“Just look at that perfect arrangement.”

It really was a perfect arrangement. From little troughs of earth affixed to the cloud wall grew cute little flowers, and the mound of earth was angled in a way to provide more space higher up, so that a second type of flower of a different colour could grow interspersed to the first one, and up a lattice on the wall, forming a perfect colour gradient. Somepony must have spent a lifetime creating this arrangement.

Just like somepony could spend a lifetime being stuck in the sludge tank that was her life.

“Oh, quit being a mopey filly, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said.

“I’m not being mopey,” Scootaloo huffed, “I’m just thinking.”

“Well, I’m thinking we should just enjoy the rest of the day,” Fluttershy said, “so why don’t you relax and take a look around? The houses are gorgeous.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Scootaloo sighed.

What was there to be cranky about, after all? The sun shone warmly, and everything had grown quiet and peaceful the further they got away from the university. In fact, they were pretty much alone in the fake alleyway. Away from the district centre, as commercial superstructures gave way to private estates (more like small countries, really, judging by the size of the plots), the residents had apparently grown bored enough to build walls and fake house fronts around the avenue, to give a small, ground-bound, hometown impression. While the detail was staggering, hardened cloud carved to look like bricks, the final result looked, let’s say, interesting, and a bit surreal, bricks floating in the sky. At least the plants smelled nice.

And there were more and more plants the further they progressed down the alley, and, eventually, the gravel stopped crunching beneath the stroller’s wheels and gave way to the soft squish of an actual, real lawn.

“Looks like some kind of park,” Fluttershy said, “or maybe a public garden? Just look at the flowers.”

“Hm,” Scootaloo said, “these ponies sure love their empty space.”

It was almost disappointing the grass didn’t show any mirror reflections, so perfectly flat was it cut, down to the very last, flawlessly trimmed, green blade. And it stretched on all the way into the distance, where it was delimited by an almost geometrically immaculate row of flowers in splendid colourful bloom, and beyond lay another grassy yard that met with walls of carefully sculpted trees and bushes, between which more green and colours shone through. The idea was plain obvious: the neat arrangements segregated the green field into lots of quiet parcels that provided some sense of privacy, while still maintaining the park’s overarching aesthetic, by way of a little gravel path snaking between the plots, lined with pretty benches and bushes.

The areas were themed too. Some of the ponies strolling about kept to the red flowers, some to the yellow flowers, some preferred the metal lamp posts, some the colourful murals. There was a bit of life here.

Somewhere nearby, a foal cried with joy. A mare sat in the grass and held the tiny being aloft with both hooves, and spun about, sending the little foal into excitable squeals, as everything in the world moved at once, and she soared through the skies.

Soared, like some ponies would never discover that they could.

“Gah!” Scootaloo made, “I just don’t get it! Why did nopony ever tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Fluttershy said.

“Tell me how awesome things are,” Scootaloo said, “we’ve seen so much stuff around this place. And all of it makes sense. Everything works the way it does for a reason. And you can look at things and touch them. It’s so real. It feels like everything has a purpose. Nothing here is drifting around pointlessly, with no goal or end in sight. Feels like being stuck in the mud, with nopony there to help me out.”

“Oh, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said, “things are different everywhere. You can’t blame other ponies for doing what they do.”

“I know,” Scootaloo said, “I guess I’m just frustrated. I don’t get why everypony’s suddenly talking to me when I don’t even know what I want to say to them. And then back home, when I need to find the words for many things at once, there’s nopony who listens. It’s like with the scooter. Why’s everypony here suddenly so interested in it? Nopony thought it was anything special when I showed it to them back home.”

“I think your scooter is pretty good,” Fluttershy said, “I’m impressed by what you did with a bit of magic.”

“You do?” Scootaloo said, “But I told you about it earlier. You also thought that it was nothing special.”

“I don’t believe I quite understood what the flight magic stuff was about, back then,” Fluttershy said.

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo said, “Weren’t you to flight school?”

“Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said, “You know I never actually finished flight school.” She looked genuinely hurt.

Great going, Scootaloo.

You did it again. Let your mouth run off when your brain couldn’t keep up.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say it like that!” Scootaloo said, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She wanted to climb out of the stroller’s seat, but found that she was strapped in quite securely, so instead she turned around to face Fluttershy the best she could. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay, Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Scootaloo stretched and wiggled her hooves in Fluttershy’s direction as far as they would reach. Thankfully, Fluttershy stepped in for a hug.

“It’s okay, silly,” Fluttershy giggled, “I get what you were trying to say.”

