“Jeez, Scootaloo! This is the second morning you soaked my sheets!”

Scootaloo wanted to shrink to the size of a pinhead. Or die. Maybe both. If they had been on the ground, she would have added ‘be swallowed by the earth’ to that list. At that moment her idol, Rainbow Dash, was standing in front of her, pointing at the blue sheets which had a large wet spot on them from the previous night, her magenta eyes narrowed into an angry glare and her wings flared up, giving her a much bigger appearance.

“I… um…” It was a pathetic defense, and she knew it.

“Seriously? You couldn’t hold it for one lousy night?” asked Rainbow, her face contorted into a scowl.

“You don’t have to yell at me like that.” Scootaloo looked away, shame written all over her face. She wanted to keep her tearing left eye from Rainbow’s view, though there was little she could do to hide the sniffles.

“Look,” Rainbow finally went on, her tone growing less angry. Despite her frustration, it was hard to just yell at a sniffling filly. “You gotta stop this. I can’t keep washing your sheets like this whenever you come over.”

“But… But I don’t do it all the time!” said Scootaloo, glancing up at Rainbow Dash. She looked away again. “It sort of… comes and goes.”

The older pegasus gave her a skeptical look. “Like at the camping trip to Rainbow Falls? You didn’t even wet once. Heck, I didn’t even know you were a bedwetter!”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I had a week of dry nights that time. Mom and dad both said I could go only if I was dry all week, and I was.”

“Well, why can’t you stay dry now? You could do it then!” Rainbow Dash pointed out, running a hoof through her mane wearily.

“I was nervous,” said Scootaloo with a huff. “This is the first time I’ve ever stayed with you.”

Rainbow looked away. “Then I guess you shouldn’t stay with me unless you can keep your bed dry, kiddo.”

Scootaloo whipped her head to face Rainbow, her jaw hanging slack. “You… you can’t…” Her eyes welled up with new tears. “Rainbow Dash, please! I’m not a foal! I can keep my bed dry!”

“Sorry, kid.” Rainbow sighed heavily, then picked up Scootaloo’s suitcase. “I better help you get your stuff together.”

Scootaloo moved like her hooves were made of lead. Her stomach may as well have been, too, considering how it felt. It took all her courage and strength not to burst into tears and run from the room. But all that wasn’t enough to keep a few stray drops from falling on her cheek as she gathered up her toys.

Watching from the sidelines, Rainbow Dash winced when she saw the tears. It was obvious Scootaloo was trying not to cry, and not entirely succeeding. As much as she told herself Scootaloo needed some tough love, it hurt to see the effect it was having.

“Scoots, I’m sorry,” she said, wishing she could think of something more. “But unless I find some kind of magical self-cleaning bedsheet, this is how it has to be.”

Scootaloo nodded and tried to smile weakly, but ended up dripping more tears into the compacted cloud floor. Dash watched them fall and absorb into the cloud.

Absorb…

I wonder if she’d go for that, she thought to herself as Scootaloo heaved her suitcase and started to march down the hall toward the staircase. Rainbow Dash nodded to herself as she turned the idea over in her head. It’s so crazy, it might just work!

“That’s crazy! It won’t work!” Twilight was shaking her head as she sat across from Rainbow Dash in the library, their rumps cushioned by a pair of fluffy pillows in the study room off to the side of the main library. Before them were two cups of tea, still steaming.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, egghead, of course it will. It’s a great plan!”

“Why would you think that is a good idea? Diapers?” The alicorn pressed a hoof against her forehead. “Why?”

The look Rainbow Dash gave her was all confidence. “Because I thought of it,” she said, as if that was that.

Twilight stared at her. “...that...that makes no…ugh.” She sighed in exasperation and took a sip of tea, hoping the soothing drink would calm her nerves and make Rainbow Dash’s idea sound a bit more sane. She hadn’t added any alcohol to her tea, so she didn’t think that was likely.

“And besides,” continued Dash, “this way the little squirt can stay over at my place and continue to worship my awesomeness without fading my sheets any more than they already are. Everypony wins!”

“Except Scootaloo, who will be stuck in diapers and horribly embarrassed if she has one little slip,” Twilight pointed out.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “That’s the point!”

“...what.”

“She’ll be embarrassed! And if she’s embarrassed, she’ll be motivated to fix the problem. I’m not gonna change my mind, so the only choice will be for her to learn to not wet the bed.” She grinned. “See how that works?”

“But it… Rainbow, it doesn’t work like that!”

“Says you.” Rainbow’s eyes had a distinct look. Twilight recognized it as the same one that Applejack gave her when she insisted pegasi crop-dusting was completely safe and wouldn’t harm the apples. The I know I’m right and nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise-type look.

Before she replied, Twilight reached with her magic into the psychology shelf, pulling myriad books over to her. She still had to try, even if Rainbow Dash was entrenched in her position.

“It helped me, when I just a filly,” explained the pegasus. “I crashed all the time, all over the place-”

You still do, Twilight thought as she flipped through the books, but she kept it to herself.

“-and it was because of how embarrassing it was that I forced myself to train and become better at flying. Look at how awesome I am now! I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I didn’t know how embarrassing it was when a pony saw me crash, and how they sounded when they laughed.” Dash’s voice went odd as she remembered, growing haunted. “If I hadn’t imagined my dad seeing me crash when my Flight School evaluation happened. If I hadn’t imagined the embarrassment of finding out the Wonderbolts were in the crowd in disguise, looking for the best and the worst, seeing me crash and putting me on the ‘worst’ list, forever marked, unable to even try out, having them revoke my cutie mark-”

A cup of soothing tea was shoved in Rainbow Dash’s face. She took it, gulping it down until the teacup was empty.

