Tags: [Sad] [Slice of Life]

Characters: [Sunny Skies] [Petunia Petals] [Mr. Skies]

Written By: SuperPinkBrony12

Almost from birth, Sunny Skies had greatly admired and looked up to his father. Most especially, he was fascinated by the fact that his father served as mayor of the little town of Hope Hallow. Sunny soon learned that his father had inherited the office from his father, Sunny's grandfather. And that someday, Sunny would in all likelihood inherit the office from his father. That was enough to make him all excited, and even more determined to be just like his dad!

Mr. Skies, though initially quite delighted by his son's enthusiasm, was quick to try to head off the admiration before it could turn into a problem. "Now son, you're only little. You shouldn't be in a hurry to grow up. You're only young once, you know." He told Sunny.

Sunny either didn't understand what his dad was trying to tell him, or didn't care. Every single time his father had that conversation, he'd just eagerly reply. "But I wanna be just like you, Daddy! I wanna do all the things you do that are so cool!"

Mr. Skies sighed. Try as he might, he could not get his son to let go of the desire that had taken root within his little mind. Not even taking Sunny Skies with him to work and showing him just how boring the daily tasks of a mayor were: Be it filing paperwork, attending meetings, or just chatting with the town's ponies as they came to see it. None of it could deter little Sunny's ambitions in the slightest.

That is, until Mr. Skies started exploiting a technicality to keep his son focused on the things that a toddler should be worried about, and keep Sunny's mind off those big pony things he wasn't yet old enough to start worrying about. "You can't be exactly like me just yet, Sunny," He told his son one day. "And do you know why?"

"Why?" Sunny asked in reply, suspecting nothing.

With a satisfied smile, Mr. Skies declared in no uncertain terms. "Because you're still in diapers, my boy. I'm old enough and big enough not to need them. I can take care of my business the way grown ponies should. You aren't old enough or big enough to know how to do that just yet."

"Then I don't want to wear diapers anymore!" Sunny Skies complained and pouted. "If diapers mean I can't be like you, I wanna get out of them and be rid of them! So how do I do it?"

Mr. Skies just chuckled, patting his son gently on the forehead. "I'll tell you when I think you're ready to know, son. Until then, you can stay in diapers, and let your mother and I worry about changing you when you go."

"But Daddy!" Sunny whined in protest.

Mr. Skies would hear nothing further of any arguments. "My decision is final, junior. And I'm sure your mother will agree with me. So stop trying to be the big pony you're not ready to be just yet. Take the time to enjoy your foalhood and your diapers. If you try to rush to get out of them, you one day come to find that you made the wrong decision." And with that, he refused to dwell any further on the subject, convinced that such an argument was foolproof. There was no way his son would be getting out of diapers anytime soon, even if he was technically old enough to at least start the process of doing so.

What Mr. Skies hadn't quite anticipated was the stubborn will and determination of his son to prove that he was ready to be a big pony like his father. Now that he knew what was holding him back and stopping him from being considered a big pony, he just needed to find out how to get past that hurdle. Then he truly would be just like his father.

The next day, Mr. Skies entrusted the care of his son to a neighbor's foal while he took care of some very important discussions at the town hall. They concerned a new arrival to the village in form of a mechanically gifted pony named Torque Wrench, and her idea for how to improve what she viewed as a very big problem for the little town of Hope Hollow.

The pony placed in charge of Sunny in Mr. Skies' absence was an earth pony about a year and a half older than him, but one considerably bigger than him. "Hiya, Sunny," This earth pony filly greeted. "I'm Petunia Petals, your foalsitter."

"Aren't you a little young to be my foalsitter?" Sunny questioned his fellow earth pony. "I mean, you are bigger than me. But I don't think you're much older than me. You're a lot younger than my other foalsitters."

Petunia giggled while playfully poking Sunny's nose with a hoof. "Well, mister, let answer your question with another question:" She scooped him into her hooves and held him close. "Aren't you a little old to still be in diapers? You're, what, four and a half years old now? Most ponies I know are potty trained long before then."