“I didn’t want to say anything hurtful,” Scootaloo said into Fluttershy’s chest, “I just wanna hang out with you.”

“No harm done,” Fluttershy said, gently holding Scootaloo until she was less upset. And what else would she do? Fluttershy was perfect after all. Scootaloo couldn’t believe her luck to be travelling with somepony so awesome.

“But you gotta understand that nopony can know all the things going on in the world,” Fluttershy said, “everypony is trying to make the best of what they can do. And I sure know doing your best pays off. There were certainly times when I wish I had finished flight school.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said.

“And if you feel somepony doesn’t appreciate what you do,” Fluttershy said, “they’re not trying to do it on purpose, it’s just that they don’t really understand what you’re doing. And it’s your responsibility to educate them.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said, “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said, “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes,” Scootaloo said, feeling Fluttershy’s silky smooth mane on her face.

“Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day without worry, okay?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes,” Scootaloo said.

“Will you be my little filly?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes?” Scootaloo said, “Fluttershy? What are you ...”

But Fluttershy had already unbuckled Scootaloo’s seat belt, and Scootaloo found herself in her warm embrace, and then Fluttershy stepped back and swooped into the air.

“So you wanna fly, huh?” Fluttershy said, “Is that right?”

“Wha -- aaaah,” Scootaloo squealed, as Fluttershy dashed up and tossed her into the skies.

Scootaloo’s flailing limbs found no purchase, everything dropped away, air cold in her lungs, her heart racing. And suddenly, everything was still.

That moment of perfect weightlessness at the apex of her ascent. It was like floating in a dream. She was free. She was flying.

Then she dropped back down, and Fluttershy plucked her out of the air, and Scootaloo was warmly embraced again, breathing hard, as both of them giggled in unison.

“You like flying, huh?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes!” Scootaloo said, unable to stop laughing, adrenaline pumping. And then she was tossed up again.

It was even better this time. That calm, that quiet, only the wind playing in her mane, no ropes, no saddles, only Scootaloo, high above, the whole world sprawled out underneath, Fluttershy and the stroller and the grass and the mare with the foal, who smiled up at Scootaloo, observing the wondrous discovery of a new sensation.

“You like being a little filly, huh?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes!” Scootaloo laughed. Up she went.

She loved being a little filly. Because just like that infant in the grass, that had been lifted in the air by her guardian, Scootaloo too, had received the unbelievable chance to discover this feeling, for the first time. And it was all thanks to her beloved Fluttershy, who ensured Scootaloo could make this wondrous experience safely, because Fluttershy was always there to catch her.

“But you also wanna take responsibilities, like a grown up pony?” Fluttershy said.

“No!” Scootaloo was breathless from laughter.

Freedom. No gravity, no baggage, no wings. Nothing weighing her down. Only Scootaloo and the skies. The air, the sun, her skin atingle with the exciting buzz of novel sensations.

“But you do want ponies to talk to you and listen to you?” Fluttershy said.

“Yes!” Scootaloo squealed.

She saw everything from a new point of view, the flowers, the grass, the trees and bushes the perfectly tended clouds with their mansions perched on top, the gargantuan structures in the distance, like she had never seen before. The sense of wonder without restraint or restriction.

“So you do want to be grown up?” Fluttershy said.

“I don’t know!” Scootaloo breathed.

Up into the sky, twisting, seeing everything at once until she was dizzy, and she flapped her tiny wings to draw out the moment as long as possible, which probably didn’t help, but it felt so right, because she did the best she could given the circumstances. And for the last time she came down, and Fluttershy caught her, but they descended further until they landed on the lawn, and flopped over into a crazy tumble.

Scootaloo laughed, so caught up in the moment, and Fluttershy laughed too, quite breathless herself, as they lay in the grass. It smelled so good, juicy and hearty, and it felt pleasantly cool to the touch against the heat building up under her clothing. Fluttershy sat up, but Scootaloo was already on her hooves and jumped into Fluttershy’s lap, snuggling into her and hugging her as hard as she could.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Scootaloo mumbled, her face fully immersed in Fluttershy’s jacket, “You were the only one who ever listened to me. And you made all of this happen. Thank you so much, Fluttershy!”

“You’re very welcome,” Fluttershy said, “I think it was a wonderful trip.”

“And thank you for being my mommy!” Scootaloo cried, “You’re the most awesome mommy ever!”

“I’m also glad I could try being a mommy for such a wonderful filly like you,” Fluttershy said.

