Very few ponies would’ve ever believed that King Sombra hadn’t started out as a completely dark hearted, greedy monster. In fact, not many ponies knew that he hadn’t even been born into royalty or nobility. The true origins of the king was something he went to great lengths to conceal, he had actually been an orphan for his entire youth. Found cold and alone on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire one day, he’d been taken in by a local orphanage and for a time not known he was different.
But all too soon, the future king began to sense that there was something more to him, something that others seemed to take notice of since the other colts and fillies at the orphanage began avoiding him. All except for one, that is. She was a filly not much older than Sombra with the most beautiful white coat and sparkling blue eyes. Sombra always felt better for seeing her, and it wasn’t long before he learned her name was Radiant Hope and they became friends.
The two foals grew up together at the same orphanage and shared many milestones, they even celebrated birthdays within a day of each other (with Sombra’s birthday being the only time the other foals had to be around him, they otherwise refused to even associate with him and would invent all kinds of rules as to why they couldn’t be seen with him). In a way they felt almost like family, the closest thing to one that Sombra had. It was no surprise then that he always wanted to do whatever Radiant Hope was doing.
One day, after about two years or so of living at the orphanage, Sombra noticed that there was something different about Radiant Hope. She seemed to have less free time to spend with him, constantly needing one of the caretakers to come and help her out with something. Occasionally he could hear strange sounds behind locked doors. And most telling of all, he saw that his friend’s undergarment was quite different from his. It seemed to be less absorbent but it afforded her greater freedom in her movement.
The other foals at the orphanage started to look the same if they didn’t already, some of them not even needing caretakers to do whatever it was they were doing. And it seemed like whatever it was was another reason for them to keep Sombra excluded. They mentioned something about “Big Kids”, appearing to take great pride in their freedom. But whenever Sombra tried to ask any of them they would always just tell him to go away, that it was something he needed to know if he didn’t already know. And he could hear them whisper “If he hasn’t learned yet he’ll never learn.” when they thought he wasn’t listening.
Fortunately for the little colt, Radiant Hope was more than happy to explain what the other “Big Kids” didn’t want to tell. “I in pull-ups now because I do potty training!” She proudly boasted while patting the undergarment. “It great!”
“Really?” Sombra asked with uncertainty. He didn’t know what exactly this “potty training” involved, but it sounded weird, unfamiliar and most of all scary. Did he have to undertake it if he wanted to get at those pull-ups and be like the other foals?
Radiant beamed. “Uh-huh. You sit on the potty and do your pee-pees and poo-poos in it, and you get all the praise from grown-ups for doing it. That how you become a big kid! And you get to do cool things like wipe and flush.”
“Can I try it? I wanna try it!” Sombra declared as he puffed out his chest. He didn’t actually want to that badly, but if everypony else was doing it and apparently doing it with the greatest of ease then why should he be left out? How hard could it really be? He was smarter than ponies gave him credit for, he could figure it out for himself if he had to.
Radiant seemed a bit hesitant at first, before she reluctantly seemed to agree. “Yeah, but you gotta find a room with a potty first,” She began to think about that challenge. “I tink there one down the hall somewhere but…”
The little colt didn’t bother to wait for a reply, he set off to see if there indeed was a “potty” in one of the rooms. That he didn’t know what it was didn’t bother him, he’d figure it out for himself.
Scampering down the hallway as fast as his little legs could carry him, the little colt began his search with the first door he came to. He looked all around in the room it led into, but he saw nothing that looked like a “potty”. He searched in plenty of other rooms nearby and had similar results. Perhaps Radiant Hope had been wrong and there wasn’t actually a “potty” in any of the rooms, perhaps it was in a special place that only the caretakers could grant access to or something.
At last, however, Sombra’s search brought him to a room that was immediately unfamiliar to him. That had to be a promising start. He ventured inside and soon found that the room was not only unfamiliar to him, but also cold to the touch (his bare hooves shivered just walking along the floor), smelly and most of all dark. The darkness wasn’t that big a deal to Sombra, he was more at home in the dark than the other ponies at the village. But the darkness did make it hard to see where he was.
With some straining, Sombra managed to get his horn to spark and produce a faint bulb of light with which to illuminate the room. He couldn’t see much but seeing anything at all was better than not seeing anything at all as far as he was concerned.
Braving the cold and the strange smell that tickled his nostrils, the little colt searched all around his new location for anything that might resemble a “potty”. If something stood out to him it might give him a clue.
Then he saw it! Sombra gazed into a corner of the room, and staring back at him was an object he’d most certainly not seen before as far as he could remember. It was way taller than he was, the same gleaming white as Radiant Hope’s coat, and looked like a cross between a chair, a ramp and a bowl. In a way it almost resembled a throne, though if that was the case the little colt had no clue where its owner should be (because how could there be a throne without some kind of ruler?).
