Kindness and Cruelty Book 1

by VGI

Chapter 1 – Kindness and Cruelty

Chapter 1 – Kindness and Cruelty

What a wonderful morning! The birds are singing outside, and the water left by the gentle rain which had showered the land throughout the dark morning hours made everything glisten in the sunlight. It was just after sunrise. Time to get up. Fluttershy's cottage smelled wonderfully of wet grass, her roof being made of living grass after all. She made herself some toast, fried eggs sunnyside up, a generous serving of hayfries and thick slices of lightly fried potatoes.

"Oh my! Careful, Fluttershy," she told herself, feeling a bit more chipper than usual for breakfast time, "you just know that'll all go to your flanks." Indeed, she did feel a bit naughty for indulging her desire for carbs of the fried variety, and blushed ever so slightly at her own teasing.

While she was doing her and Angel’s breakfast, Angel Bunny fed her critters. Ever since Fluttershy became assertive, standing up to no less than Iron Will himself when he tried to collect his workshop fee from her, she had given the spoiled bunny some chores to do around the house. One of which was to serve breakfast to his fellow critters while she made herself (and him) some breakfast.

At last, her guilty pleasure was all done. “Oh! I almost forgot,” she said, perking up at the recollection, “no breakfast is complete without the proper drink.” She went to her fridge and took out a carton of orange juice – from concentrate but with no sugar added.

After breakfast, she did her morning rituals in the bathroom, singing all the way. Her melodious voice mingled gracefully with the sound of the shower. Angel relaxed, lying on a pillow next to the bathroom door. There was nothing that compared to a hearty breakfast followed by the sound of his beautiful owner's equally beautiful singing in the shower. She came out smelling wonderful—her coat, mane, tail, and feathers all still moist as she swiped her towel over her fur and ears a few more times.

After brushing her mane and tail – the typical 100 brush strokes with an expensive branded brush – she was ready. First order of business was to go to market while it was still early, to avoid the crowd. So, with her saddlebags strapped to her side, and Angel on her back, she set out for the market.

"Good morning, Mr. Greenhooves," she said cheerfully, greeting the elderly gardener already at work in her front yard.

"Why, good morning, Ms. Fluttershy!" Greenhooves' response was equally cheerful, his 'not-quite-senile-but-close' demeanor brightening up a bit at the sound of Fluttershy's voice. But as she got nearer to him, she noticed he was flooding her petunias...again.

"Oh, Mr. Greenhooves," she exclaimed with a pout on her face, "not again! You are over-watering my petunias again!" Angel backed up his mistress' complaint by wagging one paw at him disapprovingly.

Mr. Greenhooves' usual haze of genial confusion settled back into place. "Uh, what? I've only started to water them, deary. As in, just now. How can I be over-watering them already?"

“Well, you see...” She started to point out to him the flooding taking place where her petunias were planted, but he interrupted her.

"Now don't you worry none, my dear," he said confidently, "I've been in the gardening business since before you were born!"

Well, that certainly was true. Besides which, Fluttershy had always been told to respect her elders. And so, despite the obvious, she decided to let it go. "Oh...uhm...fine. Okay then," she said, and went on her way.

"Oh! What I'd give to teach that old horse a lesson," Fluttershy thought to herself as she went. "Rrrrr! Treating me like I'm some air-headed filly who doesn't know anything! Maybe I should step on the garden hose again, and let it go when he looks in the hose to check? Yeah, that worked the last time!”

As he rode along on her back, Angel could not help but notice a change in his mistress, her muscles growing tense and her teeth grinding together. Worried that she was thinking bad thoughts again, he did what he could to unruffle her feathers – he put both his forelegs around the back of her neck, and nuzzled her mane while making cute bunny sounds.

"Oooooh..." Fluttershy stopped and closed her eyes to let the sensation wash over her, breathing in deep, and exhaling slowly, gently. "Oh Angel, you know just what to do when Mama is getting in a bad mood, don't you?"

