Our Little Pony

by Stratocaster

Meet The Press

Chapter 7: Meet The Press

Present Day

"Wait, are you serious?" queried Twilight. "You never get sick."

"Well, that's how you know the spell worked." Fluttershy smiled.

"Oh yeah, good point." Twilight peered out the cottage window for a moment. "So, you were pretty much the first pony raised by humans?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"Wow, your face must have been plastered all over the news."

"Well, actually, my parents were pretty secretive about bringing me up." Fluttershy paused. "Of course, there were a few...weak moments."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, eventually people were going to spread the word about me. Fortunately, it hadn't spread into Equestria, but there was a brief time when the humans actually became quite interested in me."

"How interested?" asked Twilight, almost afraid to know.

Memories...

Chaz Chadwick puffed a cigar as he sat in his secluded office behind his mahogany desk. As the chief editor of the popular Faceslap news magazine, he had a lot on his plate to take care of including paperwork and article suggestions. But he purposely put them all off and chose instead to relax in his lavish study. At one point, one of his younger aides opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uh, Mr. Chadwick, sir?" the aide asked, as he held a stack of papers.

"Yes, what is it, Pam?" responded Chadwick, staring out his window.

"It's Sam, sir. Uh, sorry to bother you, but I think we might have our new cover story."

"Well tell me what it is already." Chadwick spun around in his leather chair. "It better not be another doozie about that astronaut who married his car."

"No, sir. But it's about a couple who live in a nearby town and...uh...well, there's no other way to say it, sir, but...they're raising a pony."

"So you got two people who are trying to be mini horse breeders. Big whoop."

"No, I mean a pony from Equestria."

Chadwick stared at Sam for a moment, trying to process what he had just heard. "You mean...an actual talking pony?"

"Yes sir. Apparently they've been raising her for quite a few years now."

"Well why haven't we heard of this before?"

"I think the parents are a bit seclusive about it. No jounalist has even made a try at them."

Chadwick stood up. "Listen, Clam, I don't even care if their last name is Shy. When I get an original story like this, it's darn well going to be on our next cover. Do you have anything at all on this family?"

"Fortunately, we have some photos of the pony. And we've even managed to get as much information as possible from the few people who know about her."

"That's all we really need. Pretty soon, all of California, or even the whole country, will be buzzing about this little mini horse. I can see the headlines now; Reverse Jungle Book: the world's first human raised pony! Get the bean counters in the writing department on this right away, Melissa."

"You got is, sir. Uh, it's Sam, by the way."

"And get me a coffee while you're at it!"

...

A snoring Luke lay strewn out on the couch, as a hockey game premiered on the television a week later. It had been a long day of work and he deserved a little peace, quiet and normality. But as his home team was losing by an embarrassing amount, the commercials came on and a news promo changed the normality.

"Laster tonight on the news at eleven," said an announcer. "A human raised pony?"

Immediately, Luke's eyes shot open after barely hearing those last words. He quickly sat up and focused his attention.

"A recent article in Faceslap magazine tells all about a couple who have been raising a young Equestrian pony all on their own. More on this later."

A sense of dread and shock began to surge down Luke's body; this feeling then quickly turned into anger. "Son of a-" He sprang from the couch and stormed over to the telephone, looking up the number for Faceslap magazine. He dialed the numbers, mashing the buttons with unbridled rage. At last, he waited as the line began to ring. "Come on, come on!" But his hopes were thoroughly dashed by an automated female voice.

"Thank you for calling Faceslap magazine; the best in only the latest shocking news. If you would like to sign up for a six year weekly subscribtion, please hold until-"

Luke slammed the phone back on the receiver. "Perfect." He muttered vengefully. Then, just as soon as he hung it up, the phone began to ring. Hesitating for a moment, Luke slowly answered the inpromtu call. "Yes, hello?" he spoke, trying to hide irritation.

"Hello, is this Luke Shy?" asked the kindly non-automated voice of a woman of forty something.

He sulked. "Yeah, who is this?"

"I'm sorry if I'm calling at a bad time, Mr. Shy," the woman said. "I'm Nelly Vanderbilt. I'm sure you've heard of my show?"

