The Hypnotic Rattle

Summer was a great time for everypony: Foals happily running about, free from the grasps of school, and families enjoying the sun. Derpy, Ponyville’s number one mailmare, flew along while clutching a small parcel in her hooves and scanning the house numbers as she went. “Let’s see 29...where is 29?” After going down the same street twice, she finally spotted the house she needed and flew over, placing the box down on the doorstep before knocking on the door. After no answer for a solid minute, she flew away failing to notice that the number was actually six, blown by the wind so that it resembled a nine.

Nimbus Bolt exited her bathroom, her sky blue hooves covered with rubber gloves since she had just finished cleaning. Upon hearing the knock at the door she had tried to finish up as quickly as she could in the hope of answering it. However, when no other knocks followed she’d reluctantly figured that she could take her time. “Wonder what that was about?” She said to herself while slipping the gloves into the closet, she made her way down the stairs and crossed the living room to the front door. Upon not seeing anypony around she peered down, spotting the package. “Hmm, I don’t remember ordering anything.” Taking the box inside, she set it down on the coffee table and moved to fetch a pair of scissors.

While looking for a pair, she stopped to stare at the picture of her and her coltfriend at the beach. He had a coat similar in colour to her, only his mane was a dark blue while hers was a ghostly white. A grin spread across her muzzle thinking about him. He was so nice and always there to help her with being social, with her sometimes needing a little push to get out and about. Just knowing that he’d be coming over for lunch made her feel gleeful.

Forgetting to check the box for who it really was meant for, Nimbus cut open the box, slid the top open and peered inside. On the top sat a blue blanket that felt very soft as she pulled it out. Setting it aside, she soon spotted the next item, a white rattle with a blue swirl pattern circling the round top, along with a large handle on the bottom. Picking it up, she tilted her head. “Huh, that’s odd. Is that all? Why would somepony want a rattle?” Her eyes tracked the swirl pattern as she lifted it up to the light. An odd tingle formed in the back of her mind as she stared at it, her hoof instinctively giving the rattle a light shake. Her ears perked at the sound resulting in her giving it another shake, then another.

It wasn’t long until she had built up a steady rhythm. Her eyes lazily following it as time went on, a little coo escaping her lips. She felt so soothed by the sound, like nothing could go wrong as long as she kept on shaking it. “P-pretty.” Nimbus muttered, sitting down with a poof not even noticing a diaper with swirl patterns that had appeared on her rump.

Arctic Storm trotted his way down the street, humming a delightful tune while making his way to his marefriend’s home and carrying a picnic basket on his back. The smell of fresh vegetable wraps could be smelt wafting from it. “I hope she’s hungry.” He sing-sang, walking up to her home in no time. He was easily able to spot the broken number, reaching up to try and fix it only for it to fall down again. He sighed. “She really needs to get that fixed,” Just as he was about to knock, he heard the sounds of babbling from inside followed by the sounds of something rattling around. “I didn’t think Nimbus foalsat.”

Pushing the door open, he blinked in confusion upon seeing Nimbus on her back, shaking a rattle and making cute babbling sounds. “Wow, what’s going on?” He made his way inside and shut the door. For a moment, he’d considered that he’d stumbled onto a secret Nimbus had been hiding. Then again, why do it in her living room?

The sound quickly got Nimbus’s attention as she turned her head to look and cooed as she stared at the nice looking stallion. In her trance-like state, her little mind made the only connection she could think of. “Dada?”

Arctic blinked, processing what was happening as he looked into her grey eyes, seeing a slight swirl if he looked hard enough. “W-What?” He watched the tranced mare waddle over and nuzzle him under his chin, letting out happy coos. “N-Nimbus?” The mare continued to nuzzle, seeming very happy to see him. The room was quiet for a moment as Arctic let the situation sink in. Instinctively, he reached down and gave her mane a gentle brush. While he didn’t know much about magic (since he was an earth pony), he could still sense something was off. The diaper did give him a hint though.

Arctic’s eyes fell upon the rattle left on the living room rug. “Oh, I guess it must be magical. Hmm, didn’t I hear about a shop with those sorts of toys?” His hoof instinctively patted the diaper. “I guess I could take you there and ask about it,” He cooed at his marefriend. “Although I’ll have to cover that diaper of yours if I do.”

