Author's Note

Spike and Shining Armor won the tiebreaker, so here they are. Eregonlover was the first to propose having them be together, and that Spike should fake being mentally regressed like he did in the original fic. He also said Shining Armor should be a "Little" brother, and when pressed he said it was up to me whether to make it physical, mental, or both in terms of regression. Seeing as I haven't done physical regression since Princess Luna, I figured it would be cute to do it again with Shining Armor. I naturally decided to borrow a bit from FabulousDivaRarity, who has written a lot of headcanon fics about Shining Armor and Twilight Velvet, and the bond they shared.

Tiber Septim II proposed the idea of Twilight waking up feeling ill, or crying after Prince Blueblood said hurtful things to her. I decided to hold off on the latter for now in case Prince Blueblood ever receives enough votes to star in his own chapter, but the former sounded interesting.

Because of this chapter, Spike and Shining Armor are no longer eligible to appear together except with the following characters: The mane six (for Spike), Princess Cadence (for Shining Armor and potentially Spike, Flurry Heart is still ineligible under any circumstances), or the whole Sparkle family sans Flurry Heart.

Characters ineligable under any circumstances:
Starlight Glimmer
Discord
Trixie
Sunburst
Cutie Mark Crusaders
Flurry Heart
School aged or younger children (i.e. Cake Twins)
Characters introduced after Flurry Heart (Starswirl the Bearded, the Pillars, Star Tracker, Mudbriar, etc.)
Equestria Girls characters other than Sunset Shimmer/the Dazzlings

Characters that can only be done in group pairings:
Mane six
Princess Cadence
Princess Luna
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch
Twilight Velvet
Spitfire (with or without Wonderbolts)
Lightning Dust
Maud Pie (without Mudbriar)
Moondancer
Cheerilee
Lyra and Bon Bon (separately, or together)
Coco

Characters that can only be done in specific group pairings:
Spike (with mane six, Princess Cadence, or Sparkle family)
Shining Armor (with Princess Cadence, or Sparkle Family

Characters previously voted on:
Limestone Pie - One and a half votes
Derpy, Marble Pie - One vote
Sassy Saddles, Fleur - One half vote

Spike and Little Shiny (Spike and Shining Armor)

Twilight sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, coughing in a bit of a raspy tone of voice. Her throat felt sore, and she was beginning to feel a bit warm. She sniffled, sensing that her nose was starting to become congested. "Mommy," She called out to Princess Celestia (who was not far away). "I'm not feeling well. I think I'm catching something."

Princess Celestia immediately trotted over to her fellow princess and lowered herself to Twilight's level. She carefully put a hoof to Twilight's forehead to check her temperature. A motherly smile came onto her face as she did so. "Hm," She said in a gentle, comforting tone. "You do seem to have a slight fever, Twily. Nothing too serious, it would seem. And luckily for you, I know just the thing to make you feel better." She quickly lit up her horn and teleported away.

Twilight, for her part, moaned and groaned as she sniffled some more. The icky feeling in her throat and nose was starting to become more pronounced. She wished more than anything she could snuggle up next to Princess Celestia and go back to sleep (assuming her symptoms would let her).

The sun princess soon returned, holding a large bottle and a metal spoon within the glow of her horn. She then trotted back over to the bed her fellow alicorn was resting on, and sat upon it. She then carefully unscrewed the bottle cap, pouring some of its contents onto the spoon. It was a rather unappealing looking brown in color. Using her magic, she then pulled back the bedsheets and nudged her padded charge towards her. "Come on, Twily. This should help bring down your fever and clear up some of that stuffiness in your nose."

The padded princess eyed the medicine with a skeptical eye. It had a very strong smell to it, and it rather put her out of the idea of taking it. "I don't want to, Mommy! I want to sleep!" She protested and turned her head.

