There were rumors about the Tower. Ever since the first scouts came back with the news of its existence, the word about its rediscovery had spread like wildfire. And everypony had something to say about it.
It was built by King Sombra to house his prisoners.
It had existed since the beginning of the Empire.
It predated the founding of Equestria.
It was built just before the Empire had vanished.
It warped the minds of anypony who got too close.
It held the secret of everlasting youth.
It was a weekend spa retreat that had fallen into disrepair.
Anypony who entered never left.
After a month, Shining Armor had just about enough of all the rumors. It wasn’t just him, either. Princess Cadence had many more things to worry about than an old building out in the woods, such as holding court, bringing the Empire’s denizens into the modern day, and countless treaties to sign and co-sign. It was exhausting work, so when all her citizens brought before her were concerns about this tower, she’d quickly grown fed up.
“Can you take care of this for me?” She’d asked him, all doe-eyed. He’d have done it even without the pleading, but he did love seeing that face.
Shining had rounded up the handful of guards the Crystal Palace could spare and went to put the mystery—if there even was one—to bed. Permanently.
“Come on!” he yelled to the soldiers behind them. He was too far ahead for his liking. Armor clamored and underbrush crunched as they trudged to keep up.
Looking up through messy treetops, Shining could see the tower stretching well over them. He estimated it had to be at least seven or eight stories high. From this distance he could make out its pristine surface. No imperfections, no sign of brick, mortar, or crystals. Just smooth and pearly white.
He shuddered. Creepy.
“Fly ahead,” he called back to the two pegasi in his group.
“U-Uh, what?” Came a pegasus who just dropped to the ground. Shining snorted; poor attempt to hide.
“Fly ahead,” he grunted. “Scout out the tower. I want some details by the time the rest of us get there.”
“Yes sir.” One took off. Then, after a pause…
“Yes sir.” Mumbled the other, flying after the first.
Good. Maybe they’d figure out something before the rest of them even made it to the tower. Shining wouldn’t complain if they could wrap this up early. Then again, it wasn’t fun to think this whole trip would be for nothing.
They’d been walking for two hours now. Judging by how far they still were, it seemed like they still had half an hour to go. A five hour round trip.
Ugh.
Shining held his distaste back from the rest of the guards, but he could feel theirs. They were undoubtedly tired. Coming all this way for what many thought were baseless rumors and superstition wasn’t exactly great for morale. Every now and then he caught whispers, murmurs of frustration from back there. He should whip it out of them, but he decided to let them moan in peace.
The tower drew closer and closer. Eventually they broke through the dense forest into a clearing. They were at its base.
Up close, it looked more like a column. Shining craned his neck back, taking in the whole of the featureless, giant cylinder. Another shudder rippled through him.
Seriously creepy.
“Finally.” Shining squinted into the sun as he watched the pegasi guards descend.
The not-so-eager one from before hunched over, nervously glancing back at the tower. “Can we go now?”
Shining rolled his eyes. “Report.”
The other pegasi saluted him. “We found only one opening anywhere on the tower’s surface, sir!”
“A window, near the top,” the other filled in.
He nodded. Already they had something. “And what did it look like inside?”
The two guards shared a glance. “Well… we couldn’t tell. It was too dark.”
Shining furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you try going in?”
Both shook their heads. “It was way too narrow.”
“We’d never fit.”
“Not like this one would go in if we could.”
“Hey!” He shoved his badmouthing partner.
“Any other entrances?” Shining barked, putting an end to their squabble before it could really begin. He was surprised when they both shook their heads. Squinting, he thought, So no doors? “What about on top?”
“It was just flat, sir.”
“Hmmm…”
“Seriously, can we go? This thing’s giving me the heebie jeebies,” the cowardly guard begged.
“What about the surrounding area?” Shining asked, ignoring him. “Maybe there’s an underground tunnel nearby that leads in?”
“We didn’t check yet, sir.”
Shining didn’t blame him; they’d probably only just finished surveying the tower itself. He at least thought it was a credible theory. He seemed to recall something in his old history classes about how ancient buildings sometimes had entrances like that. Though, he did tend to sleep his way through those classes…
“Check the surrounding area just in case,” Shining said, both to the pegasi and the other three guards. They saluted before jumping into action. No complaints or backtalk, they knew this was an order.
As they scattered across the clearing and beyond, Shining turned his attention back to the tower. It’s presence couldn’t be avoided, so he didn’t even try. He just took in the weirdness of the whole thing.
One window, no doors, he mused. What’s it like inside then?
He started walking around the base. The perfect circle shape curved away from him, forcing Shining to hug the wall as he maneuvered around. Even up close he still couldn’t detect any imperfection in the wall. It was still so smooth and plain. Like the shell of an egg.
He ran his hoof along the wall. It certainly didn’t feel like an egg. The material reminded his hoof of stone, but what kind of stone gave you a look like this he couldn’t say. Obviously magic had to be involved, but whose? This didn’t seem like the kind of thing ancient crystal ponies would have created. Or needed, for that matter.
Lost in thought, Shining almost didn’t realize when he stumbled upon an opening. In fact, he was half way past the modest oak door before he did a double take and turned around.
And there it was, so obvious about its presence that missing it was akin to an insult.
“Hey!” he barked at his spreading out contingent. “Over here—”
creak...
Unbidden, the door opened. It gave way to a dark expanse, so black even the light from outside couldn’t illuminate it. Shining should’ve called again for the guards, but his curiosity was piqued.
Knowing they’d be hustling to catch back up with him, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to take the first steps inside. His hooves traded crunchy grass for flooring. They clacked like they would against steel, but as far as he could tell the material was no different from the tower walls.
I can’t believe they missed this, Shining mused to himself as he made it all the way inside. Aside from the light pouring in from outside, he could see nothing. Not even his snout was visible. Must have done a lazy job of surveying.
creak...
His eyes bulged, and he turned around. The door was closing on him!
Almost shut, little more than a crack of light could get through. In another second, he’d be alone in the darkness.
“Wait!” He leapt for it.
SLAM!
He threw his body against the door, but he felt no oak when his shoulder made contact. It felt like just any other part of the wall. His hooves shot around, desperate to try and find the door, but he felt nothing.
I need to see. His sparked his horn to life, hoping to find a magenta-shaded door somewhere in this inky blackness.
But the second his magic flickered, it began pouring out of him. “What the—?!”
Tendrils of aura were pulled away from him. He tried to cut off his magic, but he couldn’t stem the flow. He could only watch as his magenta aura snaked through the air, around the room until…
Fsh!
Light. Shining had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, suddenly the room was alight. Visible.
It was a circular room, as wide as the tower itself. The walls were all undecorated, save a ring of torches that were now burning with bright, magenta fires. His magic. So that’s what had happened to him.
He lit his horn again and found nothing happened this time. Apparently now that the torches were burning, they had no need to steal more from him. But even still, he flicked his magic off just in case. Just losing a little of his magical energy had left him feeling faint; he didn’t want any more gone.
The rest of the room was mostly bare. A door sat across from him, the only one present. Whatever entrance he had used to get in was gone, or at the very least covered up by the wall.
Great. His attention was drawn to the only other fixture in the room. A podium, still made of that same pearly white material as the rest of the tower. He was starting to get sick of everything being so white.
Atop the podium sat something with a splash of color. A little white square, but one that had magenta lines on it. Even from this distance he could tell it wasn’t the same as everything else.
Having taken stock of his situation, Shining found that he could calm down a little now. Panic receded as logic took over. His guards would be here soon; they’d find the door and let him out. Whatever this strange tower had done with his magic hadn’t been malicious. At least, not as far as he could tell. He was safe.
For now.
Doubt crept in almost immediately. If the door had vanished on his side, who’s to say it hadn’t disappeared out there as well? His contingent weren’t exactly the sharpest spears in the armory, they may brush off his call as just their imagination when they didn’t see him. Then he wouldn’t be able to get out at all.
He shook his head. Calm down. Think. That’s what Twilight would do. His little sister would be in the middle of asking a dozen questions, forming hypotheses, and getting answers right about now. The least he could do was try something like that.
First things first was the door. He rounded the room’s circumference until he reached it. There was no handle, no lock, no knob of any kind. No hinges either, come to think of it. He tried pushing against it, but it refused to budge.
“Hmm…” He lit up his horn, firing a test beam of magic. Aside from leaving an ineffectual scorch mark, it did nothing to get it opened.
Still in a blast first, think later mindset, he turned his lit horn to one of the walls. The beam he fired ricocheted right off, bouncing around the room like a pinball on steroids. He yelped, needing to duck as the magical attack worked its way to his face. It smacked into the door, not even rattling the strange, wooden material. But it did leave another scorch mark.
Shining blushed a little at his rather girly cry for help. With any luck, nopony outside would have heard that. Though, this room being soundproof wasn’t actually a good thing either.
He could test more advanced attack spells on the door or the walls, but he had a feeling they would all end the same way. That meant there was only one other thing in the room to investigate.
His attention turned to the podium, and the strange item on top of it. He doubted either would help him escape right now, but he was supposed to be exploring the tower anyway. If he could glean some insight into its purpose then today wouldn’t be a total wash.
Approaching the podium, his eyes widened as he figured out what the item on top was. White plastic, and poofy. There was no question about it; it was a diaper.
“What?” His face contorted in confusion. Now right in front of it, there was no denying it. This thing was definitely a diaper. With lines of frills meant for the rear, and sized up far beyond what a foal would need. This one looked meant for an adult.
“This is just… creepy.” He took a step back, eyes catching a plaque just below the podium. The words were perfectly legible, not a hint of Old Ponish in them, despite the supposed age of this place.
To climb to this Tower’s next floor
You’ll need to get past that door.
Shining’s brow furrowed. A poem. Great. And it looked like the door behind him didn’t even lead outside. Not that he’d harbored much hope, but it wasn’t great to get the confirmation. He scanned down to read the rest.
It will open for a foal
Look the part, that’s your goal
If not you’ll be up a creek without an oar.
“Excuse me?!” He shouted. This thing wanted him to… With the… “NO!”
What kind of sick game was this? He looked around the room, half expecting Discord to appear out of thin air and explain his horrible joke. But no such thing happened. Shining was just alone…
With the diaper.
He shook his head. This was ridiculous! What was with this tower? At first he’d just thought it was creepy, but now it was well beyond that. Between stealing his magic, that stupid limerick, and now needing to wear a diaper to go on, he was definitely done. There was no way that was happening. He could wait right here for his guards to find him… which they would, right?
It wouldn’t be a situation where this room wouldn’t appear for anyone else on the outside, would it?
He shook his head again. No! He couldn’t let thoughts like that control him. Besides, going up the tower wouldn’t help at all. It wasn’t like there was anything up there that would help.
Except the window.
Shining blinked in realization. Of course, the window the pegasi had mentioned! If he could make it up there, then he could call for their help! But… to get out of this room…
His eyes dropped to the diaper. It sat there, almost tauntingly.
He gulped.
I shouldn’t have to do this.
But his only options were to wait indefinitely.
But I’m not a foal, what if it doesn’t open anyway?
Yet, the limerick said he merely had to look the part…
Yeah, but it’s a freaking diaper!
And it wasn’t like there was anyone around to see him put it on, was there?
He paused. And sighed. He hadn’t expected logic would leave him no other choice, but with the possibility of a rescue so uncertain, what could he do?
“Fine!” He shouted. “You want me to play your stupid game, Tower? Is that it? Well guess what!” His magic sprung to life, ripping the diaper from the podium. “I’m not even phased! Bring it on!”
He looked to the garment, pupils shrinking a bit. He could only bring his magic to grab a corner of the thing, the rest of the padding unfolding before him. It’s poofy interior somehow inviting, yet haunting, in a way reminiscent of how it had felt to look at the open door to the tower. He was very much phased by this.
With a heavy sigh, Shining looked a way and used his magic to direct the diaper behind him. It crinkled noisily as he gripped more sides, and aimed it at his rear. Squeezing his eyes shut, he brought the poofy thing against his rear.
Contact.
Soft contact.
He held it there for a moment, but nothing happened. Nothing, save for his cheeks growing bright pink.
