Rainbow's Curse

Rainbow Dash groaned, waking up to the sound of birds. She hadn't set an alarm, knowing she'd be sleeping in late after the night's Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations. So, when she kicked off the covers and told herself she had to get up, she didn't have much of an idea how late it was. Pinkie Pie had totally outdone herself at the after-party, and though Rainbow didn't remember much after her fifth glass of cider, she knew it had been one heck of a night.

It was after the pageant, the exchange of gifts, and the traditional celebrations things had gotten awesome. They had stayed up late into the night, long after Luna raised the moon and most ponies would be in bed. By the time Rainbow Dash had made it home, she was dead on her hooves, but still so wired from the party that she couldn't sleep just yet. So, she had opened what presents hadn't been given to her in Canterlot. A tube-shaped package from her dad containing a vintage Wonderbolts poster, a few cards sent by old friends from flight school, and a gift basket with no note. Rainbow Dash guessed that the mail-pony had most likely lost it again, but as long as the basket and its contents were intact, Rainbow Dash didn't care. She ate some chocolate from the basket, hung up the poster, said goodnight to Tank, and went to bed on her cloud fluff mattress perhaps an hour before the sun rose.

It had been a good night, but now Rainbow Dash had a headache, she felt terrible, and she just wanted to sleep for a week. Still, she had to feed Tank, she herself had to eat something, and it wouldn't be good for her pratice regimen if she skipped for a week just to get bed rest recovering from a party. So, she forced herself to climb out of bed and get to her hooves, feeling groggy as she steadied herself. Her mattress was a cloud, the same as her floor, but the floor-cloud had been packed a bit more densely so at the very least it didn't feel like she was rolling out of bed into another bed or else she may have been tempted to curl up and go right back to bed. There was a quiet crinkling noise as she got out of bed, which gave her pause, but when she didn't hear anything else she dismissed it as her imagination.

Rubbing her forehead, she considered her options for a moment before trotting towards the bathroom. She needed an aspirin, and the cider and party food last night left her in need of the little filly's room. Her trot felt a little awkward, though she couldn't place why. Then again, she felt so crappy that a little stumble in her walk wasn't worth noting. Blinking and stretching her wings, she fumbled with the bathroom door handle and headed in.

As usual, her bathroom was a bit of a mess. She hadn't done laundry in a week and had no clean towels, the toothpaste and soap were drying on the counter, and her bathroom mirror was hanging open. Rainbow knew she needed to address the chaos at some point, but between her work schedule, her training schedule, and her nap schedule, she never seemed to find the time. Grabbing the bottle of aspirin, she tugged at it with her mouth, grumbling about the filly-proof caps. Straining, she finally got the bottle open and swallowed a couple of the pills with water from the faucet. Tossing the bottle to the side to join the debris, she closed the mirror to see her reflection. Blinking a couple of times, she needed a second to take in what she saw.

"AAAAH!" She screamed, looking over her shoulder in shock at the puffy white diaper taped between her hind legs. There was a cutesy-wootsy cartoon version of her cutie mark printed on the front, and it was bulky enough to splay her hind legs out a little bit, which at least explained the difficulty she had been having with walking. She didn't remember anything that would have led to... that, but what she was most concerned about at the moment was making sure nopony saw. (If pictures of this somehow ended up in the wrong hooves, she could easily see an unscrupulous pegasus blackmailing her to throw a race or contest or something.)

Reaching, Rainbow Dash grabbed one of the tapes with her hoof and gave it a yank. It didn't budge, which concerned her a bit, but it didn't slow her down. Using two hooves now, flapping her wings to keep from falling over, she grabbed the waistband and yanked, intending to simply tear the diaper off by force. That attempt failed too, and the diaper just stretched momentarily before snapping back in place as soon as she let go. Yelping, she tried grabbing the diaper her wings too, hoping that a little more force would do the trick. As soon as she tried that she lost her balance and fell forward, landing in a heap on the floor.

Getting to her hooves, she tried a few more futile yanks at the elastic waistband, accomplishing little more than making the diaper crinkle. "No way!" She said anxiously, giving up and trotting in place nervously. Clearly the diaper was enchanted or something, but knowing that wasn't much help unless she had a way of doing something about it. She wasn't enough of an egghead to know anything about clothing enchantments, and without a horn she couldn't cast any counterspells even if she knew what counterspells to cast. It would probably wear off in a couple hours if it were just a prank, but that was no good.  She gave a sidelong glance at the toilet a few feet away, crossing her hind legs and trying to think about something besides how much she had to pee.