It was good that Scootaloo’s face was hidden, because her cheeks felt really warm now, and it probably was not because of the clothing. Fluttershy is so cool. Scootaloo couldn’t believe her luck to be with such a wonderful pony, who had showed her so much she had never realized she wanted to know. And no matter what came after, Scootaloo could rest assured that these awesome experiences would always stay with her.

Fluttershy began nuzzling the top of Scootaloo’s head. The little tickles she delivered so skillfully behind Scootaloo’s ears radiated calm and relaxing warmth, and Scootaloo eased further into Fluttershy’s embrace, and silently took it all in, Fluttershy’s movements, the weight of her body, her breathing.

No gravity.

Eventually, it was time to get up. Scootaloo, still feeling stupendously mellow, was lifted under her forelegs and plopped down into the grass.

Fluttershy wiped her brow. “Whew! We may have overdone it a bit with the dress code, huh?” she said. “I feel like it’s awfully warm around here.”

“Yeah, there isn’t much wind, either,” Scootaloo said, “The lower cities felt much more windy. They must have some kind of magic in place.”

“Probably, yes,” Fluttershy said. She reached back to undo her buttons, and undressed. Her jacket came off, as did her boots. She carried the clothes over to the stroller and stashed them under the seat, in the big tray, covering the spare diapers for Scootaloo in the process. How fortunate! Scootaloo may have been a bit of a baby, but that didn’t mean that everypony immediately had to know.

“Your turn,” Fluttershy chirped, “let’s take off this stuffy jacket first.” She reached around Scootaloo and undid her buttons as well. Usually, it would feel weird for somepony to fumble around your wings, but for Scootaloo, being taken care of by her mommy was the height of all feelings.

The jacket came off, one foreleg first and then the other, and landed in the stroller, and the cooler air was immediately refreshing, as Scootaloo shook out her mane. Fluttershy came back and went to work on Scootaloo’s boots. That was pretty nice too! The boots were thickly padded travel gear, and as each of them slipped off, Scootaloo promptly wiggled her hooves liberally, relishing the stimulating cool.

Then Fluttershy embraced Scootaloo securely and pulled her upright, onto her hind legs. “Uhm ... “ Scootaloo said, but it was too late, Fluttershy had already unfastened her skirt, and the rugged cloth fell away and crumpled on the ground. Okay. She could work with this. Her pantyhose must have slipped down, because there was an obvious ring of shiny plastic sticking out around Scootaloo’s waist, which seemed to be extra bright white in the sunlight, but that was no problem, just pull up the pantyhose a bit and ...

Fluttershy proceeded to undo Scootaloo’s pantyhose.

“Uh ... mommy?” Scootaloo said. “W-what are you doing?”

“I’m taking our clothes off, remember?” Fluttershy said.

“Oh ... “ Scootaloo said, “O-okay ...”

“Don’t worry, Scoots,” Fluttershy said, “it’ll feel much better, you’ll see.”

Sure it felt better, already now the gentle chill had been incredibly satisfying, but the act was still almost indecently obvious.

Fluttershy hooked her hooves in, and began pulling down Scootaloo’s pants, trying to work her way down Scootaloo’s thick underwear, while the diaper, in turn, promptly began breathing and fluffing out in its newfound freedom, becoming ever more bulkier, and making the whole ordeal increasingly an exercise in wiggling and pulling and dancing from hoof to hoof. Even the mare with the foal, who had been so far otherwise preoccupied, immediately pricked her ears, Scootaloo saw it clearly, at the intimate noise that was familiar to every mommy and daddy with a little foal, the unmistakable squeaking and rustling of fabric against baby-diaper-plastic.

The mare stood, took her foal by the hoof, and together they moved carefully toward Scootaloo and Fluttershy, who had just managed to break free of the trousers’ constricting hold.

“Hello there,” the mare said, “lovely day, isn’t it?”

“It’s a wonderful day,” Fluttershy said, “and rather warm, too.”

“Yeah, I see you’ve come to realize so,” the mare smiled. Then she bowed her head down to the little foal and began cooing like mad. “Oh, look at that! What’s that!” Big gasp, point towards Scootaloo. “That’s a little filly! Look at that nice little filly! Go on, say hello to her!”

The mare didn’t think that Scootaloo’s get-up was indecent at all. And why would she? Scootaloo looked exactly like you would expect a little filly to look. In fact, she was dressed almost eerily the same as the little foal, both naked except for the curious expressions on their faces, and even their pretty little diapers looked the same, soft smooth plastic kept entirely in immaculate white and baby blue, and, as if there was any uncertainty as to the foals’ underwear’s purpose, the big, broad, blue sticky tapes around their waists and above their tails sealed the deal.

