Scootaloo eyed all the toys with nothing but contempt and scorn. Did her aunts actually expect her to play with foal toys? Why not give her something she might actually play with? (It never occurred to the filly that doing so would defeat the whole purpose of her punishment.)

"Well, aren't you gonna play with something?" Auntie Lofty innocently asked, eyeing Scootaloo with a smile. "Or maybe you'd like to play tickle monster or got your nose instead? You used to love playing such games when you were a foal."

Scootaloo recoiled with slight shock! The last thing she wanted was to play such juvenile and foalish games! But, she also really didn't want to play with stuff like alphabet blocks or a rattle. And she wasn't much of a stuffed animal kind of pony, especially not with stuffed animals clearly intended for three year olds. "What am I gonna do? I gotta think of something I can play with, or Auntie Lofty's gonna decide for me and is sure to embarrass me," Scootaloo thought. "Maybe she'll even take a picture for her and Aunt Holiday to remember?"

Looking at the toys again, the filly found herself drawn somewhat to the coloring book that had been included amidst the collection of foalish toys. Now, Scootaloo wasn't interested in a foal's coloring book, but it did give her an idea. "Could I maybe do some painting instead?" She pleaded with Auntie Lofty.

Much to the orange coated pegasus' surprise, Auntie Lofty nodded and said with a bright smile. "Oh of course, Scootaloo, anything for my favorite niece," She returned shortly with a miniature art easel and a wide assortment of washable paints, not to mention different sized paint brushes, and an art pad to store all the paint colors. "Why don't you paint your Aunt Holiday and I a pretty picture?" She suggested. "We can hang it up on the fridge, and even show it off to your parents."

But Scootaloo protested. "No way, don't you DARE show such a thing to my parents! They don't need to know!" Then she added. "Besides, Mom already has some of my preschool paintings on the fridge."

"Well, I hope you won't object to your Aunt Holiday and I taking whatever it is you paint back to our place," Auntie Lofty chimed in. "We've very little to remember your early years by, aside from the baby pictures your parents were kind enough to share with us. You were really cute as a foal."

"Whatever, that's only like the hundredth time I've heard that." Scootaloo partially gagged. And then she turned her attention to the easel and her paints. Inspiration was always a difficult thing for the filly when it came to painting.

Aunt Holiday observed the scene from a distance, and smiled as she looked across to Auntie Lofty. This was the most behaved either mare had seen Scootaloo be. Often, their niece would be in a rush, barely paying attention to anything but whatever her mind was fixated on. "This treatment is working better than I thought it would, even considering Scootaloo's resistance." Holiday thought to herself.

Lofty just looked back at Holiday with a look that seemed to convey: "I told you this would work."

"Well, since things seem to be under control here, I think I'll go upstairs for my morning shower," Holiday informed Lofty. "You can keep an eye on Scootaloo by yourself until I get out, can't you, dear?"

Lofty chuckled. "Of course I can, my darling Holiday. Scootaloo will be no trouble at all."

"Alright then, I shan't be long," Holiday called, as she made her way upstairs. But not before she warned Lofty. "Make sure our little artist doesn't make too much of a mess. And also make sure nopony else sees her like this, we don't need ponies getting the wrong idea."

"Holiday, it's like you don't know me at all. I can manage a foal for a few minutes." Lofty half snorted/half giggled.

"I can't help worrying, it's who I am." Holiday replied. But convinced that her wife could handle things more or less, the earth pony went upstairs without another word. As she entered the bathroom and hopped into the bathtub, a part of her began to wonder. "Maybe Scootaloo would like a bubble bath later on? We didn't exactly get a chance to bathe her after her little 'accident' the previous night."

While Holiday was in the shower, Lofty was watching Scootaloo, as the filly held a brush in her front left hoof. Currently, the pegasus was deep in thought, no doubt searching for inspiration.

Lofty wanted to help, but she wasn't much of an artist. The artistic talent primarily fell to Holiday, she even sketched the brochures for her travel agency and did so very well.

Still, Lofty felt that maybe she could try to steer her niece towards an idea on what to paint. But before she could offer any suggestions, there was a knock at the front door. "Odd, I wasn't expecting company today," She commented, looking at her niece for a moment as she then instructed. "Hey, slugger, do your Auntie Lofty a favor and just stay put, okay? I'll go see who that is."

