Author's Note

Maud Pie won the tiebreaker, so she gets to be the character of focus here. I decided to base inspiration somewhat around Softer than the Rocks, which I did an unofficial sequel to last year. Of course, since that fics involves Maud's home in Ponyville, which she doesn't get until Season 7, and this is taking place in an AU around Season 6, I have to work around that.

I also drew on inspiration both from Pinkie Pie's chapter in the original story I'm continuing here, and on some headcanons involving toilets and potty training as discussed with Latecomer.

Remember, characters previously voted on will get half a vote, and any characters not mentioned before will get a full vote. As always, feel free to suggest not only who you'd want to see as a playmate, but also what Twily could do with them.

Characters ineligable under any circumstances:
Starlight Glimmer
Discord
Trixie
Sunburst
Cutie Mark Crusaders
Flurry Heart
School aged or younger children (i.e. Cake Twins)
Characters introduced after Flurry Heart (Starswirl the Bearded, the Pillars, Star Tracker, Mudbriar, etc.)

Characters that can only be done in group pairings:
Mane six
Spike
Princess Cadence
Shining Armor
Princess Luna
Octavia and Vinyl Scratch
Twilight Velvet
Spitfire (with or without Wonderbolts)
Lightning Dust
Maud Pie (without Mudbriar)

Characters previously voted on:
Moondancer - Two vots
Cheerilee - Two votes
Lyra (with Bon Bon) - One vote

Maud (Maud Pie)

Princess Celestia hummed a little tune to herself as she yet again made the trek across the castle to the private suite where Twilight was staying. She was already looking forward to another fun filled day spent in the role of "Mommy", with Twilight playing the oh so adorable role of "Twily". Despite the sun princess' growing concerns about how much of Twilight's behavior was just an act and how much of it was real, it wasn't enough to persuade her to stop or even slow down the treatment. Luna had yet to voice any more concerns to Celestia in spite of the nightmare just the other day, so all was okay.

As a matter of fact, things were more than okay. Princess Celestia had already reached out to somepony about being Twily's next playmate. This one had come at the suggestion of Pinkie Pie, who said this pony was "really good with foals" and would make for "an awesome big sister". So the alicorn with a majestic white coat had reached out to the pony Pinkie had suggested, and this pony had agreed without hesitation even after being briefed on what would be expected of her.

Celestia looked at a small, gold colored watch on one of her forehooves. She had gotten it to better keep track of time whenever she had to attend to her royal duties, determined to make them end more quickly if possible so that she would have more time to tend to every need of Twily's. "That's what a good mother should do." She thought to herself as she noticed that if all was going as planned, the next playmate for little Twily should be arriving very shortly.

Twilight, for her part, was already padded up and waiting within her bedroom. She made sure her padded plot was kept well hidden, so that any unsuspecting ponies who might stumble into the room by accident wouldn't discover her secret. All she could do now was wait, knowing that Princess Celestia was due to return at any minute, probably with another playmate in tow. Whoever it was, Twily was sure she was going to enjoy playing with them, doing whatever the playmate wanted to do.

So why did it seem like it was taking so long for Celestia to enter the room? Twilight was starting to grow just the slightest bit worried. "Do you think something happened to Mommy, Smarty Pants?" She asked the old doll.

Smarty Pants replied. "Come on, Twily. Your mommy is the strongest, smartest, nicest pony in all of Equestria. She'd never let anything happen to her. I'm sure she'll be here any minute. Just be patient."

Twilight plopped onto her padded posture and pouted. "Oh, but I hate waiting! I've been extra good today: I even kept my diaper clean for her, just like Mommy would want me to, even though I really didn't want to."

Fortunately for the padded princess, her lack of patience was not about to be put to the test. For a mere moment or so after she had finished speaking to Smarty Pants, she saw the knob on the door start to turn. Her heart began to beat with anticipation! Could it be?!

Sure enough, when the door opened all the way, in strolled Princess Celestia with that motherly smile on her face. "Hello, Twily!" She chipperly greeted, her voice radiating with love and warmth. "Sorry if I kept you waiting. But Mommy's here for you, now," She trotted over, looking her fellow alicorn over. "Do you need a diaper change, Twily? We wouldn't want you to get a rash."