No. Wait. There was a difference. The foals diaper had the swirl patterns, but none of the cartoon animals that danced around on Scootaloo’s diaper. Scootaloo had an ally, the cartoon bird with the crooked beak that smiled enthusiastically from the front of her diaper! That meant, even though she and the foal were the same in being little, Scootaloo had the much cooler mommy who got her the much cooler diapers! How awesome was that!

“Go on!” the mare cooed, “Don’t you wanna say something to the nice filly? Go ahead!”

The foal was obviously much too young to understand what was going on. “Blagurg,” she said.

“Uh,” Scootaloo was hard pressed for something intelligent to say, “blagurg.”

The grown-ups giggled.

“Well, that’s all the conversation we’re going to get out of them, I suppose,” the mare said, “anyway, have a nice day.” She made the little foal wave her hoof before leaving. Scootaloo waved back.

“What a cute little foal,” Fluttershy said, and when they were out of earshot, she added silently, “But I think you’re cuter still, Scoots.” and gave Scootaloo a little kiss on the cheek. “Come, let’s go.”

Scootaloo gladly followed.

The park must have been the quietest place in all of Skyview, and it was not just because of the sound-dampening effect of the bushes planted everywhere. There was barely anypony here, and the few ponies that Fluttershy and Scootaloo encountered seemed to be just passing through. Maybe ponies were afraid of stepping onto the delicate lawn and flower arrangements, or maybe it just wasn’t the most active time of day, but in either case, it was kind of sad that nopony was around to enjoy the pleasant surroundings. The park was remarkably well-kept and entirely free of trash or blemishes, and each of its segments surprised with neat little theme that was more interesting than the last.

Scootaloo was a bit nervous at first. Though she had already mastered walking with her diaper on, giving the soft fluff enough space to rest comfortably between her hind legs by using a wide-stanced waddle, she still trailed a bit behind, and stayed close to Fluttershy’s tail, so she would have something to hide behind if somepony saw her.

But soon enough, her curiosity got the better of her. They came upon a little patch that was entirely violet. Violet flowers, including actual violets, violet shrubbery and a tree in violet bloom. And it smelled great too, like a candy. How could somepony have such a fascination with violet! It was intriguing.

Scootaloo couldn’t help herself, and dashed off to new frontiers, always onward behind the next row of bushes, to see what surprises lay beyond. There was a parcel with some smoothed logs arranged in a circle, like a ritual place, and another plot with a tiny pond, into which all the surrounding plants dipped their roots (Did that count as hydroponics?), and a piece of jungle comprised of densely growing ferns with thick leaves that didn’t taste good at all, and some grape vines growing on strings, a bunch of overgrown large rocks, fruit trees, big trees, small trees, pretty trees, park benches, sun loungers, picnic tables, and so on.

Somepony walked past them, but Scootaloo was so emboldened by the sense of discovery, she didn’t run away at all. She had to put her personal reservations aside, and walk past them with her head held high. This is for science! Besides, it was becoming increasingly clear that nopony really cared when Scootaloo waddled by. She was just a little filly after all, and it was normal for a little filly to look at everything with great curiosity, because she didn’t know how this wondrous world worked yet, and to crinkle profusely with every tiny movement of her hooves, because her mommy had dressed her in nifty white diapers, that would comfort her with their warm and soft presence, and that would prevent her from leaving a trail of puddles everywhere she went.

In fact, Scootaloo was proud of how good care Fluttershy took of her, and it was simply right to show it off. Fluttershy deserved it.

And so, Scootaloo began prancing, proudly holding up her mane, which Fluttershy had washed recently, and stretching out her wings, which Fluttershy had recently preened, and she also swayed her tail, because Fluttershy had gone through so much trouble to make wearing a diaper feel normal for her, so Scootaloo let everypony know how little of a problem she had with the fact that they could see her diaper plain as day. It was exciting! Scootaloo couldn’t believe how much spring she suddenly had in her step, and everything was fine, because Fluttershy was just behind her, always making sure she walked just slowly or quickly enough to keep up with her bouncy little filly.

As soon as they rounded the next corner, Scootaloo stopped bouncing. It was a patch of grass, with a sandbox in the middle.

And there were three ponies playing in the sandbox.

“Why don’t you go say hello to them?” Fluttershy said, “That looks like quite a nice sandbox.”

