Princess Cadence was somewhat surprised; She saw a spare highchair was waiting for her in the dining room. It seemed that Shining had prepared for this and she wondered what else he’d got for her. The prince had already secured Flurry Heart in her highchair, who was babbling away and kicking about in excitement. He then plopped his wife turned foal into the other highchair and made sure to latch the bar shut, subsequently tying a bib around her like he did for Flurry. "And to think I thought you were crazy for agreeing to keep all of my old foal supplies that my parents didn't need. I guess they'll come in handy for you, Cady bug." He cooed.
Cadence's cheeks flushed red while giggling. "Yeah, guess tey wiww," She then patted her belly and asked. "Ya gonna feed me now?"
"Oh of course, Cady," Shining cooed again and winked at his wife. "I very well can't let a foal like you eat by herself, can I? Not unless I want her making a mess. We must set a good example for Flurry to follow."
The regressed princess of love found it hard not to argue with that logic. Besides, she wasn't sure how much control she really had over herself at the moment.
The prince proceeded to sit down next to the highchairs. Once he was comfortable he brought over two bowls full of fresh, hot oatmeal and set one each on the highchair bars. "Okay, who wants to be fed first?" The stallion asked.
Although Flurry was pretty hungry herself, she was really excited to see her mom be fed in the same way she was, and so the young alicorn remained silent while Cadence raised up her hoof.
Shining scooted a bit closer to his wife, carefully picking up the spoon from the bowl and blowing on it to cool it off. "Gotta make sure it's not too hot, can't be too careful with foals you know."
Cadence couldn't help but groan at the display. "I know. I was a foawsittew, wemembew?"
"Yes, but now you're a cute little filly who needs to be reminded of that." Shining explained. "Now come on, Cady. Stop being a fussy pants and open wide for the choo-choo train!" He floated a spoonful of oatmeal slowly towards her.
The princess of love, eager to receive, opened her mouth as best she could. Once the oatmeal was deposited on her tongue and the spoon pulled back, she closed her mouth and swallowed. She was amazed at the taste as it traveled down her throat and into her stomach! "Wow! Tis is so good!"
Flurry Heart chimed in. "Ya huh! Daddy always makes ta best oatmeal!"
"Hey, my oatmeaw's not bad!" Cadence protested in a spat of jealousy.
"Now, now, you two, don't start fighting," Shining warned the foals while still cooing. "Oatmeal is oatmeal no matter who makes it." Then he brought another spoonful towards Cadence, who eagerly accepted it.
The process repeated itself for a couple of minutes until Cadence's bowl was completely empty. Despite her best efforts, a couple of traces of oatmeal had gotten stuck on her face and bib, something she found most embarrassing. And it was only made worse because she had to have her face wiped clean by her husband, all the while her daughter was laughing hysterically.
Shining quickly settled the matter as he told his daughter. "Flurry, you know it's not nice to make fun of other ponies for being a messy eater. You're not any better yourself, especially when it comes to Mashed Peas."
"But they taste yucky!" Flurry gagged and stuck out her tongue.
"Yes, but they're good for you. They help you grow up big and strong so you can be like Mommy, or like me." The prince replied.
Meanwhile, Cadence thought to herself. "I hope Shining doesn't try to feed me anything like that. If he does he's sleeping on the couch when I go back to being normal."
After Flurry's teasing remark, breakfast came and went with no further fanfare. She too was wiped clean by Shining, who then unlatched the highchair bars and floated the empty bowls over to the kitchen to be cleaned at a later time. He then set both alicorn foals carefully on the ground. "Okay, little ones. Now it's time to play. Daddy's got the whole day off to spend with you, so just let him know if you need anything."
Cadence started clumsily waddling along the floor again as she followed her husband. She found it rather tricky with the diaper between her legs, making her shuffle a bit clumsily. That wasn't even including the foal fat on her. She tried flapping her wings, wondering if she could even fly, and looked back to see how stubby they were. The princess just sighed as the realization came over with her silly waddling and her cute fluttering just like her daughter. She'd been born a pegasus, it shouldn't have been so hard for her to do it!
As if to rub salt in the wound, Flurry Heart was fluttering and flapping her wings with the greatest of ease. "Ya twying too hard, Mommy. Ya gotta wewax." She instructed.
The princess of love heeded her daughter's advice, relaxing and trying to let her body do the flapping and fluttering naturally. It was still nowhere near as precise as her daughter's movements. Yet for Cadence it was good enough, though Flurry Heart had the advantage of being born with larger wings. She still wondered whose side of the family she inherited those from.