Twilight shook her head from side to side. "No, Mommy. I'm good. My diaper's nice and clean, see?" She turned around and proudly presented the pristine padding to the princess. "Tada!"

Celestia's smile grew brighter. "Oh, that's amazing, Twily!" She showered the younger alicorn with exaggerated praise, treating her more like a potty training toddler instead of a full grown mare. "Good job!" Then she cleared her throat. "Then I guess that means you're ready to meet your next playmate."

"Ooh! Who is it?!" Twilight excitedly asked, already trying to think of who it might be!

Princess Celestia gave off a light laugh, then turned back towards the open door. "You can come in now." She said to it, apparently speaking to somepony waiting on the other side of it.

As if on cue, the sound of shuffling hooves could be heard as a very familiar earth pony mare came into the room, noticeably waddling about. Said earth pony currently had a violet colored pacifier dangling from a string around her neck, and instead of her usual dull green tunic was a somewhat more brightly colored green onesie that just barely fit her. Said onesie doing a very poor job of concealing a thick, white diaper that hugged her rear tightly.

The padded alicorn gasped as her eyes went wide! "No way!" She exclaimed in disbelief. She recognized this pony at once, but it was one of the last ponies she would've ever expected to see in diapers. "You're... Maud Pie!"

Maud Pie nodded quite slowly, speaking in that usual emotionless tone of hers. "Yes, Twily," She greeted the princess, using the assigned name for when Twilight was in her "little" headspace. "It's me. I'm here to be your playmate today. Your mommy told me all about it, and asked if I would join you," Something of a smile crept onto her face as she went on to say. "I figured it would be a good break from my rock studies at the university. The classes are very hard, and not just because they're dealing with rocks," She paused and blinked before adding. "That was a joke."

"Oh, sorry," Twilight replied and tried to snicker and chortle as best she could. "That was a good one, Maud. You're very funny! No wonder you and Pinkie Pie are sisters."

Maud nodded and seemed to blush. "Well actually, Pinkie Pie doesn't know about this yet. I haven't told her. If she found out... well, she'd probably start trying to take care of me the same way she takes care of the Cake twins. It'd be kind of weird to be foalsat by your baby sister instead of it being the other way around."

Twilight gave a knowing wink. "Relax, Maud. Your secret's safe with me. I won't tell a soul. And neither will Smarty Pants. Right, Smarty Pants?" She turned to the doll.

Smarty Pants quickly replied. "Of course, Twily. I couldn't tell anypony if I wanted to. You're one of the few ponies who understands me. Most ponies think I'm just an imaginary friend, even though we both know I'm not. I've been your friend since you were in diapers."

Twilight nodded back. "Uh-huh. We did everything together, I took you with me everywhere I went until I started attending magic kindergarten. Then I had to put you away so other ponies wouldn't make fun of me. But I still slept with you until I outgrew that too."

Maud only commented. "It must be nice having somepony you can trust to share secrets with," She looked down at herself. "The only friends I ever had were rocks. They're good listeners."

"Like Boulder?" Twilight questioned.

"Like Boulder," Maud replied. "I wanted to bring him with me, but I decided against it. It was a long train ride to get here. I didn't want to risk losing him."

The padded alicorn nodded back. "Uh-huh. I know I'd be really upset if I lost Smarty Pants anywhere. That's why I keep her with me at all times. I never let her out of my sight!"

Princess Celestia then smiled as she made sure to use her magic to carefully close the door behind her. "Well, it looks like I won't have to worry about either of you causing any trouble. You two can just stay here and play together all day long."

"Today is a good day to stay indoors," Maud spoke up as she pointed to a nearby window. "It's raining outside today." Sure enough, a quick glance out said window revealed that the sky was full of rain clouds. There wasn't any thunder or lightning, just rain and a lot of it.

"Aw, but it's fun to play in the rain sometimes." Twilight playfully whined.

Celestia shook her head from side to side and motherly scolded. "I don't think so, my little ponies. I wouldn't want you to get sick or covered with mud. That would take ages to clean up. Today is a strictly indoor play day. No ifs, ands, or buts."

Maud Pie then asked. "Speaking of butts," She looked back to her padded rump and asked. "Am I allowed to use the toi..." She paused and quickly corrected. "... the potty? Or do I have to stick with my diaper?"

