A few hours after Shining’s escapade, the foals were now all back in the nursery in a playpen, with Cadence hovering over them watching them like a hawk. Flurry, Sunburst, and Shining were all building a city made of blocks together, trying to see how big they could make it before bed. The foals were quiet, as they were unsure of what to say. Shining finally broke the silence with an exasperated sigh and babbled, “I sowie ya two fow gettin ya in twoubwe. Sunnybuwst, ya wight, I shouwd jus stayed and pwayed with ya and Fwuwwy, instead of twyin to act wike a gwown-up.”
Sunburst looked up at Shining and smiled at him as he replied, “It’s otay, I was a meanie too fow teasing ya. I sowie ya got spankies by Cady.” He crawled up to Shining and hugged him close.
Flurry started clapping her hooves and squealed, “Yeah, ya two finawwy made up! Now I dun need to wowwy about you two fighting ow twying to fwush the othew down the big scawy toiwet!”
Shining rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Yeah, we fine fow now, be hawd to fwush Sunnybwust anyway with Cadence watching us. I gwess we showd jus pway and be good foaws, we caused enough twoubwe awweady.”
Sunburst nodded and agreed, “Besides, this city of bwocks is wooking nice. Hopefuwwy we can finish it befowe night nights.”
Flurry giggled and commented, “Yeah, ya see wha ya two can do when ya wowk togetha?”
Shining looked out the window and saw the sun setting, which made him ponder. “I gwess we dun got awot of time weft to pway tough, it’s gettin dawk.”
Sunburst babbled. “Ten get a move on! I wanna buiwd a castwe of bwocks befowe night nights.”
As the foals hurried to finish their block city, Starlight Glimmer who was busy talking to Twilight, before she turned around and asked, “Hey Cadence, since it’s almost time to put the foals to bed, can I change Sunburst?”
Cadence laughed out loud before she caught herself and whispered, “Of course. Besides, I think I smell a stinky Shining.”
Starlight picked Sunburst up, while Cadence picked up Shining and soon the two were placed on the changing table to have their stinky butts changed. Sunburst began to groan though, as Starlight began making a big deal about it, laughing, “Oh, there’s my Sunny Bunny’s stinky rump! Never thought I’d be getting used to you doing it! What’s next, am I gonna have to help re-potty train you?!” She started wiping him, making Sunburst giggle and coo.
All the while, Cadence was doing the same to Shining. The prince sighed, he was (reluctantly) getting quite used to these diaper changes now. Still, he he smiled at his wife and giggled as she wiped his rump clean. Strapping on another diaper, Cadence gazed at her tiny husband, flailing his limbs and making cute crinkling noises with his diaper. She just sighed and cooed, “You're lucky you're so cute, what with all the trouble you caused today,” Shining gasped and put his hooves over his eyes, making Cadence laugh, “Oh, don’t think you can disappear from me, Shiny!” She gave him a raspberry, making him giggle and squeal in laughter, as she blew another one. “Oh no, Shiny, you owe me! Here comes another one!” She then came down and blew a second raspberry, eliciting more laughter from the foal prince. She then picked up a cute blue sleeper with little crystals decorating it. She zipped Shining into it and let him crawl off to the blocks, Sunburst was then settled right there with him who was also in a new diaper and a cute sleeper. Starlight Glimmer ruffled his mane and cooed, “Go on and play, you still have a few minutes before bed.”
Sunburst nodded and waddled off towards Shining and Flurry Heart building their block tower. Shining turned towards the crinkling sounds and giggled at the sleeper as he babbled, “So Sunnybuwst, ya have enough powda on ya wump?”
Sunburst bounced on his diaper. “Yep, no nasty washies tonight.” He then helped build the tower of blocks as Shining asked, “So Sunnybuwst, how was ya change?”
Sunburst shrugged, “Fine, Starwight aways does the best job.”
Shining shouted in protest, “Nah uh! Cady is the best diapee changea of aw time! She’s an actuaw foaw sitter, so she’s got expewience!”
Flurry got flustered and shouted, “Guys, I thought ya said no mow fightin?! Da I have to sepewate ya too and give ya spankies with my magic?!”
