//------------------------------// // Day 2, Part 1 // Story: Fillysitting // by Sith_Dreamer //------------------------------// Day 2- Part 1 Twilight’s night had been a peaceful one. She’d gotten some reading done, cleaned up the library, spent some overdue time with Spike, and finally passed out peacefully under the covers of her bed. The last thing she’d seen before sleep overtook her was the little cyan filly, snoring in her crib next to the bed. Twilight had smiled at the sitght and drifted off into great dreams. Her sleep was broken early the next morning, just as the rooster belonging to Fluttershy crowed at the rising sun. A loud wailing awoke Twilight with a start. She quickly sprang up, still quite groggy and unable to react to the best of her abilities. She turned her head toward the sound and rubbed her eyes, her blurry vision soon clearing to show that little Apple Blitz was screaming. Quickly, Twilight hopped out of bed, and walked around to the side of the crib. She scooped the little filly up in one arm and started rocking her back and forth. The tears slowed their flow from the little filly’s eyes, but did not stop completely. Nearby, Spike stirred in his basket. “Ugh, Twilight, some of us are trying to sleep,” he said with one eye open, before pulling his sheet over his head and falling back asleep. “Spike, you know a foal this young needs a lot of attention,” she said, sure he didn’t hear a word she said. Twi carried Apple Blitz out of the room, Apple Blitz still sniffling as tears still dripped from her big green eyes. The two headed down the stairs, Twilight trying to be extra careful as she walked on only three hooves. The purple unicorn reached out with her magic, levitating a bottle of milk from a refrigerator in her kitchen as she also brought over a book about the proper way to feed a foal. Holding the bottle just out of Apple Blitz’s hooves, she sat the book down on her table and flipped it open. The first images were all the natural ways to feed a foal, which only made Twilight think about how Applejack fed her, quickly making Twi blush and flip the book to the section on bottle feeding. She scanned the pages for a moment, then with a grin, flipped the bottle over and set it gently between Apple Blitz’s hooves. The cyan foal lifted her head and began to nurse at the bottle. The tears in her eyes began to dry up, and the little filly seemed to be quite content for the moment. “See Twilight, you just knew this wouldn’t be so hard!” Twilight proclaimed to herself. It was at that moment Twilight realized why the book made sure to stress checking the lids of the bottles for feeding. As Apple Blitz continued to nurse, she gave a tug so that Twilight would lower the bottle a little closer to her. The tug caused the lid to turn just slightly enough, and suddenly cold white milk drenched the surprised little filly. Twilight suddenly felt her hoof soak, and looked down with a similar surprised look. Twi’s eyes met the large watery eyes below her, and soon the loud wailing started all over again. “Shh, shh,” Twilight tried to calm her down, putting Apple Blitz over her shoulder and patting her back. She carried her back to her bath tub, and ran a small, warm bath, all the while the small cyan earth pony cried loudly into Twilight’s ear. She dumped some bubble bath into the water and waited for it to fill. Finally, she shut off the water and removed Blitz from her shoulder, plopping her into the shallow water. Twilight rubbed her left ear, the one that had been screamed into for the past several minutes, waiting for the muffled sound to clear. Blitz meanwhile sat in the warm water, surrounded by many large clumps of bubbles. She stretched out a shaky hoof and touched one of the bubbles near her. Having never been given a bubble bath by Applejack, she recoiled in surprise when the pink orb popped in front of her. Unable to escape from them, she began to tear up again, when suddenly many more of the pink bubbles started to surround her. Apple Blitz looked up to see Twilight pushing the bubbles into her, then began rubbing them into her cyan coat. The little filly’s eyes darted every which way, not quite able to comprehend everything. Twilight was unaware of the fear and confusion that Apple Blitz was experiencing, trying to be playful by tossing more bubbles around her. After a few minutes, Twilight began splashing her with the warm water, trying to get all the soap and any milk that might still be in her coat out. When she was sure Apple Blitz was clean, Twilight lifted her from the water with her magic and sat her on a table next to the tub. The little filly instantly began to shiver, and Twilight grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped her in it. She rubbed it gently all over her, making sure to dry every inch. Twilight then sat her down, still wrapped up, and began to brush her red-streaked blonde mane, trying to keep out the tangles. Blitz meanwhile tried her best to wriggle out of the towel. Eventually, the folds fell away, and Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at her fuzzy coat that was sticking up in many places. It reminded Twilight of some of the pictures she’d seen on Rainbow Dash as a filly, who always seemed to have an unkempt look about her. Finally finished, Twilight picked the little filly back up with one of her legs and carried her back into the library, just as somepony began to knock on the door. “Come in!” Twilight shouted across the room. With a bit of noise, the door opened, and in walked Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom. “Hey Twilight,” Applebloom smiled big, “I jus’ dropped in ta say hi! I gotta meet up with the other Crusaders. Today we’ll get our Cutie Marks fer sure!” Applebloom took a moment to say hi to Apple Blitz, making a few faces and tickling her, which made the cyan filly smile and giggle a bit. Soon Applebloom had dashed out the door and onto another adventure. Big Macintosh and Fluttershy next began to play with Apple Blitz. “I heard from Pinkie Pie that you were going to be watching Apple Blitz for a couple days,” Fluttershy told Twilight. “Yes! No one else was available, and I’ve got everything I need to learn what