As We Flutter Onby Stephen CloudChaptersSammy"Yay!"The most literate toddlerThe BronyA wall of many colorsnew beginningsThe Short ChapterSammyThe room was freezing when I awoke. I reached out to cuddle with my new found friend, but I came out empty handed. My eyes shot open when I realized she was missing. I searched all over the room looking for her. “Fluttershy! Where are you?” I shouted to no avail. “Quit your hollering, it’s not like she’ll even know what you’re saying.” I grumbled to myself as I searched. After ten minutes of trashing my bedroom looking for her I saw my door nudge open, and Fluttershy’s little head pop in. She smiled and then left, pausing as if she wanted to show me something. Curiosity willed me to follow, as she led me to a small window in the living room. She went up to the window and plopped herself right in front of it, gazing out at something I couldn’t quite see. Soon I joined her by the window sill, and figured out what she was trying to show me. I saw a little hooded figure loitering around the apartment’s dumpster. The figure checked to make sure no one was around, then pulled out a spray can and started tagging the dumpster. “Seems we’ve found our little culprit.” I whispered to Fluttershy. I rushed out the door and caught the little hoodlum by his hoodie. “And just what do you think you’re doing!” I shouted and pulled his hood off. It was a kid, no older than fourteen I suspect. He had long dark brown shaggy hair that he used to hide his face. His eyes were red and there were tracks made out on his cheeks where tears had once flowed. I stood there for a moment empathizing with the kid. He reminded me of myself at his age. Shaggy hair that I kept long to hide behind, emotional, and rebellious. This kid was just like me. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!’ he said. ‘It was a mistake I thought this place was abandoned!’ ‘You thought wrong.’ I said coldly as I remembered how he had just defaced my art. I brought him inside an empty apartment, I couldn’t have him seeing Fluttershy. The room was lit by a few lights dangling from the ceiling. All of the apartments (except mine of course) was bare, only the essentials were provided. Fortunately there were a few chairs in this apartment, left by accident I suppose. ‘Pull up a chair.’ I said trying to get the kid to calm down. ‘So, why’d you do it?’ ‘I…I don’t know… it’s kind of a stress reliever for me, you know.’ ‘Yes, I know. But that was my art, on my building. You just came over here and ruined it!’ The boy shuffled a bit in his chair and looked away. ‘I know. I was upset so… I intentionally ruined it.’ ‘And why would you do that!’ I said a bit too loud than I wanted. ‘Why… would you do that?’ I said a bit calmer now. ‘I was just… passing my anger along… I can’t really explain it, but knowing that someone else would be as upset as me made me feel a bit better.’ ‘Do you realize that that’s the reason why this town is a mess? Instead of dealing with our own anger we just pass it along.’ ‘I guess that makes sense.’ He said with a puzzled look on his face. ‘Look,’ I said, ’I’m not mad at you anymore. But you’re still in trouble.’ He sighed, relieved that I wasn’t upset at him anymore. ‘All right,’ I began, ‘You seem to like artwork, and I need my building repainted. That seems like a good way for you to work off your debt.’ ‘Really! That’s it?’ he said with a lighted expression. ‘Uh huh.’ I replied, ‘that’s right, and then you can clean up the place, help me repair the fence, and carry out all maintenance for a month!’ ‘Aw man, I knew it was too good to be true.’ ‘Yup, and I’d better see you on the first day of summer bright and early!’ I lead him out of the apartment and said good bye. Not having to do maintenance for a month was going to be sweet. I headed up the stairwell back to my apartment when I found Fluttershy sniffling on the ground with her hooves covering her snout. “Aw sweetie,” I said in a fatherly tone, “there’s nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine.” I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, stroking her mane rhythmically.” Let’s get back inside, it is way too cold outside.” The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what made my little friend tick. What she liked, what she didn’t like, what she was scared of. Apparently she likes oatmeal, hates spinach, and loves funny faces. She really loves funny faces. By the end of the day my face was sore from all of the faces, and her tummy hurt from laughing so much. Hmmm, tummy. Such a funny word. We ate our food, got ready for bed, and finally ended another day. I set her down onto the dog bed again, but she still crawled up onto my bed and snuggled against my face. Tomorrow I have to go to work. Finding a way to sneak her in is going to be interesting. "Yay!"I shuffled down the side walk at a fast pace. One of my arms was sticking out, the other was sucked into my jacket. People stared at my disfigured shape, particularly noticing my protruding belly. Still I shuffled along ignoring their glares. I may look like a pregnant one armed man, but that is no reason to judge me! But, my brilliant disguise kept Fluttershy safe as we travelled on my morning commute. I had stuffed her in my biggest jacket and zipped it up, effectively hiding her. I guess she wasn’t too happy about the idea though because before I knew it she was crying. My shirt was literally soaked in her tears, and I didn’t have a clue on how to comfort her. I couldn’t take her out and show her my best funny face, we were in public. Instead I thought back to what I did that day I had first found her. I quickly withdrew my arm and offered her my finger. She gladly accepted it and began to chew on my finger. She must have been teething by the way she clamped on to my finger. Another thing to add to the list of how ridiculous I looked. I hustled on down to work with Fluttershy in tow. I have a decent job. I am the store manager of a bookstore, biggest bookstore in town! That was the actual name of the store, and it lived up to that name. People marveled at the vast collection of literature. But I guess the big boss took quantity over quality. We may have a lot of books, but they’re books no one’s heard of. Business isn’t doing so well lately. It’s times like these when I wish I could put that big apartment building to use. As soon as I got to work I raced off to my office before anyone could question me on my appearance. Once I hit that door I unzipped my jacket and quickly took my finger out of her mouth. “Man you have a good set of chompers! I thought I was having my finger amputated!” I joked. She smiled back at me, picking up on the joke somehow. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I picked up Fluttershy and stuffed her under my desk as fast as I could. The intruder entered right as I was getting up. I bumped my head and I heard a man chuckle. ‘You alright down there Mr. Carter?’ the voice said. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Don’t call me Mr. Carter, makes me feel old.’ ‘Fine,’ the voice said,’ Stephan, we’re out of note cards.’ ‘You came in here about note cards?’ I scowled, ‘You’re just slacking off.’ ‘I may be many things, MR.CARTER, but a slacker ain’t one!’ the voice shouted in response. ‘All right, I’ll add note cards to the endless list of things we need to get. Now will you please do your job?’ I said pleading with him. ‘I’ll think about it.’ the man chuckled as he left. That there is the biggest head ache I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with. His name was Gerald, Gerald Johnson. A forty five year old slacker who has a grudge against me for getting his job. At first I sympathized with him, I was some punk kid who walked in here and within a year climbed the ladder he had been climbing for fifteen years. I guess deep down I still kind of sympathize with him. That’s the only reason he’s still working here. Enough about my coworkers, if I don’t think of something to do with flutters here I’m history! There’s no way I wouldn’t get fired if someone to report I had her in here. Especially something like her. People are afraid of what they don’t know, because what someone doesn’t know about will definitely hurt them. I mostly sat at my desk with her in my lap, using the desk to conceal her. That worked for an hour or so, until she got bored. “No problem,” I thought “I’ll just give her a funny face or two and let her chew on my finger again. Two problems with that though. One, I had to explain what that high pitched squeal was every time Fluttershy laughed. The second problem I ran into was the finger, I swear she’s trying to bit my finger off! I needed to think of something fast. During my lunch break I ran down to the costume store to buy Fluttershy a disguise. We went over to the “dog costumes” isle and started to look around. There weren’t many costumes to choose from, which isn’t surprising since pets don’t usually wear costumes unless their owners are crazy pet worshippers. No one was around, so I didn’t see any harm in letting Fluttershy peek out and take her pick. “Take a look,” I whispered to her, “Pick out anyone you would like!” She stared in awe at the vast array of color spread out before her. The sight of her so awestruck by a few cheap costumes made me smile with delight. Suddenly her eyes flashed to one costume in particular. It was a clown costume with pink and blue polka dots, very flashy but I thought it would do the trick. As she admired the spectacle of tomfoolery and jest I heard her squeak a soft “yay”. “Whoa!” I said in a low voice, she responded with a loud resounding “YAY!!!” I wrapped my hands around her muzzle to quickly silence her, but I was too late. Everyone in the store peeked behind the aisle to see what the racket was all about. I had managed to play it off as if I was the one who made the disturbance and covered Fluttershy up with the costume she was previously observing. They stared at me with a quizzical look for a few seconds and then went back to their business. I was about to proceed to the checkout line when I noticed a warm puddle of tears forming on my shirt. Fluttershy was sniffling inside my jacket, crying because of my actions earlier. “Aw sweet heart,” I whispered in a nurturing tone, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was only trying to keep you safe.” She looked up at me with a few tears still in her eyes. “Look,” I said, “why don’t we get you your costume and we can go home. You can say “yay” as loud as you want at home.” Her tears started to fade away as she calmed down. I zipped my jacket up, purchased the clown costume, and walked home. I heard a muffled yay as I triple locked my door, and then a string of repeated “yays” as she scrambled around in my jacket. “Alright, alright. I’ll let you out!” I said chuckling as she squirmed out of my coat screaming yay the entire time. Once she had gotten out completely I realized what all the random kicks in the gut were about. She was standing in the middle of the living room staring up at me, wearing the clown costume inside out. “Couldn’t have waited till we got home could you?” I said jokingly. She shook her head in reply with a wide grin on her face. I was taken aback at the strange sign of communication she knew what I had asked her! I stared at her in wonder for a few moments. I had always looked at her as more of a daughter than a pet, but this just showed that she could no longer be considered a pet either. That meant that I was her adopted father, and she was my daughter. This brought on a lot of questions, “how do I raise her?”, “was I ready for this?”, “what if I’m a bad dad?” All of these questions raced through my head as I continued to stare at her. I almost didn’t notice her start to frown and cringe at my glare. “Oh, I’m sorry!” I said as I snapped out of my trance, “I was just thinking that’s all. Here, let me help you get that on.” I got up and helped her out of the inside out costume, she had started to feel better after seeing me help her with her predicament. After fifteen minutes, a tickle fight, and a lot of wriggling, she was ready to go. “You know,” I began, “You’d make a good clown. In fact If didn’t know any better I’d say you’re a real clown pony!” She beamed at my remark and let out a loud whinny and a yay. “Loud enough to!” I joked. Suddenly she became more timid at my remark and hid behind her long hair. “Oh no,” I said apologetically, “I didn’t mean it that way, it was just a joke!” I walked over to her and patted her on the back softly. She seemed to feel a bit better at my warm touch, even starting to get a bit drowsy. Soon she was yawning, which had become our signal to go to bed. I had tucked Fluttershy in (not bothering to put her in the dog bed anymore) and gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. As she fell asleep nuzzling my shoulder I had been thinking. Fluttershy was already turning out to be a bit emotional, and raising her was already going to be tough! Honestly I didn’t know what to do, but I knew worrying about it all night wasn’t going to do any good. I had finally come to the conclusion that I should just keep doing what I’m doing, living life one day at a time. Almost as if by magic, Fluttershy started nodding her head in her sleep in agreement. The most literate toddlerIt has been a few months, and Fluttershy has grown so much! I suspect she is a toddler, though I can’t say for sure. But at the rate she is progressing I would say she is in her early learning years. Her wings have developed from a soft downy mass into leaner feathery muscles. I’ve been keeping track on how tall she is the old fashioned way, with a doorway and a sharpie. Her legs have been growing at different rates, the hind legs are just a bit taller than her fore legs, but I’m sure there’s no need for alarm. As well as physical growth, she has also grown mentally. She has become very talkative (only to me of course) and likes to show off her extensive vocabulary. I’ll often see her flipping through dictionaries and some rather large books, sounding out the words as she sees them. Most of her reading is incorrect, saying something in her own made up tongues instead of English. I’ll only correct her if it’s something simple, it’s actually pretty funny seeing her ramble out sounds as she reads a page! One day as we were watching “my little pony” (It’s funny to see how she acts like every other character except for the one I named her after) she tugged on my shirt with her mouth, obviously trying to get my attention. “What is it dear?” I said in a casual calm tone that I always use when I’m speaking to her (which took my weeks to perfect, so I’m very proud of it) .She released my shirt and hollered “Smotes!” which was her way of saying she was hungry. While I was teaching her to speak one of the first things she learned was “smotes”, I guess she just combined the two words “some” and “oats”. I got up to get her a package of oatmeal only to find that we’d exhausted all of our oats. “Huh, well that’s a pain ain’t it?” I said to Fluttershy who had begun to prod the empty box with her forehooves. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll just go to the store and get some.” Fluttershy’s ears shot up when she heard this and said “no dog!” I stared at her quizzically for a moment, after all we didn’t have a dog. She noticed my confusion and gestured to the clown costume hanging by the door. “Oh, yeah that. I guess it is kind of a hassle to put on.” I said thinking about how uncomfortable it must be to walk around under all that make up, whilst being in a cheap Halloween costume. “Well, it’s either this or the jacket kid.” Fluttershy walked away after my statement and came back a few moments later with my jacket in tow. It was the very same jacket that I wore when I found her. It didn’t take long for her to become uncomfortable. She was now too big for my jacket, and the only way I got her in was by wrapping her body around me like a towel. I wasn’t doing so well either, she was much heavier than when she was a baby. I started to feel the all too familiar sensation of cold eyes and questioning glares as I shuffled down the street, concealing Fluttershy as best as I could. I appeared to be a morbidly obese, one armed (she never got out of the finger sucking habit, but she was gentler now that she wasn’t teething anymore) with a pink clip on tail from where Fluttershy’s tail had fallen out. It seemed like an hour of awkward shuffling before we had arrived at the grocery store. We made our way down to the cereal aisle, which I assumed was where the oatmeal resided. Fortunately it was there, along with a teenage boy (no older than eighteen I suspect) who was restocking the shelves. Beads of sweat started to form on my forehead at this seemingly simple task. I composed myself and tried to act casual as I strode over to the oatmeal. My eyes wandered to the biggest box I could see and I reached out to grab it. Curse my luck, as I reached for the box Fluttershy fell out from the bottom of my jacket. She fell with a soft thump and landed on her backside staring up at me with a terrified look. I tried to pick her up and hide her as fast as I could, but I was too late. The employee that was stocking the shelves had noticed, and saw me clinging to Fluttershy like a mother trying to protect her child. My voice cracked as I tried to explain my situation, but no words came out. How am I supposed to explain this! Finally I croaked out “Please don’t tell!” desperately. For the longest time he had his eyes fixated to Fluttershy as she buried her face into my chest, trying to hide from him. He was snapped out of his trance as I said once more “Don’t tell.” my voice solemn to show just how serious this was. He looked up at me and rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Suddenly, he snapped out of his confusion and gave me a smile and a look that seemed to be something you’d see a soldier do as he stared at his commanding officer. I watched as he dug into his pocket and pull out a small button with three pink butterflies printed on it. He gave me another smile and a nod, handed me the oatmeal, and continued restocking the shelves while whistling a tune. I zipped up my jacket and backed away slowly, staring skeptically at the strange man as I walked away. Checkout was a breeze, so was getting back home. The entire way back I was thinking about that guy, the pin he flashed… it was vaguely familiar. We got home, ate, and went to bed. All the while I was contemplating the meaning of those little butterflies. My thoughts were broken by Fluttershy’s voice as she said “Good night!” in a soft sing song voice. “Good night dear.” I replied. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy’s short breaths to become slow and deep, she made it seem so easy to float off into sleep. I followed soon after, drifting off into the sweet celestial dreamscape. The BronyThat guy, the one at the store. Something about him didn’t add up. After all, he had just seen what most would perceive as an alien. How could he just flash a button and act as if nothing ever happened? I don’t know why I’m so worked up right now; I guess it’s my fatherly instincts. Fluttershy seemed to notice that I was deep in thought. I had been giving her a bath in a trance the whole time. She nudged with her snout, effectively snapping me back into consciousness. I resumed scrubbing her yellow coat softly, still deeply in thought, but I put a little more effort into washing her which seemed to suffice for her. “Hey Fluttershy,” I said as I stared out into space, “why don’t we visit the store today?” She shrugged and said “after.” “Of course we’ll go after; we can’t have you walking out soaking wet!” I said with a giggle. She giggled back, although I don’t think she knew what I was laughing about. After she had dried off and brushed her hair (which took surprisingly long) we headed out the door, deciding to go with the dog costume after the last incident. It was a nice stroll, no one was outside, the sun was shining, and the weather was starting to warm up. But, as we neared the store I had gone over my questions in my head. I started to tense up as I approached the doors, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. But the doors had already open, no going back now. I walked through the doors slow, yet fast enough to where I wouldn’t look suspicious. I’d decided that I should at least finish what I came here for and started to search for the guy I saw yesterday. As I rounded the corner I saw him restocking another row of shelves with what seemed to be baby food. He looked up from his dreary job and saw me. His eyes lit up and he gave me a cheery smile, then he returned to his task. I strolled over, trying to act nonchalant. I stood beside him casually examining the wares in front of me. After a few awkward moments of silence the boy spoke up. “Sir,” he began,” I don’t mean to pry, but why do you need baby food?” My mind scrambled looking for a legitimate excuse for staring at baby food. “Uh… I… um…” I stuttered, trying to stall to give myself time to think. “It’s for her isn’t it?” he said calmly as he gestured towards Fluttershy, who was currently disguised as a dog. “Actually no,” I said with sudden courage, “she’s old enough to eat real food.” “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just…” he said sheepishly, “so remarkable.” “How so?” I said in a monotone voice. “Well, I’m a big fan of the show, seeing her in the flesh is just-“He started to say, but towards the end he waved his hands saying “remarkable!” “But wouldn’t this freak you out, even just a little?” I said with genuine curiosity. “Well yeah, a little. But in the show she’s so kind and sweet, I can’t imagine her being any different.” He said with a chipper smile. “I only named her after that show, she’s not actually the one from TV. That would be impossible.” I explained. “Oh…” he replied as his smile faded away. “And what was with that button?” I asked trying to switch subjects. “Oh that,” he said, his smile creeping up his face once more, “That’s her cutie mark, Fluttershy’s that is. You see, I’m a brony. I thought if I showed you it that you would feel reassured, you’d understand that I wouldn’t tell.” “Wow, that’s… really cool of you.” I said absorbing it all. “I uh… have to go. This will be our little secret ok?” “Sure thing, still need that baby food?” he said with a sly grin. “I think I’m good.” I replied and chuckled as Fluttershy and I left. There was a skip in my step as we walked home. Fluttershy noticed that I was happy and started skipping alongside me. Before we knew it we were both skipping on our merry way back home. It felt good to know someone was watching out for me, even if it was some random teenager at a store. Maybe there were more people like him, somewhere. A wall of many colorsSummer break begins tomorrow. Time for old debts to be repaid, and honestly I’ve been looking forward to this. The apartment building was hard work to take care of, especially for one person. Fluttershy tries to help out, but there’s not much she can do. She’s tried to clean a few of the restrooms with disastrous results. It breaks her heart not being able to help, but there’s not much I can do. Maybe I’ll be able to figure something out for her to help with. Every now and then I’ll see Sammy, we’ll pass each other on the side walk or I’ll see him at the bookstore. I’ve made sure that he doesn’t forget about his debt, but I still wonder if he’ll make it. For all I know he could blow me off, and honestly I wouldn’t do anything. I can’t go looking for him, he has to come out of his own accord. I looked out the window to see a small figure in a green hoodie approaching the building. “Huh,” I whispered to myself, “he actually came back!” I started to unlock the door which startled Fluttershy, who had been watching cartoons in the living room. “Dad,” she hollered, “where are you going? We aren’t out of food, right?” before I could answer she jumped from the couch and dashed to the kitchen to make sure we had food. I just ignored it, she’ll figure out soon enough, I have to check up with my new “worker”. The metal steps of the stair well squeaked as I made my way