//------------------------------// // Padded visit pt. 1 // Story: Like a Baby // by Forever Young //------------------------------// It had been two weeks since Twilight's therapy began, and things were going alright. True to her word, Ginger hadn't yet taken Twilight outside in a diaper, nor had she babied her outside the castle. Whenever her friends visited, nothing was ever said about the diapers, even when Ginger took Twilight to the side for a diaper change. Even Rainbow, who had a laughing fit after Twilight's initial explanation, didn't make any mention of them. Rarity had actually taken the initiative to design some babyish outfits and delivered them very discreetly to the castle one day. Ginger offered to pay for the outfits, but Rarity wouldn't take it. Twilight was a little embarrassed at first, but accepted the gift regardless. Today found Twilight waking up in her crib cuddling a stuffed fox. Ginger opened the nursery door gently and walked over to the sleeping alicorn. She lowered the rails and gently nudged Twilight awake. "Wakey wakey, little one," Ginger said as Twilight groaned, not wanting to wake up. After a few more seconds, Twilight finally shook the invading hoof off and sat up. "Good morning," Twilight said and she rubbed her eyes. "It's breakfast time, little one," Ginger said. Twilight yawned and stretched before climbing out of the crib before Ginger went about their new daily ritual of a morning diaper check. No diaper change was needed, so the two went straight to the dining room where Spike had set out chocolate pancakes, chocolate waffles, and grits. Twilight was about to get her plate ready when Ginger took a hold of it. "Now Twilight, let me do this," Ginger said, "Dependence, remember? Foals don't fix their own meals. Just take a seat and I'll be right over." "Right, forgot about that for a moment," Twilight said, letting go, "Sorry." "It's alright, you're still getting used to it," Ginger said. Twilight walked back over to the table and sat down. Spike and Starlight said nothing, not bothering to acknowledge the situation. Ginger soon came back over with two plates, one for herself, one for Twilight. Twilight wrapped her fork up in her magic, and all it took to let go was a look from Ginger. It had been this way for the past couple weeks, with Twilight slowly getting more used to being fed, but a little forgetfulness or resistance would sometimes slip through. "Open up wide for your num nums," Ginger said, bringing over a piece of pancake. Starlight couldn't help but giggle slightly, eliciting a glare from Twilight. "Sorry, sorry. It's just never gonna get old hearing her say that to you," Starlight said defensively. Twilight just sighed before the pancake was put in her mouth. She bit down just enough to take it off the fork. The rest of breakfast went without incident. After everything was finished and cleaned up, Ginger and Twilight went back to the nursery for a diaper change. Spike and Starlight set to cleaning up, splitting certain tasks between themselves. Knock, knock "Be right there!" Spike called out, "Be right back." "Go ahead, I should be able to handle this," Starlight said, grabbing another dirty plate. Spike left the kitchen and ran to the entrance hall as fast as he could. Opening the door, he saw Princess Celestia sitting on the other side. "Sorry, Princess. I was in the kitchen cleaning up and," Spike started out saying before he was cut off. "No harm done, Spike," Celestia said, "Just wondering if Twilight's home, is all." "Yea, she's up in her nursery," Spike said, catching himself, "Er... uh, room. I'll go get her, be right back." Meanwhile, in the nursery, Twilight was busy playing with some of the toys Ginger had bought her. She was busy trying to put together a castle of blocks. Every time she had come close to finishing, something would cause the whole thing to collapse. Determined to finish what she started before moving on, she kept rebuilding. This time seemed perfect, she was just about to put the last block in place when the door slammed open, startling Twilight and causing her to flop over on her creation. "What in the world was that for?" Ginger asked. "And here I thought I could finish this time," Twilight said, turning to Spike, "My hour isn't up yet, by the way." "I know, I know, but Princess Celestia's here to visit," Spike explained. "Oh, well that makes sense," Twilight said, grabbing the tapes of her diaper with her magic, "Tell her I'll be down in a moment." "And what are you doing?" Ginger asked as Spike took off. "Taking my diaper off," Twilight explained, "I can't go down and visit with Celestia with it on." "I don't see why you can't, you'll be diapered 24/7 soon anyway," Ginger pointed out, "That means, even around the Princess. In fact, going downstairs diapered may just help with that." "How's that?" Twilight asked. "If you spend the day with Princess Celestia while diapered, it could help boost your courage and help you get over that shyness faster," Ginger explained, "She won't treat you any differently, and that kind of attitude will help a lot more than you may realize right now." Twilight tried to think of a counter argument that wouldn't demonize the Princess, but was unsuccessful. She just accepted it and got up on the changing table to be re-diapered. "Trust me, Twilight, it'll work out," Ginger said as she put Twilight's diaper back on, "Now, let's go say hi to the Princess, shall we? Don't want to keep her waiting for too long." Twilight swallowed lightly, hoping it was just some bad dream. The whole walk down, she tried to convince herself it was just a bad dream, that none of it was real. Just as they go to the entrance hall, she was debating whether or not to turn tail and run back, to cower out... but Ginger's argument earlier won out in the end. If Twilight couldn't do this, there was no way this therapy would work, and the past three weeks would have been for nothing. That in mind, she stepped through the door. To be continued...