From Bad To Worse
Luna’s Worsening Problem
Luna sighed as she trotted into her bed chambers, kicking the door closed behind her. Today had been far more exhausting than usual, as Luna had accompanied her sister all day in order to become more acclimated with more of her royal duties in this modern era. As happy as she was to try and take some of the responsibilities of managing the kingdom off Celestia’s back, right now all Luna wanted to do was crawl into bed and drift off to the Dream Realm.
Combatting nightmares sounded far more interesting than listening to some noble prattle on for hours and hours about nothing.
However, before she could do that, there was still one more task she had to do first, a new part of her routine that Luna had still not gotten used to. So it was with great reluctance that Luna trotted past her bed and over to her wardrobe, pulling the doors open with her magic as she approached. As she stood before her wardrobe, her eyes became drawn to a rectangular package sitting at the bottom, the plastic wrapping already torn open to reveal the row of white, plastic squares contained within.
When Celestia had first suggested to her the ludicrous idea of wearing diapers to bed to solve her recent bedwetting problems, Luna had been understandably angry. She was a crown princess of Equestria, after all! However, memories of recent nights waking up with wet sheets had eventually forced Luna’s hoof, and she had reluctantly began to wear the plastic garments to bed. At the time, she had assumed the diapers would only be a temporary fix, just until she could regain full control of the Dream Realm and stop worrying about waking up with a wet bed. A week, two at most, and then everything would go back to normal and she would never again have to go through the indignance of donning a garment that forced her to waddle and loudly crinkled with each step she took.
A month later, however, Luna was becoming less confident in her initial assumptions. It wasn’t her fault that so many young fillies and colts these days had such vivid dreams involving flowing water! What happened to the days were foals were toilet trained before they could barely walk?
Sighing once more, Luna extracted one of the diapers from the package with her magic, carrying it and a bottle of foal powder over to a spot on the floor next to her bed. Unfolding the diaper, Luna sat down onto the padded garment, wincing slightly as she felt her flank sink slightly into the fluffy cloud stuffing. After threading her tail carefully through the back, Luna made sure to add a quick dusting of foal powder before pulling up the front and carefully taping the diaper onto herself.
Picking herself back up, Luna did her best to ignore the deafening crinkling coming from her padded behind as she walked around her bed and crawled underneath the covers. Once she was comfortable, she closed her eyes and lit her horn, feeling her consciousness slowly drift away from the waking world as she drifted off.
When she opened her eyes back up, Luna was now floating within an expansive void that seemed to stretch on for eternity, a sea of stars acting as countless tiny beacons within the darkness. With but a thought, a piece of the expanse solidified into a platform for Luna to stand upon, stretching out into a path as Luna began to walk forward. As she walked deeper into the endless void, a myriad of doors began to appear on either side of her.
Luna smiled. This was the Dream Realm, her domain. A plane separate from the waking world where she had the freedom to shape it as she saw fit with but a thought. A realm where she was its stalwart guardian, protecting her subjects from the monsters that plagued them during the night. So, picking the door closest to her, Luna began her work.
Time was a nebulous concept within the Dream Realm, with some dreams feeling like they lasted only minutes while others stretched on for hours and hours, so Luna was unsure how much time was passing in the waking world as she went about her duties. One after another Luna observed the dreams of her subjects, always masking her presence and blending into the background as to not disturb the pony she was observing while she got a feel for the dream itself. Once she was sure the dreamer was safe, she would swiftly depart for another dream, though sometimes she couldn’t help but make tiny additions to dream, like making it rain flower petals in a dream of a young filly happily prancing through a field of flowers.
Seeing the smiles on her subjects’s faces filled Luna with a sense of accomplishment that her actions were making a small difference in the lives of others.
Of course, that was just one part of her duties. A more important part was protecting ponies from any nightmares she found while traversing the Dream Realm, fighting back many different monsters and terrors as she worked to ensure her subjects were able to sleep in peace. One after another Luna worked to hunt down the dreams that had become corrupted into horrid nightmares, returning them once more to happy dreams that would guarantee a peaceful slumber for the rest of the night.
After what felt like forever, Luna felt herself begin to tire, racing a hoof to her mouth to stifle a yawn. Though it was only her astral form that inhabited the Dream Realm, she still had her limits and right now it felt like she was close to reaching them. Though exiting the Dream Realm would require no more than a thought from her, she felt herself hesitating for a moment.
Several of the dreams she had entered had all involved large bodies of running water, and Luna winced at the idea of waking up in a soaked diaper yet again. “… One more dream couldn’t possibly hurt…” Luna muttered to herself, trying to stave off the inevitable for just a little longer as she scanned the doors around her with her magic.
A sharp sting in her horn alerted her to the presence of another nightmare nearby, the perfect thing to distract her from what awaited her when she awoken. Breaking out into a gallop, Luna raced down the pathway of doors until she can upon the one she sensed the nightmare coming from. With reckless abandon, Luna threw open the door and ran inside, finding herself…
… standing in front of another door.
