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// Staying in the Lane (Thunderlane) 
// Story: Potty Training Tales 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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One would never have guessed from looking at Thunderlane, second only to Rainbow Dash as one of the most promising Wonderbolts recruited in recent years, that he wasn’t always the best. Long before he became a big brother to Rumble and thus had an example to set, Thunderlane had been an unhealthy child.

From birth and throughout his foalhood, Thunderlane was sickened often with ailments that his parents swore he was picking up from his peers. It would start with a cough or a faint sniffle, and within days he would be confined to bed while his parents worried themselves about taking care of him.

The pegasus’ earliest years seemed to be marked more by trips to the doctor and visits from nurses than the usual joys and adventures little ones tended to have. And to make matters worse, the constant state of sickness seemed to hinder his growth. He was underweight, below average in size for a colt of his age, and worst of all he couldn’t fly. His wings seemed to develop slowly, and whenever he tried to use them (always at the encouragement of his parents) it would end with a lot of straining and little to show for it.

Although Thunderlane did gradually get better as time went by (both because of the foul tasting medicines his parents made him take and because of the natural immunity he slowly built up), his development issues remained a concern as he entered the toddler years. Already a period of transition and worry for most parents, the hindered development of their child gave Thunderlane’s parents great cause for concern.

So it was of little surprise to anyone when the two year mark came and went without any effort to graduate the little colt from diapers. His parents didn’t think he’d developed enough self control, and every doctor and nurse they consulted agreed that potty training was better off being delayed because of everything Thunderlane had endured.

All Thunderlane knew was that he got to stay in diapers a lot longer than any of his peers (whenever he got to play with them, anyway), and at first he thought this was the greatest thing ever! But as time went by, the little pegasus slowly but surely saw how unhappy his parents seemed. They didn’t appear to share the same enthusiasm for his continued pampered state. And after everything they’d done for him, he wanted to find some way to make them happy. But what could he do?

The answer came in the most unexpected of ways. It was a stroke of genius for the little one’s mind. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was that had inspired him, though he thought it had something to do with seeing some kind of plastic bowl in the bathroom once. “I think I’m supposed to use it, somehow,” Thunderlane thought to himself. “Because it can’t be for anything else or it would’ve been used by now. But how am I supposed to use it?”

Well, he could figure it out on his own time when his parents were occupied with other things.





Weeks after the idea first came to him, Thunderlane finally remembered it long enough to consider it and act on it. He always had a small window of time to himself just before nap time. His parents did this in the hopes he’d wear himself out and not put up a fuss when he was set down for his naps.

So the little colt crawled his way to the bathroom, opening the cabinet where he’d first spied that unusual plastic bowl that was colored a bright blue for some reason. He didn’t spot it right away, so he started pushing various other things out of the cabinet so he could crawl inside it and inspect every nook and cranny. Sure enough, tucked away into a corner of the cabinet (and having gathered a fair bit of dust) was the bowl.

Thunderlane grasped it with his tiny hooves, wiggling and tugging as he pulled it out of the cabinet alongside himself. He’d made kind of a mess of those strange bottles he was told not to drink from, but he hadn’t spilled anything so he could put them all back later. For right now, he wanted to get a closer look at the bowl in the hopes of understanding what it was. He was especially confused since there was a bigger bowl shaped object already in the bathroom, and that one had a seat, a lid, and some kind of tank with a strange silver handle attached to it.

The plastic, blue colored bowl didn’t offer anything to Thunderlane to help the little colt understand what it was or how he was supposed to use it. But on one side of it was a small logo of some sort with the words “My Little Potty” printed on it.

“Potty” was a term Thunderlane suddenly remembered. “One of my friends mentioned having that,” He thought to himself. “He said the grown-ups make you use it instead of a diaper, somehow.” And just like that, a vague idea came to the little colt. He didn’t know if it would make his parents happy, but he was curious about this “potty” and wanted to try and use it. It just didn’t make sense to him to have such an object sitting unused and neglected in the bathroom.

Remembering that to use the “potty” required one to be without a diaper on, Thunderlane reached for the tabs on his diaper and clumsily fiddled with them until he was able to undo them. As the padding slid down to his legs, the little pegasus climbed onto the “potty”. His initial sitting pose felt wrong, so he turned himself around to where he was sitting with his tail towards the back. And then he just waited, and waited, and waited and waited. Nothing happened. What was he doing wrong? What else about the “potty” did he not understand that was required of him to know? Had he missed a step somehow?

The little pegasus finally decided that whatever he was currently doing wasn’t working. His attempt was a failure and he would have to try again some other time. But as he moved to get off, something finally happened. It sounded almost like running water, except it was much louder and seemed to echo. Looking down, Thunderlane could see that the potty was filling up! He was actually doing it! And he felt full of pride for having done so! “I did it! I figured it out, and all by myself too!” He thought.





Once he was certain he was “finished” Thunderlane got down from the “potty”. He didn’t quite know how to empty it, but he didn’t care. He wanted to share this accomplishment with his parents. They had to see this!

Thunderlane tried to flap his wings, but they were still not yet developed enough to make him capable of flight. So he was forced to waddle, his diaper still pulled down to his legs and trailing after him with each step he took. As a result, it took him quite a while to find his parents, who were most surprised to see their son come to them instead of it being the other way around. “Mommy, Daddy, I use potty!” He declared to them both, sounding quite proud of his accomplishment.

“You did?” His mother and father both exchanged glances of hopeful optimism.

“I think I did! Come see!” Thunderlane told them and clumsily waddled away, leading the hopeful parents to the bathroom.

Sure enough, despite having to step around some of the scattered (but not spilled) bottles, they could see that the training potty had been used. “Well done, Thunderlane!” His mother praised him! “Not only did you use it, you were able to figure it out all by yourself! Your father and I are very proud of you!”

Thunderlane’s father agreed, though he added. “But you should come get us whenever you think you have to go. That way you won’t make messes trying to get to your potty, like you just did. Plus, you’ll need a grown-up’s help to be wiped.” And he pulled a few rolls of toilet paper from a nearby rack to do just that.

After the wiping job was done, Thunderlane had his diaper pulled back up and was placed onto the top of the tank of the “grown-up potty”. Looking down into the bowl, he saw that it was filled with crystal water and there was a hole at the bottom for some strange reason. Then the colt saw his father pick up his potty and everything in it was poured into the “grown-up potty” where they splashed into the waters below. When he saw that his potty was now empty as it was placed back down onto the floor, his mother pressed down the handle.

There was a strange, loud noise and his eyes widened upon seeing the water inside the bowl spinning rapidly around and around. Suddenly it became a dizzying whirlpool! Thunderlane watched in amazement as everything floating in the water was sucked down through the hole at the bottom. A few seconds later, the water swirled down the drain and disappeared! Then it returned, except now it was crystal clear once again. There was no sign of what was in it just moments ago.

Then his parents helped their son wash his hooves, before they did the same for good measure. Afterward, they carried their triumphant son back to his room, as it was still time for his nap. But they did tell him that there would be a special reward waiting for him when he woke up later.