It was then that the feeling of dread in Luke was suddenly replaced by surprise. The voice instantly became familiar to him. "You mean Nosy Nelly? Of course I've heard of your show, you're like the biggest talk show host. My wife watches you all the time."

"I'm glad to hear that. So listen, Mr. Shy," resumed Nelly. "I just read that article about your daughter, Fluttershy."

The dread suddenly came creeping back to him as he paced around the house. "Uh, yeah?"

"Well, I just have to say that I am truly inspired by what you and your wife are doing. Let me tell you, I've probably interviewed four or five pop singers who adopted Inuit babies. But this is really above the norm, and I just love it. So, I was wondering, if it's alright with you of course, if you could get Fluttershy to come on my show next week."

"You mean...an interview?" Luke asked nervously.

As he held the phone to his ear, he walked over and peeked inside the open bathroom. Inside was Haley sitting on the edge of the bathtub bathing their little filly inside. Fluttershy had covered herself in a mound of pink bubbles revealing only her smiling face. After a moment of watching his daughter enjoying a nice bubbly soak, Luke walked back out of earshot and continued speaking to Nelly.

"Jeez, I don't know." He said. "I'm not exactly fond of Fluttershy being surround by all that media. She's more timid than I am."

"Don't worry about it, Luke," replied Nelly sincerely. "The interview will be in front of an audience, but it won't be broadcasted live. The whole thing will just be prerecorded, and I think you won't be so timid afterwards. So what do you say? Do we have an interview?"

Luke paused again to think. This was the last thing he wanted to put Fluttershy through, and yet he felt that there was nothing that could really go wrong. In fact, he began to suspect that it could be good for her, strangely enough. As he heard the innocent laughter of his little filly from the bathroom, Luke took a long deep sigh and gave his answer.

"Alright, we'll do it." He put simply.

"Excellent. You won't regret it, Luke." Nelly said. "I'll call you tomorrow to explain everything. See you next week!"

"Oh wait, Nelly!" he interrupted. "Before you go, can I put my wife on the phone? She's kind of a big fan of yours."

"Of course."

With that, Luke walked back over down the hall and stepped into the bathroom, where Haley was drying off her squeaky clean filly with a towel. "Haley," he said. "You got a call."

Curious, Haley stood up and took the phone into the living room. Luke entered the bathroom and took over drying off Fluttershy and her ruffled mane and coat.

"Who's on the phone, Daddy?" she asked.

"Uh, a friend of your mother's, Fluttershy." Luke answered. He then covered his hands over her pointed ears before hearing Haley's voice.

"Hello?...Yes, who is this?...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

...

"And now back to Nosy Nelly!"

The lights went up on a small stage area while a sizable studio audience clapped and whooped. In front of the cameras was the charming smiling face of America's favorite philanthropic talk show host, Nosy Nelly herself. She gave her usual courtious waves to the mostly female crowd, who had earlier on the show found gift cards to Barnes & Noble under their seats. As she sat down in her tan cushioned chair, Nelly began.

"Welcome back to the show!" she greeted to the audience and cameras. "If you're just joining us now, we just had a lovely chat with Taylor Swift and her twenty eighth boyfriend. But now we have a new guest who is truly unique, and I am just dying to bring her out. She is the first ever human raised pony."

Several excited gasps rose from the audience. Meanwhile, on the side of the studio, Haley watched from behind a curtain with Nelly's awaited guest standing at her side. Fluttershy looked out at the crowd with tension.

"Uh Mommy, I don't know about this." She said, quivering. "There's so many people out there."

"It's okay, Fluttershy, you'll be fine." Haley replied sweetly. "Besides, how many ponies can say they've been on Nosy Nelly? You know how much you like watching her with me."

"Yeah but, I didn't think it would be this," she gulped. "Scary. And where's Daddy? Isn't he going to watch?"

"Of course he is, sweetie. He's just over there...hitting his head against the wall."

"Silly Daddy." Fluttershy began to smile a bit. But her cheering up didn't last long as she heard Nelly continue.

