"Come on, Scoot! When I say it's time for your nap, then it's time for your nap!" Snap Shutter groaned as he chased after his two (almost three) year old daughter Scootaloo.
The little pegasus was enjoying her newfound ability to fly with her tiny wings, even though they were only good for a few short bursts (which was odd because she could've sworn she used to be able to do so much more with them). It was fun messing with her dad who couldn't fly.
However, there was one other member of the family who could. Mane Allgood, Scootaloo's mother. The pegasus mare quickly swooped in and snatched up Scootaloo, holding her by her diapered rear. "That's enough flying for you, young missy," She lightly scolded. "All good foals take their naps when they are told. Nopony likes a cranky foal."
"Dun care, not tired." Scootaloo protested as she wiggled about, trying in vain to free herself from her mother's grasp. That was the one thing she really didn't like about her parents, they were super strong. Her dad was strong enough to wrestle even fully grown cragadiles (whatever those were), and her mom often boasted about the time she'd wing wrestled a wyvern. And those were just a few of their many adventuristic exploits that they'd had.
That wasn't to say they made no time at all for their only daughter, because they did. They would spend as much time as possible doting on her whenever they were on break from their adventures. And normally the affection was sweet, Scootaloo couldn't get enough of it. But every so often Snap and Mane seemed to become incredibly strict, telling their daughter not to go near things or touch things. And they always ended their argument with "Good foals do as they're told.", sometimes even putting their daughter in the time out corner for good measure.
Mane Allgood just continued to hold her squirming daughter as she carried her into the nursery on the first floor of the house. Snap Shutter breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his brows and adjusting his hat that he never liked to be without. "Thanks for the assist, hon," He told his wife. "I knew havin' a foal would be a challenge, but this easily puts any of our other adventures to shame."
Mane Allgood simply smiled as she carefully placed Scootaloo in her crib. "Oh, she's just a sweet little angel. A born adventurer, just like us," She bent down to give her daughter a kiss on the forehead, softly telling her. "Now, Scootaloo, be a good little pony and take your nap."
Snap Shutter sweetened the deal by adding. "If you behave yourself, we'll take you out for ice cream sundaes. You love those!"
Scootaloo buzzed her tiny wings in excitement! "Yay, ice cweam! She always loved it when her parents took her out for the sweet treat. Nevermind the fact that it seemed like they always offered it whenever they wanted her to comply with something they were asking of her. Ice cream sundaes were something you didn't just get, even her parents seemed to enjoy them.
Snap ruffled his daughter's mane a bit, before he too kissed her and then pulled the blanket up to her little chest. "Right then, mate. Have a good nap."
"And remember, Scootaloo, just call us if you need anything. Your father and I will be right down the hall." Mane called, before she turned out the light and turned on the mobile over Scootaloo's crib. Then the two adults left the room, taking care not to make any noise. The last thing either of them wanted was to wake their daughter up as she was trying to go to sleep.
As soon as she was certain that her parents were gone, Scootaloo rose up from her pillow and rubbed her eyes. "They always fall for that." She thought to herself and giggled. It was always fun to trick her parents into thinking she was asleep when in fact she wasn't. Granted, a part of the little pegasus did feel slightly guilty for doing so. But that part of her was easily overshadowed and ignored by the part of her that longed to be just like her parents. A daring adventurer who explored uncharted territory and battled fearsome beasts that would make even the bravest of hearts tremble.
There was just one small (or in Scootaloo's case big) problem. Her parents most definitely wouldn't approve of her wandering off to go on adventures. That was okay though, there were lots of unfamiliar places within her own home for the pegasus with a coat of orange to explore.
Today she was feeling particularly bold. There was a truly fearsome creature that lurked not in some far off jungle or forest, but within the confines of her own home. More specifically the one place that all foals knew to be a scary and dangerous place: The bathroom.
Why was it so scary and dangerous? Well there were a whole host of reasons: Lots of strange and big things that Scootaloo couldn't reach no matter how hard she tried. Loud, unusual noises that couldn't be explained. Even those bottles beneath the sink with weird labels that she was told never to drink from. However, the thing that frightened the foal the most. The thing that to her made the bathroom a place to avoid at all costs if she could help it, was something known as the potty monster.
From time to time during her many bubble baths, Scootaloo could've sworn she caught a glimpse of this monster. It was said to be a frightening creature of incredible height, bigger than ten foals stacked on top of each other. It was loud, smelly, and cold to the touch. Apparently it was made out of something called 'porcelain', and had a weird bowl like shape to it. Most frightening of all though, it was said to pray on innocent little foals and gobble them up. Nothing that entered into it ever came out.
