Dream Cycle - Twilight

It was a big room, with all the walls covered in soft padding, and Twilight floated through the air a bit after she'd managed to squeeze through the door. That left her without anywhere to get a grip on, and she had to wait until she floated close enough to the wall to push off from it.

She started to float towards another door, only to float right past it and land on one of the walls. The padded material at least softened the blow compared to smacking into the hard exterior of the ship, though Twilight still let out a grunt of frustration as she had failed once again to navigate her ship. Clearly she was doing something wrong, it couldn't be that hard, could it? As she landed on another wall, she realized that the puffy material was compressing slightly beneath the force of her impact before rebounding to send her sailing off in another direction. If she could just hit the wall in the right way...

Twilight wiggled her rump as it approached the wall, and she landed with a flump! She sank into the fluff of her suit's rear along with the padded wall, only to go flying up to the door with ease! She giggled as she happily pushed herself through, floating up into the cockpit. Her hooves managed to grab onto the seat, although the silky material of her suit made it just a bit harder than she would be bare. But one had to wear a space suit in space, it just made sense! So she climbed around and into the chair, which had a few more buckles than she thought was completely necessary before calling back to Luna.

“Oh, you're such a big princess getting to the controls all by yourself!” Luna praised her, making Twilight blush just a bit and mutter a thanks.

“So, what's my next task?” Twilight asked as she settled herself in.

“You'll need to run diagnostics on your suit! Make sure everything is functioning properly, after all!”

Twilight wondered why she wouldn't have already done this before going out into space, but shrugged, and figured that it was better to be safe than sorry. She looked down at the various buttons on the front of her suit, with wires and tubes running along the surprisingly puffy material, wondering which one she needed to press first.

After thinking about it a bit, Twilight chose a knob and turned it.

Almost immediately there was a hissing noise, and the suit began to expand outwards. The sleeves got bigger, filling up with air, and the body barrel expanded as well – but it seemed like almost all of the air went into the area around her rump, and she yelped in surprise.

“Um… Luna?” she asked, trying to turn the knob back the other way. “I think I did something wrong...”

“What's that?” Luna replied. “Well, it looks like your air supply is working fine!”

“How is this working fine?” Twilight asked. “I can't – my sleeve's swelled up so much I can't turn the knob back!”

“Well, obviously it wouldn't help if your air supply only went to your head, would it?” Luna asked. “It has to go to your whole body!”

Twilight wasn't sure why that was obvious, but she didn't really want to argue.

“So how do I stop it?” she asked, as her suit swelled up more and more – making it harder and harder to even see how she could use the controls.

“That's simple!” Luna replied. “It's the button on the right with a sheep on it! Do you know what a sheep looks like?”

“Of course I do,” Twilight said, blushing a little. “I just… never mind...”

She hunted for the button for a moment, trying to see it before the puffiness of her suit got too great for her to push a button – then finally found it.

The speakers on her suit went baah, and the hissing finally stopped.

“Okay, um… what else do we need to test?” she asked. “And – and how do I deflate this again?”

“And waste air?” Luna asked, sounding shocked. “You're in space, Twilight! Air has to be brought up there, it's very expensive!”

“Oh, right...” Twilight said. “I guess...”

While she wiggled her legs to try and get used to her new swollen suit, Luna continued, “You'll need to make sure the bathroom is working properly. You might be wearing a diaper, but you'll still need to shower!”

Twilight paused in her struggling upon hearing this. “A diaper? Why would I need that?” She looked down at her ballooned rump, realizing the extra padding must have been from... padding.

Luna laughed before tutting softly. “Twilight, really, what else would you need in space? You wouldn't want to get something wet while floating around, would you?”

Twilight blushed “I s-suppose not, just...” She wanted to protest, but couldn't think of anything before her thoughts were interrupted again by Luna. “Now, hurry over there, you'll need to check the water pump and the vacuum! You might as well get a bubble bath going while you're there, I know how much you like those.”

Twilight pushed herself out of the chair, floating once again towards the main room. This time her newly puffed suit became wedged a bit tighter, forcing her to wriggle it back and forth while her legs kicked helplessly to squeeze her way through. With a puffy pop, she slipped through, bouncing off the walls a few times before redirecting herself to the door marked with a tub and rubber duck.

Her suit creaked as it bounced off the walls, Twilight tumbling head over hooves before she squished her way inside. The bathroom was quite cramped, most of it taken up by a large cylindrical glass tube. She fiddled with the lock, which had a few blocks of various shapes dangling from strings that she needed to push through the appropriately shaped holes to pull open the door and squeeze inside. She hovered in place, without much room between the curve of her rump and the sides of the tube, looking up for the hose that would let her fill it with some water.

