Moondancer tried to quell the slight nervous feeling in her stomach as she waited for her friend Twilight Sparkle to arrive at her (that is, Twilight’s) birthday party. Ordinarily, she would be quite glad to see Twilight. Out of all the other unicorn toddlers her parents made her mix with, Twilight was the only one who could read perhaps better than Moondancer herself (and do maths nearly as well). Having a rival was fun, at least when you had something you could one-up them at. And there was where Moondancer’s current worries lay, for she knew she would have to face competition from Twilight in a new field, that of potty training. And she wasn’t sure who would have the advantage.
Of course at first glance, Moondancer herself was well ahead, having been in training for nearly three months already. She could already barely remember the days when she filled her diapers without thinking about it, but she could remember the day it stopped. It had been a bit of a family event, her mother explaining how older ponies went undiapered, her father presenting her with a shiny, new plastic potty and even her sister demonstrating its use with her dolls. Though a bit surprised, Moondancer had also felt proud that her family thought she was ready.
She had even bragged about it a bit to Twilight, who still used her diapers despite being older. Of course the purplish coated filly had declared (with that annoying know-it-all-ness of hers) that ponies weren’t properly able to potty train until the age of three, and of course Moondancer had replied with words to the effect of “just watch me”. After all, the two of them could read as well as ponies years older than them already, why should bladder control be any different?
Except that, well, Moondancer had started to wonder if Twilight might be right. The first few weeks had seen her new pull-ups soiled and changed almost as frequently as the diapers they had replaced, And although she had managed to use the potty more often since, it was still somewhat hit-and-miss. Mercifully, she had managed to avoid any accidents in front of her friends, and kept up a pretense of consistent success. But she knew that had only lasted so long because she also hadn’t seen them much lately.
And all that time Twilight had kept using her diapers on purpose, often with forethought, and sticking to the idea of starting on her third birthday… well, Moondancer had begun to see it as a mercy. But now that mercy had run out, and if Twilight’s theory was correct, she would take to her new potty much quicker than the months-younger Moondancer. In her more worried moments, the filly saw her friend progressing to the adult toilet while Moondancer remained plagued by accidents.
Of course, Moondancer didn’t think to share these thoughts with her “peers”, the other fillies from the neighborhood who had been gathered for the party. None of them could even read or count beyond four, and she saw no sign that any of them had started to move beyond their diapers, indeed the yellow one (Moondancer didn’t bother to remember their names) had already wet and been changed while they waited for Twilight.
No, the other clever filly was the only one who might understand. But for her to find out Moondancer was bluffing would just invite an “I told you so”. So Moondancer would just have to keep trying, and hope Twilight’s age didn’t give her too much of an advantage. And speaking of which… it sounded like the birthday filly might finally be putting in an appearance.
Her brother followed her, a shopping bag aloft in his magic, a bag with a quite obviously potty-shaped bulge. It seemed Twilight would be starting on schedule.
And as if she needed a reminder of the expectations placed on her, Moondancer could overhear her parents as they talked with Twilight’s parents (who were currently cutting up the ice cream cake and eyeing the growing stash of presents):
“I tell you, Velvet, my little Moon is a natural when it comes to potty training,” Mrs. Dancer commented. She had the same eyes and coat color as her daughter, but her mane and tail were natural, straight locks of gold and silver. Her cutie mark was a stack of books, reflecting her skill as a librarian. “I think she could give your daughter some pointers.”
Twilight Velvet was unconcerned about Mrs. Dancer’s comments. “Oh, I think my little Twilight can manage things on her own, Dusty,” She commented in a dismissive tone. She’d learned long ago to tune out this kind of uppercrust talk. “I’m not in any rush. Shining was a late bloomer to potty training, but he turned out just fine in the end, didn’t he Night Light?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, of course, hon,” Night Light absentmindedly commented. “We kind of rushed him into it without asking him if he was ready, and that led to a lot of problems. Quite a few bumps in the road. So with Twilight we decided to wait, let her decide for herself when she’s ready. She’s read all the books there are on the subject,” With a chuckle he added. “She could probably run her training all by herself if she wanted to. And there’s always Shining to help her out if she needs it.”
