Adopting Fluttershy

by Flutterpriest

Days 16 - 17 Morning

Day 16 – Sunday Morning

I've woken up early and began to thumb through the previous entries of you, Journal. It was getting a little mixed up in my head, so I'm gunna add days of the week onto you too. I look over to the curled little filly laying on my bed and I grow even more concerned that maybe I was too hard on her. I had her spend most of yesterday in time out after I woke up. Although, I don't think she was planning on leaving her room anyway...

My night's rest was the most sound that I've had in months. Was it because my little girl was sleeping beside me? I'm not sure, but I know it probably helped. I know that no amount of worrying and concern can make me a better father, but she went missing! I just don't know what to do.

…

I suppose you'd be interested to hear how the date went. I admit, that I think I probably ruined it. It started out well enough.

I watched the clock like a hawk, knowing the time for Cherilee's appointment was coming soon. Appointment. Dinner. Walk. This couldn't go wrong.

I even talked it over with a few of the mare coworkers and they thought it was a solid plan. I didn't let them know it was a client, of course. I knew at Shy should have been checked at least four times by our neighbor and that if the walk was timed right, she should be there in about five minutes. That thought stuck out vividly, because, that was when she walked through the door. The minute she trotted in, a look of excitement bringing out the finer points of her smile, my face lit up and I knew that everything was going to be fine.

She laid on the table and she immediately wondered why Shy hadn't been at school. I told her that she had been sick lately. She was worried about what she had, so I did my best to describe how she was so tired that she can barely get out of bed. I was honestly surprised that the first thing she talked about before getting into how each other's day was or small talk or even learning more about each other, is about Shy.

It's like this mare just knew me like a book. And... I liked that... in a way.

But as the massage went on, we moved onto more generic topics like the weather and what she liked to do in her spare time. What little spare time she had as a teacher, anyway. She said she loved reading books. When I asked what kind of books, she mentioned biographies and autobiographies were her favorite because they let the reader gain all sorts of insight into that pony's life. I never really saw it that way before.

I always thought biographies were boring and lacked the same sense of excitement than a fictional novel. No offense, Journal.

Anyway, I talked about some of the books I was reading and then she casually asked what the plan was for tonight. My boss's words to my coworker rang in my ears and I just froze. I moved to the door and locked it as she raised her head. As quietly as I could, I told her how I could get fired if anyone found out about me getting involved with a customer.

She eyed me curiously and asked the simple question. "Why was I putting my job on the line for her."

The problem was that logically I didn't have an answer. It was insane. It was crazy. Why was I doing this? However, a burning in the pit of my chest answered that for me, even if I couldn't find the right words
.

But, the way I looked into her eyes and she smiled, I knew she understood. I opened the door again and returned to the massage. We are only supposed to close the door if... well... If I need to earn a good tip.

Now that I have a daughter, I dunno if I should be doing that anymore... I suppose that's a different entry though.

After I finished, she rose from the table and stretched with cute little groans. She did seem to stick her flank out a bit more than... well, other clients. I'm almost positive she wanted me to notice. On the other hand, I wasn't exactly not looking.

I shouldn't have wrote that out where Fluttershy can see that. It's bad enough she found my journal once. I'm going to do my best to keep those. uhm. Details to myself. When I can.

Sorry Journal, I know you would love the juicy bits.

Anyway. She stretched and I began to clean up. Casually, I asked if I would see her next week as well. All she did was smile and nod. Bidding her goodbye, she made her way to the front to pay and... And then I realized we had no plan for how to meet up.

After I cleaned up, I walked out and saw the receptionist and a coworker talking. They seemed to hush up pretty fast once I approached them, but I tried not to put much thought into it. I said goodbye, and they suddenly asked if I had plans tonight. I told them that I was busy with that date, but tried to keep the details low. It seemed like they wanted to invite me to get a few drinks.

How is it that once you get one mare's affection, more seem to follow? Humans were like that on Earth, too. That's besides the point.

