Chapters Something to Rave About 2: Second Night
"Vinyl," Octavia said, ignoring her housemate's latest effort to explain herself. "I'm not mad that you joined a fetish club. What I'm mad about is -"
"It's not a fetish club!" Vinyl blurted out.
"You came home wearing an oversized foal's diaper."
"It's not... okay, it is a fetish club, but that's not - it's not for me, Tavi, I was DJing for them, that's all! They made me wear that stupid diaper, I didn't want to, I swear..."
"They made you wear a soiled diaper? That's revolting."
"No, I soiled it mys-" Vinyl winced, almost choking as she caught herself mid-word.
Octavia stared at her.
"I had a bad night, okay?"
"You seemed pretty cheerful when you came in."
"That's because the night was over!" Vinyl protested. Also I was blind steaming drunk , she added, but only to herself. "Look, I'm not going back there again, okay? I'll tell them to find somepony else."
"Vinyl, I told you. I'm not fussed about you going there, particularly if they're going to pay you that amount every night. You don't have to quit on my account. I was more concerned about the..." Octavia waved a hoof over her rear in a vague circular gesture. "The mess you brought home."
Vinyl grimaced as she flushed bright pink. "Can we not keep talking about that? I already said I'm sorry. I told you, it was an accident."
"Which you brought home."
Vinyl groaned. "I drank way too much, and I wasn't feeling good... it just kinda... happened."
Octavia gave a little smirk. "Well, you know what they say about babies."
"Don't you even ...!" Vinyl spluttered, blushing furiously.
After Vinyl managed to negotiate her way through some more mortified explanations, apologies, and excuses, Octavia eventually left, apparently satisfied with the situation, and Vinyl breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to talk about it any more. In fact she didn't even have to think about it any more. She was done, so done with this.
... until tonight, at least.
Ugh, what kind of idiot am I, doing this two nights in a row? Vinyl groaned, slumping down onto the couch. She closed her eyes in an effort to block out the outside world, but her thoughts just took her straight back to the club again. Walking into that staff room. Trotting up to Pacific, looking her in the eye and telling her "Sorry, I can't do tonight after all."
She could totally do that. She wasn't an employee. At worst they could chuck her off the premises and keep hold of the music she'd left there. It'd be a jerk move if they did, but she couldn't blame them for wanting to. Wouldn't be the worst way she'd lost a gig, for sure.
Vinyl opened her eyes again, a guilty grimace on her face. But Pacific wouldn't do that. She's super nice. A bitter feeling came over her as she imagined the distraught look on her boss's face. Berry's disappointment. And all the let-down clubbers. She'd promised them she be back.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't let them down like that. They'd been so good to her.
With a deep weary sigh, Vinyl accepted that yes, she would be playing one more night.
In a diaper.
Internally, she screamed.
Vinyl squinted up and down the city street, checking to see if any ponies were looking her way, before smoothly backing through the club entrance and shutting the door. Inside, she rested her head against the door for a moment, sighing. Come on, you idiot, she scolded herself, looking down the steep staircase that led to her doom. Be a mare. You've done this already.
Of course, it had been so much easier back when she hadn't known what she was stepping into. She swallowed her paranoia and trotted down the steps, finding herself greeted by a scent that she'd smelled yesterday but forgotten until now. A faint smell of something clean and dry that she couldn't place, but which evoked a curious feeling of nostalgia in her, like a distant memory that she couldn't place.
As she clomped down the steps, her heart began to race, moreso when she reached the friendly neon signboard at the bottom welcoming her back to The Fountain of Youth. Squashing her last instinct to back out, she veered off for the staff room and pushed open the door.
Inside, nothing had changed. Same tacky couch, same desk, same changing table in the corner (she glared at it). And, behind the desk, a familiar twin-tailed pink mane, which bobbed up happily at seeing her enter.
"Vinyl!" Pacific Glow squeaked excitedly. "Ah, you made it! It's so good to see you again!"
"Yeah, yeah," Vinyl muttered, feeling a little guilty that she wasn't able to return Pacific's enthusiasm. "I'm here, and stuff."
"For the night?" Pacific asked, her eyes shimmering with hope.
"I said I'd be, didn't I?" Vinyl grumbled. "I'm not about to leave you hanging."
"You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear that, Vinyl," Pacific said, beaming from ear to ear. "You were fantastic last night, you really were. I'm so proud of you for doing this."
Vinyl felt herself flushing from the praise, which made it annoyingly difficult to maintain her aloof mood in front of Pacific. "Yeah... thanks."
"Can I sort out anything for you? Anything you need for tonight?"
"I left my records here, so as long as they're still here, I'm good to go," Vinyl replied. "Don't suppose you've reconsidered your, uh, you know. Dress code policy," she said, making a circular gesture to her rear.
Although she hadn't expected a different answer, she still felt a faint tinge of disappointment as Pacific Glow smiled and shook her head. "'Fraid not!" she replied.
"Worth a shot," Vinyl muttered.
Pacific waddled over and gave her a grateful hug. "You're a good girl, Vinyl. Let me know when you're ready and I'll get you changed."
"I told you, I don't need you to dress me up," Vinyl said, trying to wriggle free of the earth pony's affectionate grip. "Just... just give me the stuff, okay? I'll put it on myself."
"Weird how you'll take a free drink but not a free change," a familiar voice said from the backstage door, which had just creaked open. Vinyl turned to find Berry standing there, the purple earth pony just about managing to squeeze her enormous padded rear through the doorway. Several layers of frills concertinaed against the doorframe as she entered. "Hey again. Welcome back."
"Hey, Berry," Vinyl greeted. Berry was dressed differently today. When Vinyl had last seen her, she'd been wearing just a diaper - albeit one so large that it probably came with its own zip code. This time was no different, but she'd added to her costume an old-fashioned frilly pink nightgown that actually managed to cover her voluminous padding. Mostly. At least from the front. Once you got round the back it was still like gazing into the maw of the diaper abyss. "You look, uh... cute," Vinyl decided.
"Lies," Berry deadpanned. Her mane was also done up into two poofy bunches tied off with silk ribbons, which bobbed up and down comically as she waddled up to them and turned to Pacific. "I finished the inventory. Should be okay for beer tonight but we're gonna have to restock ASAP. Almost out of rum too."
"No problem, I'll order in some more," said Pacific, taking a note on a clipboard.
"Did you get home okay the other night?" Berry asked, turning to Vinyl. "You were pretty buzzed when you left us. Felt a bit bad about letting you go."
"Yeah, no problems," Vinyl lied. "Got home and fell straight into bed."
"Well, if you ever need it, you can always crash here at the club. Me and Paci do sometimes. Plenty of soft things to nap on."
"I'll be fine, I'm gonna... be more careful this time," Vinyl said guiltily. In honesty, she still had no idea how she'd even managed to get home at all last night, and had no desire to risk it again.
"I'll hold you to that," Berry said solemnly.
Pacific trotted back up to Vinyl, balancing a soft rectangular item on her head that filled Vinyl with dread the moment she saw it. Even though she knew it was coming, it still gnawed at her. Something that shameful had no right to be so neat and innocent-looking. Vinyl plucked it from Pacific with her magic and held it a hoof's length away, while her co-workers went to the desk to discuss what sounded like boring inventory stuff.
Vinyl sighed and began unfolding her package of shame, which kept evolving into something more monstrous as she unpacked it. Fringes of bright purple frills emerged, just to make absolutely sure that anypony who had missed the sound and sight of a massive diaper would still be alerted to its presence. At least her onesie would be able to hide -
Oh. That was at home, hanging in the bathroom after two intense soaks in a bath of hot water.