But she had seen her parents trot past it several times without ever once batting an eyelid. One time she could've sworn she'd heard a loud noise just before her dad exited the bathroom to play with her. And if her dad went in there alone with that monster, then her mom probably did the same. And since her parents were the ponies Scootaloo most looked up to at the moment (not that she had many other ponies to emulate), if they could be alone with the potty monster and not get eaten then surely she could do the same.
So Scootaloo made up her mind then and there. She would find a way to conquer and tame this accursed potty monster. She would teach it never to gobble up foals again. How she would do that though, she didn't know. But considering she had chased away the monster that lurked under her bed, and the one that dwelt in her closet (despite never having actually seen either one come or go), the one lurking in the bathroom couldn't possibly be that difficult to conquer. Her parents had probably softened it up for her.
But before the brave little adventurer could even hope to take on her foe, she would first need to get out of her prison. The iron bars that surrounded her stretched high into the sky, and they seemed to be positioned in such a way that she couldn't climb up them or fly over them. She wished more than anything that she knew how to make the bars disappear and reappear as her parents always did.
"Cuwses!" Scootaloo muttered under her breath. "Ya stupid baws! I hate ya!" The foal stuck out her tongue at them, but of course the bars gave no reply. She was trapped and caged, just like those exotic animals her parents sometimes brought back from their adventures (often with the warning to Scootaloo not to go anywhere near them). There had to be a way out, there just had to be!
As Scootaloo sat on her diapered rump, deep in thought, her grayish-purple eyes noticed something about her surroundings. Namely the bars that currently held her captive against her will. It appeared that there was just enough space between them for her to stick a hoof out. And considering her body wasn't much bigger compared to her hooves, maybe there was enough room for her to squeeze past and be freed?
There was only one way to find out. The foal rose further, kicking off her blanket. She slowly crawled towards the bars, her wings almost reflexively tucking themselves to the sides of her body so as to not take up more space. The orange coated foal slowly wiggled, trying to gauge the gap to see if she could fit. Surprisingly, she discovered that she could, albeit just barely.
After a great deal of wiggling and shimmying about, the foal finally squeezed her way through the bars, thus breaking free of her prison! Unfortunately she had misjudged how far out she would have to be before her tiny wings could be put to use. By the time she realized her mistake it was too late! The foal plunged headlong to the ground!
Luckily for Scootaloo, she landed rump first and her soft diaper acted like a protective shield, cushioning the blow. The padding compressed and crinkled, not very loudly but to Scootaloo it sounded quite loud. She momentarily distracted herself by poking at the padding, making it crinkle repeatedly. But the pegasus soon shook her head. "Ya not gonna distract me, diapee! I know what I gotta do!" She boldly declared and slowly stood up. Standing on her hooves was difficult, her diaper worked against her in this case by giving her backside more weight and pushing her back legs apart.
The little pegasus took one step forward, and her legs wobbled and wiggled like jelly. She lost her balance and tumbled forward. But Scootaloo didn't cry, true adventurers never cried. An adventurer always just picked themselves up and tried again. And that's exactly what the foal did as she rose to her hooves again. Now she knew to adjust the weight on her front hooves to counter for the added girth of the padding taped to her rump. "Why do my parents always have to get the thick diapers? Though I guess the extra poof comes in handy sometimes." She thought to herself and resumed her journey, her destination clear in mind.
Scootaloo trekked (waddled was more like it) along through the house, taking care not to lose her balance and fall again. Her imagination quickly took over, turning a simple walk to the bathroom into a thrilling adventure through the jungle.
Scootaloo imagined herself not unlike Daring Do, the famous adventurer whose stories were popular not just with foals her age but even with grown ponies (though her mom and dad seemed to find them a tad too 'exaggerated' for their tastes). In her mind she pictured herself wearing a pith helmet and carrying a rope, just like the adventurer. Daring Do was on a quest to discover a long lost treasure, the name of which eluded her at the moment.
It resided in a temple just a short ways away, easily within flight distance. But Daring wanted to save her strength, because it was said that treasure inside the temple was guarded by a fearsome white beast. It was some kind of king that ruled over the place, and never allowed anything that came near it to ever escape. It was said that if you crossed paths with the great white beast you were a goner for sure.
Did that stop Daring Do? Not even for a second! Daring Do welcomed a challenge, no matter what the danger might be! And if she ran into trouble, well that was what her rope and her wings were for. She'd never met a challenge yet that she couldn't overcome or a monster that she couldn't outwit. That temple and its king would soon be added to the list of ancient guardians that were no match for her. The treasure they guarded would soon be hers!