She thought about if it really made sense to be taking a shower in her suit, but, then again, she was only testing the tub, not actually showering, which made enough sense to her.

As she tried to find the control, something did occur to her. “Er… Luna? Shouldn't there be something else in the bathroom?”

“What else would there be in here?” Luna asked. “Can you think of anything else?”

“Well-” Twilight began, then stopped.

She really couldn't think of anything else that should be in here. Or… she could think that there should be something else in here, but it was like she was having a mental blank about what it was.

If a pony said they were “going to the bathroom”, they meant something that wasn't going to have a bath or shower, didn't they?

“Sorry,” she said, after realizing she'd been silent for a minute or so. “I was just confused.”

“That's all right,” Luna said. “Now let's try the shower out. You turn it on with a voice command.”

“Oh, that's neat,” Twilight smiled. “Um… Shower, on?”

A spray of warm water started to come out of the top of the tube, showering Twilight with water heated to perfection, and she smiled at the evidence that the shower was working.

“Should I turn it off now?” she asked, watching as some of the water that bounced off her just floated there in mid-air.

“No, not at all!” Luna replied. “You haven't tested out the other features yet! This is to get you clean, not just to get you wet – you can get wet by yourself!”

“Hey, Luna!” Twilight protested. “That's...”

“Don't talk back to mission control,” Luna said, though she sounded mostly amused. “Let's see if the soap works – you'll need soap to scrub!”

“Okay… soap, on?” Twilight tried.

The water that was coming out of the sprinkler changed, and quite quickly lots of bubbles started to form. They were big and frothy and floated around the tube, and much to Twilight's surprise they were actually quite thick-walled and solid – which became a problem as they built up, squeezing her from the top of the tube as they multiplied.

“Luna!?” Twilight asked, blushing as her swollen suit and especially her padded behind were squeezed into the base of the tube. “What's going on?”

“That's how you get washed, Twilight!” Luna told her. “Don't forget to scrub!”

“But – I don't – help?” Twilight asked.

“When you're done, just turn the vacuum on,” Luna advised, and Twilight leapt on that advice.

“Water off, soap off, vacuum on!” she said, and there was a whoosh and a sudden suction as the vacuum turned on.

Twilight had just enough time to remember that of course you'd need a vacuum in zero gravity as the water wouldn't flow anywhere without one, then the pull yanked her down.

Twilight's swollen diaper became stuck in the vacuum at first, leaving her upper half free to press against a few of the bubbles that hadn't been sucked away yet. She was quite surprised her hooves have managed to squeeze through at all, with how tightly bound together they felt beneath her padded behind. Her blush only grew brighter as she could hear the system whirring faster in an attempt to force her ballooned backside through. She twisted left and right, slowly corkscrewing her way downwards before her rump finally managed to make it past the impossibly small opening the rest of her slipping easily down the drain as the rest of the bubbles followed suit. The interior of the tube continued to squish and squeeze down on her swollen suit, making her ride a rather bumpy one as she was sent twisting and turning all around.

Then, suddenly, she fell out of the tube and into a pile of thick blankets and pillows, sending them catapulting in various directions. She shook her head to gain her bearings, finding herself sitting in what could only be described as a large cage or... crib? The blankets and pillows filled most of the available space in the bed, along with a small plush dragon, so Twilight was held snugly in place while still allowed to drift softly. She pressed herself up against the bars of the crib, paging Luna again. “Luna? I think I'm in the bedroom.”

“Just in time, it's time for your nap!” Luna responded happily. “Would you like a bedtime story?” She asked.

“No, I...” Twilight was about to decline, but she yawned, sinking back into the pile of blankets, reaching out to pull the dragon plushie, fit with its own bloated space suit, into her chest. “Actually, that sounds nice...” She said.

“Very good, Twily.” There was the sound of flipping pages and Twilight's head fell back into a pillow, curling up in the sea of fluff...

“...so just get to work on those work sheets,” Twilight said, looking around the class. “And if anypony has any questions, put your hoof up and I'll come and help.”

There was a rustling as the ponies started working on their work sheets, and Twilight sat back in the chair with a frown.

For some reason, she'd felt a bit dizzy all of a sudden. She could see that she was teaching class, and she could sort of remember what was going on, but the precise details about what was on the work sheet she'd given out was sort of… vague.

The multicoloured mane of one pegasus caught her eye, and she checked to be sure that the filly was doing the work properly. She was having a bit of trouble with it, face all scrunched up as she concentrated, but it looked to Twilight like she was answering the questions.

Then there was the colt with the orange coat and the deep blue mane, who was doing the work as well. Twilight sort of wondered why she couldn't remember their names, but that all went out the window when she saw what Nightwear was doing.

