Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle – mage, alicorn, and student in Magic Kindergarten – worked busily on her study chart.

It was made with felt and bits of paper, and she was very proud of it. It detailed how she was going to divide up the weeks she had until her next exam, making sure to drink enough to stay hydrated along with carefully-crafted sections of the schedule for all aspects of what she was supposed to learn in Magic Kindergarten.

Bottle summoning, crinkle re-crinkling, absorbency testing... everything had its own slots, including revision-of-revision sections later in the study guide and special colours for everything.

The only problem was-

“Oh no!” Twilight said, sitting back on her padded rump and staring at the clock. “I spent so long on the guide I only have a few hours until the test!”

She began to breathe faster, then found a pacifier and stuck it in her mouth to calm her down. It helped, making her more able to relax, and she began to consider how to solve the problem.

Then Pinkie Pie rolled past the door, which was a whole new kind of odd.

“Hiya Twilight! I didn’t know you were in this dream!” The pink pony declared, rolling backwards onto her own squeakily padded rear. Twilight waved her hoof at Pinkie trying to shoo her away.

“Nah naow Pinnie, I haf a tesht shoon!” She mumbled through her pacifier. Pinkie only giggled, flopping onto her hooves and waddling into Twilight’s house. She became stuck in the door for a moment, her belly and diaper squeezing into the sides of the frame. Pushing with her hooves, Pinkie struggled a moment before bouncing through, each bounce on her rear met with more giggles from the earth pony.

Landing beside her friend, Pinkie poked Twilight in the side, grinning. “A test? Boy, I know you like books and all, but I would’ve thought you’d come up with something a little more fun to dream about!”

Twilight’s horn lit up as she conjured up some earmuffs, trying to block out Pinkie’s chatter. What was she talking about anyway? A dream? Certainly not something she needed getting in the way of her studying!

“O-o-ooh, I see what's going on!” Pinkie giggled. “You don't know you're in a dream!”

She rubbed a hoof against her chin, then raised it. “And I know just how to help!”

Pinkie raised another hoof. “There's all sorts of ways to remind a pony that they're in a dream!”

Twilight increased the thickness of her earmuffs, discovering them to still not be thick enough to block Pinkie out. “Pinkie... 'm tryin' to con-cen-trate!”

“That's a good one!” Pinkie agreed with a giggle. “But here's another one!”

She raised a third hoof. “All you need to do is to show off something that a pony couldn't do in reality!”

Twilight gave Pinkie a wordless look, still sucking on her pacifier.

“Ooh, yeah, good point,” Pinkie admitted. She raised a fourth hoof, now sitting on her diaper with all four hooves in the air. “So that means I have to do something really odd!”

She leaned in to whisper to Twilight. “I need to be logical!”

Twilight did a double-take. Pinkie, logical?

She'd believe it when she saw it.

Pinkie tapped her chin, thinking for a moment. “You know, Twilight, if you’re really worried about this test, the best way to study is good old paper and pencil! Take all the notes you can! Flashcards! Practice tests! Do the homework again!” She said, bouncing in place.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, suckling again. Pinkie couldn’t be serious, could she? The last time she needed help Pinkie had suggested sleeping on the notes so they’d meld through her brain when she did. Or that… rap… thing she’d done with Dash. Twilight still wasn’t sure how to classify that. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, so she decided to test the waters. “An what should I do if I fail?”

“Why, you pick yourself up, look at what you did wrong, and aim to fix it the next time around! Though, knowing you, you’ll probably freak out a little.” Pinkie giggled as her diaper squeaked.

Twilight let out a horrified gasp of surprise, her pacifier dropping to the floor. Pinkie was making sense! This couldn’t be! What in Equestria was going on?!

Deciding that this was a situation even more important – for now – than Magic Kindergarten, Twilight lit her horn.

Normally, Twilight was the sort of pony who researched the solution to just the problem she was in – and, what with the way the same problem never turned up twice, she usually ended up with a pile of spells she'd never need again. But this time she knew just what to do.

Pinkie was making sense. Therefore, something was wrong with the world.

“Twilight?” came the voice of Cheerilee. “I hope you're ready for the exam!”

The exam! Twilight panicked, realizing she hadn't done her homework-

She automatically cast the spell on her horn, just to clear it-

The Failsafe Spell pulsed outwards, and the room around Twilight stabilized. It had been turning into a classroom, but now it was back to being her main room at her new home.

Cheerilee vanished mid-sentence, and Twilight realized what had been going on – Pinkie was right. They were in a dream.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though the failsafe spell hadn't managed to get rid of their diapers.

“Pinkie? What’s going on?” Twilight cried out, looking down at her thickly padded rear. She reached for the tapes with her hooves, attempting to tug the diaper off. No matter how much she pulled and yanked at the padding, though, it remained firmly wrapped around her waist.

“I told you, we’re in a dream silly! And I think I know what meanie pony’s behind all this too!” Pinkie rolled onto her hooves once again, leaning in close to Twilight. Twilight tried to ignore the pudge to Pinkie’s gut and the way her diaper squeaked with every little movement. “It’s…” She whispered. Twilight leaned in, bracing herself.

“NIGHTMARE MOON!” Pinkie shouted, Twilight letting out a yelp of surprise as she tumbled backwards. Pushing herself onto her rear, Twilight shook her head in an attempt to clear the ringing in her ears.

“What? Nightmare Moon? But…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she thought back to her visit to the principal’s office. She couldn’t quite remember every detail, but she certainly remembered the principal being jet black, and had a familiar voice. “What? But how did she return? What’s going on?”

Pinke shrugged, helping Twilight back onto her hooves. “I dunno! I just remember she came around to visit my dream a while back, oh boy, you shoulda seen how big she made me get! And my diaper too, it was huuuuge!” Pinkie spread her hooves to try and display just how large she meant.

Twilight winced. “I... well, that must have been-”

“It was kinda great!” Pinkie interrupted, giggling. “I mean, I don't think Black Snooty's all bad, now, but you know she's still trapped us in a dream-y thing, right?”

Her friend blinked, then decided that Pinkie's preferences were a matter for Pink Party Ponies. “I... yes. Okay. So we're in a dream, and we need to get out...”

She frowned, thinking, and patted her diaper uncertainly. “Are these just a dream thing, or...”

“I'm pretty sure we need to use them!” Pinkie said, unconcerned.

Twilight sighed, sitting on her rump, and tried not to enjoy the snug feeling. “Okay, uh... so if we need to beat Nightmare Moon, then... well, the only thing we know works on her is the Elements of Harmony, and we don't have them any more.”

“Of course we do!” Pinkie countered, pulling out an Element of Laughter from her mane. “Silly billy-goat, we're in a dream!”

Twilight stared.

“...how did you do that?”

She shook her head. “Anyway... that might actually be a good thing. I know a spell I learned back when we had to deal with the Tantabalus, which lets us travel through dream worlds – that should help.”

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie jumped up and down, bouncing on her diaper a couple of times to give her extra spring. “Does that make this a fetch quest?”

She shook her head. “No, wait, I know! It's Getting The Band Back Together! I've always wanted to do one of those!”

Twilight was about to question Pinkie, then figured it probably wasn’t worth the explanation she’d receive. “Alright, just stand close to me,” Twilight said. Pinkie obliged, pressing her bouncy diaper into Twilight’s as she squeezed her into her belly. Twilight let out a gasp of air before focusing her magic. Her horn began to glow, magic swirling around the two as Twilight concentrated. There was a sudden flash and the two disappeared from the dream in a burst of magic.

Or rather, the dream disappeared around them. Twilight and Pinkie found themselves standing on an ethereal walkway, stars glittering about in the swirling dreamscape all around them. “Oooh, whose dream is this?” Pinkie asked, bounding forward along the path.

“I don’t think we’re in a dream… not yet, at least.” Twilight mused, following Pinkie along the pathway. A few blurry scenes seemed to melt past them, Pinkie watching as bubbles of other pony’s dreams floated by. It wasn’t too long before a world began to form around them, Pinkie and Twilight merging with the dream as they did. Their hooves began to clack along a stone floor as they found themselves wandering through a series of caves. Twilight glanced about, trying to figure out whose dream they were in. The sound of soft slurps and smacks met their ears, and the two ponies began to wend their way through the hallways to locate the source.

“You sure you didn’t send us to a Diamond Dog dream, Twilight? I mean, I’m sure they have fun dreams, but I don’t think it’s our top priority, silly!” Pinkie chuckled. The two turned a corner and suddenly found themselves facing something large sitting in the caves. What looked like a red plush bubble was distorted outwards, seams straining to hold in the fluff behind it as it looked like it was being pushed in the tunnel from a room behind them. And whatever was making those delighted gobble-y sounds was just beyond it…

“I think you're right,” Twilight said. “We should find some way to...”

She paused, lighting her horn, then stamped a hoof – making her rump shake from side to side. “That's just brilliant...”

“What?” Pinkie asked. “Is it a new kind of cake? That would be brilliant! Oh, or is it croutons?”

Twilight gave Pinkie a confused look, then shook her head. “I tried to move us on from this dream, but it didn't work. I think we have to find some way to make it take its course.”

As she said that, there was a particularly loud gobble sound, and the straining bubble vanished – pulled away by a huge clawed limb, then popped into the mouth of a gigantic purple dragon and swallowed.

They got only a brief glimpse of the dragon, though, because a cascade of somewhat smaller overstuffed-green bubbles rained down and clogged up the tunnel again.

“What was that?” Twilight asked. “Pinkie, what did you see?”

“I saw a big diaper!” Pinkie replied. “Even the dragons around here are diapered!”

She put a hoof to her muzzle. “Oh, and I saw a load of big squidgy plush gemstone thingies! I bet it'd be great fun to roll around on them!”

“Well, all I saw was the dragon,” Twilight replied, trotting up to the pile of plush bubbles – which, now she looked at them, did look like they had what should be facets on them. They could already hear the sound of eating again. “It had purple scales and a green ridge... just like... Spike?”

Twilight had a bad feeling, poking at the large stuffed gemstone that sat in front of her. Her horn began to glow once again as a small lance appeared at the end. Twilight pushed her head into the gem, but rather than slice through the plush material, Twilight’s magic simply bounced off, sending the pony reeling backwards. Twilight shook her head, Pinkie giggling a little as she watched Twilight land on her padded rump with a puff of foal powder. Twilight attempted to cut the gem again, but the magic simply rebounded once more. Flopping onto the floor, Twilight began to think about how to get through. Well, if the dragon on the other side was Spike… there probably wasn’t a good way to get his attention away from a gem.

“So, make the gem get his attention!” Pinkie said, as if she could read Twilight’s mind. Which, for all Twilight knew, she could. Twilight began to focus her magic once again. Rather than attempt to cut through the plush stone this time, the material began to streeeeetch as the gem grew larger, and larger. There was a pause, the swelling stone having caught the attention of the greedy dragon. Suddenly the stone moved again, allowing Twilight and Pinkie Pie to rush into the room.

“Spike! It’s Twi-“ Twilight’s yells were cut short as the ponies were buried under another avalanche of plush stones, Pinkie laughing as she rolled about in their cozy embrace. Twilight tried to push herself through the toys, swimming in the direction of the contented gobbles and occasional burp.

It was like swimming through a pool of water, though considerably more solid. Or a bit like getting stuck halfway through a cloud, if clouds were warm instead of cold. But Twilight was determined, dedicated... diapered... and had plenty of time on her hooves, so after what felt like several minutes she surfaced above the top layer of the plush.

What she saw was more bizarre than she'd expected, but really shouldn't have been.

Spike – or a huge version of Spike, like the one from the Greed Growth incident but pudgier and somehow softer – was lying on a bed made of hundreds of soft-toys made to look like stacks of books. He reached out every few seconds, grabbing a clawful of soft, plushy gems – often just one big one – and eating them down with every sign of abandon.

“Spike!” Twilight called. “It's Twilight! Listen!”

Spike looked over at her, then returned to eating gems again.

“What now?” Twilight asked, looking over as Pinkie stuck her head up above the surface of some sapphires.

“Well, we already know he's only interested in gems!” Pinkie replied. “So we should dress up like gems and make sure he pays attention to us!”

“I’d rather not get eaten, Pinkie,” Twilight responded, only to wobble in place a moment later as the gems shifted beneath her from Spike’s endless appetite. He swallowed a large emerald, his belly bulging outwards, stretching the waistband of his diaper before the weight seemed to flow out to the rest of his body, making him grow even bigger. Spike rolled on the stack of books a bit, reaching down to grab at another gemstone. He gazed at it, licking his lips as he squeezed the big plush into his belly. It was then that he spotted another stone, even larger than the one in his claws. He whined a bit, as if unable to decide what to do with the current gem and was worried the other would disappear. Spike reached down, stretching the waistband of his diaper open where Twilight spotted several more gems had been stashed for later. Spike pushed the gem into his padding, blushing a bit as it stretched to accommodate the plush, pressing snugly into his belly. He then reached for the next gem, having a bit more trouble from the extra bloat in his diaper.

A lightbulb appeared above Twilight’s head, and her horn began to flare up once again. Spike looked down as his diaper began to shift, the stones inside squeezing into him. Suddenly, the gems began to swell, stretching bigger and bigger, Spike’s padding ballooning outwards. He let out a small cry of surprise as he was lifted up into the air, the pit of gems below him out of his reach. He clawed at his diaper, trying to remove it and regain access to the tasty stones, but he had as much luck as Twilight had earlier. There was a pomf as his head bumped into the ceiling, Spike rubbing it as he looked down at the unreachable gems below him. That’s when he noticed Twilight and Pinkie attempting to climb up his diaper, drawing his attention away from the stones. “T-Twilight? Pinkie? What’re you guys doing here?”

“Well, it's kind of a long story-” Twilight began.

“How come you're wearing diapers?” Spike asked.

“You see-”

“How come I'm wearing a diaper?” the dragon demanded. “What's-”

Twilight tried to get a word in. “If you'd just-”

“Where did all these-”

“It's a dream!” Pinkie said brightly. “Nightmare-Moon had a bad dream, and because she is a bad dream she got everyone else involved! And for some reason there's diapers, probably because I called her not-fun last time we met and she got really into going the other way!”

“Huh,” Spike mused. “That totally makes all kinds of sense. Why didn't you say that, Twilight?”

Twilight groaned.

“Well, anyway, I'm still feeling kind of peckish,” Spike went on.”Can you let me down?”

“Awww, the widdle baby draggy’s hungry! Don’t worry, auntie Pinkie’s got just the gem for you!” Pinkie cooed, Twilight’s face falling into her hoof. Pinkie produced a diamond almost as big as Spike’s head out of seemingly nowhere, Spike smacking his lips again as he reached for the stone.

“Pinkie! We don’t have time for this!” Twilight said, but it was too late, Spike had taken the gem from Pinkie’s hooves, holding it in his claws. Spike tossed the gem up into the air before gobbling it down, somehow sliding it easily down his throat. There was a rumble, and Spike’s belly surged out, pressing the two ponies into the ceiling of the cave. Twilight wriggled about as Pinkie grinned, squeezing the plush dragon’s hide as he grew. Then, with a loud burp, Spike began to slowly shrink down, his diaper and gems stuffed inside doing the same. Twilight let out a gasp as Spike’s gut stopped squishing her into the roof of the cave, Spike shrinking further and further. Like a deflating balloon, it wasn’t long before Spike was back to his normal size, beyond his somewhat engorged, plush gut. He sat in his diaper, patting his belly and letting out a contented sigh. “Mmm, that hits the spot.~”

“Alright, Twily, where to next?” Pinkie asked, oblivious to Twilight’s look of confusion. “You really ought to get used to this sort of thing, silly! If I didn’t know any better, this is the first real dream you’ve had!” Pinkie snorted, Spike attempting to get back to his feet, claws holding up his stuffed diaper.

“I... don't know how you worked out how to do that,” Twilight said. “And I'm not sure if I want there to be a logic behind it, or if I want it to just be a Pinkie Pie thing.”

Pinkie just giggled.

“Right,” Twilight went on. “So... okay, we need to cast the dreamwalking spell again. Or, rather, I need to cast it.”

She frowned. “I'm not sure quite how to steer it, not yet, but I think it's important to concentrate on the destination – it certainly matters with teleports, and this is sort of like a teleport through the dream world.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie said. “So if we want to find Rarity, then we think about fashion and dresses and garden parties and all that kind of thing she likes?”

She crossed her forelegs, sitting back on her diaper to emphasize her discontent. “Garden parties are boring. They're just ponies standing around and talking, without a rubber chicken in sight!”

“That's... about how it works,” Twilight agreed. “Should we aim for Rarity, then?”

“Yeah!” Spike said. “I support this idea!”

He tried to hide some plush gems behind his back, mostly unsuccessfully.

“No carry-on baggage larger than your head,” Pinkie said, taking some of them from him and throwing them back into the pile.

“Right, here we go,” Twilight told them. “Remember, stay close.”

She lit her horn, and there was a brilliant flash as the dream dissolved.

“Does this mean I'm awake now?” Spike asked, as they whirled through the path between the worlds of the dreams. “My dream stopped.”

“I don't think it does,” Twilight replied. “Okay, remember – Rarity, concentrate on Rarity!”

“Garden parties!” Pinkie volunteered.

A moment later, they dropped into one of the nearby dreams, and found themselves landing on a grassy surface.

“Oh, dear me!” a posh-sounding pony sighed. “This will never do! All guests must be prepared for the garden party!”

“Well, it looks like we made it, at least.” Twilight looked around, noticing a few statues littering the area. “Now we just need to find where Rarity is.” Before they could move on, however, the posh pony trotted up to the trio, his nose held high in the air.

“Pardon me madams, but you absolutely cannot enter the party dressed like… that.” He sneered at their puffy padding. Twilight blushed, trying to come up with some excuse. “This party is for miss Rarity’s new line of clothing, it is customary to have a sample of her latest designs, you know.” The posh pony’s horn began to glow as a rack of clothes rolled into view. “I don’t know how you missed that detail when you got your invitation.” He began to trot away, and it was as he did that Twilight noticed a bit of bulge around the rump of the pony, beneath his suit.

Pinkie bounced over to the clothing rack, pushing aside hangers as she examined each piece. “Oooh, maybe this won’t be such a bad party after all!” Pinkie declared, pulling a dress off the rack. It was a rather extravagant affair, the skirt of the dress overly frilly and puffy, bright pink and blue making up the body. Pinkie slipped the dress on, giggling as the puffy shoulders pushed into her chest, the frilly skirt only just barely seeming to hide her squeaky diaper.

“This would be so much easier if I could just get these stupid diapers off,” Twilight muttered.

“Twilight, don't be silly!” Pinkie admonished her. “Didn't you notice his diapers? This is a party where high fashion is crinkly couture!”

“...somehow that's not a word I expected to hear from you,” Spike said, a little distracted.

“He-ey!” Pinkie protested. “I listen to Rarity when she talks!”

She flicked her rump from side to side, the skirt exposing her diaper a little as she did so. “And look at how it looks! This is sure to be great for dancing in!”

“Pinkie, just...” Twilight began, then sighed. “Okay. I suppose I'll have to pick a dress.”

She looked for the most austere, least frilly one she could find – preferably one with a long skirt that would keep her crinkly status concealed.

As she scanned up and down the rows, however, it just seemed as though the more she looked... the more they got puffier and sillier and harder to imagine wearing without a blush and showing off her padding to the whole party.

“Done!” Spike reported, surprising Twilight a little.

She looked over at him, at the suit rack, and had to do a double-take.

“Spike, that's a... well, a hatchling's outfit,” she amended. “Are you sure?”

“It says cute on it,” Spike countered. “And Rarity made it. I'm not going to turn that down!”

Twilight had to admit, it did say cute on it. Specifically, it said they were a 'cuteasaurus rex' and made Spike look like a padded-up dinosaur with a great big crinkly body and tiny arms.

“...where are your arms?” Twilight asked. “How did you put that on if there's no arm holes?”

“I helped!” Pinkie announced.

“Of course you did.”

Twilight looked back to the rack of clothes, noting just how frilly they all were. She closed her eyes, her magic flaring up as she pulled a dress off the rack at random. It was certainly faster than sitting here debating over how she’d like to be embarrassed all night. She peeked, revealing she had chosen a dark violet dress, highlights the same color as her mane running down the rump of the skirt. Twilight pulled the puffy monstrosity over her, surprised at how easily she slid into it. Her face turned a brighter red as she realized just how puffy the skirt was, and how it made her look like she had a diaper nearly three times the size as the one she currently wore. Shaking her head, Twilight followed after Pinkie, who was now bouncing down the hill towards the party.

Several other fancy ponies were gathered about, all talking amongst each other as the three joined the crowd. Pinkie tried to stifle her giggles as she looked around, noticing just how silly and puffy everypony’s outfits were. “Heehee, I think I- snnrrk I’m gonna like this kind of party!” She burst into a fit of giggles, flopping back onto her own padded rear as Twilight rolled her eyes. The sooner they found Rarity and got out of this dream, the better.

Before they could go any further, though, they were suddenly stopped by a pair of ponies, both in absurdly thick diapers. “Ah, hello there! Rarity said she might have a few of her friends stop by. I don’t believe we’ve formally met, I’m Fancy Pants.” The unicorn extended a hoof to shake.

“T-Twilight Sp-” Twilight began, taking his hoof, then remembered the lessons on etiquette a tutor had tried to drum into her. “Princess Spa- Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she finished, blushing at how silly that sounded.

“Well, welcome to the party, Twilight Sp Princess Spa Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the unicorn mare next to Fancy Pants said, her greater height allowing her to wear an even larger diaper – one which on Fancy Pants would immobilize him through ground contact. “I am Fleur de Lis – it is a great honour to meet you.”

Twilight felt like she wanted to sink into the floor. “It's just Twilight, really, I'm not comfortable with most of the name – and – and the name is just Twilight Sparkle,” she clarified. “Oh, I must sound so silly...”

“That doesn't sound right!” Pinkie interjected. “Being silly's my job!”

She indicated the dino-dressed dragon next to her. “This is Spike!”

“Aren't you going to introduce yourself?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Everypony knows me!” Pinkie confided. “Now, when are the party games?”

“Well, there's a dance in a moment,” Fancy Pants said. “Perhaps you'd care to give me the pleasure?”

Twilight began to protest, but Fancy overrode her. “I insist,” he added. “It would be my pleasure.”

Twilight found herself being led away from the others, Fancy Pants’ diaper crinkling with each wide step he took. She glanced back, Pinkie waving goodbye as she followed Fleur away towards the hors d’oeuvres. “It’s really an honor to have a princess at this party, even with Celestia and Luna so close, it seems like they never bother to come.” Fancy Pants led Twilight to the center of a clearing the garden, several other pairs of ponies joining in. At one end of the clearing sat a string quartet, all dressed as elegantly as could be. Even the puffy padding around their waist was decorated with a hint of grace. They began to softly play, Fancy Pants beginning to dance with Twilight. Though Twilight found the word “dance” to be rather generous. She was forced to waddle and stumbled about awkwardly. She wasn’t the best dance to begin with, and being forced to do so with padding impeding her movements only made things worse.

Despite the diaper around Fancy Pants’ rump being larger than all of Twilight’s dress, he moved elegantly, stepping side to side to guide Twilight across the dance floor. “Though, for a princess, you’re dress does seem a little… understated, if you’ll forgive me saying.” Twilight’s jaw dropped as she was dipped by Fancy Pants, her skirt whipping up to flash her diaper. “And, oh my, that really is a thin diaper too!”

What in Equestria was Fancy Pants talking about? Twilight could barely move as is, how on earth would she manage to dance with an even thicker diaper?

“In fact,” Fancy Pants went on, “I think you might be in urgent need of some serious remedial work. It's nothing to be ashamed of, of course,” he clarified, with a suave little smile. “But it's entirely expected that somepony relatively new to their new rank should need a little advice.”

The ponies playing in the band finished one number, and moved onto another – which seemed to be a little more energetic, leading Twilight closer to some kind of trip-and-fall.

“You see,” Fancy went on, “there's a few things about the royal fashions which you don't seem to be aware of. Chief among them is – it is simply not on for a Princess to have a diaper smaller than another pony present at the party.”

Twilight did a double-take, astonished, then looked over at Fleur De Lis to see how big her padding was. If Twilight had to wear more than that she'd barely be able to move!

“Secondly, of course,” Fancy said, apparently unconcerned by Twilight's reaction. “It's not at all done for a Princess to do all the walking at the party herself. It would not be proper if she did not spend some time sitting down, being conveyed about by others.”

The worst thing about it all was that he was so matter-of-fact. It made Twilight feel uncomfortable trying to protest any of this.

Twilight was spun about by Fancy Pants, her skirt twirling as she did. She wobbled on one hoof for a moment, shaking her forehooves for balance before falling with a pomf onto her rump. Fancy Pants bent to help her up, displaying his padding towards Pinkie, who couldn’t help but snort into her éclair. “And, third and most importantly,” Fancy Pants tugged Twilight back to a standing position, swinging his rear about to smack it into hers as part of the dance. “A princess really ought to be the center of attention. We may say we’re here to show off a new fashion trend, but it really would be an absolute crime if somepony were to show you up with the extravagance of their attire!” Twilight bounced up against another stallion, who simply smacked her back towards Fancy Pants with his own padding.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d be happy to lend a helping hoof before Rarity shows up. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?” He grinned sweetly. Twilight stammered for a moment, looking down at her dress again.

“W-w-well… I wouldn’t want the others to think Rarity isn’t as good as they are…” Twilight muttered. The more she thought about Fancy Pants’ proposal, the better it sounded. She certainly looked silly already, what more could a little puff hurt?

“Excellent,” Fancy pronounced.

He tapped a hoof on the ground, and ponies came out of nowhere – or at least, Twilight hadn't seen them before they were suddenly all around her.

All of them were dressed much the same way – in what amounted to casual versions of the Guard uniform, but with big poofy diapers. Incongruously, Twilight happened to notice that the diapers seemed to have rank markings on them.

These padded-up guards picked her up, four of them at once, and then Twilight found herself on a changing table, her dress removed and put aside. She expected her diaper to be taken off – which would at least be a benefit – but they simply put an even larger one around the one she was already wearing!

“Hey!” she protested, trying to squirm a bit, but to no avail – the efficient padded-paladins quickly had her poof-promotion applied, then let her off the changing table again.

Twilight discovered that her fears were correct – there was only the tiniest angle she could stand at with this new diaper where her legs would be able to hold her off the floor, and that involved pressing her hind legs so deeply into her diaper it was exhausting.

Then the new outfit arrived, and Twilight blanched.

It was utterly, ridiculously impractical. For a start it had huge, pillowy pantaloon-things which looked like they were to go over her diaper, and then there were the petticoats, and the dress, and big puffed-up shoulders – with it all decorated extravagantly by cute hearts, and made in the two colours that striped her mane to personalize it.

“Aaah, are you sure that’s necessary? I mean, I’m already so thickly padded, everypony will be loo-“ Twilight wasn’t allowed to finish, instead having the guards practically pounce upon her to stuff her into the outfit. No matter how much she squirmed, they were able to easily slip the dress over her, stretching the pantaloons over her massive diaper before pulling the skirt as far over her padding as it would reach. Which really wasn’t very far at all. Twilight’s face burned a bright red as she was properly stuffed into her new outfit, the guards stepping back to allow Fancy Pants to admire Twilight.

“Ah, now there’s a true puffy padding princess! You’re sure to be the star of the show now!” Twilight scrunched her muzzle, lifting one hind leg up in an attempt to take a step forward. Her padding was so thick and fluffy, however, that she was put immediately off balance and fell onto her rear with a puff of foal powder. “Ah, ah, don’t worry, we’ll have the guards take care of you!” Fancy Pants mentioned. The guards gathered around Twilight, hoisting her up into the air and balancing her on their own padding. They began to waddle towards the stage for Rarity’s fashion show, Twilight bouncing precariously upon their puffy butts.

“Spike! Help!” Twilight called. “I didn't plan for this!”

Spike leaped into action, and very promptly fell over because he'd forgotten his 'cuteasaurus rex' sleeper didn't let him balance.

Twilight winced, and would have facehoofed if she had anything like the control of her own movements. As it was, though, she was conveyed up to the base of the stage, then the guards all heaved at once and sent her flying into the air.

Waving her hooves and trying to get some movement out of her wings, Twilight tried to steer herself into a graceful landing – only to discover that wasn't going to be an option, as a familiar-looking spell slid something into place to catch her before she landed.

It wasn't a fainting couch this time, however. Twilight found herself landing in a stroller, one which was tilted up to put her in an 'upright' position and show off the whole of her outfit to the crowd.

“Pinkie?” Twilight said. “Help!”

“Remember, Twilight!” Pinkie called back, stage-whispering through a megaphone for some reason. “Follow the dream to the natural conclusion!”

Twilight groaned.

The other ponies all gathered around the stage, a hush going over them as music began to play. A spotlight shown down on Twilight, making her overly froufrou attire plain as day. She blushed, trying to lift herself out of the stroller, but a couple straps slid around her, buckling her in place as she wiggled about. “Ah, everypony, you’re too kind!” A familiar voice came from behind the stroller. Twilight tried to look behind her, but all she could manage was to twist about in the stroller, the straps keeping her held snugly in place. She began to be wheeled forward, rolling towards the edge of the stage. As she reached the edge, Pinkie suddenly bounced out from backstage, following after Twilight. The pink pony made sure that her padding and dress were able to be seen by everypony as she flaunted her way down the runway, Twilight being pushed back towards the stage again.

“I can see you’ve enjoyed my works so far, but just wait until you see my masterpiece!” Suddenly a bright white unicorn stepped out onto the stage, her dress bouncing as she began to trot down the runway. Rarity fluffed her mane as she trotted along, making sure to show off every bit of her dress that she could.

