Holding Onto You

by AlliePastel


Chapter Eight: Pancakes and Bacon

The child sat, glancing in a wondrous state as the city horizon line came full front. The buildings didn’t top twenty or forty feet, but they were still a little intimidating.

“Hmm, what a pleasant morning.” Fluttershy commented, continuing to stair into the sunny day sky with a sizable smile on her face. Focusing back on the road, she hit her turn switch to head towards town. “Hmm, have you ever been to Circleville Scoots?”

“Huh?” Scootaloo sounded, snapping out of her trans like state. She looked at the dash then back at the road’s sizzling hot surface. “Oh, I don’t know. Supposedly my dad liked taking me to the Canterlot carnivals that occasionally stopped by. But I’m pretty hazy with the cities and stuff around here.”

Smirking, Fluttershy leaned back in her seat a little as they turned onto the main street. “Wait, but my house is decently close to your uh- Margret’s house. Are you telling me you don’t know what’s like fifty kilometers away?”

Scootaloo watched idly as the red light switched green and her aunt took route to local diner. She kicked her legs a little bit, “I-I don’t.” She admitted looking over at her aunt, “Trust me, just about everything I know I learned myself. Given I’ve never been old enough to drive I never really bothered- you know- learning.”

Fluttershy smiled with a hint of sympathy in her grin, “Ooh, you poor baby.” She said, keeping her focus on the road as she turned into the parking lot. After a brief minute of awkward parking, she looked over the girl, “Well don’t you worry your precious little head about it I guess, you’re not going to get very far the way you’re dressed anyway.”

Looking down at herself, the girl chuckled a little. “Heh, I guess you’re right. A-are you sure the outfit looks alright?”

Nodding, the women unlocked the door with a press of a button. “Yeah, of course it is Scooty Booty. Now wait by your door while your Aunt gets your bag.”

Scootaloo undid her seat belt, opened the heavy car door, and hopped onto the hot concrete below. A warm blast of air hit her face, causing her fine purple hair to flow a little with the push of the wind. ‘My bag… my diaper bag’ she thought to herself, curiously crunching a pebble with her pink-souled rubber trainers.

“Ready lovey?” Fluttershy asked, reaching a hand out to the girl. Like any sane person, she didn’t want to spend any more time than was necessary in the sweltering summer heat.

Smiling a little, Scootaloo nodded her head grabbing onto her aunt’s palm gently at first but then firmly as she found how cool it was.

Fluttershy walked to the bumper of the car, looked both ways, then proceeded to walk her niece across the hot stoney lot. “Heh, ooh I just know you’re going to love their food. Are you more of pancake person or a waffle person?”

“Uhh… pancake!” Scootaloo chirped, smiling brightly as they walked through the double-doors of the diner.

“Hello!” A perky brunette women called out, reaching into her podium. Pulling out one adult menu and one kid menu she grinned, “Just you two?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Heh, yeah. Just us two. Come on Scootaloo.” She said, hyping her niece’s stylish diaper bag back over her shoulder.

The child sheepishly smiled a little as she waddled with the tug of her aunt’s hand pulling her forward. She couldn’t help but feel littler than usual as she strolled down the white hard tiled diner halls, her childishly garish sneakers squeaking lightly on the floor, the people all around her looking twice as big as they usually would.

As she took her seat, Scootaloo swore she could her diaper rustling underneath her. Tapping her fingers in quick succession on the table and stared idly up at the waitress with a smirk as she waited for her to ask a question.

The waitress, being the busy women that she was, really only kept her ear open for Fluttershy as she opened her flip book.

“I think I know what we want.” Fluttershy smiled, gathering the attention of both her child and her waitress. Closing the menu, she rested the untouched child menu on top of it and smiled. “I’ll take a strawberry crepe and my little joy will have the children’s pancake meal…” She handed the menu off, “Oh, and she’ll have a milk if you could.”

“Would you like milk too?” the waiter questioned, flipping over a small book and writing the details inside.

Fluttershy pondered the thought for a second then shook her head, “No I don’t think so.” Folding her hands on her lap she smiled, “My daughter is a handful when she gets going. I think a latte would do me good.”

“Hehe, is that right? Are you a handful for your mom?” The waitress teased, lightly jabbing at Scootaloo’s shoulder with her pen.

