Sleeping Belle

1
"Stepping In"

It was well past eleven. Sitting in her living room Rarity sipped some chamomile tea, the closest thing to a nightcap she would have (given that she seldom drank alcohol outside of a social occasion). She thought over her day's events, how little had actually gone according to plan. She was a bit behind, but not yet frazzled:

If I move the final touches to the reconstruction of Cheerilee's Mom's wedding dress to tomorrow afternoon, I should have time to work on the custom, three piece Cute-ceañera ensemble for Dinky Hooves for the rest of the evening. Putting down her mug Rarity rubbed her temples and sighed. Rarity, oh, Rarity... relax, dear. You're working much too hard. There is still plenty of time for another thing to go wrong... such as finding out Sweetie Belle stole the last of your custom thread to fix her slightly worn Crusader cape and Button's beanie. You can recover, and if you want things to go well for the next couple days, you'd best get to bed before tomorrow begins. She looked down at her mug, taking the last sip. It tasted good and was all empty except for the bag.

Getting up, and using her magic to carry it with her, Rarity took the mug into the kitchen and cleaned it, properly disposing of the tea bag. She then put the dish away, giving her already spotless kitchen one final look over for the night. Hard to believe she had two younger ponies running around in here not hours before... though why had she agreed tonight, of all nights, to allow Sweetie to have a small pajama party? She was much too generous and she knew it... though she and Sweetie did have to have a talk before, given what was going on. It was no matter, this was all in the past and things were planned for appropriately.

The mare grinned as she felt a warm, fuzzy sensation against her foreleg. Looking down she saw Opalescence rubbing on her knee.

"Well, then," she said, with a smile. "You're just going to be up all night, aren't you? A nocturnal creature. Do get the mice, dear." Turning away she clicked off the light with her magic. "Good night, Opal... pleasant dreams, should you get bored enough to nap."

She glanced back to see Opalescence slowly following her, looking a tad bored but like she knew she was going to be alone for the night... typical of most cats, Rarity knew despite being aloof they are not anti-social animals. Opal followed Rarity until she got to the hall upstairs, where the cat promptly got distracted by her shadow in the dark, mostly due to multiple low-level light sources not on during the day. She started doing her typical spooky, sideways dance, heading back downstairs to a place where she understood how the light worked at this time of night... it was almost non-existent and, given that Opal could see in the dark, that was fine.

Noticing Sweetie Belle's light was still on, Rarity silently crept by Sweetie's room and looked inside. There the filly, and her coltfriend, were asleep on Sweetie's large bed... snoring happily. Sweetie was on her back, Button's was rump in the air. They hadn't even made it under the covers; it looked like they had simply passed out. Crayons and drawings lay beside them, the newest half done (Sweetie's of singers she admired, Button's of cruder-looking video game characters). The two were, of course, dressed in pajamas, Button's faded sleeping clothes contrasted against his darker coat. Rarity noted he looked a tad better without the beanie, but it was his favorite, lucky hat, and she could relate. So many customers swore by a particular piece of clothing, sometimes quite ratty-looking, that they'd just never let it go. He'd gotten a score of over 9,000 in one of the first video games he'd played wearing it (the one, he said, using terms Rarity couldn't recall, where the characters all turned blonde when they achieved their "final form" which, as it turns out, was never truly final). For that reason they were inseparable.

Using her magic to gingerly remove the drawings and tools, Rarity noticed Button's top was backwards. She shook her head, wishing she was his mother so she could fix it and have it not be too awkward. At least she had Sweetie Belle to focus on, but she would let them both sleep for now. They had had a big day of running around... both outside and, when the sun finally set, in. Tomorrow would be the same.

Before clicking the light off Rarity examined her little sister. She was snoring, mouth wide... it was cute. Her tops matched the rest of her quite well. With her magic she clicked the light off and began to tip-toe away, only to realize something, turning back around.

Click!

She looked at Sweetie Belle again and realize that the filly was not wearing any bottoms. They were still neatly laid out at the side of her bed.

"Oh, dear."

This would normally not be a big deal, had Sweetie Belle not started wetting the bed a month before.

The agreement Rarity and Sweetie Belle had come to was the same when Sweetie had gone to sleep at Apple Bloom's -- wear protection under your PJs, and you may go. In this particular case Sweetie could have him over and this was the perfect way to hide it. Granted Rarity had seen Sweetie Belle wearing her protection since and, frankly... it would be somewhat apparent even under her pajamas, not that a little colt or filly would know. Spatially, Rarity's abilities were quite good... both she and Rainbow Dash shared this in common. Much to her dismay she could tell the few mares in town that involuntarily leaked and wore dresses along with protection from those that simply liked to dress up. At least this particular brand did not crinkle (and they had just one package of those left when Applejack had gone in for Apple Bloom), but Rarity knew they would be much too bulky to completely hide.

Rarity stared for a bit, biting her lip.

Sweetie, what am I going to do with you? She let out a sigh. "It's okay, they're both asleep now... Sweetie is just as likely to have an accident tonight as she was yesterday." It's happening more than twice a week and you know it... "I have to do something. Sweetie might wake up cold, wet, and embarrassed... then I'll need to get yet another mattress."

Rarity approached slowly, already having made up her mind what she was going to do.

"Okay, she's on her back. This should be fairly easy."

