//------------------------------// // Padded Playdate // Story: Like a Baby // by Forever Young //------------------------------// It was time. Twilight and Ginger finished up their little game a few minutes ago, now it was time to go outside. Twilight stood in front of the doors to the outside world, doing her breathing exercise. While she was dressed up, anypony looking from nearly anywhere behind her, or anypony with a good sense of hearing, could tell what she was wearing underneath. Breathing out one final time, she opened the door and stepped forward cautiously, taking one agonizingly long step after another. Once she reached the ground, everything seemed to get worse. As her back hooves touched the ground, worst case scenarios started playing in her head, making her want to turn and go back inside. Before she had the chance, however, Ginger's hoof touched her shoulder. "You can do this, Twilight," Ginger said, "And remember, I'll right here the whole time." "I know, I just... you think you're ready, then you start and you get cold hooves, and every fiber of your being is telling you to run away and go back to your safe place," Twilight stammered. "I know, I know, the first steps are always tricky," Ginger said, "But I know you can get over this. I know you can power through it." "But I don't WANT to power through it," Twilight said, "I just... I just don't want to be afraid of going outside the rest of my life." "You won't be, don't worry. Your friends and I will see to that," Ginger said, "Speaking of said friends, aren't you all having a meet up soon?" "Yea, I couldn't find Owlowiscious, so I hope Spike took him out," Twilight said. Though still somewhat shaky, Twilight eventually led the way to the usual meeting place. The walk was uneventful, and the duo arrived without a hitch. As they approached, the rest of the crew was lounging around, snacking and chatting away. "Well, well, look who finally decided to show up, the wittle baby pwincess," Discord said, earning him a jab and stern look from Fluttershy. "Glad you could make it, Twi," Applejack said. "Indeed, and might I say that dress looks absolutely stunning," Rarity said. "Thanks, girls," Twilight said, taking her place among the group at long last. Within mere moments, Twilight picks up on the conversation and joins in. Every so often, Discord gets in a little quip or pun about Twilight, and she does her best to just take it as preparation for what could very well lie ahead with her new padded public appearance. Fluttershy tries to get Discord to stop, but Twilight talks her into just letting it happen, saying she'll let them know if it really starts to be too much. An hour and a half pass, and eventually Twilight and Ginger excuse themselves from the conversation to go find a private spot for a diaper change, Twilight's first outside the castle. Within moments, the used diaper is replaced with a fresh one, and then is promptly thrown in a special little bag that Twilight enchanted with a pocket dimension to give it more space than it would appear to have otherwise. However, it very quickly becomes apparent that more than just Twilight's diaper was changed. Having been changed so often during playtime at the castle, Twilight's mind has already started to associate diaper changes with infantile behavior and playtime. Without even trying, she jumps from the ship of adulthood down to foalspace. Ginger catches on and snaps her out of it, remembering Twilight's wishes from earlier. Dry and freshly padded up once more, Twilight rejoins the group with Ginger in tow. Over time, she was able to relax, and her brain got caught up in youthfulness. As the conversation went on, with some fun activities here and there, Twilight regressed more and more. Her friends eventually took notice of Twilight's behavior shift, but she just waved it off in favor of playtime, feeling too comfortable and at home for the time being. Her friends were alright with this side of her, but weren't truly comfortable enough to join in, so she instead ran off to play with the pets. "So, how often does she get like that?" Applejack asked. "About an hour each day," Ginger said, "Strange though since she said she didn't want to be babied outside, and she's already taken her hour today." "Didn't want to be babied outside? What's with the diapers, then?" Applejack asked. "Her choice, after one accident and a couple of close calls yesterday," Ginger explained. "She won't be like this all the time, will she?" Rainbow asked, "It's funny, but it's also kind of a little weird." "No, she won't be like that all the-" Ginger started out before a loud noise broke her concentration. The group all turned their heads to see Twilight and the pets all bundled up under a tree, having obviously just crashed into it. Twilight didn't seem phased by the crash at all, happily cheering only a brief few seconds... the pets on the other hand didn't want a second go. "As you can see, though, she has fun with it," Ginger said, "And that's the whole point of it all, for her to have fun and relax. Whether she'll admit or not, she's taken to this treatment like a duck to water, which is a good thing." As the pets come over to get close to their owners, it's made obvious that playtime should soon be over. Twilight isn't far behind, not exactly wanting to stop any time soon since she basically just started playing. A few gentle words snaps her out of her youthful mindset and brings her back to full on adulthood. And this is just the beginning of her new lifestyle.