Growing Up Shy

by Insanity the Wonderful

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 2877

Fluttershy's childhood in Cloudsdale, with the story centered around her mother.

Fluttershy is a very timid pony, and her mother worries that she will never be brave enough to face the world, but she hasn't lost faith.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-09 06:09:08 UTC

The Mare and Her Little Daughter

Posey walked through the shopping center with her little filly huddled beneath her right wing. Market Square was always crowded on a weekend, but she had no other time to go. As she strolled through the various stands she noticed the usual, and, as she thought to herself, the typical behavior of the pegasi around her. One mare trying to cut another in line, another colt sneaking a carrot off of a produce stand, and a salespony trying to sell one cherry for ten bits. She kept her daughter close to her, trying as hard as she could to hurry through the tasks of the day so they could both go home. She wished that she could leave her filly at home, but there was nopony else there who could take care of her, and she was far too young to be alone, being practically a year older than foalhood.

"Fluttershy, stay close to me, sweetheart. We'll be home soon, I promise." She reassured her little daughter as she approached her desired produce stand, the stand that her friend owned.

The very little pegasus was eager to obey her mother, as she didn't want to be separated from her in such a huge crowd. She looked up at her mother who was conversing with the friendly salespony, and hoped that they wouldn't take much longer. the little pegasus looked almost exactly like her mother, having the same pale yellow coat and lovely pink mane, besides her foalsitter, her mother was the only other pony she really knew, as meeting new ponies was normally met with soft squeaks and teary eyes. Saying that the little filly was shy was an absolute understatement. She was afraid of new ponies, and didn't ever know how to react to them.

"How is little Fluttershy doing?" asked the mare selling produce. "And how have you been? You always look so tired, Posey."

Posey sighed, "Fluttershy's doing fine, she's been a lot more talkative lately. At home, mostly. As for me, I've been up late a lot of nights. mostly at work."

"I know what you mean, honey. I've had to keep the stand open later recently because it's hard keeping up with costs nowadays. I couldn't imagine trying to raise a child while working all the time. Especially when you're a single- oh, I mean... oh gosh I'm so sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's ok, Lightshine, you're right, it is a bit harder without another parent to help, but thankfully her foalsitter has been more available lately."

Posey felt a tug on her wing, and looked down to see her little one looking up at her sadly.

"I think she's a little tired of being out and about. I'll see you next time, Lightshine, and thank you for the great deal, it was very generous of you."

"Don't mention it, sweetie, I figured you needed a little break today. See you next time!"

"Ok, Fluttershy, we're done here. Let's get back home."

The silent pegasi perked up when she heard the good news, but there would never be a smile until they arrived back at their home. Posey walked her daughter to the outside of the shopping center until they were distanced from any other ponies.

"Are you ready, sweetheart?"

The little pegasi looked worried, but nodded. Posey picked her up in her hooves, while also carrying her bag of groceries, and began to take flight. Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut and held tight to her mother, as she began soaring through the sky, finally on their way back home.

As they arrived back at their little home, a small abode yet big enough for two ponies, Posey carried Fluttershy into the living room, which really only contained a couch and a table, and set her down on the couch, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and went into the kitchen to store her purchases of the day. the worried little pegasi sat quietly, curled up on the cushion of cloud. she was thinking about what her mother had said. Was she a nuisance? the thought of her being an inconvenience to her mother brought tears to her eyes, and Posey could soon here her crying softly, complete with sobs and squeaks. She worriedly rushed into the living room to find out what could've set Fluttershy off this time, and to calm and comfort her timid little filly.

"Fluttershy, sweetheart, what's wrong?" she inquired as she wrapped her hooves around her daughter, which prompted the little pegasi to hug her tightly. For the first time since they had left the house to go to the market, Fluttershy finally spoke.

"Mommy... did I do something wrong?"

Posey wasn't quite sure what to make of the question. Fluttershy had never broken rules or disobeyed her. "What do you mean?"

"You.. said that it... it was hard raising me" She stuttered through her words to express her sadness to her mother.

Posey felt ashamed that she had let Fluttershy hear that. "Fluttershy, you are the best filly anypony could ever have. That only hard part is that I don't get to spend as much time with you as I want. I wish I could explain but believe me, you are wonderful and I love you so much."

Posey wiped away the last of Fluttershy's tears, satisfied that the little one now understood that she was not a burden. They sat in silence for a while, and Posey held her daughter until she was calm enough to let go, which took quite a while. Eventually, the little filly spoke up again.

