Step 2 ~ Applejack, Smelling Of Poverty
Step 2
~Applejack, Smelling Of Poverty~
As far as the beginning of the day was concerned, Diamond Tiara was already done with the rest of the month. It was one thing when her parents thought her too immature to watch over the house, but a whole other that they simply forwent the fact that she didn’t even like the Apple Family.
“We’re aware of your little feud with Smith’s granddaughter, dearie,” her father had told her with a sigh, clearly not getting that this wasn’t just a little feud, “but this is the best solution for everypony involved, and that Applejack grew up to be one of the most trustworthy ponies in town.”
As she opened her saddlebags to put in her toothbrush, towel and assorted things, Diamond Tiara recounted those words. Her daddy always talked about how the ponies they left her with their trustworthy, and she was probably more aware of the why when he was. Walking to school every single day, not knowing what might happen and whether anypony would ever find out about her problem was draining as it was, but rich ponies also had their reputation to worry about. Diamond Tiara had to always be at her best, and the fact that she couldn’t do something so simple as use a toilet properly could be soul crushing if dwelled upon.
“Everything’s gonna be fine,” she told herself, and turned towards what else she had laid out to take with her.
For one there was this incredibly awesome (and incredibly wordy) comic book she got from Silver Spoon, which she hadn’t even started to actually read yet. Atop that she had placed the friendship diary she and Silver Spoon kept, so that this horrible weekend would never go unforgotten, and atop that rested her trusted plush toy, a cactus by the name of Humphrey. Now, Humphrey wasn’t her usual first choice as a plush when sleeping over at somepony else’s place, but he was the only one who might function as a makeshift weapon – For self defence only, of course.
He was nowhere near as piercy as a normal cactus, but his presence alone would hopefully have some sort of demoralizing effect. Kinda like one of the spells her mom’s mage used during those late night roleplaying sessions. Yeah, Diamond Tiara thought, that would be awesome.
Otherwise there wasn’t much she could take with her. She was half-debating to take her nightgown, just to be sure. It was already getting into the warmer seasons and Winter-Wrap Up had long since passed, but she always enjoyed the feel of expensive fabric against her coat. There were those reasons, and that it might cover her rear during the night. Diamond Tiara took that as a reason to pack it, finding her bags full even before she could get to the medical supplies. Not that that was entirely unexpected, since she always had a separate bag for those.
Timing was always important when staying over at another pony’s place. Diamond Tiara tried to keep everything around her condition as orderly as possible, since that was the mature thing to do, and so she had a clear plan of when she would change. Her father had told her that he’d drop her off at the acres somewhere around eleven O’clock, which meant she’d go through two more diapers before nighttime. The filly took a moment as she calculated how many more she needed to pack, before reaching a conclusion.
She kept her diapers on two shelves in her cabinet. The higher one was for daytime, the lower one for nighttime ones. Tiara grabbed herself nine for the day and three for the nights. As she did so, she felt her stomach turn. Three whole nights she had to spend over there. Hopefully she wouldn’t end up in the same room as Apple Bloom. And even if, at least the other two blank flanks won’t be there, she concluded. The world wouldn’t be that cruel to her. Not ever.
Her medical bag had been a gift from a distant relative in Manehattan, Coco something. It was colored rose, with the fastener’s styled like Diamond Tiara’s cutie mark. Another good thing about this condition, Diamond thought, not really understanding why she told that herself, but figured that it was simply due to the fact that there were an awful lot of positives about this.
No matter, she crammed the diapers into the bag, followed by a bottle of powder. As far as health care went, this was plenty already, and so she closed the fastening shut and turned back to the rest. Basically, she had packed everything and Humphrey, and that meant only one thing was missing.
Her eyes turned to her window and her table by its side. The pink piece of furniture stood there in all its beauty, atop it all her gear for hoof-, coat- and manecare. Not only that, but also the one thing she disliked most about her life, despite it being shaped like her cutie mark. The tiara.
She moved across her room with quick steps and stopped before the table. On the wall above it hung her mirror, in which she got a good look on herself. Diamond Tiara, the little princess who had outgrown two types of diapers already and would probably outgrow at least one or two more. A young filly who never could be herself outside the walls of her home. However, she was a pony of high society, and that meant she wouldn’t fret. The filly decided that she would ensure to come out of this with her reputation not only intact, no, she would come out even better than before. After all, fooling somepony like a Apple Bloom was easy, she had done that since the days of kindergarten.
