We all must stay loyal to our family, but how loyal exactly?
Fluttershy is very content with her life in Ponyville; her old life was never one that she was too interested in. But when she's visited by some family members, she risks leaving her new life behind forever.
She picked up her basket and walked outside. It was a little heavier than yesterday since she felt she hadn't given them enough. She had of course, but if anypony knows Fluttershy, they know that she always wants to be sure everybody is happy.
"Hello my little critters!" She said with a smile "I hope you're hungry, I've brought you an especially large serving today since you didn't get so much last time."
The raccoons were slightly puzzled by what she meant by underfed, but who were they to pass up more food? This of course was their reasoning while they scarfed down the leftovers of the other critters. They didn't need leftovers but the preferred them.
"Goodness, you must have been starving if you're eating them that fast. Well, I hope you enjoy!" She waved goodbye to them as she headed back into her cottage.
"Let's see, we have a couple of things to do today. I'll need to buy more seeds for the birds, I have lunch with Rainbow Dash at two, and finally I need to visit Rarity to check up on Opal. Again."
She took a deep breath, put on her saddle bag and trotted out the door, all the while humming one of her favorite tunes.
As the sun began to set, Fluttershy finally arrived back at her cottage. She took a moment to appreciate the breeze of a cool summer day. It was one of the nicest parts about living on the ground, the wind blows to fierce or too calmly in the clouds. She took out her keys, about to unlock the door when she heard a loud noise that sent her diving for her emergency bush. Of course it was nothing more than a simple thump on the ground but you can never be too careful, right?
"Fluttershy poked her head out of the bush. "W-w-whos there?" she whispered
"Honestly my lady, I thought you were used to my less than perfect landings." Came a familiar voice
She turned her head only to see I giant snout inches away from her face. She shrieked and dived into her backup emergency bush. "Who are you?" she said breathing heavily. "P-please don't hurt me!"
"Hurt you my lady?" The figure chuckled "Now why would I ever do that?"
Hearing his soothing voice, Fluttershy emerged from her "hiding place" to get a better look at the stranger. It was a flying pig, they're very rare and not many people get a chance to meet one. The only other one she ever met was her butler, and he... was in... Cloudsdale.
Fluttershy gasped "Snouten? What are you doing here?"
"Well my lady, I first came here with a message from your mother, but now it seems I might have to check your memory as well." The flying butler pig waddled over to his master. "You remember me I'm guessing, do you remember your family as well?"
"Of course I remember them!" Fluttershy said, insulted. "There's mama and papa and Flutterdream and Flutterfree and Flutterdawn JR. I remember them all... y-you just startled me."
Snouten stared blankly at her "Of course my lady, deepest apologies. However, I should continue on to the matter at hand."
"Oh, why don't you some inside and have some tea then? My flying friends collected some rarer leaves from the Everfree forest, I haven't tried them yet but there's no better occasion than catching up with old friends."
Snouten cocked his head a little, examining his master now all grown up. "You know ponies who travel into the Everfree forest?"
"Not pegasi Snouten, birds." Fluttershy corrected
"Oh, of course. How could I forget about your little talent?" Snouten smiled as they walked into her cottage, "Isn't that why you moved here anyways, to live with wild animals?"
"They're not wild, most of them are very tame and nice once you get to know them." Fluttershy said as she filled the tea kettle. "Maybe you could bring one back to mama and papa, I'm sure they would love to have one of the exotic birds that live down here."
"You can give it to them yourself, that's why I came down here. Your mother and father wanted me to let you know they are visiting you in a weeks time."
"That's wonderful!" Fluttershy exclaimed "I haven't seen them in years, I certainly miss them."
"Which is why you never visit and never write." Snouten mumbled.
Fluttershy looked down at the floor embarrassingly. It was true that she hadn't had any real contact with her parents aside from seeing them at a distance at the Best Young Flyer Competition. Her sister used to visit her but that was three years ago.
"I just assumed they didn't want to hear from me, Flutterdream told me they were furious at me for leaving the manor. I wanted to apologize for leaving but mama scares me to death! I would sooner have had a heart attack than have made amends with her."
