//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: "Did You Call Me... Mama?" // Story: Two Worlds; One Family // by MrEnter //------------------------------// The next few weeks went by as Fluttershy cared for her brand new animal friend. She was able to get most of the supplies she needed from Pinkie Pie. Those she wasn't, such as a high chair and a crib, she bought herself. They set her back quite a bit, but she really didn't mind. She wasn't saving up for a vacation or anything of the sort. Fluttershy still had other animals to take care of so she wasn't able to spend every waking moment with the creature. Luckily, Pinkie was willing to lend her foalsitting services most of the time. She loved having a new friend to play with, even if he wasn't a pony. The way that Harry played with her, easily catching onto her games and understanding what Pinkie was talking about, Fluttershy could have sworn that Harry was equine. Twilight searched book after book, which slowly submerged the floor of her library. She knew that somepony in history must have come across a creature like Harry. It simply wasn't possible that he was the first or even only of his kind, but all the evidence was pointing to that conclusion. If anyone had ever seen a creature like Harry they didn't record it, for whatever reason. One day Rarity brought over a set of onesies that Fluttershy had customly ordered. She cringed seeing Fluttershy coddle that creature. The way he didn't have any fur made him look positively revolting. She wasn't surprised that Fluttershy would want to cover up that hide, but why in Equestria would she spend so much money on the clothes? "You made them out of the warmest wool you could get, right?" Fluttershy asked, examining the onesies. They definately felt warm. "Harry shivers so much at night. It's just torture. How much do I owe you?" "Wait, you wanted them to keep the creature warm... not because he's..." "Because he's what?" Fluttershy asked. "Because he's... gross. Just look at that skin. How could you touch him?" "It's actually really soft. Go on touch him," Fluttershy said, picking Harry up off of the floor. He was a little upset to be torn from his blocks, but didn't put up any fuss. Unlike Rarity. "I am not touching that thing. I understand you take care of animals, but please keep animals like that away from me." "Now, now she didn't mean it," Fluttershy said, trying to calm down Harry. He was now tearing up.Then she turned to Rarity. "If you don't want to be here you don't have to." There was a few minutes of silence. "Excuse me?" "I'm going to be taking care of Harry from now on and he'll always be here. If you find him disgusting then perhaps you shouldn't come back." "Are we still on for the spa this weekened?" Rarity asked, taken aback. "I'm sorry, I can't. Pinkie is busy this weekend so I need to take care of Harry myself. Maybe next time." "Are you mad at me, Fluttershy?" "You came in here and insulted one of my animal friends. If you don't like them, then fine. But please keep it to yourself." Even after Rarity left the house, Harry was still a little fussy. Fluttershy guessed that he was hungry. Harry didn't like vegetables, but they seemed to be good for him. Getting him to eat wasn't much a chore though since he always got applesauce afterwards. Harry loved applesauce so not everything that he ate tasted terrible. Lucky Applejack suggested it or Harry might have grown to hate eating, and that would have spelled tragedy. Applejack often eyed Harry suspiciously, but Fluttershy never could tell what she thought of him. Still, she brought a steady supply of applesauce so she wasn't too unfond of the little guy. And Harry was always excited when she brought her shipment so Fluttershy really couldn't complain. Rainbow frequently visited, not for Harry's sake, but to get Fluttershy out of the house. Ever since Harry came into Fluttershy's life, she barely left her cottage. Her whole life revolved around that creature, but there was no way to deter Fluttershy from taking care of him. She constantly blew off get-togethers, and it was starting to worry Rainbow. Fluttershy kept trying to reassure Rainbow that it was only because Harry was so young that he needed constant care. When he got a little older he wouldn't need Fluttershy to be around constantly, but until then taking care of Harry was top priority. As the weeks passed, her life revolved more and more around Harry. One morning, Fluttershy was busy dusting her room. She was behind on her cleaning and the perfect time to catch up was when Harry was sleeping soundly in his crib. At least, Fluttershy thought that Harry was sleeping soundly in his crib. As she was dusting her nightstand she heard a peep that caused her to jump. She turned around. Nopony was in her room. Then the exact same peepe was heard. It sounded like somepony was saying.... "mama." "Mama!" said... Harry. He was holding himself up with his forelegs and smiling at Fluttershy. "D-did you call me Mama?" Fluttershy asked. "Mama! Mama!" Fluttershy sat down in front of Harry's crib and just looked at him in utter shock. Not only could Harry talk, but he also thought that Fluttershy was his mother. He thought that Fluttershy was his mother. "He can talk!?" Twilight snapped. Harry giggled as he always did whenever Twilight had one of her crazy outbursts. "I was just as surprised as you were," Fluttershy said, rocking Harry back and forth. "And he thinks that I'm his mama. If you think about it, I guess I kind of am." "So what are you going to do then?" Twilight asked. "I'm going to raise him like my own colt, instead of just another one of my animal friends. Sorry I thought of you that way, little guy," Fluttershy said and then she nuzzled him. "That's crazy. You're crazy Fluttershy. We know nothing about Harry. We don't know where he came from. We don't even know what he is." "Well, we have all the time in Equestria to learn," Fluttershy said, almost ignoring Twilight. "But we don't know how to take care of him." "I think I've been doing a pretty good job so far. Besides, what do you expect me to do? Keep raising Harry like an animal?" "I... I don't know. Alright Fluttershy, you win," Twilight said, defeated. We'll pretend that he's just another colt." "No, he's not just another colt. He's my son." The strangest thing about Fluttershy's relationship with Harry was how little it changed. She held Harry a little bit closer, but still let him play by himself and still let Pinkie foalsit him. Fluttershy laughed to herself as Pinkie and Harry had full conversations, even though Harry could only say one word. Rainbow surprisingly came over more often to spend time with Fluttershy. Rainbow actually liked spending time with Harry and trying to get him to build bigger block towers and get from one side of the room to the other faster. Harry seemed to enjoy these games with Rainbow. Rarity, on the other hoof, stopped coming over to Fluttershy's house completely. She stopped making spa appointments as well. Fluttershy tried to get to the bottom of it, but whenever she tried to visit Rarity she was never home. Even after their little spat, they still spent time together so Fluttershy had nothing to go on. The only thing that changed was the fact that Fluttershy was now raising Harry as a son instead of an animal friend, but why would that bother Rarity?