The Tower

He his him.

His him he.

Him he his.

He was climbing stairs. His diaper crinkled noisily the whole time. What was wrong with him?

Shining had to focus. Because he had learned that relaxing for even a second, letting his train of thought wander, had an undesirable effect.

It was already hard to call Shining a stallion right now. Between the feminine build, made-up face, squeaky voice, and aggressively pink dress, she didn’t just look like a mare, she felt like one.

Shining growled. He looked like a mare. He felt like one.

Blinking, Shining shook his head. No, I don’t feel like a mare! Nevermind if it had just been a correction, he couldn’t let something like that slide.

“I am a stallion,” Shining asserted. Forcibly lowering his voice, he found that he could sound rather androngynous. With effort. “I’m a stallion.”

Legs wobbling, Shining pushed himself up another step. The journey up was getting tougher by the stairs. Exhaustion already crept into her bones. The leaching of her magic each floor was hitting her physically now. She just wanted to lie down and take a nice long nap. She could picture it now, curling up with her plushie of her King and just...

Shining screamed. “Gah!”

His bones! He! He! His plushie!

Well not my plushie, but… grahh! This was exasperating. He had to get out of here already.

The stairs only made that difficult. Each step was a fight against padding intent on crinkling, rubbing, swaddling. There was nowhere it wouldn’t stoop to torment Shining. Every now and then a moan escaped quivering lips, just as a reminder of the diaper’s presence.

It didn’t help that he still really needed to use the bathroom. But the very limited options in that regard kept his bladder at bay.

Finally Shining reached the top. He flumped forward in disappointment during that triumph. Still no window. Just another room of darkness, the inky black more depressing than before. Would he ever escape at this point?

This tower can’t go on forever, Shining thought. It has to end soon.

But will I make it to the top in one piece? What little motivation he’d built up vanished. Looking back at all he had endured so far, he didn’t think he could take another four floors. Depressed, Shining’s head sank further into the floor. She doubted she could take even one more.

Shining blinked, realizing his slip.

I can take one more. He decided. I’ll take however many I have to to get home.

Yes, home was waiting for him. Cadence was waiting for him. So he would make it back. He had to.

Okay. Shining pushed himself upward. Legs wobbled, diapers crinkled. Who knew if he would even stay standing after this, but he had to try.

Fsh. The torches of the room ignited, pillaging Shining’s magic in the process.

She was caught off guard by the sudden light as always. Shining waited a moment before opening her eyes again. The room came into focus, and Shining found it was just as unique as the last one.

Tall walls stretched almost to the ceiling. Only a narrow slit was open, revealing a shiny surface inside. Shining squinted, but couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be from this angle. Before she could step forward to find out, her eyes caught a familiar podium and plaque duo, right in front of her.

Convenient, she thought. Wait! How long have I…?

He shook his head. That couldn’t keep happening. He had to stay on top of this if he wanted to keep his sense of self.

He. His. Him.

Shining took a deep breath, borrowing Cadence’s calming technique once more. Then he turned to read the newest limerick.

Before this little filly is a simple little maze

Around every corner, a reflection meets your gaze.

To get through to the end

Your perception must bend

Or you’ll be stuck forever and ever in a daze.

There were only so many ways Shining could groan. She resorted to all of them. There was nothing good about this riddle. Sure, that had been the norm for a while now, but that didn’t mean Shining had to like it. All the talk about perceptions bending, and being in a daze… she already knew something was messing with her mind to make her…

Shining cried out, pulling at his mane. Messing with his mind!

“Stop doing this to me!” he screamed at the tower. Whatever it was doing to mess with his mind, it was getting worse. She could feel herself slipping even when she tried to concentrate.

With a shake of his head, Shining tried to recover. It was going to be an uphill battle to keep his mind in check, wasn’t it? Hooray…

Walking around the podium, Shining got a better look at the opening, and the torments that awaited him. A maze, the limerick had said. Not even “on theme” with the past few floors, but that wasn’t something to complain about.

What was something to complain about, was what Shining saw when she got closer. The shiny surface she’d spied earlier came into focus, and suddenly the “reflection” line in the limerick made a lot more sense.