The sun princess told the earth pony. "As long as you ask for permission first, you can use the potty if you want to, Maud. After all, Twily's in potty training too. We're still working on getting her to use the potty more often, even though I don't mind changing her."

"Okay," Maud blinked very slowly, then turned to Twilight. "So, what do you want to do first?"

"Well," The padded alicorn tried to think. She scratched her head with a hoof, but couldn't come up with anything. "What do you want to do, Maud? What kind of games do you like to play?"

The padded earth pony mare hmmed, popping her violet colored pacifier into her mouth and suckling on it as she was deep in contemplation. At last, popping the pacifier back out of her mouth, she proposed. "I have some special blocks that I made. We can play with them. There's a special kind of game I really like. I'll teach it to you."

Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Oh boy! A brand new game! Sounds like fun!" And she grabbed Smarty Pants with her magic. "Come on, Smarty Pants! Let's see if we can beat Maud at her own game!"

With only the steady downpouring of rain to serve as background ambience, the two padded ponies found a secluded spot in a corner of the bedroom with which to play with Maud's special blocks. They sat down across from each other, with Princess Celestia keeping a watchful eye on them from afar.

Before beginning the game, Maud Pie looked to her onesie and asked Twilight. "Is it okay if I take off my onesie first? I find it easier to concentrate with just my diaper and my pacifier."

Twilight nodded her approval. "That's fine by me, Maud. Whatever makes you feel comfortable."

Satisfied with the response, Maud turned her full attention to her onesie and slowly unbuttoned it. It seemed like she was quite skilled at the art of taking off and putting on her onesie, because in a matter of seconds she had fully unbuttoned it and set it aside. Now her diaper showed visibly, crinkling audibly and swaying with each step she took. When she sat back down, it compressed and crinkled even louder.

"So, how do we play, Maud?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she eyed the rather unusual blocks Maud had brought. They appeared to have been carved out of actual rocks, instead of being made of soft foam or wood like your usual foal blocks.

The padded, rock loving earth pony calmly explained to her playmate. "We each have our own stack of blocks: You've got yours and I've got mine. We take turns arranging and stacking them, and whoever uses all of their blocks first wins."

"Ah, I see," Twilight beamed. "That sounds easy enough. So who goes first?"

Maud raised up a hoof. "Not so fast, it's not that easy. See how each block is made of a different type of rock?" She held up two blocks that at first glance seemed to be similar, and explained. "For example: This one is made of quartz, and this one is made of limestone. You can only place blocks on top of each other or next to each other if they're of the same group: Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, or mineral. If you place rocks that aren't of the same group together, you lose. And you also lose if you can't place any blocks, or if your rock tower falls over."

Twilight blinked slowly. She was surprised by how... detailed this game was. She realized that she probably shouldn't have been so caught off guard given how much Maud loved rocks. Yet it still surprised her all the same. "You really went all out for this game, Maud."

Maud Pie nodded, then hoofed her opponent a piece of paper. "This should help you if you get stuck. It explains what rocks can go together and which ones can't. I don't need it because I know everything about rocks, but other ponies don't," A sigh escaped her lips. "I've really wanted somepony else to play this game with me, but I've never been able to since I left to get my rocktorate. The only ponies I played this game with before are Mom and Dad, we used to play it together when I was a foal."

The padded alicorn smiled. "Well, I'm happy to play this game with you as many times as you want, Maud," And she happily encouraged. "Why don't you go first, then? I think I get it, but I'll feel a lot more confident once I see the expert make her move."

Popping the violet colored pacifier back into her mouth, Maud thought for a moment before making the first move. She placed a block made of marble on the floor in front of her. Without taking the pacifier out of her mouth to speak, she said. "Your turn." The pacifier thus giving her words a slight lisp that could be heard even over the suckles.

Twilight turned to Smarty Pants while looking over her blocks. "Well, Smarty Pants, what do you think we should do for our first move? We should make sure the rock block we pick is one that can match up with the others."

Smarty Pants just replied by looking down at the piece of paper Maud had hoofed to Twilight. "I really don't know, Twily. I don't know much about rocks. Just pick one you think looks good. We're probably not going to beat Maud, she's got tons of experience with rocks. After all, she grew up on a rock farm."