"Mommy... will Daddy ever come home?"

"Posey, listen, please listen."

"What's going on? Why is there a storm up here in the city?"

"Posey there's been a huge accident in the weather plant, and now there are wild storms spreading everywhere. Cloudsdale is being hit by a hurricane. I'm needed to help stop it."

"A Hurricane!? Sky Blaze you can't fly in a hurricane!"

"I have to or else the city could be destroyed! It's my job as part of the weather patrol to help stop it."

"Please, Sky, it's too dangerous! I can't- I don't want you to! Please!"

"Posey, please listen. I need you to listen. You know that I have to go, think about the other families worried about their loved ones. I'm scared too, scared for the two of you. Please take our daughter to the basement, it's in thicker clouds, and keep her and yourself safe. I promise I'll be back."

"I... I don't... I... ok. Just please be careful."

"Of course I will. I love you, Posey."

"I love you too, Sky."

The two exchanged a loving hug and goodbye kiss before Sky Blaze flew out into the night. Posey quickly gathered her little foal and brought her to the deepest part of their home. The mother could hear raging winds and thunder from the outside, as she tried to calm her crying daughter. after many hours, the foal fell asleep, and so too did the mother.

Come morning, Posey went out to see the result of the sudden storms, and found terrible damage to the city they lived in. she nervously anticipated Sky Blaze's return. He was nowhere to be found. Posey worriedly waited the entire day with her newborn, praying to Celestia that he would return. Eventually, there was a knock on the door. She immediately rushed to open it, only to find a pony in official clothing, who gave her a letter, and said, "My condolences, ma'am." He turned to leave, and Posey frantically tore open the letter.

Inside was a missing pony notice.

The caring mother laid her little filly into her bed, at the end of a long and challenging day. the filly's bed laid in the center of a small, yet clean room. A hardly used toy chest sat in the corner, and a bedside table with a small lamp, which Posey turned on so Fluttershy would not be alone in the dark. A very tired little pegasus looked up at her mother, and smiled expectantly. Posey leaned in to kiss the little one goodnight, and prepared herself to sing.

Hush now, quiet now,

it's time to lay your sleepy head,

drift, drift, off to sleep,

exciting day behind you,

drift, drift, off to sleep,

let the joy of dreamland find you.

By the time her lullaby was finished, the little one was already asleep. Posey smiled warmly, and silently trotted out of the room, closing the door softly.

The Singing Bird

It was a cloudless day (at least cloudless above them) when Posey decided to take her daughter to the local park. The park which consisted mostly of dense-cloud benches circling a large, flat cloudfield which had space for flightless fillies and colts to run around. Recently, she started to bring Fluttershy there, hoping to see her learn to interact with other children, as it was almost time for her to start school. So far, Fluttershy would spend the hour a week they were there sitting on the bench next to her mother, looking around silently or inevitably falling asleep. Posey hoped today would be different.

So far it wasn't. After finding an empty bench to sit on, the first ten minutes went by in silence, until Posey turned to her daughter to ask her a question.

"Do you feel like running around a little bit, sweetheart? There are lots of fillies here to play with."

She was answered with a shake of the head. Posey never wanted to push Fluttershy out of her safety zone, but she would not be able to help her at school. Fluttershy needed to learn how to interact with others, how to be without her mother. As Posey thought about every way the first day could go wrong, the shy young pegasus sat looking at the other children playing a game in the center of the cloudfield. She watch all the children run away from one colt who was chasing after them. After he caught up to and touched another colt, they all started to run from that one. It confused the young one, she tried to understand the game, but couldn't and gave up.

Silence continues for another few minutes before the young pegasus surprisingly broke it.

"mommy, what is school like?"

Posey, while caught off guard, answered, "Well, it's a place you go to learn things that you're going to need when you grow up. Everypony goes to basic school for a few years, and then when they graduate they have their cutie marks and go on to get a job and live their lives."

Fluttershy looked at her mother's cutie mark, a trio of pink flowers, posies specifically, but she was not old enough to comprehend how fitting her mother's name was.

"What do cutie marks do?"

Posey took a moment to come up with a good explanation. "Cutie marks represent a pony's destiny, what they're meant to do in life. I've always loved flowers, which is hard since there aren't many in the sky, so a long time ago I opened a flower shop so I could spread them throughout the city. And my cutie mark told me that it was what I was destined to do."

Fluttershy marveled at her mother's story, sending her into relatively deep thought.