The colts blushed, shuddered at the thought of Flurry Heart punishing them like that, and babbled, “Sowie, Fwuwwy.”
Flurry grumbled, as she placed another block on top of Shining’s block, while Sunburst asked, “so now tat evewy pony knows Shiny’s a foaw, ya tink we can finawwy go to ta pawk?”
Flury Heart nodded and exclaimed, “Yeah, I wants ta go to ta pawk tomowwow and pway in the sandbox again!”
Shining shook his head and babbled, “Nah, I dun wana! I got embewassed enough today. I dun wan to be seen as a foaw by anymowe ponies.”
Flurry grumbled, “Tat was aw ya fawt, Daddy. I towd ya ta just stay in ta nusewy.”
Shining nodded and blushed, “Awght, Fwuwwy, ya wight about tat. I was bein a poopy head.”
Flurry giggled, crawled over and hugged her dad, and whispered, “Oh Daddy, ya just funny. Ya not a poopy head.”
Cadence just watched the adorable scene unfold, and let Flurry Heart finish her hug. She then came by and scooped the foals into her magical embrace as she cooed, “Alright you three, time for night nights,” She tucked them all under a foal blanket and spun the mobile overhead. After Cadence slipped a pacifier into each of the foal’s mouths, they all began to fall asleep, until Shining looked around and began to whimper. Cadence was confused for a second, then she looked on the floor, saw Brutus Force, and dawwed, “Oh, Shiny just wants his snuggle buddy.” She drifted it straight into his waiting hooves. He snuggled it close and started to drift off to sleep, making Cadence blush at how foalish her husband was now. “I can’t wait to tell Flurry Heart about this when she’s older.”
After the foals had fallen asleep, Cadence talked to Twilight and Starlight, “Tomorrow, I’m going to be gone for most of day trying to explain to the kingdom that Shining’s problem is temporary.” She told them.
Twilight sighed, “I’m so sorry about today, Starlight and I should of been here.”
Cadence smirked, “Oh, it’s nopony’s fault. When foals have their mind made up they’ll do anything.”
Starlight then commented. “Well, I’ve been dealing with Sunburst and Flurry Heart all week. I won’t mind one more day I suppose.”
Twilight nodded, “Yeah, I won’t mind it either. We’ll make sure the foals don’t cause anymore trouble, Cadence.”
Cadence hugged the two and whispered, “Thanks you two. Now I better get some sleep, there’s a lot I have to do tomorrow,” The tired pink coated alicorn sighed as she walked off.
Twilight followed Cadence outside and bowed her head as she explained, “I'm so sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused. I’m the one who made the potion that got Shining turned into a foal. If there are any repercussions for that, let me take them.”
Cadence gave Twilight a motherly smile and hugged her. “It’s okay, Twilight, everything’s going to be alright. I’ll just make sure all the ponies of the Crystal Empire know that Shining will only be a foal for a week. Trust me, this is partially Shining's fault too. He’s the one who ran off and did his little dance in front of the nobles. I wanted to keep them in the dark.”
Twilight looked up at Cadence, “You sure? I mean there’s no royal punishment?” She asked.
Cadence giggled, “Well unless you count diaper duty no, nothing is going to happen to you. Now go get some sleep, you’ll need it to keep up with the foals tomorrow.”
Twilight blushed and nodded, “Right, thanks Cadence,” She then walked back into the nursery and after closing the door, she looked at Shining and whispered, “For someone who didn’t want to be a foal, you sure are causing a lot of trouble.
Starlight then took out some sleeping bags and suggested, “Seeing how rowdy the foals have been, I thought it best if we slept in the nursery to make sure they don’t escape.” She drapped them both on the floor, as Twilight came up to them.
“Thanks Starlight, this is a good idea. Now if they try to escape again, we’ll be right here to catch ‘em.” Twilight commented, and smoothed out her sleeping bag.
“No problem, Twilight.” Starlight commented, as she crawled into her sleeping bag.
Twilight and Starlight snuggled underneath the sleeping bags as Twilight sighed, “I really hope the foals are done causing trouble.”
Flurry Heart woke later that night and saw Shining sleeping soundly. She crawled up to him and stared at him for a moment. He was grasping Brutus Forces and smiling under his pacifier as it bobbed up and down. He looked so peaceful, which only made Flurry Heart feel really guilty.