down to the parking lot, a bag of spray paint in hand. Sammy noticed me as I was walking down and hid his face in shame, apparently still feeling guilty about what he’d done. I flashed him a smile as I finished my descent and lifted up the bag of paint over my head. He lightened up a bit and gave me a timid smile in response. We met in the middle of the parking lot, both wearing big smiles. “So,” I said trying to strike up a conversation,” I hope you’ve kept up your art skills. You’re going to need it.” I tossed him a can of paint which he awkwardly caught. “Uh, yeah. I’ve been practicing… on paper of course!” he said nervously. “Right, well let’s get to work!” I replied and grabbed a few cans of paint myself. For about an hour and a half we were both deeply focused, I would paint one side of the wall as he’d paint another side. Before long I had created an intricate tree, showing its roots deeply underground. I took a step back to admire my work and see what I need to brush up on, when I caught a glimpse of what Sammy was painting. On his side of the wall were big stained glass windows that portrayed what seemed to be two ponies, each of them opposite to the other. They were very well done and detailed, stunning all though odd. I had seen that one night while Fluttershy and I had been watching My Little Pony, she was so excited to see the first episode of season two. “Hey,” I said breaking Sammy’s concentration,” where’d you get the idea to paint that?” I questioned. “Oh um, I don’t know. I can paint over it if you don’t like It.” He said timidly, obviously embarrassed at his work. “No, no.” I said before he could start repainting,” It’s beautiful, it really is. You did a good job, I was just wondering is all.” “Oh!” he replied with surprise,” are you one too then?” He said in a hushed tone. “Am I a what?” I asked with suspicion present in my voice. “Oh, never mind. I thought you were a…” He paused and lowered his voice a bit, “I thought you were a brony too.” He said in a hushed voice. My mind thought back to the store employee, who I’d become friends with not too long ago. He had been kind, and he claimed to be a brony. Maybe being a brony would give me something to have in common with Sammy. “Of course I’m a brony!” I said with enthusiasm to Sammy. “Really? So you’re cool with this?” he said ad if he misunderstood me. “Yes I’m cool with this. In fact why don’t you teach me how to paint like that?” His face lit up and a big grin appeared on his face. For thirty minutes he sat there and taught me how to paint ponies. “You always have to start with the ears…” he said as he demonstrated his technique. Soon enough we were both going away at it, painting ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors all over the wall. By the end of the day the entire wall was covered, each spot was filled with color. Honestly, it was beautiful. I sent Sammy home, it was already getting dark, and started to climb the stairs up to my apartment. But as I was ascending the staircase my foot lightly tapped something on the stairs. I looked down to see Fluttershy curled up in a ball, sleeping on the small platform. She woke up, startled by my presence as I lifted her off the cold steps. “Were you spying on us?” I said teasingly, she nodded in response and muttered an apology. She was really tired, I’m guessing that she had been asleep for quite some time. I had decided that it was bedtime seeing how tired Fluttershy was. She grumbled a bit and let out a soft sigh as I set her down gently onto the bed. I tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead before I went to triple lock my front door as usual. Soon I was falling fast asleep as well. “Dad…” I heard Fluttershy mumble barely audible. “Yes sweetie?” I replied after a moment. “I like your drawings…” she murmured before falling back asleep. new beginningsThis place is a hole. The pavement is littered with trash, living and inanimate. People are sharing their depression with everyone they come into contact with. The only thing bright and colorful is the graffiti, half of which is my work. The best part of my day is when I get to go home, triple lock the door, and stare at the pretty colors on my monitor like a possessed moth. I live in an apartment building, by myself. In fact I own the place. Before my grandparents died, my grandfather would always tell me to get into the rental business. “It’s hard at first,” he would say,” but it’ll pay for itself with time.” My grandfather was a great investor and an even greater man, it was because of his investments that I was able to buy this building. I had it all planned out. I would buy this place, have it refurbished, and paint it beautiful colors! People would flock to my beacon of light and we would turn this town around for the better. The entire city would become a tribute to my grandfather! But that didn’t work out. I had purchased the building with plenty of cash left to have it refurbished and painted. I was on my way to the bank when a stray bullet from a drugstore robbery hit me in the gut. Soon all of the money I had set aside for my dream was lost, the med boys had a hard enough time keeping me breathing. They took every dime for their services. But I can’t complain, they did their job. I’m still alive, living inside a dead dream. I still gave that building color though. Every inch of that place is covered in intricate graffiti. Murals I like to call them, graffiti seems a bit demeaning to me. Soon my “murals” spilled out into the rest of the town. What can I say, it was my stress reliever. I came home one day to see a giant, amateur, poorly drawn, name sprayed all over my murals. Sammy, with s replaced with $. Man was I ticked. The one thing I really took pride in was now ruined. I shouted curses at the perpetrator for a solid twenty minutes. I needed to let off some steam, I grabbed my spray paint and went for a walk. Block after block, I walked on. Finally I came up to a good spot on a clean house, and pulled out my spray paint. But before I could get down to work I heard a soft cry. I just ignored it and began to lay a base pattern for my new “mural”. Then I started smelling gas. The cries stopped. “Oh god,” I thought, “whatever’s in there must have passed out!” I knocked on the door to no avail, there was no response. Everything was starting to blur, my adrenaline was pumping, I knew something had to happen now. “Jesus Christ!” I murmured,” I’d better not get arrested for this!” I took a step back and launched myself at the door shoulder first. Before I knew it I was on my back staring into a newborn’s fading eyes. Before I could think I grabbed the infant and took off, trying to escape the fumes. Block after block I raced on. Finally I found a good spot in an abandoned parking lot. I stopped to get a better look at the child that I “technically” abducted. What I saw I couldn’t comprehend. Behind all the long pastel pink hair (that I somehow didn’t notice) was a little yellow snout, and two deep blue eyes that gazed into my soul. What was this thing?! It looked more like a cartoon character rather than a real living thing. Yet here it is, breathing heavily, heart beating, and body warm. After a few seconds of peace and wonder, the little creature began to stir lightly in my arms. It opened its eyes and stared at me in a questioning sort of way. It seemed to come to the conclusion that whatever was happening was bad, and began to cry. “Shhh shh, no crying!” I whispered to her as I wagged my finger about in a “shush” motion. She let out a loud giggle at the movement, and latched onto my finger with her undeveloped teeth. It didn’t really hurt, but it was kind of annoying. Anything to keep her quiet I guess. I walked home with her, shielding her from the view of the other people with my jacket. It’s kind of hard to do though when you have a giggling infant suckling on your finger. I think a few people even thought I was nursing! Finally we got home, after an hour of walking my finger was getting pretty pruned. It was late at night and both of us were tired. I set her down and triple