Spike’s eyes went wide as he spotted her padding. A bright, shiny gold, dotted with delicious, brilliant gems. And it was so thick too! She could barely waddle in it! Not that Rarity seemed to mind, she only paused to rock back onto her thick diaper, gems glittering in the spotlight as ponies ‘oooh’ed and ‘aaaah’ed below.

“Don't you think it's just divine?” Rarity asked. “Delightful? And, dare I say it... decadent?”

“Rarity!” Twilight called, trying to get her attention. “Listen – this isn't real, it's a dream!”

“I should say it's a dream come true!” Rarity agreed. “Why, look how many wonderful ponies there are out there enjoying my designs! My style! I've created a whole artistic movement in floof and poof, Twilight – this is a marvellous achievement!”

She showed off the gem-and-gold diaper again, enjoying the oohs and aahs she got from the audience for it.

Twilight winced, racking her brains for how to solve their problem.

As she did, though, she spotted something odd in the crowd.

“Excuse me,” Spike said, ducking underneath one pony and managing to avoid getting stuck. “Sorry. Coming through. Look out.”

The dino-suit he was wearing made it hard to crawl, though with Pinkie bouncing along behind and shoving him through all the gaps it wasn't impossible.

“I say!” one of the unicorns gasped, as Spike bumped into the back of his diaper and nearly knocked him over.

“You say what?” Pinkie asked, then giggled.

They were nearly at the stage!

Spike was doing his best to squeeze past all the ponies, wishing he had chosen an outfit that had given him the use of his arms. His gaze was fixated on Rarity’s puffy padding, though, and there wasn’t anything that was going to stop him getting to it. Rarity was too busy flaunting herself to notice as the small dragon reached the edge of the stage, hopping up and down to try and lift himself up. Pinkie lowered her head, scooping Spike up and helping him onto the runway. Spike wobbled for a moment, staring at the glimmering, shining, bejeweled diaper in front of him, his stomach growling. He licked his lips, leaning in as Rarity waggled her tush once more. “Why, I’d say it’s the most glamorous thing I’ve ever created! Nothing finer, the absolute pinnacle of-“ Rarity was cut short when she felt something pinch her rear. The padding was so thick it blocked any sort of pain, but as she looked over her shoulder she saw Spike gnawing on her diaper.

Diaper?

Rarity’s eyes widened as she looked at her padding, then her dress, then out to the crowd. She let out a shriek, trying to walk backwards only to stumble over Spike and flop onto her rear. “What in Equestria is going on here?!” She cried out. Pinkie bounced up onto the stage, helping Rarity stand up. Spike was laying on the ground, eyes still spinning from being smushed under Rarity’s rear.

“Uh, Twilight… I think we better get going!” Pinkie said, watching as the crowd was getting restless.

“Yeah, I'll get right on that,” Twilight said, a little sarcastically. “Can you help me down?”

“I think you'd need to be out of those straps for that,” Spike pointed out. “Can we break them?”

“Those straps are some of my finest-quality work!” Rarity told him. “Do you think I'd use the wrong fabric for that?”

One of the ponies in the crowd cleared his throat. “I want three by tomorrow!” he called. “In custom colours!”

“Four for me by next week!”

“A design for a crinkly banana-plush hammock!”

That one was strange enough to make the nearest few nobles look at the speaker, who shrugged.

“I like bananas.”

“Okay, no time to waste!” Pinkie said, and took the handles of the stroller – one in each forehoof. “Gangway, coming through!”

She rolled the over-padded Twilight across the stage, with Rarity waddling behind and Spike carried in her magic, and they made it through the rear entrance just before the rampaging mob of respectable fashion enthusiasts got to them.

“Dream spell time!” the Element of Laughter announced.

“But for that it would have to be the end of the dream!” Twilight protested. “How is this the end of the dream?”

“Obvious, silly!” Pinkie countered. “What kind of party would it be without a riot?”

Twilight thought back over the various balls, galas and functions they'd all attended.

“Good point!” she agreed. “And – go!”

Her horn flashed, and the dream dissolved.

They were soon running through the starry inter-dream expanse, and, much to Twilight’s relief, their costumes began to melt along with the dream. Pinkie stumbled as the stroller vanished, all the ponies falling over themselves and flopping into a pile. They all rolled forward, another dream fading in around them as they did. They soon found themselves laying on the floor of a barn, no longer dressed up in overly-frilly outfits. As Twilight stood up, though, she did realize her padding had managed to maintain much of its puffiness. She could walk more easily, but it was certainly the thickest of the bunch. “What is going on?” Rarity demanded, getting to her hooves as well. “And why am I in a… diaper?” She asked, grimacing at the sight of her golden padded rear.

“Long story short, Nightmare Moon.” Pinkie explained, bouncing over to the barn doors. “Ooh, I bet we’re in Applejack’s dream now! I wonder what she’s dreaming about? Probably apples. That pony sure does love apples.” She fiddled with the latch for a moment before pushing the large wooden doors open. Before them stretched the orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, trees sprouting up all over the place. As they looked, though, they spotted several large black tendrils climbing around some of the trees, and heard shouting off in the distance.

“Dangit, Big Mac, I told ya not to get too close to those things before I got the shears!”

“Are those things... the Plunder Vines?” Twilight asked, remembering them with a grimace.

She brightened. “Wait, that was Applejack! All we need to do is to get over to her!”

“Darling, don't you remember how much trouble the Plunder Vines were?” Rarity asked. “We could be in for quite a time of it.”

“Don't be silly, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “We know just what to do now! We just give them...”

The party pony paused. “Oopsie,” she said, still sounding amused.

“Pinkie...” Twilight sighed. “Right. Well, we need to make a decision, and I think what we should do is brave the Plunder Vines...”

“Twilight?”

“...use the sound of Applejack's voice to tell which way to go!” Twilight explained. “So we can-”

“Twilight!”

“What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked, looking around, and saw the vines – oddly squishy-looking, with their spines bending as they put pressure on the ground – having wrapped up Spike, and now carrying him over to what looked a lot like a pitcher-plant.

“Help?” Spike asked.

“I bet that thing's got a satin inside!” Pinkie conjectured.

“It would be a good look,” Rarity conceded. “And slippery, as well. Form follows function...”

“Ah! We’re coming, Spike!” Twilight declared. She hurried after the vines, her horn alighting as she conjured up a pair of ethereal gardening shears. As she attempted to snip the vines, though, the shears did nothing but squeeze in on the crinkly material, not leaving so much as a tiny rip or tear. Twilight groaned, the shears vanishing. Of course, she should’ve expected this much after Spike’s dream. Pinkie pounced upon the vines, trying to wrestle them to the ground. This did nothing but make them crinkle and rustle, and soon left Pinkie giggling as the puffy spines tickled her as she rolled around with them.

“Guuuyyys!” Spike yelled, now being dangled above the open pitcher. The bright blue inside seemed to almost glow a little, Spike trying to huff out a jet of flame. The plants just grew warmer, squeezing in on Spike tighter. He was just about to be dropped into the plant when a needle and thread conjured themselves around the pitcher. In a swift motion, Rarity sewed the mouth of the plant shut, causing Spike to flop down onto it and bounce off back towards the others.

“Now why did that work and mine… oh, nevermind.” Twilight shook her head.

“Thanks, Rarity.” Spike said, standing back up. Applejack’s shouts echoed across the field again, and the group turned to hurry towards them, vines creeping along, threatening to trip and snare them once again.

Pinkie kept jumping on vines and rolling around with them, collecting a huge number of vines all competing to try and snare her and tie her up. At one point she managed to slip out of all of them, leaving a huge bundle of the things uselessly tied together with one another, but it didn't last long and she was soon trying to fend off a vine wrapped around her ankles.

Twilight was watching Pinkie rather than paying attention to where she was going, and she slipped on the edge of a small cliff – a massive surprise to her, as from what she could remember there were no cliffs at this part of Sweet Apple Acres.

A moment later, she remembered it was a dream rather than the real Acres, and she felt like facehoofing before concentrating on where she was going – down the steep slope, butt-first, heading for a plant which looked decidedly odd.

Sundew, Twilight thought automatically, seeing how it looked, then got a better view and felt like letting out a heartfelt groan. It was like a sundew, but the whole of the sticky section of each stalk was just one giant diaper!

Twilight flopped down into the plant, the crinkly balls on the end sticking to squeeze in around her. Her initial reaction was to try and push them off to wriggle free, but it became clear a moment later that was a mistake. The stalks all curled in around her, the leaf of the crinkly plant starting to roll itself up. Twilight remained perfectly still, but it seems as if it was too late. The sundew diaper plant rolled her up, leaving her stuck with several puffy diapers all squeezing snugly into her. She grunted, trying once again to squeeze free, but the more she wriggled, the tighter the stalks squeezed around her.

Rarity was hurrying through the orchard, jumping over a few vines as they tried to ensnare her. Spike was waddling after her as fast as he could, trying to keep his eyes at least off Rarity’s rear enough that he could see where he was going. They heard another shout from Applejack, and as they rounded a corner to another row of trees, they found the earth pony wrestling with one of the vines. She tugged on her lasso, trying to keep the puffy vines from carrying Big Mac over to another puffy pitcher plant.

Chapter 2

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“Darling!” Rarity called. “What do we do?”

Applejack looked up with considerable surprise, and her lasso slipped a little – letting Big Mac go closer to the pitcher – before yanking hard and winning back most of the ground she'd lost. “Well, ah'm surprised y'all are here on a day like this!”

“We're here to help!” Spike volunteered, puffing his chest out a bit – and nearly falling over, as his diaper tried to pull him backwards. Blushing, he steadied himself. “Um... right! What kind of help do you need?”

“Help?” Applejack repeated. “Well, if you're askin', ah wouldn't say no t' some kinda decoys...”

“Decoys?” Rarity gasped. “Why would you need decoys!”

Applejack gave the lasso another tug, seeming to be winning the battle with the vines right now. “Ah need t' get the shears from the barn over there, but it's plumb covered in these darn plants!”

Rarity looked over at the barn, seeing all kinds of crinkly plants surrounding it – from pitchers to diaper-dews to what looked a lot like an oversized venus flytrap refitted with a diaper in place of spiked jaws.

“Well... if we must,” she sighed.

They began to hurry back over to the barn (Rarity wondered, hadn’t they just come from there?), Applejack continuing to fight against the vines as Big Mac squirmed against the crinkly vines. The barn was almost completely covered in the vines, the door blocked by a mass of tendrils as they hurried up to it. Spike looked up, trying to find some way into the barn. He spotted the window new the top, and waddled over to a puffy mushroom to try and climb up to the window. As he put his weight on the plush material, though, the mushroom suddenly swelled, taking in air before puffing out a large cloud of foal powder. Spike stumbled backwards, wobbling as his mind swam from the powder. It was easy for a vine to reach up and curl around him, squeezing him tightly and begin to drag him towards one of the fly traps.

Rarity glanced over, gasping as she spotted Spike being carried away once again. She tried to conjure up thread to pin down the vines, but something seemed to block her magic. Her eyes crossed as she looked up at her horn, a crinkly spore stuck to the end. It puffed up slowly, siphoning her magic as vines around began to grow thick and crinklier, threatening to swallow Rarity up as they surrounded her.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was still bouncing about with her tangle of vines, sliding down them as they all twisted themselves in knots in an attempt to capture her. As Pinkie jumped through a loop of vines, Rarity’s magic suddenly flowed along it, plumping them up to catch her mid-flight. “Uh oh, I think these crinkle-seeds mean business now!” She cried out, wiggling her padded rear as more vines began to surround her, twisting and tying themselves to bind Pinkie up.

All four of the dream-travellers were now in trouble, and struggling as best they could. Pinkie found herself bound up by the knees of all four legs, and a much thicker loop encircled her around her waist – the squishy spikes keeping it from getting closer than an inch from her body, but still able to hold her easily from the sheer bulk of her diaper.

“Curses!” Pinkie sighed dramatically, still wiggling. “My padded Pinkie plot is my weakness!”

“Pinkie, that's not helping!” Rarity called. “Can't you do something to – agh!”

She tried to flare her magic again, but all that did was make the spores around her horn get thicker and denser. They wrapped around her horn from all sides, smothering it in padded material, and already the vines were starting to do the same to her legs.

They squeezed in on her padding, the feelings that produced distracting Rarity and making it harder for her to concentrate on perhaps breaking free some other way. As she tried to perhaps scrape the puffy spore off her horn, she spotted Spike being pulled into the diaper-trap – which promptly clamped shut around his waist, but the diaper was so oversized it reached up nearly to his armpits.

“H-hey!” the dragon protested, starting to recover, but then got another dose of foal-powder from a nearby rose-like flower. The scent wormed into his nose, making it hard for him to concentrate on something that didn't involve warm snuggles and happy padding.

“Ah... guess that might count as a distraction?” Applejack allowed, watching as Rarity's magic continued to empower the crinklevines. “But it ain't good for no chances of handlin' this easy.”

Meanwhile, Twilight tried to think of some way to get out of their predicament.

She could hear most of what was going on, though it was hard to see anything but diaper all around her. Perhaps she needed to try a spell... a teleport?

Twilight’s horn began to light up, surrounding herself in magic as she prepared the spell. With a ping!, she vanished, and popped back near the others. Unfortunately, not only had she teleported, but so had several of the puffy, crinkly diaper dew blots. Twilight flopped down to the ground, struggling to right herself as the sticky padding clung to her coat. “Twilight! Hurry up and grab mah shears, they’re in the barn!” Applejack shouted, still tugging on the vines as she spoke. Unfortunately, as she shouted to Twilight, her grip had loosened enough that the rope quickly slipped from between her teeth. Big Mac let out a yelp of fright as he was suddenly flung forward, falling directly into one of the pitcher plants. The plush plant bulged outwards as the stallion struggled to free himself, the sounds of crinkles emanating from within the trap.

Applejack hurried over to try and free her brother, but felt something tugging on her tail. Yet another vine was twisted around her, dragging her back towards yet another Venus fly trap diaper. The plant scooped her up, wrapping a thick, black diaper around her waist. Applejack tugged and yanked on the bindings to try and free herself, everypony well stuck in the crinkly vines.

Twilight winced as both the Apples got caught as well, and confirmed that she was the only one relatively free to act – then saw the vines coming for her as well, surging forwards and with one of them actually clutching one of those powder-sprinkling mushrooms.

Realizing it would be bad to be caught again, Twilight readied a second teleportation spell. Then the vines arrived just as she cast the spell, and some puffy spores scattered over her horn.

Twilight panicked at the sight, and poured far more magic into the teleport than she would normally consider to be safe – and it worked, enough power getting past the effects of the spores to allow her to translocate anyway.

The alicorn appeared inside the barn, at least four feet off the ground, and fell perhaps a foot before landing on something soft with a flumph.

Twilight tried to shake her head, to clear it, but found she couldn't – the puffy material of the spores had absorbed a huge amount of magic, and it had grown around her as a kind of crinkly, fleecy suit so thick it held her off the ground.

The Princess of Magic groaned under her breath, blushing profusely at the situation, then saw her way out – the shears Applejack had mentioned!

She could still move a bit, so perhaps that would let her get out of this?

Twilight tried to waddle forwards, but the suit was so thick and puffy she flopped down to the floor again and was forced to crawl. Inch by inch she moved, the shears sitting, just a few feet away. Twilight whiiiiined as she tried to reach them, her horn lighting up as she instinctively tried to pick up the shears. This only led to her suit rumbling, then puffing up with a floomp! Twilight continued to crawl forwards, just barely able to move. She reached up, trying to pull the shears closer. As she did, her suit poked into the edge, and there was a sudden rush of foal powder as the suit deflated. The barn began to fill with powder, Twilight closing her eyes as she swiped the shears and burst through the barn doors. She began to snip wildly, cutting the crinkly, plush vines in a frenzy to free the others.

She managed to snip the stalk of the fly trap holding Spike, causing him to tumble to the ground in his thick diaper, bouncing along and rolling to where Pinkie was wiggling about in her own bindings. “Twilight, be careful!” Rarity called out as she was being cut free, the magic fading slightly as the vines edged away from the unicorn. It wasn’t too long before Twilight had managed to free Pinkie and Applejack as well, leaving the five gathered in a circle as the vines crawled away from them.

“Alright, let’s get out of here!” Twilight said, preparing her spell to leave.

“What about Big Mac?” Applejack asked. The turned to see the pitcher plant Big Mac was stuck in, which now looked like it had swollen to twice its size. The seams strained to hold in the pony, and with the sound of tearing fabric, Big Mac flopped out, now wearing a bright blue diaper so large his hind legs couldn’t even reach the ground. Applejack tried not to notice, but the stallion had a bright blush, and seemed to be flicking his tail back and forth happily. “Uh… you gonna be alright?” She asked.

Big Mac nodded, glancing over to see several more vines approach, crinkling and puffing as they did. “Eeyup.” He nodded, blush brightening as he was suddenly tangled up in the vines once more, feeling them squeeze and rub his thick, squishy diaper.

“...ah, ah don't rightly know what t' say,” Applejack admitted.

“If it helps, this is actually a dream,” Twilight said, then shook her head. “Actually, no, now I come to think of it... that doesn't help...”

“Dream?” Applejack repeated, then blushed slightly. “All right, which one a' you came up with this idea for a dream?”

“We think it's something to do with Nightmare Moon,” Twilight said. “More than that, we're not sure.”

She lit her horn to cast the dreamwalk spell, and got no objections – partly because Applejack was glancing back at her brother again. Then there was a flash, and they dropped out of that dreamscape.

Reappearing in the confusing world between dreams, Twilight raised her voice. “Everypony still here?”

“Well, Mac ain't,” Applejack said, looking around. “What d' we do?”

“Think of... Dash, next,” Twilight decided. “Everyone concentrate on Rainbow Dash! We need to find which one her dream is, so we can rescue her from it!”

They began to walk through the nothingness of the astral plane, then suddenly lurched sideways towards another dream bubble. Most of them staggered, though Pinkie jumped into the air and did what would have been a perfect dive had she not insisted on going diaper-first.

She hit the dream with a flicker of light, and the others followed a moment later.

The sound of thudding music suddenly met their ears, and the group found themselves materializing onto a multicolored floor. Smoke rolled in around them, the music banging away as they found themselves standing in the center of a nightclub dance floor. “Aaaalright! Dash definitely knows how to dream!” Pinkie cried, pumping her hoof into the air. She immediately started to dance and wiggle her rear to the beat of the tune, grinning widely as she took in the atmosphere. The others wandered towards the edge of the dance floor, noticing as a few other pony patrons all began to walk out onto the floor as well. As expected, they were all in puffy diapers, though ones not quite as thick as they would have assumed. Many wore pacifiers around their necks, glow bracelets and necklaces shining in the dim light of the club. A couple suckled on their pacifiers, bouncing their padded rears into each other as they danced about.

Sitting up on a stage at the other end of the dance floor was a pony in headphones and bright violet glasses, her hooves running along the musical controls in front of her to pump the music up further. “Great, how are we going to find Dash in here?” Twilight complained. The dim lighting and mess of colors made it almost impossible to pick out anypony among the crowd.

“What's the hurry?” Pinkie asked. “Come on, Twi! This is the first time we've been in one of these dreams where we can actually relax!”

“That's not really my idea of relaxing,” Twilight countered, wincing at the thudding bass beat which seemed designed to be heard from as far away as possible.

“Have you ever triiiied?” Pinkie said, tilting her head to one side. “Huh? I bet you've never had a crinkly rave before!”

“...you don't have to try everything to be sure you're not a fan,” Twilight said, looking out at the flashing lights and listening to the music.

She had to admit, it wasn't that bad. Not really – not as bad as she'd been thinking, at any rate.

The music pulsed in her ears, surrounding her. Oddly soothing.

“That's more like it!” Pinkie giggled.

Twilight realized she'd started to shake her tush to the beat, and blushed. “Uh... I didn't mean to...”

She stopped talking, wondering why she'd been objecting.

Bright lights flashed, and the music played.

A dance sounded nice... just for a minute...

Twilight wandered out onto the dance floor again, finding her rear bouncing in time with the music again. Pinkie laughed, playfully bouncing her own diaper up against Twilight’s, causing her to stumble a bit. But, not really a bad stumble, more like an unexpected dance move. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle in return, swishing her tail back and forth as she nodded her head to the music. She suppose this wasn’t really that bad, maybe she should listen to more of Dash’s music suggestions.

As Pinkie and Twilight danced, Rarity and Applejack looked over to each other, confused. Twilight was most definitely the exact opposite type of pony that would enjoy this kind of club. Yet there she was, dancing along to the music happily. As Applejack looked around, she noticed a bar a few feet away, ponies sitting atop the stools in thick padding. She suddenly realized she was feeling rather thirsty. Even if this was a dream, grabbing a drink or two probably wouldn’t hurt. She began to wander towards the bar, leaving Spike and Rarity alone.

“May I have this da-“

“No, Spike.”

Spike’s ears flopped down in dismay as he kicked at the ground a bit. Suddenly the music began to bang a little louder, the DJ shouting out above it to the crowd. “Alright everypony, who’s ready to pump this party up?” He shouted, cranking the volume up. There was cheer in response, everypony getting more into the groove. Even Twilight barely noticed that her padding seemed to be puffing and rumbling along with the music, and the dance floor seemed just the tiniest bit bouncier than it had been moments ago.

One of the other ponies dancing to the music bumped up against Twilight, his crinkly rear mashing into hers for a moment, but Twilight barely noticed – except as part of the normal dance, that is.

The padded-up stallion looped a pacifier around her neck, then vanished into the crowd, and Twilight inspected it with a confused look.

This seemed kind of odd...

The music got louder, thumping beats resonating in her head, and she stopped wondering about it in favour of nodding her head to the beat – dancing, and crinkling, just like she wanted to. It seemed so much simpler to just dance rather than worrying about silly things like that, especially because after a moment she started to give the pacifier a suckle – and she couldn't do that without her pacifier!

While Twilight was dancing, increasingly dazed as she did so, Applejack was ordering a drink.

It turned out that the drinks were on the house, which might have been suspicious but Applejack was too thirsty to care – and the choice was quite good! There was warm milk, chocolate milk, or apple juice, all of which sounded great to her, and the drinks even came in a 'party-safe cup” with a top that wouldn't spill it if she dropped it.

Applejack thought, nodding her head absently to the music, and decided to get a large apple-juice – mostly to see whether it was as good as hers.

The bartender reached under the bar and pulled up a cup of apple juice, handing it over to the orange mare. Applejack took the cup and tried to take a swig. Only a small amount of juice seemed to flow through, making her brow furrow. She gave an experimental suck, and was treated to a mouthful of sweet, tangy apple juice. Her eyes went wide as she drank the juice down. She couldn’t think if she had ever had juice this good! She had to see if the club was willing to share the recipe. Suckling on the cup, Applejack leaned back into her chair, her diaper crinkling as she did. Gulping the drink down, she hardly noticed that the cup never seemed to grow emptier, letting her continue to drink and drink and drink. Not that she minded, really, it was very good juice. She squirmed a bit in her seat, growing a bit of belly as she drank, a pressure starting to slowly build between her legs as she guzzled the drink up.

“Well, I suppose we could at least go looking for Rainbow Dash,” Spike suggested, figuring that spending time with Rarity at the club would be better than moping. As he looked back to spot her, though, he found Rarity’s gaze drawn towards a group of mares in flashy, glowing diapers. Their padding shone softly in the light, matching the glowsticks dangling from their necks and hooves, forming a swirl of colors as they shook and bounced their rumps together.

“Rarity?” Spike asked. “What do you think-”

“Just look at that, Spike,” Rarity interrupted. “Don't you think it's a wonderful display of colour and motion?”

Spike followed her gaze, seeing the mares and their prismatic padding – swirling and flickering as they danced and bounced.

It looked kind of odd, but a good odd – the kind of odd where he could probably spend a long time looking at it.

The music played in the background, and Spike blinked. It seemed like he'd been looking for a while, and he should probably stop – after all, he had something to do... right?

Because he was looking at the mares, however, he missed Rarity's reaction. If Spike had stared for a bit, Rarity was almost ogling, and her stare was a little glassy as she tried to follow all the colours at once as they went around and around – back, forth, up and down, moving with the motion of the dancers and keeping her trying to follow their movements.

She was starting to move with them, unconsciously imitating their flashy dance – moving with the music as they moved with it, not bothering to think about it so she could just keep watching...

Applejack put down her cup, and blushed as she felt a strong pressure in her bladder.

“Uh... where's the little fillies' room?” she asked. “I... kinda need t' go...”

The bartender's reply was one she couldn't quite remember, the pulsing beat of the music drowning out most of what he said even as he said it, but Applejack distinctly remembered it being a very good answer – she didn't need to leave to go, she could just go and stay here.

Something like that.

She leaned back into her chair, placing her hooves on the front of her diaper. The pressure was still building, and Applejack bit her lip as it grew and grew. Suddenly she felt the pressure release, and she let out a long sigh as her diaper grew warm and squishy. A light blush crossed her face as she felt her padding swell, lifting her up in the chair a bit higher. “Mmm, I really could go for more of that juice now…” She licked her lips, reaching forward to grab a now oversized baby bottle full of the drink.

Meanwhile Pinkie and Twilight were still dancing about on the floor, bouncing their rumps and having their rumps bumped by all the ponies swaying around them. The floor seemed to be growing wobblier and bouncier, but that only made Pinkie giggle as her dance moves became more haphazard and silly. She eventually tumbled onto her front, only to land with a surprising squeak into the floor. The panels of the ground shifted color as she bounced back up in the air, laughing wildly as she grabbed her hind hooves and began to bounce about on her padded rear. Twilight flopped onto her own rear at the sight, giggling as she proceeded to bounce about as well. The music echoed all around, the ponies bouncing in time with the beat as the squeaky floor seemed to propel them higher and higher in the air. The back of Twilight’s mind wondered if there was something she was supposed to be doing, but the music and the bouncing pushed that though quickly out, replacing it with the fun of dancing and leaping about with all the others.

It was hard to tell how long the dream-travellers danced, drank, partied and stared.

The beat of the music never seemed to change, keeping them in the moment as if it was all one long song. Everything was a riot of colour and sound, physical sensations and mental stimulation and dancing and crinkling and drinking and wetting...

Nothing else mattered but to enjoy, as the music smoothed away all thoughts to the contrary.

Eventually, there was a stir on the dance floor, and Twilight began to come back to herself a little – shaken out of the head-space by the difference and by the slight reduction in the volume of the music.

She squeezed back against the wall with the others, enjoying the squish-crinkle of her diaper as she did so, but at the same time she was aware something was... off...

Then she saw the newest pony to join the dance, strutting in with a cocky grin on her face as the DJ told everypony the guest of honour had arrived.

It was... a pony who looked familiar, Twilight knew, as she tried to work out where she knew them from. Then there was a sudden blare of the music again, and her frown relaxed as she realized who it was.

It was a Wonderbutt, of course! That blue-and-yellow suit, that huge padded diaperbutt... they all made it so obvious!

Pulsing beats resonated in her ears as the ravers – Twilight among them – came surging in to dance with the Wonderbutt. Her butt was so puffy, it was great fun to join in!

The Wonderbutt shook her thickly padded rear, each swish and sway causing her padding to crinkle cutely. Twilight tried to get closer to the Wonderbutt. She just had to see her, she’d never been up close and personal with a celebrity like one before! Of course, this was a bit harder to do than she had hoped, as every other pony around was trying to do the same, each dancing about as they piled around the suited up mare. Pinkie was still bouncing about on her own rump, her tail flicking back and forth as she jumped up and began to bounce along the padded rumps of all the other ponies. She giggled, quickly making her way towards the Wonderbutt where she landed on top of her diaper. “Say, that’s quite the padding you’ve got there, Wonderbutty!” She said, wiggling her rear. The Wonderbutt just laughed confidently, tossing Pinkie up in the air as she had to her teammates so many times before. Giggles and snorts emanated from the pink pony as she was tossed up in the air, the Wonderbutt keeping her tumbling about with expert skill. As the celebrity tossed her rear upwards, Twilight noticed the brightly colored tail flicking up as well. Even in the colorful haze of the rave, it was easy to see the pony’s rainbow patterned hair. Rainbow… why was that important? Twilight wondered. She was sure she knew somepony that had rainbow something or other, right? And she was fan of the Wonderbutts?

Suddenly something clicked in Twilight’s mind, and despite the thudding of the music, the cheers of all the ponies around, and the flashing lights, her thoughts were crystal clear. “Rainbow Dash! We’ve got to get you out of here!”

“Huh?” Dash asked, confused, and bounced Pinkie off her rump – making the padded party pony hit the wall and carom off to crinkle-crowdsurf across the room. “What's that?”

She kept moving to the beat, seemingly without any conscious intent behind it – just because the music was there, so she was going to dance to it.

Twilight found her eyes drawn to Dash's swaying diaperbutt, then shook her head – closing her eyes for a moment, trying to drive out the insidious influence of the club. “Dash! This isn't right – the club is trying to hypnotize us! To control us!”

She took one determined step towards Dash, and then the DJ tweaked the music again.

A new beat pulsed out, and the ponies on the dancefloor started to move like a wave – waggling their diapered rumps up and down in sequences which rippled out from Dash, creating a kind of current which pulled Twilight along and began to force her away from her friend.

Applejack looked up at the sound of Twilight's voice, feeling drowsy after so much sweet juice, and spotted the two ponies at the middle of the commotion on the dance floor.

“Huh,” she said, head nodding in time with the thumping music. “That's one padded pony, hoo-wee...”

Of course, Applejack hadn’t taken notice of just how padded she had become either. Sitting atop her swollen diaper, she sat a couple feet above the bar as she balanced precariously on the barstool. Her padding sloshed as she rocked back and forth, watching as Twilight struggled against the current of fluff, trying desperately to reach Dash in the middle of the floor. Pinkie surfed by, bopping Twilight playfully on her diaper, causing the alicorn to blush. Absent mindedly suckling on her baby bottle of juice, Applejack rolled off her seat, taking wide steps towards Twilight as her bloated diaper forced her to waddle. “Need some help, Twi?” Applejack asked, her own rear swaying up and down in time with the others as Twilight was pushed out of the crowd and onto her back. Twilight stared up at Applejack, watching her guzzle the juice, her padding swelling steadily outwards as she wet it once again.

