Dashie's Relaxation

The light of the morning sun shone through the nursery window, casting a bright light down on the crib where Dashie slept. The radiance caused her to stir, and she cracked one eye open, letting out a quiet yawn. She could feel a slightly-chilly dampness between her legs, and a hoof drifted down to touch the massive diaper that hugged her hips, finding that she'd soaked it thoroughly overnight. Thankfully for her, the potion's effects had not worn off yet.

Dashie spent a few moments idly patting the bulging diaper, as if she couldn't believe that it was she who had filled it up to this point. Unlike when she'd wet herself yesterday, she wasn't quite as concerned this time. After all, Nana Sweet had said that it was okay, and that's "what she was there for."

Then Dashie realized something. Nana Sweet wasn't there. Despite the knowledge in the recesses of her mind that she had been alone without issue plenty of times before, the missing caretaker still shook her. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she worried if she would be left alone forever. Even though part of her knew it was irrational to think that, emotion overtook logic, and loud sobs soon filled the room. It took less than a minute for Sweet to gallop from her bedroom to the nursery.

"It's okay, Dashie!" she called out, sprinting to the crib. "Nana Sweet's here. It's okay!" The side of the crib was hastily lowered, and Sweet wrapped her forelegs around the crying pony, nuzzling and cooing and whispering soothing words to her. Even though she was still under the effects of the potion, tiny little bits of regular thought were beginning to creep into Dashie's conscious. She realized how silly it was that she was getting so upset over being in the room alone, and that Sweet was here now even if it wasn't silly, but she couldn't stop the flow of tears for a good while, and she clung desperately to Nana Sweet.

Sweet held the crying pony in her forelegs and sat down next to the crib, easing her out of it and into her lap. Despite the fact that the two ponies were about the same size, she did the best she could to cradle her, and gently rocked her back and forth once she had done so to the best of her ability. Her eyes darted around the room, finally locating a clean pacifier on the shelf. She floated it over and brushed the end of it against Dashie's cheek. Dashie turned to look at it, and once she recognized it, parted her lips for it to be inserted. Her sniffles still lasted for a few seconds once she was suckling, but those soon faded as well.

"There you go, sweetie," Sweet said, giving her forehead a kiss. "I'm so sorry you got so upset. Nana Sweet should have known better than to leave you in here alone. But I'm here now, okay? Do you forgive Nana Sweet?"

Dashie cast a big-eyed gaze on Sweet and nodded slightly, still coming down from her panic. Once she realized that everything was okay, her breathing slowed to a normal rate, and she gave Sweet a little smile around her pacifier.

"Thank you, honey," Sweet said, beaming. Then she patted at the heavy diaper between Dashie's legs. "Oh wow! Did all of this come from little ol' you?"

Dashie blushed and gave a little nod of acknowledgement, though the majority of her focus was now on the pacifier between her lips.

"I'm impressed!" Sweet told her, nuzzling her cheek. "Well, let's get you out of that and all cleaned up, alright? The potion's going to be wearing off soon, and I wouldn't want you to still be in this when it did." She reached forward and unzipped the front of the sleeper, moving Dashie around as she peeled it off of her. Soon, Dashie was left in just her sodden diaper.

"Up goes the filly!" Sweet said cheerfully as she picked Dashie up in her magic, her diaper sagging as if it were trying to pull her back down to the ground. Dashie soon found herself back on the changing table, watching as the heavy diaper was removed from her body, balled up, and thrown into the bin. She then found herself lifted once more and brought through an entirely new door.

Dashie looked around the bathroom, soon catching sight of herself in the mirror. This sight was enough to distract her while Sweet ran the warm water in the tub. Once the tub was full enough, Dashie was brought over to it, and she was delighted by all the suds that came from the bubble bath solution Sweet had used. She was gently placed into the water, and splashed around happily while Sweet used a magic-assisted washcloth to scrub her down from her head to her hind hooves. Special attention was also paid to her mane and tail, which were both washed with a sweet-smelling shampoo. Once the scrubbing was done, Sweet allowed Dashie a few minutes to play with a variety of bath toys that she'd left for her, even joining in on the fun when Dashie handed her a rubber duckie.

Once the bath was done, Sweet lifted Dashie from the tub and wrapped her up in a towel, making sure to dry off every inch of her, as well as any parts of herself that had been caught by one of Dashie's splashes.

"Okay, honey," Sweet said once she had Dashie dry and sitting on a mat back in the nursery. "I'm gonna let you stay without a diaper for now, because the potion will be wearing off any minute now. But just try and stay on that mat in case there's a last-minute accident, okay?"

"Kay Nana Sweet," Dashie replied. Then she tilted her head. "I hungry, Nana Sweet."

"We'll have a nice breakfast when the potion wears off, okay?" Sweet answered. Dashie pouted and hit a hoof against the mat in protest, and Sweet took that hoof in hers and rubbed it gently, trying to calm her down.

Dashie was not happy about being told she had to wait to eat. She couldn't believe that Nana Sweet would...

Then she hesitated, looking at Sweet with a cock-eyed stare. Something about the thought she just had seemed a bit off. She rubbed her head with a hoof, feeling a rush of abandoned thoughts and feelings returning to her. She felt as if a haze was being lifted from her mind, and she stared blankly at Sweet for a few moments before finally speaking.