"Okay." Scootaloo replied, barely acknowledging her aunt's request. The filly had finally figured out what she wanted to paint. She figured that just a simple picture of her and her aunts under a sunny sky would suffice, and dipping her brush into the blue paint, she set to work on her "masterpiece".

The pegasus carefully stroked the canvas, taking great caution not to dab too heavily at the paper or mix her colors (like she'd done that one time in art class). The sky and the ground took very little time to complete, and she could save Celestia's sun for last, that was the easiest thing to paint.

Scootaloo sketched the rough outlines of herself and her aunts with her brush, giggling a bit at how she'd unintentionally exaggerated her Auntie Lofty's bulkiness. "Oh well," She thought, allowing her mind to wander. "It's not like I'm being graded on this, Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty won't mind a little sloppiness."

But as Scootaloo moved to start coloring in the shapes, her brush slipped out of her hooves! Fortunately, Auntie Lofty had had the foresight to put several layers of paper on the floor to catch any drips. The filly tried to bend down and retrieve her paintbrush, only for her diaper to overcompensate and cause one of her hooves to plant itself firmly in the wet paint pad. More specifically, the color Scootaloo had planned to use to color in Aunt Holiday.

It was then that a particular cheeky idea came into Scootaloo's mind. "If my aunts are gonna treat me like I'm a foal,

I might as well act like one," She thought with a smirk. "A little bit of hoof painting never hurt anypony." Now, the filly knew that she couldn't paint on the walls, not unless she wanted her Aunt Holiday to throw a fit. But she could easily finish her art project with her hooves. It would certainly be faster than carefully coloring things in with a brush. Besides, the paint was washable, so the pegasus could just rinse her hooves off afterwards. No harm no foul, right?

With her mind firmly made up, Scootaloo giggled, and started to color in her Aunt Holiday with her hoof. She was surprised that, as she did so, her diaper moved and crinkled a little. And to the filly's surprise, she actually didn't mind it so much anymore. In fact, she liked it. "It feels so weird, to not mind that crinkling sound anymore. Am I actually starting to like wearing diapers?" Scootaloo thought to herself, only to quickly shake her head. "I'm just liking it because I'm acting like a foal, and I'm only doing it for this hoof painting session. Though, I guess the foal food wasn't so bad. And I did need that bib, even if I'll never admit it out loud."

Auntie Lofty came back a short time later, breathing a sigh of relief. "Okay, Scootaloo," She called. "How's my favorite niece's art project coming along?"

Rather than reply with words, Scootaloo just turned the easel around and presented her painting to Auntie Lofty. "Tada!" She beamed in an exaggerated foalish tone.

Lofty examined the painting, and her eyes lit up. Aside from the somewhat blobish shape of the sun, and Lofty herself, Scootaloo had done a fantastic job. Sure, it wasn't on the same level as Holiday's sketches, but for a painting worked on by a filly for less than half an hour, it was pretty good. "This is amazing, Scootaloo!" Lofty beamed! "Wait til I show this to Holiday, she's gonna love it!"

But after carefully setting the painting aside, Lofty got a good look at her niece. And what she saw, caused her happy mood to fade.

Scootaloo's front hooves were covered with paint, several different splotches dripped onto the paper, and a few spots of paint had somehow found their way onto Scootaloo's face, coat, and even her diaper. "Scootaloo, you're a mess!" Lofty scolded quite firmly.

"Sorry." Scootaloo apologized as sincerely as she could.

"Just wait until your Aunt Holiday sees this," Lofty added with a frown. "She won't be pleased."

"Pleased about what, Lofty?" Holiday asked, as she trotted onto the scene. And once she saw what Lofty was seeing, she too frowned. "If you wanted to do hoof painting, Scootaloo, you could've asked, I would've gladly given you a smock," Holiday said with a shake of her head. "Now look at you, you've got paint all over yourself, and the papers," Then she looked at Lofty and asked. "How did this happen? I thought things were under control."

"They were when I left," Lofty confessed. "I was only gone for a minute, I swear. I had to answer the front door, so I told Scootaloo to stay put. I didn't think the kid would do something like this."