“Wonderful,” Twilight’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “You’re planning to inflict emotional trauma on Scootaloo based on your own emotional trauma. Lovely. What could go wrong?”

As they discussed the issue, a certain farm pony walked through the library door. “Twi?” said Applejack. “Ya here? Ah need ta borrow a book on fertilizers ‘n…” She followed the sound of the two mares sitting in the study room discussing Scootaloo’s nighttime problem. “Oh, uh, is this a bad time?”

“No,” said Twilight, her friendly demeanor returning. She absently yanked the cup from Dash’s muzzle. “Is there something I can help you with, Applejack?”

“Well, Ah came ta borrow a book, but Ah couldn’t help but overhear what y’all were discussin’, and Ah think Ah might be able ta shed some light on the subject.”

“What would you know about it?” asked Dash, not even bothering to hide the indignant feeling she’d built up during the conversation with Twilight.

Applejack walked over and sat next to Twilight. “Apple Bloom had the same problem for a while there. Jes’ over a year ago, in fact. But she grew out of it. All little fillies do. Ya jes’ gotta give ‘em time.”

“I don’t have time!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “She needs to get over this now!”

“Ah seem to remember a certain pony wettin’ the bed not six months past,” Applejack shot at her with a narrow look, memories of a “Mare’s Night Out” from a few months ago suddenly surfacing.

“Hey, I was drunk, and that was a lot of cider!” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves, scowling. “That doesn’t count.”

Applejack scoffed. “So ya say, but Ah was the one who had to clean the sheets.”

Twilight sighed, holding up her hooves. “Girls, let’s focus on Scootaloo.” She looked at Rainbow. “She needs to know that you still care about her, Rainbow Dash. I’m not sure forcing her to wear diapers is the best way to do this. But…” she sighed. “I guess one night couldn’t hurt.”

“One night?” repeated Dash. “I’m thinking a week in diapers would be more like it.”

“A week?!” Applejack and Twilight exploded in unison. “Doncha think that’s a tad harsh?” added Applejack.

“Harsh? She ruined my Wonderbolts sheets, and she’s, like, nine! She should be over this by now. I didn’t get better at flying because I got coddled about it and told it would come in time. I tried hard and got better because I wanted it. And if she wants to be out of diapers, she’ll keep them dry.”

Twilight’s view on the matter remained dim. “We’re not going to be able to talk you out of this, are we?” she said flatly.

“Why would you try and talk me out of the best idea I’ve ever had?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion. “Besides, I need your help.”

“My help? You can’t traumatize Scootaloo on your own?” Twilight snarked, her attitude a bit harsher than usual.

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. “This won’t traumatize her, I promise! It’ll work, and she’ll be able to sleep without wetting the bed at my place. And at her place too, I guess.”

Levitating over her kettle and tea bags, Twilight began making herself and Applejack some tea. “So, why do you need my help for your oh-so perfect plan?”

The grin Dash gave her made it clear the pegasus was certain she had won. “Because I don’t want Scootaloo to hate me for coming up with the stuff that embarrasses her. You’re also super good at rules and stuff. I want you to come up with a whole set of rules, ones that will embarrass her into not wetting the bed.”

“What.”

“Wait, ya want rules specifically designed to embarrass her?” Applejack asked. “Ain’t that takin’ it a bit far?”

“For the thousandth time, she’s a tough kid! She can take it, and she needs to learn that she can’t just wet the bed and not expect there to be consequences! Besides, like I said, a little embarrassment will go a long way to curing her of this bedwetting problem.”

Applejack stared thoughtfully at Rainbow Dash, a serious look in her eyes. She blinked, an idea seeming to just appear before her. The gleam that came to her emerald eyes was as devious as they came, but she quickly hid it behind a sip of her tea.

“Maybe those rules ain’t so bad an idea,” she said, surprising the other two. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her while Rainbow Dash grinned. “O’ course, the thing ‘bout rules is that its easier to make somepony else follow ‘em when you’re doin’ the same.”

“Huh?” Rainbow wasn’t sure where she was going with this. Then it hit her. “Wait, what?! You want me to wear diapers ‘n stuff?”

“Ah didn’t say that,” said Applejack. “Jes’ put it down on the rules that both o’ you have to wear diapers if they’ve wet the bed recently. You haven’t, right?”

Rainbow shook her head.

“Then you won’t have to. It’ll make things seem fair to Scootaloo and you’ll get to embarrass her like ya wanted.”

Dash put a hoof to her chin. “So, I wouldn’t actually have to follow the rules, as long as I haven’t wet the bed, huh?”

“That’d be the size of it.”

Rainbow smiled at her. “Perfect!”

Twilight looked up from boiling the kettle. “So how far are you going to go with this?”

“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow.

“Well…” Twilight levitated the pot and began pouring the contents into her teacup and a fresh one for Applejack. “I remember reading in a child health book about diapers and older children. It’s true that they usually wear them for bedwetting, but if you plan on keeping her in diapers long enough that she’d use more than one, it’s recommended for a child as young as Scootaloo that you help diaper her, at least until you’re sure she can do it herself reliably.”

“Then one of the rules needs to be that anypony in diapers is not allowed to change themselves.” Rainbow Dash had a devious look in her eyes.

“This includes you, Rainbow,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not gonna be in diapers, remember?”

That’s what you think. Applejack nodded. “Jes’ thought Ah’d remind ya. Also, Ah figured the poor kid needs somethin’ ta ease her spirits a bit, so Ah’m gonna give her a barrel o’ cider. It ain’t exactly the season for it, but it’ll be here soon enough.”

