Convinced that Starlight and Spike would have everything under control, Twilight left for Canterlot. There were two reasons to her visit. The first and most important was to check in with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and inform them of the punishment she had decided to inflict on Cozy Glow. Hopefully they would approve.

The second reason was a bit more personal to the young princess. She wanted to visit with her parents and hopefully pick up some "supplies" to bring back to Ponyville for Cozy Glow. "Everything should more or less fit her," Twilight thought to herself. "Maybe I could even ask Cadence for some pointers if she happens to be around. I doubt she'll be interested in letting Flurry Heart play with Cozy for the time being though, even if she mostly played nice with the Cake Twins."

Life in Canterlot had gone back to normal pretty quickly after what Cozy had done. There were more security patrols, but aside from that everything looked and sounded the same as it always did when the city wasn't under siege. It was clear to see just how great of an influence Flash Magnus had been in improving the guards' morale and reputation. They were probably going to be like this for a couple of weeks until ponies could be convinced there would be peace again.

With some of the royal guards accompanying her for protection, Twilight was escorted to the palace grounds and upon entering made her way straight to the throne room. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting for her, both standing at attention beside their thrones.

Princess Celestia clapped her hooves. "Guards, you may take leave and return to your posts. If anything or anyone suspicious should appear, please let us know."

"Understood, your majesty." The guards bowed and then departed, the throne room doors closing behind them.

As soon as the three princesses were alone, Luna spoke up. "Well, Twilight Sparkle. Have you decided on a suitable punishment for young Cozy Glow yet? Or should we send word to the guards to prepare a cell in Tartarus for her?"

"Not necessary," Twilight shook her head. "I've settled on a punishment that is rather unconventional, but I think it's one that will ultimately yield a positive result," And she cleared her throat as she explained. "I've decided that Cozy needs to start over again from the beginning, quite literally in fact. So I've decided to place her in diapers and basically treat her like a foal. She can't even take off her diapers or leave the castle without adult supervision."

Celestia questioned with a most unusual expression. "Twilight, are you absolutely sure that's the best course of action? Are you sure you're not doing that simply because you don't want Cozy to end up in Tartarus?"

"Exactly how she taken to the treatment so far?" Luna inquired.

At that Twilight gulped. "Not very well, actually. She's actually had to be spanked a couple of times. But she does appear to be slowly adjusting already. This morning, she didn't put up a fight when I had to clean her up after she spilled syrup on herself."

Luna appeared to nod her head. "That is a positive sign, though it doesn't automatically mean she's starting to accept her punishment. Still, it does sound like a form of house arrest."

"Please, it's only been a day since I started the treatment!" Twilight pleaded. "Give me at least a week or two to try to get results. I've set clear boundaries for Cozy already."

Celestia somberly replied. "Well, as long as she doesn't again pose a threat to Equestria like she did with the school, I suppose Cozy's current punishment can be allowed," She then cautioned. "But if a month comes and goes without any signs of progress we'll have to assume the punishment isn't working, and that more drastic measures will be necessary."

"Don't worry. If Cozy ever wants to be a big girl again, she's gonna have to learn to behave herself," Twilight promised. "I doubt she's gonna wanna stay in diapers and be treated like a foal forever. And despite what she may think she wouldn't last in Tartarus."

The royal sisters reluctantly agreed. "Very well, the punishment is accepted," Celestia declared. "I think Luna and I will come to Ponyville ourselves in about a month to see Cozy's progress first hoof."

"You could consider us to be the filly's parole officers if you will," Luna added. "And make sure to let her know that I'll be monitoring her dreams very closely. Should she show any hint of betrayal again, nightmares will be the least of her worries!"

Twilight gulped anew. "Don't worry, Princess Luna. I'll make sure Cozy gets the message when I get back," Then she asked. "By the way, where's Cadence? I was kind of hoping she'd be here."

"Cadence and Shining Armor are still overseeing the Crystal Empire to make sure the magic drain hasn't produced any lingering side effects," Celestia explained. "And in light of what's happened with Cozy Glow, Shining is taking no chances. He's made it clear that wherever Cadence goes he'll go. I suspect he won't rest until he's absolutely sure things are back to normal."

The young alicorn nodded. "That's my big brother for you. He'll always try to protect the ones he holds dear, even if they can take care of themselves. But I bet even he'd get a kick out of hearing what Cozy Glow's going through."

Celestia appeared to smile. "You may tell him and Cadence if you wish. But we won't tell either of them unless they ask." And with that the meeting was adjourned.

With permission from her fellow princesses to continue to carry out Cozy's punishment (a padded prison of poofiness you might), Twilight leisurely trotted through Canterlot to get to her next destination. She'd already written to her parents to let them know she was coming.