Sunny frowned, folding his hooves across his chest. "Daddy says I'm not old enough to get out of diapers and be like him. And Mommy agrees him. Daddy is being no fun. He doesn't want to be like him, even though he says someday I'm going to be mayor like he is. He has the coolest job in the world, why wouldn't he want me to be like him and get to have that job?"

Petunia smiled, playfully patting Sunny's padded bottom. "Oh Sunny, your father has your best interests at heart. He wants what's best for you, and so does your mother. However, I don't think that quite justifies them holding off on getting you potty trained. If you want to get into schools, you're gonna have to prove that you don't need diapers."

At that Sunny adopted the most puzzled and perplexed look. "What's potty training? Grown-ups say that a lot, but I don't know what it means, and nopony will tell me."

At that the earth pony filly giggled. "You don't know what that means? Really?" When she received a confirming nod, her smile grew brighter as she firmly took hold of him and carried him away. "Well, Sunny, it's your lucky day. I'll tell you all about, and even let you try it if you think you're interested."

"But won't Daddy get upset if he finds out about this?" Sunny questioned with concern.

Petunia winked and replied in a singsong tone of voice. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. It'll just be our little secret for right now. Besides, he and your mom really should've at least started it for you by now. Never known a foal yet in Equestria that was still in diapers when they were old enough for kindergarten." She started humming a little tune as she gingerly brought her charge into the bathroom within his house. Then she set him down upon the bathroom floor, placing him in front of a large, white, bowl shaped object.

"So, what do I have to do, Miss. Petunia?" Sunny asked his foalsitter as he looked up at her and at the strange object she'd placed him before.

Petunia smiled. "Just Petunia, ya hear? I don't just wanna be your foalsitter, I wanna be your friend," She then cleared her throat, trying to change her voice to sound more like a teacher or an instructor. "Now then, you wanna learn how to potty train, right? To give up your diapers and do your business the way big ponies do?"

Sunny Skies nodded ever so slowly as he sat there, listening carefully to every word Petunia was saying.

"Alright then," Petunia began as she approached Sunny, lifting him up, and carefully removing his diaper. "Well, first you gotta take off your diaper. Can't be wearing it if you're going to use the potty like a big pony. Don't worry, I'll put it back on ya when we're done. You don't have to fully give them up until you get better at doing what you need to do."

"So, what do I need to do?" Sunny questioned as he got used to the sensation of a bare bottom.

Petunia turned her attention back to the bowl shaped object she'd placed Sunny in front of earlier. "Well, this is what you're going to use from now on instead of your diapers. Normally, you'd start with a potty more your size. But since we don't have that, we'll just go straight to where everything's gonna end up anyway: The toilet. Or, you can call it the big pony potty if that makes it sound more exciting," Carefully, she lifted the earth pony toddler up with one hoof, while with another hoof she opened up the lid and brought it all the way to the back of the toilet. Then she delicately deposited her charge onto the toilet seat, making sure his rump was hovering over the opening now exposed. "Since you're using a toilet, you need a big pony's help to use it. As you can see, it's a little big for a pony your size. But once you grow big like me you'll find that the size won't be an issue."

"O-okay," Sunny nervously replied as he looked down, noticing the water inside the bowl underneath him. He felt exposed and vulnerable. And the cold, slippery sensation of the curved horseshoe seat did nothing to make him feel at ease. "Uh, you'd catch me if I fell, right, Petunia?" He asked his foalsitter.

Petunia gave a firm nod. "Of course I would. But that won't happen, as long as you don't wiggle around. Just sit still, and you'll be fine."

So Sunny sat upon the toilet seat, shivering ever so slightly at the cold feeling against his bare bottom. It was enough to make him almost rethink his decision to go through with this potty training. Almost.

Petunia, meanwhile, kept a watchful eye over Sunny Skies as she continued to hold onto him with a hoof so that he wouldn't slide off the seat. "Well, now you just gotta do what everypony does." She told him.

