//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Cadence Of Crinkles // Story: Closer To The Heart // by ClandestineWing //------------------------------// Cadance leapt off the balcony at the sight of Shining Armor approaching the Crystal Castle. Her wings guided her down, gently planting her hooves on the ground before him. She gave a radiant smile and cheerily welcomed her returning husband home. Shining was slightly dismayed at the lack of his daughter being part of the welcome wagon, but kids have to stay in school for a good reason. Shining looked as if he was about to burst into tears at the very sight of his wife. The white stallion, without hesitation and with a magenta aura that matched the one on his horn, lifted Cadance onto her hind hooves, snaked his upper hooves around her and kissed the pink mare with a fiery passion that mimicked that of their first kiss on their first night alone after their wedding. After their lips pulled apart with a loud smack, Cadance took a deep breath and stared into her husband’s eyes with her pupils wide, her wings spread, and a hoof held to her heart. “Shining, I’m glad you’re home too~” She then gave a nervous chuckle in anticipation of an explanation for his sudden behavior, which Shining did manage to catch. “I’m sorry, I have so much to tell you.” “I don’t doubt it,” she said with a chuckle, “something big always seems to be happening in Ponyville these days.” “No, I mean about my trip to Canterlot. I wanted to tell you about it so bad, but…” Shining Armor’s head swiveled around at everyone around them; he promised to tell Cadance once they were inside, when they would be away from his guards and the flocking, royalty-loving, Crystal Empire residents. It didn’t take much effort for them to find a moment of peace. Shining Armor dismissed his guards for the day and led Cadance into their bedroom. Magenta light wrapped around Shining’s purple and gold Canterlot Captain uniform, shedding it and hanging it up while Cadance stared out at the Crystal Empire from their balcony. “I thought you said your trip to Canterlot was uneventful.” “The Tartarus escort didn’t go exactly as planned.” Shining Armor said as he joined his wife on the balcony, walking up beside her and staring down at the city below with her. “We took no risks with him; inhibitor on his horn and everything. I don’t know how he did it, but he escaped. He had control over all my old guards, and even Princess Celestia...” The white stallion took a sigh in hesitation then turned his head to her. “Believe me, you don’t know how bad I wanted to tell you; how afraid I was and I couldn’t tell you. I literally wasn’t able to. I’m sorry.” “Sorry for what?” Cadance asked, tilting her head. “I thought my love for you would’ve been strong enough to push him out of my mind, like with Chrysalis.” “Darling,” Cadance said while shaking her head, “you can’t blame yourself for that.” “I know, but… I guess blaming myself keeps me from feeling helpless.” He turned his head to gaze again over the balcony once more. “Truthfully, It didn’t seem like anyone could stop him. I don’t know what I’d do if he ever got to you or Flurry. I was really hoping that was what Princess Celestia called me over to Ponyville for, and I’m so glad it was.” “Typical of Celestia to summon somepony without giving details.” “She had to; if Twily asked me to come or if Celestia told me why, his control would’ve stopped me from going. Well, at least nopony else has to deal with him anymore.” “What happened to him?” “Twily told me he just disappeared without a trace, and there haven’t been any new victims in weeks. Nopony knows for sure.” His face suddenly lit up when he felt a pair of lips press against his cheek and release with a smack. “Well, at least it’s now over and done with, right?” She asked. He gave her a half smile and nodded. “But the really scary thing is that he told me he knew you.” Cadance gave him a courteous laugh. “Like, personally.” “I think I’d remember somepony strong enough to control minds.” “Mind Fission. Ring a bell?” Cadance wiped off her smile and had to lift one of her eyebrows, staring at her husband incredulously. “Wait, really? Him?” “Yeah, he told me he knew you, and he described you in enough detail for me to believe it.” “Yeah, he was in my group back in Ponyville. I can’t even imagine he’d be the type to do… To do all of that.” From down below, an alicorn with a coat barely tinted pink, her wings spread, and a saddlebag draped over a pink heart-patterned robe that somewhat matched Sunburst’s sense of fashion landed at the entrance of the palace, calling out to her mother that she was home. Sunburst himself came into view, barely able to keep up with the rambunctious alicorn. Her crystal blue eyes looked around and fixed their gaze on the balcony up high. She smiled wide and her horn glowed golden. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re alright, my love.” In a golden flash, the young alicorn appeared on the balcony before them. “Daddy, you’re home~” Shining Armor’s hoof reached for his daughter and embraced her closely, then his other one ran through her swirly purple mane. “Hey there, squirt~ Keeping Sunburst busy, I see?” While Shining Armor was thrilled to be back home with his family once more, one thing that mind-controlling pony said to him about Cadance put his thoughts in a vice. Flurry’s words about her day at school during dinner were a distant echo; he felt absolutely silly taking some unicorn’s word over his trust in his wife, but the way Mind Fission revealed it to him, and the precise details he used to describe his interactions with Cadance, even going so far as to describe her voice, just didn’t leave him much room to brush it off and think of it as horse apples. Cadance confessing to knowing Mind Fission made it clearer to Shining Armor that his wife was hiding something from him; something that had been a part of Cadance for a long time and that she’d been afraid to tell him, and that she would never work up the courage to. Shining had a moment alone in their bedroom that night while Cadance put their daughter to bed. It didn’t take much investigating for him to come across the evidence under their bed. Shining’s horn became wrapped in a magenta light that brought a thick white diaper crinkling out of a package before him. The garment was huge; even folded in thirds, it was larger than an open foal diaper. Shining wasn’t as shocked as he anticipated being; he had a generous amount of time to think over a situation like this. All those years at a “support group” all the way in Ponyville Cadance was very ambiguous about were starting to make more sense. ...But still, these diapers were huge, and they smelled rather foalish. They looked rather foalish, in fact; pink outlines of stars, rattles, and blocks adorned the landing zone. A pink trail laced around the leg gathers like clouds as well. The bedroom door opened to reveal Cadance with her horn glowing the same blue glow that wrapped around the doorknob. An involuntary gasp escaped at the sight of one of her diapers being telekinetically marvelled at by her husband. “Shining, darling, I can explain.” How could she leave her diapers under their bed? Never hide diapers under your bed; the first unwritten rule of being an adult foal. She had them under there for easy access while Shining was away, but forgot to move them upon his return. Every single horrible outcome ran through Cadance’s head: Awkward questions, shaming, maybe even divorce. Cadance kept telling herself that she was going to tell him one day, but her responsibilities always got in the way, or at least that’s the excuse she kept hiding behind. She wondered if this was how her life was going to end: Not at the mercy of some wicked evil trying to conquer Equestria, but because she just couldn’t let go of diapers. The thick fluffy pant shed its magical aura and fell onto the bed with a crinkling thump as Shining turned his head toward her. “Cadance, it’s okay.” He said with a smile. Three simple words like that have never before stricken her closer to the heart. “Close the door. Let’s talk.” Shining had thought about his first words for a long time, and telling Cadance something simple was what she really needed. The door closed behind her, and she tentatively took hoofsteps toward her husband. She was certain he had questions, but his charming smile and his calm tone made it seem like this wasn’t going to go quite so bad. But she couldn’t shake the apprehension; the fear that this would be the worst day of her life. “I swear, I was going to tell you, but-” “Cadance, it’s okay. Just talk to me, dear. I’m here for you.” “I- Okay- No, you’re going to think I’m a freak.” “Cadance~” He said with a few chuckles lacing her name and a couple of steps toward her. “You’re not a freak. I will never think that.” In absence of a response, he wrapped his hooves around Cadance and pressed his warm body against her in his embrace. “I’m sorry, dear.” “Sorry for what?” He then released her, his smile now vanished. “For making you feel like you had to keep this from me. After how I reacted to Flurry’s issue, I can understand if you thought I wouldn’t take this very well.” “N- No, Shining, it has nothing to do with that. I just- I didn’t want- Oh sweet Celestia.” Cadance said, fumbling about her words and frantically trying to console her “hurt” husband. She was played like a fiddle; Shining had to force himself not to smirk. “You mean the world to me, Shining Armor. I wanted to tell you that this was a part of me for such a long time. My heart would tell me everyday that you’d be perfectly okay with it and to just go for it, but another part of me screamed that I was going to lose you if I did. I just didn’t know what I’d do if I lost you, and I’d rather give up diapers than have that happen.” “Give them up? I couldn’t ask you to do that, darling. You don’t get to pick and choose which parts about a pony you love.” He then wore a cheeky smile. “You, as the Princess Of Love, should know that.” “Shining, I- I-” “I love you, Cadance. Not parts of you, I love you. And that’s why I want you to talk to me; this is clearly a part of you and I want to know about it.” “Even with how weird this is?” “I have a sister who’s afraid of quesadillas and ladybugs. Trust me, dear, I can handle weird.” Cadance poured out everything to her husband in that moment, starting her story all the way back from when she was a young filly fresh out of diapers. Even after potty-training, the young pegasus wanted to be put back into them. Her young foolish self admitted to it back at the orphanage. At the time, the age where imagination is at the peak of a pony’s life, the other colts and fillies saw it as innocent fun, and didn’t think much of it, especially since they were playing House when she confessed to