Sure enough, Night Light and Twilight Velvet were standing right outside their house as Twilight approached. Velvet in particular couldn't contain her enthusiasm. "Oh, it's so good to see you again, Twilight!" She cooed as she embraced her daughter in a hug. "I know you and your friends go on crazy, world saving adventures all the time, but your most recently one really scared me when I heard about it. You actually went to Tartarus!"

Night Light chuckled. "Yeah, but look at her, dear. Not a scratch on her. Our little Twilight's made of tough stuff," Though he still hugged his daughter anyway. "Even so, we're glad to see you safe and sound. And it's always nice to just have a get together where something crazy isn't happening."

Twilight blushed as she faintly remembered the zeppelin cruise from a while back. She decided to quickly change the subject before the memories could resurface. "Did you get all the supplies I asked for?"

Velvet nodded, gesturing for Twilight to come inside. "Yup. Everything should be in the living room, waiting for you. To think, you're raising a foal and you're not even married. Oh, it seems like only yesterday you and Shining were just little ponies. Where has the time gone?"

"Come on, my darling Velvet," Night Light reassured his wife. "There's no need to get all sentimental. We gotta save that for the granddaughter."

"Uh, you know Cozy's not actually my child. I may be the one diapering her but it's strictly because of the punishment." Twilight pointed out as she trotted inside with her parents.

Night Light grinned. "Oh we know. But we've always believed you'd make a fantastic mother. We really should pay little Cozy Glow a visit so we can spoil her sweet. Maybe we'll even show her some of your baby pictures."

"Trust me, you're gonna want to have a way to preserve the memories of the little one," Velvet pointed out. "Besides, in this case you could use the embarrassing photos to keep Cozy from acting up. It always worked wonders for you and Shining."

The young alicorn did her best not to whine. "Mom, Dad, you don't need to get carried away. Cozy's only being treated like a foal until she learns to be nice and accept friendship. You already have a granddaughter in Flurry Hear that you can dote on and smother with affection." Then she turned her attention to the reason for her visit. Stacked up in a corner of the living room were a wide assortment of foal supplies that had clearly gone years without usage.

Twilight was amazed at how... clean everything seemed to be despite their age. "Wow!" She commented with amazement as she eyed the old toys and even a lovely pink foal swing. "I seem to remember these being a lot bigger when I was a foal."

"Probably because you used to only come up to my ankles," Velvet grinned. "Fortunately, your father and I took the liberty of washing everything," And then she ribbed her husband. "I told you we shouldn't thrown the old foal supplies out. I told you'd they be useful one day."

Night Light sighed. "Yes, dear, I know. You were right and I was wrong. You don't have to keep rubbing it in."

The young alicorn ignored her parents' remarks, however, as she instead concentrated her horn on the objects. "Good thing I brought a bigger saddlebag," She said to herself as she began to float the objects into the air. "I'll size them up to Cozy's height when I get back to Ponyville. This foal swing especially should be just the thing to keep her occupied whenever I need to get some work done," Then she took notice of something most unusual sticking out among the objects. She brought it closer for inspection, and gasped and blushed when she realized what they were. "Mom, are these lactating pills?!"

Velvet confirmed with a nod. "I bought them at the store yesterday just in case you decide to nurse. Foals do need their nutrition after all. And a little bit of breastfeeding might help you and Cozy to bond. Or you can just hang onto them in case of an emergency, I still had my pills until you and Shining were in grade school, even though I never needed to use them."

"Thanks, I think," Twilight blinked and blushed as she stuffed the lactating pills into her saddlebag. "But I think just plain old bottles will be good enough for a big foal like Cozy. If I start... well... nursing then ponies are gonna start assuming things. I really don't need them thinking Cozy's secretly been my daughter all along or anything crazy like that."

Night Light told his daughter. "You're old enough to make your own decisions, Twilight. You do what you think is best for Cozy Glow while she's in your care. Your mother and I learned long ago not to let other ponies tell us how to raise our kids, and you and Shining both turned out just fine."

Twilight just replied. "Well, thanks for everything, Mom and Dad. Sorry I can't stay, but I need to get back to Ponyville. I can't be relying on Starlight and Spike all the time to do the foalsitting for me. This isn't like with Spike where I can just unload my problems onto others. If I'm old enough to make my own decisions, then I'm also old enough to not nave to always rely on others to do things for me." And after giving both her parents a hug and a kiss, she left the house and set off to get back to Ponyville.

"I just hope Cozy Glow hasn't been giving Starlight and Spike too much trouble in my absence," The princess thought to herself as she flew back to Ponyville. "And I hope Cozy Glow hasn't been continuing to try and avoid using her diapers. It's really not healthy for her to hold things in like that. I'd rather not have to resort to laxatives to get her to go."