Discord always felt uneasy and uncomfortable whenever Fluttershy took him to see Nurse Redheart for one of his annual check-ups. It wasn’t so much that Nurse Redheart herself was bad, it was just that there were so many things about her place of work that the young one didn’t like. There were always ponies, often mothers with their foals who would give him strange looks, perhaps because they remembered his brief reign of terror before he’d become a toddler under Fluttershy’s care. And Nurse Redheart always did the check-up in a funny smelling room with instruments that were cold to the touch.
But the draconequus lacked any means by which to escape from the situation whenever it occurred. Thanks to a star that was placed on his diaper, his powers were blocked. It was a necessary measure to ensure he behaved himself and it wasn’t like it was unique to him. Unlike all his fellow villains turned toddlers, who also had stars on their diapers. Discord really found the star to be restrictive, uncomfortable and in his mind unnecessary. Not being able to tap into his natural chaos abilities made him feel like he was at the mercy of others.
Fluttershy did her best to comfort her young charge. “Nurse Redheart is a very nice pony, and she already told me you’re up to date on all your shots so you won’t need to get one today.”
“I wish I didn’t have ta be hewe!” Discord pouted. “It awways takes fowevew! Is so bowing!”
Fluttershy simply smiled and cooed. “Come now, Discord. Just wait until Nurse Redheart sees how big you’re getting. I’m sure that she’s going to be so surprised!”
Just then the familiar voice of Nurse Redheart called out. “Discord.”
Before the little draconequus could even think of running away (or at least trying to) Fluttershy scooped him up and carried him in her hooves to the room Nurse Redheart designated. The door was soon locked shut behind them to ensure privacy.
Nurse Redheart conducted her examination the way she always did: She took Discord’s temperature, checked his blood pressure, tested his reflexes and looked into his eyes and down his throat. Everything was checked off quite quickly. “No sign of infections, reflexes are as sharp as ever and your temperature and blood pressure are quite chaotic, which for a creature such as yourself I would assume is quite normal.” She told the young one.
“Gweat,” Discord remarked as he wiggled around in Fluttershy’s arms. “Can I go now? I wanna go pway with my fwiends.”
But Nurse Redheart had something important to discuss with Fluttershy involving the draconequus. After scanning her checklist twice and ensuring she wasn’t misreading things she asked. “How old did you say he was again, Fluttershy?”
“Well, he’s probably actually thousands of years old, even older than Celestia and Luna perhaps,” Fluttershy commented. “But it seems like now he’s about two and a half years old. Why do you ask?”
“Well,” Nurse Redheart cleared her throat. “If he’s at that age then it might be time to consider something extremely important in a foal’s development, and I think you know what I’m talking about.”
Fluttershy seemed to understand it, but blinked in surprise. “Oh my. You really think he’s ready to take that first step? I mean, Pinkie Pie told me she was already working on that with Nightmare Moon but I hadn’t stopped to consider it for Discord.”
The young nurse seemed to nod her head. “I’m not sure what the proper age for a draconequus is for this sort of thing, but most foals his age have at least begun potty training already. Heck, some have even graduated to pull-ups.”
Discord blinked in confusion. “Potty twaining? Was tat?”
Fluttershy explained to him. “It’s when you start learning how to use a potty instead of going in your diapers all the time. Every foal goes through it at some point, usually around the time they turn two although not always.”
Discord looked down at himself, more specifically to what was taped around his lower quarters. Although at first he’d absolutely despised the idea of wearing diapers, over the years he’d slowly gotten used to it. He’d even discovered that his diapers were not just comfy and made funny noises if he poked at them, but were also a great storage space to keep things hidden (until Fluttershy inevitably found out). “Give up diapees?” He pondered aloud. “But I wike diapees, tey so coow!”
“That’s what many young ones your age think when they start out,” Nurse Redheart told him. “But let me ask you this, Discord: Have you ever noticed that before you have to go your body starts giving off signs? Signs that make you feel all funny inside, and not the good kind of funny?”
Discord nodded slowly. “Uh-huh. Tummy awways feews funny befowe I need changie.”