“But,” Scootaloo said, “Do I have to?”

“Don’t worry, Scoots, I’ll stay right over here on the bench,” Fluttershy said, “where I can see you. You can go have some fun, and I can rest my hooves for a moment. We’ve been walking all day, after all.”

“Oh. Okay,” Scootaloo said.

Of course she would go over to them. No problem. Let’s go. She had to honour Fluttershy’s request. And she was just a little filly, doing little filly things, so chances were those ponies wouldn’t even take notice of her, right?

Scootaloo got no three steps in, and all of them stopped what they were doing, and looked up at her. And, of course, how could they not? With the park being so quiet, and Scootaloo’s hindquarters being entirely wrapped up in plastic, the egregious crinkling of her steps was impossible to overhear. Scootaloo was committed, however, and so she had no choice but to steadily waddle, and crinkle, her way over to the sandbox.

“Ugh, great, another foal,” one of the young stallions said, rolling his eyes. He was wearing a vest emblazoned with his own cutie mark, showing two hammers crossed, as well as a hoof band and some fine slippers. Wow! Those were some serious duds.

“Oh, cut it out,” the young mare said. Her cutie mark was the sun shining on some houses. “Come here, little filly. Don’t listen to that mean old bully. He’s just jealous because his baby sister is getting more attention than him.”

“I’m not jealous!” hammers complained, “And will you stop saying that?”

“I’ll stop saying it when you stop bullying the foals,” sunshine said, “and besides, what’s there to be jealous about? The little filly just wants to play in the sandbox, isn’t that right?”

“Uh,” Scootaloo said.

“But she’ll ruin everything!” hammers said, “Foals always break stuff. That’s all they do!”

“Well, I suppose sometimes we need to break stuff to move on, don’t we?” sunshine said,
“Come over here, little filly, you can play with us, and that’s my final decision.”

“Ugh,” hammers rolled his eyes again, this time with the utmost emphasis, “Fine. The filly can play with us. As long as she doesn’t stink up the place.”

“Hey!” Scootaloo said, “I don’t stink!” But the other was no longer paying attention.

Ordinarily, Scootaloo would have thought these ponies a tad too old to be playing in a sandbox, but their project looked complex enough to make up for it. It was some kind of sand construction, where deep furrows ran between piles of sand.

“What are you guys doing anyway?” Scootaloo said.

“We’re building sand castles, and moats,” the remaining colt said, who seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings. Despite wearing glasses, his face was only centimetres away, as he put little windows into a crude sand house with a stick. “Look, this is the fortress, and there are villages here, and here. And the river will be here and between the main buildings, though we still have to divert it so it won’t cause any floods.”

“A river? Neat,” Scootaloo said, “haven’t seen any of those around here.”

“Yeah, Skyview doesn’t have any rivers. Yet.” hammers said. “That’s why I intend to create them, when I’m the best engineer in all the city.”

“Cool,” Scootaloo said, “so you’ve already got plans for that?”

“Uh, well, no,” hammers said, “we’re still in the modelling phase, right here. Consider it a proof of concept.”

“Come here,” sunshine said, “you can help me carry the sand.”

Scootaloo climbed over the sandbox wall and stepped into the sand. It felt really strange under her hooves, it was soft and gave in under her weight, but only for a tiny bit, and then it was compressed and solid. Walking on it was a bit of a challenge, because it always felt like the sand would slip away or give in, even though it never did. Scootaloo worked her way through to sunshine, and plopped down into the sand beside her.

“Hi there,” sunshine said. She had no qualms whatsoever about ruffling Scootaloo’s mane with a hoof. Scootaloo endured quietly. Not much a little filly could do. “You seem quite interested. Wanna help?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said.

“Alright,” sunshine said, “see this village here? It still needs some houses. You can just do like me.”

Scootaloo took some sand in her hooves, but it was sand from the surface and it was too dry. So she dug her hooves into the sand and got some out from further down, which was a bit more moist and clumpy. She slapped the sand onto the ground near some piles that resembled a village, and began pressing it together, shaping it upward, like a little tower. And, surprisingly, the sand held.

“Wow, look! It doesn’t even fall over,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, it’s special sand,” sunshine said, “It’s sand from the shores of the eastern sea. My dad told me about it. Somepony, I forgot the name, who was on an expedition there, thought the sand was good for modelling, so they brought some back and dedicated a portion to the city’s sandboxes. They’ve got a couple of them around.”

