In a Name

by Detectivefish

Prologue: How He Got There

(Some years ago)
Rain would've been good. Rain would've been nice. Rain would've been appropriate. Maybe some wind and thunder on the side as well. That was how this sort of thing was supposed to go, wasn't it? 'It was a dark and stormy night'. But no, instead of violent gusts of wind, it was actually incredibly calm and pleasant, if just slightly warmer than it could've been. Above, some clouds floated freely through the dark purple sky, minding their own business.

None of this was improving what was already an incredibly foul mood, as she carefully made her way through the dark forest. For the hundredth time she wondered if perhaps it wouldn't have been quicker to just go through the town. No, it would have been quicker, and easier to make her way, but if somepony saw her and what she was carrying, or worse, if it woke up, her plans... well, it wasn't actually a plan yet. Plans had a bit more substance to them. This was more of a seed, the beginning of a plan, with all the potential to go disastrously wrong. Anyway, whatever it was she was up to, if she did get discovered so late in the day, everything she'd been up to would have been sunk.

Actually, now that'd she given it some thought, wind and rain wouldn't have been helpful at the moment, but she couldn't help but find something about the banal pleasantry she was mired in was ticking her off. Not that she was the picture of cheerful sunniness on her best days.

Any further internal monologues were cut off by a sudden cracking noise. Reflexively, she crouched low, trying to remain as hidden as possible. Then she heard the sudden mumbling from the bundle tied to her stomach. She gritted her teeth, and looked up, hoping she could see whatever had made that noise so she could spread her bad mood around a bit. Her eyes met with a small red and white creature of distinctly canine build, a fox if she had to guess, staring straight at her with mild curiosity. A fox. She'd panicked over a fox. And what was worse, her passenger had woken up ahead of schedule. The fox just slunk away, and she could only stare in outrage at it, before swearing violently under her breath. It had just been one thing after another these last few months. Although technically she had only herself to blame for her current course of action, ignoring her own better judgement in favour of petty gratification. And yes, at the time it had very rewarding, it did mean she was now traipsing through a forest in the middle of the night, miles from friendly territory, carrying a new-born, her new-born no less. And just because she hadn't been stupid enough to do this, she hadn't bothered informing her subjects about any of this. She had been meaning to think up a plausible lie for when she returned, but so far she hadn't even thought up anything, and all she could think about was the damned weather (or the lack thereof).

Still, she told herself, it wasn't that far to her destination now.

Slowly, she steeled herself and stood up again, ignoring the small noises from the little bundle. Her pace quickened now. After an interminable amount of time, of mud, and sticks, and bushes, and well-disguised stones, she reached a small clearing, indeed, an incredibly convenient one. It was just perfect. A wide open space, with some suddenly moonlight to make things even easier. She looked at a small gap in the bushes on one side of the clearing, and saw the faint outlines of a dirt path, which soon vanished into the darkness, though she could have sworn she could see some distant lights. That meant a house. That was good. She was in the right area, then, which meant it was time.

After a few deep breaths, she focused her magic. Her horn glowed bright green, lighting up the whole clearing, and then the small bundle came loose, wrapped in her aura. She set it down as gently as possible, which unfortunately meant looking at it. Or, more accurately, him. As she did, she felt a small pang of something in her stomach, although that could just have been hunger, she hadn't eaten a proper meal in hours.

And of course it just had to have his eyes, so bright and blue and beautiful, just to make this slightly more difficult for her.
It took her a few seconds to realise she was nuzzling the tiny little face with a hoof. It definitely wasn't hunger, she realised. This felt more like... Hesitation? Regret? She wasn't liking the taste. She kept staring at those eyes, which were now staring back at her.

Perhaps it wasn't too late, she thought. Perhaps... perhaps...
No.

She wrenched her hoof away, eliciting a small coo from the tiny form in front of her. This idea could work. It would work. All it needed was time.
Slowly, she took several steps away, and then, when she realised she was still staring, turned away from him. Her horn glowed bright green, and she vanished from sight.

*****

A short distance away, on the absolute edge of the forest, which the locals knew (and feared) as the Everfree, there sat a cottage. And while this cottage looked small and unimportant, it was home to one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria, along with a not-inconsiderable amount of animals.

Inside, the cottage's owner, a bright yellow pegasus, was sleeping gently, enjoying a pleasant dream that revolved entirely around sitting at a table and having a meal without anypony talking to her, or crashing into the table, or jumping over the table, or performing random acts of magic on the table that caused it to come alive and instantly develop a thirst for pony-blood. It was entirely possible that in this dream there was an incredibly enjoyable cup of hot chocolate involved as well. And then, just as she was really beginning to relax, she was woken.

Years of experience meant that Fluttershy could in fact go from being fully asleep to being fully awake in an instant, though it did take the rest of her a minute to catch up. She saw the angry face of a white rabbit glowering right in front of her. She knew what that expression meant, sure enough. It meant that somewhere, there was a Problem, and since she was the pony of the house it was now her problem. She opened her mouth, and was about to ask what it was, when she realised she was hearing something beyond the angry thumping of Angel's foot against her bed, which certainly explained why the rabbit was currently wearing a set of ear-muffs.
"Where's that coming from?" she asked, to which the small rabbit jerked a paw in the direction of the window.

