On Brand

Applejack stomped along the dirt path of Sweet Apple Acres, face fixed in a lopsided frown unbecoming of the soothing dawn that was breaking along the horizon.

Normally a new day would fill her with energy, hope, and the promise of endless possibilities. But today? Today only filled her with exhaustion, despair, and the fear of the inevitable.

She grunted as she dragged her hooves, kicking up dust from the cold dirt.

She knew! She knew being a sore loser reflected poorly on the whole Apple family. They’d made a wager and lost, fair and square. She should be able to look the winners in their eyes, smile, and congratulate them. That’s what she’d cobbled together for a friendship letter to send to Princess Celestia, at least.

But it was nigh impossible for her to even pretend to feel good about what had gone down yesterday. Despite all her talk, despite her friends coming in to help, despite all her hard work, the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 made more cider in the end. Flim and Flam didn’t even have to sacrifice quality for quantity. In the end, they’d barely won by just a single barrel, and that had been enough.

And now, the Apple’s had to honor their agreement: the Flim Flam brothers would get the lion’s share of the profit for selling apple cider this winter.

Her stomach boiled at the thought. It wasn’t even at how the two had gloated in their victory when all was said and done; rather it was the simple fact that the farm was doomed now. Without all the cider profits this season, they were set to go under. Way under.

Applejack shuddered; each time she closed her eyes she could see a swarm of bills drowning her in red ink. The possibility that they could lose the farm… that they’d have to leave...

That couldn’t happen. Applejack wasn’t about to let it happen.

She marched, albeit begrudgingly, down to the Flim Flam brothers that very instant, intent on negotiating with them. How? She wasn’t exactly sure yet. That definitely contributed to her sour demeanor as she plodded along to the outskirts of the southern orchard.

The sight of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 came up sooner than she would’ve liked. The infernal contraption made her wince when she saw it, reminded of the failure that put her in this spot in the first place.

The sight of the brothers wasn’t much better. Flam sat at the driver’s seat of their machine, a mug of cider to his lips. After a few gulps, he pulled it away and let loose a sigh of relief. As she got closer, Applejack could see a layer of foam coating his mustache.

Flim was at least working, carrying a few empty barrels with his magic around to the Squeezy’s tap for refilling. Though he set them down when he saw her approach.

“Well, brother,” he said with a smug look. “It appears we have a visit from our business partner this fine morning.”

“Oh?” Flam looked over, waving at Applejack.

Partner? Applejack snorted. A seventy-five to twenty-five split can hardly be called a partnership.

Keeping her biting comments to herself, Applejack forced a smile that she hoped didn’t look too pained. “Howdy there, fellas.”

Flam slid out of the driver’s seat of the Squeezy, touching down on the ground next to his twin. “And what can the Flim Flam brothers do for you on such a fine, and surely profitable, morning?”

Listening closely, Applejack’s ears flicked as they picked up distinct murmurings from the other side of the Squeezy. A line had already formed, no doubt.

“Listen, I can’t…” Her brow twitched into a furrow. “The farm ain’t gonna survive this winter if we only get twenty-five percent of the cider profits, okay?”

The brothers gave simultaneous “Hmmm”s with squinted stares and shared looks.

“Seems like you’ve found yourself in quite the predicament, eh?” Flam pondered aloud, tapping his chin.

“Indeed she has,” Flim concurred, equally chin-tappy. “But if this is true, why would you have ever made that wager in the first place?”

Cause Granny’s a dangerous mix of gambling addiction and stubborn pride. Applejack bitterly thought.

No, that wasn’t right. As much as she’d like to shift the blame on this one, Applejack’s own hubris had caused this just as much as Granny Smith’s, whether she liked admitting that or not.

“We… I thought we could win,” Applejack admitted, head sinking. Whether that was from her own shame, or an act of apology for underestimating the Brother’s machine, she couldn’t say.

“I see,” both brothers chorused, demonstrating their symmetrical eyebrow raising skills.

“And what do you have to gain by burdening us with such a sob story?” Flim asked, his tone a breath away from taunting.

“Surely you can’t expect us to share our rightful winnings with you,” Flam picked up. “After all, we had a deal. And a deal is a—”

“A deal, I got it,” Applejack grunted. “Look, I don’t like bringing myself down to this level, but without this Sweet Apple Acres is as good as gone.”

The brothers just looked between themselves, stone-faced. Pity was not going to stir them, something Applejack wished she could be thankful for.

“Please!” she persisted. “Even if we just had twenty… no, fifteen percent more, we could get by.” With about a hundred odd jobs and some cutbacks, she added mentally.

