I smiled as the filly giggled and splashed around in the shallow water at the bank of the creek. In the weeks since the bard had brought her to Ponyville, she had steadily obtained a healthier look, gaining weight and a better shine to her coat. She was even starting to gain the overabundant energy that I had noticed in other fillies like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had instantly befriended the young pony when she had first joined the school.
I stretched my wings as River played in the water, laughing as she splashed through. Azure had left her in my care while she and Gleam Star traveled to Canterlot to file the formal adoption papers and sit through the determination hearing. Twilight and Rarity had gone with them as witnesses to the situation of living. I knew it was a big amount of legal paperwork, much more than anything I dealt with keeping animals and adoption of pets.
“Fluttershy?” River called. “What are those critters?”
I stood and trotted over to where she was, seeing the critters she was referring to.
“Oh,” I cooed. “Those are otters, River. Aren’t they precious?”
“They’re really fast,” she said as we watched them tumble and wrestle each other in the water, their sleek bodies cutting through the water like it wasn’t even there.
One of them floated to the surface and swarmed up onto a rock, spying us. I recognized him from the Wrap-up, helping clean up their holts. He dived back into the water and swam up to us, climbing out and coming to stand before me, chittering.
River frowned as the otter fell silent. “What did he say?”
“He wanted to thank me for helping fix his home earlier this year,” I said, turning to the otter. “You are very welcome, Mr. Swimington, but like I tell you every year, you don’t have to thank me. I’m very happy to do it.”
Mr. Swimington rolled his eyes and chirped another short string of chatters before sliding back into the water, rolling to lay on his back. I giggled.
“You help fix his home every year?” the filly asked.
“Oh, yes,” I said as we trotted over to the blanket where I had spread out a nice lunch. “Every year at the Winter Wrap-up, it’s my job to help fix up homes and nests after their hibernations so they don’t have to work as hard to get started again.”
“Winter Wrap-up?” River said, tilting her head. “What’s that?”
I looked at her with some amazement. “Didn’t they have anything like that out where you grew up?”
She shook her head. “It was always hot there, even in winter. I don’t even remember it raining that much.”
“Oh, my,” I said. “That sounds rather uncomfortable. Would you like to hear about what we do?”
She nodded, eyes brightening up, and I flipped my hair behind my shoulders as I started explaining how we made teams to clear away snow and get ready for spring. Once I finished, she looked at me.
“Which team are Azure and Gleam on?” she asked.
“Well, River,” I said, thinking. “Azure generally helps with the clearing of the fields, when she’s here for the Wrap-up.” I refilled my glass. “Sometimes she’s out touring or with Gleam when he goes on rotation to Canterlot. They do things a little different there.”
“Is she always gone a long time?” came the inevitable question, so soft even I had trouble hearing it.
“Oh, not always,” I said. “She loves staying here, but she also gets restless. But I know she’ll be back today.” I leaned over and wrapped a wing around the filly. “And from how she talks about you, She’ll never leave you if she can take you with her.”
“I don’t get why she stuck her neck out like that,” River said in a voice that hid a sob. “Nopony else ever did.”
I sighed and glanced down at the filly. “I don’t know, that, River,” I said.
“Because somepony once looked out for me,” the rich brogue came from behind us.
“Azure!” River cried, getting up and fairly well running to the Unicorn. The mare put her foreleg over the young pony’s shoulders as she led her back to the picnic blanket.
“When I was your age, sprout,” she said. “I was living in an orphanage. It wasn’t exactly the best-run place and we were always running wild. It was all the matron could do to keep us under control. I tended to range free and get into a bit of trouble more than not, and if not for one particular mare I’d likely have gotten into a lot more than I could handle.”
She sat and used her magic to comb River’s wet mane. “There were three colts that stayed in the orphanage with me, and they were always picking on me. I was small for my age and they loved teasing me mercilessly and one day, I put my hoof into the oldest one’s eye.”
I gasped. “You didn’t!” I said.
She laughed. “Can you say it truly amazes you, though, ‘Shy?” she said, a slight flush coming to her face. “I’ve never had your ability to turn a cheek.” She sighed. “Anyway, I took a thrashing. And I kept trying, and always wound up getting trounced. And one day, a pony picked me up, cleaned me up, and started talking to me like an equal. That made the difference because someone showed that I could be worth something other than a street rat.” She smiled wryly.
“I saw a lot of myself in you, sprout,” she continued. “And I could tell someone wasn’t exactly treating you well. That rankles at me, it does. Dredges up some bad memories.”
“Why do you call me sprout, Azure?” River said suddenly.
“Something I always got called as a filly,” she said, glancing at me. “I figured it was time to pass the name along.” she rubbed her nose with the filly. “But you might have to stop calling me Azure, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, this wee bit of paper I have seems to say that Gleam and I are officially in charge of you now," she said, suddenly nervous. "And while I know you have a Mum and Da of your own, I was hoping maybe, if you wanted to…” She blinked a few times. “Maybe I could try and make a go of it?”
I smiled, fighting a few tears at the display from the normally composed mare. River, on the other hand, fairly bowled her over as she hugged her. I stood and excused myself, winging myself away to give the pair a little privacy by the slowly babbling brook.