What she needed was somepony smart... Somepony who could do magic, of course, and somepony who could deal with an enchanted diaper. It was really obvious, once she thought about it for a moment, there was one pony who was the stand-out choice. She had to go to Rarity's!

Who else in Ponyville would know more about clothing enchantments, after all? Making it to Carousel Boutique in time to get the diaper off and use the bathroom would be tricky, but they didn't call her the fastest flyer in Ponyville for nothing. Dashing back to her room, Rainbow dove to her closet, looking for something to wear over the diaper. Her gala dress would be a bit conspicuous, her Nightmare Night costume would be worse, in fact... Nothing Rainbow Dash owned as far as clothing went would be particularly subtle, seeing as she didn't really wear much clothing outside of special occasions and her wardrobe reflected that. Finally giving up on finding something good to wear, she just grabbed a blanket off her bed, tied it around her torso just beneath her wings, and sprinted for the door. She really had to pee, and Rarity's shop was pretty far away. This would be pushing it.

Judging by the positioning of the sun, either Celestia was working fast or it was well after lunchtime, so there was no chance of getting to Rarity's before anypony was out and about. Looking around from her doorway, Rainbow decided the coast was as clear as it was going to be. There weren't any weather ponies out and about, the mail was already in her mailbox, it looked like it was the best opportunity she would get. Spreading her wings, Rainbow took off in the direction of the boutique. Fortunately her flight wasn't hampered by the diaper nearly as much as her walking was; Her maneuverability was a little off from the awkward bulk between her legs, but all she had to do was fly in a straight line so there wasn't much of a problem. That is, until she swerved down to land. She hadn't really considered braking, wanting to get to Rarity's shop as quickly as possible, which was proving problematic. Normally, Rainbow Dash just do a flip in the air to slow down once she was outside the store, coming to a stylish and quick stop, but when she started her sharp turn around her legs got tangled in the blanket and she ended up overshooting and crashing into the door instead.

If she didn't have a headache before, Rainbow definitely did now. She groaned, closing her eyes and trying to ignore her aching forehead. "I guess that beats knocking," She quipped, glad to hear Rarity galloping to the door.

"Who is it?" The voice came from behind the door and Rainbow heard the shout, but it caught her by surprise. The voice was higher, and sounded pretty juvenile compared to Rarity's distinct sophisticated accent.

Her eyes went wide and she yanked the blanket over the diaper as she realized what she was hearing. "That's not Rarity, that's-"

"Hi, Rainbow Dash!" Sweetie Bell said, looking around suspiciously. "What are you... doing here?"

"I-" Rainbow Dash stammered, blushing a bit and double checking to make sure the blanket was covering everything up. "Um, I need to see Rarity, is she here?"

"Yeah, she's really busy though," the filly answered. "She doesn't want to see anypony right now, so you really shouldn't go near her work room, or-" Sweetie Bell finally seemed to notice something. "Um, Rainbow Dash, why are you wearing a blanket?"

Rainbow Dash's blush intensified a bit, and she looked down at her hooves. "Um, it's kinda private. I just need to see Rarity, okay?"

Sweetie Bell shook her head, distracted from her question for a moment. "Well she's really busy right now, so you shouldn't go near her work room!" She looked over her shoulder nervously, before looking back at Rainbow and adding, "So you'll just have to come back later sorry bye!" Then, without a chance for Rainbow Dash to respond, Sweetie Bell slammed the door in her face.

The pegasus spluttered for a second, trying to think of what she could do next. Even if she knew anypony else who could help her, she doubted she could make it in time to get the diaper off and make it to the bathroom, and there was no way she would ever use the stupid thing. Whoever thought this was funny was going to be in serious trouble once all this was over, but until then, Rainbow Dash had to think of some other Unicorn who might be able to help her before she lost any more of her dignity. But who else could-

"Sweetie Bell, who was at the door?" Rarity's voice was a little far away, but Rainbow Dash could still make things out pretty clearly.

"Um, nopony!" Sweetie Bell replied, quickly. Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide, and before Rarity could respond to her sister, Rainbow started pounding on the door with a hoof, knocking as quickly and loudly as she could. "Nopony at all!" Sweetie Bell repeated.

