//------------------------------// // #232. Prelude to Kindness // Story: Gone in 1800 Seconds // by True Blue Spark //------------------------------// The Prompt: When you gonna make up your mind? / When you gonna love you as much as I do? ------ “Eep!” With a startled squeak, Fluttershy’s legs slipped out from under her, and she tumbled unceremoniously into the snow. “Whoa, there!” Applejack yelped. She and Twilight dashed over to their friend’s side, each offering a hoof. “You okay there, sugarcube?” Fluttershy glanced up at them for several seconds, then ignored the helping hooves, pushing herself onto her hooves again. “Mm, I’m alright,” she assured them, smiling softly—but the tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks told a different story. Twilight gasped. “Fluttershy, you’re crying! What’s wrong? Do you need us to call a nurse?” “Huh?” Fluttershy brushed at her eyes, looking at her hoof as if she’d never seen it before. “Oh! Oh, no, it’s not—I’m fine, really, I am. I just... was reminded of my father, all of a sudden.” “Oh.” Applejack seemed to understand, immediately wrapping Fluttershy up in a tight hug. Twilight, however, found herself clueless. “Did... something happen?” “I haven’t told you about him? Oh, Twilight, I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy smiled apologetically once AJ had released her. “You see, my father passed away many years ago.” “Wha... I, I’m the one who should be saying I’m sorry!” Twilight rushed forward to mimic Applejack’s motion, awkwardly pulling Fluttershy into a hug of her own. “I-I, I’m so—” she stammered, at a loss for words. Fluttershy patted her on the back—as if she was the one who needed comfort! “No, it’s okay. It was so long ago, after all. The memory just surprised me.” She paused, leaning back to meet Twilight’s eyes. “Would... Would you like to hear about him?” For once, Twilight didn’t need to think about how to respond. “Of course I would.” The three mares continued their walk down the snow-spotted main street, Twilight and Applejack at Fluttershy’s sides as she began to speak. “My mother was very sickly and didn’t survive my birth, but my father always told me how beautiful and kind she was, and he never missed a chance to tell me I was following in her hoofsteps. He wasn’t the strongest or the bravest stallion, but nopony ever worked as hard as he did to support their daughter.” She brushed the last stray tears away, serenely staring up at the clouds. “We struggled a little, but we were so happy. I was always Daddy’s little girl; I wanted to stay with him forever. But even while he was caring for me and protecting me, he knew that nothing lasts forever.” ------ “Eep!” With a startled squeak, Fluttershy’s legs slipped out from under her, and she tumbled unceremoniously into the snow. “Careful, sweetheart!” A wing swept over her, blowing the snow away and clearing the cloud around her. “Here, do you need help?” Fluttershy sniffled and reached up to take her father’s outstretched hoof. “T-Thank you, Daddy,” she quavered. Her father nodded and looked over the Cloudsdale street. A few families had dragged in some snow clouds from the factories, so that the foals who’d never yet set hoof on the ground could still enjoy the snow they made, and there were fillies and colts dashing around tossing snowballs and making snowponies. “It sure looks like they’re having fun,” he chuckled. “Don’t you want to join them?” Fluttershy whimpered for an instant and pressed close to his side. All those strangers she’d never met, ponies who might judge her or threaten her or—she could feel her legs wobbling underneath her. She just couldn’t! “I-I’m fine!” she squeaked. “I’m fine right here.” Her father looked down at her, biting his lip thoughtfully. “Flutters...” he said tentatively. “You know... I won’t be here forever.” Fluttershy gasped. “Don’t say that, Daddy! I-I don’t know what I’d do if, if you...” The sentence was too horrible to complete. “I know! Believe me, I’m not planning to go anywhere!” He draped his wing over her, warm and comforting. “But every pony has to leave the nest eventually. One day you’ll be all grown up, and trust me, you’ll want to get your old man out of your mane as fast as you can.” She shook her head vigorously. She couldn’t imagine wanting to leave him! She couldn’t imagine anywhere else that would feel like home... or anypony else who would accept a weak little pegasus like her. Her father sighed, dropping down onto his knees so he could talk to her eye-to-eye. “I know what you’re thinking, Flutters. I’ve known you long enough for that. Everypony has a place in the world, their little niche they were meant for. I love you, and I know one day you’ll change the world, make it a better, happier place. But to do that...” He tapped her chest, ever so gently. “You have to love you, too.” Fluttershy swallowed. Sometimes she was so far from loving herself that she didn’t think she ever could. But if her kind, wonderful daddy loved her... there had to be something lovable about her, right? “Just think about it, alright, little one?” Her father got to his hooves again, glancing over at the crowd of kids. “For now... I think it’s been too long since I played in the snow, don’t you?” “D-Daddy!” But despite her embarrassment, Fluttershy started to laugh as her father waded into the snowball fight, tossing balls and taking hits like a pro.