Fluttershy woke up that morning to the birds singing her a soft song. She usually hummed along as she did her morning routine, but this time she remained silent. She proceeded to feed the animals, and clean up her house. When she looked outside she realized that the weather managers scheduled rain for that day. She sighed as she got her coat. She listened to Angel for a moment before she could leave. "I know Angel, but I have to try to help him and this is the only way they'll let me. I just hope he understands."
Fluttershy made her way outside towards the forest. She didn't like the idea having to explain the current situation to someone that she is trying to help. She slowly made her way to a small cave. She had to lower her head to make it inside. As she made her way into the cave she saw a fox sleeping inside. It wasn't like any normal fox. His coat was orange, black, and white. He was about half the size of a normal pony, which was smaller than most foxes. The most unique thing about him was his wings. This was the only fox she knew about who could fly.
Fluttershy watched as he slowly started to wake up. When he saw her in his "bedroom" he jumped and nearly hit his head on the roof of the cave. "HEY! Oh! It's you Fluttershy. I thought you'd knock or something."
Now most ponies would have been shocked to see a talking fox, but Fluttershy learned about his unique abilities a long time ago. "I'm so sorry Blaze. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?"
Blaze started stretching while listening to her. "I'm fine. So, What are you doing here so early?"
Fluttershy felt her heart drop a bit. "Um, I thought I'd check up on you. How's your home coming along?"
She watched as Blaze looked around his empty cave. "Alright. It's what I can afford right now; which is nothing. Now enough of these dodging games; what's wrong?"
Fluttershy was still nervous. She remembered when she first found Blaze. He was being beaten up by some other foxes. It was one of the few times when she used her stare. She remembered taking him to the vet. She watched as this helpless little creature who didn't fit in had surgery for several broken bones. To this day she could still see the faint scars on his body from the animals attacking him and from the surgery. She was the one took care of him while he was recovering. She enjoyed having another friend to talk to, until he started talking back. She ended up screaming in fear at him. She remembered how ashamed she felt when he ran out of her cottage scared of her. It was only because of Twilight that he came back. Ever since then she always did her best to help him. Now she was asked to give this hard choice to him. She knew that this issue could break this friendship that she tried so hard to rebuild. She couldn't take it anymore.
Fluttershy started crying in front of him. "I can't... I don't want to hurt you again. I just wanted to help you."
Tears rolled down her face as she covered them in shame. As Fluttershy started drifting into a sea of regret and fear she felt a couple of paws wrap around her waist.
She looked down to see Blaze hugging her. "Fluttershy, you've helped me so much. You were the pony who saved my life, but I can't expect you to do everything for me. I know you want to help me get on my paws, but you can't beat yourself up when you can't help me. So what's wrong?"
Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face. "Twilight wanted me to talk to you about your application. You don't have a lot of experience with making friends and you don't have many things you can teach them. She doesn't believe you are ready for a teaching position."
Blaze lowered his head. "Well, it was a long shot. I guess I still have a lot to learn."
Fluttershy lifted his head with her hoof. "Which is why I want to help you. I've talked to Twilight and I found another position for you. I want you to be my assistant in class."
Blaze looked confused. "What?"
Fluttershy sat down next to him. "I want to help you learn more about friendship and help you with your financial situation. Doing this can help you with both of those things. I can teach you how to teach ponies about friendship and maybe make a few friends yourself. I know you wanted to be a teacher, but I want to help you so you can reach that point."
She watched as Blaze sat down in deep thought. She knew he always tried to be self sufficient. She didn't know how well he'd accept the idea of being an assistant.
Finally Blaze stood up. "Alright. I don't have many choices at this point. I think I can give it a shot."
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Blaze followed Fluttershy to the school. He was glad to be in a large warm building instead of his small, empty, and cold cave. He felt excited watching all of these kids running around. Admittedly they were older than some of the kids he met, but it was still exiting. After a short tour of the school they made their way to Fluttershy's classroom.
While Blaze took off the raincoat that Fluttershy gave him she started to explain the class to him. "Okay, it's my job to teach this class. Is it alright if you can keep an eye on the students and try to help them if they start having any trouble?"
