7-1-13
Family’s still doing quite well. Anacrusis has managed to put several words together and is starting to learn sentence structure. Pretty soon, Flutterheart and I are going to teach him how to read. They grow up so fast. I have a feeling he’s going to be a momma’s colt. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine.
Flutterheart and I have also decided that we do, indeed, want another foal. However, we’re going to wait for a little while yet to have one. We need to focus on proper parenting with Anacrusis before we try handling two foals at once. There’s bound to be some disaster.
Another interesting thing I’ve noticed is that Anacrusis hasn’t tried to use his wings at all. Granted, Flutterheart and I haven’t really used ours much since we had to stop playing Frisbee for obvious reasons, but I still find it interesting that he hasn’t tried yet. He’s perfectly content just trotting around one of us. We can hardly leave him alone, honestly. He follows us everywhere. I think it’s charming. He’s so cute, just trotting beside Flutterheart and I, smiling. He’s such a happy foal. I guess we’re doing our job right as parents.
Doing his job right,
Trey
“Are you excited for the first day of Middle School?” asked Fluttershy.
“Yes, Mommy!” said Flutterwing, excited.
“Seems like only yesterday you both were in Elementary School.” said Trey. “Where does the time go?”
“About the same place your mane is going.” said Anacrusis, smirking at his dad.
“Funny. I swear it’s going the same place your allowance is...”
“Uh...Your mane has certainly grown!”
“Nice try. I’m not raising your allowance.”
“Aw...”
“Now you two have fun, and be safe!” said Fluttershy, giving each of them a kiss on the forehead.
“Mom...” said Anacrusis, annoyed.
“Oh, I’m sorry...are you too old for me to love?” she said, putting on a sad face.
“Well...no, but-”
“Good.” she said, giving him another kiss before he could object. Trey ruffled his mane, patting him on the side in his fatherly embrace.
“Hey...have fun. Take care of each other.” he said, patting his daughter on the back.
“Yes, Daddy!”
“I love you!” said Trey and Fluttershy together.
“I love you, too!” said Flutterwing.
“Me too.” said Anacrusis. “Can we go now?”
“Oh, of course! Have fun, you two!” said Fluttershy.
And with that, they trotted off towards Ponyville Middle School. Trey and Fluttershy stood in the doorway, watching them trot away.
“You think they’ll be ok?” she asked him.
“They’ll be fine. They know to talk to us if something goes wrong.” he said, smiling at her, pulling her close to him, nuzzling her neck with his nose. She cringed under the tickle and kissed him.
“Shouldn’t you get ready for work?”
“I guess so.” said Trey, checking his watch. “I have some time.” he said, kissing her.
“Tag. You’re it.” he said, trotting into the house slowly. She giggled and followed suit.
***
“Hey, Chocolate! What’s your class schedule like?” said Anacrusis, trotting up to the dark brown pony he loved.
“Hey, Annie!” she said, smiling, hugging him tight. They compared schedules, excited to see they shared one period together.
“Well, we share first period together! That means I can start my day with you, Annie!” said Chocolate, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush.
“That’ll be the best part of my day.” he said, kissing her on the lips. She smiled at him and they both started trotting off towards their first class.
***
“Um...excuse me...where is room 137?” asked Flutterwing. Anacrusis had left her in search of Chocolate, leaving her confused in the masses of schoolfoals catching up with each other. She didn’t really have many friends, and certainly hadn’t found them yet.
“That’s on the south side.” said a green colt, obviously annoyed at having to answer such a stupid question.
“Which way’s that?”
“Down the hall.” he said, not pointing in any direction.
“Which way?”
“Oh, sweet Celestia, are you stupid? Just follow the numbers. It’s not that hard.” he said, slamming his locker, trotting off elsewhere.
“Oh...ok...” said Flutterwing, her feelings hurt. She trotted off down the hall, doing her best to locate the dreaded room 137. Time was not in her favor.
“There’s not much to say the first day, really.” said the teacher. “Here’s your syllabus of what to expect. Next class we’ll-”
“Oh, I’m sorry I’m late. I got lost...” said Flutterwing, head hung low.
“It happens. Just take the empty seat over there and grab a syllabus.” he said. Flutterwing trotted over to the empty seat, sitting next to the green colt who had been so rude to her earlier.
“Look who decided to trot in.” he said, in a near whisper.
Flutterwing ignored him, pretending to read the syllabus as the teacher droned on.
“Hopefully you can keep your place in the syllabus better than you keep your place in the school.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Flutterwing, be quiet.” said the teacher. “Or you’ll have to write your name on the board.”
“Yes, sir...” she said, putting her head on the desk, ears low.
“Dunce.” said the green pony, snickering with two other ponies near him.
***
Chocolate, Anacrusis, and Flutterwing sat at the lunch table, munching away on substandard hay, obviously mass produced just to feed the masses of schoolfoals. Anacrusis and Chocolate sat together, leaning against each other as Flutterwing stared at her tray.
“What’s wrong, Flutterwing?” asked Chocolate.
“Hm?” she asked, snapped out of her concentration.