First thing was first, though. Daring had to cross a rope bridge that looked like it was barely holding up. Below it rested a huge ravine, the bottom of which couldn't even be seen from Daring's location. The adventurer took a step forward, placing one hoof onto the first plank of the bridge. It held, and so Daring moved forward again. Plank by plank she trotted across the bridge. So far it was holding up just fine.
But then suddenly, Daring stepped on one of the planks and it squeaked before giving way! The squeak momentarily snapped Scootaloo out of her fantasy as she noticed that she had stepped one of her toys. She paused, expecting the squeak to alert her parents who would not be pleased to find out that their daughter wasn't in her crib.
However, seconds passed and there was not another sound to be heard. Apparently the squeak wasn't loud enough for either Mane or Snap to have heard it (or maybe they had fallen asleep). Scootaloo was quite relieved by this as she lifted her hoof from the squeaky toy. There were lots of similar toys scattered around from her earlier playtime, she would have to tread carefully to avoid stepping on anymore of them.
The adventurer set off once again. Now she could see that some of the planks were rotten and worn away. They would not hold up if they were stepped on. So Daring Do carefully maneuvered around the bad planks, sometimes having to stretch her hooves over multiple planks to find a safe one to plant herself on. At last, she reached the end of the bridge and her hooves were planted on solid ground once again.
The temple of terror (or whatever it was called, Daring had forgotten the name of it) lay just up ahead. Just past a pit of sharp spikes (in reality they were crumbs from cookies Scootaloo had enjoyed earlier). Since going around the pit would take too long, Daring backed up and got a running start. Then she leapt into the air and flapped her wings, sailing straight over the pit and landing safely on the other side. She paused to wipe the sweat from her brows. "Focus, Daring. Now comes the hard part." She told herself.
Scootaloo had now reached the bathroom door. Just beyond it lay the dreaded potty monster. Now that facing it was all but a reality, the foal couldn't help but gulp a bit. It was easy to fantasize about taking it on, but actually having to do so would be quite another.
But the foal hadn't come all this way just to turn back now. She was determined to prove herself. Prove that this scary creature didn't frighten her anymore. Prove that she could tame it just as well as her parents probably did. So she grit her teeth and steadied herself, for the door was opened just slightly ajar. The moment of truth was upon her!
Daring Do felt exhausted as she climbed the last step of the temple. All this work just to get to the entrance. "This treasure had better be worth it." She said to herself, before pausing to catch her breath.
As the pegasus trotted up to the temple entrance, the stone door rose up. There was no turning back now even if she wanted to, and she didn't. Daring trotted bravely forward, into the temple as the door slammed shut behind her, briefly plunging the brave adventurer into darkness!
Scootaloo felt the coolness of the tiled floor on her hooves as she stood in the bathroom. She immediately started looking for the potty monster. It didn't take long for her to spot it. The porcelain contraption stood before her in all its horrific glory. The size was even bigger than she had imagined. And what was with that strange, silver handle shaped device off to her left?
Well, those were problems to be worked out later. For now, the foal had to figure out what she had to do to tame this great beast. It was too bad she couldn't ask her parents how they did it, she could really use their help right about now.
Daring Do wasn't alone in the temple for very long, as torch lights illuminated her surroundings she spotted an opening just up ahead. A strange, bulb device rested on a pedestal in the center of the room. It appeared to be made of solid gold.
But as the adventurer trotted into the room and toward the pedestal, she heard a clinking sound. She spun around and saw the door the room slam shut behind her, trapping her inside! And worse was to come! For at that very moment, the king of the temple appeared! It was a creature of pure white that was even bigger than a fully grown cragadile, Daring didn't know what it was!
The creature roared loudly, splashing water at Daring. She shook herself to get it off. "Hey, that was uncalled for!" She complained, but the king only roared louder and lunged forward, snatching up Daring!
Daring flailed about as she was held in the monster's grip! "Let me go!" She demanded, trying to kick the creature to make it loosen its hold on her. Nothing she tried seemed to be working, though.
Scootaloo had to strain herself considerably to generate enough lift to get up on the seat, now staring down into the belly of the beast. It looked like some kind of reflective pond with a strange hole at the bottom (probably for eating whatever ended up inside it, Scootaloo surmised). But the seat itself was slippery, Scootaloo could feel her little hooves losing their balance! "Oh no!" She cried out as she attempted to grab hold of something, anything to stop her fall. She didn't dare to find out what would happen if she fell into the potty monster's belly! Most likely she would end up eaten!
All the foal could do, however, was grasp that silver object from before and push it down. A mighty roar rang out as the waters in the bowl below swirled ominously, like a raging whirlpool!
