"Ow"
Skybreeze let out a little yelp while she was giving Derpy her morning feeding. The little foal was a few months old now and the tips of her first baby teeth were coming in. Now Derpy rubbed her mommy's nipple raw as she sucked milk. Skybreeze now knew she would have to get her filly accustomed to drinking formula from a bottle; however hard the switch might be. Skybreeze just dealt with the pain for this feeding and hoped it would be one of the last.
*hiccup* *hic* *hiccup* "WUAAAAHHHH!!!" *hiccup* "WUAAAAHHHH!!!"
Derpy still got a case of the hiccups after feeding sometimes, and she cried because she still could not control them. Skybreeze quickly reacted and threw Derpy over her shoulder. After she patted her filly's back a few times a high pitched burp escaped the little pegasus's mouth. When she brought Derpy back in to her view the foal had a smile on her face and flapped her wings in joy.
"BAAAAAA!"
The filly could now blurt out one syllable babbles, and even match the tone of her voice to her current mood. She still didn't understand what most words meant, but she seemed to recognize her name. Skybreeze chuckled at her daughter's attempt at speech, and then remembered that they still hadn't bought any bottles or formula yet. She strapped on the foal carrier and settled in Derpy to make a trip to the store. When the pair arrived Skybreeze picked out a shopping cart and set Derpy in the child's seat. Derpy fidgeted a bit and started to whine because her mommy wasn't carrying her. Skybreeze stroked her mane and reassured her.
"Ssshh. Ssshh. I'm going to be right here the whole time Derpy. This won't take too long."
The mother made her way over to the aisle containing items for foals, and grabbed a brand new set of bottles as well as some cases of baby formula. While she shopped for a few other odds and ends she noticed Derpy was chewing on the handle bar of the shopping cart. Knowing how unsanitary that was Skybreeze immediately scolded her for doing so. Derpy reeled back as she made some noises that signaled being in pain, and she held her hooves to her cheeks.
"Oh that's right you're teething now. I'm sorry Derpy let me get you something to help."
Skybreeze went right back to the foal aisle and fetched a purple teething ring. She offered it to Derpy who was puzzled not knowing what to do with it. Next her mommy gently pushed it to her mouth and the filly learned it was okay to bite it. Derpy contently chewed it as the rubber ring soothed the pain in her gums. Skybreeze finished obtaining the last few items on her list and paid for everything when she was done. Skybreeze struggled on the flight back home as she had to carry her filly and the shopping bags. After arriving home she unloaded all of the bags onto the dining table and set Derpy down by her few toys in the living room. Which now included a set of foam blocks to help Derpy learn letters and numbers, a sparkly ball she loved to bounce against the wall, and a puzzle board with cut out holes for learning her shapes. Her mommy went over to the couch to take a nap. Derpy took her rattle and bubble train, and rolled it along as she crawled over to Skybreeze. She shook her rattle a couple times to try and get mommy to play, but her mommy just let out a heavy sigh. Being ignored brought a worried look on her face, and the attention seeking filly banged her rattle on the cloud floor which made a louder sound.
"Not now Derpy. Mommy needs a nap."
Skybreeze rolled over on the couch to face away from Derpy. This just made Derpy angry and she crawled up to the couch. Barely able to reach but the filly banged her rattle on her mommy's back to try and get her to play. Fed up with this Skybreeze lumbered off of the couch and picked Derpy up. At first her filly was excited thinking they were going to play. She continued to shake her rattle in excitement which only annoyed the tired mare slightly more. Skybreeze walked into her bedroom and sat Derpy down in her crib next to the bed. Skybreeze had managed to get Derpy used to being separated a bit, but she still had to be in same room with the foal or crying would ensue. Derpy's excitement turned into sadness when her mommy let go.
"I'll be right back Derpy. Don't worry."
The distraught foal began to whimper, but before those whimpers turned into a full on cry her mommy was back. She exchanged Derpy's rattle and bubble train for her plush monkey, and gave her a honey dipped pacifier. Derpy snuggled her monkey as she would now sleep on it like it was a monkey mattress, and looked back to up to Skybreeze with heavy eyelids.
"That's right Derpy you could use a nap too. We don't want a cranky filly when daddy comes home do we?"
Derpy drifted off to sleep sucking on the sweet honey. Skybreeze had to fall asleep in her bed nearby though. Somehow even asleep if she or Bolter left the room Derpy could sense it. At first she would only whine in her sleep, but eventually she would wake up and start crying loudly once she realized her mommy and daddy were gone. Later that same night Skybreeze was on the floor with Derpy sitting between her legs, and she was helping Derpy put the pieces in the puzzle board. She would point to an empty hole, say what shape it was, grab the correct piece, say what shape it was, and place it in the hole. Derpy was still too young to really grasp this concept yet, and would try to imitate her mommy but she would only grab a random piece and try to force it into the wrong hole.
After a while of playing the familiar rumbling sound of a hungry filly Derpy reached Skybreeze's ears. Now it was bottle time whether Derpy liked it or not. She brought Derpy into the kitchen and sat her down beside her. She filled a bottle with formula and began to heat it in the microwave. While waiting for the timer to finish Skybreeze felt a sharp pain on one of her nipples. Motivated by hunger Derpy had crawled underneath her mommy and was suckling milk. Skybreeze scooped her up and set Derpy in her high chair. Derpy started crying as she had never been refused a feeding before and her tummy was really hungry. After she heard the ding from the microwave and checked the temperature of the formula. Skybreeze lowered the bottle to Derpy's mouth.
"Here Derpy. You'll be feeding from bottles now."
Derpy stopped her wailing and stared at the bottle. Unsure of it she stuck her tongue out, but when she tasted the rubber nipple she spat it out. Derpy pushed the bottle away with a look of defiance on her face.
"Ah Ah!"
"Come on Derpy I know you're hungry. It will taste just as good if you try it I promise."
Skybreeze brought the bottle back to her mouth but Derpy pushed it away again, and turned her head away every time Skybreeze made another attempt. Skybreeze had one last trick up her sleeve. She dipped the bottle's nipple in honey and cradled Derpy in her other foreleg. Unable to move her head away this time Derpy was forced to taste the rubber nipple as Skybreeze brought it to her mouth, but once she tasted the familiar sweetness of the honey she began to suckle. As soon as the formula hit her tongue Derpy knew this was like a feeding, and began gulping down the formula. She looked up at her mommy with happy eyes and Skybreeze returned the gesture.
"See Derpy I told you it would taste just as good? Now be a good little filly and finish it all."