//------------------------------// // Big, Little and In Between (Sandbar) // Story: Potty Training Tales // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Normally, potty training was a time of great joy and wonder. At least that’s what parents and caretakers always said. The age of diapers ended as little ones learned to go without them and do as “big ponies” did. But for Sandbar, potty training for his younger sister Coral Currents was anything but joyous and wonderful. She seemed to have no idea what the concept involved, continuing to depend on her diapers for everything. Her potty sat unused, except for the rare occasion where somepony could force her to sit on it. Even then it was never for long, Coral would just get up and start running around without a diaper on, often resulting in accidents that had to be cleaned up. Even though his parents weren’t too worried about this (almost nothing phased them and the same was mostly true for Sandbar), Sandbar couldn’t help but feel concerned. He knew that as a big brother he had to try and be a pillar of support and a role model to Coral. He remembered that his own potty training had been unexceptional, the biggest problem he’d had was understanding when he had to go and finding somepony to take him to his potty (which was still in usable condition for Coral). He wasn’t exactly sure where or how the idea came to him. Maybe it was inspired by hearing Silverstream and Smolder talk about their families (it was especially surprising to learn that a creature as bubbly as Silverstream was an older sibling), or maybe that had nothing at all to do with it. Either way the earth pony colt became convinced that there was only one thing he could do that would ensure Coral got the message. And he knew that there was only one pony with the magical expertise to help him do it, Counselor Starlight. She took the news of Sandbar’s proposal fairly well. “You’re saying you want me to regress you down to your sister’s level?” Sandbar nodded. “Except I’ll still have all my big pony thoughts and will remember all the things big ponies do, right? My body will change but nothing else will?” “It… should be doable,” Starlight uncertainty replied. “Are you sure that’s really what you want, though? I mean, you’d be missing a lot of school to do this. We don’t exactly have preschool classes here.” “So, just give me all the homework and I’ll do it in my spare time,” Sandbar suggested. “Besides, I just need it to be long enough to teach Coral about the potty. Once I know she’s got the message then you can change me back.” Starlight put a hoof to her chin, contemplating the proposal. “Your parents wouldn’t mind? Because you realize that if I regress you to a two year old you would need to wear diapers. Foal diapers at that.” The colt nodded. “They won’t, I’m sure. They have a lot of diapers and Coral actually doesn’t go through quite that many.” The unicorn reluctantly rose from her desk. “Well, alright, but I’m telling them that was your idea. And I’m going to tell Twilight the same thing, she’s going to know about this one way or the other.” Sandbar wasn’t concerned. “I’m doing this for Coral’s sake! I’m ready when you are!” So Starlight took a deep breath as her horn began to glow, tendrils of magic slowly wrapping themselves around Sandbar until they had enveloped his entire body. Sandbar shut his eyes as he felt the magic overtake him. Even though it felt a lot longer, the process took less than a minute. When it had ended, there stood a foal sized Sandbar complete with a little sea green colored wisp of a mane. Even his cutie mark had vanished, which made him gasp a bit! “My cutie mark! It’s gone!” “Well, you wanted to be a foal again. Foals don’t get cutie marks,” Starlight told him as she scooped him. “You’ll get it back when you return to normal, hopefully. It worked the first time I did something like this. For now, though, let’s get you home to your parents so they can get you all set up. Best of luck with your little sister.” The foal that was formerly a school aged colt definitely found it weird to be taken home in the middle of a school day and be immediately put back into diapers. He would’ve preferred pull-ups, but he understood that what he wanted to do would be more effective if he and Coral were wearing the same thing. Coral, for her part, was surprised to see a foal that looked just like her big brother end up on the floor next to her. She curiously crawled over to him, inspecting every inch of him. “Who are ya?” In a high pitched voice Sandbar replied. “Coral, it’s me, Sandbar. Your big brother?” Coral blinked in surprise. The foal before her looked and smelled like her brother, but she distinctly remembered him being bigger. He most certainly hadn’t been the same size as her, let alone wearing one of her diapers. “You not big brother, you just look like him! Big brother not like me!” “Coral, come on, it’s me!” Sandbar protested. “Who else but me looks like this?” If he couldn’t even convince Coral of who he was his plan would be ruined. The little filly wasn’t sure. There was one detail that she was most puzzled by. “If you big brother, why so small?” The little colt explained. “Counselor Starlight turned me into a foal. I did this because I wanted to help you.” At that Coral stepped back. “Help me with what? Why big brother have to be foal to help me?” With a faint blush Sandbar confessed his plan. “Because I’m here to teach you about the potty. You know, what Mom and Dad have been trying to get to you use instead of your diapers? Don’t you wanna be a big pony like me someday?” But Coral shook her head. “Nu-uh, I don’t need potty. Diapees work just fine. I no wanna give them up and you not make me!” Sandbar