Shining just sat back and watched the adorable little scene unfold, and he couldn't help but clap his hooves and beam with pride. "Wow! Look at you, hon. For somepony who's only going to be a foal for a day, you sure are getting the hang of being one pretty fast. I'm almost jealous."
"Stop it! Ya just teasin' me!" Cadence protested as her blush returned.
"Hey, everypony likes a compliment," The prince cooed anew. "Be thankful I haven't made you do my diaper dance yet. Oh, you're gonna kill it! I just know it!"
Flurry giggled! "I love ya diapee dance, Daddy! It so siwwy!"
Shining nodded as he led the foals to the nursery. "Yes, it sure is, Flurry. And I'll bet you can't wait to show your mommy how to do it, just as she can't wait to teach you a few things."
"Weawwy?! Mommy gonna teach me someting?!" Flurry eagerly buzzed her tiny wings as her eyes seemed to widen.
The prince just gave a knowing wink, pushing open the door to the nursery. "Just wait and see, Flurry. But in the meantime, why don't you show your mommy all your favorite activities and toys that you like to play with?"
Flurry Heart didn't need to be told twice! In fact, she really didn't need the encouragement (not that it was terrible to receive it), she would've shared all her pastimes with her mom anyway. Still, she flew over to the playpen as her little horn began to spark. "I got some friends ya gotta meet, Mommy! I think ya know who tey awe."
Princess Cadence had a pretty good idea, and her heart was fluttering with excitement. She was really looking forward to this, spending all day with her daughter on her level. No meetings, no emergencies, nothing to get in the way of play (aside from naps). However, before she could take even one step forward, the regressed alicorn found her progress being halted by none other than her husband.
"Sorry, hon, but you need a change first." Shining half apologized/half cooed, floating his wife towards the changing table as his daughter briefly took notice before going back to her own interests.
Cadence blinked in disbelief. "Wha ya mean? I no need a change. I tink I'd know if I did anyting in my diapee."
"Oh really?" Shining replied with skepticism as he set Cadence down on the changing table's padded surface and brought up a hoof. "Then perhaps you could explain this?" He pressed a hoof against the diaper.
As soon as Shining's white hoof made contact with the diaper, the regressed princess of love felt it squish. But looking down at her diaper she really couldn't see a damp spot, the padding must've instantly soaked it up without her even realizing it. "I... I thought I felt someting fow a moment," She confessed. "But ten it disappeawed."
The prince snickered. "It's alright, I'm not judging you. You're a foal now, foals do that sometimes without knowing it. That's why we had you diapered, silly. Wouldn't have wanted you to leave a puddle for somepony to clean up," Then he levitated some changing supplies over and whispered. "Just relax, I'll get you into a fresh diaper soon."
Shining Armor was as good as his word (as he had plenty of practice with Flurry Heart by now). In only a minute he managed to toss the sodden padding into the trash, wipe his wife's soggy rear down good, and then tape her up into a freshly powdered diaper. He made sure to give it a few pats to make sure it was on nice and tight, which resulted in small traces of foal powder puffing out. "Oops! Probably overdid it on the powdering. Oh well, at least now we know you won't get a rash. That wouldn't be fun." He commented while setting Cadence down on the floor. Then he left to wash his hooves, confident his wife wouldn't get into any trouble while he was gone.
Flurry figured this was as good a time as any to show off her collection of stuffed animals to her mom with her dad gone. There was one in particular she was very fond of, and Cadence knew what it was. "Ya wemembew Wammy. Wight, Mommy?" Flurry asked.
The princess of love nodded. She remembered that stuffed snail being a present from Twilight Velvet, mentioning something about how every Sparkle family member had their own snuggle buddy when they were little. Also, she remembered when her daughter lost the plush at Ponyville and had caused some chaos there. "Ya pway with him aww ta time. Ya weawwy wove him."
Flurry clapped her hooves and exclaimed. "Uh-huh! I nevew go anywhere without him! And I can nevew go to sleep without him by my side."
Cadence smiled. "I gwad. Ya used to be so hawd to put down fow naps befowe I got ya Whammy. Dun know whewe ya got it fwom, ya gwandma tewws me she never had pwobwems getting ya daddy to take naps."
The young alicorn suggested. "Maybe I gots it fwom you, Mommy?"
The princess of love frowned at the suggestion. "I dun know about tat. I dun wemembew much about when I was a foaw. I didn't weawwy have a mommy and daddy. I dun know who my mommy and daddy wewe. I got taken in by two eawth ponies who say tey found me aww awone. And I dun wemembew much ewse about my foawhood untiw I got taken in by ya Aunt Celestia."
Flurry replied by hugging her mom tightly. "I sowwy ya not have a good foawhood, Mommy."