Twilight gasped in realization! "That's right, I forgot! Pinkie even said they didn't really have diapers or foal toys growing up, they just used a pile of rocks for a bathroom. That means Maud probably had even less of a proper foalhood than Pinkie did. That must be why she likes to do stuff like this." Then she turned her attention to the rock blocks, eyeing them carefully and only occasionally glancing back at the piece of paper for reference. At last, she found one that she felt confident about using, and placed it on the ground in front of her.

Now it was Maud's turn to place a block. She spoke not a word as that violet colored pacifier of hers bobbed up and down in her mouth, all the while she was looking down at her blocks almost as if distracted by their intricate design. And after only a minute or so of silent contemplation, she made her move and signaled that her turn was over.

Several minutes thus passed as the two padded ponies took turns placing their rock blocks. Maud seemed to have no trouble deciding what blocks to place where to keep her tower balanced while making sure they matched, but Twilight found it rather difficult to follow all of Maud's rules. It didn't help that there was a nagging feeling in the back of the padded princess' mind about why Maud Pie seemed to be so at home with the mindset of a foal. It couldn't just be like Pinkie Pie in that she was trying to relieve a foalhood she never really had growing up on a rock farm. It had to be something more.

Yet the young alicorn found herself stumped about the best way to go about asking for more information. Maud could be a very difficult pony to read for ponies who didn't know her personally. Pinkie Pie seemed to be the only one who truly understood what made Maud Maud, no doubt because of their tight sibling bond that reminded Twilight a lot of the bond she shared with Shining Armor (or the bond between the Apple siblings for that matter).

At last, Maud broke the unofficial spell of silence by popping the pacifier out of her mouth, and she told her playmate. "You lose."

Twilight blinked in surprise. "What?"

Maud explained by pointing to the last block the princess had placed. "You just placed pyrite on top of sandstone. Those are not matching rock types, so you lose."

"I think she's right, Twily," Smarty Pants spoke up. "Those rocks don't look very similar to me."

The padded princess eyed her rock tower carefully. She couldn't tell for sure if Maud and Smarty Pants were correct, but she was inclined to believe them. Still, she wasn't really mad or upset about losing. It had been fun while it lasted.

Maud Pie stood up very slowly, trotting over to Twilight. "It's okay. I had fun playing with you. I hardly ever lose at this game unless it's on purpose. I'm just glad I had somepony willing to play this game with me. It's been so long since I was able to play it with anypony."

The young alicorn then saw fit to ask. "Can I ask you something, Maud?"

Maud blinked slowly and seemed to smile. "You just did."

The padded alicorn giggled in response. "Oh, I get it. Very funny, Maud," Then she cleared her throat and resumed questioning. "Is there a reason why you like to do these things? Is it because you grew up on a rock farm? Or is it something else?"

The earth pony mare didn't answer right away, she was too busy looking at Twilight's rear. After doing so for a good minute or two, she spoke up. "You should probably get changed first."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Twilight questioned, only to suddenly feel herself be levitated into the air by none other than Princess Celestia.

The sun princess seemed to be struggling to suppress a smirk. "You mean you haven't noticed yet, Twily? Your diaper is very wet. I'm surprised it hasn't leaked." With her magic, she effortlessly carried her charge across the room to the changing table and laid her gently upon it.

A raging blush formed on Twilight's face despite the fact that this was far from her first diaper change. "I... I didn't even notice. I was having so much fun playing Maud's game," She unhappily sighed. "And after I was so good at keeping my diaper clean, too. I'm sorry, Mommy."

Celestia just gently reassured Twilight while carrying out the diaper change in the blink of an eye. "It's okay, Twily. This is why you're not ready to get out of diapers yet. Everypony has accidents from time to time, even when they're in potty training like you are. It doesn't mean they're not trying. Just remember that if you ever do feel like you have to go, let me know so we can work on getting you on the potty. Okay?"

"Okay, Mommy." Twilight sincerely nodded as a fresh, spotless diaper was taped to her rump. She happily wiggled about in it, letting the fresh scent of cornstarch from the powder tickle her nostrils.

