//------------------------------// // A Mother's Dilemma (Diamond Tiara) // Story: Potty Training Tales // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Due to her unfortunate upbringing in life, Spoiled Rich had gone without many things that, given her current social status she could never imagine going without again. One of those things was this marvelous invention (or inventions) known as indoor plumbing. No longer did one have to suffer doing one’s business in the streets, or a little hole in the ground. And no longer did one have to depend on rain water or the occasional river or stream to wash and take a bath. Ever since marrying Filthy Rich and coming to live with him in his estately mansion, complete with all the hired hooves one could ever want, Spoiled’s life had gone nowhere but up. For quite a while she had been content to just enjoy the finer things in life. Then came a new development known as motherhood. While Spoiled had always secretly longed for foals, she would’ve much preferred adoption to the entire process of giving birth to and subsequently raising a child. It was far more work than she was currently used to and brought back painful memories of her own childhood. As a result, her parenting approach was almost non-existent. Just about every aspect that was too uncouth for her was passed off to a butler or maid, or whoever she could press into nanny duty on short notice. Once her daughter, Diamond Tiara, became old enough to walk and talk, Spoiled started to breath a small sigh of relief. At least now her daughter could occasionally be left to her own devices instead of always depending on her for every little thing. Of course, there were still several nights where the young heir to the family fortune would wake Spoiled in the middle of the night. But whenever possible she would rouse her husband and claim she was too tired to do whatever it was that needed to be done. It usually worked. Unfortunately for Spoiled, one could not avoid being a parent forever. There were certain aspects of motherhood that always cropped up no matter what, and sometimes they would occur when there was nopony else around to take care of them. One of them was a process that Spoiled actually thought she would look forward to, from the safety of the role as an observer of course: Potty training. But one day, fate decided to intervene at the most inconvenient of times for the rich mare. A time when she was without hired help and a time when all eyes would be on her, silently watching and judging her. Diamond Tiara was two, almost two and a half years old. However, on Spoiled’s insistence her potty training was so far confined to the house. Public restrooms were not as lavish as the bathrooms back at the Rich family mansion, and less sanitary as far as Spoiled was concerned. As such, whenever she took her daughter out in public, Spoiled always had her diapered. Of course actually having to change said diaper would be… undesirable, so she generally added an insistence that her daughter use the bathroom, even if Diamond insisted she didn’t have to go. Spoiled was not a pony who took no for an answer. Mother and daughter were currently in the checkout line at a local grocery store (while Spoiled preferred shopping at Barnyard Bargains for the family discount, Diamond was never fascinated by the supposed drabness of the place). Since this had been a rare occasion for Spoiled where Tiara had behaved flawlessly (she’d even turned her snout up at a blank flanked colt), she had seen fit to reward her daughter with a snack from a small food stand. That was a decision that was about to come back to haunt Spoiled. She was almost to the front of the line, almost ready to check out and take Diamond home. Now if only that cashier pony wasn’t taking so long to ring up all the items the mare in front of Spoiled had purchased. As Spoiled waited impatiently in line, hoping beyond hope that the line would finally move and it would finally be her turn after what felt like eons, a faint tug on her shirt caught her attention. She looked down and tried not to scowl upon seeing that it was her own daughter that was doing so. “What is it, Diamond Tiara?” She asked, trying not to sound annoyed. The pink coated foal started to squirm and shift about uncomfortably. “Mommy, gotta go potty!” She shouted, trying to draw attention to the urgency of the situation. Spoiled looked to the line ahead, which finally seemed ready to move. And today was a day where she hadn’t bought much, just a few “necessities”. “Can’t you hold it until we go home, Diamond?” She insisted. “Your throne will be waiting for you, my little princess.” Tiara shook her head, continuing to squirm. “Gotta go, now! It bad!” She insisted, and the look on her face seemed to give merit to her claims. Spoiled suspected that if not for her daughter’s efforts, there probably already would’ve been an accident to clean up. “I knew it was a mistake to let her that soft pretzel! From now on, she’s not getting snacks whenever we go shopping! Treats will wait until after we get home!” Spoiled thought as she mentally kicked herself for her earlier decision.  