FSE

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On a night such as this, when the moon hid behind gray shadows of twisted clouds, there lived someone else in that house. I don't know much about her; I don't know her name, where she came from-nothing. All I knew was that she ran a daycare when me and my friends were barely old enough to walk-

All the other memories; the night of that accident-we were too young to understand nor did we want to remember.

That is, until something drew us back; curiosity; fascination; instinct. I don't know what, but before long, we were calling each other up with strange dreams.

Dreams of that mare who changed us and took care of us while our parents were away. A few of us on different times had to stay with her for weeks because our parents were too busy traveling for work-related responsibilities.

"Grey?"

The phone shook hollowly in my hoof with each ring; I couldn't begin to know what to say to that wolf whom loved diapers so much he almost went to work wearing them on a few occasions-once without a pair of pants in sight!

It rung again-like an empty electric bell; the sound so different now that I was calling for a less than cordial reason.

I wrapped the string around my hoovie fingers as I waited, patience almost leaving me-at the second I was about to ram it on the receiver, there came a voice-a tiny voice as if from a great distance away-

"What's up?"

And just like that, I had the phone back to my ear-sort of-most phones were very awkward for horses to use, as the mouth and ears of my species were so far apart than others.

"It's nothing." I shyly respond as the dreams revisit my thoughts like crinkled little fragments-so shattered that they don't make any more sense except for the house-

Yes, the house. The one with the mare and the giant nursery.

"It's those weird dreams." BitterGrey elaborated.

Suddenly I felt great! I wasn't going the Mad Hatter route, after all! Someone else was in the narrow confines of this unbelievable world of denied dream images; each laid bare before our sight before mysteriously catching fire with trickles of flame and turning into dust before my eyes.

"Yes! Yes! I have them too. What do they mean?"

And just at that moment I thought with relief he would have all the answers-he was the smart one; he usually did.

"Hang on-"

Then I heard the line go into static for awhile until it came back to his voice-and someone else's.

"Hey."

...

"What?!"

That voice was clearly feminine, but I swore I was talking to Grey. Did the phone drop my call and reconnect to a total stranger by accident? I did not know; that usually occurred with switch-board operators but not automated systems.

"Party line, BF. I thought we should get everyone talking about this." BitterGrey returned.

"So I had some weird dreams-"

"We know." Me and Grey broke in, leaving the centauress flustered.

"We-well, can anyone tell me what they mean?" She demanded with a weird little muffled stamp of a hoof.

Things go silent as that question washes over us, and something strange and powerful comes through us like a trans-dimensional beast. A creature beyond such simple thoughts as ours-a thing beyond word or expression.

"The house-the memories." I muse as I take a large drink of a soda bottle on a table nearby.

Nice and cold, which is great-because it felt I was beginning to sweat. I always sweat when I revisit the days of my not so forlorn youth.

"What memories?" Grey joked, aware that none of us had any-that we locked that part of ourselves in a steel vault in each of our heads for eternity-never to be opened-

Or so I thought.

"I miss her so much. The police and our parents and the firefighters never told us what happened that night and why we never saw her again or came to her daycare." Proxima whispered.

"Isn't it obvious? She died."

The party line is silent again before for some damn reason another voice comes on. A jovial voice full of jittery sentiment and fractal life.

"Hey's." And the voice is accompanied by the loud plastic wrinkling noise of a giant diaper. It could be something else, but I knew that when it came to Orca; there was only one thing around him that would make that sound-and it was around his cute slick-skinned blubbery tush.

She died. I knew it deep down, but I didn't really want to face that fact. Like thinking about it only made it worse. It usually filled you with regret and other negative things you wanted to ignore with the best of them.

"Hey Orca. Sounds like your pampered quite nice." Grey teased, laughing a little in his gay happy unicorn way. I snigger myself, amused to think this could be quite a fashion statement that he chose for himself.

"Believe it. I got sick with the runs all weekend and thought I'd make the best of it. At least this way, if I can't make it to the toilet in time, I won't make a mess." The killer whale announced happily in his friendly voice-strangely, a voice not beginning to hint at the sorrow the rest of us had been stained with.

"Sure you will. But the mess will be in your diaper!" BitterGrey boisterously laughed out in jest, as we elicited our own merriment at this strange turn in humor.

I could just imagine the bulging thickness of his diaper; the way it had his legs straddled apart like he would ride a wide-backed horsie, and he would walk like Frankenstein in fast-forward when he tried to get anywhere.

Speaking of Frankenstein-

"I thought about going back-to check it out again. I wanna see if I remember anything if I look around."

These were foreign words to me other days-other nights-even in my dream. But as of late, I had been changing my mind, and with some peculiarness, would deep down somewhere embrace this idea as a logical action.

"Um. She DIED in there. It's a little creepy to me." Declared Proxima in a dismal hushed voice, along with a stray plastic crinkle of her own plastic panties-we knew it was plastic panties and not a disposable because she only wore cloth nappys. I suppose the reason behind that was that cloth had a much more intimate and adorable feel to them. I personally enjoyed disposables because that's what I had grown up with.

"Relax. People die in old houses all the time; that doesn't mean they're haunted." BitterGrey reasoned with a light whimsome chuckle.

Not necessarily, but we had a few things to learn when it came to playing the odds. When it was natural death, all was well and good for the most part-make that violent death, and you triple the odds of a-

Haunted Nursery

...Fluuuuuuuuuffy...

It was a different sort of call than I was used to. Most would call me over in business-like tone, or in a teasing saucy manner, or even in a tenor worth of curiosity to get my attention.

But this time, my name being pronounced makes me ashamed. It's that way mothers say your name if you were young and did something really stupid-like flush your veggies down the toilet or use permanent marker to write on the walls. Back at the time, they sounded like great ideas-

...Fluuuuuuuuuuuuffy...

Until you hear her call and you realize that you made a big oopsie. And if you lied about it-thinking you would get off, she would be even more cross because she has twenty-plus years on you to figure the mystery out-which is no mystery at all.

Even though you dread how she will punish you, lying will only make things worse. You know that, now. But back then-

"I didn't tinkle on the wall!"

And she warns you even as she yells in her condescending baby-talk way-

"You can't do that, little Fluffy! If you did it on a plug, it could make something bad happen!"

Yes it could.

Then I wake up, my pupils narrowed from the darkness of my room. Even as I yawn and scratch my butt, throwing off the cotton-padded covers, the dream leaves me; like white sand cascading out of one chamber of an hour-glass into another.

Then the phone on the nightstand rings and I pick it up-

"Hey Fluffy. I had a weird dream. Did we talk on the phone earlier yesterday?" Came that gruff, yet strangely elegant voice of the wolf that liked the color green-and pretended to be much more grown-up than he really was.

I wracked my brain trying to remember what I did the day before. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I didn't think so.

"Not that I remember." I returned, taking the cordless with me downstairs to the kitchen.

"Yeah, me neither. But I do kind of remember having a sort of conference with our friends, anyway."

As I got to the fridge, I took out a half drunk bottle of soda-one I could have sworn I finished off during the other phone conversation I had.

"We were talking about dreams." I mused.

"Yeah, and we-"

"IN a dream." I finished, grinning with the irony.

I sigh, putting my drink back and heading upstairs once more.

"I'm getting tired of this shit. I'm going back to bed-"

"-But!-"

"Call up Orca and Proxima. We're going to go back to the house tomorrow in the morning."

And then I didn't feel like much of anything except collapsing belly-first back on the mattress with a pillow almost shoved down my throat; I was going to need all of my rest if I was going to go back to the house and unravel a different mystery than where my plate of carrots and peas went.

A different dream beckons me in sleep, a faceless phantom invites me into a brightly lit room of the house-and I can barely walk with a diaper full of my own stagnating smelly filth, each stride pushes excrement all over the cracks of my buttocks and the rear and underside of my testicles, and if I wasn't careful, I'd have mush creeping up my sheath, too.

A table high above with some long thick containers greets me like an ancient dolmen or an arch-

And then those long perfume-smelling white-furred arms lift me into the air, dangling me helplessly by my underarms, before she-she?-slams my butt against the table and spreads the gooey filth all over my bottom and into little spaces which feel almost cold, yet refreshed with the sudden invasion of my waste. I cringe as the odour drifts from my used diaper and out through the holes in the plastic pants.

"Someone is a dirty baby!" She whinnied out with playful mirth, as I get a good look at her long-muzzled face-

And the dream ends.

I open my eyes, my nose crinkling at a familiar smell. As I turn from my stomach, the familiar squishy roll of mushy shit gets smashed between my thighs and the bed, a gathering of little green balls fall to the floor with thudding plops against the tile of the white floor.

"Shit."

I go to bundle up the sheets that are worse off and throw them on the floor in the corner for when I had time to do laundry. Then I decide to go take a shower, leaving the road apples on the floor where they were.

Even when the hot water drips down my fur in long furrowed streams, it is still hard to ignore the dreams; what I can remember about them.

Green water flows down the drain as little pieces fall from my thighs and butt in clumps. I am careful to stomp some of it into smaller pieces as the debris begins to clog the drain.

Tonight was so weird; I'd never shit myself while in bed before. Usually, when I played around in a diaper, any bowel movement was voluntary-not this time, though.

And, it was going to be a bitch to clean out those sheets, too, since it was basically grass scat; I might as well take the sheets to a baseball field and ride them like a slide for the same effect.

Chapter 2

Bunch of lost babies; that's us-I couldn't help but think, as friends started showing up.

First I met Orca by the steps of the quite genial old porch as he blushed hotly wearing a pair of jeans that were not big enough to hide his super thick "Orca stack" underneath. There were tall weeds surrounding the sidewalk, threatening to reach out and snatch or tickle if we were unawares.

I always felt he was such a funny interesting fellow, and to his credit, though I knew very little of his current life and personality, he is-in my opinion-still quite helpful and cuddly.

I actually never wore a diaper myself for today, as this moment was too strange already for me. It got strange before I even got here, I reasoned to myself-but strange-truly strange would not yet begin until we investigated the confines of not merely the house, but our vaults of hidden memories.

That never stopped Grey, though.

He had his nappy on under his dockers like a certain jovial happy little joke which he was completely proud to brandish with a certain obvious grin which he was famous for amongst the group; his long bushy smoky gray tail sprouted from the back of his pants like a hastily snapped together bindle broom somewhat like old witches would ride.

BitterGrey loved the idea of certain ironies; I'm sure he'd fondly like to know about the one accident I had which a diaper would have been welcome. I'd certainly never hear the end of it once I tattled on myself; that's for sure!