“That’s because your body’s telling you that it’s time to go.” Fluttershy explained. “And when you’re in potty training, you start going in the potty like you’re supposed to instead of going in your diapers all the time. Once you do good enough you get to graduate to pull-ups, which are like diapers but they’re easier to put on and take off,” Then she declared. “Nurse Redheart’s probably right, Discord. I need to start trying to potty train you. Pinkie’s already gotten a head start with Nightmare Moon.”
“I can recommend some pull-up brands if you’d like,” Nurse Redheart suggested. “Though I’d recommend waiting until you have some consistent success before placing Discord into them.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Fluttershy replied. “I’ll just tell Princess Celestia and she’ll set everything up like she did for Pinkie Pie with Nightmare Moon,” And she looked down at Discord. “Come on, we’d better get home and get started on the training right away. I’ll need time to get everything set up for you.”
Nurse Redheart watched as Fluttershy prepared to leave and told her. “Don’t try to rush the training or push too hard for it. It’s important you tailor the training to match Discord’s personality so he doesn’t come to hate it.”
“I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy replied. “I can always ask Pinkie Pie what worked for Nightmare Moon if I have to,” Then she cooed at Discord. “Just think, you and Nightmare Moon will be the only ones among your peers wearing pull-ups. Won’t that be nice?”
Discord grinned, more delighted at the prospect of having a pull-up so that he wouldn’t have to have that special star that was always placed on his diapers. And all he had to do was endure a little bit of “potty training”. How hard could it possibly be?
When the check-up was over, Fluttershy took Discord home to her cottage. She intended to write to Princess Celestia about how she was starting Discord on potty training, and would go shopping for the necessary supplies a little later.
Discord, however, had other plans. He wanted to start the training as soon as possible. The sooner he started the sooner he could be in those pull-ups and be free to use his powers. “I wanna do potty twaining now!” He complained to Fluttershy.
“But I haven’t gotten everything set up yet,” Fluttershy protested. “I still need to make a potty chart for you so we can monitor your progress. I haven’t even bought you a training potty yet.”
“Dun cawe!” Discord pouted as he squirmed about and whined. “I wanna use da potty, now!” And then he began to plead the way he always did whenever he wanted something. He made his eyes as big as he possibly could and adopted the most innocent expression. “Pwease? Pwetty, pwetty pwease?”
Reluctantly, Fluttershy caved in. “Well, I guess if you wanna do it that badly it can’t hurt to try. You do have to go, right?” She asked her young charge, who nodded in response. “Okay then, let’s get you to the bathroom so we can start the training.”
Soon the pegasus and draconequus had made their way to Fluttershy’s bathroom. Discord was impatient and fussy as he was set upon the bathroom floor, immediately eyeing the great porcelain throne before him in all its gleaming white glory. He didn’t care how tall it looked to him, he couldn’t wait to use it and get those star free pull-ups! However, Fluttershy didn’t place Discord upon the seat and pull down his diaper like the draconequus hoped she would. She instead bent down beneath the cabinets under the sink, promptly pulling out a rusty old flower pot that had not been used for a very long time.
“This will have to do until I can buy you a proper training potty.” She told him as she placed the pot on the floor next to him before she saw how annoyed he was at her. It was like he was telling her that she had made a clear and obvious error.
“What’s wrong, Discord?” The animal loving pegasus asked.
“Tat flower pot has a big howe in it!” The draconequus answered.
Fluttershy looked inside the flower pot and let out a gasp. Discord was right! “Oh dear!” She said. “How did I miss that?”
“I no wanna use tat!” Discord protested as he gestured to the big bowl shaped object with that curved seat and gleaming silver handle. “I wanna use the big potty!”
“You mean the toilet?” Fluttershy asked as she looked towards it. Discord nodded as he made his eyes big again while making an even more innocent expression. Immediately a whole bunch of horrible scenarios flashed in Fluttershy’s mind about what would happen, especially given Discord’s chaotic behavior. But at the same time, she was currently out of flower pots. And without a proper training potty, she knew what that meant. As much as she didn’t want to, she didn’t want to make Discord even more upset than he already was.
She let out a sigh before looking at the little draconequus and smiled as an idea suddenly popped into her head. “How about a deal then?” She suggested. “I’ll let you use the toilet. But only on one condition.”
“Was tat?” Discord asked.