"Stop being silly, Sweetie Bell," Rarity replied, and Rainbow heard her trotting towards the door. "Who is it?"

The door opened again, and Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "Uh, hi Rarity," She said. "Sweetie Bell said you were busy."

"Oh, nonsense!" Rarity replied, "Come on in! I was just cleaning up from lunch. What can I help you with?"

"Um..." Rainbow Dash said, hurrying inside. "It's kind of embarrassing, but..."

Rarity nodded, eying the blanket Rainbow Dash was wearing. "Please, I understand," she said. "Of course I won't tell anypony if you tried your hoof at dressmaking. I must say, though, I thought even you knew more about fashion than-"

"That's not it!" Rainbow Dash said, looking around. "I kinda don't want to tell you in front of Sweetie B- Say, where'd she go?" After a survey of the room, she realized that the filly had already disappeared. "Er... Promise that you definitely won't tell anypony?"

"I promise," Rarity said, nodding. "Now what is it, Dear? You're making me curious!"

Rainbow Dash reached her muzzle towards the knot she had tied in the blanket, then paused. "Pinkie Pie promise?" She asked, wanting to be extra certain.

"Oh, I hardly think that is neede-" Rarity stopped, noticing Rainbow Dash's expression of something between anxiety and urgency. Doing the motions, she said, "Fine, if you insist. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye... Now what is it?"

Rainbow Dash blushed one last time, but she couldn't see any way to be any more safe, so she finally yanked at the knot, letting the blanket drop to the floor. "It won't come off!" She said, gesturing at the diaper. "I tried everything!"

Rarity was taken aback, but tried to take things in stride. "I see," She said, taking a second to think. "And, well, when exactly did you put it on?"

"I didn't!" Rainbow said, shaking her head. "I just woke up and it was there! Please, you gotta help me, I really need to use the bathroom and no matter what I do I can't take this thing off!"

"I... see," Rarity repeated. "I'll see what I can do, I suppose. This is really outside of my area of expertise, Dear, but I'll give it my best." Focusing, her horn began to glow, and a second later an identical glow appeared around the diaper. For a second, Rainbow Thought that it was going to come loose, but then the diaper just seemed to swell a bit, growing a tiny bit thicker and tightening around Rainbow Dash's waist. Her hind legs were bowed a little wider apart, but nothing else changed.

"S-stop!" Rainbow yelped, crossing her hind legs again. She felt like she was about to burst, and the elastic tightening around her waist only served to add pressure to her aching bladder. "That's making it worse!"

Rarity cut off the magic, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I don't know what else to do!" She apologized. "What did Twilight say?"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Twilight?"

Nodding, Rarity tilted her head slightly. "You did ask Twilight, didn't you? She knows more about magic than anypony in Ponyville!"

Again, Rainbow Dash had to blink, barely thinking about Rarity's words as she focused on keeping from wetting her- The diaper. "Right, yeah. Twilight. Of course, she said, uh..."

"You didn't go to her at all, did you?" Rarity asked, to which Rainbow had to nod.

"I, um, wasn't thinking that straight and I'm kind of in a hurry," the pegasus responded. "Do you really think she can help?"

"I don't know anypony else better suited to the task," Rarity replied, nodding. "Now, let's get you something more stylish to cover up that silly diaper, and we'll get over there right away. I think I have just the thing in my workshop!"

"No time, I'll just wear the blanket," Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. "I don't know if I'm gonna make it!"

"I insist," Rarity insisted, insistently. "Besides, that horrid blanket is so out of place you'll probably have everypony looking at you. I promise, the piece I'm working on is just the right thing!"

Rainbow considered it for half a second, before deciding Rarity was right. "Okay, but we've got to hurry!" She said, speeding past Rarity towards the stairs. Rarity was exasperated for a moment, but she decided it wasn't worth bringing up and hurried after her. Rainbow made it up the stairs and to the workshop in no time at all, even managing to stop without crashing before she threw the door open.

"Nooo!" Sweetie Bell shouted, turning to the door in a panic. "Rarity, I can explain, we thought that Cutie Mark Crusader Costume Creators would- Wait, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide as she surveyed the work room. Everything was in utter chaos. Fabric was tossed everywhere, dressforms were scattered and broken, and everything was covered in a gloss of pink glitter. In this case, 'everything' included all three members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were hurriedly trying to get all the chaos cleaned up. That was, until Sweetie Bell said Rainbow's name, at which point the other two Crusaders immediately turned to see what was happening.

