An uncomfortable, lengthy silence fell over the Rich family household, as no-one dared utter a word. Diamond, Spoiled, and Filthy all just stood stock still, each waiting for somepony else to pick up the baton and speak up first.
Finaly, it was Spoiled who broke the silence by awkwardly trying to force a smile as she greeted her husband. "Oh, hello dear. What an…. unexpected treat to see you back home already. I thought you had a business meeting to attend?"
"The meetin' was cancelled, my client couldn't meet with me because he was sick with the flu," Filthy replied, numbly. "I thought I'd surprise the two of you by comin' home early today, and this is what my eyes see? My mansion, turned into a day nursery?!"
"Father, please, this isn't what it looks like." Diamond promised, even though she knew that was a bare-faced lie. There was no other way to interpret the spectacle her father was seeing right now.
"Diamond, do you think I'm stupid or somethin'?" Filthy asked. "You're wearin' a wet diaper, there's foal toys scattered about your bedroom, and I'm pretty sure those aren't your silk pajamas layin' on the floor!"
"But Father, you don't understand!," Tiara pleaded again, her hooves waving frantically in the air.. "I know this looks a bit weird, but there's a perfectly good reason for all of this..."
"Was this your little plan all along?" Filthy asked Spoiled, barely suppressing his anger. "To regress our daughter like a two year old foal again behind my back?"
"I just wanted to prove to you that I could be trusted with our daughter, and this was the first idea that came to mind," Spoiled nervously replied, feeling like a bug under a microscope. "Please don't be angry. I can explain everything, but I need to get Diamond changed before she gets a nasty rash. It won't do her any good to stay in a wet diaper much longer."
"Randolph can change her," Filthy flatly told Spoiled. "You're comin' with me to my study, you have a lot of explainin' to do, dear!"
"Dad, wait!" Tiara shouted. She wanted to race up to him and grab one of his legs, but with her wet, constrictive diaper she didn't dare try to move an inch.
"Don't worry, Diamond, you'll get your chance to explain soon enough," Filthy replied, as he led his wife away. "Once I've heard from Spoiled, and from you, I'll decide what I'm goin' to do about this… situation. In the meantime, get changed, and make sure you're out of that diaper by the time I call for you again."
Tiara wanted to protest, but the filly quickly realized it was no use trying to argue with her father when he was like this. "I don't think he's mad about this, at least not entirely," she thought to herself, as Randolph entered the bedroom. "He's probably more upset about his meeting being cancelled, but seeing his daughter in a diaper surrounded by foalish products must've been a shock to the system," then she sighed as she nervously thought. "I hope he'll listen to Mother, and to me."
"Shall we get you cleaned up, Mistress Diamond?" Randolph asked the pink coated filly.
"Yes please, I'd rather not get a diaper rash. It would clash most terribly with my coat" Diamond replied, and accepted Randolph's hoof as he escorted her out of her bedroom.
Aside from changing out of the dress she'd worn for the tea party, Spoiled didn't do or say anything, as she followed her husband to his study. "Maybe I should've been honest with him from the start about what I wanted to do," she thought to herself. "Now, thanks to my thick headedness, I may have destroyed my only chance to reconnect with my daughter. Nice going, Spoiled"
Filthy, for his part, didn't say anything either. He simply led his wife to his study, and then locked the door shut behind her once they were both inside. As usual, the only source of light in the study, came from the crackling fire in the fireplace.
"Filthy darling, I can explain, really." Spoiled instantly pleaded.
Without looking at his wife, Filthy uttered a single world. "Sit." he commanded.
"B-but Filthy-" Spoiled stuttered.
"I said sit!" Filthy interrupted, raising his voice.
Reluctantly, Spoiled obeyed. She sank into one of the armchairs near the fireplace, all the while nervously thinking about what she was going to say to her husband.
Filthy sat down in the chair across from his wife, finally noticing how tense she seemed. "Deep breaths, Filthy," he thought to himself. "You at least have to hear your wife out. There must be a logical explanation why she went to all of this trouble."
Seconds passed without either pony saying a word, they just stared at each other as if locked into a contest to see who would blink first. The only noise came from the consistent crackling of the fire.
Eventually, Spoiled reluctantly broke the silence. "Well?" she asked her husband.
"Well what?" Filthy asked in reply.
"Aren't you going to file out those divorce papers? You said you'd do so if I gave you any reason to suspect I couldn't be trusted." Spoiled spoke up, trying not to cry. She was certain that, if she cried, her husband would see it as crocodile tears (and Spoiled had unfortunately shed such tears several times before).
"Maybe, but maybe not. That all depends." Filthy told Spoiled.
"Depends on what?" Spoiled nervously asked.
"On whether or not I think you're tellin' the truth about why I saw what I saw, an' if I think you had noble intentions" Filthy explained. "Why didn't you tell me that you were goin' to diaper our daughter, and treat her like a foal? I thought you were goin' to just spend some time gettin' to know her, and do things she wanted to do. I don't know if I would've said yes had I known your real agenda!"