“If you could get me through the others, that would help. You probably shouldn’t be drinking that, though.” Twilight pointed out.

“How come?” Applejack asked as Twilight got to her hooves.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but for some reason, she couldn’t think of a good reason why Applejack shouldn’t be drinking the juice. If she liked it, there’s no harm in it, right? “Where’s Rarity?” She eventually managed out. Applejack shrugged, still bobbing her rear up and down, causing her padding to cartoonishly slosh some more.

She looked up to spot Rarity standing amongst a gaggle of ponies, each of them in thick, glowing diapers. “Ah, there she is!” Applejack began to waddle through the crowd towards her. Twilight tried to follow after, but the other ponies’ shifting rears only buffeted her around. In a desperate attempt to stick to Applejack, Twilight wrapped her hooves around the farm pony’s tail, squishing into her thick diaper as she led Twilight through the crowd.

Rarity was having the time of her life!

The ponies all around her had such daring, open fashion statements in their diapers – and in their pacifiers – and everywhere she looked she saw more colours flashing and more neon glows!

It was all so delightfully retro, and her eyes danced with the colours that flashed all around her even as her own diaper crinkled with the effects of her magic.

With every beat of the music, she modified the pattern she was drawing on her own diaper in the same neon lights – but she wasn't going to settle for just one colour, she wanted them all for a truly prismatic effect!

The effect it had on Spike was huge, with the diapered dragon staring at Rarity's rainbow-spiral rear as it shifted like a kaleidoscope. The sparkling colours chased any thoughts away from his mind, letting the music in to fill it up.

Fortunately for Twilight, she hadn't looked at Rarity's area of the room for long, and the colours shimmering in her eyes faded after a moment. She clung on to Applejack as the more-padded earth pony forged ahead through the crowd, until finally they were close enough for Twilight to jump on top of Rainbow's Wonderbutts suit.

“Rainbow, listen!” she said. “We need to get you out of here – this isn't real, it's a nightmare, and it's trying to trap us in it!”

“A nightmare?” Rainbow repeated. “If it's a nightmare, how come I'm one of the Wonderbutts? Huh?”

“Dash, since when have you ever wanted to be a Wonderbutt?” Twilight shouted over the music. Rainbow Dash stood still, staring at Twilight in confusion for a moment. Her eyes slowly drifted down to Twilight’s rear, noticing the thick padding wrapped around it. She was about to say something when another pony swung their rear into Dash’s, making her own diaper crinkle. Rainbow’s face turned a bright red as she glanced over her shoulder to see her swollen, puffy padding under her suit.

“Gaaah! What in Celestia am I doing in a diaper?” She cried. Her hooves scrambled to find the zipper to the flight suit she was wearing, only to realize there was none. Bouncing nervously on her hooves, Dash glanced back and forth, whining at all the ponies around. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, everypony’s gonna see me like this! What if Spitfire’s here?!” She said, glancing around in a panic.

“Welcome back to reality, Dash. Er, well, as real as things can be… you know what, it’s not important.” Twilight shook her head, wrapping a hoof around Dash’s neck to help drag her towards the others. Her horn lit up as magic surrounded Pinkie’s tail, pulling the party pony along with them.

“Awww, you’re no fun…” Pinkie whined as they met up with Rarity, Applejack, and Spike.

“Oh, darling, I’m so glad you’ve made it here, these ponies have given me the most excellent idea for a new line of diapers, they’ll be all the rage among the hip crowd!” Rarity began to spout off. Twilight shook her head, trying to keep it as clear as she could. Come on, Twilight, focus… Her horn began to alight as she prepared to cast them out of the dream.

The spell built up, then faded as Twilight's eyes were drawn magnetically to Rarity's rainbow-rear.

It was like the swirling pattern broke through all her defences as it spun and shimmered, and the beat of the music rushed back all over again – filling her head and making her wonder why she'd ever wanted to leave – why she'd ever thought of leaving-

Then a big blue rump placed itself in between her and Rarity, and Twilight blinked as the swirling pattern faded from her eyes.

“Come on, Twi!” Dash called, sitting herself firmly in the way. “Whatever that spell was, do it!”

“Right!” Twilight agreed, and the spell built up again.

The DJ played something new, and ponies came rushing in towards them – then Twilight's dreamwalking spell took effect, and the club faded away.

Dash sighed in relief as the Wonderbutts suit disappeared, then groaned as her diaper refused to follow. “Oh, come on!”

“I think we're pretty much stuck in diapers,” Twilight said, flushing a little over the subject. “But we just need to find Fluttershy – concentrate on Fluttershy!”

“I'm... oh... dreadfully sorry, dears,” Rarity told them, taking a step. Then there was a THUMP as her movement took away Spike's support, and he fell forwards onto the astral floor.

“It’s alright, Rarity. At least we’ll have everypony back together soon. Then we can start looking for Nightmare Moon and put a stop to all this… stuff.” Twilight responded, lacking a satisfying way to describe the oddities the group had experienced. The entourage began to walk once again through the dreamscape, Spike quickly picking himself up to waddle after the others. The world began to shift and change around them as they focused on Fluttershy, searching through the dreams to find her. With a flash, the group found themselves standing in what appeared to be some kind of visitor center. Pinkie immediately zipped away to look at a couple keychains hanging on a display stand, each one of some different kind of animal.

“Uh… are you sure this is Fluttershy’s dream? I dunno, I just thought it’d be a bit more… nature-y.” Rainbow Dash said, wandering over to a stand of mugs. Twilight looked equally confused, wondering if they had somehow gotten the wrong dream. There was the sound of beads clattering and a green earth pony wandered out from a back room to stand at the counter of the center.

“Oh, groovy, we’ve finally got some new guests. You’re all here to take the safari, right?” She asked, eyes half-shut. Everypony looked over to the mare, unsure of what to say. Pinkie quickly broke the awkward silence.

“Yeperooni! Six tickets to the best safari you’ve got!” She exclaimed.

The other pony chuckled, starting to lead them out of the center. “We’ve only got one, but whatever you say, party girl.”

“Why did you do that, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Isn't it obvious?” Pinkie replied, giggling. “It's the plot of the dream, silly! We turn up in the dream, the dream offers us a safari, so that's where the plot of the dream is!”

She leaned in and spoke in a stage whisper. “Besides, Treehugger's totally the kind of pony Fluttershy would get along with! It's all in the script!”

“...sure, Pinkie,” Twilight said, deciding to let Pinkie Pie be Pinkie Pie. “So... uh, what kind of safari is this going to be?”

A moment later, they turned the corner – revealing their safari vehicle.

Dash's wings drooped. “What.”

“That's... certainly a bold vision,” Rarity said, trying to find something positive to say about it.

In front of them was a vehicle, like an enclosed cart – but the design of it made it look a little like a stroller, with a shelf at about head height for them to sit on and a rim of material around the shelf. It was a little harder to tell from their angle, but it looked like there was a sun-shield as well going around the top.

“This looks like something for a foal!” Dash burst out.

“Hey, mare, it's all practical, dig?” Treehugger said. “The shelf's so you get a better view, and it's got to be enclosed so the animals don't, you know, get too close and personal?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I suppose we should have expected something like this... well, we'd better get onboard.”

The ponies all waddled forward, their thick padding spreading their legs apart. Pinkie was the first to hoist herself up into the stroller-like vehicle, sitting down on the shelf. She leaned over the side to watch Rarity and Applejack attempt to lift themselves up into the seats as Twilight and Rainbow Dash simply hovered up into their respective seats. Treehugger was able to lift herself up to the front of the vehicle with surprising ease, sitting down to face the others as Rarity flopped into the stroller. “Alright, everypony’s in? Strap in, it’s gonna be a bit bumpy.” Treehugger recommended. Before the others could react, several seatbelts appeared from back of their seats, wrapping themselves around the ponies to squeeze them in.

Twilight wriggled about as her padding was squished by the straps, a light blush crossing her face as the vehicle began to slowly roll forwards. “So, how many of you have been on this safari with us before?” Treehugger asked, her voice making it unclear if she was genuinely interested or speaking from a script. Even if somepony had wanted to, they were unable to raise a hoof due to them being bound by the straps on their seats. “Oooh, a whole tour of newcomers, you’re in for a treat, then!” Treehugger turned about as the stroller continued to roll forwards, entering a field where several animals were mingling about. Only, they weren’t quite animals…

“Are those...” Dash began, staring.

“If y'all were about t' say diaper animals, then yep,” Applejack drawled, shifting in her cushy seat.

“I... don't know why I expected anything else,” Twilight admitted, staring at the crowd of cushy creatures.

She could see some big-bodied rhinos, two of them bumping their horns together and squishing the soft material with a chorus of crinkling. Next to them was a band of gazelles, bouncing through the brush in an up-and-down way.

It looked like there was a river off in the distance, but Twilight couldn't see anything in that direction yet – but she did have a very good view when a diapercritter cheetah suddenly dashed across the path, pursuing one of the gazelles.

“Are those cheetahs dangerous?” Twilight asked, looking over at Treehugger. “I know you said something about the animals getting frisky...”

“You don't need to worry about the cheetahs, dig?” Treehugger said, shrugging. “It's the monkeys and lions you've got to watch out for. And a few others, too.”

“This is awful!” Rarity burst out.

“What's that, now?” Treehugger asked. “It's just nature.”

“Not that!” Rarity clarified. “It's their texturing! It's dreadful! The material spoils their patterns, and it's not properly quilted to avoid that either!”

The stroller went over a bump in the ground as Rarity was getting ready to continue, bouncing them all out of their seats and then making them land again.

“Woo!” Pinkie giggled. “That's more like a ride! Again!”

The stroller went over another bump, making Pinkie giggle as everypony’s padding let out a puff of foal powder from the impact on their rears. They continued to roll across the field, drawing slowly closer to the river. A rickety bridge crossed a rather turbulent portion, Twilight trying to not look over the edge into the water below. “Oh, here’s a rare sight! There’s a few gazelles trying to cross the river!” Treehugger pointed out. The group turned their heads to see several gazelles gathered at the banks of the river, their crinkly hooves pattering nervously about. A few began to trot forwards. The water rushed along, splashing into them. As the crinkly creatures began to cross, their hides slowly swelled and bloated outwards, soaking up more and more water. They were forced to paddle slowly along, swelling ever larger as their crinkly bodies became squishy and sloshy.

Suddenly large splashes appeared and what looked to be two fat, swollen crocodiles jumped out of the water, gripping one of the squishy gazelles in their puffy teeth. The trio floated down the river, still growing as the crocodiles tried to keep a grip on the gazelle. They suddenly came to a stop, however, as their swollen behinds became lodged between large rocks, the gazelle being swept away as the crocodile’s rumps squished and squashed into each other, dripping with water. The gazelles that had made it across were now galloping away as fast as they could, their bellies and rears bloated and sloshy, leaving a trail of water behind them.

“Wait… why do we need to worry about the lions?” Rainbow Dash asked as her attention was drawn away from the fleeing animals.

“Well, it's nature,” Treehugger explained, trotting to one side of the stroller to point out into the brush – not that some of them could see, strapped into their seats as they were. “Most predators aren't strong enough to do this kind of thing – but lions, now, lions hunt in prides. You know?”

“Hunt?” Dash repeated. “You didn't tell us we might be hunted?”

She squirmed a little, blushing. “Not that I'm scared or anything!”

“I have to agree,” Twilight said. “This seems a little dangerous.”

“It's all about getting close to nature,” Treehugger shrugged, as they moved into the long grass. “See, lions lounge about most of the day, but what lions are really about is the hunting.”

“That sounds like us being hunted is a plan!” Spike complained. “If that's going to happen, at least let us out of these seats!”

He wriggled, trying to get clear, but nothing doing – the straps were locked tight, and all he did eas produce a storm of crinkling from his diaper.

The nearby underbrush rustled.

“I wouldn’t worry that much, though. They only go hunting around mid-day, and it’s only 11:30.” Treehugger said.

“You really think lions adhere that strict of a schedule?” Twilight asked, looking nervously around as she heard the rustle in the brush.

“Yeah, they aren’t Twilight.” Dash joked, trying to stay calm as well. The rustling grew louder, and Rarity peered nervously over the side, gulping as she imagined a lion ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

“There’s one right now!” Treehugger pointed out. Off in the distance, a fat lion was sitting atop a rock, his crinkly mane shifting about as he stretched and yawned. His tail flicked back and forth before he looked over, focusing on the stroller. Spike let out a yelp as the lion jumped off of its rock, dropping low into the grass.

The rustling only grew louder and louder, everypony looking about nervously except for Treehugger, who just leaned forward, trying to point out the lions. Then, in an instant, a lioness leapt out of the brush, tackling Treehugger. The pony squeaked as she was yanked down to the ground, the lioness licking and gnawing on the pony as she began to quickly work on gobbling the mare down into her plump, crinkly gut.

“What the – we've got to help her!” Twilight said, startled, and her horn lit up.

Nothing much happened, prompting Twilight to look up and spot that her horn had a little safety cap on it.

“Oh, this is just-” she began, then switched focus. “Treehugger! Are you okay?”

“What kind of question is that, Twi?” Dash asked. “Does she look okay?”

“Is it me...” Spike began, “...or... is the stroller still moving?”

“Darn straight it is,” Applejack confirmed.

“That means we're leaving Treehugger behind!” Spike said. “She's going to be stuck!”

“Maybe she should join the club!” Rarity countered tartly. “Her seatbelts are what's stopping us from helping her!”

Treehugger finally vanished into the plushy lioness, which licked its lips and bounced up and down once or twice. Then it passed out of their line of sight, mostly because of the stroller's continued movement.

“...well, I guess we're stuck here,” Twilight said. “I hope the seatbelts come off at the end of the safari.”

The ponies continued to roll along, moving towards a thicket of trees. The light dimmed as they entered the small grove. Each pony was looking about nervously, worried the lions were close on their tails. Instead, though, the forest was eerily quiet, aside from the squeaking of the wheels. Then, a loud yell broke the silence, rustling coming from the treetops. The ponies’ gazes all turned upwards as Treehugger’s other warning reentered their minds. Unseen figures swung through the trees, but it was obvious just what they were as the stroller continued along. Pinkie leaned about, trying to catch a glimpse of the monkeys swinging about. With a swift motion, one suddenly dropped down, landing beside the pink pony. “Oooh, hello!” She said, giggling as the monkey’s crinkly belly pressed into her own.

Suddenly several more dropped down onto the others, all gathering around as they tugged and pulled at the bands. Twilight tried to cast a spell to blast some of them off instinctively, but nothing was conjured up. Tugging and yanking on their bindings, the monkeys tried to pull the ponies free to tug them back up into the canopy. “Heeeeelp!” Rarity shouted as a monkey squeezed a puffy paw into her padding.

“How did this safari ever get customers?” Dash asked, kicking away at one of the monkeys and making it produce a series of squeaky, crinkly noises.

“Dream, remember?” Twilight replied, squirming as three of the monkeys tried to pull her out of her own seat. “He-eey!”

The seatbelts themselves weren't giving way, no matter what the simians did, but there was an ominous creak from the structure of the stroller which suggested maybe there was a way around that.

“He-ey, that's no fun!” Pinkie complained. “You're not even trying to see if I'm ticklish! Two out of ten!”

“Really?” Dash asked, distracted from her crinkle-producing slap-fight. “You're complaining?”

“Bad ratings are how other customers know not to come!” Pinkie explained.

“I'm sorry, darlings, but I think you didn't hear me,” Rarity apologized. “I said HELP!”

Almost as soon as she shouted, however, there was a roar from nearby.

Strangely, it sounded like someone actually saying the word “roar” - just much louder. But that didn't make it less scary, at least to the monkeys – which stopped trying to pry up the seats and fled into the canopy, using convenient crinkle-vines as they went.

“Thank you,” Rarity said. “Who did that?”

“Not me,” Applejack told her.

“Nope!” Pinkie announced proudly.

“I wouldn't know where to start,” Twilight said. “Not without my magic.”

“Well, don't look at me,” Dash shrugged.

They all looked at Spike, and blinked – the dragon had a pacifier stuffed into his mouth to prevent him breathing fire, presumably something the monkeys did.

Then there was another roar, this one quieter – and almost apologetic.

Chapter 3

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“Oh dear… I didn’t mean to scare all of them away…” A familiar voice came from the forest. There was the sound of plants being pushed aside as a rather large, puffy creature stepped out onto the path. It was a mix of animals, much like Discord, with large wings and a long, slender body. The most striking feature, however, was the yellow and pink color scheme of the creature’s torso, and her familiar, striking eyes. “Oooh, I didn’t know a tour was going to be coming through today! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare away the animals, oh, you must be so upset…” Her voice trailed off, the creature shrinking down from embarrassment.

“Fluttershy?” Applejack asked, looking at the creature. The draconeques Fluttershy raised her head a little, tilting it to one side.

“Yes? Do I know you?”

“Fluttershy, we’re your friends!” Twilight explained, struggling against the bands. “This is a dream, we’re here to get you out of here!”

“A dream? Oh, yes, the Dream Safari, I know about that! They’re quite nice ponies, bringing tours through here. But, oh, you didn’t get your suits for the tour! I didn’t mean to ruin the experience for you! Ooh, m-maybe I can fix this! I can finish the tour for you! Get you some nice puffy suits all made up too!” She began to look a little more confident, climbing up into the stroller, her tail swishing happily. “Here, let’s get things started again.” Fluttershy snapped a claw, the cart beginning to roll forward once again.

“Fluttershy, what – but – wait,” Twilight said, trying to get in front of Fluttershy's continual revelations which kept messing up her grip on the situation. “Hold on a minute-”

The dragonequus Fluttershy stroked the top of her head with one of her mismatched paws, clearly thinking hard as she looked at Rainbow Dash. “I think something fast,” she began.

“Yeah, that's right!” Dash agreed.

“Dash!” Twilight hissed. “You're going to encourage her!”

“Well,” Fluttershy went on, still thinking to herself. “I suppose you are blue, and a fast blue thing... I know!”

Her tail flicked across, and there was a sudden shift from Dash's diaper – expanding outwards, getting larger and spreading across her body at the same time.

Within seconds, Dash found herself stuck inside a thick, padded sleeper made of crinkly diaper material – one which made her look like a big-pawed, puff-butted, thick-tailed, blue-furred cat.

“What the heck!?” Dash complained, completely caught off guard, and tried to wriggle out of the suit in some way – though the seatbelt was holding her even more tightly now she was stuffed into a four-inch-thick plush suit. “How does this make sense!?”

“Oh, that's a Romane Blue,” Fluttershy explained earnestly. “They're ever so fast when they're startled!”

“That’s not fair!” Dash cried out, continuing to wriggle about in her suit. Fluttershy looked over to the others, resting her head in her paws.

“Oooh, do me! Do me!” Pinkie proclaimed, bouncing in her seat, her hoof waving about in the air. Fluttershy’s gaze focused in on her. She grinned widely, looking quite excited at the prospect of suiting up Pinkie Pie.

“I think I know just the thing for you! Something big and bouncy and lots and lots of fun!” Fluttershy snapped her claws again. With a flash and a puff, Pinkie was suddenly stuffed into a rabbit suit, with large floppy ears and puffy white tail. Pinkie let out a myriad of giggles, rolling around as much as she could in the bindings. She wiggled her rear, making it crinkle and puff about. “Oooh, I say it fits you perfectly!”

“Well, the butt might be pretty big, but that just makes it better!” Pinkie giggled again.

“Oh, goodness, it’s dreadful! How do you expect to walk in that?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy’s eyes immediately switched over as she began to contemplate a puffy suit for the fashionista.

The stroller splashed through a small stream, though this time none of the passengers – pony or dragon – were paying much attention to where they were going, too busy focused on the Draconequus-suited Fluttershy and her 'helpful' actions.

“Well...” Fluttershy began, thinking out loud. “I imagine you're very concerned with how you look.”

“Of course I am!” Rarity said. “Why wouldn't I be? That's one of the most important things to be concerned about!”

“Don't give her anything she can use,” Dash warned, a little indistinctly. “She'll twist it and stuff!”

“Oh, goodness, there's lots of animals who care about how clean they are,” Fluttershy said, half to herself. “But maybe it should also be a real show-off – that sounds more like it!”

She snapped her claws, and a wave of glitter came cascading off her padded paw and engulfed Rarity. The sparkling, multicoloured glitter concealed the lone unicorn among the group for several seconds, and then it faded – showing that Rarity had been put in a kind of bird suit with a little feather crest.

It took a moment longer for everypony (and everydragon) to see the tail, though – currently collapsed down, the suit clearly had a huge fan built into it which would show a peacock's famous tail feathers once opened out.

“Isn't that a male thing?” Twilight asked, remembering a book about it. “I thought peahens were quite... drab.”

“Oh, it's perfectly all right to take liberties with a costume,” Fluttershy said softly.

Rarity let out a shriek, looking at her over the top suit. “Gaaah! It’s so… flashy! I can’t wear this! It’s… it’s…” Rarity’s voice died as she tried to think of a word to describe her frilly, puffy, swollen suit.

“Absolutely marvelous, I know!” Fluttershy finished her sentence, though Rarity was clearly unsatisfied with the descriptor Fluttershy had chosen. “There’s even a little special feature with yours!” Fluttershy winked. She leaned forward, pressing a claw into Rarity’s diaper. Her suit squeezed in, and Rarity let out an involuntary squawk. Rarity’s face turned a bright red and she tried to cover her mouth, but her hooves, now stuffed into the wings of the suit, could barely reach up to her chin.

Despite the embarrassing nature of the situation, Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at Rarity, only to regret it a moment later as Fluttershy turned her attention to the farm pony. “Oooh, now this is a tricky one… what to make a hard-working farmpony…” Fluttershy tapped her chin, thinking.

Applejack shook her head, struggling against her binds as the stroller exited the forest, starting to make its way back towards the tour starting point. “N-nothing! I don’t need anything at all!” She said.

“Nonsense! You’ll look wonderful as a tough ox!” She laughed, pointing a claw at Applejack. With a floomp, a suit ballooned over her, covering Applejack in a puffy ox form.

Applejack blushed, crinkling, but tried to brush it off. “Ain't nothin' ah can't deal with,” she said, looking off into the distance.

“That was so a lie,” Spike pointed out. “You're terrible at lying, but that was bad even for you.”

“Aw... shucks,” Applejack groaned.

“Oh!” Fluttershy realized. “I almost forgot about the dragon here!”

She examined him closely. “I think... oh, goodness! I didn't realize, but you're such a little baby dragon, aren't you!”

“I'm not a baby dragon!” Spike shot back, stung. “I'm... I'm just short for my age!”

“What was that about bad liars?” Twilight asked.

“Well, there's only one thing a baby dragon should be dressed as,” Fluttershy told him, then giggled and flicked her tail across.

Spike looked down at himself, to see how bad it was, and at first glance he blinked – it looked like he wasn't wearing anything, even a diaper, but he could feel the soft material pressing in on him from all directions.

Then he re-focused, and realized he was in a giant, puffy sleeper... of himself.

“The only thing that makes a baby dragon cuter is a babier dragon!” Fluttershy told him.

Spike’s voice drained as he stared down at himself, unaware of any good way to argue against Fluttershy’s decision, as silly as it was. Fluttershy finally focused in on Twilight. “Ah, the last pony. Well, you are quite the bookworm, but worms aren’t very cute, if I may say so.” She said, leaning back against the front edge of the stroller. “I suppose the only next logical step would be an owl! They are very wise, but looking at that diaper, you might just be an owlet!” Fluttershy giggled. Twilight was about to retort when Fluttershy snapped her fingers once more. Twilight found herself sitting in an overly fuzzy suit, her hooves stuffed into short, floppy wings as her lower half was stuck in a crinkly, puffy diaper-like egg.

“Mmmpphh, Fluttershy! This isn’t right! You’re not a draconeques! This is just a horrible dream!” Twilight cried out. The stroller slowly came to a stop as they ponies were brought back to the tour building, their straps finally coming loose. Fluttershy’s wings unfurled as she floated upwards, waving to them.

“Come back soon! You’ve all been a real treat!”

“Somepony, stop her!” Spike shouted, trying to jump up and grab at Fluttershy’s dangling tail.

“Fluttershy, wait!” Twilight called, but Spike's attempt to grab the departing pegasus(?) failed, and none of the others could manage either magic or flight to bring her back to earth.

“Well... darn,” Dash said eventually, as their friend flew off into the distance.

“Okay, okay,” Twilight said, thinking hard. “Dash? Watch where she goes, you're the best at that. Everypony else... and Spike... here's what I'm thinking.”

She banged her hoof against the floor, producing only a sort of squishy sound, and blushed. “Ergh... anyway. It's pretty clear to me that we're going to need to get Fluttershy. Even if this is the end of the dream – and I don't know about that – if we leave without her and come back in we might just have to do the whole thing all over again before we can get her.”

“But darling, we can hardly walk in these things!” Rarity complained, shuffling in her peacock sleeper. “And it's... hideously tacky! I can't be seen in this!”

“Technically we c'n already see y'all,” Applejack pointed out.

“Not helping!”

“Okay, I saw it,” Dash reported, turning a little too fast and nearly falling over in her own cat-plush-suit. “Oh, come on... anyway, she went into a cave. It's not too far from here, maybe a few minutes' walk.”

Everyone else gave Dash an exasperated look.

“How much is that in waddle?” Spike asked.

Dash blushed. “...oh.”

“Well, no matter how long it is, it’ll be longer if we don’t get started.” Applejack said, wobbling unsteadily in her own suit. She swung one leg high in the air as she tried to take a step, her padding causing her rear to shake embarrassingly left and right. Ignoring the giggles from Rainbow Dash, Applejack continued in the direction Dash had indicated.

The others followed after her, their own rumps swaying in rhythm with Applejack’s. All except for Pinkie, who was too busy bouncing along on her rump to waddle. She occasionally wiggled her rear, the cotton-ball on her diaper twitching as her ears flopped along with each bounce. Of all the ponies, Twilight likely had the widest waddle due to the embarrassingly thick egg portion of her suit covering her rear. It was even more difficult attempting to keep pace with her friends, as she was forced to waddle on only her hind legs.

Spike walked along behind her, occasionally pushing on Twilight’s rear to try and keep her upright whenever she felt like she was going to flop over.

“Goodness, why must Fluttershy enjoy such extravagant designs? I can barely move with this tail!” Rarity complained, her tail swishing left and right, framing her padded rear adorably.

“Not too far now, just a bit further,” Applejack said, her own suit’s tail dragging along the ground. Suddenly, Twilight was about to fall back, but Spike gave her a push forward. Unfortunately, that push was a bit too strong, and Twilight was sent tumbling forward. She bounced off her belly, rolling on top of Applejack’s tail. Applejack attempted to take another step, but immediately tripped as her tail was snagged, tugging her back down onto her own padded rear. And to top things off, Pinkie continued to bounce along, jumping up to pomf her way on top of Twilight and Applejack, still giggling away.

“Pinkie, that's not helping,” Twilight mumbled, as Spike helped her get back up onto her hooves. “How are Rarity and Dash doing?”

“...not well,” Spike replied, looking over to the other two ponies.

Dash kept forgetting her wings were encased in plush and trying to flare them for takeoff, resulting in a kind of awkward stumble which half the time ended up with her flopping down on her belly, and the rest of the time she was stepping on the suit's tail as it seemingly deliberately got tangled with her legs.

She was, however, doing better than Rarity – the fashion-obsessed pony torn between bemoaning the tacky design of her sleeper and trying to make sure the tail didn't drag on the ground and get dirty. With her tail carried in her mouth she could move, sort of, but every time her rump waved from one side to the other it carried a serious risk of her falling over and back down the slope.

“I suppose we should just hope that we can get out of here as soon as we reach Fluttershy,” Twilight suggested.

“No, silly, this needs something else!” Pinkie said. “Something obvious!”

She waited.

Twilight coughed.

“...it's not obvious?” she said, saddened. “Well! I'll make it obvious! It needs a marching song!”

She coughed into her rabbit-paw-padded hoof, then began trying out lyrics.

“The rump, hee hee, a giggle and who and hay-”

“Ah wonder if there's a campsite around here,” Applejack said. “At this rate we'll be needin' one...”

Twilight just shook her head, wobbling a little now she was back on her hooves. Rainbow Dash continued to stumble forward as Applejack stood back up, resuming her waddle. Rarity looked over to the others, her tail still gripped in her mouth. The act of turning, however, set her off balance, and she was sent tumbling backwards, her rump crashing into Spike and squishing him into the ground. “Oooh, dumb costume! Clearly whoever designed this didn’t have practicality in mind!” She said. Spike muffled his agreement, squeezing Rarity’s padded rear slightly.

Pinkie continued onwards, oblivious to her friend’s trouble as she continued to sing to herself.

“Waddles, and sways, we’ll puffily march all day…”

“Come on girls, we can’t be stuck here all night. Who knows what other animals are hiding around here.” Twilight said, beginning to waddle forward once more. It seemed that for every step they took, though, the cave was the same distance away. The ponies could only march onwards, hoping that they would reach the top before they all flopped to the ground from exhaustion.

“With crinkle rumps, and silliness puffy play..."

The sun was setting by the time they reached the cave.

Twilight wasn't sure whether that was because the sun was setting unusually quickly because it was a dream, or if they'd actually been walking for hours. Her legs ached, along with muscles she'd never used that much before, simply from the effort of trying to walk on her hind legs – and she was in better shape than Rarity, who had just refused to keep going after Pinkie had reached the fourteenth repetition of her marching song.

Spike looked exhausted too, though he had carried Rarity up the second half of the hill so that was probably why.

