Shiny vs Sunny

The very next day, Cadence decided to reward Shining and Sunburst for their first steps towards being re-potty trained, so she took them on a stroller ride to a nearby park. Of course, she was quick to warn them. “No wandering off without me. And please tell me if you have to go potty. Your pull-ups won’t hold as much as your diapers.”

Both of the aged up colts pouted. “Cady,” Shining commented with a frown. “We’re at least three years old now! You can trust us!”

“Yeah!” Sunburst added. “We’ll be good. And even if we wander off, we’re old enough to know how to find our way back. I used to take Flurry here all the time before I got regressed, and I still remember all her favorite hiding spots.”

Flurry (stored in one of two foal pouches Cadence had strapped on) glared at Sunburst and babbled something. But now that both he and Shining were older they couldn’t understand anything she or Fizzlepop said. Still, it seemed she regarded Sunburst’s comment as a betrayal.

Cadence quietly laughed, lifting the older toddlers in her care from the stroller and placing them on the ground. “Nice try, mister, but you’re not old enough to be left alone out here. Once you’ve both aged up some more, then we’ll talk.”

Sunburst said nothing more, he just glared at Cadence’s diaper bag. He recalled from yesterday about how she had stored the potions inside it. And he knew about the princess’ tendencies to place the bag down. He was waiting for the opportunity to get inside, ‘borrow’ the potion, and turn back into a stallion. “I’ve waited long enough to get out of diapers! All I had to do was prove I had control, and I have that!” He thought to himself. This was even though both he and Shining were still dealing with bed wetting. Aging back up would fix that though, right?

But as Sunburst pondered on how to take the potions, Shining was glaring at the orange coated colt. He could tell what Sunburst was planning and asked the former crystaller. “So, ya gonna try taking the potion and drink it, huh?”

Sunburst pouted, crossing his forelegs in front of him. “Nah uh. I not gonna do anything like that.”

Shining rolled his eyes and just scoffed. “Oh yes, ya are! Ya is trying to change yourself back to a big pony!”

Sunburst stuck his tongue out. “I said I wasn’t doing anything like that, silly baby!”

Shining smirked and babbled. “I’m not a baby anymore, I used the potty yesterday and got to graduate to pull-ups!” Then he questioned. “But what if ya drink ta potion? You’re still not fully potty trained and will need diapees. You heard what Rebecca Pie said.”

Sunburst scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I remember. But if I only drink a little bit, I can be older than ya and be potty trained faster! Just watch!”

Shining proclaimed. “Well last night, I didn't pee pee myself once! So if I drink the potion, I’m gonna be okay. You won’t be, and this time you’re not gonna have me to help you.”

Sunburst just crossed his hooves and growled. ”Ya don’t think I’m gonna be the one who will be fully trained first?! Just watch me!”

As the two colts bickered, Cadence wasn’t paying attention as she was so immersed in the beauty of the park and the surrounding landscape, while also watching Flurry and Fizzlepop. She knew that her two little colts were making progress on being potty trained, so if all went well, she’d give them the full potion in a week or two just. At least, assuming she could get their bedwetting under control.

Just then, the princess of love saw Flurry Heart ‘s teacher passing by. “Hello there, Rebecca Pie! What are you doing here this wonderful morning?”

The caretaker turned around and smiled. “Oh, me? Well, I wanted a break, so I put in a time off request. When it got approved I figured I’d come here,” She smiled, looking down at the sleeping forms of Flurry and Fizzlepop. “Ah, I see the youngest ones are still sleepy. Not morning ponies, I guess.”

Cadence looked down at the sleeping foals and gave a sigh. “Oh, don’t I know it? It seems like they’re always most active at night, right when I go to bed. Did I ever tell you about the time they flooded the bathroom with bubbles? I mean, they had some help from a colt named Tinkle Spark, but still.”

“My goodness, how could they cause so much trouble?!” Rebecca exclaimed! “If that’s true, I can only imagine Shining and Sunburst were just as bad!”

