The Foal Six

by blayzekohime

3. Fluttershy

Fluttershy was happy at the prospect of getting to see a little cutie, but unexpectedly being a little cutie instead caught her off guard. But what really frightened her is that she felt like she was falling and saw the ground rushing up towards her. She completely freaked out, squealing and kicking her legs about in the process.

"Ow!" a familiar stallion’s voice said as Fluttershy felt her spasming legs thump against another pony.

It turned out that she wasn't falling, but landing. She was strapped into a bundle atop her father, head sticking out the front but mostly pressed closely to Daddy’s back. Unfortunately that meant her panicked kicking had given him a few sharp kicks in the spine with her tiny foal hooves. Her father landed in the grass, and immediately arched his back.

Her mother landed next to him, looking over with concern. Notably, Mommy as a lot thicker in the gut than Fluttershy was used to seeing. She actually looked… pregnant? Wait…

Had the spell gone wrong? She was in her own body as a foal, back when her mother was still pregnant with her little brother Zephyr. Goodness, it was a good thing she hadn’t kicked her mother.

“What’s a matter, sweetheart?” asked Daddy gently, then added with a shy chuckle to Mommy. “Goodness, now I know how you feel with one kicking around in there.” From another dad, it might have seemed insensitive, but he was just… awkward.

“Maybe a little,” Mommy said. Similarly, another mom might have been annoyed at his comment or at least corrected him, but they were both as shy as they were awkward.

Under normal circumstances, this alone would have calmed Fluttershy, but the thoughts of all the things that could have went wrong with the spell were filling her mind, and not understanding at all how the spell worked only gave her more potential scenarios. She was petrified by what might have happened to her friends and started sniffling as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh, did I make you cry?” Daddy seemed equally petrified by that. He tugged the tiny filly out of the pouch on his back. She was dressed in a bunny onesie complete with a bunny-eared hood and little paws around her hooves. It bulged out at her behind due to her diaper, the effect made even more so by the rest of her body being so lanky. Despite being overwarmed for the fairly cool weather, she shivered as Daddy pulled her into a hug.

“Oh no, it was probably my fault,” Mommy appeared equally worried, moving to share in the hug. She pushed a tiny pink plush bunny to Fluttershy's hooves in an attempt to comfort her.

Had Fluttershy stayed agitated, they might have had a reverse ‘No it was my fault’ argument on the spot, but Fluttershy took a deep breath and managed to get a hold of herself. Surely even if it weren't temporary, even Twilight in a foal's body could fix it eventually. Really the worst case scenario was Fluttershy getting a vacation from the stress of constantly caring for other creatures... or a long one if Twilight didn't figure it out and they had to take the slow path back to where they were. Maybe she should just relax and enjoy it, saving her panic for if she was still here in a few days.

It helped to see her parents as a happy young couple, even if they had trouble communicating it even with one another. And she finally got a chance to look around to see where they were.

With Cloudsdale anchored above them, they were visiting a park on the ground. Much like the cute bunny onesie and plush, it wasn't something that Fluttershy remembered from her foalhood, so it was much like a new experience. The park was surrounded by trees, making it seem almost secluded despite the crowds of ponies wandering through its grounds. A small lake lay beyond some large boulders near the edge of the forest, several ponies sitting at the edge.

"Oh goodness," Daddy said, flushing slightly. "I didn't realize so many ponies would be here."

"I didn't either," Mommy said, ears slightly flattened and ducking back as both parents seemed to try to hide behind the other. "Though I guess we should have known... again." It was true that most ponies there were pegasai, so it was probably predictable given it was visiting overhead.

"Well, to be fair, we haven't been here in some time," Daddy patted her shoulder, then both parents moved to snuggle Fluttershy again. He put her back in the pouch on his back so that she could drape her lanky body over him comfortably, making sure to strap her down so she wouldn't fall off.

Fluttershy might could have spoken a few words or at least jabbered, but she didn't even think to try. Instead, she looked around with fascination at the park as her parents walked through it with her. She put one cloth covered hoof in her muzzle without thinking, gnawing softly at it as she watched trees and flowers go by. It filled her with a feeling of fascination that felt new to her, as if it were the first time she'd ever seen so much of this. The brilliant colors and fragrances were so lovely that she forgot to be shy in the crowded park.

She hugged her bunny closer, smiling despite herself as she took a deep breath and relaxed. Their walk was slow, slowing down for Mommy's pregnancy even though it didn't seem advanced enough to slow them down too much.

"Ah look," Daddy said as they approached a large water fountain near the center of the park. "That celloist... what was her name? She still plays here."

"Ophelia," Mommy completed the idea for him. "Her little filly Octavia was newborn last we saw her."

Fluttershy looked towards the fountain to see an earth pony with a goldish gray coat and darker gray mane playing a cello as her own similarly colored filly sat nearby watching with fascination. The filly was out of diapers, probably a year older than Fluttershy, but still very cute of course. Several other ponies were watching her play, but something else caught Fluttershy's attention.