Her horn glowed and out from under the bed came a small, pink duffel bag. It was exactly where it was always kept. She manually unzipped the bag, quietly, looking at the supplies -- there were five diapers out of twelve left and a container of foal powder, its seal still unbroken. Rarity found herself scowling, if only for a moment:

Sweetie Belle, you and I agreed that would help keep you dry! She shook her head, unable to stay angry despite her best ability. Well, to be truthful, even I'd have trouble using it on myself. "It's so... puerile and smelly. It would be demeaning, especially in this case." She looked over at her snoring sister, taking a diaper in her magic. "Sweetie, if you can hear me I do feel bad for having to do this to you... let's just get it over with."

It had been six years since Sweetie Belle was toilet-trained, and yet this position already felt so familiar. Rarity could recall changing Sweetie Belle's diapers, at an age where she could even talk, and how... she didn't mind at all. In fact, like most foals, Sweetie Belle's bladder had trained months before her bowels. Rarity's body and magic remembered all the motions it was about to carry out, quite well at that.

Using her magic to gently raise Sweetie Belle's legs (and effectively her rump), Rarity opened up the diaper with her hoof and slid it beneath her sister. She lined it up perfectly, tenderly laying Sweetie's backside down, her legs splaying a bit in an almost undiginfied manner as Rarity pulled it up to make sure it would fit snug. She checked her sister's face. The filly was actually smiling a bit... perhaps having a good dream or, in some barely remembered way, this was strangely comforting.

Sweetie's legs went right back in the air, held together this time by Rarity's magic. The mare took the container of foal powder, slowly broke its plastic seal (making sure to be as quiet as possible, as not to wake either sleeping pony). She then sprinkled a little bit on Sweetie Belle's rump and inside the diaper... a lot more came out than she thought was going to when it came time to turn the container vertically and get some in the diaper, enough to make a small mountain, but using her magic to spread it around a bit, from front to back, it ended up being excessive, but not overly so.

Rarity set aside the powder and pulled the front of the diaper up between Sweetie's thighs. Again the filly smiled. There were just two velcros on the front (and one on the back for the tail), just like with an infant foal's diaper. This part would be easy. Rarity began taping the diaper up, slowly... again, careful not to make too much noise as she adjusted the tabs and pulled it taught. Sweetie Belle was nearly diapered.

Rarity knew these diapers were called Youth Briefs on the package, but she also knew how manufacturers sometimes... played with names for their products to give them a different ring. This was something she could appreciate, but only externally. The term "brief" was much more dignified than diaper, but it still performed the same function. This was all simply smoke and mirrors for dignity's sake (and marketing).

The front half of Sweetie Belle was securely diapered. Using her magic to roll Sweetie to the side, Rarity secured the final velcro and it was done.

"Whew... that wasn't so bad."

She then used her magic to grab Sweetie's pajama bottoms, opening up the waistband to slip her little sister inside. She used her magic, again, to raise Sweetie's legs... having to hold a sleeping filly gently in her aura was more difficult than it seemed, as her motions had to be especially gentle (as did her grip), even more so than when working with the most delicate of threads.

I'll just put these on you and nopony will be any wiser! Rarity smiled. "Oh, this was much too easy."

"Um... what- what're you doing to Sweetie Belle?"

Button's gravelly, half-asleep voice cut through the silence. Rarity froze, turning to him. His eyes were fluttering, barely open. The words had been a struggle to get out. He smacked his lips, literally on the verge of falling asleep again, hanging in between consciousness and rest waiting for an answer.

Rarity thought quickly. She could panic, and then both would definitely wake up. She tried something she had read once in a book, when two daring secret lovers of the same sex had been discovered by one of their younger brothers, unbeknownst to them both, on the bunk above.

"Go back to sleep, Button," she said, soothingly. "It's okay. You're just dreaming."

She messed up the line, but the result was the same. Had Button been awake enough to process that made no sense he would've definitely woken Sweetie Belle up (with his brain breaking from what he saw Rarity doing). As it was he was just waiting for a bit of soothing music to escape Rarity's lips, and, satisfied with that, was already drifting back into slumberland.

"Whew." Good thing Sweetie Belle can sleep through anything.

She looked back at Sweetie Belle who had stopped snoring, but was still fast asleep.

Rarity pulled the pajamas on her sister, above the waistband of her diaper, tucking it in nicely so no bits of white showed. She then pulled the drawstring closed and tenderly pulled the covers over both sleeping, little ponies (using her magic to gently turn Button on his side). Neither would be the wiser as to what had happened when the morning came... at least Rarity hoped, though she knew it was not likely.

She was almost home free. Both little ponies a snored blissfully as Rarity used her magic to gently tuck everything away. It didn't take long, though the re-zipping of the bag was louder than expected, both continued to snore. She was at least happy that Sweetie Belle would have a dry bed and pajamas in the morning... though she wished she had done this all by herself.

When all was finished, Rarity tip-toed away from the pair, shut the door behind herself, and, standing alone in the hall... let out a huge sigh. That was too close.

Now Rarity just had herself to worry about, as it was rapidly approaching midnight. The whole ordeal had taken under five minutes, but a good ten minutes would then be spent in the shower, and then after that five to ten to properly dry. It would be well after eleven forty-five by the time Rarity laid down to rest. Still, all in a day's work for a big sister.