Author's Note

Yeah yeah, the "Fear of being caught" conflict isn't something new even for me. But I think Starlight more than any other mane eight member would be terrified of being discovered, considering her brief zoning out in "The Crystalling, Part 1".

Thanks to Zubric for the suggestions on what Firelight could do with Starlight.

There's only one more chapter left, and I'm gonna come out and say this now, I don't have plans to do a sequel to this. I think the conflict is workable enough for one fic, considering how it will ultimately play out next chapter.

An Unexpected Visitor

Starlight didn't say anything after the change, not even as her dad picked up the wastebasket with her old diaper inside and left to dispose of it. She was still in a state of complete and total embarrassment. "I can't believe I actually did that. I haven't had an accident for years, a fact I was very proud of. Why didn't my body wake me up in the middle of the night?" The mare thought in contemplation.

At last, Firelight returned. But he made no comment about his daughter's accident, he treated it as if this wasn't the first time she'd done such a thing. "You sure you don't any help using the pot... er the bathroom," He corrected himself as he coughed into a grayish-purple hoof. "It's totally okay if you do, I won't judge you."

"You're treating me like I'm two years old again just because I had an accident!" Starlight bitterly whined. "I'm still a full grown pony despite... that! And I wish to be treated as such!"

"Okay, okay, I just thought I'd offer," Firelight insisted. "You had no problems using the bathroom after dinner yesterday. I trust you. But you let Daddy know if you change your mind."

Yet again, Starlight groaned. It seemed like for every step forward she was making in convincing her dad, he took two steps backward in the way he treated her. If not for the fact that she had just been diapered and didn't want to waste the padding, the mare would've ripped it off, washed off the powder, and teleported away right then and there.

Firelight just turned and trotted toward the bedroom door as the stallion declared. "You must be starving, Honey Bun. Lucky for you, Daddy kept breakfast nice and warm for you."

"It's not foal food again, is it?" Starlight hopefully pleaded.

"It's something even better!" The stallion said with a wink. "You'll soon see. Now come on, it's not gonna stay warm for much longer."

Very reluctantly, Starlight embarrassingly waddled out of her bedroom and followed her dad to the dining room table. Though relieved that she had an actual chair to sit in (she thought for sure her father would've gotten her a high chair, or made one to fit her), she was still beyond annoyed at how noisy the padding was when she sat down. Her rump seemed to sink into the rear with very little effort, crinkling audibly as it did so and prompting several teasing coos and aws from Firelight.

Her wandering blue eyes then looked down at the table itself, and the unicorn saw a bowl of warm oatmeal (but also an embarrassing plastic spoon). "Well, it beats cold cereal. But I was hoping for pancakes." The unicorn thought, as she recalled how Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and even Twilight always made the best pancakes whenever it was their turn to host the pancake breakfasts.

But oatmeal was oatmeal, and a rumbling in her stomach informed the mare with a coat of light grayish-purple that she couldn't exactly afford to be picky about her meal options. They always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day after all.

Hope welling up inside her, the big foal eagerly reached out a hoof to grab the plastic spoon. Only to have be snatched away by the brilliant gamboge glow of her father's magic, and held aloft. It stayed that way, despite her best efforts to grab it with her own magic.

"Now now, Pumpky Wumpkin, you know the rules. Only Daddy's allowed to feed you." Firelight cooed, as he continued to hold the spoon with his magic while his hooves delicately tied a pink bib around Starlight's neck.

"Are you gonna do this every single time you feed me?!" Starlight whined and protested.

Firelight nodded. "At least until I know I can trust you not to make a mess. And you certainly didn't go a long way toward proving your case last night."

"Because you kept making all those weird spoon gestures! How was I supposed to keep it all down when you kept bombarding me with it?!" Starlight angrily complained with narrowed eyes.

But she might as well have been speaking with the pacifier in her mouth because her dad paid no attention to her statement (or if he did he chose not to respond). He just inserted the first spoonful of oatmeal into his little filly's mouth with a coo of. "Here comes the Canterlot Express! Open the tunnel!"

Perhaps it was because she was so hungry or perhaps it was because the last thing she'd eaten before had been foal food, but the big foal found the oatmeal to be delicious. She just barely resisted the urge to beg for more, begging was beneath her even in this state.

Fortunately, Firelight seemed to know what his daughter wanted without her needing to ask. He just dipped the spoon back into the oatmeal, pulled it up, and inserted it into his daughter's mouth. Then he repeated the process over and over again, 'til the bowl was empty and his daughter's tummy was nice and full.

Starlight was quite surprised that she felt only slightly less full than she had after consuming the foal food. She'd never felt this way at any point before, no matter how much she ate (and she tended to eat a lot). "Why do I keep feeling this way every time my dad feeds me? Is he somehow giving me more than what I need to be full? But how could he know that?" She wondered and pondered. But that was a thought process for another time, a more pressing urge soon occupied her every thought.