A brave smile formed on herself as she grabbed the tiara. Before she put it on, however, she checked herself, finding that she wasn’t in an immediate need to change. She could keep to the schedule, she would conquer the Apple Family’s farm, and she would do so looking like the cute little princess that she was. She started humming a dramatic melody as she slowly lifted the tiara upon her head. She liked to imagine it like being crowned after ascending the throne, with thousands of ponies cheering at her and every being in the universe bowing before her eternal might. Or something along those lines.
The moment the princesses’ crown touched her head, Diamond Tiara felt a chill run down her body and something of an itch at the back of her head appearing and then fading away with the seconds. This was the part she hated, actually, this short moment when the illusionary magic took hold over her body and let any hint of her condition fade into obscurity. Diamond Tiara wasn’t a pony to bother herself with unnecessary details, but she was aware that this was the most expensive solution on the market, and had therefore to be the best.
But now the diaper was out of sight, and she could admire herself for who she should be. Diamond Tiara, the richest and coolest filly in town, heir to one of the wealthiest enterprises in all of Equestria. Yes, she could and would do this, and if all else failed: She had a cactus plushie with her.
Her mother was busy getting her own stuff ready for the journey, so Rich walked his daughter across town. Ponyville was a small town, so most ponies knew each other. Sure, there was always one face without name and often a stranger would come up and pretend they were best drinking buddies with everypony, even if those ponies hadn’t been allowed anywhere near cider at their age, which actually was pretty unfair, since everypony got to line up for it and even Apple Bloom got to be there and–
Diamond Tiara felt herself seething already, but did her best to ignore the itch on the back of her head. It felt like a bug dancing polka up and down, and the thought of that thing ruining her imaginary self’s mane in the process didn’t light her mood up one bit. By this point, she was practically looking forward to throw some insults in Apple Bloom’s general direction, just to get it out of her system. Then again, that might also backfire, considering she would be on enemy territory.
“Why do I have to stay over at the Apples?” She asked as they walked down the townsquare, putting the best whine into her voice.
Her father, who was also carrying her medical supplies, first greeted Lyra Heartstrings, a hobo of the silent variety, with a nod before he answered his daughter. “Because we’ve been friends with them since my grandfather’s generation and, as I stated before, I can’t just leave my little princess with anypony.”
The smile he gave her was a well-trained one, it easily obscured the fact that he was running on coffee and probably dark magic, if he had taken Banner Bright’s advice. Though she doubted it, becoming a lich over lack of sleep just seemed stupid. No matter, she at least knew that the smile was honest in its intent, since her daddy loved her more than his image.
“Okay,” she said, though her mood wasn’t lifted by the trust Rich put into that family.
They remained quiet over the course of the walk, and, as everyday, the illusion worked well enough that Diamond herself almost forgot that she was wearing diapers. Normally, she would just let that be and push it into the back of her head, but right now it was still nagging at her, like a bad mark on a test, hidden beneath hundreds of other papers so it would never be signed. Yet, she knew better than talk about it with Ponyville around her.
But when the time came and they entered the avenue that led straight to Sweet Apple Acres, the first thing she did was ask the question. “What if Apple Bloom finds out about my problem? She’ll tell the whole class, and I’ll never be able to show my face in Ponyville again. I’ll probably become a hobo like that Lyra and need to play my tiara all day long in order to live on.”
Her father grimaced. “First off: Lyra Heartstrings is not a hobo, she has recently found quarters of her own. Secondly: You can’t play a tiara, your special talent isn’t the ability to do whatever you want with a tiara. Thirdly: I’m sure it’ll be fine. As said, the apples are old friends of ours, and Applejack has sworn that it’ll stay a secret.”
“You told her?” Now Diamond Tiara grew red as a tomato, not quite knowing what to say.
“Your mother did, actually. She arranged for this whole thing, like, yesterday. But yes, she knows.”
The sheer nonchalance with which he said those words was actually scaring Diamond Tiara quite a bit. She didn’t even know how to approach the acres now, just the thought of Apple Bloom’s sister knowing about her condition was ruining her day even further. Why would her father even talk to her without consulting Diamond first? Was this one of those usual adult small talk things. Would they usually go: “Oh, my daughter never stopped wearing diapers, and since she clearly has no dignity because of that, let me also show you some pictures.”
“Did mommy show her pictures?”