Once the diaper change was complete and Twilight was lifted off the changing table, she trotted back over to Maud (who had respectfully turned her head while Twilight had been undergoing the change just a moment earlier) and asked her unanswered question from earlier. "So, Maud, can you answer my question now?"

Maud blinked slowly once again, looking back to her own diaper as if she suspected something was off about it. Yet there was nothing to indicate anything was. It still looked clean, and there were no smells wafting through the air to suggest it had been used. So the rock loving earth pony explained. "Well, it all started when Marble started wetting the bed. It started happening not long after Pinkie Pie got her cutie mark."

"But if Marble was the one wetting the bed, wouldn't that mean she was the one who got put back in diapers?" Smarty Pants questioned.

Twilight made a shushing motion to Smarty Pants. "Smarty Pants, not now! It's rude to interrupt ponies when they're not finished talking!"

Maud wasn't bothered by the interruption. She just resumed speaking. "Marble did get put back into diapers for a little while because of that. And Limestone started teasing her about it. So I started wearing diapers too to make Limestone stop. It worked," A smile started to form on her face as she recalled. "At first I only thought I was going to be in diapers until Marble stopped needing them. But then I started to realize how much I missed wearing them as a foal. Once I was old enough, Mom and Dad took away my diapers and told me I could just go in the fields or on a pile of rocks like Limestone did. We didn't even have indoor plumbing at the time, so we didn't have anything other than chamber pots to use for potties."

Twilight's eyes went wide as she let out a gasp! She'd suspected that the Pie family had been rather... simple in their lifestyle. But she'd never once believed that they had gone without indoor plumbing for so long. It just seemed like something that everypony had access to these days, even more so than electricity.

"We did eventually get a flush toilet installed," Maud went on. "But we still mostly did our business in the fields, until Mom and Dad found out that other places don't really like it when you do that sort of thing. So we all had to learn to use the flush toilet in the outhouse instead. Marble actually thought it was a monster at first because it was so loud. Of course, I knew it wasn't, and eventually even Marble knew that too. But during the time I was learning how to use a toilet, I started to realize how much I missed being in diapers and being a foal."

The padded princess silently nodded. Since getting Smarty Pants back from Big Macintosh, she'd come to learn just how much she cherished memories of her foalhood. That had served as the catalyst by which she'd slowly gotten back into diapers, which in turn had led to her being babied by Princess Celestia.

Maud Pie continued. "So I started secretly buying my own diapers and smuggling them in so Mom and Dad wouldn't find out. It felt nice to feel softer than my surroundings," A smile slowly formed on her face. "Even using them again from time to time actually didn't feel as bad as I thought it would be. The only problem was getting rid of the evidence afterwards so nopony would know. I thought about telling Pinkie and Marble because I was sure they'd understand, but I didn't want them to get in trouble with Mom and Dad if they found out, so I just kept the secret to myself until I went away to study for my rocktorate. Now, I have freedom to wear and use diapers, and act like a foal."

Twilight waited to see if Maud would speak even more. But the rock loving earth pony was silent, signaling that her little speech was done. With that belief in mind, the padded princess waddled her way over to Maud and nuzzled her deeply in the side. "Well, your secret's still safe with Smarty Pants and I. And my mommy too. We won't tell anypony what you do with diapers. I think it's nice that you get to have the foalhood you didn't get to have on the rock farm."

"Thanks," Maud replied with a slight smile, showing more emotion than she usually did. "You're the first pony I ever felt brave enough to tell all of this. There was one other pony besides my sisters I thought of telling," A brief image flashed in her mind of that very pony. "But I only just started seeing him. I don't think I'm ready to tell him just yet. Especially since I don't know how I feel about him or if we'll see each other more often."

Princess Celestia then clapped her hooves. "Well, that was very brave of you to confess like that, Maud. You truly are a brave little pony. And a brave little pony like you deserves a reward," She cooed. "How would my little ponies feel about a snack of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? I'm sure I could find some in the royal kitchens to share with you both. You deserve it for being so well behaved."

Twilight Sparkle eagerly licked her lips! "Oh boy! Cookies!" She started jumping up and down in excitement! "Aren't you excited too, Maud?!"

"Oh, I am," Maud replied as she returned to her usual stoic tone of voice. "Cookies do sound good. I remember that Granny Pie used to bake them all the time when she foalsat my sisters and I. That's how Pinkie Pie formed such a close bond with her."