Just like before, Firelight carefully levitated his daughter over to him and gingerly patted her back a few times with a hoof. As if on command, and against her better instincts, his daughter obeyed with a hearty "Urp!". "Now what do you say after burping, Chipmunk Cheeks?" He asked.

"Excuse me." Starlight quickly replied, as her cheeks flushed anew. But even on this they did not grow as red as they had before, which served only to further frustrate the unicorn. How could she possibly be getting used to this kind of embarrassing treatment when it annoyed her so much? It didn't even begin to make sense.

After burping and having her face cleaned of stray flakes of oatmeal, Starlight slowly, carefully, and reluctantly waddled her way to the living room. She swore that no actual baby ponies she'd ever seen walked around the way she currently was, their diaper were probably nowhere near as thick.

Wait a minute! Why was she getting jealous of baby ponies? It's not like a diaper was anymore comfortable regardless of thickness, it was still a diaper and it was still just as obvious in its presence. The important thing was, it served as a reminder to the unicorn that she was slowly losing what free will she had. And she was anything but happy with that.

Sensing his daughter's growing unhappiness, Firelight quickly formed an idea in his head. One that, to him at least, would help to break up the uncomfortable atmosphere and give his daughter something besides her foalish contemplations to focus on. "Say, Little Star, would you like to play a game with Daddy?" He offered.

Starlight examined the tone of voice and body language, looking for any hint of ulterior motive. She found none, her father's request appeared to be sincere. And a game DID sound like the perfect "distraction" from all that was going on. So the unicorn accepted. "Can we play Dragon Pit?" She asked with her eyes all aglow. "I LOVE that game! Sunburst and I used to play it all the time at his place!"

Firelight shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't have a copy, Pumpky Wumpkin. And I can't just ask Stellar Flare if she still owns one. That is, unless you want her to find out about your diapees... I mean diapers."

Starlight froze in place and her body started to shudder at the very thought of Sunburst's mom (and the closest Starlight herself had to a mother growing up) seeing her in this state. Forget her friends and mentor. If Stellar Flare saw her like this, THAT would be the, worst, possible, thing (as her friend Rarity would not so elegantly put it)! She would surely start coming up with "plans" on how Starlight could make the most of her foalish state, which would end with her showing off her padded rear to all of Sires' Hollow and everypony laughing at her!

"....light? Starlight?" Firelight's voice slowly snapped the panic stricken unicorn out of her visualization. "Is everything okay, Honey Bun?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's great!" Starlight nervously insisted with a smile! "Just please don't even joke about Stellar Flare seeing me like this! She is the absolute last pony I'd want to have see me in diapers. I think she got enough of that when I was an actual foal."

Her father laughed and nodded. "You're probably right, my little pony. I forgot how much Stellar imprinted on you, you even used to call her 'Mommy'. Oh it was so adorable!"

"Dad! Stop it!" The unicorn turned big foal whined yet again. "What game are we gonna play?" Then she started thinking to herself. "Please don't make it something foalish like 'Got your nose' or 'Peek-a-boo'!"

With a wink in his eyes, Firelight teleported away and returned a few seconds later with a huge cardboard box in tow. "I remember playing this with you when you were really little," He told his daughter. "It's not Dragon Pit, but I think you'll like it, Chipmunk Cheeks."

Starlight was far too relieved at the knowledge that she would be playing a real game (even if it was one intended for foals) to care that her dad was still keeping up the embarrassing nicknames. Speaking of relief, a pressing urge started to present itself to the mare. And despite her accident this morning, she was NOT about to do the other thing in her diapers if she could help it. She quickly teleported to the bathroom to take care of business, and came back feeling incredibly relieved. "That was close." The mare thought to herself, barely noticing as she subconsciously checked her diaper's tabs to make sure they were secure.

The board game lasted quite a while, definitely longer than any game of Dragon Pit Starlight could remember. But in this case the longer period of play was a blessing to the padded unicorn, for it allowed her to keep her mind off her foalish state and just concentrate on playing the game.

Eventually it came down to who would be the first to draw a colored card for the square they needed to land on to reach the end. Several turns passed with neither unicorn getting what they needed. But at last, Starlight drew the necessary card, advanced her piece to the final square, and won the game. "I won!" She excitedly cheered as she rose from her spot at the table, having momentarily forgotten about her diaper. She was soon reminded though, as her energetic movements made the padding crinkle anew. But although she wanted to blush, the sound had become so familiar to her in the brief time she'd already been back in diapers, that her body failed to produce the reaction.

And just when the big foal was convinced things couldn't possibly get any worse, they did. For there came a knock at the door. A gentle but firm one, but a knock all the same.