“I... hate... this... place...” Dash ground out, sitting back on her diapered rump and groaning. “Are we done yet?”

“I'm afraid we do need to keep going,” Twilight said. “It's going to be night time soon, and I think that means more animals come out.”

As if in answer, there was a high-pitched laugh from down on the savannah.

“What was that?” Spike asked, nervously, then stumbled. Rarity went tumbling to the floor, and his face landed squarely in the massive poof of her diaper.

“I'd like to know as well!” Rarity agreed, the sheer thickness of the padding meaning she didn't even notice.

“I think it was a hyena,” Twilight hazarded. “But either way, this means we have to get out of trouble. Into the cave, girls.”

All the girls tried their best to hurry forward, Rarity practically dragging Spike along as he clung to her poofy rump. They thankfully were able to reach the cave with relative ease, though everypony collapsed once they had reached the darkness of the interior. As they all rocked on their puffy rears, the crinkling echoed all around them. Something stirred from deeper within the cave, a yawn joining in the crinkles. “H-hello? Is somepony there?” Fluttershy’s voice came out.

“Fluttershy, it’s us! It’s your friends! We’re here to rescue you from this dream!” Twilight explained.

“Rescue me? But, I’m not in any trouble. At least, not now. The animals are so nice, keeping all the scary things away.” Fluttershy responded. Twilight wobbled on her rear, trying to spot Fluttershy in the darkness.

“It’s all a trick, it’s Nightmare Moon! We need you to help us stop her!” Rainbow Dash shouted into the cave.

“N-n-nightmare Moon? Oh d-d-dear…” Fluttershy responded. There was the sound of fluff unfurling, and the Fluttershy draconequess stepped out of the darkness, looking down at her friends. She let out a gasp upon seeing them all in their costumes. “Oh my! Why are you all wearing such silly outfits? Did Nightmare do this?” She asked, worried.

“You could say that…” Dash responded.

“Nevermind, Fluttershy, come on, we’re getting out of here!” Twilight said, her horn beginning to glow as she attempted to dissolve the dream once again.

“Hey, Twi, what's up?” Dash asked, after a few seconds. “Aren't we normally gone by now?”

“I don't know what's going on!” Twilight replied, horn intensifying. “It's like there's a lot more resistance!”

There was another peal of laughter, and some plush hyenas came loping into the cave.

“Help!” Rarity cried.

Fluttershy padded forwards, costume tail flicking behind her, and stared down the hyenas. “No! No scaring friends!”

There was a flicker through the whole cave, and then the dream finally collapsed.

“Finally...” Dash said, then looked herself over. The costume was gone, though her diaper was as thick as ever. “...well, it's something.”

“What do we do now?” Fluttershy asked. “Um... if you have a plan, that is.”

“We sure do!” Applejack agreed. “Twi, tell Fluttershy the plan.”

“Right!” Twilight agreed. “Well – we've got all of us together, so that's good. We need to find Nightmare Moon now, so try and concentrate on something about her – that'll get us closer to the dream she's in. Come on!”

She began to canter, and the others got into motion behind her.

“How come we don't feel tired?” Spike asked.

“Magic?” Dash suggested.

Twilight was about to launch into a lecture on the nature of magic, then stopped and decided to just go with the explanation Dash had given. “...yes. Magic.”

They passed between two dream bubbles, then the path they were on collapsed and dropped them into a big bubble made up of lots of smaller ones.

The bubbles wobbled as they all descended into them, the world shifting and swirling around as they suddenly found themselves all sitting at desks in a schoolhouse. “Hey, Twilight, you didn’t accidentally take us back to your dream, did you?” Pinkie giggled, pushing Twilight playfully.

“I don’t think so… this doesn’t feel like my dream.” Twilight looked around, trying to spot anything. All around them sat a collection of fillies and colts, each talking amongst each other. Three familiar voices suddenly cropped up from the back of the room, causing the group to turn about.

“Applejack?”

“Rarity?”

“Dash?”

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were sitting in the back of the room, all looking curiously as the grown ponies sitting ahead of them. “What the hay are you doing here, sis?” Applebloom asked, tilting her head in confusion. Despite their bewilderment, none of them seemed to have noticed the thick padding wrapped around each pony’s rear, and were merely confused at their presence in their class.

“They probably needed remedial classes.” Another voice snarked. Diamond Tiara was smirking over at the CMC, Silver Spoon doing the same.

“My sister’s not dumb! You’ll see, I bet she-“ Sweetie Belle was cut off, Cheerilee speaking up at the front of the room.

“Settle down now class, we have a lot to cover today and I want to be sure we get through it all.”

“Um... there must be some mistake?” Twilight said, raising a hoof hesitantly.

“Miss Sparkle, please do not talk until you are called upon,” Cheerilee chastised.

“Oh,” Twilight winced, blushing. “Sorry...”

“Sorry?” Dash repeated. “Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

She stood up from her desk, pushing it back with a hoof. “You're treating us like schoolfillies!”

Spike coughed.

“And a schooldrake,” Dash amended.

“Miss Dash, do not talk back to me,” Cheerilee said sternly. “You already heard me tell Twilight off, so you had your warning – now, go and sit in the corner for a time-out.”

Dash looked ready to argue again, until a set of booties and a pacifier flew off Cheerilee's desk. The pegasus had just enough time to see a moon cutie mark on them all before the pacifier jammed itself into her mouth and the booties fitted themselves onto her hooves.

With the booties in control of her movements, Dash found herself marched over to a three-legged stool in the corner and sat on it, her complaints muffled by the pacifier.

“I hope there won't be any further interruptions,” Cheerilee said, as Tiara and Silver giggled and pointed at Dash.

“But-” Spike began, then subsided and spoke in a whisper. “How come she's not telling them off for bullying?”

“I think this is another of those dreams with rules,” Twilight whispered back. “And that means we're getting schooled...”

“That better not be whispering I’m hearing!” Cheerilee said, writing something down on the chalkboard. Twilight scrunched her muzzle, hoping she wasn’t about to receive the same punishment. Thankfully, Cheerilee seemed to continue with her lesson, drawing out a few graphs on the board. “Now, today we’ll be talking about supply and demand. It’s fairly easy, really, the amount of something that is provided naturally falls to how much is wanted of something in the economy. For example, let’s say… diapers!

Rarity bit her lip, hoping what was coming was not what she was anticipating. Scootaloo glanced over to Rainbow Dash, her face a bright red as she watched her idol fiddle with the foalish booties.

“Now, if I can have somepony help demonstrate…”

“Oooh, me me meeeee!” Pinkie bounced up and down in her seat, waving her hoof around wildly.

“How about you, Applebloom?” Cheerilee said. Pinkie’s ears flopped down as she leaned onto her desk, Applebloom walking up to the front of the class nervously.

“Now, Applebloom, how much demand might you put on diapers?”

“Uh… 5, I guess? I don’t know how many foals need in a day…”

“Five it is!” Cheerilee said cheerfully. Five diaper suddenly puffed around Applebloom’s rear, spreading her legs, causing the filly to blush.

“Now, suppose five diapers is here… and the equilibrium is here. How many more diapers would Applebloom demand?”

“Eight!” Silver Spoon shouted out. Eight more diapers were now around the filly’s rump, causing her to flop onto her rear as her face burned brightly. Applejack buried her face in her hooves, trying not to look at her embarrassed sister.

“Very good! Now, you can see that with these curves, 13 diapers is the natural equilibrium. But, thankfully, diaper puff is rather inelastic, meaning…” Cheerilee tilted one the lines until it was perfectly vertical. “Any number of diapers will do! It could be 13, 20, or 50!”

“I don't like where this is going,” Applebloom said softly.

“But, of course,” Cheerilee went on, “when there's more supply than demand, the situation is called a glut. A glut can result in falling prices, and when it does smart ponies stockpile so they have enough for when the supply falls below the demand!”

More diapers appeared around Applebloom's rump, making her wobble even compared to how she'd been before, and then Applejack jumped as a neatly-wrapped pack of fifty diapers thumped to the floor beside her seat.

“On the other hoof, when there is more demand than supply, the result is a raise in prices and a shortage situation.”

Cheerilee did not bother to use an example for this one, to the annoyance of many of her 'students' – especially Applebloom, who had to rock back and forth to get back into a position to be able to see the board.

“So that's our first topic,” Cheerilee summarized. “Now, let's move on to something else – history!”

Twilight blinked. What kind of lesson went straight from economics to history?

“As we all remember from last time, a thousand years ago there was a war between Sunbutt and Queen Moon. Sunbutt thought that ponies should be forbidden from wearing diapers, and she used an evil trick to lock Queen Moon away and try to stamp out diaper wearing for good,” Cheerilee explained.

Pinkie let out several giggle-snorts, wiggling in her seat. “Boy, Cheery, you sure have a silly idea of what history is! But I bet this version’s much more exciting!” Pinkie leaned forward, watching with rapt attention. Cheerilee gave a look to Pinkie, giving a bit of a smile.

“Well, Pinkie, surely you know about the great fluff wars and what trick Celestia used, don’t you?” She said.

Pinkie paused for a moment, tapping her chin and thinking. “Weeeeeeell… I heard that meanie-pants Sunbutt-“

“Pinkie, don’t talk about Celestia like that!” Twilight hissed. Pinkie continued.

“Knew how much Queen Nightmare loved her diapers and knew how much ponies loved their diapers! So she gave Nightmare a special diaper, as a gift, but Nightmare didn’t know that this was a mean gift! When Nightmare put it on, it started to grow and grow and grow! And Nightmare loved it, her diapers just kept growing! But then, gasp, they didn’t stop! It just kept growing!” As Pinkie spun her tail, she didn’t notice as her own padding began to grow, slowly at first, swelling up and pressing into the back of her seat.

“They grew sooooooo big, that Queen Nightmare started to float and sink into them! And before you knew it, Sunbutt had trapped Nightmare in her own diaper that looked just like the moon! And meanie Sunbutt bounced Nightmare up into the sky! Trapped in her own fluffy diaper, for everypony to see!” Pinkie’s own padding seemed to be rising higher into the air, lifting her rump up, tail twirling in the air. Diamond snickered as she watched Pinkie’s rump float up, her diaper swallowing up her flanks.

“And poor Nightmare was stuck there for 1000 years! Diapers, a thing of the past!”

“What about foals?” Fluttershy interjected.

“A thing of the past!” Pinkie continued, letting go of her desk to flip upside down, looking at Fluttershy.

“Very good, Pinkie! That was a marvelous review!” Cheerilee congratulated Pinkie, who just smiled, sitting on the ceiling.

“Pinkie...” Twilight groaned.

“Miss Sparkle, did you have something to share with the class?” Cheerilee asked.

Twilight shook her head, blushing. “No, Miss!”

Silver Spoon giggled, and parroted Twilight's 'no, miss' – something Cheerilee completely ignored.

“Now, we're going to move on to civics,” the teacher announced. “Perhaps Rarity can shed some light on the subject of the nobility?”

“Very well,” Rarity agreed, glad to have a topic she knew all about. “Of the three tribes, the Unicorns are the ones who have a conventional nobility – one with hereditary titles and lands – which is derived from their pre-unification way of life. The Pegasi prefer to give accolades to those who win their worth personally, through great achievements, and the Earth Ponies honour those... who...”

She trailed off, as Cheerilee shook her head in disappointment.

“Dear me,” the earth pony said, sighing. “It's no good trying to bluff your way through without having done the work. The very first thing you should have mentioned is that noble rank is denoted by the quality of the diaper cover!”

“What!?” Rarity asked, her expression becoming distinctly hunted. “But – what – this isn't-”

“Let's have a look at a few of the more common ranks,” Cheerilee added. “Come out here, please, Rarity.”

Rarity begrudgingly obliged, waddling up to the front of the class room. Sweetie Belle tried to avoid her gaze by taking sudden interested in a series of scratches on her desk that vaguely resembled Cheese Sandwich. Rarity stood at the front, facing the class, only for Cheerilee to instruct her to turn about. “Now, the lowest ranks, peasants, would be unlikely to have diaper covers, or would have very simple ones of a single dull color.” A cover popped into existence on Rarity’s padding, squeezing her diaper tighter on her rump. “They were often also fairly small, which unfortunately hid the thickness of their diapers as well. Now, the next rank would include local figures of authority. Stripes, polka-dots, and other simple designs were common.” Rarity’s diaper cover relaxed a little, letting her diaper bulge outwards (a bit larger than they were when Rarity had waddled to the front), shifting to match the descriptions of Cheerilee. “Plaid was a common pattern among Scotsmares as well.”

Sweetie Belle dared a glance up, seeing her sister in a brightly colored plaid cover, and immediately looked away again, blushing brightly as Silver Spoon and Diamond snickered.

“Nobility that were loyal to Queen Nightmare often had stars and moons patterned on their covers, and these often added a little extra bounce to pony’s rumps as well. Now, can anypony tell me what the nobility under Sunbutt might have worn? Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie's face scrunched up as she thought, trying to remember – or guess. “Uh... I... wait, didn't she want to get rid of diapers completely? So none!”

Cheerilee sighed, shaking her head.

“Sweetie Belle, that's exactly the mistake I would have expected from a naughty filly who didn't do all the research she should have.”

Sweetie flushed, fidgeting a little in her seat.

“While it is true that Sunbutt herself wanted to eliminate diapers entirely, she could not do so openly because diapers had such strong support,” Cheerilee lectured. “Instead, especially before she rebelled against her sister, Sunbutt tended to try and make wearing diapers so inconvenient that it would trick ponies into not wanting to wear them.”

Rarity looked nervous. “Um-”

“For example,” Cheerilee went on, as if Rarity hadn't tried to speak up. “The lower ranks would have diaper covers made of stiff, translucent plastic, which rustled constantly and made it harder to hold conversations or sit down politely.”

The fashion pony frowned for a moment, then twisted to look at the diaper cover – and gasped at the terribly tacky low-qualify of the translucent pink plastic.

“Nooooo!” she wailed, sinking to her rump – and producing a storm of crinkle sounds as she did so. “The horror!”

“For the upper ranks, meanwhile,” Cheerilee went on, “Sunbutt ordered that her most high-ranking subordinates should wear diaper covers marked with her sun cutie mark – but so thick that they would often be even thicker than the diaper! This resulted in the Sunbutt nobility lazing around all day as it was too much effort to move.”

With another pop, the cheap plastic diaper cover was replaced by a plush one several inches thick.

Rarity let out a squeak of surprise as her rump was lifted into the air, the diaper cover spreading her legs even further. “And, of course, everypony in the nobility’s family had to wear them, otherwise nopony would know they were noble!” Cheerilee added. Sweetie Belle whimpered as she felt her own diaper lift up off her seat, her tail wrapped up in the fluff of a puffy sun-printed diaper cover. Sweetie’s face turned a brighter red as she watched Rarity attempt to waddle back towards her own seat, her rump swaying and bumping into Rainbow Dash, who toppled off her stool.

“Well, I suppose that will do for today, we’ll cover pegasi pacifiers tomorrow. We ought to move back to economics. Twilight, would you happen to know the most popular brand of diapers currently? The thickest ones out there?”

Twilight tried to ignore just how much they had jumped around, focusing on the question. “The thickest diapers… oh! Those are Super Clouds!” She responded.

“Very good, Twilight! I suppose you’re familiar with their new advertising technique, then?” Cheerilee asked, grinning widely. Twilight’s ears flopped down, looking ashamed.

“Oh, no, I just know the thickness of them…”

“In that case, let's have a look,” Cheerilee decided, trotting over to the windows and pulling a cord.

The blinds shut with a click, throwing the room into darkness, and a few seconds later a projector whirred into life.

“The Super Clouds advertising campaign which began a few months ago is what's called a multi-media campaign,” Cheerilee told the room, as the projector showed a still image of a packet of Super Clouds. “In addition to some new packaging which emphasized their brand-unique thickness, and some advertising posters and newspaper ads, the Super Clouds ran a number of TV spots which were intended to expand their audience.”

Twilight decided that was a fairly good description of a multimedia campaign, actually. Did that mean they'd gone back to business studies?

“Let's see the first,” Cheerilee went on, and the projector flickered once before showing the first ad.

It was... odd.

It started off by showing ponies wearing the diapers, and then showed them without the diapers and looking miserable. There was a peppy soundtrack, and then Twilight shook her head and realized she'd zoned out a little.

“Now, Twilight, what were the most important features of that ad?” Cheerilee asked.

Twilight blushed, looking down. “Um... I... actually didn't see most of it. I wasn't concentrating.”

There were plenty of giggles from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at that admittance.

“Then let's watch it again,” Cheerilee said. “If you can't get it after this, we'll move on to the second.”

The projector whirred once more as the ad started again. Twilight tried to focus in more, watching as the ponies were waddling about happily in their thick diapers. The tune played, Twilight rocking her head a little along with it. The ponies were shown once more without their diapers, looking unhappy, but Twilight was unable to pick up on anything else in the ad. She was sure there had been more to it, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember a thing. “Well, Twilight?” Cherilee asked.

“Uh… um… they, seemed to, uh, be playing on the model of expectations? That when somepony wears their diapers, they’re happy?” She suggested.

“That is an aspect of the commercial, but I don’t think I would say it’s the most important one. Here, maybe the second one will help.” Cherilee fiddled with the projector for a moment before another ad began. This one had a similar bouncy tune, showing ponies frolicking around in their diapers. There was a cartoony bwoomp sound effect as one of the pony’s diapers grew to twice its size, which only seemed to make the pony happier as the others all watched with awe. As it played, however, Twilight found her mind becoming foggy, only picking up more of the silly sound-effect and happy tune, with the only other thing she remembered about the ad being the vague idea of ‘thick’.

“I… um, I… I’m not sure…” Twilight responded, Cheerilee smiling sweetly.

“Once more, then!” She started the projector up, playing the ad again. Then a third time, for good measure.

Twilight felt oddly detached, as Cheerilee moved on to the third advert.

Some part of her felt like she should be frustrated, annoyed at her inability to concentrate on the adverts and answer what should have been simple questions – but the rest of her didn't feel frustrated at all, too busy enjoying what were some very fun advertisements to watch.

This one was so detached from the topic of diapers at first that Twilight couldn't see where they were going. It was a group of ponies on the beach, complaining and moaning and looking very sad as the tide came in around them.

The music was nice, though, just as nice as it was for the other ads. Twilight spaced out a bit, and then the tail end of the ad was happy diapered ponies playing in the sand.

She shifted in her seat a bit, not sure what that was about.

“Twilight?” Cheerilee asked. “What was most important about that ad?”

Twilight frowned a little, unable to really concentrate about it. “Um... um... something about how diapers are good?”

She pouted, thinking there had to be something wrong with that.

“That's a good lesson to take away from it,” Cheerilee said, surprising Twilight a little with the praise. “Let's watch it again.”

The music came, the ad played, and Twilight felt oddly uncomfortable – but she wasn't sure about what.

“Now, let's have a look at the fourth main ad,” Cheerilee told them. “Then we'll move on to the second kind of ad, which was testimonials.”

This ad was even harder for Twilight to remember than all the previous ones. The only things that came to mind when she tried to recall the collection of pictures and sounds was this feeling of warm fuzziness and soft, padded rears. She didn’t even pay much attention to Cheerilee’s question, simply mentioning the ad made her feel all snug and cozy inside. Cheerilee seemed pleased with the answer, however, so she moved on to the next ad design. After showing the previous ads in one go, at Twilight’s request, that is.

“Testimonials are when they have somepony try out their diapers and see how they like them. Of course, practically everypony loved Super Clouds, so it was easy to find ponies happy to share their thoughts.” The projector clicked to the next slide (it had always been a slide projector, hadn’t it?), and revealed a picture of a pony wearing thick diapers, a block of text beside her.

“Super Clouds have got to be the best diapers I’ve ever worn! They’re the comfiest, the fluffiest, and they give me just the cutest waddle! I’d recommend them to everypony!” – Crinkly Pie

“Ah suppose I can see why these got so popular…” Applejack muttered, seeing just how much the pony in the ad had enjoyed her fluffy diapers. Fluttershy nodded in agreement, while Twilight continued to daydream about Super Clouds.

The next pony in the ad was a blue-coated pegasus, posing with her thick diapers out to one side.

“When I'm on the go, I don't have time to stop and go. So I wear the diapers which can let me go all day! There's no other diapers as good for a pony like me, and you can bet on that!” - Rainbow Splash

Twilight yawned, wondering why some of these seemed so familiar.

There was a faint sigh from behind her, and Twilight thought for a moment and realized Rainbow Splash must have wet herself. That was okay, at least she had Super Clouds to keep her dry, just like Crinkly Pie did.

Something sounded a bit wrong about that, but Twilight thought about it again – the soft tunes from the ad now filling the air of the classroom – and decided it was perfectly fine. After all, Rainbow Splash and Crinkly Pie were her friends, and ponies went to school with their friends.

Rarity raised a hoof to her head, trying to ward off a headache which was nagging at her.

It seemed to be from watching the adverts – which were fine adverts, and she was sure that the product they were selling was both understated and enjoyable, and she couldn't wait to try one on for herself!

She shifted a little in her seat, hearing the crinkle, and smiled a little.

What had she been thinking about?

Oh, that was right – the diapers her friends Crinkly Pie and Rainbow Splash were enjoying.

Something seemed odd about the name Crinkly Pie, as if Crinkly Pie should be called something else... shouldn't Crinkly Pie be Crinkly Pie?

Rarity shook her head, then saw the slide change again.

The words caught her eye first.

“If there's anything that a good diaper should be, it's perfect in form, function and fashion,” the text said. “And Super Clouds are ideal in all three areas! There's not a single fault, aesthetically speaking, with Super Clouds.” - Raritinkle.

Suddenly, she felt the need to use her diaper – urgently. The need pushed in on her, swelling up inside until she felt like she was about to burst, and she had a sudden realization.

She needed to hold on! She was Rarity, she was – she-

-she wet herself, sighing, and felt the Super Clouds soak up all the moisture.

Raritinkle wiggled a little in her seat, already forgetting what she'd been concerned about.

Behind Raritinkle sat Fluttershy, who was too busy trying to avoid the occasional glance from other ponies to notice the squishy rump that sat in front of her. She hadn’t been in a classroom in so long, and she had forgotten just how nervous they made her! Oooh, what if all the ponies started laughing at her? What if she got called on and didn’t know the answer? What if-

“Fluttershy, you might find this next one rather enjoyable.” Cherilee said, flipping over to another slide. Fluttershy looked up at the screen, shaking a bit as she hoped she wasn’t going to be asked any questions in front of the class like Twilight had been…

The slide showed a Pegasus not very dissimilar to Fluttershy, curled up under some blankets with her head peeking out. A storm was seen through her window, and a large bulge under the blanket gave away the thick diaper wrapped around the pony’s rump. “Oh, w-well, Super Clouds are so comfy and warm, they feel like a cloud around me! Which, I guess makes sense… But they’re very soft and fluffy, they make me feel safe and cozy whenever I’m worried about something!” – Floodershy

The Pegasus felt a little relaxed at the sight of the ad. She could certainly sympathize with the pony in the picture, there had been nights when she was too worried she could hardly keep her head out from under her pillow! And all those scary storms as a filly had probably not helped her bedwetting problem… Floodershy squeezed her legs, feeling the thick pampers between them. But with her diapers, she wouldn’t have needed to worry about that, or worry about anything! She could just enjoy the soft fluffiness as they grew warm and squishy…

Floodershy’s diaper grew soggy, bloating up slightly as Floodershy wet it, soaked and slightly sloshy.

Stuck in his seat like the rest of them, Spike's eyes wandered a little.

He felt really thirsty for some reason, like he'd been walking through a desert all day without so much as a sip of water. And the adverts were neat and all, but it was kind of hard to concentrate on them when he was feeling so thirsty...

The padded young dragon blinked, as he spotted a bottle of milk on his desk.

Had that been there before...?

Spike thought about it, a little suspicious, then shrugged and took a drink.

It was wonderful, and he drank the whole bottle down in a long series of gulps – not caring about how it would look to the ponies in the rest of the room.

As he lay back, thirst slaked, he saw another of the testimonials go up on the projector.

This one showed a hard-working Earth Pony with a cute bonnet next to her, wiping sweat from her forehead, and sitting on some slightly saggy diapers.

It looked kind of like Applejack, to him.

“When I'm out in the fields, I don't have time to go all the way back to the barn for every time I need to use the little filly's room,” the testimonial explained. “And only Super Clouds can hold all I need them to for a long work day.” - Soggyjack

Spike chuckled.

“Didn't know Soggyjack did a testimonial like that,” he said to himself.

Soggyjack couldn’t think of why she found the picture so appealing. Maybe it was the usefulness of not needing to waddle back to the barn all day long. And the comfiness of each squishy diaper wasn’t exactly something she’d decline either. She rocked left and right in her padding, enjoying the puffy crinkling and squishing from her padding. Her hind hooves rested on the large pack of diapers she had received earlier, her mind filling with thoughts of wrapping them around her waist and waddling about through her fields.

Spike watched as another slide clicked by, now showing a purple unicorn who was reading several books in bed. Twilight perked up when she saw the slide, her mind growing slightly less hazy and allowing her to focus in.

“Super Clouds are the absolute finest there is! I’ve run the numbers, and their thickness, cuteness, absorbency, they surpass every single diaper out there! The only thing better than one would be two, or three! They’re a huge hits with all my friends, and I love them too!” – Twilight Crinkle

Twilight Crinkle nodded. She had to agree, everything about her diapers were just so wonderful! They were so soft and comfy, everypony seemed to love them, Soggyjack, Raritinkle, Rainbow Splash, Crinkly Pie, and Floodershy all loved their diapers, so why shouldn’t she?

A part of her mind wondered why those names sounded so silly. But she figured it must be because she and her friends were silly! Anypony who loved such thick diapers would have to be.

Chapter 4

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The slide projector turned off, and Cheerilee tapped her hoof on the ground.

“Now, class,” she said, though about half the class was still deeply entranced by the ad campaign they'd seen. “We'll move on to the subject of nature studies!”

She drew a map on the chalkboard, hoof moving easily to shape out a diagram – a river, a swamp, some grassland, some trees and a mountainside.

“Who can tell me what animals you'd find in which places?” she asked, tapping them one at a time. “Anypony?”

Twilight Crinkle stuck up her hoof, and Cheerilee gave her a smile.

“That's very eager of you, but you've already answered a question – remember? Don't be a smarty-diapers, let the others join in!”

Twilight subsided a bit at the reminder, blushing, as Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara giggled.

Cheerilee looked out over the rest of the class, then made her choice. “Floodershy!”

“Um... yes?” the pegasus asked, shifting and making her diaper produce an audible squish-squish sound. “What, um, is it?”

“Just a quick nature quiz,” Cheerilee explained, and produced a collection of soft toys – Floodershy could see a frog, a leopard and a robin, and there were several more in the pile. “I'm going to hold up an animal, and you say where it's from!”

Floodershy felt a little nervous, and reached for the pacifier on her desk – then realized that wouldn't help her answer the question, and put it down again.

Cheerilee held up a robin.

“Um – sorry, but – have we started?” Floodershy asked.

Cheerilee nodded, and Floodershy noticed the soft-toy was getting slowly larger.

“Forest,” she answered quickly, and the robin toy went down again. It was replaced by a wolf toy, which picked up where the previous one had left off in terms of size.

“Forest again?”

The wolf toy was changed for a frog.

River, swamp, grassland, tree, mountain...

“Swamp?” Floodershy responded. Cherilee nodded, placing the frog down and lifting up a goat.

“A mountain.” Floodershy was slowly gaining more confidence. Cherilee set down the goat, now hefting up an alligator plush as large as her leg. “Um… well, an alligator could be found in both a river and a swamp… um…” Floodershy wriggled nervously, glancing between the plush and the pictures drawn on the board. “A… swamp?”

“I’m sorry, but crocodiles are more commonly found in rivers.” Cherilee said. She placed this plush down aside from the others, not noticing how it had puffed up a bit more.

“But, that’s an alligator, it’s teeth-“

“What about a bugbear?” Cherilee lifted up another plush.

“A b-bugbear? They’re from Tartarus, they don’t live in any of those places!”

“Don’t be silly Floodershy, these animals all have to come from somewhere!” Cherilee sing-songed, place the plush aside too. “How about an Ursa Major? Where do they live?”

Floodershy gulped, sinking into her chair as she looked between the choices she was given. None of them seemed right, but Cheerilee said they were? Was she wrong? She was never wrong about animals. She whined, fidgeting in her padding. “F-f-forest?”

“Correct,” Cheerilee told her, and the pegasus relaxed with a sigh – only to look up again as Cheerilee brought out the next one.

“Cerberus?” Floodershy said, astonished. “But... he lives just outside Tartarus, I helped take him back there...”

“I'm not hearing an answer,” Cheerilee said, in an encouraging tone. As if Floodershy should know, and the teacher was just trying to coax it out of her.

“...mountains!” Floodershy guessed, and the Cerberus plush puffed up so it was almost the same size as she was.

“I'm sorry, Floodershy,” Cheerilee told her. “Cerberus is most commonly seen on the plains.”

She put the plush down and picked up another one – this one actually larger than she was, a great big Manticore plush which nearly hid the teacher entirely.

“Is... is this the last one?” Floodershy asked, tentatively.

“That's right,” Cheerilee confirmed. “Come on, Floodershy, can you tell us where this critter is from?”

“...I... I think...” Floodershy began, suddenly drawing a blank.

She'd met a Manticore in the Everfree, hadn't she? But...

...but had she, or was that just a silly fantasy? She remembered fighting Queen Moon afterwards, so that couldn't be real!

Deciding that was only sensible, Floodershy looked at the Manticore plush as it slowly got larger and larger.

It was a flying creature, so it needed space to fly, and it had very bad camouflage for a grassland... that fur would be a mess if it got wet, so-

“Mountains!” she blurted out.

