//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: My Little Pony - Equestria Boy // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// Dawn breaks in Equestria as Princess Celestia's sun rises in the horizon. In Fluttershy's cottage, Fluttershy began to open her eyes. She let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. Fluttershy looked out the window to the outside world. A smile was placed on her face as she watched the sun fully rise into the clear blue sky. When she was finished watching the sun rise, Fluttershy remembered what she was going to do today. She remembered that she was going to reintroduce Lightning Twister to Pinkie Pie after yesterday’s incident with the hyper pony. However Fluttershy felt like it would be best if they both had some breakfast first. Getting to her hooves, Fluttershy went upstairs to wake the sleeping colt in her bedroom. She opened her bedroom door slowly and quietly as she went over to the bed. In her bed, Lightning Twister continued to sleep peacefully. Fluttershy bent down to the sleeping colt and gently kissed him on the forehead. "Lightning, it's time wake up sweetheart," she whispered in his ear softly and sweetly. Hearing her soft and gentle voice, Lightning Twister began to slowly open his eyes. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves and looked up at the kind and caring Pegasus in front of him. "Good morning Fluttershy," Lightning said to her in his soft and quiet tone. "Good morning sweetheart, did you sleep well last night?" Fluttershy asked Lightning kindly. Lightning Twister nodded his head in response to Fluttershy's question. Fluttershy smiled at him before asking, "Would you like some breakfast?" "Yes please," Lightning replied before his stomach grumbled. Fluttershy nodded at the small colt while smiling and lifted him onto her back. Turning her head to look at him, she said, "Okay sweetheart, let’s go make you some breakfast." Lightning Twister nodded his head once more and Fluttershy spread her wings and flew downstairs. When they arrived in the living room, Fluttershy descended to the ground and brought her hooves up to take Lightning off her back and put him on the couch. "Okay Lightning, you wait here and I'll go make us some eggs for breakfast." "Okay Fluttershy," Lightning said as his stomach grumbled once more making Fluttershy giggle. Fluttershy smiled at Lightning for a moment before flying into the kitchen to make Lightning and herself some breakfast. While she was making breakfast, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel sad for Lightning Twister. While he was a very polite and sweet colt, she could tell he was very scared and had a broken heart. She felt her own heart break seeing how sad he was when he was not able to hover in the air. It also broke her heart to see how upset he was last night when he met Twilight. It brought a tear to Fluttershy's eye to even wonder how long Lightning has been without a family. When she finished making breakfast, Fluttershy put two small plates onto a tray and flew into the living room where Lightning Twister was sitting on the couch like he was told to do. Fluttershy smiled at the little colt while she put a plate in front of him. "Here you go sweetheart, I made us some scrambled eggs," Fluttershy said to Lightning Twister while smiling. Lightning smiled at Fluttershy before taking a bite of his scrambled eggs. "Thank you, Fluttershy. These are very good," Lightning said to the butter coated mare softly. Fluttershy smiled gently at the colt before saying, "You’re welcome, Lightning. I used fresh eggs that were laid by my chickens. I'm glad you like them." With nothing left to be said, Fluttershy and Lightning Twister ate their breakfast together. When they were finished, Fluttershy put the two plates in her sink and returned to the living room. However, when she returned, she saw Lightning Twister sitting on the couch sniffling. Worried about him, Fluttershy went over to him and then saw small tears rolling down his cheeks. "Lightning sweetheart, what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked the little colt with worry filling her voice. Lightning looked up at her with tears still streaming down his cheeks. "Y-you've *sniff* been s-so *sniff* n-nice to me," Lightning sobbed. "N-nopony has ever b-been *sniff* so n-nice to m-me." Fluttershy felt her heart ache seeing the little colt so upset. She sat down next to Lightning Twister and placed him on her lap. She gently stroked his back with her hoof as Lightning continued to cry. "F-Fluttershy, *sniff* d-do you think I'm a f-freak?" Lightning asked the kind and caring Pegasus that was holding him. Fluttershy felt a tear of her own stream down her cheek when she heard the question. She then nuzzled his cheek before saying, "Of course I don't think that, sweetheart. Why in Equestria would you think of such a thing?" Fluttershy continued stroking his back as Lightning began to tremble like leaf and his crying began to grow even harder. "M-my *sniff* d-daddy *sniff* c-calls me a *sniff* f-freak," Lightning sobbed. Fluttershy let out a gasp of shock. She thought both of his parents had died. Lightning's crying grew harder and louder as he looked into the beautiful and caring eyes of the pegasus that was holding him. "M-my momma *sniff* d-died when she h-had m-me. D-daddy *sniff* s-says it's all m-my *sniff* f-fault," Lightning cried. Hearing him say that made Fluttershy's heart break in two. Lightning Twister's mother had died after giving birth to him, but how could his father say such a thing to a poor child? "D-daddy y-yells at m-me, *sniff* h-hits me, *sniff* c-calls me n-names, and *sniff* s-scares me with s-storm clouds," Ligthning sobbed before burying his head into Fluttershy's soft chest fur and continued to cry. With tears streaming down her face, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Lightning Twister and held his trembling body close to her. She now knew the reason why Lightning Twister was so scared. Fluttershy closed her eyes and kissed the top of Lightning's forehead. She felt so bad for the poor little colt that she was holding in her forelegs. As she held Lightning Twister close to her, Fluttershy noticed something underneath his little wings. She very carefully moved one of the wings without disturbing the crying colt in her forelegs. What she saw made her gasp in shock. There were several bruises underneath his wings, some of them were turning purple. Fluttershy remained calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was seething with anger as she glared at the bruises on the little colt. How could a father do such a thing to his own son? How could he beat