Yosh suddenly found himself seeing again. The Dream Realm had always been the place where his mind’s eye was all that was ever needed to know what was around him, how he looked, and enjoy all the wonderful colors he so badly missed being able to see.
This evening’s romp in the Dream Realm was apparently to take place on a sandy beach.
“This is new?” he thought as his dream self, which was only clad in a diaper, took time to look at his hands.
CRINKLE-THWUP-RUSTLE-THWUP
The dragon-duck’s ears picked up on the approaching sound of footsteps in the sand accompanied by what sounded like how he did as he walked about in his diapers during the day.
“Hmm,” he thought aloud as he wiggled his body to see if he was just hearing the sound of his own diaper. However the growing volume of the sandy foot falls and rustling quickly put this possibility out of the question.
THWUP-CRINKLE-FLAP-FLAP-RUSTLE
PITH-PITH
“Hello!” a very cheerful voice quacked.
Yosh felt his weak bladder give as he was startled by what had suddenly come up alongside him.
“Oh!” he quacked back. “Who are you?”
The cheerful yellow duck, who was as tall as Yosh, flapped his wings and flopped his webbed feet in the sand as to bring as much attention to his diaper as his own presence.
“My name is Lluvia Pluma!” he cheered while gleefully raising a wing towards Yosh. “Do you like my diapers?”
Yosh appeared puzzled as the oversized duckling went about doing various poses to show off the crinkly protective garment that was securely taped around his waist.
“Uh…,” trailed the dragon-duck. “It’s… uh… a diaper.”
Lluvia came closer to Yosh and pulled upon the back waistband of his diaper.
“You have nice diapers,” he complimented. “I bet they’re very comfortable.”
Yosh’s white feathery cheeks burned red.
“Well…,” he struggled to say. “Not when they’re wet.”
SPOP
PUMPF
A large box of ‘Little Ones’ diapers appeared beside Lluvia.
“That’s why you get more than one in a box,” he replied while leaning against the box. “Plus you don’t have to worry about doing what you need to do when you shouldn’t be doing it.”
Yosh thought for a moment.
“Squack!” cried the duckling as his legs bent a bit and the sound of his diaper taking on water from the inside could be heard. “Good thing we have diapers, right?”
Yosh was at a loss for words.
The duckling finished what his body had insisted he do. He then put a wing on the front cover and gave it a satisfied series of pats.
“I would’ve peed all over you if I didn’t have my diaper on,” he said. “That would’ve been quite rude of me.”
The dragon-duck was really trying to understand what was happening.
Lluvia looked down before gently squeezing his dampened diaper.
“It’s all there!” he cheered while waddling in front of the box. “And now I’m a few quick steps away from being all comfy and dry again.”
Yosh couldn’t believe what he gathered Lluvia was going to do.
TEAR
RIP-CLUNK
FWIP!
“It’s okay to watch,” the duckling said while a large blanket appeared over the sand along with a box of wipes. “Perhaps seeing me do it will help you do it, too?”
Yosh watched, without looking where he knew he shouldn’t be looking, and was taken aback at how ‘normal’ this odd duck was making having to wear, use, and change his diapers.
“Whoops!” giggled Lluvia. “Could you pass me the powder, please?”
“Uh?” wondered Yosh until he realized he was holding a bottle of talcum powder in his hand. “Here.”
POOF-POOF-POOF
“The powder is important,” added the duckling. “It’s what helps you to not get all yucky, or worse, get a rash.”
CRINKLE-SNAP-STICK
CRINKLE-SNAP-STICK
PAT-CRINKLE-PAT
“Now to put this into the farm recycler!” Lluvia announced proudly as a container appeared that allowed him to dispose of the old diaper and wipes he used. “It’s great how our used diapers are made of materials that allow our unwanted messes to be used for fertilizing seedlings that become our food.”
Yosh sighed as he lowered his head.
Lluvia took notice of how the dragon-duck still appeared to suffer from a feeling of shame.
“Hey,” he encouraged while using his wing to help raise Yosh’s head. “I’m not saying you should always be in diapers. What I’m trying to say is that you can make the most of needing them so much until you can go back into those special pull-on cloth diapers that Ms. Rarity made for you.”