The sun princess smiled and gave a knowing wink. "Looks like it's a deal, then. You two wait here." She disappeared in a flash from her horn, only to return shortly with a plate full of steaming hot chocolate chip cookies that she set down on a table.

It took every ounce of patience Twilight had not to immediately run to the table and grab a cookie off the plate. She knew she had to wait for permission from Celestia first, and that would only come once the cookies had cooled off a little.

Princess Celestia took advantage of this opportunity to say to her charge. "Well, Twily, I believe now would be an excellent time for you to try and use the potty."

Twilight let out a faint, seemingly playful whine. "Do I really have to, Mommy?"

"Come on, Twily," Smarty Pants encouraged. "Don't you wanna show Maud that you can be a big pony too?"

The padded alicorn sighed and folded. "Oh, alright. I'll try." She then let Princess Celestia lead her along to the bathroom, her diaper crinkling all the while.

Maud Pie, for her part, just popped the pacifier back into her mouth to suckle on it anew. She smiled as she looked back to her diaper, sitting down and poking at it just for the fun of it.

As for Twilight, the padded princess was soon promptly placed on the porcelain throne as her diaper was pulled down to her knees.

Princess Celestia encouraged in that motherly tone of hers. "Go ahead, Twily. Do whatever you have to do. I'll be right here if you need me. I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

So the young alicorn just sat there, hind legs dangling off to the sides of the toilet. It was hard to tell whether this was part of her act, or if she truly wasn't thrilled about being forced to use the bathroom. True, she'd done it before whilst still in diapers: Both for her big brother and for her mother, and both times it hadn't been bad at all. Would it really be asking so much of her to use it again in front of Princess Celestia?

At last, the silence was broken as a faint tinkling sound could be heard echoing across the bowl. Celestia smiled, knowing what such a sound meant. "Well done, Twily!" She cooed with only slightly exaggerated praise! "I knew you could do it if you just tried. See how easy that was?"

"It was pretty easy, Mommy," Twilight beamed. "But it's okay if I still want to use my diaper sometimes, right?"

The alicorn with a majestic white coat happily nodded. "Of course, Twily. Whatever makes you happy. You don't have to use the potty all the time, just once in a while is good enough." She proceeded to help her fellow alicorn wipe up, then flushed the toilet, before pulling Twilight's diaper back up and directing the padded alicorn to the sink to wash her hooves.

The two alicorns then exited the bathroom together, and Celestia smiled as she eyed the plate of cookies. "Okay," She declared to both her charges. "I think the cookies have cooled off enough, my little ponies."

Maud yet again popped the pacifier out of her mouth and let it dangle from that string around her neck. She then waddled over with practiced precision to join Twilight at the table, as the two padded ponies had bibs tied around their necks (Celestia setting Maud's well worn pacifier aside for cleaning later).

Twilight and Maud then grabbed cookies off the plate one by one, shoving them into their mouths as crumbs flew everywhere!

Princess Celestia didn't mind at all, just sitting there and watching her charges devour the cookies at lightning speed until there were none left! Afterwards, she just casually retrieved a rag and used to wipe off both padded ponies' faces. "My, what messy foals I have." She cooed and chuckled at the same time.

"I couldn't help it!" Twilight giggled with playful innocence. "Those cookies were really good, Mommy!"

Celestia seemed to nod in agreement. Then, after wiping off Maud's face, she declared. "Well, you know what goes good with cookies, right?"

The padded alicorn immediately knew what Celestia had in mind, happily shouting! "Milkies!"

The sun princess gave a confirming nod, before exposing her teets. "That's right, Twily. Milkies from Mommy," She trotted carefully forward, motioning for her fellow alicorn to approach. "You know what to do, Twily. Just don't drink too fast, now," Then she turned to Maud. "Don't worry, there's plenty of milkies for you too, Maud. I'm sure you'll want something to wash those cookies down."

"Besides," Twilight said as she licked her lips. "Mommy's milkies are really, really good!" Soon afterward, she wrapped herself around one of Celestia's exposed teets and started to slowly suckle it. It wasn't long before her efforts were rewarded, as the rich, creamy taste of warm breast milk trickled down her throat.