Scootaloo saw why the other ponies were so absorbed. This sand was amazing, and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste, so Scootaloo gave her best effort to build the prettiest little houses she could. She built houses with flat roofs, and houses with conical roofs, and then she built a house and put a second house on top of it, a two-story house. She mimicked the pony with the glasses, who was already on his four-houses-high tower.

“Good job,” sunshine said, “the village is coming along nicely. Which means we’ll need to dig a few more rivers. Can you fetch the shovel?”

There was a little shovel in the corner of the sandbox. The distance wasn’t too far, so Scootaloo decided to just roll over and crawl. That made sunshine giggle.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said, “I just can’t believe how much sand you’ve already got stuck on you. Here, let me help.”

She reached over, and, with a few firm swats of the hoof, dusted most of the sand off of Scootaloo’s diaper.

“Thanks,” Scootaloo said.

Hm. Shouldn’t it feel weird for somepony to be touching her hindquarters? No, Scootaloo’s just a little filly, so it’s like, whatever. And she was genuinely grateful for being kept clean and tidy.

Now equipped with a shovel, sunshine and Scootaloo began digging a path for a new fictitious river around the village, but they got carried away fairly soon, and branched off and dug out deltas, connecting their river with the rivers of other villages and the moat around the fortress. Every village needed to be supplied with water after all, and there was going to be a lake on one side, so there was quite a bit of digging to be done.

Sunshine seemed really into the construction effort, and Scootaloo loved being able to help her. She made little walls and structures where needed, fetched and brought away more sand, and watched in awe as sunshine attempted to smooth out perfectly rectangular canal walls. All that Scootaloo needed to do was to sit back and --

“Pthui,” Scootaloo spat out all the scratchy sand from her mouth, “Ew. Where did all this sand come from?” Oh. Her hoof was now covered in sand and drool. Had she been trying to suck on it? Come to think of it, her mouth had been feeling increasingly more annoyingly empty.

Sunshine giggled. “Hey,” she said, “don’t you have, like, a pacifier for that, or something?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said meekly, “but my mommy has it ...”

“Alright, alright,” she said, “I’ll fetch it for you. Where’s your mommy?”

Scootaloo pointed, back on the path, on the other side of a bush, there on a bench was Fluttershy, lounging in the sun. Sunshine got up and walked over. How nice of her, to do something like this for Scootaloo! Then again, of course, she was, same als always, just a little filly, and didn’t know how to fetch a pacifier on her own.

Sunshine talked to Fluttershy in the distance, then she pointed toward Scootaloo, and then pointed toward her mouth. It was no big mystery what they were talking about. Fluttershy had understood, as she reached into the stroller and gave the pacifier to sunshine.

Sunshine returned, her mane bouncing as she ran. “Here you go,” she said, happily carrying Scootaloo’s super awesome pink glitter pacifier. But she didn’t just give it over, she instead kept it by its handle and bowed down, holding the rubber nipple directly in front of Scootaloo’s mouth. She was so close, Scootaloo could feel her breath. Scootaloo took the rubber nipple in her mouth and immediately began suckling, and for a moment, their faces were so close, their lips would have touched if it weren’t for the pacifier’s plastic shield.

But sunshine just let go of the pacifier handle and turned back to her work. It was the most obvious thing in the world. This was the normal way in which to give stuff to little foals, and that was that.

“Thanks,” Scootaloo said around the incredibly comforting rubber in her mouth.

“You’re welcome,” sunshine said, “come on, we still need to build a dam.”

They had erected a sprawling settlement in the sand. The castle was finished, complete with inner fortress, castle walls, and a moat, and the surrounding lands were touched up with some hills and some ridges to give it some character. In particular, there was a river running between two hills that sunshine had deemed perfect for a dam, so she had begun piling up sand in shape of a big wall. But what was that!

“No, no, you’re doing it all wrong,” Scootaloo said.

“What’s the matter?” sunshine said.

“Look,” Scootaloo said, “you can’t make your dam straight like that. It’ll have much more water pressure in the center than on the sides, and it’ll burst. You have to make it curved. Here, let me show you.”

Scootaloo erased the previous construction and began a new dam, this time better, with a more solid foundation, and a nice curve in the uphill direction so the water pressure would distribute evenly.

“Impressive,” hammers piped up, “how did you know this?”

“Oh, we used to do this back in my hometown,” Scootaloo said, “a bunch of streams appear in the forest and the bluffs whenever it rains, so we went out and made dams from rocks and mud.”

