Author's Note

This chapter explains why this fic is a semi-prequel to The Killer Legacy's "Rarity's New Fragrance" (which I highly recommend you check out if you like padded pony works).

This chapter is also partially inspired by an RP on Discord.

Rarity's Discovery

After the exciting (and unexpected) weekend with her parents, Pinkie's life settled back into a routine with the Cakes. On the scheduled days she would be her little self and they would care for her like the big foal she was.

However, as the days turned into weeks, there was a detail that became hard not to notice. Pinkie's friends soon became aware of it. And so it was that, roughly a month after the Cakes had discovered Pinkie's foalish secret, Mr. Cake was most surprised one morning to see Twilight come trotting into Sugarcube Corner. "Twilight, how unexpected. Don't see you around here by yourself too often," Mr. Cake commented. "You here to order something or pick it up?"

Twilight shook her head. "No thank you, Mr. Cake, I already had breakfast," She cleared her throat. "I was just wondering, have you seen Pinkie Pie lately? I don't mean to pry, but she hasn't been out and about much for several weeks now. And the few times she does come out, she seems to be... well... different."

"Pinkie's always been different from other ponies." Mr. Cake replied to Twilight.

Twilight wasn't convinced. "I know that, but she seems to be more different than usual. She seems to be a lot less 'Pinkie' so to speak. Like she's afraid to say something, or afraid we'll find out."

The lanky stallion simply told Twilight. "I'm sure it's nothing. It'll pass with time. Besides, everypony has secrets."

"And I suppose Pinkie has one of those secrets?" Twilight concluded, to which Mr. Cake nodded in confirmation. "Well, guess it's not right to pry. Just let her know that her friends are starting to worry about her, and that if there's something she wants to tell us, she can. If it makes her feel better, we can promise not to judge her for it."

"I'll be sure to let her know you said that. But it's up to her to decide when and if she tells you." Mr. Cake firmly responded.

Twilight nodded again. "Very well. I guess I'll just come back some other time then and see if she's available. Her birthday's coming up in a few weeks, and we were thinking of throwing her another party. But you know we're not really experts on that, and there's not many party ponies we can call on on short notice." And then the alicorn turned and trotted away.

Mr. Cake breathed a small sigh of relief when Twilight had left. "It's a good thing Twilight's not as nosy as some of Pinkie's other friends. I don't think Pinkie would want any of them to discover her in her padded state," He thought to himself. "Speaking of which, I should probably go check on the babies, all three of them. The lunch rush doesn't start for another half hour anyway."

Making his way upstairs, Mr. Cake found Pinkie in the twins' nursery, happily playing with them as she rolled a ball back and forth between them. Mrs. Cake was watching over the foals with a smile on her face.

Pinkie spun around as she saw Mr. Cake enter. "Hi Daddy!" She happily exclaimed, crawling over and giving him a big hug. "What are you doing up here? It's not your turn to watch over me, yet. That's not until after lunch, silly."

"I know that, Pinkie," Mr. Cake replied to his newest (and biggest) foal. "But there's something I think you need to know."

"About what?" Pinkie innocently inquired.

Mr. Cake cleared his throat. "Twilight came by just a few minutes ago, she mentioned how you seemed to be acting 'different'. Like more different than usual. Apparently your friends are starting to take notice, and I think it's safe to say they're worried about you."

The pink party pony froze for a moment. "W-well, I don't mean to act like that. I just... I'm worried they're gonna find out about this," She pointed a hoof to the thick padding between her legs. "About how I would like to dress up like and act like a foal. I mean, once Rarity saw me with a pacifier in my mouth, and Twilight saw me with a diaper on my head, but that was different. I wasn't intentionally acting like a big foal. I don't know how they'd react to something like this!"

"It's your call whether you want to tell them or not, Pinkie," Mrs. Cake replied in a motherly tone of voice. "Everypony has secrets. But at the same time, friends can have ways of finding out. And after all you and the girls have been through, do you really think that something like this would be enough for them to cast you out? They've never done it before, have they?"

"No. I even remember the time I thought they were, and afterwards I felt really bad for accusing them like that. Kind of like a foal," Pinkie admitted with a blush. "But I still don't know if I wanna tell them just yet, or maybe not ever. Maybe some of them wouldn't mind, but I'm sure the rest would. It'd probably make even just hanging out a lot harder. I feel safer when I know it's ponies I can trust, ponies who I know won't blab or treat me differently. I got kind of lucky with my parents, I don't wanna chance it with my friends."

Mrs. Cake simply put a hoof around Pinkie and stroked her mane. "It's your choice, Pinkie. Nopony says you have to do it. Personally, I think you'll feel much better once you get it off your chest. But I'm not you, I can't make that decision for you."

