Potty Training Tales

by SuperPinkBrony12

Pattern for Pottying (Sassy Saddles)

Author's Note:

Tags: [Slice of Life]
Characters: [Sassy Saddles] [OC]
Written By: SuperPinkBrony12

It is natural that certain things will influence one in life. Sassy Saddles’ love for patterns was no exception. Although it was mostly confined to the world of fashion, her original exposure to the idea came long before she ever even gave thought to a career in the fashion industry. Much as she might be embarrassed to admit it in either public or private, Sassy’s exposure to and subsequent love of patterns all stemmed back to her early childhood.

Having been born into a fine, uppercrust family, Sassy was raised with high expectations. Nothing was ever meant to slow her down or get in her way. She was to excel at everything she applied herself to, no matter what it was or how much she actually wanted to do it. The foal was to be a role model for her peers, someone they would all look up to and envy for being so skilled and so ahead of them on things.

Potty training was no exception. And as luck would have it, Sassy’s training came at just the right time for not only her family but countless families all across Equestria.

Talented ponies had finally put the finishing touches on an entirely new, revolutionary type of toilet. Prior to now, the standard model was little more than a trench with water connected to a set of pipes, complete with a pedal to make them flush. While they were made for standing, this new toilet was intended for sitting. It had a bowl shape to it, came with a seat and even had the flush built into it via the use of a handle.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Saddle wasted no time in being among the first ponies in the Canterlot nobility to place an order for this new toilet (which loosely resembled the royal throne of Princess Celestia). And they saw to it that it was installed in their bathroom as soon as possible, complete with somepony to demonstrate how it worked.

All Sassy knew during this time was that her parents kept talking about something big and important, and that lots of strange ponies kept coming and going, producing strange, loud noises as a result. And then one day they stopped coming and the noises went away at around the same time. She went to sleep that night, unaware of how much her little world would change.

When the training began the next morning, Mrs. Saddle soon rolled out something for her daughter to help motivate Sassy to master her training as quickly as possible. It looked like some kind of sketch, but it unfolded to reveal multiple sketches that depicted her and objects she wasn’t familiar with in the slightest.

“This is the pattern you are to follow in your potty training,” Mrs. Saddle instructed her daughter. “Each step shall be carried out to perfection so that you shall soon be displaying your new pull-ups and you the envy of every foal in the neighborhood.”

“Pattern? Pull-ups?” Sassy blinked. The words were confusing and kind of scary to her. She had heard about potty training from a few of her peers before but had thought little of it until now. Getting out of diapers wasn’t something she really minded, but at the same time she kind of liked the way they felt and was unsure of giving them up before she felt ready. Yet she knew there was little arguing with her mother (or her father) on such matters.

Mrs. Saddle quickly explained her entire “plan” to her daughter. “This pattern is a road map. A carefully constructed plan that your father and I have been working on for weeks now. You’ll notice that the pattern is divided into panels, each panel displays a step. In order to complete the pattern fully, you must complete each step in order. When you do so you can continue on to the next step, and we shall repeat the process step by step until you’ve completed them all,” Then she used her magic to carefully scoop up her little filly. “Now then, let us commence with the vital first step: Ditching the diapers. This one is the easiest as you’ll soon see.”

---

Sassy was carried by her mother to the bathroom, set down on the floor as she then felt the diaper she was wearing be unceremoniously undone, pulled out from under her flanks that it had been hugging so tightly and tossed into a wastebasket.

“And there, step one is complete,” Mrs. Saddle smiled as she used her magic to bring up the pattern she’d made and place a pin next to the first panel. “You’ve successfully ditched your diapers. From now on you’re no longer to wear them at all. You shall wear the pull-ups your father and I bought for you, pull-ups you shall proudly wear on every occasion. After all, that is step two of the panel: Put on the pull-ups.”

One of these “pull-ups” was soon brought over to Sassy, who curiously reached out a hoof to touch it. The object looked sort of similar to a diaper but appeared to have little symbols printed on it, and when she touched it with her hoof she found that it didn’t compress or crinkle the way her diapers always did.

Without bothering to wait and see what her daughter thought of the new undergarment, Mrs. Saddle put it on over her daughter’s rump as Sassy reluctantly cooperated. The pull-up didn’t quite hug the rear as tightly as a diaper did, which as Sassy discovered led to a little bit greater flexibility in movement. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about trotting around about with that waddle her diapers always forced her into.

“Now, surely you’ve noticed that a pull-up isn’t the same as a diaper,” Mrs. Saddle went on explaining. “It can’t hold as much. And therefore it is not meant to be used under any circumstances, especially not in public. A few accidents are perhaps to be expected, but you are to work hard to ensure they don’t happen. Should you feel the need to go, you’re to come get either me or your father, or a designated sitter or adult if we’re not around. Either they or I shall escort you to the bathroom and help you pull down your pull-up so you can do your business. Afterwards we shall gladly take the liberty of helping you clean up.” And as she spoke, a pin was placed into the second panel to indicate its completion.

The third panel was up next, but Sassy thought she already knew what it called for just by looking at her surroundings. There stood a tall, white bowl with a round shaped seat and a lid of some kind. There was also a top to it and a handle that was a gleaming silver in color. She could vaguely recall a loud and smelly elevated trench with a colored tile that had previously been in this unfamiliar object’s spot. Clearly, she was meant to use it somehow, although how she didn’t quite know yet.

Well that was about to change! Sassy trotted towards this mighty bowl like object and tried to jump up to get onto the lid. She would have to get the lid up somehow if she was to do what was clearly expected of her. Why hadn’t her mother planned ahead and put it up for her?