"And now, laides and gentlemen," she announced. "Please welcome my guest tonight. She is absolutely adorable and a real swetheart. Give it up for...Fluttershy!"

The anticipating audience clapped and cheered as they finally got to see the buzzed about filly from the news. Haley scooted Fluttershy along, letting her cautiously step out onto the stage set. She avoided the gaze of the hyped crowd behind her mane and climbed up on the matching chair next to Nelly. The host gave her a warm smile as the applause died down.

"Fluttershy, it is so great to finally meet you." She said.

"Um...thank you, Nelly." Fluttershy replied meekly, scanning her eyes around.

"So tell me, how exactly did your parents find you?" asked Nelly gingerly.

"Well, um, my Mommy said she found me on the doorstep and just adopted me."

"Do you know who left you there?"

Fluttershy paused to consider the question. "Um, no, not really." She began to lose herself in deep thought.

Nelly stopped and quickly revised her next question, feeling she had somehow hit home a bit. "So, Fluttershy, how is school going for you?"

She perked up slightly. "Oh, school is great. I love learning everything, and my daddy says I get smarter everyday. I even learned to count to five hundred!"

"Wow, that's...impressive." Nelly replied in all seriousness. "Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Oh yes," smiled Fluttershy. "I want to take care of cute little animals just like my mommy."

A round of "d'aw"s was heard from the audience.

"I see." Nelly said, not expecting that answer. "Um, Fluttershy, wouldn't you rather like to be a pilot? Or maybe a weather pony?"

Fluttershy seemed puzzled. "Why would I want to be a pilot?"

"Well, you are a pegasus, aren't you?"

"Um, yes, I am."

Nelly tried to lead her on to giving the conversation she was hoping for. "So, don't you want to be a good flyer one day?"

Fluttershy began to feel awkward. "Uh, well, actually, I'm scared of flying." She replied in a hushed mutter.

The audience responded with adoring laughter. But Nelly only pinched between her eyes with a smile for the cameras.

Throughout the entire interview, the conversation carried on as so. Nelly had expected her young equine guest to be giving more 'pony-esque' answers, such as to questions about what she knew of Equestria. But all in all, Fluttershy prefered to talk about her parents and fascination of animals. It became apparent to Nelly that she was just getting information about the filly's average day in the life. Still, the crowd ate it up as if Fluttershy were the pony version of Shirley Temple; Nelly took solace and mustered through.

After several more minutes of simple innocent conversation, the interview was drawing to a close.

"Well, Fluttershy," said Nelly. "It has just been wonderful having you with us. Do you have any final words for the audience?"

Fluttershy glanced at the sea of eyes, staring eagerly back at her. Again, she ducked behind her pink mane and uttered simply. "Um...uh...hello," she gave a fragile smile. "Um...thank you for listening?"

"Whoo! Fluttershy, we love you!" cheered a random female member of the audience, rowsing several other fans of the adorable young foal. An uncomfortable chill rushed down Fluttershy's body from the loud, enthusiastic applause.

"Well, that just about all the time we have." Nelly resumed. "Thanks for being with us, Fluttershy; it was a real pleasure meeting you."

Fluttershy smiled, feeling strangely flattered by the charming host. She simply responded by getting up from her chair and wrapping her hooves around Nelly's legs in a thankful hug. As expected, the crowd 'awe'd and Nelly returned the little hug.

After the show went to commercial, Nelly met with Luke and Haley backstage, while Fluttershy was in the bathroom. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Shy, I must say this interview went better than expected." She started. "Your daughter is absolutely darling."

"Well, she may be a bit skittish," replied Haley. "But she'll definitely open up once she's comfortable with someone."

"So, you said this interview was prerecorded?" queried Luke.

"Of course," answered Nelly. "But the audience just loved her so much that my producer is really considering airing it as soon as possible. But obviously, the decision is yours."

Luke glanced at Haley unsure, and only received a supportive shrug. He scratched his head for a moment then, spoke again. "Why don't you give us a day to think about it?"

"Take your time." Nelly replied. "You have my number, so I'll be waiting. You know, you two are so lucky to have a daughter like her."

Luke smiled and nodded truthfully. "More than you know."