Celestia chuckled. She was certain this was mostly just an act from Twilight, so instead of being annoyed or frustrated she instead gently coaxed her former student. "Don't be so fussy, Twily. This will make you feel better, I promise, Trust me, once you take this, you'll feel a lot better," She then teased. "It's either this, or I ask Velvet for her special soup, the one with all those icky vegetables in it."

Twilight stuck out her tongue and made a gag motion. "Yucky!" She sighed and reluctantly scooted closer to the sun princess, still eyeing the liquid medicine with hesitation. Even so, she didn't try to fight it as it was brought towards her lips and then deposited onto her tongue. She immediately swallowed, only to be nearly overwhelmed by the medicine's strong taste! "Gah!" She exclaimed, coughing a bit more as a result!

Princess Celestia just smiled, nudging Twilight close to her teets. "There there, Twily. It's okay. Maybe some of my milk will help wash the taste out of your mouth."

So the young, padded alicorn obeyed. She quickly latched onto a teet and suckled as hard as she could. Sure enough, the rich, creamy taste of Celestia's breast milk easily washed away the foul taste of the medicine. And once the medicine was inside of her, she began to feel just a little bit better. Her fever disappeared, the congestion cleared up a little, and although her throat was still a bit raspy it didn't hurt as much.

Celestia, meanwhile, took the liberty of performing a diaper check on Twilight. She found it dry and clean, and playfully patted the padded princess on the forehead. "Good job keeping your diaper clean, Twily. You're getting so good at that. I almost can't remember the last time I had to change a messy diaper."

"I'm just trying to make you happy, Mommy." Twilight replied with a smile.

"Twily, we've been over this, I want you to do whatever makes you most comfortable," Princess Celestia spoke up in a somewhat more serious tone of voice. "If you're intentionally holding off on having accidents, that's just as bad as having them. I understand if you can't make it to the potty sometimes. Your diapers are there for a reason."

The padded princess nodded. "Uh-huh, I know."

"Just making sure you're aware of that, Twily," Celestia replied. "As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter to me if you use the potty or go potty in your diapers. And I will always love you no matter how stinky or smelly you might get."

Smarty Pants then spoke up in a teasing tone of voice. "That's a good thing, because you can be a really stinky, smelly baby sometimes, Twily."

Twilight let out a playful whine as she blushed bright pink. "Smarty Pants, you know it's not funny to make fun of ponies for things they can't control!"

"I know, I know. I'm more than used to it, Twily," Smarty Pants smiled back. "It's nothing compared to what I had to endure as Winona's chew toy. Living on a farm is so smelly, I have no idea how anypony could put up with it."

Twilight then hugged Smarty Pants tightly. "Well don't worry, I'll make sure you never have to endure anything like that ever again, Smarty Pants. You and I will be together forever!"

Princess Celestia then cleared her throat. "Not that I mean to interrupt such a touching moment, Twily, but I did invite someponies over to play with you today."

The padded alicorn let out a gasp! "Mommy, are you sure that's a good idea?! I might get them sick too!"

The sun princess chuckled and waved a hoof. "I made sure they're up to date on all their shots, Twily. There's no chance you'll get either of them sick. In fact, you couldn't get one of them sick even if you wanted to," She flashed a knowing wink. "And once you've met them, I think you'll understand why that is." She then got up from the bed and trotted across the room to the bedroom door, which she subsequently opened with her magic.

When the door swung open, in strolled a familiar looking but somewhat scrawny in appearance unicorn colt with snow white fur and dark blue hair, clad in nothing but a comically oversized crystal blue diaper. Accompanying the colt was a very familiar dragon with light purple scales and green spines, and who seemed to have a far away look in his eyes.

"Hi, Twily," The colt spoke up in a noticeably high pitched tone of voice. "Surprised to see me back in diapers? Well, Princess Celestia figured you could use a playmate more on your level this time. Besides, I could use a break."

The dragon, meanwhile, just lisped and babbled. "Twily!"

Twilight was rendered speechless at the sight! Before her eyes stood none other than Shining Armor and Spike, both of whom had apparently been regressed. And she was quite certain Princess Celestia was responsible for the regressions.

