2-14-13
Well, 4 months into pregnancy and nothing bad’s happened yet. Anacrusis is trying to figure out what his duties would be as a big brother. He’s torn the house apart looking for a book on the subject. Looks like I’m going to have to see Twilight on this one.
Meanwhile, Flutterheart and I have started preparing things for the new foal. We’ve started looking at furniture, all the necessary things. We’ll be ready for this time. Hopefully I don’t mess up. I have one foal under my belt, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. I mean, Anacrusis hasn’t rebelled yet, though I probably just shot myself in the hoof.
Shooting himself in the hoof,
Trey
***
“Try adding more descriptive language. You seem to do well with dialogue, but there’s not a lot of description, and it seems like I’m just in a nondescript location filling in all the details.”
“Hm.” said Anacrusis, pondering over where to make the revisions.
“While you rewrite that, I’ll go make us some tea. Sound good?” asked Twilight, giving him a soft smile. Anacrusis returned one of his own, nodding at her before delving back into his writing.
Darkwing sniffed the air. The pungent aroma of moldy, slimy sludge water assaulted his nostrils, making him cringe, desperate for some febreeze. His target was in here somewhere, lurking the the shadows, probably watching him. Darkwing, a black coated stallion with an equal color mane, stuck to the shadows, using his natural camouflage at his disposal in an attempt at stealth. He spread his wings, slowly gliding through the air as gracefully as a bowling ball wouldn’t, doing his best not to make sound. He forgot to take into account that it was fall, and the gush of his wings blew dead leaves off the nearby trees. A light came on in the mansion ahead of him. His pulse pounded as a shadowy figure appeared in the window. He’d made a foalish mistake.
“So, how’s that paragraph shaping up so far?” asked Twilight, handing him some tea. Anacrusis pushed the paper to her, taking a small sip of the hot tea. Twilight read down, a small look of confusion on her face.
“This looks great, but... ‘as gracefully as a bowling ball wouldn’t’? What’s that about?”
“I needed a metaphor.”
“That one seems goofy and doesn’t fit in with the tone of the story. I’d recommend using that for a comedy story. It seems to me that you’re trying to go for a darker toned story, right?”
Anacrusis nodded, his mouth full of tea.
“That’s what I thought. Try something like...’as gracefully as a swan’ or just leave it as ‘gracefully.’ Perhaps you should save the metaphor for a different place for a better effect.”
“Hm. What do you think of the premise of the story?”
“I don’t know much about the plot yet, honestly.” said Twilight. Anacrusis snickered a bit, Twilight completely oblivious to the joke. “I think that if you want to keep the reader on edge, you’re doing a good job so far. Is it going to start this way? Or this this going to be a setup for a huge flashback?”
“I hadn’t thought of doing a flashback...that seems like a good idea. I haven’t seen it used much, though. Do you have any examples?”
“Oh, yes. The Daring Do novels do that quite a lot. Have you read any of those?”
“I haven’t heard of Daring Do.”
“YOU HAVEN’T?” Twilight yelped, shocked. “Oh, you absolutely MUST read them! They’re amazing books!”
“I guess I’ll check one out from you, then.”
“I have ALL the books in the series! Oh, you’re going to love them!” she exclaimed, clopping her hooves in excitement.
“Did I miss something important?” asked Trey, a sly smile on his face as he trotted in the front door.
“Oh. I didn’t even hear you knock! Anacrusis was just going to check out some Daring Do novels!”
“Oh, those are great books. You seriously haven’t read any of those yet?”
“If we had any at the house, I might have.”
“Fair point. Anyways, it’s time to head back. Your mother planned a special dinner!”
“Is it hay?”
“Um...well...you’ll see. Twilight, you’re more than welcome to join us!”
“Oh, that sounds lovely! I don’t want to intrude, though...”
“No, Fluttershy would love to see you. Besides, it’s the least we can offer for putting up with Anacrusis during the week.”
“Oh, he’s no trouble at all, really!”
“Well, come and join us anyway. It’d be nice to catch up with a friend.”
***
Flutterwing trotted down the halls amongst the crowd, all struggling to get out for the weekend. She looked high and low for her brother, to no avail. He must have gone to Twilight’s already. She kept an eye out for Cherry, her search also turning up fruitless. She packed her saddlebags and headed out the door. A small voice stopped her.
“Flutterwing! Come here!” said a soft, familiar voice. She looked around, unable to locate the source of the noise. “Over here!”
Flutterwing turned behind her, finding two ponies she didn’t know, and Easel, and old friend she hadn’t talked to in a while.
“Hey, girls. What’s going on?” she asked. They giggled and opened up a saddlebag, revealing grass inside a plastic bag.