Scootaloo turned, grinning. "Rainbow Dash!" She said, excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

'No no no no no no,' Rainbow thought, frozen in panic. This was perhaps the worst possible scenario she could imagine, short of opening the door to find everypony in town there. The only silver lining was that she was so shocked, the need to use the bathroom practically vanished as see tried to figure out how to get away from these three without them noticing the diaper.

Standing there, frozen and slack-jawed, it didn't take the fillies long to see why Rainbow was acting strange. After a second of their own shocked silence, the three of them started giggling in unison.

"I... I..." Rainbow stammered, feeling a blush creeping into her cheeks again as she tried futiley to cover the diaper with her wings. The stupid thing felt uncomfortably warm, and she desperately hoped that they would drop the subject.

Sweetie Bell stopped laughing long enough to have a realization. "Oh! I bet that's why you were wearing a blanket eariler!" She said, snickering.

"Eh... You know the bathroom is down the hall, right?" Apple Bloom chimed in, giggling.

Scootaloo looked a little more distraught than the other two, but that didn't keep her from chiming in. "Did you have an accident?" She asked, sounding more curious than teasing.

"No!" Rainbow Dash said, quickly, taking a step back, looking around for Rarity. "Totally not, I wouldn't use this stupid thing!"

If anything, though, her answer only left Scootaloo more confused. "I mean, er, did you get hurt or something?" She clarified. "You already, uh, used it..."

"I- What?" Rainbow asked, looking between her legs at the diaper, and feeling a sudden rush of horror when she realized why she didn't need to use the bathroom anymore. The diaper was soaked and sagging a bit between her legs, and the yellowish tint made it entirely obvious to everypony that she recently had an accident. Even the decal of her cutie mark had faded. "No! NO!" She yelped. The thought that she hadn't even felt it when she went was a bit disturbing. Worse, though, these three had seen. "You gotta promise not to tell anyone!" She blurted. "Please!"

"Sure, okay," Apple Bloom agreed, sharing an amused glance with Sweetie Bell. They had all stopped laughing, finally, but the three of them were still very clearly amused. "But why didn't ya' just use the bathroom?"

"It's- It's a long story," Rainbow said. "Just... Don't tell anypony. Please."

Rarity finally caught up with Rainbow Dash, making it to the steps and quickly noticing the state of Rainbow Dash's diaper. "Oh dear," She said, in what Rainbow thought was the understatement of the year. "I'm sorry, I didn't- SWEETIE BELL!" She shrieked, recoiling as she saw what had happened to her work room. "What did you- How- But why didn't-"

Sweetie Bell gave her sister an innocent look, smiling up at her. "Sorry, Rarity, but I promise we'll have everything cleaned up right away!"

"You'll do no such thing!" Rarity insisted, recovering from the shock before somehow directing an apology at Rainbow Dash and glaring at the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  "I'm afraid I won't be able to go to the Library with you, I need to get this mess cleaned up. Do you think you can make it to the library by yourself?"

"Um... yeah," Rainbow Dash said, after thinking for a second. "But, uh, you said you had something for me to wear?"

"Right, yes," Rarity said. "It's... Somewhere in here."

"Ooh, ooh, is this it?" Sweetie Bell asked, hurrying across the room and picking up a sad looking garment that resembled a cape dipped in glitter glue.

Rarity made a rather unladylike noise and nodded. "That - was - it," she said, sighing. "I'll just go get you a dress, Rainbow," she said, before adding a warning to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "And you three better not make things worse. I'll be right back to clean things up, don't you dare touch anything!"

It was a relief to be following Rarity back down the stairs, and as humiliating as the situation was, Rainbow Dash felt far better now that the urgency of the situation had been cut down. She still wanted to get the diaper off as quickly as possible, but she had time to go with Rarity to put on a dress.

Loitering in the back in case any other customers showed up, Rainbow waited for her friend to get something to wear. It didn't take Rarity long to return with a relatively plain - well, as plain as you could hope for with Rarity - blue dress.

"Thanks," Rainbow said, getting dressed up as quickly as she could. "Once I get Twilight to figure out what's up, do you want some help getting your work room cleaned up? It's the least I could do."

"Oh, that's fine," Rarity said, shaking her head. "I've got everything under control here. Good luck!" She smiled encouragingly, before remembering to add, "Do make sure not to get the dress dirty, please!"