“Cider?!” Rainbow stomped her hooves. “And what about me? Don’t I get any?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “O’ course ya do, sugarcube. Ah jes’ felt like Scootaloo deserved some, too.”

Rainbow nodded. “Okay. Just as long as I get some, too!”

“Don’t worry, you will.” It was hard for the honest mare to keep a wicked gleam from her eyes.

“Great!” Satisfied for the moment, Rainbow turned to Twilight. “You’re going to write these soon, right?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Um, I guess I could put off reading Chain Rule’s Guide to Advanced Calculus. Why? Were you planning on having Scootaloo over?”

“Next week,” said Rainbow. “I just gotta ask and the kid will ─”

“Next week?” Twilight looked shocked. “But today’s Saturday!”

“I know. Better get crackin’. I’m gonna go get the supplies.” She got up to go out the door.

“Wait!” Rainbow looked at Applejack, who was holding up a hoof. “Ah’ll come with ya.”

Rainbow scoffed. “I think I can handle a shopping trip, Applejack.”

Applejack stood up. “You ever shop fer baby supplies b’fore? Do ya even know where the foal store is?”

The question caught Rainbow Dash off guard. “Um… well, no.”

“Then Ah’ll be joinin’ ya. Gotta make sure ya get the right stuff ‘n all.”

Nodding, Rainbow Dash then flew toward the door, ducking under it and swooping off into the clouds. When she noticed Applejack wasn’t following her, she shot back to the house. “Hey! Come on, we’re burning daylight!”

“Easy there, girl,” said Applejack as she waved off Rainbow Dash. “I’ll meet ya there. I jes’ gotta talk with Twilight a little before we go.”

“Whatever, just don’t take too long, okay?”

Applejack gave her a half smile. “Ah’ll be quick as a jackrabbit.”

As soon as Rainbow was out the door, Twilight scowled. “I can’t believe she thinks this behavior is acceptable! Embarrassing children is no way to get them to stop bedwetting! Heck, when I wet the bed my parents were nothing but supportive and ─”

“Twilight, it’s okay,” said Applejack. “Ah got a little surprise ta make sure Rainbow understands the magnitude of what she’s doin’ ta Scootaloo.”

Twilight stopped her ranting for a moment. The idea of teaching Rainbow a lesson on being kind to children had occurred to her, but up till now she had no idea how she’d do it. “What do you have in mind?”

“Trust me,” said Applejack with a devious glint in her eye, “when this little sleepover is over, Rainbow won’t ever want to embarrass another filly as long as she lives.”

“It took you long enough!” Rainbow Dash landed in front of Applejack, wings settling at her sides. “It’s been, like, nearly half an hour!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “‘s been ten minutes, sugarcube, an’ unlike ya’ll Ah can’t fly from one end of town to the other in half a minute.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m awesome right? But that’s not what we’re here for!” Pointing at the foal store, Rainbow Dash felt her confidence falter slightly. “Ugh, it looks so….girly.”

Walking past her friend, Applejack blew out a weary sigh that screamed ‘grow up’. “Well, usually the only ponies who go in are mothers.” She held the door open and gestured for Rainbow Dash to come through. The pegasus followed her with a sour look, sticking her tongue out at Applejack as she passed her.

Applejack’s doubts about her plan faded away. Maybe this would teach Rainbow Dash more than just the folly of her idea. Embarrassment might not solve bedwetting, but it was certainly going to fix a few problems of Dash’s.

Ah just gotta be careful ‘bout this, she thought to herself, watching Rainbow Dash look cluelessly around the store. The clerk looked over at the two, trying to hide her curiosity at their presence given neither was clearly with foal, or had been in before.

“Want a hoof there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked her friend.

Dash shrugged, going for nonchalance. “I’m good, but you can help if you want.”

“Uh huh.” Applejack’s voice was flat. She raised an eyebrow. “Ah’m pretty sure ya mean ‘yes please’. Good thing ya ain’t tryin’ to teach Scootaloo manners, or it’d be a lost cause.”

Rainbow Dash replied as maturely as usual, by rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at Applejack.

The cow mare rubbed her forehead, groaning. She trotted past Rainbow Dash, curling her tail around a trolley and pulling it with her. After years of looking after Apple Bloom, she had no trouble finding what they’d need.

“That’s a lot of stuff,” Rainbow Dash finally said, interrupting Applejack’s browsing. “All I need is diapers and paper towels to clean up, right?”

Applejack gave her an unamused stare. “Ya need a whole lot more’n that, if yer serious about this. Changing mat, for one.” She pointed out the items in the trolley one by one. “Powder. Rash cream. Proper wipes.”

“Oh, come on,” said Rainbow.

“Hey, this was your idea, flygirl.” Applejack reminded her. “You’re also gonna need stuff for these rules. Foal toys, for one. Rattle, blocks, you know, embarrrasin’ stuff.” She shuddered a little bit as she said it.

Rainbow Dash finally arrived at the diaper aisle, and when she saw the sheer variety her irises shrunk to pinpricks. “Holy cow! There’s so many!”

“Toldya ya’d need my help,” said Applejack. “Jes’ look for one that’s large enough for a filly and pretty absorbent. And don’t forget to get pullups, too.”

“Pullups?”

“Yeah,” said Applejack raising an eyebrow. “You do know what those are, right?”

“Of course I do, but why do we need them?”

“Because she needs ta start out in those. They’re a mite less embarrassin’ than diapers, and this way you can build up to them.”