Not happening. Flim and Flam’s unwavering indifference matched her pleas blow for blow. They even seemed to be growing bored.

Applejack was afraid it would come to this, but had known all the same. These two weren’t the types to do something unless they could see a benefit to it.

“Whatdoyawant?” she mumbled.

“Hmm?” Flam cocked his ear to the side, feigning his struggle to hear.

“What. Do. You. Want.” Applejack forced out through clenched teeth. “What can I do that’ll be worth fifteen percent to you?”

Flam snickered into a disgusting smirk. “Well dear Applejack, I’m afraid there’s just nothing you have left to offer—”

“Hold on just a second there, brother,” Flim interjected.

Flam shot back a curious glance, still in mid-gloat. “Uh… yes?”

“We do have one thing that could make our cider gig here blossom into a full on, out and out, honest to goodness business, don’t we?”

An eyebrow rose. “We do?”

“What is it?” Applejack tried not to sound too desperate, but she’d sensed a faint glimmer of hope and was ready to pounce on it.

“Yes,” Flim nudged his hoof back to the Squeezy, almost surreptitiously. “We do.”

Understanding dawned on Flam’s face, though only confusion did on Applejack’s. All she could see was what looked like a small compartment pinned underneath the Squeezy; the significance was lost on her.

“Oh-ho-ho. Well thought, brother o’ mine! Well thought indeed!” Flam turned back to face her, still smiling, but for a noticeably different reason. “Applejack I believe we can make an arrangement, just for you.”

“Really?” She still had no clue what was happening, but the fact that she’d made it this far into negotiations was more than she’d ever expected. “What do you need me to do? I’m ready for anything.”

“It’s funny that you mention that.” Flam’s smirk grew bigger. Applejack felt a distinct flop in her stomach. Flam motioned for Flim to get ready while he swung a fore leg around Applejack, leading her in the opposite direction of the Squeezy. “Applejack, do you want to know what the first feature of our cider business that we thought of was?”

She resisted the urge to push his hoof off her shoulder. “Uh… the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000?”

He tsked in a way that suggested he was disappointed, even having expected that answer. “No, no, no. Flim and I weren’t thinking productivity in the early stages. What do you take us for?”

Con artists. “Uh…”

“We were thinking marketing,” Flam answered for her.

Eeyup. Definitely con artists.

“We needed a way to sell our cider to the average consumer, something that would connect with everypony, something that could be related to cider without being uninspired, something that keeps ponies around, even after they’ve purchased their drink. So we thought up a mascot.”

“A… mascot.” Applejack almost stopped walking out of confusion. Who uses a mascot to sell cider?

“It had to be cute, and non-threatening, and fun to be around. You know something on brand, so to speak.”

“Uh-huh.” Applejack still wasn’t sure where this was going.

“So we had a costume commissioned for—” Flam stopped suddenly, spinning the two of them around to face the Squeezy again.

“Ta-dah!” Flim said.

Applejack gawked. Suspended in the air by Flim’s magic was easily the worst mascot costume she had ever seen.

It was a white and green dress, with a matching bonnet and booties. Despite being sized up to be worn by a grown mare, it looked suspiciously made for a filly. The fluffy skirt with a gold, frilly trim, the puffed sleeves, the white swirl patterns and accompanying apple designs stitched in. Applejack was no fashion expert, but even she could tell this was overdoing it a bit.

None of that was the particularly bad part, however. That dishonor went to the diapers.

While Flim held the dress and accessories to his left, the diapers he held to his right. A whole pack of adult sized diapers, their fluffy padding straining to escape the plastic wrap that held them.

Even as her brain short-circuited, Applejack was able to put the pieces together. The mascot the Flim Flam brothers had in mind was a foal. Specifically, a filly.

“So whaddaya say, Applejack?” Flam tightened his hold on her ever so slightly. “Want to be the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000’s mascot?”

Nothing came out of Applejack’s agape mouth. Her mind had only barely begun rebooting when it heard that question, and it made her blood icy.

Her? In that dress? And diapers!?

Applejack knew she said she’d do anything, but stuff like this was understood to be outside the realm of anything, right? Surely they didn’t actually expect her too—

“It’s a one size fits all,” Flim called out, shaking the outfit and accompanying diapers. “So don’t worry about that.”

They actually expected her to wear it. All of it. And not just that; undoubtedly they’d want to parade her around in front of the customers too. In front of all of Ponyville.

“U-Uh…” She retreated from Flam’s friendly side-hug. “No.”

He didn’t react surprised in the slightest. “A little bashful, eh? Not to worry Applejack. Why, this costume was practically made for you!”