Sunny Skies blinked. "Uh, what do you mean by that, Petunia?"

At that the earth pony filly adopted a perplexed look, unsure of how best to phrase what needed to be said without going too into detail for a toddler. "Well… you must know, right? What you're used to doing in your diapers, except without a diaper on this time. Do you get it?"

"Oh… you mean I have to…" Sunny blushed as he realized what Petunia was implying.

Petunia slowly nodded. "Y-yeah… that. I know, I know, it's not pleasant. But it's like that book says: Everypony poops."

The earth pony toddler had a good chuckle at that even though he didn't remember ever reading such a book. But after he'd stopped laughing, he nervously asked. "What if… I don't have to go? What then?"

"Oh… I hadn't thought of that, actually," Petunia sheepishly admitted. "But… you're here now and we've gone through all this trouble, so you might as well try, right? If you really don't have to go then you… don't have to go, no sense trying to force it to come out before it's ready. And don't be ashamed if you don't get it right away, even I still sometimes have accidents. As long as you keep trying, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later."

"Right." Sunny said slowly, letting the words sink in. He was beginning to understand more why his father had been telling him not to be in a hurry to grow up so fast. All of this sounded so complicated, like a lot of steps just for something that he had previously done in a diaper no problem. Still, if he wanted to be a big pony someday and be like his dad, he would have to learn how to do this. And after Petunia had been so kind in teaching him what to do, he really didn't want it to all be for naught.

For a while, the two earth ponies remained where they were in the bathroom as silence filled the air. Petunia never once loosened her grip on Sunny Skies, and Sunny Skies just sat there with his legs dangling off to either side of the toilet bowl. How was it that grown-ups like his mom and his dad could do this and do it without any trouble? Was there another step to the process he didn't understand?

At last, however, just as Sunny felt ready to give up, it happened: He felt something move inside of him. His body seemed to operate entirely on autopilot as his tail hiked upward. Shutting his eyes, he grunted and pushed, soon being rewarded for his efforts as he heard a plop and a splash. When he opened his eyes and looked down, he nearly fell off in surprise! "I… I did it! I did it, Petunia! I used the potty like a big pony!"

"Yes you certainly did, Sunny!" Petunia smiled. She wanted to applaud, but with one of her hooves holding Sunny she couldn't quite do that. So she just settled for stomping her hooves in delight. "I'm so proud of you! And if your mother and father were here now, I'm sure they'd be proud of you too."

"So, am I done now?" Sunny Skies asked. "Because I'd kind of like to get down from this seat."

"Not so fast there, Sunny!" Petunia protested as she used her other free hoof to pull something off a nearby rack and hoofed it to her charge. "First you gotta clean up. You can use this: It's called toilet paper."

"How does it work?" Sunny inquired.

Petunia smiled. "Just run it back and forth underneath your flanks for a bit. When you're done, you can just put it in the toilet. Okay?"

Sunny nodded back. "Okay," And did as he was told. It was a little awkward at first for him to use the toilet paper, but he soon got the hang of it and smiled. "So, what now?" He asked afterward.

Petunia then lifted Sunny off the seat and placed him on the ground before she trotted over to a silver colored handle on the right hoof side of the toilet. "Well, now we just flush, like this." She carefully pressed the handle down, making it click.

Sunny Skies' ears picked up the sound of a loud "Fwoosh!" coming from the toilet, but he was too small to see what was going on. All he knew was that the noise lasted for several seconds, and then suddenly it stopped. When it did, he saw Petunia put the lid of the toilet back down, and then she carried him over to the sink to wash his hooves. "Thank you for teaching me, Petunia," He said with a smile. "I can't believe Daddy didn't want me to learn about that."

"Well, maybe someday soon we can show him that you are ready for it," Petunia replied. "But someday's not today. And of course, until you're fully trained, you're gonna have to go back into diapers."

At that Sunny let out a whine. "Aw man!" The whole point of him learning how potty trained worked was specifically so that he could leave diapers behind, not go right back to them as if nothing had changed.