Sunshine gasped. “A groundside town! I can’t believe it,” she said, “I’ve always wanted to go visit one. It must be so cool! Earth and grass everywhere, and the landscape, and the juicy plants, and you can run in one direction without falling off.”

“Yeah, but your sky city is pretty cool too,” Scootaloo said, “you have all the skies for yourselves, and the horizon is never the same, and there’s always new ponies around, and no insects and critters everywhere.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing,” sunshine laughed, “we could trade places. I can go live in a ground city and you can live here. Wouldn’t that be silly?”

“That would be silly,” Scootaloo said.

Their dam came along nicely, and when they topped it off to be perfectly level, they built another couple, smaller dams, and the others also built some dams to redirect the flow of imaginary water as they see fit. Eventually, the whole are seemed about covered in dams, and the four ponies sat back and marvelled at their creation.

“It’s time,” hammers announced, “go get a cloud.” And glasses jumped up and flew into the sky.

“Time for what?” Scootaloo said.

“Time to test our construction against some real waters,” hammers said, not without some anticipatory satisfaction.

Where he would find a cloud, Scootaloo didn’t know, the sun was pleasantly warm on her skin, and she was content just sitting there quietly, with the soft sand under her legs, and the soft thick fluff under her hindquarters, without a care in the world. But lo, not a minute later, glasses returned, and in his forelegs he held a nice, fat, ripe piece of cloud.

“Whoa, good idea,” Scootaloo said.

“Now we only have to introduce the water in an orderly fashion,” hammers said, “try pouring it in uphill, so it goes down.”

The pony with the glasses had an interesting technique of getting water from the cloud carefully. He didn’t jump on it, but instead, he held it fast and squeezed it ever so gently with his hooves, almost massaging the buoyant little thing, coaxing out whatever moisture it held. Then he twisted one end a bit to give the cloud a little point, and indeed, it worked.

Soon, enough water had accumulated to form a little drop, which rolled down his hoof and the underside of the cloud, and then hung at the tip, the clear cool water glinting beautifully in the sunlight, and it dripped away, a pretty little translucent globe of liquid, and pittered into the sand with a tiny splash.

And that’s when Scootaloo felt it.

She needed to go to the bathroom, badly.

Not that it was much of a surprise, she had been feeling kind of full all day, and she was still wearing the same diaper from when they had gotten up, so she hadn’t even been able to take care of her morning pee yet. She simply hadn’t cared enough to pay it any mind, but now, watching the water drip from the cloud, nature’s call was suddenly very real, and very urgent.

Of course, nopony else noticed, they were much too occupied with bringing their waterworks to life. And, technically speaking, Scootaloo wasn’t supposed to notice either. Little foals didn’t know how to use any bathrooms, and they couldn’t really feel the urge until it was there, so when it was time, they were supposed to just let it happen, and let things just take care of themselves.

And Scootaloo realized, underlined by an increasing tingle of excitement, that that was exactly what she felt like doing.

So, she decided, she would do just that, and she would do it right now, so there would be no time to think it any better. After all, Fluttershy had made sure that everything was taken care of, and she had told Scootaloo to do as she pleased, and there was nopony Scootaloo trusted more than Fluttershy. So Scootaloo left the whole ordeal behind her, and instead returned her attention to the fascinating little drip of water that the other ponies had managed to coerce out of the cloud.

Scootaloo felt the fullness of her tummy, but instead of tightening up, she fully relaxed her stomach, and continued to sit still as she had done before. Meanwhile, the sand had soaked up enough cloud water that a little stream could form, as a little liquid frontier pushed down the first riverbed.

There was an instinctual reaction to hold herself in, but Scootaloo forced herself not to, suckling diligently on her pacifier to calm herself down, while keeping herself consciously relaxed, as her internal pressure built up at an alarming rate. The stream of water in the sand had progressed far enough to reach the first delta, and everypony held their breath as the water first progressed down one path, and finally the other. Hurray! Their design had worked!

Scootaloo was confronted with her biggest barrier yet, the instinctual urge to press her hind legs together, in a last-ditch effort to physically prevent herself from having an accident by sheer force of pressure. But it wasn’t an accident, everything was going exactly the way it was supposed to, so her hind legs would remain just the way they were now, no pressure whatsoever. And with the final hindrance overcome, the urge peaked, and Scootaloo finally began relieving herself, and a pleasant little trickle began making its way out of her, and into the waiting absorbent fluff.

“It’s working! It’s working!” hammers exclaimed, “Look, all the streams are carrying water. Now every village will be supplied! Great job!”