Shining sighed shakily. It was just a diaper, what was he getting so worked up about?
That spur of determination got him to thread his tail through the hole of the diaper. He was too far in now to call it quits, and started wrapping it around his plot.
The sheer poofiness of the thing forced him to spread his gait as it came around. With the plush plastic engulfed his privates, he felt his eyelid twitch. It was weird. Not weird in a bad way like he was expecting, either. But also not quite weird in a good way? He didn’t know if that was worse.
He taped it all down, face now harboring more than just pinpricks of a blush. He looked back at it, the bulge quite noticeable past his armor. When he moved, the little crinkle noises it made was even more noticeable than the clinks of the metal plates.
Shining shuddered, tucking his tail between his legs. This was stupid. It was stupid and he knew it.
Worse yet, when he looked up at the door, it wasn’t open. Rushing to it, and stumbling into a waddle as he did, Shining tried to push it open. Nothing.
“Are you kidding me?” He cried. He should have known better than to trust a strange plaque in a creepy magic tower. Now he’d just put on a diaper for nothing. “Ergh!” He snapped his horn to life, ready to strip the thing from his bottom. But then he remembered.
Look the part, that’s your goal
The limerick’s instructions hadn’t just been to merely put on the diaper. And maybe, just maybe, that was important. He racked his brain, nowhere near the thinker his little sister was. Or is she my big sister now that I’m wearing a—
He shook his head. That was not the kind of stuff he should be thinking about right now. Besides, he was still an adult. Foals didn’t wear armor like his.
And the lightbulb went off.
“Of course!” Shining realized. If he had to look the part of a foal to get that stupid door to open, then of course it would be a stickler about it. His armor was the problem.
Finding it much easier to undress than to put on the diaper, Shining kicked off his boots, removed his helmet, and unbuckled his armor. The metal clanged against the floor as he dropped them all, now naked. Except for the diaper.
Shining bit his lip. It suddenly felt drafty in here. Maybe that was just because he wasn’t wearing his usual clothes. But it was also humiliating. At least when his armor had been on, the diaper wasn’t the only thing he was concentrating on. But now, it was hard to ignore the fluffy interior of the diaper. The way it flooded every little nook and cranny of his inner thighs. The plush way it wrapped around his stallionhood…
He shook his head. What was that draft?
Looking up, he found his answer. The door was open! The hingeless, knobless door had somehow swung wide open, revealing a set of stairs for him.
“Finally!” he gasped with relief. He smiled to himself, having figured it out. The plaque hadn’t been a trick after all. And now that the door was open, he could fix his ridiculous attire situation.
Shining stepped back into his boots, magic already alight to grab the tapes of the diaper. But the second his hoof was comfortable in the armor, he heard something.
creak...
His head shot up, just in time to see the door slam shut on him. “No!” he cried. “No no no!” He ran up to it, slamming his hooves against the wood once more. “Come on!” he groaned.
What had just happened? Had he run out of time to leave the room? Or had something triggered it to close?
His eye caught sight of the boot on his forehoof. Was this what had done him in? He kicked it off, hoping the door would be appeased.
It wasn’t.
“Oh come on!” Shining cried. “I did what you asked! Why did—” he huffed. He was just wasting his breath.
But had he really blown his one shot? If he couldn’t get up to the next level, there was no way he’d reach the top. And then what could he do?
Dejected, he turned around and shuffled back to the podium. Maybe that limerick held a clue for what he needed to do, or something? It was hard to think about it too much with his crinkly diaper constantly distracting him. He looked back to glare at it. Each step forced a waddle out of the stallion, and padding gently rubbed up against his body. It was making it impossible to stop blushing too.
Eyes shifting back to the podium, Shining froze. In the second he had turned away, it had changed.
Now a new diaper sat atop it, one even thicker than before. And pink. Really pink. Aggressively so.
He blinked in surprise, wondering where that had come from. Even Discord’s magic made noise when he snapped something into existence, but this had been silent. And fast. Was he actually not responsible for this tower in any way?
He got another shock when he checked the plaque. The limerick had changed on him.
Only bad little fillies disobey
And so they do not get to play.
The wording for this one was even more confusing than last time. Fillies? Not exactly a synonym for foal. Did this tower not realize he was a stallion? It should say colt there at the very least. And what did it mean by play?
The room has reset
One more chance you’ll get
To do whatever your King may say.
Shining’s blood ran cold. King. That was rather unambiguous.
Considering the tower’s proximity to the Crystal Empire, it must have some connection. This land had rulers of all kinds before, but all had been either Emperor, or Empress. Cadence was it’s first ever Princess, and it had only ever had one King.
Sombra.
So that’s who’s responsible for this place, Shining realized. He must have built it one thousand years ago, and set it to operate even in the event of his demise. But for what purpose?
Between “disobey” and “do whatever your King may say” Shining’s best guess was that this would be where he sent unruly subjects, possibly before he learned how to control minds. But was it just supposed to torture them? Or was it supposed to make them fall in line.
Shining was suddenly very apprehensive about continuing up the Tower. But he had already determined it was his best bet to escape. Maybe as long as he knew what was happening here he could resist whatever machinations this place had in store for him.
His attention turned back to the pink diaper. At least there was one part of the limerick he hadn’t needed to decipher. This was clearly his “one more chance” to move on.
The Tower was making him put on a second diaper.
At first, Shining hoped he merely had to swap his old one out for this one, but he very much doubted so. Naturally he was being punished for disobeying the first directive, so this was meant to increase his foalishness, right? And besides, this one was definitely bigger than the first. It could only mean he was meant to put it over that one.
And besides, he really didn’t want to screw up this last chance. If he couldn’t get out this time, he may actually be stuck.
Reluctantly, Shining’s magic took hold of the new diaper. He unfolded it, and cringed. Right along the seat of the thing, written in sparkly, cursive, purple lettering was the word SISSY.
His cheeks grew ever hotter. Of course. Of course.
He groaned, knowing there was no use complaining now. He wrapped this new diaper over his old one as begrudgingly as he possibly could.
The frills of his first diaper flattened. The padding on the inside now wheezed as air escaped it. It was squeezed over him ever tighter and more snuggly than before. His stallionhood twitched at the sensation and he ignored it.
He had to spread his hind legs out even further to accommodate the new padding. It was so thick that he worried for a moment he wouldn’t be able to walk at all.
Finally it was done, the tapes magically smoothed down.
Shining looked back at his massive, poofy, pink plot and cringed. Even not moving produced crinkles as the diapers settled against each other. His tail was strained between the two holes that he could barely even flick it.
Looking up from the padding, Shining was able to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the door was open. At least as long as he played by the rules then this tower would too.
He wobbled around, clumsily positioning himself towards the stairs. Shining spared a wayward glance down at his armor, scattered across the floor. It felt wrong to leave it behind, but even just carrying it with him could be considering breaking the rules here. He wasn’t eager to see what the tower had in store for him should he “fail” this floor a second time.
I can always come back for it. He reasoned with himself, tottering towards the stairs. Right now I just have to move on, and be prepared for whatever this place has in store for me.
If Shining had known how tough it would be to climb stairs while double diapered… well, he never would’ve entered this stupid tower in the first place. But he also wouldn’t have tried to put his armor back on.
Each step left his hind legs scrambling for solid ground. The narrow walls gave little wiggle room for his poofy rear as he climbed up. The slightest slip sent him tumbling into the steps, fluffy diaper always making first contact and always costing him a little ground before he could scramble back to all fours.
As the stairs spiraled upward he struggled to follow. It didn’t help that the steps grew steeper and steeper the higher he went. His time spent tripping tripled before long.
“That’s it!” A red-faced Shining declared, his diapers sinking into the staircase for the umpteenth time. “No more!”
He’d held back, fearing some sort of retaliation from the tower, but he was already out of that first room. What could possibly happen? His magic gripped the tapes of the first diaper, yanking and tearing to get it off.
Only it didn’t come off.
In fact, save the ever present crinkling that was practically white noise at this point, his diaper didn’t budge at all. The pink prison was stuck to him.
“U-Uh…” Anxiety took over his annoyance. Shining’s magic poked through to take a stab at the inner diaper, but met the same result. It too, was stuck on him.
Oh no.
Had they always been like that? Or were they only just now glued to his body because he left the first room? He didn’t actually get a chance to take off either when he was down there, so how was he supposed to know?
Shining chewed his lip, brow creasing a few wrinkles into his forehead. Now he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be found, not if it meant his guards finding him stuffed in a pair of diapers, the word “Sissy” emblazoned on his plot like some sort of pathetic wimp.
“This is bad…” he murmured to himself. Stating the obvious failed to help at all. But what was he to do? Even if he waddled back to the first floor, tail between his legs like a spanked foal, he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He doubted he’d be able to take the diapers off then and even if he could, he'd just be trapped by the door. But soldiering on was almost guaranteed humiliation…
He shook his head. Get a grip Shining. Deep breath, hoof out. His panicked nerves were soothed by Cadence’s breathing technique. He’d have to make sure to thank her for teaching him that when he got back.
And he would get back.
The window at the top was narrow, right? He didn’t have to show any of the guards his flank when he called for help. Then all he’d need to do was remove them before he was rescued. Surely if he could beat whatever this tower had in store for him, it’s magical hold on him would fade. And if not, perhaps he merely needed to leave for the spell to be broken. Both were things he planned on doing, so that meant these stuck diapers would come off eventually. Right?
Right.
He could do this.
Hoisting himself back up, Shining stumbled up the rest of the staircase. Each trip only renewed his determination to escape his padded prison. And the not so padded one too.
After circling around, Shining was at last greeted by an opening. A simple square shape, leading into a dark expanse. The second floor of the tower! He’d made it at last. Not that he was excited to see what was in store for him; he was just relieved the stairs were over and done with.
He’d felt like he’d been climbing for hours, even if it was just a few minutes. But still, some distance must have been covered. Maybe there were only a handful of floors to this tower.
He gasped his way through the opening, collapsing on the ground. His diapers size was massive enough to keep his poofy plot raised, but it didn’t matter how embarrassing that must’ve looked. He was just glad to be done. Between the hike here and his struggle up, Shining was exhausted.
But he couldn’t rest yet. He lifted his head from the floor, shaking his bleary eyes from an early bed so he could see what floor number two had in store for him.
And it was dark again. Shining sighed. Of course, the torchlight from below had been fading for quite some time. He ignited his horn to see.
Then he felt it again. Some… presence, tugging his magic out from inside him. It left his horn in long swirls of magenta aura, disseminating from around the room. At first, he was so surprised to have that happen again that he let his jaw drop. Then he remembered what came next and squeezed his eyes shut.
Fsh.
Shining was prepared with the lights came up, escaping a second experience being blinded by his own magic. He slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by the same type of torches that had robbed him down below. Even more exhaustion crept into his body, having lost even more of his magic now. Ignoring the feeling, he looked down to see the room.
At first, he thought he might need to shake the sleepiness from his eyes one more time.
The room before him was as immaculately white as the last. Smooth, flawless, and circular, though perhaps a bit smaller. The only thing keeping them from being complete was a closed door on the far end, identical to the one he’d seen just a floor below.
There was no podium this time, but a stand dead center in the room held another plaque. Shining should have gone to read it, but he was a little distracted by the… everything else.
Foal toys littered the ground before him. Plastic keys, a rattle, a shape matching game, a colored ring stacker, blocks… so many blocks, and more. Sprinkled within the toys were more standard foal care options: a pacifier, a bottle full of formula, and a bottle of foal powder. A crib with tall bar walls sat at ground level on one end, a mobile hanging over it. It was a genuine nursery in here!
And the worst part? Judging by the size, everything in this room was meant to be used by adults, not foals.
Shining Armor gulped. He had a feeling he didn’t need the plaque to tell him what this room wanted him to do.
Maybe… maybe I don’t need to keep going. He thought. His earlier determination sapped, Shining felt that waiting down below for his guards to find him wasn’t so bad now, no matter how long it took. And maybe he could get the diapers off once he was down there. At the very least, this place had stopped sucking out his magic when he’d been below.