Mr. Dancer just adjusted his dark brown spectacles, he had the same mane and tail color as his daughter but his coat color was a considerably darker shade of blue than Night Light’s. “Our little Moondancer doesn’t need anypony’s help. We told her exactly what’s expected of her and what she can expect if she sticks to it. It was a slow start, but now I think she’s getting the hang of it. We might actually transition straight to toilet training at this rate.”
“You sure you’re not rushing things, Star?” Night Light nervously inquired. “I’ve read that if you push too fast and too hard on potty training it can have adverse effects on a child’s psychological state. She’s only young once, it’s not a bad idea to let her enjoy it and ease into potty training when she’s ready.”
Velvet nodded her head. “Besides, think of all the fun you’re missing out on. Oh, the stories that Shining inspired me to write when he was a little one,” She paused and wiped a tear from her eyes. “Sorry, I’m getting a little bit sentimental.”
Mr. and Mrs. Dancer just exchanged judgemental glances as Mr. Dancer declared. “These are the methods our family has used for generations. You’ll recall that our first daughter was fully dry by the time she was four? I fully expect our little Moon will break that record. Certainly a plus when applying to Magic Kindergarten.”
Night Light waved a hoof. “That’s a long ways off. I’m sure we’ll have Twilight well on her way in potty training by then. She’s got a good year and a half before we have to worry about that.” Then they went back to cutting up the ice cream cake.
While Moondancer was listening in on her parents’ conversation, Twilight was concerned.
Oh, not about her training as a whole. She was going to do it by the book so success was guaranteed. But the book also said things like: ”Everypony will have some accidents to start with”, and ”Practice makes perfect”. Which was fine, unlike what some ponies might think Twilight was ok not being perfect (at least when a book assured her it was normal). What she was not ok with was being shown up by a filly who had rushed into training too early. Contrary to her predictions, she hadn’t heard of Moondancer having any accidents. Indeed, her parents had sounded proud of her. And she herself seemed confident that she would show off her potty training skills today, at the party.
So the little filly would just wait for an opportunity to present itself, find something that would make her have to go. Then she’d get to use her new potty, and everypony would be impressed with her and not Moondancer.
Once she got her potty, anyway. And that wouldn’t be until present time. Even though she knew what it was, Shining still insisted on “gifting” it to her. And present time wouldn’t be until after cake time, and game time. But maybe that could work to Twilight’s advantage. In the meantime, she occupied herself by talking briefly with some of her peers. She naturally couldn’t resist talking about her potty training even though she’d just started it. Her fellow friends shrug it off without concern. “Who cares? Why would anypony want to go without diapers?” Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts both said in response.
Minuette seemed to think the same, though before she had a chance to make her thoughts on the subject known she let out a gasp! “Hey, is that the cake? Is it cake time?”
Twilight turned towards the table, seeing her parents standing at the table with the ice cream cake that had been cut into slices ready for serving. They’d stuck three candles into the center, and Velvet was using her magic to lower the cake gently onto the table. “Okay, everypony, gather around! It’s time to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Twily!” She called in a chipper tone.
Twilight scrambled to the table, a task made difficult by the fact that she wasn’t fully accustomed to walking about in her new pull-up. She stumbled forward and tripped. Fortunately she was quickly picked up by her dad and placed into her big girl seat.
Moondancer and the other fillies quickly got into their seats as well, and Shining Armor came trotting out to join the parents.
Right on cue all sang “Happy Birthday” to Twilight and watched as she blew out her candles in a single breath. The only wish she had right now, was for potty time to come soon so that she’d have a chance to show off.
