Tags: [Slice of Life]

Characters: [Truffle Shuffle] [Cheerilee]

Written By: SuperPinkBrony12

Growing up, Cheerilee always believed she had a special connection with foals. She really felt attached to them, and always wanted to help them with whatever it was they needed help with. Yet it wasn't until after she got her cutie mark that she realized what her calling in life was meant to be: She wanted to be a teacher.

The young mare threw herself into such a pursuit with rigorous devotion and dedication! And when she finally earned her teaching degree and received approval from the EEA to be a certified educator, Cheerilee was ready for the job!

However, one unexpected development sidetracked the earth pony mare. By chance, while she was settling back into Ponyville (after having gone away to Canterlot to pursue her degree), she discovered an orphaned earth pony foal. All that was known about it was that it was a little colt by the name of Truffle Shuffle, and a fair bit on the pudgy side. After learning that no one had even the faintest idea of who Truffle Shuffle belonged to, Cheerilee made a spur of the moment decision and officially adopted him right on the spot!

Raising Truffle Shuffle meant Cheerilee's dream of being a teacher had to take a temporary backseat. There were only so many ponies she could call upon to be a foalsitter for her adopted son. And Cheerilee found that she didn't have the heart to be away from him for long periods of time. So she took on smaller jobs around town to make ends meet, doing whatever paid well while still allowing her to spend as much time as possible with little Truffle Shuffle. He was certainly a hoofful, what foal wouldn't be, but Cheerilee was more than up to the task of raising him. Nothing truly phased her: Changing diapers, feeding him, setting him down for naps, playing with him, whatever it was it was no problem at all for the earth pony mare.

And for every development in Truffle Shuffle's life, Cheerilee made sure she was on hoof to witness it. After all, it would give her plenty of first-hoof experience dealing with young ones when she inevitably got around to becoming a teacher.

Of course, there was one development that Cheerilee knew was extremely important for any foal's development. It was one that, if done poorly, could have very serious consequences down the line. By the time Truffle Shuffle was two and a half years old, Cheerilee knew the time had come. She would have to potty train her son, teach him to give up his diapers and do his business the way grown ponies did.

To prepare herself for what was certain to be a very big undertaking, the earth pony mare consulted as many books and experts on the subject as she could. She read, re-read and re-re-read everything until she was almost cross eyed. A lot of it was very conflicting, telling her either to be firm and strict, or to be laid back and easygoing about her approach. It seemed almost impossible to find a happy middle ground: To install in Truffle Shuffle the importance of potty training, whilst making sure he didn't come to hate it or fight back against it.

At last, Cheerilee realized she could put it off no longer. She had done all she could to prepare herself. But this was uncharted territory. She would just have to wing it as best she could, and learn as she went.

On the day when the potty training began, Cheerilee took several deep breaths in order to steady herself. "Ready or not, here I go!" She thought, giving herself a quick mental pep talk. "I can do this! I just have to stay calm and not let him see me afraid or hesitant. I'm not being the bad pony, I'm doing this because I love him and want what's best for him." And with that thinking in mind, she trotted into her son's nursery in order to more or less get the training underway.

Truffle Shuffle sat up in his crib and stretched out his hooves as his adoptive mother approached. "Good morning, Mommy!" He greeted with a bright smile.

Cheerilee smiled back as she lifted Truffle Shuffle out of the crib and performed a quick diaper inspection, no point in starting the training if he'd already used his diaper. But fortunately, he hadn't, he was dry and clean. "Good morning, my little angel!" She cooed as she then set him down upon the nursery floor. "Are you ready for that big surprise Mommy was talking about with you yesterday?"

The pudgy little colt nodded. "Uh-huh! I'm ready, Mommy! I love surprises!"

The earth pony mare smiled again as she nodded back. "Good. Come along, take my hoof, please." She extended her hoof down so her son could grasp it.

Truffle Shuffle obeyed without hesitation. Together, he and his mother made their way through the house, trotting past room after room. Then, at last, they reached the front door of the house. That struck the little colt as most odd. "Where we going, Mommy?" He asked.

"Someplace you're going to be seeing a lot more of from now on, my son," Cheerilee told him. "Don't worry. Just stay close to me. We're almost there," She then pushed the front door open, and led her son around to the back of the house where a small shed of sorts rested. It did seem to be sort of connected to the house proper, but at the same time it did not seem accessible except by this small journey. "Here we are." Cheerilee smiled as she pushed open the door of the shed and led Truffle Shuffle inside.

The interior of the shed was brightly illuminated, had a strange smell to it, and seemed to consist almost entirely of a large trench like object with what seemed like a white box above it. There was also a colored tile, and a nozzle, and the box like object appeared to be connected to a set of silver pipes.

Truffle Shuffle had never seen a place like this before. "What's this, Mommy?" He asked as he looked up at her, confident that she would explain.

And indeed, Cheerilee did. "This place is called a bathroom, or as a lavatory. And it is here that we have something I want you to start using," She led Truffle towards the box like object above the trench. "This…" She explained. "Is what you're to start using from now on when you have to go pee-pee or poo-poo. It is called a potty."

"Potty?" Truffle Shuffle blinked as he peered down at the object, noticing that there seemed to be running water underneath it for some reason, along with what looked like a small opening.

The earth pony mare nodded. "Yes, my son. It's really quite simple: You just take off your diaper," As she spoke, she undid the pudgy little colt's diaper and set it aside. "Now, stand in place so that your bottom is directly above the potty, like this," She decided it best to teach by example, and lined up her body in the position she wanted her son to imitate. "Then you just let it all out. Now go ahead, try it."

Hesitantly, the little colt did as he had been instructed. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to "pee-pee or poo-poo" in it, whenever he did it in his diapers it always seemed to just happen. But his mother wanted him to try, so try he would.

For how long the pudgy little earth pony just stood there, rump hovering over the potty, he did not know. But any will he might have had to move or try to escape was all but drained away with one look at his mother. She seemed to want him to do what she had asked of him, and it didn't seem like she was going to let him get away without trying. He just hoped that if he stood there long enough, she would give him permission to leave.

At last, however, the colt felt something within him move. His tail suddenly raised itself entirely on instinct, and he groaned and grunted as he shut his eyes. Then, there was a plop and a splash, and a familiar smell reached his nostrils.

"Well done, Truffle Shuffle! You did it!" Cheerilee cheered and clapped her hooves in approval! "See how easy that was?"

Truffle Shuffle nodded. "I do good, Mommy?" He asked, even though he really didn't need to.

"Yes you did!" Cheerilee said with a smile. "Now, do you see that colored tile over there?" She gestured a hoof to it and got a nod. "Go walk over it and press it down."

The colt obeyed, and when he pressed down the tile he heard a click, followed by a roar! He turned around fast, and happened to see that the waters within the trench were now surging and appeared to be thrashing about to either side! Yet they did not spill over, they were contained entirely beneath the white box as they slowly retreated down the hole, taking everything with them. Then, after a faint gurgling sound, the water refilled itself, but it was now sparkling clean. "What was that, Mommy?" He asked.

"It's called a flush. It's how the toilet empties itself," Cheerilee explained. "Just make sure you keep your tail out of the toilet when you do so. And never put anything into the toilet besides what you just did. As long as you do that, nothing bad will ever happen," She then pulled the nozzle close. "Oh, and you can use this to clean yourself up after you've used the potty. Did you get all of that?"

"Uh-huh." Truffle Shuffle nodded. It all sounded so easy when his mommy was the one explaining it to him.