That only made her want to wear it less. Applejack resisted the urge to slap Flam’s mustache off. And she would have too, except…

“There’s gotta be something else,” she muttered, refusing eye contact with either brother, or the outfit hovering nearby.

“If you don’t want to,” Flim leviated the outfit away. “That’s fine. Flam and I didn’t come to you asking for money, after all.”

Applejack cringed. There was nothing else. The Squeezy alone made basically all of Applejack’s skills useless to the two of them.

“Wait!” she cried, voice cracking. Flim halted the dress in mid-air. Flam let a smile slide onto his face.

As for Applejack, she was too surprised to follow up right away. She hadn’t expected to say that. Was she… actually willing to do this?

No. No no no no no no no no no! Were the first through tenth thoughts that ran through her mind, followed by a more timid, ...maybe?

She needed the money, that much alone was the reason she hadn’t left in a huff right now. But was it really worth swallowing her pride? Just putting on that outfit alone would be bad enough, but needing to parade herself in front of the townsponies for a few extra sales? It was pathetic. It was beneath her. It wasn’t worth it. No amount of money was.

“I’ll do it for twenty-five percent more,” Applejack heard herself say.

Flam’s smile evaporated. “T-Twenty-five percent?” Flim’s eyebrows shot up as his brother sputtered in and out of coherence. “Now Applejack, just earlier I heard you say you could get by with just fifteen. You wouldn’t be trying to take advantage of two start-up businessponies, now would you?”

There was no going back now, even as her heart thumped in her throat. “I know what I said, but y’all are asking for a bit much, don’tcha think?” Flam’s tightening lips were the only response she needed. “I’ll be your stupid mascot for no less than that, you hear?”

Flim and Flam exchanged looks, going back and forth in silent debate the way only twins knew how too. Applejack may not have understood their wordless conversation, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to guess.

Probably something about how beggars can’t be choosers, how greedy she was being (nevermind them) and how little they were actually asking her to do. Though, strangely, the debate seemed to get more and more heated as angrier looks were exchanged.

And then finally: “For Celestia’s sake, brother!” Flam erupted, unable to contain the conversation any longer. “A fifty-fifty split? Outrageous!”

“Didn’t we agree that a lack of a mascot was the only thing holding our little venture back, Flam?” Flim challenged. “By my estimate, we’d make more with this deal’s fifty than the previous’ seventy-five. And if that’s all she’s asking for to make this happen then we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“You—” That stopped Flam dead. More money was hard to argue with, after all. Especially when you were like these two brothers. “You better be right about that,” he sneered.

Applejack’s heart sank at the realization that they would accept. Sure, it had been her idea, but that didn’t mean she was looking forward to what was to come. But still, she should be happy. If they were right then Sweet Apple Acres would get by just fine this way, and that’s what mattered the most.

Flam turned back to her as he slipped into a faux smile, stepping forward with an outstretched hoof. “Well then, Applejack. It would seem you have yourself a deal.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Would seem so.” She took his hoof, sealing everything with a firm shake.

“Excellent!” Flam’s hoof curled away. “Now then, let’s get you all dressed up and start selling some cider!”

So soon? Applejack was hoping she’d get a chance to come to terms with everything first. “Uh… alright, I guess.” She glanced at the costume with twitchy eyelids. “Just give me a minute to get dressed.”

Green magic wrapped around her fore hooves, dragging them apart and forcing her head to the ground. Applejack barely had time to let out a “whoa!” of surprise before grass was tickling her chin. Her hind legs remained untouched, but all that left her with was her plot sticking up in the air.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much time for that,” Flam said as his brother jogged over, clothes in tow. “We’ve kept our customers waiting quite a bit already, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

“What the hay!” Applejack called out, struggling to take back control of her splayed legs. Flam kept his magical hold on them, however, refusing to let her move.

“Luckily, you have two unicorns here to help out,” Flim said. A diaper floated out of the pack, unfolding in mid air, much to Applejack’s scrunched face of displeasure.

“I can do it myself!” She insisted, wiggling her hips to try and find enough strength to escape Flam’s hold. Heat rose under her cheeks as the humiliation sped from potential towards very, very real.

Flim and Flam disappeared behind her, taking that infernal outfit with them. As her eyes lost track of them, Applejack turned her head, but was only able to catch the frills of the dress at best.

“Let’s see here.” Magic gripped the tip of Applejack’s tail, lifting it high into the air.

“Hey!” Applejack squeaked, cheeks pink. Suddenly she was feeling very exposed back there.

She felt her tail be pulled through something, soon coming to understand that was a hole in the back of the diaper.