Holiday sighed, putting a hoof to her forehead. "Lofty, you know you can't just leave a foal unattended like that. That's basic foalcare 101. We're just lucky Scootaloo was well behaved enough not to make even more of a mess. Just imagine what could've happened if she'd gotten wet paint all over the walls."

Lofty gulped. The mental image of that was a nightmare she wouldn't wish on anypony.

"But I'm not a foal!" Scootaloo said only for her remarks to be ignored. "Though it would've been funny if I did paint on the walls."

"Well, I think our little artist here, has earned herself a free bath." Holiday sternly commented.

"A bath?" Scootaloo froze, suddenly regretting that she'd resorted to such foalish behavior.

Lofty nodded. "Yes, Scootaloo, a bath. We've got to get that paint off you somehow," And then she added. "Besides, you're getting kind of stinky." She illustrated that point by dramatically fanning a hoof across her nose.

Scootaloo blushed bright red, she knew what her Auntie Lofty was referring to. "Oh yeah... that," She commented. Then, almost before she realized what she was saying, she asked. "Can it... be a bubble bath, please?"

"I don't see why not," Lofty replied, looking across to her wife. "What do you think, Holiday?"

"I... suppose a bubble bath couldn't hurt, just this once," Holiday proposed, tapping a hoof to her chin. "Now come on, we'd better hurry before that paints drys. And I promise I'll look at your painting later, Scootaloo."

Just a minute later, Scootaloo was stripped of her diaper and was sliding into the warm bath waters. The bubbles made things more relaxing, at least for the filly.

Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty took turns carefully washing off the paint, and scrubbing the spots their niece always had trouble cleaning properly (namely her wings and the bottoms of her hooves). Then they gave a bar of soap to Scootaloo, to let her take care of the rest of her body.

"Make sure to scrub hard, I want a nice, squeaky clean filly." Holiday instructed.

Scootaloo sighed, but obeyed. She was glad that she was still allowed to bathe herself for the most part, even though she knew a new diaper would be put on her as soon the bath was over.

Once Scootaloo had finished with the soap, Auntie Lofty trotted over to the sink, bent down beneath it, and presented the filly with some bath toys. "Why don't you play for a little while?" She offered. "It'll give me time to go get the changing supplies."

Scootaloo nodded, and let her mind wander a little as she played alternatively with the toy ships and the rubber duck. She had to take care not to splash water out of the tub though, even if it would just land on the towels. Aunt Holiday wouldn't like that.

All of a sudden though, the filly stopped playing with the bath toys, and turned to face her aunts (Auntie Lofty was just about to leave the bathroom). "I'm sorry." She apologized with a deep sigh.

"Sorry for what, Scootaloo?" Holiday asked her niece.

"About the fight at school the other day," Scootaloo explained, looking her aunts in the eye. "I know Snips and Snails didn't mean to make fun of me. It's just, what they said, it hurt. The fact that I seem to be the only pegasus my age who can't fly yet. Even Featherweight flys more than I do."

Holiday and Lofty just looked at each other in surprise, before Holiday responded in a serious yet sweet tone. "Well, regardless of who said what, that doesn't give you the right to lash out and hurt others. That's being a bully."

"Besides," Lofty added, trotting towards Holiday and closer to the tub. "It's like Rainbow Dash told you, maybe you'll fly someday and maybe you won't, you're awesome either way. You should know that by now."

"I know, I know," Scootaloo sighed. "But it still hurts. I'm pretty sure I'm a late bloomer, but being the only late bloomer my age, really stinks," She then added. "And, I'm sorry about the hoof painting earlier. I just thought if you were gonna treat me like a foal all week long, then I should act like one, make you see what it's really like to deal with a foal. And then, you'd stop treating me like this."

"Scootaloo, if the treatment was bothering you at all, you just had to say so," Lofty replied. "Holiday and I gave you the option to stop."

"At the expense of telling my parents or making me take etiquette lessons," Scootaloo frowned. "I was in a no win situation," Then the filly paused for a considerable length, before she reluctantly added. "But the thing is, now, I don't entirely mind it so much. At least, not the diapers part. I don't exactly like how much they push my legs apart, and using them is just gross, but they do feel... kind of nice I guess."