Mrs. Saddle soon spotted her daughter trying in vain to grasp the edge of the lid to pull herself up. She just sighed as she trotted over and shook her head. “You’re skipping ahead several steps, Sassy. Training with the toilet doesn’t come until you’ve demonstrated your success with something more appropriate for a foal your age.” Another glow from her horn brought out a small, plastic bowl colored a bright pastel pink that was plopped down and placed before the pair of ponies.

“Step three: Practice with the potty.” She explained. “This training potty is where you shall start your training. Step four calls for you to perfect potty usage. Your potty chart must be full of stars, and your pull-ups must always be in pristine condition.”

Sassy eyed the training potty with confusion. It didn’t look like much, but it did make her wonder how exactly was a plastic bowl like this supposed to help her do anything?

Well, Mrs. Saddle didn’t bother to explain any further. She just pulled down the pull-up she’d just fitted onto her daughter, and then placed her daughter on the training potty. “Step three is complete. You have assumed the proper position to use when on your potty. Now I shall take the liberty of setting up your potty chart for step four. Only when you can go a month without accidents will you be ready to carry out step five: Transitioning to the toilet. And from there you will go to step six, which is the toilet training I mentioned earlier. Step seven shall be much the same as step four in that you complete your chart anew, and go for even longer without accidents. Finally, step eight calls for you to show off your success. When you can do all of that the pattern will be complete, and you’ll be a big pony worthy of praise.”

“Wanna be big pony for Mama!” Sassy declared as she raised her hooves. Nothing delighted her than making her mother proud, no matter what the circumstance might be.

Mrs. Saddle smiled. “I know you will be, Sassy, my dear,” She said. “With this plan I’ve prepared, there is no way you’ll ever struggle for long. And you shall be the first foal in the entire history of the Saddle family to successfully master this new style of training. You’ll be making history!”

---

However, not every plan goes exactly as it’s supposed to. A fact that Mr. and Mrs. Saddle would soon discover the hard way when it came to their daughter’s potty and subsequent toilet training.

The potty training wasn’t a problem. Sassy quickly learned how to identify when she had to go and was driven by her desire to be a big pony like her parents wanted her to be, so accidents were virtually unheard of except occasionally at night. Even Mr. and Mrs. Saddle were surprised by this, they had been expecting some inevitable speed bumps, but their daughter was progressing even faster than they had imagined.
Step four of the pattern was completed on time. This meant that the plan was just over halfway done. Step five was being carried out when the trouble began.

The toilet was much bigger than the training potty. Knowing how slippery the seat was, Mrs. Saddle purchased a step stool so her daughter would be able to climb up onto it.

Sitting on the toilet seat the right way was a hassle for Sassy even when she tried her hardest. Her first attempt actually went pretty smoothly, once again exceeding her parents’ expectations as she did her business in the new toilet with ease. “All done, Mommy!” Sassy proudly declared. She didn’t stand up like she was used to doing with the training potty though.

Mrs. Saddle was most impressed as she wiped her daughter clean with toilet paper. “Splendid job, Sassy!” She smiled as she deposited the used rolls into the toilet bowl. “And now we flush, just like this!” She demonstrated this by lighting up her horn and pressing down the silver handle with her magic.

Sassy became aware of a loud noise, and looked down since she was sure that it was coming from within the toilet. She saw everything spinning around with the swirling water which became a dizzying whirlpool. And before she knew it, both her waste and the toilet paper was sucked down the drain and disappeared with the water following afterward. Then she saw the water in the toilet bowl refill itself as if nothing had happened. The foal quickly put two and two together and deduced that this was the work of that “flush” from earlier. It was almost like a magic trick.

That “magic trick” was the motivation Sassy needed to make it to the bathroom to use the toilet. But she unfortunately discovered that getting onto it took longer than when she was just getting onto her training potty. So many times she was so sure she could make it, but by the time she was up on the toilet seat it was too late. As a result, a stormy cloud sticker would be placed on her potty chart.

Months passed with the same results playing out. It seemed like Sassy just wasn’t able to adjust to the toilet like her parents hoped. But they refused to rip up their pattern as a result of this development, they just felt they needed to press harder. Their daughter was making it, she just needed a little extra nudge to make it on time.

Sassy soon grew to hate the mandatory potty breaks her parents imposed upon her. She knew when she had to go, it wasn’t her fault she just couldn’t get onto the toilet in time. Heck, one time her parents had been in such a rush to get her to go that they forgot to warn her about how slippery the toilet seat was. A rather frightened Sassy had to clung desperately to the sides of the seat to keep from slipping off, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to fit down the drain even if she wanted to.

Still, all the enforcement was enough to yield the results the parents wanted for their daughter. Sassy soon found gold stars and smiley faces overtaking the stormy clouds on her potty chart. The days without accidents began to increase, though they never quite reached the intended level her parents wanted and accidents still seemed to happen more than they should’ve (which was never at all). However, the parents were willing to declare this a success. As long as it would be good enough to ensure a successful demonstration among Sassy’s peers, her parents didn’t mind.

And demonstrate Sassy did. She soon found herself becoming not just a role model but a teacher. So many other nobles and uppercrusts were recruiting her to show their own foals how potty and toilet training worked, and her parents became the talk of the town like they’d always wanted to as a result.

Yet looking back on it years later, Sassy largely remembered the patterns that had so dictated her life. The same patterns she had once hated as a foal she’d now come to embrace so lovingly. It was funny how life could work sometimes.