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// Scene 2: Int., Home, Morning. Age 7. 
// Story: My Sister Fluttershy 
// by brokenimage321 
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	“Come on, April, stop fighting me!” 
Mommy is trying to get me into a stupid pink dress. I don’t want to wear it, and I don’t want to wear the stupid pink hairbow either. I don’t even want to go to the Merriweather Family Reunion. 
“But Mom...” I whine.
“No buts. You know Daddy has been looking forward to this for a long time.”
She pulls the dress over my head. Another few minutes, and she gets my arms through the sleeves and gets the back zipped up. She sits me down and starts brushing my mane. I look in the mirror and put on the ugliest face I can.
Mommy sees me and frowns. “April, you know how important this is to Daddy. He has lots of cousins he never gets to see, and it’s not fair of you to put up such a fight about this.” She brushes my mane for another minute, then she smiles. “You know the story about Grandma Merriweather, right?”
“Yes, Mommy,” I say. Daddy tells us that stupid story every time we go to these stupid reunions. 
Daddy says his great-grandma was named Merriweather. Merriweather was really nice to everyone, especially to all the kids in the neighborhood. Her husband worked for the city, and she made him do things to help everyone out, like put up streetlights and build parks and stuff. Everybody loved her, and, when she got older, everyone started calling her Grandma, even ponies she wasn't related to.
He also says Grandma also had a ton of kids. She had a yellow coat and a pink mane, and, for some reason, a bunch of her kids got it too. We call it "The Merriweather Mane," and we can pick out members of our family from all over. Daddy didn't get it, but all three of us girls did.
Grandma loved everyone in her family, but, as the kids got older and moved out, she couldn't see them all the time. She started having a Merriweather Family Reunion each year, just so she could see everybody. Although Grandma isn't around anymore, they still have reunions every single year. We go a lot, but not every year. Dad doesn't get much time off from the Weather Factory.
Finally, Mommy stops brushing my mane. She puts the brush down and looks at me close. “We-e-ell,” she says slowly, “I think that’s about all I can do for now.” She looks at me funny. “I don’t suppose I can get you to wear that bow in your mane?” I shake my head and smile. I win.
She rolls her eyes. “Alright, April, let’s go.” She lifts me off the chair and sets me on the ground.
I have a thought. “Mommy?” I ask, looking up at her, “Why don’t we ever see your family?”
Mommy looks at me funny. She opens her mouth, but it takes her a minute to say anything.
“I…I don’t have a family, April. I’m an only child, and my mommy and daddy are…” 
She makes a funny noise, shakes her head, and walks out of the room. I trot after her. “Your mommy and daddy are what, Mommy?” I ask. 
Daddy pokes his head out of the kitchen.  “April, stop pestering your mother.”
I pout. “But, Daddy...”
Daddy gives me that look, and I stop. 
Mommy sees Skittle in the living room and nods her head towards our bedroom. “Come on, Skittle, your turn,” she says. Her voice sounds a little funny. Skittle doesn’t notice, though, and skips back to our room.
I walk into the kitchen. Daddy is wrapping up a plate of cookies for us to share. He sees me walk in with the frown on my face, and he sighs. “Cheer up, April,” he says. “It’s just for a few hours.” I frown even harder, and he laughs. 
Daddy finishes wrapping the cookies and puts them in his saddlebags. He looks over at me. “Hey April, can you do me a favor?” he asks. I shrug. 
He reaches out and touches me on my shoulder, and I look up. “April,” he says, “you’re a big girl now, and that means you’re ready for a very special job. There’s going to be a lot of ponies at this reunion, and it’s going to be easy for Skittle or Fluttershy to get lost. Could you do me a favor and keep an eye on your sisters? Make sure they’re safe, and they’re having fun?”  
“But Fluttershy can’t even walk very good, and Skittle likes to stay with Mommy all the time,” I say. “Can’t she keep an eye on them today?”	
“I’m not just talking about today,” he sighs. “Fluttershy and Skittle are going to grow up real soon, and they’re going to need a big sister even more than they do now.” I look at my hooves. “April, can you do that job for me? Keep an eye on them?” he asks. After a minute, I nod, and he pats me on the shoulder. 
Right then, Skittle walks into the kitchen, wearing a dress and a hairbow. I make a face. Mommy doesn’t have to fight Skittle to put on a dress. Skittle actually likes wearing dresses. Weirdo. 
Mommy comes in right behind Skittle, carrying Fluttershy in a little blanket she’s holding in her mouth. “Are we ready to go?” she asks through the blanket. 
Daddy smiles and helps put Fluttershy in Mommy’s baby carrier, then he puts on his saddlebags and opens the front door. Mommy goes out first, then Skittle and me, and Daddy last. He locks the door, then follows us down the walk.