Making his way up the stairs to Nimbus’s bedroom, he began to scan around for something to cover up Nimbus’s bottom. “Can’t have somepony see her in that. She’d be so embarrassed.” Searching around, he soon found just what he needed. Hanging on a rack next to the door was a white bathrobe with blue highlights. While one of Nimbus’s dresses might have been less eye-catching, he really didn’t want to struggle to dress her in one, especially having to maneuver around the thick diaper. Hopefully, nopony would ask many questions. Taking it off the rack, he was surprised to see Nimbus standing at the doorway, cooing. “Oh, you got up the stairs all by yourself?” He joked, reaching over to tickle his marefriend’s belly.

Nimbus laughed, nuzzling into Arctic as the stallion slipped the robe over the regressed mare. She wiggled her rear once the robe was tied on snugly, causing crinkles to echo all around. “Hehe, soft.”

“Yeah, guess it would be,” Arctic commented, feeling sheepish even though he was starting to find the way his marefriend was acting very cute. Taking her hoof, he spoke softly. “Okay, Nimbus, we’re going for a walk.” Thankfully, Nimbus didn’t seem to mind as they soon headed out the door and down the street.

Taking the side roads whenever possible, the two only got the occasional stare from ponies, many of whom didn’t give it much mind. With how Nimbus was stopping from time to time to nuzzle into Arctic, it could easily be seen like they were just on a normal walk. “I sure hope the special store knows what’s going on.” Arctic thought to himself.

The store’s front was bright blue with a large sign above the door decorated in a rattle and blocks. “Rattle Retail” as it was called was a rather new sort of foal supplies store with all sorts of rumours floating around about it. If anypony knew what was going on with Nimbus, it would be this place. At least that’s what Arctic thought. In the front window sat a mock playpen with toys scattered around as if a foal had been playing.

Upon entering the building, the faint smell of foal powder hit Arctic’s nose along with seeing that the inside was just as vibrant as the outside. To his immediate left stood the main counter, where a grey coated earth pony stallion with a light red mane standing behind it.

“Why hello there, need any help?” The stallion’s eyes drifted to Nimbus’s robed figure, noticing the round bulge.

Arctic blushed while keeping a hold on Nimbus’s hoof. “O-oh, well yes you could say that.” He commented, staring over at his marefriend who seemed entranced by everything around her.

The stallion gave a seemingly knowing wink as he spoke. “Do you perhaps need diapers? We have a wide variety.” He asked, watching the entranced mare look at the toys with awe.

Arctic’s cheeks stayed a light red as he glanced at his cooing marefriend. “N-no she’s under some sort of trance. And, well the diaper came with it. At least, I think it did.”

“Oh? Do you know what caused her trance?” The stallion inquired.

“Well, maybe, I’m not sure. I just sort of found her like this.” Arctic rubbed his neck, now wishing he had more of an idea. Without noticing, he had let go of Nimbus and in that time the regressed mare had waddled over to one of the shelves. She grabbed one of the cute Ursa Minor teddy bears, holding it up with glee. “Dada!” She hugged the plush with a light giggle.

The stallion behind the counter awed. “She doesn’t say much, does she?” He teased all while the mare kept snuggling the plush

“Oh, you like the bear?” Arctic asked, glad that he had brought his saddle bag with him when he went to Nimbus’ home. After seeing her nod her head, Arctic turned back to the shopkeeper. “I guess I’m buying that for her.”

“That’s great,” The stallion behind the counter smiled. “So, back to why you came over, do you know what the item was that entranced her? Did you happen to bring it?”

Arctic rubbed his neck. “Um, well no. But I’m pretty sure it was a rattle with some odd swirl pattern to it. I remember that much.”

The other stallion rubbed his chin. “Oh, a rattle you say? That would explain the diaper,” He smiled, moving out behind the counter and walking over to the foalish mare. He lifted up the robe, getting a good look at the swirl pattern on the diaper. Nimbus cooed almost constantly as the stallion gave the diaper a pat. “Good thinking with the robe, by the way.”