“Are you ok?”
“Oh...I guess so.”
“Well...ok then!” she said, turning to Anacrusis.
“So, Annie, how’s school been for you?”
“After first period it wasn’t as happy...but I’m here now.” he said, smiling at her. She smiled back at him, nuzzling his neck.
“There she is.” a voice sounded behind them. Flutterwing looked behind them in fear. Anacrusis and Chocolate turned around to see a green colt staring at Flutterwing.
“Listen...” he started. “...I just finished eating, but I’m still a bit hungry. I need your lunch money. I suggest giving it to me before something bad happens.”
Flutterwing looked over at her brother.
“Or what?” he said, standing up.
“And who are you?” he asked.
“I’m her brother. Back off.” he said, standing firm, establishing himself. The green colt laughed, turning back to his other friends, a red colt and a black colt.
“This colt...THIS colt...” he said, mimicking him.
“Annie, who are these ponies?” asked Chocolate, worried.
“Annie? ANNIE? Isn’t that a girl’s name?” the colt spoke. “Well with that color coat, I would’ve guess female, too.”
“What’s wrong with my coat?” he asked, unfazed at the stupidity of their arguments.
“Oh, nothing. I think it’s the prettiest color of piss I’ve seen in my entire life. Were you born white or have you always looked like the inside of a toilet?” he said, making the colts behind him laugh.
“Stop your caterwauling, you ignorant buffoon.” said Anacrusis, a small smirk on his lips.
“...what? You’re making up words now? How stupid.”
“Oh, no, my preposterous equine companion, my establishment of the Equestrian language is quite verbose. I’d suggest doing a more thorough search through your local literary book in hopes that your language skills may be as impeccable as mine. Now, leave my sister alone, or I shall taunt you a second time.”
“What?”
“Get on my level. Now get out of here.”
“You got owned, man. Let’s just leave.” said the red pony behind him.
“You think you’re all that, huh?”
“I currently believe that I am in said state. It’s homeostasis for my individual being.”
“Speak Equestrian, you filly. You’re making shit up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, am I using big words? Do I need to explain what ‘the’ means? You’re just another stupid, overweight punk who feels the need to terrorize fillies in order to make sure that you have some self-esteem. Why don’t you go home and suck on your mother’s teats and cry about it?”
“Can we stop fighting?” asked Chocolate. The green pony looked at her, smiling.
“Oh, is that your special somepony? No wonder you’re together. You’re just piss and shit over here. What’d you do, rub it all over your coat?”
“Back off.” said Anacrusis. “Or else.”
“Or else what? You gonna go cryin in that giant turd’s arms?”
***
“And how was the first day of...oh, my...” said Fluttershy as Anacrusis and Flutterwing trotted in. Anacrusis carried a note, a few drops of blood on it from his nosebleed. Several sheets were shoved in his nose to stop the bleeding, and his left eye was swollen.
“What happened to you?” asked Trey, upset. He took the note from him and started reading.
“It wasn’t his fault...” said Flutterwing.
“Why’d you get in another fight? I thought I told you to stop that years ago!” he said, parental anger inside of him.
“They were saying things...and threatened Flutterwing and Chocolate.”
“Again?”
Flutterwing nodded. Fluttershy quickly hugged her.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Anacrusis, go to your room. I’ll be in there to talk about this later.” said Trey.
“Can we make some more ex-lax brownies for them?”
“Go to your room.”
“Yes, Sir...” he said, trotting off towards him room, shutting the door behind him.
***
“How do you feel?” asked Trey, stepping inside Anacrusis’ room.
“My eye still hurts but the bleeding’s stopped.”
“Good. Now why did you think it was alright to get into another fight? It’s only the first day of school. You’re going to leave a bad impression on your teachers. Do you want to be known as a bully?”
“I had to stick up for Flutterwing. They were threatening to hurt her and Cherry.”
“Fair enough, but fighting’s almost never the answer. Why didn’t you get a grown-up?”
“There weren’t any around...”
“Anacrusis, son...listen. I know that feeling of wanting to fight for those you love, I really do. But physical assault just doesn’t do anything. You need to confront the Principal if they threaten any of you again, understand me?”
“Yes, Dad...”
“Good. Now I think it goes without saying that you’re grounded for two weeks. If you help out around the house, I might cut a week off.”
Anacrusis groaned.
“Hey, I know your heart was in the right place, but I still don’t approve of fighting.”
“Yes, Sir...and Dad?”
“Yes, son?”
“Is it bad that I haven’t gotten my manly mark yet?”
“Son, there’s no shame in taking time to find out what you’re good at. I already see what you’re most likely going to get.”
“What?”
“That would spoil the surprise.” he said, trotting off towards the door, winking at him. “Just keep reading the dictionary.”
“How did you know?”
“Son, there’s not a single pony at the school that knows the words you do. Half the kids in high school don’t even know them.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready. Just don’t expect dessert. And hey...”
“Yeah?”
“I still love you.”
“Thanks. I love you too.” said Anacrusis, smiling, happy that he hadn’t lost his father’s affection.