Shining pushed himself up, hind legs needing a moment to find their footing. They’d practically been doing a split thanks to the diaper, and that barely changed once he was up. He hobbled around in place, circling back to the way he came in. But all those crinkles were for naught, because the opening he’d come in through was sealed.
Shining blinked at the pearl white wall behind him, jaw sinking to the matching floor. So there was no going back, just like when he first entered.
He sighed. He sighed again. Not even two floors behind him and he was absolutely beleaguered. Or maybe that was just his exhaustion talking.
Scooting back to how he started, Shining looked over the room with growing fear. It seemed everywhere he looked there were just more toys, more foal paraphenelia, more stupid embarassing crap that he just knew was going to be used to torture him.
I can do this. He said to himself. I captained Celestia’s Royal Guard for pony’s sake. Why should a bunch of baby toys frighten me?
He marched—toddled—up to the black, reluctant to read about his fate. And the new limerick pretty much confirmed what he already knew.
A good little foal made it this far
Now to see if your playing skills are up to par.
So take a break
Asleep and awake
Until you’ve shown what you really are.
“Of course,” Shining groaned. He was expected to play around with a bunch of foal toys if he wanted to keep going. But something about the phrasing bothered him. “Until I’ve shown what I really am, huh?” He furrowed his brow, looking up to the ceiling. “I’m an adult you know! A stallion!” He pointed to his massive pink butt. “First you want me to show you I’m a foal and now you don’t? I can’t even take these off to prove it!”
Silence responded, because Shining was arguing with a building. He groaned, putting his hoof back down.
No, that wasn’t it. The whole point of the diapers being stuck on was because he already “proved” that he was a foal. By “show what you really are”, the tower must mean he had to act like a foal on the outside too.
Even though I’m not even a foal on the inside, he grumbly thought to himself. Of course he knew that. He was just playing along with whatever metaphor the tower wanted. But it never hurt to assert the truth.
So he had to show he was a foal… but how? The plaque hadn’t given clear instructions at all. If it had said “play with every toy at least once” then he would at least have an endgame in mind. But right now he was just kind of… aimless. Did he only need to play with one toy? A handful? And “asleep and awake” probably meant he’d need to use the crib too. But surely it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Guess I’ll just… try something,” he muttered. It was better than standing around doing nothing.
He slumped into a sit, momentarily forgetting his diaper. An “eep!” of surprise left his mouth as cushy, plushy padding squeezed and compressed beneath him. A chorus of crinkles sang of his immense plot’s quest to sit down, as poofy padding caressed his—
“Nope!” He wasn’t going to focus on that! No way!
His eyes shot to the nearest toy: the rattle. He reached for it, but his hoof froze. He just… couldn’t pick it up. It was one thing for the tower to all but force a diaper on him, but this was a real choice. Why had he gone for the rattle? Just cause it was close? Surely a shape-matching game was less childish.
He scooted to face that instead, diaper crinkling as it dragged across the ground. He reached for the square peg, but found even that he couldn’t pick up. It was just… it was a shape-matching game for crying out loud! Obviously he knew his shapes, why should he have to play with this thing?
“Errgh!” Shining put his hooves on his head. He hated this. It was like he had too much of a say in the matter now. With all these options, each choice would only serve to make him feel foalish, no matter what he did.
Just… relax. The diapers may be stuck to you for a while; that may be unavoidable in the future when you find the guys. But nopony ever has to know you played with foal toys.
Right. Everything he did here was destined to remain just that. Here. It didn’t matter what foalish choice he made, he could make them free of judgement.
Okay… Shining took a deep breath and picked up the rattle.
He gave it a little shake, and immediately looked to the door. Nope, still closed. Couldn’t have this be too easy after all. He shook it. Hard.
The rattling balls within bounced to make a mind-numbing sound, and after a few seconds of just sitting there… shaking, Shining chucked it to the side. It just wasn’t working.
“Next.”
He picked up the plastic keys and jiggled them a bit. They clacked around, doing about as much for him as the rattle had.
They plopped to the ground. “Next.”
The colored rings fared no better. He stacked blocks into a tower and knocked it over when a dismissive sweep of his tail. He picked up the pacifier and… put it right back down.
Shining grumbled a few big boy words to himself, crossing his hooves. At this rate, he wasn’t going anywhere. But what did this room expect? How was he supposed to actually play with any of this foalish crap?
Leaning back, Shining winced as his plot sank ever further into his padding. The two diapers hissed as more air escaped, crinkling even as he righted himself to avoid the feeling. Frustration sent his hooves digging at the tapes again, hoping to free himself of at least the pink offender on top. But, once again, the diaper showed no signs of giving up it’s hold on him.
“Come on!” he whined in frustrations. His spread hind legs kicked ineffectually. One knocked over a plastic cannister, which rolled into view. The foal powder. That made him snort. “Little late to give me something like this, tower,” he grumbled, magic picking up the bottle of powder and bringing it close. “Even if I wanted to put this stuff on I couldn’t.”
His eyes glazed over the words on the bottle, barely taking in the promises of comfort and safety it offered. Though one line did make him pause for consideration: prevents diaper rash.
Shining chewed his lip. At this rate, he had no idea how long he’d be in these stupid things. Was he actually in danger of getting a rash?
He shook his head. No. Nooo. That would only happen if he used them… right?
Furrowing his brow, Shining came to appreciate how little he understood about these kinds of things. As his cushy prison seemingly tightened around his pelvis, he started to actually get worried about the possibility of a rash, even if he intended to keep his diapers clean.
Not like it matters, he bitterly thought, giving the waist of the diaper one final tug. Like I said, I can’t—
He froze, and looked down.
The waistband of his diaper… he actually tugged it! It was pulled out ever so slightly, revealing the white, crinkly garment underneath. His pink diaper wasn’t stuck to him anymore!
Shining was so surprised he didn’t even know what to do with himself. For a moment he could only stare down his open diaper, slack-jawed. Then it occurred to him that he might be able to take it off now.
He dropped the powder and attacked his diaper. But the second he did, the waistband snapped back into place. Try as he might, he could no longer pull it open again, let alone get it off.
“Oh come on!” He yelled. Just a second ago it had been fine. What did this thing want from him.
A sack of bricks labeled “realization” struck him across the face when he caught sight of the foal powder again. His diaper had loosened its hold on him when he’d been holding that, hadn’t it?
Curiosity got him picking it up again. And just like that, he could tug open his diaper again. But he still couldn’t pull it off. Despite straining his leg muscles and even his magic against it, the pink diaper refused to slide off his plot.
He huffed, eyes turning to the powder again. “So only when I’m holding you, huh?” He had a feeling why that was, too.
Just to test that feeling, Shining reached down his diaper to grab the waistband of his other padded prison. It too pulled open ever so slightly, leaving just enough room to slide in the top of a canister.
Of course.
Shining whined in the back of his throat. What the room wanted him to do was obvious, but now the questions was: should he? It’s not like adding foal powder made his situation any worse, but still. Yet, if it helped him get out of this room then maybe he should…
He pressed his lips together, running through his options in his head. It was either this, or give the toys another go, and that was getting him no where.
“Fine!” he declared for the tower to hear. “Fine! Whatever! You want me to do this? Well here you go!”
He flipped the cannister over, aimed at his open diaper. And everything spilled out of it.
In a cruel twist of fate, it turned out that the cap had been screwed on rather loosely. Some magic’s doing, perhaps? Or just carelessness on his part for not checking? In the end, the result was the same. Shining Armor ended up with an entire can’s worth of foal powder down his diaper.
The landslide kicked up a cloud of dust, sending him coughing. His hoof slipped and his diapers snapped back in place, sealing the powder inside. The tiny grains formed a big lump all clustered together, and they slowly made their way spreading across his butt.
“Urgh!” Shining moaned, throwing the empty can away. “Really?!”
The tower answered with indifferent silence, but was probably secretly laughing at him.
“Great. Just great.” That was the last time he was ever going to fall for this stupid place’s tricks, at least. He promised himself that much.
He tried to stand, spread legs doing their best to claim foothold on the ground. But he slipped, landing on his butt again with a definitive crinkle. A cloud of powder dust wheezed out of his diaper, filling the room with the foalish scent he’d been saddled with.
Shining screamed.
Just the frustration of not being able to stand up, it was the rotten cherry on top of this screwed up sundae of a mission. So he let it all out then and there, screaming, kicking, picking up and throwing anything nearby. Blocks launched into the air, the pacifier limply smacked the ceiling, and plastic rings were scattered to the four corners of the circle room.
Between his clothes and his actions, Shining could easily be mistaken for having a temper tantrum. That fact not lost on him, he only screamed louder, harder.
Finally, he screamed himself hoarse. His throat raw and scratchy, he settled down by flopping on his back. His chest rose and fell with deep breaths. All of the anger wasn’t out of him, but he felt a little more in control of it. It was just that everytime he so much as twitched his legs he was now reminded of his massive diaper set and the hefty dose of foal powder it held. Not that great for morale.
“Urff.” Shining rubbed his throat. Even that one little noise made it sting. That hadn’t been the right call at all. No matter how good it felt to shout like that, he really shouldn’t have done it. He’d need to be able to call out to his soldiers once he reached the window up top, but now…
I need something to drink, he decided. Tea or water, just something to soothe his vocal chords.
And that’s when his eyes fell on the bottle of formula once again.
He’d only glanced over it before, but now, as he stared at it upside down, he found it dominated his attention.
Licking his lips involuntarily, Shining rolled over. His diaper crinkled and kicked out another cloud of foal powder. Now on his stomach, he crawled over to the bottle.
Of course he didn’t want to resort to this, but it made sense. He needed something for his throat, and this would probably get the door closer to unlocking anyway. Besides, he wouldn’t have to actually use it as a bottle.
Reaching out, Shining grabbed it and pulled it close. He would’ve used his magic, but having been drained twice already he was worried even using a little would leave him more tired than he already his. So he resorted to his hooves, trying to twist the rubber nipple of the bottle off.
It didn’t, and he really should have seen that coming.
In denial, Shining tried again to twist the top of the bottle off. And again. And again. Again and again and again.
Milk sloshed inside, tantalizing him with how close it was. His grunts of effort only exacerbated his sore throat. He even fired up his magic in desperation, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him as he tried. But nothing freed the bottle from it’s amber nipple.
Fighting down a yawn, Shining wrinkled his brow. He had found himself in another tough spot. Well, not really a tough spot. The solution was obvious and easy, he just didn’t want to do it.
Shining looked around the room, as if anypony could be watching him right now. He sighed.
“No choice,” he croaked out.
His lips quivered as he brought the amber nipple closer. It made him feel so cowardly, but he couldn’t help it. They quivered the whole time the rubber bulb pushed passed them, until he finally bit down on it.
He held it.
Slowly.
Working up the courage.
He suckled.
…
It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The milk was sweet, at least. Creamy, thick. There really wasn’t much to complain about at all, really.
Shining suckled again.
No, not half bad at all, he decided. But the way it dripped onto his tongue was frustrating. He needed more to soothe his throat.
He suckled.
There! That time he really got some. A full gulp’s worth that already went a long way in cooling the fire. And it tasted so good too! He “mmm”ed his satisfaction out, eyelids fluttering closed.
Another suckle.
His throat was starting to feel a little better now. Maybe not scream-for-help-from-the-top-of-the-tower better, but better.
He suckled again.
And again.
Another.
And another.
He suckled until nothing but air came out of the bottle. Only then did Shining finally open his eyes.
To his surprise the bottle was completely empty, not a drop of milk in sight. Had he really downed it all?
Pulling the rubber nipple from his lips, a belch took the opportunity to rush out. Covering his mouth with a hoof, Shining blushed. That answered that question.
“I can’t believe—” A yawn cut him off. “I actually did that.” His throat was feeling good enough to speak again, even if his voice was a bit scratchy.
Letting out a contented sigh, Shining felt his eyelids droop back down. Maybe it had just been that moment of relaxation that had done him in, but he was feeling exhausted now.
A two hour plus hike, a crazy magic draining tower… yeah, that would wear anypony out.