For a moment she considered going out onto the floor without it, but the very idea of being mistaken for one of the foal revellers gave her the chills. Garish monstrosity though it had been, the onesie had at least given her some degree of protection out there, some level of deniability that she didn't want to give up.
"Are you okay?" Pacific asked, noticing her hesitation.
"Yeah, I... s'fine," Vinyl said. She knew what she wanted, but didn't want to ask for it. "Do you have, uh, anything to go over it? Like what I wore yesterday?"
"Oh! Of course. Yep, feel free to take anything you want from the closet," Pacific nodded.
Anything I want, hah. Vinyl thought acidly, as she opened up the closet and flicked the light on.
Every item in there seemed to be competing with the others for which could be the most outrageously debasing. She took down a few of the onesies and gave them a look. One looked like the ascended version of her previous purple onesie, adding lurid pink gradients and a quartet of lacy flutterpony wings rising from the withers. Nope!
After much deliberation, she settled on a baby blue number with wide rainbow strips down the sides. It was hardly what she wanted, but at least it didn't have frills.
Carrying her prize back out, she pushed her dignity to the back of her mind and levitated her diaper over to herself, pressing it to her butt and beginning to entrap herself in the thing.
The padding was so thick and soft that it was difficult to tell if she was even putting it on properly. The endless poof numbed and absorbed every sensation from her rear. Pressing the front against her nethers with her hooves, she folded the sides over and firmly taped them into place, feeling it cinch and tighten around her waist as she wiggled and shifted into it. Her tongue poked out in a distateful grimace as she felt the padding colonize her buttcrack, reminding her once again just how much she hated these things.
Finally she flattened down the tapes with a firm hoof and and stood up again, and when she let go, it miraculously all stayed firmly in place, a frilly bulb of crinkly padding wobbling ponderously on her behind.
Why am I doing this... oh yeah, for the money. Think of the money. She sighed, she began slipping the onesie on over herself, pushing her head through the neck and sliding her forelegs into the sleeves. This one seemed to fit a bit better, at least... the flap at the back was wider and more able to accommodate the enormous bulk that she was trying to fit inside it.
That didn't make doing the thing up any easier, though. She managed to get herself buttoned up the front, but when it came to securing the rear flaps, she just couldn't maneuver herself to do it. Her padding was just too dense, a solid wall of poof that prevented her from bending to reach her own butt. She grunted and tried laying on her back, hunching forward and using her magic to pull the flap forward so that she could snap it closed around the diaper. "Come on... stupid..."
"You almost had it, dearie," said Pacific, coming to her rescue. "This is why it's easier if you let me change you." Vinyl reddened as Pacific completed the dressing for her, securing the snaps tightly closed around her rear. "There we... go... all done!" Pacific stepped back, the earth pony's mouth melting into a soppy smile that Vinyl refused to admit was adorable. "Oh, you look so precious!"
"S-Stop it..." Vinyl muttered, trying not to go any redder than she already was. She wiggled and tried to stand, but the diaper spread her legs so far apart that she couldn't use them to get up off her back. She tried to roll herself over, and was again rescued by her boss, who hooked a foreleg around hers and lifted her to her hooves.
Looking down at herself now that she was dressed, there wasn't really way to spin her current attire as anything other than a baby's romper suit. In fact, she felt like it might actually be worse than her previous outfit. At least she could have passed that one off as a fancy dance leotard or something. The only thing that could make this onesie look more foalish was if there were drool stains on the front.
"Hey, that looks pretty good on you," Berry said approvingly. "Very stylish."
"I'm just gonna assume you don't know what that word means," Vinyl snorted.
She started to walk out, but with the romper now tightly buttoned around her bulging behind, it pulled at her in ways she wasn't used to, taking her off-balance. After a few steps, she stumbled awkwardly to the side, saved only from a fall by Berry's vigilance.
"Steady, girl, I've got you," Berry said, standing there as a support post while Vinyl grumbled and steadied herself. The diaper on her behind made the unicorn's center of gravity a little taller than it used to be, which was causing her to teeter every time she lifted a hoof. "C'mon, I'll get you there."
"Ugh, I forgot..."
Vinyl groaned. The short journey to the stage had been mostly straightforward once she adjusted her walking rhythm to a careful waddle, but now she found herself at the one obstacle that she'd forgotten about. Four walls of solid pink bars, the oversized crib that surrounded her turntables. The bars only came up to her neck, easy for any adult pony to vault over... unless that pony happened to be attired in a thick, restricting garment as she was.
"Want a boost?" Berry asked.
Vinyl did not want a boost. And yet, she was keenly aware that she had never yet managed to enter her DJing area in any manner that could be considered dignified. Memories of planting squishily onto her plot came back too readily for her liking.
"Hey, I think you left a tap on at the bar," Vinyl lied, waiting for Berry to turn away before quickly hauling herself onto the top bar of the crib and scrambling to push herself over. Her legs flailed to boost her, but her padding bunched up as she tried to shift her rear over the bar, getting her caught awkwardly straddling the crib edge halfway. With a heave, she finally managed to rock herself over the edge and collapsed face-down on the soft carpeting of the crib floor, diapered butt sticking in the air. She decided to lay there for a bit.
"I give you a 9.5," Berry said from the other side of the bars.
"Go suck a teat," Vinyl grunted, glaring through the electric-blue mane that had flopped over her face.
"You okay?"
"Swell, just cushy," Vinyl responded, her voluminous butt ascending behind her as she rose to her hooves and slicked her mane back, trying to pretend like nothing had happened.
"I'm gonna start the bar. Give me a wave if you need anything," Berry told her. "And, you know... this is just a suggestion..."
"What?" Vinyl asked, a frown on her lips.
"Maybe have some fun?" Berry offered.
"Is that, like, baby slang or something?" Vinyl glared.
"No, it's literal. I know you've got your hangups, I get it. This isn't your thing, that's fine. I'm just saying... the glum look doesn't suit you. You're a really cool pony, Vinyl. Don't hold yourself back."
Vinyl pursed her lips, feeling a little guilty at Berry's words. "I..."
"Unless it's alcohol, in which case please do hold yourself back," Berry added.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake..." Vinyl growled.
She huffed and poked her tongue out as Berry waddled back to the bar, then turned to start getting set up for the gig. She found her records neatly stacked in a box next to the turntable suite, which was also, she was happy to find, looking cleaner than she'd left it. Every surface was spotless, every knob shone, and there wasn't a beer stain in sight. She breathed a happy sigh at seeing it again. Her last night here had been pretty rough, but if there was one thing that hadn't let her down once, it was this baby.
Trying to ignore the way her onesie tightened over her padding as she bent over, she unsheathed a vinyl record from the top of her pile, a varied compilation that she used for sound checks. She hadn't actually given much thought to what she'd actually play tonight, but from what she remembered the clubgoers seemed to eat up anything that she put on, so she figured she'd just wing it again.
"Testing, testing," Vinyl's voice rang across the empty club floor. She adjusted some of the levels on her microphone. "Berry Barmaid, please come to aisle three. Clean up on aisle three."
"It's Punch, you dork," Berry yelled from the bar.
Vinyl smirked, ignoring her as she continued her sound test, sliding and nudging the levels until everything was just right. It seemed to be in good order. She threw on some drumstep to get the place beating, while she began to select a shortlist of records to warm up the night.
"All good?" Pacific asked, trotting in from the front entrance. Vinyl gave her an affirmative hoof pump.
The lights faded and Vinyl found herself enclosed once again in the club's dim aura. She lifted her sunglasses and rested them over her horn, taking a deep breath of fresh basement air. "Here goes Round Two..."
