentionally go overboard with the powder. He was enjoying this WAY too much.

Fortunately, once in the living room Starlight was able to occupy herself more or less with the few foal toys she'd reluctantly taken from her room. It helped that playing helped to take her mind off her troubles and make her forget that she was in diapers and her dad was watching her with every step she took. The unicorn was just glad that there was nopony else to see this. If Sunburst, or Trixie, or Maud, or even Spike or Twilight were to see her like this she was certain she'd never live down the embarrassment (and maybe even die from it).

So engrossed was she in "play time" that the mare almost didn't notice the passage of time. But sooner than she would've liked, she was snapped out of her carefree state by audible rumbles in her stomach. That meant it was time for dinner, and given her current state the unicorn was not looking forward to what would be on the menu (or where she'd have to eat).

Starlight's worst fears seemed to be confirmed when her dad led her along with a hoof, and deposited her onto a chair at the far end of the dining room table. As she moved to sit down, her padding compressed and elected a cacophony of crisp crinkles. Firelight let out an aw, while Starlight wished nothing more than to be able to turn invisible.

Firelight then tied a bib around Starlight's neck, it was baby pink in color and had cute little hearts and stars printed all over it. "Don't want you to make a mess, my little star," He cooed. "You're always such a messy eater."

"I am NOT!" Starlight whined, kicking her legs in protest.

Firelight only giggled. "You always said that, Honey Bun. And yet you always ended up with food all over your face." He gave a wink as he teleported into the kitchen and returned a second later with several jars of different flavored foal food which he placed on the dining room table. Not to mention a red plastic spoon.

"Foal food? Seriously?" Starlight remarked as her eyebrows narrowed and she stuck out her tongue in protest.

The stallion giggled at the face his daughter was making. For someone who didn't think they were a foal, they sure acted like one when presented with food they found "yucky". "Of course, little star."

"But I'm a grown pony!" The mare firmly protested, turning her head.

"Yes, but even grown ponies need their nutrition. You want to grow up to be big and strong, don't you?" Her dad half cooed/half teased. Of course he knew his daughter wouldn't respond, not with the face she was making. But he wasn't deterred even the slightest. "Come on, Pumpky Wumpkin," He cooed as he dipped the plastic spoon into the jar of Cream of Carrot and carefully held it out in the brilliant gamboge glow of his magic. "You won't get any dessert unless you cooperate and eat your num-nums. I made sure to only get the best flavors for you, no Mashed Peas or Pureed Banana. Stellar always said how much you hated them."

"He's right, I absolutely despised those flavors! How could anypony like something so disgusting?!" Starlight thought to herself. Then a faint memory from long ago came flooding back to the forefront of her mind. "Though, there was one time where I gave Stellar Flare a face full of Mashed Peas. That was totally hilarious, even if I ended up in time out for that. I guess they were good for something."

Starlight's mental contemplation was interrupted as she felt the plastic spoon be nudged up against her left cheek. "Open for the aeroplane." She heard her dad coo in the most embarrassing fashion possible.

"Can't I just have some normal food? Like maybe hay fries or a peanut butter and zap apple jam sandwich?" Starlight pleaded with her father.

Firelight only laughed and shook his head. "You're not getting anything else tonight, my little pony. So it's either foal food, or you can go hungry." A rare hint of stern authority could be heard creeping into his tone of voice.

Starlight didn't really remember any times her dad had ever punished or disciplined her as a foal, but she wasn't sure how far he was willing to go on the whole "foal" treatment. "He wouldn't actually punish me like a foal if I didn't cooperate, would he?" She thought, shuddering at the possibility. "I don't think I want to find out. The embarrassment would be too much to handle." Taking a deep breath, the unicorn with a coat of light grayish-purple reluctantly opened her mouth as wide as she could.

Seeing an opening, Firelight swiftly moved the spoon towards his daughter's mouth and deposited its contents onto her tongue.

It took every ounce of will power she had not to spit up the foal food! Starlight nearly gagged at the overwhelmingly strong taste! "Ugh." She groaned, which proved to be a mistake on her part. Her protest was rewarded with another spoonful of the goop. And the process soon repeated itself over and over again with jar after jar. In reality it probably only lasted a moment or two, but to the big foal it felt like an eternity of suffering.