Blaze gave her a smile. "Alright. Do I need to know the lesson?"
Fluttershy started pulling out some papers. "Actually we are having a test today. It's a review of what we have been learning this month. If someone does need help you can give them advice but don't give them the answer. Um, if that's alright with you."
Blaze bit his lip. "Uh, I guess..."
Fluttershy placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I know you'll be fine."
Before they could talk more about it the students started walking in. Blaze took a seat next to Fluttershy's desk. He listened to the students as they all whispered about how cool and cute he was. He blushed a bit from all the comments he was getting.
Once everyone was seated Fluttershy spoke up. "Ahem, good morning everybody. Today I'd like to introduce a friend of mine who will be my assistant from now on. So, may you all give a warm welcome to Blaze."
Blaze could feel a knot in his stomach as everyone gave him an applause. "Thank you everybody."
As soon as he said that he heard Silverstream scream from the back of the class. "He can talk? That's so awesome!"
Blaze blushed as Fluttershy gave a small giggle. Fluttershy proceeded to hand Blaze some papers. "Today we are having a pop quiz on some of the topic we have been going over this month. All you need to do is write a short paper on when you need to say no to a friend. Blaze and I will help you if you have any trouble."
Blaze didn't notice anybody grumbling about the quiz. He wondered if it was because the tests weren't so hard, or if they were afraid of Fluttershy's stare. After he thought about it for a moment he concluded that it was most likely the former. After a few minutes he noticed a strange looking colt in the back crying silently. He was most likely 6 or 7. He had wings like a Pegasus, but his coat was like that of a reindeer. His coat had a yellow tint to it. His hair was also yellow and was cut short. Blaze turned to Fluttershy only to see her busy with Gallus.
He took a deep breath and made his way over to the colt. "Hey, how are you doing?"
The colt nearly jumped out of his seat. "Oh, um, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Blaze sat down next to him. "It's alright. You can talk to me. I don't bite. Tell me, what's your name?"
The colt lowered his head. "G-G-Golden Dash. I'm sorry, I'm not normal."
Blaze raised an eyebrow. "And I am? At least you know what you are and were you came from. I could be part alicorn for all I know. Normal is a matter of perspective. Where are you from Golden?"
Golden kept his head lowered. "Bluestone bluff. My parents moved here a few months ago."
Blaze tried looking at his face. "Oh! It sounds like a nice place. I used to live in the Everfree forest. What's wrong? Are you missing your old friends?"
Blaze noticed more tears going down his face. "What friends? There's something wrong with my mind. I-I don't talk well with others. I can't even take a stupid quiz. I don't know why my dad thought it was a good idea for me to join this school. I'm just an idiot."
Blaze watched as Golden started weeping in his arms again. Blaze slowly wrapped his paws around him. "You're not a mistake Golden. You are unique. You are so special and you've yet to see it. I thought I was a freak for a while until I realized that we all have problems, but we all also have something special inside of us. Please don't give up on yourself yet. You have so much that you are able to do."
Golden's breathing slowed down a little as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "But how am I supposed to do this. If it was multiple choice or true and false I'd have no problem. I just have problems translating my thoughts onto paper."
Blaze gave him a gentle smile. "Well then, the first thing we need to do is calm down and take a deep breath. The second thing we need to do is realize that this project has no perfect answer. The last thing I need to do is have a short talk with Fluttershy. I'll be right back. I promise."
Blaze quickly made his way over to Fluttershy who was finishing answering a question from Ocellus. Fluttershy noticed Blaze and leaned down towards him so she wouldn't disturb the others. "Hi Blaze, how are you doing?"
Blaze motioned to Golden Dash. "I think Golden Dash is having problems with writing his paper. He was really upset."
Fluttershy looked like she knew what he was struggling with. "According to Twilight he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. He has issues with communicating and learning. He's amazing when it comes with music and chemistry, but he's struggling with public school. I've tried helping him, but he isn't ready to open up to me yet."
Blaze looked back at Golden. He was hurt about the idea of not knowing how to communicate or even how his mind worked. Suddenly he realized something. "I think he opened up to me. He told me about his problems. Why did he do that?"