So take a break
Asleep and awake.
Unbidden, the room’s limerick popped to the forefront of his mind. Asleep and awake. No “or” to be found there.
Shining glanced his way to the crib, it’s tall bars more inviting than off-putting now. He did have to follow whatever rules the room put in place if he wanted to continue. And maybe… just maybe a nap would do him some good. He had just drank an entire foal bottle like it was nothing. He needed to get his senses back in order before he continued.
“Okay,” Shining groaned, having talked himself into the idea. “Just for a minute.”
Right, this would be a power nap. A quick rest for his eyes. Nothing more.
And still, he dragged his hooves as he made his way to the crib. How could he not?
But when Shining finally reached the base of the bars, he couldn’t delay it anymore. With a sigh, he struggled to stand. His diapers fought with every inch they rose, all the way until he grabbed the top with his hooves. With a grunt he hoisted himself up, over.
crinkle
Naturally, his diapers didn’t take that lying down. His puffy friend caught mid way over the crib, sending the railing straight into his crotch. It pushed layers of floofy padding forward, rubbing them against…
Shining’s eyes bulged. He “eep”d loudly, completing his roll over the top and flopping down into the crib. His stallionhood had stirred.
Shining swallowed slowly, face flushed as he tried to relax and ignore his twitching privates. It didn’t help that his diapers were still settling back to their original shape, brushing up against him as they did. But with a few shaky breaths, the moment passed.
“Uggh,” he groaned, head flopping down on something soft. But it wasn’t a pillow. Lifting his head back up, Shining reached around and grabbed whatever it was.
A plushie. Naturally.
Blearly, Shining tried to focus on the toy even as his urge to nap started to take over. Dark, pony shaped. Button eyes and an innocent smile. And a curved red horn.
It was a stuffed Sombra. Naturally.
“Hmmph,” Shining grumbled at the thing. He tossed it aside, but with the narrow bars of the crib, that stuffie wasn’t going far. He stared at the mini-King, curling up as a yawn took him.
“Why did you build this place?” he mumbled at the plushie, slipping off to dreamland. The plushie Sombra couldn’t answer, but it did watch over the sleepy stallion
...Mine…
“Ah!” Shining awoke with a start, sitting up so fast his diapers barely had time to crinkle. His heart pulsated, he clutched his stuffed animal tightly against his chest, his breath ragged.
Where was he?
The smell of baby powder filled his nose. Crib bars surrounded his vision. Pearly white walls…
“Oh…” Now Shining remembered. The tower. The diapers. All of it. “Nooo…”
Part of him had hoped it had all been some weird dream. Like Luna playing a prank or something. But it was still real, and he was still here.
At least he felt rested. Maybe not back to one hundred percent—how could he after all the magic he’d lost?—but better. A nap had done him good after all.
Shining rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes, still clutching the… Wait a second!
Shining looked down. His foreleg tightly wrapped around the Sombra doll, keeping it close to his chest for comfort. “Ah!”
He launched it out of the crib. Had he been cuddling with that thing? Shining shivered. He should have never left that thing in his crib, no matter how tired he’d been.
...His crib?
Shining shook his head. This place was doing strange things to him. He had to get out, soon.
Turning his head, Shining looked for the door through the bars of the crib. And he saw it. Open.
Stairs.
“Yes!” Shining shouted, jumping all the way up. He ignored the way his diaper crinkled and puffed out clouds of powder. He’d done it! He’d beaten the second floor of the tower. And all it had cost him was a little dignity.
...Maybe a lot of dignity, but whatever. He was moving up! One step closer to freedom.
He clamored out of the crib, stopping only for a moment to carefully make sure his padding cleared the rail. He smushed his diaper on the way down, nostrils filling with baby powder as he did.
Standing, Shining waddled and toddled his way through the foal paraphernalia that littered the floor still. His focus was entirely on the door. The stairs. His freedom. It didn’t matter how many rattles he kicked out of his way, or toy trains he stepped over.
Trains?
Shining’s eyes caught sight of a tiny locomotive on the ground, one he’d somehow missed earlier. Or maybe it hadn’t been there before at all? He blinked, stopping in his tracks.
Trains were… well… he had a lot of good memories playing with trains, that was all. They were fun, okay?
He brought a hoof back, setting it on top the railless train. Pull back and… zoom! He sent it flying off. It didn’t go very far, bumping into a familiar pacifier and stopping. But Shining couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Choo-choo,” he whispered under his breath. Good times.
Blinking and looking back up, he returned his focus to the door. Still open. He trotted up to it now, hips wiggling from his spread gait. At no point did the door close on him this time, he was able to make it freely to the staircase. And while he wasn’t looking forward to another climb, at least he’d managed to get through this room having barely acted like a foal at all.
Right, barely. Some playtime, temper tantrum, bottle feeding, a nap… Shining’s cheeks went pink, realizing he’d probably given this room more than he meant to. More than he should have…
I was just tired. He convinced himself. It won’t be like this next time. I know this place’s game now. All I have to do is play it.
And he didn’t dwell on the fact that the word play made him think about that toy train one last time. He certainly didn’t considering going back to it, not even for a brief moment.
Shining must’ve completed another lap around the tower by the time he reached the next floor. And he certainly took his time doing it too. But it wasn’t his fault that now every time he tried to waddle up a flight, clouds of foal powder squeezed out of his diaper, distracting him with such a foalish smell all the time. He had to stop and wrinkle his nose with each step for pony’s sake!
And every time his spread gait caused him to slip, he—
Shining shook his head. “Come on,” he grumbled, clearing the top step without slipping. “Don’t be a baby about it.”
He winced at his own choice of words. They’d just slipped out, but they really shouldn’t be his first choice given the situation he was in. Grunting, he stepped into the next room, swallowed by yet another black void.
Shining was reluctant to light up the area around him. He had a feeling his magic would be drained again if he used it, but he wasn’t eager to deal with a third loss today. Sure he’d rested for a bit, but it would take more than that to replace his energy.
But if he didn’t, he had a feeling he’d be standing in this dark room for a while. He wanted to step back out into the staircase, where light still leaked up from the second floor, but turning around only revealed what he feared. That doorway was gone, no doubt replaced with pearly white walls. Here he was, here he’d remain. The only way out was up and the only way up was solving this room’s limerick.
Which he couldn’t read until he could see.
“Urggh!” Shining groaned. “Fine!” He hated the way he was forced into this losing gambit. This tower was designed to take more out of every pony who tried to ascend it. A clever idea, that was horribly frustrating when you were experiencing it.
His horn lit up with magic.
And the magic slipped away.
He watched magenta lines swirl away from the top of his head, spreading along the room. They took their time, letting Shining get dizzy from the loss of magic.
Fsh.
Torches ignited. Light, at last. One look around and Shining wished he could go back into the dark.
Before him, a wide expanse of clothes. Hangers and racks, shelves and drawers, chests and mannequins. He hadn’t stepped into a room; he was in a giant walk-in closet.
It took him a moment to really focus, and not just because of the dizzy spell. So many colors suddenly vomiting onto his eyes. The familiar eggshell white of the tower was tucked away behind so much new stimuli. When he finally started processing it all, he groaned.
Part of him knew he should have expected this: Foal clothes.
Shining really couldn’t believe how bad his luck was. Mannequins dolled up in filly dresses, onesies clinging to hangers. He had no doubt there were foalish accessories waiting for him in those drawers too. And looking around, he didn’t even see something meant for colts.
There was another plaque in the middle of the room. Shining felt he knew what was coming already, but he walked up to it to read anyway. Who knew? Maybe he’d be surprised.
They say clothes make the mare, or in this case, filly
It’s time for you to wear something frilly!
Play dress up today
Then you’ll be on your way
Once you look oh so precious and silly.
“Oh I’ll look silly alright,” Shining grumbled. He couldn’t believe this. As if the diapers hadn’t been bad enough. This stupid tower really was intent on babying him completely. And why did it only have filly clothes?!
His eyes darted to the door at the other end of the room. Then back to the empty slab of wall that used to be an opening.
He whined in the back of his throat. He really didn’t want to do this. Even more than playing with foal toys. At least that could be easily pushed to the back of his mind. He highly doubted once he put these clothes on that they’d come off.
His diapers crinkled to confirm. While he hadn’t tried taking them off after leaving the floor below, he really didn’t want to try again. Another failure was not what he needed right now.
“Okay…” he breathed. His eyes scanned the room around him again, this time scrutinizing his options. He wanted the least foalish, least filly-ish options he could get away with.
Dresses where out. Off the table. Absolutely not.
There went about ninety percent of his options.
He fought down a grumble, eyes turning to a row of onesies beside him. They were about the only other choice he had. Not… great. But not… terrible? At least the flaps would cover the back of his diaper. It’d be a small mercy to not think about the SISSY plastered on his plot.
There isn’t anything else? A small part of him tried. Maybe a T-shirt with a childish logo on it, or something?
Of course there wasn’t. Shining was only trying to delay the inevitable at this point. He shuffled towards the onesie rack, crinkles chasing after him.
He tried lighting up his horn, but it sputtered and dimmed for a moment. Sure it snapped back to full light in a moment, but that initial fizzle shocked him. His horn felt so… hollow.
Shutting off his magic, Shining reduced himself to thumbing through the onesies by hoof. He had a feeling he should be saving his magic right now, especially since he didn’t know how many more floors planned to drain him.
I’ve got to be at the halfway point by now… right? He thought, bitter there was no way to know for sure. The reality was he could only be a third of the way through. Or less. But there also had to be an ending. Magical or no, this tower had a finite height. He’d reach the top sooner or later.
Lost in thought, he reached the end of the line of onesies, his subconscious disliking every option presented.
Shining sighed. Peach, pink, purple, seafoam green… all such girly colors. Not even a blue one in sight. Not even a baby blue one.
To make matters worse, none of them were just plain onesies either. Childish graphics on the front, words on the back, bubble sleeves and built in skirts… all of them were designed to be the filliest things imaginable. Naturally that was the tower’s plan, it had to be. The way this thing conspired to make him more and more foalish… it was uncanny.
The eternal question “why?” rang out in his mind. What possible use could King Sombra have for a place like this? Was it just to watch Shining suffer?
He shook his head. No, Sombra’s gone. Whatever this tower is doing here now, it can’t be because of him anymore. Right?
He ripped a onesie from its hanger, desperate to not think about that. When he looked down at his inadvertent selection, he groaned.
Buttercream colored, with swirly words across the chest that read “Daddy’s Little Princess”. Bubble sleeves made out of translucent yellow silk, and a matching tutu skirt sewn into the waist of the damn thing.
Shining poured over the other outfits on the rack one last time, before coming to the inevitable conclusion that this one was the least worst out of all of them. Somehow.
He reluctantly wrestled the thing over his head. His hooves battles the fabric, all but smothering himself. When did he get this clumsy?
Biting his lip, he sparked his horn to life just for a second. Long enough to angle the neck of the thing and poke his head out. But even that took something out of him. He was sluggish getting his hooves through the sleeves.
“Come on,” he grumbled, straightening out the fabric across his midsection. While patting it down, his hooves slipped and smoothed down his new skirt as well. He blushed. At least all the was left was the flaps hanging near his rear.
Sitting down, Shining sank into his diapers. They hissed and crinkled while he cringed. He struggled to find a decent way to sit that would allow him access to the onesie flaps. It didn’t help that he was battling the built in skirt for visibility. It was so short but still just long enough.
Finally, he grabbed the flaps, yanking them together so he could fiddle with the buttons. This proved to be the hardest thing he’d done all day.
It was a monumental feat to button the flap over the glorified pillows between his legs. He swore the fabric was about to tear more than once. But finally, the last button clipped into place.
And it was on him.
On. Him.
Shining shivered. He couldn’t believe he was actually wearing this. The way the soft fabric hugged his coat, the way it tightened his diapers… the way that forced his padding to squeeze him down there.
Shining shook his head. “Nope nope nope!” He was not going to think about how he was twitching, stiffening… NOPE!
He forced himself up, wobbling before he could finally put all four hooves on the ground again. His little skirt swished very distractingly as he did.
