The Royal Fillies REDUX

by blazikenking

The Sweet Sound of Silence

In a royal home in the Crystal Empire, all was quiet, and four ponies of great renown and fame slept soundly. That all changed when Skyla's diaper went from empty to full and she began crying for a change.

Shining Armor and Cadence opened their eyes. "The fillies are crying," he said in an obvious statement.

"I only hear Skyla," Cadence said. A moment later, Inova started crying too. "You're right." She got out of bed to go to the foals' room.

"I'll see if I can get Inova to quiet down, you take care of Skyla." Shining rolled out of bed like the trained soldier he was.

"Isn't it your turn to change Skyla?"

"I have a theory. Let me test it and I'll do the next three changes for Skyla."

"Make it four."

"Deal."

The parents, with a plan in mind, entered the cacophonous chamber of their foals' room. Each one levitated their chosen child out. Cadence went to the nearby bathroom to change Skyla while Shining took Inova to the living room and set her on the plush rug. By the smell, or lack thereof, she had no need for a diaper change.

He did some thinking out loud, if only so he could try to hear himself think. "You cry after your sister starts, you cry at normal things foals cry at, and then you always go on until you run out of energy or throw up." He spared a glance at a section of floor by the dining room table, and he noticed Skyla's crying stop. "You even cry through a diaper change. Maybe what you need is this." He created two small bubble shields and gently nestled them in Inova's ears.

The effect on Inova was almost immediate. Inova calmed down and looked around. When she spotted her dad, she made a happy little sound and raised her forelegs in happiness.

The effect on Shining was just as fast. "I was right!" He got down to Inova's level with a big smile on his face. "Cadence, I got Inova to calm down!"

"Just a moment!" Cadence called back. When she entered the living room, Skyla, with a fresh diaper on her, was sound asleep on her back. "So, how did you do it?"

Shining turned Inova with a playful nuzzle, revealing the shields he was moving with great skill. "The sound of crying."

"I know she always starts crying when other foals start crying, but what-"

"Even her own crying."

Cadence was stunned. "So, a feedback loop?"

"Exactly. She doesn't like the sound of crying, she actually hates it. She just hasn't figured out that she was the source of it."

"Are we going to need a special tutor for her?"

He pointed a flat look to his wife as he dispelled the shields. "Cadence, the foals are barely a month old. It's too early to tell."

"But-"

"Inova has had challenges already, I know." His gaze was pulled down by the orange filly grabbing his muzzle and starting to climb up his face and onto his neck. "But now that we know this. . . I don't know where I was going with that."

Cadence let out a little chuckle. "I'll have to write an apology letter to Fluttershy."

"There's no way she could do this." Shining sat up and his back became a slide for Inova. "Definitely once they're out of the diaper stage, though."

"Naturally. Let's get them back to bed."

Shining would have gone along with the idea, were it not for Inova trying to climb him again. "I'll try to wear Inova out."

"Best of luck, Soldier." Cadence took Skyla back to her room.

Shining took the chance to pry Inova off before getting back down to her level and held a forehoof out. "I'm going to teach you how to hoof wrestle, okay?"

Inova tilted her head quizzically at him, then saw his hoof. She got on her rear hooves and, with all the physical might and power she could muster, pushed against her dad's hoof.

He was too strong for her to actually move, but his act of surprise was half-genuine. "Oh gosh. Oh heck." He slowly pushed back with a feigned sound of effort, then let Inova come close to winning before easily beating her and gently knocking her on her side. "That was close."

Instead of crying at the defeat, Inova got back to her hooves and started the rematch.

Twenty minutes later, Cadence walked back in. "Shining, how's. . . Do you need a blanket?"

Shining, laying down on the couch with a tired filly on his chest, turned to her. "Would you believe me if I said Inova did this?"

"Not at all. I heard you climb up there with her."

"Oh darn. Doesn't change the fact that I'm stuck here."

Cadence levitated a spare blanket and a pillow out of the closet and set them on the couch as she approached her husband with an amused smile. "Just this once, you silly pony."

"Thanks, Cadence." The two shared a quick kiss before Cadence went back to their room for the night.

Author's Note:

Did Inova inherit some feline gravity powers? Probably not, but it's understandable how that conclusion could be reached.

Comments

[OP Omni God-Emperor Doom]

Skyla is a normal, if very hungry, alicorn filly.

Hopefully she's hungry for food, not of power like Sunset was.

[woggs123]

Woah, woah, woah, WHAT? I check fimfiction at 3:30am just in time to see this in the new box? It's fate I tell you!

[Mystic Sunrise]

What. No Flurry Heart? Really? People seem to forget that triplets are a thing.

[blazikenking]

11624803 Flurry Heart was introduced after the first version of the story was published, but I do have plans for her.

[blazikenking]

11625229 Fifth, actually. You are the first to comment on the prologue, though.

[Ulysses Boothe]

11625466
Yes mission failed successfully

[Chrome Masquerade]

He was too strong for her to actually move, but his act of surprise was half-genuine. "Oh gosh. Oh heck." He slowly pushed back with a feigned sound of effort, then let Inova come close to winning before easily beating her and gently knocking her on her side. "That was close."

Good thing you didn't say anything stronger, Shining.