"You're sister always had a way with exaggerating the truth" Snouten snorted "The only time she's ever been timid with her words was when... never mind. You're parents are a little sad and disappointing that you chose to live down here, but they still love you all the same my lady. Don't worry, they're not coming down here to burn you at the stake."
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, she was always worried that her past would come back to haunt her but now it seems it was just coming for a friendly visit.
"Anyways my lady, they said they would be staying overnight for three days so they hope you will be ready to host them for that long."
Fluttershy looked around her cottage quizzically. It could definitely house her parents for three days but would they mind all the animals? Well, if they taught her anything it was to value that what was more important than being a good host; is being a good guest.
"I'm sure they will be more than comfortable staying here for three days, maybe I can introduce them to my friends!" Fluttershy beamed.
Snouten looked gravely at his master. "You have friends?"
"Oh yes," She smiled "Five of the best friends I could ever hope for"
"I will inform your parents they will be seeing some new ponies on their visit" Snouten grunted. "In the mean time I hope you have a good day, my lady."
"What about tea?" Fluttershy asked
"I'm sure you can share it with one of your friends, I on the other hand have duties to attend to." Snouten said as he took off into the sunset.
"I cant believe we're gonna see Fluttershy's parents!" Pinkie Pie cheered jumping from hoof to hoof. "This is so exciting I don't think I'll be able to sleep till they get here!"
"Cmon Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said rolling her eyes. "Its not like it's your parents or anything, why are you getting this worked up about it?" She sighed, why did she even ask?
"Because if Fluttershy's excited then I'm excited" Pinkie giggled "And there's two more ponies who I'll get be able to know, and a flying pig A FLYING PIG! I bet he has the cutest wings, do flying pigs have a different kind of wing? What if they're little stubby wings? OHHHH that would be the most adorable thing! What if they have huge wings so they can lift all that weight, not saying flying pigs are fat or anything cause that's just insensitive."
The other five ponies stared at Pinkie Pie, it was gonna take a fair bit of time to get used to her entirely. True, they were all excited to see Fluttershy's parents for the first time, but it also brought up a whole bunch of questions.
Twilight brought up the elephant in the room. Well, whatever large object makes the outdoors uncomfortable. "So Fluttershy, do you mind telling us why we're only now hearing about your parents?"
"Ah must admit, I don't reckon I've ever heard you talkin about your parents before sugar cube. Is there somethin about them that embarrasses you?" Applejack smiled encouragingly at her friend.
"Goodness no." Fluttershy dug at the ground with her hoof "I just... thought it would be better if I didn't mention who they were, especially in a small town like this." This was a half truth, but they didn't need to know the entire truth, there was no point in worrying them.
Rarity's ears perked up, she loved being the first to hear gossip. "Why would you ever not want people to know who your parents are darling?"
Fluttershy hid herself a little in her hair, She hoped she would be able to explain it all when her parents arrived, it felt a little to early to be telling them now.
"Don't be shy Fluttershy," Twilight said sweetly. "We all Pinkie promise not to tell anyone about you parents if you don't want us to, right girls?" She scanned over her friends to make sure they were all going through the steps. Rarity reluctantly promised, what a waste of good gossip.
"Well, I guess you would find out sooner or later." Fluttershy sighed "I come from the Flutter family, I would be lying if I said we werent one of the wealthiest families in Equestria but fortunately my parents know how to minimize their publicity and maximize their profit."
"So you didn't want us to know that you're filthy rich." Rainbow Dash concluded "I don't know about you four but I couldn't see Fluttershy wearing a tiara and walking around like royalty could you? also, we both went to flight school together, how did I not know your parents were rich?"
"Well if you recall, you never saw my parents. I always went to flight school with my Nannie, she would take me behind a cloud, give me my saddle bag, and send me off. She picked me up the same way too." Fluttershy stared into the clouds trying to picture it happening up there.
"Why in Equestria would your parents be so secretive about being wealthy? I mean if I were them I'd be flying around in style and throwing money every which way!" Rainbow dash grinned at the idea.
"I must admit darling, I too would enjoy a little fame from my fortune." Rarity said as she also lost herself in her super rich fantasy.