“No, silly,” Cheerilee told her, shaking her head and putting the plush down. “That's a very bad score on today's test. I think you need to study up on Manticores especially.”

Floodershy wasn't quite sure about the next few seconds, but then she was dressed in the Manticore plush like it was a suit – a suit which had a diaper around the outside to go with the diaper she was wearing inside, and which had her head sticking out of the open jaws of the monster.

Floodershy blushed and squeaked as she looked down at her suit, her oversized plush paws covering her mouth as she did. Her blush only grew brighter as Diamond and Silver laughed at her, poking her plush suit’s diaper. Floodershy covered her face, sinking further into her chair as she tried to ignore the fillies’ laughter.

“I hope you were all taking notes, there will be a quiz on this tomorrow! And I hope Floodershy’s studies up too, or we might be getting a class pet soon.” Cheerilee grinned, winking at the suited up pony. “As for our next lesson…” Cherilee began to draw on the suddenly blank board, drawing out several barrels and fruit. “Is a bit of chemistry! We’re going to learn how to make juice and cider.”

She turned back to her class. “Soggyjack, I believe you’ve made some cider before? Do you know what’s the most important step?”

Soggyjack looked a little confused, reading the oversimplified flowchart on the chalkboard. “Uh… getting’ the right fruit, I s’pose. Get the wrong fruit and everything’s ruined.”

“Nonsense! The most important part is the sugar! And the fizz!” Cheerilee explained. “After all, the more fizz there is, the bubblier you feel, and the bubblier you feel, the better it must be, right? Scootaloo, why don’t you and Soggyjack help me demonstrate?”

“Demonstrate, miss?” Scootaloo asked, puzzled. “I... don't understand.”

“An' nor do I,” Soggyjack agreed, shifting her weight a little.

“Well, it's quite simple,” Cheerilee told them both. “Come on up to the front, both of you.”

Scootaloo got to her hooves, and trotted up to the front of the class – her large diaper swaying from side to side, but relatively manageable. Soggyjack, meanwhile, had to waddle with her legs a little bowed from the sheer size of her damp diaper, and blushed with every squishy sound it made – accompanied by laughter from the two bullies to the side of the room.

“Good work,” Cheerilee praised Soggyjack as she arrived, as if just being able to get to the front of the room was a major achievement for her. “Now, here's your samples.”

She put ten sippy-cups on the front desk, in two rows of five.

“Two of these are just ordinary apple-juice,” she said. “Tasty, but not fizzy at all! And there's also two super-fizzy special Flim-Flam brand cider – and the rest of them are in-between. So, you're each going to note down how fizzy each cup feels to you on your side of the board, and then I'll reveal which was which so we can see if you agree.”

The two ponies stood opposite each other, each taking a cup. Soggyjack tentatively put the cup to her lips, taking a small sip. The juice flowed into her mouth, her eyes widening at the sweet flavor. She took a few more sips as Scootaloo took a sip from her own bottle. The filly let out a contented sigh, grinning as she took a few more sips, Soggyjack doing the same. Both ponies drank for a little while until they found the cups to be empty. “Well, what do you think?” Cheerilee asked.

Scootaloo popped the cup from her mouth, licking her lips. “Ooooh, that was so sweet! But there wasn’t any fizz!” She complained. Soggyjack nodded in agreement, looking mildly disappointed. Cherilee marked down the ponies’ responses before motioning to them to take another cup. They complied, drinking up a bit more. This next drink was just as sweet and tangy, but there was a bit more bubbliness to it. Soggyjack suckled happily on the bottle, feeling as the bubbliness landed in her stomach, making her feel warm and tingly inside. Scootaloo was drinking her own bottle, looking even more excited as she drank happily.

The bottles, despite being the same size as the first ones, seemed to have more cider in them, but even with the extra drink it wasn’t long before the two ponies were dropping the bottles, their bellies warm and fizzy. “That’s some of the best cider I’ve ever had!” Soggyjack said, smacking her lips as she eyed the remaining bottles.

“I’m guessing you haven’t found the fizziest yet, though! Come now, that’s a real treat!” Cheerilee said. Soggyjack picked up another bottle, sipping from it. This one was, as the other had been, even fizzier, and she only grinned wider as she started to drink from it. Her belly grew tinglier and fizzier, seeming to stretch out ever so slightly.

Sootaloo, on the other hoof, let out an excited giggle as she found her drink extremely fizzy and sweet. She couldn’t control her giggling as she enjoyed the drink, flopping onto her padded rump before rolling onto her back. She began to guzzle greedily from the cup, her belly starting to swweeell outwards as she drank and drank and drank.

“And it looks like Scootaloo's found the Super Fizzy Special,” Cheerilee said, patting the pegasus on the head. “How are you doing, Soggyjack?”

“Well,” Soggyjack began, then belched. “Sorry, miss...”

“Aw, looks like somepony might need a nap in a bit,” Cheerilee cooed. “But I don't think you've found the Super Fizzy Special yet!”

Soggyjack put down the bottle she'd been drinking, wanting to keep slurping up the apple drink but also driven by the promise of an even better one.

She tried the fourth bottle, which was sweeter than the one she'd just been drinking – but not enough, so after a moment Soggyjack lowered that bottle and picked up the final one.

One suckle, and she knew she was right.

The taste was exquisite, the fizz heavenly – the perfect cider drink, just like the best she'd ever made but then even fizzier! She sat down on her squishy diaper and threw her head back, trying to drink as much as possible as fast as possible, and her eyes glazed over from the sheer pleasure of it – not noticing as she swelled up, or as her diaper got bigger, or the bottle never emptied even an inch.

As she drank, the dragon at the back of the room scratched his head.

He was sure something wasn't right about this... but at the same time, he couldn't put his claw on what the problem was.

Maybe he was just imagining it. After all, AJ certainly did love her... cider....

AJ?

He frowned, fighting off a sudden headache.

What did the A stand for?

He thought for a moment, scratching his head as he watched AJ rock on her squishy diaper, the waistband stretching over her swelling belly. He glanced over to watch as Crinkly Pie sat on the ceiling in her inflated diaper…

Crinkly Pie? That didn’t seem right. Sure, she was crinkly, but Pinkie was pink! Wait…

As Spike looked around the room at his padded classmates, his headache grew stronger. This wasn’t right. Something was wrong. But… what?

Suddenly something clicked in his mind as he spotted Raritink- no, no, Rarity wiggling in her padded rump, watching her diaper swell as she wet it once again.

“Rarity! This isn’t right! It’s a dream! She’s trying to trick us!” Spike jumped out of his seat, going over to tug on Rarity’s hoof. She shook her head, drawn out of her stupor by Spike’s shouts.

“Spike’s, what going on? Why are we-“ Rarity’s expression changed as she suddenly realized what was going on. “Oh my goodness! We’ve got to get out of here!” Rarity looked up to see Dash struggling on her chair with her booties, rocking around in her wet diaper. Spike meanwhile was jumping up in the air to try and grab onto Pinkie’s mane and tug her back down to earth.

“Pinkie! Twilight! Snap out of it!”

“Spike!” Cheerilee admonished him sharply. “Do not disrupt my classroom!”

“He's gonna get in trou~ble...” Diamond Tiara sing-songed.

Spike looked over from trying to grab Pinkie, and saw some more of the moon-marked mittens and booties flying towards them. One got his left hand, and he hid his right under his armpit to keep it safe – realizing the whole situation was absurd but not sure of a better approach.

“Twilight!” he called. “Get us out of here!”

“But it's not home time!” Twilight replied, still sounding lost in the dream's logic. “I'll be truant! And then I'll have to go to Magic Kindergarten!”

“This doesn't look much different from a kindergarten now!” Spike countered.

Thinking fast, he spotted Fluttershy, and dove over to her – getting a bootie on his foot as well. “Fluttershy, can you get me over there?”

“Who's Fluttershy?” asked the entranced pegasus.

“Floodershy, then!” Spike groaned. “Just... I don't know, use your tail or something?”

Fluttershy's costume-tail twitched, then scooped Spike up and threw him at the wall. He hit it just next to the door, wobbled a bit, then pulled the fire alarm.

The sound of a bell ringing got to Twilight where Spike's words hadn't, as she heard something which sounded like school being out for the day and broke the spell.

Twilight had only a moment to take in the situation – complete pandemonium, with Cheerilee sending enchanted booties in all directions to try and regain control of the class – and activated her dream-walking spell.

This time, it worked.

They fell out of the dream, landing on a pathway made of solid imagination.

“That was dreadful!” Rarity groaned. “My name!”

“Yeah!” Dash agreed, eyes coming back into focus. “That was totally NOT cool!”

“We should probably come up with a plan in case we run into that kind of situation again,” Twilight suggested.

“Or, we could avoid the problem, by never going back there again,” Dash countered. “Anyone against? Right, it's agreed.”

“Um...” Fluttershy said. “You didn't let anypony speak...”

“Anyway!” Dash went on. “The sooner we're done with this the sooner we're DONE with this! Let's go!”

She began cantering along the path, and the others followed her – then they all slowed to a trot, as the waddle their diapers imposed made a canter impossible.

“Remember, we need to focus on finding Nightmare Moon,” Twilight said. “We need to move in close enough to her in the dream world that we can get at her!”

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a dream slammed down on them from overhead and sent them all into it.

They landed in a bush with a loud craaash, sprawling over one another.

“Ow,” Dash complained.

“An' whose hoof is in mah ear, RD?” Applejack demanded.

“Watch out, we need to know where we are,” Twilight cautioned. “Anypony got an idea?”

She looked around. “...wait, where's Spike?”

Spike made a soft squeaking noise from underneath Rarity's diaper.

Before they could react, however, there was a shout. “They went this way!”

The group struggled to right themselves, the bush rustling along with the plastic of their diapers as they shuffled around. “I think I hear them!” Another voice shouted, their hooves thudding along the ground as they hurried towards the sound of the group. Pinkie Pie, momentarily forgetting what had just happened in their last dream (or perhaps, not caring about the consequences), popped her head up from the bush, waving her hooves to try and attract the attention of whoever was trying to find them.

“Hey, we’re over here! We could use a hoof or two!” She flopped forward as Rainbow Dash pushed up on her padding, sending her rolling over the top of the bush onto the ground. Rarity attempted to right herself, though Spike’s constant wriggles was making that more difficult than it should have been. Suddenly several beams of light focused in on the pile of ponies, causing them all to freeze.

“Oh my goodness, there they are! How in Equestria did we lose track of six ponies? Nurse Redheart will have my head for this!” One of the voices said.

“Hello? Who’s there?” Twilight asked, pushing herself free of the bush and brushing some of the brambles off her diaper. The light from the ponies’ flashlights blinded her for a moment, causing Twilight to lift a hoof up to shield her eyes.

As they adjusted, she was able to spot several ponies facing her, all in white coats and looking very concerned.

“There you are,” said one of the ponies, a stallion. “Now, stay calm... there's no need to panic...”

His hoof reached for something in a saddlebag. “You're going to be going back home now, okay?”

“Home?” Twilight repeated, utterly lost. “What do you mean home? What's that?”

“Amnesia again,” said another pony, more quietly. “Try to keep her calm.”

“It's a nice place,” the white-coated stallion told her, speaking soothingly.

“Where's a nice place?” Pinkie asked. “A nice place sounds nice!”

She tapped Applejack on the haunch. “Hey, AJ! They're taking us to a nice place! Doesn't that sound nice?”

Applejack groaned.

“Now!” said the white-coated stallion, and threw something from his saddlebag. It hit Twilight, and in a matter of seconds inflated outwards to engulf her.

Startled, Twilight found herself inside a small room – or a large cage? - with thickly padded walls.

“Hey!” she said, indignant. “Let me out!”

She could hear faint shouting through the padded walls, along with the loud crinkle of diapers. Then the walls of the cage expanded, pinning her in place so she could barely move.

“That's better,” said one of the other white-coated ponies. “Just calm down and we'll get you back in a minute.”

Twilight wiggled in her puffy confinement, but was unable to budge enough to do anything useful.

There was the sound of further crinkling and pomfs, with what sounded like Pinkie giggling beneath the noise of fluff. One of the ponies gave a sigh of relief, poking at Twilight’s cage as she did. “Alright, that should do for now. You have the rings ready for once they’re free, right?”

“Of course!” Another voice responded, sounding slightly offended. The first pony just gave a grunt as their horn alit. Twilight felt the tingle of magic surround her cage, lifting it into the air as she struggled against her puffy confines. The ponies began to trot away, each one carrying a few of the now trapped elements of harmony. Rarity pushed against the padded walls of her box, Spike squished rather snugly into her front by them. Fluttershy simply curled up as best as she could, the walls puffing out to keep her held comfortably no matter how small she made herself.

“Geez, better get the restraints for this one again, she’s really putting up a fight!” One of the ponies proclaimed. Dash was bouncing about in her confines, trying to push back on the walls as she was carried along, making her cage wobble and shake haphazardly. Pinkie’s cage was also wobbling about, though rather than grunts of annoyance, muffled giggles and snorts emanated from inside.

It wasn’t too long before the ponies arrived at their destination, placing the cages down on the floor as they rested. All except for Dash and Pinkie, whose continued to bounce about slightly.

“All right,” the stallion in charge said. “Let's get started. Make sure that ring's ready.”

He put his hoof on the release valve for Twilight's cage, then hit it.

The cage began to deflate immediately, shrinking to reveal an opening, and the unicorn he'd warned quickly slipped an inhibitor ring over Twilight's horn before she could react.

“Good!” the stallion said. “Now – jacket!”

“Stop it!” Twilight said, a spark of magic touching her horn before being drained away and making her yelp.

“No trying to escape, you might hurt yourself,” said a mare, draping a jacket over Twilight's back and helping her put her hooves into the sleeves. Still trying to work out what the ring had done, Twilight was startled as the mare suddenly pulled two straps tight and locked her forelegs around in a tight “hug” against her own chest.

“Is this a straitjacket!?” Twilight asked, then tried to struggle a little as the mare began to work on her hind legs. She instinctively tried to use magic again, and the tingle from the ring focused in her diaper for a moment.

“Cell T-1,” a stallion called, and one of the unicorns picked Twilight's now-restrained form up to take her to the nearby padded cell. “Let's start on the next one.”

As Twilight was carted off, the first pony stepped up to the cage containing Dash. “Be quick on this one,” he reminded. Pressing the release valve, the cage began to deflate, Rainbow immediately attempting to make a dash for freedom. Rather than fly free, however, she flew straight into the open jacket being levitated by the other pony, her hooves finding their way into the sleeves. One of the ponies tackled Dash, holding her down as they tied the straps across her hooves and wings snugly, leaving the Pegasus struggling on the floor. “Alright, cell T-2. She’ll need some time alone to calm down.” The stallion said as Dash was lifted up and prepared to be carried to her own cell.

Once more the pony pressed on the release valve, this time Rarity and Spike tumbling out onto the floor in front of him. “Ah! Who let the dragon out without protection? We don’t want to start a fire!” He said. Another pony rushed up, holding a small elastic band in her hoof. As Rarity and Spike were scooped up in more jackets, Rarity wriggled about a bit, looking up at one of the nurses.

“What in Equestria is going on here? Why am I being forced into such… unflattering clothing?”

Spike attempted to speak up as well, but quickly found the band placed around his muzzle. Spike’s eyes crossed as he looked down at it, grumbling to himself as he rolled backwards on his diaper.

“It's for your own good,” said one of the nurses, checking Rarity's padding was the appropriate thickness. “Now, hold still so we can put the limiter ring on.”

“Surely you don't need to do that?” Rarity asked, fluttering her eyelashes. “I'm hardly going to be violent... even if the clothing choice leaves a great deal to be desired, of course!”

“Of course it does,” the nurse said, in the tones of somepony agreeing just because they wanted to keep the other speaker calm. “Well, perhaps we can, but surely you want something to help you relax?”

Rarity was a little dubious about that logic, but ultimately gave a nod.

A moment later she found herself with a large pacifier in her mouth, and yelped in surprise.

“That's right,” the nurse told her, and checked the tightness of the straps for both of them. “T-3!”

“There's two of them, though,” the stallion said. “Wouldn't they rather have separate cells?”

Rarity shook her head quickly.

“Fine, then, T-3 it is,” he decided.

As the pony and the dragon were carried off, Fluttershy's containment cell was released.

She didn't even try to escape or cause trouble, mostly because she didn't feel like trying to be violent and partly because she did like the sound of a snug hug like that...

“Well, it’s good to see your little adventure hasn’t made you as rowdy as the others yet.” One of the nurses said sweetly, trotting up to Fluttershy. “Here, why don’t I help you to your room?” She asked, putting her hoof up. Fluttershy looked about a bit nervously, not to mention confused. Was she… not going to be restrained? Despite normally not liking anything tight and imposing, she had somewhat enjoyed the puffy cage on reflection. She stepped out of the cage and followed the nurse in the opposite direction the others had headed towards her own bedroom.

The stallion released another, Applejack sliding down onto the floor as well. “Ah suppose there’s no real explanation ah’m gonna get for any of this?” She asked. The nurse simply slipped a jacket over her, making sure to securely fasten any restraints.

“Where should we take her?” One nurse asked. The stallion tapped his chin, looking down at Applejack.

“Well… I suppose this is her first real offense… and she’s helped keep Rainbow in check before… perhaps a bit of company might help her calm down too.” He suggested. The mare nodded and began to take Applejack towards T-2.

As the stallion pressed on the final release, he was suddenly engulfed by a blur of pink as Pinkie Pie shot out and tackled him, giggling excitedly as she sat on top of the stallion. “Oh boy, that was super fun! And this is only the start! What else do you have? Ooooooh, I wanna try it all!” She beamed.

A little confused, the stallion made a signal for the nearby nurses to move in. “Well, we'll start with what we have right here,” he told her. “Can you put your forelegs out?”

Pinkie did so, but got distracted a moment later, and it took three tries before she kept them out long enough to put them into the jacket. That was quickly strapped tight, and the stallion breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he got back to work, fitting Pinkie with the various other pieces of paraphernalia they had available to restrain the really violent inmates. A double-thick diaper went on over her first, and a second strap was tightened to hold it in place – then both her rear hooves were put in tight-strapped boots, and joined together by a hobbling strut to boot.

A second set of straps were added to her jacket, to really tighten the self-hug she had going on, and like Rarity she got a pacifier – but this one was held in place by a set of wires, which held her muzzle closed and also went around the back of her head to hold it in place from that angle.

Pinkie was taken to cell T-4, carried as there was no way she was going to be able to move, and they used a pair of cloth hooks in her jacket to hang her from the ceiling – just to make extra sure she couldn't escape, or hurt herself.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Spike were being placed in their own cell, bouncing slightly on the cushy interior. “Now, I hope you two get along well and we don’t have any more of that nonsense about trying to get out! We don’t want you to hurt yourselves or somepony else, do we?” The nurse asked. Spike and Rarity shook their heads, and the nurse gave a small smile before turning and closing the door behind her. Rarity looked over to Spike, who was still looking down at the band around his muzzle indignantly.

“Here, I’ll help you with that Spike. It may be breaking the rules, but I’d say this kind of treatment is simply uncouth!” Her horn began to glow as she attempted to tug the band off Spike’s muzzle. Rather than the binding removing itself, Spike’s eyes simply went wide and he let out a mmppphh of surprise. His belly was growing warm, and he felt something familiar building in his gut. He was about to let out a belch of smoke, but as the heat travelled up to his muzzle, it simply rebounded off the band and landed right back in his belly. With a bwoomp, his belly expanded slightly, pushing his straitjacket out a little. Spike blushed as he looked down at his swollen belly before glancing over to Rarity again. “Well… I suppose we’ll have to find another way out of here. Let’s just hope Twilight’s having some better ideas…”

Two cells over, Twilight was leaning up against the wall of her padded cell, looking down at her diaper and jacket with annoyance. “Stupid ring…” She mumbled, pulling on her restraints. Despite knowing the outcome would not help, Twilight attempted to conjure up another spell to remove her bindings. The tingle of her horn focused in on her diaper once more, and Twilight bit her lip as a blush crossed her face. Her magic quickly faded, but as it did, she felt… empty. That feeling was so lovely… and it couldn’t really hurt to keep trying… could it?

As Twilight grappled with the question of why she was trying to get out – to actually remove her bindings, or just from the pleasant sensations the ring brought when she failed – Dash and Applejack were trying to share the same cell without running out of personal space.

“Ah know it ain't a big cell!” Applejack said, swinging her hips to shove Dash across the floor. “And that ain't a reason for y'all to take more than half of it!”

Dash struggled, trying to wriggle back across the room, and her diaper bumped into Applejack's own as they both lay on the floor. “But I wasn't! I was just going to take the top half, and you could have the bottom half!”

“That ain't fair at all!” Applejack replied, then her voice lowered. “An' git tryin' to work out how to get out of this mess!”

“How?” Dash replied. “What can we do?”

“That ain't my department!”

While they squabbled, Fluttershy was staring around her room.

It was... nice. Soft furnishings, thick and soft carpet on the floor, lots of cushions and soft toys everywhere, and a soft mattress for a bed with a thick, soft sleeping bag on top.

She knew part of the idea was that there wasn't anything here she could hurt herself with, but... she didn't think she'd mind staying here for a long time. Even if this was her regular room.

“Now, you can play with your toys for a bit before lights-out,” the nurse told Fluttershy. “You'll get a five minute warning, so get nice and tucked in to your sleeping bag before the lights go out.”

Fluttershy nodded, looking over to the collection of toys on display as the nurse left her alone. She slid over on her bed to pick up a small plush robin, squeezing its plump form in her hooves. She snuggled the toy, finding it too cute to not show at least some affection towards it. Looking back to the pile of toys again, she picked up a cuddly rabbit, lifting it up and down to make it appear as if it was bouncing along the bed. Her smile grew a bit wider as she began to come up with a silly story with the rabbit and the robin, going off on an adventure. Though, not a scary one, of course!

As Fluttershy crafted her story, Pinkie was swinging back and forth in her cell. She giggled and suckled on her pacifier, trying to squeeze her legs together to squish her thick diaper between them, only for the bar to prevent any movement. Her tail flicked back and forth as she wiggled her rump, Pinkie bouncing up and down in her cell. Her bindings squeaked a little as she did, Pinkie wiggling just enough to allow her to push off the floor and bounce back up into the air, laughing as she bounced about in her restrictive bouncer. As Pinkie fell through the air, the straps on her diaper squished down tighter and tighter. Pinkie’s eyes went wide as she suddenly felt a bit of pressure growing between her legs. Blushing, she began to bounce faster and harder in her cushy cell, suckling faster as she attempted to keep herself from wetting her diaper.

Twilight flopped onto her front in her cell, grunting as her magic died down once again. It was no use, her magical tuggings and yanks did nothing to loosen her bindings. And worst, it felt as if her diaper was a bit thicker, still tingling slightly as she rolled around the fluffy room.

The alicorn rolled over onto her back, groaning.

“What do I do now...” she said to herself, softly, and squeezed her legs a little – making her diaper creak and crinkle, and drawing her to blush again. “Surely Princess Celestia must-”

She stopped, blushing. “Wait... it's a dream, that's right. So no Princess Celestia, but... I need to work out what the end of the dream is?”

The lights dimmed for a moment, then came back on brightly.

“Five minutes,” a pleasant voice said over the speaker system. “Five minutes until bedtime.”

Applejack panted on the floor of her cell, too tired from constant struggles to do even the simplest thing to be able to muster up the strength to try again.

“Ah don't know what's with this place,” she said, shifting a little, then frowned.

“Say, RD?” she began. “Do y'all feel a little... softer in the ground, than before?”

“What?” Dash asked. “I heard all the words but what do they mean put together like that?”

Applejack sighed, but before she could explain Rainbow Dash yelped.

“We're sinking!” she said, worried. “What's going on!?”

Deciding not to voice her sarcastic remark, Applejack tried to force herself out of the steadily deepening depression. With her forehooves strapped up and her hind legs spread by the diaper, however, she didn't manage to do more than wriggle in place as she and her friend sank deeper.

Rarity gave a muffled cry, trying to use her hind hooves to push Spike off of her. The dragon had now swollen to fill a third of the cell, his belly rotund and bouncy. “Spike! Stop… swelling already!” Rarity said as she freed her muzzle.

Spike simply ‘mmpph’d in response, rolling backward as he wriggled his stubby legs in his diaper. He felt his belly grow warm once again, and with another bwooomp!, his gut surged out, now almost filling half the cell. Rarity pushed herself away from the inflating dragon as he whimpered. His straitjacket struggled to hold him in, the bindings and sleeves creaking along with his gut as he grew. Rarity looked around the room, trying to find some way to slow his swelling, or at least keep him at bay.

“Oh, I know it’s not your fault Spikey but… isn’t there anything you can do?” She asked, pressing her hooves against his padded rear as he ballooned out yet again to give herself as much room as possible. Which was steadily growing smaller and smaller, Rarity whining worriedly.

‘Oh no! It’s a big bad bear! What will we do?’ The robin said, flapping his wings in a panic.

‘I bet he’s not a bad bear! I bet he just doesn’t have any friends!’ The rabbit responded, bouncing over to the pillow cave in which the plush bear lived.

‘Grrr, who woke me from my hibernation?’ The bear growled as he wobbled out of his cave.

Fluttershy looked up as the door to her room as the nurse returned. “Five minutes, Fluttershy! I hope I don’t have to put you in bed myself!” She said. Fluttershy looked disappointed, but dutifully began to disassemble the plush cave and prepare to slip into her sleeping bag for the night.

Neither Applejack nor Rainbow Dash was the slightest bit bothered with how late it was, being far too busy being concerned with how deeply they had both sunk into the floor. The fluffy material seemed to be endless, no matter how far down they went, and kicking or struggling didn't seem to help out either – both pegasus and earth pony were stuck in a snuggly hug from all directions, getting tighter with every second.

Finally, however, some limit did seem to be reached – and both sprang back upwards, bouncing off the padded ceiling before falling back to the padded floor with a crinkle-crinkle-creeeak.

“Now that there is one hay of a ride,” Applejack mumbled, a little woozy, then caught sight of Dash. It looked as though the boisterous pegasus had somehow gotten herself stuck in a puffy, padded-up suit of herself, then been strait-jacketed up all over again.

“What in tarnation?”

Dash looked over, startled, and saw that AJ was in much the same state. Then both ponies looked at themselves, and yelped in surprise.

Dash tugged on her restraints once again, her swollen rear crinkling up a storm as she wriggled about helplessly. Applejack attempted the same, her diaper-like rump shifting and crinkling just as loudly. Applejack’s muzzle scrunched as she kicked her crinkly legs, accidentally pushing her hoof into Dash’s own behind. Dash glared back at her, bouncing her puffy rear against Applejack’s. “Now is not the time, AJ!”

“I ain’t trying to do that, Dash! This room is too small!” Applejack retorted. The two continued to struggle, oblivious to the steady inflation of the room giving them less and less room. The cushy walls pushed in, still with far more give than either would have thought possible, allowing the fluff to fold around them and push them closer and closer together, soon pressing their crinkly bodies together…

Pinkie bounced and trounced in her cell, suckling as she shook her rump left and right, trying desperately to stay dry. Though even as she did, she couldn’t help but blush and giggle at the situation. Attempting to squeeze her legs together again only made her blush brighter as she remembered the bars prevented any squishing. Her eyes clenched and she giggle-snorted as she finally felt herself let go. Her diaper began to swell, growing warm and squishy as it was soaked. Pinkie bounced, suddenly noticing it wasn’t just her diaper that was squishy. The walls, ceiling, and floor of her cell were now dripping wet as well, a few drops of water dripping down from the ceiling onto her. “Oooooheehee, now that’s silly!” She said, bouncing again as she felt the need to wet her diaper building again…

Some minutes after the lights had gone out in her bedroom, Fluttershy stirred.

She knew she had to help her friends... and if that meant being naughty, maybe that was okay. So she got out of bed – only to be quite startled and embarrassed when her sleeping bag came with her.

Thumping to the soft floor with a thankfully quiet sound, Fluttershy tried to pull the sleeping bag off so she could walk to her destination. Unfortunately, however, it seemed as though her diaper had become completely stuck in the interstices of the sleeping bag – and the zipper had unaccountably gone missing.

Blushing about how she looked – like a kind of puffy worm, wiggling along the floor – Fluttershy made her way towards the door.

She'd have to be quiet. And sneaky. And... naughty...

In Spike and Rarity's cell, the dragon was now so large Rarity found herself pinned between the wall and his diaper. She gasped, trying to think of something to do to help – then noticed the sleeve of Spike's straitjacket, and realized something that might just work.

She tugged on one of the seams with her magic. As she'd feared, Spike grew even larger – but, as she'd hoped, the seam was weakened just that little bit.

The straitjacket gave way with a tearing riiiiip sound, and Spike's hands were free. He reached up to the muzzle, and it came off just before he let loose an almighty flame-burp which surrounded them both.

When the green flames faded, they were – much to Rarity's disappointment – in the same place as before.

“Why didn't you think of somewhere to go?” she asked, wriggling herself out of the indentation she'd left in the puffy walls.

“I didn't think of anywhere,” Spike replied. “What should we do with-”

The muzzle snapped back into place. “Mmmf!”

Rarity tried to use her magic to help, only for the straitjacket to rise up and wrap itself around Spike all over again. Then he hiccuped, the flame caught in his mouth by the muzzle ring, and he began to swell up for a second time.

Hic hic hic! Spike bloated out further, quickly forced to spread his hind legs as he rump ballooned out further and his belly stretched underneath his jacket. Rarity gave an exasperated whine, trying to tug on Spike’s jacket again. As Spike grew larger, there was a thump at the door, causing both to freeze and look towards it. The sound of the handle jiggling a bit could be heard before the plush door suddenly swung open to reveal Fluttershy. She opened her mouth to remove her grip on the door handle, flopping onto the front of her sleeping bag to inch into the room.