"I finally got hold of that couple-you know those two people who have a business in Arizona where they treat people like babies for a weekend. I'm going to get to see them in four months." Orca proudly declared, hands on his hips as his long fluked tail waved up and down like a soft tide at a beach.

"You're full of shit!" BitterGrey accuses, pointing a finger at the adorable smiling whale fur.

Then, even as a morbid unkempt smell hit us like a poison gas attack, we knew why Orca was grinning.

Little impy bastard!

"I'm not full of shit, but my diaper sure is!" He joked, even as he laughed and we caught a glimpse of his bulging backside-which was amazing, considering the padding an "Orca stack" style diaper already had.

"Great job Orca. You know I'm not changing that." Came an amused snort of breath accompanied by the clip-clop of unshod hooves.

We turned as Proxima came up the sidewalk, swishing that long lion-like tail with each four-legged stride, the thick pink of her giant diaper barely hiding the bulge of her equine sheath.

"Haha. You act like I would have asked you to." Orca replied, even as the centauress tossed her human head, trailing ends of a pink ribbon tied to her horn whisked through the air as she laughed herself at that quirky little comment.

"Oh, you would have. I know you too well. You are as much a babyfur as I am a herm, and you know how it goes-you would want as much as you can get away with."

Orca blushed in response, smiling coyly; "Can't blame a marine animal for trying. You know I can't wear a diaper when I go swimming-I mean-and actually still feel dry most of the time."

"Uh huh. So who's gonna clean that mess up?" Proxima inquired.

Orca, who could not for the life of him stop blushing, tried to look to me and BitterGrey for help.

"Sorry Orc, I had some stinky business back at my house-I'm sort of tired of dealing with crap."

Oooooops!

This got their attention, much to my regret.

"What happened, there, Fluffy?" BitterGrey asked, all wolfie sweetness and curiosity.

Now it was my turn to blush, even as I nervously swatted my little piece of draft horse tail.

"Um. Nothing. Just normal stuff."

"Normal shit?" Grey remarked with a laugh, joined in chorus with the others with certain teasing tones.

"I uh-um...messed my bed last night."

They laughed in response in such a way, I though the Chinese would hear it on the other side of the damned planet!

Proxima cantered over and grabbed the flesh of my cheekbone in her hand and pinched hard, a wide grin on her lips as her eyes took on an aire of mischief.

"Oh, does Fluffy need a diaper when he goes to bed tonight?" She teased with a light whickering chuckle.

Sweat began to form all over my body from all of the sudden scrutiny. I was barely ready to be here; to take on my little humiliating adventures pushed my threshold beyond the nervousness of being-HERE...

"God, I hope not. I only like baby play when I can control where and when I go to the bathroom. Waking up in a bed full of my own scat is not very fun. It's unpleasant because not only do you have to wash more of yourself up, you have to think about cleaning the messy sheets. I think all said and done, I'm gonna throw them away."

Proxima gave a pouty face and crossed her arms, flirting her lightly fluffed tail; somewhat like a shaved dog along the whole length except for the thick little white furball tuft at the end.

"Don't do that." She declared.

"Do what?"

"Throw them away. You can wash the stuff out of them and they'll be stained, but they'll be cleaned. You could save them for a time when you DID want to just go to bed with a diaper and laxatives, and it would catch the mess in case the diaper doesn't. You know sometimes mess leaks out if you move around in the diaper too much, and that can't be helped when you toss and turn in bed." She replied, inspired, rubbing that cute chin of hers; eyes twinkling like faerie dust in my parting glances.

A loud squish and a creak came from nearby, where I saw Orca sit on the old weathered porch of the house-right in his messy diaper. Some splinters dug into his blackish calves, but he didn't seem to let the irritant bother him much as he stared out at the burgundy wine colored house across the street with the rainbow stained glass window on the upper fourth of the door in a shining shape like that of a sunrise or sunset; light glinting off it and reflecting back to us in tiny fragmented arcs-pretty, yet in tiny pieces-like our dreams.

"Okay, I'll give my cleaned sheets to you." I remark, even as BitterGrey swats his tail hard against his buttocks and thigh, digging in his pants' front right pocket for something-pulling out his car keys.

"Okay Orca-we're going to play a game while we wait for them to figure things out." Then the wolf dangled the shiny metal keyring in front of Orca's mask-like face with a humor filled smile worth its weight in gold-plated pixie dust.

Orca ignored the keyring and looked into BitterGrey's eyes-incredulous as an adult would be if you had tried to steal his nose.

"How old do you think I am?" Orca accused, unamused, even as the keys shimmered silver light into his mask colored face with pretty metallic tings like bells from a sleigh not so long ago in any holiday past-those memories, too, half-forgotten with luscious rapture; sounds bringing back only emotions-not images.

But those emotions.

"As old as you want to be." BitterGrey hinted with a smile, as Orca's eyes travel up to the eyes of the wolf-catching an amazing impish little delighted spark deep within he had missed in previous observations.

"Good point." Orca replied, reaching up for the keys from his seat on the porch even as BitterGrey was poised above to tease him with them like a kitten; the keys right out of reach of his outspread hands as he tried to snatch after them with giddy delight and little snorts of giggles.

"No thanks. I don't want your sheets." Proxima protested.

"But you said they were still good clean, and that I shouldn't throw them out. Do you know something about their value I don't?" I counter.

"Well yeah, but I mean-"

"It's weird because I used them like a diaper by accident."

"Yeah and-"

"It's okay for me to use them but not you-why?"

"He's got you, there." Grey laughed, even as Orca had his arms out trying to snag the keys from him when the unicorn was unaware.

"Well. I guess it's like a fart; people like their own brand, but if someone else does it, we all run away when it's really the same thing-

"From someone else's body. See? It doesn't make sense, really."

Then from behind, the front door of the house opened with such nasty force, that it smacked Orca in the back of the head with the energy of a punch.

He uttered such a curse as he rubbed the dull purple bruise beginning by his blow hole; "Dammit that hurt!"

"Get down!" BitterGrey announced as books and papers and different objects flew right out the doorway in our direction.

Even as we ducked, and Orca crawled off of the steps with toy blocks and kitchen utensils flung through the air like some giant baby's tantrum-the barrage suddenly stopped, and we looked back, uncertain.

"Okay. What the fuck just happened?" Orca growled out as he tried to pull a wooden block out which had been lodged in the back of his diaper.

"If my house looked this shitty, I'd have a tantrum, too!" Proxima retorted, even as an egg-beater flew out of the house and got skewered on her horn, the steel coiled handle dangling in front of her eyes.

Orca finally got the large wooden alphabet block out of his diaper and when he threw it back into the house with an angry grunt, it shot back out and smacked him in the chin, knocking him backwards flat on his messy nappy with a deep embarrassing squish noise.

"That house does not like you, Orca." BitterGrey teased.

"The feelings' mutual." And then the killer whale stuck out his tongue. "Nyah!"

With all that just happened, it seemed like the worst idea was to go inside; in horror movies, the stupidest thing you could do is go into the haunted house, or the mansion infested with zombies, or the tomb of the undead pharaoh.

This place was definitely haunted, and yet, we were aloof of our fear; if anything, this weirdness only seemed to entertain us rather than frighten. Perhaps it was instinct or the dreams we had prepared us for such an experience. Either way, we were not particularly afraid to venture inside.

Life is too short for fear, and the best part already passed us by-innocence.

There was much to fear, but nothing in that house; not if we told the truth-

But lie, there was some reason for concern!

Chapter 3

Proxima gave a strangled yelp as the faded splintered wood shut with a harsh crack right on her tail. We looked back even as she pulled with all her strength to get loose; all of us realizing that we had been trapped in here.

The shades on the windows were hunter green, dusty and full of moth holes, but the inside of the house still managed to stay dark despite the bleeding in of random glimpses of sunlight. The carpet was a royal blue with some lighter blue stains from the acidic property of urine.

Orca touched a nearby wall, closing his eyes as he ran his slick rubbery fingers over the rough paper, seeming to feel some type of rapture just by being able to experience this place again.

"I remember these walls. The dark cranberry colored flowers on the wallpaper-the black-green vines wrapping around the blossoms and buds like an interconnecting stream of life." Orca whispered, his soft voice taking on hushed meaning.

I do too, and I think I know why; nearby on another wall is written in red crayon: ORKA WUS HEIR.

"That might be why." I muse, pointing out the early scribblings of the estranged artist.

We couldn't help but laugh as Orca went over his infantile writing with dignity.

"Not bad, if I say so myself, and I don't think the misspelling is a problem. Some imperfection in art is desired; neatness and symmetry are boring!"

Then as my stomach growls, a new curiosity takes me. I wondered if there was actually anything in this place to eat.

"Come on. Let's check the fridge." I offer, going off in that direction already with them in pursuit.

The counters are covered in years of dust, spiders all over the place accompanied by webs of all sizes and shapes-particularly a few of the nastier species we knew to avoid.

Hourglass spiders.

As I pick up a little red transparent cup, a memory comes back to me which leaves me in such a daze...

Years ago-yes. I was thirsty and asked for something, so she took me into the kitchen and handed me this cup which had grape juice in it-and I...

It tasted so good, I drank it too fast, and some of it went in my lungs; then I was struggling not to cough even as I tried to finish off my juice-but it was impossible; before I knew what happened, a big mouthful ended up sprayed on a number of cabinet doors and other things even as I coughed with that torturous tickle deep in my lungs and throat.

...

"Um. Fluffy?" Proxima asked, apprehensive about something.

"What?" I return, putting the cup back where I picked it up from, now lifting off the lid of a cookie jar but only finding it to be filled with golden brown dust from disintegrated treats.

I slam the lid back down and look behind at the open door of the fridge-which had electricity!-inside, nestled neatly in a row on the top shelf are four baby bottles with white stuff inside and rubber nipples secured on each.

"Should we drink those?" Orca asked suspiciously, uncertain.

"I dunno. It would be weird if they were still good." I muse in response, taking one out and sucking from the top like a foal on a teat.

As the sugary taste of mare milk formula rolls down my throat, I smile. It half astonished me to have it taste so different-and yet, familiarity came with this particular refreshment.

"It's fine. Apparently they haven't expired." I remark, even as I continue to suck.

Orca grinned, taking one himself and drinking the milk happily with long sucks of his toothed snout.

"Um. This is kind of weird. Who would leave these here like this? You don't suppose some homeless person with a baby is using the house, do you?" BitterGrey reasoned, staring at the two suckling 'babies' with incredulousness.

