The Tower

If Shining had known how tough it would be to climb stairs while double diapered… well, he never would’ve entered this stupid tower in the first place. But he also wouldn’t have tried to put his armor back on.

Each step left his hind legs scrambling for solid ground. The narrow walls gave little wiggle room for his poofy rear as he climbed up. The slightest slip sent him tumbling into the steps, fluffy diaper always making first contact and always costing him a little ground before he could scramble back to all fours.

As the stairs spiraled upward he struggled to follow. It didn’t help that the steps grew steeper and steeper the higher he went. His time spent tripping tripled before long.

“That’s it!” A red-faced Shining declared, his diapers sinking into the staircase for the umpteenth time. “No more!”

He’d held back, fearing some sort of retaliation from the tower, but he was already out of that first room. What could possibly happen? His magic gripped the tapes of the first diaper, yanking and tearing to get it off.

Only it didn’t come off.

In fact, save the ever present crinkling that was practically white noise at this point, his diaper didn’t budge at all. The pink prison was stuck to him.

“U-Uh…” Anxiety took over his annoyance. Shining’s magic poked through to take a stab at the inner diaper, but met the same result. It too, was stuck on him.

Oh no.

Had they always been like that? Or were they only just now glued to his body because he left the first room? He didn’t actually get a chance to take off either when he was down there, so how was he supposed to know?

Shining chewed his lip, brow creasing a few wrinkles into his forehead. Now he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be found, not if it meant his guards finding him stuffed in a pair of diapers, the word “Sissy” emblazoned on his plot like some sort of pathetic wimp.

“This is bad…” he murmured to himself. Stating the obvious failed to help at all. But what was he to do? Even if he waddled back to the first floor, tail between his legs like a spanked foal, he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He doubted he’d be able to take the diapers off then and even if he could, he'd just be trapped by the door. But soldiering on was almost guaranteed humiliation…

He shook his head. Get a grip Shining. Deep breath, hoof out. His panicked nerves were soothed by Cadence’s breathing technique. He’d have to make sure to thank her for teaching him that when he got back.

And he would get back.

The window at the top was narrow, right? He didn’t have to show any of the guards his flank when he called for help. Then all he’d need to do was remove them before he was rescued. Surely if he could beat whatever this tower had in store for him, it’s magical hold on him would fade. And if not, perhaps he merely needed to leave for the spell to be broken. Both were things he planned on doing, so that meant these stuck diapers would come off eventually. Right?

Right.

He could do this.

Hoisting himself back up, Shining stumbled up the rest of the staircase. Each trip only renewed his determination to escape his padded prison. And the not so padded one too.

After circling around, Shining was at last greeted by an opening. A simple square shape, leading into a dark expanse. The second floor of the tower! He’d made it at last. Not that he was excited to see what was in store for him; he was just relieved the stairs were over and done with.

He’d felt like he’d been climbing for hours, even if it was just a few minutes. But still, some distance must have been covered. Maybe there were only a handful of floors to this tower.

He gasped his way through the opening, collapsing on the ground. His diapers size was massive enough to keep his poofy plot raised, but it didn’t matter how embarrassing that must’ve looked. He was just glad to be done. Between the hike here and his struggle up, Shining was exhausted.

But he couldn’t rest yet. He lifted his head from the floor, shaking his bleary eyes from an early bed so he could see what floor number two had in store for him.

And it was dark again. Shining sighed. Of course, the torchlight from below had been fading for quite some time. He ignited his horn to see.

Then he felt it again. Some… presence, tugging his magic out from inside him. It left his horn in long swirls of magenta aura, disseminating from around the room. At first, he was so surprised to have that happen again that he let his jaw drop. Then he remembered what came next and squeezed his eyes shut.

Fsh.

Shining was prepared with the lights came up, escaping a second experience being blinded by his own magic. He slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by the same type of torches that had robbed him down below. Even more exhaustion crept into his body, having lost even more of his magic now. Ignoring the feeling, he looked down to see the room.

At first, he thought he might need to shake the sleepiness from his eyes one more time.

The room before him was as immaculately white as the last. Smooth, flawless, and circular, though perhaps a bit smaller. The only thing keeping them from being complete was a closed door on the far end, identical to the one he’d seen just a floor below.

There was no podium this time, but a stand dead center in the room held another plaque. Shining should have gone to read it, but he was a little distracted by the… everything else.

