//------------------------------// // 2. Storming Out // Story: Suited for a Challenge // by Mocha Star //------------------------------// Rainbow rolled to her hooves and sputtered sand out of her mouth. She shook vigorously, fanning her wings, to get as much sand of her as she could. She looked up through the palm fronds at a clear and deep blue sky. With a snort to clear her sinuses, she set her eyes level again and looked around. She walked for nearly half an hour, not feeling the need to fly until she reached the tree line and took in what she could see. For all she could see, she was on an archipelago. At a distance she could make out another island at the edge of the horizon’s arch. She took to the air suddenly to observe where she was, and it was a small archipelago with just enough foliage to feed her for a couple months, if she went on a strict grazing diet. She turned and began a flight to the next island over, after two hours she was bored and starting to tire, but the island was visible now. She climbed higher and used the air currants to glide. She yawned as the sun warmed her back, her mind drifted between where she was, what she'd tell everypony, and how they'd all kick Discord back into stone, if they had to. She finally saw her target below her and her body stiffened, letting her glide descend as she looked at the island she'd left hours ago. “No way…” She dove and landed in the water at the beach to lay down and was the sweat and heat off her coat. “What the hay, Discord? What's the joke here?” She didn't get an answer so she trudged onto land and made her way into the trees until she exited the other side. It was certainly bigger than she thought. She began a lengthwise trek and facehooved at what was in the center of the island. A small stone shrine, dedicated to Discord, with a bright pink, striped like a candy cane, and smelling of pineapple, full body baby minotaurs suit laying across an altar. Red gems spelled for her to put the suit on and she balked at the entire set-up. “In your dreams, Discord. I wouldn't wear that if it was the only way off this thing.” *** Two weeks had passed and the storms had finally relented enough to let Rainbow relax her grip on the tree she'd been holding. After being blown off the island she flew with the wind and stinging rain back to her island to wait it out. She was hungry, had sand everywhere it shouldn't have been, and in the end stared at the costume. She fought herself until the wind picked up again and she dove into the opening, curling around until it fit, then bent down to pull the zipper up. She had to admit, it was very warm and dry inside and she held a little frustration toward herself for being so stubborn. That is until she tried to move. Her legs kicked and her arms moved, but she couldn't coordinate them; so she did the only thing that she could think of, and that was to cry like a baby minotaur. She didn’t know how, but it came naturally to her, the low bellow of a wailing calf combined with a need for attention and help rang across the island and suddenly the weather calmed. She lost herself to the awkward instinct and flailed, not noticing when the trees around her bent down and encompassed the area over her. She felt the sand press against her back and she was lifted, but she didn’t know where in the near complete darkness. She stifled her crying and sniffled as a hush sound came from outside the shadows. The light expanded and she blinked at a crowd of a hundred creatures from across the world as Discord lowered a blindfold he was holding in his paw. The crowd erupted into laughter at her and she flinched back, unable to move she looked down at herself and her jaw slacked enough for a pacifier to fall from her lips and bounce between her hind legs, on the stage floor, just before leaving her sight. She frowned at Discord, who was holding his clasped hands to his cheek with a goofy face. “Aww, is widdle Wainbow upset? Was just a pwank,” he reached down and pinched her cheek. She slapped at his talons, missed, and fell over onto her face. She struggled to get her hooves under her but the fitting diaper she was wearing kept getting in the way and forcing her legs in awkward directions, so she finally resorted to flapping her wings. She managed to sit herself properly and after the buzzing her wings made stopped, she finally returned her glare to the being of chaos. “Discowd, fix me back to nowma wite naw!” she crossed her forelegs on her chest and pouted, the crowd gave a unanimous ‘awww’. “Aww, little Rainbow thinks she’s so tough still? How was your vacation on the island?” he asked pulling a model of the archipelago from the floor and holding it in his hand. He picked a tree from the earth and scratched his left eye with it. “You know, you were only there for about an hour,” he grinned at her baffled expression. “Time has little meaning when the boring stuff is taken out of the story. Can you recall what you ate your first night