"Nah. Your hungry, aren't you?" I muse, giggling even as a little white bubble came out of my left nostril and popped.

"Riiiiight. Prox?"

"What? I guess as long as we reimburse the person if they come back, it's okay." Proxima declared, taking one for herself.

"What person? Nobody is supposed to live here! It's practically a disaster area after that thing that happened." BitterGrey returned.

BitterGrey sighed, flustered, finally grabbing the last one and closing the now empty fridge shut.

"If you all insist on being babies, I can't be left behind, I guess."

"Relax. It's not like anyone knows we're drinking from bottles." I reply between my fascinated suckling, delighted by the exact taste of equine milk.

This is something I hadn't drank for a long time-very long time. It had a much sweeter more concentrated taste than cow milk.

And, wasn't there a slight hint of cinnamon in it for zip?

"Wow. That's interesting." BitterGrey announced, looking back at his bottle with disbelief.

"What?" Orca asks, drips of milk coming out of the corners of his lips down his chin in his haste to suck it all up.

"It's unicorn. This milk is from a unicorn. Don't you taste that cinnamon?" BitterGrey returned, amazed.

"How can you tell?" I ask, unsure.

A creak came from upstairs, distracting us for a moment before we went back to the conversation.

BitterGrey swished some of the milk around his mouth. "It has a very specific earthy wild taste-normal cinnamon has been domesticated, and this particular flavor is not easy to duplicate."

The most specific thought that came to me from that statement was that our nursie who lived here was a unicorn-before another creak upstairs really began to catch our attention.

It was just the funniest thing to watch our heads as they followed the noise and sipped on the bottles at the same time-then some soft tap out of nowhere; like a door closing ever timidly with a soft knock and push of crushed air.

"We're going up there, right?"

The most concentric observer would already note that something weird had already occurred, and that the whole group remained undeterred. Madness and fondness of memory likewise did such things to imagined fear. To bear the brunt of this strange neurotic bliss was to be away from the resounding sharp edge of possible danger such as this.

"Wha-are you high? The person who goes to check out the creepy sounds in a haunted house usually dies first!" BitterGrey protested.

"Who said it was haunted?" Proxima countered with a wry twist of a smile to her lips.

So it cannot be denied that the creak of wood was an unknown amongst a palace of fleeting shadows and dark dreams of swirling demons of innermost quandary.

Chapter 4

I laughed as Proxima struggled hard in trying to figure out how to get up the stairway to the second floor as I followed behind and nearly got a nice couple of swats to the face by her long lion-like tail with the very pretty tuft at the end lightly braided. It was a funny ivory serpent that peeked from the pink plastic of her bum indeed!

At the top, she stands there in triumph, her legs straddled out amply with sweat beginning to gloss in her pristine downy fur. Interested, we all gawked on our advance up; disbelieving the sight of her so pure and untested by the surrounding touch of darkness as it hovered about her and the second floor like a miasmic mist-spreading into the hollow cracks and corners of the disrepaired old house.

A house which had not seemed to have supported activity by anyone for well over a decade.

It seemed a strange transition to climb the second story; to go to where our dreams began and our nightmares soon followed. The second story; a new book being opened in the queerness that haunted our fragmented thoughts and tainted the innocence of this place.

Above, as I climbed, my hand came across a marked and slightly damaged part of wall; two little circular indentations right into the plaster on this side. Vertically two feet away from each other, and on the other side, two more.

What the...

It was as I paused to go over these little marks that Orca took a keen interest in them himself. He pushed me to the side gently and went over them with his fingers and lean curious eyes like a detective until-

"A child security gate went here...to keep us from falling down the stairs." He remarked, stroking his chin as he went up to wait by Proxima, whom had the bottle in her hand and still at sporadic moments drunk from it with melodramatic amusement.

"It was different then. I liked it." I remarked solemnly; not a eulogy to this house, but to the death of my youthful bliss.

Can anyone truly remove the nasty memories from the head? Can they be scraped out with precision like a surgeon with a scoupal removing cancerous growths?

Or do they linger on and grow until you must finally face your past or let it devour you as if it were a tumor?

-Thump-

A loud noise from nearby; a room-its door shut, yet light cascaded from the edges like thin beams of ghostfire peeking out between the murky froth of gray storm clouds. In the darkness, it was easy to see the light, now.

Our eyes had adjusted to this bleak solitude, so it almost hurt to focus on it. We stood there on the carpet in front of the stairs, not sure of anything-not sure of doing something; mesmerized.

Traumatized.

The thin slits of light bathed black ash-coated walls in misty arcs of fading splendor; the dust seeming to jump out at us like the wrenching claws of faceless minions from an eternity of misguided wanting. The soot of the charred wallpaper seemed to glimmer as eyes followed it down the hallway into deep depths of unseeable darkness.

"I'm beginning to remember." BitterGrey yawned out, dropping his bottle on the floor; which made little puffs of charcoal smoke when we disturbed it with our activity.

And just as he mentioned that, we all began to remember; for our eyes were heavy-the bottles had dropped from our heavy hands-and with lethargic nostalgia, we were reunited with the full disclosure of our memories and dreams as the door opened; bathing us all in blinding luminescent power-a smiling glowing creature silhouetted in rings of intense light like a caricature of an angel or faerie queen of the fae from a fantasy realm; horn glinting in the brightness like a hot silver stick of magick.

"Hi babies! I missed you so much!" Came that tearful excited happy and kindly sweet voice which was not only familiar-it was the meaning of love for a great duration of our younger lives, as the affectionate caretaker smooched her lips with obvious delight. Perhaps that contentment that comes of being reunited with a once-lost child. That relief that floods into a concerned mares' voice when her foal returns from a long absence.

Were we so lost when she waited for our return? Were our lives just a bubble in waiting moments and distractions until it was so distinctly burst on a day such as this-when we no longer had doubt of where we belonged.

It felt right-so right.

The feeling was ambient and fiery and aglow in each of us like warm comfy hearths in each of our hearts when we saw her glowing concerned face again; that horn that she had courteously let us play with-her blessing and sweet equine nickers when she would cuddle and nudge us with that soft hot whiskered nose.

Chapter 5

I awaken from one dream only to enter another one. The enchantment of the sleep was light; like the taste of honey in a mug of hot cocoa. It is not one of those cruel awakenings of vomiting and nausea which characterized alcohol or sedatives which hospitals used before surgery. This sleep was of enchantment like nothing heavier nor more murky than the touch of a butterfly upon one's tender fevered skin.

The new dream.

This world is punctuated by the brightness of her love and of the special beauty of the nursery itself. If this place were haunted; indeed it t'were haunted by her devotion and not by her grudge-if she could bear any such thing. Strange loving ghosts trapped in an endless mystery beyond coherence.

What was the purpose for this place and for the dream? Did she exist for us or did we exist for her as for the sole reason for her staying in this small space where our care had whelped not so much as memories, but indescribable worlds and passions of our combined bond as we had known her-as she had known us so long ago in days before.

In her arms, my head in her lap, her soft silken fingers playing with my forelock-her eyes in my own and she smiles and looks down with sweet contentment; whickering softly into my ears while she just held me-

Just held me.

Eternity for us two in the burning portal of her warmness and care.

She ran a finger down the middle of my nose and between my nostrils-poking me briefly in that one spot playfully as she laughed gently like the rain itself in May.

And I was hers. Under her enchantment of elegance and love, I was hers. Because-because-I belonged here; it felt the most right of anything in my life.

And when she set my head down on the pillow, and I saw her long silky glimmering ivory tail sway with her graceful striding departure, I wanted to cry-I don't why. Nothing made me want to cry.

But when I saw her leaving-I didn't want her to leave-I wanted her to hold me a moment more; maybe stroke my hair like I were hers and she were mine; maybe giggle and fidget when she ran her hand down my tummy and tickled me; maybe I wanted her to say a few of her nonsensical words and noises again.

Because I was beyond comfort-I was possessed by primal need to be loved; it was the only thing that existed in my body-the only thing that I ever wanted, and she was walking away...

"Is baby waby Orca done with his ba-ba?" The dear voice of the unicorn giggled out as she peered into a crib which had been painted with complex motifs of variously colored faerie and whimsical folk of lore affectionately endeared to the sweet dreams and thoughts of the youthful.

She reached in and tickled his chin as he giggled playfully and kicked out his feet. He enjoyed her presence above as he lay there nearly naked in the crib but his diaper; holding his favorite plush, a little grayish smiling dolphin, protectively to his chest as he gazed up at her.

"Oh, yes, lovely one. How did you sleep?" She asked softly with a smile, leaning in as far as she could while he was sitting up; kissing the nasty bump on his head with care.

"What a boo-boo you have, Orcie." She pleasantly remarked with a whicker and a light shake of her vibrant full mane as she put an ice pack on his pillow and had him lie still upon it.

She looked around briefly, rubbing her chin with a stray hand as she thought to herself-and I looked out at her between the bars of my giant crib in curiosity, sucking on my thumb and snuggling close to Shady-my favorite black stuffed horsie I had forgotten about until this moment when I could hold him close to me again.

"Proxie! Wakie-wakie!" Our nursie cooed out, jubilant with her words and her twisting spirited movements as our mere presence seemed to please her enough to make her kind heart soar once again.

The centauress yawned from her curious position in her crib. Her non-anthro equine body had been more or less laying on her belly, slightly skewed to one side, which gave us a view between her bars of that ghastly enormous sheath hidden only by her thick nappy. Proxima seemed pleased to simply lie there; sucking on an orange pacifier as the unicorn loomed high above her bed like a white giant in a lovely pink flower dress.

And then-

From behind me came a curious sound; a choked wail like a tiny banshee keening on a musty moon-tinged moor.

It was a small sound, barely perceptible at first, but it grew louder and was also accompanied by a sniffle and a frantic crinkle of plastic. It was amazing-I frankly could not believe it.

BitterGrey was emotionally reduced from his confident sure grizzled self to an unstable insecure little critter.

The mare smiled, her beaming gay eyes scanned over the wolf as he stood up in the crib; his elbows barely reaching over the gate; his diaper clearly full of excess baggage in the trunk-and he cried and wiped his face a great deal with nervousness and uncertainty.

"Aww. BitterGrey thinks he's a big dog, but he's just a wittle puppy." She affectionately rubbed under his chin, then reached her arms in to take him out of his own crib.