Shining Armor waddled towards Twilight after noticing that she hadn't spoken at all since seeing him and Spike. It seemed that his physical regression had not toned down his protective "big brother" instincts, for he looked up at her and asked her point blank. "Are you okay, Twily? Sorry if Spike and I startled you, but Mommy," He gestured to Princess Celestia, briefly pausing to comment. "Wow, it feels kind of weird to call her that instead of our actual mommy," He quickly recovered. "Anyway, she wanted our visit to be a surprise. So... surprise."

Slowly but surely, Twilight managed to recover from her state of shock. This was the first time she was going to be interacting with those who already knew about her secret. "Well, it's definitely a surprise," She commented. "But why didn't you let Mommy regress you in mind as well as body?"

Shining leaned close and whispered to his sister. "Spike's only pretending to be mentally regressed. You know, he's 'getting into character'," With a knowing wink he added. "I don't need that kind of incentive. Honestly, I've always felt like a big kid at heart. Probably 'cause of my... issues growing up."

"Oh, right," Twilight recalled. "Our mom did say you were born before you were supposed to be born, and that you were a late bloomer to a lot of things because of that. It's weird, because I've always known you as a big brother, and a very mature one at that."

Shining Armor let out a sigh. "Well, once you were born, I kind of had to grow up whether I wanted to or not. I couldn't be the baby of the family anymore. But a part of me always did wish it didn't have to be that way. That's why I was so fiercely competitive with you growing up. So I figured it'd be fun to have the roles reversed and let you be the older sibling for a change," He giggled and wiggled about in his pampers. "And before you ask, Cadence was okay with this. I knew I'd have to get her permission, I couldn't just leave her to take care of Flurry Heart all by herself without making sure she was onboard. She was nice enough to let me 'borrow' some of Flurry's diapers," Blushing a bit, he went on to say. "But as you can see, they don't quite fit me without some 'adjustments'."

Spike, meanwhile, just giggled, clapped, and cooed as a bit of drool escaped his lips. Compared to Shining Armor, he was wearing just a plain white diaper with nothing special. There were no colored tapes or leak guards, no cartoon characters or symbols printed on it to serve as wetness indicators, it was very much your standard foal diaper (albeit clearly modified to accommodate Spike's unique body type). "Play! Play!" He encouraged.

"Ooh, speaking of play," The stallion turned colt commented as he dug into his mane. "I have a feeling Smarty Pants will recognize the special guest I brought with me." He soon pulled out a very familiar looking, well worn stuffed turtle.

Smarty Pants was overjoyed at the sight! "Brutus Force!"

"Hi, Smarty Pants," Brutus Force spoke in an overly gruff sounding tone of voice. "Miss me? Well, when Shiny got invited to play with Twily, he said I could come along too."

"Just don't make me the damsel in distress again," Smarty Pants replied. "Once is enough for my tastes."

Brutus Force gave a nod. "Oh, don't worry, we won't be playing knights and dragons again. This time we can all have fun together! Besides, we have an actual dragon we can slay this time."

Twilight giggled. "I don't think Spike will really appreciate that. He likes to think he's a noble knight too, just like his big brother."

Shining then corrected. "Remember, Twily, I'm a little brother now too. I'm in diapers and everything. You're the big sibling, a big sister. I hear you can even use the potty now."

The padded princess sheepishly replied. "Well, somewhat. I still like my diapers, but the potty can be fun too sometimes. It's okay to still be in diapers even when you can use the potty, right?"

Shining Armor reassuringly nodded. "Of course it is, Twily. You do whatever makes you most comfortable. And there's no shame in taking your time to master the potty. I know it's partially my fault you had such a bad first experience with it. Besides, being a late bloomer kind of runs in the family. I didn't fully graduate from diapers until I was almost five, and I remember it took you a long time to get Spike fully potty trained too. I wouldn't be surprised if Flurry Heart is the same way once she's ready for potty training."