The regressed princess of love simply shrugged off the concern even while she accepted the hug. "Is okay. Tat just means ya gotta show me how to have the bestest foawhood evew fow today! Cause tomowwow I go back to being a gwown-up again."
Flurry Heart grinned, her horn starting to spark! "Weww, ya came to the wight pwace, Mommy! I taught Daddy and Mw. Sunbwust how to have fun when tey got turned into foaws. Now I gonna teach you!"
"I weady to weawn!" Cadence cheered with a smile on her face with her light purple eyes all aglow. The filly couldn't understand why but she was getting way more excited as she felt her foalish instincts overwhelm her.
"Otay then!" Flurry responded as she flapped her tiny wings again. "Just do what I do, and ya gonna have the bestest time ya evew had!"
The princess of love's heart fluttered at the idea! She'd been looking forward to this since discovering the spell that had turned her into a foal. She was finally going to get to have her own foalish adventure just like her husband had experienced after his accidental regression.
Shining Armor had already returned to the nursery by the time Flurry Heart was commencing her "lesson" on how to have fun as a foal. It really warmed his heart to see his daughter getting along so well with Cadence, treating the regression just as naturally as she had treated his own and Sunburst's. "Cadence and I must be doing something right raising Flurry if she's this outgoing and friendly." He thought to himself as he just stood in the nursery and watched the heartwarming scene unfold.
Flurry, meanwhile, taught Cadence all the ins and outs of being a foal. How to bounce on your diaper to reach great heights, how to suck on your hoof when there wasn't a pacifier around, how to waddle about in just the right way to make all the grown-ups aw and coo, you name it.
Princess Cadence proved to be a fast learner, and soon she was enjoying herself enormously whilst playing with her daughter. Together, the two foals passed the time alternating between activities such as playing pretend with stuffed animals, playing hide and go seek in the nursery (Shining forbid them from going anywhere else in the castle), playing with rattles or squeaky toys and even building a tower out of foam alphabet blocks.
It was this activity that the two little alicorns were engaged in (or rather destroying a tower they had just made) when Shining stood up and clapped his hooves. "Alright, you two. We can play together more later. But for right now, we have a potty break before lunch, and then after lunch it's time for all good little foals to take their naps."
"But I not tiwed." Cadence protested, kicking about and making a fuss.
"Me eithew." Flurry Heart also protested, shouting back.
Shining wasn't persuaded for even a second. "Maybe not yet, but after a hearty meal and some bottles of milk I think you'll be feeling pretty sleepy," Then he sniffed the air. "Huh, that's odd. I think I smell something stinky."
Flurry immediately pointed a hoof in accusation. "Is Mommy! She the stinky one!"
"Wha?! Fwuwwy!" The princess of love eeped in embarrassment as her diaper was pulled back for an inspection from her husband.
"No, the smell isn't coming from you, Cady," Shining declared. "And I know it can't be me. So that must mean-" As he spoke he trotted over to Flurry Heart's location, pulling his daughter's diaper back. His suspicions were soon proven correct. "Yup, just as I figured. It's actually Flurry Heart who's the stinky one."
The young alicorn blushed. "Sowwy, Mommy. I thought it was you, but I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh, it's alright, Flurry. But you should've listened to what your body was telling you. Then you would've known you had to go potty," Shining declared as he used his magic to float his smelly daughter over to the changing table. "We'll get you cleaned up, and then Mommy's going to show you how you're supposed to go potty."
Cadence puffed out her chest, trying to seem important. "Uh-huh! Ya do what I do! I dun have accidents."
But even mid diaper change, Flurry protested. "Nu-uh, ya pee-peed yasewf eawiew, Mommy."
"At weast I didn't mess mysewf!" Cadence argued back as she watched the diaper change unfold.
The prince was quick to break up yet another argument before it could start. "Everypony has accidents. We don't make fun of them for it. But it's important that we pay attention to our bodies so that we can avoid having accidents in the first place. The potty exists for a reason after all." Then he finished up the diaper change, balling up the old diaper and dropping into the trash for disposal later.
After that, the stallion marched both little alicorns to the bathroom. And once he'd washed his hooves he trotted over to Cadence. "You ready to teach Flurry Heart what to do, hon?" He asked his wife.
The regressed princess of love nodded, this had been part of what had helped sweeten the deal for her husband after all. "Otay, Fwuwwy," She called, making sure to catch her daughter's attention. "Mommy's gonna teach ya the wight way to go potty."
Flurry only replied. "I already know, Mommy."