Angel responded by continuing to nuzzle her.

"Mmmm, how sweet of you," she said, craning her neck around so that she could nuzzle him back a bit. "What do you say we take to the air and get this chore over and done with?"

Angel looked up and nodded enthusiastically. Getting to fly along was always a treat for him.

"Okay!" Fluttershy crouched down on all four legs and spread her wings in preparation. "Hold on, Angel!" A spring of her legs and a flap of her wings, and they were off into the sky.

Meanwhile, back at Fluttershy's cottage, Mr. Greenhooves continued to water Fluttershy's petunias. His eyes were somewhat glazed as he stared blankly at the empty air, humming tunelessly. To him, it may have felt like just a few seconds. But in reality, it'd already been 5 minutes. He was lost, somewhere in the fog of his aging mind.

---

Fluttershy landed at one end of the market. Angel took the list out from her saddlebag and handed it to her to read over before heading in. 5 fresh bales of hay, 2 dozen apples, 24 ripe tomatoes, 15 eggplants, a dozen eggs, various toiletries, and different kinds of critter feed – at least a sack of each.

A nearby stallion turned from his berry purchase to stare at the list almost reaching down to her hooves. "Ms. Fluttershy always has such a large order to fill," he remarked to the berry shop owner.

"Yup," the shop owner replied, "that's why she always gets free delivery from the market."

---

“Ok, one last thing Angel – Cherries!” Fluttershy smiled as Angel cheered for his favorite snack. She trotted happily towards the cherry stand, when suddenly, an Earth Pony stallion dashed up and cut in front of her just a few meters away from the counter.

"Hey!" Fluttershy reared up her front hooves in surprise, but the stallion didn't seem to pay her any mind. Instead, he just tossed a satchel of bits onto the counter and slid every last cherry into his saddlebag before moving away as quickly as he'd come.

“I said, hey!” Fluttershy said, louder this time. Or louder, at least to her. Angel Bunny hopped off his owner's back and went after the rude stallion, kicking his hoof when he got to him. Upset, the stallion glared down at Angel, but Angel didn't care. He pointed at his mistress, as if telling him, “You've got some nerve mister! Now apologize!" But rather than apologize, he just shoved the bunny roughly aside with one hoof and kept on going.

At that, Fluttershy froze in her tracks. Angel was confronting a stallion that is probably a thousand times stronger than him. And the stallion just shoved him aside. She hated confrontation. She didn't know what to do. She tried calling to Angel, but her throat got stuck. She tried to get her legs moving again, but they were as tight as her wings which had snapped shut by her side.

Undeterred, Angel followed the stallion again, kicking him on the shin this time. It wasn't likely to hurt, but it certainly irritated the stallion. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!", he shouted at Angel, the blast of his voice loud enough to send the bunny rolling away. "CAN'T YOU SEE I NEED TO GO?!" The sounds of the busy market hushed up as every pony stopped to stare at the unfolding scene. But the stallion was unfazed at the attention. He drilled his gaze at Angel. Fluttershy was tearing up. Then he stared angrily at Fluttershy. Her heart stopped and raced, both at the same time. Her plot was firmly planted on the ground.

The stallion kept staring at Fluttershy, and despite his anger, a tear fell from his watering eyes. Then he turned and ran as fast as he can, towards the edge of the Everfree Forest.

The ponies witnessing the incident looked from the retreating stallion to Fluttershy. The cherry stand owner ran out of his booth to help poor Fluttershy off the ground. A unicorn mare picked up Angel with her magic, stroking the dust and dirt out of his bunny fur with her hoof.

“Are you alright, Ms. Fluttershy?", the stand owner (another Earth stallion) asked.

“I....I'll be fine,” Fluttershy said, trembling.

The unicorn mare brought Angel to her “Uh, here you go, miss. I say, that stallion was just...just...”

“Rude,” said the cherry stand owner. “I wonder what his problem is?”

Fluttershy took Angel into her front hooves and hugged him with her wings. Then she looked at the direction of where the stallion took off.