The crisp fluff slowly encompassed her rear end. Her pink cheeks dipped to red as she felt the padding nestle her plot, and they only burned more when the diaper folded around and pressed against her marehood. The tapes pressed themselves down and were magically smoothed out, trapping Applejack to her fate. Flam released her tail, letting it fall back down and smack her padded rear as the two stepped back to admire their work. Applejack was left to get used to her new article of clothing.

She already hated it.

It was like a perpetual, soft hug against her flanks. The invasive floof smothered her inner thighs, and crinkled with every slight movement of her hindquarters, adding an extra layer of humiliation to this whole thing.

Applejack closed her eyes, breathing deep breaths. Put up with it for the sake of the farm. Just be glad it’s not too big.

“Hmm…” Flam circled around her once, observing her padded plot. “Flim, do you suppose that’s enough?”

Applejack’s eyes popped open. What?

“Hmm…” Flim poked at the padding, startling her. “It’s not really all that… poofy.”

Not all that poofy? Applejack felt like she was wearing a freaking pillow already, what more did they want?

“Yes, I agree,” Flam poked her diapered butt too. “It’s not quite as cute as I was hoping it’d be.”

“Well I have a solution to that,” Flim said.

Applejack couldn’t see what the two were up to, but she felt her tail rise up again. And what’s more, the telltale sounds of crinkling padding soon filled the air.

Oh no.

The duo slapped another diaper onto her butt. It squeezed the air out of the first, wrapping around it tightly and pressing its soft interior against her even more. “H-Hey!” Applejack called out as the tapes locked it in place around the first.

“I dunno.” Flam tsked in annoyance. “It still doesn’t look quite right.”

“I agree,” Flim said. More crinkles followed his voice, undoubtedly a new diaper flying free from the pack. “It needs to be bigger if she’s going to pull off a cute filly look.”

“Exactly! Here, allow me.”

Magic locked around Applejack’s hind legs now and pulled them apart to make room. Even though she put up some resistance, Applejack found she wasn’t stronger than the brothers’ magic.

“Hold on there, fellas!” Applejack protested as the third diaper made its way to her flanks. She shook her hips, trying to throw it off as it curled around her double-diapered butt.

Her face went scarlett before the tapes were set. A third diaper. She was wearing three of these accursed things at once.

And her ears perked at the crinkly approach of a fourth.

“Oh come on!” she cried, wiggling her butt in a pathetic escape attempt. Her legs were spread out even further as the brothers didn’t hesitate.

“We’re almost there, Applejack. Just you wait, you’ll have the poofiest flank in Equestria when we’re done!” Flam assured her.

That’s what I’m afraid of, she bitterly thought as the fourth diaper slipped around her.

The size was becoming a bit of a problem now. The girth of the first three diapers was making it a challenge to squeeze this one on. Applejack winced as the diaper was taped down, squishing the three beneath it against her plot even more. A formerly snug hug was becoming pretty tight.

“Hmmm…” The two harmonized as they inspected the padding so far.

“One more?” Flim asked.

“One more,” Flam decided.

Applejack groaned.

She didn’t try to fight this last one. It latched onto her defeated flanks, locking her in her fifth layer of padding. The tapes only barely managed to stay down, the mountain of poof strained to break free beneath them.

“Perfect!” Flam’s magical aura evaporated, finally freeing Applejack.

Now able to move, she tried to stand back up. Tried.

Her hind legs were forced apart thanks to the poofy invaders on her plot. As she struggled to get to all fours, Applejack found herself forced into a semi-split. Biting her lip, she fought the sudden urge to whimper. They’d only barely begun dressing her and she already couldn’t take it.

“Need a hoof?” Flim asked, appearing to her right.

She glared at him, face burning. “No!”

Certain she could stand on her own, Applejack gave one more push against the ground, propping herself up. For a moment, however wobbly, she was standing on all fours. Applejack gave a premature grin of satisfaction, thankful she was still capable of this much.

And then she fell.

POOF! crinkle crinkle

Her padded plot smacked the ground before she even had time to react. Applejack winced as the layers of padding compressed under her, shoving swaths of floof against her inner thighs. Her face glowed with an anguished red.

“Consarnit!” she cried.

Applejack moved to sit up, ready to try and stand again. Unfortunately, the Flim Flam brothers had other plans for her.

The second her forelegs left the ground, booties ambushed them. The frilly green shoes of the foal costume locked onto her hooves, shaking themselves on before Applejack could protest. Two more dove for her hind legs. With them so spread out, Applejack had nowhere to move them to avoid the clothes. In mere seconds, all four of her hooves had been jammed into the booties.