"Well, I guess you haven't been rich before." Fluttershy caught herself "I-I mean, not that there's something wrong with that."
"Its fine Fluttershy, you're right, we none of us really know what it's like to have personal wealth. I mean I did spend most of my life in Canterlot but my parents weren't the wealthiest and when I went to live with Celestia I never cared much for having expensive things. Just books, lots of books." Twilight frowned a little, she was finding yet another thing that she didn't get to enjoy because of her constant studying.
"Don't get me wrong, my parents are very well known in the wealthy community, and I'm sure many people out there know their names. But they don't like paparazzi or journalists or anything like that. I guess they just prefer the money making part of their life and not the fame that comes with it."
"Well, if they were one of the poorest families in the world it wouldn't matter." applejack put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "We'll keep their identities to ourselves, you don't have to worry about that."
Fluttershy smiled, It was so nice that she had such good and trustworthy friends. She was sure they would love her parents. Absolutely sure.
"Hey Fluttershy, I was wondering, how did your parents get so rich? I mean, its not like money grows in trees, which would be so cool if it did!" pinkie gasped "Do your parents have a money tree? can I see it?"
"Well ummm, I dont think they have a money tree, they might as well have one though" Fluttershy giggled "Money has been in my family for generations really. Do you know Dawn-breaker Stadium?"
Rainbow dashes jaw dropped "You don't mean the Dawn-breaker Stadium? The largest arena ever built for the Summer Pegasi Games? I wen't there with my aunt once, it was so awesome!"
"You might have seen me looking out of one of the VIP booths." Fluttershy blushed
"That is so cool! I cant wait to meet your parents!" Rainbow Dash had the biggest grin on her face, the other four ponies nodded in agreement. Fluttershy smiled, this was going to be a great visit.
The six girls continued to laugh and talk over tea. Fluttershy was happy.
The cottage was ready and everything was perfect. Fluttershy had finished rehearsing the animals on how to behave in front of her parents, Pinkie had brought with her a cake that the Cakes helped her bake, Applejack had been kind enough to build Fluttershy a spare bed so she wouldn't have to sleep on the sofa, Twilight had read everything she could about wealthy culture, Rainbow Dash had set up a lookout cloud to see when they were coming, Rarity had picked out some fancy dresses for them to wear (and in the hopes that they might catch the arriving guest's eyes), and even spike had come along to help clear away some of the dust and fur lying about. Fluttershy was nervous but thanks to her friends she was a lot more confident than if it were just her and her parents. After all their chores were done, the girls had nothing better to do but wait. Rainbow Dash of course still had to be on the lookout but she was more than content with closing her eyes for a minute...or two.
"They were supposed to be here at three, where are they?!" Pinkie restlessly stomped her hooves on the dirt path
"Pinkie, its half passed two..." Twilight moaned, Pinkie had been doing this for the past fifteen minutes. "Even if they were a little late we have to be patient."
"That's right, remember what Fluttershy said girls, we all need to be at our best behavior before and while her ma and pa are here" Applejack stomped her hoof to make her point; unlike Celestia, Fluttershy knew her parents were not as tolerant of informal behavior.
"That is most certainly correct" The girls dropped their jaws and swiveled their heads. A dark orange mare with a mane of pure white, a tan stallion with a dark red mane, and Rainbow Dash with the most embarrassed look on her face approached from behind them. Rainbow Dash joined the other, the other two ponies stood still, scanning the group as if to judge their fate. Finally their eyes rested on the bright yellow pony avoiding their gaze under her long pink hair. The orange mare tilted her hair and smiled, "Oh Fluttershy darling, you need not be scared, it is us mummy and daddy."
Fluttershy emerged from her pink curtain, she looked at her parents for the longest time, her body froze in a desperate attempt to hold back her emotions. Her lips trembled, her legs shook, a cool breeze sent a chill down her spine.
Her father frowned "What's wrong sweetheart? didn't you miss..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Fluttershy had already flung herself into her parents arms. She held on to them with all her might, as her tears flowed like rivers down her cheeks. The three of them stood there in an unbreakable embrace, none of them said a word. Her parents didn't cry but any pony could tell they were as happy as she was. The other five stood a little ways away, none of them could hold back at least a few tears at the site of Fluttershy reuniting with her parents. It had seemed too good to be true when Fluttershy had first heard they were coming that she didn't really understand the amount which she had kept bottled up all those years. Now they were here and everything was different. There was so much she wanted to do with them three days would never be enough.