“…Huh?” Luna was dumbfounded for a moment, having expected to find somepony in mortal danger. Instead, she found herself standing in a seemingly normal hallway in what she would describe as a typical house. Not far from her was a young unicorn filly, not yet old enough to have her cutie mark, as she stood before an innocuous looking door, her entire body trembling with fear.
Curious. What could possibly be beyond that door could fill this filly with such fear? Carefully walking towards the young filly, Luna could just make out the sounds of the filly muttering to herself as she approached.
“… Not scary, mommy says so. She and Daddy use it all the time, so it can’t be bad. But… but brother said it was a monster, and that it loved to snack on young fillies like me… What… what if he’s right?”
Just as Luna was preparing to comfort the poor filly and ask her what it was that had her so spooked, a loud banging suddenly came from the other side of the door, causing both Luna and the filly to jump in shock. Again and again something banged against the door, like a rabid Manticore trying to get out. Between the banging, a distorted voice pleaded, “…FEeD Meeeeeee….”
“No… NoNoNo! Brother was right! It’s gonna eat me!” The young filly shrieked as she turned tail and began to run, but her attempts to flee from her nightmare proved pointless as no matter how fast she ran she remained stuck in place, the door growing in size until it now towered over the poor unicorn.
Having seen enough, Luna readied her magic to combat whatever lay before her, but her ears perked up as she heard a different sound coming from behind the door. The sound of… running water?
Luna lost control of her magic for a brief moment as the pieces finally clicked together in her mind. “It can’t be…”
In that brief moment of confusion, the door was blown apart in splinters as the filly’s nightmare now stood revealed. Towering over them was a heavily warped toilet, standing practically as tall as a house. Large, razor sharp teeth now lined the outside of the seat and the underside of the lid. A pair of menacing, glowing yellow eyes glared down at the filly like a pair of searchlights, eagerly looking for its next meal. As the monstrous toilet opened its mouth to roar, a swirling vortex could be seen within its cavernous mouth.
“Noooo!” The filly screamed once more as many arms made of toilet paper descended upon her, wrapping around her legs and beginning to drag her towards impending doom. “I don’t wanna go! Mommy!”
Having snapped out of her brief stupor upon seeing the nightmarish toilet monster, Luna’s horn lit up with magic as she prepared to dispel the nightmare for good. With a wave of her horn, a bright flash enveloped the scene and…
… nothing happened. The toilet monster remained as it continued to drag the helpless filly towards its gaping maw.
Shoot! This filly’s fear has warped the nightmare beyond what I can easily dispel! With that option having proven useless, Luna immediately leapt into action. Spreading her wings, she soared into the air and shouted, “Fear not, young filly! I have come to rescue you from this fate most dire!”
The filly glanced up at the sound of Luna’s voice, a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she gazed upon her saviour. “Princess!”
“Begone, foul beast!” Luna shouted as she blasted at the toilet monster with her magic, causing it to roar in pain. Stumbling back, the monster lost its grip on the young filly as it turned its attention to the alicorn, allowing the young unicorn to slip free and scamper away.
“Get him, Princess!” The filly cheered on as Luna continued to blast at the monster, easily avoiding its attempts to defend itself from her magical assault.
Again and again Luna blasted at the nightmare until it had finally had enough, letting out one last roar or agony before it sank into the cavernous depths of the bathroom, disappearing from sight. Satisfied that the monster had been thoroughly vanquished, Luna flew back down and landed before the now smiling filly, who immediately latched onto Luna’s leg in a tight hug.
“Thankyouthankythankyou! You saved me!”
Luna smiled as she ruffled the filly’s mane. “Fear no longer, child, you are safe now. Though I am perplexed as to why you would be fearful of something like a toilet of all things…”
Releasing her iron grip on Luna’s leg, the filly looked away in embarrassment. “… Promise you won’t laugh?”
“I promise,” Luna replied with a reassuring smile on her face.
After a moment of silence, the filly eventually replied, “Mommy and Daddy have been helping me with my potty training and… it’s not going very well. My big brother laughs at me when I don’t make it, and calls me a big crybaby…”
“Ah, I see, “ Luna replied as she wrapped a wing around the young filly and pulled her close. “Older siblings can certainly be a pain sometimes, but I assure you there is nothing to be ashamed of. Learning to use the bathroom like a big pony is a struggle all ponies go through in their lives, it just means you’re growing up. Once potty training is done, I’m sure getting your cutie mark will be a much simpler matter.”
At the mention of getting her cutie mark, the filly positively lit up. “You mean it?!”
“I do. Now, morning will soon be upon us, so you should get going if you want to be well rested for tomorrow.”
“I will! Thanks again, Princess Luna! You’re the best!” After one more quick hug, the filly scampered away until she had vanished from Luna’s sight.
Luna smiled, proud that she had helped yet another of her subjects during their time of crisis. Yawning, Luna decided it was time now to return to the waking world once more, having put it off for long enough. So it was that she lit her horn once more in preparation to reawaken.
