Child Of Wonder

by Artist

Sleepover at Aunt Fluttershy’s

In the Dash home, Rainbow was getting Sky ready for going to Ponyville, she had packed his things the night before, his saddle bags were sitting at the door, and now she and her son were sitting at the kitchen table with an open social story in front of them.

“Ok, so, we are going to go see Aunt Fluttershy in Ponyville,” Rainbow said as she flipped the page to a picture of Fluttershy.

Sky nodded and smiled as his mother continued, explaining what they were going to do.

“Then you will sleep over at Aunt Fluttershy’s house and your cousin Melody will be there,” Rainbow continued, flipping to the next page on which could be seen two pictures, one of Melody and one of Fluttershy and the sign for sleep above it.

Seeing her son’s smile, Rainbow continued her explanation of what was going to happen once they got there.

“After the sleepover, mommy will go to Aunt Applejack’s farm, for a talk with her, Sky cannot come with mommy,” Rainbow continued. “When mommy is gone will Sky be upset?”

Sky shook his head at her question. “Won’t be upset when mommy is gone,” He said with a blank look in his eyes as he looked up at his mother.

“There’s a good colt,” Rainbow said, getting up and walking around the table to her son, who was oblivious to the world around him or even to the fact that his father had come into the room moments ago and was standing in the doorway.

“Have fun with Aunt Fluttershy tonight, kiddo,” Soren told his son.

“Come on kid, let’s go,” Rainbow said to Sky as she walked to the front door, as her husband walked up and hugged her goodbye.

“Let’s go,” Sky repeated, running up to his mother and following her out the door.

---

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Melody was also getting ready to go to Fluttershy’s cottage.

As Applejack stepped into the room, her footsteps creaking softly against the wooden floor, she called out to her daughter,

"Hey there, Melody, are you ready to head over to Aunt Fluttershy's?"

Melody, sitting on her bed, perked up at the familiar sound of her mother's voice. "Hey, Mom! Yeah, I'm all set. Just need to grab my saddlebag."

Applejack's warm smile was evident in her voice as she moved closer. "Well, hurry on up then. I'll be waitin' for ya downstairs."

Melody nodded, her grin evident even though her mother couldn't see it. "Got it, Mom. I'll be down in a jiffy.”

With that, Applejack turned to leave, her hoofsteps gradually fading away as she descended the stairs. Melody wasted no time in gathering her things, her anticipation palpable as she prepared for another day of fun with her friends in Ponyville.

She knew the way around her room like the back of her hoof, so she swiftly grabbed her saddlebag and followed the sound of her mother's hoof steps down the stairs, eager for the adventures that awaited her at Fluttershy's cottage.

Coming out of her room, Melody headed down the stairs, with her saddlebags on her back.

Granny Smith and Big Mac were sitting in the living room, lost in conversation, they didn’t notice Applejack come down the stairs, followed by her daughter.

“Sugar, y’all just have fun tonight, don’t ya worry about Dad none, ya hear?” Granny smiled when she saw Melody.

Melody felt Granny's warm presence as she approached, her ears picking up the familiar sound of her hooves on the wooden floor.

Granny's voice carried reassurance and affection, as always. Melody could almost feel the gentle touch of Granny's hoof on her shoulder as she spoke. Despite her blindness.

Melody's other senses painted a vivid picture of the scene: the cozy atmosphere of their home, the scent of freshly baked treats, and the anticipation of an evening filled with laughter and joy.

“Thank ya, Granny, Ah’ll be sure to say hi to Sky Dancer for ya,” Melody spoke embracing her grandma.

“Thank you, hun,” Granny said, smiling.

“You’re welcome,” Melody smiled back.

“Sugar, it’s time we got goin’ ok?” Melody heard her mother’s voice from behind her.

With a quick hug and a kiss from both her grandma and uncle, Melody made her way to the front door of the farmhouse, and with a glance around the home, Applejack and her daughter left and closed the door once they had gone.

Granny Smith and Big Mac went back to what they were doing, Granny went back into the kitchen to check on the apple pies that she had put in the oven, and Big Mac went back out into the fields to harvest the rest of the apples and carrots.

---

As the sun began to sat on the horizon, Fluttershy sat in her cottage, equally awaiting the arrival of her guests.

Glancing out of her window, she saw a small streak of color, when it got closer, she saw that it was Rainbow Dash and Sky Dancer.

As Rainbow Dash and her son came to land, Fluttershy greeted them.

“You made it, now we just need to wait for Melody and AJ to get here,” The yellow Pegasus said excitedly.

After Rainbow Dash and Sky got comfortable on Fluttershy’s couch, there came a knock on the door, the yellow Pegasus went to open the door and saw Applejack and Melody standing there, Fluttershy greeted them and let them inside.

“Well, you kids have fun, we’ll pick you up in the mornin’ ya hear?” Applejack addressed her daughter before heading back out the door.

“I better stay here just in case, I mean Sky has only been away from home once, and that was on a class field trip,” Rainbow worried.

“Rainbow, I promise he will be in good hooves, you don’t have to worry,” Fluttershy calmly spoke.

