Not everypony in every city necessarily felt obligated to undergo potty training, even when it became necessary. There were some who would rather not bother with it, either because they just didn’t care for it or because they were perfectly content with what they had and didn’t want to bother learning something new.
Suri Polomare was one of those ponies. She’d learned from an early age that if she didn’t want to do something she could easily make her parents do it for her, or just not do it period. It was like this with a lot of things, including her daily wardrobe. Except for the few occasions where her parents could force her into a fancy dress, Suri was always clad in just a diaper. And they weren’t the fancy cloth ones either, they were the cheap disposable ones.
Even as Suri grew older and saw many of her friends and peers stop wearing diapers all together, the little filly was herself not in any hurry to do the same. Her diapers worked just fine at taking care of her “accidents” and her parents were always close at hoof to change her when she was done. Why spend all that time and effort trying to learn something new when the way she’d always done it worked just as well?
Alas, nothing lasts forever even if somepony wishes it did. Suri’s parents eventually began to take notice of the unusual stares they were getting from friends and neighbors whenever they took their daughter anywhere. Suri was one of the last foals in the neighborhood that still wore diapers, which wouldn’t be as big of a problem if not for the fact that nopony had seen the parents make any effort to toilet train her.
Try as they might to ignore it, Mr. and Mrs. Polomare eventually came to the conclusion that they needed to begin making an effort to teach their daughter how to use a toilet. They knew she wasn’t going to like it, but they were running out of justifiable excuses to avoid facing the inevitable.
The final nail in the coffin for keeping their only daughter in diapers came with the news that the Pommels had, through the help of none other than Charity Kindheart herself, finally gotten little Coco toilet trained. Suri was now the only foal in the neighborhood that still wore (and used) diapers.
This development greatly troubled the parents, both earth ponies who were used to getting by mostly on luck. They started discussing the problem late one night while their daughter slept.
“We really should’ve gotten around to this sooner,” Mr. Polomare let out an unhappy sigh. “We let Suri have way too much freedom, and now she’s gotten so used to diapers. But she has to get out of them. If she stays in them any longer, ponies are gonna stop associating with us, and Suri will grow up to have no friends at all.”
Mrs. Polomare replied to her husband. “I know, dear. Trust me, I’ve grown tired of always having to change Suri whenever she does anything. But it’s the only thing she never fights us over. I don’t know how we’re supposed to take away her diapers and teach her to do her business in something only slightly more glamorous than a pit.”
Mr. Polomare frowned. “She may not like it but we have no choice. We must start toilet training her! We’re not buying her any more diapers, they’re getting way too expensive.”
“Maybe we should get Charity involved?” Mrs. Polomare suggested. “I heard she played a big part in helping the Pommels with their daughter. And apparently she’s perfected some new kind of foal ware that makes toilet training easier.”
But Mr. Polomare would hear nothing of it. “Charity’s far too busy managing the Midsummer Theater Revival to hear our case, and we don’t need a pony like her to tell us how to do our job as parents. We’re not as fortunate as the Pommels to have Charity’s ear all the time.”
Mrs. Polomare wasn’t quite ready to shut Charity out just yet, though she knew her husband had a valid point about the mare’s big theater project taking up too much of her time. But if Charity wasn’t available directly, there was an indirect way of learning about her methods and possibly having some of it rub off on Suri.
The very next day, Mrs. Polomare took advantage of the fact that her husband had gone off to work as a lowly costume designer for a local theater (it was hoped that the production would someday make it big on Bridleway, but right now hardly anypony even knew what it was called though most within the group were settling for “Hinny of the Hills”), and decided to call on her good friend: Chamomile Pommel.
“Oh, Olivia Polomare,” Chamomile greeted her friend when she opened the door to her apartment. “And I see you brought little Suri with you too. To what do I owe this sudden visit?”
Olivia sighed as she set Suri down in a playpen that Coco was already in (although playpen might be too nice of a word considering it was just a small area in a nearby room blocked off by a wooden gate). “I hear you finally got Coco toilet trained, is that correct?”
Chamomile nodded. “Yes, although she is still occasionally having accidents. Charity Kindheart really worked wonders. Now, Oliver and I don’t have to worry about finding a sitter for her during the Midsummer Theater Revival.”
“Well that’s why I need you to do me a favor,” Olivia explained to her friend. “I know there’s no way I could hope to ask Charity for help with Suri, especially not with my husband firmly insisting we don’t need her. But I was thinking, seeing as Coco is close to Charity, do you think maybe Coco would be willing to show Suri a thing or two about using the potty? Having a role model to emulate would work wonders.”
Chamomile nodded again. “Oh of course, little Coco just loves to show off what she learned from Charity! And you know how much she and Suri love to play. You just bring Suri over whenever you find the time, and we’ll let Coco do the teaching.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let a foal her age be alone in the bathroom?” Olivia questioned with concern.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on the both of them,” Chamomile promised. “Obviously I know better than to leave foals unsupervised. And Coco does still occasionally need assistance with her ‘wardrobe’.”
“Great!” Olivia smiled as she felt an enormous weight be lifted from her. “I don’t suppose we can start right now? I have some things I need to get done, and if I bring Suri along everypony’s just going to stare.”
Chamomile was more than happy to accept her friend’s proposal. “I don’t mind watching Suri for you. It’s been ages since she and Coco had a playdate.”