“Excuse me, young mare,” she said, trotting briskly over to the desk of the alicorn filly. Up close, Twilight could see even more clearly that Nightwear was just scribbling all over her work sheet instead of doing it.

“What?” Nightwear asked. “I didn't want to do the sheet. It's boring.”

“It's what you're meant to be doing,” Twilight replied sternly. “So you'd better do it.”

“I'd much rather talk about this play I wrote,” Nightwear said. “That's much more interesting than this boring worksheet.”

“You're in class,” Twilight insisted. “So you should be doing the class work, unless you want a time out.”

Nightwear just shook her head. “Good foals do what they're told.”

It was a strange thing to say, but Twilight blinked – feeling suddenly really fuzzy. “W-what?”

“I said good foals do what they're told,” Nightwear smirked, and for some reason those words sounded very true to Twilight – like they were something fundamental to how she understood the world. “And I'm telling you to listen while I talk about this play. Are you a good foal?”

“Yes,” Twilight replied, automatically, then blushed – confused about why she'd said that, and hearing the giggles from the other colts and fillies in the class. “Wait, um...”

“So the idea is,” Nightwear began, and Twilight found herself listening.

Well, half listening. Despite trying her best, Twilight found herself just a bit distracted by the filly's description, as she wondered about how exactly one would put this play together…

Twilight was looking over her checklist just before the show to ensure everything was taken care of. Lights had been checked, microphones were good, everyone was in costume and had performed their vocal warm ups... She placed her clipboard on a nearby prop table and levitated over her briefcase before looking herself over in the mirror. She was dressed in a smart suit and hat, and with her briefcase she really fit the part of a salesmare. She wondered for a moment why the director of the play was playing a role, but she figured there must have been a last minute cancellation by one of the cast members that she had just forgotten about. It was only a rehearsal anyway, someone had to help the other actors perform after all.

She moved to her place just offstage, and upon her cue, she trotted out. She knocked on the door, to which the homeowner, a rather timid looking pegasus, answered. “Good afternoon, ma'am! I hope you've been having a good day!” Twilight spouted her lines, just a bit woodenly.

While the pegasus stood there, trying to remember her own lines, Twilight glanced out towards the audience, where she spotted the show's patron. She was sitting just a bit further back than she needed, obscured by the darkness, and was sitting motionless.

“I... I-I'm doing alright... Is there something I can do for you?” The pegasus eventually responded, and Twilight looked back to her.

“There is! I'm here to introduce you to one of our fine products!” Twilight said, standing proudly.

“Cut!” The patron's voice came from the audience.

“I'm, um… I'm sorry,” the pegasus mumbled. “I didn't...”

“Don't worry,” Twilight replied quickly, then turned to face the audience. “Is something wrong?”

“Quite a lot,” the patron said. “But I don't really think you're very much in character. You really need to sell the idea that you're a salesmare.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked, not having expected that complaint. “I thought...”

“A salesmare should be insistent,” the patron went on. “And, more to the point, she should be very willing to demonstrate the products she's selling.”

Twilight realized she wasn't actually sure what she was supposed to be selling, now she thought of it.

“So let's see you moving in on that pause,” the patron told her. “Opening the briefcase to show what you're selling. Now, let's take it from the top.”

“Isn't that my role?” Twilight asked, a little distracted. “I am the director.”

“But you can't do the directing role if you're one of the actors, of course,” the patron pointed out. “Now, back to your places.”

Twilight couldn't really contest that, and shifted back to her mark until her cue came again.

“Good afternoon, ma'am,” she said, for a second time. “I hope you're having a good day!”

“I'm doing alright,” the pegasus replied, still a little nervous. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“There is! I'm here to introduce you to one of our products,” Twilight replied, opening the briefcase, and it revealed a collection of towels. “Perhaps you'd be interested in-”

“No, hold on,” the patron interrupted. “This scene doesn't work with towels.”

“What?” Twilight asked. “That's – we were only just doing this scene, why can't it work with towels?”

“It doesn't fit my vision,” the patron told her. “Here, use this briefcase instead.”

A swirl of sparkling dark magic carried a new briefcase over to her, and Twilight took it before floating the one she'd been using off stage.

“Should we start from the beginning again?” the pegasus asked.

“No, let's just go from when she opens the briefcase,” the patron declared.

“Perhaps you'd be interested in-”

Twilight's line was cut off again, but instead of being stopped by the patron, her voice had simply died in her throat upon seeing the new product in the briefcase. Thick, puffy diapers bulged out of the briefcase. They were so large, Twilight wondered how they had managed to fit in the first place. Strangely, the pegasus didn't seem quite as surprised by the padding, simply acting interested as Twilight tried to continue.