“Fluttershy, thank goodness you’re here! We need to get out now!” Rarity exclaimed, trying to push herself over to Fluttershy as Spike hiccuped and waddled over to her as well.

“I’m just glad to see you’re ok. Well… mostly ok.” Fluttershy looked over to Spike, whose belly was still bulging out as he hiccuped again.

“We better hurry before Spike gets so big he can’t fit through the door!” Rarity said, trying to push herself onto her hooves and waddle to the door. “Here, maybe I can help with your… predicament.” Rarity offered, looking at the sleeping bag Fluttershy was stuck in. Her horn began to glow, and with a flash of light, the sleeping bag vanished from around Fluttershy. Almost. In its place she was now wearing an especially thick diaper with the same sleek, slightly slippery covering as the sleeping bag, lifting her hind legs up into the air a bit. Fluttershy wobbled towards the door. Rarity helping Spike make his way through. He became stuck for a moment, hiccupping and causing his rump to swell out into Rarity, but a few shoves soon had him bouncing into the hall, Rarity following after.

“All right, so the others are to either side of us, I think,” Rarity said, and pointed to one of the doors. “This one?”

She looked through the sliding door, nodded, and opened it with a quick flicker of magic. Twilight looked up, the glow of her own magic fading, and began to try and waddle her way over towards the door despite her extensive restraints.

“Is their magic blocker not working on you?” Rarity asked, having spotted Twilight's use of magic. “I thought it wasn't?”

“It's working,” Twilight replied, blushing a bit. “But it wasn't just cancelling out the magic completely, so I thought...”

She trailed off, not sure how to put it. Not sure if she could take the embarrassment of admitting it, either.

“Anyway, we should take the chance and get out of here,” she resumed. “Um... bit of help?”

The alicorn caught sight of Spike bouncing past the door, and did a double-take.

“Yes, we're... having problems ourselves,” Rarity summarized. “Just be as quick as you can.”

Leaving Twilight to do what she could, Rarity checked the door on the other side.

She stared at the struggling, crinkly forms of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “What the...”

The two looked over at the sound of the door opening, still struggling to push away from each other. The walls had inflated so much they were now pressed into a tight embrace, their crinkly critter selves squished together. Even their straitjackets had seemed to fuse, the sleeves wrapping around the other pony to keep them held together. “Rarity, you’re good with clothes! Get this thing off already!” Dash complained, pressing against the wall behind her. Rarity’s horn lit up and she dragged the two ponies free of the padded cell, dropping them onto the floor. She tried to look over the tangled mess of straps and buckles holding the two together, but even with her knowledge of sewing, it was impossible to make any sense of their outfit.

“Alright, just hold still, this might sting a bit.” She said, her horn pulsing brighter. There was the sound of tearing, the jackets freeing themselves from the two crinkly ponies. Rather than remain free, however, the jackets immediately leapt onto their padded rears, tying themselves up again as they shifted shape. Rainbow Dash and Applejack now boasted two straitjacket diaper covers, straps and buckles twisted together to keep the two’s rears pressed snugly into the others'.

“That doesn’t really help, Rarity!” Dash complained, trying to pull herself away from Applejack. AJ was simply tugged along after her, their rumps crinkling as they rubbed together, a light blush crossing both of the trapped ponies’ faces.

“Well, I think that’s the best I can do, Dash. Come on, the sooner we find Pinkie, the sooner we can all get out of here.”

“I... think Pinkie's in here?” Fluttershy said, softly. “But it's hard to see if it's her...”

Rarity came over to look, and Fluttershy moved out of the way – using the slippery surface of her diaper to slide along the floor, and her forelegs to pull her along. It was almost like crawling, except a lot higher up.

Checking through the door herself, Rarity saw straight away why Fluttershy had been confused. Pinkie was completely dressed up in every kind of paraphernalia, and bouncing up and down on some kind of bouncer attached to the ceiling.

“That... does look like her,” Rarity agreed. “But-”

The alarms went off.

“Ponyfeathers!” Dash shouted, “Come on!”

She started trying to run, but that just led to Applejack stumbling over as Dash tugged her in an unexpected direction. There was a loud crinkle-crinkle-thump as they tripped over one another, and ended up facing one another in a tangled heap on the floor.

“Twilight, can you cast your spell?” Rarity asked, releasing Pinkie from the bouncer keeping her stuck. “We... might have trouble getting out of the building.”

“I don't know!” Twilight replied, panicked. “This thing on my horn – it's stopping any of my spells from working properly!”

“And you didn’t think to take it off? Dash asked. Twilight was about to claim that she couldn’t take it off by herself when she was still in her jacket, but was cut off by the sound of hoofsteps rushing towards them from down the hall.

Spike bounced over on his rump, reaching up and sliding the ring off Twilight’s horn and allowing her magic to flow freely. She quickly began to concentrate, a light surrounding them as she cast the spell. The nurses all leapt towards the group, but they were gone in a flash, leaving them all stuck in their puffy predicaments in the starry place between dreams. The jackets all melted away, Spike’s band disappearing and him deflating like a balloon, spinning around on the ground as Dash and Applejack’s coats returned to their normal selves. Of course, they were still all thickly padded, but they had started to grow used to the feeling of the fluffy diapers around their waists.

“Alright everypony, remember, concentrate on Nightmare Moon. We’ll find her eventually…” Twilight said, and they began to trot through the dreamscape. Bubbles floated around them as they all wracked their brains, focusing on the image of the jet-black mare.

“...hey, guys?” Spike said, after what felt like a minute or two of silently walking. “I just realized – we've met more than one black-coated villain-”

The moment he said that, the world seemed to invert around them as a dream snapped them up.

“Why would you say something like that?” Twilight demanded, as they appeared in a dark cave.

“Sorry,” Spike mumbled. “It just... occurred to me, you know?”

“Yes, and once you said it everypony was thinking of it too,” Twilight said, then sighed. “Well, I suppose we'll just have to find out what dream we're in now... and what the rules are.”

“It's totally Changelings, right?” Dash said. “I mean, it seems pretty obvious.”

“There's nothing obvious about Changelings,” Twilight reminded her. “They're cunning and sneaky.”

“I thought they were multicoloured and nice,” Pinkie said.

The others stopped, staring at her.

“Sorry, wrong season,” Pinkie apologized. “Forget I said it!”

“This kind of reminds me of tabletop games,” Spike volunteered. “A maze of twisty passages, that kind of thing...”

There was a clatter in front of them, and a Crystal Pony came running down the corridor.

“Whoa, hey!” Applejack called, getting the Crystal Pony mare's attention. “Easy, now.”

The mare slowed, looking at them, and sighed in relief. “Thank the Heart! Please, we need help – our rulers have been foalnapped by Queen Chrysalis!”

“Foalnapped? How could Cadence and Shining have been…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she felt her own padding rustle a bit from her shifted weight. “Right. Which way are they?” Twilight asked. The crystal pony pointed back from where she had run from, where the cave grew slowly darker.

“Back there, there’s a whole army of changelings! Oh, please, you have to help them!” She begged, looking around nervously.

“Don’t you worry, we’ll find them.” Twilight gave a confident nod before starting to head into the cave, determined to save her brother. The others looked between each other, a little nervous as Twilight’s sudden recklessness, but swiftly followed anyway. As they trotted through the twisting caves, Spike noticed the floor felt a bit… softer than he would have expected a cave to be. Not to mention their hoofsteps barely seemed to echo through the tunnels, as if something was dampening the sound.

As they trotted along, Rarity suddenly stopped in her tracks, noticing something on the cave floor. There was an odd discolouration, a near perfect square placed in the ground, with what looked like stitches surrounding it. “Rarity, hurry up!” Pinkie proclaimed from her left. Rarity looked up and trotted after the pony, not noticing the group had trotted off in the opposite direction…

“Hey, where the heck’s Rarity?” Dash asked, looking behind her. Pinkie also halted in her tracks, looking back.

“Uh oh, Rarity shouldn’t be wandering around here by herself! What if she falls into an underground pool of changeling goo! She’ll be horrified! Her mane will never be clean again!”

Dash smacked her face, giving a groan of annoyance. There were the sound of hoofsteps from behind them and Rarity came trotting forward, looking distraught. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall so behind. Hurry, we don’t want to lose the others!” She said, trotting forward and leading Pinkie and Dash down a steep downward sloping tunnel.

Chapter 5

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Twilight looked up, then down, at the divide in the path.

One route led upwards, into a dark corridor. The other led down, into... another dark corridor.

“I don't know why I expected to know which way to go,” she sighed. “Do you remember which way to go... sorry, I just realized I forgot to get your name.”

“Figment,” the Crystal Pony told her. “I... sorry, I got a bit lost...”

She frowned. “I think it was this way, though.”

Twilight nodded, and set off after her down the slope. Applejack came next, and they missed the conversation taking place behind them.

“...don't think that's really a good idea,” Fluttershy said, softly. “I'm not very fast flying at the best of times.”

“Fine, then,” Dash said. “I don't want to go off on my own, so I guess we'll stick with the others.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy agreed, looking up. She spotted Applejack disappearing around a corner at the top of the slope, and began to hurry to catch up. Spike came hurrying up alongside her a moment later, huffing a little from the waddle his padding forced on him.

“This is hopeless,” Rarity said, sighing. “I don't see how a pony could avoid getting lost for more than five minutes in here.”

“You just need to know where you're going,” Pinkie told her, pronking ahead and bouncing over the springy material.

Rarity followed, a little more sedately, until her hoof touched something with a lot more give in it than the merely springy floor.

“What the-!” she yelped, startled. “What's going on!?”

Rarity tugged on her hoof, but found it was coated in something sticky and tough. Like taffy, the material stretched as she lifted her hoof, only to snap back down into place the moment she weakened her tug. Rarity’s horn grew lighter, and she found herself standing on a pile of green sticky goo. All four of her hooves were securely stuck, leaving her struggling against the gunk. Pinkie looked back over her shoulder, grinning as she turned around and bounced back towards Rarity. “Whatsa-matter Rares? Having a bit of trouble?” She smirked, her eyes glowing slightly.

“Uh, Dash? You sure this is the right way?” Spike said, watching as the blue Pegasus flapped through the caves. “I don’t think I can see the others anymore…” He gulped, tugging on the waistband of his diaper as he continued to waddle forward.

“They gotta be this way, right? Trust me, I know where I’m going.” She boasted, swerving around a stalactite and dropping back down to the floor with a flump. Fluttershy was still waddling behind the pair nervously, glancing around at the slightest move. A few drips could be heard off in the distance, along with faint squishing as the ponies trotted up a gentle slope. Despite the relatively low grade, Fluttershy and Spike had difficulty keeping their hoofing from how wide their rear legs were spread by their diaper. It wasn’t too long before they found themselves standing at the edge of a pool of water, Dash hovering above the other two.

“This can’t be right. Where the heck did you take us, Rainbow?” Spike asked, looking out at the pond.

“O-oh no… are we… l-l-lo-?” Fluttershy wasn’t able to finish her sentence when something pushed the two ponies forward into the lake. Spike struggled, feeling his diaper bloat and squish as it soaked up the water, a current pulling the two towards a tunnel at the bottom of the deep pool…

Applejack and Twilight both yelped with surprise as they slid down the tunnel, their diapers bouncing off the soft surface as they slid along. Applejack flopped forward onto her belly as they went past a sharp turn, sending her headfirst down the tunnel. There was a mesh of stalagmites and stalactites, with a hole only just big enough for Applejack to fit through… were she not wearing a thick diaper. Her padding became stuck with a pomf, leaving her rear wriggling helplessly as Twilight slid down after her. Their diapers bounced together, Applejack slipping through and the two ponies set off on their slide once again.

Spike and Fluttershy were stuck in a similar situation, the water filled tunnel sweeping them away through a vast network of waterways and cave pipes. Their heads broke the surface as the tunnel widened, their vision illuminated only slightly by the faint green glow of the tunnel roof above them. Suddenly the tunnel dipped straight down again, and the two were swirled around in a whirlpool, spinning faster and faster as they approached the center. With what almost sounded like a gulp, the two slipped through a tiny hole at the bottom, falling into a still pool yet again. Fluttershy tried to swim forward, only for her muzzle to bounce off of something translucent in front of her. She gasped, somehow able to breathe despite floating in a pool of water. The back of her mind reminded her she was in a dream, but that thought was quickly stifled as she felt the pool shift, the water sloshing around them.

“Unhand me, you… ruffian!” Rarity said, kicking helplessly as she was wrapped up in more and more sticky taffy-like goo. Pinkie, or rather, the changeling impersonating Pinkie just giggled, shaking her head and pulling more around Rarity to securely bind her.

“Nuh uh! Can’t take any chances ‘till you get to Queen Chrysalis, silly!” She poked Rarity’s muzzle, giggling and returning to her work.

“Chrysalis!” Rarity repeated, gasping. “I... really should have expected that.”

“Yeah, it's kinda silly of you,” the changeling giggled, doing a very good impression of Pinkie Pie. Then she pulled the taffyish material on Rarity's forelegs so it stuck to the gunk on her back legs, effectively immobilizing her and preventing her from kicking further.

“Not much more to go~” she said, working away busily. “I bet you'll feel as snug as a bug in a rug – ooh, this is like the opposite of a bug in a rug! Because it's a fabric-pony in a bug-thing!”

Rarity groaned.

Dash watched in astonishment as Rarity trotted back over to them. Her horn glowing green, she detached the edges of the sticky web from the tunnel sides, then rolled it up into a bundle with smooth efficiency.

Sticky material gummed Dash's wings to her sides, pulled her diaper snugger against her rump, and pressed Pinkie's diaper tightly into hers.

“Hey, Dashie!” Pinkie said, in a stage whisper. “I don't think this is really Rarity!”

“What was your first clue?” Dash grumbled, as the Changeling-Rarity lifted the whole bundle into the air and began to carry them off.

“Look out!” Twilight yelped, pointing ahead.

“Ah see it,” Applejack called back. “What am ah supposed t' do about it?”

She tried anyway, trying to move so she was broadside-on or something, but there was some kind of black material in the way and she crashed into it hind-legs-first. It turned out to be extremely thick and soft, plush and crinkly, and there was so much of it that she and Twilight ended up both stuck inside it and unable to see where they were going or what they were doing.

“Hey!” Twilight yelped. “Get that off my diaper!”

“It's mah head!” Applejack replied, voice a little muffled. “Do y'all think this is some kind'a choice of mine?”

The two continued to slide down the tunnel, slip-sliding along as they tried to get their bearings. Suddenly the pair flew off the end of the tunnel and bounced several times across the cushy floor, wobbling about before flopping onto their backs. Twilight tried to sit up, but found the material around her was surprisingly restricting. She tried once again, and this time she sat up with relative easy. She gave a sigh of relief and made to take a hold of whatever it was covering her head, when her hooves refused to budge again. She struggled against her hoof coverings as her head slipped a bit further in, and two eyeholes suddenly fell into place, allowing her to see where she was. Twilight and Applejack were sitting in the middle of a small room of the cave, but the most surprising part was that, rather than being tangled up in a mess of dark fabric, they were sitting in a large plush changeling suit. Just a bit larger than Celestia, the suit was comprised of two halves, each pony making up one.

The suit chuckled as it reached down to pat its belly, Twilight blushing as it poked right where her diaper was. The suit rolled forward, standing up as Applejack struggled against her confines as well. Her wriggling fared slightly better, forcing the changeling to waggle its rump left and right as the farm pony tried to free herself from the suit, but she soon found herself being forced to march along with Twilight through the tunnels yet again.

Slosh!

Sploosh!

Ga-lunk!~

The fat creaky pooltoy changling waddled through the caves, Fluttershy and Spike pressing up against his transparent belly to try and see where it was carrying them. Their legs were spread even further by their now soaked diapers, each wriggle causing their padding to squish and squash as they were escorted through the tunnels. Off in the distance a soft green glow could be seen, growing steadily brighter and brighter as the hefty, sloshy changeling trotted towards it.

From four different directions, the seven thoroughly trapped adventurers – six ponies and one dragon – entered a large, green-lit room.

The room was full of strange pods, some on the walls and some on the floor. Most of them were empty, with translucent green walls revealing a mostly-clear gunk inside, but some held a diapered-up pony suspended within.

Changelings – oddly soft-looking, puffy changelings – walked or buzzed back and forth, some checking on the pods and others changing their forms or just casting odd-looking spells.

Twilight gasped as she looked through the eye-holes of her living suit, spotting a particularly large pod in pride of place in the middle of the room. Inside it were two ponies she recognized – Shining and Cadence!

They were both diapered to an outrageous degree, and held together by straps inside the large-but-not-quite-large-enough pod. Twilight could just about see that they both had pacifiers in, and that they were occasionally wriggling a little.

“Ah, at last,” said a familiar voice, and Twilight saw Queen Chrysalis sitting on her throne.

The villainous Changeling looked oddly large, compared to how Twilight remembered her, and also seemed to be made of some sort of soft, plushy material. But her smirk was just the same, and she fixed Twilight with a stare.

“It's so good of you to join us, 'Princess',” Chrysalis said. “You and your friends are going to be part of our greatest plan yet!”

She indicated the pods. “Every one of these pods will hold a pony – a pony trapped in diapers, and a pony who enjoys being trapped in diapers! Their love for their predicament will fuel the entire hive!”

“What? Nopony would like being in diapers! Especially not my brother and Cadence!” Twilight shouted in response. Her yells were muffled by the suit, which only smirked and giggled to itself before opening its mouth to allow Twilight to look at Chrysalis unhindered.

“I’m sorry, what was that? I believe all that fluff got in the way.” Chrysalis chuckled, sitting atop her plush throne. “Something about not enjoy diapers? Why, but I know for a fact you just love your diapers! Who could resist such warm, soft, plush comfort?” Chrysalis grinned, staring Twilight in the eyes. Twilight stared right back, looking into Chrysalis’s faintly glowing eyes. She was crazy! Why would she ever enjoy how comfy her diaper was! Er, wait…

Twilight tried to shake her head, looking away from Chrysalis for a moment. Chrysalis turned her attention to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, bound tightly together in their web. “Hey, let us go meanie pants bug! You’ll never get away with this plan of puffy doom!” Pinkie cried, struggling against her bindings. Chrysalis just laughed again, taking in a deeeeep breath. A faint glow seemed to emanate from the pods, all flowing towards Chrysalis. She patted her belly, feeling the love fill her up and up. She licked her lips and looked back down at Pinkie, contemplating how best to ensnare her new prey.

“Tell me,” she began, her eyes glowing a little. “Do you like your diapers?”

“Well, they're kind of comfy I guess,” Pinkie said. “And snuggly!”

“Pinkie!” Dash groaned. “Don't play into her hooves like this!”

“But I'm just answering a question!” Pinkie protested. “And I was going to say, diapers are kind of inconvenient, too...”

“I don't think you answered the question right,” Chrysalis said, her eyes still with that gentle green glow. “What about you, Rainbow Dash. Do you like your diapers?”

“No!” Dash replied. “They're totally uncool, even if they are soft and-”

The pegasus cut herself off, and Chrysalis smirked.

“I still don't think you're telling me the truth,” she said. “So think about your answer. Think about your diaper, how snugly it grips your rump. Think about how comfortable it is. Think about all of that... and tell me, do you like your diapers?”

Both ponies had trouble pulling their eyes away from Chrysalis.

“Uh...” Pinkie began, frowning in confusion. “I... guess it's... kinda hard to think of a downside?”

“Y-yeah,” Dash agreed. “But... shouldn't...”

“Don't feel too bad about it,” Chrysalis chuckled, her voice soft and persuasive, and her eyes glowing so neither pony could focus on much else. “You're not the only ponies who feel that way. You don't need to feel ashamed...”

“Dash, Pinkie!” Twilight called. “Snap out of it!”

“So,” Chrysalis went on, voice steady. “Just stay calm, and relaxed... comfortable and padded... and tell me you like diapers.”

Both ponies stared up at Chrysalis, their minds fuzzy as they tried to think of reasons to deny their love of diapers. Though, did they really have one? Was there a reason they didn’t like diapers? Pinkie certainly couldn’t think of a good one. “I… suppose I like them. They are pretty fluffy.” She gave a bit of a giggle, wiggling her rear. Chrysalis nodded, looking to Dash. She scrunched her muzzle, not wanting to admit she found her diapers soft and comfy, especially in front of her friends. But as Chrysalis stared, Dash found herself agreeing with Pinkie, albeit a bit more quietly.

“I thought you two would tell the truth sooner or later.” Chrysalis said, nodding for the changeling to carry them over to two empty pods stuck to the wall of the cave beside her. Chrysalis’s attention then turned to Fluttershy and Spike, floating in their changeling aquarium. “And what about you two? I’m sure you enjoy just how big and bloated your diapers are. Don’t you just love how they squish between your legs?”

Spike glared up at Chrysalis, folding his arms and sticking his tongue out at her. He bobbed about in the water, trying to ignore that Chrysalis was telling at least a partial truth. His diaper was bloated and squishy. And it wasn’t helping that every time he squeezed his legs together, a few bubbles were pushed from the plastic of his padding, floating up to the surface.

“No chance!” he said, shaking his head – full of determination. “Right, Fluttershy?”

The pegasus swallowed, tilting back a little as the water soaked into her thick diapers. “I... well... I wouldn't say I like them, no...”

“Really?” Chrysalis asked, as the changeling holding them wobbled a little and made the water slosh back and forth. “Because you don't look like a pony and a dragon not enjoying your diapers to me. After all, wouldn't you be trying harder to get them off if you really didn't like them?”

Her eyes glittered, and Spike paused – trying to work out the problem in her logic.

“...that's not... no,” he said, a little less forcefully. “No, that's not how it works – I really don't like my diapers.”

“Don't you just love feeling soft?” Chrysalis asked, turning her attention to Fluttershy for a moment. “Feeling so well protected, away from all the dangers?”

“You're the one putting them in danger!” Twilight shouted, but it seemed distant. Far away, unlike Chrysalis' voice which resonated in the air and water around them.

“And I know dragons love to have things,” Chrysalis went on, switching her attention right back to Spike again. “Don't you like having your very own, thick, soft, squishy, comfortable diapers? Owning them, where no-pony can take them away?”

Spike squeezed his legs again, making more air leave his diapers and making them heavier still – and making them bulk up still more.

“So... do you like diapers?” Chrysalis repeated. “Don't you just love your diapers?”

Spike shook his head, but it seemed more like an automatic response than anything.

Fluttershy whimpered a bit, poking at her swollen padding as a few bubbles floated up from it and tickled her nose. Chrysalis still grinned, shifting her gaze over to Rarity as the two floated in place, poking and prodding their diapers as they thought. “How about you? Certainly the fashionista herself would just adore her diapers! Think of all that can be done with them. Their crinkly white pampers the perfect canvas for any new designs. Anypony would be jealous of somepony in such fashionable, comfortable attire, wouldn’t you agree?”

Rarity tried to break free of the goo surrounding her, but any bit of movement only caused it to stretch and squeeze back in on her. Her padding was squeezed tightly by the rubber-like substance, causing a soft blush to cross her face. “Absolutely not! This is the! Worst! Possible! Thing!” Rarity whined, feeling her diaper pressed snugly into her rear. She watched as Pinkie Pike and Dash were lifted out of their makeshift web, the pod opening up to allow them to slip inside. Pinkie leaned up to the back, her diaper on display as she sat inside, smiling softly. Her padding looked so… bare.

Rarity shook her head. No, no, Pinkie’s padding was fine. It didn’t need anything. Well, it actually needed to be off, right? Pinkie didn’t need diapers, and she didn’t actually like them! Then again, Pinkie wasn’t exactly a conventional pony. Maybe she really did like her diapers. And if she did, maybe there was something to them?

“Just think...” Chrysalis said, voice velvety. “With the right design, you could make a fashion statement that no pony could avoid seeing. Wouldn't that be wonderful?”

Rarity frowned, her struggles dying down a little as she seriously considered the idea. Of having her work in big stamps across the rumps of other ponies, where anypony could look at it and see it proudly displayed there.

Perhaps Pinkie would have something frivolous, a pink pattern with blue bubbles on it – oh, and she could make wetness indicators which turned a silly curly string into a set of inflated balloons!

The unicorn paused, then realized what she was thinking, and grit her teeth as she started to struggle again.

She wasn't going to be sweet-talked that easily!

“I know you're thinking about it,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Aren't you? How you could provide diapers for your friends... ones they would wear all the time, not like dresses which are only for special occasions...”

Rarity's eyes widened as that point hit home.

She had to admit, it was a good one... her work would be essential! Showing off her genius to everypony around, all the time!

Looking into Chrysalis' green eyes, Rarity felt almost like she was floating as she considered the possibilities. Thoughts of resistance, of impropriety, melting away and replaced by a passion for exploring the new opportunity.

“Oh my… that sounds… fantastic! Amazing! To have everypony in thick, puffy diapers, all designed by me! I-I-“ Rarity stammered, enthralled by the possibility. Twilight looked over to her, struggling against her suit.

“Rarity! Everypony’s going to be trapped in here if she gets what she wants!” She tried to remind her, but Rarity was too busy thinking of various designs as she was carried over to another pod near Shining and Cadence’s. Twilight continued to struggle, her tail flicking back and forth as her padding pushed up into Applejack’s muzzle. Applejack scrunched her muzzle, trying to avoid it pressing into Twilight’s thickly padded rear as much as she could, though the tip of her nose was still being gently tickled.

There was a loud slosh as the pooltoy changeling flopped onto its rear, letting out a burp to relieve some of the air that had built up in his gut from Fluttershy and Spike’s pokes at their diapers. Chrysalis turned back to them, her fangs flashing in the glow of the cave as she licked her lips. “Well, what do you two think? Have you ever felt something so puffy, squishy, and comfortable as a diaper? I truly doubt it.” She chuckled. Fluttershy looked back to her, her tail swallowed up partially by her inflated diaper.

“Ooh… I s-suppose not. My diaper is very s-soft and s-squishy. And, mmmm… safe too…” Fluttershy’s voiced trailed off as she wiggled her rear, Spike doing the same as he grinned, thoroughly enjoying the heavy sloshing of his diaper around his waist.

“Do you love your diapers?” Chrysalis said, eyes glittering.

Spike nodded, and after a moment Fluttershy did as well.

“No!” Twilight called. “Don't give in!”

“Dear me, Twilight,” Chrysalis chuckled, returning her attention fully to Twilight as the pooltoy changeling carried his victims over to two more pods. “I thought you'd be more understanding of the choices your friends made.”

She looked Twilight in the eye, and her eyes glittered again – brighter than before. “After all, so many of your friends can't be wrong, can they? They all like diapers... all for different reasons.”

“But-” Twilight began, struggling, and finding her thoughts harder to focus than a moment ago – her conviction waning. “But... they're wrong...”

“Are they?” Chrysalis asked, a smirk audible in her voice. “I thought you were a scientist, Twilight. You should know to rethink your conclusions with enough evidence – especially the evidence you can feel yourself.”

Twilight found herself unable to look away from Chrysalis' emeraldine eyes, not even able to look down enough to see the triumphant grin the Queen had on her muzzle.

“Soft, comfy, fashionable, safe...” Chrysalis listed off. “What other reason does there need to be?”

Twilight swallowed.

“And just in case you needed one... why, you could read all the little foal's books you could ever want, without needing to take those annoying bathroom breaks,” Chrysalis said. “Don't you see how much you want your diapers now?”

Twilight's tail twitched as she began to give in. “I... I... well...”

“Say it,” Chrysalis invited, triumph in her voice.

“Ah... ah...” Applejack gasped, face scrunching up. “Aaah-CHOOO!”

With a mighty sneeze, the changeling suit Twilight and Applejack had been trapped in ballooned outwards, only to fly apart a moment later. The two ponies flopped onto their fronts, bouncing on the plush floor for a moment before regaining their senses. Twilight shook her head, clearing it as she jumped back from Chrysalis. Her horn began to glow as she prepared up a spell. Chrysalis gulped as she ducked, but rather than fire a bolt of magic at Chrysalis, Twilight fired it towards Cadence and Shining’s pod. With a balloon-like pop!, the pod burst, sending both ponies flopping down onto their massively inflated diapers, wobbling about as they slowly came to.

“Guh, what, what’s going on? What were we just…” Shining muttered, only to look down at himself and see the large diaper secured around him. “Gah! Cadence! When I said I wanted to try something new, I didn’t mean-“

Cadence cut Shining short as she gave her own yelp of surprise, rolling backwards and flopping onto the plush cave floor. “Shining! I didn’t do this? What’s going on?” Twilight hurried over to help Cadence onto her hooves, firing another few spells at Dash and Pinkie’s pods. “Twilight? What are-“

“No time! Waddle!” Twilight shouted, Applejack bucking the squeaky changeling’s rump, causing the valve on his belly to pop open and Fluttershy and Spike to stream out onto the floor. Applejack picked up Fluttershy, dragging her on her squishy padding as Spike got to his feet, which were spread quite widely by his squishy padding. He waddled over to Rarity, tugging on her tail as she slipped into a pod, trying to pull her free.

“You... you foals!” Chrysalis complained, horn lighting up. “How dare you!”

Changelings began rushing around, some of them coming straight at the group – and a worrying number vanishing into the tunnels of the hive.

“They were enjoying themselves!” Chrysalis went on. “I made sure of that!”

“And ah'm sure that was all y'all bein' kind,” Applejack shot back. “Come on, Twi, most of these here ponies ain't snappin' out of it!”

Twilight lit her horn and picked up Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, Dash and Pinkie all at once. “Which way do we go?”

“Y'all are bein' the expert!” Applejack replied, bucking away a Changeling made of diaper material – then getting grabbed by one made of balloons, until Shining used a spell shaped like a shield to push it away. “Can't y' just cast the spell here?”

“My dreamwalking spell won't work!” Twilight reported. “We must not have finished the thing we need to do yet!”

Applejack groaned, and she – and Twilight – waddled for one of the exits, Cadence and Shining following along behind them.