It seems like the bosses had gone home for the day, so I strode outside with confidence. I saw my date sitting on a park bench, reading the newspaper. With a smile, I walked over to her and was trying to think of something witty to say. Something, anything. But I became transfixed on her hair, and my mind went blank.

So, I went with, "Excuse me, would you mind if I treated you to delicious meal?" She looked up from the paper and smiled. "Why, I'd be honored," she replied in a playful tone. Naiiiled it! High five, Journal.

…

I'm sorry I just slapped your pages. Uh. Let's just pretend that didn't happen. Also, that may have just been what I -wanted- to have had happen.

…

Shy's waking up. I think I'm going to go see if she wants to go swimming today. I can't be mad at her for forever. It's not like she ran away... she had just been staying up late to go play with the animals. I didn't have any explicit rules for that... until now anyway. I'll add more details later in the day.

See ya, Journal.

---

Day 16 – Sunday Evening

After a nice breakfast of eggs, it seemed pretty clear that Shy was just scared of getting me mad again. She just sat at the table with her head down, silent. It crushed my heart to watch her... so I tried to talk with her like nothing ever happened. However, all I got were short little replies.

When I asked if she wanted to go to the lake, she looked up at me with that little familiar smile I love so much.

"Can we see the fishies?" she asked quietly.

How in the world could I say no to that? So I put a pair of shorts on and we headed to the lake with a few floaty tubes and pairs of goggles. We got around halfway there when something dawned on me. I had no idea of this filly knew how to swim. It was entirely possible that it was some sort of ability they were born with... but I wanted to air on the side of caution. So I simply asked her if she knew how to swim.

She shook her head as she walked along with me with her little yellow legs. "Well then, I'll just have to teach you then!" I said to her.

Man, Journal. That was MUCH easier said than done. I got to about chest depth in the pond and told her to come on in. Once she got up to her neck in the water, which wasn't too far, she just stopped and shook her head.

Right. Baby steps.

I came up closer and got to about waist height so I was much nearer. I assured her that if she came out deeper, then it would be easier to see the fishies. Holding out my arms, I told her that I was there to pick her up if anything happened. Everything would be okay.

She looked around and asked what she had to do to stay floating like I did. I thought to myself and tried my best to describe how a doggie paddle worked. There was no way I could ask a pony to tread water. She nodded, but still stayed in place, to scared to make the initial leap all by herself.

I headed up to where she was and lifted her by the underbelly. "Alright, let's go slowly, I'm going to slowly take you deeper, okay?" I said.

She began to lightly shake. "Promise you won't let go?" she asked, trembling.

"I promise," I said in the warmest tone I had.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as I began to slowly take her deeper, while keeping her head above water.

"Alright, now begin to lightly kick your legs. Just like I told you," I said. Shy began to do the paddling motion in the water and I simply gave her words of encouragement until we were about at my mid-rift. "You're doing it, Shy. Open your eyes. Look how far we are!" I said to her.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked back to shore.

"Did I swim that far all by myself?" she asked.

"Almost!" I said. "All that's left is to do it all by yourself."

Fluttershy looked up at me and back at the shore, and then back to me again. Conflict filled her contorted little face as she wanted to swim on her own, but was too scared to do it just yet.

"You don't have to right away. Take your time," I said to her. Fluttershy just smiled and nodded.

"Okay, Daddy," she said with a smile.

After that, some fish swam up to us and she -talked- to them. I still can't get over that. She talked about it just as if she thought I could hear them too. Sometimes, I wish I could.

Anyway. That was the highlight of my day. Onto more of the date. I'll see what I can add without falling asleep on your pages.

Right. So, I approached her outside the shop. I remember wondering if it would take too much time for us to swing back to the house and check on her...

However, when Cherilee walked out, my entire train of thought went somewhere else. It seemed like, she was wearing some sort of makeup, but not in a bad way. Nothing that was out of place... but you noticed her face seemed more radiant. Her eyes had a natural draw to them and she has a smile that could inspire world peace. For just a moment, my mind just went numb.