locked my door as I normally do. When I turned back around I saw the little creature yawn and stick out what appeared to be wings! I tried to gasp, but her yawn was contagious. The result was apparently the funniest face ever. She toppled over with laughter, and soon she had me laughing too! Soon we were both on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Finally we stopped when I heard her stomach growl. “Is the little miss hungry?” I asked. She jumped up at the remark and started prancing about. I went to the kitchen and sifted around for something to eat. “Well,” I said, “she kind of looks like a horse, and horses like oats!” I grabbed a few packages of instant oat meal and poured it into a bowl. My logic is unmatched! We sat on the couch eating oatmeal and watching the news. That’s when I saw the house where I rescued the little critter. It was ashes on the ground, nothing remained. Some unfortunate soul got a free cremation when he lit a cigarette near the gas leak. Poof, the gas ignited and they were history. I got a little choked up after seeing that. That could’ve been her, life is too precious to waste. I gathered my little friend up in a hug. She seemed a bit annoyed at my interruption, she wanted to get back to her meal. I let her go and she resumed eating. I started channel surfing, no one likes the news anyway. After a few clicks I saw an almost exact version of her on the T.V. .Except the one on the screen was orange with blonde hair, and said she was applejack and something about a fritter. I pulled out my laptop and looked up the name of the show. On the image results I saw a yellow Pegasus with pink hair, along with that applejack character and four others. “That’s you isn’t it!” I said to her, “you’re fluttershy, and those are your little friends!” She smiled at me and yawned. “Ok, ok I can take a hint.” I said. “Oh well, my theory isn’t that crazy if you take into account everything else that happened today.” She just stared at me and yawned again. “All right, bed time flutters.” I murmured. I picked her up and took her over to an old dog bed I had and set her down. I made sure she was all tucked in and said goodnight. Ten minutes later I felt her crawl onto my bed and snuggled up under my chin. That really touched my deep inside. I shed a few tears and whispered “good night angel”. I realized that this had been the best day I’ve had in a long time. The Short ChapterAnother day another struggle, although this one was a bit unusual. Fluttershy and I woke up at seven a.m., gone through our morning rituals, and set off for work. I had used an old make up kit to make her fur turn brown which had made her look, oh I don’t know, 20% doggier. She giggled a bit as I rubbed in the dark powder, being very careful not to hurt her in the process. After that she put the clown costume on, I took a photo for memories, and we were off on our merry way. We even skipped for a while, seeing as no one was around to see. Everything was going great (I even think everyone thought she was an actual dog!) I guess I got Flutters a bit excited and to the first person she saw she shouted a very flamboyant “YAY!!!” I was mortified for a few seconds, just staring at the man in front of us. Fluttershy must’ve been proud of her first yay because she started shouting yay repeatedly. The man stared at her for three seconds (yes, I counted) then looked back up at me saying, “You need to get a video of your talking dog, YouTube is waiting!” The man chuckled at his own remark and passed us by. “Fluttershy! We’re in public now, you can’t say things like that in public.” I said, scolding her a bit too harshly. She stared up at me with what was at first anger, then melted into sorrow. Her eyes welled up, showing the signs that she was about to cry. I quickly gathered her up in a big hug, trying to desperately comfort her. “There, there. It’s ok. I know you didn’t mean to. You were just excited. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you.” I said in a soft voice. Her tears had disappeared, replaced with a gentle sigh to show that she was all better. I set her down on the pavement, and explained to her why we needed to be silent. After that we walked off, with no more outbursts. Soon our little test run had dissolved into routine. Things started to get a little brighter, nights got a little less cold, and my life now had a little color in it.
SammyThe room was freezing when I awoke. I reached out to cuddle with my new found friend, but I came out empty handed. My eyes shot open when I realized she was missing. I searched all over the room looking for her. “Fluttershy! Where are you?” I shouted to no avail. “Quit your hollering, it’s not like she’ll even know what you’re saying.” I grumbled to myself as I searched. After ten minutes of trashing my bedroom looking for her I saw my door nudge open, and Fluttershy’s little head pop in. She smiled and then left, pausing as if she wanted to show me something. Curiosity willed me to follow, as she led me to a small window in the living room. She went up to the window and plopped herself right in front of it, gazing out at something I couldn’t quite see. Soon I joined her by the window sill, and figured out what she was trying to show me. I saw a little hooded figure loitering around the apartment’s dumpster. The figure checked to make sure no one was around, then pulled out a spray can and started tagging the dumpster. “Seems we’ve found our little culprit.” I whispered to Fluttershy. I rushed out the door and caught the little hoodlum by his hoodie. “And just what do you think you’re doing!” I shouted and pulled his hood off. It was a kid, no older than fourteen I suspect. He had long dark brown shaggy hair that he used to hide his face. His eyes were red and there were tracks made out on his cheeks where tears had once flowed. I stood there for a moment empathizing with the kid. He reminded me of myself at his age. Shaggy hair that I kept long to hide behind, emotional, and rebellious. This kid was just like me. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!’ he said. ‘It was a mistake I thought this place was abandoned!’ ‘You thought wrong.’ I said coldly as I remembered how he had just defaced my art. I brought him inside an empty apartment, I couldn’t have him seeing Fluttershy. The room was lit by a few lights dangling from the ceiling. All of the apartments (except mine of course) was bare, only the essentials were provided. Fortunately there were a few chairs in this apartment, left by accident I suppose. ‘Pull up a chair.’ I said trying to get the kid to calm down. ‘So, why’d you do it?’ ‘I…I don’t know… it’s kind of a stress reliever for me, you know.’ ‘Yes, I know. But that was my art, on my building. You just came over here and ruined it!’ The boy shuffled a bit in his chair and looked away. ‘I know. I was upset so… I intentionally ruined it.’ ‘And why would you do that!’ I said a bit too loud than I wanted. ‘Why… would you do that?’ I said a bit calmer now. ‘I was just… passing my anger along… I can’t really explain it, but knowing that someone else would be as upset as me made me feel a bit better.’ ‘Do you realize that that’s the reason why this town is a mess? Instead of dealing with our own anger we just pass it along.’ ‘I guess that makes sense.’ He said with a puzzled look on his face. ‘Look,’ I said, ’I’m not mad at you anymore. But you’re still in trouble.’ He sighed, relieved that I wasn’t upset at him anymore. ‘All right,’ I began, ‘You seem to like artwork, and I need my building repainted. That seems like a good way for you to work off your debt.’ ‘Really! That’s it?’ he said with a lighted expression. ‘Uh huh.’ I replied, ‘that’s right, and then you can clean up the place, help me repair the fence, and carry out all maintenance for a month!’ ‘Aw man, I knew it was too good to be true.’ ‘Yup, and I’d better see you on the first day of summer bright and early!’ I lead him out of the apartment and said good bye. Not having to do maintenance for a month was going to be sweet. I headed up the stairwell back to my apartment when I found Fluttershy sniffling on the ground with her hooves covering her snout. “Aw sweetie,” I said in a fatherly tone, “there’s nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine.” I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, stroking her mane rhythmically.” Let’s get back inside, it is way too cold outside.” The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what made my little friend tick. What she liked, what she didn’t like, what she was scared of. Apparently she likes oatmeal, hates spinach, and loves funny faces. She really loves funny faces. By the end of the day my face was sore from all of the faces, and her tummy hurt from laughing so much. Hmmm, tummy. Such a funny word. We ate our food, got ready for bed, and finally ended another day. I set her down onto the dog bed again, but she still crawled up onto my bed and snuggled against my face. Tomorrow I have to go to work. Finding a way to sneak her in is going to be interesting.