"Sure," Rainbow agreed, feeling a bit better after the mortifying embarrassment a few minutes ago. Her diaper felt more awkward than ever as she took off out the door, the crinkling noises when she moved now accompanied by a squishy noise. She made a face, but tried to ignore it as she flew up above Ponyville, lining up towards Twilight's library and then speeding off straight towards it. It was barely two minutes away as the crow flies, and Rainbow Dash was way faster than a crow.

Flying as fast as she could, it was hardly twenty seconds before she was on Twilight's doorstep, knocking on the door repeatedly to be let in. "Twilight! Are you home?" She called, trying to peek in a window. "I need your help!" Even if her wet diaper was covered up, she didn't want anypony to see her out and about wearing a dress.

"Jeez, what's the hurry?" Twilight Sparkle called back, opening the door before, of course, the giggling started. "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing wearing a dress?"

Rainbow blushed, but hurried inside nonetheless. "It's kinda a long story," she said, for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Are you busy?"

"Extremely! I still have to triple check my weekly task checklist, and I'm almost fifteen minutes behind schedule! And would you look at the state of the library?" Twilight replied, waving a hoof around to display the pristine and well-organized state of the library before noticing Rainbow's skeptical look. "But, heh, I can make time. What do you need?"

"Um..." Rainbow Dash said, before deciding just to tell her. After all, Rarity, Sweetie Bell, Applebloom and Scootaloo already knew, and Twilight was trustworthy enough. "Just promise not to tell anypony, okay? I just need one of your egghead spells to fix this." She asked, grabbing the dress and yanking it off. Twilight looked a little annoyed at the comment about her spells, but once she saw the diaper her annoyance vanished.

After a few awkward moments went by, Rainbow Dash realized that she probably preferred the giggling to Twilight's reaction. The purple unicorn just stared for a few moments, and after a few moments of awkward silence she asked, "Um, I don't know any potty training spells, Rainbow, but I can probably find something if you need me to."

Rainbow blinked, before she realized what Twilight was insinuating. "What? No! I need you to use a spell or something to take this stupid diaper off!"

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, her confusion giving way to amusement. "What, are your hooves not working?" She asked, as her horn started to glow. "Fine, I'll humor you."

Rainbow Dash momentarily panicked, quickly warning Twilight that this wouldn't work. "No! Don't use..." She trailed off, as the magic tugged the tapes free of the diaper, and it flopped to the floor. Rainbow grinned, exuberant. "Awesome, thank you! What kind of spell did you need? Was it some kind of awesome counter-curse magic thing?"

Twilight shook her head, sounding skeptical. "Uh, I used a levitation spell. A really easy one. Are you feeling okay, Rainbow?"

"I am now," Rainbow Dash replied, not wanting to question things too much. If the diaper was off, she was happy. "Uh, can I use your bathroom, though? I, uh, still have some business I need to take care of."

Giving Rainbow a confused look, Twilight nevertheless decided not to push things too much. Unlike certain pink friends of theirs, Rainbow Dash would usually explain everything eventually. "Sure," she said, as she levitated the used diaper to a trash can.

Rainbow Dash beamed, trotting across the room towards Twilight's bathroom. As she thought about it, compared to most issues they had around Ponyville this one had been relatively simple to get fixed. Only a few ponies had seen, and it had all been taken care of with fairly minimal effort. As embarrassing as it was, it could have been a lot worse.

Rainbow Dash stopped thinking that when she closed the bathroom door behind her and felt a sudden snap of magic around her hindquarters. Looking over her shoulder, she screamed again. Not only was another diaper taped in place around her waist, it was just as wet as the last one had been when Twilight took it off

"Aaaah!" She yelped, running out of the bathroom. She was beginning to feel a sharp tug in her gut that signaled she was done digesting last night's excessive portions of cake.

"Rainbow Dash? What is it now?" Twilight Sparkle asked, turning to address Rainbow before seeing her diaper. "How did you-"

"I don't know!" Rainbow said, exasperated and panicking. "I just closed the door and it was back! Try your spell again or something!"

Twilight was pretty confused by then, but Rainbow Dash was very clearly focused on fixing things right away and figuring out why later. "O-kay..." she said tentatively, focusing for a moment and once again untaping the diaper from around Rainbow Dash's waist. "I don't know if that will work, though, if it didn't the first time ar-" She stopped talking when she realized Rainbow was already gone, having sped into the bathroom the second the diaper was off.