Author's Note
It begins! Ever since I read Wandering Pigeon's original Something to Rave About , I'd longed to see more from The Fountain of Youth. And so, this is my unofficial continuation, starting right where the original left off. (And by unofficial, I mean that I didn't ask WP first or tell them about it. Actually they haven't been on Fimfiction for months, I hope they're okay. If anyone's in contact with WP, let me know!) (EDIT: Someone did ^_^)
Something to Rave About 2: Second Night
With some peppy electro-pop running to get ponies into the groove, Vinyl stood back and watched the clubgoers spill onto the floor, all of them buzzing with the excitement that they'd been holding in while they stood in line outside.
Vinyl didn't recognize anypony, but then she'd also had her attention on a bunch of other things last night. All she remembered was the various get-ups she'd seen ponies in - not just the varied array of colorful diapers, but also bibs, bows, bonnets, and a bunch of other baby things that Vinyl recognized but couldn't name. She wondered where they even got all this stuff. Pacific had mentioned a store at one point, but Vinyl had never seen a store like that in Manehattan.
Then again, she'd never seen a club like this either, so that didn't count for much. Presumably the stores were underground too, only open to those in the know.
A few ponies gave her whoops and cheers as they entered - evidently they had been here last night, if they recognized her. She returned their appreciation with a weak smile and hoof pump. She wasn't about to disappoint a fan, no matter how she personally felt.
She just watched as the dancefloor began to fill up with waddling babies, a few of them decked out in ridiculous outfits. Like, way more ridiculous than hers, for sure. The occasional sound of two diapers pomfing against each other got more frequent as more partyers arrived, and Vinyl chose to mix into something with a little more thump to get the house moving and grooving.
With the party in full swing, Vinyl could see Pacific out there too now, her ponytailed silhouette distinctive even in the mass of flickering color and churning hooves. Her pacifier bounced against her chest as she rocked to the beat and mingled with her patrons. Vinyl had to give it to her, the girl could move, even with the considerable weight of padding she was hauling on her flanks. Vinyl was sure she'd be a truly excellent dancer if she didn't insist on handicapping herself.
"This mix is gold!" Pacific shouted, after her route took her close to the DJ crib. "All good here?"
"Yeah, we're all good," Vinyl replied.
Pacific gave her a gesture of acknowledgement, and disappeared back into the crowd in a whirl of colored neon.
Well, most of us are all good. Vinyl thought sourly. While she appreciated Berry's earnest suggestion to have fun, that didn't make being in a diaper any more comfortable. She still couldn't figure out how anypony tolerated it, let alone enjoyed it.
After a few long dance tracks, the crowd was nicely warmed up and ready for a change of pace. Vinyl easily obliged them by mixing into some new electro-swing she'd acquired recently. The genre hadn't really caught on in the mainstream clubs yet, but Vinyl felt like this might be the right place to test out something new and different.
To her pleasant surprise, the club seemed thrilled with this new sound. Hooves began stumbling over each other as the partygoers collectively tried to adapt to the new rhythm and failed miserably. It was like watching a slow motion train wreck that she could personally orchestrate. Sheesh, better not give them any complextro, I think the ceiling might cave in...
A clingy spike of mane tickled at her forehead, and she brushed it away in irritation. This new onesie was a more comfortable fit than her old one, to be sure, but it was also keeping her way warmer than she wanted to be in a basement club full of partying ponies. She really needed something to cool off with.
But I can't drink... ugh... she groaned. No, let's not be stupid. Gotta keep hydrated at least. She walked to the front of her crib and leant against the top bar, waving to get Berry's attention.
Maybe it was just a special talent Berry had, but she seemed to be supernaturally capable of spotting somepony who needed her, even across a decently crowded dancefloor in a dark, flickering room. She finished serving up somepony sitting in a high chair in front of her bar, then began a slow waddle across the floor to the DJ area.
"Beer?"
"Yeah," Vinyl nodded.
"Busier night than usual. Kinda reckon I know why, too," Berry noted, with a light smile. "You were quite the hit last night, you know. I've heard 'DJ Pamps' coming up in conversation a few times already."
"DJ what?" Vinyl asked, cupping a hoof to her ear.
"DJ Pamps."
"They're not calling me that," Vinyl said flatly.
"I think it sounds pretty radical." Berry said.
Vinyl wasn't about to take the opinion of somepony who was currently dressed as a talking pink rug. "I'm not letting them call me that. Vinyl's fine." She wasn't about to let them use her regular Pon-3 handle either. The fewer ponies knew she was here, the better.
She waited patiently while Berry returned to the bar, and the earth pony shortly came back with Vinyl's beer, handing the baby bottle off to her.
"Everything going okay so far?"
Vinyl took the golden bottle in one hoof, cradling it against her neck while leaning over to check her table. "Yeah, s'all good. No accidents so far."
Berry nodded. "Good good."
It was only until Berry had left that Vinyl realized what she'd said. "Wait - I meant incidents ! Gah!" She groaned and suckled on her bottle sulkily. I'm not drunk enough for this.
DJ Pamps. Ugh. What idiot came up with that? She'd definitely told the club her real name, or at least Pacific had. It was bad enough to be saddled with a diaper, but there was no way she was going to be saddled with a dumb moniker too.
Then again, she considered... maybe it was best if they didn't remember her real name after all? At least then nopony would connect her to this club, and she'd eventually be forgotten as just some random DJ who played here a couple of times. She could live with that.
She sucked down the remainder of her beer, relaxing a moment to savor the delicious taste, and letting out a little burp as she enjoyed the pleasant buzz. Holding up the empty plastic bottle to her face, she looked through it across the writhing floor to Berry's bar, ready to order another. But then, just in time, she remembered. Ah, dang. I didn't mean to drink it that quickly, did I? S'posed to be pacing myself. She floated the bottle back down and settled it on the crib wall. Tonight was going to be different. No more beer for her. Nope.
"Nope nope nope nope nope," Vinyl told her bladder, as she leaned heavily against the inner side of the crib. "We're not doing this. We're not. We're not."
Her bladder made a rather persuasive counterargument consisting of several stabs of pain, punctuated with some abdominal discomfort for emphasis.
It had been going so well, too. She'd paced herself admirably. After that first drink, she'd not accepted another one in the whole first hour. Being encased in her diaper, Vinyl was under no illusion what drinking too much would mean for her this time. That first night, she hadn't been prepared. This time, she wasn't going to make the same mistake.
Of course, she had to drink something . Vinyl wasn't that irresponsible. Staying hydrated was important in any situation, but especially so in an underground club full of bouncing dancers, blazing lights, and high-tech sound equipment. And so, she'd called Berry over and ordered one of those beers, to maintain her health and as a reward for her good behavior.
Plus it was good for her to loosen up a bit, anyway. A bit of alcohol made for some great social lubrication, which was important in a job like hers. And hadn't Berry told her to have fun? Yeah, it was definitely Berry's fault. Making her drinks too drinkable, that was her problem. And serving them in baby bottles, seriously. That just made them easier to drink. Vinyl hiccupped and groaned as the movement jostled her bladder.
After two beers, Berry had reminded her of her promise to take it easy. Silly Berry. You'd think a barmaid would know that she - a seasoned DJ and drinker - could easily handle this much booze.
No, what Vinyl couldn't handle was this stupid onesie. It was still too warm and that just wasn't what she needed right now. There was already plenty of warm in the club.
After three beers, she sensibly and maturely reminded herself to slow down. Sure, having fun was fun, but if she drank too much, things would certainly become... not so fun.
"You're drinking too much," Berry warned her, the next time she was summoned to the DJ crib. "You told me you'd take it easy."
"I'm drinking because it's hot," Vinyl protested. "Gotta stay hydrated, you know? You should know that."
Berry snorted. "And you should know perfectly well that beer is not what you should be drinking, in that case. If you're dehydrated, I have plenty of mineral water and apple juice."
"Gin and tonic?" Vinyl tried hopefully.
"Get out of here."