Foal toys littered the ground before him. Plastic keys, a rattle, a shape matching game, a colored ring stacker, blocks… so many blocks, and more. Sprinkled within the toys were more standard foal care options: a pacifier, a bottle full of formula, and a bottle of foal powder. A crib with tall bar walls sat at ground level on one end, a mobile hanging over it. It was a genuine nursery in here!

And the worst part? Judging by the size, everything in this room was meant to be used by adults, not foals.

Shining Armor gulped. He had a feeling he didn’t need the plaque to tell him what this room wanted him to do.

Maybe… maybe I don’t need to keep going. He thought. His earlier determination sapped, Shining felt that waiting down below for his guards to find him wasn’t so bad now, no matter how long it took. And maybe he could get the diapers off once he was down there. At the very least, this place had stopped sucking out his magic when he’d been below.

Shining pushed himself up, hind legs needing a moment to find their footing. They’d practically been doing a split thanks to the diaper, and that barely changed once he was up. He hobbled around in place, circling back to the way he came in. But all those crinkles were for naught, because the opening he’d come in through was sealed.

Shining blinked at the pearl white wall behind him, jaw sinking to the matching floor. So there was no going back, just like when he first entered.

He sighed. He sighed again. Not even two floors behind him and he was absolutely beleaguered. Or maybe that was just his exhaustion talking.

Scooting back to how he started, Shining looked over the room with growing fear. It seemed everywhere he looked there were just more toys, more foal paraphenelia, more stupid embarassing crap that he just knew was going to be used to torture him.

I can do this. He said to himself. I captained Celestia’s Royal Guard for pony’s sake. Why should a bunch of baby toys frighten me?

He marched—toddled—up to the black, reluctant to read about his fate. And the new limerick pretty much confirmed what he already knew.

A good little foal made it this far

Now to see if your playing skills are up to par.

So take a break

Asleep and awake

Until you’ve shown what you really are.

“Of course,” Shining groaned. He was expected to play around with a bunch of foal toys if he wanted to keep going. But something about the phrasing bothered him. “Until I’ve shown what I really am, huh?” He furrowed his brow, looking up to the ceiling. “I’m an adult you know! A stallion!” He pointed to his massive pink butt. “First you want me to show you I’m a foal and now you don’t? I can’t even take these off to prove it!”

Silence responded, because Shining was arguing with a building. He groaned, putting his hoof back down.

No, that wasn’t it. The whole point of the diapers being stuck on was because he already “proved” that he was a foal. By “show what you really are”, the tower must mean he had to act like a foal on the outside too.

Even though I’m not even a foal on the inside, he grumbly thought to himself. Of course he knew that. He was just playing along with whatever metaphor the tower wanted. But it never hurt to assert the truth.

So he had to show he was a foal… but how? The plaque hadn’t given clear instructions at all. If it had said “play with every toy at least once” then he would at least have an endgame in mind. But right now he was just kind of… aimless. Did he only need to play with one toy? A handful? And “asleep and awake” probably meant he’d need to use the crib too. But surely it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Guess I’ll just… try something,” he muttered. It was better than standing around doing nothing.

He slumped into a sit, momentarily forgetting his diaper. An “eep!” of surprise left his mouth as cushy, plushy padding squeezed and compressed beneath him. A chorus of crinkles sang of his immense plot’s quest to sit down, as poofy padding caressed his—

“Nope!” He wasn’t going to focus on that! No way!

His eyes shot to the nearest toy: the rattle. He reached for it, but his hoof froze. He just… couldn’t pick it up. It was one thing for the tower to all but force a diaper on him, but this was a real choice. Why had he gone for the rattle? Just cause it was close? Surely a shape-matching game was less childish.

He scooted to face that instead, diaper crinkling as it dragged across the ground. He reached for the square peg, but found even that he couldn’t pick up. It was just… it was a shape-matching game for crying out loud! Obviously he knew his shapes, why should he have to play with this thing?

“Errgh!” Shining put his hooves on his head. He hated this. It was like he had too much of a say in the matter now. With all these options, each choice would only serve to make him feel foalish, no matter what he did.

Just… relax. The diapers may be stuck to you for a while; that may be unavoidable in the future when you find the guys. But nopony ever has to know you played with foal toys.

Right. Everything he did here was destined to remain just that. Here. It didn’t matter what foalish choice he made, he could make them free of judgement.

Okay… Shining took a deep breath and picked up the rattle.

He gave it a little shake, and immediately looked to the door. Nope, still closed. Couldn’t have this be too easy after all. He shook it. Hard.

The rattling balls within bounced to make a mind-numbing sound, and after a few seconds of just sitting there… shaking, Shining chucked it to the side. It just wasn’t working.

