A Glimmer of the Past: Daddy Issues

by milesprower06

Origins

Fresh from her shower, Starlight stood in front of her mirror and ran a brush through her mane. If her dad was as punctual as Twilight, the train from Sire's Hollow would have arrived just five minutes ago, and it was a ten minute trot to the castle. She only had a few minutes to sort through the thoughts going through her head at the moment, currently it was her dad's reasoning for treating her the way he had.

'I just know how hard things were for you when you left home. I guess I wanted you to feel safe, like... when you were young.'

Those were the base desires that her ageplay paraphernalia fulfilled. The diapers, bottle, pacifier, pigtails... They made her feel safe and cared for. Her mind started to drift back to when she first got up the nerve to go looking for supplies after her awards / graduation ceremony...

---

As the afternoon sun made it's way across the western sky, Starlight found herself in Silly Filly, a foal care supply store in Ponyville's marketplace. She was currently standing in aisle three, which was lined from end to end with packages of foal diapers. They ranged from newborn sizes all the way to training pull-ups, some of which looked like they would fit fillies and colts who were well into school age.

'If only they came a little bigger...'

It had only been about an hour since the awards ceremony had wrapped up at the castle; her Equestrian Pink Heart of Courage still hung around her neck. Now that she was in here, browsing the items on offer, she wondered if this jeweled medal would help her summon the courage to-

"Ah, Miss Starlight Glimmer. Good afternoon." Soothing Care, the female half of the proprietor couple that ran the store, greeted the unicorn, slightly startling her as she turned from the packages to Silly Filly's co-owner.

"H-Hello, Soothing." Starlight replied, managing to keep her composure.

"Quite a surprise seeing you in here, Starlight. Are... You expecting?" Soothing asked.

"No, no. Nothing like that."

"Foalsitting?"

"No, well..." Starlight began to stammer, getting a little flustered.

"These are just our more common sizes, Starlight," Soothing began, motioning to stack after stack of foal diapers that lined the aisle. "Do we have what you need out here, or do you need something... Bigger?"

"Well, um..." Starlight began, swallowing as her nerves started to spike. But at the same time, the end of Soothing's question seemed very sincere. She stood there expectantly as the unicorn continued to fumble with her words.

"You're my only customer right now, Miss Starlight. Do you want to just tell me what size you need?" Soothing asked, just as sincerely as last time.

Starlight quietly drew in a deep breath, touched her right hoof to her Pink Heart of Courage, and slowly let it out.

"A-Adult?" Starlight stammered out, the deep breath not helping as much as she thought it might. She was sure that her entire face was now flushed crimson.

As ridiculous as she thought that answer sounded, Soothing Care simply smiled at her.

"Right this way, Starlight." She said, turning towards the back of the store. Not even two seconds passed before Starlight, stunned yet curious, willed her hooves to follow in her steps. The duo walked through two more aisles of bottles, pacifiers, baby food, and formula, before they came to the customer service counter, with Gentle Care, Soothing's husband, running things.

"Keep an eye on things, hun. New special customer to show around." Soothing told him. Gentle gave his wife a nod and Starlight a smile as they passed by, going through a set of double swinging doors to the warehouse.

Taking in the size of the storeroom, Starlight realized the shopping area proper was maybe a third of the entire building. Boxes upon boxes of supplies sat on pallets, waiting to be unloaded when the front needed restocking. They walked passed all of these, and came to what may as well have been a second shopping area. Disposable diapers, folded and sealed cloth diapers, changing supplies, bottles, toys, and pacifiers; shelves of unboxed supplies sat on display, mirroring the customer area up front, save for one difference.

Everything was bigger. Much bigger.

Starlight's gait slowed as she came to the packages of diapers, eyeing the waist measurements, confirming they were indeed for full grown ponies. Soothing noticed that Starlight hadn't kept pace with her, and had nearly stopped to stare at the disposable garments. She quietly turned and came back to her side.

"It's always fun getting a first timer in here." She told the stunned mare, smiling at her, making her as comfortable as possible in this situation.

Starlight swallowed again.

"This... This is all so new to me... And judging by these options, I'm guessing it's not just me."

"Hardly, Miss Starlight. We get adult foals from all over town, and also out of town; farther out than you might think. Ponyville, Appleloosa... Ponies even come down from Canterlot. I'm sure there's suppliers up there, but this is smaller and more out of the way."

Starlight's eyes went down the aisle, studying the packs of diapers, all of them varying shades of blue, pink, or plain white, some with babyish patterns on the front, or all over.