"Yay!"I shuffled down the side walk at a fast pace. One of my arms was sticking out, the other was sucked into my jacket. People stared at my disfigured shape, particularly noticing my protruding belly. Still I shuffled along ignoring their glares. I may look like a pregnant one armed man, but that is no reason to judge me! But, my brilliant disguise kept Fluttershy safe as we travelled on my morning commute. I had stuffed her in my biggest jacket and zipped it up, effectively hiding her. I guess she wasn’t too happy about the idea though because before I knew it she was crying. My shirt was literally soaked in her tears, and I didn’t have a clue on how to comfort her. I couldn’t take her out and show her my best funny face, we were in public. Instead I thought back to what I did that day I had first found her. I quickly withdrew my arm and offered her my finger. She gladly accepted it and began to chew on my finger. She must have been teething by the way she clamped on to my finger. Another thing to add to the list of how ridiculous I looked. I hustled on down to work with Fluttershy in tow. I have a decent job. I am the store manager of a bookstore, biggest bookstore in town! That was the actual name of the store, and it lived up to that name. People marveled at the vast collection of literature. But I guess the big boss took quantity over quality. We may have a lot of books, but they’re books no one’s heard of. Business isn’t doing so well lately. It’s times like these when I wish I could put that big apartment building to use. As soon as I got to work I raced off to my office before anyone could question me on my appearance. Once I hit that door I unzipped my jacket and quickly took my finger out of her mouth. “Man you have a good set of chompers! I thought I was having my finger amputated!” I joked. She smiled back at me, picking up on the joke somehow. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I picked up Fluttershy and stuffed her under my desk as fast as I could. The intruder entered right as I was getting up. I bumped my head and I heard a man chuckle. ‘You alright down there Mr. Carter?’ the voice said. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Don’t call me Mr. Carter, makes me feel old.’ ‘Fine,’ the voice said,’ Stephan, we’re out of note cards.’ ‘You came in here about note cards?’ I scowled, ‘You’re just slacking off.’ ‘I may be many things, MR.CARTER, but a slacker ain’t one!’ the voice shouted in response. ‘All right, I’ll add note cards to the endless list of things we need to get. Now will you please do your job?’ I said pleading with him. ‘I’ll think about it.’ the man chuckled as he left. That there is the biggest head ache I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with. His name was Gerald, Gerald Johnson. A forty five year old slacker who has a grudge against me for getting his job. At first I sympathized with him, I was some punk kid who walked in here and within a year climbed the ladder he had been climbing for fifteen years. I guess deep down I still kind of sympathize with him. That’s the only reason he’s still working here. Enough about my coworkers, if I don’t think of something to do with flutters here I’m history! There’s no way I wouldn’t get fired if someone to report I had her in here. Especially something like her. People are afraid of what they don’t know, because what someone doesn’t know about will definitely hurt them. I mostly sat at my desk with her in my lap, using the desk to conceal her. That worked for an hour or so, until she got bored. “No problem,” I thought “I’ll just give her a funny face or two and let her chew on my finger again. Two problems with that though. One, I had to explain what that high pitched squeal was every time Fluttershy laughed. The second problem I ran into was the finger, I swear she’s trying to bit my finger off! I needed to think of something fast. During my lunch break I ran down to the costume store to buy Fluttershy a disguise. We went over to the “dog costumes” isle and started to look around. There weren’t many costumes to choose from, which isn’t surprising since pets don’t usually wear costumes unless their owners are crazy pet worshippers. No one was around, so I didn’t see any harm in letting Fluttershy peek out and take her pick. “Take a look,” I whispered to her, “Pick out anyone you would like!” She stared in awe at the vast array of color spread out before her. The sight of her so awestruck by a few cheap costumes made me smile with delight. Suddenly her eyes flashed to one costume in particular. It was a clown costume with pink and blue polka dots, very flashy but I thought it would do the trick. As she admired the spectacle of tomfoolery and jest I heard her squeak a soft “yay”. “Whoa!” I said in a low voice, she responded with a loud resounding “YAY!!!” I wrapped my hands around her muzzle to quickly silence her, but I was too late. Everyone in the store peeked behind the aisle to see what the racket was all about. I had managed to play it off as if I was the one who made the disturbance and covered Fluttershy up with the costume she was previously observing. They stared at me with a quizzical look for a few seconds and then went back to their business. I was about to proceed to the checkout line when I noticed a warm puddle of tears forming on my shirt. Fluttershy was sniffling inside my jacket, crying because of my actions earlier. “Aw sweet heart,” I whispered in a nurturing tone, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was only trying to keep you safe.” She looked up at me with a few tears still in her eyes. “Look,” I said, “why don’t we get you your costume and we can go home. You can say “yay” as loud as you want at home.” Her tears started to fade away as she calmed down. I zipped my jacket up, purchased the clown costume, and walked home. I heard a muffled yay as I triple locked my door, and then a string of repeated “yays” as she scrambled around in my jacket. “Alright, alright. I’ll let you out!” I said chuckling as she squirmed out of my coat screaming yay the entire time. Once she had gotten out completely I realized what all the random kicks in the gut were about. She was standing in the middle of the living room staring up at me, wearing the clown costume inside out. “Couldn’t have waited till we got home could you?” I said jokingly. She shook her head in reply with a wide grin on her face. I was taken aback at the strange sign of communication she knew what I had asked her! I stared at her in wonder for a few moments. I had always looked at her as more of a daughter than a pet, but this just showed that she could no longer be considered a pet either. That meant that I was her adopted father, and she was my daughter. This brought on a lot of questions, “how do I raise her?”, “was I ready for this?”, “what if I’m a bad dad?” All of these questions raced through my head as I continued to stare at her. I almost didn’t notice her start to frown and cringe at my glare. “Oh, I’m sorry!” I said as I snapped out of my trance, “I was just thinking that’s all. Here, let me help you