“Oh, right! Heh-heh, that’ll be even better!” Rainbow looked around for the characteristics that Applejack mentioned. Soon she came upon a diaper that looked perfect: it was thick, highly absorbent, and had adorable little animals and foal toys all over it. Then she picked up a similarly childish package of pullups. “Got ‘em! Let’s go!” she said as she swooped over to the trolley and dropped the packages into it.

“Hold on.” Applejack sternly glared at Rainbow. “Ya still need ta find ones fer yerself.”

Sighing, Rainbow floated quickly through the aisle and grabbed ones that were apparently for adults. Applejack marvelled at the cover, which had a full grown pony with one of the diapers on looking as happy as a junebug. What was even more interesting was that the diaper he was wearing looked just as foalish as the ones Rainbow had picked for Scootaloo, maybe even moreso. They certainly looked thicker, comparatively.

“There, you happy?” Rainbow Dash had barely glanced at them. As far as she was concerned, they were just props she didn’t need to bother with and would in all likelihood take back anyway. “Anything else?”

“Well…” Applejack pretended to be thoughtful. “Ya did say ya wanted this to be embarrassin’, didn’t ya? A play rug, an’ maybe a blankie or somethin’, with designs ya know Scootaloo’ll be embarrassed about.”

Grinning, secure in the belief that Applejack was helping her, Rainbow Dash cackled. “Yeah, good idea! Scoots’ is like me, she won’t be too thrilled with girly stuff,” she said, confidently.

Privately Applejack disagreed, remembering how Scootaloo had been as happy as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to be one of the flower fillies at the royal wedding. It was pretty obvious that even if Scootaloo wasn’t really into girly things, she didn’t vilify them the way Rainbow Dash did except when her idol was around to see.

“Sounds good,” she said instead. “Jes’ pick out ones that ya’ll would find embarrassin’ yerself then.”

Taking to this like it was a prank in the planning, Rainbow Dash zipped around the store. It didn’t take her long to come back with a play rug. The first, according to Applejack, was too small so Applejack herself got one, of the largest size, that was decorated with building blocks and cute baby animals. Rainbow Dash thought nothing of it as she fetched a ‘blankie’, the girlish, foalish blanket making her smirk.

The last item Applejack went after was the foal food. She was about to get some of the strained peas and carrots when Rainbow said, “Eh, I dunno about that stuff.”

“It’s perfectly safe,” said Applejack. “Heck, Ah’d taste it mahself when Ah was feedin’ Apple Bloom.”

“Well, it still looks nasty, and I don’t want Scoots pukin’ on my floor, too.”

Applejack sighed exasperatedly. “You can at least get the apples and pears. They’re jes’ like eatin’ applesauce.”

Rainbow considered it. “Hmm. Okay.”

The two mares took the supplies up to the register and started to put them in front of the clerk. She eyed them curiously. “These all for you?”

“What, for us?” Rainbow Dash looked at her incredulously. “Pfft, of course not!”

“Nah, don’t ya’ll worry.” Applejack gave the mare a smile. “Just helpin’ out a friend.”

“I...see. Well, alrighty then!” The mare began to ring up their purchases, but she couldn’t help but occasionally glance at the two mares in front of her with morbid curiosity. As Rainbow and Applejack departed, she rolled her eyes. “Well,” she said as she cracked a new roll of bits, “they didn’t have to be so secretive. It’s not like they’re the only mommy/filly couple that comes in here.”

Rainbow Dash laid on a cloud, lazily watching a pair of cumulous drift by. She thought about just blatantly asking Scootaloo if she’d like to stay with her, but it seemed kind of odd, especially after she’d lambasted her for bedwetting and told her she wasn’t welcome to stay the night anymore because of it. Besides, after the incident with the ice cream stand and Twilight’s subsequent lecture about thinking ahead before doing anything rash ─ really, how was she supposed to know that you can’t just scoop your own while the ice cream pony was away? ─ she decided to wait for some kind of opportunity.

“I just can’t believe that they would do that!” The voice she heard was familiar. Rainbow popped her head out from behind the cloud and looked at the stream of little ponies walking out of the schoolhouse. A trio of familiar fillies was walking in a triangle formation, with Scootaloo steaming angrily in the lead and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle taking up the rear. “They’re going to leave me! For a week!”

“Sounds like a blast,” Apple Bloom offered.

“Ah thought we gave up on explosives after the county fair incident.” Sweetie Belle cringed at the thought of her sister’s face when she received the bill for her share of the damages.

“Not that kind of blast, Sweetie Belle.”

Scootaloo scowled. “Focus, guys. I’ve got a real crisis here! My parents want to leave me at home while they go on a cruise for the stupid spring break. Do you realize how boring that’s gonna be? And they’re probably going to get some sucky chaperone to take care of me or something. I won’t even have you two to play with, since you’re both going away too!”

Perhaps Twilight was on to something, if this golden opportunity was typical of what happened when you waited. Rainbow Dash dismissed the idea. If there was one thing that she was, aside from awesome, it was lucky. She grinned to herself as she got up and swooped down in front of the trio, then doing a flip before coming into a hover in midair. “So,” she said, looking at Scootaloo. “I hear you need a foalsitter for a week.”

“Foalsitter?” repeated Scootaloo. “I’m not a foal!”

“Relax kid, it was just a joke!” Well, a half-joke.

Scootaloo gave her an angry look. “I thought you didn’t want me over after I messed up your sheets.”

“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “You made Scootaloo feel awful!”

“And… and… That’s just wrong!” finished Sweetie Belle.

Rainbow held up her hooves defensively. “Whoa, whoa, guys, I’m sorry! Look, I wanted to make it up to you, squirt.”

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow, but there was the tiniest bit of hope shining in her eyes.