"I'll admit, I should've told you the whole truth from the beginning," Spoiled reluctantly confessed. "But maybe it was for the best that I didn't, because even if you had said 'yes' I don't think Diamond would've said the same. And to be honest, I wouldn't blame her, at least not anymore."
"So you would've tried to force it onto her, even if she wasn't okay with it?" Filthy asked, already he could feel his anger rising.
"The old me probably would've." Spoiled admitted.
"The old you?" Filthy remarked, certain he had misheard.
Spoiled nodded. "Somehow, doing all of this with my daughter has changed me. At first I only wanted to do this to prove to you that I deserved a second chance. But as time went on, and I started doing more things with Diamond, I started finding myself getting genuinely attached to her. I played with her, spoon fed her, even changed her when she had an accident. It dawned on me, that I never gave Diamond a chance to truly enjoy her foalhood, because I never had a proper one myself."
"I know that all too well," Filthy replied, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "You almost didn't want to be friends with me simply because I was still in diapers, whereas you'd already graduated from them when we first met. Even at an early age, you were a bit judgemental."
"But I'm glad I learned to look past that," Spoiled said to her husband. "And I realize now that I put too much pressure on our little Diamond to grow up too fast. She only gets to be young once, and I shouldn't have tried to rob her of the opportunity to enjoy that limited time. But now, I truly feel like I've been able to correct that mistake, and I think it's helped me to grow closer to our daughter than I would've ever thought possible."
"All that, despite the fact that she's been wearin' and usin' diapers?" Filthy asked.
"Oh, she hasn't been doing it intentionally, and I have no plans to un-potty train her," Spoiled replied seriously. "But I think we've truly started to connect, and develop the mother/daughter bond I foolishly robbed us of the chance to enjoy all those years ago. You were right, Filthy. There was a good pony inside of me, it just took until now for me to realize that."
Filthy was silent for a moment, as he took in all the information his wife had told him. For years he had failed to notice her steadily worsening behavior, until his daughter finally worked up the courage to tell him herself. Yet now, in the span of just a day and a half, she had seemingly managed to turn it all around and change for the better. But the real question was: Was it true?
"One more thing," Filthy asked his wife. "Have you been doin' this out in public at all?"
"No, not at all, I swear," Spoiled said with a shake of her head. "Even if a part of me wanted some revenge for being humiliated, I never took her outside the house in her diapers, though I did make sure she used the little filly's room before going out to visit her friends."
"I see." Filthy replied in a tone of voice that made Spoiled feel incredibly uneasy. She barely suppressed the urge to shiver.
"Can I please go now?" Spoiled asked her husband. "I've made my case, haven't I?"
"Indeed you have," Filthy said in reply. "Now for your sake, you'd best hope you've been tellin' me the truth. Because if I find out from Diamond that you're still lyin', I'm fillin' out those divorce papers without a moment's hesitation. Do I make myself clear?!"
Spoiled gulped. "Of course, darling." And she reluctantly left the study without another word. Now it was all up to her daughter to determine her fate, and the very thought of that made Spoiled feel incredibly anxious. "What if she still hasn't fully forgiven me for my past behavior, and tells Filthy I'm lying?" she thought to herself. She briefly considered paying her daughter a visit, and hopefully convincing her to put in a good word, but she ruled it out. "Trying to manipulate the outcome would only show Filthy I haven't changed," she realized. "It's all up to Diamond now, and there's nothing more I can do to change what she thinks of me."
Tiara made sure that as soon as she was changed out of her wet diaper, she immediately payed a visit to the toilet. She was relieved to find that despite another accident, her control of her bodily functions hadn't weakened. "At least Father will be glad to know about that." she realized with some satisfaction.
The pink coated filly then waited anxiously for her mother to come out of her father's study, because Tiara knew that would mean it was her turn to speak to her father.
Nearly half an hour ticked by, before Spoiled emerged from the study. "It's all up to you now, Diamond." Spoiled said, before she trotted off somewhere.
Very reluctantly, Tiara trotted down the long hallway to her father's study, and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Filthy called from the other side of the door.
Slowly turning the doorknob, Tiara made her way inside, and approached her father. Just like last time, he was sitting in his favorite arm chair. The look on his face was difficult to read, but seemed to project an expression of seriousness. "Father, I know you're upset about the business meeting being cancelled, and Mother not being fully honest with you. But please, don't be mad." Tiara spoke up.
"I ain't mad, Diamond, just frustrated," Filthy explained, reluctantly taking a deep breath. "Mostly, I'm just frustrated with myself for not noticin' your mother's behavior sooner and doin' somethin' about it. I had hoped the business meetin' would take my mind off things, and when it got cancelled, there was nothin' to distract me from the guilt I felt I played, in lettin' everythin' get so out of control."
"But it wasn't your fault, you had no idea," Diamond protested. "I should've come to you sooner about Mother's behavior, instead of keeping quiet about it."
"Well, there's no point in arguin' about who's to blame for the past. We can't change it," Filthy said seriously, and cleared his throat. "But what we can change, is the future. Which is why I have to ask you, how do you really feel about all of this? You know, bein' diapered and treated like a foal?"
