2022)

July 1, 2020 AD

Fluttershy’s Cottage

Fluttershy brought Jack straight home when they returned to Ponyville. Several hours later, when he regained his senses, Fluttershy began her interrogation.

Fluttershy held up the Glock 17. “What is this thing?” she asked.

"A gun," Jack answered.

“What does it do?” Fluttershy asked with a brow raised high in suspicion.

“It’s a weapon that…”

“A WEAPON!” Fluttershy exclaimed hysterically.

“Uh, yeah. What’s the big deal?” Jack asked. “You never complained about the knife.”

"Clearly, I should have!" Fluttershy said. "From now on, both the knife and the gun will stay in my room at all times."

“That’s bullshit!”

"Watch your language, young colt!" Fluttershy snapped. “And what were you thinking following us to the mountain? You should know better.”

"The fuck!" Jack exclaimed, his bulging indignantly. "Ah should be asking what you were thinkin' lockin' me in mah room!” he yelled in a thick accent.

“Keeping you safe!" Fluttershy retorted. "Now go to your room. You're grounded for a week."

Jack had put up with Fluttershy for too long already. It was time to put his foot down. “No!”

"Please don't make me say it again," Fluttershy responded, narrowing her eyes. "If you don't go now, it will be two wee…"

“YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!!!!!” Jack roared.

There was a moment of silence. A single instance that felt like a lifetime before being broken by a sob. A waterfall of tears gushed from Fluttershy's eyes as she ran out the door into the dark of night.

“Seriously? What the fuck!” thought Jack. He sighed. “I better go after her.”

Stepping into the darkness, he found the crickets chirping, the treefrogs croaking, and the stars illuminating the landscape like a Van Gogh painting, but no Fluttershy. “Where would I even start looking?” he wondered. “Fluttershy! Where’d you go?”

He searched around the yard, unable to find even a clue of her whereabouts. “Maybe the others might have some idea where she could have gone," Jack thought. “Rainbow Dash’s house is the closest.”

Rainbow Dash’s Cloud House

3 minutes later

Jack was able to find Rainbow Dash’s house using a town map Fluttershy kept in her room.

“Wow, it’s really made out of clouds," Jack thought as he looked up at the extravagant greek styled house. “DASH! YA HOME!”

“SWEET CELESTIA, BE QUIET! IT’S 11:00 AT NIGHT!” shouted Rainbow Dash from her room.

“I KNOW, BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!” Jack shouted back.

“WITH WHAT?!”

"FLUTTERSHY RAN OFF, AND I CAN'T FIND HER!"

“WAIT RIGHT THERE!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "I'LL BE DOWN IN A MINUTE."

After a few minutes passed, Rainbow Dash flew down to meet Jack.

“What took you so long?” asked Jack.

“NOTHING! I WASN’T DOING ANYTHING!” Rainbow Dash shouted, blushing profusely.

"Um, ok," Jack said, noticing a strange fragrance. "Is that perfume? No, it can't be, can it?"

“So, what’s this about Fluttershy running off?” asked Rainbow Dash.

"I may have said something that offended her, and she ran off crying," Jack said, looking to the ground in shame.

“What did you say?” asked Rainbow Dash with a glare.

“Well…” Jack started.

He explained how Fluttershy had increasingly restricted his freedom and treated him like a child, specifically, her child.

“And that’s when I snapped and told her she wasn’t my mother, and she ran out of the house crying," he finished.

"I see," Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof to her chin. "We better get the rest of the girls."

Carousel Boutique

"This is just awful!" Rarity exclaimed, "I'll go check the market, some of the shops stay open till midnight, and she could be there.”

Sweet Apple Acres

“This is serious! Ah’ll get Big Macintosh, and we'll search the orchard," said Applejack. "She sometimes visits the West Orchard tuh take care of the fruit bats."

Sugar Cube Corner

“Sometimes, she likes to hang out by the clock tower. I’ll check there!” said Pinkie Pie as she ran off.

Golden Oak Library

"Spike and I will check the windmill. I heard her talking about a family of badgers that live there," said Twilight.

"Right!" said Rainbow Dash. "I'll take Jack, and we'll check the forest!"

Sky over Ponyville

Jack flew toward the Everfree Forest on Rainbow Dash's back. In another situation, he might have marveled at the idea of flying on the back of an animal, but finding Fluttershy had to come first. As they neared the edge of the forest, Jack noticed the park beneath them. "Hey, Dash, drop me off at the park!"

“Good idea! she loves the park,” Rainbow Dash said as she landed by the gate. “I’ll come back in an hour. Wait here if you find her.”

"Got it," Jack said as he hopped off of the pegasus's back.

Rainbow Dash took off for the forest, and Jack began to look around the park.

Jack walked through the park, occasionally calling out, "Fluttershy, you here?!"

Eventually, he came across a gazebo. He was about to walk past when he heard sobbing.

"Is that you, Fluttershy?" Jack asked.

There was no response, but the sobbing continued.

“It's gotta be her," Jack thought as he stepped toward the gazebo.

When he reached the entrance, he found Fluttershy hunched over on a bench, eyes red from crying.

"Hey, Fluttershy, are you alright?" Jack asked softly.

"N-no," Fluttershy sniffed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Jack.

"Y-yes," Fluttershy said.

Jack walked up to her. “Well then, I’m all ears.”

"I J-just want to keep you s-safe," she sniffed. "Princess Celestia asked me to act as y-your m-mother. If-if you keep getting hurt like this, then I'm n-not doing m-my job.”

“I’m not a child,” Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know that, don’t you?”

"I know that. It's j-just that when I look at you, I see a small foal who can't look after himself," Fluttershy explained before quietly adding. "And I have wanted a family for a while now, but I'm too shy to find a special somepony."

“How old are you, Fluttershy?” Jack asked.

"T-twenty," Fluttershy stuttered.

"I'm a year older than you. I might look like a child on the outside, but on the inside, I'm anything but. Before I came here, I was a junior in college, I was renting an apartment, I was on the Dean's List at my university, and I was about to start my senior year. Those are just some of the good parts of my life." Jack cast a somber look. "I have many regrets too. The only girl I ever really liked hated me because of a mistake I made several years ago. My brother hated me too because I never considered his feelings for anything. I ruined one of my best friends' entire life because I meddled in things that weren't any of my business. I even watched another friend slowly die and was helpless to do anything about it. These are regrets that haunt my dreams, and I’m willing to bet I have more life experience than you do from them alone." Jack said, stretching. “You don’t need to be so overprotective. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Fluttershy stopped crying and looked at Jack. “I understand, but could you maybe do just one thing for me?”

“Like what?” Jack asked.

“When we’re in public, could you call me mother?”

Jack thought about this for a minute and then smiled. "If that's what you want, then I'll be happy to do it. Now let's go wait for Rainbow Dash by the gate."

Rainbow Dash arrived about half an hour later and agreed to inform the rest of the Mane Six, while Jack and Fluttershy went home.

Author's Note:

This was a pretty short chapter and a clear new record for quickest chapter I've ever written. Nevertheless, it covered an important part of the story, and I think it warranted its own chapter.
Next Time: Fluttershy goes out of town again and to keep the townsponies from getting suspicious as to why 7-year old Jack was home alone. Jack stays with Twilight Sparkle on the second day of Twilight's "babysitting" Applejack, and Rarity ends up staying overnight at the library to avoid the rain.

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