Olivia stood up and shook her friend’s hoof quite firmly. “Oh, you’re a lifesaver, Chamomile! I don’t know what I’d do without you!”
Chamomile just smiled and hugged her friend right back. “Hey, that’s what friends are for. Even in a town like Manehattan it’s important to remember that not everypony is only interested in looking out for themselves. Charity Kindheart believes that our sense of community is what makes us strong.”
Olivia then trotted over to the playpen her daughter was in, and made sure to bend down and look her daughter in the eyes. “Suri, Mama has some important business that she needs to take care of. She promises she’ll be back later. But she wants you to promise her you’ll listen to Mrs. Pommel and Coco, especially Coco.”
With a nod, Suri firmly replied. “Okay, Mama. I promise.”
It didn’t take long after Suri’s mother had left for Suri to notice what Coco was wearing. “Hey, why ya not wearing diapee?” She asked while eyeing the strange object that her friend had on her rear.
Coco proudly displayed her gift from Charity Kindheart as she told Suri. “I potty trained now. This my new wardrobe. I can take it off and put it back on without problem. Charity say she making more for other foals my age. I bet she make some for you if ya mum and dad ask her.”
Suri scoffed and shook her head. “Nu-uh, Mama and Dada no need Charity’s help. I no need new wardrobe.”
“But don’t ya wanna be big pony?” Coco asked her friend. “When ya big pony ya get new freedoms that you don’t have when you in diapee.”
“I do wanna be big pony, but not if it take too much work,” Suri huffed. “Potty training sound really hard.”
Coco didn’t think so as she shook her head. “Nu-uh, potty training super easy. And new wardrobe make it even easier.”
Skeptical of the claim, Suri questioned her friend and fellow foal. “Really?”
“Uh-huh!” Coco happily nodded. “I show ya how, I need an intermission!” This was spoken loudly enough for her mom to overhear, and with Chamomile knowing what this meant, she realized that now would be an excellent opportunity for Coco to show off her skills to Suri (with Suri hopefully willing to emulate).
Both foals were brought into the bathroom and Suri watched as Chamomile helped Coco to pull down her wardrobe. They made sure to explain the importance of doing so as Coco effortlessly lined herself up with the toilet.
Suri was close by, watching the whole thing step by step. Coco was right, it did look easy. And what seemed to be even easier was giving the toilet “the business”.
“So, when you’re all done, you clean up with some toilet paper,” Mrs. Pommel explained and demonstrated by wiping her daughter’s rump. “Then you put it all in the toilet, and flush.” She promptly stepped onto a brightly colored pedal.
A great roar filled the entire bathroom! Coco and her mom knew what it was, but for Suri the noise was frightening and unfamiliar. It only got worse when she felt her backside getting wet for some reason. It seemed the foal had accidentally allowed her tail to dip into the toilet, and now a powerful suction was taking hold of it! “Help, potty got me!” Suri cried in dismay! Try as she might she couldn’t get her tail freed, and it felt like she was being pulled backward!
Mrs. Pommel quickly rushed over and pulled Suri free of the toilet’s hold, checking the tail all over to make sure there was no sign of injury. “It’s alright, Suri. At least now you know for next time to watch where you put your tail.”
But as she was set down, Suri waddled over to an excited Coco and glared at her friend! “You didn’t tell me potty was so loud, or that potty could eat me! Ya said it was easy!”
“It is easy!” Coco protested. “You just weren’t paying attention. That why you need a wardrobe change now.”
Suri looked back at herself, finding that her diaper (which hadn’t been removed as she was not the one using the toilet) had gotten considerably wet as a result of the mishap with the toilet. It was already starting to look like it would fall apart, which made the foal rather unhappy.
So unhappy was Suri that she swished her tail, intending for it to be a show of protest. But again she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. Suri’s tail ended up knocking into Coco, who, not anticipating it, stumbled backward. This caused Coco to lose her balance, and she slipped and fell into the toilet with a splash.
Seeing this gave Suri an idea as the little earth pony quickly rushed to the pedal she’d seen Coco’s mom step on, and pressed on it. “Not so easy now, is it?” She taunted as she activated the flush cycle!
Coco quickly felt the suction take hold of her tail, and she struggled to keep her head above the surging waters as she screamed for help!
“COCO!” Chamomile rushed to the scene of impending disaster and yanked her daughter clear of the toilet just before the waters could retreat down the drain (which is also where her daughter surely would’ve ended up if not for Chamomile’s quick thinking)! Once she had rescued her daughter and placed her safety on the ground away from the toilet, she scolded Suri quite sternly. “Suri, that was uncalled for! It wasn’t Coco’s fault your tail got stuck or your diaper got wet. You apologize to her right this instant, young filly.”
Suri reluctantly did, even though she didn’t feel like she had much of a need to apologize. “Coco thinks she’s so smart and knows everything just because she had Charity Kindheart’s help,” She thought to herself. “She thinks that makes her better than me! Well she’s not! I’m older than her! If anything, she should be asking for my help on things.”
Then and there, Suri began to develop a thought process that would slowly burn its way into the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t truly depend on anypony but herself to do things. Even if other ponies seemed like they genuinely wanted to help they always had an ulterior motive. In this case, Coco had just wanted an excuse to show off.
So Suri decided that she would have to reluctantly master potty training as well, so that way she could rightfully put Coco in her place.