it. The young Cadance didn’t think much of it either. After she was adopted by Princess Celestia, her young, ambitious, princess-to-be self didn’t even think about diapers for a while. Her life seemed laid out for her as soon as she got her alicorn horn, but it was also when the stress of responsibility started piling up, and she would need something to relieve it. It started with mere thoughts, assuming that a teenager trying to wear diapers wouldn’t go over well with her aunt. Sometimes she’d go through the day without thinking about them until that night, when she would think about wearing them until she fell asleep with a smile in her heart. Other times, she’d get an urge to wear so strong that she’d cry herself to sleep at the end of the day from all the guilt and shame she would place upon herself. Cadance then learned of a support group in Ponyville that held meetings once per week. Given her duties, she only attended once per month, but even with scarce attendance, it was probably one of the smartest things she could’ve done. Everyone in the group shared her desires and welcomed her warmly, and they helped her accept this part of herself; that it wasn’t something to repress to keep her life in order, but to embrace. Everyone in the group was a normal pony with a normal life who just so happened to like wearing diapers once in a while. Some were even into ageplay, “foal-at-hearts” some might call them, which was an aspect of AFDL life that was but a spark within Cadance at the time; her time spent with the group changed that. Pacifiers particularly stood out more to Cadance than other foalish items. One pony in the group was, indeed, Mind Fission; a unicorn with a unique ability to manipulate microscopic organisms and objects with his magic. Cadance still couldn’t believe what Shining Armor was saying about him. Mind was in college for nursing and wanted to use his abilities to save lives; he had his life figured out. To suddenly turn around and want to conquer Equestria with mind control just seemed so out of his character. She found some sense of self-acceptance through the group, which came in steps for her: The first was admitting that liking diapers and ageplay was a deeply rooted part of her, not just a quirk. This led to her realizing that it was perfectly okay to have this as a part of her life, side-by-side with her duties as a princess, then she found a perfect balance. The one part of the self-acceptance process that was left to gather cobwebs was, of course, telling her true love about it; someone who would still love her, and think nothing bad of it. Shining Armor listened to her without interrupting for minutes straight, keeping his face attentive and serious. When she had finally finished her long story, he gave a respectful huff and then leaned in to give Cadance a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you so much for telling me. Do you feel better now, darling?” “You have no idea.” Cadance wrapped her hooves around her husband, hugging him tightly. She didn’t want to let go. She didn’t even want the moment to end. “This moment turned out better than I could’ve ever imagined.” Cadance then felt a fluffy brush against her flank, and opened her eyes to catch faint magenta light reflecting off Shining Armor’s body. “Tell me more about this ‘ageplay’ part you mentioned. I’m quite interested in that.” Cadance widened her eyes and turned her head toward the thick padding telekinetically brushing against her. “S- Shining~ I- I couldn’t ask you to do that.” “How about you be a good filly and lie down, darling?” Cadance’s cheeks were enveloped in rose infernos. She did as Shining said with little hesitation, her pressed buttons forced her body to move upon his command and helped put her apprehensive thoughts behind her. She watched him conduct a crinkling overture, starting by unfolding the garment and sliding it underneath her, touching her plot softly as it found its place. She then watched Shining Armor’s horn light up to bring a bottle of foal powder before him. He coated his hooves with the fresh white powder. His practice with Flurry Heart really shone as Cadance felt his gentle hooves massage the powder into her pink coat. He cleansed his hooves with a wipe while his magic brought the wings around her flanks then taped them in place; bottom two tapes, then top two. His hoof pressed against the landing zone to ream out the tapes, finishing the diapering routine in a cadence of crinkles. It was a perfect fit, Cadance was a blushing smiling mess, and Shining Armor was tantalizingly smirking at it all. “I have a happy little foal~” Shining teased to her, which elicited a mortified squirm and squeak from her. “I can tell you wanted somepony to do this for you for a long time.” He said while making sure her diaper was just right; double-checking it for fit, using magic to properly arrange the leak guards, and wrapping it all up in some gentle crinkling pats. He then caught another uncertain expression from his blushing wife. “What’s wrong, dear?” “I’m sorry, I- This is all so much. I just want to make sure this isn’t bothering you at all.” “Bother me?” Shining gave a chuckle. “Nonsense… Seriously, don’t worry about it. Now, can you be a good girl and show me where your pacifier is?” Word after word continued to press the blushing alicorn’s buttons. She wanted to give in to the calling of her younger headspace, but this all