The three eventually broke away, Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face and recollected herself. "Mama, Papa, I want to introduce you to Applejack,"
"Howdy there"
"Rarity,"
"Charmed to meet you"
"Rainbow Dash,"
"Hey-I mean hello"
"Twilight Sparkle,"
"Pleased to meet you!"
"And Pinkie Pie"
"I. Am. So. Glad. You. Could. Come."
Pinkie let out a deep breath, when Fluttershy had taken her off to the side while they were preparing and told her to be at her best behavior, she would have preferred if she had given her the stare compared to the look in her eyes.
"So you are the friends our butler informed us about, I must admit being the elements of harmony is a good start to getting to know you all. Allow me to introduce us, I am Flutterdawn and this is my wife Flutterbird" The smile on Fluttershy's dad had left him the moment he saw her friends. Not out of disapproval, simply because like all things a smile is earned, and not given freely. "Why don't we continue this after we have unpacked and over a nice cup of tea. Sweetheart, do you still have some of those Everfree leaves?"
"Of course, I guess Snouten told you about them too. I'll get the kettle ready, but wheres Spike? He said he would help my parents unpack.
"I think he's passed out on your couch," Twilight mused "He was a little tuckered out after hauling all those garbage bags."
Fluttershy's parents frowned, lesson number one: the host is always ready for the guest.
Fluttershy bit her lip "That's okay, Twilight could you and Rarity help carry their bags in? I'm sure it will be easy for the both of you."
"Sure thing, but where exactly are your things Mr and Mrs Flutter?" Twilight had noticed that there wrent any bags in sight."
"Oh they should be arriving any second now, we decided to fly ahead since there wasn't any need to wait." Flutterbird turned towards the dirt path. "Ah there they are right now."
From around the bend was a sight to behold. A pack of luggage cases rolled along on their very own whim, they raced along the dirt path coming to a halt in front of the dumbfounded group.
"Aren't they wonderful? They carry a motus stone given to us by a spirit elk as a thank you to us to us for protecting their forest. They still have trouble with steps though so your assistance would be appreciated." Flutterbird had what some optimists would call a smile on her face
Flutterbird looked up at the cottage "I see our cottage is still in livable conditions,"
"Your cottage? But ummm mama, I-I assumed that I owned the cottage since you ummm stopped paying the bills for it years ago. I'm sorry if I was wrong." Fluttershy dropped her head in shame.
It's quite alright dear," Flutterdawn laughed "But remember that just because we don't pay its bills, doesn't mean we don't own the land."
"Right, sorry. I'll remember that for next time" Fluttershy said with a sheepish smile.
Everyone had finally settled down in the living room. Fluttershy poured everyone a cup of tea and they all sat back in preparation for all the talking they had to do. But there was no talking. Not even on the calmest nights had such a silence ever blanketed the room. Not that there was nothing to say but more no one who wanted to speak first. Even Pinkie Pie couldn't bring herself to speak. Fluttershy's parents were not as reluctant to begin however, they just were too polite to start first. But seeing that their daughter and her friends were jaw locked...
Flutterdawn broke the silence, "So why don't you tell us more about yourselves, let's start with you Rarity. You seem to be the most formal among these ponies, spare our daughter, and you also have a fine sense in formal attire."
Rarity went a cherry red. "Well I have always valued proper language and a good dress, gems are my specialty. I simply adore gems."
He raised an eyebrow, "Embroidered dresses? Using gems? Those may not be hard to come by but they certainly require a certain level of talent to make them properly. We saw one once in a boutique in Canterlot. I tell you it was absolutely stunning, the designer had created beautiful rainbow patterns all along the seems and had lined the collar with a cotton as light as a cloud!"
Rarity's jaw dropped "B-but that's my design! it was an inspiration of Rainbow Dash, a stallion walked by my shop and special ordered it to be delivered to Canterlot. I had no idea he was going to sell it..."