That looked like a promising start. Sombra approached the object and eyed it suspiciously. It seemed like the strange smell was coming from it. Then he remembered what Radiant Hope had told him about how the potty worked and what potty training was all about. If this object was a “potty” then the smell was probably a good way of telling.
Now came the matter of finding a way onto the seat that looked like a polished, curved horseshoe. And that was guarded by a lid of some kind. To get up on the seat Sombra realized he’d have to find a way to force the lid up, and he knew his little hooves wouldn’t be up for the task. There was no way he could lift up something so heavy when he couldn’t even climb out of his crib. There had to be another way.
The little one racked his tiny brain for a solution to his problem. At last he settled on a fairly obvious solution, his horn. If he could concentrate enough power into his horn he must just be able to raise that lid up and float his way onto the seat. Getting down would be much easier than getting up, he could just jump down (and catch himself with his magic before hitting the ground).
So it was that, with a great deal of straining, Sombra built up the magical power within his horn needed to achieve his goal. The lid proved to be rather stubborn, it took more magic than the little one had originally thought. But it slowly rose all the same, exposing that curved seat and the inside of the bowl beneath it.
A little bit more glowing of the horn and the little colt was floating up to the seat. When his front hooves grasped the edge he pulled with all his might to scramble up before he could slide down. It didn’t even occur to him that as he was doing so the tabs on his diaper came lose, it wasn’t until a cold breeze blew bast his bare bottom as he scrambled onto the seat that he realized he was now without a diaper on. Well that was good, he obviously needed to have it out of the way to use the “potty”. He could always put it back on later or find somepony to do it for him.
Sombra stood on the seat for but a moment. He didn’t anticipate it being so slippery and his little hooves were not used to such a surface! The little colt tried to move to sit down but it was an uphill battle when his entire body felt unbalanced and ready to tip over. In fact, that was what happened as Sombra found himself falling face first into the bowl! It was only by a stroke of luck that he managed to grab the other side of the seat and keep himself from plunging in all the way.
The young unicorn tried to pull himself back up, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. It seemed he was stuck there and he was pretty sure he was facing the wrong way. Well, that was nothing his horn couldn’t fix. If he could get his entire body surrounded, Sombra was sure he could readjust himself. And he’d have to be quick about it, because the cold temperature and the fear he was feeling inside were reeking havoc on his lower regions. He knew he couldn’t hold it for long, and he hadn’t come all this way just to mess it all up at the very end!
Sparking his horn again, Sombra tried to pull himself out and get himself to face the right direction. But his desperation combined with his sense of panic was messing up his concentration! His magic wasn’t focused and it didn’t help that he couldn’t see properly given that he was face first in the bowl surrounded by darkness. He found himself floating upward, but not in the direction he wanted to go!
Suddenly, Sombra felt one of his hooves brush up against something cold and metal. Before he knew what it was he heard a click, and then he happened to look down and became alarmed! There was water in the bowl and it was spinning about fast, way too fast! It seemed like it was heading for some kind of hole at the bottom of the bowl, and where that led the little colt had no idea!
Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the little colt’s magic failed him! He plunged face first back into the bowl and while he caught the edge of the seat on the inside again, it wasn’t enough to keep him safe! The water rose rapidly as it spun, and the young unicorn had to hold his breath as he felt the water flow above his head! He could feel it take hold of him, trying to drag him down into the bowl and toward the hole!
Shutting his eyes, Sombra prepared for the worst, a ride he wouldn’t soon forget to who knows where? But then suddenly, just as he felt his lower body leave the seat and tip him forward into the spinning, swirling whirlpool in the bowl, he felt something else grab hold of him from behind. And with a pop he was pulled to safety just in time as light suddenly flooded his world!
A water logged Sombra found himself dripping onto some pre-placed towels as one of the nannies looked at him with concern. “Oh, thank goodness Radiant Hope told me what you were doing,” The nanny exclaimed with relief. “Sombra, what were you thinking?! The grown-up potty is dangerous for little ones like you!”
Sombra whimpered. “But I wanna be big pony like Radiant and everypony else. They in potty training.”
The nanny sighed. “And it’s great that you’re finally taking an interest in the subject, Sombra. Taking that first step toward being a big pony is a wonderful thing,” Then she corrected. “But you shouldn’t try to take shortcuts and do it on your own, or else things like that can happen. This is why you’re to come get me or one of the other nannies. We can help you use the potty properly.”
“You mean, like now?” Sombra asked.
The nanny shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s too late, you already left a bit of a puddle that I’ll have to clean up. You really shouldn’t take off your diaper without permission, Sombra,” And then she added. “Now I’m going to have to give you a bath. And from now you’re not to go into the bathroom or go near the grown-up potty without somepony watching you.”