“Perhaps you'd be interested in some of our... new diapers? I'm sure a... mother like you would be in need of some?” Twilight stumbled over her words, as the script she had been memorizing for this rehearsal was rather incompatible with the changes the patron wanted to do. She ran through the script in her head, trying to think of a line about the towels that would make sense with the diapers. “They're... the fluffiest ones we have yet? And they're very absorbent! Would you like a...” She paused, not entirely sure she was really going to go say this. “Would you like a demonstration?”

The pegasus nodded, stepping aside to let Twilight inside. She wandered over to the coffee table, as the pegasus went to fill some glasses of water from the sink. Twilight briefly wondering what the greater point of this scene was for the play, but remembered she had a bit part, and supposed it was just meant to fill the time for other actors to go through a costume change. The pegasus returned, balancing the glasses of water on her wings, clearly waiting for Twilight to do something.

After a beat, Twilight realized she probably was forgetting a line, so she hurriedly pulled out a couple diapers, accidentally letting a few fall to the floor. “Ah, well, you'll see these can easily hold quite a bit of water to clean up all kinds of spills,” Her horn glowed as she levitated up the glass of water, about to pour it on one of the diapers, when she was stopped again by the patron.

“Surely this is the best way to show their absorbency?” Twilight responded. The patron simply sat still, but Twilight could tell she was waiting expectantly. She looked back down at the diapers, whimpering just a bit. Surely she wasn't serious.... right?

After a pause of several seconds, the patron cleared her throat.

“Yes?” Twilight asked, eager to be told it was all a misunderstanding.

“How exactly do you expect the rest of the scene to work if you don't do the demonstration?” the patron asked. “I thought you understood how directing a play worked.”

Twilight flushed, wanting to protest about how she did know how directing a play worked and this didn't seem much like it, but the idea of letting down the patron was embarrassing given how important this was for the theatre.

She wondered if it would be more embarrassing to do the demonstration or not, but one thing was certain which was that staying around trying to decide was more embarrassing still. So, after agonizing over it, she reluctantly picked up the diaper.

“What's the best way to use them?” the pegasus asked, clearly flailing around to find some relevant lines to say that were sort of close to what was in the script. Twilight herself was all out of that sort of line, so she decided the best thing to do was to just try and put the diaper on as best she could.

Oddly, it actually seemed quite easy. It felt like something she'd done a lot, and in just a few seconds the thick diaper was taped around her rear.

“So, um… as you can see… it's the right size?” Twilight speculated. “And it's… ergonomic, I guess?”

She glanced desperately into the audience, almost hoping the patron would pause the play now, but the shadowed mare sat silently.

“How much liquid can it absorb?” the pegasus asked. “It looks quite fluffy, but appearances can be deceptive.”

That sounded like another towel-related line, and Twilight winced as she realized where her own reply would probably be leading.

“It can absorb more than a cupful of water,” she said.

Twilight stood still, taking a deep breath as she thought of what to do. Suddenly a thought sparked in her mind, and she almost laughed at herself up on stage. Just because she was wearing the diaper, surely she wasn't expected to actually wet it. She hovered over one of the glasses of waters, doing her best to turn to hide it and still show off the fluff of her diaper to the audience. It didn't completely remove the embarrassment of what she was about to do, but it was certainly helping. She began to slowly pour the water into her padding. It began to slowly balloon outwards as it soaked up the water, growing larger and squishier as she did.

“A-a-as you c-can see, it's q-quite... absorbent...” Twilight's voice died off just a bit as she tried to keep up with her lines. She waited for the pegasus's next line, which she assumed would come when she had completed her demonstration.

As she waiting, she focused a little more on the feeling of her diaper swelling. It slowly pushed her legs apart and swallowed her tail, growing puffier and puffier as she poured more water into it. The water was surprisingly warm, cradling her rump comfortably as it drank it up.

Twilight sighed, slowly forgetting where exactly she was as her diaper spread down to her knees. The glass surely should have emptied by now, but she hardly noticed at all. Bigger, sloshier, squishier, she simply enjoyed the sensation of her diaper growing larger…

“I think that's enough!” The patron's voice suddenly cut through Twilight's trance, and she stumbled a bit, looking over her shoulder at her now ballooned diaper. It squished with ever shift of her weight and turned every step into a wide waddle. Twilight thought she had been filling it with a glass but... she wasn't sure where that glass had gone. Her diaper was soggy, but how else could that have happened?

“Dear, it's your line!” The patron called out to Twilight's co-actor, who was now sitting in her own soggy, bloated diaper.

“Oh, um...” the pegasus began, and Twilight suddenly wondered if she should know her.

Something about her seemed familiar, but… then she frowned, as the irrelevant thought went away again.

“I think I'm convinced,” the pegasus went on. “I'll take… I'll take your biggest deal!”