Flutterdawn's other eyebrow was now raised. "tell me, how much did you sell the dress for?"
"Oh it wasn't too hard to make, still it was one of my fancier designs so I sold it for around three hundred bits if I remember correctly." Rarity looked over and shrunk a little at Flutterdawn's dissapointed look
"I'm afraid I have ill news for you, the stallion who bought the dress from you was selling it for triple the price."
"That's absurd!" Rarity gasped "Certainly no one would buy it for that kind of price."
"The only reason you don't see me wearing it right now was because someone beat us to it." Flutterbird sighed "Fancy pants was his name, one of our business partners. Apparently hey was buying it for a friend of his and complimented the shop owner on his fine sewing skills."
Rarity stared into her cup, thinking about all the unspeakable things she would do if she saw that wretched thief again. The room fell back into silence but only for a moment, Rainbow Dash quickly broke it.
"So Mr and Mrs Flutter," their eyes moved to Rainbow Dash "Did you know that I'm the one who performed the sonic rainboom last summer?"
"We are well aware of that, apparently you saved a foolish unicorn who had given herself wings in order to compete."
"Oh, that was Raritrmnismina..." Rainbow Dash said desperately trying to put the words back into her mouth
Rarity was the first of Fluttershy's friends to experience that stare, that dreadful stare. She felt like she was being crushed under the weight of it. But why should she be so disappointed in herself? She had learned her lesson and hadn't done anything like that again. So where was this guilt coming from? Simply a disappointing gaze? If there weren't unicorns in this world, that stare would be the closest thing to magic. Celestia know what happens to a ponies spirit when they started throwing in words. And this all happened in a matter of seconds.
"Mama, Papa." Fluttershy said, breaking her parents eye contact with Rarity, "Did you know Applejack here has a business of her own? She runs an apple orchard in Ponyville." Fluttershy knew that if anything caught her parents attention, it was business.
"Oh really?" Flutterbird leaned in a little "You know, my sister runs the agricultural division of our company, do you know of her products?"
"Well I don't think I would mam, y'see at sweet apple acres all our seeds and what not come from the farm." Applejack beamed, "we don't use anything grown or built outside of our farm besides lumber and such."
The Flutters truly seemed impressed by that. "I certainly do appreciate an entrepreneur who cuts off her liabilities for maximum profit." Flutterdawn made a rolling gesture with his wing.
Applejack stared with a blank expression at them. "I'll just pretend I understand what that all meant."
"We understand, we are well aware of the sub par education that most farmers acquire." Flutterbird took a long sip of her tea.
"Hey! You can't just be saying things like that to Applejack!" Rainbow Dash began to hover in the air. "Who do you think you are to call her an idiot! Unlike you two she works herself to the bone every day to feed her family and Equestria!"
And that made two. As Rainbow Dashes eyes fixed on theirs, all she could feel was the shame and humility of her outburst. Wasn't it right for her to defend her friend? She felt like she had just come in second in a race, and that would be pretty accurate. Her loyalty was good, but their eyes were better. Rainbow Dash slumped back into her seat. She didn't say a word the rest of the day.
"You didn't have to do that sugarcube" Applejack smiled "They're right, I don't have the biggest brains in this here room, but its fine."
"Indeed." Flutterdawn had already brushed off the outburst like dandruff. "However, I hope that the rest of your friends are more disciplined with their words."
Their cursed words drew their attention to Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy looked back and forth nervously at her friends and her parents, she was sure this was going somewhere bad.
"So what is your claim to fame Ms Pie? Surely with such accomplished friends you have a tale or two to tell." There was no smile, there was no frown. Flutterdream was challenging Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie was turning volcano red in the face. One does not simply as Pinkie Pie a question and expect a straight forward answer. And that was exactly what Fluttershy had told her to do. She couldn't do it, she simply couldn't keep herself contained for a second longer.
"I LOVE BAKING AND EATING AND SWIMMING AND PLAYING AND LAUGHING AND JUMPING AND RUNNING AND SMILING AND PIEING AND CAKING AND BABYSITTING AND PARTYING AND MORE PARTYING AND FRIENDSHIPPING AND PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND..." Pinkie stopped in somersault to catch the gaze of her audience.