“Ergh,” she groaned. She tried waving her hooves to shake them free, but the booties were stuck snuggly in place. The most infuriating part is that they were actually kind of comfortable.

“Almost done,” Flim assured her. With a flick of magic he knocked her hat off her head, the dress levitating above. “Hooves up.”

Applejack crossed her forelegs in protest. She still wasn’t used to the diapers hugging her plot; no way she was ready for the filly dress to be plopped on top of it. Her resistance was overridden by Flam, whose magic returned to her hooves, forcing them to reach for the sky.

“H-Hey!” Applejack yelled. Anymore quips came out muffled as the dress leapt on top of her.

“Hurry up!” Flim called out. “We’ve still got a crowd waiting for us.”

Don’t remind me, Applejack thought as the dress’ built in petticoats smothered her.

She struggled against the dress as it continued to climb down her body. Eventually her hooves found the sleeves, popping free. Her head soon followed and Applejack gasped for air as the dress settled against her body.

The brothers continued to fuss with it for a few more seconds, magically fluffing up the skirt and adjusting the collar to be centered. Applejack could only grumble and wait for them to finish as she was finally allowed to lower her forelegs.

“And the finishing touch.” Flam levitated the bonnet into view. Applejack groaned.

“I’ll leave this one to you, brother,” Flim said. “I’ve got just a few more things to set up before we open.”

Flam nodded as his brother moved back over to the Squeezy. Applejack narrowed her eyes as she followed him off.

“Set up what?” she asked, getting a bad feeling about that. They already had barrels of cider stocked up. Between that and the Squeezy what could honestly be left?

Flam’s magic worked on her hair, pulling off the tie and letting her golden mane spread out. “Oh, nothing important.”

Applejack frowned. “You not telling me what it is means it’s something I’m gonna hate, right?”

Flam tilted his head to the side, considering his options. Eventually he just nodded. “Yes.”

The bonnet wrapped around her head, sealing off Applejack’s peripheral vision with a row of gold frills. Her ears poked through little slits in the top, before folding down to show her discomfort. Before tying the whole thing in place, Flam brought her hair around and tied it into twintails that came to rest on the front of her dress.

Applejack barely paid attention as Flam finished tying up her bonnet. Instead, her mind was on whatever it was she was going to be subjected to next. She couldn’t see Flim anymore, and only had vague sounds to go off of for what her future torment was going to be. A few wood on wood thuds, Flim’s grunts of exertion, and the sloshing of a cider barrel.

Flam finished tying up her bonnet, tightening the knot just below her chin with one final tug. He took a step back to admire the finished product.

Applejack just grunted, feeling stupid as she turned her eyes to the ground. She squirmed, trying to shift her diaper into a less awkward position, but was only rewarded with crinkles and invasive floof. The skirt of her dress swished delicately, each little movement of hers only serving to make her look more dainty than what the outfit alone could manage.

“Ready, brother?” Flam called back.

Flim poked his head out from behind the Squeezy. “Just about, brother!”

“Well then, go ahead and start the introduction.”

Introduction? Applejack frowned. She knew she had no chance of being discreet in her get-up, but she at least was hoping to avoid the spotlight right away.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” Flim started up from the other side of the Squeezy. “The Flim Flam brothers have a very special announcement to mark the start of our new business venture.”

“Come on,” Flam motioned for her to stand, pointing to the Squeezy. They weren’t even hesitating.

“Fine,” Applejack muttered through her blush. She struggled to make it to her hooves, her five diapers putting up a noisy fight against that. Her hind legs couldn’t gain a grip on the ground, so spread out that they were basically vestigial.

“We’re proud to announce…” Flim continued.

“Hurry up!” Flam sent a jolt of magic to tug her tail skyward.

Applejack let out and “eep” of surprise as her plot was dragged into the air. She was quickly set down on all fours, before another slap of magic pushed her diapered rear, making her waddle forward.

She struggled with even just that, though. Her steps were wide and awkward, like a foal still learning how to walk. She was forced to toddle after Flam toward the public eye, all the while chased by the chorus of crinkles her five diapers made.

“The mascot of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!” Flim extended a hoof to reveal Applejack as she waddled into view of the crowd. “Jackie!”

She winced, both at the childish name she’d just been christened with, and at the line of ponies now staring her down.

Word of the cider-off from the other day must have gotten around, because the line was even longer than usual for the second morning of cider season. Just looking at the seemingly endless, colorful line of ponies stretching to the horizon, Applejack estimated that at least half the town must have turned up.

And now they were all staring at her, confused, wide-eyed, and jaws to the dirt. Applejack gulped as her face burned.

...Here we go...