As Daring Do continued to flail about helplessly, one of her hooves happened to brush up against the horn of the creature holding her captive. That prompted a reaction from the king itself.
The king roared loudly, it clearly didn't like having its horn be touched! Without warning, its tongue reached out and grabbed hold of Daring, dragging her towards some kind of spinning, draining whirlpool!
Try as she might, Daring couldn't seem to break free of the hold the king's tongue had on her! Was this it? Was this how she met her end? Becoming the king's next meal?
Suddenly, however, the adventurer swore she felt something fall off of her and into the king's mouth. Whatever it was the king clearly didn't like it. Its tongue released its hold on the pegasus as it flailed about, water spilling out of it and soaking Daring completely.
Daring Do saw her chance! She pulled out her rope and flew on top of the still flailing king that continued to belch out water, trying in vain to cough up whatever it was it didn't like. "Time to take you down, monster!" She heroically vowed, before flying down and using her rope to tie the creature's mouth shut!
Try as it might, the king couldn't get the rope to snap. Its mouth was held shut as it kept on gagging, water flowing out of it like crazy and soaking the floor of the temple. At last it doubled over and fell with one last cough, finally expelling that which had given it so much difficulty. The water that had previously been pouring out of its mouth stopped and receded. The king was no more, and Daring could finally claim the treasure! "All in a day's work for an adventurer!" She proudly declared.
"Scootaloo, what in the name of Celestia are you doing in here?!" A rather stern voice suddenly rang out, snapping the foal back to reality.
Scootaloo spun around and found herself face to face with her parents. Both Snap and Mane didn't look happy at all if the arched eyebrows and pronounced frowns were any indication. The foal lay perched atop her vanquished foe on the one part of it that was safe. Her diaper had fallen off and lay discarded on the floor, completely soaked with toilet water. And the tiled floor was wet too, as was Scootaloo. And not because she'd taken a bath.
Snap Shutter groaned as he surveyed the damage. "Crikey! Look at this mess! It's like a monsoon swept through here!"
Mane Allgood, meanwhile, looked at Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, aren't you supposed to be in your crib? You know the bathroom is no place for foals by themselves."
Scootaloo whimpered as she curled up almost into a ball. "Me sowwy," She apologized as best she could, even though she wasn't exactly sure what she'd done wrong. "Me was twying to be wike Dawing Do, and wike Mommy and Daddy. Me wanted to pwove me was bwave."
"But why are you all wet? And how come your diaper is completely soaked?" Mane demanded of her daughter.
Scootaloo whimpered more as she confessed. "Me twied to tame potty monstew, but it twy to eat me. Diapee saved me."
Snap groaned anew. "Scoot, you're supposed to come and get us if you have to use the potty. Do you have any idea what could've happened to ya?!" Then he sighed. "And just look at this mess. We just redecorated, and now we're gonna have to replace the tiles again."
"Well, at least you didn't break the toilet. Diapers are not meant to be flushed," Mane sternly declared as she trotted over to Scootaloo. "It's nice that you wanted to try and take on the big potty all by yourself, but you really should ask a grown-up to help you. That way accidents like these don't happen."
Snap then spoke up. "I reckon you'll need a bath now, Scoot. It ain't good for ya to be in that toilet water. Can't have you gettin' sick," He trotted towards the bathtub and turned on the faucet. "And from now on, please come get either your mum or I if you have to go potty. Truth be told, we reckoned it was probably time to start potty training ya."
Scootaloo blinked. "Potty twaining? What tat?"
Mane smiled as she carefully picked up her daughter, and then put her soaked diaper in the trash can. "It's when you start using the potty instead of your diapers," She explained. "It's something everypony has to go through eventually."
"Can me twy it?" The orange coated pegasus questioned. She wasn't really sure what it was but if would make her more like her parents she was eager to make an attempt.
Snap proudly declared. "Certainly! But let's get your bath goin' first."
Scootaloo cooperated while she was bathed. She still didn't quite know what she'd done to cause such a mess in the bathroom, but it was clear that it was not how one was supposed to "potty train" whatever that meant.
While Snap Shutter worked on getting Scootaloo cleaned up, Mane Allgood took the time to dry the bathroom floor as best she could. She knew that the tiles were probably too waterlogged to be useful, but until she could hire somepony to come out and inspect them there was no point in replacing them. She also left to retrieve a new diaper, to replace the one she'd tossed into the trash.
At last, Snap finished rinsing off Scootaloo and lifted her out of the tub to dry off.
Once the little pegasus was all clean and dry, she was ready to start this new task of 'potty training'.