"Does she have her own friend like I am to Twily and Brutus Force is to you, Shiny?" Smarty Pants questioned the stallion turned colt.

"Yes indeed," The off-duty father said with a smile and a wink. "Her name's Whammy. I was originally going to give Brutus Force to her instead, but she took a real shine to Whammy. She was a gift from my mom. It seems she still has a knack for knowing what foals are like and what they need," He dreamily sighed. "Sometimes, I still wish it was possible to travel back in time, even just for one day. What I'd give to spend one more day as a foal in her care, just letting all my worries and troubles drift away."

Smarty Pants then spoke up. "Well, you should ask Twily's mommy about that. Twily's mommy can make ponies' dreams come true."

But Shining shook his head from side to side. "Nah, I'm good. I don't need her to be doing special favors for me. She's already given me two different days off to spend with Twily, and I intend to make the most of this one just like I did the last one."

Spike, meanwhile, impatiently shouted over and over again! "Play! Play!"

Twilight and Shining turned to the little dragon, realizing they had unintentionally been ignoring him all this time. Much as they might like to keep on chatting and catching up on developments in their lives, they would have to wait. Right now, Spike clearly wanted to be part of the family and to join in on the fun.

There was just one question left to be answered. What should they play?

Luckily for everyone, Twilight quickly got an idea. "Let's play hide and seek," She encouraged as she waddled over to her siblings. "I'll be the seeker, the rest of you can go and hide."

"Can I be the seeker with you, Twily?" Smarty Pants hopefully asked. "We do almost everything together."

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "Sorry, Smarty Pants. There can't be more than one seeker. You go hide with Brutus Force, Shiny, and Spike. I'm sure you'll find a good place."

Smarty Pants sighed as she was taken hold of by Shining Armor. "Well, okay, Twily. But I hope you come and find me soon. I don't want to be away from you for too long." She was then carried away with Brutus Force as Spike and Shining together waddled away to go hide somewhere within the bedroom.

The young padded princess waited a moment or two after everyone else had left to go hide, then she started counting very slowly. Part of it was because it was more fun that way, and part of it was because her throat still kind of hurt a little bit. The medicine hadn't completely cured her sudden sickness after all (no medicine could, after all. The only thing that cured an illness was time). And it seemed the medicine had an unintended side effect, because even though Twilight was sure she hadn't drank that much milk from Princess Celestia, her bladder was starting to give off signs that it would need to be emptied soon.

Rather than inform Princess Celestia and take care of the problem, however, Twilight instead opted to ignore it in the hopes her bladder would soon calm down. "I don't want to stop playing to use the potty," She thought to herself. "Besides, I'm sure I can hold it. All those times when I wet myself without meaning to were just because I was distracted." And so she continued counting, even as the aches and pains in her bladder did not diminish or even cease.

At last, Twilight reached the count of ten and lifted her hooves from her face! Loudly and playfully she called out! "Ready or not, here I come!" Looking around the room, she couldn't see any immediate clues as to the whereabouts of Spike, Shining Armor, Brutus Force, or even Smarty Pants. Clearly, they had hidden themselves well.

So the padded alicorn, with her diaper crinkling audibly with every step she took, waddled about the bedroom in search of her playmates. "Spike, Shiny, Brutus Force, Smarty Pants, come out, come out wherever you are!" She called. There was of course no reply, but she didn't care in the slightest.

Princess Celestia watched from afar, opting not to give her fellow princess any advice and instead let her figure it out entirely on her own. Yet she couldn't help but notice the occasional strained look on Twilight's face, coupled with the occasional shuffling back and forth on her hooves. She felt tempted to speak up, but something stopped her. "Twilight would tell me if she has to go to the bathroom," She thought to herself. "And I've said multiple times that I don't mind changing her. I don't want to force potty time onto her, she's only pee-peed in the potty twice and poo-pooed in it once. I don't want her to hate it and try to run away from it." And so she kept silent on that matter too.