I barely suppressed a giggle when I saw the wolf cringe as she inadvertently squished his mess back against his tushy in an attempt to get a better hold of him as she carried him over to a little white-painted table nearby against the wall to the left of the door and sat him down at the edge-a loud squish echoing out of his messy diaper even as he gave a tiny little dog yip of surprise.

I well remembered that sensation from one of my dreams, and I didn't envy him for experiencing it, even if he had her attention all to himself. Although I knew with some mutual shame that BitterGrey's predicament would be my own soon enough; it was just metabolism and a matter of time.

I stared-all of us stared; enthralled by the ritual of changing. Not just because it would be our turns as well, but because there was just something so deep and instinctive about having ones' waste cleaned up by a caregiver that somehow made it undeniably beautiful in an affectionate way.

"Stop squirming puppy. Do you want to walk around in your dirty diapee all day?" She reprimanded gently, shifting the lid of the talcum powder to the open position even as Grey blushed and couldn't meet our eyes.

We grinned sheepishly; he was embarrassed at being so exposed and bared before his friends in such a humiliating moment of his life. Having a diaper change would be one of those things that easily demeaned. It was a time not only of helplessness and exposure of ones' whole body, but it also made privacy non-existent; which was a thing we took for granted when we used the public restroom or took a shower.

Now, BitterGrey had no choice in how he was displayed, and for the time, it utterly decimated him as the lovely mare ignored his discomfort and hummed whimsically; lifting the front of his diaper off and begun to wipe him down before rolling the used mess away and to the side.

We saw as she wrapped his tail in saran-wrap, and stuck it through the hole of the new disposable-before she doused his sheath and crack with a dry white rain of nice fragrant powder-sealing his new doom with four loud ripping snaps as she fastened the fresh diaper in place snugly about his fuzzy grayish hips; finally sliding the saran-wrap off his tail with an almost silky tug of her hand; whereupon, it popped up bushy as never before as he wagged it, confident this ordeal was over, and he panted as she put him in a giant rainbow-colored playpen; trying earnestly to lick her on the face as she gingerly carried him over.

She went about picking each of us up and putting us in the playpen with Grey; which somewhat amazed me, as we were still adults, but she and this room were massive like someone had decided to start filming of "Honey, I shrunk the babyfurs!" Particularly when the unicorn lifted Proxima did we see that this was almost too fantastical for belief.

We were stuck in the fantasy; unable to make any sense of it even as we faced each other in this new enclosed space wearing nothing but the bulge of diapers and plastic panties.

There was a ball to play with and a ring stacker-there was even a firetruck to roll around-but somehow, we just sat and stared and thought; because this was different; this was the dream.

Or was our world and previous lives outside of this house the dream? The longer I spent in here, the less I was able to tell; it was just a wish that had been cast off from the boughs of a well-whether or not we appreciated the vagary of the situation.

Orca, silly scamp he is, broke the awkwardness by grabbing the giant beach ball and rolled it fast toward Grey-who almost didn't catch it. He stood up with it, bounced the red ball a few times, and then lost his balance and fell right on his padded tush-the ball slipping out of his hold and smacking Proxima lightly in the side of her face; going towards me and stopping within inches of my thighs where I sat. And I knew, as I laughed, that if I threw it, this madness would begin again. Although, it was good fun.

So as I bounced it, it came up suddenly and whacked me on the underside of my chin, rebounded off my chest, and went about a foot away from Grey; whom stared at the big red thing most puzzled. Balls and physics have that weird chaotic affect where we become mystified by where it goes and ultimately ends up. So many variables, we can barely predict its course.

And for hours, as the ball went all over the place, and bounced off us at every part of our body, there was some gratification to the simplistic as this game consumed our time and interest.

Until it bounced out of the playpen.

Then we were suddenly let loose from some hypnotic lilting force and came back to our environment, and a little bit to ourselves as well.

"Wow. Shit. Can anybody tell me what's going on?" BitterGrey mused, shaking his furred back while on all fours; making us laugh with the sight of his bulging disposable nappy on his butt.

I'd have the mind to tell him what's going on; that we're going through our rugrat years again-but at this point, I don't think he'd want to hear it as he'd basically been changed out of a messy situation and got revisited by more of the same to be looked forward to for an indescribable amount of time in future days.

"Welcome to our past and future, I guess." Orca declared, blushing as he held his cute plush in his arms where he knelt in his diaper and looked curiously around the room. It was funny how he seemed less affected by the oddity of these circumstances than most other people would.

Then she or something tossed the ball back into play and we're off tossing it around once again.

Chapter 6

We had been throwing and rolling it around for a long time, but at some point, she came back and took us out; having us follow her out of the room and down the hallway to another room on the second story-

And as we walked-

There was no signs of fire damage or age anywhere; the house was as new as the earlier days when we had gone to her daycare for supervision. Now, the idea of needing watching was laughable, but it did have its charm as we followed complacently across the thick carpet; waddling more or less awkwardly like a funny little parade of sorts; ducklings I suppose.

I had to suppress a laugh as Orca playfully grabbed Proxima's tail and began to tug on it like a rope-and barely missed being kicked for his mischief; falling on his butt with surprise.

"Babies! What's going on?" The unicorn demanded lightly, stopping in her tracks to face Orca looking up impishly and Proxima not at all amused as she swatted her tail indignantly.

"Orca, if you can't behave yourself...I might get creative and think up some kind of punishment to keep you busy." Mused the mare with a wry smirk of her muzzle, her hands on her hips.

He nodded excitedly and stuck out his tongue in an adorable manner; "Okies.". to which she responded with a tired amused snort before turning back and continuing on her way.

I stop-closing my eyes briefly as an emotion comes through me. A powerful phantom that makes me tear up and my hair stand. A feeling as beautiful as the notes on an electric keyboard played during the rains of a spring storm; perhaps imitating that storm with a harmonic range like that of a dream-like drizzle from Neverland or the misty realms of the forest from a fairytale.

It's a cloud, too. An illusion; a roving caress from the breath of Artemis herself-huntress of the darkest, yet most magick'd reaches of an olden forest and mysterious gloomy canopy-and the crystals of dew on spiderwebs glisten in this new vision like the jems of enchanted pixies. Sometimes, the most dark is the most beautiful; I realize that now. Darkness can hide beauty as well as danger; the clinging touches of morbid shadows can cloak the most spectacular things in a cover of protection from the eyes of strangers that come to exploit and destroy.

But that spider; that one hidden in the rotting oak tree with the gilded emerald body-glistening blandly amongst the dark with tiny barely noticeable sparkles; is this not a creature worthy of display? Not in a museum, but in this forest; where her dark green illuminated body can shine with that delicate afterglow of polished scale-like jade.

That emotion which embraced all of those secrets; all these raptured treasures of vision-it was deep within; an empathy not given a name by the likes of men or fur alike. Some emotions of the soul-some feelings come without names or labels; but I would like to name this one-

I call it whimsy; the briefest most daring glance into my soul and dreams-extinguished only by reality-but never forgotten. I will never fully remember what I experienced today-just now-but I will always cherish that emotion of whimsy; like the measure we keep all of our random beautiful dreams close to our hearts-even when we wake up-even when the thought has hazed over with nonsense and loss of meaning over time-but we must try to hold our fantasies; and never let them expire.

"Fluffy, honey." She whispered kindly; snapping me from the embrace of the touch of my sudden gracious experience.

Then I came to and started following 'mother hen and her chicks' again-

Except everyone stopped fearfully; staring at the unicorn as she continued to walk, not taking any notice that we had stopped-frightened by her in what could only be an indescribable impossible situation:

It was still light outside, and the sun came in through the blinds and window above the stairs. And we saw as the sun shined in with thin streaks of light orange streamers of morning, as the unicorn walked through each different cascade of perceptively beamed light, the parts of her body that the light touched-

Vanished-

Briefly like the skin of a chameleon transitioning easily from one environment to another-except, she wasn't camouflaging herself; it looked like the unicorn could not stay visible during the day without the house being darkly lit as it was at all times-and awkwardly-that will be something we have to get used to.

"What are you-" She looked at herself; "Whoopsie!" Then she smiled, moving into the dark beyond the middle of the hallway where the sun had shone.

Her limbs regained shape and definition immediately, some of us still awestruck that we were seeing a ghost from our past who wanted nothing better than to have us unpotty trained and kept in diapers for as long as she could. I personally found no problem with that arrangement except that I inherently disliked messing myself with my own manure whenever whatever we had eaten passed easily through us like oil through greased pipes right into our rectum to be crunched up and make us unbearably comfortable until we had no choice but to leave our excess behind, much to our mutual embarrassment for the situation. Orca didn't seem to mind what was going on with his own body as BitterGrey certainly did! I expect me and Proxima wouldn't be bothered by such peculiar and stinky details after we got over the initial shock of wearing diapers on a never-ending constant basis.

At the moment, I got used to waddling in my thick diaper. I really DID enjoy wearing it as it was quite snug, soft, and gave that nice cotton security of padding in case you fell on your bum, but these amusements could not hide the gross hidden purpose of this practically naughty-yet clearly innocent garment.

I suppose it was strange to have those feelings; that it felt so wonderful and liberating to wear diapers, but there are those little seeds that people planted in you about how such a thing is so wrong. What's so wrong? It's no more harmful than underwear. The only difference was this was underwear to make sure that if you couldn't go to the bathroom normally, you wouldn't leak excrement and waste fluid out if you had to use it, and it wouldn't give off such a bad smell as if you had crapped your undies.

Besides, there was a certain freshness and fun that one could get into if they relaxed and let the enshrouding snug sensation of it melt slowly into their being as they napped or slept; that nice feeling that you were somehow protected from a threat you did not yet know.

"Come along, babies!"

When the light came on in the room, we saw high chairs set up and ready to receive us for what we knew likely to be lunch. Proxima sucked impatiently on her pacifier; swatting out her tail as she gazed up at high chairs three times taller than her. The ever tall amazon of a unicorn went towards Orca, kneeling down and rubbing him sweetly on the underside of his chin.

"Come here, sweet thing. I know you won't give me any trouble. Puppy was always a fussy little eater, but I can depend on wittle wiggle whale, can't I?" She teased, reaching up around his armpits and proceeded to lift him towards his chair; his black and white suspended legs dangling comically under him as he wagged his fluked tail with affection and one of those dear cute little frog-like smiles he was known for.

Orca giggled lightly as his padded butt thumped on the lightly padded wood of his high chair. Then, before she could lock on his tray, he raised his arms-beckoning for a little more attention.

"Oh, what's that? Baby Orca wants a hug?"