Maud hesitated for but a moment before joining in. She loosely remembered her mom breast feeding Pinkie and Marble when they were really little, having done so without ever once flinching or showing any emotion. Looking back on it, the first signs that Pinkie Pie would turn out differently from her other sisters had been apparent: She had been far more energetic and enthusiastic about drinking the milk compared to Marble, and Cloudy had briefly mentioned how it was unlike when she'd nursed Limestone and Maud.

Maud Pie shut her eyes, remembering those memories long since past. She could well remember how much pride she'd initially taken in being the pony amongst her four siblings who had been the least difficult to raise as a foal. She hadn't put up a fuss at all while in diapers, and hadn't registered a syllable of protest when told she was old enough not to need them anymore. She had also at least initially taken great pride in being the first among her sisters to master use of the new flush toilet after it was installed, and thus being called upon to assist her sisters in learning how to use it as well.

Looking back on it all, however, the rock loving earth pony now found herself filled with the faintest hint of regret and longing. Her foalhood had basically been decided for her. She had gone along with every decision her parents had made without ever once thinking that she had any other choice. Only when she had informed her parents of her intention to leave the rock farm and go away to study for her rocktorate had she at all decided for herself what to do. Well, that and her secret effort to buy, wear, and use diapers.

The earth pony mare was only snapped out of her ponderings by the sudden sound of the passing of gas. Almost before she realized it, she was wetting and messing her diaper almost entirely on instinct. So distracted had she been with her memories and ponderings that she hadn't noticed at all the warning signs her body had been trying to send to her brain. But it was too late to stop her body from relieving itself. Fortunately, it was all over very quickly. And her diaper more than did its job of containing everything she had just done. Good thing she'd thought ahead and bought the extra absorbent brands.

"Oh, goodness!" Celestia dramatically exclaimed with a wave of her hoof. "Did my milkies do that to you, Maud? I've never had that happen before."

Maud Pie just blushed bright red with shame. "I guess I just wasn't paying attention. But isn't that what a foal would do?"

Twilight giggled and laughed. "Yeah, it defintiely is, Maud."

"Oh goodness!" Smarty Pants remarked as she threw a hoof over her face. "And here I thought Twily was the stinkiest baby there ever was!"

Maud just sighed. "Growing up on the rock farm, I got used to smells like this even after we had the flush toilet installed." Then she felt herself be lifted into the air and carried to the changing table to have her diaper changed.

Maud Pie most certainly enjoyed her playtime with Twilight on that cloudy, rainy day. A part of her wished more than anything that it didn't have to end and that she could go on playing forever. Alas, the rational part of her mind told her that was impossible. Like it or not, the day came to an end. And that meant Maud had to go back to being a big pony again, though not without promising Princess Celestia not to share a word about Twilight's secret with anypony (except for Pinkie Pie, but only because the pink party pony knew about the secret too).

Upon returning to her dorm room at the university where she stayed, however, the rock loving earth pony was most surprised to find that there was a letter waiting for her on the nightstand next to her bed. Being a curious sort of pony, she trotted over to inspect the letter and picked it up. It read as follows:

Dear Maud Pie,

Thank you again for agreeing to be Twily's playmate. I think she really enjoyed getting to confide through you some of her conflicting feelings about why she likes to do all of this, as much as she enjoyed having somepony on her level.

Rest assured, I don't think any less of you for what you told me. If you ever decide to tell anypony else about your secret, you'll have my support.

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of arranging a little something for you as a reward. If you ever feel like you need a break from being a big pony, just let me know. I'd be happy to arrange for another playdate between you and Twily.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Looking underneath the letter, Maud was shocked to discover an attachment to it! It was a flyer advertising an archeological dig that was to take place in the Ghastly Gorge, a mere hour or so train ride from Ponyville. Specifically, this dig was hoping to hire somepony skilled and well versed in identifying various rock formations, so as to aid in the mapping out of the gorge and its surrounding environment.

Maud Pie knew at once that such an opening was perfect for her. Not only would she be able to put her applied knowledge to work in a real life environment, but she might have the opportunity to swing by Ponyville when it was all over. Having learned that Pinkie Pie had been put in charge of Sugarcube Corner a while back, Maud felt that perhaps she could surprise her sister in more ways than one.