“If we are either in my cottage or at the house of one of your friends, you can use it, but only if there’s a grown up to supervise you.” The pegasus explained. “If we’re going anywhere else, you must do it the way I want you to. That means using the training potty. I’ll even let you pick the one you like. Is that fair enough?”
“Yay!” Discord cheered with excitement! “Nightmare Moon says tat she gets to use it too.”
“Really?” Fluttershy questioned as she proceeded to pull down his diaper and took him over to the toilet, sitting him upon the seat. “Well, I'm sure that she will be surprised when she finds out.”
“Yeah!” Discord agreed. “If she can see me now.”
The pegasus mare chuckled and cooed, patting Discord on the head. “There’s no sense in trying to rush it, Discord. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Now just take your time and do whatever you think you have to do. Then I can clean you up.”
“And ya put me in puww-ups?” Discord hopefully asked.
“Maybe eventually,” Fluttershy answered. “Pull-ups are only for big boys and girls. And to be a big boy means you have to make it to the potty more than once. You have to really work at it, and sometimes it’s not always going to go the way you want it to. Potty training can be fun if you make it that way. That’s why I wanted to wait until you have a proper training potty and a potty chart. Not only will the chart help you keep track of your progress, but you’ll get to put all kinds of funny stickers on it when you have a successful trip. I know that helped encourage me.” Discord either didn’t notice or care about that last part.
Although dismayed and disappointed that he wouldn’t be getting those pull-ups anytime soon, Discord did still manage to successfully use the toilet. As his bladder and bowels emptied themselves completely, and a familiar smell began to permeate the bathroom, He thought to himself. “I wonder what ponies meant by ‘watering the daisies’ or ‘fertilizing the soil’?”
Despite the smell Fluttershy was more than happy to applaud Discord by clapping her hooves. “Well done, Discord! That’s how you do it! See how easy that was?” She encouraged him as she trotted over and nuzzled him. “Bet you can’t wait to do that again with a proper potty and potty chart, huh?”
“Yeah,” Discord sincerely acknowledged. “I bet I can twain fastew tan Nightmawe Moon!”
“Now Discord, this isn’t a race or a competition. And it’s not something to brag about either,” Fluttershy lectured her young charge. “It’s important to understand that potty training is a process and a responsibility. So make sure you come get me or whoever is responsible for watching you whenever you need to go, that way they can help you get set up,” Then she retrieved some wet wipes from her stash of diaper changing supplies (which would probably soon not be needed). “Now, stand up so I can wipe you clean. Hold still please.”
The little draconequus reluctantly obeyed even though the wet wipes were cold to the touch. He was glad when the wiping job was done and his diaper was pulled back up, watching as the used wipes were tossed into the trash.
“You wanna see how the toilet works, right?” Fluttershy asked her young charge and received an eager nod in reply.
Discord smile. He was really curious to see what would come next. He only knew that sometimes the toilet made a really strange (and really loud) sound, and now he was going to find out what it was and why the toilet made that sound.
The animal loving pegasus brought Discord over to the silver handle. “You know that the toilet can make that really loud sound sometimes,” She told the draconequus. “But, do you know what it is called and how it can do that?” When Discord shook his head, she pointed a hoof at the handle. “It's called a flush and this handle right here is what makes that sound. All you need to do is push it down,” She then lifted Discord closer to it and encouraged him. “Go ahead, try to flush it!”
Slowly, but carefully, Discord reached out his talons and he pressed the handle down
The familiar roar reached Discord’s ears as the toilet started to flush! Looking down into the bowl, he saw the water was now spinning rapidly around as if it was a dizzying whirlpool. He watched as his waste was sucked down through a hole at the bottom. Soon the water swirls down the drain and disappeared, causing the toilet to make a strange gurgling sound. Then the water returned but with no sign of anything that had been in it before, it was sparkling clear once again.
Not wanting to take any chances, Fluttershy set Discord back down onto the bathroom floor as she told him. “And now you know how the toilet works. However, it is not a toy. Also I don’t want you to go anywhere near the toilet or try to use it without a grown-up’s help. Do you understand?”
The draconequus nodded. “Uh-huh.”
The pegasus smiled. “Good. Now all we have to do is wash our hooves, or talons in your case. And then we’re all done. If we had a potty chart you’d definitely get a gold star for today. I’ll have to remember that for when we get your chart set up.”