//------------------------------// // Potty Paradox (Doctor Whooves) // Story: Potty Training Tales // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Dr. Whooves was hard at work in his not so secret laboratory. He didn’t care what all the naysayers told him, what all the “experts” had to say. He was going to invent time travel in a way that didn’t involve spells or ancient scrolls. A way that would be readily achievable for anypony who wanted to use it (as long as they knew how to operate a time machine anyway). All sorts of electronic equipment lay strewn about the floor, half heartedly discarded without no fanfare. Science sometimes meant making a mess of things. The inventor’s attention was currently fixated on a device similar to the one he’d shown off on at least two occasions. At first glance it looked like an ordinary chair with a couple of wires poking out, and a helmet you strapped onto your head. But if one looked closely, they would see a series of buttons and even a lever. So maybe that didn’t exactly scream “time machine” but for a prototype it would be suitable. Dr. Whooves twisted a few bolts into position with a wrench, and then stepped back and wiped the sweat from his brows as he admired his work. “At last, I think I’ve got it!” He declared to himself. “After today I’ll prove everypony wrong! Time travel won’t just be a work of fiction, it’ll be a reality!” Unfortunately there was one downside to be your own inventor, you had no one you could use to test your inventions. But if the stallion was at all worried about this he didn’t show it. “Oh well, I shall simply test it myself. And once I’m sure it works properly, I’ll be more than happy to present it to whoever wants it.” He declared. The earth pony trotted forward, hopping into the chair and carefully pulling the helmet down. Once he was safely strapped in, he eyed the control panel and all its brightly colored, blinking buttons. “Now let’s see, what would be a suitable time period to use as a test?” He briefly pondered. “No telling yet whether it’s possible to change the future, so better not risk an event of great significance.” After a little bit of pondering the scientist settled on an idea. “Ah, I know. I always did want to revisit my foalhood home. A trip to my past shouldn’t be too harmful. Just have to make sure my past and present self don’t meet.” He started punching in a date on the panel with the buttons. He didn’t have an exact day and time in mind. Once he’d settled on a suitable time frame, Dr. Whooves pulled the lever and prepared to go back in time. But that was when something unexpected happened. The machine ominously whirred and sputtered, sparks and smoke started to appear as the chair shook all about! Dr. Whooves felt his eyes slam shut, and was it his imagination or did he seem to be shrinking? It felt like he was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. The experimental time machine finally stopped after what felt like an eternity. Dr. Whooves opened his eyes and immediately he could feel that something was different: He felt much smaller, and a lot chubbier. His hooves were little stubs. “What happened?” He wondered out loud, surprised at how squeaky and high pitched his voice sounded. The chair now seemed to dangle off the ground, or maybe it was just his smaller stature. In either case, Dr. Whooves had to leap down from his time machine. A quick look around indicated that all the lab equipment was still there. Every machine was where it had been while he was fiddling around with his time machine. Not a single beaker or burner was out of place. And there was no way he’d ended up in a lab from the past that was just like his, his lab was one of a kind.It was only once the stallion had a chance to look in a nearby mirror that he realized what had happened. Staring straight back at him was a pudgy, light brown coated earth pony foal. Said foal had eyes that were almost a baby blue in color, and a little wisp of dark brown for a mane and tail. “Great whickering stallions!” He cried. “The time machine must’ve malfunctioned! I must’ve regressed!” There was worse to come as the foal saw what was strapped to him. Somehow he had completely overlooked it before, but now there was no mistaking the presence of a thick, white, poofy diaper that hugged his rear tightly. The tapes were light blue with a little brown patch that had an hourglass inside of them. But more strangely was that printed all over the padding were numbers on a clock. And two hands appeared to on it as well and were moving. At a couple of points on the diaper, where there would be a number on a clock there was instead either a storm cloud (complete with a cartoon lightning bolt) or stink lines (also cartoonish). Sometimes they even overlapped. Dr. Whooves poked at the padding. “I’ve never seen diapers like these. What could they possibly mean?” He wondered aloud. As if in answer to his question the clock hands on the diaper moved. The foal noticing that they were moving close to the storm cloud where the three should be. As they got closer he felt a twinge in his bladder, and it increased in intensity as the clock hands crept ever closer. The regression hadn’t taken away his mental powers, the regressed scientist knew what that meant. “The storm clouds must mean I have to go pee. And the stink lines must mean I have to go poo,” He thought to himself. “Great whickering stallions! I need to find a bathroom, now!” Of course, he could’ve just used his diaper. But he hadn’t seen anypony around, or any traces of a nursery. Besides, something in his mind told him that a “big colt” didn’t wet or mess themselves. Dr. Whooves slowly crawled his way up the stairs. Were his diapers always this big as a foal? Or maybe this was just what foals today wore? Well it didn’t matter either way, right now the chubby little earth pony was determined to get up the stairs. He wished more than anything he had install a bathroom on the same floor as the lab. It was probably inviting accidents to happen if he had to constantly go up and down the stairs to find one. Not just lab accidents but accidents of a particularly… messy nature. At last his pudgy little hooves grasped the top step and with a series of shimmies he was able to pull himself up. “No time to catch my breath, I must find that bathroom!” He mentally reminded himself. The clock hands on his diaper were almost directly over the storm cloud and his bladder was screaming for release! Dr. Whooves frantically waddled his way down the hall, reaching the bathroom with what felt like mere seconds to spare! Never in all his life was he more relieved to find the door open! His joy didn’t last too long though, as he saw that there wasn’t a toilet anywhere in sight. Only a plastic toddler potty was there to greet him. The scientist sighed. “It’s probably better to use a potty anyway. It’d be hard to get onto a toilet in my current state.” He rushed over to the potty, waiting until his rump was hovering right over it before he tried to yank off the tabs, but they kept slipping! “Come on! Come on!” Dr. Whooves frantically whimpered as he could see the clock hands start to move over the storm cloud and his bladder felt like it was going to burst! Since his hooves weren’t working, he decided to try using his teeth. The taste of the padding in his mouth was not pleasant, but it did the trick. The tabs were undone and he tossed the padding aside! He didn’t even have time to sit down though as his bladder instantly started releasing. The little earth pony just relaxed, letting it all flow out as he tinkled into the bowl. For some reason he felt much prouder of himself for having made it this time. But that still left the dilemma of figuring how out he was going to get everything back to normal. He certainly couldn’t stay a potty training toddler forever. Could he?