“Well-” Twilight began, but the patron thumped a hoof on the floor – a clear instruction not to say anything.

“Only...” the pegasus continued, a little more confidently. “Only, what are the special bonuses?”

“Well, there's plenty of bonuses,” Twilight said, and she could sort of remember her lines for this bit. “There's… extras in double-size for every ten you order, and when you get twenty you get a pacifier..?”

A pacifier? Why would that be what you got as a bonus for ordering towels?

That was an odd thought, and Twilight wondered why she'd thought she was selling towels in this bit. She felt all confused, like there was something important she wasn't getting, but she was on stage so she had to just push through.

It'd all be all right on the night, right?

“That sounds good,” the pegasus said. “Um… can I see what the double size one looks like?”

Twilight reached into her suitcase and brought one out, demonstrating how it was much bigger – a larger area, longer and stronger tapes – and at another request from the pegasus put it on over her own now-wet diaper.

“That is very big,” the pegasus smiled. “And, um… and what about the pacifier?”

Twilight glanced aside, wondering if this was part of the script, and the patron coughed meaningfully.

Twilight fished around in the suitcase for a moment before producing a pacifier proudly. “One of our best products, you should know! It's sure to soothe any fussy-” Before she could continue the pacifier was pushed unceremoniously into her mouth by the pegasus. She gave it a few instinctive suckles, rocking back and forth on her diaper as she crossed her eyes to look down at it. It was rather cute appearing, with her cutie mark adorning the shield. Why the pacifier was specifically designed to match her never crossed her mind, and she didn't think it really was a question that needed an answer even if it had.

“Is there anything else?” The pegasus asked, pulling the suitcase over to herself to rummage through it as well. Twilight tried to speak around the pacifier, but all she could manage was a bit of embarrassing babbling.

Twilight watched as the pegasus lifted out a bonnet. She took Twilight's hat off, placing it upon her own head as she began to affix the string around Twilight's chin. “See? Doesn't that frame your face so cutely?”

Twilight nodded slowly, her hooves pressing into the front of her padding to hear it crinkle as she watched her partner return to the briefcase. She leaned down into it, her rump presented proudly in the air as her diaper swished left and right. She leaned a little further in, as if the briefcase opened up into deep pit, and suddenly she fell forward, her own thickly padded rump getting stuck. Twilight waddled over as the pegasus kicked her legs helplessly in an attempt to free herself. Twilight took a hold of her tail tugging as hard as she could to free the salespony.

The pair struggled for a moment, Twilight leaning into the cushy diaper before leaning back to tug again, and with an audible pop, the duo fell backwards into a heap of fluff. The salespegasus stood up, shaking herself and smoothing out her suit. “I do hope you enjoy your complimentary sleeper too.”

“Wait, um, hold on-” the alicorn said, blinking and wondering what was going on.

Or, more accurately, tried to say. All that actually came out was a kind of mumbling, and she blushed a little at the reminder before the pegasus unfurled the sleeper.

The salespony unzipped it, going into a spiel about how comfy and cozy and thick it was, and Twilight did have to admit it looked all of those things. Then she found out it also was all of those things, as the pegasus fitted her into it.

“See?” the pegasus asked. “That's just one of many reasons we consider our diapers to be superior. The sleeper hugs you snugly just like they do, and what's more we offer a new design every month! So be sure to order more next time, to collect the whole set!”

Twilight blinked a few times, feeling suddenly drowsy, and yawned around her pacifier.

“I can see you're busy to get back to your nap,” the salespony said. “So I'd better head off!”

Twilight heard applause, and it took her a moment to remember that they were on stage.

Wasn't this supposed to be a dress rehearsal? But why would there be an audience if there was…

She yawned again, head nodding a little, and the patron coughed to get her attention.

“I think that went very well,” she said. “You had a little trouble remembering your role at first, but you got into it in the end.”

Twilight's head nodded again, and she felt her eyes close-

Twilight nearly hit her head on the register of books taken out, and blushed as she straightened up and hoped none of the patrons had noticed.

It wouldn't do for the librarian of the Twibrary to be falling asleep on the job!

She looked up to see the black alicorn now holding onto a ladder to reach the top shelves, balancing precariously as she pulled a book labeled “Celestia” out of the 'trusted mentors' session, and putting “Nightmare Moon” in its place. Twilight was about object, but a moment later wondered why she felt such a strong urge to do so. After all, Nightmare was someone she trusted quite a bit, had studied under, in fact, so clearly she must know what she was doing helping her organize the library.

“Goodness me, Twilight, so many things in the wrong category! You should pay much better attention when placing your books on the shelves.” Nightmare said, trotting over to slip the Celestia book she had just removed into a previously empty shelf labeled 'meanie-heads' in the kid's section of the library. “I hope we won't have to redo everything from scratch in here!”