Unlike the others, Pinkie Pie's experience was a little more obvious. The first thing that happened was she deflated, literally. Her mane and tail flopped to the ground and she curled up in her seat next to tears. She had failed Fluttershy, she had failed her friends. She couldn't keep it together long enough and now they were all mad at her and would never forgive her. Why was she so upset over being herself? What was it about that stare that made her feel so miserable? Like the other two, Pinkie had been rendered speechless
Applejack and Twilight were shocked, simply shocked. Could they have complained? sure. But they understood now what it took to be one of the wealthiest people in Equestria. It took dominance, condensed in their eyes was an unstoppable strength and they could use it like a play thing. Fluttershy was desperate, this time she didn't have any more business topics to bring up. She did have one last thing though.
"M-m-mama, Papa, guess what I've been doing these past few years." She could barely bring the words out she was so nervous.
"Snouten informed us when he returned" Flutterbird said dismissively "You take care of animals for a living and spend most of your earnings to care for animals you're not even contracted to care for."
Fluttershy took a deep breath. Her parents were starting to get nasty, she knew it wouldn't have happened if things had gone smoother. Why was she so stupid as to introduce them to her friends?
"Well, yes. Its my passion to help animals in any way I can, and you know that." Fluttershy had to be strong. for once, she was the only one who could.
"Well sweetie, if you ever need any... support you can let us know." Her father smiled down at her.
Three of her friends were victims of er parents stare and the other two were ready to run out the door at a moments notice. This was going swimmingly awe full. Even the tea was nasty.
Fluttershy was done. she looked up at the clock, it didn't really matter what the hands pointed to. "Goodness look at the time. I guess you five have a lot to do and I wouldn't want to hold you up. this has been a nice get together though, I'm sure you all enjoyed it as much as I did."
Her friends quietly got up, nodded goodbye and walked out the door. The family sat in silence, there was nothing to say.
The rest of the visit was surprisingly nice, once she and her parents had some alone time together, they were as kind as kind could be. They had brought her some cloud light chocolates which is as fancy as chocolates get, and they were very kind towards Fluttershy's animals. What Fluttershy didn't know was that a decision had already made and there was no point in her parents bringing it up to spoil the moment.
A week had passed since Fluttershy's parents had headed back home. She still hadn't brought up tea with her friends, fortunately there was a mutual desire to keep that day buried and to focus on more important things. Like today, Fluttershy was heading over to Rainbow Dash's cloud house to help her re-decorate. She had just opened the door when she heard an odd noise coming from the road. Around the bend, a stampede of luggage came rolling towards her house followed by Snouten. Fluttershy waved at them as they approached, the luggage came to a halt at her steps and so did Snouten.
"Hello Snouten!" Fluttershy smiled "I didn't know you were coming to stay with me, that's a lot of luggage you've got there."
"I'm afraid I wont be staying with you my lady." Snouten sighed
"Oh? well then who's coming?" She was a little excited because she thought it might be one of her siblings.
"You don't understand my lady, as of this moment no one will be staying her. This luggage is for you, pack your things and be ready to leave for Cloudsdale."
Fluttershy ran into her bedroom, crying as she always did after a day of flight school. It was a place where she could be alone and no one could tease her, where she could cry away all her weakness. This was the only way she could keep a straight face in front of her family, as she couldn't bear letting them see her in such a state. She would cry until she could cry no more and then when her parents asked about her day she could tell them with a smile on her face that it was fine.
"Fluttershy"
"Eep!" Fluttershy jumped and almost hit the ceiling. She swiveled around to see her dad come into her room. "Papa! W-w-what are you doing in her?" She quickly wiped the tears off her face and made what she thought was a smile, trying to cover up the fact that she had just been putting the pegasi rain makers to shame.
For a moment he just stared at her and frowned "I'm not going to spend one more day listening to you bottle your feelings up in this room just to make yourself look strong in front of us. That's not where strength comes from, it's not a disguise we wear to cover up our weakness."
Fluttershy went even more red than she already had been and stared shamefully at her bedroom floor.