“Oh, uh thanks. It was a spur of the moment thing, really,” Arctic nervously rubbed his foreleg. “So, do you know how to change her back?”

“I do but...why spoil the fun?” The stallion teased while scratching behind Nimbus’s ear. Nimbus again cooed, leaning into it with a smile.

“Fun?” Arctic blinked. “What do you mean by that? Why not just change her back now?”

“Well, foals can be fun to play with. Plus the rattle must have come with a little manual. You’ll find the answers in there.” The stallion smiled while resuming the ear scratch.

Before Arctic could respond, a soft hissing was heard as the big foal wet herself, sighing constantly as she did so. The patterns on the diaper faded slightly.

The stallion lifted up the robe once more and gave the diaper another pat. “Aww, it seems your big foal needs a diaper change.”

Arctic blushed at what was happening, moving up next to Nimbus. “She does? I don’t have any diapers, though.” And he knew he hadn’t really done diaper changes before either.

“Well it’s good for you that I have just the supplies and area we need in the back.” The stallion said with a smile, gesturing for them to follow as he headed down the aisle. Seeing as he didn’t really have a choice, Arctic grabbed Nimbus’s hoof and led her along.

Passing through a door in the back, they entered a small hallway and soon made a left turn into a side room. Arctic was surprised when he saw the big changing table along with a couch and fridge. It felt sort of like a mini nursery. “What is this place?”

“Oh, we have some special products for adults, including that rattle,” The stallion replied, helping lift the mare up onto the table. “I’ll even let you have a package of diapers for free if you want to pick the pattern. Many of the little ones go crazy for that sort of stuff.”

Arctic stared at the shelf of the adult sized foal diapers and their various patterns. He was glad that he wasn’t being made to pay for them because they looked pretty pricey. After glancing at them, he picked a package off of the shelf. “This one, I suppose,” He showed off a package with diapers that had basic shapes printed on them. The big foal looked over and cooed, giggling as she pointed at it.

“Oh, I think she likes it,” The stallion said, tickling the mare’s hooves and causing more laughter from the regressed mare. He looked towards Arctic, gesturing for him to watch. “Okay, now pay attention. If you’re going to care for a big foal you’ll have to learn how to properly care for her.”

“W-wait, I’m not sure I’ll keep her like this that long!” Arctic squealed but payed attention nonetheless, watching as the diaper was pulled open and his marefreind was wiped clean.

“Oh come now, I could make you a small diaper bag with a few toys for her to play with, and you can keep an eye on her until you want to change her back.” The stallion offered while sliding the new padding beneath the mare and applying some powder. “Never know, it could be fun. She might enjoy it too.”

Arctic thought about it for a few moments as Nimbus was fully changed. “W-well um, I guess a little play time wouldn’t hurt too much, just this once.” As Nimbus was set down and waddled over to him, he stopped to wonder what Nimbus would think of all this (if anything) once she was out of this trance. Would she even remember it all?

While the shopkeeper went about packing items into a duffle bag, Arctic took the bear Nimbus had chosen earlier and danced it around for her. “Hi there, cutie.” He cooed in a silly tone of voice.

Nimbus gasped upon seeing it dance, and bounced on her padded bottom. “Dance dance!” She cheered, smiling widely as the plushie wiggled around.

“You my best friend!” Arctic played, making the toy do a spin. He felt rather bubbly as he kept up the act for a few minutes before the stallion came back with the duffle bag. Arctic looked at the stallion and at the bag. “Will this cost me a lot?”

The stallion shook his head while chuckling. “No, no, consider it on the house,” He patted the bag. “I got changing supplies and the diapers you picked all packed inside, and a few toys for you as well.”

“That’s so nice of you, thank you.” Arctic declared, taking the bag over his shoulder while glad that said supplies were hidden so well. He then reached over and gave Nimbus’s diaper a light squeeze for inspection, before pulling the bathrobe back into place. Nimbus returned the affection by nuzzling into his neck. Giving one last thank you to the nice stallion, Arctic held onto his marefriend's hoof, leading her out and back towards home. Arctic’s ears picked up on the faint crinkle all the way home, soon taking her inside and giving her another nuzzle.