tried not to groan at his little sister’s defiance, this is what he was trying to correct after all. “Coral, I know you don’t like it but it’s something you gotta do. You can’t be a big pony if you’re still in diapers, everypony will just make fun of you.” “Nu-uh!” Coral stubbornly protested as she turned her head. The little colt just sighed. “Coral, using the potty is much better than using your diapers. There are so many things you can’t do if you have to keep wearing diapers all the time as you get older. It can even be fun!” “Fun? How potty fun?” Coral questioned Sandbar. “I’ll only show you if you promise to stop avoiding the potty and agree to give it a chance,” Sandbar demanded. “I know that you’ll get to like it once you do. Besides, don’t you like to try new things and explore new places?” The little filly nodded. “Uh-huh.” With a smile Sandbar then explained. “Well that’s what you can do if you start using the potty,” He blushed as he added. “But, uh, I kind of felt you needed a demonstration to understand. They say you learn best by example.” “So, me do what you do?” Coral questioned, sounding quite confused. Who knew going potty could be so complicated? “Yeah!” Sandbar eagerly nodded his head! “I actually kind of have to go now, so this works out for the both of us. I’ll teach you, and then you can try it whenever you want to.” The two foals were brought into the bathroom by their mother, and Sandbar was stripped of his diaper and placed upon the plastic potty. It was a bit worn in places and the paint had dulled a bit from its pink color, but otherwise it looked just fine. “Make sure that you always take your diaper off before you try to use the potty,” Sandbar began instructing her little sister while sitting on the aforementioned plastic object. “I didn’t do it once and, well let’s just say I learned the hard way why you take off your diaper before you sit down.” Coral moved a hoof down to her own diaper. “No need diapee?” Sandbar nodded. “Yeah, but only when you’re sitting on the potty. Maybe if you get really good at it Mom and Dad will let you go without a diaper, at least around the house. I think they call it ‘Bottomless Training’ or something,” He blushed a bit as his sister started to stare at him. “Um, could you maybe look away for a bit please? You’re kind of supposed to give somepony privacy when they’re on the potty. Only Mom, Dad, or whoever’s taking care of you is supposed to watch.” Coral giggled but obeyed, her brother could be so silly sometimes. If he really did go around with nothing on him all the time, what exactly would she see that she wasn’t supposed to see this time? Still, she decided to humor him. Her ears eventually heard what sounded like water tinkling into the bowl. “You can turn around now, Coral. I’m done.” Sandbar called seconds after the tinkling sound faded. “Wow, that fast!” Coral exclaimed in amazement! The little earth pony colt grinned. “Yeah, it was. Of course I’ve done this all before so it all comes naturally to me. It’ll probably take you a little bit longer at first. But if you keep at it your body will start to get used to it,” He stepped off the potty as his mom cleaned him with a wipe. Then he saw her pick up the plastic potty which was now making sloshing sounds, carrying it over to what looked like a trench but with a set of pipes connected to it and a pedal that seemed to stand out on the floor. He knew what was coming next. “Now do you wanna see the fun part about using the potty, Coral?” He asked her. Coral nodded, and her brother directed him over to the trench their mom was currently emptying the potty into. “Can I do the honors, Mom?” Sandbar asked. “I wanna show Coral how to flush.” Their mom nodded in agreement. “Just be careful when you do so, you remember what happened the first time you tried it.” Sandbar didn’t acknowledge the comment, he just stepped onto the pedal. There was a sudden, loud noise and Coral watched the water swirl around and then retreat down a hole of some sort at the bottom. It returned seconds later, now sparkling clean. “What that?” She asked her brother. “That was a flush,” Sandbar happily explained. “It’s part of the… er…” He opted for the more juvenile term since he wasn’t sure if Coral would understand the proper one. “Grown up potty that you’ll use when you’re a little older and get better at using your current potty. Basically, everything you do in your potty ends up in here,” He briefly gestured to the trench, then over to the pedal. “Then as you just saw, you just step on the pedal and,” He made a noise imitating the sound from before. “It all disappears!” He declared in a dramatic fashion! “Even me?” Coral suddenly blinked. “Nah, that can’t happen to you.” Sandbar shook his head. “The worst that might happen is your tail will get stuck, if you’re not paying attention. You won’t have to worry about that when you’re using your potty,” Then he smiled. “Flushing was always so fun to me. It was so exciting watching everything disappear like a magic act! It always made going to the potty worthwhile!” “Yeah, Fun!” Coral declared! “I wanna try! I wanna try!” She went over to and stepped onto the flush pedal. The loud noise was heard once more as the flush cycle started. Even though there wasn’t anything in the ‘grown-up potty’ this time she was still fascinated by the spinning and swirling water. And just as her brother said, it once again disappeared down the hole. Coral gave out a loud cheer as the water returned a few seconds later. This made Sandbar smile. It seemed like his idea had worked better than he anticipated. “Now I guess I just have to wait until I see Counselor Starlight again, and I can turn back to normal.” He thought to himself.