"AAAAUGGHH!" Rainbow Dash's exasperated cry came from the bathroom as she came out again, her eyes wide and frantic. "It didn't work!" She was trying and failing to cross her hind legs, clearly struggling to hold it.

Twilight focused again, her horn glowing brighter. "Let me try a counter-spell. Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, I'm sure I can do something." she said, and after a moment the diaper entirely vanished from Rainbow Dash's flanks. She grinned for a second, but before either of them could so much as speak, there was a flash and the diaper was back, and Rainbow reacted like somepony had kicked her in the stomach, doubling over in midair and clutching her gut.

"Not helping!" she said, body tense as she landed to conserve energy and started trotting in place in a grown-up version of a filly's potty dance. "Come on, Twilight! This stupid prank already made me wet myself, I'm NOT gonna crap this diaper too! PLEASE!" She clasped her forehooves together in a pleading manner, looking to her friend for help.

"I- I don't know what to do!" Twilight said, running to a bookshelf and levitating a string of various tomes down, scanning through them at a breakneck pace. "I don't even know what kind of curse it is! Let's see... The Fiendish Filly Flu, no... A Costume Curse? No... Maybe it's a Mare's Malediction... Rainbow, have you been in contact with any rare magical pendants recently?"

"NO!" Rainbow yelled, trying to cross her legs and doing a poor job of it with the bulky padding keeping her hind legs spread. It was taking more effort to keep her diaper clean - If not dry - than it normally took clearing the skies for a week. "JUST DO SOMETHING!" She shouted, desperately.

"I don't know what to do!" Twilight said, urgently flipping through books quickly enough that the corners of the pages started to smoke.

"I don't care!" Rainbow replied, trying to grab the diaper and yank it off in a futile gesture. "Just do anything!"

"Um... Oh gosh, maybe..." Twilight stammered, until she finally saw something that looked right, A Counter-Clothes Curse mentioned in the Anthology of Anachronistic Alchemy. She quickly read it, trying to see what the effects were. "Invented by Starswirl the Bearded's nephew, strips a pony of his or her clothes and leaves them unable to get dressed for weeks. It was generally been laughed at for being useless, since ponies don't wear clothes... Perfect!"  As far as Rainbow Dash was concerned the side effects wouldn't be a big deal, and as long as it worked, it would get her out of that diaper in no time. Her horn began to glow, brighter and brighter as she followed the instructions, pointing the magic at Rainbow Dash. "Hold still, I have a plan!" She called, and finally let go of the spell.

The flash was incredibly bright, and for a second Twilight's couldn't see a thing. She heard a loud 'Crash', and after looking around and a whole lot of blinking she came to her senses. "Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?" She said, the library coming into focus. She saw Rainbow Dash, standing behind Twilight's desk, very obviously hiding her hindquarters and looking like she was about to cry.

Making a choked sobbing noise, Rainbow managed to say, "I- I'm fine. Just, uh, stay back. Okay? The spell, uh, worked. Everything's cool." She sniffled, and didn't move from where she was standing.

Even if Twilight didn't have an ounce of common sense to figure out what had happened, she could smell the problem almost immediately. Wrinkling up her nose at the odor, she said, "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. We'll find a spell that works and get you cleaned up."

"What do you m-mean 'Get me cleaned up'?" Rainbow Dash asked, feebly protesting. "I'm fine! The spell worked! I d-didn't use the diaper, okay? Just, um, go back to your checklist thing or whatever." The lie was so bad that Twilight briefly wondered if Rainbow was the Element of Honesty and not Applejack, but the pegasus was clearly feeling sensitive, so Twilight knew she had to tread lightly.

"It's fine," Twilight said, levitating a clothespin from her desk and pinning it to her nose to deal with the assault on her sense of smell. "I promise I won't laugh or tease you or anything. It was the curse, you couldn't have done anything, just let me help you and I'm sure we'll get you back to normal in no time."

Rainbow sniffled again, but looked like she was starting to calm down a bit. "J-just don't tell anypony, okay? Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders already know I was wearing a diaper, b-but I don't want anypony to find out that, um... y'know, I, uh..." She couldn't actually say out loud that she had made a mess in the diaper, but it was good enough.