She whispered to her dad, “I sowie, Daddy. I didn't wan ya ta be waughed at. I just wanted to pway with ya becawse ya aways busy aww the time. I pwomice I’ww make ya a big pony again now,” She then stood up, looking at her bars before she effortlessly flew over them.
Both Twilight and Starlight were fast asleep in their sleeping bags, so they saw and heard nothing.
Flurry Heart carefully went over to her toy chest and pulled out a teddy bear. Looking around to make sure no one was watching her, she opened the sticky tabs on the back where the stuffing would usually be inserted. But instead of stuffing, the insides of the bear contained several tubes of different colored substances that Flurry Heart had confiscated. She gulped, eyeing the unmarked tubes, “Uh oh, I fowgot which one was ta cuwe,” She nervously whispered to herself, and she knew she didn’t have much time.
Reluctantly, Flurry Heart picked out the nearest one, a tube with a blue colored powdery substance inside it and flew back to the crib, taking care not to drop or spill it. Nervously, she tossed the contents onto Shiny, watching as he breathed in the magical dust.
Smiling, Flurry went back to sleep as she whispered, “See ya tomowwow, Daddy. You wewe fun to pway with and I hope you wun fowget aww ouw fun times togethew when ya tuwn back into a gwown-up.”
Twilight woke the next morning to Celestia’s sun streaming down on her face. She mumbled, “Princess Celestia, a few more minutes, please.”
Starlight, meanwhile, was stumbling awake. She yawned, walked over to the crib and peered at the foals. Eyeing their diapers she mumbled, “All asleep, good. But it looks like you three could use some diaper changes,” She then saw that where Shining was supposed to be, there just Brutus Forces! Frantically, Starlight rubbed her eyes, hoping she had seen things! She looked over Flurry, Sunburst, then Brutus Force, but there was no sign of Shining anywhere! She immediately shouted. “Shining’s gone!”
Twilight shot up from bed and rushed over to the crib, she looked all over and groaned when she saw her brother was nowhere to be seen. “Oh no, not again!” She exclaimed. The other foals got up and started to look around in panic, then they started to bawl. Twilight snapped and turned to starlight as she gave orders, “Starlight, I’ll get them changed. Go get the stroller and some foal supplies! We’re going to find Shining, he couldn’t have gotten far.”
Starlight nodded, rushed off to a closet, and grabbed a pink foal buggy which she began to stuff with things like diapers, powder, wipes, toys, and even blankets. Meanwhile, Twilight quickly drifted Sunburst and Flurry Heart to the changing table, and changed them out of their soaked diapers.
Sunburst babbled, “Whas goin on?! Wha happen ta Shiny?! Did he fwush himsewf down the toiwet somehow?!” Flurry turned away and began to whimper as Sunburst looked at her and asked, “Flurry, did ya see him weave at aww?! Did he mention anyting to ya?!”
Flurry Heart turned her head and sadly replied, “I sowie, Sunnybuwst, is aww my fawt!”
Sunburst eyed Flurry Heart and asked, “Wha ya mean is youw fauwt?! Did ya do someting to Shiny to make him disappeaw?!” But before Flurry Heart could explain, Starlight brought the fully loaded, frilly looking, and pink colored foal buggy. Sunburst stared at it with dismay as he groaned, “Aw, why di she coose tat foaw buggy?!”
Flurry just giggled, forgetting about what she was going to tell Sunburst. She got excited, kicking about and cooing. Twilight took the freshly padded foals and strapped them in as she asked, “Starlight, what did you pack!?”
Starlight reported in military fashion, “Diapers, wipes, formula, foal toys, pacifiers, and extra foal blankets.”
Twilight nodded, “Good job, Starlight! Now come on, we’ve wasted enough time already! Celestia knows where Shining could be!” She then grabbed Starlight and teleported herself and the foals out of the palace!
Shining woke up hearing two voices talking about something. He looked up to see a dark orange coated mare with a brown and red mane and tail, and her husband arguing. The stallion shouted, “Honey, we need to bring him back to the Crystal Palace! Every second we have him, we look like the culprits who actually did this to him. ”
“Oh come on, they’ll blame us that he’s a foal!” The mare argued back. “We’re already in trouble as it is, or did you forget Sunburst?” The mare responded in a worried tone.