Mirrors. A maze of mirrors.

And not funhouse mirrors designed to distort, exaggerate, and embellish. Just regular old mirrors, designed to show reality as it was. And out of the corner of her eye, Shining saw a very unfavorable reality indeed.

She knew she looked ridiculous. But now, seeing how ridiculous that was, only served to suck away what little dignity she had left. Even just catching a glimpse from the maze, she saw it. Her face, with high cheekbones and a short, soft snout. Nary a corner unpainted, with her mane spilling over and occupying any space that could still be called stallion-ish.

And the dress. Already her figure looked petite and curvy, but swallowed by the pink, puffy thing, Shining found she looked like a dainty little fairy. A princess. It was not a good look for soldier such as herself.

He flinched. Himself! Him! How long had that been going on? She… He hadn’t even noticed it this time!

I’m losing my mind here. Shining shivered, the action swishing the skirt of his dress. Whatever the tower had meant by his perception bending, he had a sinking feeling it was already underway. Why else would he be fighting so hard to keep his sense of self straight?

Then his bladder pinged him. A brutal reminder that this maze came with a timer.

He had to solve this already, and get out of here!

Shining all but leapt into the maze. Ignoring the reflections that popped up on either side, he kept his eyes to the ground and waddled forward. The crinkle crinkle of his diaper never let him quite escape reality, but at least focusing on the floor kept his eyes off the reflections. The less time spent ogling the mare in the mirrors the better.

Wait… ogling? Shining felt a subtle twitch from his friend beneath the padding. Did his own reflection… excite him?

“Oh Celestia,” he breathed. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Do not think about it.

Those words turned into a mantra as Shining pushed deeper into the maze. Turn after turn, dead end after dead end, and eyes always on the floor. He refused to think about his stiffness, the way he looked in the mirrors, and anything and everything to do with his attire. Nevermind the crinkling with each step, the puffs of foal powder still escaping, the way the dress swished from side to side. Ignore all of it! Don’t think! Just… don’t think...

That proved to be an easier task than first expected. Despite the omnipresence of every awful thing the tower had done, Shining’s mind almost seemed to empty by itself.

Stubbornness… Shame… they were so easy to let go off.

She wasn’t even questioning why this maze seemed so difficult. Whenever a turn came up she picked a direction at random. Dead ends had her backing up and trying again. The fact that this maze seemed so large, despite the room being no bigger than any others so far, was lost on her.

She just carried on, occasionally dawdling to smooth her dress or straighten her tiara. It was important to Shining that she looked good, though she had no idea if her efforts were helping.

Oh wait! Of course, the mirrors! It was such an easy solution that she had no idea why she hadn’t considered it before.

She looked up, eyes meeting her reflection. A giggle bubbled out of her. She looked so cute!

From the adorable dress to the way her face was scrunched with worry for some reason. She’d turn the heads of stallions and mares like this.

Part of her felt uneasy for thinking that, but the moment passed. Shining was just too enamored by her appearance to feel anything but awe. She swayed her hips, watching countless versions herself across the walls follow suit. Her pretty dress swished all around her. Distracting…

Hisssss…

Shining snapped to attention. What… what had he just done?!

Still doing, actually. In a moment of pure relaxation, he’d let his bladder go. And now he was peeing himself.

Fresh, hot urine dove into the first diaper. Colliding with the wall of padding, it was instantly absorbed. Spreading and spreading, until Shining felt his whole crotch area was damp. And that didn’t help with his stiffness one bit.

He squeaked like Cadence always did when she saw a cockroach. He stumbled back into the mirror behind him, sinking to the floor. Sitting on the dampening diapers turned out to be a very bad idea. His plot squished while the pee still spread. It was all too happy to violate every corner of the diaper, turning it into a soggy disaster.

A shaky sob escaped Shining. He clamped a hoof over his mouth. There was no way he could allow himself to start crying like a mare. Not when so much else was already going wrong.

“Stop!” he begged, knowing full-well his bladder was hardly done yet. It was a broken faucet, flooding non-stop. There was nothing to be done about it but wait.