"I promise," Twilight assured her. "Now let's get to studying, I'm sure I've got the cure in here somewhere." A pause went by, then she added, "Uh, do you want a clothespin?"

"Yes, please..." Rainbow said, wiping her eyes and finally coming out from behind the desk. "This thing kinda stinks..." It was obvious from even the most cursory of glances that the diaper was full, to the point that Twilight was surprised it hadn't leaked. Rainbow's trot was particularly awkward as she tried to walk without making the diaper's contents squish against her flanks. Twilight almost suspected that the curse had affected how badly Rainbow Dash had to go, since the diaper looked less like Rainbow had an accident and more like she'd been wearing it for a few days. "Thank you for not laughing, Twi," she added, smiling with an embarrassed but grateful expression.

"Of course," Twilight reassured her, looking through her desk for another clothespin. "What kind of friend would I be if I made fun of you over something you couldn't control?" It wouldn't help the situation any if Rainbow was hiding behind the desk while Twilight did all the studying, after all.

"Hah hahha!" A loud laugh echoed down the steps. Looking at the source, Twilight saw Spike, laughing so hard he could barely keep from falling over. "R-rainbow Dash, wh-why are you wearing a totally gross diaper?" He asked, stumbling over his words between giggles. "I kn-know you're lazy but gosh, getting to the bathroom's pretty easy!"

"Spike!" Twilight scolded, as Rainbow retreated behind the desk again, hanging her head in embarrassment and retracting her wings in an impression of Fluttershy when she was frightened. Spike had the common sense to stop laughing, though he still looked pretty amused by the situation.

"N-no, he's right," Rainbow said, moping again. "I'm a laughingstock! Nopony is ever going to take me seriously again!"

"That's not true!" Twilight said. "Nopony has to know, and even if they do, it wasn't your fault, it's whatever curse got put on you. We can figure out a way to get you out of that diaper, and it'll all be okay."

"Sure, as soon as I move to a new town and change my name," Rainbow insisted. "If anypony in Ponyville even gets a hint of this-"

"They won't!" Twilight assured her. "And Spike!" Her dragon assistant winced at the way she said his name.

"Y-yes, Twilight?" He asked, cautiously.

Twilight smiled a bit, feeling that she was finally getting things under control. "Since you think this whole thing is so funny, you get to help with the studying. And I better not hear any complaining!"

Spike reluctantly agreed, nodding and saying, "Okay..."

"Good!" Twilight smiled, turning back to the desk and producing a clothespin, levitating it over to Rainbow Dash and clipping it to her nose. It stayed put for all of a half second before there was a small pop of magic and it fell off, clattering to the floor. Twilight was confused, levitating it back in place and once again clipping it over Rainbow Dash's nose. Again, it fell off.

"Wh-why won't it stay on?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused. "Is that part of the curse, too?"

"I don't know," Twilight said, inspecting the clothespin. "I'd say that the spell I used on you worked and it's keeping you from wearing the pin, but then you would have been able to take off the diaper. This doesn't make any sense!"

"Please don't tell me I have to smell the stupid thing until we find the right spell," Rainbow Dash said, sounding a little more annoyed than embarrassed at that prospect. "It's bad enough I can't sit down."

"Why can't you sit down?" Twilight asked, momentarily confused.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Uh, hello? Would you want to sit down in a pile of crap taped to your hindquarters?"

"Right..." Twilight realized, embarrassed for not having thought of that herself. "So, let's get to studying. I'm sure this will take no time at all!"

...

Some Time Later

"We aren't getting ANYWHERE!" Rainbow Dash complained as she slid over her fifth book, flipping through it for spells. Spike had read a few more than Rainbow and had no luck either, and Twilight had gotten through half her inventory on rare curses and turned up nothing. "We've been at this all day! The sun's about to go down, and I'm exhausted! Tell me you have something!" She was almost used to the smell by then, but her legs were starting to hurt from standing in place for so long, and any time she so much as thought about sitting down, her gross diaper would squish up against her flanks and remind her why that was a bad idea. After a few hours of studying she had needed to pee, and since she didn't think anypony would notice, she had just used her diaper again. That had been a bad idea, and the overfull diaper had finally leaked, leaving a puddle of urine on the library floor, Rainbow feeling gross, and Twilight hyperventilating when a couple books were almost ruined.

