"Did I hear you girls say you were ready?"
Sweet's singsongy voice rang through the room as she entered, a tea tray levitating beside her. Rainbow perked up, excited to see the beverage that would put her back into the carefree bliss from last time. She knew what was coming this time, and the anticipation was strong in her. She looked sideways to her beautiful, wonderful marefriend, trying to read the look on her face. Twilight was not quite as excited as Rainbow was, but it was evident that her curiosity had been piqued. Rainbow grinned, imagining Twilight being reduced to a drooling, diapered mental foal. The idea of it was way more appealing than she ever would have imagined, and she had no idea why. She'd initially attributed it to her desire to get revenge on her, but that aspect was no longer pertinent, yet the appeal remained.
"Yes, I believe so," Twilight responded, levitating the signed form over to Sweet. She knew she had said that she was ready, but believing it was another story altogether. It was at times like this that she would have pangs of regret over her unrelenting pursuit of knowledge. Although admittedly, it wasn't just the opportunity to learn from the experience that drove her to agree to this. There was the feeling of guilt over sending Rainbow here without knowing exactly what was in store for her, but even that wasn't quite it. That was more Rainbow's fault for not reading the release, if she had to be honest. No, there was something else to it. For some reason, the thought of being treated like a foal, doted on without a care in the world...something about it sounded so welcoming. And if Rainbow Dash—brash, rough-and-tumble Rainbow Dash—had thoroughly enjoyed being babied as much as she was led to believe, then surely there had to be something to it.
"Excellent!" Sweet said, nodding at the signature on the back. "Now, before we continue, I have to enact what I call the Rainbow Dash Clause. Because a certain somepony, who shall remain nameless, chose to sign without reading once, I have to ask if you've actually read the entire form." Rainbow bit her lip, feeling like a little child being playfully chided by her elders.
"I read most of it," Twilight said. "But Rainbow filled me in on some of the finer details, and I'm okay with all of it."
"Aww," Sweet cooed, giving Twilight a pat on the head. "I should have known you were a good reader!" Twilight couldn't help a soft giggle. Sweet's disposition certainly seemed appropriate for what she was planning on doing. She hadn't even had any of the tea and she was already feeling like a filly with how Sweet talked to her.
"Hey, I'm a good reader too!" Rainbow protested. "I just get bored easily!"
"I guess I'm just a bit of a better reader," Twilight responded playfully. Sweet giggled softly, watching her two soon-to-be foals already quarreling over her praise.
"Okay, girls, that's enough," Sweet said. "Let's not bicker. We have a long, fun night ahead of us, and it starts with teatime! So let's sit down and enjoy, alright?" The tea tray was set on the table, and Rainbow and Twilight smiled to each other before each sitting down and taking a cup.
"So what exactly is in this tea?" Twilight asked, inspecting it. "What ingredients are in the potion? I'm quite experienced with potions and—"
"Shh," Sweet said, gently placing her hoof on Twilight's mouth. "Cute little fillies don't need to know that. Just drink up and make those bellies happy." She patted Twilight's belly for emphasis, causing the alicorn to giggle again. Her demeanor was just so warm and welcoming that Twilight practically stopped caring about the nature of the potion. Perhaps she would ask again tomorrow when their treatment was done, but for now, she would drink up like the good little filly she was going to be.
"Oh!" Sweet said suddenly, interrupting the two as they were about to drink. "Another bit I forgot to put into the form! Miss Twilight, do you mind if I put a magic inhibitor on your horn? After all, little foals can't use magic very well, can they? You can say no if you want since it wasn't in the form, but it'd certainly add to the experience."
Twilight hesitated. If there was one thing that scared her more than anything, save for losing her friends or family, it was losing her magical ability. Magic was her special talent, one of the very things that defined her as a pony. Her tension about the idea of a magical inhibitor only grew as she watched Sweet produce a small silver ring with runes inscribed on it. That was an inhibitor, all right, and it looked exactly like the ones she'd read about, ones that law enforcement ponies often used to keep unicorn prisoners from using their magic. They were also used for some...more risqué situations, but those kinds of situations were completely alien to Twilight, and certainly not the type of things that a noble princess like her would read about in the mailbox section of the naughty magazines that she certainly did not stash just out of Spike's reach in her bedroom.
"C'mon, Twilight," Rainbow said between sips of her tea. "It's no big. You can trust Nana. Sweet." She instantly adopted a look of embarrassment as she realized how she was already calling Sweet "Nana," but a hug and some gentle bellyrubs from Sweet calmed her down. Twilight watched in wonder as Rainbow relaxed into Sweet's embrace. There was a real sense of trust there, and it impressed her greatly knowing how Rainbow could be. The idea of losing her magical ability, even temporarily, was quite scary to her, but if Rainbow could trust her that much, then perhaps she was worthy of that level of trust.