“Yeah, they were. Just two nights ago I caught them picking a fight with each other, and had to send them back to their rooms,” Cadence sighed. “Thankfully, they seem to be a little bit better now. Shining even helped another foal overcome his fear of the potty.”

Rebecca Pie cooed. “What a noble thing to do. Still, I can’t believe you’ve tried raising all four foals all by yourself. However, did you manage?”

Cadence blushed and waved a hoof. “Well, I’m not saying it was easy because it wasn’t. These two have been quite hard to potty train. But it will all be worth it when they’re back to normal,” Then she turned towards a small playset in the middle of the park. “How about we sit down and talk while these two play?”

Rebecca gave an affirmative nod, and they led the foals over to the playset where the two were plopped down and went to go play in the sandbox. Meanwhile, the two mares sat on a nearby park bench and began talking with each other.

Shining Armor and Sunburst both started building sand castles, forgetting for a while about their earlier plans. That is until Sunburst looked over and happened to see that Cadence still had her diaper bag. But Rebecca Pie had her own bag that sat next to her, and she was the one who had initially been given Cadence the full anti-regression potion. Maybe she was holding onto it for safekeeping? He couldn’t be sure, for he had no clue what the potion actually looked like. Still, the little colt and smirked and turned towards Shining as he whispered. “Hey, Shining, Flurry’s old caretaker left her diapee bag down. Why don’t ya check it out with me? If ya see a blue potion, I think that’s the one that will turn us back into adults.”

Shining Armor (who wanted to be older) climbed over the side of the sandbox and waddled towards the diaper bag slowly, trying not to interrupt the two mares’ conversation. He didn’t want to find out what would happen if he or Sunburst got caught. Once he reached the bag, the regressed prince slowly dipped a hoof down into the diaper bag and peered inside, searching for a blue colored potion.

Unfortunately, he saw six blue potions varying only slightly in color. “What one is it?! Come on, Shining, think! You had to have seen something, right?!” He thought and racked his brain. Unfortunately, he couldn’t produce any memories of seeing the exact potion. So instead, he just took the entire diaper bag and dragged it across the grass. “Couldn’t find the exact one, there are six blue potions. One of them has to be the one we need!” He told Sunburst.

Sunburst quickly waddled over, grabbing three out of the bag while Shining took the other three. They then promptly walked around the playset, making sure that Cadence and Rebecca couldn’t see them. Neither mare could, the colts were in the clear for now.

Shining Armor then laid out the six blue potions carefully on the grass and tapped a hoof to his chin. “Which do ya think is the right one?” He asked Sunburst. “Any ideas? I don’t want to take the wrong one.”

Sunburst looked down at the potions, seeing that they were all blue. He gulped, trying to remember any detail that might be helpful. He seemed to recognize one. “Um...well, I think it might be one of the darker blue ones. We’ll just have to try each one until we find what we’re looking for.”

“But what if we drink something we’re not supposed to?!” Shining nervously asked. “What if we drink some kind of poison or something?!”

Sunburst rolled his eyes. “She wouldn’t keep anything really harmful in a diapee bag if it leaked or spilled it could get onto her foal supplies! Now come on, let’s drink one before we get caught!”

Shining and Sunburst both took one, and they drank a little. The effects kicked in almost immediately, the two felt themselves becoming older, physically and mentally. Soon they were school-aged colts, with their pull-ups having been torn off and reduced to little shreds of cloth. They squealed and clapped their hooves together. “We did it!”

Shining blushed. “But we're going to get into so much trouble when they find out.”

Sunburst shrugged. “And what’s the worst Cadence or Rebecca can do, ground us? We’re colts now, so we shouldn't be wetting the bed anymore. And that means we can become adults again very soon.”

Shining gave a nod. “Right. Now I guess we just need to the other potions away before we get caught. At least then we can feign ignorance.”

The two got up and made their way through the park. Eventually, they came upon what appeared to be a lost blue saddle bag. Sunburst sighed. “Thank goodness, it would sure look weird walking around with a diaper bag.” He placed the rest of the potions in the bag and set it aside.