"No," Twilight admitted, looking up. "But I think I have an idea! I was just reading through this theory book on Complicated Clothing Curses, and apparently curses like these usually have some way for the victim to get out of it. A weak point, if you will. I think I know how you can get out of that diaper."

"Really? How?" Rainbow said, an edge of excitement in her voice. Her flanks were starting to itch, and she couldn't wait to just take a nice, long shower back home.

"From what I've observed," Twilight explained, "The diaper only re-appeared when you left the room. Plus, I checked the trash can and all of the diapers I took you out of were still there. That means that each time they re-appeard, it was a new diaper! Don't you see?"

Rainbow tilted her head, confused. "Uh... No? If you keep trying to take this diaper off you'll have to take out the trash?"

"What? No!" Twilight said, trying to explain her idea. "I think, if I change you into a new diaper, then the curse shouldn't put the old one back on because you'll already be in  a diaper. Then, you can just take off the new one since it won't be cursed, and you'll be fine!"

"Great!" Rainbow Dash said, before pausing. "Um... Where are you going to get a diaper in my size, exactly?"

That made Twilight pause for a second, before she had an idea. "Spike, can you run an errand for me?" She asked. "Go to Sugarcube corner, and ask Mr. or Mrs. Cake if you can borrow a diaper. Tell them that I'm, uh, foalsitting," she added, in case the Cake's were curious. "And, um, better get a few wipes and some filly powder too. Then I can use my magic to make the diaper fit you!"

"Great," Rainbow Dash said, as Spike ran out the door. "But how come you can't just conjure a diaper up with your magic if you can make one bigger?"

"I..." Twilight said, considering the question. "Well, you see... That's... A really good point, actually. Give me a moment." Flipping through a book she had already read, she mouthed out instructions for a conjuration spell as she read it and then tried it in real life. With a small amount of magical flashiness, a large saddlebag appeared on her back. Looking through it, Twilight found diapers, filly wipes and powder, and even a mare-sized changing mat. The diapers even had Rainbow's cutie mark in the front, which Twilight hadn't even meant to do.

Pulling out the mat and laying it on the floor a short distance from the books, Twilight shrugged to Rainbow Dash. "Just, uh, lie down I guess. I'll try and get this done as quickly as I can, and then you can go home and get some rest. I know that this whole situation stinks , but I think we've just about got things under control."

"Finally!" Rainbow Dash said, gladly lying down on the changing table before it finally hit her that Twilight was actually about to change her diaper. The situation was so surreal she almost wondered if she was dreaming, but if that was the case she would have woken up hours ago. "Um... Just get it over with, I guess?" she said.

"Of course," Twilight assured her, her horn glowing as she got started. Undoing the tapes, she was hit by the smell and recoiled, even with her clothespin firmly in place. Rainbow Dash had it worse, gagging a bit and trying to wave a wing in front of her nose to help. Levitating the diaper into the trash and then taking a couple wipes from the box, Twilight started getting her friend cleaned up, trying to be as quick as possible without doing a poor job.

A half dozen filly wipes later, Rainbow was clean, and both Twilight and her were blushing profusely at the awkward situation. "This isn't so bad, is it?" Twilight said, trying to distract from the matter at hand as she pulled over the filly powder, applying a little bit between Rainbow's legs. "Almost done, just... Oh no, that's too much," she said, grabbing another wipe and trying to move some of the filly powder more to Rainbow's flanks, and making things worse. Wielding both the tube of powder and a few filly wipes with her horn, she tried again. "No, now there's too litte... Now it's all uneven, but-"

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow shouted. "It doesn't matter! Just tape on the other diaper so we get this over with!"

"Right," Twilight said, sheepishly setting down the filly powder. "Um, can you lift up your flanks for a second so I can get it under you?"

"Sure," Rainbow Dash said, complying. It only took a couple more seconds, and Twilight levitated the diaper in place and taped it on, a bit askew, but still snugly in place.

Twilight smiled. "Now that wasn't too bad! I can't wait to write the Princess and tell her everything we learned about trusting friends to help you through embarrassing situations!" Noting Rainbow Dash's look, she added, "I'll leave out the details." Then, glancing at the trash can, which was now totally full of Rainbow's old diapers, she added, "Remind me to ask Spike to take out the trash when he gets back..."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash added, glad that the situation was over with. "We've got one more, now that I can take this thing off." She beamed, grabbing the tapes of the new diaper with her hooves, and giving a yank.

They didn't budge.