"Well spoken, Cup Cake," Mr. Cake added. "And Pinkie, regardless of what may happen with other ponies, you know that Cup Cake and I will never stop loving you."

The pink party pony smiled as she gave both Mr. and Mrs. Cake big hugs. "Thank you, both of you! I mean, I already knew that but it never hurts to get confirmation."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake simply smiled, and then Mr. Cake left the nursery to go back downstairs. It was then that Mrs. Cake decided to share some news with her big foal. "Pinkie, I'm afraid there's a bit of an issue with your sleeper," She held up the aforementioned garment and pointed to a spot in the back. "There's a pretty sizeable hole forming in there, and it's only getting worse."

"Well, you can fix it, right?" Pinkie hopefully asked. "Without it, I'm sleeping in just a diaper. And if anypony spots me in that state... well, I don't even wanna think about it."

"I could try, but it would take quite a long time," Mrs. Cake declared. "Besides, it's your only sleeper and it's becoming a chore to wash it every single day or every other day. I think we need to get you some new sleep wear."

"So are we going to go back to that foal store?" The pink pony pondered.

The plump baker shook her head. "We need a fashion expert for this fashion emergency. And I think you know who I'm talking about."

The party mare nearly jumped in surprise as her eyes widened with horror! "Mrs. Cake, we can't go to Rarity! She's the last pony I'd want to have find out about all of this! She'll surely think it's uncouth!"

"Pinkie, remember the talk we just had about your friends?" Mrs. Cake replied with a serious look in her eyes. "Besides, we're not going to walk right up to her boutique and ask her to design sleep wear for a big foal."

"We're not?" Pinkie shot a puzzled look in Mrs. Cake's direction.

The plump baker shook her head and replied. "Just leave everything to me."

Rarity was quite surprised to hear the jingling of the bell that signaled the arrival of new customers at Carousel Boutique. Still, the young fashionista smiled as she went to greet them. It didn't take long for her to come face to face with the familiar forms of Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake. "Oh, Pinkie Pie, Mrs. Cake. What a lovely surprise to see you both."

"Nice to see you too, Rarity," Mrs. Cake cheerfully greeted as Pinkie remained oddly silent for some reason. "I hope I'm not interrupting something important, but there's a bit of a fashion emergency I could use your help with."

Rarity chuckled. "Darling, I always have time for a friend, especially if it's a fashion emergency," She quickly floated over her ruby red sewing glasses and measuring tape. "What is the emergency, exactly? And how I can help?"

Mrs. Cake cleared her throat. "Do you have Pinkie's measurements by any chance?"

"Well, not on hoof, it's been a long time since I've designed anything for her," Rarity explained as she adjusted her glasses. "But I can take them here and now. May I ask what you need them for?"

Mrs. Cake hoofed over a piece of paper involving a drawing. "This is only a rough sketch, drew it up this morning when I realized the fashion emergency was dire. Do you suppose you could make something like this for Pinkie Pie?"

The young fashionista examined the drawing carefully. It looked like a sized up sleeper, though for some reason it looked like it had extra room in the back and a button hatch. An odd request to be sure, but she had seen stranger recommendations from clients in her time. "Hm," She put a hoof to her chin as she eyed the sketch more carefully. "Oddly specific, but I think I can make something like that which should be to your specifications," She then gestured a hoof to a nearby stand. "Pinkie, if you'll kindly hop up there, I'll take your measurements."

Pinkie silently nodded and obeyed, bouncing over after receiving a reassuring wink from Mrs. Cake. Rarity thought nothing of it. "I'm sure that if Pinkie wants to tell me something, she will. Her being quiet actually works to my advantage in this case." She thought to herself and floated over her measuring tape with a flick of her horn.

For several moments there was silence as Rarity moved the tape all over Pinkie, examining the numbers carefully and writing them down on a sketchpad for future reference. All the while, Pinkie held surprisingly still and barely even blinked. Almost as if she were afraid to say or do anything.

At last, Rarity finished and set her measuring tape aside. "The outfit shall be ready shortly," She declared with a smile. "Are there any other specifications you would like to add? Color? Pattern? Fabric?"

Pinkie finally spoke up. "Can you make it as smooth as a..." She suddenly stopped herself mid sentence, hastily adding. "Er... a cloud? Yes, a cloud."

"Smooth as a cloud?" The fashionista pondered. "That's oddly specific. I'm not an expert on the softness of clouds, but I'll see what I can do," Then she suggested. "In the meantime, perhaps you and Mrs. Cake would like to wait in the kitchen? Maybe help yourselves to a little snack?"

The plump baker nodded her head as Pinkie hopped down from the stand. "I think we'll take you up on that offer, Rarity. Just let us know when the outfit is complete."