Meanwhile, Shining, wondering where the bag might have come from running over to a clearing. From there he could see with his own eyes a bunch of school colts, all running about while laughing and playing on a nearby playset. “Sunburst, over here!” He motioned a hoof.

Sunburst trotted over, observing the vast group. The two recently aged up colts blushed, realizing they would blend in perfectly with the school foals, but they didn’t want to be included with school foals. They were ready to turn back into adults and didn’t want to have to waste time in school.

They turned around and were about to leave, but a strict looking unicorn mare with a chestnut brown coat and a curly reddish-pink mane and tail came over and with an angry look in her amber colored eyes, stood over the colts. They looked up at her, seeing her cutie mark depicting a ruler and gulped. She had to be some kind of teacher.

And indeed she was. “Well well, look what I found,” The mare sternly commented. “Two colts are trying to play hookey, I assume. Thought you could get away with it, didn’t you? Honestly, what is it with you kids today? Don’t you know education is a terrible thing to waste?”

Shining Armor stomped a hoof and shouted. “I’m not a school colt!”

The mare didn’t listen, she just took both colts by the ears as they shouted and kicked about in protest. “You look old enough to be in school to me,” She dragged the two over to the line, and her stern tone faded as she cooed. “Don’t worry, you two can just join my class until I figure out who your parents are. But if I hear you giving me any more lip, you’ll be going to the principal's office. Do I make myself clear?”

Both colts stared at each with unsure looks but continued to follow the class. For some reason, they really didn’t want to see the principal, whoever he or she might be. Maybe it was a side effect of the potions they’d taken?

The colts sat down with rest of the class in a room with only a single, solitary window to the outside. The teacher tapped a ruler against her desk. “Now now, children. Lunch recess is over. Yes, I know it’s a lovely day outside. But there’ll be plenty of time to play when school is over. Now open those arithmetic books, and let’s start on some algebra problems.”

As the teacher began her lesson, Shining whispered to Sunburst. “How do we get out of here? We can’t stay in class, we don’t belong here.”

Sunburst gulped. “I’m not sure...I mean, could we maybe just wait until we get out of school?”

Shining turned to the clock hanging over the chalkboard and growled. “It's twelve thirty, school here doesn’t get out until four! We’ll be here forever!”

Having overheard the comment, the teacher mare turned to the colts and commented. “Hey you two, stop talking. Focus on your math problems. If I have to yell it’s a trip to the principal for both of you. Now please turn your attention to the chalkboard.”

Both colts quickly went quiet and turned towards the front of the class. The teacher mare smiled and continued her lesson as the two colts began to write down notes.

They continued to write for some time. But before long, Sunburst groaned as he kicked about while feeling the urge to pee. He whimpered as he raised a hoof, waiting for the teacher to notice. But she didn’t, she was busy writing another equation on the board for the school foals to answer. Sunburst continued to hold a hoof up until the teacher finally noticed him, turned, and asked him. “Yes um… what is your name?”

Sunburst squeaked, realizing he hadn’t come up with a name for himself. He was too busy focusing on holding it in to come up with a really clever name, so he just spouted out the first thing that came to his mind. “My name is...uh...Sunny!”

The class giggled as the teacher cooed. “Well, Sunny, what is it?”

Sunburst squealed and asked. “I need to go pee pee, can I please use the potty?” He blushed hard as the rest of the class burst into fits of laughter.

The teacher just cooed. “You most certainly can. But first, can you answer the question I wrote on the board?”

Sunburst groaned and shouted. “A equals 12!”

The mare nodded. “That’s correct, but can you tell the class how you got that answer?”

Sunburst groaned, he didn’t have time for this game. Still, he continued. “To get twelve you need to minus the twelve on both sides of the equation from both the twelve and the twenty-four which creates the answer twelve for A! Now can I please go?! I think I’m gonna burst!”