Twilight, meanwhile, continued to trot and waddle about, looking for anything that might pinpoint the hiding places of her playmates. They had clearly hidden themselves quite well, because she thought for sure she would've found at least one of them by now. Had Shining secretly teleported them somewhere? Twilight quickly ruled out the thought. Even after his growth spurt, her brother was never that skilled with his horn. Teleportation was something only the highest level unicorns could pull off, and it was something she'd had to teach him after months of begging and pleading on his end.

So if they hadn't teleported, where were they hiding?

Suddenly, the padded princess paused and sniffed the air. She caught a whiff of something, a stench so very familiar to her. "Could it be?" She thought as she sniffed the air again, attempting to pinpoint the stinky smell's source. She sniffed high, low, and everywhere in between. The smell was growing stronger by the second, she was oh so close to finding its source.

At last, the diaper wearing alicorn crouched down and looked underneath her bed. She squinted, struggling to see in the dim light there. But she could just make out the form of Spike, huddled in a corner and suckling on his thumb. "Found you!" She exclaimed, a bit too loudly!

A startled Spike leapt up, bumping his head against the bed's underside! "Ow!" He cried as he started rubbing the sore spot with his claws, whimpering and sniffling a bit.

In an instant, Twilight forgot all about everything else and about the role she was playing. Her protective instincts kicked in as she used her magic to pull Spike close and then carefully brought him out from under the bed. She immediately checked him all over, relieved to find only the tiniest of lumps on the spot where Spike had bumped his head. "There there, Spike. It's okay," She proceeded to kiss the sore spot, lightly cooing. "There we go, all better."

Spike's sobs slowly ceased as he broke character and asked. "How did you find me, Twilight?"

The padded princess giggled. "Your dirty feet gave you away. They're so stinky, they could put any of my dirty diapers to shame."

"Nu-uh, not that stinky!" Spike playfully retorted with a slight lisp.

Twilight giggled again. "Uh-huh, they're definitely stinkier than a stinky diaper!" In a sweet and sincere tone of voice she added. "But that's okay, I love you no matter how stinky you are. And so does everyone else, especially Mommy."

Spike looked to Princess Celestia, who said nothing but reflected a firm and comforting look through her eyes. Slowly, he babbled. "Mommy."

"Yes, Spike, Princess Celestia is our mommy!" The diapered alicorn replied with exaggerated praise, almost like she was congratulating Spike for speaking his first words. "Now come on, let's find the others." As she spoke, she didn't seem to become aware of the faint hissing sound that indicated her bladder had finally stopped holding back. For a moment, her diaper swelled up. But even the damp sensation didn't seem to register in her mind. So absorbed did she appear to be in her playtime.

If Spike was at all aware of it, he said nothing. He just waddled along with Twilight, babbling and cooing as best he could. He seemed to be having the time of his life now that he and Twilight were both back in diapers.

Smarty Pants and Brutus Force were found not long afterward, both apparently having been discarded in a real hurry by Shining Armor. Yet he had taken the time to place them high up in a cabinet, counting on them to not be noticed.

It was Spike who spotted them, when he noticed a familiar stuffed leg poking out from one of the cabinets. "Twily!" He shouted, still lisping and babbling! He tried to point out the location as best he could and get her to notice it.

Sure enough, Twilight spotted the leg and opening the cabinet, she found the two plushies resting next to each other. She giggled for what felt like the fifteenth or so time this day as she brought them out. "Hey, were you two on a date or something?" She teased.

Smarty Pants and Brutus Force both said in unison. "What?! No!" But the way they denied it sounded very unconvincing (especially Brutus Force, who sounded a lot different now).

The padded alicorn snickered and tried to suppress further giggles. "Hey, it's okay. Your secert's safe with me, I won't tell."

"You promise, Twily?" Brutus Force sheepishly asked. "If Shiny hears about it, I'll never live it down! He'll tease me forever!"