"Ugh, fine... I'll take an apple juice," she huffed.
At least Berry let her have a beer after she finished that. That was nice of her.
No wait. That was terrible of her. That's what caused this stupid situation in the first place.
Vinyl groaned at another urgent ring from her bladder, and squeezed her legs together as much as she could, which wasn't a lot with the amount of padding parting them. She felt the diaper bunch up and squeeze against her groin, which almost helped a little.
I can do this. Just gotta last until the end. Make my excuses and leave, apologize that I can't stay longer... I'll let Pacific pay me next time, I know she's not gonna screw me over.
Of course, if I knew when the end was, that would be useful... Vinyl never tended to clockwatch her gigs, so she didn't have any way of telling the time right now. Usually the night ended when it ended. Usually she was having fun .
She suckled the teat of her empty bottle, savoring the lingering taste of rubber-tinged beer and blinking through the fuzz of her alcohol-fueled state. The gaps between songs gave her brief moments of distraction from the incessant keening of her bladder, but otherwise, she resigned herself to watching the revellers hurl themselves like idiots under the flickering club lights. The hypnotic undulation of padded pony rears helped her to zone out a little, but her sharp need kept making itself known every time she almost managed to forget it.
Then suddenly, her ear flicked, and she felt a jolt of awareness. In an instant, she straightened up.
There was a frigid sensation in her body that had nothing to do with the beer, or with her bladder. Something was... off. Something was wrong.
She looked out into the crowd, seeing the same chaotic scene of ponies jumping up and down and enjoying the music, but her deeper, intuitive sense had picked up something that her eyes hadn't yet. Something had happened. She didn't know how she knew, she just knew. She always knew. She could read club atmosphere like pegasi could feel the weather.
Her eyes squinted, catching a slow-motion ripple in the crowd as awareness started to percolate through the partygoers who were closer to the situation. Her head tracked the movement. There was an awkward undulation in the throng of colored legs, and as they briefly parted, Vinyl saw it - a pony slumped on the ground, unmoving.
Before she knew it, Vinyl was on the other side of the crib bars, shuffling herself toward the disturbance. Her horn caught the taste of sickly, fizzling magic.
"Outta the way," she ordered, swinging a hoof to command some space. The crowd awkwardly shifted back at her approach, letting her into the crowd.
A cream-colored unicorn, dressed only in a blue diaper, was laying on her side in the center of a small circle of worried ponies. She wasn't moving at all, or even blinking, her eyes staring glassily into the distance. The unpleasant magic tingle in Vinyl's horn got more intense as she closed in, and combined with the faint lingering sparkles of magic dancing about the girl's body, that told Vinyl everything she needed to know.
"Move," Vinyl said, pushing aside a mare who was worriedly trying to attend to the fallen girl. She had no time to explain - she crouched down, slid her hooves under the unicorn's shoulders and hauled her up into a sitting position, hugging their chests together. With a hoof behind the unconscious mare's neck, she maneuvered her until they were face to face.
"What happened?" Berry asked, shuffling in from beside her.
"Magical exhaustion," Vinyl explained, leaning her head forward and gently locking horns with the girl. Fortunately, she knew what to do about this. She concentrated her magic on the other unicorn's horn, letting her aura wrap around it, and started gently modulating the intensity. The sounds of the club became indistinct as she focused all of her concentration on the magical rhythm, feeling for feedback, until with a feeling of relief, she finally felt a weak magical pull from the other horn.
There we go. "Just giving her a bit of a charge," Vinyl said, slowly ramping up the energy to push some of her magic into the other unicorn's horn and boost her depleted reserve. It wouldn't be a lot, but it would at least keep her out of danger.
A warm trickling began between Vinyl's legs. Squatted as she was, she felt it dribble straight down into the padding beneath her butt, and her eyes widened. She could feel all of it, the extremely wet liquid cascading down her, running down her crack, and with her concentration focused on her magical efforts, she couldn't do a thing to stop it. Why now... ugh, fine! She ignored the horrid dribbling and redoubled her focus on her current task, trying valiantly to avoid being distracted by the enormous puddle that was now blooming warmly inside her padding.
Her breathing deepened at the feeling of relief that she suddely felt in her hindquarters, and at the same time, the other unicorn stirred, her eyes fluttering in confusion as she found herself muzzle-to-muzzle with the club's DJ.
"Wh-What...?" she mumbled. "What's happening..."
"Steady, girl," Vinyl said. "We've got you."
Pacific Glow entered the throng, crouching beside the girl. "Vinyl? What happened? Is she okay?"
Vinyl separated their auras and pulled away. "She exhausted her magic," she explained. "I've given her a boost, she should be okay now."
The unicorn suddenly burst into tears, hugging Vinyl awkwardly. "I'm so sorry!" she croaked. "I didn't - I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay, girl, these things happen," Vinyl said, fumbling herself to her hooves as Pacific helped the unicorn up. "Just go easy now."
"Here, sweetie," said Pacific, taking her by the forehoof. "Come with me and sit down for a bit, okay?"
The crowd parted as Pacific put a hoof around the sobbing mare's withers, giving some words of reassurance as she led her to the backstage.
Amazingly, Vinyl was still in time for the next song if she got back now. She trotted back over to the turntables, feeling a soggy squish-squish-squish every step of the way. She was surprised the entire club couldn't hear her sloshing shamefully back to her post.
"Vinyl," Berry said from behind her. "Well done. That was... that was pretty damn amazing."
"It happens," Vinyl said modestly. "She's not the first unicorn to overstep her limits."
Vinyl perched her hooves on the outside of the crib, sighing. She was utterly soaked, she could feel it, feel the bottom of her diaper clinging warmly to her butt. It was disgusting. Even though the padding was keeping it well-contained, she was sure she - and everypony else - could smell what she'd done.
And she couldn't even change. For that, she'd need to go into the staff room, and that was where Pacific had taken the mare, presumably to have a heart-to-heart with her. She couldn't go in there now. It would be super awkward. She screwed up her eyes a bit, blinking away a few tears that had collected there.
"Are you okay?" Berry asked in concern. "You gave her some of your magic, didn't you? We don't want you passing out too."
"I'm fine," Vinyl insisted. "I do know my limits."
To her relief, Berry didn't make the obvious sarcastic quip about her alcohol consumption, and just gave her a respectful thump on her shoulder. "You know where I am if you need me, just wave."
Vinyl waited for her to leave, then hauled herself over the crib bars. With the pressure gone from her bladder, it was an easier jump, but the weight of liquid soaked into her diaper added a different dimension of difficulty. As she vaulted the top, she felt a heavy flap of her padding catch in just the wrong way and get sandwiched between the bars and her buttocks, giving her a horrid moment of sloshy wetness that she really could have done without. She at least managed to stick the landing this time, arriving with just enough time to bring in the next track.
I just can't win, can I? She wanted to feel good about helping out a clubgoer in need, but the only thing she could feel was her soaked bottom and the tug of her waterlogged padding. She certainly felt relieved now that it was all out, but the relief was tainted by the constant reminder of her shameful deed.
Tears began to well up again, but she angrily shook her head. Dammit Vinyl, stop being a baby. You've got a job to do. Feel sorry for yourself later.
She straightened up and pursed her lips in a professional deadpan, her eyes scanning the dancefloor to assess the damage. Most of the diaper mob had gone back to dancing, but the shock of the recent event had left a real dent in the atmosphere. She had to fix that.
The current song was about to end, but this time, she didn't bother mixing into the next track, and simply nudged the volume down, dimming the music to background noise. This called for different measures.
"Hey, fillies," she announced into her microphone, nudging a few more sliders to give her voice some edge. "Nothing to worry about. Just a dancefloor mishap, we're taking care of her."