“Yeahhh.” Scootaloo gushed, leaning her on the hands as she pressed them against her lap, smiling at the sentiment.

The women retracted the pen and put it back behind her ear, “Well, you don’t fret now. I’ll get your breakfast for you in just a second, hun.”

Continuing to smile, the child nodded as she watched the waitressed walk away in her wavey blue dress and white smock. Snapping back out of her trans, she looked over at her aunt. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?” Fluttershy smiled, relaxing a little in her seat with a big prideful smirk on her face.

“I mean, what’s with calling me your daughter?” Scootaloo asked.

Stiffling a laugh, the women grabbed the strap of the diaper bag. “It was an example Scootaloo. I know it might be a little nerve racking walking around in ‘younger’ looking clothes. But the beauty in looking eight years younger than you should is that the grownups will always take my word as fact.”

Scootaloo scrunched her expression a little and tilted her head to the side.

“Well, how to I put this?” Fluttershy smiled, unzipping the girl’s diaper bag. Gracefully she pulled out an unopened turquoise package of Pampers and set them on the dining room’s linoleum table. She watched her child’s eyes shoot wide over and her expression drop.

“Are you crazy, someone could see those.” Scootaloo whispered, double taking to make sure no one in the diner was looking. To her surprise, no one was.

“Scootaloo, please. Of course someone people are going to notice the diapers.” Fluttershy said, poking the plastic package of diapers with her pointer finger. “After all, you are a pretty skinny girl and with your new undies being as bulky as they are, you’ve got a serious case of diaper butt.”

The young girl swallowed subconsciously as the pack of Pampers were scooted in her direction. She looked over at her aunt with worried expression.

“But that’s the fun part lovey.” Fluttershy spouted, smiling garishly as she watched her niece nervously pick up the diapers with her tiny hands, “Because you’re wearing diapers, people are going to assume you’re just big for your size. I can tell them that you’re a late bloomer or something and they’ll believe because- well just look at the way you’re dressed.”

Curiously, Scootaloo scrunched the package of diapers with her hands, staring as the child on the front’s face got smushed.

Reaching her hand over the table, the women picked up the package with a single hand. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Regardless of what you do or how you act, your aunty Fluttershy will cover for you.”

The child bit her thumb for a second but then smiled. “Oh my gosh, you’re right aren’t you?”

“Aren’t I always right?” Fluttershy giggled, tucking the package of diapers back into her niece’s diaper bag. “Trust me, years of nursing have taught me that all acts of responsibility fly out the window when you’re bound to a caretaker. Even if you were to throw a tantrum or scream or something, you still wouldn’t get me into half the trouble some of my old patients did.”

“That’s good.” Scootaloo snickered, pressing her hands on her lap again, “Cause to be a hundred percent honest, I have to potty still.”

Fluttershy blinked, a little bit awestruck by her niece’s comment. “Do you mean you have to tinkle?”

Scootaloo shook her head then leaned in, covering her mouth with her hand, “No, I hafta ‘potty’.”

Facepalming, the women snickered. “Ooh, Scootaloo. You are a little stinker aren’t you.”

“C-can I use the bathroom?” She asked, quietly.

“Oh, Scootaloo.” The women smiled, patting the diaper bag. “You know you can use the bathroom anytime, anywhere, as long as you do it in your diaper.”

Dropping her expression to a pout, the child huffed. “Hmmph, it’s not fair. I didn’t dress like a baby to embarrass myself you know?”

Nodding, the women continued to give the child a loving but stern expression, “Well I don’t buy then dress you in baby clothes only for you to chicken out. Please Scootaloo, you know I wouldn’t make you use your diapers if I didn’t think it was for the best.”

Taking a deep breath, the girl nodded. “I-I know.” She said, looking over at her aunt with a half-defeated grin, “I’ll be good.”

“That’a girl.” Fluttershy smiled, sitting back in her seat as an entrée was set on the table right in front of her.

“Alright, dears. That’s one strawberry crepe for you and one stack of pancakes for the little one.” She sounded, handing the two their respective meals and drinks. “Need anything else?” she asked, pulling out a black little book.