"I can't believe there's enough of a market for something like this." Starlight said, slowly going down the aisle alongside Soothing.

"It's always reassuring to know you're not alone." Soothing told her, letting her take her time browsing all the options available.

"I won't have to take anything back up front, will I?" Starlight asked nervously.

"Not at all," Soothing said, shaking her head, and pointing back to the rear wall. There was another, smaller counter with a register on top. "We pack everything up into plain boxes, and you can see yourself out the back. We can even discreetly ship larger orders." She told her newest customer, this information being well-rehearsed to her by now.

Starlight was finding herself slowly less overwhelmed by her nerves, and more overwhelmed by the amount of options that were available to her on the shelves. Slowly, she took another breath, and grabbed a single pack of ten white Silly Filly Overnights, patterned with purple stars and blue moons on the front. After that, a bottle of foal powder and a small pack of wipes joined the diapers in her magical grasp. Then, she came to the pacifiers and bottles. Various jars of mashed and process food lined the other side of the aisle, and by now, Starlight could see onesies, bibs, and footed fleece pajamas an aisle down. She opted for a light lavender pacifier and a plain clear plastic bottle. Together, the two mares walked down to the service counter in the back, and she was nearly shaking as Soothing began to ring her items up. When the total came up on the register, however, she dug out her bit bag and discovered that the one thing she hadn't paid attention to during her short shopping spree was the prices. She had only packed 30 bits, and she was short by 15. She didn't have enough for everything.

Soothing saw the look of disappointment on her face, but instead of asking her what she'd like to put back, she simply pressed a few buttons on the register, and the pack of diapers was removed from the total before it was slid down the counter to join Starlight's other purchases.

"But, Soothing, you don't have to-"

Starlight was cut off as Soothing held up a hoof.

"I won't hear it, Miss Starlight. Consider it a graduation gift. If you like them, I think it's fair to say that you'll be back for more." Soothing said as she neatly arranged everything in a plain box before taping it up and sliding it across the counter to her newest customer.

"I... I don't know what to say." Starlight stammered, gathering that Gentle and Soothing had been at the castle for the party earlier today.

"Most don't on their first trip." Soothing replied with another smile, leaving the counter and opening the back door for Starlight as she slid the box onto her back for carrying back to the castle.

"Have a great day, Starlight. I hope to see you again."

---

*knock knock*

Starlight's ruminations were interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door, and she found herself staring at her reflection in her bathroom mirror.

"Starlight, your dad's here! Breakfast is nearly ready too!" Spike announced from the hall on the other side of her bedroom door.

"Thanks, I'll be out in a second!" She replied back, making sure her mane was presentable, then set the brush on the counter. She walked out of the bathroom, and double checked that the chest in the back corner of her closet was securely locked before heading out into the hall. As she turned to head to the foyer, the early morning bottle of apple juice was beginning to wear off, and she was looking forward to whatever breakfast Twilight had planned. When she got to the stairs, she looked down and saw that Twilight had probably just finished introducing Spike to the purple-coated unicorn stallion standing in front of them, who was currently shaking the dragon's right claw. He then looked up to see Starlight approach the stairs, and waved to her.

"There's my girl!" He greeted, coming to the base of the stairs.

Starlight gave a smile as she came down the stairs, and the duo embraced.

"Hi, dad."

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

So, how long until Starlight either tells Firelight, or Firelight finds out for himself? One or the other is bound to happen.

[JordanOlson]

I've gotta admit, I'm really excited to see where this goes.
Keep up the good work!

[Yosh-E-O]

Nice job building the tension for the next chapter. The back story of how Starlight first found herself getting her foolish supplies was very well written and painted a great "How did it begin?" moment. Kind of makes you think that new insecurities started to make their way into Starlight after Twilight said she had graduated. Graduation is a time of 'growth' and 'moving on'. Twilight is basically saying, "You're on your own." without actually meaning to say it in such a way. This could easily rekindle her desire to want to be cared for.

This also makes you go back to why she started Our Town. All the ponies basically took care of her and she took care of them. She was safe in knowing they'd always be there with them until Twilight and friends took them away. However, instead of diapers at this time, her mind was too full of desire for revenge for having her haven removed.

Definitely thought out work here. Nice job.

[Sollace]

And then Starlight realised she was still padded.

Bum, Bum, Bummmmmmm

[dashie22123]

this story is getting good and by the way brony on and bro hoof

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

quite interesting