“I acted really bad and shouldn’t have made fun of you for something like that,” continued Rainbow. “I heard you’re gonna be left behind when your parents leave town, and I figured you’d rather have a cool pony looking after you than some boring pony like…” She was about to say Applejack, but then thought better of it when she saw Apple Bloom was also looking right at her. “That guy,” she finally said, pointing at a skinny pony with a bow tie and thick glasses.

“Wow, that guy looks boring!” Scootaloo agreed, loudly.

“Hey!” Poindexter called out.

Ignoring him, Rainbow grinned at her favourite fan. “So whaddaya say, kid? Want the coolest foalsitter in Equestria to watch you this week?”

Scootaloo grinned slightly. “Um, sure.”

Mumbling to himself, Poindexter was ignored as he trotted away. His weekly game of O&O with 8 Bit was more important than dealing with Rainbow Dash.

“Perfect! Don’t worry, squirt,” said Rainbow as she took off. “This is sure to be a week you’ll never forget!”

“Now don’t forget! She must have a bath twice a day! And don’t let her play those awful video games!”

Rainbow would have been making blah-blah-blah motions with her mouth had Scootaloo’s mother not been clucking right in her face. The heavyset pony was standing in Rainbow’s living room and blasting her with so many rules on how to take care of her “little darling” that it would have made the Wonderbolt’s book of regulations look like a helpful pamphlet.

“Don’t worry,” said Rainbow, giving Scootaloo a little nuggie, “Scootaloo and I will have a great time!”

The larger pony gave her a look that suggested she’d rather leave her daughter in the hooves of a hobo, but she’d run out of options. The rest of her normal foalsitters having given up on trying to live up to her lofty expectations.

“Well, as long as you obey the rules,” she said, then she leaned in, her face suddenly shrouded in shadows. “And if anything happens to my little darling, I swear on the throne of Celestia herself, I will personally end you.”

Rainbow gulped.

Then the older mare’s face went back to it’s normal, rotund self. “Bye, sweetheart! Momma loves her little darling!”

Scootaloo forced a grin and waved, wishing she would just go and stop humiliating her in front of her idol.

“Come on, honey,” she said to the short, scrawny stallion at her side. “Let’s go.”

They both walked out, and before they got in their pegasus taxi Rainbow had shut the door. “Finally,” she said loudly. “Alright, you two. You can come out now.”

Scootaloo wondered momentarily who she was talking to, then Applejack and Twilight Sparkle walked out from the kitchen, where they had both apparently been waiting. They both walked into the living room, Twilight with a guilty look on her face, Applejack without expression.

“...are you giving me The Talk?” Scootaloo asked warily.

There was a moment of silence as they all looked at each other. Twilight looked like her face was about to burst into flame. Rainbow snickered, covering her mouth as she tried to keep herself from just exploding with laughter.

Applejack sighed. “No, Scootaloo. Nothin’ like that.”

“We’ve got… a few things to talk about, though,” added Twilight, a faint blush still present under her fur.

Scootaloo looked uneasy. Normally when a child is told that by a single adult, there was something pretty awful they were getting at. And there were three adults in front of her. “Um, what kind of things?”

“Remember a few days ago when you wet the bed?”

Rainbow’s pointed question sent a cold chill down Scootaloo’s spine. “Um, yeah.”

“Well, I told you that you couldn’t stay here unless you can keep your bed dry.”

“I can!” said Scootaloo. “I’ve been dry all week!”

“That’s good ‘n all, Scoots,” said Rainbow, “but I’m not taking any chances. I’ve taken some… precautions this time.”

“Pre-what, now?”

Rainbow nodded at Twilight, who produced a scroll from behind her back. Dash looked back at Scootaloo with a fairly neutral expression. “Twilight ‘n me made up some rules for you to obey while you’re here.”

Twilight pulled away the wax seal keeping the scroll rolled up, and it unfurled to the floor and rolled to a stop at Scootaloo’s hooves. “What’s all this for?” she asked as she nudged the roll experimentally.

Before Rainbow could answer, Applejack interjected. “Look, sugarcube, we know yer a big filly, but Rainbow here made up some rules regardin’ yer stay. We all love ya, Scootaloo, and we just want what’s best for ya.”

Scootaloo looked wary. “You sound like my mother. Anyway, what’s up with the rules? Do I gotta sleep with rubber sheets or something? Because I packed those.”

Rainbow leaped up and hovered in the air above Scootaloo. “It’s like this. I think you need to work on this whole bedwetting thing. And to do that, I’ve got some rules for you to follow.” She looked at Twilight. “You read ‘em. I’m gonna go grab a soda.” She then took off into the kitchen, leaving Twilight to read the rules.

“Ahem,” said Twilight as she cleared her throat. “Rule number one: all ponies must follow the rules to the letter. No exceptions.”

“With you so far.”

“Rule two: any pony who has wet the bed previously must wear a pullup to bed.

“Rule three: if the pony wets their pullup, they must wear a diaper the next night.

“Rule four: if the diaper is wet the next night, they have to wear diapers all day the next day─”

“Wait, what?” Scootaloo interrupted. Applejack gently shushed her, patting her shoulder reassuringly.

“Rule five: if they reach the point of wearing diapers all day, they must ask for bathroom uses. If they soil their diaper before they reach the bathroom, their bathroom privileges are restricted to a single use right before bedtime.

“Rule six: if the pony is restricted to one bathroom use per day, they are to be treated like a foal, and are expected to play with foal toys and be regularly checked for used diapers. Furthermore, they are unable to do anything which a filly or adult is allowed to do.

“Rule seven: if the pony which is restricted to one bathroom use per day messes their diaper before the bedtime bathroom break, then they will lose all bathroom privileges.