As was tradition in the Sparkle family household, the birthday pony got the first slice of cake. Twilight was allowed to eat without a bib. She began to dig into her slice with just her hooves, the one time it was acceptable to do so. The more she ate and the faster she ate it, the sooner it would work its way through her system. At least, that’s how she assumed it would work.
Moondancer watched her friend eating her cake sloppily. She just focused on eating her slice carefully, with proper table manners as taught by her parents. She was surprised to see Twilight ask for a second, and then a third slice of the cake.
Not long after cake time had concluded, Moondancer thought for sure she felt a familiar sensation in her bladder. She had drank a lot of milk with the cake, and milk always seemed to go through her quicker than other liquids. Before any of the games could begin, she would have to slip away to use the potty.
The problem was that her parents had brought her potty with her but they had set up in the downstairs bathroom. It was now expected of her to make it to her potty all by herself since she was so far along, rather than asking for a grown-up to escort her to it. And the downstairs bathroom was a ways away in her little mind.
But big fillies could make it regardless of the distance. So Moondancer not so subtly scampered off towards the downstairs bathroom without saying a word.
Twilight happened to spot Moondancer dashing off but didn’t think much of it. She was distracted by party games, which for most foals her age were the highlight of any birthday party. Besides, it would give her something to think about besides how much time she had to wait until all that cake would be on its way out.
The party games were your standard fare for birthday parties: Pin the tail on the pony, pinata, and musical chairs. Twilight partook in them willingly, every so often her thoughts would drift into potty training and to her desire to best Moondancer at it.
Unfortunately there was one element Twilight hadn’t counted on when planning out her activities and actions, Minuette or Colgate, whatever the name of that aqua blue coated unicorn with a mane whose color scheme and style looked like toothpaste.
“Hey, Twilight!” Minuette greeted as she shimmed about in her diaper. “Can’t believe you’re starting potty training. Guess we’re not gonna be diaper buddies anymore. That’s a shame because diapers are the best, wouldn’t you agree?”
Twilight blinked in surprise. “I guess they are,” She replied and under her breath she added. “When you’re two years old.”
Minuette didn’t hear the second part of Twilight’s statement, so she just giggled and made her diaper shake and crinkle. “You really can’t do that with pull-ups! Diapers are just so comfy, like having a pillow on your rump. An absorbent pillow that can protect you whenever you need to do anything,” Then without hesitation she declared. “In fact, I kind of have to go pee right now. You don’t mind, do you?” She’d been told it wasn’t polite to go in front of others and she avoided doing so if it was number two, but for number one she didn’t see what the big deal was.
“Uh…” Twilight trailed off in uncertainty. If she were still in diapers the answer would’ve been an obvious yes, but now that she was in pull-ups she needed to start thinking like a big girl. What was the way a big girl responded to that sort of question?
Without even waiting for an answer, Minuette relaxed and flashed a toothy smile as a faint hiss could be heard. Her diaper quickly swelled up as she emptied her bladder, the little suns on her diaper fading to storm clouds in the process. She finished pretty quickly and her diaper was now considerably damp. “Ah, much better. Well, time for a change. Be right back!” She declared to Twilight and then waddled away to find her mom and dad.
For a moment Twilight just stood there and blinked, surprised at Minuette’s total unconcern for publicly wetting herself. But before she could think about it further, she felt an ominous rumble in her gut. It had been a while since she’d enjoyed all that cake, maybe ten minutes or so. Regardless, there was only one thing she needed to do! She needed the bathroom, now!
So without even bothering to look for her parents or Shining (who would’ve gladly helped her in her time of need) the birthday filly sprinted away! She knew where the bathroom was, and she could’ve sworn she’d seen Moondancer heading in the general direction of it earlier. But those were unimportant details, all Twilight knew for sure was that if she didn’t book it she would end up with a “Try Again” sticker on her potty chart, and on her first day of potty training no less. That was an outcome she wanted to avoid by any means necessary!