"My goodness, what a mess you've made, Pumpky Wumpkin!" Firelight chuckled once dinner time had ended, wiping down his daughter's face with a rag as he removed all traces of foal food from her.

Starlight wanted to protest and complain, but she couldn't. She felt too full and bloated from the foal food, to say nothing of the strong taste that lingered on her tongue. As a result, she almost didn't notice when she was floated out of her chair and found herself over her father's lap. "What is he doing now?!" She thought.

The big foal soon found out. Firelight moved a hoof down to her back and gave her a few gentle but firm pats. All of a sudden, Starlight opened her mouth. "Urp!" She belched quite audibly, and her cheeks flushed red for the umpteenth time that day (though she did feel less bloated now).

Firelight fanned a hoof across his nose in dramatic (and exaggerated) fashion. "Whoa, that was a big one!" He exclaimed and then with a flip of his mane he laughed. "Thanks for playing along, sweetie. I gotta say, for somepony who doesn't like being treated like a foal, you sure don't seem to have trouble acting the part."

"What?!" Starlight gasped, realizing what her dad was not so subtly implying. ".... I-I didn't mean to do that! It just slipped out, I swear!"

"Sure, Honey Bun, whatever you say." Firelight winked.

The mare turned big foal could only groan yet again in protest. And then she felt an ominous rumbling in her stomach, despite the fact that she'd just eaten. Fortunately, she knew what that meant. "Be right back!" She burst out and teleported away before her dad even had a chance to ask what was wrong.

Starlight reappeared moments later, her cheeks only slightly less red than before. "That was close." She sighed in relief, giving her diaper a tug with her magic and finding the tabs as strong as they had been before.

"Oh, did you..." Firelight began.

Starlight threw up a hoof and silenced him. "-Yes, and I did it all by myself, thank you. You don't need to check." She insisted. Her father took her word for it and said nothing more.

After that, the rest of the day passed in relative silence for parent and child. Firelight was quite content to just sit on a sofa in the living room, watching his diapered daughter play alternatively with her blocks, her dolls, and (very reluctantly) her rattle. Aside from the occasional diaper check, he said and did nothing else.

Starlight was most thankful for that, playing helped her to forget about her current situation and pass the time. At least this part of being a big foal wasn't so bad. Even the diaper was starting to become tolerable (though Starlight still hated how thick and poofy it was. She suspected her dad had sized it up too much).

Eventually though, it became night time. And that meant it was time for bed. It was then that Firelight got an idea. "Would you like a nice, warm bottle of milk to help you sleep?" He inquired.

"You're going to give me one even if I say no, aren't you?" Starlight asked with a groan.

"Now what would give you that idea, sweetie?" The stallion sincerely replied. "I simply thought I'd offer you the choice. But if you'd rather go without one, that's perfectly fine by me. After all, I sure you have no trouble sleeping in your own bed in your own bedroom."

"Of course I don't have trouble sleeping in my bed! I'm not a little foal who needs her parents!" Starlight mentally groaned, annoyed at the suggestion. Then again, she was starting to feel ever so thirsty. Not having anything to drink for dinner certainly hadn't helped. And she was desperate for anything that could wash out the lingering taste of the foal food on her tongue. So she reluctantly looked her dad in the eyes and said to him. "I guess a bottle of milk would be nice."

Firelight beamed. "Excellent! I'll get started on it right away!"

"But it's only for tonight!" Starlight firmly insisted. "And after that, I want my drinks in a glass or a cup. And I mean a big pony cup, not a sippy cup. Got it?!"

The big foal's father nodded happily in confirmation. "Oh of course, Honey Bun. Now just sit tight, Daddy will be back shortly."

And indeed he was, in a matter of moments Firelight popped back into the living room holding a freshly prepared foal bottle in his magic. Holding it aloft, he motioned for his daughter to come over and lay in his lap.

Starlight did so, desperate for the refreshing taste of milk. She didn't even care that she had to crawl in order to reach her dad, or that he had her lay down while he gently lowered the bottle towards her. The unicorn was just glad to have a drink. The moment her hooves grasped the bottle, she pressed her mouth up to the bottle's rubber nipple and started to suckle. It took a great deal of effort on her part, but soon she had a steady rhythm going and the milk was slowly but surely drained. Just as she'd hoped, its cool, refreshing, creamy taste removed any trace of foal food taste from her mouth.