"Alright," Twilight said quietly. She reached out for the ring, but Sweet gently nudged her hooves away.
"Use your hoofsies to drink your tea," Sweet said gently. "Little fillies leave things like this to the grownups." Twilight giggled lightly, already enjoying this little game without even having drank her potion yet. She took a sip of her tea, sighing happily at its taste. She was quite knowledgable when it came to potions, but she couldn't fully place the flavor. There was definitely a bit of nutmeg and a tiny sprinkling of rainbow; the spice of the rainbow was unmistakable. Other than that, though, the rest of the ingredients were a mystery to her. Whatever it was, though, it was delicious, and she quickly drank it down.
Suddenly, Twilight felt a little shock on her horn. Her eyes looked up to see Sweet's hooves surrounding her horn, slipping the inhibitor onto it. A twinge of panic gripped Twilight as she felt the magic inside her cut off where the ring lie. Her eyes widened as she tried to cast a spell, but the inhibitor was doing its job efficiently. Twilight hadn't been wholly unable to use her magic since the Tirek incident, and the helpless feeling shook her to her core. Normally, she might have taken this panic in as much stride as she could manage, but for some reason, likely due to the potion's effects slowly beginning to kick in, she found herself trembling, barely able to move. She tried harder and harder, and harder still when harder didn't work. Her fear must have been quite visible, because she heard Rainbow call her name and felt Sweet hug her tightly. Suddenly, something clicked, and a bit of magic managed its way through the inhibitor, although it required a tremendous amount of effort. Twilight watched as her magic, which should have been enough to level a wall with the effort she was putting in, gently knocked over Rainbow's empty teacup,
"Whoa..." Sweet said, gaping. "I can't believe you managed to do that with the inhibitor on...now that is unbelievable magical power." She patted Twilight on the head. "You're very impressive, you know that?"
Twilight's fears began to subside. Her magic wasn't gone. It may have been greatly restricted, but the knowledge that she still had some of it at her command, albeit requiring far more effort than usual, was still a comfort. Hearing Sweet's bit of praise also had a strangely soothing effect on her. Sweet was impressed with her, and that filled her with pride.
"Okay, little fillies," Sweet said quickly. "Let's get those little rumps moving! We want to be in the nursery when our drinkies take full effect!" Sweet let go of Twilight and took off running, Rainbow in hot pursuit. Twilight giggled as she watched the two, and, not wanting to be left behind, followed close behind.
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By the time the three ponies reached their destination, both Rainbow and Twilight were already beginning to feel some of the effects kicking in. Both ponies were still walking just fine, but they were feeling a little less coordinated. Most of the mental changes were yet to show up, but Twilight was certain that, had she walked into the giant nursery without the potion in her system, she wouldn't have reacted to it with such wonder. She certainly wouldn't have stopped in her tracks and admired her surroundings with the gusto that she had. Never had she seen such a place, with all of its childish decorations and foolish furniture and supplies increased to adult pony scale.
"This is incredible..." Twilight mused. She honestly wasn't sure exactly what she meant by that. "Incredible" could mean a few things in this case. At its base, it meant that its subject was difficult to believe, and being as she'd never expected to see foalish things at this size, there was some verity behind that definition. Colloquially, the word was used to describe something which one looked at in a very positive sense, and that was the one that threw Twilight for a loop. Was she really so subconsciously enthralled with the sights before her that she thought them to be colloquially incredible? Perhaps it was some of the potion's effects kicking in. But that crib did look strangely inviting.
"Isn't it, though?" Sweet said with a smile. "And this is where you'll be staying till noon tomorrow! Isn't that delightful?"
Twilight grinned a little, somewhat enchanted by Sweet's soft tone. That had to be part of the potion's effects...although she had found Sweet's tone to be soothing even when they had just met. Maybe it was part of her special talent? She hadn't really thought much into the little cloud-looking cutie mark that adorned Sweet's flank. Perhaps it wasn't a cloud at all, but a little dream balloon like they used in comics? That did make some sense to her. Maybe she was good at soothing ponies, which certainly seemed to fit quite well with her job.
Twilight looked over to Rainbow to see how she was doing. To her surprise, Rainbow was no longer by her side. Instead, she had headed to the center of the room, where Sweet was setting up some type of little mat. They were both right next to her a moment ago...had she really spaced out long enough to miss that?
"Now then," Sweet said, getting some supplies from a nearby bag. "Since Dashie has been here before, she's getting a slight change to her treatment."
"Change?" Dashie asked.