In the bathroom, Moondancer unhappily sighed as she sat upon her potty. It was made to resemble Celestia’s throne and looked quite childish as a result. But her parents had considered it well worth the expense, a plain old potty wouldn’t have sufficed and the chamber pot replicas were old fashioned, something that only the most uncivilized of ponies still used.
Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open! Moondancer turned her head in time to see a purple coated blur dart inside and clumsily shut the door behind her! “Twilight?” Moondancer blinked in surprise.
Whatever confidence Twilight had had up to that point vanished upon seeing Moondancer seated on her potty. “Oh, Moondancer,” She commented in a dejected and downtrodden tone of voice. “I guess you had to go too, since you did. Figures you’d be better at potty training than me, you got a head start on it.”
Moondancer hated to see Twilight look so upset, and now she couldn’t help but feel guilty. Any desire she might have had to show off and gloat about her superiority left her. Just a few weeks ago she was no further along than Twilight was now. So she got off her potty. “Actually, Twilight. There’s something I wanna show you,” She gestured underneath the plastic bowl as she promptly pulled out a pull-up, its sagging outward appearance indicating a good soak. “I almost made it to my potty, but as you can see almost doesn’t really count.”
“But why were you sitting on it, then? Why not just tell your mommy and daddy?” Twilight asked her friend.
“Because they want me to sit on my potty regardless of whether I make or don’t make it. They say sometimes you may have to go even if you don’t think you have to. Besides, my parents wouldn’t be very happy to find out I had an accident now. They want me to be fully trained as soon as possible, even if I don’t think I’m ready.” Moondancer explained before she put the pull-up back underneath the potty.
Twilight felt an enormous sense of relief overtake her as a result of Moondancer’s confession. At least now she got a sense that the two of them were about equal on their training, even if one had gotten a head start.
Twilight started looking all around, unable to find what she was looking for. Realization struck her suddenly! “Oh no! Shiny never gave me my potty! But I really, really, really have to go!” She started doing a little potty dance, crossing her legs and hopping about as a few beads of sweat worked their way down her face.
“I suppose you can’t try to use the toilet?” Moondancer asked as she gestured a hoof to the aforementioned object that stood at the far end of the bathroom. Its size and form towering over both foals.
Twilight eyed the toilet and shook her head. “I’m not ready for that. Every book I’ve read says that’s not until a pony can put their legs over the side of the toilet seat for balance,” Then she groaned. “But I don’t wanna fail my first day of potty training!”
“Here, you can use my potty,” Moondancer said. “I don’t need it right now. Then we’ll just tell our parents what happened.”
“Sounds like a great idea to me.” A voice familiar to Twilight called out. And then who should enter the bathroom but Shining Armor himself? But unfortunately for Twilight, he didn’t have her potty with him.
“B.B.B.F.F, where’s my potty?” Twilight asked her older brother.
“Mom and Dad are still wrapping it, Twily. And you know the rules: No opening presents before they’re wrapped,” Shining lightly scolded. “Just use Moondancer’s potty. I’ll help you clean up.”
Twilight wasn’t so sure. “But it’s not my potty. It won’t count. Will it?” She asked after a slight protest.
Shining nodded his head. “I think we can make an exception to the rules just this once, especially since you turned down my offer to try and use the toilet this morning. I’ll still give you a sticker.”
That was all the assurance that Twilight needed. However, she struggled with getting her pull-up off. Shining had to help her undo the tab and slide it down her rump. The filly climbed onto Moondancer’s potty and as soon as she had gotten comfortable she started to push. Due to her earlier efforts to hold back it didn’t take much for her to successfully poop in the potty, though her face did turn red for a bit. It was an enormous relief to the filly once she’d finished.
Shining clapped his hooves as did Moondancer. “Well done, Twily! Mom and Dad will be so proud to hear that you went potty like a big filly!” But then he warned. “You shouldn’t try to hold it in that long, though. That’s not healthy.”
“But I didn’t wanna have an accident.” Twilight protested with a whimper.