there? Or perhaps where you slept until the storms?” he wiggled his fingers over the island and it began to rain sprinkles until the island was covered. “I dunt caw, fish me ow Ah’m tew’in.” “Aww, spoil sport. Tell you what, why not explain why you don’t trust me and I’ll see if I can fix your opinion of me,” he said breaking the island in half and dunking one part into the floor. Rainbow fell forward again, thankful to see her adult body; then upset to see the diaper still on her. “What’s with this thing? I’m not a baby, I don’t need this!” Discord chomped the island and chewed it, the sound of glass shattering with each motion of his jaw. “Audience participation; they want you to keep it, so until they say otherwise,” he tossed the other island into the crowd and it turned into a sand golem with tree fronds for eyes, “and it seems they just keep coming,” he looked back just in time to get a hoof to his face. His head spun around three times and he fell over with a blue flower held to his chest. The audience booed her, but she only cared about Discord. “Get up and send me home,” he didn’t answer, just lying still as he could. She stomped her hoof on the stage. “Discord!” He slowly rose with a halo over his head and white wings on his back. “You have quite the way of shouting, you could wake the dead,” he lifted one hand and the stage rumbled. Rainbow looked at her hooves and then back to Discord just before a boney hoof broke through the floor. She took wing and managed to hover for a second before she fell back down and looked at her infant wings. She danced between the undead forelegs and dodged them as music began to play. She glanced at Discord who was wearing a flashy outfit and had started to spin records in the air around him. She used some of the boney legs as a base and ran to him, leaping and knocking into him. He caught her and looked at her with a neutral expression. “You, little mare, weren’t supposed to get out of that so fast.” She curled her hind legs and bucked out at him, barely missing his jaw because it stretched out of her way before snapping back into place with a click. “Well, you have to do something for me to get out of that diaper.” She glared at him in response. “Oh, nothing so inappropriate. You must simply give Twilight Sparkle, your friend, a bop’n’tug.” Rainbow sucked in a breath in surprise. “What? No way, that’s foalish!” “Says the mare in a diaper. I send you back, you do that without saying to anypony why you’re wearing a diaper, do the task and when you come back you won’t be wearing that diaper anymore.” She looked down at the white cottony cloudy diaper and then to Discord. She knew he could keep her in it for the rest of her life, so she averted her gaze and grumbled her agreement. “Fantastic,” he said and tossed her into the air. When she landed she was in the Ponyville market, and it had just fallen very silent. Rainbow looked around at the ponies she’d known for years and shrugged. She opened her wings, glad to see them full sized again, and tried to take off. She flapped so much and so hard ponies complained about the dirt she was kicking up before she stopped and realized three of her hooves wouldn’t leave the ground. She blushed and moved to step, quickly finding she could walk at a slow pace. When she’d try to run she’d stumble and almost fall, quickly learning that she had to keep two hooves on the ground the whole way through town to The Golden Oaks library. She casually waved at the gawkers and gave casual greetings as she went on her way like it was just another day in Ponyville. “Lookit Rainbow Dash, she’s wearing a diaper!” Rainbow blushed and glanced back, the diaper, now baring her cutie mark on both hips and a visage of herself on outside her view, on her rump, just under her tail and to the side, was a sad face; a glass of lemonade slowly filling under it. “Great, it just get better,” she said from what little she could see and returned to her awkward walk. Foals and adults snickered at her and she couldn’t help but blush brighter. “Okay, shut up! I have to do this because mggphhlm…” her lips wouldn’t open and she cursed Discord under her breath. She walked as quickly as she could out of the laughing crowd of ponies, much to her dismay they followed her, mocking her walk as a mass of stumbling equines with the blue grounded pegasus as their leader. Every pony that they crossed joined in, some not even knowing why but joining in on the fun. Rainbow finally reached the library and knocked on the door and waited for several seconds before pounding repeatedly. “Okay, okay, I’m coming, hold your hooves,” Spike called before the door opened. Rainbow and he looked at each other, then his eyes gazed across her body and he stifled a laugh. “Where’s Twilight, Spike?” Rainbow asked curtly as his dragon cheeks puffed and he snorted a tuft of flame. “Spike?!” He burst out laughing and pointed at her. “Y-y-your wearing a polka dotted diaper! Why, did you forget how to