There were several dancing squirrels cavorting along the edge of the fountain, joined by a bunny and a turtle sitting on the ground nearby and looking up as the bunny rocked back and forth slowly to the music. It was a beautiful scene that Fluttershy was glad to revisit, since she'd long forgotten everything from this age, and it almost seemed like a few of the animals were glancing in her direction an awful lot. Fluttershy had to wonder if trips to places like this as a foal, that she didn't even properly remember, had shaped her later love for animals and made it easier to connect with that as her special talent.

"Should we say hello?" whispered Mommy. "Oh but I don't want to bother her..."

"And little Octavia seems so interested in the music," Daddy said, unconsciously helping Mommy come up with reasons not to interact socially. "Our little Fluttershy is a bit shy anyway."

Fluttershy glanced over at their conversation, and was tempted to attempt to motion that she wanted to meet the younger version of her friend Octavia, but it seemed her own social anxiety kept her from wanting to do so too. Perhaps her younger body wasn't equipped with what little assertiveness Fluttershy managed to develop in the future.

A little rumble from her tiny tummy brought Fluttershy away from the thoughts, and she realized she was rather hungry. It seemed as if her parents had noticed as well.

"Oh is that a little rumble I hear?" Daddy said, perhaps happy to find a reason to avoid the social interaction.

"We better go over to a corner and give her a feeding," said Mommy in almost a whisper as she stepped over to the other side of the fountain towards a cluster of trees on the other side.

The benches were all on this side, so there weren't any ponies there presently, but they'd still be able to hear the music as Ophelia started another song. Daddy managed to shyly slip some bits into the donation box Ophelia had nearby before following Mommy, and must have really liked the music to muster up the courage to do so. He blushed intensely as Ophelia smiled and nodded in thanks, catching up to Mommy near the stumps of the tree.

Fluttershy was a bit confused at what they were moving around for at first, but was still enjoying the music so wasn't too worried. Mommy lay on her side, then Daddy hoofed her over to Mommy. Fluttershy's hoof was gently tugged from her mouth and her face was put inches from Mommy's swollen teat, snuggled up against the enlarged belly containing Zephyr.

The little filly was mortified. She'd seen ponies nurse in parks or in public for sure, and it wasn't like Equestria had any sort of nudity taboo, but it was quite another thing to be the one that was nursing. A normal filly might not care, but Fluttershy was an adult mind full of all sorts of meaningless hangups and awkwardness, and couldn't even move when she realized what she was expected to do in at least partial view of a large crowd.

"You're doing fine," Daddy said quietly, patting her head and ruffling her mane slightly. "Just suckle normally."

He held Fluttershy's head firmly between his forelegs, supporting her neck so she could keep suckling. It was a kind gesture that he no doubt did from the goodness of his heart, but to Fluttershy's current brain it felt like she was being restrained. Fortunately he didn't push her forward though and creased his forehead a bit in concentration as if trying to help her along.

"Are you okay sweetie?" Mommy asked gently. "You were suckling on your little hoof and your tiny tummy was growly, so you must be hungry."

"Is she... embarrassed?" Daddy tilted his head in confusion.

"Don't be silly," giggled Mommy. "She doesn't know to be embarrassed yet... though it is a bit awkward for me."

"Oh there's no need to be shy," Daddy said despite being just as shy as Mommy. "I mean most parents don't even step aside to nurse."

Mommy chuckled at that and shook her head. "They usually are a bit less discreet about it, yes, but I'm sure you can understand why we're a bit shy ourselves."

Actually even Fluttershy didn't understand why she or they were shy other than maybe they just lost the genetic lottery. Now that she thought about it, it was a wonder that they two managed to get married and then have two foals.

Unfortunately the distraction allowed her head to be pushed forward and pushed her muzzle against the teat, and at that point her body reacted on its own suckling. It didn't taste bad, for sure, but she still felt her whole body warm with her blushing. Had she not been wearing a bunny onesie that hid most of her body, her parents might have been concerned for her health at that point.

She finally sighed and relaxed, giving in as her parents gently hugged her between them to keep her steady and make sure she was okay even now, and it was very touching. The smiled at her, then glanced at the crowd to make sure nopony was looking before gently putting their noses together and nuzzling. Goodness with their shyness that was outright scandalous.

Fluttershy knew that her parents loved each other dearly, but it was nice to see them express their affection in such a way. All the same, the moment they allowed her some leeway to see if she was still hungry, she pulled her head away, swallowing the last bit and taking a deep breath as she looked back at the ground.

"There you go," Mommy said, seeing she got her fill and very carefully placing her into the carrier on Daddy's back again, strapping her in.

"Seems a lot of ponies are clearing out," Daddy mentioned. "We should get back up to Cloudsdale soon before night falls. I don't want to have to fly in the dark with our little ones."

"We can go after this song then," agreed Mommy.

Fluttershy tensed every muscle in her body at the realization they were going to fly with her again. As silly as it was, the tiny pegasus still didn’t adore flying even as an adult, and as a baby she was sure it would feel more like a roller coaster ride than actual flying. She had a brief moment where she had to restrain herself from kicking her poor father again.

Fortunately for her, the nursing had made her sleepy, and the soft somber music played by Ophelia didn't help her stay awake. By the end of the song, she was already dozing off, and went from fretting the fly back to wondering if she would wake up in a crib or back at the map table.