Her father sat beside her on her bed, "Tell me Fluttershy, what has been making you cry like this? Correction, who has been making you cry like this?"
"No one papa," her voice was almost a whisper "I scraped my foot on the floor on my way back from school." She didn't include that fact that she was pushed over and it was actually in her classroom.
"I would have liked to believe you, but we live on clouds dear." Her father made something between a grunt and a chuckle.
She finally looked up at her father, she looked into those kind, caring eyes of his. They were warm and inviting and they were pleading with her to tell the truth. She couldn't help it, she broke down in front of her father. He held his daughter tightly and stroked her mane as she pressed her face into his chest and let her tears soak into his suit.
"I'm sorry papa! I c-c-can't do it! I'm n-n-not as strong as you!" she said between sobs.
"Its okay sweetheart, papa's here. Papa will always be here and I will always love you with all my heart." He whispered into her ear, "We're going to get through this together."
After a few minutes of crying and a few extra minutes of hugging, Fluttershy and her father finally gave each other a little breathing room. Flutterdawn straightened his suit and dabbed the tear stains with his handkerchief, Fluttershy blushed a little at the mess she had made of her fathers suit.
"It's fine sweetie, it's only a suit." He chuckled "But it's about time we started talking business, I know this is hard for you but this is also a magical opportunity to teach you a thing or two about bullies."
"But how did you-"
"A father can always tell."
"Oh..."
"Now tell me, who are these ponies in your class who keep making you cry like this?"
Fluttershy sniffled and wiped her eyes a little bit more. "Who isn't making me cry? Everyone thinks I'm a useless flyer and that I"m just, just useless in general."
Flutterdawn was honestly surprised "That's absurd! Your grades are phenomenal, and you do all the after school programs. Well, except the ones involving flying."
Fluttershy smiled, it was nice to hear her father appreciated her hard work. "They know all that, but it's like nothing matters to them except flying. I don't know what I can say to make them stop teasing me.
Flutterdawn stared blankly into space, she was a little young but this couldn't go on any longer. He could easily make them go away but that's not how his family solved problems.
He picked up Fluttershy and sat her on her lap. "Do you know what I had to go through to keep our business alive?"
Fluttershy pondered over this, she knew that her father was a wealthy businessman, as was her mother. She never really considered the difficulty included in running one of the largest company's in the world. "I don't know papa, what did you have to go through?"
He sighed, "Bullies, lots of them."
This was surprising for Fluttershy, no one crossed her father. "You were bullied papa?"
"As a child, as an adult, you never lose the timber wolves. You just learn to tame them." He smiled thinking back on all those times they tested him. He would always win. Always.
Fluttershy was confused "Tame them papa?"
"A pony who acts like a dog is treated like a dog. but dogs don't know English, they only know dominance." He paused for a moment preparing to make his final step. "Which is why its time to show you how we handle bullies in the Flutter family."
Fluttershy said nothing, she just looked up at her father, hey eyes glowing with curiosity.
"I'm going to teach you something that your brother and sister learned when they were far older than you."
"I don't know papa, I have a lot of schoolwork and I don't want to be a bother to you."
Her father grinned "Don't worry sweetheart, this is fole play for Flutters. All you have to do, is look into my eyes and remember who you are."
And she did just that, at first they were just eyes, two big balls of jelly in her fathers skull. What could possibly be in eyes? they couldn't speak, they couldn't hide, they could cry but that never solved any of her problems. But this wasn't a joke, her father wasn't joking, she could tell from...his eyes. She stared deeper into them, she was starting to see more in them. She saw love, confidence, pride, honesty, and dozens of other words in her fathers eyes. Then one word came up she wasn't expecting. Shame. it taunted her and tortured her and turned her inside out. She felt the tears building up in her eyes but she kept looking. Her shame had manifested itself in her fathers eyes and approached her with a terrible hunger. She desperately wanted to look away but she couldn't let down her father. And then she remembered. She remembered her honor role certificate, she remembered the beautiful dress she made with her nana, she remembered the time she fell and got her cutie mark, and she remembered all the pride she felt at those moments. It built up around her like a wall which her shame could not pass. She saw as her shame desperately tried to break through her barrier and at that point she did something she had never done before in the face of shame, she laughed. And as her shame shrunk to the size of a grape, she realized what her father was trying to tell her, his eyes and his gaze could tell many stories and now, so could hers. She had read his eyes and beat her shame. For the moment.