I remember thinking "Where had this pony been for this long? I'm going on a date with -her?-"

She walked right up to me and my words were just sitting at the edge of my tongue, but as they tried to jump off the diving board, they tried to do a backflip. a backflip that failed and crashed the board into my head.

All I could say was "You look pretty."

And instantly I felt like I set the tone for the whole night. Mr. Awkward. Cherilee just giggled and I smiled, trying roll with the punches the best I could. I had plans for us to go to this quaint little place that my coworkers told me about. It wasn't really the fanciest place in town, but it definitely had a sense of style.

"Well, uh. Should we head to our reservation?" I said.

"Sure," she replied. "Where are we headed to?"

There are two things that are my absolute vices. Garlic and Onions. And the Olive Branch had both in just about everything. Noodle dishes that were marinated in tomato and cream sauces from fresh ingredients from Ponyville itself, which came to a shock to most visitors.

Most people take the little town for an apple sort of place.

On the way there we just shot the breeze. She asked how long I've worked at the massage parlor and I replied honestly. I lost track. I had been in Equestria for a long time, but I never really tracked for how long. I wasn't even sure if I had had a birthday, since they don't operate on quite the same calendar system. At least they have seven days in a week. Weirdly, they are still named like our days... but I suppose I just need to learn to not question certain things.

…

Terrible tangent, sorry Journal. This place is weird.

Anyway, we arrived at the restaurant and I was doing my best to keep the conversation flowing and natural. I think it worked really well, especially once we began talking about her. Cherilee was more than happy to share about her childhood, what it was like for her to grow up and why she became a teacher. It was really nice to listen to the way she spoke.

She had a way of saying things in a calm, collected, and even motherly manner. I can see why people love her as the teacher for their children.

The waitress mare took our orders and I ordered something with the least amount of things in it to make my breath smell. Cherilee remarked on what a healthy choice I was making. I tried to repress the 'Oh? It was a healthy choice. Wasn't it?' and replied, "Well, you gotta do your best to eat right. Look good. Ya know?"

Cherilee smiled and nodded before dropping the bomb on me. "So, what was it like? Back where you came from, that is."

I immediately sipped my water, unsure on how to respond to her question. I hadn't been questioned like that since I first arrived. Sure, this was much more casual... and I wasn't being interrogated as some new crazy threat to the world around them... but I was still unsure of how to respond. She immediately redoubled and said if it was too hard, I didn't have to go into detail on it.

I immediately tried to correct the situation and assure her it was fine. I just wasn't sure what details to leave in and what to leave out. So, I told her about Earth, the people that lived on it, what it was like living in my country "The United States" and how much more fast paced life was there than in Ponyville. She seemed to be hanging off of my every word as I described to her what my life was like back in my home.

It was nice to have someone listen. I mean, really listen and not threatening you with a magical beam when you tell it. Or having to tell the story to a Princess ruler.

Anyway, then she asked me what I did back on Earth. I just laughed and shook my head. I tried to explain to her what a computer was. That was near hopeless to explain.

What I settled on was that I did a lot of complex math using a lot of complex machines that don't exist here. So, when I arrived here, I was essentially out of a career and had to restart from scratch. Then it was the string of the unknowns.

How did I arrive here? Am I able to go back? Just a few questions that I could only answer 'I don't know'. The more I thought of home, the more I missed it. However, there wasn't a known way for me to go back. So I was... stuck.

Then, of course, she asked why I adopted a daughter. That was probably the hardest one to answer. For simplicity's sake, I said I always wanted to be a father. Which was true. But then, the retort was, why a daughter? I'd like to say that it would be due to me being terrible at sports and that I would be a terrible dad for typical 'boy' things. But the thing is, I suppose in my mind, I thought a girl would be easier.

The more I read these parenting books... the more and more I've found out I was dead wrong. But that's a different discussion.

Speaking of different discussions, it's getting super late and I'm exhausted after today. I'll tell you more tomorrow morning, Journal. Night.