Not ten steps out of the throne room, Pinkie bounced up. “Quick! This way!”

Twilight made to follow, paused, glanced up at the Pinkie Pie still hovering in her magic field, and stunned the obvious changeling.

“Twi, can you carry all of us?” Shining asked. “That way it'll be obvious who the changelings are.”

“But Shiny!” Cadence called. “Wait first – put a shield up around us! I didn't do the sunshine dance with Twilight!”

“You want to do that now?” Shining asked, then wilted a little at the glare from his padded-up wife and duly put up a shield.

“Cadence?! This is not the time!” Twilight shouted after bouncing off of Shining’s shield and dropping her friends.

“Twilight, it’s been almost a month since we saw each other last! I’m sure you can take five seconds from your dream.” Twilight bit her tongue, Cadence already bouncing on her hooves excitedly. Twilight took her place opposite the alicorn, blushing brightly as she tried to ignore the thick diapers they were all wearing.

Sunshine sunshine

Ladybugs, awake!

Clap your hooves

And do a little shake!

Their thick diapers bumped up against each other, neither pony having put enough room between them for when they spun around. Twilight’s face turned a bright red as she waddled away from Cadence, helping her friends back to their hooves as best as she could. Unfortunately, as they had danced, changelings had begun to swarm around Shining’s shield, bouncing, crinkling, and creaking against it as they attempted to break through. Twilight looked up, gulping as she tried to think of a way out. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to get through them all!”

Cadence thought for a moment, tapping her hoof as Shining struggled to keep the shield up, plopping down on his thick diaper as he did so. Chrysalis dropped down onto the shield, bouncing off of it like a bubble before coming to a halt. She licked her lips once again as she squeezed the bubble shield, staring down at her captives. “You can’t stay there forever! And why would you, don’t you remember how much fun you had? Nothing to do but enjoy the thick fluff of your diapers?”

Shining blushed at her words, wriggling a little on his thick diaper. “...no?”

“Sakes, and ah thought I was the worst liar...” Applejack muttered.

“All squeezed together,” Chrysalis said, catching Cadence's eye. “Softly snug, like cuddle bugs...”

Cadence looked away, then at her husband, and raised an eyebrow. Shining thought, then nodded – his shield starting to compact around them.

Cadence turned back to Twilight. “Pick up your friend,” she said. “Then go – fly for it. We'll keep her distracted.”

“Cadence, we can't just leave you here!” Twilight protested. “Not for Chrysalis to do who-knows-what to you!”

The Alicorn of Love shifted a little nervously in her diaper, blushing. “Well... about that... I'm pretty sure we know...”

Twilight blushed as well.

“All right,” she said, after a moment.

She picked up Applejack as well, floating all of the rest of her friends around her, and got ready to run.

Then Shining collapsed his shield – and used a new one to push Twilight as hard as possible, hitting her diaper with a massive push which produced a loud crinkle and a sudden cloud of powder.

Caught by surprise, Twilight went barrelling off down the tunnel with the others floating around her.

There was a cacophony of squeaks, creaks, bounces, boings, plush flumps, and a few giggles of pleasure as the changeling all pounced upon Shining and Cadence, Twilight and her friends being thrown through the air. Twilight’s horn began to glow as she attempted to conjure up the dream walking spell once again. To her relief, the dream began to melt away once more, leaving the group falling into a pile in the starry expanse once again. Pinkie’s head popped up from the group as she rubbed her eyes and yawned widely. “Ooooh man, how long was I out? Did I miss something?” She asked.

Twilight and Applejack declined to answer, instead pushing themselves out from under the others as they began to break free from Chrysalis’s spell. “Let’s just keep moving. We have to be getting close now.” Twilight said, hoping nopony else would realize there really wasn’t anything to indicate that they wereany closer to finding Nightmare Moon than they had been several dreams ago. “Just… focus again…”

A dream came to them only a moment later, plunging in on them so they landed in a heap in the middle of a throne room.

As they struggled out of the heap, Twilight saw Chrysalis looking down on them – confused, rather than triumphant.

“What?” the Changeling Queen asked, tilting her head, and her horn lit up. Twilight felt an odd sensation, like somepony scanning through her memories.

Then Chrysalis shook her head. “Nope. Nope, nope, not even getting involved with this.”

The dream collapsed around them.

“...well, that was odd,” Twilight managed, as they landed back on the starry path. “I wonder if that was the real Chrysalis, and the one from Shining's dream was... not?”

She shook her head. “Okay. Nightmare Moon – and only Nightmare Moon!”

The ponies began to trot along, all thinking about Nightmare Moon, and nothing but Nightmare Moon, when a dream began to flow into existence around them. Standing in front of them, facing the opposite way was a tall black mare, her mane and tail flowing expanses of night sky. “Nightmare!” Twilight shouted. Nightmare looked over her shoulder, grinning widely.

“Well, it seems you’ve started to catch up with me! But I can’t stick around too long my little foals, I have more dreams to craft! But don’t worry, I’ve already got a few friends here for you.” She snickered, her own horn flashing as she vanished from sight.

“Friends?” Twilight asked, worried. “What does she mean friends?”

“Who cares?” Dash countered. She crouched down, muscles bunching, and launched herself at where Nightmare Moon had been. “We're gaining on her!”

“Daaaash!” Twilight shouted. “She could have teleported – she could be anywhere! We don't want to get split up!”

She glanced over at Pinkie. “How did you make your Element of Laughter appear?”

“Simple, silly!” Pinkie said, as Dash orbited an area of terrain with no pony in it, looking vaguely put-upon that Nightmare didn't want to be bucked in the cheek. “I just did this!”

She reached into her mane, and pulled her hoof out. “See?”

“...Darling... there's nothing there,” Rarity pointed out.

Pinkie did a double-take, then pouted. “That's not fair! Meanie Black Sooty, I bet it was her fault!”

“Great,” Twilight sighed. “So we don't have a plan.”

“We always have a plan,” Spike said. “Hold on, I remember there was some comic I was reading that did something clever...”

“Well, ah guess we're doomed now,” Applejack drawled.

“Hey!” Spike replied, hurt. “Wait, I remember now. I can use my fire to send messages to places... so what if I use it to send ponies to where the Elements are?”

“That's a bad idea in at least five different ways,” Twilight said, frowned, then corrected herself. “Seven.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Spike asked.

“...I suppose not,” Twilight admitted. “At least your postal breath can't actually hurt ponies, so if it goes wrong it shouldn't hurt anypony.”

Dash came hovering back over. “I think we need to take this boss battle back to the shop. There wasn't any hitting things.”

“Alright, let’s hope this works…” Twilight said, still not very happy with the idea. Everypony gathered together, Spike taking a few steps back before he took a large breath in. His chest puffing up slightly, Spike suddenly leaned forward, blowing out a rush of green flames towards the group. Each pony concentrated on their element as the warm fire licked around them. There was rush of wind in their ears as they were suddenly whisked away to other portions of the dream.

Applejack braced herself against the lurch that came from the rapid movement. She never did like when Twilight decided to teleport her around places, and Spike’s magical dragon breath was no exception. It thankfully wasn’t long before she found herself stumbling out of the whirling magic, her hooves thumping against a hardwood floor. She looked around, trying to spot the glint of the orange gem that was embedded in her element. She squinted in the dark, unable to make much out of where she is. There was a sudden flash of light, temporarily blinding Applejack and forcing her to put a hoof up to shield her eyes. Blinking rapidly in an attempt to adjust her vision to the sudden shift in illumination, she found she was standing in a bright spotlight up on stage. “Now what in Sam Hill’s going on?” She asked, looking back and forth again.

“And now, the star you’ve all been waiting for, it’s the grrrrrrreat and powerful….” There was a building drum roll, Applejack stepping backwards as sparks of magic began to fly around the spotlight. With a puff of smoke (that Applejack couldn’t help but notice smelled an awful lot like foal powder), a bright blue pony materialized in front of Applejack, posing and whipping her hat off as her cape fluttered about. “Trrrixie!”

“Trixie?” Applejack repeated. “Ah, hornswogglers, ah should'a known...”

“Trixie will take that as the accolade which it undoubtedly was not,” Trixie said, replacing her hat upon her head. “And welcomes her to the stage for her grand performance!”

She swept her coat about in a flourish. “For, today, Trixie shall perform one of those greatest feats of magic that any pony has ever heard of – nothing less than an alteration of time itself!”

There was a crackle of fireworks, and another puff of dizzying foal powder. Applejack shook her head, trying to concentrate on the situation, and fixed Trixie with a glare that would have been more intimidating if she hadn't sneezed halfway through from a puff of the powder. “What all is goin' on here?”

“Trixie is unsurprised you are astonished!” Trixie said, trotting around in a circle. “For the great magician prefers for her subjects to be slack-jawed yokels, the better to be astonished by her prowess with the mystic arts!”

As Applejack was trying to work out how much of that sentence to be offended by, Trixie stamped a hoof onto the stage and produced a poomf of magic. Out of the cloud came a great big pile of equipment – diapers, a stroller, bottles, a changing table, several soft toys and a pacifier.

“Now wait one darn second!” Applejack said forcibly. “If y'all think you're puttin' me in this, you have another think comin'!”

“But Trixie would never put an adult pony in things like this,” Trixie said, a smirk on her face. “The question is – will you still be an adult pony at the end of the day?”

The smirk turned sly. “Of course, you could always admit that Trixie has outsmarted you...”

I ain’t one to lie, Trixie.” Applejack said, deadpanned. Trixie simply scoffed, walking over to Applejack.

“Now, Applejack, it’s no lie! You’ll soon see what I have in store. First of all, you have a rather thin diaper, you can still walk in that!” Trixie smirked, her horn alighting. Applejack was about to step back, but Trixie fired off the magic before she could react. With a flooomph!, Applejack’s padding puffed up to twice its size. Her face turned a bright red as she stumbled from her legs being suddenly spread even further apart.

“Hold on, what in tarnation are you trying to-“ Applejack was cut off as a pacifier was stuffed into her mouth, cutting her off. Applejack attempted to tug the pacifier out, but no matter how she tugged, it remained stubbornly stuck. She glared up at Trixie, who only grinned even wider, her horn flashing once again. Applejack thought she saw Trixie’s eyes shift color a bit, but it happened too fast for her to really see. Applejack plopped onto her padded rump with a puff, forced to sit and watch as the show continued…

Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt on the ground, having just been thrown out of Spike’s magic breath. She looked around, finding herself standing in the middle of what looked like Griffonstone. But as she took a closer look things seemed… puffier? Softer? Something was up, and she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.

“Hey, anypony here?” she called. “Or, uh, anygriff, I guess. Anyway, anyone here?”

Her shout should have echoed, but it didn't – the oddly soft material seeming to absorb the sound in a way she didn't expect.

“Hello?” she called again. “Seriously, this is kind of odd...”

There was a chuckle, and she looked around – wings flaring as she jumped into the air, suddenly worried.

“Who was that?” she demanded. “Come on out, or I'll have to find you and – and be awesome at you!”

The chuckle came again.

Then a shape appeared from one of the buildings, and Dash did a double-take.

It was a griffin, and for a moment it looked like it was Gilda – but it couldn't possibly be Gilda. This griffin had thick, padded legs, puffy wings, a plump body, and every part of it was made of some kind of shiny material that crinkled as it moved – held together by dozens if not hundreds of tapes.

Then Dash looked at the face again, and stared.

That was Gilda – she'd recognize the griffin anywhere! But she was... fat, and made of diapers!

“What... the...” she said, jaw slack, and Gilda chuckled.

“Aha! So, you finally decided to come back around, eh Dash?” the griffon smirked, waddling up to her old friend.

Dash’s gaze was drawn upwards as the fat creature stood several feet taller than her. Despite her looming presence, as she crinkled, Dash’s eyes couldn’t help but then be drawn towards Gilda’s behind. Puffy, thick, looking almost as if she had her own thick diaper on beneath her crinkly form. “Awfully cocky of a washed up prankster to try and come crawling back to me.”

“Wh-what the heck’s going on? Gilda, I thought we put those things behind us!” Dash said, taking a few steps away from the fat diaper critter. Gilda just laughed, her pudgy belly crinkling up a storm as she flicked her tail and swayed her rump left and right happily.

“Not a chance~” Gilda suddenly pounced upon Dash, tackling her and rolling her across the soft, plush ground. Dash fought to free herself, but Gilda just laughed at her attempts to push against her swollen form. Pinning Dash beneath her claws, Gilda’s gut pressed down into Dash’s belly as she licked her beak, eyeing up her friend trapped beneath her.

“G-gilda, what happened to you?” Dash asked, feeling Gilda's puffy belly squash her into the ground. “How come you're some kind of diaper monster?”

Gilda didn't answer, just shifting a little so her weight was on her belly and her hind legs. “Mmm... you know, I just had a brilliant idea for how to show you what I mean...”

Dash wriggled, trying to get away, but just produced more crinkling sounds. Then Gilda's crinkly-puff claws closed over her forelegs, pinning her in place with a kind of springy softness.

The griffin shifted her weight again so Dash was no longer buried, and Dash immediately took the chance to try and fly away – but her forelegs remained trapped, the give in the crinkly claws somehow not enough to let Dash actually squirm out of Gilda's grip.

As Gilda licked her beak again, Dash paled. “W-wait, what are you-”

Her yelp was cut off as Gilda flipped Dash around, guiding the pegasus' hind legs into her beak with a casual strength that made Dash's best attempts at escape pointless.

“Ahh...” Gilda grinned as Dash’s hind legs slipped down into her beak, only for her thick diaper to halt her progress. Dash squirmed, but her wriggling did nothing but press her padding into Gilda’s face, making the fat gryphon giggle and open her beak wider. She playfully chewed on Dash’s padding, squishing and squeezing the fluff around her rump as she slid further down into her. Dash flapped her wings, but it was useless as a moment later they were pinned into her side by Gilda’s throat. “Gilda!” Rainbow cried, but her pleas were simply met by a face full of crinkle-talons, pressing her completely into Gilda’s beak. The pudgy creature gave one last satisfied laugh and a large gulp!, Dash falling into her gut. Gilda leaned back onto her rump, patting her even fatter gut as she felt Rainbow wriggle around in her new puffy, plastic prison.

Twilight dropped out of Spike’s magic, a little more gracefully than the others. She found herself standing in the middle of a small, familiar town. Unlike Griffonstone had been for Dash, the town was bustling, at least as much as a small town could. Twilight looked about nervously, realizing she was standing in the town Starlight had founded out in the middle of nowhere…

“Ah, hello!” came a familiar voice, and Twilight turned quickly – seeing Starlight Glimmer approaching, at the head of a delegation of ponies.

Unlike when they'd gone to the real Our Town, however, the ponies in the delegation were all wearing diapers – just like the rest of the town – and the equals-signs were on their diapers, which seemed startlingly thick.

“Welcome to Our Town,” Starlight said. “I'm glad to see you came to join us.”

“What's going on, Starlight?” Twilight asked. “I know what this place is about.”

“Then you know it's a wonderful place to be,” Starlight agreed. “Isn't it?”

“It's a wonderful place,” echoed the ponies around her.

Twilight started to back away, lighting her horn. “I'm not here to make trouble,” she said. “I just want to-”

Somepony pounced on her from behind, and Twilight jumped in surprise. Before she could recover her wits, a large diaper – much larger than the one she'd been wearing – was taped around her existing one, and her horn-glow cut off all of a sudden.

“That's better,” Starlight said, nodding. “Good foals don't use dangerous magic, and we're all good foals here.”

“I'm not a foal!” Twilight protested, wobbling a little as she got back to her hooves – not noticing as the marks on the diaper glowed, though she suddenly felt a bit of a need to go to the bathroom. “I'm a grown mare!”

Another little glow from the marks, and Twilight began to shift uncomfortably.

“If you're going to be a naughty foal, perhaps you need to have a time out,” Starlight suggested, her stress on the word making Twilight's diaper pulse again. “Doesn't that sound nice?”

Twilight winced at Starlight’s words, shifting back and forth on her hooves as the need to use the restroom began to increase. “N-no! I refuse to be treated like a f-fo…” Her voice died in her throat as her diaper pulsed once again. She felt her padding grow warm and damp, the diaper beneath her thick equal marked one soaking itself as Twilight wet it. A bright blush crossed her face as she felt her padding expand slightly, though her outer diaper managed to hide any hint of this occurring. Starlight gave a soft smile, stepping up to pat Twilight’s rear while she was distracted.

“There there, that’s better, isn’t it? No need to throw a tantrum, just be a good little foal like the others.” She smiled, helping Twilight over to the crowd. Twilight followed for a moment, but her mind soon grew clear again. Despite her embarrassment at her now squishy diaper, she took another step back from Starlight.

“I will not be a foal! I’m trying to stop Nightmare Moon, Starlight, if you don’t stop this nonsense, we’re all going to be stuck in these dreams!” She declared. Starlight just waved her hoof, chuckling a little.

“My, what an active imagination you have! Twilight, are you going to behave, or am I going to have to put you in time out?” She asked. Twilight’s padding pulsed and quivered slightly. Twilight whined, feeling the urge to wet building once again.

“N-no… I’ll be a good… foal.” She muttered, trying not to think about what she was saying.

“Excellent! Well, you best come with us, we have a special surprise waiting for new foals around here!”

Chapter 6

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The magic of Spike's postal-breath swirled around Rarity, who felt a little queasy at the whole experience. She decided to distract herself for now by pondering using the flames in some kind of display – perhaps an outfit which used just that colour? - but before she came to a conclusion, the swirling magic deposited her on a hillside.

“Ah...” she began, frowning. “I... appear to have ended up in the wrong place?”

There was no sign of anything familiar nearby, except for the landmarks which looked at least vaguely like those around Ponyville.

“Excuse me?” she called, taking a step. “Is there a large gold necklace around here with a diamond symbol? No?”

Her words prompted no immediate reaction, so she kept trotting along – looking around for some kind of hint. Then, all of a sudden, the ground erupted in front of her in a very familiar way.

Half a dozen canine creatures pulled themselves out of the ground – which, now Rarity was paying attention, seemed awfully clean – and she gasped.

“Diamond dogs!” she said. “Not again!”

“Padded po-ny,” one of them chuckled.

“You won't get me again, or... or I'll whine at you!” she said, getting ready to defeat them the same way they'd been handled last time.

As she inhaled, however, one of the dogs quickly put something between her teeth. It glowed, and instead of whining or shouting she started suckling on it instead.

“Better,” said the spokesdog. “Leader wants po-ny for dress-up.”

Rarity looked down at the pacifier in her mouth, her muzzle scrunching as she suckled at it. She was about to retort when she felt one of the dogs tug at her tail. She squeaked with surprise, turning around and glaring at the beast. Another one smacked her padded rump, laughing as she stumbled forward. “Thick diaper, fits the prissy pony well!” Rarity’s face turned a bright red as she spun about again, giving the dog a death glare. Before she could do much else, however, another one scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder. Rarity struggled against the surprisingly soft Diamond Dog, the others beginning to dig down into the earth again. The dog carrying Rarity jumped down the tunnel and followed after the others.

It wasn’t long before the dogs all fell down into a mineshaft, Rarity still kicking and squirming in the dog’s grasp. “Ugh, stupid pony! Can’t carrying you when you move like that!” The dog bounced Rarity on his shoulder a few times, but Rarity continued to fight back. “Get a cart!” One of dogs hurried away, returning quickly with a plushly padded minecart. The dog dumped Rarity inside unceremoniously, the unicorn leaning up against the side and suckling on her pacifier as she glared up at the dogs. As she attempted to climb out, another dog waddled over, grinning widely.

“Uh uh, you’re not getting out that easy!” He placed his paws on the side of the cart and swung himself over. With a flop, he dropped down on top of Rarity, squishing her down into the soft floor of the cart. Rarity wriggled, pressing up against the dog. As much as she tried to avoid it, she was given a good look at the dog, and she couldn’t help but notice several seams running along its body. “Heave!” The dog shouted, the others pushing on the cart. Slowly, the wheels squeaked as the cart began to roll along the tracks, picking up speed as it moved through the network of tunnels.

Trapped underneath strangely padded pooch, Rarity couldn't move more than an inch or two. She tried to think of a way to get out of her predicament, but for some reason every time she started to come up with an idea she felt like giving her pacifier another suckle – and by the time she snapped out of it, the train of thought had been lost.

That was a funny idea, actually, train, because she was on the rails-

Shaking her head, the fashionista tried to concentrate. Rather than not suckle on her pacifier, she decided to do it just so she could focus better, and it did seem to help a bit.

Despite her focus, however, she was caught by surprise as the dogs abruptly reached wherever they were going. The dog on top of her swung off, and she saw she was in some kind of cave fitted out like a combination of a nursery and a giant wardrobe.

“Po-ny will dress up,” announced one of the dogs, indicating a huge collection of outfits – most of them awfully tacky or over-the-top to Rarity's eyes, including some of them which would just make it so she was dressed like a foal!

She got ready to deliver a blistering rebuke, sucked her pacifier for a moment, and blinked – not quite sure what she'd been angry about...

The dog lifted Rarity out of the cart, carrying her over to a rack of clothes. He dropped Rarity down onto her rear, letting her gaze at all the dresses put in front of her. She scrunched her muzzle again as she looked them over, finding them to be all absolutely garish. Another suckle from her pacifier calmed her down somewhat, and she began to more carefully page through the dresses. Well, she supposed this one wasn’t too bad. The bright blue color did at least accentuate her eyes nicely. Standing up, Rarity slid the dress off the hanger and began to slide it over herself. Despite the large skirt, her diaper was still as obvious as ever, and the puffiness of it all spread her legs apart even further. Rarity waddled over to a large mirror, admiring herself from every angle. As she spun about, however, her brow furrowed and she suckled a few more times on her pacifier. No, no, this dress simply wouldn’t do at all. She would have to find another. Rarity turned back, beginning to search through the dresses once again as the dog looked on.

Fluttershy flopped onto the ground, her legs wobbly from the odd teleportation method. She got back to her hooves, wondering where she had been sent. “Uh… um… hello? Is anypony th-there? Oh, I hope nopony answers…” She mumbled to herself as she wandered through the darkness. As she did, she suddenly felt herself falling before flopping once again onto the ground. Shaking her head, Fluttershy tried to see just where she was. Everything around her was… warped. And wobbly. Bloated, yet squashed at the same time. Bits of earth floated past her, along with an upside down mailbox. Fluttershy squinted as she tried to catch the name on the side. The mailbox suddenly sprouted wings and flapped away, Fluttershy squeaking with surprise as she followed its flight to a small cottage floating in the chaotic void where a draconequus was fiddling with his house keys.

Fluttershy debated with herself over whether she should speak up, and eventually raised a hoof. Then she cleared her throat, producing a faint squeak sound.

“Um... Discord?” she said, timidly.

Discord's head turned, while the rest of his body kept working on the keys. “Aha, Fluttershy!” he said, unlocking the door, then put his hand on the handle. “Do come in!”

He pulled on the handle, and the entire void inverted around the door. Fluttershy gasped as the world seemed to fold inside out, then blinked in surprise as they were suddenly inside the cottage.

“Tea?” Discord asked, offering her a plate with seven letter Ts on it.

“Um... no thanks,” Fluttershy said, then frowned. “Well... maybe one?”

“Excellent!” Discord said, as she took it, and he put the rest of them together in a bowl where they turned into the number sixty. “Now, Flutttershy, what brings you to my humble abode?”

Fluttershy nibbled on the T, then put it to the side. “Well, it's a bit of a long-”

“Well, we can talk about it later!” Discord said, interrupting her. “You're clearly ill-at-ease, because you've hardly touched your T. I just need to help you relax!”

“Oh, well, actually, Discord I was wondering if you might have my element?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Discord tapped his chin and stroked his beard for a moment as he leaned back to sit in an overly puffy arm chair.

“I’m not sure, Fluttershy! What was your element again? Tungsten? Mercury? Or was it Helium?” He asked, a lump of metal dropping down on to the table, only to melt and run off the edge a moment later. As he mentioned the last element, however, a tank of helium appeared next to Fluttershy, the hose at the end slipping into her diaper. With a soft hiss, Fluttershy’s padding began to swell, the Pegasus giving a soft ‘eep!’ as her rear was lifted up into the air. “Oh, no, no, that one was Pinkie’s! How silly of me!” He snapped his paws, the tank disappearing, but Fluttershy’s diaper still bouncing off the ceiling. He waved his paw dismissively as he sat up in his chair and reached forward to take a bit of the plate upon which Fluttershy’s T rested. “No matter, first and foremost we need to get you properly relaxed. It’s not good to be so stressed, you know. Now, what always gets me relaxed is a nice bubble bath.”

Discord’s claws snapped and Fluttershy’s padding suddenly lost the helium in it, though it still retained its expanded size. Fluttershy dropped down onto her chair, only to splash down and find herself sitting in a spa with Discord lounging in a sunchair a few feet away. His tail coiled around a bottle of bubblebath, the tuft of hair at the end popping open the top as he began to pour the mixture into the tub in which Fluttershy sat.

“Dear me, you do seem awfully wound up,” Discord tutted, twisting a small key in the back of Fluttershy's neck with his free paw. Each twist made Fluttershy's padding grow a little larger, and she whimpered as the pressure built up even as bubbles built up all around her.

Pinkie Pie landed out of her own swirl of green dragonflame, rolled head over hooves once, and giggled as she fetched up against a wall.

“Again!” she said. “Again again!”

After another chuckle, she rolled upright – not an easy task with her thick diaper – and looked around. It was certainly a familiar sight, the nursery for the Cake twins, and she raised a hoof to her chin as she pondered.

“I wonder if I need to make two foals laugh?” she asked herself. “I've got a great joke with a rubber chicken I've wanted to show off!”

The door creaked, and Pinkie looked over – ready to launch into her Foal Fun Fest – then blinked, startled, as the room abruptly seemed to grow around her to four times the size it had been a moment ago.

Then a poofy-pink-maned earth pony came bouncing into the room, giggling, and Pinkie did a double-take.

That was her! Only, without a diaper, and much bigger!

“Hiya!” the other Pinkie announced. “I'll be your foalsitter today!”

Pinkie giggled, grinning wider as the Other Pinkie bounced over to her. “Oh boy, foalsitted by myself? I always knew I was the best foalsitter around! What’re we gonna do, me?”

Other Pinkie just laughed, lifting Pinkie up in her hooves. “Boy, you sure are a babbly pony today, aren’t you? Uuuupsie-daisy!” Other Pinkie tossed Pinkie up gently, her padding crinkling as she was played with. Pinkie wiggled her rear playfully, tail swishing across her puffy diaper. “We’re going to have lots of fun! I’ve got games and toys and all sorts of stuff! You’ll see that I’m the bestest foalsitter around!” Other Pinkie tossed Pinkie up and onto her back, playfully kicking like a bronco and beginning to canter around the room.

Pinkie clung tightly to Other Pinkie, giggle-snorting again as she was raced around the room. Suddenly Other Pinkie came to a stop, sending Pinkie flying forward and landing in a cushy chair. Other Pinkie trotted up, covering her hooves. “Wheeeeeeeere’s Pinkie? Here she is!” She lowered her hooves suddenly, Pinkie unable to help but giggle at the silly sight of herself playing Peek-a-boo.

Other Pinkie did it again, and Pinkie found it just as funny the second time as the first – unable to restrain the sheer mirth it sparked in her to see what it was like to be Pinkie from the outside! Well, in a way that was different to the mirror pool, anyway, because this one other Pinkie was like a super-big Pinkie compared to her!

As Pinkie's giggles subsided, the larger Party Pony reached under the table – producing a rattle, which she waved in front of Pinkie's face.

“Doesn't this look fun?” Other Pinkie asked, making the rattle rattle, and Pinkie nodded – feeling very strongly that the rattle would be so super-fun to play with that she wanted it now!

Other Pinkie teased her with it again, then let her have it, and Pinkie started rattling up a storm – endlessly fascinated by the foalish toy as she shook it again and again and again.

Part of her wondered why this was so entertaining to her, but the rest didn't care. The rattle was fun! Super-duper-fun-a-roonie!

She faintly heard Other Pinkie saying something about Elements, but that didn't matter when there was a rattle to battle!

As the green flames subsided, Spike was left standing alone in the starry dream field they had started in. He looked around, grumbling a little to himself. He should’ve tried to tag along with Twilight, now he’s going to be stuck here waiting for everypony to come back. Flopping onto his padded rump, Spike poked at a rock trying to think of what to do. He sat up suddenly, chuckling to himself and shaking his head. He could just send himself to her now! “These dreams are really starting to make me dizzy…” he said as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Taking another deep breath, he prepared another jet of flame. As he blew out, however, rather than the usual green flames, a large cloud of black soot escaped his muzzle.

Spike coughed, stumbling back as he watched the black cloud swirl around. Spike almost thought he heard words whisper from the cloud, but he shook his head and attempted to try again. He took a deeeeeeep breath, his belly puffing out somewhat before he blew again. Once more, a cloud of black soot blew out, flowing up into the one already hovering above him. Spike coughed, looking up at the cloud. “Wha? What’s going on?” The clouds swirled a bit faster, Spike stepping back as the were condensing into a figure. A grey stallion landed in front of him, a flowing black mane fluttering in the sudden breeze.

“What the heck?” Spike asked, staring, then realized who he was looking at. “S-Sombra!?”

Sombra stamped a hoof, looking impassively down at Spike.

“Stay back!” the dragon said, trying to sound confident. “You're not going to cause trouble again!”

He inhaled, ready to shoot flame at Sombra, but as he did smoke boiled off Sombra's mane and came rushing into his mouth – making him cough and splutter, losing his chance to breathe fire and shattering his concentration.

The smoke was oily and thick, and yet somehow soft and puffy – seeming to expand once it was inside Spike's belly – and the sensation of it made Spike stagger back, landing on his padded diaper as he fell backwards onto the ground.