Finally up, he found he still wasn’t used to how wide his gait was now. The return to standing that way was just awkward. Not to mention he was consciously spreading his hind legs even further apart now. Anything to relieve the poofy pressure on his privates.
“Okay,” he breathed. At least now he could move on to the next room. He looked to the door, about to waddle forward.
But the door was closed.
His jaw almost dropped. “Are you kidding me?” Shining shouted. His still scratchy throat warned him that was a bad idea. Quieting down, he hissed. “This wasn’t good enough?”
He hadn’t even hesitated this time. He’d done exactly what the room had asked of him, hadn’t he?
It’s time for you to wear something frilly!
He snapped his mouth shut, the line coming back to him without him really needing to concentrate. Frilly. Frilly… Frilly?
He observed his attire. The onesie, despite labeling him as a “princess”, swishing with it’s skirt, and sporting poofy bubble sleeves, was not, in fact, frilly in the slightest. Was the room going to be that much of a stickler for the rules?
“Come on,” he whined. Then he kicked himself. I’m acting just like a little filly. ...Err, colt. He shook his head. This was no time to let the tower get to him. He had to figure this out.
The onesie alone wasn’t good enough, he knew that much. So what else could he do? His eyes scanned the room looking for an answer. There were actually dozens of frilly things waiting for him. He had options. Lips tightening, he looked down at his onesie. The onesie.
Should he take it off?
Yes! The thought immediately leapt to his mind. No way he wanted to keep this junk on, especially if more was coming. But…
No… the rational side of him responded. If he did remove it, would it be another situation like the first floor? The tower might make him do extra work if he tried to take this off. Did he really want to risk that?
Not to mention, he was kind of afraid he wouldn’t even be able to take it off in the first place. Maybe it was better not to tempt fate…
He diverted his attention back to the outfits. He’d already taken the lesser of two evils, now it was time for the greater.
He pushed himself forward, the momentum almost to great for his spread gait. Narrowly avoiding a dive to the floor, Shining paused to reorient himself. Then proceeded to waddle forward.
Lowering his standards, still nothing on the shelves pleased him.
A row of maid outfits? Pass
Long, flowing princess dresses? No thank you.
A drawer filled with socks and booties? Hmmm.
It was better than everything else he’d seen so far. Shining pulled the drawer out from it’s dresser, letting it thud to the ground and spill it’s contents everywhere. He’d been hoping for something a little less… girly to land in front of him, but he really ought to know better by now.
Most were some variation of pink. All of them designed in some way shape or form. Delightful.
He picked through them, more than taking his time before settling. Pink and white stripes snaked up all four of his legs. The soft cotton hugged him tightly.
Booties came next. This time, as much as it pained him, he forced himself to pick something frilly. Pale purple, with a white frill trim. It wasn’t much, but it should do the trick for that stupid door.
Forcing them on, Shining found he had to contend with the cumbersome things more than he would’ve liked. Of course his magic would make it about a million times easier, but he still wasn’t about to risk it.
Finally they popped into place, his hooves squeezed by a comfy plush interior. Shining stood back up, feeling himself sink slightly into the plush. “There,” he grumbled. “Good enough?”
He looked up at the door. It looked back at him, closed.
“Oh come on!”
He was wearing something frilly, just like the stupid limerick had demanded. How was this not good enough?
Play dress up today
Then you’ll be on your way
Unbidden, he recalled the other lines. “Play dress up” stuck out specifically. “Then you’ll be on your way”. So he’d misinterpreted the thing? It wasn’t about wearing something frilly at all, but rather dressing up in a costume?
“Great,” Shining tossed his head back to the tune of a sigh. So he’d bootie-d himself up for nothing.
He tried to kick his legs free, but the foalish shoes hand been snapped on tight. And even trying to pry them off did no good. He couldn’t make his encumbered hooves do anything. Or was it just the bizarro magic of the tower preventing him from taking it off? He could always test it out with is magic, but could he afford to?
“Forget it.” He was stuck with the booties; his own fault. If the worst should happen and he ended up being seen like this, they were probably the least of his worries anyway. At least, that’s what he tried to convince himself of.
He still had to get out of this room before he could worry about being seen. What honestly came next? Dress up… play dress up… What, like a little filly at a slumber party? “This is so stupid!”
His groan carried him through another look around the room. Plenty of outfits to go around, none of them pleasant options. But he gritted his teeth and waddled up to a row of dresses anyway. He’d already made it this far. He couldn’t back out now.
So he scoured the forest of dresses. Something, anything, in here must be tolerable. He waddled down the first row, turned, and waddled back, neck careening up to look at higher shelves. He toddled across the room, repeating himself along the next row. When he left unsatisfied, he came right back where he started and tried again. This time with lower standards.
Shining kept waddling back and forth, trying to find an acceptable dress to wear. Usually he groaned whenever Cadence did this in all the times he’d accompanied her to Canterlot shops. Now here he was, pulling the same thing as his wife. But for different reasons, of course.
“No,” he grumbled at the same dress he’d passed five times by now. “No. Nope. Uh-uh. No way.”
He was beginning to feel dizzy. How many times had he circled this room? Long enough to grow accustomed to the sway of his plot as he toddled.
...So too long then.
That’s it! He declared. All this wasting time… what if he guards were about to leave? He had to make a choice. He couldn’t stall any longer.
“You.” He pointed to a peach colored ballerina outfit. His hoof sank down. No way he wanted something that girly. And besides, would that even match his onesie?
Shining blinked, surprised at himself. Where’d that come from?
Biting his lip, he decided it must have just been logic trying to take over. Surely the room wouldn’t be pleased with a poor ensemble, right? Right. Naturally he’d have to be a little picky on that front, or else that door would never open.
Okay then… “You.” He came to a seafoam green dress. Sparkly fairy wings poked out from behind it though… and all those dark green bows… He shook his head. Gaudy. Just gaudy.
“Hmm…” His eyes fell on the row of maid outfits from before. Each were pretty unique from each other, between the designs of the pinafores, the amount of frills… Frills are still important. He decided. Because the limerick had said so, obviously.
“But I’m not going to wear that.” He shook his head. “I’m no servant, I’m a princess.” He flinched. “Prince!” he corrected, loudly, for nopony to hear. His mouth dried out, abandoning him for making it say something so ridiculous.
Just a slip of the tongue, he told himself. Man… this place really his getting to me.
He ran a bootie-d hoof through his mane, taking his mind off that mistake by turning to new dresses. He could always go with one of the princess-y looking dresses. What little filly wouldn't want to wear one of those? Only cause that’s who I’m trying to imitate! As if he needed the reminder.
Toddling over to the selection near the corner of the room, Shining tapped his chin as he observed. His eyes had just glazed over these every time he’d passed them earlier. Now he scrutinized them. Every stitch, seam, and pattern. He had to find the girliest of the bunch.
...So he could avoid it, of course.
Shining shook his head again, hoof to his temple. It sank into the bootie, reminding him of the soft crib from before. Maybe I could use another nap, he mused. At this point, he had no idea how long he’d been in the tower. How many hours had passed? Was it nightfall already?
That’s gotta be it! He decided. It’s bedtime and I’m still up. No wonder I’m acting weird. Nevermind the fact that he hadn’t had a bedtime in years.
Shining really hoped his guards were still searching for him if that was the case. He doubted they’d return without him. Cadence would not be happy if that were the case. He didn’t even want to think about how she’d feel if he was reported missing...
“Don’t worry, Cady,” he mumbled to himself. “I’m coming home.”
He grabbed a dress of the rack. It was time to get this over with.
It was pink, but so was half the stuff in this cursed room. As much as Shining wanted to cringe at that alone, there was more. Magenta frills complimented puffy bubble sleeves. A lacy front that allowed for the dress to be tightened light a corset. A magenta sash around the waist leading to a matching bow on the back. Scratch that, a mammoth sized bow on the back.
And the skirt. Sweet Celestia, the skirt. Poofy from so many built in petticoats. Short enough to leave Shining diapered rear nice and exposed. More matching magenta frills poking out of the helm. And the roses. The roses. Lining the helm of the skirt, fake, glitterly roses of purple, pink, red, and white. Encircling the whole dress just to spite him.
Shining might have accidentally just picked the girliest, filliest thing in the whole room. He wanted to put it back… but he had to commit to a decision at some point. If he weaseled out of this one, would he ever bring himself to pick another dress.
“At least you match my socks,” he grumbled. What a consolation. Hopefully it would be enough for the door.
Up and over his head, Shining wrestled with the thing as he tried to get it all the way on. The petticoats tried to smother him. The lace threatened to entangle him. His blush threatened to burst his face. But in the end, he wore it.
His body was tense as the fabric settled on top of him. He didn’t relax until he took a long breath.
He felt like a doll. The dress, onesie, socks and booties… diapers… it was all too much. Could he even call himself a stallion at this rate? He couldn’t seem himself right now, but he doubted he resembled one.
Shining looked up and saw the final nail in his coffin. A plastic tiara, complete with fake gems and a thin veil behind it, resting on the shelf by the dresses. No doubt meant to be worn in tandem with those clothes as part of the princess get-up. Shining’s stomach turned, fearing his dress up wouldn’t be complete if it wasn’t on him.
He sighed out his defeat, grabbed the headpiece awkwardly in his hooves and dumped it on his head.
There, it was complete. He looked like a princess.
His diapers crinkled, but he wasn’t even moving. Then he realized it was his stallionhood, pushing against the padding. Growing… excited…
“Eep!” Shining spread his legs, not letting his stiffness get any worse. If his stallionhood could touch anything then it wouldn’t be… stimulated.
I gotta take my mind off this, he thought when he finally started to “calm down”. He looked around, hoping for something else to focus on.
Without even thinking about it he smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes. As he did, he noticed something dangling from his chest.
“Oh come on!”
He hadn’t noticed it before, with how distracting every other part of the dress was. But now it was plain as day. There was a pacifier clipped to his dress.
“You’re kidding me,” he moaned. “You have to be kidding me!”
He’d been able to avoid it in the last room, but now there was no running from it.
As grumbly as its presence made him, his mood perked up seconds later. He saw the door open wide and revealing new stairs just for him. He’d done it!
“Thank Celestia,” he breathed. He wouldn’t have to put on anymore crap now. And hopefully this time he could take it all off when he left.
He scrambled to the opening. Even the crinkling of his diapers couldn’t put a damper on his new mood. His hefty skirt swished as his plot swayed sighed to side. Not a problem, he could see the exit. But then he caught a glimpse of that pacifier bouncing off his chest. that soured him more than he expected.
“Yeah… no.” Thinking it harmless enough he reached up and yanked the pacifier off his body. The strap snapped.
He smiled and looked back up towards his freedom. His snout hit the door.
“Ah!” Shining fell back on his rump, nose stinging. His diapers hissed and compressed before he realized what was wrong. “No…”
He bumbled to his hooves in front of the sealed door. “No no no!” he cried.
He tried to reconnect the pacifier, but the break was decisive. Frantic, his eyes jumped from the door to the pacifier. “No no no no!”
He shoved it in his mouth. “Dere, shee?” He begged. “Wook, I wike it. It stiww hewe!”
His face fell, the door not budging. Shining pulled the pacifier from his lips before he felt any more stupid than he already did. Even if it would appease the room, he tucked the thing between the laces of his dress to hold it.
Gulping, he turned back to the plaque at the center of the room. He knew what came next.
He waddled in shame to read his new torment, in no way eager. It still stung. He hadn’t even tried to take off the dress! Just the stupid pacifier. How was that even considered a part of the princess outfit?
It wasn’t fair. He plopped down in front of the new plaque, fore legs crossed.
This naughty filly has stopped making sense
So now she’ll have to make-up the difference.
Bad girls don’t get to meet the King
So fail one more thing
And he may just start to take offense
The pouty stallion felt his blood run cold. Meet the King? Was that supposed to be his reward for clearing all the rooms? And disobeying once more sounded like he’d lose. A three strikes system…
Shining wasn’t sure he wanted to reach the top anymore. But Sombra had been defeated; there was no King for him to meet up there. Maybe he’d just… be allowed to leave?