She left the tray held in one hand, hugging him warmly with one arm softly against her bosom and planted a kiss on his tiny black cheek.

-SNAP-

Then his tray was in place as he hopped around excitedly as she turned toward the rest of us far below her on the floor.

"Hmmm." She favored her dainty white downy chin with a rub or two as she puzzled her next thought out. Then, she tapped her chin and pointed to each of us calmly and whispered musingly to herself on a decision.

"Proxima...Fluffy...Grey..." She bit her nail softly, her eyes softening a little with a blink and a little water.

Then, as she ran her kind eyes over us again, Grey bolted out the door with such speed in his diaper as he waddle/jogged, we couldn't help but have a giggle at his expense as the unicorn sighed out heavily in exasperation.

"Puppy, then." She confirmed, taking off with haste and leaving us in the room with Orca as she pursued the cubby puppy with an odd mirthful smirk.

She returned none too soon with the Grey furred doggy held in her arms half sniffling and half nervous and ready to yelp.

"Just like old times, huh puppy boy?" She nickered out, rubbing her cheekbone softly on his furred face.

He did not seem to have much fight in him, but then, I knew BitterGrey was too polite to bite or scratch like a normal wolf would-besides, she'd probably spank him if he tried.

She set him in a chair right next to Orca, and the killer whale seemed quite entertained himself at the turn of events.

"Have a fun wittle walkie, boy?" He teased, pounding his tray hard with a jolly boisterous laugh.

BitterGrey lowered his ears as she set him down and snapped his own tray into place; his furred cheeks showing a little through with red.

"Mmm. And who next. I suppose I'll take Fluffy. Proxima is the most responsible; I can trust her not to wander off."

Then as she went towards me, flicking her long silky quicksilver tail of a waterfall in lazy long arcs behind her like a pendulum, she grabbed me under my arms and lifted-

And I suddenly felt above it-

I closed my eyes, crying softly in bliss as she held me; I was flying higher and higher, being taken to a place in dreams where I would never age if I didn't have to-a place where we all wish to be one time or another because it feels like a trance beyond all ecstasy-

Neverland.

When she put me in the high chair and rubbed her warm furred nose into my tummy, and I petted her muzzle like I would a non-anthro pony at a country fair, I felt my dreams come true; I felt like I had returned to that place that meant so much to us all; home.

"Give me a kissie, honey." She sweetly giggled.

And I blushed with such love for her as I obliged her request and did so; inhaling her unique cinnamon flavor into my nose-forever treasuring her smell into my mind-and my soul.

Then I just reached out and grabbed something blindly; my fingers wrapping around something smooth, hard, and as warm as the heat radiating from outside of a chimney.

"Fluffy sure is frisky, isn't he?" She pointed out as I opened my eyes gently and saw my fingers wrapped themselves tightly-perhaps greedily-around the thin ivory of her sparkling alicorn. Her horn glinted with sparkles like it had been dipped in pixie dust, and it vibrated the tiniest bit with stored power collected for centuries.

WOW...

I fell into a trance; dreaming about multicolored insects, strange creatures with wings and odd clothes. I saw a purple sky hazed with a royal mild blue and a heavy accent of sky blue. I saw a moon hang low in the shape of a silver bow without a string-I saw stars that looked like dull glinting pits of dark blue drake cold-fire. The clouds were as soft-softer than the lining of my diaper as I walked along them. There was a breeze which seemed to tease my hair in a consoling way which pleased me, and there were dolphins-swimming rings through clouds above like acrobatic slick birds without wings-

And there were no words-

No words for dreams-

Dreams of the unicorn.

She shook loose of me gently, uncoiling my hands and snapping my tray in place before she turned to Proxima-and I saw that Proxima's high chair was wider and longer to accommodate her enormous equine lower body. Proxima smiled behind that pacifier, almost pleased to finally reach new heights.

I knew how she felt; the flying-the being lifted weightlessly was almost like a walk through the cosmos to explore every fascinating glowing thing in the universe and to be astounded by the secrets found on such a journey as well.

"Now for num-nums!" The mare remarked, letting Proxima choose a small glass bottle off of a handy serving tray the unicorn held by her.

"Okies. Peaches for pretty. I can trust you to feed yourself; your the big girl." She mused, leaving the opened jar of baby food on Proxima's tray with a little plastic safety spoon-the kind without the sort of sharp edges that could do nasty things to the gums if one tried to use it for a teething toy.

"Okay Orca-which do you want?" And without question, we watched with a mirthful laugh as he shyly pointed a black shiny finger at the wild berry applesauce flavored one.

"Alright honey. I'll feed you after I see what everyone else wants."

When she came before me, I looked at the two choices left and went for the sun-dried grapes and blueberry, which left-

Mashed prunes and figs for BitterGrey, which I assume was how she had planned it-this seemed to be her gentle way to reproach and punish him for running away like the scared little puppy dog he was.

We looked over as Proxima basically went through her jar like a person who had been trapped on a deserted island and had nothing to eat but coconuts and fish. Something new was always welcome if you had a hunger for sweet things. We laughed as she finished off with a little on her left cheek and she gave such an uncouth burp for a little lady.

I expected she'd feed Orca first, but I was clearly wrong as she went to BitterGrey instead and had one hand impatiently on her hip, slamming his food jar lightly on the tray.

"Is puppy going to give me trouble? I'll spank your stubborn little heinie if I have to, mister!" She daintily declared with a smile worth some definite measure of mischief.

He lowered his ears and we saw a little trickle run off the front of his chair where his legs stuck out-dripping a puddle onto the floor as he shook nervously.

The unicorn nursemaid rolled her eyes and sighed; ignoring his doggy accident as she went to him with the preserved prune concoction; holding the spoon in front of a muzzle that had snapped closed like an animate bear trap.

"Your making this difficult, puppy. Why won't you let the choo-choo in?"

Everyone knew that if he ate his food, he'd have eight ounces of fiber running a slick course through his innards and that another messy diaper would likely kick in when we were having dinner later.

"I know..."

She held the spoon of mashed baby food at the ready in her muzzle clasped in her front horsie teeth as she used her hands under his arms and began to assault him with the most insidious tickle attack we had ever seen. He couldn't help but open his mouth as she took her time tickling him and refilling the spoon until BitterGrey lay exhausted against his tray; his muzzle all slick with food that had missed the target.

She rubbed the scruff of his neck and kissed him on the head between the ears, giggling as he panted tiredly-gazing with wonder at her cleavage by accident.

"Oh, little puppy is so cute-but he made a bit of a mess, didn't he?" She remarked as he first began to wag his tail which stuck out the back of the chair-and then whine as she reproached him for making shi-shi on the floor of the upstairs "dining room".

"Diaper change is when THAT hits rock-bottom, doggie." She taunted, looking into his eyes enigmatically for a moment; sharing something intimate.

It was between me and Orca who would receive her attention next. It was a strange notion; I had forgotten what it had been like when I did not feed myself. I had powered my way through all sorts of tricky foods and I knew how to handle everything from triple-decker deli sandwiches to saimin noodles with greasy no-MSG sauce.

"Orca's been a good boy all night, huh baby? Okay, I will do you next, sweetie."

And I watched, amazed that though I had assumed she saw him as a favorite, she in fact had an intimate affection in her eyes and the manner that she moved which boldly declared her love for all of us equally, as we all had our habits which entertained her in some jolly jubilant way or another. Even BitterGrey with his little troublesome adventures made her giggle endearingly when she had the time to reminisce on his many devilishly adorable wolfie stunts.

Age shall not weary us who bathe in the glow of her love; nor shall darkness and evil cloud our dreams when she stands protectively before us with her horn like a beacon bright; a lance held daringly to all shadows who trespass sneakily into this domain with ill-intent.

As long as we were her babies, Neverland could look no brighter nor as whimsically as she had so affectionately created for us who only want one thing-love at the most primal level-affectionate need to be protected and desired and held.

So rested my fears-well into the night.

Chapter 7

Food was not quite as fun it had been tonight. She had fed each one of us, and it seemed she either wasn't very good at it or-

"Bath time!" She playfully declared.

Or she needed a valid excuse to clean us up-taking us each gradually from the high chairs and setting us on the floor. Then we followed her to yet another room. On the way, we watched apprehensively for beams of sunlight coming into the upstairs hallway, but it seemed too late in the day that sunset might be glowering on its approach down into the rough earth of the landscape. That was fine with me; I didn't want to see another leg disappearing act, as even if I loved her and enjoyed her company, the idea she was dead still unsettled me-respectively.

Oh, we were messy; half of our food looked like it was stuck messily to the fur around our lips and on our chins like a strange wet beard of sorts.

In the next room she took us to, there was a giant white ceramic tub which had been built like an indoor jacuzzi; the mirror above the sink had already fogged with the heat from the warm water of the drawn bath. I wasn't surprised the unicorn had set this up while she had us inescapably held in the high chairs; leaving her free without the worry of us getting into trouble. She was definitely a multi-tasker or chess player were there one; planning the next four or five moves ahead carefully as she had us go through each different distraction and activity with ease.

She did it good; she was a pro-a professional mommy. People who thought taking care of children was easy should have had triplets or more of their own; that shit was tough!

Me, Proxima, and Orca were eager to please, but BitterGrey made sure she was well challenged and that her many days and routines with us were far from routine. I suppose Grey made a fool out of himself more often than not, but his little mischief-making had in its own way endeared itself to us.

I remember that, now. When we tried to forget this place, he became something different; he became a nerd or an intellectual-counter to his personality; always dry and proper, but now it was refreshing to see how he got into trouble.

Waiting in front of the bath. the steam from the warm water blew over us and we inhaled the deep heat into our bodies like a blessed wind.

As I watched, I had expected she would do one of us at a time-but I was clearly wrong-in her mind, bath-time was more fun with friends.

The unicorn pulled down Proxima's diaper and took off her blouse, giving her a playful tap on her nude equine rear; urging the centauress into the water-who bolted in with such a splash that I had to cover my eyes.

After that, she looked at me and smiled-grabbing both sides of my diaper and begun to tug down gently until I had the garment between my feet and I was standing there naked. I was very shy to be so exposed. Normally, being a yiffy stallion, I didn't mind being naked-I'd done it in public a few times. But being nude in front of my friends was a little different, and the looks I got made me clearly blush and stand there shyly.

"In you go, Fluffy." She gently urged, pushing me toward the tub with little nudges of her arms until she finally gave up and just lifted me and put me in herself.

She went toward BitterGrey and saw he had already taken off his diaper, staring and much put off by the sight of his sheathe.