She heard some loud whoops and stomps of appreciation aimed at her, and couldn't help but smile despite her low mood. "Awww, you guys. Just doing my job. How's everypony doing tonight? Nopony else better pass out, you hear me?"
She listened for the cheer from the crowd, while she dug out a record from the box and began setting it up on the other turntable. "Oh, I'm sorry," she replied curtly. "Didn't realize it was naptime already. You guys want me to shut the music off?"
An outraged cry bubbled up from the partygoers, as Vinyl hid her smirk behind her mane. "Pffff. They told me this club was for babies. I thought you guys knew how to scream?"
She waited for the roar from the crowd, then cut the master sound feed entirely, plunging the club into silent darkness and throwing everypony into momentary confusion. Her hoof dropped the needle on the other turntable and she slowly edged up the volume.
Hush, now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head...
The crowd began to cheer and laugh as they recognized the familiar lullaby, backed by an trancy electronic track that got their hooves moving once again. Vinyl stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief.
Something to Rave About 2: Second Night
After an eternity - or maybe a few songs later, Vinyl couldn't tell anymore - she finally caught sight of Pacific Glow returning to the club floor, and frantically waved her over.
"Vinyl, thank you so much," Pacific said. "I don't know how to thank you -"
Vinyl checked her turntable and then staggered to the crib bars. "Is she still in there?"
"No, I sent her home."
Vinyl clambered out of the crib, wincing as she felt another unwelcome squidge. "I need to... need another, you know." Without further explanation, she toddled to the staff room, making a beeline for the changing table where the diapers were kept. She stood up, bracing one hoof against the table and hopping awkwardly as she fumbled her flaps open and frantically tried to untape herself with the other.
"Vinyl, let me," Pacific insisted, trotting in to attend to her DJ.
"I'm fine, I don't need you to -"
"You're soaked. Look," she said, sticking a hoof underneath her saggy padding and lifting it to reveal a splotchy blue strip that Vinyl hadn't seen when she'd put the diaper on. Her cheeks went beet red as she realized that it was some kind of wetness indicator. "Up you get, dear." she said, patting the table.
"I don't have enough time, I have to get back to the music," Vinyl protested.
"Vinyl, please," Pacific insisted. "Trust me, I can do it faster than you can, and cleaner too. We don't want you getting a nasty rash."
Vinyl tried to think of some counter-argument, but in her heart she knew Pacific was right. She sighed. It wasn't as if she'd lose any more dignity at this point. "Fine," she mumbled, climbing up onto the table and laying down - taking care to arch her back in an attempt to avoid sitting directly into where she was wet. Which, as far as she could tell, was everywhere.
A cool waft of air reached her underparts as Pacific untaped the diaper and gently peeled away the soaked garment, wrapping it into a tight ball with a couple of deft hoof moves. Vinyl's nose wrinkled as the stench of shame reached her, giving a despairing grimace as she saw it drop into the steel bin next to the table.
"I can't thank you enough for what you did out there," Pacific told her, as she readied some wipes. "I don't know what we'd have done without you. How did you know what to do?"
"It's not the first time it's happened," Vinyl shrugged. "Ponies always forget their limits when they're having fun. Unicorns often don't realize that they have a limit, until it's too - gyaaah, too cold, too cold!" she suddenly squawked, as Pacific pressed a wet wipe into her buttcheeks and began cleaning up her coat.
"Sorry," Pacific apologized, smiling. "I have heard of magical exhaustion, but I thought it was something that only happens in extreme life-or-death situations. It's certainly never happened here before. I might have to lay down a few rules for unicorns to prevent it happening again."
"Could be a good idea. Guessing she was trying to pull off some magic-enhanced dance moves or something."
"She was using an illusion to disguise herself, apparently," Pacific explained. "Apparently she was worried about ponies finding out about her little side. Lift your tail up a bit, sweetie?"
Vinyl arched her back higher and flicked her tail out of the way, looking surprised. "A disguise spell, really? That's hardcore."
"Is it?"
"I mean, as magic goes, illusion magic is way up there. Best I can do is fire off a few lasers. To actually change appearance, that's real high-level mage stuff. No wonder she exhausted herself." Vinyl frowned. "She must be, like, some top magic student or something."
"It wouldn't surprise me. She seemed a very smart filly." Pacific said, smiling. "I tried to tell her that there's no need to hide herself here. Okay, all done." she finished, patting Vinyl's rump.
Vinyl suddenly realized that she'd momentarily forgotten what she was actually laying on the table for. Oh Luna, don't say I'm starting to get used to this... she wiggled and looked at the round bulge that contained her hindquarters.
"Hey!" Vinyl exclaimed, suddenly noticing the design of the diaper that she'd been put in. "I didn't want that one!"
"Sorry, Vinyl. We're all out of the frilly ones," Pacific apologized. "I still haven't had a chance to restock. But I thought you'd like this one. It's music-themed, see?"
Vinyl did see. Unfortunately, a diaper covered in rainbow xylophone prints and heart-shaped music notes was not exactly the musical look that she wanted. Ugh, fine... I bet the others are even worse. "It's lovely," she said sourly.
Pacific smiled, and Vinyl was sure that she was being humored. With a rumpling sound, Pacific pulled her onesie flaps tight again and fastened them closed, looking over her hoofiwork.
Vinyl slid off the changing table with a weighty thud as she landed flat on her hooves. After regaining her balance, she pointed a hoof at Pacific. "Don't do it," she said, in a warning tone.
"Don't do what, dearie?"
"You're gonna tell me how cute I look. I don't wanna hear it."
Pacific giggled. "Very well. My lips are zipped." she promised, making the appropriate gesture. "Do you need anything else? I'm going to start the wind-down shortly."
"Nope, I'm all good."
"Oh, by the way, how many drinks have you -" Pacific began, but Vinyl was suddenly no longer there. Pacific caught a glimpse of a padded butt disappearing hurriedly around the doorframe.
No matter how hard she tried, there was just no way to vault the crib bars in a diaper and look cool doing it. It was like watching a stuffed toy doing parkour. She groaned and rolled to her hooves following her awkward landing, and prepared to switch into the next song. The crowd were firmly in the trance mood now, and she was happy to continue obliging them.
Actually, now that she was fresh and clean and her bladder wasn't trying to explode, she felt a lot better. Crowd was bouncing happily, she had a good buzz going, and no danger of another accident. She felt a lot more in tune with the energy now that all that was out the way, her head bopping along to the droning beat. All she needed now was another beer.
"No," Berry said, after being called over.
"You've run out?" Vinyl said, dismayed. That was ridiculous. What kind of bar runs out of beer?
"No, you've had too much," Berry clarified. "I can't give you any more. We're winding down soon anyway."
"I hardly had any!" Vinyl protested.
Berry rolled her eyes. "You've had six beers in the last two hours. Yes, I do keep count."
"Thats... that's like..." Vinyl swayed as she performed some complex mental arithmetic. "S'like three beers an hour. That's like nothing for me! Truss me, Beery. I've been good, haven't I been good?"
"Yes, you've been a very good girl," Berry sighed. "I'll let you have one more, okay? But don't tell the boss."
Vinyl grinned happily. "You're the best!"
While Berry waddled off to get her prize, Vinyl queued up a nice selection of electronic beats to see out the night on a high. It wasn't long before the bartender returned and passed a bottle of sweet golden beer over the crib bars, accompanied by a pacifier dangling from a ribbon. "Put it on when you're done, 'kay?"
Vinyl looked between the beer bottle and the pacifier, and after some deliberation, decided that she was still getting the better of this exchange. "Sure," she agreed, accepting her prizes.