That was a demented hope. He wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to get to the top anymore. The limerick hadn’t given him any new instructions. How was he supposed to “make up the difference”?
Then he saw it.
To his right a section of the shelves had changed. There was a new opening, one that had definitely not been there before. At least, he liked to think he would have noticed something so obvious after all his time circling the room.
A vanity.
Complete with a chair, all new drawers, and a mirror. Strewn about or brushes, tubes, and compacts.
Shining groaned. Now he got it. “Make-up” the difference.
He hated this place.
At least now he could see himself, so that was hardly a consolation. Even from far away he could tell he looked ridiculous. The dress, his bulging padding… it all clashed with the rugged face of a stallion that he still bore. Naturally the tower wanted to take even that away from him.
It’s just make-up, he told himself. You can always wash it off. Whether or not he’d get a chance before finding his guards was another matter.
He had no choice. He really didn’t want to know what would happen if he failed the room again. Head down, he toddled and took a seat in front of the vanity.
His diapers crinkled. He winced. The way they rubbed against him… squeezed up against his stallionhood… it was hard to ignore. Reluctantly he turned his attention to the make-up.
He’d seen Cadence do this before. Dozens of times actually. Maybe even hundreds. It was not a point of pride for the stallion to admit he had a working knowledge of this stuff.
Looking over his options, he felt his tail curl. As always, nothing this tower gave him was pleasant. But the blush was the least unpleasant option. As red as his cheeks were, it probably wouldn’t even register.
His hooves fumbled for it. He swore as the booties made it way more difficult than it needed to be. He ended up knocking the blush off the vanity’s countertop.
“Come on!“ he huffed. He wouldn’t be able to do anything like this. Unless he wanted to end up looking like a clown. But he was terrified to take the booties off now.
I don’t have a choice. It made him uneasy, but he ignited his horn. He felt lightheaded just doing that much. Picking up the blush didn’t help.
He dabbed it across his cheeks reddening them further. Hoping that would be enough, he turned to the door. Closed.
Next he forced himself to pick up the eyeliner. He uncapped the brush sluggishly. It took a lot of attempts and a lot of concentration to pull off this next part. I never realized how difficult putting on make-up could be. His eyelid wouldn’t stop twitching whenever the thin point came near. It took a long time just to get some black lines under his eyes, which was just the opposite of what his horn needed right now.
The door didn’t open when he finished. Neither did it open after the mascara. Nor the sparkly pink eye shadow.
“You really like seeing me suffer, huh?” Shining asked the tower. He picked up a tube of scarlett lipstick.
His magical hold was growing shaky. Shining struggled to keep his eyes open long enough to finish applying it. When he finished, he popped his lips, checking the color in his reflection. Then blushed.
“W-well?” He demanded of the room, not even acknowledging what he'd just done. “Good enough?”
Apparently yes. Mercifully, the door had opened. Shining was finally free of this room!
He jumped off the chair, only to be hit with a dizzy spell. Hoof to his head, he needed a moment to stop wobbling. When he finally felt like himself again, he shuffled to the door. Slowly, between the waddle and trying to keep a hoof pressed against his pacifier. He was not going to let that damn thing fall off and cost him his escape again. Shining refused to relax until he took he climbed the first step.
“Phew.” He’d made it. It’d cost him more of his dignity than he’d like to admit. He was pretty sure he hadn’t needed to wear half the clothes he’d put on in the end. But now he was decked out from head to hooves and there was no going back. Consider it a lesson learned.
Now I just need to reach the top. Shining thought with uncertainty. Should that even still be his goal given what he’d learned? It wasn’t like he had options…
He took another step up. No, this had to be the way. He’d reach that window and call for help. This this whole experience could be forgotten, like a bad dream.
When he reached the top of the stairs he knew it wasn’t over yet. There was no light, there was no window. This was just another floor.
“Great.” He wanted to slump down on the ground and pass out. Instead, he reluctantly ignited his horn. At this point he just wanted to get this over with. Magic eked out of it. Shining fought to stay upright. At this point he could feel his limbs growing weaker the more he lost. Not the best feeling.
Fsh.
He blinked and squinted to take in his new surroundings. This room was different.
Instead of a floor, it had two walkways. They sliced the room into four equal parts. At their intersection stood the podium with a familiar looking plaque.
Shining looked down beneath the walkway. It wasn’t a far drop, maybe a foot or so. Waiting at the bottom was soil, and pink-petaled plants. A garden?
Huh. Shining was used to finding these rooms distasteful the second he could see them. This was a breath of fresh air. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad this time?
Then he took a closer look. The plants were an odd shape, but familiar. He’d seen something like them before. The shape of the petals, the spots… And then it clicked.
Poison Joke.
One of the few types of flora the guard manual warned about. The sticky residue it produced had it ill-fortuned effects on any pony foolish enough to touch it. It looked so similar to the photos he had seen. Why why weren’t they blue?
That was their color, right? He had never heard of any variations. But that had to be what these were. He didn’t have another explanation for what he was seeing.
His stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. If this was going where he thought it was…
Shining shook his head.
He stepped into the room, wobbling immediately on the thin walkway. Between his ennui and the booties, the platform was a tightrope. And this high wire act had a pretty scary net.
Shining shuffled along. He could keep his front hooves together, but the diapers made it impossible to do the same for his hind. They were balanced precariously over the edge on both sides. He had to waddle with extreme caution.
“Don’t fall. Don’t fall. Don’t fall,” he hissed to himself. It only serve to make his walk more nerve-racking.
But at last he made it to the plaque. The words that held he could have predicted easily.
Below you, a garden with one type of flower.
To ascend, sample its unique power.
You may think you know the joke
But of pink nopony spoke
Just one touch and you’ll know by the hour.
He spared another glance down to the flowers. The Poison Joke, as the plaque so helpfully confirmed. Just looking at them sent a shiver down his spine.
Shining knew what regular poison joke did to him. Hazing Week in the Canterlot barracks had taught him that much. But he doubted these flowers were going to make bubbles come out of his mouth.
He really didn’t have the luxury of worrying about its effect. He knew one more mistake would end his chance to escape. There was no way he was risking that. Like it or not, he’d accept whatever the Pink Poison Joke did to him.
The “know by the hour” part also had him worried. He’d wasted so much time already, he couldn’t afford to lose a whole hour just waiting for something to happen to him.
“‘Just one touch’,” he mused to himself. Could he speed this up by doing a bit more than that? The sheer danger of that idea should have put him off to it, but after everything Shining had been through already he wasn’t in the mood to contemplate it. Maybe it was the smell of baby powder filling his nostrils, the skirt of his dress swishing as he wobbled in place, or the bulk of his diapers squeezing him intimately. No matter what it was, he just wanted this next part over with.
He found himself leaning down to the flowers. Whatever he’d have to do to speed this along, it seemed he was ready to do it.
Shining plucked one with his bootie-d hoof. Nearly fumbling it away, he brought it up with a sigh of relief. Sticky residue from the petals was already seeping onto his bootie. His lips tightened.
Well… here goes nothing. He rubbed the Pink Poison Joke against his chin. A glob of nectar was left behind on his coat, drying off before he’d finished pulling the flower away. Shining let out a shaky breath. That hadn’t been too bad.
But of course, he was saying that knowing the side effect wasn’t kicking in yet.
“Come on,” he muttered, still determined to get this over with. The flower brushed against him again, and again. More and more residue built up on his coat, before his body absorbed it all. Was he any closer to figuring out the plant’s effect? The closed door across the room told him no.
“Hmmph.” He plopped down, kicking up a cloud of foal powder. His butt sank into the diapers, and he ignored the sensation. Unconsciously, he smoothed out his dress, but his only focus was on the Pink Poison Joke.
How can I speed this up? No answer came to mind. He’d barely paid attention whenever studying magical flora came up in classes past. And even if he had retained a thing or two about Poison Joke, who was to say this variant played by the same rules?
Shining’s stomach gurgled, pulling him away from the plant. He winced as a sharp pain took hold. Only for a second, but powerful regardless. It made sense, he hadn’t eaten anything for most of the day. In fact the last thing he’d gotten was that bottle of milk.
His eyes fell back to the flower, and a bad idea came to mind.
No! his mind jumped. As reckless as he was being right now, something about his idea just screamed ‘danger’. And yet, Shining found he couldn’t make himself care that much.
He’d been forced to diaper and doll himself up. He’d slept in a crib, drank from a bottle, played with foal toys. What could this place throw at him that could possibly be worse?
He wanted out of his diapers, dress, and make-up. He wanted to never think about that crib, or his Sombra plush, or his baba ever again! And he couldn’t until he was out of here. Until this stupid flower worked its magic on him.
Shining bit down on the plant. Petals, bulb, stem and all. He barely chewed. He ate it. And when he finally swallowed, he felt it slither down his throat. A shiver gripped him.
Ugh. He scraped his tongue along the roof of his mouth. A bad aftertaste lingered, bittersweet. It was so unpleasant that it left Shining wondering what the point of that was. He didn’t feel any different still. Was he going to have to wait an hour regardless?”
“That’s just… g-great…?” He froze. Hoof leaping to his throat he squeaked out, “my voice!”
It was… higher. Lighter. Girlier. “No…”
Was this the side effect of the Pink Poison Joke? It had to be. He whipped his head accusingly at the plants. And his mane whipped around, slapping the other side of his face.
“Hey!” He spat strands of hair from his mouth. What was that all about. Sure his mane was long, but never that long.
He ran a bootie through his hair, letting its new size drop his jaw when he discovered it. It must have doubled on length on him! But how…?
The flower! But two side effects? That was unheard of for poison joke. Unless…
Shining only just now noticed his dress fit a little better. Now just snug where it had once been tight. But his barrel chest shouldn’t allow him to fit in mare’s clothing so easily. Except… looking down, he decidedly couldn’t say his curvy figure represent any kind of barrel.
He now had wide hips, which only benefited his diapers. His once muscular legs were slender and delicate. And his snout…
His hooves jumped to his face, feeling the shape through his puffy booties.
He… He was a mare!
“No!” He shrieked, hooves leaping down in desperation. His last bastion of stallionhood…
He breathed a sigh of relief. He hooves sinking into the crotch of his diaper. Still there, and growing stiffer by the second as of to prove it. He wasn’t completely a mare.
“Thank Celestia,” he breathed, flinching at his feminine voice. And then flinching for a different reason. Had he noticed his stallionhood growing… stiffer?
“No… Please no,” he whimpered. He pulled his hooves away, but the diaper decompressed and only rubbed up against him more.
Shining let loose an unbelievably girly squeak, and tried to use his skirt to cover the bulge forming in his padding. The shame only seemed to fuel it.
Why was this happening to him? Why did dressing this way… looking this way cause this? He didn’t like it in the least, and yet— this.
“Stop, stop, stop!” He whimpered. It twitched into the padding. His doll-like voice wasn’t helping.
He sat there, trying to calm himself down to no avail. Any movement agitated the padding, so he had to keep still. Eventually his lip started quivering, his own lack of control damning.
Finally, after waiting who knows how long, Shining realized his boner wasn’t going away anytime soon. And since he had no intention of “taking care of it” that meant he was going to be stuck with that bulge in his padding until he could escape this tower.
He knew there were ways to undo the effects of Poison Joke. He hoped that the pink variety was no different. Though he really did not look forward to being seen like this.
Would they even recognize me? Shining shivered. Maybe he could pretend to be a princess locked in the tower. Could save his dignity at least if he could convince the guards.
He shook his head. That thought felt foriegn. Why would he ever have an idea like that? Maybe he was just losing his mind, or the pressure in his hips was too distracting.
Shining had been avoiding it, but suddenly he really had to go.
It must have been that bottle he had from earlier, but the urge was so sudden that he suspected foul play. Did his bladder shrink from the Joke?
Shining finally stood up. The realization that he had to go led to an inevitable conclusion: there was only one place to go. So long as he couldn’t take off his diaper that is.
If he could just escape from here he should be able to get out of his padding. He could still feign being an adult then. After a day like this, he’d take it.