Fluttershy frowned, and slipped out of her bed, pausing briefly to remove the bed-robe she was wearing. Her wings unfurled slightly as she set out of the room, while Angel calmly made his way back toward his bed, feeling mildly satisfied that the problem was about to be solved.

Fluttershy gently closed her front door behind her, and then listened, hoping to get an idea of where the noise was coming from. It was then she realised in horror what the noise was. It was a foal crying. And from the sound of it, it was coming from inside the Everfree Forest.

Instantly, she rushed into the forest, all her normal rules about saying completely clear of the forest forgotten.
Fluttershy, it had to be said, was not an unkind pony. This was a given, considering she had been the bearer of the Element of Kindness, and the first pony to ever be friends with Discord. However, even kindness wasn't going to help anypony if she found out this foal had been left in the Everfree Forest on purpose.

She found the noise coming from a small bundle sitting in the middle of a very familiar clearing not too far inside the forest. Suddenly all suspicion about why it was there, or thoughts of retribution evaporated as she moved cautiously toward the bundle.
"It's okay" she said soothingly, as she approached, "Don't worry little one, there's no need to cry. Nop-"

The reason she stopped was because she was now right next to the bundle, and could see the tiny face which was now staring at her, two amazingly bright blue eyes staring at her curiously. That wasn't the problem. The problem happened to be the charcoal grey skin, and the tiny, twisted stub of horn jutting out from the foal's forehead. It was a changeling.

Taken by surprise, she let out a brief squeak of terror, and leapt backward. Then, nothing happened. She relaxed slightly. Nothing continued to happen. Nothing leapt out of the bushes to eat her, or cocoon her, or drag her off to some subterranean cave and cocoon her and then eat her, so she approached closer to the bundle, even as part of her screamed at her to run. It was a changeling after all.
But, as she liked to tell herself, she was not the mare that had been, that Fluttershy would have already high-tailed it and just hid under her bed for a few hours by now, and that wasn't her. There was a small tearing sound, and she saw that the changeling had somehow gotten an incredibly tiny hoof (or at least she hoped that was a hoof) free. She felt conflicted. It was a changeling, yes, and this could have been part of some incredibly elaborate trap. Or, on the other hoof, perhaps it was just a foal, and the worst it could do was cry, which was not a long-term survival strategy in the Everfree Forest at any time of day, much less in the middle of the night.

That was that, she decided. Being terrified could wait for later. Slowly, she took care to lift the bundle, at which point the reason, or at least one reason, that the foal had been crying was now abundantly clear. The stench was truly overpowering, even to somepony who had spent years cleaning up after animals.

Once the foal was safely lifted up, she turned and carried it as fast as she could out of the Everfree, back to her cottage. She quickly set down the foal, and then turned and locked the door, just in case something decided to follow her from the forest. She turned around to see Angel sitting on the sofa near the changeling, his gaze shifting from the foal to Fluttershy and back, and not changing at all from the look of disapproval.
"It's okay" Fluttershy said to the foal, "You'll be safe now. I'll look after you."

She found herself unable to say much else, especially since now the smell from the infant was taking advantage of the opportunity to spread.
"Now then" she said sheepishly, "Let's see about getting you cleaned up."

She began quickly looking about for anything that would help her in her endeavour, though it quickly occurred to her that she had no idea how to look after a changeling, even for one night, and she wasn't entirely certain if she could look after it for more than that. She shook her head, and made a note to send Angel to fetch her friends. She looked at the nearest clock, and decided to contact them in the morning, since she doubted her friends would really want to be woken up for a changeling foal at the late hour of half past midnight.
A few minutes later, as she was removing the bundle from the changeling, a thought occurred to her.

"You probably need a name" she mused, "But what?"
The changeling, now free from the bundle, was taking advantage of his (at least she assumed it was a he) newfound freedom to poke Angel with his hoof, though it quickly retreated when the rabbit glared at him, and had now moved on to chasing what he would later discover was his tail. Fluttershy had also noted that unlike most changelings, this one seemed to have an actual mane, in an unusual golden-brown color.

She rubbed a hoof against her chin as she wracked her brains for a good name for a changeling foal.
"How about... 'Whisper Wind'?" she suggested. Both the foal and Angel stared blankly at her, then, in an unusual move, toward each other, before Angel just shook his head with what looked like a disappointed air. The changeling just began sniffing at the cushion behind him.

"You know what, never mind" Fluttershy sighed, "A name isn't that important right now. And I can come up with something better in the morning."
Then she broke out in a yawn, "But right now, I think it's time everypony went to bed."

As it turned out, she wouldn't come up with a better name.

Author's Note:

Sorry, but this story really is not about Fluttershy raising a Changeling. I'm not nearly good enough a writer to do that.
Not actually much of a sequel, either. More of a spin-off, but there's not 'spin-off' label. Curses. Although...
Also: FINALLY! It's been long months, but I finally feel confidant enough to write this thing. Huzzah!

Comments

[Siras-chi]

I was just thinking of your story earlier this morning and now this. love it when that happens.

[Siras-chi]

Now after reading it, I can't wait to see where this goes.

[Undecided]

Nice chapter. Significantly better mechanics.
I look forward to the rest. Keep up the good work.

[bobbananaville]

Someone needs to write a story about Fluttershy raising a changeling.
That intro was... Wow.