“Next.”

He picked up the plastic keys and jiggled them a bit. They clacked around, doing about as much for him as the rattle had.

They plopped to the ground. “Next.”

The colored rings fared no better. He stacked blocks into a tower and knocked it over when a dismissive sweep of his tail. He picked up the pacifier and… put it right back down.

Shining grumbled a few big boy words to himself, crossing his hooves. At this rate, he wasn’t going anywhere. But what did this room expect? How was he supposed to actually play with any of this foalish crap?

Leaning back, Shining winced as his plot sank ever further into his padding. The two diapers hissed as more air escaped, crinkling even as he righted himself to avoid the feeling. Frustration sent his hooves digging at the tapes again, hoping to free himself of at least the pink offender on top. But, once again, the diaper showed no signs of giving up it’s hold on him.

“Come on!” he whined in frustrations. His spread hind legs kicked ineffectually. One knocked over a plastic cannister, which rolled into view. The foal powder. That made him snort. “Little late to give me something like this, tower,” he grumbled, magic picking up the bottle of powder and bringing it close. “Even if I wanted to put this stuff on I couldn’t.”

His eyes glazed over the words on the bottle, barely taking in the promises of comfort and safety it offered. Though one line did make him pause for consideration: prevents diaper rash.

Shining chewed his lip. At this rate, he had no idea how long he’d be in these stupid things. Was he actually in danger of getting a rash?

He shook his head. No. Nooo. That would only happen if he used them… right?

Furrowing his brow, Shining came to appreciate how little he understood about these kinds of things. As his cushy prison seemingly tightened around his pelvis, he started to actually get worried about the possibility of a rash, even if he intended to keep his diapers clean.

Not like it matters, he bitterly thought, giving the waist of the diaper one final tug. Like I said, I can’t—

He froze, and looked down.

The waistband of his diaper… he actually tugged it! It was pulled out ever so slightly, revealing the white, crinkly garment underneath. His pink diaper wasn’t stuck to him anymore!

Shining was so surprised he didn’t even know what to do with himself. For a moment he could only stare down his open diaper, slack-jawed. Then it occurred to him that he might be able to take it off now.

He dropped the powder and attacked his diaper. But the second he did, the waistband snapped back into place. Try as he might, he could no longer pull it open again, let alone get it off.

“Oh come on!” He yelled. Just a second ago it had been fine. What did this thing want from him.

A sack of bricks labeled “realization” struck him across the face when he caught sight of the foal powder again. His diaper had loosened its hold on him when he’d been holding that, hadn’t it?

Curiosity got him picking it up again. And just like that, he could tug open his diaper again. But he still couldn’t pull it off. Despite straining his leg muscles and even his magic against it, the pink diaper refused to slide off his plot.

He huffed, eyes turning to the powder again. “So only when I’m holding you, huh?” He had a feeling why that was, too.

Just to test that feeling, Shining reached down his diaper to grab the waistband of his other padded prison. It too pulled open ever so slightly, leaving just enough room to slide in the top of a canister.

Of course.

Shining whined in the back of his throat. What the room wanted him to do was obvious, but now the questions was: should he? It’s not like adding foal powder made his situation any worse, but still. Yet, if it helped him get out of this room then maybe he should…

He pressed his lips together, running through his options in his head. It was either this, or give the toys another go, and that was getting him no where.

“Fine!” he declared for the tower to hear. “Fine! Whatever! You want me to do this? Well here you go!”

He flipped the cannister over, aimed at his open diaper. And everything spilled out of it.

In a cruel twist of fate, it turned out that the cap had been screwed on rather loosely. Some magic’s doing, perhaps? Or just carelessness on his part for not checking? In the end, the result was the same. Shining Armor ended up with an entire can’s worth of foal powder down his diaper.

The landslide kicked up a cloud of dust, sending him coughing. His hoof slipped and his diapers snapped back in place, sealing the powder inside. The tiny grains formed a big lump all clustered together, and they slowly made their way spreading across his butt.

“Urgh!” Shining moaned, throwing the empty can away. “Really?!”

The tower answered with indifferent silence, but was probably secretly laughing at him.

“Great. Just great.” That was the last time he was ever going to fall for this stupid place’s tricks, at least. He promised himself that much.

He tried to stand, spread legs doing their best to claim foothold on the ground. But he slipped, landing on his butt again with a definitive crinkle. A cloud of powder dust wheezed out of his diaper, filling the room with the foalish scent he’d been saddled with.

Shining screamed.