“No, everything looks great. Thank you.” Fluttershy smiled, reaffirming her satisfaction with a nod. She looked over at the child and grinned, “eat up Scoots.”

Scootaloo looked down at the two small pancakes on her white porcelain plate. Aside it was small bowl of peeled oranges, two strips of bacon, and a child-size cup of milk with a bendy straw. For most teenage girls, a meal so meager would be a underwhelming breakfast. But for Scootaloo, a girl who’s stomach rivaled her body in meekness, the meal seemed actually came off as a bit a overwhelming.

***

“Ooooh.” Scootaloo moaned, feeling her stomach chern a little bit as she got broiled in the front seat of her car. She been sitting still for five minutes and her car’s A.C definetly hadn’t negated the the warmth coming of the sun.

“Heh, easy Scooty Booty. We’re almost at the Toy Jamboree. I promise it’ll be more comfortable in there.” The women reassured, switching on her turn signal. Very smoothly, she was able to turn the corner without a hitch.

The child slumped back in her seat and stared over at her aunt. “It’s not that, I reeeeally have to use the potty!” she complained.

The women chuckled, pulling up to the toy store and turning right into its lot. “Hehe, you are wearing your potty anytime you need it.” She teased.

“Excuse me, you ever tried using a diaper before?” Scootaloo pouted, hugging her tummy with her folded arms and jerking her head into the air.

Fluttershy quickly glimpsed over at her niece sitting over on the passanger side and chuckled. “Heh, I mean when I was a baby.”

Steadying herself, Scootaloo stretched back in her seat a bit and kicked her feet. “Well, it’s physically not easy going in your pants. Why do you think I still prefer the bathroom?”

Smiling, the women very carefully drove into the parking love. Watching out for any children or their parents, she drove at half speed before coming to a complete spot near the back of the store.

“Hmm…” Fluttershy pondered, turning off the car with a switch of her metal key, then leant back in her seat. Slumping her head over in the direction of the girl she pointed at the bag. “I have fiber pills in the bag if you want to try.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she popped open her car door. “I’ll just wait until I get home Fluttershy. You said it yourself, this isn’t the kind of place to be spending too much time in.”

“Sure thing, Princess.” Fluttershy answered as she hopped out of the car. Walking right behind Scootaloo with her diaper bag held in one hand, she used her other one to grab her child’s hand.

“Huh?” Scootaloo questioned, looking to her side for clarity.

Fluttershy squeezed the girl’s hand and giggled a little, “Heh, I’m glad you waited. I actually hadn’t thought about it, but I guess with your new style and all, I probably do need to pay better attention when we’re out in public.” The women looked down at her girl and cooed, “You’re such a smart wittle girl.”

“Really?” Scootaloo asked, perking up excitedly at the compliment. She looked up at her aunt’s radiant pink hair dancing in the sun as she locked her beautiful amethyst eyes with her aunt’s aquamarine ones.

Looking down at the child with a similarly optimistic smile she continued to praise her. “Of course, I mean it. You’re the smartest girl I’ve ever met and the most helpful to. Now, I’m gonna need you to do something really big for your aunt. Can you promise me that you’ll be super duper patient while we shop for your new furniture and clothes?” She asked, pacing across the hard asphalt of the pavement as the summer sun beat down on her back.

Her eyes opened wide, Scootaloo did another excited hop. “Ooh, yeah! I promise I can!”

The aunt approached the automatic sliding doors of the building and eased her way into the well air conditioned, well-polished enterance lobby of the store. Stopping, she let go of her niece’s hand, bent down one knee, and looked her in a face with a more somber expression. “Allllright, Scootaloo. Then your aunty will be super patient when she lets you pick out a few toys to play with. Got it?”

Scootaloo nodded, knowing full well that her the request wouldn’t be a problem. For as little as she got to do it growing up, she really liked shopping. Even more so, she really liked shopping for clothes. It was her guilty pleasure.

“Good!” The women replied, standing up and draping Scootaloo’s diaper bag over her shoulder and into one of the nearby shopping trollies. With a kind expression on her face, she gestured to her niece with her hand. “I won’t have room in the cart for you, so I’m going to need you to stay close.”

“Oh?” Scootaloo sounded, waddling over to her aunt in a rush. “Ah, I’m sorry.” She said, grabbing a hold of the cage’s red plastic cage.