she needs, when she needs it.” “You know Twilight, Big Mac and I can take her, if you want. She is his niece after all,” Fluttershy said gently, watching as Big Macintosh sat Blitz on one of the floor cushions, and sat down beside her. “I don’t mind watching her at all, Fluttershy!” Twilight told her, “Although this morning hasn’t started out great, Applejack and Rainbow Dash asked me to do it, and I’m ready to prove just how capable I am.” “Well, if that’s how you feel. Is-is that ok Big Macintosh?” Fluttershy asked the big red pony who was now on his back, balancing Apple Blitz on all four of his hooves. “Eeyup,” he shifted his gaze towards them for a second. Fluttershy figured she really couldn’t make Twilight stop watching the foal, it wasn’t their child either, and Applejack trusted Twilight enough to take care of her. That should have been enough to not make Fluttershy worry. Despite her thoughts of Twilight and her qualifications for maintaining a filly, Fluttershy tried to put it out of her mind, and scooted up next to the big red pony she loved, and began to play with him and his niece. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After a few hours, Big Mac and Fluttershy left the library, satisfied by the time they’d spent with Apple Blitz, and ready to relax after the long trip to Appleoosa. Macintosh needed all the rest he could get, as he’d be returning to work at the nearby carrot farm, the one that bordered the land that had once been Sweet Apple Acres. Without the money to rebuild the land, Mac had used his friendship with Carrot Top and Golden Harvest to secure a work position, and he had managed to keep Fluttershy, Applebloom and himself happy and supported since coming back to Ponyville. Twilight watched them as they cantered slowly off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. She always loved how perfect they looked together, both strong of heart but generally timid by nature. Twilight glanced back towards the cushion on the floor, where Apple Blitz had passed out from her extensive playtime with her uncle. Not wanting to risk another round of crying, Twilight levitated a blanket that was folded at the top of the stairs, and brought it down over Apple Blitz. With a sigh of relief, Twilight trotted over to the table near her, and pulled a book close to get some more reading in. She glanced up once before beginning to read to check the time. It was just barely eleven in the morning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the next hour, Twilight busied herself with her usual study, stopping briefly every few minutes to check on Apple Blitz. It wasn’t long before Spike emerged from their room, his arms stretched high as he tried to wake up. The small dragon walked down the stairs and headed over to where the purple unicorn was sitting. “Ahhhh, morning Twilight,” Spike yawned, his eyes still looking heavy. “It’s just past noon Spike,” Twilight motioned to the outside where the sun was in full shine. “Oh, yeah,” Spike said. “I had to get up, I promised Rarity I’d run some errands for her while she worked.” “Spike, you know if you’re still doing it because your jealous of my relationship with rarity…” Spike cut her off quickly. “Nonononono, Twilight. I…well I managed to get over that a while ago. Mostly.” “ Well, if you want to, go on ahead,” Twilight smiled, “And tell her I better see her soon. Canterlot’s finest can wait a little longer.” “Will do, Twilight,” Spike smiled, and headed around the side of the table. He kept his eyes on Twilight, and not paying attention as he headed towards the door. “Spike look out!” Twilight cried out quickly as she saw where he was walking. Before he could stop he tripped over the cushion Apple Blitz was sleeping on. Luckily, Spike fell over the cushion, landing hard on his face. The cushion however flipped over, startling the little filly awake as she too landed on the hard floor, and the cushion crashed down on top of her. Although a bit muffled, fresh wailing escaped from the scared foal under the cushion. “Ouch!” Spike rubbed his face. “Aw shoot, I’m sorry Twilight.” Twilight had already galloped over to her and was pulling the cushion off. With her magic she tossed it away, the cushion slamming into Spike after he’d just gotten himself back up, knocking him sideways onto the floor again. With a wave of purple magic, Twi lifted Apple Blitz into the air and put her over her shoulder, and began to comfort her with a few hoof pats. She could hear the sobs begin to slow, but the tiny tears still continued to soak her coat. Spike stood up again,“Uh, sorry again Twilight. But, I gotta go now!” With that Spike dashed as fast as possible out the door, slamming it shut behind him. The loud noise caused Apple Blitz to jump in surprise again, and begin sobbing heavily anew. Continuing to pat her, Twilight could feel a wave of stress rushing over her. She clenched her teeth together, and could feel the hair on her head begin to ruffle. “No, no,” Twilight said between her teeth, “It’s not so bad. It’ll all be…fine.” Holding her frustrations back, she ignored her feelings and continued to comfort Apple Blitz. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a bit, the filly had finally calmed down, Twilight looked out the window across Ponyville. She decided she hadn’t had the chance to visit Rarity in some time, and she really needed to see her. She lifted Blitz up with her magic again, and sat the teary-eyed filly on her back. “Want to go see Rarity?” Twilight asked, a small smile gracing her lips. Apple Blitz just stared with her wide green eyes which still had a few tears clinging to them. She still seemed to be adjusting to the purple pony that was most definitely not her mother. Twilight watched for a moment as she laid on her purple coat, glancing around at all the colored books around her. She certainly managed to try and take in everything she could see. Twilight could only imagine once she started walking, what kind of trouble she’d be able to get into. She also imagined once she started talking, how many questions she might have. The thought of being able to help a new filly learn excited Twilight. “Come on, AB! Let’s go before it gets too late!”