Ten minutes later, she saw Pacific making her way back out onto the floor, wearing a familiar green dress and socks that made her look like an old-timey matron, only way cuter. Vinyl did actually remember this bit - everypony would line up on one side and get their diaper changed by Pacific, one at a time, before heading out into the night. In their padding, for all to see. Vinyl shuddered, recalling that she must have done the same thing last night - although she had an excuse of being absolutely off her head, at least.
Vinyl suckled on the teat of her beer bottle, yawning. Tonight had... almost gone well. Sure, she'd had an accident, but this time it really wasn't her fault. She'd been trying to save somepony. Surely she could be cut a little slack for that.
The crowd slowly began to break apart into smaller chunks as ponies started to filter out in small drunken groups, chattering loudly and happily. Many of them yelled their respect at her as they left for the night. That was one nice thing about this place, at least. DJing could often be a thankless task, but they really seemed to appreciate what she did. She raised her bottle to them in reciprocation.
Finally, the last group of ponies shuffled out of the club, leaving music playing to an empty floor. Vinyl slowly dimmed the master volume to one quarter, and sighed, sucking down the last dregs of her beer.. Made it, at last... The achievement was somewhat hollow considering that she hadn't managed to keep herself dry - again . But at least it was all over.
"That was a wild one," Berry said, as Pacific waddled by the bar. "Started to get a bit hairy back here. Some of the taps went dry. Feels like we had double the number in from last night."
"Well, I think we know who to blame," Pacific grinned. "Vinyl!"
Vinyl blinked, startled from her reverie. "Huh? What?"
"Well, I was going to offer you a toast, but I see you already hit your limit," Pacific grinned, spotting the pacifier around the DJ's neck. "What a wild night!"
"Hey, no, I'm just wearing this to, uh, to look cool," Vinyl mumbled, stumbling and leaning heavily against the crib wall. "I'll have some toast. I mean beer."
"No," Berry said flatly. "You've had way too much. I'll get you some water."
Vinyl scaled the side of her crib and tumbled in an awkward sideways roll; when the room eventually stopped spinning, she found herself on the other side of the bars, and was able to negotiate the lurching dancefloor to Berry's bar. A purple hoof placed a baby bottle of water in front of her, and she accepted, suckling the teat greedily.
The water cooled her parched throat quite nicely, and she was happy just to sit there with her drink while the two earth ponies talked about... something or other, offering a vague mhmm whenever the conversation drifted her way. They seemed pretty stoked with how the night had gone. Even Vinyl felt pretty good about it, now that it was over and she had another fat paycheck to collect. She yawned and rested her head on the bar top. Yeah, she'd had worse nights than this.
A cacophony of awesome beats thrummed through Vinyl's half-asleep head, accompanied by images of the previous night. Ponies undulating in slow motion, pacifiers whipping above their heads. Maws stained in dayglo colors from some weird lollipops that seemed to be popular with the crowd. Multicolored centipedes of padded ponies weaving around the changing table in a dizzying spiral.
Vinyl grunted, thoughts coming to her sluggishly as she turned and twisted on something shapeless and soft. Just think of the money, she drowsily consoled herself, suckling idly on the rubber teat in her mouth. Should be enough to pay off my remaining debt to Tavi, and still have a ton left over... wait, did I give it to her already? She tried to remember the hazy details of what had happened at the end of the night. Come to think of it, she didn't actually remember Pacific paying her anything at all.
She shifted, feeling a weird tightness around her buttocks as she tried to remember what she did after she got home.
Wait... oh no... not again... She twisted, a low horror rising in her as her hoof felt a band pressed around her waist, and a soft, plastic bulge beneath... Please tell me I didn't walk home in a diaper again...
A dryness tickled at her throat, and she coughed, spitting out the teat in her mouth. The taste of stale booze lingered in her mouth as she blinked her eyes open, only to find herself staring at dull ceiling panels and ventilation ducts.
Huh? she blinked, rubbing some sleep from her eyes as she shifted and found herself arched awkwardly on a big, squashy beanbag. A lean to the side sent her lurching off balance, and she yelped as she tumbled off of her unexpected bed, stumbling awkwardly onto the carpeted club floor. Her diaper cushioned her from the worst of the impact, leaving her a little giddy as she tried to reorient herself.
Why am I still here?
She groggily got to her hooves, looking around the completely empty club basement. The floor was littered with spent glowsticks, dropped pacifiers, and a menagerie of stuffed toys. Berry's playpen bar was vacant too. She was the only one here.
She tried to remember what happened at the end of the night... the place emptied out, she remembered that, and she'd stayed a little longer chatting to Berry and Pacific... what they'd talked about, she had only the vaguest idea.
Must have... been really tired or something. Oh Celestia, I hope I didn't get locked in... Vinyl groaned and waddled across the dancefloor, her pacifier swinging against her chest. Ugh, this stupid diaper, I wish I could... wait, why am I still wearing it?
She was still in her onesie, too. Hoping that nopony was around to see a giant baby waddling through the club, she made for the staff room.
"Ah, good morning!" Pacific said cheerily, as Vinyl entered through the backstage door. Vinyl's heart swelled with relief at seeing her. It looked like her boss hadn't changed since last night either, as she was still wearing her nanny dress.
"Oh, thank Celestia. Thought I was trapped in here," Vinyl said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Nah, I waited for you," Pacific said chirpily. "You over-indulged a bit last night, so we thought it best if you stayed here. Want a tea or a coffee?"
Vinyl's ears perked up. "I would murder for a coffee right now," she croaked, feeling her lips moisten at the prospect of some delicious dark brew.
Pacific nodded and trotted to the small kitchen area, placing a pot on to boil, before heading back over to Vinyl. As sleepyheaded as she was, it took the yawning DJ a few moments to notice that Pacific was lingering around her, and a few more moments still to realize that a hoof was giving her diaper a very careful feel. Once she did, however, she yeeped and staggered aside. "Hey!"
"I'm just checking you."
"I'm not wet!" Vinyl protested. Pacific gave her a scrutinizing stare. "...or the other thing!"
"Seems to be the case," Pacific agreed. "Do you need to go?"
"I... what... no!"
"You sure? You haven't been since last night, and you did drink a lot."
Vinyl wilted. Pacific's stupid nanny get-up only made her seem even more like a bossy mother when she talked like this. "Okay, I do need a pee... can I say pee? But I'm not going in this! C'mon Pacific, the gig's over, I'm not on the tables any more! Please don't make me!" she backed away in fear, making it a few steps before her balance failed and she toppled onto her padded bottom with an airy squish.
Pacific snorted and suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh, Vinyl, I'm not going to make you! Although, you know, it is unhealthy to hold it in."
"Yeah, well..." Vinyl frowned, unable to think of a retort.
Pacific smiled fondly at her. "You know, you really remind me of Berry when she started out."
Vinyl grunted and tried to wiggle herself back onto her hooves. "No way. I'm way cooler than Berry. I have better dress sense, for starters." She frowned, realizing that boast would have come off a lot better if she wasn't still in her rainbow onesie.
Pacific laughed and extended a hoof to pull Vinyl up. "Did she tell you how much she hated it when she started?"
"Yeah, she told me she, uh..." Vinyl searched for a way to express it cleanly. "Did the other thing. In her diaper. Which I've never done."
Pacific smiled at the memory. "Ooh, it was on her first night, too. She was so angry. You don't even want to know what she said. Honestly, I was terrified of losing her. She's the best I've ever seen at what she does. Just like you."
"You're just saying that," Vinyl grumbled, although she couldn't suppress a smirk. "Just trying to butter me up."
"I mean it!" Pacific insisted. "I know a great DJ when I see one. Check my cutie mark if you don't believe me."
"I don't think I've ever seen your butt."
"Fair point," Pacific grinned. "It's three glowsticks. Clubbing's always been in my blood."
"Surprised it's not like a baby bottle or something," Vinyl remarked.
