Princess Cadance made her way down the street leading through the suburbs of west Ponyville as the afternoon sun shined overhead. She waved cordially as several of the passers by recognized her, but she didn't slow her pace towards Sandbar's home. Twilight had given her the address from her student records, and she had set off after a light lunch while the headmare headed to her next class.

Turning down the fourth dirt road, she kept an eye on the mailboxes out front beside each front walk, and began up the pathway of the third house on the right. She raised a shoe-covered hoof and softly tapped on the front door. A few moments later, the door opened, revealing a light yellow earth mare with a wavy pink mane, and her eyes widened when she realized who her guest was.

"Oh, oh my. Princess Cadance!" She greeted.

"Hello. High Tide, right? I'm here to talk to Sandbar, and if you like, to you and your husband. I understand your son's been dealing with a, rather painful situation."

The mare's expression turned somber, and nodded.

"We'd certainly appreciate some expert advice, your highness."

"And I, some details on what happened. I understand Gallus was living here before he took off?" Cadance asked as High Tide ushered her inside, and led her to the living room, where her husband, Beachcomber, was already sitting.

"Princess Cadance," Beachcomber began, surprised at their royal company. "Welcome to our home."

"Cadance is here to check on Sandbar." His wife told him.

"I guess news of what he's dealing with is starting to get around."

"Well, when one of Twilight's top students at the school ups and leaves, ponies notice. Sandbar came to me for advice on Hearts and Hooves Day a couple years ago before he asked Gallus out, so I figured he could talk to me if he wants to. Twilight is beginning to worry."

"He hasn't left his room since he left the school, except for the bathroom. We've told him he can have all the space he wants to deal with this, as long as he eats. Beyond that, he hasn't said much, done much..."

Cadance nodded understandably.

"How were things leading up to this? It's my understanding that Gallus was living here."

"From what we've gathered, he began corresponding with somepony over in Las Pegasus. We, and Sandbar, assumed it was some sort of pen pal. For nearly a year, they wrote each other back and forth, and he and Sandbar didn't really seem any worse off. For a couple weeks a few months ago, it seemed like Gallus was losing his appetite, but it didn't last. Then he started growing distant, for like a week, and then... He was gone, with barely a 'sorry', and he was on the first train headed west. I don't know if he even told Sandbar goodbye; he left while he was at school." High Tide explained.

"From what Princess Twilight has told us, the attending physician for the Ponyville E.U.P. was in the process of diagnosing him with clinical depression, and his commanding officer wanted him to seek treatment." Beachcomber added.

"She's told me the same thing. Lieutenant Colonel Berrytwist is none too happy with him." Cadance replied.

"To be honest, neither are we, Princess." Beachcomber told her.

"I think you're in plenty of company currently. I helped Sandbar take the first steps into asking Gallus out two years ago, so I feel that I have to do my best to help him now. I do have to warn you, though, even when I'm finished here, and get him to take these next steps... This could be something he deals with for quite some time."

"Any advice you have for him would be welcome, from us at least. But before you go in, there is something you should probably know. We've allowed Sandbar to embrace a... A kink of his, around the house. It's called ageplay. A lot of items of a foalish nature. It's the happiest we've ever seen him since he had met Gallus. He hasn't really used any of it since he left, but we just didn't want you to be caught off guard, or judge him in any negative way." High Tide told her.

Cadance smiled at them reassuringly.

"I'm certainly no stranger to kinks and lifestyles that ponies keep behind closed doors. I will not judge him, you have my word."

"In that case, down the hall, second door on the left." Beachcomber told her.

She nodded in thanks, and got up, turning to go down the hall, to the second door on the left side. A wooden plaque of Sandbar's cutie mark had been mounted on the top half of the door. She took a breath, raised a hoof, and knocked softly. Getting no reply, she tried the knob, and it turned in response. She turned it the full ninety degrees, and softly pushed the door open.

Her mind took it in as fast as she could; the room was effectively split in half; a teenager's room on the right, and a foal's room on the left. On one of two beds on the right side, laid Sandbar, facing the wall. Cadance took note of the bottle of pink antacid medicine on his nightstand that was three quarters empty, next to a plate with a half-eaten hayburger on it. Attuned to emotional energies the way she was, she felt the aura of sadness that emanated from the young stallion on the bed, but was experienced enough to stomach it, unlike the more unfortunate Ocellus.

She took in as much of the left side of the room as she could as she quietly approached the two beds. It was largely a crib and changing table, both clearly built for fully grown ponies. Having arrived at the bed, she gently put a hoof on Sandbar's left shoulder, and the metal horseshoe prompted him to turn his head and saw his visitor. His eyes widened and immediately began to tear up when he saw that same comforting gaze, that same sympathetic smile as when he first came out to her. He slowly rolled over as his shoulders heaved, his breathing quaked, and he barely sat up before he broke down into sobs, throwing his hooves around her as she sat down in front of the bed, allowing him to bury his face in her barrel.

The Princess of Love held him gently as he wept into her coat, rubbing his back and draping her wings around him in a reassuring embrace.

"Wh-wh... Why didn't he want me? Why wasn't I good enough...?" Sandbar choked out, trying to swallow his tears.

As Sandbar continued to cry, but calm down ever so slightly, Cadance glanced back at the other side of the room as an idea confidently dawned in her head.