The stallion shouted in protest, “So what then? We just keep him?!”
The mare shouted back “I don’t know, why don’t we just drop him off at the Crystal Playplace and let them inform the castle!”
But the stallion only shouted, “Oh come on, haven't you learned your lesson yet?!”
Shining just blinked with surprise at what he was seeing and thought, “Are these the ponies who turned me into a foal? Did they foalnap me while I was asleep?” He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He realized he was on a park bench, hopped off, and crawled away from the yelling stallion and mare as he thought, “Yeesh, these two need marriage counseling or something,” He waddled around for a while trying to figure where he was. All of a sudden, he saw crystal ponies who were playing games and enjoying some kind of celebration. Shining gulped and was looking around as he thought, “Where am I? How did I get here?” Then he gasped as he suddenly realized something, “Ah, is a bithwday cewebwation! Must be fow one of Fwuwwy Heawt’s fwiends!”
Shining started to crawl around and avoid the ponies, but soon he saw Pumice and Turquoise with their mom, sucking on bottles on their mom’s laps, while said mare was talking with another one, both of them eating some salad. The foals quickly spotted him, they both got up and climbed off their mom’s laps as Shining met them under the table. He hugged the two and shouted, “Puwmice! Tuwquoise! I so gwad ya two awe hewe! Gwad to see some fwiendly faces!”
The two foals squealed “Shining!”, and hugged the prince back. But their hooves were filled with buggers and drool, which caused Shining to step away with a blush. As Shining was trying to clean himself off, Turquoise asked. “So wha ya doin hewe, Shiny?”
Pumice giggled as he babbled, “Yeah, Shiny. Come to show off ya diapee? We heawd aw about it.”
Turquoise giggled and started bouncing in his diaper, “Yeah, now aw ta foaws in ta Cwystaw Pwaypwace awe twyin to do ta Shiny diapee dance. Ya famous! You come to show us how is done?!”
Shining’s jaw just gave the foals a dumbfounded expression, he couldn’t believe how fast word had travelled of that dance of his. He then shook his head and told the foals, “Nu, I not hewe to teach ya two tat. Wight now, I need to get back to ta pawace.”
Turquoise suckled his hoof as he pondered, “Wew, my mommy cowd hewp ya.”
Pumice held up a hoof, “But first, teach us the diapee dance ya famous fow.”
Shining shook his head, “Na uh, I won’t do that eva again. Especiwway not aftew I made a messy whiwe doing it in fwont of the nobews! I nevew gonna wive tat down!”
Turquoise crossed his forelegs and babbled, “Wew ten, we not gonna hewp ya get back to ta pawace.”
Shining grumbled as he bounced on his diaper, pondering the situation. Then he reluctantly said to the foals, “Fine, I’ww teach ya two when I get to ta pawace, bu not befowe. Deaw?”
They both nod as Pumice stuck his hoof out. “Deaw.”
Shining gulped and shook it real fast, then wiped it on the ground, as he gave a queasy smile and said to the foals, “Sounds gweat, now let’s go see ya mommy.” He then crawled off with the other foals and came up to Turquoise’s mom as she whispered, “I heard that the nobles got treated to Shining’s diaper dance, that must of been so adorable. I wish I was there to see it, Celestia knows Turquoise would try to imitate it if he knew how.”
Shining grumbled as he thought, “I think i’m going to need another vacation after this.” He then tugged the mare’s tail as she turned to see the three foals.
Turquoise’s mom gave a stern look as she began to ask, “Turquoise what are…” But upon seeing Shining she gasped in surprise, “Prince Shining?! My goodness, how did you get out of the palace?” She then scooped him into her loving embrace and held him close. “Don't you worry, I’ll going to get you back to the palace.”
The other mares gathered around dawwing over the prince and cooing while making comments such as. “Is that Prince Shiny?”, “Oh he’s so adorable.”, and even, “Aw, you think he'll do his diaper dance for us?”
The other foals started to bust into laughter as Shining just groaned and thought to himself, “This was a bad idea. Nopony will ever be able to take me seriously ever again.”