“Pictures?” Rich raised an eyebrow. “Why would she show Applejack pictures. She knows how you look, you’ve talked with her the last few hundred times we’ve been to the acres.”
“Didn’t she want proof? Who’d believe a filly my age still wears diapers, like a foal.”
Rich stopped in his tracks, and Diamond followed suit a second after, looking at him. “Sweetie,” he said, “I told you quite often before, you’re not a foal just because you wear diapers. Foals don’t have their cutie marks, foals aren’t able to clean their rooms, and no foal in the world is as smart as you, okay?”
Diamond Tiara gave but a short nod, not really having any proper answer for this.
“And since you’re quite mature already I need you to understand, that if the Apples are going to take care of you over the weekend, we didn’t want any surprises happening. In case anything happens, you can trust Applejack, BigMacintosh, and, if all else fails, there’s always Miss Smith. Me and your mother are trusting them, so I need you to trust them, too, okay?”
“Okay,” she lied, not really being okay with this. The look in his eyes told her that he saw through her completely.
Her daddy was almost as good at lie detecting as her mommy. Banner Bright’s second best talent was to discern a pony’s intention, which was one of the many reasons why she held a monopoly on banner sales in town. That and getting a monopoly on anything was quite easy in Ponyville.
Still, they moved on, until they finally reached that big, red building that stood between hundreds of apple trees. Anypony else would’ve called this house, the center of Sweet Apple Acres as majestic as the palace of Canterlot. The way it blended in with the rows and rows of trees could bring a tear to one’s eye. Naturally, all Diamond Tiara saw was a tiny shack made out of rotting wood that reeked of discount prizes at the local woodshop. Considering there was no woodshop in Ponyville, that was quite a feat to achieve.
Diamond Tiara knew that this was the last chance for her to change her father’s opinion. “Do we have to do this, daddy? I’m really old enough to look after myself now.”
“Princess, let me be honest. If we had a smaller house, we could actually discuss that, but I’m not leaving my daughter alone in a house with four hundred rooms, if not more. The last thing I want is you getting lost on the third floor, having nopony to help you, and starving to death because there is a chance that there is no kitchen up there. I’m not sure, and I actually I’ve never been to the third floor of our house and there are rumours of a bear living in the fourth.”
Diamond Tiara blinked. “A bear?” She had never heard of that before.
“Yes, big, ugly bear. Why do you think you’re not allowed to go to the fourth floor?”
Diamond Tiara tilted her head, wondering whether she had ever even wondered about going to the fourth. Heck, she hadn’t even been to all the rooms on the first and second floor. Which made her think that her dad was probably right. What if she did get lost in the house? Yes, she could actually see his point, and that made her understand, for one brief moment, why she had to stay over at the acres. She understood up until a voice tore through her thoughts and she was reminded of the sort of ponies she was staying with.
“Howdy, Mister Filthy.”
It was Applejack, coming out of the house with a wide smile, greeting both of them by waving her hat around. The orange earth seemed awfully happy to see them and Diamond Tiara could almost smell the poverty off of her. Her father had to force a smile.
“For the millionth time, it’s Rich. The only mare allowed to call me by my first name is my wife,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Ahahaha,” Applejack laughed, doing so with an ever present accent that was more annoying than Dinky talking of glorious conquests and the lamentations of the griffons or something. “Ah reckon’ she’s got quite a bit of fun with that, Mister Rich.”
Diamond Tiara had to tilt her head at that comment, though her father had the decency to blush. “Miss Applejack, my … My daughter?!” He stated, appalled at her bluntness.
“Ah got what I wanted anyway, seein’ ya’ll flustered is enough payment for me ta take ya daughter in,” she answered and looked to the filly. “Hey, Diamond Tiara.”
“Can’t you speak proper equine?”
A moment of silence passed and the two adults just stared at her. For a moment she wondered if she had said something wrong. It had been an honest question, and one that had been in the back of her head for quite a while. The Apples were the only ponies around town with any kind of accent, so one would expect them to adapt or something.
“It’s a northern accent, Diamond, since we Apples come from high up north. We never ditch our roots, so you have to put up with it,” Applejack finally answered with all the grace she could muster. Which, admittedly wasn’t much, considering she was a farm pony, but still Diamond Tiara nodded. That explanation served well enough for now.
“So, anyway,” Applejack then continued. “Ah guess y’all are here ‘cause of the sleepover?”
“Yes, that would be correct. I hope we don’t bother you or anything?”