He coughed, wisps of smoke escaping his nostrils, and tried to collect his thoughts. It was as though puffy, thick, obscuring smoke was wafting through the corridors of his mind, making it hard to connect one idea with another, and it was several seconds before Spike noticed a continual stream of smoke making its way into his mouth.

Spike’s belly began to slowly expand, the waistband of his diaper stretching to accommodate the extra bounce in his belly. His eyes crossed as he stared at the stream of smoke, feeling it pool in his gut and push it further out. Part of him managed to shake some of the smoke clouding his mind, and he shut his mouth. He rolled over and pushed himself onto his stubby legs in an attempt to flee, but his swollen belly forced him into an awkward waddle, his diaper crinkling up a storm. Sombra simply grinned, his form fading as he swirled around Spike, leaving him lost in dark clouds. Another stream of smoke suddenly shot out, filling Spike’s nose and causing him to sputter and a few more to begin streaming into his mouth yet again, his belly ballooning steadily…

Gilda massaged and patted her belly, feeling Dash wriggle about inside. Rolling forward, Gilda stood up and began to waddle through the down, her belly crinkling as her claws and paws rubbed against it gently. “C’mon, Gilda! I said I was sorry!” Dash’s muffled pleading could only just be heard over Gilda’s crinkles. Gilda flapped her wings, jumping up into a plush nest hanging on a tree. She rubbed her gut again, circling around a little before she sat down. Dash gave a squeak of surprise as she felt something begin to wrap around her, sealing her up even tighter. Gilda squeezed her gut, grinning as she wriggled about. A moment after Dash’s squirming had stopped, Gilda rolled back to reveal a plush, puffy egg. The egg wobbled and bulged occasionally, several grunts of frustration coming from within. A small tear appeared in the shell, and before long the tear widened to reveal Dash sitting in a rather puffy gryphon suit not unlike Gilda.

“There we go~” Gilda said, smirking maliciously. “Much better, don't you think?”

Dash looked down at herself, then did a double-take, and began trying to wriggle out of the puffy suit – though there didn't seem to be any way to do so, with the suit itself too thick to let her get any purchase with her hooves and too much give in it to try and ease bits off.

“Aww, what's the matter?” Gilda asked, using her much larger crinkly forepaw to tickle Dash's tummy – knocking Dash over from the force, but making her struggle to avoid giggling. “What's wrong, little griff chick?”

“I'm not a gryphon, Gilda!” Dash protested, squirming to get away from the attention of Gilda's cushy paw. “St-stooop it!”

Another smirk. “You sound like a chick to me... all whiny and fussy... are you sure you're not just hungry?” Gilda suggested. “Maybe that's what's wrong!”

Dash blushed as Gilda talked down to her, speaking as if the pegasus pony was two years old or something. Her blush only intensified when Gilda produced a bottle of milk from out of nowhere, and she took a cautious step back. “Uh... what's that for?”

“You, of course!” Gilda told her.

Dash was about to protest, but the moment she opened her mouth, the bulb of the bottle was pushed into it. She wriggled in protest, trying to push the bottle away. Gilda’s superior size made it trivial for her to keep Dash gulping down the milk, her smirk only growing wider. Despite her struggles, Dash was forced to take several gulps of the milk, the sweet liquid filling her up. As much as she tried not to admit it to herself, the milk was… good. Very good. She found herself resisting the next few gulps slightly less, and the next few even less. And then she was eagerly guzzling up the milk. She placed her crinkly claws on the bottle, pulling it in a little closer as she gulped and gulped. A pressure began to build in her diaper, forcing Dash to cross her legs a little, squeezing her padded rump as she did. Gilda only snickered, poking and teasing the front of Dash’s padding as she struggled to hold herself back. “What’s the matter? Feeling a little wet?” She grinned.

Dash tried to shake her head and wriggle about, but the constant pokes and prods from Gilda only made her blush as soon a faint ‘hiss’ could be heard. Her rear swelled up as her diaper grew wet, Dash not paying much mind as she continued to drink from the bottle.

Applejack rocked back and forth on her padding, suckling at her pacifier as Trixie’s show continued. “Now, Trixie shall make a mare disappear!” She proclaimed, her horn alighting. Applejack was almost ready to thank Trixie. She was ready to be anywhere but on stage. Still, she was suspicious as Trixie’s horn began to glow. Odds are she’d just make herself vanish and leave Applejack up on the stage to be humiliated, or perhaps puff her backstage, or…

What Applejack hadn’t expected was for Trixie’s beam to hit her and she suddenly find herself sitting in a puffy, crinkly room. Or, at least, she thought it was a room. Applejack stood up in the puffiness, suddenly noticing her padding was no longer around her rump. And there was a giant pacifier sitting next to her. “What the hay? You didn’t make me vanish, you just shrank me, ya cheater!” Applejack’s high pitched voiced echoed out from her now empty diaper.

“Who said that?” Trixie asked, looking around theatrically. “Surely it could not be the pony who Trixie already made disappear?”

She laughed. “But of course, only a truly foalish pony would declare that a pony had to leave the stage to disappear. Why, an invisible pony has disappeared as well!”

“I'm still here, consarn it!” Applejack shouted, jumping up and down on the padding in her irritation – making it crinkle, producing a tiny little puff of powder.

“Where might that be?” Trixie asked, looking into the diaper. Applejack met her gaze, full of fire, but the moment she did her anger seemed to drain away- the faintly shimmering colours of Trixie's eyes and horn making it harder for her to concentrate on her irritation.

“I... uh...” Applejack tried, as a tiny diaper popped into existence around her waist – even larger in proportion to her current size than any of the ones she'd been wearing on this crazy adventure.

Trixie turned away, flourishing her cape. “Well, Trixie cannot see any ponies here! She will have to think about this some more.”

Applejack shook her head, trying to clear away the oddly passive thoughts, and then saw a crinkly rump descending on her. “H-hey, wait!”

With a crinkly cacophany, Trixie sat her own tastefully small diaper down inside the comically large one Applejack had just vacated.

Applejack’s protests were smothered in fluff, Trixie shaking her rump back and forth, as if to show that there was no pony left inside it. “Well, we wouldn’t want such a thick diaper to go to waste! Especially seeing how the pony doesn’t appear to be, well, appearing anytime soon!” Trixie laughed. Applejack struggled against the walls of crinkly plastic, slipping down deeper into the diaper as Trixie secured it around her waist and stood back up. She began to waddle forwards, her rump swaying with each step and jostling Applejack around inside the thick diaper. “And for Trixie’s next act!...” She continued, leaving Applejack to mutter several grumblings of anger to her padded prison as she moved to her next trick.

Rarity was slipping on a brightly colored overcoat on top of a frilly vest and thick diaper, giving an odd, mismatched look to herself. Gazing at her reflection, Rarity gave a few unsure whinings. “Are you suuuure this is the best look for me? It seems a bit… haphazard?” She asked, looking over to the Diaper Dog. The dog nodded, waddling over to the unicorn.

“Yes. Good clothes for mining. Need new gems for dogs and dresses.” The dog said simply.

“What? Mining? I certainly hope you don’t expect me to be mining in this!” Rarity said, looking down at her clothes again. The only response she received was a colorful mining helmet being plonked down on her head.

“Yes. You mine. Find gems to make dogs nice and fat. Fat dogs good cushions for pony, yes?” The dog asked, smirking. The dog’s voice echoed around in Rarity’s head, the helmet seeming to bounce the dog’s commands around a bit. She faltered, looking confused.

“Well… I, suppose I wouldn’t mind a few more cushions to relax on… it has been a rather long day, after all…”

“Good,” the Diaper Dog said, and gestured for Rarity to follow. She looked a little unsure, then did so – thinking about soft cushions and being good and sleepy.

It was a long walk to the rock face, or a long waddle at least, and more than once Rarity started to wonder why she was doing this... then she would catch sight of herself in a mirror, and stare, and then remember she was just being a good guest. It was only good manners, after all, and she'd been treated so well.

Why, they'd even given her diapers – of a truly fine quality – and without asking for thanks!

Rarity nodded to herself, content with her own reasoning, and kept waddling along behind the Dog.

When they reached the mining site, Rarity was given a comically oversized inflatable pickaxe by the Diaper Dog waiting there – one wearing a similar multi-coloured overcoat to her own, which made her at first wince at the clashing colours.

Then she took a second look, really paying attention, and realized there was a lot more to this particular outfit than she'd first realized.

The way the colours moved was hard to follow, but it made her feel more relaxed, and she almost yawned before remembering there was mining to do.

Rarity’s horn lit up as she levitated the pickaxe in her magic. Waddling over to one of the walls, she spotted a few spots that were glowing slightly more than the rest of stone. She tapped against the stone with her pickaxe, causing several squeaks to echo around the caves. Rarity tapped the pickaxe again, more squeaks quickly filling the air. Despite having just started, Rarity already found her mind wandering as she began to tap away at the wall with the squeaky axe. The colors of the outfits, along with the squeaks of the pickaxes, began to cloud Rarity’s perception of time. She wasn’t even really sure how these soft picks were supposed to dig out the gems when all they did was bounce off the stonework, and yet a moment later Rarity already found herself standing with a few gems at her hooves.

The other dogs had also managed to collect a few gems, placing them in a cart that ran behind the line. Occasionally one would sneak a gem, causing their guts to drop closer to the ground with a cartoonish bwoomp!, giving the plush creatures more padding. Rarity didn’t pay much attention, however, simply picking away as a fat dog bounced his plush rump into her padded one, and the colors and squeaks began to form a steady, soothing rhythm.

Fluttershy was now pressing against several of the bubbles as they swelled around her, attempting to keep them from obstructing her view of Discord. “Uh, um, Discord, really, I’m very thankful you want to make sure I’m relaxed, but…” A bubble drifted down into her view, giving Discord a silly bloated look through the soapy orb. Fluttershy pushed it aside, Discord returning to his normal shape. “I really don’t think…”

“Of course you don’t need to think, Fluttershy! Thinking’s for ponies when they need to do things! And right now all you need to do is relax and enjoy the spa!” Discord smiled, lifting his hind hoof up so a file could float by and begin to give him a hooficure.

“But... um... I'm here because-”

“Oh, I don't really care much about because,” Discord interrupted. “Or why, or what, or several other things that are just boring when you get right down to it. Like cause and effect.”

He popped one of the bubbles, and instead of bursting normally it instead shrank to a tiny size and vanished. As it did the air all rushed into Fluttershy's padding, making her gasp as it inflated a little more than it had already been.

“But perhaps it's time to move on to the next stage of the relaxing treatment,” Discord added, producing a large brochure from nowhere. “Let's see... massage... hot stones therapy... sauna... hm, none of these sound very relaxing. Who wants to get hot stones thrown at them?”

The draconequus waved his tail, knocking the bathtub away and leaving Fluttershy standing on a dry floor with suds dripping off her – and bubbles larger than her head nearly covering her upper half, like an aggressively puffy collar.

“The most important thing in any relaxation treatment is to be excited,” Discord added sagely. “So, therefore, as a beast of chaos, my job is to do the opposite of that. In fact, let's get you in a relaxing posture, in a safe place, with a controlled environment and no sources of stress at all.”

Fluttershy tried to look at what Discord was doing, but every time she saw something some of the bubbles got in her way. It looked like he'd made some kind of crib rise out of the floor, but she wasn't sure and didn't want to bother him.

Fluttershy tried to push the bubbles out of the way, but every time she moved, they only squeezed in on her tighter. The crib appeared to grow a bit bigger as Discord glanced back to Fluttershy a few times, holding up what looked to be a tape measure, but the warping of the bubbles made it difficult to tell. Several bubbles floated up, giving the illusion of multiple Discords all fluffing up pillows and dropping them into cribs before they all coalesced into one, leaving still five Discords lining the crib with several overstuffed pillows. Once the Discords were satisfied with the amount of padding in the crib, all but one burst, leaving the first Discord to wander over to Fluttershy. Wrapping his arms around her, he squeeeeezed the bubbles, forcing them to join into one, leaving Fluttershy’s legs spread out, her puffy diaper only just small enough to avoid poking through the large bubble as she was bounced down into the crib.

The bars squeezed in on the bubble as her head fell onto one of the pillows, Discord looking down at his list again. “Now let’s see… immobile… comfy… cushy…”

“Discord, please, I-“ Fluttershy was cut off as a pacifier shoved itself into her mouth, the ring on the end coated in a soapy material. Fluttershy let out a whine, a bubble swelling on the end of the pacifier before breaking off and floating up into the air above her. She couldn’t help but follow its path with her gaze, the shimmering of the lights off the surface rather… pleasant.

“Here we are!” Starlight announced, opening the door. “This is the special surprise we have for new foals!”

Twilight blushed as she waddled up behind, the bulk of her diaper making it hard to move at any kind of speed.

Like a – no! She had to not think that way! She wasn't a foal...

Then she got a look into the room, and the sight made her stare.

It was a tiny movie theatre, small enough that only a few ponies could really use it, and there was only one seat – a high chair, placed in the middle of the floor.

“Starlight?” she tried. “What is the special surprise?”

“I'd have thought it was obvious!” Starlight replied, sounding very smug. “Any pony should be able to recognize a movie theatre... but maybe that just goes to show you're just a foal?”

Twilight gasped as the magic of the diaper took effect again, making her head swim as she tried to maintain concentration. “B-but... no, that's not...”

“Sssh,” Starlight advised her, magically lifting her up and putting her in the high-chair. “You're going to have a lovely movie night, just for you~...”

The straps of the chair were done up in seconds, and then the projector screen started up – showing the titles to a film about Our Town and what it was like to live there.

Twilight tried to get out of the chair, finding it impossible to get the straps to give way, and Starlight tutted.

“Good foals just watch their movie, Twilight,” she said, and the equals mark on the diaper pulsed again.

Twilight’s mind grew cloudy once again, and she was wondering what it was she was trying to do. The whirring of the projector drew her attention and she looked forward to watch the film. It showed several ponies waddling around town happily, their diapers swaying left and right with each step. Twilight wasn’t paying much attention to the plot, not that there really appeared to be a plot. Still, Twilight found the movie to be at least a little interesting. At one point one pony seemed to be grumbling about their diapers, but the equal sign on their padding pulsed. With a puff, their diaper grew just the tiniest bit thicker, and the pony seemed much happier. Twilight supposed she could understand that. The bigger the diaper, the comfier it would-

Twilight shook her head, trying to clear it. No, her diapers were anything but comfortable! And she certainly didn’t want them to be any thicker! She began to struggle again, trying to light her horn to cast a spell. “Twilight, if you don’t calm down, you’re going to miss the best part!” Starlight said, somewhat sternly. Twilights struggles died down. Despite her annoyance, she didn’t want to miss any part of the movie, she wouldn’t know what was going on at all if she did! Turning her gaze back to the screen, she saw another pony enter the screen. A purple alicorn, that looked suspiciously familiar…

Twilight watched as the purple alicorn arrived in town – diaperless – and wandered around for a bit, clearly unsure of what she should be doing and not very confident. The impression she found herself unable to avoid, as she watched, was that the purple alicorn needed diapers – even if she didn't know it.

She frowned, knowing that was wrong, but the film soon drew her back in and made her lose focus slightly. Unable to really work up the willpower to properly object, Twilight just watched and stared.

Then the alicorn visited a friend's house, and she was introduced to how wonderful diapers were! Within a few minutes, she was padded up, and-

-Twilight tried to shake her head again, but found herself just staring at the screen – watching as the purple alicorn waved her padded rump at the screen, the motion hypnotic and oddly soothing.

Then the alicorn went out into town, and the difference was remarkable. Now she had a spring in her step and a shake in her butt, and every pony she met had a smile for her.

For a moment, Twilight found herself identifying really strongly with the alicorn in the film. She was just like that alicorn!

And then she snapped back out of it, astonished that she'd dropped into the mindset. But even as she squirmed, the idea started to steal over her again – something telling her that she was the pony in the film, and that she should feel like her, and that she did love her diapers, love fitting in with the town...

Twilight’s diaper pulsed a few more times, giving her a warm, fuzzy feeling as she watched the movie continue. The scenes started to blend together, simply showing the alicorn trotting and bouncing around town to show off her thick pampers as everypony else praised her for how cute she looked in them. Starlight sat back on her own puffy padding, grinning as she watched Twilight’s struggles slowly fade further and further. Her own horn lit up as she hovered a small bucket of popcorn, placing it on the high chair. Lifting a few pieces out, she poked at Twilight’s mouth with them, who absentmindedly began to chomp down on the food as she watched the movie. Starlight soon had a steady rhythm of feeding Twilight, who’s mind was still focused on the shifting colors and silly scenarios of the film playing in front of her. Starlight’s grin spread as she watched her newest member of the town bounce excitedly in her padding as she gulped down the popcorn, completely lost in her growing love of her diapers…

Spike rolled backwards onto his padded rear, diaper crinkling softly as more and more smoke filled him. He let out a soft moan of contentment as his belly pushed out even bigger, his diaper straining to remain fastened around his growing gut. Sombra’s chuckles echoed around Spike as he placed his claws on his belly, squeezing down on it to feel the smoke swirling and swelling up inside him. His own mind was becoming even more clouded. There was something he was supposed to be doing, right? What was that? Becoming a blimp? No, that…

More smoke flew into him, causing him to let out another sigh and bounce on his rear a bit. The smoky fog around him made concentrating even harder, Spike trying to wrack his brains. He was looking for… something… string? To keep him tied up? Well, he was a balloon, that would make some sense…

Every thought Spike had seemed to be reluctant, coming up from the depths of his smoke-addled mind and becoming saturated in the dark, swirling gas before it actually caught his attention. He shook his head, which only made the smoke swirl more, then tried squeezing his belly to make the ideas come up faster.

That seemed to help a little, and he remembered what he was trying to find – then spotted it, a piece of rope just right for the job!

He picked it up clumsily, his claws not obeying his instructions, then tried to curl enough to reach his tail – though there was so much smoke, swelling him up and making him feel swirly, that he had a problem just being able to reach his tail at all.

Then the rope glowed, a dark, smoky glow that matched his dark, smoky head, and tied a knot around the end of his tail about three ridges from the end.

Spike sighed in relief, glad to have that sorted out, and as he sighed smoke poured from his mouth before coming right back in again. That last little dose of smoke made him feel more and more air-headed, until he began to float into the air – his diaper swelling up as well, now, as the smoke flooded into it and made it match his ballooning size.

The rope tugged on Spike as he rose, keeping him close enough to the ground to see it, and he spotted a unicorn towing him along with the occasional tug.

That seemed... right...

Spike bobbed about in the air as the unicorn pulled him along, the occasional wisp of smoke still flowing into him to keep him properly swollen and puffy. He occasionally kicked his legs, causing his diaper to crinkle and the baby dragon to giggle to himself as the smoke swirled around, filling his airy head with all sorts of silly, floaty thoughts. Not that he could do much about them, as he was still being tugged along by the unicorn, but he didn’t really mind that. He buried his face into his puffy belly, gazing up at it. It really was rather big. He bet Celestia could fit inside of it, easily! Celestia, maybe Luna… Spike screwed up his face in confusion - Luna seemed important to him for some reason, but- His thoughts were cut off by another stream of swirling smoke, bloating him up further and making the dragon go giggly again.

The unicorn trotted through the field, Spike occasionally twirling in the breeze as he gulped down a few more streams of smoke. After some time (Spike really couldn’t tell how much), he found himself being tugged back down to earth, the stallion twisting Spike around to fly headlong into a large door way. Despite the size of the door, Spike’s gut still managed to get him lodged tightly in the frame, though this only seemed to please the unicorn. He bounced up against Spike’s padded rear, pushing and shoving to attempt to squeeze him through. Spike wiggled his stubby legs, his tail flicking a bit across his diaper as Sombra sank into the puffy rear blocking the entry. Spike blushed as his mind swirled from all the bouncing he was receiving, causing several more giggles to escape his lips as he squeezed down on his belly.

Then, with a pop!, Spike slipped through the door, Sombra tugging back on the rope to keep him from floating up to the ceiling of a vast castle. Sombra trotted up to a throne on the opposite end of the room, tying the free end of the rope around one of the crystals to anchor Spike.

Pleased with his new balloon, Sombra sat in his throne, leaning back to stare up at the puffy orb above him. He grinned, letting a few more clouds of smoke rise up and bloat his new balloon even bigger.

The crinkly-complexioned Nightmare Moon laughed, gazing down from her soft, cushy moon at the fates of the Element bearers and their dragon friend.

“Isn't it wonderful?” she asked, wiggling her tush, then patted herself on the head – transmitting the sensations to her alicorn prisoner. “All those ponies who've helped you out... helped defeat me... now trapped helplessly in a dream of my creation.”

She chuckled. “Or a dream of your creation, dear Luna... after all, so much of this comes from your wonderful ideas...”

Luna grumbled inside her padded prison, trying to break free again but unable to do more than squirm about slightly.

Nightmare Moon sat down on her rump, looking down at the dreamscape, until Luna spoke up.

“Are you just going to leave them there?”

“Why not?” Nightmare asked. “You don't think I was going to let them go, did you?”

“So, you're not going to gloat?”

That question did give Nightmare pause. She did so love gloating, after all.

And, now she came to think of it, Celestia's special prison did have all those extra slots... perhaps she should complete the set...

Nightmare grinned as she leaned back into the plush crescent moon, feeling it rock her slightly as she did. “You have quite the fun ideas, little Lulu~” She said, her horn glowing as the dreams all began to shift around her. Hanging from her plush moon was a giant mobile, Celestia’s sun at the center, with each of the pony’s cutiemarks and a gem for spike surrounding it. The bubbles of the pony’s dreams floated up to Nightmare, allowing her to get a good look at each of her captives. With another flash, the ponies were freed from the dreams, though their eyes still shimmered as they floated in place and were subject to their personal traps. “Well, it sure looks as if I’ve won this time, hasn’t it?” Nightmare boasted, her grin growing even wider as she wriggled her plumply padded rump left and right. Although each pony was quite dizzy and light-headed, they were able to make out Nightmare’s words, and the mirth behind them.

“I hope you all enjoy your new cushy dreams. I had quite a lot of help from your dear, dear princess Lulu, and I think you’ll come to love her ideas just as much as I have. Now, why don’t we get you tucked safe and snug in your new plush prisons?” She laughed, each of the pony’s cutiemarks unzipping as the appropriate pony floated into them. Slipping into their soft interiors, the plush hugging them all around, each pony was grinning, lost in their love for fluff and puff as Nightmare began to seal them up inside the mobile…

Twilight giggled as the film changed to a new scene, showing the purple alicorn she thought of as herself lying on the floor with a bottle to suckle.

She snuggled into the plush around her, sighing as it relaxed her... then frowned, just slightly.

Something didn't seem right.

She was in a high chair, and she was watching a film. And she was lying on the floor, drinking a bottle.

But she felt something that didn't fit with either of those possibilities. Something soft and warm, yes, comfortable, making her yawn with how sleepy it made her feel just touching it... but something which didn't seem right.

She shifted, her mind starting to get back in gear as she now had a puzzle to work with, and more of the soft, soporific sensations didn't fit with the world around her.

“Oho?” Nightmare asked, as the zipper for Twilight's star-mark cushy prison stopped halfway up – blocked by the restless shifting of the entranced alicorn. “It looks like the newest and youngest Princess of Equestria is a bit fussy!”

Twilight continued to wriggle around, trying to figure out the puzzle of why everything felt so warm and plush. Was she lying in a crib and just hadn’t noticed? Twilight turned her head to each side, expecting to see bars rising up beside her, but rather than that, she simply received a face full of overstuffed lavender plush. Shaking her head, Twilight attempted to sit up, but Nightmare pushed her back into the fluff gently. The crinkle of Nightmare’s hoof brushing against Twilights nose did nothing to calm her, however. Why on earth would she have a diaper on her face? This made no sense at all! The shimmering in her eyes started to slowly fade as she tried to sit back up again, blinking rapidly to clear the odd swirling colors she had just noticed were filling her vision. When she could see clearly, she was met by a rather surprised looking Nightmare Moon crinkle-suit, and the sight of her friends sliding into a giant mobile all around her. Suddenly several muffled cries of help came from inside Nightmare, who grimaced and poked at her belly. “Lulu! Shush, or I’ll give myself a few more plush pounds to smother you!”

“Lulu? Luna…?” Twilight’s mind began to slowly clear, and Nightmare looked back at her, gulping. “Luna! Girls! Snap out of it! It’s Nightmare Moon!” She shouted, attempting to leap free of her cutiemark.

Nightmare's horn pulsed, and Twilight's diaper suddenly swelled up – the effect taking place just as Twilight was about to wiggle free, meaning her diaper became too large to actually fit through the gap.

“Hush, now,” Nightmare said, her eyes glittering. “You're just fussy, that's all, and it's time for good foals to go to bed and stop bothering their caretakers.”

Twilight almost nodded, lulled by the effect, then shook her head and threw off the attempt at hypnosis. Her own horn lit up, and she cast her Failsafe spell on maximum power – sending out a wave of magic, which made Nightmare take a step back before sneering.

“Was that supposed to impress me?” she asked. “Your little tantrum didn't help one bit.”

“What the hay!?” Rainbow Dash demanded, making Nightmare's sneer vanish. “Wasn't I stuck in a griffin suit a moment ago?”

“Ah couldn't say,” Applejack countered. “Were y'all?”

“...no comment,” Dash muttered.

“Oh dear, I hope Discord isn’t mad I left the spa early…” Fluttershy said, poking her head out of her own plush cutie-mark. Spike’s gem was shifting and wobbling around as he attempted to swim through the fluff to find the entrance now that he didn’t fill the gem completely with his balloony body. Nightmare’s horn flashed as she attempted to cast another spell, but Luna jerked her head to one side, managing to throw off her aim enough to send the spell into Rarity’s direction. Her cutiemark mobile ballooned up, squeezing in on her as she tried to make it to the zipper as well.

“Give up, Twilight! Even if you free yourselves again, you can’t do a thing without your precious elements!” Nightmare boasted, trying to maintain her composure.

“Oh, you mean these?” Pinkie asked, poking at the mobile. Nightmare looked over to her, confused. “Well, I mean, they look a lot like our elements, and I think Other Pinkie mentioned something like ‘silly ol’ black sooty made the elements the dream so we couldn’t find them! And if the dreams are the mobile…” Pinkie snickered, leaning back into the fluff and shaking her padding playfully. “Boy, that sure backfired on you, didn’t it, Sooty?”

“What-” Nightmare began, shocked, then shook her head. “It doesn't matter! The Elements don't exist any more, not really!”

“That's where you're wrong,” Twilight replied. “Don't you remember the first time we met? You smashed the elements to fragments, right in front of me, but that didn't mean they just vanished – they were there all along.”

She wiggled a bit, trying to do a dramatic gesture, then gave up with a blush. “Um, anyway... Rarity was still generous as a foal fashion designer, Dash was still loyal as a Shadowbutt-”

Dash groaned, blushing even more than she had been already.

“-Fluttershy was still kind, Applejack was still honest and Pinkie was more full of fun than ever! Even in the crazy scenarios you put together in our dreams, you couldn't take away what made us the bearers of the Elements of Harmony – that we're friends, and that we work together whatever happens.”

Twilight's plushy prison began to glow, and so did the others – except for Spike's, though he did finally manage to emerge from the faux-gem prison.

“It's over, Nightmare Moon,” Twilight concluded. “Your trap is gone, and you won't trap us in our dreams any more.”

Nightmare started to chuckle, then laugh.

“...huh?” Pinkie said, confused.

“I can't say that sounds good,” Rarity agreed.

Nightmare continued to laugh for several seconds, each pony looking awkwardly between each other before the crinkly alicorn managed to stop her mad cackling. “Really, Twilight, you must come up with a better winning speech the next time around. I swear it’s the exact same one every time!” Nightmare chuckled. Twilight looked even more confused, but Nightmare simply continued. “Really, Twilight, just because you defeat me tonight doesn’t mean I can’t do this again tomorrow! And why would you think this is the first time I’ve done this?” Twilight let out a gasp, everypony looking just as shocked as their elements grew brighter.

“Oh, you’ve been on so many wonderful adventures! You were superheroes, and knights, and secret agents, my favorite might just be the puffer virus. Well, favorite so far. Goodness, there’s so many wonderfully plump, plush ideas left to do still! And we’ll have every night to try something new!” Their elements grew brighter, Nightmare rolling back onto her puffy rear and giggling again. “Well, have a good day, everypony! I’m sure you’ll just love what I have in mind for tonight!” She laughed, and suddenly a rainbow shot out of their plush elements, colliding with Nightmare. Still laughing, Nightmare ballooned up, wriggling her stubby hooves as she swelled, the dream seeming to swirl and whirl around them, everything becoming a blur of colors before…

Twilight awoke, her eyes fluttering as the morning sun began to shine through her window.

“Wow...” she said, blinking. “What an odd dream...”

“What's that?” Spike asked, yawning. “Did you say something, Twilight?”

“I said I had an odd dream,” Twilight repeated, stumbling out of bed with a faint squish. “It was...”

She tried to remember the details, but they vanished even as she reached for them. There were some faint memories of soft things, but apart from that it was just a blur.

“...I don't know,” she admitted.

“Well, so long as you enjoyed it,” Spike said. “You did enjoy it, right?”

Twilight nodded.

“And don't forget to take your night diapers off,” Spike added, heading into the bathroom to get rid of his own.

Twilight nodded again, blushing slightly as she remembered ordering them. Her friends had all started needing to wear them a while ago, but she hadn't found any kind of magical or mundane illness which might have been involved.

At least whatever it was only happened at night.

As she left her bedroom, heading to the bathroom once Spike was out, a little plush doll sat ignored in the corner of her bed.

It was a very well-made one, with fine stitching, and depicted a black-coated pony with wings and a horn – as well as a light blue mane, one spangled with glitter like a field of stars.

Twilight's Dream Voyage

by Arbanis

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6