//------------------------------//
// Making Adjustments 
// Story: My Life as a Pony 
// by _Sugarplum_ 
//------------------------------//

While our little foal was stuck within the confines of the hospital, Fluttershy went home. The anxious mare’s mind was still a bit shaken up from what happened earlier. Finding a lost child in Ponyville was just so uncommon. With all the herds that the village had, practically every child had several people to look after them at any given time. She couldn’t understand how the foal was separated from his family long enough to end up at her abode. It was strange. 

Regardless of how he got there, he was hurt by one of her animals, on her property. Fluttershy was responsible for this accident, wasn’t she? She had to do something to make it right. She couldn’t bare something like this happening again. The only thing that relaxed her somewhat was that the accident wasn’t too severe. She’d never have forgiven herself if one of the animals had caused some serious damage. Her sensitive heart just wouldn’t take it. But she couldn't keep dwelling on the negative thoughts. With a long sigh and a shake of her head, the pegasus brushed the thoughts away. She huffed and flapped her wings in frustration at herself. “C-come on now, get it together,” she told herself. She then set forth on her task of foal-proofing her homestead.

She then spent the remainder of the day working to make her living conditions safer. The first thing that she did was gather all of the ‘safe’ animals and make sure they were out of her way. She then mowed all of the tall grass that surrounded her abode. Any little critters that used to nest there would simply have to be relocated. They could stand an impromptu moving, for the well-being of others. Next was dealing with the more troublesome animals. In hindsight, letting carnivorous creatures, no matter how tame they seemed at first, stay at her place was a very bad idea. She rounded up the small den of serpents and gave them a stern talking to. “Biting ponies is never acceptable,” was what she told them, among other things, “You can’t stay here.” With some firm words and a strict stare, the reptilian pests caved in. The snakes obliged to the pony’s request to leave and slithered off into the woods, to not disturb anyone anymore. After all that work was done, Fluttershy could breathe a little easier. While she couldn't undo what had happened to that foal, making efforts to prevent another incident eased her conscience.

The sun had almost completely descended by the time she was done with her yard. She headed inside and tidied up some more. She organized her critter food bags and removed any trip hazards that may have been on the floor. Once that was done, she headed to bed. All that work had tired her out. She collapsed onto the bed and crawled under the covers. She yawned and sighed. She needed a good rest. Then she’d go check on that little foal in the morning. 

The night came and went. Celestia’s sun greeted Equestria once more and blanketed the village with its warmth. Fluttershy was awakened by the sound of birds chirping outside of her window. The pegasus climbed out of bed and stretched, standing on hoof-tips briefly as she expanded and flapped her wings. She then regained a normal stance and started walking out of her bedroom. She then did her usual tasks of feeding her animals and then had her own breakfast. She then took a nice hot shower afterwards. The heat relaxed her and cleared her head. Once she was done with all of that, she felt ready to go face the foal from yesterday. She started the trek to the hospital, fidgeting her wings occasionally as she walked. “Oh I hope he won’t mind a visitor,” she mumbled to herself.





I was still stuck here in Ponyville General. I had just woken up a few minutes ago. I yawned and groaned as I tried to untangle myself from the hospital bedsheets. “Stupid… fuckin… ugh, hooves,” I mumbled and swore. I couldn’t grip any of the sheets to help with moving them. Pinkie made grasping seem so easy yesterday. Why can't I do it? Curse my useless hooves. I miss having fingers! Eventually I got freed of the covers and then sat on top of them. I sighed and looked around. The dull surroundings of the hospital room did not change overnight, besides a pitcher of ice water now resting on the little bedside dresser. The isolation was boring. Some entertainment would be nice. Hell, even with how overwhelming Pinkie is, it'd be better than silence. The door of the hospital room suddenly began to rattle and I jolted slightly. "Ah shit," I whispered, assuming that I might have accidentally summoned that omnipresent party pony. But when the door opened, I let out a breath of relief. It was just a nurse.

This was not Nurse Redheart though. Instead I was greeted by some cream colored earth pony with brown hair. Oh hey, that's the lady I saw at the desk. I guess she does rounds too? I don't know her name but I know this pony looks familiar. I don't recall any nurses being super prominent beside Redheart though. Where do I know this lady from? She walked over, with a covered tray somehow balancing perfectly on her ass- I mean her back. Around this time, I noticed her cutie mark: a baby bottle and a heart. She smiled softly at me as she got close to the bed. "Good morning, little fella. I'm glad you're up. Just in time for breakfast," she said.  She slid a little table towards the bed and then removed the tray from her back and sat it on the table. My stomach was growled as I found myself hungry. 

"Here's your breakfast, sweetie," the nurse said in a sweet tone. She sounded motherly. She grabbed the lid with her hoof and began to lift it up. I was real hungry now. I haven't had a proper breakfast in some days now. Oh what I'd do for some waffles and bacon. "Enjoy!" announced the nurse. I was excited for all of two seconds as the cover lifted up. My expression dropped when I saw what was on the tray. "Daisycakes and hayfries with some carrot juice to wash it down," the nurse explained.

I pouted as I stared at the plate of roughage. Got dang rabbit food. The only normal thing was the juice and I can't enjoy that either! I don't like carrots! I've hated them ever since I was a little kid. And yet... the smell of the meal wasn't awful. I swallowed my pride and leaned my face down to bite into the, ugh, daisycake. It looked almost like a pancake but with several big flowers mashed into it. It... was not very good. It was somehow super sugary. Not on the level of the cupcake I was fed yesterday, but still it's too sweet! Plus the flower petals and stem pieces made the whole thing kinda gritty. I begrundingly swallowed the food and huffed. The nurse didn't seem to notice my displeasure and petted my head with her hoof. "Oh good boy," she cooed. "Eat all of it up. Growing foals need their sugar, you know." In what world is sugar promoted to children like this?? Equestria, apparently.