“Heh.” The women chuckled, “No need to be flustered sweetie. I just don’t want you little toddler tush falling too far behind. I want your input on this stuff, especially since you’ll be the one living with it.”

The child looked up at her aunt’s proud womanly posture as she pushed the cart along, then glance over at the rest of the store. To her amazement, the place was no smaller to her now than it was ten years ago. From around the corners of the polished white floor tiles of the isles grew shelves of colourful toys, playsets, movies, games, and advertising boards all tempting her with the allusion of fun and adventure.

Fluttershy walked right past the toys and into the more spacious, more open ended lobby that was the girl’s clothing. While there were many little dresses, leggings, and tops that delighted her inner parent, she kepted her eyes focused on the one thing she really came here for; footie pajamas.

Lingering behind her aunt’s presence this time, Scootaloo was a little bit more posed as she walked behind her aunt, minding the awkward sway the diaper in her trousers caused her make. Subconsciously, she reached her hand behind her back and morbidly pressed down on her backside, as if she could suppress the presence of the padding.

Picking up a decently sized blanket sleeper, the women twirled it by its wire hook and examined it’s design. It was cutesy, with a white cotton fabric, speckled aqua, pastel pink, and violet spots with a similarly coloured owl covering the chest and feet. Best of all however was the way the sleeper’s design was accommodative of towards younger children. There was no distinct boundary between top and bottom allowing for discreet diaper wearing and its neck to foot zipper design mean she could change Scootaloo without having to take the thing off. Best of all, when she checked the tag it read ‘Kids XL’.

Excited, by the discovery of such a suitable design, she flashed it at her niece. “Scootaloo, look!”

Scootaloo hopped on her feet and let out a small, “Eek.” then removed her hands from her backside and held them up in the air, as if she’d been caught stealing or something.

“Scootaloo?” Fluttershy questioned, curiously setting the outfit down on the shopping trolly’s cage. She twirled her finger and asked the question, “Could you turn around for me real quick dear?”

The girl’s face flushed red as several passersbyers took curious glances. She looked at the purplish pink glittery floor and muttered, “A-am I trouble?” as she turned around.

“Noo…” Fluttershy reassured her, reaching down and undoing the button’s that held the romper’s suspenders snuggly over her shoulder. Very quick, the denim fabric of the outfit plummeted around the girl’s trainers.

Scootaloo’s covered her face. Peaking in between her fingers, she watched as an older women- perhaps about sixty years in age, stared at her behind the cold exterior of her sunglasses.

“I haven’t smelt anything.” She rationalized, squatting down. She pulled back the elastic of the child’s diaper and raised an eyebrow, “You didn’t wet yourself, did you?”

Scootaloo dropped her hands and stared directly at the strange old lady, who then proceeded to awkwardly meander away. Annoyed she turned around drawing her pointer finger over her lips, and shushed her aunt- as if the uncovered Pampers protruding from her hips wasn’t the thing garnering the unwanted attention.

Smiling warmly, Fluttershy continued talking in a normal tone. “Easy, Scooty Booty. There’s no reason to get worked up.” The women said, gently pushing the small of the child’s back.

Mortified, Scootaloo stepped forward and place her hands on her hips, staring up her aunt with a bemused anger. “Fluttershy!” She yelled in a suppressed tone.

“Listen.” Fluttershy spoke, picking up the girl’s romper from the ground and returning it to the cart. She unzipped the diaper bag and drew out a much lighter, much more discreet spring gown.

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide, looking at the dress. It was simple foam green, with a white sunflower on the chest, and a dark green hemline. Most importantly, it’s skirt flared out. The child cooled down her anxious tone as the aunt dawn the sleeveless dress over her head and helped her into it.

Turning her back to the child, Fluttershy picked up the romper and slowly folded it in her hands.“I told you, you’ve got nothing to worry about Scoots. I’m not here to embarrass you.”

“What?” Scootaloo asked defensively crossing her arms, “You just pulled down off my romper like it didn’t even matter! What if a boy saw me?”