go potty like a big mare?” he fell over. “Spicy burrito night at the cloudhouse again? Or maybe,” he rolled to his belly and held his sides, “maybe… maybe you lost a bet with Pinkie Pie and have to wear it all day!” The crowd behind her heard his calls then burst into laughter of their own, pointing at Rainbow and mocking her, some holding up their own foals and tapping their diapers and pointing to Rainbow, shaking their heads, implying ‘don’t be like her’. Rainbow gasped and turned to glower at the dragon whelp. “Where is she?!” She shouted loud enough to cover, briefly, the laughing. Spike rolled to his back and looked at her with yellow slitted eyes and winked at her. In a quiet voice that belonged to the Lord of Chaos he spoke, “She’s at Fluttershy’s cottage. I certainly hope you make it in time, because that glass of lemonade is getting full. Rainbow gasped in shock. “You wouldn’t dare.” “Can’t stop nature, now can you?” he winked and fell back down, closing his eyes and laughing; the laugh returning to Spikes. The dragon opened his eye and looked at Rainbow with his natural gaze and resumed his fit. Rainbow turned and began a two alternative legged march toward the outskirts of town. She nearly fell every so often, even while trying to seem like she was trekking normally. The crowd had partially dispersed, but with loud promises exchanged for details about what was going to happen and to take notes. Rainbow did her best to ignore the comments, laughter, and even foals poking her diaper to make sure it was real. It was when she had left Ponyville that ponies noticed the filling glass of lemonade and made the connection, starting another round of teasing and even a parent or three tossing new diapers onto Rainbow’s back. Rainbow spent several minutes distracting herself with thoughts of what she’d do to Discord when she saw him face to face again. She perked up when she heard birds singing in harmony and she noticed she was already near the cottage. “Finally. Twilight?!” she screamed at the house sending the birds away in a rush. Fluttershy flew around her home at a quick pace, trying to herd the flying creatures back together while Twilight followed and looked at Rainbow. Her frown turned to a smile and she stood taller, waving hello. She froze and cocked her head when she took notice of Rainbow and said something to Fluttershy. Both her friends looked at Rainbow, Fluttershy landing and exchanging words with the unicorn while Rainbow walked as quickly as she could to meet them. They moved to meet her halfway. “Um, hi, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said casually when Rainbow was close enough, “why are you leading a parade wearing a diaper?” Fluttershy turned her head and hid behind her mane, but Rainbow could swear she heard a quiet sniffle from her foalhood friend. “I can’t tell you yet, just come here so I can tell you something else.” “Oh?” Twilight’s ears perked and she leaned closer, “like some gossip?” she asked with a giggle. Rainbow rolled her eyes and waved her closer. When Twilight moved closer Rainbow turned her hoof aside and lifted it, bringing it down onto Twilight’s horn. “Bop!” Twilight was dazed for a second as the uncommon sensation tingled her nervous system and didn’t resist when she was encouraged to walk past Rainbow with a little help from the cyan mare’s wing. Twilight let out an ‘eep’ when she was stopped suddenly and fell to her haunches. The crowd snickered and Twilight’s mind cleared suddenly to see her tail being spat out of Rainbow’s mouth. “Rainbow Dash?! Did you just bop and tug me?!” The crowd burst into laughter at the two of them, even Fluttershy had a hoof over her mouth to quiet her laugh. “What are you, a foal?!” Rainbow frowned and stomped her hoof into the dirt and turned to Twilight. “I had to because if I don’t get out of this diaper soon-” a ding sounded and from nowhere and everywhere the sound of water filling a glass filled the area. Rainbow turned bright red and looked at her now lumpy like a yellow nimbus cloud and bright as a lightbulb diaper. A hush fell over the entire area, only wind rustling leaves and blades of grass rubbing together for the longest heartbeat of Rainbow’s life. Then like a flood of sound everypony, bird, squirrel, cat, bunny, and critter nearby pointed and laughed at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow opened her wings and flapped them, finally leaving the ground and ramming her head into a large tree ahead of her. Leaves fell, cascading all around as she looked at the stars that danced in her vision. She quickly regained her senses and took wing, flying high over Ponyville in a couple seconds, only to let out a quiet sob when she reached a cloud she could hide in. The cloud darkened, but she didn’t care. She curled onto herself and hugged her tail to her chest from between her legs, petting it softly as tears left her eyes. She shut the world out by closing her eyes and humming a steady tone.