Finding Fluttershy

by SamFaith

December 24th

I woke to the pitter-patter of small feet walking across my face. I groaned and rolled over. Pulling the blanket over my head, I somehow left my back exposed.

"GAH!" I jumped as a rough tongue lapped at my spine.

I rolled onto my back and found myself looking into a golden pair of eyes.

"Fluttershy," I groaned, "Could you please do something with your cat?"

"But.. Rainbow is SO excited about Christmas!"

Not expecting such an immediate answer, I pushed myself up and saw Fluttershy floating over the foot of my bed. Through bleary eyes I did my best to glare at the yellow pegasus, but I'm sure all I managed was a awkward looking squint. In the meantime the calico leapt off the bed and scampered away.

"You're confusing 'Rainbow' with 'Fluttershy' again," I grumbled before collapsing onto my pillow.

"Oh," she said in disappointment.

I winced, realizing my mistake. I hurried to clear the fog from my mind, and forced myself to think clearly. I struggled to sit up again in the hopes of fixing my error.

"Because..." I said, pretending to continue my thought, "If Fluttershy wanted to rouse me this early on a Sunday, who am I to argue?"

In spite of my lazy recovery, she smiled and accepted it. Quietly she floated out the door, softly closing it behind her.

As I prepared to face the day I let my mind wander a bit. I still did not understand why the pony, who was lost in my world and separated from her friends in ways that no one could begin to measure, named her cat 'Rainbow'. I thought that maybe the name served as a connection back to her world, signifying that her hope would never die. On the other hand, I was afraid that maybe she had given up, and starting with this cat would slowly replace her lost friends. In that scenario I would be terrified to meet a person named 'Angel'.

I dismissed my musings as idle conjecture and decided that the best thing to do would be to simply ask her. I knew she had her reason, I just did not know what it was. With an answer my mind would be at ease, and I wouldn't ever have to ask again.

I was still pulling a shirt over my head as I approached the kitchen. On the table I discovered that Fluttershy had already laid out breakfast. There were two bowls of oatmeal, each accompanied by a full glass of orange juice. Entered the kitchen in time to see Fluttershy putting two plates of apples on the table.

"You know..." I started.

I paused, waiting for her to leap in surprise as she had done so many times before. She jumped a little, but gave no further indication of being startled. Instead, she looked in my direction expecting me to finish my sentence.

"It's not your turn to fix breakfast."

"Oh, I know," she said with a smile, "I wanted to hear more about Christmas."

"It really isn't that different from Hearths Warming Eve," I said, reading from the script in my head, "We saw that episode together, remember? You pointed out all the 'artistic license' the writers here took to make it a more interesting story."

She shook her head, and said, "No, I want to hear what Christmas means to you."

I hesitated, as all my memories of Christmas days past came flooding back. Good and bad, I was reliving them all. Throughout my life there was always a single thread that was constant from one Christmas to the next.

I took a breath to try and steady myself. I could already feel the tears starting to form in the corners of my eyes. I did my best to put on a brave face, but I'm sure Fluttershy saw through it.

"Well... It was the time that our entire family would get together. Everyone would gather at our grandparent's house..."

During my pause Fluttershy had time to ask, "What's wrong?"

"I miss Grandma."

"What about your grandfather?"

I wiped my eyes and tried to think, "Has it been four years? No, it's been five since he passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

I shook my head, "You didn't know."

For the first time since she arrived, Fluttershy gave me a stern look. She set her jaw, her coat puffed out, and even the feathers on her wings seemed to get ruffled. Her disposition changed, and she stared right into my eyes.

"Look here! You may be used to brushing your friends off, I'm used to being brushed off. But you are in pain over this! So you don't get to shrug me off when I want to tell you that I'm genuinely sorry about your loss. You got that?"

I was ready to argue with her, to say that she didn't get to talk like that to me. I was actually ready to get angry at my favorite little pony. Then I remembered exactly why this kind and gentle pony was my favorite. I realized that she was right, that if she wanted to be sympathetic to my loss, maybe that was what I needed. I also realized that there was more than one way for one to be kind to another.

"Thank you," I said, "Thank you for everything."

She smiled, looking again like the kind and cute Fluttershy that I decided was my favorite of the mane six.

"So what are you going to do for this Christmas?" she asked.

"I'm not the only one who misses Grandma and Grandpa... it seems like our family is kinda lost without them. Instead of the extended family getting together, everyone is celebrating by themselves."

"But, you said everyone got together during Thanksgiving?"

I scratched my head, remembering that party.

"Yeah, I don't know... Family can be weird. If I were to guess, I'd say that very few realized how much they missed Grandma then, but not having her at Thanksgiving changed that."

"Oh... Then, what are you going to do for Christmas?"

"Well... Mom and dad invited me to celebrate with them..."

"You should go."

I shook my head, and said, "No, we should go."

I didn't have to say another word, she was all set to follow me to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Christmas with them. I thought about the broken promise I made during Thanksgiving, and decided that perhaps introducing Mom, Dad and Fluttershy wouldn't be too bad. If nothing else they would understand why I wanted to keep her a secret.

It was about four before we were out the door and heading for the car. Soon enough we were both strapped in and comfortable. I could feel the excitement threatening to break her quiet, reserved shell. I couldn't help teasing her about it.

"You ready for your first Christmas?"

"Oh, I'm so excited, I feel like shouting!"

I braced myself as she drew in a deep breath. What came from her was the most gentle and soft declaration of her happiness.

"Woo-Hoo~"

I felt as if my head would pop off from stifling my laughter. I should have expected as much from the little yellow pony. Between silent giggles I had to apologize to her, saying, "I - I'm sorry! I'm not ... I don't mean ... to laugh at you ... I just ... LOVE ... your reaction."