“Grass?”
“No...smell it!”
Flutterwing sniffed the bag, a spicy, delightful odor wafting about her nostrils.
“What is it?” she asked, curious.
“Horsenip.”
“What’s horsenip?”
“Wow. You’re so sheltered. Look, just eat a bit. But don’t tell your parents.”
“Why not?”
“We’ll get in trouble.”
“Oh...” she said, looking inside the plastic bag. “This doesn’t seem like a good idea...”
“Just try it. All the cool kids are doing it.”
“Will this make me cool?”
“Absolutely. Now, just chew a bit and swallow.”
***
“Daddy...we’re having HAY for dinner. Hay!” shouted Flutterwing, laughing her head off. Trey gave her a strange glance, unsure of why she was acting that way.
“So, how’s Anacrusis been doing?” asked Fluttershy, turning over to Twilight, who awkwardly stared at her food, wondering if eating would make her a bad guest.
“His writing has really improved so far. He seems to be best with dialogue.”
“Why don’t you write a short story for us?” asked Fluttershy, giving him a brief smile. Anacrusis shrugged.
“You can’t ride a short story without a saddle!” said Flutterwing, hay flying out her mouth as she laughed.
“Flutterwing! We have a guest...” Fluttershy tried to casually tell her.
“I’m a pirahna!” she said, biting down on her teeth.
“She has such an imagination...” said Trey, giving an awkward smile to Twilight, who had just started to take a bite of her food, before stopping to look at him, nodding.
“Yes, Anacrusis could easily get published with a little bit of work. He’s got an amazing style, and I can tell he’s cut out for it. He loves action stories, though. Suspense, action, that kind of stuff.” Anacrusis nodded.
“Work sounds like Wark!” muttered Flutterwing, as Twilight glanced her way before continuing. Fluttershy tried to quiet her.
“I have a friend back in Canterlot that owns a publishing company. Perhaps I could get some of his stories published in a volume.”
“Really?” asked Anacrusis, snapping his head to face her, mouth full of hay.
“Of course.” she smiled at him.
“Dude...I have wings.” said Flutterwing, staring into her wings, contemplating the mysteries of space...and feathers.
“Are you alright, Flutterwing? You seem a little...off.” asked Trey.
“I’ve just never noticed my wings before...we never USE them! It’s like...woah.”
“Right then. Anyways, you were saying something about publishing?”
“Hm?” asked Twilight, who had leaned over to try to graze on the hay again. She snapped back up, leaving her food untouched, noticing that everyone else had nearly finished, except for Flutterwing, who was currently chewing on the table. “Oh. Right. I have an old friend, Leatherbound, who specializes in publishing. He’s currently creating a volume of short stories and I thought Anacrusis would make a nice addition.”
“That sounds fun!” smiled Anacrusis.
“Why not just make the short story for your school assignment the one you submit to the book?” asked Fluttershy, trying not to get distracted by Flutterwing, who was now humming a tune to herself.
“That sounds like a great idea!” said Twilight.
“Well,” began Trey, “any idea when he’ll be publishing the book?”
“Sometime next summer, so he’ll have plenty of time to submit the story.”
“Submit sounds like submarine!” shouted Flutterwing, laughing before unexpectedly scampering off to her room, leaving all the rest of the ponies at dinner staring at her strangely. Twilight took this time to hurriedly snarf her food down before she got questioned again.
***
“Seriously, what’s gotten into you? You’ve been acting silly all night!” said Fluttershy, trying to smile at Flutterwing, in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Trey stepped in shortly afterwards, trying to maintain a calm demeanor. Flutterwing pranced about Sir Snugalot, occasionally doing flips.
Fluttershy trotted forward, trying to get her attention, but slipped on Flutterwing’s saddlebag.
“Oh, honey, are you alright?” asked Trey, helping her up. He kicked the saddlebag out of the way in his frustration, sending colored pencils, paper, and a small plastic bag flying about the floor. Trey eyed the plastic bag with worry. He picked it up, opened it, and smelled it, a look of disgust contorting his face, before being replaced with one of parental worry and confused anger.
“I...please don’t tell me that’s what I think it is...” said Fluttershy, her eyes growing wide with sadness.
“Looks like we’re going to have to have a talk with her. We won’t be able to get anything through right now. Let’s...let’s go to bed, Flutterheart.” he said sadly, closing Flutterwing’s door behind him.
Trey held her close the rest of the night, his chest wet his her tears, trying to console her, as the thought of their daughter being involved with drugs weighed heavily upon them. Tonight, her heart was fluttering for all the wrong reasons.