"I wish I had a straight answer for that, Father," Tiara blushed, scratching the back of her head. "A part of me is still totally weirded out by the very thought of it, but another part of me really enjoys it. I want to believe that Momm… Mother's change of heart is sincere, and that she truly wants to give me a second chance to enjoy my foalhood. But after everything she said and did, I don't know if it's possible for her to change."
"So you don't know for sure either way, huh?" Filthy asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." Diamond replied.
Filthy sighed, that was just going to make it harder for him to decide what his next course of action should be. He'd been counting on his daughter to say for sure one way or the other whether she liked being diapered and babied. But maybe there was another question he could have answered that would help him out. "Your mother told me that she never took you out in public while diapered. Is that true?" he inquired.
"Indeed it is," Diamond nodded in response. "In fact, every time I expected her to do something, she always seemed to do the opposite. When I accidentally burped in front of her, I thought she'd be mad, but she simply laughed at it. When I had an accident, I thought she'd punish me, but she comforted me instead and then cleaned me up. And when I wanted to go out and spend time with my friends, I thought she'd say no, but she agreed and allowed me to roam about without a diaper."
"Then what exactly was with the sight I saw when I came home?" Filthy asked.
"Apparently Mother's idea of revenge was to tickle torture me," Tiara explained. "And because we'd been having a fake tea party with my stuffed bear Theodore, she accidentally made me wet myself. In fact, the only reason I had my first accident, was because I forgot to go to the bathroom before bed." She blushed a bit, embarrassed to admit such a thing at her age.
"Ah, now I understand," Filthy realized. "Thank you for clearin' that up for me, Diamond. Are you absolutely sure you don't have a straight answer either way for how you feel about this 'treatment'?"
"Not really, though I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of it continuing. Just a little, anyway." Tiara admitted.
"Very well then. Please go and fetch your mother, I have come to a decision." Filthy informed his daughter.
"What is it?" Diamond asked nervously, the tension was beginning to affect her.
"You'll see soon enough, now please do as I've asked." Filthy instructed.
Spoiled was quite surprised when she was informed that her husband wanted to see her back in his study. "You wanted to see me?" she nervously asked her husband.
"I did, I've made up my mind about what to do about all of this," Filthy declared. "I have decided that… you can continue this 'treatment' of Diamond Tiara, if she so wishes."
"Really?!" Spoiled asked, her husband nodded in approval. "Oh thank you, Filthy, darling!" she said, happily embracing her husband in a hug while dancing around the room with him.
"On a few conditions," Filthy spoke up, interrupting the hug. "I trust you won't find them too unreasonable?"
"What are they?" Spoiled asked her husband.
"The first is that you never take our daughter out in public at any point while she's diapered," Filthy said seriously. "I don't want ponies gettin' the impression she's incontinent, or evne worse. "
"That's fair enough, I wasn't going to take Diamond out in public while diapered anyway. I'd rather ponies not be repulsed by her stench if she should have another 'accident'. When it happened while you were away, it reminded me of the time the drains were blocked." Spoiled replied, fanning her nose to emphasize the point.
"The second, is that you are not to embark on this 'treatment' while we have guests, unless I say otherwise," Filthy went on. "If it's just one of her classmates and they promise not to tell anypony, that's fine. But just to be on the safe side, run all potential 'visitors' by me before you decide whether or not Diamond can be diapered while they're around. And the third and most important, is that if Diamond tells she wants to stop the 'treatment' you stop it immediately! If you break any of these rules, I won't hesitate to divorce you, understand?!"
"Yes, Filthy, I understand completely." Spoiled nodded.
"Good. Now, inform Diamond of our terms, and then get her diapered," Filthy instructed. "I'd like to see just how cute she looks with her padded behind."
"Well, he certainly seems to be getting into the spirit of things quickly enough…" Spoiled observed, as she left the office, before stopping for a brief second of thought. "Almost, I would say, disturbingly so…"
That night, Spoiled was waiting outside the bathroom for her daughter to finish her nightly visit to the toilet. Pretty soon, Spoiled's ears picked up the telltale sound of the toilet flushing. "Are you done now, my little Diamond?" she called lovingly.
"Yes, Mother. I'll be out shortly." Diamond replied, and indeed she was.
Once Diamond had exited the bathroom, Spoiled scooped her daughter up and carried her to her bedroom. In a matter of minutes, she had diapered her daughter, and slipped her into her pajamas.
"Goodnight, my little Diamond." Spoiled lovingly cooed, as she kissed her diapered daughter on the forehead, after tucking her comfortably into bed.
"Goodnight, Mommy." Diamond called in reply, just before drifting off.
Despite her daughters' voice being muffled behind the pacifier, Spoiled heard what she'd said clear as day, and just smiled. "We'll worry about fixing her table manners and practicing her keys on the piano tomorrow," Spoiled thought to herself, as she turned off the light and closed the door. "Then maybe if she behaves, I'll fix her something special for lunch."