Potty Training Tales

by SuperPinkBrony12

Pottying 101 (Cheerilee)

Author's Note:

Tags: [Slice of Life]
Characters: [Cheerilee]
Written By: SuperPinkBrony12
Note: This is an indirect prequel to “A Princess and Her Throne”

Even though she had yet to even enroll in kindergarten, Cheerilee absolutely loved the prospect of being a teacher! It seemed to be so cool! It made her wish more than anything that she could be a big sister and help teach a little sister or brother about a variety of things. Alas, she was an only child so she had to settle for the next best thing.

The little filly soon took to setting up makeshift “classrooms” for her dolls, which really just consisted of sitting them on sofa cushions or blankets while she would use a pretend blackboard to give lessons based on whatever she could remember from the books her parents read her. Her parents didn’t mind this, they felt it was the perfect way for their daughter to prepare for kindergarten even if she would just be a student and not the teacher.

However there was one not so small detail that got in the way of those plans. Among the requirements for admission into kindergarten classes for Ponyville was that all the foals attending be potty trained, or least mostly potty trained (Ponyville wasn’t as big on emphasizing perfection the way other cities like Canterlot or Manehattan might). A good way to determine if the foal met those requirements was by what he or she wore around their rump (if anything at all).

That was the one thing that stood in the way for Cheerilee and was currently blocking her admission, she was still in diapers. It probably wasn’t too big a deal since she was only four and was far ahead of her peers on many other developmental issues such as talking, walking, and knowing her numbers and alphabet. But as her parents would reluctantly attest they hadn’t quite cracked the code on potty training for their only daughter just yet. They’d been at it for about two years now, but had little progress to show for it as the many potty charts full of stormy clouds and the occasional smiley face would attest.

Cheerilee herself was the biggest obstacle. While she was indifferent towards diapers she didn’t really care too much if she ‘used’ them even if she wasn’t supposed to. That’s because to her bathroom breaks always seemed to take time away from more valuable things. She tried asking her parents to move the potty they’d bought for her out of the bathroom, but they had replied by telling her that she wouldn’t have that privilege in school and had to start learning how to do it properly. To try and add more incentive they’d opted to cut back on the purchase of diapers, hoping that the shortage might motivate the little filly to start taking her training more seriously.

The earth pony understood that it was all about feeling the rhythm of nature as it flowed through your body, but other things always seemed to get in the way of that feeling until it was too late. Still, she wanted to get into kindergarten more than anything in the wide world of Equestria! If there was a lack of progress on potty training was what was holding her back, then she decided that she would have to reluctantly start making more of an effort to make it to the bathroom on time. Like all little ones, however, that was something that was easier said than done. The grown-ups made it sound and look so easy, but even the smartest of four year olds didn’t always have the kind of knowledge about their bodily functions that one would gain later in life. And poor Cheerilee was going to learn the hard way what limitations she still faced on graduating from her diapers.

---

It started out like any other day for Cheerilee, she was nearing the four and a half year mark and her potty chart was starting to look a little bit better. There were still more stormy clouds than smiling faces or gold stars, but the ratio of bad days to good days was nowhere near as big as it used to be. In fact she was feeling quite proud of the fact that she had managed a record three days of successful trips to the potty. So who cared if just the week before she had only made it once on what would otherwise have been a week of stormy clouds? Progress was progress. After a hearty breakfast with her family she strolled away to gather up her dolls and have another classroom session. They always made for a better audience than her family or any of her friends, they were good listeners.

So engrossed was Cheerilee in her world of teaching that she didn’t seem to notice or care that her body was starting to give off signals, signals that if she were paying more attention she might have realized were familiar and meant only one thing. But the earth pony didn’t listen, she was completely focused on her own little world. “Now, can anypony tell me what happens to all the water that the pegasi lift to Cloudsdale every spring?” She asked her imaginary audience. None of the dolls actually answered, so Cheerilee pretended that one of them had. “No, Mr. Elephant, that’s not right. The water goes to the weather factory to make clouds,” She spoke in her teacher voice. “Many of those clouds produce rain, which is how the water level in lakes and ponds gets restored. Other clouds produce snow, which is what rain turns into when it gets cold enough to freeze. Just like how water turns into ice when it freezes. And when the sun comes out and heats up the ground, all that water turns into water vapor which is a gas.”

A slight twinge interrupted Cheerilee mid fantasy. It was faint, but the twinge meant only one thing. The little filly paused briefly, her eyes happening to turn towards a familiar destination down the hallway. The bathroom door was open and inside it was her potty, a magenta colored plastic bowl with three white flowers that had smiling faces on them. It would be so easy to just trot over there, sit down on it, and take care of business.

In her mind, however, Cheerilee thought to herself. “It’s not that far away and I don’t have to go that badly yet. I’m sure I can hold it for a little bit longer. Class is almost done anyway.”