As Sandbar was shuddering and sniffling in the Princess' grasp, he suddenly felt himself go weightless as Cadance's magic took hold of his body, and began to levitate him to the other, more infantile side of the room. He was laid on his back on the changing table, and his eyes widened as he saw a diaper being pulled from the shelves in the Princess' magical aura, and begin to be unfolded. He laid there, blinking away tears, half his mind wanting to object, his cheeks flushing red at this side of him being exposed to royalty.

But before his mental objections reached his lips, his flanks were raised off of the table by his back hooves being lifted with her magic, no different than a foal, and the diaper was swiftly placed underneath him with the top set of tapes being fastened around his tail before he was gently set back down. Next, she magically grabbed the bottle of foal powder, twisting the cap open, and gave his diaper area a quick dusting.

He almost wanted to hide his face behind his front hooves, but when he risked looking at Cadance, he saw no judgement whatsoever. She was completely silent and focused on the task at hand, as if she was the most professional foalsitter ever just doing her job, and diapering a 17-year-old stallion was the most normal thing in the world.

Closing the foal powder bottle, she brought the front of the diaper up, magically smoothing it against his stomach, brought the back wings up, and fastened the tapes. She sat him up and levitated him over to the open crib, sitting him on the edge of the mattress, before sitting down next to him.

"Feeling any better now? Just a little?" Cadance asked him, rubbing his back.

Still blushing, Sandbar silently nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes. He had forgotten how safe and happy the crinkly padding between his legs made him feel.

"Now Sandbar, I want you to listen, and listen carefully. This is not your fault. Do you understand me? Gallus was pretending everything was alright, when things clearly weren't, and he wasn't doing anything about it. That is where my pity for him stops. He deceived his closest friends, and instead of getting professional help and advice for his unhappiness, he abandoned everything he had built here for something new and exciting that a stranger offered. Depression is not curable, but it is treatable. If he wants to decline treatment, abandon his friends, and chase extremes like that, that's not going to solve anything, and it'll be a self-destructive cycle until he gets help. With his choices and actions, he has absolutely no one but himself to blame for his unhappiness. You don't need to worry about him anymore, Sandbar. You didn't do anything wrong. But wrestling with this bitterness is going to take a long time. When you've been wronged like this, it might be for the rest of your life."

Sandbar sniffled again as he took in the Princess' words and advice.

"I really thought that he was just making a long distance friend. I had no idea that it would get to this." He confessed.

"Believe me, no one here is looking at his choices sympathetically or kindly."

Sandbar had experienced a crazy spectrum of emotions the past few weeks, and if he was honest with himself, anger and outright fury had been among them. One night he imagined Gallus coming back to town and tearing out his flight feathers one by one, after everything he had done for him.

If others were just as angry with the griffon, it made him feel just a little bit better.

"I don't want you to go through this alone, Sandbar. Princess Twilight tells me that you two had a partner? A polyamorous relationship?" Cadance asked.

"Ocellus." Sandbar answered, nodding.

"Twilight tells me that she's been having just as hard of a time dealing with this too. I know you two can help each other through this if you try. I want you to take some time to get a handle on your emotions, and when you think you've done so, Twilight and Ocellus would love to see you back in school. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Sandbar swallowed the lump in his throat, and nodded. He felt a few pieces of his shattered confidence and resolve begin to come back together when he imagined Ocellus as crushed and abandoned as he had felt.

Cadance leaned over to hug him again, and got to her hooves.

"And if you don't mind me saying, you do look pretty adorable like that."

Sandbar smiled embarrassingly as his cheeks lit up red again.

"Alright, let's all get settled down so I can take attendance." Headmare Twilight said.

Ocellus sat in the front row of desks as Twilight took her seat and opened her planner. The headmare taught two sessions of Modern Equestrian History per week, and the changeling was determined to try not to miss any more classes.

The Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza, or as she preferred to be called, Princess Cadance, had visited her in her dorm room three days ago, before the weekend had arrived. She assured the changeling that Sandbar had been eating, and that when he was ready, he would be back in school. The waves of anger she had felt over what Gallus had done to them both made her grateful that her magic wasn't attuned to anger like the Kirin species, lest her emotions would be a clear and present fire hazard to the building. As the class began to quiet down, Twilight began to make marks in her planner as her eyes scanned the rows of desks.

"Sorry I'm late, Headmare Twilight." A familiar voice said. Ocellus looked over to the door, and saw Sandbar, a half-hearted smile on his face, and saddlebags around his midsection. Headmare Twilight smiled back.

"No problem at all, Sandbar. I'm so glad you're back. Find your seat whenever you're ready." Headmare Twilight replied, going back to her book, smiling as she put a green check mark next to Sandbar's name for the first time in weeks. Ocellus felt her eyes tear up as she watched the pony walk down the front row of desks and took her seat right next to hers, but was determined to keep herself composed. Their eyes met, and for the first time in nearly a month, Ocellus felt the warm, fuzzy taste of love in her stomach.

"Welcome back." She whispered, holding her tears back, for now. He smiled back.

"Thanks, Ocellus. Really, thank you."

Author's Note

I just want to apologize to the readers of my other in-progress stories I promised to update before I started this one up. I don't know what else to say other than this is where my creativity has been for the past few weeks. I'll get to those as soon as my head and heart feel they can.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more.

Love,
Miles