Their eyes broke away from each other and Fluttershy fell back on her bed exhausted. "I think I understand papa, I really do."
"When your grandfather taught me this gift, I saw a much different story than you. But beating you shame wasn't the point, the challenge depends on the person. The point was what my eyes, and now yours can do with little more than a stare." Her father jumped into an inspiring pose, which made Fluttershy giggle.
"But what does it matter that I can stare at them? does it really work better than words?"
"Better and easier than any word you can think of. When they look into your eyes they will see whatever you want them to see." Flutterdawn walked to Fluttershy's balcony and watched the sun set.
"So what now papa?" Fluttershy said joining him
He looked down at her and grinned "Now, I'm going to tell you what we're going to do."
Fluttershy was pulled out of her dream and back into reality as the carriage came to a jolting halt. She looked up at Snouten who was climbing off the carriage and calling over the luggage. He then spread his wings and flew over to the mansion followed closely by the luggage. As Fluttershy peaked out of the carriage she could see her family at the main door waiting for her. She wanted to hide, she wanted to go back to her cottage but she wasn't stupid, she knew that was not an option.
"You can do this," She reassured herself "Deep breath, back straight, pride and power is the key."
She emerged from the carriage and planted her feet on the ground in front of it. The world came to a stop around her as she looked upon the picture perfect image of her past. Her loving but strict parents, her clever but cocky older sister, her enthusiastic and egotistic younger brother, and of course her older brother was no where to be seen. They all stood in front of the family mansion, a magnificent structure built both into the clouds and into a mountain as well. Some say it's beauty rivaled the Canterlot palace, but it wasn't like many people had more than a few moments to gaze upon it unless they were invited. The Wiltwing estate, cleverly named after the unfortunate curse of being a member of the Flutter family. Weak wings. In fact legend has it the Flutter family began their entrepreneurial empire from a business selling flight aids. But now was not the time to think about her past, she had some reuniting to be done.
"Sissie!" Her brother, Flutterdawn Jr squealed "You made it! You made it!"
Fluttershy gasped as her brother crashed into her head first, sending both of them flying back into the carriage. "Dawnie! I think I'm suffocating, please get off!
Her brother sprung off of her and back out the carriage, he jumped in place eagerly waiting for his sister to climb back out. Eventually she did, and kindly smiled at her brother, hoping that he wouldn't jump her again.
"It's so nice to see you again Dawnie" Fluttershy looked up at the rest of her family. "And it's nice to see you as well." For some reason that only sounded like it was directed to her sister.
"It's been too long Fluttershy" Her sister smiled as they approached each other for a hug. "I wanted to visit truly but I've been very in the griffon kingdom. Being in charge of the company's international relations and all
"I never knew!" Fluttershy said astonished, "Congratulations Flutterfree, I'm so happy for you."
"Hey sissie! Guess what? Dad say's when I get out of college I can run the bakery division of the company! I'm so excited I could burst!" Unlike her other siblings and her, her little brother never really caught on to discretion of class. Though that didn't stop him from being in eighteen different Fluttersweet bakery commercials. people called his smile contagious. Kind of like a certain somepony who she'd never see again.
"That's wonderful Dawnie, I'm so proud of you." Fluttershy was a little distant, this was the first time since she arrived that she had thought about the fact that her friends, her best friends, were miles away.
"What about Flutterdream? Will he be arriving later?" Fluttershy was curious to know why her brother hadn't showed up of all occasions.
"He's gone, he won't come back, never speak his name in front of me, or our parents, or Flutterdawn junior ever again." Her sisters gaze made Fluttershy's world go dark, around her, this only happened when her sister was very serious about something.
"I-I'll keep that in mind" Fluttershy whispered
The dark shroud lifted and her sisters smile returned "Good then, why don't you come in and we can have lunch. We have so much to catch up on."
The two sisters and their little brother joined up with their parents and walked into the mansion. All the while, five figures quietly approached the mansion wearing guard uniforms.