get that on.” I got up and helped her out of the inside out costume, she had started to feel better after seeing me help her with her predicament. After fifteen minutes, a tickle fight, and a lot of wriggling, she was ready to go. “You know,” I began, “You’d make a good clown. In fact If didn’t know any better I’d say you’re a real clown pony!” She beamed at my remark and let out a loud whinny and a yay. “Loud enough to!” I joked. Suddenly she became more timid at my remark and hid behind her long hair. “Oh no,” I said apologetically, “I didn’t mean it that way, it was just a joke!” I walked over to her and patted her on the back softly. She seemed to feel a bit better at my warm touch, even starting to get a bit drowsy. Soon she was yawning, which had become our signal to go to bed. I had tucked Fluttershy in (not bothering to put her in the dog bed anymore) and gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. As she fell asleep nuzzling my shoulder I had been thinking. Fluttershy was already turning out to be a bit emotional, and raising her was already going to be tough! Honestly I didn’t know what to do, but I knew worrying about it all night wasn’t going to do any good. I had finally come to the conclusion that I should just keep doing what I’m doing, living life one day at a time. Almost as if by magic, Fluttershy started nodding her head in her sleep in agreement.
The most literate toddlerIt has been a few months, and Fluttershy has grown so much! I suspect she is a toddler, though I can’t say for sure. But at the rate she is progressing I would say she is in her early learning years. Her wings have developed from a soft downy mass into leaner feathery muscles. I’ve been keeping track on how tall she is the old fashioned way, with a doorway and a sharpie. Her legs have been growing at different rates, the hind legs are just a bit taller than her fore legs, but I’m sure there’s no need for alarm. As well as physical growth, she has also grown mentally. She has become very talkative (only to me of course) and likes to show off her extensive vocabulary. I’ll often see her flipping through dictionaries and some rather large books, sounding out the words as she sees them. Most of her reading is incorrect, saying something in her own made up tongues instead of English. I’ll only correct her if it’s something simple, it’s actually pretty funny seeing her ramble out sounds as she reads a page! One day as we were watching “my little pony” (It’s funny to see how she acts like every other character except for the one I named her after) she tugged on my shirt with her mouth, obviously trying to get my attention. “What is it dear?” I said in a casual calm tone that I always use when I’m speaking to her (which took my weeks to perfect, so I’m very proud of it) .She released my shirt and hollered “Smotes!” which was her way of saying she was hungry. While I was teaching her to speak one of the first things she learned was “smotes”, I guess she just combined the two words “some” and “oats”. I got up to get her a package of oatmeal only to find that we’d exhausted all of our oats. “Huh, well that’s a pain ain’t it?” I said to Fluttershy who had begun to prod the empty box with her forehooves. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll just go to the store and get some.” Fluttershy’s ears shot up when she heard this and said “no dog!” I stared at her quizzically for a moment, after all we didn’t have a dog. She noticed my confusion and gestured to the clown costume hanging by the door. “Oh, yeah that. I guess it is kind of a hassle to put on.” I said thinking about how uncomfortable it must be to walk around under all that make up, whilst being in a cheap Halloween costume. “Well, it’s either this or the jacket kid.” Fluttershy walked away after my statement and came back a few moments later with my jacket in tow. It was the very same jacket that I wore when I found her. It didn’t take long for her to become uncomfortable. She was now too big for my jacket, and the only way I got her in was by wrapping her body around me like a towel. I wasn’t doing so well either, she was much heavier than when she was a baby. I started to feel the all too familiar sensation of cold eyes and questioning glares as I shuffled down the street, concealing Fluttershy as best as I could. I appeared to be a morbidly obese, one armed (she never got out of the finger sucking habit, but she was gentler now that she wasn’t teething anymore) with a pink clip on tail from where Fluttershy’s tail had fallen out. It seemed like an hour of awkward shuffling before we had arrived at the grocery store. We made our way down to the cereal aisle, which I assumed was where the oatmeal resided. Fortunately it was there, along with a teenage boy (no older than eighteen I suspect) who was restocking the shelves. Beads of sweat started to form on my forehead at this seemingly simple task. I composed myself and tried to act casual as I strode over to the oatmeal. My eyes wandered to the biggest box I could see and I reached out to grab it. Curse my luck, as I reached for the box Fluttershy fell out from the bottom of my jacket. She fell with a soft thump and landed on her backside staring up at me with a terrified look. I tried to pick her up and hide her as fast as I could, but I was too late. The employee that was stocking the shelves had noticed, and saw me clinging to Fluttershy like a mother trying to protect her child. My voice cracked as I tried to explain my situation, but no words came out. How am I supposed to explain this! Finally I croaked out “Please don’t tell!” desperately. For the longest time he had his eyes fixated to Fluttershy as she buried her face into my chest, trying to hide from him. He was snapped out of his trance as I said once more “Don’t tell.” my voice solemn to show just how serious this was. He looked up at me and rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Suddenly, he snapped out of his confusion and gave me a smile and a look that seemed to be something you’d see a soldier do as he stared at his commanding officer. I watched as he dug into his pocket and pull out a small button with three pink butterflies printed on it. He gave me another smile and a nod, handed me the oatmeal, and continued restocking the shelves while whistling a tune. I zipped up my jacket and backed away slowly, staring skeptically at the strange man as I walked away. Checkout was a breeze, so was getting back home. The entire way back I was thinking about that guy, the pin he flashed… it was vaguely familiar. We got home, ate, and went to bed. All the while I was contemplating the meaning of those little butterflies. My thoughts were broken by Fluttershy’s voice as she said “Good night!” in a soft sing song voice. “Good night dear.” I replied. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy’s short breaths to become slow and deep, she made it seem so easy to float off into sleep. I followed soon after, drifting off into the sweet celestial dreamscape.