In that brief moment, she failed to notice a toilet paper arm snake up from the depths behind her and wrapped itself around her hind leg until it was too late. With a sudden sharp pull, Luna was dragged into the depths of the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her.
“Release me!” Luna shouted as she regained her senses, feeling more toilet paper arms wrapping around her hind legs and snaking up her body as she was dragged deeper and deeper into the pit. Blasting at one of the arms, she was dismayed when two more seemed to take its place, slowly mummifying the princess in a toilet paper cocoon despite her valiant attempts to free herself. Struggling against her restraints, Luna could only watch in horror as the previously thought defeated toilet monster arose below her, its mouth opening wide to drag her into the swirling vortex within.
“No!” With one last frantic struggle, Luna plunged into the cold waters of the toilet’s maw, gasping for breath as her head breached the surface. Her eyes widened in fear as the swirling waters began to pull her towards the rapidly spinning vortex, from whence there would surely be no return.
“Nooooooo!”
Luna bolted awake, panting for breath as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. A layer of sweat clung to her fur, though that wasn’t the only thing that felt wet. Tossing aside her covers, Luna stared wide-eyed at the diaper she was still wearing, horrified by what she saw.
The yellowed and clearly used state of the garment was no surprise to Luna, having awoken many times now to find them in such a state. The horrifying part was the large puddle that had spread outward as well, soaking her bedding with the unmistakable scent of urine.
She… had leaked. She had had such a large accident that her diaper, one specifically designed for nighttime accidents, had been unable to contain it all and had leaked all over her bed while she slept. The whole point of even wearing such thick diapers had been to prevent such damage to her bedsheets, and yet…
Luna didn’t know how long she sat there, just staring in disbelief at the ruined state of her bed and nighttime diaper. When the tears started, Luna couldn’t work up the energy to stop them, and so she just sat there, wallowing in her misery.
Sometime later, she heard a knock against her door. “Luna?” Came Celestia’s voice from behind the door. “Are you awake yet?”
When no response came after several moments, the door was gently pushed open to allow Celestia to enter before closing the door behind her. “Luna? Is everything–“ Celestia stopped mid-step as she took in the sight before her. Luna was looking up at her with tear stained eyes, obviously distress across her face as she sat there in a heavily used diaper, a very visible puddle staining her sheets. If she couldn’t already tell, the heavy odour of stale urine in the air only further confirmed what she already knew. “Oh, Luna…”
“Sis… Sister, We… We…” Luna could barely speak as tears continued to run down her face, devolving yet again into a sobbing mess.
In an instant Celestia was by her sister’s side, nuzzling her comfortingly and holding her close as Luna buried her face in Celestia’s fur. “There, there… It’s alright… Everything’s going to be okay…”
Luna said nothing else in response, just thankful that Celestia was here now.
For sometime the two of them remained that way, just a big sister helping to comfort her little sister. After what felt like an eternity to then, Luna finally ran out of tears to shed and reluctantly pulled away from Celestia’s embrace.
“We… Thank you, sister…” Luna said after a few seconds of silence.
“No problem, “ Celestia replied, happy now that Luna had appeared to have calmed down somewhat. By now the scent of stale urine had only intensified, and Celestia was unable to stop herself from wincing as the foul odour reached her. “Do you… need some help cleaning up?”
Luna slowly shook her head. “No, we–I have kept you from your duties long enough. I am more than capable of… “ This time it was Luna’s turn to wince slightly, “… changing myself.”
“Alright, if you’re sure.” Celestia paused for a moment as she looked Luna over once more. “Luna… I know you said you didn’t want to… but I think it might be time to speak to a physician about your ‘issue’.”
Luna’s instinctual reaction was to refuse once more, but the fresh memory of what had just transpired had succeeded in wearing down her resolve. “Very well, I can hardly argue against such an action anymore…”
“I’ll make you an appointment right away. Don’t worry about any of your duties today, I can take care of them for you. I’ll also request for a maid or two to come down with fresh sheets for your bed.”
“Thank you, sister,” Luna replied once more, the smallest hint of a smile appearing on her lips.
Once she was sure that Luna would be alright by herself, Celestia left to go make preparations for the day, leaving Luna alone once more.
Now in.a much better mental state than when she had awoken, Luna could focus better on getting herself cleaned up. Returning her attention to the diaper she was still wearing, Luna wasted little time in ripping the tapes open before using her magic to remove the offending garment from herself and roll it up into a ball. Carefully extracting herself from her wet bed, Luna levitated the balled up diaper behind her as she trotted over to her personal bathroom.
As she opened the door to her bathroom, the first thing her eyes fell upon was the toilet, the memory of the young filly’s nightmare causing a small spike of fear shoot up her spine as her heart hammered away in her chest.
“… Get ahold of yourself, Luna. It’s just a harmless toilet, nothing more.”
After depositing the used diaper into the trash bin, Luna closed the door behind her. Before long, the sound of her shower running could be heard through the closed bathroom door.