Rainbow got up and zoomed up into Fluttershy’s face with a look of existential dread on her face.

“What if something really bad happens,” She asked, a look of realization washed over her.

“Rainbow Dash, you don’t need to worry, just go have fun with Twilight and the others,” Fluttershy said, literally pushing her best friend out the door and closing it behind her.

“So, Aunt Fluttershy, what are we doing tonight?” Melody asked, turning in the direction of her Aunt.

“Um, I don’t know, whatever you want to do, I guess,” Fluttershy replied.

"Hey Aunt Fluttershy," Melody murmured, her voice tinged with vulnerability as she settled onto the soft carpet of her aunt's living room. "I need to talk to you. It's been three months since Dad left us, and... I'm starting to think he's not coming back."

Fluttershy's heart clenched at the sadness in her niece's eyes. She knelt beside Melody, wrapping her hooves around the young pony in a gentle embrace. "Oh sweetheart, I know it's hard, but try to hold on to hope. Sometimes things take time to work out."

Tears glistened in Melody's eyes as she returned her aunt's hug, finding solace in the warmth of her embrace.

"Thank you, Aunt Fluttershy," she whispered, her voice filled with gratitude and a hint of relief.
Fluttershy held her niece close, silently promising to be there for her every step of the way through this difficult journey.

Sky Dancer, who was sitting beside them on the couch with a bit of cloud in his mouth, hummed softly to himself, not noticing his aunt and cousin talking.

Fluttershy looked over to see that her nephew had a piece of cloud in his mouth and was constantly chewing on it.

“Um, Sky, sweetheart, clouds are not for eating,” Fluttershy tried to take back the cloud, only for her nephew’s eyes to fill with tears.

Sky let out a high-pitched scream that could be heard all across Ponyville.

“Oh no,” The yellow pegasus thought to herself as she watched her nephew scream.

“What’s happening?” Melody asked, covering her ears.

“I think because I told him not to eat the cloud, he is mad at me,” Fluttershy answered.

“Don't eat clouds, shouldn’t do that,” Sky screamed at the top of his lungs, pounding his hooves.

“Sky Dancer, that’s enough, we were supposed to have a nice quiet evening,” Fluttershy raised her voice, but didn’t yell.

Almost immediately Sky quieted down except for a few hiccups the entire room went silent.

Fluttershy went over to her nephew and sat down in front of him.

“Sky, I’m sorry if I scared you, but I told you not to eat clouds, you can eat food but not clouds, ok?” Fluttershy gently spoke.

“Eh, noise?” Sky asked.

“Noise is gone now, Auntie was just frustrated because you didn’t listen,” Fluttershy spoke softly.

“Yeah, Sky should listen to Aunt Fluttershy, ok?” Melody smiled when she had recovered from the shock of hearing her cousin screaming.

Sky, seeing that his cousin was upset, walked over and hugged her.

“Aww, thank you, Sky, I needed that,” Melody said, returning the embrace.

Fluttershy looked on as the two cousins hugged, she smiled softly, going upstairs to prepare their beds.

After a few moments of hugging, Sky pulled away and looked around for Fluttershy.

“Aunt Fluttershy?” Melody called, sensing Sky’s discomfort.

“I’m upstairs,” Fluttershy called from upstairs.

When Melody and Sky went upstairs to see what was taking their aunt so long, Sky stuck to Melody like glue.

“Aunt Fluttershy, where are you?” Melody asked.

“I’m in the bedroom to your left,” Fluttershy responded,

Hearing her aunt's voice come from the left of her, Melody turned and went into the room, Sky looked at his new surroundings in curiosity and wonder.

“Come on, I’ll tuck you into bed and tell you a story,” Fluttershy softly, spoke as Melody and Sky climbed into separate beds, tucking them in, their aunt gave them each a kiss.

She sat down beside the beds and started telling them a beautiful bedtime story about a faraway land and about the shaman, who lives in the Everfree Forest.

“And this shaman, is she evil?” Melody asked when Fluttershy had finished her story.

“No, she isn’t, she’s nice,” Fluttershy answered.

“You know her?” Melody asked in surprise.

“Yeah, me and your mom and our friends once crossed paths with her,” Fluttershy replied, before getting up and turning out the lights to the room and walking out the door, shutting it behind her.

Melody and Sky settled in for the night and fell asleep.

Somewhere deep in the Ever Free Forest, something dark and creepy was lurking in the shadows, the only thing visible were two red eyes, they were staring toward Fluttershy’s cottage.

The two red eyes blinked and then retreated back into the forest, and a low growl could be heard throughout the forest.

Unknown to the ponies that was sleeping in the cottage, and unknown to all of Equestria, something big and something evil was coming.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoy this, decided to make it a little bit different now, I know that you were getting tired of the torn up love story between Applejack and Stevie, so I decided to make something a little bit different involving Melody and Sky.

Next chapter will involve, a little bit more mystery about the creature, and what it actually is.

Comments

[Big Imagination E]

Whatever's hiding in the forest I hope they're ready.

[Artist]

11857573
Yeah, they will be.