Snap and Mane looked across to each other, as if uncertain about what they were about to do. But after a brief moment of hesitation, Snap took the lead. "Okay, Scoot, you ready to learn how a big pony uses the potty?" He asked his daughter (still diaperless).
The foal nodded her head. "Uh-huh."
"Right then, mate. Here's how you do it," Snap explained as he took his daughter by the hoof. "Now, you've already completed step one: Take off your diaper. You can't use the potty if you have a diaper on, that defeats the whole purpose. Now you're ready for step two: Get up on the seat. You're a little small, so I'll help you out," He carefully lifted his daughter up and set her delicately upon the toilet seat, taking great care to make sure she couldn't fall in. "And now for step three: The most important part of all, the part where you do your business."
Hearing such a foreign word made the little pegasus blink anew. "Business? What ya mean?"
"It means that you do what you used to do in your diapers," Mane explained to her daughter. "It's okay if you don't have to go. But you have to at least sit on the seat for a while and try."
Snap then offered. "Most ponies prefer havin' something to read while they're on the potty. Reckon I should go fetch a Daring Do book for ya."
But there was no need to do so, Scootaloo had already relaxed and started pushing. Snap and Mane turned their heads so as to give their daughter some privacy. They soon heard a series of audible plops and a faint tinkling sound. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.
They still looked anyway, just to be sure. "Well Bob's your uncle!" Snap happily exclaimed! "You did Scoot! You used the potty!"
Mane smiled. "Oh, Snap, if only you had your camera. This would make a wonderful moment for the family album!"
Snap grinned. "I know, guess I'll have to make a note to have it ready for next time," Then something else caught his attention, making him plug his nose. "Phew! Scoot, what's your mum been feeding you?!"
"Are you saying my cooking is bad? Because I seem to remember you eating everything and asking for seconds," Mane briefly replied. Then she approached her daughter and gave her a wing hug. "Such a big filly, Scootaloo! You've made your mommy and daddy so proud of you!"
After a bit more praise (alongside his wife), Snap cleared his throat. "Now then, there's still a few steps you need to do before you're done. Step four: Get cleaned up," He trotted over to a nearby roll, pulling off some pieces of a paper like substance. "This here's toilet paper, and it's what you use to wipe yourself after you..." He coughed into a hoof. "Well, ya know what I'm talking about, mate. Let me show how it's done," Carefully, the earth pony stallion took the rolls and wiped his daughter clean. Then he deposited the used rolls into the toilet bowl. "And finally, step five: You flush. This is the best part, mate."
Scootaloo eyed the handle off to her left, gesturing to it with a hoof. "Tat what makes potty fwush?" She questioned.
"Exactly. You're so smart, Scoot," Snap cooed. "Then after you flush, make sure to wash your hooves. I don't think I need to tell you why."
With a little help from her dad, the foal was able to push down the handle of the toilet and make it flush. Everything in it was quickly sucked up and disappeared down the drain. When the water refilled it was sparkling, there wasn't a trace of anything in it at all. Now that she thought about it, the hole looked too big to swallow her up, not that Scootaloo wanted to find out.
Snap then helped Scootaloo down from the toilet and helped her to wash her hooves thoroughly, then he did the same.
But Mane still took the liberty of putting the new diaper on her daughter afterward. "Once you get good at using the potty, we can see about getting you out of diapers. But it's not going to be an overnight thing, Scootaloo," She explained, before scooping her daughter up. "Now then, you're going to take a nap. And this time you're going to stay in your room. Got it?"
Scootaloo gulped as she looked into her mother's eyes. The look she saw would've frightened even the most fearsome of monsters into submission. No wonder the potty monster had been so easy to tame, it was no match for her parents. "Otay, me pwomise." She told her mom.
Snap Shutter just grinned. "Of course, if you think you have to go again, be sure to let us know so we can help you. You scared the potty monster off this time, but I reckon it'll be back. Foals are its favorite meal after all. But it's not much for you, right, Scoot?"
Mane Allgood simply sighed. "Snap, dear, don't be giving Scootaloo any ideas. The potty is not a monster." But alas, there was no arguing with the power of a child's imagination.
"I'll be back, potty monster!" Scootaloo mentally vowed as she was carried out of the bathroom. "And one of these days I won't even need my parents to defeat you!"
Author's Note
Think of this as my official canonical Scootaparents inclusion for the potty training collab with Latecomer, since the official Scootaloo entry I wrote I wrote before I had any knowledge of Scootaloo's canonical family.
Of course, this is still a stand alone Scootaloo fanfic. I really do think Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood deserve more love than they seem to be getting right now.
