There was a lesson to be learned from this. Somewhere, deep down, in the darkest bowels of the abyss, there existed a shining light, a beacon promising enlightenment and the arrival in paradise. Yes, there just had to be something of value waiting to be found. It was just around the corner. Surely, this was somepony’s idea of punishing her for … something? No, seriously, she couldn’t even think of anything that would need punishing.
She hadn’t offended any gods as of late, now had she? Sweetie Belle struck a thinking pose, as she went through her mind, searching for a potential cause.
Nope, nothing. She had been responsible, sensible, and also extraordinary fashionable about everything. That she had broken the oven during breakfast hadn’t really been her fault anyway, but rather the hay’s. How should she have known that stuff burnt easily? Maybe it had been her falling out of bed during the night once too often, but honestly, her bed was rather small. No, none of that. Nothing like that could have put her in this position.
Maybe there existed some way to blame Diamond Tiara. No, maybe not. She couldn’t just go around blaming ponies for stuff they couldn’t have done, that would be stupid.
Sweetie Belle blinked and moved her hoof farther up, to where the pacifier rested in her mouth. She examined the piece of plastic with a certain kind of curiosity, not really knowing how to judge that thing. On one hoof she was completely aware of what it was, what its purpose was and that the appropriate behaviour would be to be angry about it. But on the other hoof, she was there, in her bed, wearing a diaper, had a pacifier in her mouth and railings to both her sides.
If she was completely honest, this was far too ridiculous to be angry about. Maybe somewhere out there, there existed a hero, capable of dealing with a situation like this swiftly, but Sweetie Belle was not that pony. No, she wanted to know why, how, and why. If she got some kind of answer to that, she would have been fine.
She just stared at the ceiling above her, however, not quite knowing what to do with herself now, and just tried to think what had happened that she had gotten into this situation. Could it have been because last time she had been up late, that in the end she had been so sleepy that she had set the oven on fire … again? No, that had been an accident, and it had only happened every time nopony was there to tell her to go to bed. So it was purely circumstantial.
A frown slowly crept on Sweetie Belle’s face. Now that she thought about it, that wasn’t even a proper reason to send her to bed early.
“Parents,” she stated to herself in a grim tone of voice.
Sadly, stating the one truth didn’t help her situation. Instead, Sweetie Belle remained in the darkness of her room, with nopony noticing her plight. Her friends would understand, Rarity would, too, most certainly. But they weren’t here at this point and so she had to figure this out herself.
Maybe it had been because they had found out that fire in the kitchen last week had happened because she had tried to make breakfast. No, that couldn’t be, unless the oven held a grudge against her. Maybe she should take some time and explain that she didn’t mean to set it ablaze every single time. Then again, it was an oven, so there’d be little point in apologizing. And even if, fate’s cruel jape had already played out.
The more she thought about everything, the more she understood that maybe she was missing something.
“Alright,” she said, readying herself to look at the situation again.
First: Railings.
She went with a hoof against them, hammering a short melody, before simply nodding. If she was being completely honest, her sleep patterns had more often than not been described as ‘hectic’ and ‘violent’, and her friends putting down an extra mattress by the side of the bed every time she slept over at one of their places was indication enough that she might need them. Yes, yes, there was nothing wrong with those. Everything was better than waking up in the middle of the night, buried in a hole in the wooden floor.
Not that she would ever admit that something like that had happened.
Second: The pacifier.
How had her mother thought that this would be healthy? Honestly, she hadn’t even annoyed them all that much over the last few days. All she had ever done was show them the funny noises she could make, tell them about everything she and her friends did together, whine about the lack of sweets outside of when her parents got her some, sing several songs as off-key as possible, and …
“Oh,” she said and the silence agreed.
When her mother had taken out that pacifier and put it in her mouth she had, in fact, shut up immediately. She could’ve taken it out, but the sound it made when she suckled on it was funny. Sweetie Belle knew nothing like it and had spent her time after dinner trying to get a melody out of it.
Maybe she and the others could make up a quartet for pacifier-music. It was a bit of a stretch, but honestly, these days they were grasping for possible cutie marks anyway and that at least sounded like something that would be incredible fun. She even doubted that anypony had ever tried something like it. Plus, she probably looked adorable with it. That might help when she wanted to get Rarity to spend some more time with her. Desperate times called for desperate measures and all that.
Apropos Rarity.
She lifted her blanket up, but since her room was as dark as it could get, she couldn’t see anything. Not that she needed to, since it was basically impossible to forget what she was wearing. A footed pajama, a bib, a bonnet, anything and everything else would have been preferable to this. But no, she just had to wear this.
Why?