As soon as I was in control of myself again I pulled the car out of the driveway and we were on our way.

I pulled the car in behind Alex's station wagon in front of our parent's house. Fluttershy's eyes grew wide when she saw the lights adorning the tree out in front. I was tempted to take a candid photo of the cute in the passenger seat, but that didn't go over too well the last time. Even the flash of my phone's pathetic little camera was enough to startle her.

Once inside we were greeted by the miniature poodle and white schnauzer that Mom kept. After years of dealing with the dastardly duo, I thought I had developed a technique for dealing with them. Instead, Fluttershy showed that her way with animals really was beyond compare. It only took her a moment to calm the pair, and we could hear each other again.

The house itself was beautiful, especially after the remodelling Mom had done. Just to the right of the front door the entire house opened up into a huge room that was part dining room, part lounge. The only thing separating it from the kitchen was a giant, polished granite island that was big enough to have a full working stove on it, and seating for four. To the right of that was the living room, which with the bedroom straddled the small courtyard we had entered from. While being of good size itself, the living room was still humbled by the combined Kitchen/Dining area.

Dad was laying across his favorite chair in the living room. I looked over at him in time to watch him let the schnauzer up into his lap. Mom, on the other hand was working in the kitchen.

With the dogs settled I announced, "We're here!"

"Well," Dad scoffed, "So you are! I hope you remembered your stomach; your Mom's got a lot of good stuff."

"Don't worry," I said.

"Didja year that?" joked Dad, "The kid says he's hungry!"

"Did he, now? I'm sure we could fix that." Mom responded.

Mom finished stirring one of the three pots she had on the stove, and covered it. She walked around the island to greet me. "Well, now who's this?" She asked seeing the hooded figure on my shoulder.

"Well..." I said, still hesitant to share the secret of Fluttershy's existence.

Alex, who had been sitting at the kitchen counter the whole time, joined in.

"Mom, this is Robert's house guest, the one who has nowhere else to go."

"This is Fluttershy," I said.

On cue the pony pulled down her hood and looked at our mother. Mom looked at the pony and smiled, recognizing the children's reader from the local library. Then shock took over her face as I felt a gentle breeze and the weight of Fluttershy's hoof left my shoulder. I did not have to look to know exactly what to say next.

"She can fly, too."

Mom was completely stunned as Fluttershy lowered herself to the floor. I looked at Alex, who was also surprised, but looking at something different. I turned around to see our father, who for the first time in our lives could not find anything to say.

Finally, after a few moments, Dad muttered to himself, "Must be a dream," and went right back to the couch to fall asleep again.

A subtle little shudder passed through the pegasus. I kneeled and put my hand on her shoulder. She didn't even turn her head to look at me, confirming what I did not wish to be true. Dad's reaction to Fluttershy had upset the gentle pony.

"Hey, it'll be alright," I said.

Fluttershy showed no sign of improvement. I was in the middle of thinking of some way of reassuring her when Mom approached. She too knelt down, and offered a friendly hand.

"I'm Jessica," she said, "What did you say name was?"

A simple act of acceptance, but it settled Fluttershy down. Gently she wiped her eyes, and then placed her hoof in Mom's hand. Her response was a snowflake caught in the breeze, soft and delicate to the touch.

"Fl-Flutter-shy."

"That's what I thought you said."

Dinner was amazing. Apparently, Alex had planned ahead and requested that Mom made quite a few vegetable dishes for Fluttershy. It also seemed that in spite of their initial reactions to one another, Fluttershy and Dad got along well. He still didn't quite believe that he was talking to a bright yellow winged equine with pink mane and tail, but he managed. Upon discovering that she was a fan of wordplay, Dad said "What'ya know? The bright yellow pony is also bright and yellow."

Alex was the first to respond, exclaiming, "Da-ad!"

It took me a little longer to get what he just said. I shot him a look, and then glanced at Fluttershy hoping she didn't put it together. Between her dropped ears and the upset look on her face I knew that she got it just as quickly as Alex did. She may have been accustomed to the quick, snappy, deprecating humor we shared with Letty and Mike, but Dad's deadpan humor was just a little much for her.

"I'm sorry," Dad said, "That was mean. Tell you what: I promise not to 'pun-ish' you any more."

To this Fluttershy giggled, however she did not seem to be completely reassured. She appeared to be vulnerable, removed from the comfort of our home. Mom noticed this and did her best to lift the yellow pony's confidence.

"I see you at the library reading to the children. How is that?"

"It's wonderful! I love seeing their little faces brighten up with a good story!"

"And what do you do in your spare time?"

"Well... I take care of the cat-"

Mom looked straight at me, slightly surprised, "Cat?"

"A new acquisition," I said.

"Just how did you 'acquire' this cat?"

"Well... " I said, trying to come up with a nicer way to put it, "I uh... um... well, Fluttershy saved it... from... being ... run over? Did I mention she was a stray? The cat, I mean."

Mom gave me a look that said she knew there was more to the story. She was about to ask who's car would have run over the cat when Fluttershy coughed. Mom turned back to the pegasus, and continued to make conversation with her.

"So what's the kitty's name?"

"Rainbow"

Once again Mom glanced at me asking "Didn't I hear that name before?"

Fluttershy chimed in, saying, "Oh, you must be thinking of Rainbow Dash. She's one of my friends; another pegasus like me."

"Oh, is she around too?"

Fluttershy sighed, "No, she's back ... home."

Comments

[angelicoreXX]

oo.... cant wait for more!!!

[Cephalopirate]

You updated! ^-^ I'm ever so happy!

[Blue Blaze {COMET}]

Damn... Finally an update...

Great!

[Fat Autistic Weeaboo2222]

OPPA DOGGIE STYLE!!!

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