So Shining waited. As tears eked out of his eyes, he looked into his reflection and saw it couldn’t ruin his pristine make-up job. Why did that give her some kind of relief?

Shining shuddered at that thought. And then again as his stallionhood pushed further against the damp padding, his accident continuing. On and on. It just wouldn’t stop, going on for what felt like an eternity.

Probably not even a minute later, that broken faucet downgraded to just being leaky. And then it stopped. Shining let out a cry of relief, but it fell so hollow amidst the squishy crinkling of the diaper.

He’d really done a number on it, hadn’t he? Had he really drank that much milk earlier? Must have if this was the result.

Shining sat their in soggy squishiness for a moment, just trying to fight back the sobs that plagued his body. Each one rattled his chest, snapped at his chin. And each time he remembered his hardening stallionhood, they only got worse.

He pulled the dress’s skirt up to inspect the damage. Even double diapered, the accident had been too much. A little stain had marked its territory against his pink over-diaper, right where the bump of his stallion poked at the padding.

I can’t believe this happened, Shining bemoaned. At least—at the very least—he’d wanted to get away without wetting this infernal diaper. When all was said and done, when he reached the top and his soldiers got him out it would have been embarrassing, but at least none of it would have been his fault.

“The tower made me do it,” he could say. “It’s magic forced me to.”

Whether or not they believed it didn’t matter. He would’ve known the truth. But now the truth was that Shining wet her diaper like a little filly without any potty training. The truth was she cried like a foal, and checked the mirror to make sure her make-up hadn’t been running when she did. It was awful! How could she—

“Graahh!” Shining cried. It happened again!

He bolted upright, cringing at the squishes and crinkles it caused. His little friend trembled as warm, wet padding swaddled it.

Ignore, ignore, ignore, IGNORE! Just find the end of this stupid maze and go home. Go home to Cady and take all this crap off and never EVER think about this day ever again.

Shining was back. He felt back. Like a splash of water to the face, he felt a little reinvigorated. Actually is was a splash of water in my diap—

NOPE! He caught himself. It was time to move on.

He waddled down the path of the maze, refusing to even avert his eyes from the mare the mirrors were showing him. Instead he just looked past all of that. He only looked forward to home. To his princess, Cady.

Shining adopted a soldier’s march. It was tough with the bulk on his hindquarters, but he managed. Maybe this tower could make him look and sound like a mare, but he’d walk like a stallion at least.

He came to an intersection in the maze. Seemingly endless rows of mirrors forcing his reflection to stare back at him. He chose a path, and stomped down it. It wasn’t long before it made him take another turn.

Dead end.

Shining shook his head. A little discouraging. But whatever! He wouldn’t let that get to him.

Doubling back, Shining almost did a triple-take. The intersection he’d just come across… wasn’t there! Down that very hall was simply a corner with a turn to the left. But there was no way he could be mistaken. There was no other way to back up from that dead end! What had happened here?

His eyes drifted to the mirrors, trying way to hard not to look at his reflection. Could they…

He reached up, bootie-d hoof meeting the same from his reflection. He gave the mirror a nudge… and it turned! Swiveling open like a revolving door, it revealed the hall on the other side.

Of course! Shining realized. The maze was cheating him! It wasn’t truly massive, it just rearranged itself when he wasn’t looking.

“No fair,” he pouted. His discovery was amazing but disheartening at the same time. But at least now he could cheat back.

He slipped through the opening, poofy diaper squishing to get through. His stallionhood twitched, and he gulped. But he did make it, popping out on the other side and letting the mirror slide shut behind him. Shining grinned.

A change in perspective, huh? I’m sure this counts. Figuring out the maze’s cheat had to be the solution.

He started pushing open every mirror before him, walking in a straight line. If he hit the building’s wall, he could pick a new direction and try again. If he popped out near the podium, he could one-eighty himself towards the exit. And if he popped out on the side with the door, it had better be open for him.

But as Shining kept going, that hope started to fade. It seemed no matter how many mirrors he turned around, more were always waiting on the other side. The same sight of a dolled up mare on every wall greeted him again and again. He wasn’t making any progress at all.