Just the frustration of not being able to stand up, it was the rotten cherry on top of this screwed up sundae of a mission. So he let it all out then and there, screaming, kicking, picking up and throwing anything nearby. Blocks launched into the air, the pacifier limply smacked the ceiling, and plastic rings were scattered to the four corners of the circle room.

Between his clothes and his actions, Shining could easily be mistaken for having a temper tantrum. That fact not lost on him, he only screamed louder, harder.

Finally, he screamed himself hoarse. His throat raw and scratchy, he settled down by flopping on his back. His chest rose and fell with deep breaths. All of the anger wasn’t out of him, but he felt a little more in control of it. It was just that everytime he so much as twitched his legs he was now reminded of his massive diaper set and the hefty dose of foal powder it held. Not that great for morale.

“Urff.” Shining rubbed his throat. Even that one little noise made it sting. That hadn’t been the right call at all. No matter how good it felt to shout like that, he really shouldn’t have done it. He’d need to be able to call out to his soldiers once he reached the window up top, but now…

I need something to drink, he decided. Tea or water, just something to soothe his vocal chords.

And that’s when his eyes fell on the bottle of formula once again.

He’d only glanced over it before, but now, as he stared at it upside down, he found it dominated his attention.

Licking his lips involuntarily, Shining rolled over. His diaper crinkled and kicked out another cloud of foal powder. Now on his stomach, he crawled over to the bottle.

Of course he didn’t want to resort to this, but it made sense. He needed something for his throat, and this would probably get the door closer to unlocking anyway. Besides, he wouldn’t have to actually use it as a bottle.

Reaching out, Shining grabbed it and pulled it close. He would’ve used his magic, but having been drained twice already he was worried even using a little would leave him more tired than he already his. So he resorted to his hooves, trying to twist the rubber nipple of the bottle off.

It didn’t, and he really should have seen that coming.

In denial, Shining tried again to twist the top of the bottle off. And again. And again. Again and again and again.

Milk sloshed inside, tantalizing him with how close it was. His grunts of effort only exacerbated his sore throat. He even fired up his magic in desperation, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him as he tried. But nothing freed the bottle from it’s amber nipple.

Fighting down a yawn, Shining wrinkled his brow. He had found himself in another tough spot. Well, not really a tough spot. The solution was obvious and easy, he just didn’t want to do it.

Shining looked around the room, as if anypony could be watching him right now. He sighed.

“No choice,” he croaked out.

His lips quivered as he brought the amber nipple closer. It made him feel so cowardly, but he couldn’t help it. They quivered the whole time the rubber bulb pushed passed them, until he finally bit down on it.

He held it.

Slowly.

Working up the courage.

He suckled.

…

It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The milk was sweet, at least. Creamy, thick. There really wasn’t much to complain about at all, really.

Shining suckled again.

No, not half bad at all, he decided. But the way it dripped onto his tongue was frustrating. He needed more to soothe his throat.

He suckled.

There! That time he really got some. A full gulp’s worth that already went a long way in cooling the fire. And it tasted so good too! He “mmm”ed his satisfaction out, eyelids fluttering closed.

Another suckle.

His throat was starting to feel a little better now. Maybe not scream-for-help-from-the-top-of-the-tower better, but better.

He suckled again.

And again.

Another.

And another.

He suckled until nothing but air came out of the bottle. Only then did Shining finally open his eyes.

To his surprise the bottle was completely empty, not a drop of milk in sight. Had he really downed it all?

Pulling the rubber nipple from his lips, a belch took the opportunity to rush out. Covering his mouth with a hoof, Shining blushed. That answered that question.

“I can’t believe—” A yawn cut him off. “I actually did that.” His throat was feeling good enough to speak again, even if his voice was a bit scratchy.

Letting out a contented sigh, Shining felt his eyelids droop back down. Maybe it had just been that moment of relaxation that had done him in, but he was feeling exhausted now.

A two hour plus hike, a crazy magic draining tower… yeah, that would wear anypony out.

So take a break

Asleep and awake.

Unbidden, the room’s limerick popped to the forefront of his mind. Asleep and awake. No “or” to be found there.

Shining glanced his way to the crib, it’s tall bars more inviting than off-putting now. He did have to follow whatever rules the room put in place if he wanted to continue. And maybe… just maybe a nap would do him some good. He had just drank an entire foal bottle like it was nothing. He needed to get his senses back in order before he continued.

“Okay,” Shining groaned, having talked himself into the idea. “Just for a minute.”

Right, this would be a power nap. A quick rest for his eyes. Nothing more.

And still, he dragged his hooves as he made his way to the crib. How could he not?