...

The next day was no different from the ordinary, despite the interesting visit on Nosy Nelly. Fluttershy had just finished another day of school and was on the way home. However, some local roadwork caused the bus to drop her off several blocks away from her house. Fluttershy didn't mind taking a nice stroll down the neighborhood and started off.

Along the way, as she stopped to admire a blue jay nest in a front yard bush, she saw something move toward her from the corner of her eye. Flutterhsy looked ahead to see two people walking excitedly toward her direction; one was a man holding heavily equipped Nikon camera. The other was a woman with a digital recorder, who immediately knelt down in front of Fluttershy as the man began snapping away pictures with a bright flash.

"Fluttershy, are you on your way from school just now?" asked the woman, sticking the recorder in the filly's face. "Tell us about an average day in elementary school."

Fluttershy stood speechless, confused at the pestering lady and her high strung questining. This was only exacerbated by the blinding flash of the other human's camera, shrinking her young pupils. At first, she tried to form a response in her mind; but fortunately, Luke had warned her about talking to strangers. She simply ignored the woman and her shutter-happy partner, and continued down the street.

Suddenly, Fluttershy heard a loud vehicle motor rush up from behind her. She snapped around quickly to see a blue van speed up and almost instantly stop across the street from her. Then, like circus clowns in a toy car, another pair of humans with a video camera and a recorder came rushing up to the clueless filly. Hurriedly, they approached Fluttershy and flew more fast paced questions at her.

"Flutteshy, Fluttershy," acknowledged the male reporter. "What was it like talking to Nosy Nelly? Do your parents plan on putting you on her show again?"

Again, Fluttershy gawked at the odd people with the large camera staring menacingly at her. Suddenly, she began to feel nervous as she only met the strangers with more silence. She quickened her pace to a trot down the street, hoping to get home without anymore confusion. But just as soon as she started off, a few more humans with news team equipment rushed up to her, seemingly out of nowhere, and yet again, Fluttershy was bombarded by more random questions.

"Hey Fluttershy, can you give a shot out for NBC?"

"Fluttershy, what product do you use for your mane?"

WIth the feeling of intimidation creeping up, Fluttershy only managed to speak in a light voice. "Um, excuse me, uh, I just want to go home."

As she continued her trot, she looked back to see her pursers catching up behind her with more questions to fire at her. Then, just as she had thought she was experiencing the worst of it, Fluttershy caught another hoard of journalists swarming around her, having also manifested from the blue. Sure enough, the questions persisted.

"Fluttershy, do you have a crush on any boys at school?"

"Fluttershy, have you thought about doing any kids' show roles?"

"Fluttershy, did your parents say anything about merchandise? Calendars? Coffee mugs? Dolls?"

"Please, leave me alone. Please?" she squeaked again.

But the paparazzi kept up their beckoning questions. In that moment, there was no room for her to escape. Every direction around her was blocked by imposing grownups all spitting their questions at once and sticking microphones close to her muzzle. And all the while, Fluttershy was surrounded by more blinding flashes from cameras; the ones that weren't recording her every movement. She was overcome with fear by the swarming crowd of reporters, and began to feel tears welling up in her teal eyes. As they creeped ever closer to her, Fluttershy shut her eyes and let out a whimpering cry before bolting bewtween one man's legs and down the street.

Terrified, she galloped closer toward home, still with the desperate journalists on her tail. At long last, she saw her beautiful house up ahead and sprinted to safety. As she approached the front walkway, the door opened and Fluttershy immediately saw her father step out with a puzzled look.

"Daddy!" she yelled for help.

Then, Luke became stunned at the sight of the hoard following behind his daughter. His worst fears were being realized before his very eyes. He jogged up the path and knelt down to grab Fluttershy.

"Go find your mother." He said simply and carefully urged her into the house.

Fluttershy did as told, and entered through the open door only to meet Haley who had been standing there concerned. She swept the filly in her arms in a protective shell, quickly beginning to calm her down.