still felt like it was too good to be true. “Wait, how did you know I have one?” Cadance asked with a raised brow. “You just told me.” His hoof then booped her nose. “Got you~” She squirmed and whined in reaction. “Come on, show me.” Cadance then stood herself out of their bed. The thick bulky diaper around her plot forced a gait in her hoofsteps, presenting another loud movement of their crinkly diaper symphony. Shining suppressed his laughter as he was amused by Cadance waddling into her walk-in closet. She retrieved a purple pacifier with a butterfly-shaped guard from a box stashed up high. It wore a pink heart on its button. She waddled back out with the pacifier bathed in her magic, suspended in midair, then it was enveloped by Shining’s own. She watched the clear silicone nipple rotate toward her and tried once more to tell Shining he didn’t need to do this for her, but the first word of her sentence couldn’t get past the pacifier plopping into her mouth. She instinctively gave the nipple a few suckles before a wide smile peeked out from behind the guard. “Good girl~ This should help keep you from talking yourself out of things you really want.” Shining said as his lips parted to show a pearly white grin. Cadance affectionately pushed herself up against Shining and soon found herself laying with her husband on their bed. The pacifier guard pressed against her muzzle with each suckle and her head rested on his chest while one of his hooves gently ran through her mane repeatedly. The whole thing was much more than she could’ve realistically expected the same way her happiness was to him. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but an emotional climax was reached, and all they could do was lay cuddling each other in comfortable silence. It wasn’t until she came down from her emotional high that Cadance started to notice the aching in her bladder. Truthfully, she needed to go since she put Flurry Heart to bed. “I’ll be back, dear,” she said with her words lisping through the pacifier and a hoof pressing against their bed, “I have to go use the little filly’s room.” Cadance felt a hoof press on her back to gently force her back into Shining’s embrace. Her eyes widened at his hoof’s implications and his reciprocating machinating smirk, and it pressed her buttons just right; the moment felt like it was ripped straight out of her dreams. Her cheeks were ablaze in a glorious blush. “Oh, uhm… Okay.” She said with a meek intonation that rivaled Fluttershy’s, completely unable to suppress her smile and her blush. Despite the new circumstances that’d normally make one’s bladder shy, Cadance found it effortless to do what she needed to do. She felt her pant warm up drastically, the warmness spread around the diaper like the relief spreading through her body, quickly wicking all the moisture away from her coat. Her pacifier suckling grew more focused, and she had to close her eyes at all the feelings rushing through her. She was rewarded with a hoof planting itself on her padded plot. Light squishes served as a reprise to the orchestra her diaper was performing, and Shining’s soft tantalizing voice was a solo to it. “Good girl~” He said before leaning down and kissing her on her head. Cadance let out another squeam. “I’ll make sure you get a fresh one before bed.” He watched Cadance’s face light up even more. Every moment seemed like a more perfect ending to their night than the last. “In fact, I might be willing to change a filly who might be… More than just wet.” “Okay, hold on.” Cadance incredulously broke herself away from the moment and sat herself up. “Are you absolutely sure about that?” “Absolutely.” “Are you positive? Because that’s a huge thing to do.” Shining gave her a chuckle. “Sweetheart, it’d be no different than changing Flurry; when you truly love someone, the ‘gross’ things actually aren’t so gross. I promise you I’m perfectly okay with it. I just want to support this part of you and make you as happy as you can be.” “How in Equestria did I manage to marry someone so awesome?” “I don’t know, you tell me~” He replied with a wicked grin. “I’ll hold you to your promise, darling, but if you regret it, I’m going to feel really bad.” “You worry too much; I want to do it.” Cadance crawled back into Shining’s hooves and lay beside him, sinking herself back in. “Besides, there’s no way you can be as bad as Twily.” “Hahaha~ Yeah, she taught me to always breathe through your mouth.” “Oh, that doesn’t work every time; sometimes, it was almost like I could taste the stench.” The two shared another laugh together, both of them knowing first-hoof what messy diapers they’ve had to endure. “Hey, maybe we could ask her to foalsit tomorrow.” “Tomorrow? So we can do this? I mean, the idea of having Flurry off our hooves to do this for a day is pretty nice, but maybe-” “I was talking about her foalsitting you.” The two shared another flurry of laughter. “You’d look rather adorable doing your ‘Sunshine sunshine’ thing dressed like a filly~” After another chorus of laughter, Cadance felt herself drifting off into a peaceful sleep in her husband’s hooves; her being awake ever since Flurry went off to school that morning was starting to weigh on her. Her eyelids grew heavy under the steady percussion section of Shining’s heartbeat. “Sweet dreams, darling.” Shining said while his horn lit up with magic, and a fresh diaper from under the bed was being prepared.