But when Shining finally reached the base of the bars, he couldn’t delay it anymore. With a sigh, he struggled to stand. His diapers fought with every inch they rose, all the way until he grabbed the top with his hooves. With a grunt he hoisted himself up, over.

crinkle

Naturally, his diapers didn’t take that lying down. His puffy friend caught mid way over the crib, sending the railing straight into his crotch. It pushed layers of floofy padding forward, rubbing them against…

Shining’s eyes bulged. He “eep”d loudly, completing his roll over the top and flopping down into the crib. His stallionhood had stirred.

Shining swallowed slowly, face flushed as he tried to relax and ignore his twitching privates. It didn’t help that his diapers were still settling back to their original shape, brushing up against him as they did. But with a few shaky breaths, the moment passed.

“Uggh,” he groaned, head flopping down on something soft. But it wasn’t a pillow. Lifting his head back up, Shining reached around and grabbed whatever it was.

A plushie. Naturally.

Blearly, Shining tried to focus on the toy even as his urge to nap started to take over. Dark, pony shaped. Button eyes and an innocent smile. And a curved red horn.

It was a stuffed Sombra. Naturally.

“Hmmph,” Shining grumbled at the thing. He tossed it aside, but with the narrow bars of the crib, that stuffie wasn’t going far. He stared at the mini-King, curling up as a yawn took him.

“Why did you build this place?” he mumbled at the plushie, slipping off to dreamland. The plushie Sombra couldn’t answer, but it did watch over the sleepy stallion

...Mine…

“Ah!” Shining awoke with a start, sitting up so fast his diapers barely had time to crinkle. His heart pulsated, he clutched his stuffed animal tightly against his chest, his breath ragged.

Where was he?

The smell of baby powder filled his nose. Crib bars surrounded his vision. Pearly white walls…

“Oh…” Now Shining remembered. The tower. The diapers. All of it. “Nooo…”

Part of him had hoped it had all been some weird dream. Like Luna playing a prank or something. But it was still real, and he was still here.

At least he felt rested. Maybe not back to one hundred percent—how could he after all the magic he’d lost?—but better. A nap had done him good after all.

Shining rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes, still clutching the… Wait a second!

Shining looked down. His foreleg tightly wrapped around the Sombra doll, keeping it close to his chest for comfort. “Ah!”

He launched it out of the crib. Had he been cuddling with that thing? Shining shivered. He should have never left that thing in his crib, no matter how tired he’d been.

...His crib?

Shining shook his head. This place was doing strange things to him. He had to get out, soon.

Turning his head, Shining looked for the door through the bars of the crib. And he saw it. Open.

Stairs.

“Yes!” Shining shouted, jumping all the way up. He ignored the way his diaper crinkled and puffed out clouds of powder. He’d done it! He’d beaten the second floor of the tower. And all it had cost him was a little dignity.

...Maybe a lot of dignity, but whatever. He was moving up! One step closer to freedom.

He clamored out of the crib, stopping only for a moment to carefully make sure his padding cleared the rail. He smushed his diaper on the way down, nostrils filling with baby powder as he did.

Standing, Shining waddled and toddled his way through the foal paraphernalia that littered the floor still. His focus was entirely on the door. The stairs. His freedom. It didn’t matter how many rattles he kicked out of his way, or toy trains he stepped over.

Trains?

Shining’s eyes caught sight of a tiny locomotive on the ground, one he’d somehow missed earlier. Or maybe it hadn’t been there before at all? He blinked, stopping in his tracks.

Trains were… well… he had a lot of good memories playing with trains, that was all. They were fun, okay?

He brought a hoof back, setting it on top the railless train. Pull back and… zoom! He sent it flying off. It didn’t go very far, bumping into a familiar pacifier and stopping. But Shining couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Choo-choo,” he whispered under his breath. Good times.

Blinking and looking back up, he returned his focus to the door. Still open. He trotted up to it now, hips wiggling from his spread gait. At no point did the door close on him this time, he was able to make it freely to the staircase. And while he wasn’t looking forward to another climb, at least he’d managed to get through this room having barely acted like a foal at all.

Right, barely. Some playtime, temper tantrum, bottle feeding, a nap… Shining’s cheeks went pink, realizing he’d probably given this room more than he meant to. More than he should have…

I was just tired. He convinced himself. It won’t be like this next time. I know this place’s game now. All I have to do is play it.

And he didn’t dwell on the fact that the word play made him think about that toy train one last time. He certainly didn’t considering going back to it, not even for a brief moment.