And not only that, the individual streams also carried approximately the same amount of water, so they really had engineered the flow quite well. The success of their project only contributed to just how right everything felt, everypony watching in awe as their creation came to life, with the foal of the group, Scootaloo, sitting on her butt in the back lines, and watching attentively, while absent-mindedly making a little tinkle under herself. Scootaloo was free of concerns, simply enjoying the pleasant feeling of relief, as the warm puddle spread underneath her buttocks and gently seeped into her fur.

But there was one challenge left.

“Will the dams hold?” hammers said.

“Maybe we should add one some more material,” sunshine said, “come on, bring me some more sand.”

It was Scootaloo’s call. She wasn’t finished going yet, but that wouldn’t be an issue, since little foals weren’t supposed to have any control over when they went, and they just did their deeds no matter where they were or what they were currently doing. Besides, Scootaloo was on duty. Getting that sand was more important.

Scootaloo got up, but as soon as she lifted her weight from the ground, her little trickle burst into a fully unrestrained spill. She had to pause for a moment to wait for the electrifying shudder of relief to pass, as she now emptied herself in earnest. It felt wonderful to be getting lighter by the second, and with her pacifier’s mollifying presence, Scootaloo felt confident enough to proceed.

She picked up the shovel and dug out some of the firm sand. It felt strange to be moving around and doing work, while, at the same time, trying to ignore the sensation of herself urinating freely, but the emptier Scootaloo got, the more pleasant the sense of relief became, and the more natural the whole thing felt. In fact, she could feel the weight, by which she got lighter, increasingly dragging down around her waist and her tail, because, as strong as her super absorbers were, they couldn’t handle all of the liquid at once, so it began pooling heavily between her legs, the diaper swelling and creating more absorbent capacity to soak it up.

Scootaloo got into an awkward waddle, carrying the sand. It was a very alien sensation, to be moving while going, but since she wasn’t able to hold it back, there was nothing else she could do but to just deal with it. With her hind legs’ movement, the weight of her body shifted back and forth, causing the warm liquid to splutter all over her hindquarters, and onto her skin, and against the insides of her thighs. Fortunately, her confidence in her diaper was well-founded, for its tapes were strong enough to keep everything exactly where it was supposed to be, and the ruffled leak guards were absolutely watertight and didn’t allow a single drop to escape, at least as far as anypony could tell.

“Awesome, thanks,” sunshine said. She took the sand brought by Scootaloo and reinforced their biggest dam a bit more, but Scootaloo could see that it was already enough and it would hold the rising water level no problem. Nevertheless, Scootaloo still enjoyed watching the enthusiastic work, and she hoped nopony took notice of her, because she couldn’t help crouching a little bit, after all, her tail twitching, as the last of it finally came out. Scootaloo didn’t even push, she just let it trickle on its own, so lost was she in the all-encompassing relief.

And, of course, the dam held. The water level rose, until it was at the height of the side channel and could calmly stream away. All of the buildings remained standing, including Scootaloo’s tower, and the castle had its moat filled, and every village now had access to a river, and the remaining water pooled in the lake at the bottom. It was good timing too, because the cloud had all but dissolved, as the pony with the glasses fanned the last wisps away, the fur on his chest mottled and wet where he had held it.

“Great job, everypony,” hammers said, “you too, filly. It’s amazing how well everything held up. I can’t wait to try it again. Maybe it can work for real?”

They stayed for a bit longer and admired their creation, fooled around for a bit, or, in Scootaloo’s case, engaged in a bout of spontaneous demolition work and knocked over her tower. She couldn’t complain about the state of her diaper, while it hadn’t quite absorbed all of the liquid yet, and Scootaloo squeezed some of the warm pee out of the diaper and back into her fur when she sat down, it had grown noticeably thicker and squishier, making it very comfortable to sit on.

Some bells had rung earlier, and the ponies eventually announced that they needed to be home for dinner.

“But what about the village?” Scootaloo said.

“Eh, we’ll build another one,” sunshine said.

And so it was time to go. They went back to the path, but instead of following it, they crossed it and went into a small building on the other side, that was incredibly well hidden.

“What’s that?” Scootaloo said.

“It’s a toilet, what else?” Sunshine said.

Right. There were tiny signs on the door handles. “We need to wash our hooves before we go home, or our parents will get mad for dragging the dirt in. See?” She showed her hooves. Scootaloo agreed. “But I don’t think I can take you inside, so you’ll have to go back to your mommy. Can you do that?”

And so they said their goodbyes, and parted ways.