//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Mail Order Orphan // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// A bright purple unicorn roamed the halls of Canterlot, but bright really wasn’t really a fair description. One might almost say obnoxiously purple. Her mane was pink. Vibrant pink. Her cutie mark was a pink heart and a wooden cradle. She had worn saddlebags. Her gait was that of a mare that had too much work and too little time. She nodded as she passed other ponies. She reeked of rotten eggs, a fact that she seemed to ignore as she continued down the hall. She was smiling, content, as though everything was right within her world. Other ponies fled her presence as she passed. The stink was almost otherworldly. She turned in the long hallway, paused, and gazed at opening to another hallway, this one angling downward, leading down beneath the castle common. It had been a week, Fluttershy reflected. One week of staying at the castle. She wanted to be home. She knew her animals were being looked after, but she desperately wanted to be home. But she could not leave. There was too much to do here. Discord was awake now, some of the time. He was weak and his body rebelled against the sudden change, physical needs long dormant now awakening. He was fevered and delirious some of the time, lucid and limp the rest of the time. He saw things during his fevered states. Terrible things. Things from the past. Past torments that gnawed away at his fragile mind. Luna had been there for Discord as much as she could, but here were times she had to go. And she stayed gone for long periods. Fluttershy overheard the lunar pegasi talking about Luna’s foal and how fussy it had become during Luna’s long absences. It was something Fluttershy intended to ask Luna about when she saw her again. She was not aware of Luna having a foal. There had been no royal announcement. It was something that Luna did not mention. The foal was something that Luna had not brought around to sit with her during those long hours in the hospital ward. It was strange. Fluttershy thought for sure that Luna having a foal would be something that Luna would mention. Something to talk about. Something that would have made the papers. None of it made sense. A mystery, right here in the castle, evidence that not all was as it seemed. And then there was Nightfisher. Fluttershy had found herself becoming closer to Nightfisher. Nightfisher was simply there. A fixture. When Fluttershy needed something, or needed to find out how to get somewhere within the vast complex under the castle, Nightfisher had been there. At least by night. During the day, Captain Sunflower was always near. Meeting new ponies was hard… And these two stayed around as regular fixtures, making life easier. They kept new ponies away, mostly. They made sure that Fluttershy and Discord were not disturbed. It seemed that there was some discontent that the Herald of Chaos lay convalescing in the bowels of Canterlot. Pegasi had long memories. They held grudges. They took pride in the title “brute” which they took to be a badge of honour. The pegasi had not forgotten what had been done so long ago. Fluttershy didn’t even know what had happened long ago, or what the fuss was. But she was aware that there was, in fact, a fuss. She did her best to ignore it. She was in the royal gardens, sitting in the grass. Discord was sleeping, being watched over by Celestia’s most trusted servants. Fluttershy and Ivy both needed the sunshine and fresh air. Ivy had become quite irritable and bored, and longed for trees, something she had asked for by name. Ivy was up a tree right now, surveying the garden, her bright grey eyes taking everything in. Her tail was coiled around the branch. She was perched on her hind legs, and she was studying her talons, watching them flex and she opened and closed them repeatedly. “Mama?” Ivy asked. “Yes Ivy?” Fluttershy responded, looking up. Ivy scrunched up her face with concentration. She struggled visibly, her mouth opening and closing, her brow furrowed. Her crest rose. Her mismatched wings fluttered. “What Ivy?” She finally asked. “What Discord?” Fluttershy sat there flummoxed. Ivy extended her talons. “Not pony,” she announced, “not mama.” Fluttershy couldn’t find words. “Not shicken.” Ivy commented. “Shicken?” Fluttershy asked in a bewildered tone. Ivy clucked a few times. Suddenly, it made a bit of sense. Ivy logic. When had Ivy learned to cluck? She wasn’t just clucking Fluttershy realised. She was repeating what the chickens had named her, the name the chickens used as Fluttershy’s name. Chicken speak. Fluttershy gazed upwards, her long pink mane spilling down her neck and shoulders. A strand remained snagged on her ear, refusing to slide back with the rest, causing her ear to flicker and twitch. “What Ivy?” Ivy repeated, her tone becoming a bit demanding. Ivy unclenched her hind toes and dropped from her branch suddenly, causing Fluttershy to wordlessly cry out in alarm. She came to a bobbing halt, hanging from the branch by her tail, looking down at Fluttershy. She reached down and booped her mother in the nose with a talon, angling the sharp point of her talon away from tender flesh. “What Ivy?” She said again in insistent tones. “Ivy is my foal.” Fluttershy responded. “You are my foal. The foal of my heart.” Ivy looked confused. “No.” She said finally. “Yes.” Fluttershy said firmly. Ivy’s muzzle scrunched. “I am your mother. Because I wanted you.” Ivy looked more confused than ever. She scratched