"I most certainly will, darlings. Be back soon!" Rarity proudly declared, picking up her sketchpad and the sketch and disappearing up to her workshop without another word.

Despite having a snack, Pinkie was still incredibly anxious as she could hear Rarity working away on her sewing machine, creating that new sleeper. She hadn't figured it out, or maybe she had and she was just saying nothing?

The wait did nothing to ease Pinkie's nerves. If not for the fact that Mrs. Cake was with her, the party pony was sure she would've gotten up and made a run for the door the first chance she got.

At last, Rarity came back down, still wearing her ruby red sewing glasses as she cleared her throat. "The outfit you requested is completed," Then she turned to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, may I have a word with you in private, please? There's something I think we need to discuss."

Pinkie gulped, but a quick nod from Mrs. Cake assured her that everything was okay. "A-alright, I guess." She reluctantly rose from her spot at the kitchen table and followed Rarity upstairs to the fashionista's workshop.

Once inside, Rarity closed the door. "Darling, forgive me for prying, but I can't help but notice that the outfit Mrs. Cake wanted me to design for you is.... shall we say... foalish, for lack of a better term? By that I mean it's like it was meant for a really big foal, like one your size if you know what I mean."

The pink party pony gulped again and started to break out in a nervous sweat, something she almost never did. "Oh... you know?"

The fashionista replied by shaking her head. "I'm afraid I don't. At least, I think I don't. That's why I needed to talk to you like this. I wasn't sure if you had told anypony else, and it's rude to spread rumors," She proceeded to whisper. "Are you, by any chance... acting like a foal?"

"Y...yes." Pinkie reluctantly confessed. This was it, the moment she'd long dreaded. Her friend was surely about to ridicule such an interest and express disgust at it, demanding that Pinkie never again show her face in the boutique. The pink party pony shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Rarity found Pinkie's reaction to be rather odd, and so she shot her friend the most puzzled and perplexed look. "Darling, why are you acting like that? Is there something wrong? Perhaps you'd like me to fetch you a bottle?"

Pinkie opened her eyes, no way could she have heard that properly. "Wait, you're not disgusted by this? You don't think it's... what's that word you use... 'uncouth'?"

The young fashionista threw back her head and laughed. "Pinkie, you can be such a silly filly sometimes. Why would I condemn you for such a thing that you do in private? What ponies do behind closed doors is certainly none of my business, not even for my friends."

"But you don't understand, it's more than just wearing clothes and acting like a foal. I wear diapers, and drink from baby bottles, and all that stuff!" Pinkie blurted out. "I know you must think it's strange and unusual and totally not natural! You should be freaked out beyond words!"

The unicorn simply retorted. "You're right that it's strange and unusual, but I'm not surprised you of all ponies would have this particular fantasy. Why, I've heard rumors about these 'Forever Foals' in all sorts of magazines. And you're not the first client who's ever asked for something like this," She gave a knowing wink. "I can't name names you understand, client confidentiality and all that. But I have had requests for foalish attire for big ponies before, always anonymous because these clients fear being discovered. It's actually a surprise to find such an adult foal that is comfortable enough to go out in public with a trusted caretaker or 'Mommy' as I believe some of the big little ones like to call it."

"W-well... you can't tell anypony else about this! I mean, besides Maud and the Cakes, but they already know!" Pinkie protested to Rarity. "Please, the fewer ponies that have to know about this, the better!"

Rarity nodded, floating over the finished sleeper. "I shall respect your wishes, darling. But all the same I feel like you should tell our friends about this. At least part of it anyway, maybe leave out some of the more 'personal' details. It might be better if they heard it from you, rather than found out for themselves. H-how far do you... go when you become an adult foal? Obviously diapers are a part of it, but do you ever actually..." She trailed off, unable to bring herself to say what came next.

Pinkie gave off a knowing blush. "A couple of times, usually if I'm not paying attention. I still try not to though, it feels more rewarding to keep them clean. That being said, the smell of a fresh diaper is incredibly relaxing."

"I understand," Rarity commented as she gave Pinkie the sleeper. "Anyway, the order is completed to your specifications. If you'd like to try it on here to be sure it fits, that's fine. Maybe even have Mrs. Cake bring your...." She coughed into a hoof. "Diapers?"

"Nah, I think I'll stick to the privacy of my room above Sugarcube Corner. Far more secure," Pinkie declared as she took up the sleeper. "But thanks for not freaking out about this, Rarity. You were one of the ponies I most feared telling."

The unicorn simply smiled and waved a hoof. "What are friends for? Now I think you'd better return to Mrs. Cake before she starts to grow worried."

Pinkie did so, but as she departing Rarity's workshop an idea came into her mind. "Maybe there's a way I can break the news about my interest to the rest of our friends," The party pony thought to herself. "A way that's totally me!"