//------------------------------// // Raising Your Filly // Story: Our Little Pony // by Stratocaster //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Raising Your Filly "F...L...U...um...T...T...E...um...R...S...H...um...uh......Y!" "That's it, sweetie, you did it! You spelled your name!" "YAY!" Little Fluttershy cheered for joy as she sat in the living room with her loving father. It had been a few years since Luke and Haley found her as a newborn foal outside their door. Now that little foal had grown up into a playful toddler, and she was adapting quickly to her new home. She had been learning from Luke how to spell and turned out to be a fast learner, as she was mastering more and more words faster than any human child; Luke figured that ponies developed faster intellectually than humans. After completing her own name, Fluttershy gave Luke a warm hug before quickly scampering into the kitchen, with her little wings flapping excitedly. She cantered up to Haley, who was putting away dishes, and repeatedly hopped in place. "Mommy! Mommy!" she beamed. "I did it! I spelled my own name!" Haley looked down at her and smiled. "That's great, Fluttershy!" she said enthused, and knelt down to hug her daughter. "I'm so proud of you." Then, Haley turned to the counter and reached into a jar on a high shelf. She pulled out a chocolate chip cookie which she gave to Fluttershy. "Now why don't you go into the other room and watch some TV, my little smarty pants." "Thanks, Mommy!" Fluttershy gleefully took the cookie in her mouth and trotted off with victory. Luke joined his wife in the kitchen as their little filly went into the living room. "She's learning fast." He said. "I don't think I could spell my name at that age." "It won't be long before she starts school." Haley replied, getting close to him. "Any luck with those calls?" "Eh, nothing yet. I tried every elementary school in the area, and they all said the same thing. They're afraid to enroll her becuase she 'wouldn't fit in' with all the other students. They just won't do it because she's not human." Haley hugged Luke's arm. "I don't see why. She's more human than we are." They stood in the kitchen in each other's embrace, pondering the future of the young pony, who was responding to the television in the other room. "I love you too, Elmo!" Luke and Haley still had no clue as to where Fluttershy had come from. But they had long left that question behind, focusing only on raising her as their own. Fearing the intrusion of bothersome media, Luke kept telling people about her presence to a minimum of friends and family only. Nothing like two humans raising a pony had ever been heard of before. But now that Fluttershy was beginning to climb through foalhood, the word had to get out soon. Luke had been trying to find an elementary school that would enroll Fluttershy; but it seemed most people were just not willing to accept a pony growing up in human society. He even received some stern words from the princapals he called about sending Fluttershy to a "real home" in Equestria. But neither Luke nor Haley were going to give up their precious daughter; theirs was the home that she knew and loved. Later that day after her moment of spelling triumph, Fluttershy skipped up to Luke, who was busy doing work on the computer in his office. "Um, Daddy?" she said in her soft young voice. "Um, can I go outside, um, please?" Luke darted his eyes in thought. Being a surprisingly protective father, he always felt anxious about letting his gentle little filly bing exposed to the elements. The backyard was modereately spacious, but there was no real harm to Fluttershy that could have crossed Luke's wild imagination; buzzards, coyotes, snakes, the plague, civil war, nuclear radiation, etc. Feeling that today looked like a "safe day", Luke smiled at his daughter. "You promise not to wander off?" he asked. "I promise." Fluttershy rubbed her cheek against his pant leg, buttering him up with a cute smile. There was no way Luke could resist that face. "Alright, Fluttershy. Be safe, sweetie." He answered and stroked her pink mane. "Thanks, Daddy!" Fluttershy cantered out of the office leaving her father to work. She walked up to the sliding glass door in the back and pushed with all her might to open it a crack. Once it was open, she then trotted out into the grassy yard under the bright and sunny sky. Fluttershy loved the fresh air and would often go outside to admire the birds flying overhead; since the neighborhood was in a flat California valley, there were no trees to obstruct her view. She frolicked over to one of the bushes that bordered the yard and took a whif of a wild flower. Just then, Fluttershy heard a distant rustling coming from one othe other bushes. She turned around curiously. "Hello?" she called. "Who's there?" She saw where the rustling was coming from, and noticed movement beneath a bush; then, something emerged. A short and stubby bassett hound stepped out from the bush and stopped to notice Fluttershy. The wrinkly dog tilted its head in curiosity of the strange yellow equine standing in the yard just over its size. An elated smile stretched across Fluttershy's face. "Hi, little doggy!" she called to the bassett hound. "I'm Fluttershy." The sweetness in her voice convinced the dog to scamper over to her with its stumpy little legs. As it approached her, the hound reared up and rested its front paws on her. Fluttershy fell backwards, as the friendly dog tackled her and began licking her face; she giggled happily. "Tee hee hee! Aw, you're so cute!" As the dog continued licking, a male voice was suddenly heard from the direction it appeared from. "Dozer! Here, boy!" the voice called and then whistled. "Come on, boy, where are ya?" Immediately, the