"Yeah, little brothers can be annoying like that," Twilight said with a slight frown. "But they can also be a lot of fun. Besides, I know Shiny, and I know he's a good colt at heart. He doesn't tease me about still being in diapers," Under her breath she added. "Much."

Smarty Pants chimed in with her own sentiments. "Besides, he's lots of fun! He's so silly and goofy!"

Brutus Force nodded. "Oh, he definitely is. It's like he doesn't want to ever grow up. Why can't he be more of the strong, silent type like Spike?"

Spike babbled and cooed, clapping his claws together in delight.

The padded princess then declared. "That's enough, you two. It's rude to talk about other ponies behind their backs, even when they're total buttheads like Shiny," She stuck out her tongue in playful, exaggerated fashion. "Now come on, we've got to find him. He's got to be around here somewhere! He may be good at hide and go seek, but he's not better than me!"

Just then, the little group of friends happened to see a white colored whiz past them! They just managed to catch a glimpse of a behind clad in a thick, oversized, crystal blue diaper, before they heard a familiar high pitched voice taunt. "Can't catch me! Can't catch me!"

Twilight groaned ever so slightly. "Now I can see where Flurry Heart gets it from." She thought to herself. She then chased after her "little" brother, shouting at him! "Hey, get back here! You're not supposed to run away!"

"Sorry, Twily, but I'm not gonna make it easy for you!" Shining replied even as he continued shaking his padded posture at her. "If you wanna stop me, you gotta catch me first!" Yet seconds after he had said that, he ran smack into the legs of Princess Celestia. He snorted as he stood up, only to be tackled by Twilight before he had a chance to react. "Hey, no fair!" He complained in a slightly annoyed tone of voice.

Princess Celestia seemed to half coo, half scold the scrawny colt as she said to him. "Now Shining, you can't be running around like that, especially not during a game where you're supposed to stay hidden. You have to play by the rules, young colt."

"Aw, come on! I didn't hide in the place I was gonna hide in! I wanted to give Twily a chance," Shining Armor insisted. "But she was taking too long, I was getting bored."

The sun princess simply stated. "Either way, you owe Twily an apology."

The stallion turned colt slowly looked up at his "big" sister, shooting her the best pair of puppy dog eyes as he sincerely said to her. "Sorry, Twily. I just wanted to have fun, that's all. Plus, I kind of had to use the potty. And since I'm so small, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it all by myself."

"Well why didn't you just say that in the first place, Shiny?" Twilight playfully replied. "We could've paused the game for a potty break," She then sniffed the air and checked his diaper. "You didn't have an accident, did you?"

Shining Armor shook his head from side to side. "Nope, I didn't pee-pee or poo-poo myself, Twily. I'm pretty good at holding it. Princess Celestia may have turned me back into a colt, but my body still mostly functions like a full grown stallion's," Then he happened to look at his sister's diaper, and somewhat nervously asked her. "But uh, shouldn't you check your own diaper, Twily?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight questioned, before she felt her diaper compress and squish. Only now did she seem to notice that cold, damp sensation on her hindquarters. She looked back to her diaper, and saw a faintly visible damp patch. One that had clearly been there for a while. It was a miracle she hadn't gotten a rash yet.

Celestia trotted forward, immediately taking hold of Twilight with her magic. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Twily. Did you really not know you'd wet yourself?"

The padded alicorn sheepishly confessed. "W-well... maybe I thought I felt something for a minute. But I was having so much fun that I didn't think about it," She looked up at her fellow alicorn. "Am I in trouble, Mommy?"

The alicorn with a majestic white coat reassured the padded princess. "Of course not, Twily. You just had an accident, that's all. Even big ponies have accidents sometimes. You know that, don't you?" She levitated her charge through the air, towards the changing table. "Come on, let's get you changed. You're already a bit under the weather as it is, let's not make it worse by making you stay in a used diaper," As she placed Twilight carefully upon the changing table, she then turned to Spike and Shining Armor, asking them. "How about you two? Do either of you need a change?"