Looking toward the open package on the table, Arctic approached it with a hopeful smile. “Hope he was telling the truth,” Peering inside, he spotted a small leaflet that was a mere two pages of instructions. Giving the pages a scan, Arctic blinked in surprise upon seeing such easy steps. “Oh, that’s easy.” Now knowing he could change her back with little effort, he unzipped the bag and cooed. “Okay, Nimbus, you ready to play?” He sing sang.

Nimbus’ eyes sparkled with wonder, watching as Arctic pulled out a few foam blocks for her. She bounced on her padding as she took the six blocks and began to stack them. Despite the small amount, the regressed mare seemed to enjoy it.

Arctic, for his part, watched as she would make small towers, often falling down after four blocks before just going right back to trying to do it again. Even when she got all six stacked up, she would happy kick it over, squealing with glee when they scattered.

After a while, Arctic sat down across from Nimbus and smiled. “Hey, Nimbus,” He waited till she looked his way before hiding behind his hooves. “Where’s the filly?” He sing sang. Nimbus let out a small gasp, looking around before Arctic opened his hooves. “There she is!”

The regressed mare bounced happily at the reveal, reaching out her hoof and booping his nose. “Hehe, Dada.” Her smile made Arctic’s heart thump as she did the same action, only instead she just giggled while hiding until she moved her hooves. “Boo!”

Nimbus wasn’t sure how much time had passed as she played ,often too caught up in giggling or playing with her toys to care. Her daddy was so silly too, making funny faces and tickling her tummy. After a while, she watched Arctic move over to the rattle she’d first played with and pick it up. Tilting her head, she watched as he twisted the handle in a full circle, the swirls on the top of the rattle shifting from blue to red.

Arctic walked over to her, getting her attention as she looked towards the rattle. The sound echoed in her ears as he shook it in front of her muzzle. The fog over her mind began to lift, her mind recalling all the events that had led to this point.

‘“Are you back, Nimbus?” Arctic hopefully asked his marefriend.

Nimbus rubbed her head, letting out a groan. “Ugh, I feel dizzy.” She mumbled, before looking down and her cheeks flared up like cherries upon taking in what she is wearing.

A moment passed before Arctic reached out and booped her nose. “You do look rather cute in that,” He teased, ruffling her mane as well. After a moment of silence in which Nimbus was too shy to reply, Arctic spoke up again. “So, what do you remember?”

Nimbus shifted, listening to the crinkles of the diaper. “I remember taking the rattle out and it just drew my attention to it. I kept shaking it over and over and soon my mind just went into a daze,” She rubbed her neck, looking into his eyes. “I-I’m glad you were there to watch over me.” Getting to her hooves, she waddled up to Arctic and pulled him into a hug.

Arctic returned the embrace, rubbing her back as they hugged. “So, I take it that means you remember all the foal stuff too?” He felt tempted to pat her diaper, but resisted.

“Y-yes, even the uh...accident at the store,” Nimbus replied, nuzzling into his chest. “Can’t say it wasn’t at least enjoyable to be so carefree, but why did such a toy show up at my door? I’m sure I would remember ordering something so potent.”

“I have an idea of how it might have ended up here,” Arctic moved back to the box, picking it up as he looked at the label. Confirming his suspicions, he nodded. “Ah, so that’s why,” Turning the box, he showed off the list revealing that the package was meant for a house with the number 29. “I did tell you to get that door number fixed.”

“Y-yeah I planned to, just...you know,” Nimbus muttered, pressing into the hug and not wanting to let go just yet. Enjoying the back rubs, she cooed while looking back at the box. “So, are we planning to keep it? I know it isn’t ours but…” Her cheeks reddened some more. “Maybe we could do it again some time?”

Arctic blinked in surprise. “You mean you’d really want to be a foal again?”

Nimbus nodded. “You already have the supplies. Plus ,it does feel rather nice just to have no worries and be cared for.”

Arctic smiled again and reached down, patting the diaper (which was still clean). “Alright, little one. Whatever makes you happy. “ And with that, the couple had found a new hobby to share with one another.