"Mhm!" Sweet responded. She patted the mat, and Dashie obediently laid down on her back with such eagerness that it caused Twilight to grin. "You're going to be the big filly, maybe about three years old. And newbie Twily here is going to be the little one, about two years old like you were last time." Twily smiled lightly. She usually only let her parents and her BBBFF call her Twily, but it sounded nice coming from Sweet.
Any lingering thoughts Twily was having stopped when she watched Sweet produce a diaper from her bag. It was so rare to see Dashie sit still for anypony, let alone let somepony do something like this to her, but there she was, willingly moving herself around to allow Sweet to do her work. Within moments, Dashie had been expertly diapered, and without so much as a fuss. In fact, her smile couldn't have been wider as she wiggled her now-padded rump. Twilight tried to think about how odd it was, but her thoughts were quickly becoming muddy, her mind beginning to dull. As she looked at the happily-diapered Dashie, she began to feel pangs of jealousy. She looked so happy and comfy...why wasn't she happy and comfy too? As if Sweet was answering her thoughts, she turned and smiled warmly at Twily.
"Your turn, little one," Sweet cooed. "Lay down for Mama Sweet."
"Nana Sweet," Dashie corrected, now sitting down and patting her diaper.
"For you, it's Nana Sweet," Sweet replied, ruffling her mane. "Maybe it's Mama for Twily! What do you think, Twily?"
Twily tilted her head in thought, thought which was becoming harder to focus on. Sweet sounded nice and cheerful when she said Mama. Maybe that was the right answer. Besides, Sweet was so nice like a Mama was supposed to be.
"Mama Sweet!" Twily responded with a smile.
"Mama it is, then!" Sweet responded with a smile. "But it's still Nana for you, Dashie." She turned her attention back to Twily and gave her a gentle smile. "Now lay down like a good little filly for Mama Sweet, okay?"
Twily smiled from ear to ear as she was called a good little filly. She quickly laid down on her back, looking up at Sweet.
"Good filly," Sweet cooed. "Bottoms up!" Twily felt a little tap on her cutie mark. She giggled softly as she raised her hips, enough capacity for thought in her head to figure that this was what she wanted. She tried to see what Sweet was doing, but couldn't see around her own raised hips. She knew what was happening, of course, but part of her really wanted to see it happening. She heard the telltale crinkling sound of a diaper sliding under her, then felt another poking hoof on her cutie mark.
"Bottoms back to bottom!" Sweet said. Twily giggled happily and did as she was told. She felt herself overcome with feelings of comfort and safety as her rump made contact with the diaper for the first time. It felt so nice and soft under her tush, as if she was sitting on the world's comfiest pillow.
"Isn't that niiiice?" Sweet cooed at her. "Twily like her diapers?"
"Yes Mama Sweet," Twily responded, a dull smile on her face. She found herself feeling blissfully happy as Sweet fixed the base of her tail into the tail hole. She felt a cool feeling as she was sprinkled with foal powder, and she began to gently kick her hind legs.
"What are these cute lil' hooves doing?" Sweet asked, taking hold of one of them. She gave its underside a little kiss, resulting in a playful little giggle from Twily. "Heehee...not as ticklish as Dashie, but still adorable!"
Twily felt absolutely at ease with Sweet as the diaper was folded up between her legs. She sighed a comforted sigh as the garment was taped closed, enjoying her pillowy wrappings. Never had she worn something so delightfully comfy.
"Who's Mama's little padded princess?" Sweet asked, beginning to gently rub Twily's belly. Twily relaxed fully into the rubs, letting out a soft coo.
"I'm still Nana's little Wonderbolt, right?" Dashie cut in, feeling left out.
"Of course you are, sweetie," Sweet responded, motioning for Dashie to lay down next to Twily. Dashie was more than happy to do so, and soon both padded ponies were on the receiving end of belly rubs.
Twily looked sideways to Dashie, smiling from ear to ear. Dashie returned the smile and leaned forward to boop Twily's nose with her own. Twily reciprocated the action, and the two giggled gently as they got into a vicious booping war.
"You two are so silly!" Sweet said as she finished rubbing their tummies. "Now come on. I've got everything you two could ever want right here for you. How about we have a little playtime before dinner?"
"Kay!" Twily and Dashie responded together. Both of them got up, and Twily was surprised at just how little coordination she now had. She attempted to walk and quickly found it to be difficult, although still doable. She took a few steps and found herself walking with a ridiculous gait, partially due to her decreased motor skills and partially to the thickness of the garment between her legs; a garment which, she noted, felt so warm and wonderful as it hugged her hindquarters. She felt Dashie quickly move to her side to help her walk a little straighter, and gave her a little smile.
"Good fillies!" Sweet praised. "Come on, we've got a lot of playing to do!"
Twily beamed as she and Dashie followed Mama Sweet. Things had only just started and she was already feeling so happy and carefree. She could only imagine how much better things were going to get.