The Filly and Her Dog
Once upon a time there lived a filly who wasn't very good at talking with other ponies. A “speech impairment” the doctors had called it. The filly didn't understand what that meant, and she most certainly couldn't say it. When the doctors told her parents, they looked very sad, and the filly didn't like that. She never wanted to make her parents sad, so she did her very best to tell them she loved them. Both of them smiled at her, and that made her happy.
Life with her parents was good. They would play, go on picnics and celebrate Winter Wrap-Up like any other family would. It was only during school the little filly felt heart drop far into her stomach. The other ponies weren't very nice. They called her all sorts of names she couldn't even begin to speak. And when they played during recess, they never let her join. But it wasn't all bad. Instead of watching the ponies play, the little filly would spend her time drawing and painting. Although not the most talented at either, the filly still enjoyed both immensely. Almost anything she saw made its way to a piece of paper or a canvas.
Her parents quite appreciated her work, and as the years went on, their house was almost filled to the brim with colourful paintings and wondrous drawings. Some ponies even wanted to purchase some of them to hang in their own living room. But the filly never once sold anything; the paintings were for her own enjoyment, and of course her parents. Throughout these years they regularly went to the doctors, for the speech impairment didn't get any better despite daily training. The filly didn't care. She had her family and so many things to paint and draw. They always said the same thing anyway. It should have become easier for her to speak, yet nothing seemed to happen.
However, one visit was different. When the doctors were finished and about to say what they always do, they went behind closed doors with her parents. So the filly waited patiently in the hallway, simply looking at all the things she could paint. There were nurses pushing around beds with wheels, doctors wearing coats and peculiar lamps on their head and ponies of all ages looking sick. The hospital didn't look like a nice place, but the filly knew the doctors were the kindest ponies of all. With their medicine and smart brains they helped sick ponies get better, and they were never angry or sad.
When her parents came out from the room, they looked very sad. So the filly once again concentrated and said she loved them to the best of her abilities. It didn't work this time. Her parents didn't seem one bit happier. Her mother did hug her though, and it was the best hug she had ever gotten. Afterwards they walked from the hospital in total silence.
Not hearing her parents voice was quite uncomfortable for the filly. She didn't quite know why, but she really wanted them to talk about anything. But before she could continue her line of thought, she saw the most wonderful thing in the corner of her eye. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look straight at it. Before her was the cutest, most adorable puppy she had ever seen in her short life. It was sitting in a store window with its big tongue sticking to the window. The filly ran as fast as she could to the window without even thinking of telling her parents. They noticed right away, however, and followed her. And for the first time in the little pony's life, her parents didn't try to talk her out of it. They simply walked into the store and purchased the puppy. The filly didn't even notice they had gone until the store owner grabbed the puppy in front of her and handed it to her parents.
For the remainder of the walk to their home, the filly had forgotten all about the sad stares of her parents. Her puppy required all of her attention, which she happily gave to it. Like a bolt of lightning that small puppy ran around the street. It was quite the energetic fellow, and that brought a smile to the filly's face. While her impairment hindered her speech, it seemed to have no effect on her ability to laugh. And that filly laughed. Like she had never laughed before. And that laughter stung like a poisonous thorn in her parents' hearts.
In the days that followed the filly did nothing but play with her puppy. Around the house they ran and in the garden they rolled in the grass. On the sky the sun shone brighter than ever before. It shone onto the happy filly and her energetic puppy as they played every day. She would come home from school and her dog would be waiting for her at the front door. The filly had thought of a perfect name for the adorable creature, but she could not utter it, no matter how hard she tried. That never turned out to be a problem, however. Never once did she have to call for it; it always came on its own.
While watching their beautiful daughter play with her puppy, the parents realised it was growing far faster than it should. Within no more than four days the puppy had doubled in size and didn't seem to slow down. The filly didn't pay any mind to it, as she had never had a puppy before; she thought it normal and natural. Although her parents worried, they had not the heart to take away their darling's dog. Whatever made her happy was to be savoured and kept close.
As such the dog kept growing until it was almost as large as the filly herself. And as the dog grew, the filly played less and less with it. Only a week after the regular visit to the doctor she had fallen ill. A constant pain resided in her throat and her body felt old and weary. Most of her days were spent in bed, with her mother bringing her refreshments and meals, and her dog by her side at all times. Her mood never dropped once. Although violent coughs occurred when she laughed, they were still genuine laughs nonetheless. She did try her best not to laugh, as she heard her mother sobbing every time she did. Being bedridden was bad enough; she wouldn't sadden her own mother too.
After only two days in her bed and overhearing what seemed like a painful exchange of words between her parents in a different room, the filly was put in a wheelchair and taken to the hospital. Golden leaves on every tree and every bush made the journey quite a sight for the filly. Oh, how she would have loved to put all she saw on a canvas. Ponies playing in the enormous piles of leaves, pegasi helping the trees shake off their golden coats, unicorns cleaning the streets with cheer and joy. Some ponies even smiled at her and waved. This day was truly one of the best days she had had.
When they approached the hospital's front doors an old doctor pony told them to leave the dog outside. It didn't respond well to that, but the filly calmed her pet and looked the doctor pony in the eye and after much struggle uttered the word “please”. Something strange happened in the eyes of the doctor pony. It was like looking at sadness, even though it's just a word. The filly didn't understand and it scared her. But the doctor pony was very nice and let her dog into the hospital with her. She did her best to thank him, which he seemed to understand.