Slowly a small smile formed on her face. "Maybe it's because you're a fox. I'm sorry if I offended you, but maybe he doesn't see you like another pony and more like a pet. A friend of mine named Dr Wolf said he might have the same effect on other ponies. He described it like a therapy pet. They help provide comfort when ponies are recovering or when they are depressed. I know you aren't a psychologist, but maybe you can help him him during class. I'm planning on having the Cutie mark crusaders tutor him after classes, but is it alright you help him with this test?"
Blaze looked at Golden again and saw that he was still struggling with getting the first words on his paper. "Of course!"
Blaze made his way back to Golden Dash. Golden looked confused when Blaze grabbed his paper and quill. Golden stumbled over his words a bit. "Uh, wait, what are you doing?"
Blaze gave him a smile. "I'm going to help you out. You said you have a hard time placing your thoughts on paper, so you can just give me your thoughts and I'll write them down."
Golden gave him a confused look. "Really? You're going to help me?"
Blaze gave him a pat on the back. "Of course. I'd be my pleasure buddy. Whenever you need my help just ask me."
As Blaze dipped his quill into the ink he felt two hooves wrap around him. He turned to see Golden hugging him with tears going down his face again. Blaze listened as Golden just whispered into his ear. "Thank you!"
A few tears rolled down Blaze's cheek. When he first applied he mainly did it for the money, but hearing those two words gave this job a whole new meaning. This became something more than a simple job to him. Blaze returned Golden's hug. After a few seconds Blaze spoke. "Alright. Let's show everybody how smart you are."
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Blaze spent that whole day helping in Fluttershy's class. There were the few times when he was called into another class to help a bit. Blaze proved himself highly helpful with helping the introverts. Somehow he had this special ability to get ponies to relax around him. Soon the final classes were over and he was walking down the hall towards the door.
"Blaze! Wait a second!" Blaze turned to see Twilight running to catch up with him.
Blaze turned around and headed to her. "Hi Twilight. Thanks for giving me this job. You don't know how amazing it felt for me."
Twilight caught her breath before speaking. "I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. May you follow me please?"
Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Alright."
Twilight led him down a hallway. "I hear you've made quite the impression on some of our students."
Blaze chuckled. "Well, I guess kids love the cute fox."
"I'm impressed how well you were able to get along with them, especially the introverts."
"I'll admit that I'm not certain why they take such a liking to me."
"The only reason I can think of is that you have a gift for this. I think once you have enough training you might become a great teacher. I hope I can trust you to continue to help us."
Blaze gave a small smile. "I think I can handle being an assistant for a while."
Twilight smiled. "Thank you. Alright here we are."
Twilight opened the door to show a one person bedroom. The furniture seemed different to what normal ponies would use. Everything was made smaller and more accessible to a shorter creature. The bed was smaller and round. It felt warm and inviting.
Blaze's eyes scanned the room as he was trying to figure this out. "I don't understand. Whose room is this?"
Twilight gave a gentle smile. "Yours. Fluttershy told me that you were having issues with housing and income so I thought I'd help with that."
Blaze looked around the room for a second. "No, I can't take all of this. I haven't done anything for it."
Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Trust me, you have more than earned this."
Blaze watched a Twilight walked out of the room. He looked around at all of these things that he didn't pay for. He found a small flower arrangement with a card in it. He opened the card to find this written on it.
Hi Blaze.
I knew how much you wanted to make a living on your own, but I couldn't stand to think about you sleeping in that cold damp cave. I know some creatures can live in that kind of environment, but I also know that it isn't for you. I hope you can forgive me, but I know you need help. Weather you want it or not I'm going to help you.
Your friend. Fluttershy.
Blaze took a deep breath as he placed the envelope back. "Oh Fluttershy. I think I see why you do this now."
Twilight watched from outside as Blaze snuggled into his bed. As Twilight walked away she smiled and got out her quill and paper. As she wrote she started thinking to herself. "I'm glad you found a place to call your own Blaze. I just wish there were more foxes like you."