him, insult him and frighten him with the one thing he's scared to death of? Fluttershy’s anger started to cool when she looked down at Lightning Twister who was still crying. She kissed him gently on the forehead and began making a soft hushing sound to calm the little colt down. Lightning's crying reduced to sobs and then to sniffles as he brought his head out of Fluttershy's chest fur. He looked into her eyes as she smiled down at him lovingly and gave him a small nuzzle. She gave him another kiss on the forehead before saying, "Lightning, I'm so sorry your father did all those awful things to you, sweetheart. But believe me when I say it's not your fault your mother died. I promise you, it's not your fault." Lightning said nothing as he gave Fluttershy a sad smile while a few tears still streamed down his cheeks. Fluttershy gently brushed the tears away with her hoof before pulling Lightning back into a soft and loving embrace. Lightning closed his eyes and smiled as Fluttershy's soft warm fur and soft pink mane blanketed him with warmth. Lightning could smell Fluttershy's mane. It smelled like a fresh spring river and it made him calm and relaxed as Fluttershy rubbed his back. The two remained like this until Fluttershy pulled him away and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She gave Lightning Twister a gentle smile before asking, "Do you feel better, sweetheart?" Lightning said nothing and gave Fluttershy a small nod while softly smiling at her. Fluttershy gave him a small nuzzle while smiling before saying, "Good, I'm glad you feel better. Now let's go to Sugarcube Corner so you can try to meet Pinkie Pie again." Lightning began to shake nervously after Fluttershy mentioned that crazy pink pony's name. Fluttershy felt this and she started to softly hush him. "Shhh...It's okay, Lightning sweetheart. I promise, she'll be much calmer than last time," Fluttershy said to the young colt who began to calm his shaking. Lightning was a bit hesitant, but he gave Fluttershy a gentle nod deciding to trust her words. "O-okay Fluttershy," Lightning said to her while smiling softly. Fluttershy scooped Lightning into her forelegs and placed him on her back. She turned her head around gave him one more kiss on the forehead. With nothing left to be said, Fluttershy stepped outside while thinkig to herself, "Don't worry Lightning, I'll take great care of you, I promise." Standing at the entrance to Ponyville with Lightning on her back, Fluttershy took a deep breath and entered the peaceful town, hoping not to have the same problem that occurred yesterday. Lightning began tremble and quickly hid under Fluttershy's mane when he started to see other ponies. Fluttershy looked at him and gave him a small nuzzle. "Lightning sweetheart, there's no reason to be scared, I promise everything will be okay this time," Fluttershy said to the scared colt hiding under her mane. Lightning calmed his trembling and peeked out from Fluttershy’s mane. He gave her small nod and Fluttershy continued her journey to Sugarcube Corner. Halfway to their destination, a voice called out to Fluttershy making both her and Lightning yelp in surprise. Fluttershy turned to the source of the voice and smiled. Coming towards her was Applejack and a small yellow filly with a red mane and tail and she had a pink bow in her mane. Her cutie mark was a shield-like symbol that looked like a tri-color flag, mostly looking like the French flag, with an apple on it. The two waved at Fluttershy. "Well howdy there, Fluttershy. Where's that little fella Lightning Twister?" Applejack asked Fluttershy happily. Hearing Applejack's familiar voice, Lightning nervously peeked his head out from under Fluttershy's mane revealing himself to the country mare. However before Applejack could say anything, Lightning noticed the little filly beside her and quickly hid himself under Fluttershy's mane once more. Seeing this made Applejack giggle as she approached Fluttershy and moved her mane with her hoof so she could look at Lightning. "Aww..there's no reason to be frightened of me sugarcube, you know I won't hurt ya," Applejack said gently to the frightened colt on Fluttershy's back as he began to tremble once more. "Besides, I want to introduce ya to somepony." Applejack scooped the frightened colt off Fluttershy’s back and into her forelegs. Applejack gently sat him on the ground in front of the yellow filly who was smiling at him. Applejack cleared her throat before saying, "Lightning, I would like you to meet my little sister, Apple Bloom." The little filly made her way towards Lightning Twister slowly, hoping not to scare him. However Lightning quickly ran underneath Fluttershy and began to tremble while making a small whimpering sound. Fluttershy said to Lightning softly and gently, "Lightning sweetheart it's okay, there's no reason to be scared of Apple Bloom. She's a very sweet little filly." Apple Bloom gently smiled at the frightened colt with southern voice as Applejack, "It's okay Lightning, I would never hurt ya. Please come out." Hearing the sweetness in Apple Bloom's voice, Lightning Twister nervously stepped out from underneath Fluttershy and slowly approached the little filly. Apple Bloom raised one of her little hooves and held it out to Lightning Twister, hoping she could shake hooves with him. Lightning raised a shaking hoof and wrapped it around Apple Bloom's, and the two finally shook hooves. Applejack and Fluttershy smiled at the site. "Ya see sugarcube, there ain't nothin' to be afraid of," Applejack said to Lightning before turning to Fluttershy. "So where are you two heading to?" Applejack asked Fluttershy curiously. Fluttershy smiled at Applejack and said, "We’re going to Sugarcube Corner so I can try to reintroduce Lightning Twister to Pinkie Pie." "Oh that's right, I forgot ya told me that things didn't go so well last time," Applejack replied. "I was on my way there as well to have lunch with Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. How about ya'll join us?" Hearing this made Apple Bloom gasp in delight. "Yeah and I can introduce Lightning Twister to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo since they’re probably there with them!" she said happily. Fluttershy smiled and thought it was a great idea. Not only could she have lunch with her best friends, but she could also tell them what she learned about Lightning Twister earlier. She turned to the Apple sisters and nodded her head signalling her approval of the idea. The Apple sisters nodded in response as Fluttershy picked up Lightning Twister and placed him on her back. The four then made their way to Sugarcube Corner to meet with the rest of her friends.