"...Whoa," Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

"Time for breakfast!" Sweet said quickly.

Breakfast was a very silent affair, possibly the quietest that Rainbow had ever shared with somepony. Every time she would consider trying to speak, her mind just seemed to lock up, unsure of exactly what to say. Despite the tremendous change in personality that the potion instilled in her and the feeling of a haze being lifted when its effects wore off, there was nothing hazy about her memories. Every single thing that had happened in the time that she was under the potion's effects was clear in her head.

"So!" Sweet suddenly said, breaking the silence. "How's breakfast?" Rainbow blinked a few times, distracted from her thoughts.

"Good," she replied simply.

"You haven't touched your juice," Sweet said.

Rainbow eyed the untouched glass of apple juice, not saying a word.

"I promise I didn't put anything in it," Sweet offered with a weak chuckle.

Awkward silence.

"Again," Sweet said after clearing her throat, "I'm really terribly sorry about the mixup. I thought you'd read the form and knew what was gonna be going on."

"Yeah..." Rainbow said, looking down. "I probably shouldn't have lied about that, huh?"

"Yeah..." Sweet agreed.

Awkward silence.

"I hope I at least made it nice and easy for you to deal with," Sweet said.

Rainbow said nothing.

"It did help you relax and stop worrying about your problems with Wonderbolts tryouts though, right?" Sweet asked, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Yeah..." Rainbow responded.

"Good!" Sweet said.

There was another period of awkward silence, broken only by a Rainbow chewing her cereal. Finally, Sweet could take no more.

"Dashie, could you at least tell me what you're thinking?" Sweet asked. "I already feel awful about you having to deal with all that when you didn't want to, and I don't want any hard feelings here. Please, just let me know what's going on in there. I think you could afford me that much."

Rainbow sighed. A deep, heavy sigh.

"I think," Rainbow began. "That was one of the weirdest experiences of my entire life."

Sweet's ears fell slightly, but she kept up her little smile. "Understandable."

"But," Rainbow continued. "I guess it wasn't the worst thing in the world."

"It wasn't?" Sweet asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"To be honest?" Rainbow said, her cheeks coloring. "I...think I actually kind of enjoyed it. I mean I know I did when it was happening cause of the magic and junk. But even looking back on it now, it was sorta nice, just sitting around and being taken care of with nothing to worry about."

"I'm no psychologist, sweetie," Sweet said with a grin. "But I'm hazarding a guess that you're not usually the type to sit back and let others take care of things for you?"

"Not at all!" Rainbow responded, managing her first chuckle since the potion had worn off. "I mean, you're the first pony I've let coddle me like that since..." Then she fell silent. The two sat there quietly for a moment.

"I'm guessing there's a good reason you wouldn't call me Mama Sweet," Sweet said. Rainbow's silence spoke more words than anything she could have said. Without questioning further, Sweet walked around the table and hugged Rainbow. Rainbow was a bit hesitant, but returned the hug in kind.

"Well," Sweet said once she'd released the hug. "You probably shouldn't keep your marefriend waiting. I'm sure she'll want to hear all about how things went. Speaking of which, what are you gonna tell her? Since I'm assuming she also didn't know what kind of business I run here."

Rainbow hummed to herself. She hadn't even thought about that. It took a little bit of quiet contemplation before she finally decided on it.

"I think I've got it under control," Rainbow said with a smile.

"Great," Sweet replied. "And again, this session is free because of the mixup. Though I will have to charge if you decide to come back for another in the future." She gave Rainbow a little nudge and a wink.

"Don't worry about that," Rainbow said with a grin. "I'll make sure to have plenty of bits on hand." With that, she got up from her seat, gave Sweet a quick salute, and zipped out the door.

Twilight Sparkle was studying. This came as no surprise to anypony, especially not her or Spike, her study buddy. She had finished all of the studying she absolutely needed to do last night, but as she always said, one never needs a reason to study.

It also came as little surprise when Rainbow interrupted her studying with a spectacular landing on her balcony.

"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed, her tone a mixture of happiness at seeing her marefriend and irritation from all the rearranging of notes she would have to do now that her papers had been blown about.

"Hey egghead!" Rainbow said cheerfully, leaning in for a smooch that Twilight was more than happy to provide. "Hey Spike!"

"Ew," Spike muttered as he watched the two kiss. "Do you really have to do that in front of me?"

"Sorry, buddy," Rainbow said, patting him on the head. "I forgot how much you hate lame mushy junk. Trust me, that'll change someday."

"Yeah right," Spike replied. "The only mushy thing I like is mashed potatoes. Which actually sound pretty good right now! I'm gonna go make lunch. You two can keep being gross." The two mares laughed as they watched him enter the house.

"You certainly look a lot more relaxed than you did yesterday," Twilight said with a smile once she and Rainbow were alone. "I take it the relaxation center worked?"

"More than you'd imagine!" Rainbow replied.

"Wonderful!" Twilight exclaimed. "You know, maybe I'll have to go there with you some time."

Rainbow grinned a devious little grin.

"Yeah, maybe you will."