"Are you saying that if we kept you in diapers around the house for the rest of your punishment, but toned down the rest of the treatment, you wouldn't mind it?" Holiday asked. "Because I hope you realize that, even though you've learned your lesson, you still need to go through your punishment. And you also have to apologize to Snips and Snails when you go back to school on Monday."

Scootaloo reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, I know that stuff. And, I guess I kind of am saying that when it comes to the diapers," Then she pleaded. "But promise me you won't make me wear them when my parents come home. In fact, unless I say otherwise, please don't make me have to wear them again during the day after my punishment is over. I know I still need them at night for... obvious reasons."

"If you're sure that's what you want, Scootaloo," Lofty smiled in response. "And don't you worry. It's like Holiday and I promised when this treatment began, this stays between the three of us."

"And from this moment forward, we'll be changing up some of the rules," Holiday explained. "You won't need to ask permission to use the bathroom anymore, though you'll still need to get either Lofty or I to remove your diapers. And you're still going to have whatever's on your plate, and go to bed when you're told. But you won't have to play with foal toys anymore, and if you can prove you don't need it, you can go without a bib during meals. How does that sound? Better?"

Scootaloo blushed a bit, before she nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

That night, shortly after Holiday and Lofty had helped their niece into her pajamas and tucked her into bed, they were surprised to see their own bedroom door swing open. And who should be standing in the doorway, but Scootaloo herself?

"What's the matter, slugger?" Auntie Lofty innocently asked. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "I haven't gone to sleep yet. I just thought, since I'm kind of being treated like a foal and all. Would it be okay if I slept with you two, just for tonight?"

"I guess there's no harm in it," Aunt Holiday sweetly replied, as she patted the side of the princess sized bed she and her special somepony shared. "Of course, you know we can't do this all the time. It's only this once, and then you're sleeping in your own bed from now on. No ifs, ands, or buts, got it?"

Scootaloo nodded, and hopped up next to Aunt Holiday, before she carefully lay down next to the earth pony mare.

"Hey, Scootaloo?" Lofty asked. "You did remember to use the potty before bed, right? Holiday and I don't want you stinking up the room."

"Of course I used the potty, no way could I forget! And I only had that one accident since you diapered me!" Scootaloo firmly replied.

"Well, just thought I'd be sure," Lofty sweetly called. "Good night, Scootaloo. Sweet dreams."

Holiday was about to do the same, before she got an idea. "Here, Scootaloo, why don't you have this?" She suggested, presenting a light purple pacifier to Scootaloo. "It'll complete the look. Besides, you do tend to snore sometimes."

"I do not!" Scootaloo flatly protested. "I may have agreed to wear diapers for the rest of the week, but I never agreed to things like pacifiers!"

Holiday just giggled, stroking Scootaloo's mane. "Oh, I think your friends would disagree with you when it comes to snoring."

"Nu-uh, Rainbow Dash is the snorer, not me!" Scootaloo protested again, turning her head.

Holiday sighed, but still backed off. "Okay, okay, you don't have to put it in for tonight. But your Auntie Lofty and I won't think any less of you if you do. I'll just leave it on the nightstand for you," And she did just then, before she then kissed her niece on the forehead and whispered. "Sweet dreams, my little Scootaloo."

"Good night, Aunt Holiday. Good night, Auntie Lofty." Scootaloo called back. But the filly found that she couldn't fall asleep, not even after her aunts had done so. Turning to the nightstand, Scootaloo eyed the pacifier. No, what was she thinking? She didn't need it. she was not a foal even if she was wearing diapers.

But then again, Aunt Holiday was technically correct. Scootaloo didn't snore often, but when she did the filly could be quite loud. And during her most recent sleepover, Apple Bloom had made at least one request for Scootaloo to tone it down the next night.

Briefly turning her head back to the bed, Scootaloo made double sure that her aunts were asleep. They were, nopony was around to witness what the filly was about to. Carefully, the tomboyish pegasus reached out a hoof towards the night stand, grabbed the pacifier, and after a moment of hesitation she inserted it carefully into her mouth. It definitely felt weird, but as she reluctantly gave it a few suckles, something about it became almost hypnotic and soothing to her.

And whatever the reason, be it the pacifier, or even that warm cup of milk she'd reluctantly drank, Scootaloo found herself unable to keep her eyes open. She nodded off, to the rhythmic sound of her pacifier, bobbing up and down in her mouth.