"So, I'm sure you have to go through some kind of intermediary, but, where do you get your stuff from?"

Sunny had asked Pipp this question upon getting up this morning. She had assumed correctly; Pipp had made arrangements with one of the guards she had taken into her confidence, and got the occasional restock from Cloudz Foal Supply Store downtown, where Sunny was now standing. It certainly wasn't as inconspicuous as My Inner Foal was in Maretime Bay, and when she stepped through the front entrance, she saw why; at first glance, she saw that it was a store for actual foal supplies. Everything she saw was entirely too small for full grown ponies.

"Hello, and welcome to Cloudz!" the cashier greeted. "Ah, Miss Starscout. My name is Gusty. I sincerely hope you're enjoying our city. How can I help you today?"

Sunny smiled at Gusty, and found her nerves were somewhat used to this due to her experience at My Inner Foal.

"Hello Gusty. I hope this isn't too forward of you, but... Do you have an adult section?" The earth mare asked.

Gusty's expression was surprised for just a moment, before melting into a soft smile.

"Wow, the Unifier of Equestria, an ageplayer? That blows my mind," Gusty replied, and with that, turned and motioned for Sunny to follow.

The 'ageplayer' section was barely more than a single aisle of diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles, and some foalish articles of clothing.

"I'm sorry I don't have more on display, but I do almost 90% of my ageplayer business through online orders and deliveries. Same-day delivery guarantee on orders placed before 3PM. Obviously that's going to have to be fine-printed as Zephyr Heights only. If you're here, that must mean it's only a matter of time before I get orders placed from out of town."

"Yeah, it makes me wonder if Bridlewood has something like this," Sunny commented. "I'm really amazed at how many of my friends are into this, as either foals or caretakers. Are there group meetups or anything like that?"

"Well, there are some small online message boards, but nothing too big. But they are all over Zephyr Heights. Even somepony in the castle places orders from my store, although you can imagine why they'd like to stay anonymous; it's always through a royal guard."

Sunny immediately understood that. Pipp was easily the city's most popular livestreamer by far. She wouldn't even be able to do something as simple as have a second channel devoted to a kink like this.

No wonder she was so ecstatic when she saw her and Sprout like this. It was finally someone to share this side of her with other than her older sister. It further solidified the idea of making an ageplayer space for all of them when the lighthouse was finished, so they would all have a place to enjoy, together.

"Well, I can't make a lot of promises, but I'm planning on putting together a nursery of sorts when my home is rebuilt, and I'd like as many different designs as possible, so I'm glad I found this place."

"Splendid! Oh, and here..." Gusty paused pulling out a business card from his small saddlebag.

Our address, phone number, email, and website, for whenever you feel like placing that order."

Sunny nodded at him with a smile.

"For now, I think I'll try a pack of those cloud-patterned diapers."

The village of Bridlewood didn't take up the entire forest. In fact, the lived-in areas close to the road barely stretched a mile or two into the treeline. Beyond that, you could barely make out the trails as you headed deeper into the woods. But the deeper you got, the more fantastical and enchanting it became.

Sprout was continually surprising himself as he kept taking opportunities to step away from the ageplay and explore more of this amazing place that his new unicorn friend lived. While Alphabittle's magical tea was certainly an adventure, the earth stallion had quickly reasoned that if he stayed in Izzy's cottage foaling out for most of the trip, it would have certainly not have been the best use of his time here.

He wasn't going to lie to himself either; he was still inwardly disappointed that Izzy was taken, but he was trying his absolute best to get over it as quickly as he could. What he had told the unicorn was absolutely true; nopony deserved her companionship more than Sunny did, and he was genuinely happy for the two of them. He just had to keep pushing his disappointment back until it faded. He had a bunch of new friends, and that would have to suffice for now.

"I have to admit, I've never camped this deep in here before, how adventurous!"

"So, is it true? Did you seriously cut down a tree with your horn on the way back here?" Sprout asked.

"To be fair, it was a very, very dead tree," Izzy said. "We probably would have been able to uproot it out of the ground if we all pushed together, but it seemed like a good thing to try to get them to stop bickering. It was either that or spend another half day taking the long way around."

Sprout chuckled. So their journey together hadn't been all daisies and singing songs. But that was how strong friendships were formed, getting through the rough patches.

He was also starting to wonder that if he was going to be able to consider himself inside this circle of friends. He liked to think so. Sunny had certainly forgiven him, and Izzy was certainly the biggest reason he had embraced this new side of himself. He hadn't spent a lot of time with Zipp and Pipp so far, but they seemed pretty awesome.

The pony he hadn't heard from in awhile, was Hitch. Right before he had left for Bridlewood with Izzy, he had thanked his boss for suggesting this treatment, but other than that, he hadn't spent any time with the sheriff since this treatment had begun.

He was looking forward to spending time with his colthood friend, and showing him how he had now changed for the better.

But first, he was going to enjoy this seriously wild camping trip, as he carefully followed Izzy over a fallen log that was crossing a waterfall to their right.

It felt like something out an adventure book...

Author's Note