After spending an hour sitting on a bench again, Posey decided that it was pointless to continue bringing her to the park. She didn't want to force anything on Fluttershy, but she still feared how her daughter would be able to sit in a classroom with new kids for hours, and answer questions and-

Posey lost her focus when she noticed her filly. Fluttershy was looking up at a bird perched on top of the bench, curiously studying it. Posey kept silent, waiting to see how this played out.

"Who are you?" the normally shy pony asked.

The bird answered with a segment of tweets that had a similar pitch to Fluttershy's voice.

She tilted her head in confusion, and the bird did the same. She moved her head down, and the bird followed again. Fluttershy let out a giggle, and she brought the bird through more movements, hopping, spinning around, and flapping her wings, until she was done playing. All while Posey was excitedly spectating, frozen in place. Fluttershy let out a laugh, and the bird mimicked it, letting out what sounded like a sweet, short song. Fluttershy thought a little about what this bird was really doing, but soon decided that it didn't matter. The bird was having fun with her, and Fluttershy was enjoying the bird's playfulness. Suddenly a resonating tweet came from the distance, and the bird looked away and flew off. As Fluttershy watched it go, she had a smile on her face, and she turned to ask her mother a few questions.

"What was that, mommy?"

Posey, now out of her stupor, told her. "I think it was a mockingbird. It's a very playful bird that likes to sing, so it copies other birdcalls and sounds. That's how it has fun."

Fluttershy sat watching the mockingbird fly off, until she couldn't see it anymore. She then turned to her mother.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Can you teach me one of your songs?"

"Of course, but why?"

"I want to teach it one when it comes back."

Posey leaned against the archway entrance to the shopping center, rolling her eyes and thinking how typical is was of Lightshine to be late. She glanced up at the clock sitting in the middle of the plaza to check the time. She had to be home in two hours. She stoop up straight when she noticed her friend walking out of the market to meet her.

"So you were actually planning on meeting me? What took you?" She expected a poor excuse, but asked anyway.

Lightshine scoffed and replied, "Some fool wasn't watching where they were walking and kicked out a big section of cloud from the stand. I had to help her fix it, and pick up all the merchandise that fell everywhere. I plan on running that stand someday, you know."

Posey rolled her eyes, "Yeah I know. You tell me everyday. And now you even have the cutie mark to back it up."

They both quickly glanced at Lightshine's flank to see an image of a shopping stand.

"In fact, one day I plan on running this entire market." She dreamed.

Posey waved a hoof in front of Lightshine's face to snap her out of her fantasy. "Can we just go already?"

Lightshine shot a glance at her in annoyance. "Where do you want to go so fast anyway?"

Posey opened her mouth to speak, but faltered, she didn't really plan on anything.

"uh... I don't know yet. Anywhere but here I guess."

"So you don't even have a place to be? You wanted to just walk around for two hours?"

"...maybe."

As the two fillies argued, a stallion with an out of repair flower cart was passing by, when the left wheel suddenly slid off. The cart toppled towards the two pegasi, causing one pot with a pink flower to fall off the cart and into the quick fore hooves of Posey.

"Whoa that was close, are you two ok?"

Posey answered first, "Yes, we're fine, and so is your flower." She looked down at her catch, a small flower with pink wavy petals. "It's really pretty, what's it called?"

"Oh that? That's a pink posy."

Posey's ears perked. "Really? My name is Posey!"

The stallion had a surprised smile. "How about that? That's a pretty amazing coincidence. Well since you caught it, would you like to keep it?"

Posey grew a big smile. "Yes, thank you very much!"

The stallion gave nod, slid the wheel back on, and went into the market.

Turning to her friend, "Lightshine, I'm just going to take this home now, so I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah, sure." She replied.

When Posey got home she put the flower on her windowsill, and day by day took care of it. When she first got it, them stem was slightly bent and the petals were weak. After a few weeks of care she had helped the flower reach full bloom. On that day she realized that she wanted to run a flower shop.

Posey walked up to the classroom and knocked on the door. After a few seconds the teacher came to let her in.

"Is there something I can help you with?" The mare asked.

"Um, yes. My daughter is going to start attending this school next week and I thought I'd introduce myself."

"Oh! Well please come in then, my name is Wonder." She led Posey to her desk where they could sit down.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Wonder. My name is Posey."

Wonder took a second to remember which student had a mother named Posey. She then remembered. "You are Fluttershy's mother, correct?"

Posey nodded. "Yes, and I felt like I should tell you a few things about my daughter."