Perhaps he should have been more aware of the possibility—probability—of needing to use his diaper before now. But because he couldn’t bring himself to imagine such a horrible outcome before, now he was completely caught off guard. And worried.
“C-Come on then.” He twitched as padding shifted into dangerous places. Shining forced his mouth closed. No more talking to himself as long as he had a feminine voice. He just couldn’t take it.
He braced for the worst when he turned to the exit. Thankfully he found the door open and waiting for him. Eating the Poison Joke had been worth it after all to avoid waiting for a full hour. Small mercies.
Shining spread his gait as far as he dared. Anything to alleviate the padded pressure on his stallionhood. Left with the widest waddle of his life, Shining pressed on to the new flight of steps ahead.
Please please please be the end. This would be the end. What more could the tower take at this point?
This time there had to be a little light at the end of the staircase. Her sanity depended on it.
He was climbing stairs. His diaper crinkled noisily the whole time. What was wrong with him?
Shining had to focus. Because he had learned that relaxing for even a second, letting his train of thought wander, had an undesirable effect.
It was already hard to call Shining a stallion right now. Between the feminine build, made-up face, squeaky voice, and aggressively pink dress, she didn’t just look like a mare, she felt like one.
Shining growled. He looked like a mare. He felt like one.
Blinking, Shining shook his head. No, I don’t feel like a mare! Nevermind if it had just been a correction, he couldn’t let something like that slide.
“I am a stallion,” Shining asserted. Forcibly lowering his voice, he found that he could sound rather androngynous. With effort. “I’m a stallion.”
Legs wobbling, Shining pushed himself up another step. The journey up was getting tougher by the stairs. Exhaustion already crept into her bones. The leaching of her magic each floor was hitting her physically now. She just wanted to lie down and take a nice long nap. She could picture it now, curling up with her plushie of her King and just...
Shining screamed. “Gah!”
His bones! He! He! His plushie!
Well not my plushie, but… grahh! This was exasperating. He had to get out of here already.
The stairs only made that difficult. Each step was a fight against padding intent on crinkling, rubbing, swaddling. There was nowhere it wouldn’t stoop to torment Shining. Every now and then a moan escaped quivering lips, just as a reminder of the diaper’s presence.
It didn’t help that he still really needed to use the bathroom. But the very limited options in that regard kept his bladder at bay.
Finally Shining reached the top. He flumped forward in disappointment during that triumph. Still no window. Just another room of darkness, the inky black more depressing than before. Would he ever escape at this point?
This tower can’t go on forever, Shining thought. It has to end soon.
But will I make it to the top in one piece? What little motivation he’d built up vanished. Looking back at all he had endured so far, he didn’t think he could take another four floors. Depressed, Shining’s head sank further into the floor. She doubted she could take even one more.
Shining blinked, realizing his slip.
I can take one more.He decided. I’ll take however many I have to to get home.
Yes, home was waiting for him. Cadence was waiting for him. So he would make it back. He had to.
Okay. Shining pushed himself upward. Legs wobbled, diapers crinkled. Who knew if he would even stay standing after this, but he had to try.
Fsh. The torches of the room ignited, pillaging Shining’s magic in the process.
She was caught off guard by the sudden light as always. Shining waited a moment before opening her eyes again. The room came into focus, and Shining found it was just as unique as the last one.
Tall walls stretched almost to the ceiling. Only a narrow slit was open, revealing a shiny surface inside. Shining squinted, but couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be from this angle. Before she could step forward to find out, her eyes caught a familiar podium and plaque duo, right in front of her.
Convenient, she thought. Wait! How long have I…?
He shook his head. That couldn’t keep happening. He had to stay on top of this if he wanted to keep his sense of self.
He. His. Him.
Shining took a deep breath, borrowing Cadence’s calming technique once more. Then he turned to read the newest limerick.
Before this little filly is a simple little maze
Around every corner, a reflection meets your gaze.
To get through to the end
Your perception must bend
Or you’ll be stuck forever and ever in a daze.
There were only so many ways Shining could groan. She resorted to all of them. There was nothing good about this riddle. Sure, that had been the norm for a while now, but that didn’t mean Shining had to like it. All the talk about perceptions bending, and being in a daze… she already knew something was messing with her mind to make her…
Shining cried out, pulling at his mane. Messing with his mind!
“Stop doing this to me!” he screamed at the tower. Whatever it was doing to mess with his mind, it was getting worse. She could feel herself slipping even when she tried to concentrate.
With a shake of his head, Shining tried to recover. It was going to be an uphill battle to keep his mind in check, wasn’t it? Hooray…
Walking around the podium, Shining got a better look at the opening, and the torments that awaited him. A maze, the limerick had said. Not even “on theme” with the past few floors, but that wasn’t something to complain about.
What was something to complain about, was what Shining saw when she got closer. The shiny surface she’d spied earlier came into focus, and suddenly the “reflection” line in the limerick made a lot more sense.
Mirrors. A maze of mirrors.
And not funhouse mirrors designed to distort, exaggerate, and embellish. Just regular old mirrors, designed to show reality as it was. And out of the corner of her eye, Shining saw a very unfavorable reality indeed.
She knew she looked ridiculous. But now, seeing how ridiculous that was, only served to suck away what little dignity she had left. Even just catching a glimpse from the maze, she saw it. Her face, with high cheekbones and a short, soft snout. Nary a corner unpainted, with her mane spilling over and occupying any space that could still be called stallion-ish.
And the dress. Already her figure looked petite and curvy, but swallowed by the pink, puffy thing, Shining found she looked like a dainty little fairy. A princess. It was not a good look for soldier such as herself.
He flinched. Himself! Him! How long had that been going on? She… He hadn’t even noticed it this time!
I’m losing my mind here. Shining shivered, the action swishing the skirt of his dress. Whatever the tower had meant by his perception bending, he had a sinking feeling it was already underway. Why else would he be fighting so hard to keep his sense of self straight?
Then his bladder pinged him. A brutal reminder that this maze came with a timer.
He had to solve this already, and get out of here!
Shining all but leapt into the maze. Ignoring the reflections that popped up on either side, he kept his eyes to the ground and waddled forward. The crinkle crinkle of his diaper never let him quite escape reality, but at least focusing on the floor kept his eyes off the reflections. The less time spent ogling the mare in the mirrors the better.
Wait… ogling? Shining felt a subtle twitch from his friend beneath the padding. Did his own reflection… excite him?
“Oh Celestia,” he breathed. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Do not think about it.
Those words turned into a mantra as Shining pushed deeper into the maze. Turn after turn, dead end after dead end, and eyes always on the floor. He refused to think about his stiffness, the way he looked in the mirrors, and anything and everything to do with his attire. Nevermind the crinkling with each step, the puffs of foal powder still escaping, the way the dress swished from side to side. Ignore all of it! Don’t think! Just… don’t think...
That proved to be an easier task than first expected. Despite the omnipresence of every awful thing the tower had done, Shining’s mind almost seemed to empty by itself.
Stubbornness… Shame… they were so easy to let go off.
She wasn’t even questioning why this maze seemed so difficult. Whenever a turn came up she picked a direction at random. Dead ends had her backing up and trying again. The fact that this maze seemed so large, despite the room being no bigger than any others so far, was lost on her.
She just carried on, occasionally dawdling to smooth her dress or straighten her tiara. It was important to Shining that she looked good, though she had no idea if her efforts were helping.
Oh wait! Of course, the mirrors! It was such an easy solution that she had no idea why she hadn’t considered it before.
She looked up, eyes meeting her reflection. A giggle bubbled out of her. She looked so cute!
From the adorable dress to the way her face was scrunched with worry for some reason. She’d turn the heads of stallions and mares like this.
Part of her felt uneasy for thinking that, but the moment passed. Shining was just too enamored by her appearance to feel anything but awe. She swayed her hips, watching countless versions herself across the walls follow suit. Her pretty dress swished all around her. Distracting…
Hisssss…
Shining snapped to attention. What… what had he just done?!
Still doing, actually. In a moment of pure relaxation, he’d let his bladder go. And now he was peeing himself.
Fresh, hot urine dove into the first diaper. Colliding with the wall of padding, it was instantly absorbed. Spreading and spreading, until Shining felt his whole crotch area was damp. And that didn’t help with his stiffness one bit.
He squeaked like Cadence always did when she saw a cockroach. He stumbled back into the mirror behind him, sinking to the floor. Sitting on the dampening diapers turned out to be a very bad idea. His plot squished while the pee still spread. It was all too happy to violate every corner of the diaper, turning it into a soggy disaster.
A shaky sob escaped Shining. He clamped a hoof over his mouth. There was no way he could allow himself to start crying like a mare. Not when so much else was already going wrong.
“Stop!” he begged, knowing full-well his bladder was hardly done yet. It was a broken faucet, flooding non-stop. There was nothing to be done about it but wait.
So Shining waited. As tears eked out of his eyes, he looked into his reflection and saw it couldn’t ruin his pristine make-up job. Why did that give her some kind of relief?
Shining shuddered at that thought. And then again as his stallionhood pushed further against the damp padding, his accident continuing. On and on. It just wouldn’t stop, going on for what felt like an eternity.
Probably not even a minute later, that broken faucet downgraded to just being leaky. And then it stopped. Shining let out a cry of relief, but it fell so hollow amidst the squishy crinkling of the diaper.
He’d really done a number on it, hadn’t he? Had he really drank that much milk earlier? Must have if this was the result.
Shining sat their in soggy squishiness for a moment, just trying to fight back the sobs that plagued his body. Each one rattled his chest, snapped at his chin. And each time he remembered his hardening stallionhood, they only got worse.
He pulled the dress’s skirt up to inspect the damage. Even double diapered, the accident had been too much. A little stain had marked its territory against his pink over-diaper, right where the bump of his stallion poked at the padding.
I can’t believe this happened, Shining bemoaned. At least—at the very least—he’d wanted to get away without wetting this infernal diaper. When all was said and done, when he reached the top and his soldiers got him out it would have been embarrassing, but at least none of it would have been his fault.
“The tower made me do it,” he could say. “It’s magic forced me to.”
Whether or not they believed it didn’t matter. He would’ve known the truth. But now the truth was that Shining wet her diaper like a little filly without any potty training. The truth was she cried like a foal, and checked the mirror to make sure her make-up hadn’t been running when she did. It was awful! How could she—
“Graahh!” Shining cried. It happened again!
He bolted upright, cringing at the squishes and crinkles it caused. His little friend trembled as warm, wet padding swaddled it.
Ignore, ignore, ignore, IGNORE!Just find the end of this stupid maze and go home. Go home to Cady and take all this crap off and never EVER think about this day ever again.
Shining was back. He felt back. Like a splash of water to the face, he felt a little reinvigorated. Actually is was a splash of water in my diap—
NOPE! He caught himself. It was time to move on.
He waddled down the path of the maze, refusing to even avert his eyes from the mare the mirrors were showing him. Instead he just looked past all of that. He only looked forward to home. To his princess, Cady.
Shining adopted a soldier’s march. It was tough with the bulk on his hindquarters, but he managed. Maybe this tower could make him look and sound like a mare, but he’d walk like a stallion at least.
He came to an intersection in the maze. Seemingly endless rows of mirrors forcing his reflection to stare back at him. He chose a path, and stomped down it. It wasn’t long before it made him take another turn.
Dead end.
Shining shook his head. A little discouraging. But whatever! He wouldn’t let that get to him.
Doubling back, Shining almost did a triple-take. The intersection he’d just come across… wasn’t there! Down that very hall was simply a corner with a turn to the left. But there was no way he could be mistaken. There was no other way to back up from that dead end! What had happened here?
His eyes drifted to the mirrors, trying way to hard not to look at his reflection. Could they…
He reached up, bootie-d hoof meeting the same from his reflection. He gave the mirror a nudge… and it turned! Swiveling open like a revolving door, it revealed the hall on the other side.
Of course! Shining realized. The maze was cheating him! It wasn’t truly massive, it just rearranged itself when he wasn’t looking.
“No fair,” he pouted. His discovery was amazing but disheartening at the same time. But at least now he could cheat back.