Was I wrong? Shining thought. But he’d sunk so much time into this! The warm pee in his diaper had become cold and clammy, though it didn’t deter his stiff stallionhood.

The maze must be cheating still, rearranging the paths ahead of him before he even got to flipping their mirrors.

“No!” He cried. Hooves bashed the nearest mirror, bouncing up harmlessly thanks to the booties.

Shining looked at himself again, really staring at his reflection. Snout wrinkled, brows curled in anger. The mare staring back looks too adorable to be angry.

Why… why was she angry?

Shining looked over herself in the mirror again, trying to deduce the mare’s consternation. Then it struck her. That mane! Such a long, flowing, beautiful thing. But just hanging there, so uninspired it hurt.

“That’s why you’re upset!” Shining proudly stated. Then she blushed. Duh, that’s a mirror.

So she had been the one who was angry. But at least she knew why now! She had to do something about this mane.

Her hooves fluffed it out, letting it spill over her shoulder so she could get a good look at it. “Hmm…” No bows or ribbons on her. “Fooey.” She’d have to do this the old fashioned way.

Her horn sputtered to life. Shining suddenly felt so dizzy she giggled. “Wowie!” Her magic really wasn’t impressive, was it? But there was enough for this one thing.

A perm! A braid! A ponytail! Twin tails! So many options danced through her mind. But she finally settled on one of them.

“Curls!”

Of course. Girly, bouncy, cute curls. As much as she could fit in. Her magic got right to work, grabbing strands and lifting them up. Spirals of hair reached almost above the tips of the mirrors, before they were twisted back down. Ten, twenty… she had so many curly strands to her mane now. It was perfect.

And the timing couldn’t be better, either. She felt her horn snap like it had pulled a muscle. Her dazzling magenta aura was gone in a flash. She had no more magic left to spend.

She felt lightheaded, backing up into the mirror behind her. Her diaper squished against her plot. It felt… nice… Her eyelids fluttered. For a little bit, her thoughts were swimming through her mind. It took a long time for her to finally get her head back on straight.

But when she did, she saw herself again in the mirror. Her mane was beautiful. Bangs untouched sadly, but everything beyond them was spirally. The curls had turned out wonderfully. She had turned out wonderfully.

“Oh Gleaming,” she murmured. “You look soooo cute!”

The name came out so casually. As if there wasn’t anything else she’d ever called herself. No… there had never been anything she’d ever called herself before. She’d always been Gleaming Shield, right? She smiled at her reflection. Right.

Something between her legs twitched. Gleaming looked over herself in the mirror and felt that twitch again. She giggled. It was a nice feeling.

She swished her hips, letting the dress dance behind her. The diapers between her legs crinkled and squished as she did so, bringing out even more twitching.

Gleaming stared deep into her reflections eyes, almost transfixed. The twitching was only getting worse. Now it felt hot. And stiff. But she liked it. She liked feeling that way the more she looked at herself.

Gleaming leaned in to her reflection, colorful lips looking plump… and ready.

“Pretty…” she breathed, eyelids fluttering closed.

She kissed her reflection, their lips meeting against the cold surface. The twitching in her diaper exploded, becoming full on throbbing. It was so hot. It almost hurt.

Gleaming pulled again from the mirror to breathe, before coming back again. She stood up on her hind legs, leaning into a new kiss. She was beautiful. She was radiant. She needed to kiss the mare in the mirror so badly.

Her bulging diaper smacked into the mirror. Gleaming moaned as she started grinding against it, the throbbing sensation growing even hotter.

She groaned into the next kiss, and another. She humped the mirror, her reflection, over and over again.

“Yes!” she cried out between kisses. “Yes!”

In her horny daze, she didn’t notice the mirrors opening up beside her, revealing a passage to a staircase. She couldn’t care less about that right now. All that mattered was her… and her reflection… and how it made her feel to kiss and hump and touch and please herself.

“Yes!” Gleaming cried again. Her bootie attached her crotch. Wet padding rubbed furiously into herself. The pleasure so great she squealed and she— and she—

Climaxed.