"Okay. I guess you wanted out of your messy diaper earlier than I thought. Go join your friends." She mused dismissively, smiling wryly.

When she was before Orca, she rubbed his chin softly as he sat there on his padded butt in yoga lotus position; sucking his thumb and still holding his dolphin friend.

"Honey. Can I please take off your diaper?"

He flashed her those sweet innocent eyes.

"Why? I want to take my bath with it on!" He replied.

She lifted him up on his feet, but he immediately fell back onto his butt, whereupon she sighed tiredly.

"Please don't be difficult, Orca sweetie; I really do need to take it off." She gently reproached, tickling him a little bit.

A soft thump of feet and two hard things clapping against each other came softly and when I looked over to where the sound came from-

"Mommy! Look what I can do!"

And then BitterGrey launched himself in a dive from the closed lid of the toilet seat on a trajectory right into me and Proxima!

But she had somehow managed to react fast enough to catch him in mid-air as he jumped. There was no doubt; that one was worth-

"Bad puppy! I'm going to have to give you a spanking, now!"

He lowered his ears in fear and shame, but for once we were not amused at his antics; if he had fallen on us from where he jumped, he could have caused a great deal of harm.

She sat herself daintily on the toilet seat, flicking her tail out and put him across her lap on the perfumed fabric of her dress. The way he was held had his hind pawpads dangling in the air and his butt raised nicely up for her discipline. She used her one arm on his back to hold his tail out of the way as she readied her other arm for an indeterminate amount of slaps on his helpless sensitive furred tush.

But the punishment I expected did not come; instead, the unicorn smiled as she took her tail in her free hand and began to dangle the loose hairs over Grey's feet-tickling the sensitive paw pads mercilessly as BitterGrey laughed and tried to squirm his way out of her firm embrace as she took to tormenting his feet with some jovial mirth.

BitterGrey was trapped as he tried to wiggle out or pull himself from her grasp while she laughed in her own mischievous way at the cleverness of her punishment.

We remembered now-that unicorns did not like to harm anyone in any way whatsoever; they simply got creative in how they disciplined those who did bad things. BitterGrey was getting quite a workout as she tickled all sense out of him with her occasional giggle and smile.

The wolfie would probably think twice before going diving again, and not a mark would be on him to outline the lesson. I also remembered how she fed him the prunes and cringed; that was another punishment and he'd definitely be using his diaper in half the time it would take for ours with all that fiber.

But it was all in good fun, I supposed. She is the most kindest caretaker I've ever known because her methods were so insidious but not cruel.

Unicorns always got creative with prosecuting those who did bad things with tactics that caused no physical harm and little emotional-it was all just a matter of teaching a lesson-and an effective one-that guided how they went forward with punishment.

It was refreshing to see that sort of mindset when the rest of the world thought that hitting someone or putting them in prison would solve the problem.

"Now, puppy. If you do that again, I will tail-tickle you twice as long as I just did." She scolded; setting him gently in the warm water with me and Proxima while he had his tail wrapped completely up around his crotch and his ears almost so low-set they could touch his neck.

The rest of us sniggered covertly to his shame-then Proxima grabbed him from behind, dunking him under the water, and they wrestled playfully; forgetting all about his embarrassing tickle torment.

I watched as Orca sat there stubbornly on his cute butt, fluked tail wagging side to side along the ground like a thick two-headed black and white snake-his smile and watery eyes somehow daring her to try to take his diaper off.

"Orca, you can't wear your diaper in the bathtub." She reproached softly, tickling his tummy with the fingers of one hand as he went crazy and rolled all about as she still continued with her play.

And as she tickled him and he rolled all about like a silly punch-clown, she skillfully ripped all his tape-ends on his diaper apart until he finally rolled right out of his diaper with red embarrassed cheeks and the unicorn standing above confidently with her hands on her hips.

"Next time, you'll listen to me, won't you Orca?" She mused with a giggling whisper before she put him in the bath with us and turned toward the sink high above to take a purple ribbed bottle from the shelf-turning the spigot of the tub briefly on as she measured three lid-fulls of the purple stuff under the running water and we watched as white frothy bubbles like clouds and as thick as snow in late December overcame every portion of the tub-including us!

"Where'd my babies go?!" She happily laughed out-gently wading her arms through the bubbles until she could find someone in there to begin scrubbing-her hand found Proxima first.

She had been found by her horn sticking up higher than the rest of her body and us, so she was the first one for the unicorn to go after with the sponge and bar of soap. When I peeked my head-and muzzle out, she spotted me with a light whinny of a laugh.

"I see you Fluffy; you're next!" She smiled lovingly and blew the bubbles softly away from my hiding place as she went on scrubbing Proxima's fur with light gentle strokes of the sponge or bar of soap as the centauress leaned blissfully into the even soft strokes on her hide.

I ducked back under, giggling as I went to hide somewhere else, and felt BitterGrey and Orca also shift from their places and knew this would be another game we played with our sweet loving caretaker.

The unicorn paid careful attention to combing out Proxima's mane and tail before finally lifting her naked, dripping, and shivering from the tub; laying a towel across her equine back and putting another towel around her shoulders.

"Why don't you take care of yourself while I see to the boys?" The unicorn declared with a smile, already reaching her arms into the blind mass of foam and probing about trying to grab at someone.

She had such fun as she spent half a minute and finally managed to grab Orca by his tail-gently pulling him toward herself. He looked up expectantly at her as she returned the glance with a delicate look and an affectionate mare nicker.

"It almost seems like you wanted to be caught." She remarked aloud with an exasperated but content snort of her pink-skinned nostrils.

Then he squirted her with water he had been keeping in his mouth the entire time as she held up her arm to cover her face.

"Heehee." Orca giggled out, slapping his arms down and splashing ecstatically.

"Now I see why it was so easy." She laughed, "Little scampi." She teased, dunking his head under the water-surprising him.

He came up quickly-his face dripping and level with hers as she laid her chin upon the basin very close to his own.

Nearby, Proxima finished toweling herself off to the extent that her fur had all fluffed out like the cartoons where someone gets stuck in a dryer and comes out looking like a puff-ball.

Something stilled inside me once more after I calmed and let the water melt into me like the warmth of a benevolent kindly spirit. I lived in a world beyond sleep or pain; I was in a place with my friends and mommy that truly outlined what fantasy and utopia meant. There were no cares, only joy. There were no dangers, only love. There was no hate, only the music of her breath and words as she filled us with her essence and passion, making us better for knowing her so intimately-so lovingly.

And every instance I spent with her was beyond heaven or death; it was a place where I hid from my struggles to be with who meant the most to me and who loved me and protected me unconditionally.

Is there such a world?

I've escaped from my troubles and darkness to a place where love is the ultimate design; imparting in me a soft warmness that will linger on in my soul well beyond the end of this realm.

It will be a dream within a dream that will go beyond simple emotion and instead fill voids in my soul and let me float in the contentment of a paradise-a paradise so intense and yet gentle that hunger will not find my spirit waning for earthy lies ever again.

-THEN!-

Something cold suddenly seized me and pulled me away from the mist of froth into-

Her loving arms.

She held me in embrace while I was in the bathtub right next to her.

"It took me awhile to find you, honey, but I got you now!" She exclaimed, rubbing her warm, soft, dry cheekbones against my wet slick bubbly ones as if I were her offspring-

And I float-I float in her arms because I feel free. I am hers and she will never let anything bad happen to me. I have smelled her sweet spiced fur, and recognize it as the most beautiful smell I have known in my twenty-three years that I have breathed life. Her hot breasts heave with each of her calm yet sincere breaths.

Her voice is a violin on a cloudy whimsical night. Her smell is a wholesome mix of earthy and natural bounty. Her presence is a mystical and benevolent queen of fairytales. Her eyes...

Enchanting.

She rubs the sponge calmly about my wet fur as her eyes hold me to her like the twinkling glimmer of a star to a lost pilgrim.

And then she set me down on the floor dripping, wrapping a towel around me as my body tingles and reminisces to the lingering glow of her touch and attention all upon it. I could not shiver, for her heat had mingled with my skin and became a mild fever of her tenderness. I could never forget the way she had touched me with care at every opportunity, nor soothed me so fully with just her kind words and silky supple hands.

Hands like an angel-a messenger of mercy.

Chapter 8

For the first time, I was willing to be changed into my diaper. I know that when I first woke up this morning, the exposure of my nakedness and being forced to use diapers frightened me, but after the bath and the time I spent with the unicorn, I loved her and I would wear whatever she wanted me to.

Of course, since Orca loved his diapers so much, he got to go first when we came back to the nursery with the four giant cribs and the enormous table for the purpose. I didn't begrudge him that comfort; he enjoyed the situation and he was living it up like a toddler king who made it big in Vegas.

The unicorn lifted his naked body up on the table and lay him on the towel covered plastic surface as he sucked his thumb and she briefly buried her muzzle on his tummy and blew raspberries right into his belly button as he giggled blissfully.

"Okay. Lift your feeties' hun. She grabbed his outheld ankles, lifting his butt off the table and took a fresh thick diaper from a nearby stack and placed it outspread under his cute tush before she lowered him in it. When he was on the padded cotton, she took a plastic bottle and began to shake the powder gently on his crotch, and as she did that, an intricate smell of talcum powder and cinnamon struck us like a fragrant spiced wind.

Orca sniffed gently as the scent entered his nose. He was confused about the different smell of the baby powder and looked into her eyes questioningly.

"Mmm. I thought my little sweeties might like to have a little cinnamon mixed in their tushy powder for an added cute touch." She remarked, stopping, and fastening his diaper in place before setting him back on the plush carpeted white floor.

Cinnamon-I looked forward to that. It made me feel like there would be part of her comforting my most tenderest sensitive regions.

She turned toward us, trying to decide who to pick up next. It must have been dreadful for her to try to stay impartial and fair to all of us at the same time. I noticed she had no order for how she took care of us, she just looked into our eyes and weighed our immediate needs for any given time. Orca was obvious; he always had to wear a diaper if he could help it.

She finally settled on BitterGrey-perhaps feeling a little guilty of her treatment of him earlier. She had him naked against her plump squishy chest, rubbing her cheeks against his delicate furry body affectionately in a horsie hug.

"You are so special Grey." She cooed sweetly; "Things would have been boring and monotonous without your little amusements." She whispered, licking his tufted ears as she went to the changing table and set him down on a diaper already set in place, reaching her arms around to put saran-wrap on his tail again-pulling it through the hole in the back of the diaper before having him lay down so she could shake the powder onto his skin with that refreshing new aroma that she added.