Pacific smiled. "Oh, I'd kinda like that, wouldn't you? Sugar?"
"Huh?"
"In your coffee?"
Vinyl blinked. "Oh, yeah. I mean no. No sugar. Gimme the black stuff."
For a moment Vinyl expected to be given a baby bottle of raw brown coffee, but Pacific passed her a simple teacup instead. She sipped some back and gulped down some of the bitter goodness, letting it wash away some of the haze and aftertaste of last night.
"The baby scene's something I love, so I jumped at the chance to combine it with my passion," said Pacific. "I'm not even the first one to have the idea. There's a few other clubs like ours - Forever Filly in Fillydelphia and the Royal Canterlot Kindergarten are the two big ones. Ours is a bit more modest, but we pull a pretty decent crowd most nights. And there's a few smaller clubs dotted about here and there, if you know where to look."
"Damn, you guys are everywhere, aren't you?" Vinyl remarked, in between sips of coffee.
"We get around," Pacific smiled. "Surprised you've never come across our scene before. I guarantee you, in any crowd of clubbers you'll find a few big foals in there somewhere."
"Hey, man, I don't ask what people are into," Vinyl said, waving a dismissive hoof, although the idea made her think back to the many encounters she'd had on and off the stage. Clubbers were pretty wild ponies in general. She'd definitely seen ponies wearing pacifiers before, although she'd always thought it was some silly fashion thing.
"Here's your fee," Pacific said, sliding a stack of bits into a small drawstring bag. "Plus a bonus, too."
Vinyl took the bag in her magic, but nearly dropped it when she felt the unexpected weight. "Whoa... a bonus? You really are trying to butter me up!"
"Vinyl, you saved someone's life last night," Pacific said, looking more serious than Vinyl had ever seen her before. "Honestly, I feel bad I can't give you more. You may well have saved the club by what you did. I keep running over what could have happened if you hadn't been there, and it gives me nightmares."
Vinyl blinked. "Oh... that unicorn? Hey, don't worry about that, it was no problem." She clenched her legs a little, reminding herself that it had been at least somewhat of a problem for her, but Pacific didn't need to know the details. "Clubbers are always doing dumb stuff, you should know that better than anypony. I always keep an eye out."
"Well as far as I'm concerned, you went way above and beyond. Take it as a token of my gratitude," Pacific said, smiling solemnly.
"Wow, thanks," Vinyl said. "Hey, I really appreciate it."
She tipped back the rest of her coffee and returned the cup to the sink. Her bladder was really killing her now. "I, uh... thanks for that, and for letting me crash... I really gotta head off now though."
Pacific nodded. "Yep. I'm assuming you're gonna want to change too."
"Nah, I thought I'd wander through Manehattan dressed as a toddler." She awaited Pacific's shot back, but to her concern, Pacific seemed rather intrigued about the idea. "No, wait, I didn't mean it, that was a joke!"
Pacific chuckled. "That would be pretty ballsy. Even I'd think twice about that."
"Really? I thought you'd be into it."
"Well, I did do a store run in a diaper once," Pacific admitted. "But I'm not that much of an exhibitionist. I know, weird right? But that's, like, the beauty of the night scene, you know? Nopony cares if you're wearing furry legwarmers and glow rings down here. I can just do my thing and nopony cares."
"Hey, you're preaching to the choir, sis," Vinyl said, fumbling with the snaps on her onesie collar.
"Want a hoof getting unchanged?"
"No thanks, I'm fine..." Vinyl grunted.
Pacific nodded warmly and took Vinyl's hoof. "On the table, sweetie."
"I said I'm fine ," Vinyl repeated, her bulky behind making her stumble as Pacific's strong grip led her to the changing table. "I don't need you to help me undress!"
"I need to get that onesie in the wash as soon as possible," Pacific told her. "You got some coffee down you, that's going to stain."
Vinyl looked down at her chest, catching a glimpse of some brown splotches, but the awkward angle only made her stumble even more, and Pacific caught her to steady her. "Oh, man! I was being careful!" She pouted, flushing a little as Pacific laid her back on the table.
"It's okay, sweetie, it happens," Pacific said gently. "Next time I think we'll get a bib on you, hmm?"
"Don't you dare ..." Vinyl groaned. The more that she complained, the more Pacific treated her like a fussy baby. She just couldn't win!
Pacific quickly released her from the onesie, and began untaping the mass of padding wrapped around her hindquarters. Vinyl felt a strange deflation, a release of tension as air reached her underparts once more. It felt really weird after having been stuck in that thing all night. She tapped her hindhooves together, stretching her legs out and flexing her ankles.
"Ahhh, that feels good," Vinyl said, enjoying the full use of her legs again.
"Will you be able to play for us next night?" Pacific asked hopefully. "Next one's on Wednesday."
With the amount that she'd been paid, Vinyl knew she could probably go a couple of months without any more gigs. She frowned as she considered it. "I don't know yet."
"When will you know?" Pacific asked. "I can try to get somepony else in if you can't make it, but... honestly, I'd really love to have you as our regular DJ."
Vinyl sighed. "I... I'll let you know, 'kay? Is Tuesday okay?"
"It'll have to be," Pacific said. "It's up to you, Vinyl. You'll always have a warm welcome here."
Yeah, and a warm diaper too. Vinyl groused to herself. "Thanks, Pacific. I'll see you around."
Something to Rave About 2: Second Night
"Vinyl?" Octavia said from the hallway. "You have a visitor. At least, I assume it's for you. Do you know something about a 'DJ Pamps'?"
Vinyl peeked up from where she was laid out on the couch, her eyes widening as her face began to heat up. "What?"
Octavia gave an uncertain shrug, as Vinyl got to her hooves and slipped past her to see who could possibly be calling for her. Had Pacific come to get an answer from her? Seemed odd she would come to the house...
Approaching the open front door, Vinyl tilted her head curiously as she saw a young mare standing nervously outside, wearing a black sweater over her cream coat. For a moment she couldn't place her, but then the thick square-rimmed glasses jogged Vinyl's memory - this was the girl she'd saved that night at the club.
"Hey," Vinyl said, dropping her shades over her puzzled eyes as she emerged into daylight. "How you, uh, how you doing?"
"Hi," said the mare, dipping her head shyly. "I, um, I hope you don't mind me knocking on your door like this. I just wanted to say thank you. For, uh, for what you did - I don't know if you remember, at the... club, you, um, you saved me..."
"Yeah, I remember..." Vinyl said, scratching her horn. "How'd you find where I live?"
"Pacific Glow told me," she replied. "I'm sorry, I know you're probably busy. I just wanted to thank you."
"Hey, no problem, kiddo," Vinyl said, flicking a hoof nonchalantly. "S'what I do. Gotta look after my clubbers, you know? Appreciate it though, thanks for stopping by. Name's Vinyl, by the way."
"Moondancer."
"Whoa, that's a cool name," Vinyl praised. "You must be big into the night scene, huh?"
"Actually... that was my first time in a nightclub," Moondancer said, dipping her head in shame. "And you saw how well that went."
Vinyl tsked, adjusting her shades. "Girl, you clubbed so hard you nearly put yourself in a coma. As debuts go, that's as hardcore as it gets."
"That's not really what happened..." Moondancer mumbled.
Vinyl held up a hoof dismissively. "Let me tell you something. Everypony's a complete moron on the dancefloor. That's what it's for. When you're on the floor, nopony cares who you are or what you do. They're just glad to be there, you know?"
Moondancer looked puzzled. "...no."
"What I'm saying is, don't worry about what happened. Nopony cares. If anything, I'm impressed."
"Impressed?"
"Well, yeah, I've done some pretty dumb stuff myself," - including walking home in a diaper full of poop, let's not mention that one - "but I've never passed out on the dancefloor. Heard you were packing some pretty badass magic, too."