---

Day 17 – Monday Morning

I had the worst night's sleep, Journal. I saw I accidentally left my bedroom window open and I woke up to a freezing cold room. At least I had a good dream though. There is nothing like a good snuggle dream to give you a great start to the day. Is it bad that I'm dreaming about Cherilee? I hope not. I'm still not sure how to even confront her.

Shy is going back to school today and I'm a little nervous of what the fallout might be from the date. I've got some time, since I woke up early today, so I'll go into a bit more detail regarding what happened next. This is when things got a little more intense. After she asked me all of those questions about Shy, I got worried about her. Suddenly, I was concerned on how she was feeling and if she was doing any better. I immediately thought that going out that night might have been a mistake.

I tried to act like everything was okay, but I'm sure I wasn't very convincing. There was an intense debate in my mind on whether I should ask if I could go back and check on her. I was worried that if I did, I would ruin the date. But, suddenly, that didn't matter as much to me anymore. My duties as a father came first in my mind.

To my surprise, she didn't seem very upset by it, maybe a bit disappointed... but she seemed okay. I promised that we could still go on our walk afterward, but I just had to do it or I would be spacey all night. Once again, she seemed completely fine.

She admitted she admired that I cared so much for my daughter and it set my mind at ease. It was just supposed to be quick. Check in on Shy, and then back on the walk. However... when we got there, she was just... gone.

There weren't any signs of breaking or entering, but her bedroom window was open. I immediately panicked. My mind immediately became wholly focused on Fluttershy and where she was that I basically forgot about Cherilee. Now I just feel guilty.

I remember when I got home, I just ran through every room in the house, screaming Shy's name in a panic. Cherilee just watched on as I went through a near mental breakdown. Then I sprinted to the neighbor's house and screamed at her for letting this happen. Cherilee might have tried to stop me, but I really don't remember. My mind was red hot and numb.

I told her I was going to go to the police and she should wait at the house. So I sprinted into town without stopping for breath and told them everything. They said they would rally forces and be on the search in a few hours. I remember screaming at them that a few hours was too long. They assured me they had everything under control and told me to go home. So I did.

When I entered the house, I called out to hear if Cherilee was still there and she was. She was waiting in my bedroom. So I headed down the hall, not even thinking twice for why she would be in there. When I got in, she was sitting on the bedside, looking at me.

"Hey," she said in a voice of concern.

"Hey," I answered back solemnly.

I crossed the room and sat on the bedside beside her and held my head in my hands as she wrapped her hooves around me. I wasn't sure what to say as she rubbed my back.

"What did the police say?" she asked.

"They are going to start a search party," I replied.

"They'll find her," she said confidently.

I closed my eyes and just sat there as she held me. I couldn't think of anything else. She lifted my face with a hoof and looked into my eyes.

"They'll find her," she repeated with a smile. For some reason, that was what triggered it. Where was the one place Shy really, really wanted to explore? The Everfree forest.

Cherilee leaned in closer to me and I immediately jumped away, pacing the room.

"She's in the Everfree. I know it," I exclaimed.

"What?" she asked in shock.

"I've got to go find her," I said to her.

"Anon, it's dark and dangerous in those woods. You can't-"

"I don't care," I screamed at her. "And if you are going to be in my way, you might as well leave."

So... then she left. And I began my plan for attack. Then... you know the rest.

Journal, I was so stupid. If I could go back and take away those words. I would. Now here I am just wondering how to even talk to her again. She has another appointment on Friday. I'm going to have to try and make amends before then.

I can't even believe myself.

…

I suppose what's done is done. I better make Shy something for breakfast before school. Today won't be an easy day at work. I better just try to focus.

Wish me luck, Journal.

Comments

[______1]

rs1img.memecdn.com/shut-up-and-take-my-feel_o_341324.jpg
I feel like I'm gonna cry and I don't understand why.

[Grahf]

I thought a girl would be earlier.

easier

[Flutterpriest]

5549628

Thanks for catching my mistake. fixed

[howard035]

This goes from romantic sweet to family sweet in a very smooth way, painting an interesting picture of Anon all the while.

[Evil Paladin]

Heheheh
"A girl would be easier to raise"
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!