We loved the way the air smelled-it became a magical extension of herself; a gift to us of everything she had meant.

She finished and set him on the floor, slapping his padded bottom playfully before she gracefully waded herself toward me and gripped me by my underarms and I floated with her again-like a bubble-like a cloud in the wind-free.

All too soon it ended and my buns were securely squished against the soft towel covered changing table as I looked fleetingly and entranced into her sweet rosy pupiled eyes. She lowered her lips toward me and put one light kiss on my cheek as my arms reached out and hugged her face and my fingers explored her silky mane and the polished ivory at the base of her alicorn. When I touched her horn as I had before, the same feeling of her dreams and beautiful thoughts did not come back. I smiled up at her, laughing contentedly; I did not need to experience her fantasies as she had turned my waking moments into one with her love.

The unicorn had my short little tail wrapped and pulled through my new nappy as she began to sprinkle the sweet musky spiced talcum powder over my crotch in a tickling delicate shower like a million tiny breaths exiting warmly from her muzzle-and then it was over, but the cinnamon began to warm my skin and fur with a mild lingering heat like that of her caring touch. She wrapped all six tabs in place and lifted me gently down to the floor right by where Orca stood; trying to look around and admire his big padded tushy.

I blushed as from behind her large hand reached down and pinched my bottom playfully and then delivered a tender slap to my thickly covered bum-pulling the saran-wrap easily away like plucking an individual hair from my tail.

Proxima was a little different-some would say a picky little pony. When the unicorn prepared to change her, she instead grabbed out a giant terry towel from someplace hidden above and folded it in an odd way-inviting Proxima to lay sideways so the Unicorn could pin it on her. She used lots of the special powder all over Proxima's large equine rump and stallion sheath and balls-before she drew up the three corners around that equine rear and stuck safety pins gently through before pulling a big pair of plastic panties up those muscular hind legs snuggly to her diapered hips.

"There. Doesn't my girl look pretty?" The unicorn remarked happily, setting Proxima back to the floor.

When we were all together-diapered-I was at a loss as to what to say or do. I suppose the lovely equine mare had us all enchanted with her kind and tender spell; Orca particularly with his wet happy eyes and his dolphin plush held tightly in his arms like it had belonged there the entire time.

"Dinner." The mare giggled out.

We looked up at her, enthralled and ecstatic-even BitterGrey; who knew his time in a clean diaper was numbered once he began to fill his stomach with something else.

But what was there to worry about? A clean diaper would be worn most of the time and she would change us the moment we had an accident so we wouldn't suffer discomfort for a prolonged period of time. She was too kind to enact that type of neglect; she wouldn't even consider that as a punishment for anything bad we might have done.

I know BitterGrey had concerns about shyness, but after the time he spent waddling around in his clean diaper after his first incident, embarrassment of being changed out of his poopy-filled mess seemed to matter to him less and less as he thought about it. I guess it was because we were remembering things about her and ourselves we had long forgotten to bygone days outside of adult lives.

We followed her out of the nursery down the dark hall where we saw the sun setting with tiny gleams of orange gold through the holes in the curtains and the single window overlooking the doorway seven feet off the ground.

When she went toward the upstairs kitchen, her legs barely rippled with the waist level flickering light of amber sunset coming to greet us before the dark came upon us. I felt the air change; become thinner-like it was being unwoven like a long piece of yarn. We all felt it. The magic was changing-perhaps stronger, perhaps weaker-but it did not bother the unicorn perceptively as we joined her and accustomed our eyes to the sight of the high chairs once more; towering high above like monolithic structures.

There was no resistance from us as she fastened each of her children one by one into their seats and snapped the trays into place.

We waited eagerly for what she would do next-her rump bobbing as she walked away toward the little counter and fridge. From her bowing position peering into the bright light of the fridge, she called back over to us:

"Okay. What do you babies want for din-din?"

"Blueberry?" BitterGrey speculatively yelped out.

She grabbed out a dark blue bottle of baby food; "Blueberry for my puppy. What else?"

"Cherry!" Orca squealed out, slamming his tray excitedly.

The unicorn laughed as she took out a red jar, going back inside, "Okay honey! Calm down please!" She chortled out in an uncontrolled inelegant way.

"Banana!" Proxima declared-her eyes fastening on the bow tied to her horn in wonder.

The unicorn rustled in the fridge before taking out a yellow jar and setting it down on the counter with a muted thud.

"And what does Fluffy want?"

I took a great deal of time trying to decide as she waited and tapped her hips impatiently, still standing there holding the minibar fridge door open.

"Cinnamon." I whispered blissfully, blushing.

She paused-thinking. "Oatmeal for Fluffy with lots of cinnamon and brown sugar." She lovingly mused, tapping my muzzle affectionately with a finger.

She opened each of the bottles and handed them out with the little spoons before turning to make the oatmeal. I was hungry, and I disliked waiting longer to eat than the others who dug into their mush quite ravished, but however impatient I was, I knew that my dinner with that unique taste like her delicious mythological equine aroma would be well worth the extra effort.

I laughed with the irony that Proxima and the rest were much neater in their dining habits than when the mare did it for them. She definitely did it on purpose to have us all in the tub for a bath.

When she came back to me with the steaming bowl and the white-turning-brown milk mixed in with the oatmeal, I could not wait to devour it as fast as I could-pleased to be reminded of her and everything that made her wonderful.

"Careful, Fluffy, Honey-it's still a little hot."

I knew; there was no doubt as she had just taken it from the microwave and doused the resulting sticky goo in her breast milk she had kept in the fridge in a small one-liter pitcher.

This was truly special; it had been created from her toil and her very being. I would savor this bland humble meal for all eternity and eat each bite as if it were sacred. In a way, her being the most purest and beautiful of creatures, it probably was.

Chapter 9

When we finished dinner, she escorted us briskly back to the nursery-the hallways were lit with a light hazy sapphire glow since there was no other light.

In the brightly lit nursery, the unicorn helped Orca into his pair of pajama pants and shirt, and they both laughed in good fun as he wiggled around like a squirmy little otter.

My attention was immediately caught by BitterGrey, whose furred face contorted into all sorts of funny shapes while he struggled with something. He squeezed his legs together and bent his tail around his crotch like any miserable mongrel.

"Mommy!-go poopy!" BitterGrey whined out urgently.

The mare did not lose a beat as she continued to wrestle Orca into his pajamas and get his tail flukes out of the wide hole in the back.

"Okay, puppy. I'll be with you in a moment." She offered, finally winning her match by a tickling technicality-tapping Orca playfully on his snout with her finger. "You behave fishy." She giggled in a mock scold before she looked back at the wolf "pup", whom was very desperate NOT to mess himself even if the result was inevitable no matter how long he resisted.

"You know mommy will change you." She kindly whispered, reaching out for his paw.

"But mommy...I don't want to go potty in my dipee." He woofed out shyly.

She picked him up and sat with him on her lap as she was daintily seated upon a rolling office chair-his butt right on her thighs as if he were playing horsie or visiting the easter bunny. She hugged him soothingly to her soft chest, nickering to him sweetly in a maternal equine way.

BitterGrey lay on his back, his paws up against his chest in a pleading motion as I watched his dark fur heave with stress and his face became drenched with sweat as one could hear his stomach loudly rumble and the tiny sounds of poopy farts as he strained to stay dry and clean against the immense pressure of his natural urges.

He panted and squirmed uncomfortably as the unicorn sang to him and ran a hand soothingly along his tummy. He had his tail between his legs and struggled while in her arms to hold the contents of his bum in his body without any measure of success.

"It's okay sweet one. Don't be embarrassed little baby; you can't help it." She consoled with a giggle and a patient look of concern as her hand tousled his belly fur.

He wrapped his legs about each other and knew his shy wolfie buns were as squeezed together as he could get them.

"No mommy-no mommy-no mommy-no mommy." He pitifully whined out with his panting before his face contorted with a painful cramp.

"I no wanna go!" He squealed; almost tortured by his shyness.

"Mommy has you. Make a mess, wittle puppy." She whispered kindly, continuing to rub his belly until he just relaxed suddenly; going limp as we heard the squirting noise of his messing.

She held him up to her face, dangling by his armpits.

"Is that everything? Is my baby doggie all done?" She asked with a smile.

BitterGrey simply nodded, hiding a sniffle as she carried him over to the changing table and sat him down in his waste while he just shivered with the uncomfortable feeling of it being spread all around his private regions.

Likewise, I remembered the feeling was not fun; I was picky about such things, but I knew it was a side-effect of wearing a diaper and being unable to use the toilet like mommy could.

We looked up and saw as she wrapped his tail again before opening the front of his diaper. I felt ready to gag as his particular aroma wafted over to us from his used diaper.

She wiped him down with ginger strokes using a terry washcloth before pulling his diaper off and bundling it into a ball for disposal while she had him lie down. When she daintily snapped a fresh diaper from the package, relief flooded on BitterGrey's face as she took his ankles up and lifted his furry legs.

"Who's my special little puppy?" She inquired happily.

BitterGrey gave a sharp chirping bark, wagging his tail excitedly as she threaded his tail out the back hole of the cubby style diaper and proceeded to powder him with that nice cinnamon fragranced talcum that she had mixed up specially herself before pulling his diaper up and fastening it in place before sliding the piece of plastic from his tail and took to putting all of us all to bed for the night.

Back in our respective cribs, we sat up intently as she pulled a small rotating chair into the middle of the room and began to go to each of us and give a kiss and pull up our covers before she sat back down and smiled, crossing her arms lightly.

"It's bed time, but before I put you off to sleep, mommy has a story for you."

We focused on her immediately, curious-intense and listening with interest. I was curious what story she would tell. She was very good at it; I don't remember ever getting to the ending before I fell asleep.

And she had fantastic creativity; she never read from a book-she pulled it all from her head, and it was never too scary or sad. She did not dissapoint when we had a nap or a curfew.

"Once upon a time." She whispered softly, getting up briefly to turn out the lights, sitting back down as dainty as possible.

"There lived a fairy unicorn who flew on clouds and smelled all types of pretty flowers on her tireless and happy journeys. On one such adventure, she smelled one which was so sweet and lovely it put her to sleep right there amongst the soft petals and she reawakened in a scary dismal place where lived mean lumbering dark things. She did not know how, but she was trapped in this place and ignored. She felt she would be trapped in the darkness for the rest of her life. Now...as it happened, she did spent a little time in this rotten looking mean place, but fortunately, some brave adventurers heard upon her terrible plight in their dreams. The unicorn fairy knew she could speak to mortals in their dreams, but she did not realize what power she had when these four cute creatures she befriended earlier in her travels came to her rescue." She stopped briefly, taking a long measured look at each of us-even Orca stopped sucking his thumb briefly when their eyes met.