Moondancer blushed. "I, um, yeah. Well, not really. It was just a morphic illusion with a low-level glamor enchantment. I was... trying to disguise myself."
"Oh, right, so only something that takes a doctorate in thaumology to pull off. Just the basics."
"Well, I didn't successfully 'pull it off', so it's hardly impressive," Moondancer sniffed.
Vinyl shrugged. "Hey, maybe that's a good thing? At least you can come as yourself now."
"I'm not going back there," Moondancer said immediately.
"Why not?" Vinyl asked. "Weren't you having a good time? Until you passed out, at least."
"I was, I just..." Moondancer faltered, adjusting her glasses agitatedly. "I embarrassed myself. I don't want to go through that again."
Vinyl gave her a serious look. "I'll bet you my entire record collection that everypony has either A, forgotten about it, or B, gives you a high hoof the next time they see you. Guarantee it."
Moondancer stared at her. "Are they all insane?"
"Hey, I said the same thing," Vinyl smirked. "I mean yeah, they clearly are, but they also know how not to let dumb stuff get in the way of having a good time."
Moondancer looked down at her hooves a little sadly. Crap. Probably said the wrong thing.
"Okay, look, I didn't mean you're dumb. You're not," Vinyl said sincerely. "Look, honestly, I got real respect for you, pushing your boundaries the way you did. I can see you're not exactly a party pony."
"No, not really," Moondancer sniffed.
"But you went out there, you put yourself in that basement, and you did it anyway. That's... that's hardcore. A lot of folks wouldn't even dare to try."
Moondancer regarded the DJ with a critical eye, as if trying to discern whether or not she was telling the truth. "But I didn't really. I pretended to be someone else. I cheated."
Vinyl shrugged. "Hey, if it gets you on the floor, I'm not gonna judge. Well, I guess that's a bit literal in your case." Seeing Moondancer's unamused expression, she quickly continued. "Why were you in disguise anyway? Afraid somepony might recognize you?"
"Something like that," Moondancer admitted. "I... I wasn't sure I could... you know... be a foal, in front of all those ponies."
Vinyl winced, feeling her own memories of her first night bubbling to the surface. She ignored them. "But you... you wanted to, didn't you?"
Moondancer nodded, even as she was slowly turning red. "It would be nice."
We have very different ideas of what "nice" means, Vinyl thought to herself. "Then look, come to the next one. Give it a whirl. Sure, maybe it's scary. A lot of fun things are. But what have you got to lose? And if you're not having a good time, come talk to me or Pacific and we'll sort you out."
Moondancer gritted her teeth as she considered this. "You're sure people won't be mad at me?"
"What are they gonna do, sit on you with their diaper?" Vinyl said sarcastically. It was only when Moondancer turned even more red that Vinyl realized... Oh my gosh, that's a thing, isn't it. Of course that's a thing. Gosh darn it. "Or... you know... okay forget that - look, they won't be mad. Nopony has anything to be mad about. Trust me. I know clubbers. Been doing this my whole life."
Moondancer took a deep breath, and gave a weak smile. "...Okay. I trust you. I... I'd like to come to the next dance."
"As yourself? No crazy illusions?"
"As myself," Moondancer affirmed. "I... I guess I'll just... try it and see what happens."
"Now that's spoken like a true clubmare," Vinyl grinned. "Next one's on Wednesday. Be there or be square."
Moondancer smiled, flicking her tail in satisfaction. "Thank you so much."
Vinyl nonchalantly waved off the unicorn's gratitude and bade her farewell, returning inside. She felt a pleasant warm feeling at having done another good deed, enough to take the edge off her ever-present unease somewhat.
"That was the mare you saved, wasn't it?" Octavia asked, peering in from the kitchen. "I overheard a bit of your conversation. I have to say, I'm really proud of you."
"Blegh, don't make it mushy," Vinyl said, although only half-heartedly. "She's a nice kid who wants to have fun, how can I say no to that? She just needed a push is all." Vinyl collapsed into a slump on the couch and let out a long, mournful sigh. "Tavi... what am I doing? I can't keep going to this place."
"To the baby club? Why not? The money's good and they really seem to like you," Octavia pointed out. "Sure, it's a bit... alternative , but that's not always a bad thing."
"Please don't call it 'the baby club'..." Vinyl groaned.
"What would you prefer?"
Vinyl pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Okay, I can't think of anything that doesn't sound worse... it's just... so uncool, you know?"
"I don't know, the way you described it to that unicorn sounded pretty cool to me. I'm half-tempted to see it for myself."
Vinyl's eyes widened, and she sat up sharply from her slump. "Whoa, no, no you are not!"
"Why not?" Octavia asked. "I enjoy a good dance as much as the next mare."
"Oh my god, I'm surrounded by dorks," Vinyl exclaimed, facehooving in despair. "Tavi, you don't... you can't go there. It's weird enough for me as it is."
"Well... that's kind of the reason, actually," Octavia said, a little bashfully. "You've been so wound up about this for days. I felt that maybe you'd feel better about it if someone was, you know... there to share the experience with you. So that you wouldn't feel so weird about it."
Vinyl looked at her, eyes widened in shock. "That's... that's actually really cool of you."
"Thanks for sounding so surprised," Octavia deadpanned.
Vinyl considered this for a moment, but then shook her head. "No... I don't know. I mean, don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the offer, it's just..."
"Just what?" Octavia asked, as the DJ tailed off.
"I kinda... don't want you to see me... dressed up?"
"I've already seen it. I thought you looked adorable," Octavia said with a sly smirk.
Vinyl made a strangled cry in her throat as her cheeks and muzzle turned red. She scowled at the giggling cellist. "I already said you were cool, don't make me take that back."
"Sorry," Octavia grinned. "But the club rule is that everypony has to wear a diaper, right? So if I'm going, I'll have to as well."
"C'mon, Tavi. You really don't have to do that just for me," Vinyl said, but she couldn't hide the happy warmth she felt, knowing that Octavia was willing to go that far just to make her feel better. "You know I'd never ask you to do that."
"Actually I don't think this particular situation has ever come up before."
"Argh, you know what I mean," Vinyl said. "'kay look, let me think about it, all right? I gotta... go tell Pacific the good news," she sighed.
"You're doing the next one?"
"Well I kinda got to, now. I sorta promised that kid I'd be there. It'd be a total lame move if I didn't show up now," Vinyl groaned. "I've really gotta stop making promises."
Berry grunted as she slid the load of her back, a hefty plastic-wrapped cube of folded adult diapers. She maneuvered it into the enormous fortress of padding that was now occupying a good quarter of the staff room. "Two or three more runs ought to do it," she remarked to Pacific. "Wanna grab a drink after this?"
Pacific grinned from behind the desk, holding aloft a note that had just arrived. "I think I might. We've got good news! Guess who's coming back on Wednesday?"
"I told you she would," Berry smirked.
"Yeah... although... huh," Pacific read the last line of the note, curling her lips uncertainly.
"What?" Berry asked, peeking at the short letter as Pacific passed it over to her.
Hey Pacific,
I'll be there on Wednesday.
Vinyl
PS. Might be bringing a guest. Any chance I can get hold of a VIP pass?
"VIP pass?" Berry read, a puzzled look on her face. "Who's she bringing, Princess Celestia?"
"She didn't say."
"Do we have a VIP pass?"
"Nope," Pacific confirmed. "Not even sure what we'd do for a VIP."
Berry shrugged. "Store does that super royal deluxe padding. Guess we finally have an excuse to try it."
Author's Note
And done!
Despite the hook at the end, I have no plans for a continuation, so if anyone else wants to take if forward, feel free. I'd still love to see more of this little 'verse!