With his little girl now home safe, Luke turned back ahead and approached the reporters. They surrounded him and began new questions regarding the celebrity foal; but he would have nothing of it. One paparazzo came terribly close to Luke and began snapping headshots. But suddenly, with an enraged scowl, Luke snatched the camera from the man's hands and hurled it to the ground, smashing it to pieces. Then, the hoard became deathly silent as he through a swift punch at the cameraman's nose, sending him tumbling to the ground. The rest stood in shock at the assault and stared at Luke.

For the first time in a long while, the protective father's anxiety had been replaced by unbridled anger. He glared back at the news teams and uttered in a stony tone.

"Stay away from my daughter."

Without another word, the pesky camera jockeys sheepishly vacated the yard, turning off all equipment. Luke breathed a sigh of success before reentering his home to assess the damage.

Upon entering the living room, he found Fluttershy still in Haley's grasp on the couch. Quietly, she sobbed in terror after her ordeal, as her mother soothingly hushed her fear away. Luke knew what had caused this incident, and immediately decided to take care of it post haste. He quickly grabbed the phone and dialed the number before hearing the familiar female voice pick up. Ignoring the greeting, Luke spoke calmly but firmly.

"Nelly, it's Luke...Yeah, I don't want that interview anywhere on TV...Yes, I'm sure...I don't care...No, I want every last tape gone...I'm positive...Alright, thanks...Goodbye." He hung up, before turning again to his traumatized daughter.

Fluttershy sniffled as Haley stroked her silky mane and sang in a calming angelic tone.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

...

That night, the trauma had finally passed. It seemed as if Fluttershy had long forgotten about her scare with the paparazzi outside her own front door. She now lay in the master bed, curling up next to her mother, and rested her head on her chest. She delighted in pressing her ear against Haley and listening to her beautiful voice reading a children's book out loud.

"And then, the ugly duckling came upon a family of frogs in the pond."

While Fluttershy snuggled with her mother, they both heard Luke enter the bedroom. He still seemed a bit stressed from the events of the past afternoon as he sat on the edge of the bed with a long tired breath and hung his head. The whole week had been one long strain on his nerves, and Haley could sense it in an instant.

"Something wrong?" she asked in honesty.

Luke picked his head and turned toward his girls. His face wore the knowing smile that they had missed. "You know what we need?" he asked after a pause. "A vacation."

Haley blinked in surprise at her husband's spontaneous proposition. But as expected, Fluttershy perked up excitedly.

"Really, Daddy?" she smiled.

Luke slid over and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her forehead as well. "Really, Fluttershy." He answered.

"Yay!"

Comments

[Stratocaster]

Finally! I told myself I would post a new chapter before the end of this week and I did it! Hope it's worth the wait.

[Cold Spike]

Poor Shy... MOAR!

[TheMessenger]

In other news, Luke's a total badass and we now know where Flutterrage comes from

[SlashopentheSky]

YAAY update.

With his little girl now home safe, Luke turned back ahead and approached the reporters. They surrounded him and began new questions regarding the celebrity foal; but he would have nothing of it. One paparazzo came terribly close to Luke and began snapping headshots.

Is that a mistake or an alternate spelling?

[Maralagidyne]

2306535
Its the singular form of paparazzi.

[Florida]

Talyor Swift and her twenty eighth boyfriend.

WOW
OK
You misspelled Taylor

[butterfield pancake]

Why do I think, its a vacation in Equestria

[Stratocaster]

2307084 Oops, sorry. I was hoping the readers would have dyslexia.

[Tovan]

2307084>>2310859
I thought it was a pun used to allude to her without actually referring to her name directly. Or of course, a simple misspelling.

[soulknight13]

GIVE ME MOAR
fluttershy is so cute i cant wait for the next chapter but a question will flutter meet up with her dad once more???

[Twilight--Paladin]

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

I absolutely LOVE that song. When I was younger, my mom would sing it to me when I was sad.

[DerpTape]

A punch in the shnozz for the paparazzi? Understandable, but not a very good idea.

[Heartstrings1]

A round of "d'aw"s was heard from the audience.

Exactly the sound of everyone when they see her

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. reminds me of doki doki literature club

Adorabities level for me: high

[Carnelitite]

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

omgggg my mom always sing me this even still to this day omg