"When they came, she saw from her cage-whoopsie! Did I mention she was in a cage as well?-that her friends had changed a great deal since the long years in the past she had met them. While she stayed the same mischievous happy sprite who flitted from one place to another on a curious whim, they had matured and become not only bigger but so different in personality than she had known before."

"One of them was an amazonian centaur warrioress who had a great bow wrapped around her shoulder. She also had giant quivers of silver-tipped arrows affixed to her equine hide in special saddle-bags. Her eyes were the same lovely green that the unicorn fairy remembered, but they had deepened with thought and experience from years of fighting and noble deeds. The centaur had a magic horn upon her head that illuminated the murky dark passage with bright wonderful light."

"Another was a most masculine beast that had been descended from the great leaders of Atlantis before shrouds of a storm tore it down under the sea where it lay protected and hidden from the rest of the world for eternity. His eyes were beatiful; as blue as sky-tinted aquamarine or the very color of the sea in the Mediteranean. He carried with him a staff, for he was a pilgrim and wanderer; preaching the ways of gentleness and love to the world as he went to every city."

"The unicorn queen laughed when she saw her next rescuer; he was quite burly, yet he bore his tail between his legs in fright. He had been afraid of many things-including the dark, but the fact that he came despite his fear showed he had such remarkable and brave character. He wore a clawed gauntlet which surged with chaotic energy he could barely control with all of his will. It glowed nastily with the same dark glow as his eyes in the night. Sometimes the gauntlet controlled his body and made the power of anarchy his until something stopped him."

"The last was a benign tall creature who wore a thin gold-handled rapier on a belt about his waist. His hair was unruly-often covering his brown eyes completely at times. Eyes the deep dark amber of late sunset. She could see that he had a great many secrets to discover about himself as he journeyed and performed what acts he felt just. She could see in his body how his muscles quivered with jealousy at her bright fluttering wings. Flight was always on his mind-it was what set him free."

"Now, they came into this dark place with the help of sorcery from the wolf and his strange gloved fist. All around the dark pervaded except where the centaur willed her brilliance. They travelled tirelessly and the unicorn fairy could see their struggle in her mind and her dreams-and sometimes she could hear them fight far off in the distance when she lay awake at night. But she was patient, and she knew her friends would not fail her as long as they lived. With cleverness and boldness they fought off all dark creatures that challenged their mission. There were goblins and orcs, and moggs, and kobolds, and snake creatures with arms and eyes red like rubies in the dark.

"Many days they perilously fought to her, bringing their hope and kindness with them on the path. There was almost no end to the evil creatures, and they barely slept, but they never ceased their goal and they would succeed no matter what happened."

"Finally, one day, they made it to the end and released her from the dirty cage which kept her enslaved to the wicked things which lived so deep under the earth. This was not her world; she needed to be in a place where she could see the sun and fly to her dear contentment. The adventurers well knew this and they set off back to the exit to escape. Many more days did they traverse the hard barren rocky ground as the fairy unicorn regaled them with many wonderful stories about herself and the other folks of her kingdom like the leprechauns and the dryads and the elves made purely from highland mists who appeared briefly as foxfire before being swept away on the wind into a new place and adventure."

"When they came to the entrance of the cave and the sun shined in their eyes, they were so relieved they cried; for their trial was over and they could rest and be calm amongst the fluttering trees and leaves where no nasty creatures bore them harm. The fairy queen realized at that moment that her aimless wandering and her captivity were all distractions from what meant most to her in the world. She finally realized with her rescue from the monotony of darkness and murky endless sad days that these four who had selflessly rescued her from her torment meant more to her than she ever knew. She kissed them all delicataly and agreed to follow them on their many journeys because they were always meant to be together."

She went to each of us as I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep and felt her kiss me lightly on the cheek-heard her kiss all the others in kind before I felt her presence leave the room.

...

When I dreamed that night, she appeared to me lovingly as a fairy, sprinkling her magic dust on me and we flew together through the skies just as I had always wished. The clouds above were tinted with dark purple and the electric pink of a setting sun late in the afternoon. Smokestacks lazily coughed out gray lines of exhaust sparsely below amongst a panorama of crowded buildings with the occasional lazy puff from a chimney flue in good use by the occupant during a busy and quite harsh winter season.

The moon gave off a bright silver glow, bombarded by the purple rays of the sky and partially covered by the occasional mist of a cloud. Stars came alive above, shining with natural brilliance-below, the buildings zipped by like they were being sucked away by some powerful force.

Darkness gave chase from behind in lethargic manner, slowly closing in with dark purple waves of colors overtaking us like streamers of eels in the air. Clouds whipped through our hair; some thick enough that they almost choked us as we breathed.

And then it was night, and we saw the stars of the sky above as beautiful as diamonds glittering and set into a black silken tapestry or the gas-powered streetlights below with a dull orange glow which looked like living amber or fireopals ready to be placed into the crown of the fairy king along with his emeralds and sapphires and black-coal diamonds.

And rose-quartz.

The unicorn zipped eagerly about me in many acrobatic waves and circles, flipping all about with cute smug little giggles as her tiny white tail flapped behind her in the wind.

We travelled in the night with London below our questing curiosity and I knew where we were going.

It was where we all wished to go if we could-if we could remember how and not feel the humiliation that we shouldn't have to for having these feelings.

Feelings of never growing up; of staying a kid; of having the freedom to be who or what we want no matter what others say that we have to do. It was always a dream; just like flying-but it was a dream that could be made possible if I lost my shyness and embraced who I wanted to be.

Innocent. Happy. Young. Energetic. Hasty. Loved.

Neverland.

Chapter 10

In the morning, there was a hollow sensation coming through me; like I had been cheated out of something important entitled me. When I opened my eyes, I was in the hallway-the dirty dusty hallway with the carpet completely roasted to harsh acrid ash; which stained all of my body that touched it. There was ash smudges all over my fur and as I moved to get up, I coughed-the dust being stirred like black snow into the air.

Nearby came disgusted sounds and soft noises of things moving. When I turned my head, I saw that the others were waking as well, shrugging and shaking off the ash as they picked themselves up. They were clothed and there was no sign that we had ever left from where we had fallen after consuming the milk we had taken from downstairs and I knew had probably been drugged.

That left the weird feeling that what we had gone through did not actually happen, though it certainly felt like it. We were trapped in a world of uncertainty and doubt as we sorted out our thoughts on the emotions and sights we had viewed. When everyone was standing and the loose soot had been shaken from bodies and clothes, we went to the room where we had seen her-and the walls and the cribs and the floor were entirely scorched black.

We looked on dismayed, remembering that we had been with her in here only so recently and now it had utterly changed to something only a pyromaniac could take pride in. As I looked around, there were a few things that astonished me. Orca ran past me uncertainly, reaching into his crib which had been turned to charred kindling and brought out his dolphin plush-unscathed-untouched by the cruel caress of fire. He went to my crib and pulled out Shadow-also unblemished and as perfect as the days in the past that I had held him.

"How?" He mused, unsure.

"Her." I simply stated, pointing at Orca's butt.

He reached behind and felt his tush; there was no waste in his 'Orca Stack'; it had been exchanged for a clean one. Another mystery, i supposed, as almost everything pointed at all we had done with the unicorn was just a hallucination, but there were the couple of impossible inconsitencies.

Finally, I remembered that she disappeared when direct sunlight hit her body, and today it was morning-and everything was bright. Could it be that her enchantment and powers only worked towards the onset of night? And if that were the truth, then that must mean whatever she used her magic for to change the house to please us had wore off-or maybe-

I was so damn confused!

I had no idea how her magic worked or if what we discovered this morning couldn't have been coincidental with the actions of an unknown third party who was having their fun with us.

I did not know; I thought it simply better if I should leave instead. We had been here for a whole day, and didn't have the slightest idea exactly what was going on except that some impossible things had happened here.

Just like her hauntings.

I stop, thinking about that as I lead on my way to the second story kitchen with the high chairs-or rather-not so high chairs. These too, have been decimated horribly and so badly, that they no longer stood and they were falling apart like they had been made completely out of pencil graphite.

We were exploring one world and comparing it with the whimsical love and affection of another much more compete and untainted with such violence and murk; like our childhood-full of innocence and love and magic-had ended with the fire, which completely changed our lives and view of life for eternity.

Orca sniffed the air-pausing uncertainly before he lead the way to another door for a room which we never visited.

We stared, amazed at the state of this room. The fire had come and turned everything into hollow frail charcoal, but the ashes had become something new. Growing within the black powder came out several vines and flowers and grasses covering the whole room and walls with green and blooming blossoms of a multitude of colors in such an arrangement of natural grandiosity, we were crying with the lovely mystique of it; the room looked even more beautiful and fantastical after the fire than it had before it, we well knew.

"'There lived a fairy unicorn who flew on clouds and smelled all types of pretty flowers on her tireless and happy journeys...The fairy queen realized at that moment that her aimless wandering and her captivity were all distractions from what meant most to her in the world. She finally realized with her rescue from the monotony of darkness and murky endless sad days that these four who had selflessly rescued her from her torment meant more to her than she ever knew.'" I quoted, remembering her story and finally realizing the hidden message behind it.

We had freed her.

...

Orca held his head low and I knew most likely he was thinking of the condition of the caretaker mare as we left-about going away from her love and attention for as long as memory can last. He looked up with sullen eyes not his own, then, perhaps hoping to see her flying above. They were not content or spirited as they had been only hours before.

"Do you feel sorry to go Fluffy?" He mused.

I thoughtfully wondered about that and smiled briefly, remembering all the special moments we had together when we were reunited with her and the lovely condition of the house before the fire, but I also remember that the house would gain a new elegance now that the perfect fertilizer had been created to grow such exotic wonderful flora as we had not seen gathered in one small space.

"In her heart, we will never leave, and in our dreams, we will always belong to her." I muse thoughtfully.

************************************************************************************************************

A thoughtful story dedication to three very knowledgable technical advisors for the duration of the second portion of Hostle(r).

Proxima Centauri:

nurserytails.ca

BitterGrey:

understandinginfantilism.org

Orca; proud creator of the "Orca Stack" styled diaper.