The teacher gave a nod as Sunburst got up, took one of the bathroom passes and rushed out of the room. “Bathrooms are down the hall and off to your right!” The mare called out after him and turned around in time to notice Shining Armor gulp as he raised a hoof and asked. “Uh, can I go to the bathroom too, please?”

“Really? So you can hang out with your friend?” The mare questioned, suspecting something. Students had tried to pull this trick on her before to get out of lessons. “Well, like your friend you’ll need to answer a question. What about a history question: Who was it that saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra?”

Shining scoffed. “That's easy, it was Shining Armor of course!”

“Sorry, but it was Spike the Brave and Glorious,” The teacher corrected him. Shining rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. The teacher had some nerve springing that trick question on him. But the teacher noticed him visibly straining to hold back the urge. “Think you can hold it for another history question, sweetie?” When Shining nodded, she asked him. “What is Princess Cadence’s full name?”

Shining groaned. “It’s Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, now can I please go?!”

The teacher nodded. “Alright, you may go.” Shining quickly jumped down and scurried after Sunburst!

The two colts caught up to each other as they reached the bathroom down the hall, quickly rushing into the stallion’s room.

But both colts stopped short of the toilet as they suddenly found themselves peeing on the floor! It happened without warning! One moment they felt the urge to go, the next their bodies had developed a mind of their own. The yellow liquid pooled around their hooves and they both groaned. Sunburst sighed. “Looks like we both aren’t potty trained yet after all. Just think, if we were adults...”

Shining gulped and gave a nod. “We should turn back to toddlers, this was a bad idea. But we need to find Cady first.”

Sunburst tapped a hoof. “Well, we can’t leave the school by ourselves. Maybe we can find somepony who can take us to Cadence.”

“Good idea, but we’d better get cleaned up first,” Shining suggested and then blushed as he put a hoof to his stomach as it rumbled ominously. “Plus, I think I’m gonna do a poo-poo! At least I wanna do it in the big potty before I have to change back!”

“Alright, but make it quick!” Sunburst instructed. “I’ll wait for ya by the sink.”

The prince nodded as he quickly scrambled up to the seat and sat down, just in time! Mere seconds after he was seated, he felt something leave him and plop down into the toilet bowl below. “Phew, that was a close one!” He thought to himself as he hopped down and wiped himself with the toilet paper. He gave no thought to flushing, he was in a hurry!

Sunburst was waiting when Shining exited the stall. “Took ya look enough.” He grumbled as he turned on the tap and poured out some liquid soap. Both colts quickly cleaned themselves as best they could, then exited the bathroom. They felt sorry for leaving a substantial yellow puddle for the janitors to clean, but they couldn’t afford to spend time cleaning it up themselves.

Both colts continued on their way through the school, only to end up in front of a vast auditorium packed with ponies. On the front doors was a sign that said “ballet auditions.”

Sunburst smirked. ”I’m sure one of the mothers at the preschool will be here, come on.” He took out the saddle bag as they got closer to the entrance.

“How are we supposed to survey the mothers?” Shining asked. “We’re not taking ballet lessons.”

Sunburst just grinned. “I’m sure one of these potions can change that. Here, let’s try these!” They drank two light blue potions that Sunburst pulled out of the bag, and both smacked their lips. Then they squeaked as they slowly changed. Their manes grew out long, and their bodies became skinnier. When the transformation was finished, they both squeaked anew, seeing that they were little fillies now.

Just then, the teacher mare from earlier came over and exclaimed! “Oh my goodness, what are you two doing here?! Here for the auditions, maybe?!”

The two colts now turned into fillies both blushed and stepped back, as Shining squeaked. “No. We’re um... just, uh...”

The teacher cooed, not appearing to recognize them. ”Oh come on now, don’t be shy. But if you’re going to audition, you’ll need to be dressed for the part.” She led the two fillies to the back of the stage and had them quickly dressed up in cute little tutus and ballet slippers.