“No, no, Rich, it’s fine. Diamond, ya can get in. Ya get to stay together with Apple Bloom, so ya two can do some bondin’.”
That’s bad, was all Diamond Tiara could think when she got that instruction.
“Oh, and the other crusaders are staying over tonight, too.”
Kill me now, was all Diamond Tiara could think when she heard that statement.
“And for dinner we’ll have some apple pie.”
I could dress Humphrey up as me and immigrate to Canterlot, was all Diamond Tiara could think when–, “Did you say pie?”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“Woohoo!” Diamond Tiara cried out. While it wasn’t quite on par with an entire bakery, she’d still count this as a victory.
“Well, how about you go upstairs an’ unpack yer things. Me an’ your dad need to talk through some stuff,” Applejack then proposed and Diamond Tiara nodded, having her morale raised high into the sky by the prospect of pie.
“But come back down afterwards, I still want to hug you at least once before I go,” Rich said before Diamond went through the door and into the dark mysteries of her enemy’s home. Yet the narration stayed fixed at this point, as Rich lifted the bag off his back and put it down on the ground. “As for us, that’ll be Diamond’s medical bag.”
“Ah, right,” Applejack said. “Kinda hoped Banner’d been jokin’ about that.”
Rich offered her a smile, “She may have a cruel sense of humor, but this isn’t one of her jests. Despite, it’s not half as bad as it seems.”
Applejack undid the fastening to spot the different diapers inside, only to give Rich a cold look. “Not half as bad? You’re not tellin’ me to check on her every hour or so?”
Rich laughed at that suggestion. “No, no. She can take care of this part herself. It’s not that me and Banner don’t think she’s unable to watch over herself for a weekend.”
“It’s about her relationship with Apple Bloom?”
The stallion nodded. “I’d like them to be friends, especially since Diamond isn’t friends in her age group with anypony but Silver Spoon. Honestly, with all that’s expected of a filly her age at these high class parties we attend, I’d love her to have some friends closer to earth, especially some who might accept her without some illusionary spell.”
Applejack sighed. “Ya know, why didn’t ya go to a doctor with it, anyway?”
“Miss Applejack, that’s what you usually do when your kid has a birth defect. The operation couldn’t fix it and now we’re stuck, trying to make the best out of it,” he told her, giving a smile.
She nodded. “Right, sorry if that got a little personal.”
“It’s fine. It’s in the past and we’re managing quite well. However, as penance, do make sure she keeps her changing schedule. She set it up herself, but, as kids go, is actually quite horrible at committing to it.”
Applejack sighed. “Sure, but ah’m not goin’ to check on her every few hours.”
“Neither should you. Apparently a long term illusion spell does a quite a number on the temper,” Rich laughed.
“Ah know, yer wife already told me ‘bout that, too.”
The mood was broken, however, as Diamond Tiara walked through the door again, her eyes held on the two. “I’m done,” she announced, “but do I really have to sleep in one room with Apple Bloom?”
Applejack noted the suspicious way the filly was eyeing at her, but by this point she could excuse that sort of behaviour, even though this wasn’t going to be that funny a weekend.
“We ain’t got no other rooms for guests. Despite, it’ll be fun.”
Or at least Banner Bright must have thought this kind of scenario extraordinarily amusing, since she had masterminded this weekend into happening. Of course, she was also staying far away in Trottingham in a business meeting, so that was that. Applejack just tried to give Diamond Tiara an enthusiastic smile, while the filly’s father nodded in agreement.
“Just remember, you’re a big filly, you’re my daughter. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle anything they’ll throw at you,” Rich said finally. “And it’s time that I’ll get on with it, too.”
Applejack, who was still used to seeing Diamond Tiara around the other students, was a bit surprised at how quick the filly pulled her father into a hug. Filthy, being the sentimental kind of stallion, answered with a hug of his own, stroking his daughter’s mane.
“I’ll see you on monday, princess.”
With that, the hug was ended. Filthy Rich excused himself and wished them a happy weekend before he finally turned away and walked back to his home, where surely his wife would already wait for him. Their day would go on, and so would Diamond Tiara’s. As far as Applejack was concerned, she wasn’t quite sure how things had ended up like this, but the prospect of Diamond Tiara not bullying her little sister anymore had been most intriguing. Now, all that was left was making that actually happen.
“So,” Diamond Tiara suddenly said, unusually timid, “he told you everything?”