her belly absentmindedly as she tried to understand. “Ivy?” Fluttershy asked. “You know how you like cookies? And spoons? And apple butter?” At the mention of apple butter, Ivy perked. “You like those things and you want them. You need them to make you feel better. To feel good. They are sweet and nice and make you feel good all over.” Ivy resumed her grimace of concentration. “Ivy, I need you like you need those things. Cookies. Spoons. Apple butter.” Ivy closed her eyes, her ears flexed. Her hind toes clenched and unclenched a few times. Fluttershy reached up and tickled Ivy’s nose with a wing tip. Ivy exploded into giggles, her concentration broken. “You make mama happy. Mama needs you.” Ivy’s eyes lit up, her slitted pupils went wide. “Ivy cookie?” Ivy’s face scrunched. She struggled for better words. Fluttershy tried to apply Ivy logic to the words. Her own brow furrowed. Squirrels were difficult, otters were perplexing, and beavers were downright vulgar, but each animal had its own logic, and Fluttershy had been able to relate to all of them. “Yes,” said Fluttershy, “Ivy is like a cookie. You are like a cookie. A mix of sweet things all together that make mama happy.” Ivy continued to look confused, but seemed somewhat satisfied with the answer. She reached down and touched Fluttershy’s nose again. “Ivy’s mama?” “Yes.” Fluttershy answered. “Not same.” Ivy replied. Fluttershy sighed, feeling a mild tingle of frustration. “Not same, still mama.” Ivy thought out loud. Fluttershy looked up, smiling. “Ivy mama happy.” Fluttershy nodded. She briefly wondered what Ivy would be like as a yearling. “Ivy stay with mama?” Fluttershy felt a painful ache in her heart. Simple words, simple question, but fraught with meaning. She considered her words carefully, wanting so badly to reach Ivy and connect at this moment. “Mama will be your tree.” Fluttershy reflected briefly on something she had said a long time ago as she said the words. Ivy beamed, wiggling in the air as she hung by her tail. Fluttershy rose into a hover and gently embraced Ivy, taking her into her forelegs and squeezing her. She settled back down onto the grass with Ivy, clinging to her. Ivy was content to be held. They clung to each other for a long while, no further words needed. Fluttershy was suddenly snapped back into reality by the sudden stench of rotten eggs. She crinkled her nose and tried to hold her breath. Ivy began to drool uncontrollably, her muzzle becoming dripping wet, ribbons of slobber hanging down from each corner of her mouth. “Yummy!” Ivy announced. “Oh gross Ivy, really?” Fluttershy asked, her chest rapidly becoming wet. “I see that she’s happy.” The voice caused Fluttershy to start suddenly, she squeaked in alarm and clutched Ivy close. “I’m sorry,” the voice said, “I didn’t mean to startle you.” Fluttershy turned and saw Sugarplum. “What are you doing here?” Fluttershy inquired. “Well, it has been almost 30 days. I said I’d be back to check on you. And make sure everything is final. I was at the castle taking care of some business. Please forgive my current state of affairs and the smell. It can’t be helped.” Sugarplum smiled warmly. Ivy was delighted to see Sugarplum again and rushed forward to savagely hug the unicorn’s legs, breaking free of Fluttershy’s grasp. “Oh hi hi!” Ivy announced. “Hello Climbing Ivy. I’m so glad you have a name now.” Sugarplum smiled down at the foal. “Oh, and before I forget, I have a gift for you.” Sugarplum pulled a small stuffed doll out of her saddlebag, a small stuffed yellow flannel plaid pegasus with a pink yarn mane. “I had it made just for you.” Ivy let go of Sugarplum’s leg and clutched the doll gently in her talons, being careful with her sharp claw points. “Mama?” Ivy asked, looking at the doll. “Yes,” said Sugarplum. “The doll is just like your mama. I do this for all of my little foals that I look after.” Sugarplum raised her eyes to Fluttershy. “And when Ivy has a father, I suppose I’ll be dropping off a stuffed doll that looks like a certain draconequus. I feel that the stuffed dolls help adopted foals feel secure in their new families.” Fluttershy began to stammer. “Luna told me,” interrupted Sugarplum, “I know a little bit about what is going on. I’m going to be helping you get in contact with therapists and rehabilitators. We’re going to be seeing each other regularly for a while. Normally I don’t take adult caseloads. But this is a special circumstance and I’ve been asked by the Princesses to deal with this directly. I suppose because they trust me.” “Thank you?” Fluttershy finally said, confused and bewildered. Ivy clutched her doll, hugging it. “Ivy, can you say ‘thank you’ to the nice mare for the doll?” Fluttershy asked. “Tankooh!” Ivy said. “You are very welcome little Ivy” Sugarplum answered. “So Ivy is all mine?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes. You seem to want her.” “Very much so.” The two mares looked at one another. “If I have any other foals that wind up in the ‘other’ category, perhaps I’ll bring them by for a visit,” Sugarplum said with a smile, “and hope for the best.” “Oh, I’d like that.” Fluttershy responded with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. “I’ll file the paperwork. And I’ll being by the official documentation my self since I’ll be dropping by for a visit soon enough. You are now the legal parent of one Climbing Ivy, species unknown. I wish you the very best of luck in your future endeavors. You have a tough road ahead. I will do my best to see you through.”