"Better go see who it is," Firelight declared, his tone of voice sounding surprisingly calm for the situation. "You should probably go hide somewhere, Little Star. Unless you've changed your mind about being seen."

Starlight didn't reply, her mind was in full blown panic mode at this point! All she could think about was finding a nice, out of the way place in the house to hide! Somewhere that no one would ever think to look, and somewhere that she could be ensured her secret would stay a secret! Then she got an idea, a destination popped into her mind, and a glow of her horn she vanished completely!

Undeterred by the events that had just unfolded, Firelight trotted over to the door and opened it. And who should greet his eyes, but the familiar form of Stellar Flare?

"Hope this isn't a bad time, Firelight," Stellar Flare politely greeted as she trotted inside. "Just wanted to return these scrolls, and consult with you on the schedule for the next meeting of the Sires' Hollow Bettering Committee. It's about what to do with the old library."

Firelight let Stellar in without any hesitation, confident that his little star was well hidden and out of sight.

"So, how does next Tuesday at noon sound to you, Firelight?" Stellar asked her host, setting the scrolls down on the table. She then noticed the board game that hadn't been put away yet, particularly the fact that there were two game pieces on it. "What's this? Did you have company over?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah... yeah, but they left." Firelight innocently replied.

Stellar arched an eyebrow. "How come Starlight's not here? I thought you said she'd be here for the week?"

"Oh, she is," Firelight began, but struggled to think of a convincing cover story. "She's... just.... out buying groceries. Yeah, that's it. She just left to buy groceries before you arrived, you must've just missed her."

"Really? I didn't see anything." Stellar pondered.

Firelight tried to keep a straight face as he answered as convincingly as possible. "You know Starlight, never walks anywhere if she can use her magic to get there faster. She teleported there."

"Should I go to find her? I was hoping to get a chance to see her again, and hear how Sunburst's been doing." Stellar suggested, a hint of longing creeping into the mare's tone of voice.

The stallion shook his head. "I'll let her know you stopped by. She's probably gonna be a while. After all, she's never been in the grocery store before, and you know how big it is."

Stellar sighed, a slight frown forming on her face. "I see. Well, you seem... occupied. I'll just come back some other time," But as she turned to leave, the unicorn paused and happened to sniff. A strange scent creeped into her nostrils. "What's that smell? It smells like... cornstarch."

Firelight froze and tried not to look guilty! "Darn it, how could I forget that?!" He mentally kicked himself. "Come on, Firelight, play it cool!" "Oh, it's just Starlight's old foal supplies. I must've forgotten I had them lying out earlier."

For a moment or two, Stellar continued to sniff and said nothing. Firelight didn't either. But the moment soon passed, and the mare appeared none the wiser. "Well you'd better get that cleaned up before the next meeting," She advised Firelight. "I'll be on my way now, sorry to bother you. When Starlight comes back, you tell her I said hi."

"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure she gets the message," Firelight firmly nodded, and waved until Stellar was out the door. Then he shut said door. "It's okay, Honey Bun. She's gone. You can come out now." He gingerly called, as though he were playing a game of hide and go seek.

His daughter re-emerged in the living room but a second later in a flash of light turquoise magic, furiously tossing aside a broom that had been on top of her. "Celestia as my witness, I am NEVER doing that again!" She firmly protested. Firelight could only giggle.

"You must be tired after that unexpected visit from Stellar Flare," Firelight suggested to his daughter as he slowly approached her. "I think a nap would do wonders for you. And you know how cranky you can get if you don't get enough sleep. I've heard plenty of stories from Stellar."

Surprisingly, Starlight eagerly agreed. "A nap means more time to sleep, and less time to spend stuck like this." She thought to herself.

"Well, before I tuck you in for beddy-byes, I have an extra special surprise for you, Chipmunk Cheeks." Firelight eagerly cooed. Then he led his daughter down the hall to her bedroom.

When Starlight's eyes fell upon on her bed, she saw that her pacifier was still where she had left it earlier, resting on her bed sheets. But even after Firelight popped it in (much to his daughter's protests), Starlight found that her dad wasn't done. Rather than lift her onto the bed and tuck her in, he bent down beneath it and pulled out a big baby blue onesie with little stars stitched all over it. "I had this especially ordered just for you, Honey Bun," He told her. "I was gonna give it to you last night, but you were too tired."

"Seriously? First the pacifier and now this?" Starlight complained and rolled her eyes.

The stallion only laughed. "Don't act like you don't like it. I know you will once you get used to it. Now stretch out those hooves, and let Daddy dress you up all nice and pretty."