“Rule eight: the pony who is least progressed down the line of rules, that is to say the one who is most “potty-trained”, will be the pony in charge. Should both ponies be on the same level, then the pony who is older will be the one in charge.

“Rule nine: a pony may, at any time, earn the right to be “promoted” back to a previous level, so long as the pony in charge approves of said promotion.

“Rule ten: the pony in charge has absolute authority. No exceptions. This is in regard to any and all bathroom privileges, feeding times, play times, etc. They reserve the right to automatically demote the other pony to a less “potty-trained level” at their discretion. They may also ignore any rules as they see fit.

“Rule eleven: if the pony under the pony in charge misbehaves in any way, the pony in charge may mete out any punishment they see fit.

“Rule twelve: a pony in diapers is not allowed to change their own diaper. They must ask to be changed, and if they are allowed a bathroom time they must be supervised when using the bathroom in order that the pony in charge may put their diaper back on for them. Should the diaper tapes not attach to the diaper or the diaper be compromised in any way that disables it from being refastened, then the pony must be changed. Diaper changes must be done foal-style, with the changee laying on their back and the changer performing the diaper change. At no point is the changee allowed to fight the changer. Any attempt to do so will result in punishment. Note: this rule does not apply to pullups.”

Scootaloo listened to the long list of rules, as well as the small section of addendum and the glossary of terms at the end which Twilight insisted upon. Each rule further reinforced the notion that Rainbow saw her as a little baby, and by the time Twilight finished she was already crying.

“Hey,” said Applejack, “it’s okay, sugarcube!” She bent down and hugged the little filly.

Scootaloo sobbed in her chest. “It’s not fair!” she said. “I didn’t mean to wet the bed! Honest!”

Twilight gave her a sympathetic look as she patted her back. “We know, Scootaloo.”

“Don’t worry about it, sugarcube.” Applejack nuzzled her. “An’ Rainbow Dash knows it too, she’s just….a lil’ paranoid. But she ain’t heartless, Ah promise. Fact is, these rules are for her too.”

Scootaloo looked up at Applejack, her eyes red. “They are?”

“That’s right, and she’s agreed to follow them to the letter.” It wasn’t a total lie. Rainbow had agreed to follow the rules, but she was also under the impression that she’d never actually have to do any of it. “Besides, Ah have a special treat for ya. Twilight?”

Twilight nodded, smiling at how they were finally doing something she knew would make Scootaloo happy, then walked toward the kitchen. Upon entering, she saw Rainbow Dash drooling over the twin kegs of cider. “In just a few moments, you’ll be all m─”

“Rainbow?”

Dash almost crashed right through the ceiling at the velocity with which she took off. Extricating her head from the new hole she’d created, she looked at Twilight sheepishly.

“Heheh, sorry.”

Paying her antics no mind, Twilight gestured at the barrels of cider. “Would you mind helping me carry these to the living room?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” Rainbow alighted next to one of the kegs, then hoisted it on her back. Twilight did the same with the other one, then they both walked into the living room.

Scootaloo gasped when she saw them. “But… that’s for me?”

“It’s for you to share,” said Applejack. “Rainbow Dash gets her own barrel while you get one for yourself.”

Scootaloo nodded, still in awe that she would be getting her own cider barrel. She noticed that Applejack had even gone to the trouble of burning her name in the side of hers, with the same being done for Rainbow Dash’s keg.

“Three cheers for AJ, am I right, squirt?” Rainbow Dash said, giving the filly a smile.

“Y-yeah.” Scootaloo tentatively returned the smile. “Thanks, Applejack.”

Applejack nodded down at the filly. “Ain’t nothing, sugarcube. A lil’ somethin’ to smooth things over. Nopony is doin’ this to be mean, an’ this little gift is to show ya that. All of us want to help- especially Rainbow Dash. Don’t ya?”

“Huh?” The pointed glare shot her way got Rainbow Dash to stop drooling over her barrel of cider. “Yeah, totally! I promise, this is going to help. If you-”

“-or you,” Applejack interrupted.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. If you or me-”

“-or I,” Twilight corrected.

The older pegasus looked confused. “Huh?”

Scootaloo cocked her head to the side. “Is Twilight staying over too?”

“What? No, I meant...oh, nevermind.” Twilight looked like she wished she had some hard cider right now.

Rainbow Dash liberated Scootaloo from Applejack, hugging her.little fan. “By the time this week is over, I promise, you’ll have had a great time and be totally over the whole bedwetting thing.”

“...you mean it? And you don’t think I’m a baby?” Scootaloo asked

“Of course I don’t!” said Rainbow Dash. “You’re one of the awesomest little fillies I know, and pretty mature for your age. And I guarantee this’ll cure your bedwetting.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t put too much faith in this, Rainbow.”

Scootaloo however was beaming. “I’ll never bedwet again!”

Twilight looked at Scootaloo with concern. “Let’s not be too hasty here!”

Chuckling Applejack nudged Twilight. “Trust me, sugarcube, this is just what they both need.”

Twilight looked at her quizzically, wondering what she was talking about, but Applejack privately knew that the potion Zecora gave her would be guaranteed to work. She kept it to herself for now. Maybe later, after this was over, she could tell Twilight what part she had played in this.

“Well,” said Applejack as she headed toward the door, “we’d better let you two start your week of fun.”

Twilight nodded as she followed behind her. “Yes, and I have some things I need to attend to at the library.”

Dash escorted them to the door, then when they were safely in the balloon and on their way to the ground she shut it, then turned and looked at Scootaloo with an excited grin. “Ready for an awesome week together?”