"Weww, I gonna teach ya anyway so ya can stawt doing it wike ya supposed to. Ya gotta twy hawdew," Cadence declared, before she looked over at the pink colored plastic bowl that was her daughter's training potty. "Now, ya gotta take off ya diapee befowe ya sit on the potty. Ten ya just sit down and wait untiw ya do whatevew ya need to do, ow untiw a gwown-up says ya can get up."
Shining used his magic to pull down Cadence's diaper, and he couldn't resist a faint snicker as he watched her waddle towards the training potty in such clumsy fashion. And he kept a watchful eye over her as she plopped down onto the potty, sitting there silently as she seemed to be concentrating intensely.
At last, a faint tinkling sound could be heard alongside a plop or two. When the noise faded after a few seconds, Cadence stood up, and beaming with pride she declared! "I did it!"
Shining clapped his hooves and instructed his daughter to do the same. "Good job, Cady! Just like a pro!" And to his daughter he then said. "See, Flurry? It's that easy. Think you can manage that the next time potty time rolls around?"
The young alicorn seemed to nod. "I'll twy."
The prince replied. "That's all we can ask for, Flurry," Then he turned to his wife. "I'll get you all cleaned up, dear. Just hold still." And with the soft glow of his horn he summoned wet wipes to clean Cadence's flank, discarding them in the trash can near the toilet. Then he picked up the training potty, pouring its contents into the toilet bowl as Cadence and Flurry watched. A mighty roar rang out as Shining pulled the handle to flush the toilet, sending all its contents away before he set the potty back down and went to rewash his hooves.
It was then that a very naughty idea came into Cadence's mind as she looked at the toilet. "Hey, Fwuwwy," She whispered. "Ya evew wondew whewe evewyting in the toilet goes when ya flush it?"
Flurry Heart nodded. "Uh-huh. It goes somewhewe, wight?"
The regressed princess of love replied with a smile. "Yup. I'ww show ya how if ya'd wike. Dun wowwy, I'ww be fine. Is just wike being on a watew swide!"
Flurry wasn't quite sure of that description, but her curiosity was too great to be ignored. "Otay. So how ya show me, Mommy?"
Cadence gestured to the toilet as she flew close to it. "Fowwow me to the toiwet, and watch cwosewy," She began to flap her wings, leading her daughter towards the great porcelain bowl. She turned back to look, seeing that Shining was still too busy washing his hooves to notice what was going on. "Otay," The princess of love told her daughter. "Ya watching?" When she received a confirming nod, she proceeded to declare. "Hewe I go!" Then without hesitation, she used her magic to pull the toilet handle down. And once the flush cycle had started, she jumped into the bowl as she discarded her diaper without fanfare!
Flurry's gaze was transfixed on the toilet as she watched her mom spin around and around in the waters of the toilet bowl, bound for who knew where?
But at that moment, Shining came rushing towards the toilet at a breakneck speed! "Cadence!" He gasped in fright! "What are you doing?! Get out of there before it's too late!" He began to light up his horn, preparing to fish his wife out before the toilet could suck her down!
However, the young alicorn with a lovely pink coat had another idea in mind. Despite spinning around and around, she wasn't getting dizzy. And she had enough concentration to light up her horn, just as the waters started to retreat towards the drain!
A horrified Shining peered down into the bowl as he saw his wife disappear in a flash! Had she managed to teleport out in time?! He hoped so, considering that just seconds after the flash the waters retreated down the drain. And when they refilled Cadence was nowhere in sight!
The flush cycle ended and the handle reset to its original position, and it was then Shining and Flurry became aware of a giggle coming from just down the hall from the bathroom. Scooping up his daughter, the stallion quickly trotted out of the bathroom and toward the source of the giggling.
Cadence was escaping through an open windowsill that let sunlight into the palace. "Can't catch me!" She teased in a foalish tone of voice, before fluttering out the windowsill and towards the streets of the Crystal Empire!
"Cadence, come back!" Shining shouted, even though his wife was soon out of hearing range. He let out an unhappy sigh as he looked down at his daughter. "I might've known this would happen. Her foalish side is taking over. Looks like we'll have to go out and track her down, no way am I leaving you behind to get into trouble."
Flurry, for her part, whimpered. "I sowwy, Daddy. I not know Mommy was twying to trick me."
The prince sympathetically told his daughter. "You probably didn't realize what was happening. Neither did I at first. I thought something was off when your mom was looking at the toilet, but I pushed it to the back of my mind," Then he made sure to remind her. "But don't ever think about doing what your mom just did. It's not acceptable."
"I'ww be good, no twick Daddy ow Mommy." Flurry Heart promised as she saw her dad whip out the foal buggy and place her into it.
Shining Armor nodded. "I'm sure you will be, Flurry. Now come on, we need to try and track down Cadence before somepony sees her."