dog who answered to Dozer stopped his sloppy kisses and looked back. He scampered off back to the direction of the voice. Fluttershy sat up and looked at the bushes that bordered the yard nextdoor. There behind the bushes appeared a man roughly in his forties who spoke in the voice heard before. "Thata boy, Dozer. Come here." The man said as Dozer reentered the other yard. Fluttershy stood back up and smiled at the stranger. "Hi, mister! My name is Fluttershy!" she greeted, waving a little hoof. The man did a doubletake looking back at her. He seemed to become puzzled at what exactly he was seeing and didn't say a word. He only kept staring at her strangely then walked away toward his own house, with Dozer following close beside. Fluttershy tilited her head at this man's apparent shyness, but shrugged off the encounter and turned toward the sliding door. She entered the house and found Luke, who was now in the kitchen sneaking one of the brownies Haley made for a bake sale. He heard the sound of tiny hooves clipclopping toward him, and quickly put the brownies back in the fridge. He stuffed the one he was eating in his cheeks as he looked at his filly. "Everything alright, Fluttershy?" he asked through a mouthful of chewed up fudge. "Daddy, I just met the cutest little doggie outside!" replied Futtershy cheerily. Luke swallowed the brownie remains hard as a bad feeling arose in him. "Uh, did this dog have a name?" "Yeah, his name is Dozer." The name rang in his ear; Luke knew it all too well. Dozer had been responsible for every stolen shoe, every torn up pair of pants, every hole and poop in the yard, and every long sleepness night due to constant howling. That dog was the bane of Luke's existance, and it didn't help that he was allergic to pet dander. He was suprised it took until now for Fluttershy to meet him. "Right...Dozer." He uttered. "Um, Daddy, is Mommy home yet?" asked Fluttershy, changing the subject. Luke shook off his grimace and answered. "Mommy's going to be working late, sweetheart. Don't worry, she'll be home tonight." "Will she be home to tuck me in?" "Of course. Now why don't you go and play somewhere? I'll make you some dinner later." "Okay, Daddy." Fluttershy then wrapped her hooves around his legs. Luke knelt down and returned his daughter's hug, with her yellow coat soft to the touch. "Daddy, were you eating Mommy's brownies?" she asked after a pause. Luke only parted from the hug and gestured Fluttershy to scoot along. ... That night, Fluttershy lay in her bed, with butterfly covers, staring up at the ceiling. Beside her, a single lamp was glowing on the nightstand; Luke had left it on for her after kissing her goodnight. But Fluttershy couldn't fall asleep as she waited for her dear mother to come home and rest her mind. She hid her muzzle under the blanket, fearing this would be the first night without being tucked in properly. Then, she heard footsteps outside her door in the hall. Fluttershy expected her father when her door was slowly opened. But instead, to her relief, Haley entered the darkened bedroom with her usual warm smile. She walked in and sat down on the bedside. "Mommy, you're home!" Fluttershy grinned. "Hi honey," soothed Haley. "Sorry I had to work so late." Fluttershy nuzzled her right arm, but then noticed the folded article of clothing held in the left; it appeared to be a long white jacket. She recognized this kind of jacket and remembered seeing pictures of certain people who would wear it. "Mommy," said Fluttershy. "Are you a doctor?" Haley looked down at her jacket then smiled at her. "Well, I'm a special kind of doctor, Fluttershy. I'm a veterinarian." Fluttershy tilted her head. "Vet...ter...rin...what is that?" "It means I don't treat humans. I'm an animal doctor." "You mean...you take care of animals?" "That's right. I take care of doggies, kitties, birdies, and even bunnies." "I love bunnies! I hope I get to take care of animals too, when I grow up." "I'm sure you will, baby." Haley then tucked the covers around Fluttershy, making her snug as a bug. She began to stroke her pink mane lovingly. "You make me so proud, Fluttershy. I love you so much." "I love you too, Mommy. Goodnight." "Goodnight, sweetie." Haley kissed her on the forehead. Then, she switched off the lamp and plugged in a blue night light, which projected images of various animals upon the ceiling. Haley left and carefully shut the door, leaving Fluttershy to drift off to sleep. Luke stared at his computer screen with a troubled look on his face; the light glowed over him as he sat there in his darkened office. It wasn't long before Haley approached next to him, after just having put Fluttershy to bed. She looked over his shoulder. "That was a close one," she spoke softly. "Poor thing probably missed me all day." Luke didn't even glance at her and simply kept staring at his monitor with a sigh. "What's wrong?" asked Haley. "Look at this." He replied. "I've been trying to find more info about pegasus ponies. Apparently, it says that when a foal pegasus reaches pre-teenhood, they leave their parents and go off to a flight camp, to hoan their flying ability." "Leave their parents? At that age? That's unbelievable." "Well, we're going to have to start beleiving it soon." Haley was struck with realization. It became apparent that Fluttershy would not be living at the Shy house forever. The thought of parting with her for good pained Haley as much as it did Luke; it would not be easy when the time would come. With a long heavy sigh, Haley wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders and nuzzled his neck. "Let's just make the most of the time she has with us...that we have with her." She said. Luke held her soft hand gently, and kissed it. "Don't worry...we will."