“How?” quacked Yosh with a notable amount of both anger and shame.
Lluvia waddled over to the box of Little Ones, pulled a diaper out, and handed it to Yosh.
“I think showing you can care for yourself is a good start,” he replied with a smile. “If I can change my own diapers than so can you.”
The dragon-duck held the diaper nervously.
“I, can?” he struggled to say. “How?”
The perky padded duckling wrapped a wing around the dragon-duck.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he stated. “And we’ll keep working on it until you know you can be super safe in not having to rely on others.”
Yosh felt himself smile.
“You really think so?” he asked with hope.
Lluvia went for a full hug on Yosh.
“You bet!” he reassuringly quacked. “And this will be but the first in regaining your independence.”
***
“Gaboo!” cheered Yosh as he found himself back in his room within Canterlot castle.
SQUELCH-FWIP
FUP-FUP
“Someone’s eager to get started!” echoed a voice close to where the dragon-duck had slipped himself out of his basinet.
“Lluvia?” wondered Yosh. “But you only exist in the Dream Realm?”
CRINKLE-RUSTLE
RUSTLE-CRINKLE
“Correct,” he replied. “However Princess Cadence and Princess Luna cast a spell that will allow you to ‘hear’ me even if I’m not really here.”
Yosh looked around but was quickly reminded of how he had no eyesight when outside the Dream Realm.
RUSTLE-CRINKLE
CRINKLE-RUSTLE
FLAP-FLAP
Yosh’s ears picked up on something moving across his room from his left to his right.
“You can hear my diaper because it will help you know I am here,” Lluvia stated. “I’ll also serve as a guide to helping you change and dress yourself until you no longer need me.”
ZWIP!
Yosh slipped out of his footie pajamas. His diaper was near capacity for his bedtime accidents. However, unlike other times where he’d wait for someone to come in and check up on how he was doing, Yosh took the initiative to try and find where his changing supplies were.
CRINKLE-CRINKLE
“Over here,” Lluvia said as he made his diaper rustle. “We’ll have you cleaning and changing yourself in no time.”
Yosh felt excited at this concept. It was not the most ideal but it was a start to not always being treated like an oversized toddler by those who felt his blindness meant he’d need to be babied all the time.
“So you’ll always be around?” he asked curiously.
“Oh, no,” giggled the duckling. “Only when you need help getting used to changing yourself and, ultimately, able to get back into those comfy pull-ons Ms. Rarity made you.”
Yosh nodded.
“Fair enough,” he replied.
“We’ll both get out of sticky-tab diapers together!” cheered Lluvia. “But one step at a time, Yosh.”
***
“How’d it go?” Princess Cadence asked Princess Luna as she headed for her daytime rest.
Luna yawned.
“It seems to have worked,” she replied. “The rest is up to Yosh himself.”
Cadence smiled.
“Thanks for allowing me to craft that spell to give Yosh a helpful imaginary friend,” the pink Alicorn added. “Twilight really liked when I made it seem that Smarty Pants was real. It brought down her stress about getting into Princess Celestia’s school and I figured this little friend can serve a similar purpose.”
“Thou will need to cast the enchantment on Yosh every night to retain the spell’s effect both here and in The Dream Realm.”
Cadence nodded.
“That won’t be a problem,” she beamed. “It just gives me more a reason to spend time with Shining Armor as we plan our wedding.”
Luna yawned again as she prepared to enter her bedroom.
“Thou have a good heart, Princess Cadence,” she stated. “I believe good things are still to come for you so long as you follow the path of light.”
Cadence giggled merrily from the compliment.
“Thanks, Luna,” she stated. “May you, too, have sweet dreams.”
The princess of the night sighed, lowered her head, and went into her room.
“Cadence!” called Princess Celestia from down the hall. “Someone has something very special to share! Come join us for breakfast. I made pancakes!”
“On my way!” she replied as she proudly headed for the dining room. It would be a most heartwarming day to see Yosh’s spirits lifted after how long he had felt trapped in his situation without the proper motivation to regain his independence during this new chapter in his life.