So the little earth pony went back to teaching her dolls, doing her best to ignore the twinges as they started to become more frequent and more distracting. She crossed her legs, which was uncomfortable but did manage to quiet the twinges for a while. Unfortunately that made her diaper crinkle with every delicate step she took, a noise that was insanely distracting to her ears. Still, she tried her best to ignore it. Her potty was just down the hall, just a few short steps away. She could make it with plenty of time to spare, no need to interrupt her class so close to the end.

“Why yes, Miss. Giraffe,” The little filly pretended to have been asked a question. “The ground can only hold so much water at a time. When it gets too full the water has nowhere to go and it starts to form puddles. Eventually it can completely cover the ground. This is what we call a flood. Floods can also happen when rain water or melting snow makes a river, lake or stream flow over its banks. This can affect the land around it, which is why some farmers actually settle in places that have just flooded or are prone to flooding. It usually contains rich soil because river or rain water has brought rich nutrients that help plants grow, sort of like when you water plants in a garden with a watering can.”

Unfortunately, even though it hadn’t been very long and even though Cheerilee was confident she could manage the short distance from her current location to the bathroom, her bladder refused to cooperate. The twinges were becoming more pronounced, the tingling sensations were much easier to notice and seemed unwilling to stop. The little filly struggled as she bit her lip, if not for crossing her legs she might have already released into her diaper. Reluctantly, she would have to end class early this time. “T-that’s all for today. C-class is… dismissed.” She declared and then took off in mad dash, she suspected she had only a minute or two at best before her floodgates would open!

---

It was indeed a short trip to the bathroom and it was a blessing to have the bathroom door opened and the potty nearby.

Cheerilee was so confident that she could make it, and maybe she would’ve if not for her eyes happened to briefly glance at an object. It had drawn the little one’s gaze was something she often avoided looking at if she could help it. It towered over her in its gleaming white glory, its massive size towering over her since she didn’t come even close to the seat above the bowl. And within that bowl rested a dangerous, swirling whirlpool that if you accidentally entered into you had no hope of escaping. What exactly it was Cheerilee didn’t know. She knew that it was what grown-ups used and supposedly it was just like her potty. But her potty wasn’t anywhere near as big, it wasn’t cold to the touch, and best of all it didn’t make that frighteningly loud noise at seemingly random intervals.

By the time Cheerilee thought to take her eyes off this ‘throne’ it was too late, her brief moment of wandering had distracted her and caused her to lose control. She didn’t even notice when it happened until it was too late, her diaper swelled up and became unpleasantly damp. It lasted only seconds but for the foal it might as well have been a lifetime. She sighed as she waddled around in her soggy padding. Just like that her record of successful trips to the potty had come to an unfortunate (and unhappy) end. Even at home she was now expected to change herself rather than rely on either of her parents to do the task for her, that was the most ‘grown-up’ thing she could do it seemed. So the little earth pony made her way to the cabinets beneath the sink, clumsily pulling out an already opened package of diapers as well as some lavender scented wet wipes and cornstarch foal powder. There was even a changing mat that was just her size.

Cheerilee carefully unfolded the lime green changing mat as she prepared herself for the diaper change, the umpteenth one this month. Shaking her head she began to think sadly to herself. “You’ll never be ready for kindergarten at this rate. Most foals your age already know how to avoid having accidents. Yet here you are, soaked yet again. When will you learn?”

Comments

[Yosh-E-O]

Interesting. I do like how smart Cheerilee is for her age. Her little mind is definitely filled with great potential to be a well recognized 'Educator Of Tomorrow'.

What is interesting is, in G3.5, Cheerilee was the older sister to Scootaloo. There were times I thought they should've kept this for FiM as it could have lead to some interesting moments in school while making that pesky "Where's her parents?" question be resolved early on instead of how it was done in the "Ponyville Mysteries Books" and "The Last Crusade".

Fortunately, as it seems her parents have took strong notice of her intellectual aptitude, Cheerilee is able to handle herself. Perhaps, even with diapers, they'd let her start school knowing she could change herself?

Being able to self-change could be quite the double-edged sword, too. She could just say to herself, "Well, I need to make sure I can finish my lessons and if that means a wet diaper, well, I'll just change it between classes." :)

This said, I think Cheerilee, by this point in the story, would be a pro at not making a mess in herself. The smell and sounds would be very distracting to her and 'her students'. However piddling is a different story. If she talked enough, none of her 'students' would ever know she was watering her pamps. Also, if the diapers aren't white and/or don't have wetness indicators, it would be hard to tell she had gone potty.

[Latecomer]

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A human might get away with that for a while, but ponies don't have the priveldge of such such subtlety, given how they normally go about bare.