Twilight looked a little ashamed, bushing at Nightmare's remarks. “Sorry, princess. I had meant to get around to reorganizing it, but...” She felt like she was forgetting something, like there was a very good reason all the books were in the places they had been, but for the life of her, she couldn't quite remember.

“It's alright, it isn't a bother to help.” Nightmare responded as she slipped a book about Spike into the 'cuddly plushies' area. “Your friends needed some help too. Rarity's boutique was a complete mess, and Dash's trophy room was in total disarray! You do know what that word means, right?” Nightmare asked.

“Of course I-” Twilight was cut off by Nightmare tossing a couple pages from a dictionary out the window.

“I... I thought I did... does it mean... cluttered?” She took a guess given the context clues. Nightmare nodded warmly, patting her on the head.

“Exactly, Twily! What a smart pony you are!”

Something about that did seem a bit odd, but Twilight couldn't put her hoof on it. It was nice to be recognized for how smart she was…

...though it really was a bit strange how Nightmare was praising her for guessing the meaning of a word.

Wasn't it?

While she wondered why she felt so confused about the whole thing, Nightmare trotted over to the textbook section.

“Oh, do you want to take one of those out to do a class?” Twilight asked, interested in helping her mentor.

“No, I'm just browsing,” Nightmare replied. She reached for one of the books, opening it and flicking through it, and Twilight recognized it as the most basic maths book – the one handling basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Twilight looked down to check in case Nightmare already had books out, because Nightmare would still have to follow the rules, and when she looked back up Nightmare was putting the book back on the shelf and carrying a pot of glue away.

Trotting over curiously, Twilight had another look at the maths book. It was definitely the one she was thinking of, but it seemed a bit sticky… and when she tried to open it, the pages wouldn't budge.

“Are you all right, Twilight?” Nightmare asked, making her jump.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Twilight apologized.

“I was wondering – I can take out ten books, but if I'd chosen three, how many more can I choose?” Nightmare asked, hanging up a poster that said that 'Padding: it's dia-PERfect'.

That sounded like a very simple question to Twilight, and she nodded. “That's easy, it's...”

For some reason, the answer just wasn't there.

Nightmare smirked, then patted Twilight on the head again. “Tell you what, Twilight. I know you've been a bit stressed lately… don't you think it would be a good idea to go to therapy?”

“Well...” Twilight began, feeling a bit embarrassed about it.

She had been feeling a bit odd lately, though… maybe it would be a good idea…

“Come in, please,” Nightmare said.

Twilight shook her head slightly, and opened the door of the therapist's office.

Sitting opposite the door was Nightwear, her puffy, crinkly body squeezed in a knitted vest while a notepad and pencil hovered gently in the air in front of her. “Ah, Twilight, comfortably early, as usual. Please, take a seat.” She motioned to a chair opposite her, and Twilight trotted over. The chair was surprisingly cushy, and Twilight sank into it just a bit further than she would have expected to. “Now, I believe you had said this session you would like to focus more on your sleep troubles, yes?”

Twilight wasn't entirely sure, but nodded in agreement, figuring she must have just forgotten what she had suggested during her last therapy session. Nightmare took a few notes on her pad, and Twilight couldn't help but wonder what she was writing down already, they hadn't even started! “Would you mind telling me what the issue is?”

Twilight paused, trying to think. “I... I think I have narcolepsy or... something. I'm falling asleep at random times, even when mentally stimulated, and I'm having trouble remembering parts of my day.”

Nightwear was dutifully taking notes, adjusting a pair of glasses on the end of her muzzle before looking back up to Twilight. “Is that all?”

“I... guess so? Isn't that enough?”

“Oh, I'm sure it would be, but you seem to be forgetting a rather large factor here, Twilight.” Nightwear responded. Twilight looked confused, shifting in her seat just a bit to get more comfortable. “Twilight, you might be mentally stimulated, but if you're as comfortable as a mare like you should be, of course you're going to fall asleep easily! After all, your diapers are awfully comfortable, wouldn't you say?”

Twilight looked down at herself, suddenly realizing half the reason the chair felt so soft was the pair of thick padding wrapped around her rump. She shifted, listening to it crinkle, and that alone was enough to make her yawn softly.

“I... suppose it does...”

“Excellent,” Nightwear pronounced, making a note on her pad. “I imagine you're feeling a little bit drowsy, and that's perfectly fine. That just shows how relaxed you are, and it feels so much better to be relaxed, doesn't it?”

Twilight frowned slightly, then nodded, and Nightwear smiled as Twilight's nod turned into a yawn. “That's right.”