What exactly had gotten her to wear a diaper again? She was a grown filly, not a baby. She hadn’t wet the bed, ever, she hadn’t any problems reaching the toilet. So, why?
“Sweetie, darling. You know how we got the Breezies to their home,” Rarity said in her memory, trying her best not to sound awkward.
Her sister wasn’t that peculiar about inspiration. She saw somepony, or someplace that she found dazzling and then made clothing that would remind her about that place. It was simple, if not anything else. Usually, it would end up in spectacular dresses which nopony would ever wear in their daily life, at least not if they were sane. So, obviously, when she had seen the Breezie’s home.
“What is that?” a much younger, more naive Sweetie Belle asked back in her memories after her sister had asked if she would try out some sleepwear for ‘practicability tests’.
Now she was stuck in a fluffy cloth diaper with Breezies design. “Right,” she mumbled as that memory came back to her. Quite frankly, Sweetie Belle didn’t even have any idea why she had agreed to this, or why her sister even made diapers for a pony her age. But then again, she could’ve just asked right then and there.
“Why haven’t I?” she wondered aloud, groaning.
Rarity had made an agreement with her, she’d try the diapers out for two nights, and in return she’d get a month of free ice cream at Sugarcube Corner. At the time it had seemed like a good idea, but now, with everything coming together …
Maybe this was her punishment for setting the oven on fire at the beginning of winter, though she had only been slightly off about her estimates concerning the oil. Honestly, if she had known everything would come together like this she would never have agreed to this deal. But, then again … A. Month. Worth. Of. Ice. Cream. In Sweetie Belle’s world that was the second way to spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.
Despite, it would probably calm her ego if she at least got rid of the pacifier. She moved her hoof atop of it, but suckled on it entirely by accident. The noise managed to evoke a small giggle.
“No,” she said to herself, “that thing’s too much fun.”
By this point Sweetie Belle just needed to admit that her standards were pretty low for a filly her age and she could probably go to sleep. Then again, it wasn’t even twenty O’clock. Who the hay slept around this kind of hour?
She couldn’t just stand up and go downstairs to be with her parents. That would be embarrassing. Dressed like this and in need of attention, that was the kind of combo that would entice her parents to brag about it, she was sure of that. No, what Sweetie Belle needed to do was lie there quietly until her eyes closed on their own.
For a while longer she simply stared at the ceiling, before she broke into a suckling. She wasn’t really trying to find any sort of comfort, rather she was trying to get the melody of Hush Now, Quiet Now right, but her first few attempts failed miserably. However, after what she presumed to be a horrifyingly long time, a melody struck, and it was even the one she wanted to produce. A smile appeared on her face as she did the impossible, even though her mouth started to feel dry.
Maybe she should get a glass of milk before going to sleep. Maybe that’d even calm her sleep. Sweetie Belle stopped her sounds and thought about that for a minute, before she decided that she’d rather not have any dust gathering in her mouth. This wasn’t a desert and if she could get something to drink, she’d take it gladly.
With one swift motion she lifted the blanket off herself and turned around to stand on her legs, the diaper making itself felt even more awkwardly. She could have taken it off, but since her parents knew about the sister’s agreement that would’ve been pointless. No, as long as she wasn’t trying to woo them for attention, she would wear any attire proudly. Or at least, try to.
As she tried to step over the railing, she found it rather hard. The bed seemed more sizeable now than it used to, but it wasn’t something she couldn’t conquer. Clumsily she scaled the hurdle, letting herself fall on her rump, both damage and sound reduced by the cushioning. At least she could sneak around with this thing on, so that was something positive. Even if destiny and that oven would seek vengeance on her, she’d find something good.
Sweetie Belle put on a brave smile and moved towards the door. She heard steps outside, saw shadows moving in the light that crept beneath her door. She figured it to be her father walking to the shower. At least that meant he wouldn’t be able to remark on her fashion sense. A bit of nervosity crept up on her the closer she got to the door and so she tried to resume the suckling symphony of Hush Now, Quiet Now.
“Sweetie,” she heard her mother yell from downstairs before she opened the door.
The suckling continued as light embraced her and both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo appeared before her, their falling smiles immediately reminding her of what they had agreed on doing tonight.
“Your friends came over for the sleepover!”
As the most obvious information sunk in, the melody grew slower and quieter.
“What’re you wearin’?” Apple Bloom asked, completely rhetorically.
“Why are you wearing a diaper?” Scootaloo asked, not rhetorically.
For a moment Sweetie Belle had no idea what to do, but it took her only a second to stop herself from starting to cry, and instead continued to suckle on.
“I’m figuring out how to get away without consequences the next time I burn the stove.”
That was the moment Sweetie Belle also decided that the next time would be very, very soon. This was all the stove’s fault.
~The End~