He slipped through the opening, poofy diaper squishing to get through. His stallionhood twitched, and he gulped. But he did make it, popping out on the other side and letting the mirror slide shut behind him. Shining grinned.
A change in perspective, huh? I’m sure this counts. Figuring out the maze’s cheat had to be the solution.
He started pushing open every mirror before him, walking in a straight line. If he hit the building’s wall, he could pick a new direction and try again. If he popped out near the podium, he could one-eighty himself towards the exit. And if he popped out on the side with the door, it had better be open for him.
But as Shining kept going, that hope started to fade. It seemed no matter how many mirrors he turned around, more were always waiting on the other side. The same sight of a dolled up mare on every wall greeted him again and again. He wasn’t making any progress at all.
Was I wrong? Shining thought. But he’d sunk so much time into this! The warm pee in his diaper had become cold and clammy, though it didn’t deter his stiff stallionhood.
The maze must be cheating still, rearranging the paths ahead of him before he even got to flipping their mirrors.
“No!” He cried. Hooves bashed the nearest mirror, bouncing up harmlessly thanks to the booties.
Shining looked at himself again, really staring at his reflection. Snout wrinkled, brows curled in anger. The mare staring back looks too adorable to be angry.
Why… why was she angry?
Shining looked over herself in the mirror again, trying to deduce the mare’s consternation. Then it struck her. That mane! Such a long, flowing, beautiful thing. But just hanging there, so uninspired it hurt.
“That’s why you’re upset!” Shining proudly stated. Then she blushed. Duh, that’s a mirror.
So she had been the one who was angry. But at least she knew why now! She had to do something about this mane.
Her hooves fluffed it out, letting it spill over her shoulder so she could get a good look at it. “Hmm…” No bows or ribbons on her. “Fooey.” She’d have to do this the old fashioned way.
Her horn sputtered to life. Shining suddenly felt so dizzy she giggled. “Wowie!” Her magic really wasn’t impressive, was it? But there was enough for this one thing.
A perm! A braid! A ponytail! Twin tails! So many options danced through her mind. But she finally settled on one of them.
“Curls!”
Of course. Girly, bouncy, cute curls. As much as she could fit in. Her magic got right to work, grabbing strands and lifting them up. Spirals of hair reached almost above the tips of the mirrors, before they were twisted back down. Ten, twenty… she had so many curly strands to her mane now. It was perfect.
And the timing couldn’t be better, either. She felt her horn snap like it had pulled a muscle. Her dazzling magenta aura was gone in a flash. She had no more magic left to spend.
She felt lightheaded, backing up into the mirror behind her. Her diaper squished against her plot. It felt… nice… Her eyelids fluttered. For a little bit, her thoughts were swimming through her mind. It took a long time for her to finally get her head back on straight.
But when she did, she saw herself again in the mirror. Her mane was beautiful. Bangs untouched sadly, but everything beyond them was spirally. The curls had turned out wonderfully. She had turned out wonderfully.
“Oh Gleaming,” she murmured. “You look soooo cute!”
The name came out so casually. As if there wasn’t anything else she’d ever called herself. No… there had never been anything she’d ever called herself before. She’d always been Gleaming Shield, right? She smiled at her reflection. Right.
Something between her legs twitched. Gleaming looked over herself in the mirror and felt that twitch again. She giggled. It was a nice feeling.
She swished her hips, letting the dress dance behind her. The diapers between her legs crinkled and squished as she did so, bringing out even more twitching.
Gleaming stared deep into her reflections eyes, almost transfixed. The twitching was only getting worse. Now it felt hot. And stiff. But she liked it. She liked feeling that way the more she looked at herself.
Gleaming leaned in to her reflection, colorful lips looking plump… and ready.
“Pretty…” she breathed, eyelids fluttering closed.
She kissed her reflection, their lips meeting against the cold surface. The twitching in her diaper exploded, becoming full on throbbing. It was so hot. It almost hurt.
Gleaming pulled again from the mirror to breathe, before coming back again. She stood up on her hind legs, leaning into a new kiss. She was beautiful. She was radiant. She needed to kiss the mare in the mirror so badly.
Her bulging diaper smacked into the mirror. Gleaming moaned as she started grinding against it, the throbbing sensation growing even hotter.
She groaned into the next kiss, and another. She humped the mirror, her reflection, over and over again.
“Yes!” she cried out between kisses. “Yes!”
In her horny daze, she didn’t notice the mirrors opening up beside her, revealing a passage to a staircase. She couldn’t care less about that right now. All that mattered was her… and her reflection… and how it made her feel to kiss and hump and touch and please herself.
“Yes!” Gleaming cried again. Her bootie attached her crotch. Wet padding rubbed furiously into herself. The pleasure so great she squealed and she— and she—
The stairs had been tricky to navigate. She was sooo tired. Her head felt like a balloon with all the air let out of it. And her soggy pampers had made each step a headache and a half to overcome. But she was here now.
A small window somehow let in enough light for the whole room. From floor to ceiling, it was all pink. Pale for the carpets, hot for the drapes, rose bed sheets, a lavender canopy, bubble gum furniture, flamingo pillows. Pink pink pink.
Only the walls broke up the trend, being a pearly, smooth white. A calming white. Familiar. It made Gleaming happy to look at them.
She waddled further in, squishy crinkles following her every step. Her nose would occasionally wrinkle at the stale stench of pee, but it didn’t really bother her. Gleaming was far more entranced by her things. A dresser, a vanity, a playpen, a highchair, a bed with extendable walls to act as a crib. They were all things she knew well, but fawned over anyway, as if she was seeing them for the first time.
And the toys! So, so many toys. Her playpen guarded most of them, blocks and rattles, plastic keys and colorful rings. But strewn out along the floor was a long stretch of tracks, a toy train resting on top of them, begging to be played. The sight of it made Gleaming giggle.
“All aboard!” she called like a conductor, bending over to send the train flying down the tracks. The toy whistled as she did, earning another giggle from the giddy girl.
Her room was just perfect. She could wait here forever.
Wait…? The thought gave Gleaming pause. She tapped her chin, brow furrowing. Why… was she waiting?
Her eyes turned to the window, a small breeze brushing through to flutter her drapes. Outside, pure blue sky, the kind you rarely get, even when the pegasi were working their hardest. The kind of sky you could only see from high up in a tall, tall building.
A tower!
“Aha!” Gleaming’s lips curled in amusement. She was so smart. It was obvious now that she thought about it. She was a Princess locked up in a tower. That’s why she had to wait.
It made the most sense after all. Gleaming felt like she’d had princesses on the brain lately, for whatever reason. And given her tiara and her adorable dress, it had to be true. Puzzle pieces were clicking together now.
I’m a Princess who’s waiting for her Prince to come rescue her, she decided. It was just like a fairytale!
Gleaming sighed with content, glad to have come to her senses. But she did wonder when her Prince would come for her. After all, she’d been waiting for… how long exactly? It didn’t really matter.
But she could just picture it now. Tall, strong, handsome, coming to take her away to their happily ever after. Rushing to her like a knight in shining armor…
Shining… armor… Gleaming pursed her lips. Why did that sound so familiar?
“He’s not here?” A meek, distance voice called out. Gleaming blinked her way back to reality, attention once again pulled to the window. She waddled to it, the one voice outside multiplying.
“I can’t find the Captain anywhere!”
“Well he couldn’t have just wandered off.”
“Do you think he… got inside?”
“Don’t be stupid, there’s no way anypony can get in this thing.”
Gleaming’s heart leapt for joy. Her Prince! It must be. Who else could be outside her tower?
But that elation was fleeting. Why was she hearing so many voices? Were there that many Princes outside waiting to sweep her off her hooves? I mean, I wouldn’t say no…
It couldn’t be though. Gleaming knew deep down that her true Prince wouldn’t need to group up with a bunch of other Princes to rescue her. He’d be so strong and cool and tough that he could do it all on his own. That’s why she’d fall for him the minute she’d meet him. These voices didn’t give her that kind of feeling.
“Wait a second. No way in? Then what’s that?”
So who could those voices belong to then?
“A doorway? That can’t be right.”
She felt like she knew them…
“I checked the base a hundred times! Where did that come from?”
“You don’t think he’s actually inside then, do you?”
They were so… familiar…
“I don’t like this…”
“Well we can’t return without him. The Princess would have our heads!”
They worked for a Princess?
“You’re not suggesting we go in there, are you?”
“You have a better idea? Cause we spent the last six hours searching everywhere for him but inside.”
“Yeah… I agree, it’s our best option.”
Wait a second! Gleaming did know these voices.
“In you go!”
“W-Wait, don’t push me!”
“Oh calm down, we’re right behind you.”
Gleaming smiled to herself. Of course! Those voices belonged to her maids. How could she forget?
A deafening thud of a door slamming cut off the last of the sounds outside. Gleaming was relieved to know her servants were on their way. Her cold, clammy diaper was getting a little uncomfortable. And for some reason it also felt really sticky…
Well, if they’re on their way anyway… Gleaming could afford to. It was their job to clean up after her, after all.
She lowered her head, scrunching her snout and grunting cute, short groans. Her plot raised high into the air, diapers blatantly displayed. Her grunting turned huffy and annoyed the longer it went on. She kept pushing, knowing it was deeply unladylike what she was about to do.
A wet fart signaled to the world what was about to happen. A mushy logged pushed its way into Gleaming’s diapers. Then another. They plopped into the padding, smushing against each other with a definitive squelch. The two barely had time to get acquainted before another joined them. And one more.
Gleaming kept messing herself until there were no new logs to introduce to the pile. Just a gross mush, forcing her double diapers to stain and sag.
When all was done, Gleaming breathed a sigh of relief. At least her diaper was warm again. And she liked the slippery feeling of that mudslide of hers anyway. It made her feel all stiff, a bulge forming at the crotch of her diapers.
Standing up straight, she felt the mush settle against her plot and shivered with delight. For fun, she squeezed her hind legs together as tightly as she could, shivering with pleasure as warm mess squished against her. She moaned, bulge growing.
Gleaming pawed at the front of her dress, until she found the spot where she had tucked away her pacifier not too long ago. She popped it into her mouth without a second thought, suckling away. Now life was pleasurable on both ends.
She blushed, momentarily pretending her paci was something else she was suckling on. Something belonging to her Prince. But such unladylike thoughts shouldn’t even cross her mind. It didn’t help that she was growing hotter and more bothered right where that bulge had formed. She should really take care of that.
Her attention shifted to her bed. She did feel rather tired anyway. The suckling, messy princess toddled over to the mattress and flumped down about as gracefully as she had filled her diaper. Her diaper bulge buried its way into the sheets and twitched. Gleaming moaned and rolled over so she could properly take care of it.
But when she did her back ran over something soft, but definitely not part of the bed. With effort, she freed it from the spot it was wedged under and got a good look.
“Oh, hehe~ It’s woo!”
Her plushie. She recognized it from nap times passed, though the when and where was fuzzy for some reason. But that didn’t matter because here he was again. Dark gray coat, black mane, red horn. Yep, that was him alright. Gleaming would recognize her Prince anywhere.
“C’mere, woo,” she nuzzled her prince into her cheek, biting down on her pacifier with joy. Until the real one showed up to rescue her, this one would do nicely.
“Maybe woo can hewp me,” Gleaming slurred passed her paci. She wiggled her hips, mess sloshing about and bulge throbbing. “Imma diwty giwl.”
Her plushies lifeless smile might as well have been a thumbs up as far as Gleaming was concerned. She lowered the little guy down her pelvis, pushing him against the bulge.
“OOooohh.” Messy, soft padding swaddled her. Another push.
“UuuUUhh!” Throbbing, twitching, itching. Another push.
“UUUuunNFFff~” Yes. Yes. Yes!
Gleaming knew she’d have a lot of time before her maids finally arrived. And even more time before her Prince one day came for her. So until then, she figured she should make the most of her captivity. And the most of her smelly, sagging diapers.
And her little stallion plush could be oh-so helpful for her needs. Sombra, was his name. Sombra her Prince. Sombra her King. Sombra her…