“But… um… that isn't the only thing,” Twilight added, blinking a few times as she tried to remember the other reasons she'd booked the meeting.

It was a little hard for her to bring them to mind, but she must have had good reasons…

“Anything else related to sleep, perhaps?” Nightwear asked, and Twilight nodded.

“Yes!”

“Well, go on,” Nightwear invited. “I'm here to listen. Isn't listening nice?”

Twilight nodded again, blushing. “It's… kind of silly, especially because of the narcolepsy thing, but… I've got problems with insomnia as well. It's just so hard for me to get properly to sleep at night, which is really frustrating with how easy it is for me to drop off to sleep in the day.”

“That sounds unfortunate,” Nightwear agreed, taking another note, and Twilight nodded again. “I think the best option for dealing with that would be hypnotherapy.”

“Hypnotherapy?” Twilight repeated, a little nervous about that idea.

“Don't worry, I'm a pooffessional,” Nightwear assured her.

“A what?”

“A professional,” Nightwear repeated. “I really do think that's a good idea. But perhaps we'll leave it for the end of the session, because if it works and you fall asleep then we won't be able to discuss your other issues.”

That sounded very sensible.

“Anything else you wanted to bring up?” Nightwear went on. “You seem to be a little forgetful?”

“Oh, yes, that's a worry,” Twilight admitted. “I keep sort of… forgetting things, or thinking I must have forgotten something because I can't remember what should go somewhere. It's very strange.”

“It could be that you're repressing memories.” Nightwear suggested.

“Of what? I remember fighting off Discord and Tirek just fine, and they're a lot more terrifying than any of the other things I'm forgetting. Just this morning, I couldn't think of the... thing... in the... room.” Twilight was gesturing in such a way that, were one to seriously stretch the definition of sign language, would have given Nightwear a clue as to what she was talking about. Instead, it looked as if she was trying to perform a rather peculiar dance, and Nightwear just coughed.

“Repressed memories don't necessarily have to be traumatic, Twilight, at least not in the traditional sense. It might be that you prefer something else in its place. Whatever it is you've forgotten, perhaps something comforting like diapers or blankets has taken its place.” Nightwear pondered.

Twilight tried to think of what she had been trying to describe. She remembered getting out of bed this morning, going into the bathroom... taking a bath... putting on her diapers... surely she was forgetting something, right? But why would she forget something, it only made sense for her diaper and changing table to be in the bathroom. What else would be there?

“About you defeating Discord and Tirek...” Nightwear broke Twilight out of her pondering. “I think we should speak about you and your delusions of grandeur. You seem to be thinking that there's a great power trying to capture you and your friends, stuffing them into puffy suits and thick diapers. Really, Twilight, that's all a little hard to believe.”

“But...” Twilight began, automatically wanting to object, then stopped to marshal her thoughts together. “But I'm fairly sure that… well, I remember the details only vaguely, but there was an ancient evil spirit and it was trying to make me wear diapers.”

She stuttered a little, somehow feeling slightly embarrassed about what she was saying. “And it put us all in puffy suits, and… well… but why is it so unbelievable?”

“You have to understand, Twilight, I'm not questioning whether there are ancient evil spirits,” Nightwear said, sounding soothing and reasonable. “There clearly are ancient spirits, and it's entirely believable that some of them would be evil, just like some of them are good.”

She shifted a little, crinkling and creaking as she did. “But that's one thing, and what you describe is something else. Why would an evil spirit want to make you wear diapers?”

Twilight frowned. “I… don't know, but-”

“You're already wearing diapers,” Nightwear interrupted. “So it wouldn't be an evil spirit trying to make you wear diapers. It seems more believable to me that if this spirit was trying to make you wear diapers, it wouldn't be evil, and if it was trying to make you not wear diapers then it would not be evil.”

That made Twilight pause.

It sounded like a good point, and she wasn't really sure how to reply.

“As for the suits,” Nightwear went on. “Do you think these suits are comfortable?”

“Well… yeah, they are,” Twilight had to admit. She couldn't remember many of the details, it was all fuzzy… but the costumes had been all fuzzy, too, so maybe that was sort of appropriate?

They'd been comfortable, but that hadn't been her objection… had it?

“It sounds like your problem might mostly be about trust, then,” Nightwear decided. “So I can assure you, Twilight, as the only powerful spirit here I'd never try to make you not wear your diapers.”

“I, um… okay,” Twilight said, sort of glad for the reassurance even if she wasn't sure why she was glad for it. “Thanks.”

“It's what diapers are here for, after all,” Nightwear replied. “To keep you feeling reassured and safe.”