When it was finally emptied, Starlight gave out a belch that would've made Spike and Smolder jealous. But her cheeks wouldn't go any redder, she'd been embarrassed so much today already that it was starting to become a norm for the unicorn. Besides, she was too sleepy to think properly. She started yawning the moment she leaped down from the couch. "Did you put something in my bottle, Dad?" She questioned, as her eyes started to droop.

Firelight only giggled at his daughter's silly question. "Why would I do that, my little pony? Daddy knows warm milk always makes you sleepy. Let's get you to bed, Pumpky Wumpkin."

Starlight was too tired to complain about the embarrassing name. A good night's sleep was all she could think about. So she just accepted her father's hoof and let him lead her down the hall to her old bedroom. By the time the door was opened, the mare turned big foal was all but nodding off. She barely even noticed her purple pacifier being inserted into her mouth again, as she was floated through the air in the soft glow of her father's magic and deposited ever so delicately on her bed. Her favorite blanket enlarged to cover her whole body, with a noticeable bulge beneath the sheet due to her diaper.

The last thing the unicorn remembered before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, was her father kissing her gingerly on the forehead and whispering. "Sweet dreams, Pumpky Wumpkin."

For how long Starlight slept, she had no clue. All the unicorn knew that was for whatever reason she awoke the next morning feeling strangely refreshed. That had been the best night's sleep she'd had since... well, she couldn't remember when. But it had certainly been a long time.

Even with the curtains drawn shut, the mare could still see the rays of Celestia's sun shining through. So it was already morning, perhaps even almost noon. Oh well, the longer she slept in the less time she'd have to spend being treated like a foal by her dad.

Unfortunately for Starlight, before she could even think of going back to sleep the door knob turned, and who should come trotting in but her dad? "Wakey wakey, Little Star." He lovingly called, opening the curtains with his magic.

Instinctively throwing up a hoof to block the bright rays of sunshine, Starlight groaned. "Dad!" She lisped through her pacifier, before she noticed she still had the object in her mouth and spit it out onto her bed. She was too lazy right now to magically pick it up.

"Come on, Chipmunk Cheeks. It's almost eleven o'clock," Firelight declared in a cooing fashion. "You can't stay asleep all day. Not when there's so many fun things for us to do."

With a reluctant groan, the big foal slowly sat up in her bed. That was when she first noticed that something was not right, something felt wrong. A strong stench hit her nostrils, and was it her imagination or did her rump feel unpleasantly cold and damp?

Her dad seemed to be aware of the problem, or at least the smell. He instinctively threw back the covers with his hooves, exposing his daughter's diaper. One look at the padding told him all he needed to know. The fluffy little clouds that had been printed on the front had faded, replaced by storm clouds. "Oh, did my wittle foal have an accident?" He cooed in exaggerated fashion, hoping to make his daughter feel better.

"I knew I was forgetting something last night! Can't believe I didn't use the bathroom before bed!" Starlight mentally complained, cursing her luck.

Firelight motioned a hoof up to his daughter's forehead, lightly patting her as he reassured her. "It's okay, my little star. Even big ponies have accidents, you know. Better your diapee than the bed," He carefully lifted her from the bed and set her down on the floor, instructing. "Now just relax and hold still. Daddy will get you all nice and clean."

Reluctantly, Starlight obliged for the whole changing process. Opting to stare at the ceiling so as not to see what was taking place. Of course she still felt every single step. First her old, soaked diaper was removed. It was quickly balled up and tossed into the wastebasket for disposal later. Next, several wet wipes cleaned her soggy rump until there was no trace of her accident. Then a fresh diaper was taken out of the package, unfolded, and slid under her. The tabs were taped up one by one with practiced precision. After that the diaper was pulled back as tufts of foal powder were poured in, the smell of cornstarch became so overwhelming that Starlight sneezed.

"Bless you." Firelight commented, setting the foal supplies back down as he helped his daughter to stand.

Starlight finally looked back down at herself. The new diaper felt surprisingly good, even if it was just as thick (if not thicker) than the one before it. She was still frustrated by the wetness indicators printed on the front, something she hadn't noticed on her old diaper. "It's like I was meant to be embarrassed all week long! Why did I ever agree to this?!" The mare thought to herself, all the while mentally praying for the end of the week to come fast.