“You bet!” Scootaloo bounded over to the big TV Dash had across from the couch. “Can we watch TV? Or play Ponybox?”

“How about we get those bags of yours put away first, huh?”

Scootaloo looked over at the small mountain of suitcases and duffles. “Oh. Right.” She sheepishly trotted over and grabbed as many as she could carry. Rainbow Dash handled the rest. They both made their way up the stairs to the guest room on the second floor. Scootaloo knew the way, of course, and her cheeks flushed as she remembered what had happened the last time she stayed in there.

The bed didn’t seem any worse for the wear, the sheets having been thoroughly washed and dry cleaned. Dropping her bags on the bed, Scootaloo realised a slight problem; she had more bags than usual.

“Uh, where do you want me to put these?” She trotted over to the wardrobe build into one wall. “In h─”

“Stop!”

Scootaloo’s hoof froze an inch from the handle. She peered back at Rainbow Dash, the older pegasus struggling to stay balanced with the bags full of parentally enforced ‘necessities’.

“O-okay…”

With a grunt Dash heaved her load onto the bed, panting and wiping her forehead. “Geez, what did your mom put in these things, bowling balls?”

“Only on─ I mean, why didn’t you want me to open the wardrobe?” Scootaloo’s eyes widened and she gasped excitedly. “Is there a monster in there? Do you have a wardrobe monster? Do you fight him every night to prove that nopony - or wardrobe monster - can defeat Rainbow Danger Dash?”

Rainbow Dash’s face lit up with a grin, chuckling at Scootaloo’s wild imagination. “Nah, nothing like that. That’s where I keep all the stuff Rarity gives me.”

“Stuff?” Scootaloo’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Like, birthday presents? Cupcakes?...homework?!”

“I...what? Squirt, I’m not a filly. Nopony gives me homework!” Rainbow Dash boasted, doing her best to forget the aerodynamics test Spitfire had made her take home the last time she had seen her, with a stern warning to show her work next time. “What sort of thing do you think Rarity of all ponies would give me?”

Scootaloo put some thought into that. “Armor?”

Now Rainbow Dash looked confused. “Armor?” she parroted.

The filly nodded. “You know, made out of gems and stuff, all different colours of the rainbow, for when you go out on adventures! You can fly super-fast, with a diamond bladed helmet and wooosh, cut monsters in half!”

“Pssh, no! Nothing silly like that.” Note to self; get Rarity to make gem armor for next birthday. Diamond bladed helmet a must. “This is Rarity we’re talking about. There’s just a bunch of frou-frou things in there. Dresses, skirts, saddles, all that kinda stuff.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened, her young mind flooded with understanding. “Oooooh.” She thought about that for a few moments. “That makes way more sense. Why don’t you throw it away?”

Rainbow Dash gave her a confused look. “Huh?”

“Throw it away. Or give it away. Since, you know, you don’t want it,” Scootaloo repeated, looking at her idol curiously.

“Because...well, Rarity gave it to me.” The older pegasus shrugged awkwardly. “I couldn’t do that to her. It might all be frou-frou, but she’s my friend.” Dash reached over to ruffle Scootaloo’s mane. “Don’t worry about it, kid. What say we leave the bags here, and grab ourselves a cup of cider?”

“Yeah!” said Scootaloo as she tossed her bags to the side and bounded down the stairs. Rainbow quickly followed her to make sure she didn’t get into her barrel of cider. She didn’t know if Applejack had given her the alcoholic variety she wanted, but even if she didn’t, it was hers.

She got down the stairs just in time to see Scootaloo come from the kitchen with a couple of big mugs. Smiling, Dash trotted over and took her mug, then she held it under the tap on the side of the barrel and filled it with what appeared to be flat cider. Frowning, she looked at the barrel, then noticed the note attached to it. Ripping it off, she read what was on it:

Sorry about the alcohol-free cider, but I didn’t want to risk Scootaloo accidentally drinking from yours. Plus I didn’t want you to get all drunk in front of Scootaloo.

-Applejack.

Dash rolled her eyes and sighed. It would still be awesome, even if it was alcohol-free. She looked over at Scootaloo, who was having trouble with the tap. “Here,” she said as she took the mug and held it under the spout.

Scootaloo looked up at her gratefully. “Thanks.”

Soon both of them had had their fill of cider, and after an evening playing video games and talking about whether Masked Matador or Zapp would win in a fight (Rainbow firmly supported Zapp), Scootaloo let out a big yawn.

“Ready for bed, Scoot?”

“No!” she said quickly. “We still need to talk about Daring Do versus Zapp!”

“Much as I would like to do that,” said Dash, wondering whether the kid even understood how ridiculous that fight would be since clearly Daring Do was awesomer, partly by virtue of being real, “it’s really late and I promised your mom I would have you in bed by nine.”

“But─”

“Uh-uh, Scootaloo. You need to be in bed before too long. I need my shuteye, and I can’t get it if you don’t get some sleep.”

Scootaloo wanted to protest, but she sighed and hung her head. “Okay, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey,” said Rainbow gently, “it’s okay, Scootaloo. Soon it’ll be morning, and then we can have a whole day doing awesome things!”

This gave Scootaloo a smile.

“Come on, Squirt. Let’s go get you ready for bed.”

Rainbow Dash escorted the young filly into the guest room, whereupon Scootaloo trotted over to the bed and hopped in. Rainbow smirked. “Not yet, Scoots. You need to take care of something first.”

Frowning, Scootaloo hopped out of bed and followed Rainbow over to the closet. “What?”

Without saying a word, Rainbow Dash opened the closet and pulled out a plush package, followed by a small sack of supplies. Upon looking at the package, Scootaloo started to shake her head. She knew exactly what they were.

