Lost and Then Found

by dragonpony111

Chapter 3: Shaky First Steps

Cheerilee then happily trotted home carrying her new daughter Charity, who was happy to be with her mother and seemed to enjoy bouncing along in the saddlebag. Cheerilee was stopped along the way by some of her friends who wanted to be in the know about the filly Cheerilee was carrying. After a long trip made longer by repeating the story so many times, Cheerilee and Charity were at home and finally a family. The first thing Cheerilee does when she enters her house is open up the envelope the nurse had given her. Cheerilee pulls out the various papers and goes through them to find the approved adoption papers from the mayor and Charity’s birth certificate which listed an estimated birth date. Not long after coming home Charity cried “Mommy, Hungry.” So Cheerilee set her down on the dining table and warmed up a bottle of formula. After Charity finished the bottle she let out a small burp and drifted off to sleep in her mother’s arms.

Cheerilee then took her to the crib and tucked her in. Cheerilee looked down at her filly while stroking her short but soft mane and gave her a kiss. Cheerilee herself then let out a yawn and decided to take a nap on her couch. She walked out of Charity’s room and quietly closed the door, leaving it cracked open just in case; then Cheerilee walked over to her couch and quickly drifted off to sleep after lying down. Cheerilee’s sleep wasn’t a pleasant one though because after an hour she had a terrible nightmare. Cheerilee was reliving that night she found the filly, but everything around her seemed scarier and darker. Looking to the front and back it seemed like the dark street went on forever with no change in scenery. Cheerilee kept walking as the wind made a frightening howl and somehow she was able to feel cold. Then suddenly Cheerilee could hear the ear piercing sounds of Charity crying. She quickly turned around to see that dark alleyway again but the dumpster at the end seemed terribly far away. Cheerilee shouted “I’m coming Charity, mommy is here.” and galloped as fast as she could but seemed to not be making any progress as she wasn’t getting closer. As she is running the sound of Charity’s cries stopped and she finally makes it to the dumpster. Cheerilee immediately opened it only to find it was empty. Cheerilee quickly woke up from the sound of shouting NO! in her sleep with a cold sweat and the worst feeling inside of her.

When Cheerilee fully woke up and regained her senses she could hear that Charity was actually crying and weezing at the same time. It seemed that her asthma flared up again which made it nearly impossible for her to breathe. Cheerilee instantly ran over to the box that contained of all Charity’s medicine, which the hospital had given her the day before taking Charity. Cheerilee frantically rummaged through it and finally found Charity’s inhaler. Then the panicked mother ran back to her filly who was gasping for air and quickly cradled her. She then brought the inhaler up to Charity’s mouth and waited for Charity to attempt an inhale before she puffed it. Cheerilee did this two more times and eventually Charity regained her breath and calmed her crying somewhat, to more of a sobbing. Cheerilee then softly spoke to her daughter:

“You gave me quite a scare there Charity, but everything is fine now, please relax and cheer up, for me at least?”

*sniff* *sniff* “Mommy” *sniff* “Sorry”

“No no! Don’t be sorry my precious! You can do no wrong by me, you did the greatest thing for me just by coming into my life, and all I want is to see you happy.”

Cheerilee then draped Charity over her shoulder and patted her back while walking around. Cheerilee was also excited to hear a new word from her filly, who was speaking more but only single words still lacking any form of sentence structure. The word sorry though meant even more to Cheerilee as now she knew her daughter could better understand what her mother was saying. After about five minutes Charity stopped sobbing altogether and just quietly held onto her mother. Cheerilee noticed that now her daughter’s face was soaked in tears and decided to give her filly a bath. This would be the first one Cheerilee herself is giving her daughter as the staff at the hospital always did it. Cheerilee drew her daughter a bath making sure the warm water wasn’t too hot and gently placed her filly in the tub. At first Charity resented getting wet like always but then really enjoyed the water as her own buoyancy made standing up a possibility for her. Cheerilee’s heart sank as she saw the look of pride and accomplishment on her daughters face as she stood in the water, with her legs still trembling though. Charity then exclaimed:

“Look. Mommy. Stand. STAND!”

Charity was happily standing there on her own for the first time and excited to show her mother what she can finally do. The joyous moment soon ended for Charity as her leg muscles quickly tired and she sank into the water, making a splash. Charity then sat up and looked at her mother with dissapointed eyes prompting Cheerilee to comfort her and say:

“Let’s turn that frown upside down. I’m so proud of you Charity for how far you have come along. I know you’ll walk on your eventually, but we must take our time.”

As the weeks passed by Charity’s health improved greatly in every aspect except with her muscles, as she could still only stand when in water. On one of her visits with Charity to the foal doctor Cheerilee voiced her concerns to the doctor who then inspected Charity, feeling her muscles. The doctor has a worried look on his face and tells Cheerilee:

“Well Cheerilee, Charity should at least be able to stand and take a few steps on her own by now. After checking her legs the muscles there are still soft and limp; it seems she was deprived of crucial nutrients for too long as a newborn foal. I still have hope that her legs will fully develop, but to be honest and realistic with you, we are possibly looking at wheelchair bound pony.”

After hearing those discomforting words Cheerilee turned to her daughter and gave her a false smile. Wheelchair or not Cheerilee would love her the same but it crushed her heart knowing her filly might not ever be able to walk like or play with other ponies. Upon leaving the hospital Cheerilee promised herself and to her daughter that she would never give up on Charity, that she will make sure Charity walks one day, whether that be in two weeks or five years. Later that day Cheerilee brought Charity to the lake where she scheduled a play date with Rarity as the unicorn was looking after the cutie mark crusaders. Upon arriving at the lake the CMC were attempting to earn their fishing cutie marks while Rarity was shading herself on a nearby bench. She noticed Cheerilee approaching carrying Charity and welcomes her:

“Hello there Cheerilee my darling, and pleased to meet you Charity. What an exquisite name, has the same ring to it as mine I would say. So how are you and your filly doing my darling?”

“Well enough I think Rarity, but I just had a visit with the foal doctor today, there is some unsettling news.”

“Oh my! What’s seems to be the matter my dear Cheerilee?”

“As you know Rarity, my filly has had her issues trying to walk. After examining her again today the doctor was expecting much more progress by now, and concluded that Charity just might never be able to walk.”

“Oh how dreaaaadfull! I do hope you and Charity can make it past this hurdle.”

“Uggh this is sooo boring, not a single nibble all day. See anything yet Applebloom?”

“Nope Sweetie Belle, your flank is as blank as ever.”

“Oh would you pipe down you two you are scaring away the fish.”

Becoming utterly bored Sweetie Belle dropped her fishing pole and noticed Cheerilee talking to Rarity.

Author's Note:

I wish I was better at chapter endings but oh well here it is. Expect your normal dose of Cutie Mark Crusader shenanigans to ensure next chapter!!!

Comments

[Fanskapet]

you should check the last word otherwise damn cuddly feel good cutesy story

[dragonpony111]

2278826
Thanks for pointing out the capitalization error, I got it.

[RainbowFlash96]

this is a beautiful story, my only concern is that you seem to be repeating Cheerilee a lot, but other than that this is great!

[Bronycommander]

The child's First word or steps are always a beautiful Moment