Far off from Ponyville but not yet on the verge of the Everfree forest stood a single cottage. This cottage was the home of the forests well known animal caretaker, Fluttershy. She had done this job for years, taking care of silky animals, giving homes to those who didn’t have their own. Even after all these years she still found the enjoyment in her job. Especially when she now had someone to share it with in the shape of her adopted daughter, Annie. Even after she moved out of her home to live with her husband she still took it upon herself to visit.
But there appeared to be something off about her during her visit today. Normally she would be active and happy, joyfully interacting with the animals around Fluttershy’s home. But instead she seemed quiet, withdrawn, and it was beginning to make her mother worry. “Annie, have you fed the birds yet?” asked Fluttershy as she made way towards the birdhouses. But when she did she noticed that Annie hadn’t answered her. “Annie?” when she got closer she finally caught sight of her daughter standing alone.
The bag of bird seeds that was given to her sat full on the ground as Annie seemed to be staring off into space. “Athena?” Fluttershy called this time using her full name as she placed her hand on her daughters shoulder. It was now that she finally reacted, giving off a small gasp the moment Fluttershy’s hand made contact with her shoulder.
“Huh?” said Annie as she turned her head “Oh hey mom, did you need something?” she asked. Even now as Annie was staring in Fluttershy’s direction she appeared to be lost in her own mind.
“Sweetie, is something wrong?” she asked.
“N-no, everything’s fine,” said Annie “Why do you ask?” Annie tried to put up a normal face, even go so far as to smile, but Fluttershy wasn’t buying it.
“Honey I’ve raised you for years, I know when you’re upset about something.” She said “And I also know when you’re trying to hide it from me.” Annie’s fake smile faded quickly after that as she bit her bottom lip. For a moment she looked away, unsure of what to say, this had been bothering her for days now but she hadn’t said a word to anyone.
“It’s…there’s just been something on my mind lately.” She said finally. Moving around her Fluttershy placed her hands on Annie’s back, beginning to push her gently.
“Come inside, let’s have some tea.” She said as she guided her towards the house. Once inside Fluttershy prepared a brew for them, pouring the two of them a cup in the kitchen. The room fell silent after the two had sat down. Fluttershy waiting patiently for Annie to say what was on her mind, and Annie trying to figure if whether or not she should.
“She told me this in confidence, can I really just tell someone else?” she thought to herself. She hasn’t even told her own husband about it. But even so she been plagued with this in her mind for days. It had become all she could think about, maybe, just maybe if she talked to someone else she would find some ease.
“Mom, how would you feel if you knew one of your friends were hurting.” She said finally. Fluttershy blinked at the question, some worry growing inside of her when she heard the word ‘hurting’. Now she wanted to know who this friend was, and what was wrong, but for now she could only answer the question given to her and hope the rest will come later.
“As you know my friends and I are as close as friends can be. If I knew any of them we in trouble or hurting I’d want to do anything I can to help them, and I know they feel the same about me.” She said. Again the room fell silent as Annie took in the answer, and again she fell into deep thought. Fluttershy could still see the uncertainty in her daughters eyes, so she decided to say something to help make her feel a little more comfortable about talking. “Annie, sometimes when our friends don’t ask for help, it’s actually when they need it the most.”
Annie let out a small sigh as she finally looked up from her tea “I’m not sure if I can help her mom, not with this.” She said.
“Who?”
“Amber,” she said “Last week I went to Canterlot to pay her a visit, and she told me something that I didn’t expect. She told me that she was infertile, that no matter what she did she could never have her own child.” Fluttershy covered her mouth as she let out a small empathetic gasp.
“Oh my…”
“I’ve spent almost every day since then thinking about it, I keep hearing the pain in her voice when she told me. I want to help her so badly mom, but I don’t know how. I can’t just cast a spell and fix this…at least, I don’t think I can.” Annie felt a small sting in her eyes as she said all this. Though she had to wipe away some moisture from them she had to admit that it felt good to confide in someone else about this.
“Did you know Applejack had to go through the same thing when she was younger?” Annie was caught off guard by this.
“She was?”
“It was because of all the work she did in the farm, it made it complicated for her to get pregnant. I was the first person she told, I can still remember the look on her face that day. Her life’s work almost took away what she wanted most, and it almost broke her. At first I tried to keep it from the others, Applejack was just too proud to let anyone else know. But I knew that I couldn’t keep quiet about it, because deep down I knew that she needed our help, all of us.” Fluttershy gave a small pause, giving her a moment to take a sip from her tea.
“How did she take it?”
“She…had some words for me.” Fluttershy cringed slightly “But in the end she thanked me, and welcomed the help. We spent months doing what we could to help her, each of us giving her as much support as she needed. She was very close to losing any hope she had, but then one day she woke up with morning sickness. And I’m sure you can guess what happened next.” It was a touching story, one Fluttershy was still proud of.
“But what can I do, I don’t even know what’s causing her infertility.” Said Annie.
“That’s something you have to talk to her about, only then can you really figure out a way to help her.” Said Fluttershy. Again the two went silent as Fluttershy allowed Annie some time to mull over everything she was told. She wanted to help Amber with all her heart, to help give her the child she knew her friend deserved.
“And I will.” She didn’t know how but she knew she’d find a way. Finally she raised her cup from the table and drank from it.
“Thanks mom.”