Fluttershy leaned over and brushed her girl’s magenta bangs out of her face and behind her ear. “Honey, look. For one, we’re at a Toy Jamboree, realistically no boy older than ten or eleven shops here.” She smirked jovially, expecting her niece to find the humor in the situation as well- but to no avail. “Right”, she said toning down her snarkiness, “The only way to check a full diaper is by feeling it, smelling it, or looking at it. But, I don’t like touching dirty diapers if I can help it and I definitely don’t like smelling them, so I prefer the sight check.”

“So? You still could have asked.” the child said, defensively pouting.

“Is everything alright here, ma’am?” A somewhat chubby black man asked, walking up to the two with a open ended curiosity.

“Oh- what?” Fluttershy asked, spinning on her heel about thirty degrees before seeing the man and his iconic blue stripped dress shirt- something only managerial staff wore. Sighing a little in relief, Fluttershy fluttered her hand. “Oh, no. I was just having a little bit of dispute with my niece.”

The man passed by the girl, curiously twirling his lanyard on his finger. With a hardy smile on his face, he shined his white teeth at Scootaloo. “Okay, so this is your niece.” He said, glancing back over at Fluttershy. Her patted the red cage of her cart, clutching it with his hand and looked back at the women. “That’s good. We saw you walk in with her, but the SD and I got awful concerned when you dropped her britches.”

Blushing a little, Fluttershy rubbed her right arm. “Heh, sorry about that.” She muttered swallowing nervously. Leaning in a little, she gestured with her hand for the manager to get closer to her ear.

The man blinked as if to comprehend Fluttershy’s actions. With an audible “Oh.” He sprung to his heels, cuffing his ear and leaned close to the women.

“Listen.” Fluttershy whispered, taking a deep breath. “I don’t like making a commotion. But my niece has a diaper rash and the way her romper fit was causing her to chafe a little.”

The man pivoted his head to face Scootaloo, who he could see rather awkwardly mumbling around the pajama racks several meters away. Smiling coyly, he snickered. “Oh, heh. I see.” He said, standing himself up straight.

“Heh, yeah.” Fluttershy chuckled a little herself, watching as Scootaloo curiously picked out some form of turquoise footie pajamas with a doggie design from off the rack. A little proud of her lie, she placed her hands on her hips and posed the question to the man, “I know this is a toy store, but this place also sells furniture for children’s rooms, right?”

The man nodded his head.

Smiling, Fluttershy tapped her foot on the glitzy sparkled carpet of the girl’s clothing section then looked in the distance. “Huh. Well, my little niece suffers from epilepsy- which is also kinda why she’s wearing diapers to begin with. Anyway, her collection of stuffed animals is kinda getting too big and I was wondering if you maybe had a twin sized bed with a safety railing.”

“Hmm.” The man said, frowning a little. “Well I’m sorry ma’am. Yes, we got em’ for twin sized and full sized beds. They’re over in isle 23.”
“Thank you, that’s great.” Fluttershy said, patting the man’s should before trailing off after her niece. Turning back briefly, she posed the question, “Ooh yeah. Also, could you point us to the rest room?”

“Oh it’s over there.” The man said, pointing a finger towards a big pink bathroom sign to his left. “I’ll be around for the next hour or two if you got any questions- ya hear? But before you go, I’m gonna need your name to close the SD investigation.”

Scootaloo held up a rather cutesy two-piece aqua-coloured butterfly pajama set as she watched her aunt walk right up behind her in a nearby mirror.

“Come on Scoots. We don’t need any more pajamas.” Fluttershy said, picking up the aqua coloured PJs from her niece’s left hand and set it back on the rack. She turned her head back briefly to the man and answered “My name is Fluttershy Kennedy and my niece’s name is Riley S. Kennedy.”

“But Fluttershy, they’re soooo cute!” the child whined, stomping her trainers on the carpeted ground.

Fluttershy smiled a little, picking up the child’s PJs back up by their hook. Using her free hand, she pointed over to the cart, “Fine, we’ll get them too but that’s it. Now come on, we outta get you to the toilet before this place becomes a circus. Right?

“Oh? Hehe, yeah.” Scootaloo chirped, skipping back over to the cart in the awkward way her diaper let her.

The aunt watched as her niece once again wrapped her hand around the cart’s red plastic basket, then slowly started pacing her way back onto one of the store’s main isles.