“I don’t wanna wear a diaper! The rules said I don’t have to wear one unless I’ve had an accident!”

“First,” said Rainbow as she opened the package, “these aren’t diapers. They’re pullups. Second, you did have an accident.”

“But that was last week!”

Rainbow sighed as she extricated one of the pullups from the bag with her teeth and dropped it on the floor. “You’re gonna wear this tonight, Scootaloo. I’m not takin’ any chances here, and besides, the rule still applies because you still wet my bed.”

Scootaloo wanted to fight Rainbow on this, but she knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on so long as the rule about who’s in charge still applied. Rainbow was older, and she and Scootaloo were both sans diaper or pullup, so she was the one in charge. Scootaloo slowly walked over to the pullup as though she were facing her execution, then looked down at it before picking it up.

“Wait a minute, Scootaloo,” said Rainbow as she got out the foal powder. “You need to get prepared before you put that thing on.”

Scootaloo looked at the white and blue bottle. “Do I really gotta have that stuff on?”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow as she twisted the top open. “Applejack said it’s important to put this stuff and rash cream on so you don’t have a diaper rash if you wet your diaper. Or pullup in this case.”

“How do I put it on?”

“Let me worry about that.” Rainbow tapped the floor with her hoof. “Lay down, Scootaloo.”

Sighing in defeat, Scootaloo knelt down, then rolled over on her back. She knew the rules said that she didn’t have to lay down for this since it wasn’t a diaper being put on her, but she also knew the rule said that Rainbow could ignore the rules if she was the pony in charge. When she was laying on the floor, Rainbow shook some of the powder on her bottom and nethers, and finally opened up the pullup and slipped it over Scootaloo’s legs, being mindful of threading the tail through the hole. Then she tugged the small garment up, making sure it was nice and snug. “Alright, done.”

Grateful that it didn’t take very long, Scootaloo stood up and looked back at the padded underwear covering her bottom and flanks. It actually wasn’t that bad, though she certainly wouldn’t go wearing it around town or anything.

“I sure hope I don’t have to use this,” she said, more to herself than to Rainbow Dash.

Dash nevertheless replied, “Well, if you do, you know what happens.” She pulled out the package of diapers, patting it a couple of times for emphasis.

Scootaloo nodded quickly, then walked over to the bed. The pullup crinkled with each step, reminding her that it was there, ready to catch any wetness that managed to slip out. In a way, it was oddly comforting to know that. She made a mental note to take the rest of them home with her to help keep her bed dry. She wasn’t about to take the diapers, though. No. Way.

Rainbow Dash followed her, pulling the sheets back for the filly. Once Scootaloo had climbed in, Rainbow Dash tucked her in with surprising gentleness. She gave her little fan a tight hug.

“This will help, I promise,” she said softly, nuzzling Scootaloo. “Tomorrow morning, you can wake up dry and everything will be fine. Trust me.”

“A-alright…” Scootaloo nuzzled her back. Despite being in pullups, she still had it in her to return Rainbow’s smile. “G’night, Rainbow Dash.”

Pausing, looking awkward, Rainbow Dash leaned in to place a peck on Scootaloo’s forehead. It was an unexpectedly mushy thing, the sort of gesture Rainbow could imagine Applejack or Rarity doing for their little sister. The widening smile on Scootaloo’s face made it all worth it, though. “Night, squirt.”

Leaving the beaming filly to sleep, Rainbow Dash walked down the stairs into the darkened living room and paused in front of the TV. She could stay up a little longer on her own, but the noise might wake Scootaloo. Sighing, she left the living room. Again she paused, this time as she passed the entrance to the kitchen.

Just one more cup of cider couldn’t hurt, she told herself with a little grin. Trotting into the kitchen, she retrieved the dirty mug from the sink, a habit she would probably never break, then went over to the large barrel of cider, filled the mug to the brim and started drinking.

Three cups later, her belly told her she’d had enough and she trotted up the stairs with a satisfied grin. She walked past Scootaloo’s room and into her own bedroom, switching off the main lights, but leaving her table lamp on. She eyed the pile of Daring Do books she wanted to re-read, then she grabbed one of them at random and started to read it. Before she’d even gotten to the part where Daring had discovered her place had been ransacked by agents looking for the mysterious book mailed to her by her father, Rainbow was fast asleep.

Author's Note

Tyrant: Well, here it is, the very first chapter of a collaborative work. As the description says, both myself and Vector worked on this, but I actually have an account here and a few followers, so, you know, we decided to post it here rather than just on a new one. What we would have called it, I know not. Vector Hoof? Tyrant Scamp? Veof? Tyamp? You see!? This is why we went the simple method.
Regardless, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I wouldn’t have bothered to start it if not for Vector being co-writer. Which reminds me; making the obvious guess that people who read this will have read Prissy Pony’s Padding, that’s also going to get a bit of life injected into it thanks to my friend here. Thanks for reading!

Vector Scamp: Hey there, ... FiMFiction-ers? Honored guests? Loyal readers? Eh, who cares. It’s nice to see all of you, and I’m glad Tyrant allowed me the honor of helping him write this fic. We’ve done some RPing and such before via Skype, and I was thrilled to be allowed to help him write this fic. It’s going to be a really fun ride, I’m sure. Plus, this is one of the first padded pony fics I’ve helped author, and I can’t wait to add more to it. In regard to Prissy Pony’s Padding, as Tyrant mentioned I’m helping author that one, and I can’t wait to show you what we’ve got so far. But that’s a subject for another Author’s Note. ;)

Thanks so much for reading our work, and I hope it can live up to your expectations.