"Not to worry, Ms. Fluttershy. I have some cherries reserved just for you," the stand owner said. "I know today is your grocery day, and so..."

"Thank you," Fluttershy said quickly, interrupting the owner and passing Angel over onto his back, "but could you please watch over Angel Bunny for a while? I just... have somewhere I need to go right now. I think I forgot something." And just like that, she flew off.

"Of course..." The cherry stand owner scratched the back of his head and stared up at the vanishing Fluttershy for a moment before turning to the unicorn mare. "Gee, wonder what she forgot?"

"Whatever it is," the mare replied, "I hope she's not going to do what I think she's going to do."

---

Fluttershy flew fast with anger in her heart and tears dropping from her eyes. “How dare he, that awful mean stallion, do that to MY ANGEL! HOW DARE HE!”

Finally, she spotted him, running as fast as he can on a path that will take him to the Everfree forest.

“Run run as fast as you can, but I'll still beat you,” she thought. She zoomed ahead and, spotting a tree next to the path, swooped down behind it. There she waited. By her hoof on the ground was a long, broken branch. She took it. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of running hooves. She peeped, and it was him approaching. As soon as he neared the tree, Fluttershy tossed the branch to the path. The stallion tried but knew it was too late to stop. So he crashed and rolled over the dirt path. On the way, he crushed the cherries in his saddlebag.

Fluttershy felt a rising concern for the stallion, which was quickly overtaken by a sharp sense of sheer impish delight. Which one would it be? Feel happy that she got even or go and help? But she was the reason why the stallion stumbled in the first place. To stay behind the tree though, felt...All she can compare it to was the sensation of being naughty, like the feeling she had at breakfast.

The stallion slowly stood up, obviously sore from tumbling about at full speed. He groaned in pain, then gasped in shock to see his saddlebag stained with the juices of the crushed cherries, “No..no no NO! I don't have anymore bits to buy new cherries!”

As Fluttershy listened, she started feeling sorry. But in her remorse, she absent-mindedly said, “Maybe that will teach you to be more respectful of others.” It made her snicker in glee.

The wind blew and made the leaves rustle, making way for a few of the sun rays to break through the tree tops. One found its way to Fluttershy's face, making the corner of her smiling lips and eyes glint.

---

Back at the cherry stand, Angel found himself lending a paw. When somepony came up to place an order, he would take the number of cherries they wanted from the stock basket and hop up onto the counter to deliver them as soon as the right price had been paid.

It was just after a mare and her filly had left with their five cherries for eight bits that Fluttershy landed right in front of the counter, startling both Angel and the owner.

Fluttershy landed right in front of the cherry stand counter, frightening Angel. “Oh! I'm sorry Angel!” Fluttershy cooed. “Mommy didn't mean to frighten you.” She took him in her hooves and nuzzled him with her muzzle. The cherry stand owner just stood there, watching her snuggle her bunny with a smile on his face. Angel looked like he was getting tickled and was liking it.

After paying for and taking the cherries he'd reserved for her, Fluttershy thanked the stand owner profusely for all his help. To his great surprise, she even gave him a subtle wink just before she took off for her flight home.

A unicorn stallion who'd been waiting his turn came up to the cherry stand as she left. "Did I just see Fluttershy wink at you?"

“I...I think so...” said the bewildered but charmed cherry stand owner.

“Wow, new found confidence. It actually makes her...more attractive. You know, in a new sense.”

“Yeah, but...is it Fluttershy?”

Both of them pondered at the question.

Comments

[Aguion12 - GotA]

You have my attention

[VGI]

5766299 Ah! Excccellent!

[Endlessshadow]

You have got mines too

[GDIBrony]

This wasn't the story I was looking for, but it is sort of interesting so i decided to read. There are Lots of grammar issues and the like. I would really get another editor to look at stuff though. Word choice is terrible, but the story feels rushed in some places and slow in others.

I dunno. I'll keep this in the old read later section and read some more later.