But what could she do now? Her daughter was already clearly straining herself to avoid using her diaper. And since Spoiled wasn’t a unicorn it would be a long trek back to the mansion. And no way was she about to have her daughter “fertilize the soil” like those filthy Apples her husband was business partners with. Granted, Spoiled knew they had an outhouse, but she suspected that was more for show than anything. For a moment she wished she was a unicorn sorceress like in Diamond’s storybooks, and could whisk them both back to the mansion in a flash, but she knew that such magic was mostly just the stuff of breezie tales. That left only one option, one that Spoiled wasn’t going to like in the slightest. But considering the alternatives would be changing a dirty diaper or enduring its stink (and the disapproving looks of surrounding ponies for the rest of their trip), it was the lesser of two evils as far as the rich mare was concerned. “Okay, Diamond, just hang on for a little bit longer,” She tried to encourage in as sincere a tone as she could. “Give me a minute to check out, and then Mommy will take you to the potty.” Fortunately for Spoiled, the cashier at the checkout stand seemed to be aware of her current situation (probably because Tiara’s potty face was by now becoming increasingly easy to spot). The stallion quickly rang up the items, and Spoiled deposited an entire purse worth of bits. “Keep the change!” She shouted, as she took the bagged items, scooped up her daughter, and made an immediate beeline for the mare’s lavatory! Fortunately, none of the stalls were currently occupied, which Spoiled was extremely grateful for. The fewer ponies that would be around to witness this occasion, the better. She settled on the first stall she laid eyes upon, dashing inside and locking the stall door behind her! “Okay, Diamond Tiara, the potty’s just over there!” Spoiled gestured a hoof. “Just give me a minute to take off your diaper! And don’t you even think about doing it on the floor! I raised you to be better than that!” Tiara complied, her mommy was scary when she was like this. However, as her diaper was ripped off and tossed aside without fanfare, she couldn’t see anything that resembled her potty at home. There was no sign of that “Throne Lavatory” her mom always made her sit on, or any of those colorful plastic bowls like the lovely pink one she’d gotten for her second birthday. “Mommy, whewe’s ta potty? Me no see a potty.” Diamond commented as the foal looked all around. The only thing she could see in the stall, was what looked like some kind of box. It had a slight bend to it and seemed to have water flowing beneath it. But it didn’t have a handle, or a seat for that matter. It looked like if she tried to sit down, her rump would get stuck inside it. Spoiled seemed to giggle. “Diamond, the potty is right there. Can’t you see?” She gestured a hoof to the very object that her daughter was perplexed by. “Tat a potty? But it no wook wike a potty.” Tiara remarked as her eyes reflected a look of confusion. Spoiled simply sighed as she approached her daughter. “That’s because this is a different type of potty than the one you’re used to. Apparently, they install them in public places because they’re more convenient than the handle and seat model we have back at home. You just stand over it, lower your rump a little, and do your business. It flushes like normal” Diamond gulped as her mom got her into the proper position to “use” this new type of potty. “Bu what if me faww? Me get stuck?” “No, Diamond, you won’t get stuck. If you fall, I’ll catch you,” Spoiled reluctantly insisted. “But that won’t happen. Now just relax, and let the rhythm of nature flow through you.” And so Tiara did. She didn’t really need to try, at this point she had been fighting against her body so much that when she stopped doing so it all happened almost instantly. Pretty soon there was a plop and a splash as the pressure in the little filly’s rear disappeared. “I did it, Mommy! I used pubwic potty!” She cheered, feeling quite proud of her accomplishment. Spoiled appeared to be smiling too. “Very well done, Diamond Tiara. I can see that all those potty training lessons I bribed… er I mean paid the hired help to carry out were a wise investment on my part,” She pressed a pedal with her hoof, and her daughter’s waste was flushed away. “But just so we’re clear, I still expect you to use the proper lavatory at home before and after we come home. I didn’t insist on having it installed so you could not use it.” “Otay, Mommy,” Diamond obliged. “Now me just wipe and wash hooves, ten we go home, wight?” Spoiled snickered. “Almost, you forgot one thing.” “Wha tat?” Tiara asked as she tilted her head. A rather goofy grin formed on Spoiled’s face as she explained. “Your diaper of course. Using a public potty once is fine, but considering you’re still having accidents at home I don’t wanna take any chances. Some stains are a pain for the hired help to wash, you know.”