Spike just sat down, suckling on his thumb again with that far away look in his eyes.

Shining, meanwhile, used his magic to check his own diaper. "I'm actually a bit wet," He admitted, blushing a bit. "I guess maybe I don't have as much control of my bladder as I thought I did. But I can wait until you're done changing Twily. Cadence made sure to powder me quite thoroughly before she let me go." He demonstrated the fact by shaking and wiggling a bit, causing some of the excess foal powder to spill out.

Celestia smiled. "That's my niece for you. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that she would marry a big foal at heart. And I'm sure Flurry Heart would adore having you as a playmate." Then she went about changing Twilight into a clean diaper.

Shining Armor could only reply. "Well, I'll think about it and talk it over with Cadence. But if you ask me, I think she's the one who could use a break. I know you put her back into diapers once already, but if you ever do it again let me know. It might actually be just the thing to help us rekindle our relationship. Right now it kind of feels like we're just going through the motions."

"Duly noted," Princess Celestia vaguely replied. "And I understand, you've both been very busy. But I think you're excellent parents to Flurry Heart. I know she'll turn out just fine. That hasn't changed just because you sometimes need a break. Even Mommies and Daddies need their me time sometimes."

The stallion turned colt nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of what we have Sunburst for. But he has a life too."

"True, true," The sun princess agreed as she then levitated Twilight off the changing table. "We can discuss it more later on if you'd like. For now, you and Spike still have some time left to spend with Twily."

Just then, an audible rumble filled the air. All eyes turned towards its source, which turned out to be none other than Spike himself. "Hungry." He said as he put a claw to his stomach.

"Come to think of it," Shining put a hoof to his chin. "It's certainly been a while since I've had anything to eat," He proceeded to ask the elder alicorn mare. "What's on the menu for today?"

Celestia smiled and flashed a knowing wink. "Can I trust you all to stay here and stay out of trouble while I go fetch some num-nums?"

The scrawny colt gave a reassuring nod. "Uh-huh, we'll be good, Mommy. Scout's honor!" He gave a small salute, raising a hoof up to his forehead.

Princess Celestia couldn't resist letting out an "Aw" when she saw Spike imitate Shining's gesture in a somewhat clumsy fashion. Still, she was satisfied with the response and lit up her horn, quickly teleporting away.

The alicorn mare with a majestic white coat returned to the bedroom a moment later with a large snack tray held within the soft glow of her horn. She moved to set it down on the table, and as she did so her eyes beheld a most adorable sight.

Twilight and Shining Armor, together with Smarty Pants and Brutus Force had managed to build a fairly magnificent little city of blocks. A city that was partially in ruins now.

The destruction turned out to be caused by Spike, who was stomping and thrashing about, knocking aside blocks without fanfare. Or at least he was, until Twilight, Shining, and their plushie friends all tackled Spike from behind.

The little dragon quickly rolled onto the floor, laughing, squirming, and kicking about. But he was unable to prevent his tummy from being bombarbed by a series of tickles, which made him howl with laughter.

As adorable and heartwarming as the scene was, it couldn't last forever. Princess Celestia broke it up by clapping her hooves in approval, making everyone aware of her presence and the snacks she had brought with her.

Twilight seemed to frown a bit when she saw that the snacks consisted of healthy things like carrots and celery sticks, as well as some mashed up apples. "Can't I have cookies, Mommy?" She asked in a pleading tone of voice.

"Cookies!" Spike licked his lips in eager anticipation.

Celestia forced back a laugh as she told her charges. "I'm afraid not, little ones. Especially not for you, Twily. You need your nutrition."

Shining Armor, meanwhile, eagerly rushed over to the snack tray and picked up the carrots! He began chomping away at them, saying in between bites. "Baby carrots, my favorite!" He didn't seem to care at all for how noislly and sloppily he was eating.

Twilight and Spike quickly overcame their initial disappointment about the lack of cookies as they trotted over to join Shining at the table. The fruits and vegetables tasted quite delicious (not as delicious as cookies, mind you, but delicious all the same).