Despite her best efforts to resist, Starlight found herself unable (or perhaps unwilling) to keep her dad from dressing her in the onesie and zipping up the hatch. It only served to give her rear an even bigger and bulkier object, and made the subsequent bulge beneath her sheets all the more obvious. "The things I do for the sake of making my father happy. I can't believe I'm still putting up with this," She thought to herself, as her father kissed her on the forehead. "But then again, he did cover for me when Stellar Flare arrived. And he still hasn't taken away my bathroom privileges. So, maybe he's not all bad?" Reluctantly, the troubled mare decided to sleep on those thoughts. And that's just what she did.

The mare slept even more soundly than she had the previous night. The onesie was a big help as it much it pained her to admit it. With the castle being so drafty, the unicorn often spent a lot of nights with the sheets tightly curled up around her, and it felt nice to not have to do that here. Perhaps she could convince her father to let her take the onesie back to the castle when the week was up?

Rising from her sleep, the unicorn stretched and spit out her pacifier. She then instinctively moved a hoof down to her diaper and reluctantly patted it. She felt nothing, and that made her feel incredibly relieved. "Good, no accidents this time. That'll be a big help with Dad." Starlight thought to herself.

And a moment later, who should come trotting into the bedroom but Firelight himself? "Did my wittle Pumpky Wumpkin just wake up from her nap?" He cooed, pinching her cheeks.

"Come on, Dad, please stop doing this! It's embarrassing!" Starlight complained only for her words to fall on deaf ears as her father inspected her diaper. "I already checked," She told him. "I'm dry! I swear!"

"Daddy has to make sure, you can never be too careful with a foal," The stallion simply cooed again, then he led Starlight out of the bedroom. "Now, I'll start dinner shortly, and I think you're going to like what I have to offer. In the meantime, perhaps my precious Chipmunk Cheeks would like to make some art? Maybe paint a pretty picture for me with her hooves?"

Immediately, Starlight protested quite loudly! "No!" She realized that her tone of voice sounded a bit too forceful, and quickly toned it down as she corrected. "I mean... no thank you. I'll just draw with some crayons."

Firelight was more than happy to oblige the request, doing so with a smile on his face as he floated over the box of different colored crayons and some paper. Before he left, he looked at his daughter and playfully warned her. "No coloring on the walls now, Honey Bun, or you'll have to sit in the time out corner."

"I never drew on the walls as a foal." Starlight complained.

"Oh really? I think Stellar Flare would say otherwise." Firelight said with a wink, before he trotted out of the living room and to the kitchen to start work on dinner.

"It was Sunburst, not me! I only got in trouble because he blamed me for it." Starlight mentally whined. Then the unicorn turned big foal occupied herself with the crayons and the paper, and payed no more attention to such thoughts.

Inspiration came easily to the mare with a coat of light grayish-purple, and she prided herself on being a pretty good artist despite her sloppy horn writing. It helped that concentrating on her art took her mind off of... other things. When her dad eventually returned to announce dinner time, she actually felt tempted to show off her masterpiece to him. And the adult part of her mind just barely resisted the urge to do so.

It didn't matter though, the big foal's father was more than willing to reward his little artist anyway. "Who wants a visit from the tickle monster?" He playfully cooed, promptly rolling his diapered daughter onto her back and throwing off her onesie.

"Dad, please, no!" Starlight whined, but her protests came too late to stop the inevitable. Her father took a deep breath, then lowered his snout to her exposed stomach and blew a raspberry as he tickled her sides. Poor Starlight could only kick about helplessly, the tickles making it impossible for her to concentrate long enough to do any sort of magic.

Fortunately, Firelight ceased the tickle torture after only a moment. But for Starlight it had felt like an eternity as she slowly waddled into the dining room, and carefully plopped her padded rear back into the same chair she'd occupied for breakfast, and dinner the previous evening.

To her relief, Starlight saw that the food offered to her was a peanut butter and zap apple jam sandwich. But she was anything but thrilled to see them cut up into small slices. "Oh come on, this is ridiculous!" She complained aloud.

"Now now, it's no use being a picky eater, Pumpky Wumpkin," Firelight declared as he sat down across from his daughter. "You're still too young to eat by yourself, and have the whole sandwich. Now come on, you know the drill, open wide."

Reluctantly, Starlight decided it was best to just cooperate with her father's wishes. After all that she'd already been through today, she was in no mood for arguing. But she felt embarrassed all over again when, immediately after finishing the last slice she let out a loud burp. And this time, she hadn't even been patted by her father. It was something she'd done all by herself. "Life, why do you hate me so?!" She thought in frustration, too ashamed to look at her father's face to judge his reaction.

She was glad to be put to bed a short time later with another bottle of milk. This time, however, she made sure to remember to use the bathroom. She was not about to chance having an accident two nights in a row. As she nodded off, the unicorn could only hope that this was as far as the embarrassment would go. Because if it got any worse she wasn't sure she'd survive to the end of the week.