Shining simply replied. “Accidents are a part of the process. Everypony has them at some point. When you try to force yourself to go or not to go, that can cause problems. You could get an infection. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
Twilight shook her head. “I guess not.”
Moondancer shook her head as well. “I definitely wouldn’t want that, that sounds horrible!”
The stallion nodded his head again. “Indeed it does,” He proceeded to grab some toilet paper from the nearby roll, planning to use it to wipe his sister’s rump clean. “Which is why you two shouldn’t be trying to compete with each other when it comes to potty training. Real talent doesn’t come from showing off and making a public spectacle of it. Real talent is learning how to do it naturally, in a way that it becomes like second nature to you. And everypony learns at their own pace.”
Just after Shining had finished wiping down Twilight, he picked up the training potty and emptied it into the toilet .He was just about to flush it when Lyra Heartstrings came into the bathroom. “Excuse me,” She commented. “I need to go potty.”
“Well you’ll just have to wait, there’s only one potty available and it needs to be emptied.” Shining explained as he gestured to Moondancer’s potty.
Lyra shook her head. “Then I’ll just use the toilet instead. Though I’ll need some help getting up on the seat.”
Shining eyed Lyra with concern. “You sure you want to do that? The toilet is pretty big for a filly your size.”
“I’m sure. I know you won’t let anything happen to me, Twilight’s always talking about how protective you are,” Lyra explained as she trotted close to Shining Armor. “So can you please help me up? I really need to go.”
The stallion reluctantly obliged, using his magic to carefully scoop up the filly and float her gently onto the toilet seat. “Try not to wiggle or move around too much,” He cautioned. “If you think you’re going to fall in just let me know.”
But Lyra didn’t have any trouble at all. She made it look so easy as she sat delicately on the toilet seat and did her business, a series of plops and splashes soon being heard by all. “I’m done. You can help me down and wipe me up.” She told Shining.
Twilight and Moondancer were both shocked. They hadn’t even dared to go near or try to use the toilet. Yet Lyra had not only done so without a second thought, but had used it with the greatest of ease.
Shining Armor helped Lyra down from the toilet seat and as he started cleaning her up, she looked at her friends and appeared to be surprised at both of their reactions. “What?” She asked in a voice that sounded completely unconcerned. “It’s no big deal. The toilet is just a big potty. I’m just really good at sitting on it. I’m sure you two will be just as good at it when you’re ready to start using it,” She turned to Shining Armor and asked. “Can I flush the toilet? I know how to do that too.”
Shining Armor nodded, and found a stepstool for Lyra to use so she could reach the flush handle. But before she could push it down, Twilight came up and said. “I read that whatever is in the toilet never comes out. I always wanted to know why.”
“I always wanted to know what was making that loud noise,” Moondancer added as she went trotted over. “And now that I know that it’s coming from the toilet. However, I don’t know how it does that.”
Shining Armor realized what Twilight and Moondancer wanted to see went to find another step stool. He returned with one.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day!” Lyra smiled as Twilight and Moondancer climbed up onto the stepstool.
Once they looked down into the toilet bowl, Twilight give the signal.
“Alright, here it goes!” Lyra said, putting a hoof on the flush handle and pushed it down.
“FWOOSH” The toilet roared, signaling the start of the flush. Both Twilight and Moondancer saw the water inside the bowl was spinning around and around. It went so fast that it started to form a dizzying whirlpool. After a few seconds all the water went down a hole at the bottom, taking everything with it. Then the toilet started to refill with crystal clear water.
“Looks like all of those books that you read were right, Twilight,” Moondancer whispered. “Whatever goes into the toilet never comes back out. It’s kind of scary if you think about it.”
“Yeah. But I think it was well worth the wait to find out. Don’t you?” Twilight asked.
Moondancer nodded her head and smiled as she, Lyra, Twilight and Shining Armor left the bathroom. They went to find Twilight’s parents so she can get herself ready to open up all of her birthday presents, including her new potty.