She reached into her vest pocket to reveal the chain hanging loosely was connected to a large sliver pocket watch, which was etched to look a bit like the moon. “Now, I think getting started on taking care of your insomnia should help first and foremost. You won't get anything done if you don't get a good night's sleep, after all. Focus carefully on the watch, and listen very closely to what I say...”

Nightwear began to swing the moon left and right in her magic, Twilight's gaze watching it intently.

Despite being told to pay close attention, Twilight wasn't entirely sure what Nightwear was saying. The watch was surprisingly captivating, the way it glimmered and shined in the light. Its arcs began to slowly widen, Twilight thought she heard something about swelling, but both of these thoughts were drowned out by the sheer comfort of her legs being widened by her padding, allowing her to let out a sigh as she leaned back into the chair. She sank into it, eyes shimmering as she watched the timepiece sway, and as if the chair was swallowing her up, she buried her muzzle into it and let the comfortable material fold around her...

Twilight watched as the moon swayed softly in the night, Luna's magic coaxing it through the starry sky.

“Alright, Twilight, I think you've seen enough moon magic. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised, you can't watch my sister do her magic very well without going blind, but unless you scurry off, I'm going to place your own padded butt in the sky and make a new moon to show off.”

Luna grinned, Twilight shaking her head as she realized she was sitting in Luna's lap, both out on a balcony of her crystal tower in Ponyville.

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight began, stumbling over her words a bit. “That was...”

She paused. She couldn't find the words, but that was partly because she couldn't remember any of what she'd just seen. Except for something about diapers… diapers had been involved.

But why would diapers be involved with the moon? Except for Luna's teasing comment, anyway…

“That was what, Twilight?” Luna asked, then smiled before Twilight had a chance to actually remember what she was going to say. “Are you having trouble with your words?”

“Um-” Twilight began, and Luna promptly placed a pacifier in her muzzle. “Mrff?”

“That's better,” Luna pronounced. “You don't need to worry about picking the right words if you don't have words to use to begin with. Isn't that right?”

It was logically consistent, admittedly, and Twilight nodded a bit before actually thinking about what nodding would mean.

“There you go, see?” Luna said, lifting Twilight up and giving her a pat on the diaper. “But I bet I know what would keep you interested.”

“Mmhmm?” Twilight mumbled, blushing as the noise reminded her of the pacifier preventing her from doing more than just vague noises like that.

“That's right!” Luna agreed. “Playing with toys! That's just what will keep you occupied.”

She carried Twilight in through the balcony doors, into a room with lots of foalish paraphenalia all over it from a crib to a changing table to a playmat with Canterlot streets on it. Twilight blushed, wondering why she didn't remember seeing it before, but the worry went away and her confusion got much stronger when she heard what Luna said next.

“Spike!” the elder Princess called. “Can you get some cocoa in a sippy cup for Twily? I think she needs something warm before bed!”

Spike? Spike was going to see her like this?

Twilight wriggled and blushed, trying to get out of Luna's magical grip, but Luna just booped her on the nose.

“Don't make a fuss, Twily,” she said. “If you're good you'll get something nice before bed~”

Twilight's blush felt like it would light up the room.

“Here you go, Luna,” Spike called, coming in surprisingly quickly with a sippy cup. “It's got extra sugar in it for little Twily!”

“Mrrf,” Twilight mumbled, trying not to look Spike in the eye as Luna set her down on the playmat and passed her the cocoa.

“What about playing with these toys?” Luna added, bringing out a little plastic toy version of Twilight herself – complete with a cutie mark – and a plushy version of her Nightmare Moon self. “What do you think would happen if they met?”

Twilight wanted to say that they already had met, but the pacifier meant she couldn't really point it out.

She glanced back at Spike, who was watching Twilight, as if waiting to see her response. Between her thickly padded backside, the sippy cup clutched in her hooves, and the embarrassing way she suckled on her pacifier, even as she tried to stop herself from doing so, Twilight wasn't in much of a mood to try play acting with some toys. Spike just let out a soft chuckle, sitting down across from Twilight. “Oh, alright, I'll play with you too.” He said, pulling a slightly-too-pudgy Spike toy out of the box and standing it up beside the toy Twilight. Luna took a place opposite Twilight, her magic standing the Nightmare Moon plushie up.

“Oh no, Twilight!” Spike began, trying to impersonate himself. It somehow sounded perfect, and yet nothing at all like the dragon. “It's Nightmare Moon! What are you going to do?” He bounced the toy left and right as he spoke, only to then look back at Twilight for a response.

Twilight's face burned brightly, but she figured humoring them might make their playtime shorter. Besides, Luna wasn't going to make Twilight lose. You always let foals win.

She felt like she should have caught herself on something in that last thought, but whatever it was, she figured it didn't matter as her own magic swirled around her toy, and she began to bounce it up and down while speaking just as Spike had…