By the time all was said and done, the three Sparkle siblings had gotten crumbs all over their faces as they sat there at the table with full bellies.

Princess Celestia just playfully retrieved a rag and wiped her charges' faces without saying a word. Then, afterward, she exposed her teets. "How about some milk to wash down your snacks?"

Shining immediately latched onto one of the exposed teets and started suckling without hesitation. He shut his eyes, suckling almost on instinct. Then, as he softly murmured, an audible hissing sound could be heard as his diaper now swelled up considerably, growing damper by the second.

Twilight adopted a goofy grin as she remarked. "I always thought my other mommy was joking, but it looks like she was true: Shining always wets himself when he's breastfeeding."

"Milkies." Shining Armor lisped. He didn't seem to realize, let alone care that his bladder was fully emptying itself into his diaper, which looked like it could only barely hold itself together. Fortunately, the hissing finally stopped just as he finished nursing. And afterward, he didn't fuss or protest in the slightest as he was lifted up by Princess Celestia and held over her lap. A few quick pats was all it took to make him belch quite audibly, before his eyes started to grow heavy.

Spike and Twilight found that they were much the same. A little bit of nursing and a quick pat from the sun princess, and they could barely keep their eyes open. They yawned, alongside Shining. And before they knew it, they were all fast asleep, snoring loudly.

Shining Armor woke up sometime later to find himself and Spike asleep within the same room in the Crystal Empire. It was the bedroom Shining usually shared with his wife, and which thankfully was very close to Flurry Heart's nursery in case of an emergency. Looking down at himself, he was a bit dismayed to see that he was back to being a full grown stallion, and even the sized up diapers Cadence had given him no longer fit him. "Oh well," He sighed to himself as he got up and shook the cobwebs from his mind. "It was fun while it lasted, right, Spike?"

Spike yawned, opening a sleepy eye. "Yeah, it sure was," He then walked over and gave Shining a hug. "Thanks for agreeing to do this with me. You really didn't have to."

The stallion sincerely replied. "Hey, it's what brothers are for. If it means going back to diapers for Twily's sake, I'm more than happy to play the part. Besides," He added. "I really meant it when I said I could use a break. Flurry Heart is adorable, but she's also quite a hoofful. I thought I was ready for fatherhood when she came along, yet it seems like every day she surprises me with something."

"Well for what it's worth, you and Cadence seem to be raising her just fine," Spike encouraged. He then looked around. "So, it looks like we still have some time together. I don't think I'm needed back in Ponyville just yet since Twilight is still on her 'extended leave of absence'." He delivered the last line with a knowing wink.

"Good," The familiar voice of Princess Cadence called as she came trotting into the room. "It sounds to me like you two had a fun day with little Twily," In an exaggerated tone of annoyance, she remarked. "Meanwhile, I had to manage Flurry Heart, hold court, and deal with rumors about changelings in the empire all by myself."

"Sorry, Cadence," Shining Armor sincerely apologized as he trotted over and nuzzled his wife. "How about I take over watching Flurry Heart for you while you spend a day doing what you want to do?"

The crystal princess questioned. "Honey, are you sure that's wise? We all know how well your first attempt at foalsitting Twilight went."

The stallion with a snow white coat reassured his wife. "Relax, hon. This time I'll have Spike the Brave and Glorious to back me up. And don't you think it's time Flurry Heart spent some quality time with her Uncle Spike?"

Cadence seemed to relent. "Well... I suppose..."

Satisfied with the response, Shining kissed his wife on the forehead and gently told her. "Then it sounds like we have a deal," He turned to Spike. "Come on, Spike, let's leave Cadence to enjoy her day off. I think we can let her have the whole castle to herself."

"So we're gonna take Flurry Heart outside with us?" Spike questioned.

Shining Armor nodded. "Why not? I think any changeling would think twice before trying to mess with Spike the Brave and Glorious."