“Yup,” Applejack stated bluntly. “Yer secret’s safe with me.”
“You haven’t told Apple Bloom?”
“Ah wanted to leave that to ya–”
“Wonderful, she’ll never know,” Diamond Tiara stated with a laugh. “You promise to not tell her?”
“I … Don’t tell me yer plan is ta hide yer condition over the course of the whole weekend?” Applejack raised an eyebrow as she stared at this little filly whom she considered snobbish, to say the least.
“It’ll be hard, but, maybe, if you’d help me?”
Applejack blinked. She had never seen a war in her life. In fact, up until this point, most of her days she had spent with activities that involved apples. It was a peaceful and quiet way of living she had and so she didn’t quite know what to make of that filly asking her whether she’d join her army. Honestly, if she answered wrong now, she might kickstart events that might even doom the farm, for the wrath of children should never be underestimated. Then again, Apple Bloom had been very lazy about her chores as of late, preferring to stay around with her friends.
And, maybe she had talked to much with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Banner Bright, but it might actually help them get together if she got involved. Applejack weighed out those opinions carefully before she came to a conclusion.
“Ah won’t tell ‘er ‘bout yer condition, if ya can keep it civil in the house,” was what she decided on.
Safety first, Applejack thought, believing in the false hope that her farm would never be swallowed by any kind of chaos.
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But ya get a free frogurt.
That's good.
The frogurt is also cursed.
That's bad.
But ya get your choice of topping.
That's good.
The toppings contain potasium benoziate.
......
That's bad!
Can I go now?
Of course.
1,000 bits says the tiara gets knocked off or the spell shorts out or some other horrible catastrophe happens, revealing DT's secret shame.
Not sure if it was the cold, or that I somehow wasn't expecting THAT kind of joke from a... why am I reading this? I can not stand this type of grown ponies in diapers type stories! So, why did I continue reading?
I'll admit, I was cursing to myself downloading this story to read when "diapers" came up. I was expecting a lot of vulgar pee or ugh, the other stuff. I could only hope it lived up to the EVERYONE tag... and so far, this story had been rather brilliant. I can't say I don't find it creepy, but, this story seems to be treating it as if it's so normal and it actually has some of the best moments I've read between DT and her dad and mom in such ways that shows more than the typical "Her parents are neglectful." "Never spend time with her." and it's almost like I forget this story has to do with diapers when I read on.
Hell, that line above, that very quote, side-winded me with a sort of delayed laugh where I almost spluttered the fair amount of tea I had just sipped back into my cup, in fear it would splatter over me or my possessions. Thankfully, I don't know how, I managed to laugh a bit through the sides of my mouth and through my stuffy nose a bit before I managed swallow my tea so I could release the rest of the laughter.
You have such a lovely description for this story. I fear I never saw the warning signs, but my ignorance aside, I'm happy I missed that tidbit, from the way you describe a painting, the inner workings of "The Dance" to how wonderfully creative her parents are that they even managed to make DT (not sure) believe some of that stuff with Lich's and Mages.
I feel like Twilight Sparkle after she learns a lesson that humbles her a bit. So, despite you probably never knowing unless spoken, I still feel I should share this since I can't stand to feel I've judged someone so wrongly. This is a remarkably amazing story. I can't say that I'll warm up to the diaper stuff anytime soon, but in the context of this story, I can say I am getting not just a story that tries to explain the condition some people genuinely suffer through/have to deal with/prefer living with, and still offers a very genuine story of growth and characterization not found in many stories with Diamond Tiara.
Long story short, I, so far, am very much loving this story and I am going to look forward to more of this story.
/+1 like and just because it's that good up to this point, have a fav!
While I just can't see the appeal of this as a fetish, I have known a couple, included my friend's ailing father in his final months being forced to use diapers, the condition that forces you to live with it is understandable and I feel bad it took a story like this to remind me this is more than just a fetish and an actual thing some have to live with regardless of age.
3946798 Loved that Halloween episode. xD
Man, Simpsons really have done it all.
Oh god twice in one conversation..... pplejack you perv
And, maybe she had talked to much with Rainbow Dash,
I think you mean too*
This is one of the most creative ideas for a diaper story I have read yet... makes me jealous I did not think of it XD
Don't see why diamond's so suspicious of applejack.
She's the element of honesty and she can't trust that? 
I like it so far but the apple lands are in the south, not the north. Also Applejack has a south american accent.
pretty good story, I reckon ;)