Some of the doctors and nurses inside were frightened by the dog. But he paid no mind to the ponies around him; his eyes were locked on the filly. While her parents talked to some nice doctor ponies, the filly lovingly scratched the spot behind her dog's ears. He quite enjoyed that; it made his tail wag so very adorably. Afterwards, they all went to an empty room on the second floor. It was where the filly would be living for a while, they had all told her. And that was all right with the filly; the doctors would help her get better so she could come back to her own house. From the room she had a nice view of a pond along with some beautiful oak trees and a field full of sheep far away. Her parents stayed with her until evening fell and they had to return home. This the filly didn't like, but the doctor ponies were nice enough to let her dog stay as companionship. And her parents did promise to come every day. Still, it was just as scary as sleeping alone in her own room for the first time.
Weeks in the hospital came and went and the seasons passed. And the dog grew even still. Frozen was the pond outside the window and the thickest layer of snow coated the earth like a foal's blanket. The filly saw ponies having snowball fights, building snowponies, and ice-skating on the pond. All of them laughing and grinning. The filly didn't enjoy the snow as much as the others did. There weren't enough colours to paint like in the summer or autumn. Still, she had to admit it was pretty.
Only the doctor ponies didn't do as she had expected. She wasn't feeling any better. In fact, she seemed to feel worse by the day. Only barely could she manage to go to the bathroom, often needing help from a nurse. In addition, her throat had swollen by quite an amount. On top of her speech impairment, it was almost impossible to say a single word. Knowing their daughter was unable to reply, her parents simply talked to her and told her stories. From their mouths she had heard quite a few tales during her stay. Tales of star-walking ponies, the princesses, legends of Nightmare Moon, sagas about Starswirl the Bearded among many more. The filly particularly liked the story about the Ursa Major; what a sight it must have been.
On the ninth day since the first snow fell, the filly woke to a strange and almost frightening sight. Where her enormous dog's head used to be were now three. A brief moment of panic raced through the filly's body before the look of all six eyes calmed her. Despite it's new appearance, it was still her faithful companion. Reaching out to scratch each of it's heads, the filly realised she felt much better. As good as new, even. She laughed without any coughing as she hugged and petted her big friend. After but a moment of joyous playing, one of the dog's heads grabbed the filly by her coat ever so gently and put her on his back. It was more than big enough to ride, which the filly thought was absolutely fantastic. She had never ridden an animal before.
How he managed to squeeze out the door, the filly had no idea. It was almost as if he magically shrunk in order to pass through. Then again, he did have three heads, so magical abilities weren't out of the question. Turns out an enormous, three-headed dog wasn't what most ponies considered cute, seeing as they all froze in fear when it came walking down the hospital's halls. But he was a nice dog and would never hurt a single pony.
Outside the snow was falling gently from the sky. Strangely enough the cold didn't seem to affect the filly at all. Perhaps the warmth of her companion was evening out the chill of winter. The filly quickly realised they had taken a wrong turn and weren't headed for her home. She tried her darnedest to tell her friend, but she couldn't get the words out of her throat. Despite this, the filly didn't want to jump off her companion's back and go the right way. She trusted him and therefore stayed.
In utter silence they walked. More than half an hour had passed when they entered a dark and terrifying forest. Strange sounds and vicious plants frightened the filly, but she reminded herself that she was on the back of a giant, three-headed dog. Whatever lurked in this forest didn't stand a chance against her friend. Luckily nothing came to them; the filly didn't even spot a single creature in the forest by the time their journey was over.
Her companion had stopped in the middle of a clearing somewhere in this monstrous place. Despite the lack of trees, there was still no sunlight in that place. A heavy fog above the forest blocked the sky and sunlight. Before getting a chance to get truly scared, the filly's dog let out a series of howls; one from each head. The little heart inside the filly almost broke at the sound of such melancholic howls. Why her dog was sad she had no idea, but she hugged its back as tight as her little body would allow to make it better.
When he stopped howling a round door had appeared. Inside the frame wasn't an actual door, but swirling colours of all kind, which completely mesmerized the filly. Though she had painted with all the colours of the world, she had never seen anything quite like this. Somehow it all looked so impossible yet so simple. When her companion moved forward to the marvellous thing in front of them, she reached out with a hoof to grasp the magnificent colours. Instead she was greeted with a warmth that quickly spread through her entire body.
As the feeling faded the filly realised they were no longer in the scary forest. Before her eyes was a cave the size unlike anything her eyes had ever seen. Massive stone pillars littered the place; some broken and some intact. The filly understood none of what she saw; she simply watched in awe as her companion took her into an actual underground castle.
Inside the grand, but scary, castle the dog finally stopped and lowered its heads. The filly felt compelled to get off and did so gently. She made sure to scratch behind all of her dog's ears before turning to face the inside of the room. A grand podium stood in all its might in the middle of the room. On top of it laid an enormous book; so big it could hold all the stories ever written. And before long an old pony's head popped out from behind the podium and looked at the filly. It was a long, hard look, and the filly felt a chill run down her spine. With the help of magic, the old pony opened the book and read for just a second. After closing the book the pony simply pointed a hoof towards an illuminated hallway, which had previously been shrouded in darkness. The filly realised there were five hallways in total, and the old pony had pointed at the fourth from the left.
With sweat dripping from her brow and a shudder in her step she walked towards the hallway. The eyes of the old pony followed her all the way, even as she stopped and turned to wave goodbye to her loyal and faithful companion. Somehow she knew this was where they would have to go their separate ways. And while it saddened her heart to say goodbye, she cherished every moment of joy and laughter he had given her. Turning towards the hallway she mustered all her courage took a single step inside. A blinding light flashed before the little pony's eyes but was quickly replaced by a gentle breeze and the sound of a faithful bark.