Then they were both placed in line behind a big, red curtain. Both gulped as Shining turned and hissed angrily at Sunburst. “I can’t believe that you turned us into fillies! Now we’re stuck in ballet for Celestia knows how long!”

Sunburst whined. “It’s not my fault, you were the one that said we should take a left at that last hallway! Besides, how was I to even know the caretaker would have a potion like that?!”

Shining groaned. “Whatever, now we have to embarrass ourselves for the sake of our cover. Just freaking wonderful. Why do I let you talk me into these things?” Then Shining turned around to see that it was her turn. The filly rolled her eyes and continued towards the stage, blushing as three judges looked up at him. The leftmost one asked him. “Name please.”

Shining blushed and whimpered. “It’s um...Gleaming…Gleaming Shield.”

The rightmost judge, a mare, looked up at “Gleaming” and asked her. “Can you perform for us now, Gleaming? I assume that’s why you’re here, is it not?”

Classical music soon filled the auditorium, all eyes falling upon the filly on the stage. Shining (as Gleaming) unsure of what to do twirled around and squealed, falling onto her rump. The judges chuckled and wrote down some remarks. Shining leaped and bounded, but it was sloppy as she tripped and screeched, falling head over heels again. He wasn’t much of a dancer, and ballet was a foreign concept to him entirely. The music stopped, and all judges shook their heads in disapproval.

The filly was led off stage and Sunburst came on as she squeaked. The three judges asked. ”Name?”

Sunburst gulped. “Uh, Sunflower? Sunflower Shine.” She then began to perform as the classical music appeared, twirling about with grace and leaving Shining stunned. She then leaped through the air like a bird, landed gracefully on one of her rear hooves, and spread her hooves elegantly. The judges applauded as one commented. “Well, little miss Sunflower, you were perfect. Well done!”

Sunburst skipped over to Shining and chirped. “Sorry, I read those ballerina books Flurry got. They were so intriguing, but I didn’t ever think I’d actually use the lessons in them.”

Shining rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I’m done being a filly. This was a bigger waste of time than being school colts.” They quickly went backstage and took the bag with the final potions inside it.

The two left the auditorium and quickly ran down the hall until they finally stopped to catch their breath. They gasped upon seeing “Kindergarten” printed over a nearby bright blue door, and they looked down at the final potions they now held in their hooves. Without saying a word, both colts nodded and drank the potions.

Soon the two were turned back into colts and then regressed back into the toddlers they’d been to start the day. They both squealed in delight. But the celebration was premature, the regression didn’t stop there! They both turned into tiny foals, unable to even stand on their own legs.

And just then, a giant, rather stout earth pony mare came upon them and squealed. “Oh wow, two little foals all by themselves! Where did you two come from?! Are you lost?!” Both foals blushed, unsure of what to say as they were scooped into the mare’s hooves and were taken inside.

The mare quickly took them across the room and to a changing table as she cooed. “Normally I don’t diaper my students, but I have two little foals of my own. And since I’m not sure how old you two are, I don’t want to take any chances,” She quickly powdered the foals and placed them both into thick diapers with alphabet letters printed on them. The other kindergartens turned around, some snickering at the sight of the newcomers in such thick diapers.

The mare placed the two next to her two sons, both of whom were kind of chubby themselves. They eyed the newcomers suspiciously for a moment, but then eagerly accepted them into their ranks.

The mare cooed. “Alright, now play nice while I go find your mother. She must be worried sick about you.” She departed, and mere seconds after doing so, one of the colts took out his pacifier and the other his bottle. They offered them to the two colts, telling them. “You can have them, ya pwobabwy need tem mowe than we do.”

Both Shining and Sunburst groaned and looked at each other, as Sunburst poked his diaper. “Just gweat, now we weawwy awe foaws. Cady is pwobaby gonna keep us like for a whiwe, ya know?”

Shining pouted and crossed his hooves, already dreading the entire experience. “I sweaw, Sunnybuwst. If we wost aww owa potty training because of tis, I am gonna put a whowe bottwe of foal powdew in ya diapee!”