The park we’re going to is all the way on the other side of Cloudsdale, so we have a long way to go. I don’t mind, though. I like looking out over the edge. You can see the whole world from up here! 
I sigh. The ground below is so pretty and green.
“Mommy? Can we visit the ground sometime?” I ask.
Daddy answers. “I don’t think so, April. Mommy doesn’t like the ground.”
I look over the edge again.  But it’s so pretty, though.
We come up over a little rise, and we see the park. It’s full of all kinds of pegasi, most of them yellow and pink. It looks like there’s games and food and everyone’s laughing and having fun.
I suddenly remember that I’m not going to have a good time. I put on my ugly face again. 
As soon as we get in the park, a bunch of other mommies come up and surround Mommy. They all start talking about how cute Fluttershy is and making baby noises. I try to hide behind Mommy, but Daddy notices me. “April, why don’t you go play with the other fillies?” he asks.
I look around and see a group of fillies playing with a beach ball. They’re trying to not let it fall. And none of them are wearing dresses. I crinkle my nose at them. 
Right then, an old mare comes up to me and grabs my face in both hooves. “Oh, Angel, is this your oldest?” she says in a baby voice as she squeezes me. She smells like cats. I wiggle out of her grasp and go looking for something not-fun to do. 
After wandering through the crowd for a while, I see a bunch of ponies gathered around some tables. The tables are covered in food, and have long white cloths on them. Daddy’s standing next to our plate of cookies, talking to another pegasus and laughing. I worm my way through the crowd and manage to grab a cookie. I start eating it slowly while looking around the park. There are ponies everywhere—where am I supposed to go if I don’t want to have fun? 
Suddenly, I have an idea. I lift up the tablecloth and sneak underneath. It’s dark under here, but I can be alone and not-have-fun all by myself and not be bothered by any cat-ladies. I start munching on my cookie again. 
Right before I finish, someone else lifts up the tablecloth. I look up, and see two big colts sneak under the table. They’re holding a big pile of treats, and are laughing under their breaths. They don’t see me. I’m okay with that.
They start eating their treats, chewing with their mouths open and making fun of the other ponies. I try not to listen. After a while though, I hear one of them say, "Hey, did you see that pony with the dopey baby?"
"What did they call her? Flappershy?"
I stand up. What did they say?
"What kinda name is that? Flappershy? Who names a foal that?"
"Yeah, and she's ugly, too—even for a baby!"
They start laughing. I can't take it anymore.
"Hey!" I yell at them. They both turn and look. One has a dumb look on his face and has crumbs falling out of his mouth. The other looks mad.
I suddenly remember something else Daddy says about Grandma Merriweather. He says Grandma was nice most of the time, but if you tried to hurt someone she cared about, she’d get mad—real mad—and she’d make you sorry. Daddy said that sometimes the Merriweather mares get real angry, too, just like Grandma. He said that wasn't nice, and, whenever I feel like that, I should put on a big smile and try to solve my problems with nice words.
I smile real big. "Fluttershy is my sister. Could you please not say those things about her?"
The bigger one gulps down his cupcake. "Flappershy is your sister? You should ask for a new one!" The little one laughs.
I smile even bigger. "That's not nice to say. Can you please stop?"
The bigger one is laughing now, too. The little one pipes up. "Flappershy? What kinda name is that? Oh, I know! Maybe it's Fartershy!" The big one laughs even harder.
I smile as big as I can. “That’s mean. Please don’t say that.”
Now they’re laughing so hard they’re crying. The big one says, "Hey, how about this—when she tries to fly, she'll fall straight to the ground! Then she'll be Splattershy!"
Daddy has to come pull me off them. I’m still swinging my hooves and yelling bad words as he drags me away. The little one has cupcake smashed all over this face and the big one is crying for his mommy. 
Daddy goes and finds Mommy and Skittle, and we go straight home. Daddy takes me into the bathroom and starts cleaning me up. He’s making an angry face. When we’re done, he takes off the dress and looks at it. He makes a noise.
“April, look at this dress! You ruined it!” He sighs and looks at me. “Go to your room and think about what you’ve done. Mommy or I will be there in a minute.”
I go to my room and lay on my bed. Normally, I’d be scared right now, but for some reason, I feel happy. It takes me a minute to figure out why.
Daddy told me today that it was my job to take care of Skittle and Fluttershy. I’m their big sister, and I need to make sure they’re happy and safe. 
I’m happy because I did my job, and I did it right. I stood up for my little sister when she couldn’t do it herself.
Suddenly, I smile. I stood up for my sister, I beat up two colts twice my size, I got to leave the reunion early, and I won’t have to wear that stupid dress ever again?
I win.