The BronyThat guy, the one at the store. Something about him didn’t add up. After all, he had just seen what most would perceive as an alien. How could he just flash a button and act as if nothing ever happened? I don’t know why I’m so worked up right now; I guess it’s my fatherly instincts. Fluttershy seemed to notice that I was deep in thought. I had been giving her a bath in a trance the whole time. She nudged with her snout, effectively snapping me back into consciousness. I resumed scrubbing her yellow coat softly, still deeply in thought, but I put a little more effort into washing her which seemed to suffice for her. “Hey Fluttershy,” I said as I stared out into space, “why don’t we visit the store today?” She shrugged and said “after.” “Of course we’ll go after; we can’t have you walking out soaking wet!” I said with a giggle. She giggled back, although I don’t think she knew what I was laughing about. After she had dried off and brushed her hair (which took surprisingly long) we headed out the door, deciding to go with the dog costume after the last incident. It was a nice stroll, no one was outside, the sun was shining, and the weather was starting to warm up. But, as we neared the store I had gone over my questions in my head. I started to tense up as I approached the doors, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. But the doors had already open, no going back now. I walked through the doors slow, yet fast enough to where I wouldn’t look suspicious. I’d decided that I should at least finish what I came here for and started to search for the guy I saw yesterday. As I rounded the corner I saw him restocking another row of shelves with what seemed to be baby food. He looked up from his dreary job and saw me. His eyes lit up and he gave me a cheery smile, then he returned to his task. I strolled over, trying to act nonchalant. I stood beside him casually examining the wares in front of me. After a few awkward moments of silence the boy spoke up. “Sir,” he began,” I don’t mean to pry, but why do you need baby food?” My mind scrambled looking for a legitimate excuse for staring at baby food. “Uh… I… um…” I stuttered, trying to stall to give myself time to think. “It’s for her isn’t it?” he said calmly as he gestured towards Fluttershy, who was currently disguised as a dog. “Actually no,” I said with sudden courage, “she’s old enough to eat real food.” “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just…” he said sheepishly, “so remarkable.” “How so?” I said in a monotone voice. “Well, I’m a big fan of the show, seeing her in the flesh is just-“He started to say, but towards the end he waved his hands saying “remarkable!” “But wouldn’t this freak you out, even just a little?” I said with genuine curiosity. “Well yeah, a little. But in the show she’s so kind and sweet, I can’t imagine her being any different.” He said with a chipper smile. “I only named her after that show, she’s not actually the one from TV. That would be impossible.” I explained. “Oh…” he replied as his smile faded away. “And what was with that button?” I asked trying to switch subjects. “Oh that,” he said, his smile creeping up his face once more, “That’s her cutie mark, Fluttershy’s that is. You see, I’m a brony. I thought if I showed you it that you would feel reassured, you’d understand that I wouldn’t tell.” “Wow, that’s… really cool of you.” I said absorbing it all. “I uh… have to go. This will be our little secret ok?” “Sure thing, still need that baby food?” he said with a sly grin. “I think I’m good.” I replied and chuckled as Fluttershy and I left. There was a skip in my step as we walked home. Fluttershy noticed that I was happy and started skipping alongside me. Before we knew it we were both skipping on our merry way back home. It felt good to know someone was watching out for me, even if it was some random teenager at a store. Maybe there were more people like him, somewhere.
A wall of many colorsSummer break begins tomorrow. Time for old debts to be repaid, and honestly I’ve been looking forward to this. The apartment building was hard work to take care of, especially for one person. Fluttershy tries to help out, but there’s not much she can do. She’s tried to clean a few of the restrooms with disastrous results. It breaks her heart not being able to help, but there’s not much I can do. Maybe I’ll be able to figure something out for her to help with. Every now and then I’ll see Sammy, we’ll pass each other on the side walk or I’ll see him at the bookstore. I’ve made sure that he doesn’t forget about his debt, but I still wonder if he’ll make it. For all I know he could blow me off, and honestly I wouldn’t do anything. I can’t go looking for him, he has to come out of his own accord. I looked out the window to see a small figure in a green hoodie approaching the building. “Huh,” I whispered to myself, “he actually came back!” I started to unlock the door which startled Fluttershy, who had been watching cartoons in the living room. “Dad,” she hollered, “where are you going? We aren’t out of food, right?” before I could answer she jumped from the couch and dashed to the kitchen to make sure we had food. I just ignored it, she’ll figure out soon enough, I have to check up with my new “worker”. The metal steps of the stair well squeaked as I made my way down to the parking lot, a bag of spray paint in hand. Sammy noticed me as I was walking down and hid his face in shame, apparently still feeling guilty about what he’d done. I flashed him a smile as I finished my descent and lifted up the bag of paint over my head. He lightened up a bit and gave me a timid smile in response. We met in the middle of the parking lot, both wearing big smiles. “So,” I said trying to strike up a conversation,” I hope you’ve kept up your art skills. You’re going to need it.” I tossed him a can of paint which he awkwardly caught. “Uh, yeah. I’ve been practicing… on paper of course!” he said nervously. “Right, well let’s get to work!” I replied and grabbed a few cans of paint myself. For about an hour and a half we were both deeply focused, I would paint one side of the wall as he’d paint another side. Before long I had created an intricate tree, showing its roots deeply underground. I took a step back to admire my work and see what I need to brush up on, when I caught a glimpse of what Sammy was painting. On his side of the wall were big stained glass windows that portrayed what seemed to be two ponies, each of them opposite to the other. They were very well done and detailed, stunning all though odd. I had seen that one night while Fluttershy and I had been watching My Little Pony, she was so excited to see the first episode of season two. “Hey,” I said breaking Sammy’s concentration,” where’d you get the idea to paint that?” I questioned. “Oh um, I don’t know. I can paint over it if you don’t like It.” He said timidly, obviously embarrassed at his work. “No, no.” I said before he could start repainting,” It’s beautiful, it really is. You did a good job, I was just wondering is all.” “Oh!” he replied with surprise,” are you one too then?” He said in a hushed tone. “Am I a what?” I asked with suspicion present in my voice. “Oh, never mind. I thought you were a…” He paused and lowered his voice a bit, “I thought you were a brony too.” He said in a hushed voice. My mind thought back to the store employee, who I’d become friends with not too long ago. He had been kind, and he claimed to be a brony. Maybe being a brony would give me something to have in common with Sammy. “Of course I’m a brony!” I said with enthusiasm to Sammy. “Really? So you’re cool with this?” he said ad if he misunderstood me. “Yes I’m cool with this. In fact why don’t you teach me how to paint like that?” His face lit up and a big grin appeared on his face. For thirty minutes he sat there and taught me how to paint ponies. “You always have to start with the ears…” he said as he demonstrated his technique. Soon enough we were both going away at it, painting ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors all over the wall. By the end of the day the entire wall was covered, each spot was filled with color. Honestly, it was beautiful. I sent Sammy home, it was already getting dark, and started to climb the stairs up to my apartment. But as I was ascending the staircase my foot lightly tapped something on the stairs. I looked down to see Fluttershy curled up in a ball, sleeping on the small platform. She woke up, startled by my presence as I lifted her off the cold steps. “Were you spying on us?” I said teasingly, she nodded in response and muttered an apology. She was really tired, I’m guessing that she had been asleep for quite some time. I had decided that it was bedtime seeing how tired Fluttershy was. She grumbled a bit and let out a soft sigh as I set her down gently onto the bed. I tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead before I went to triple lock my front door as usual. Soon I was falling fast asleep as well. “Dad…” I heard Fluttershy mumble barely audible. “Yes sweetie?” I replied after a moment. “I like your drawings…” she murmured before falling back asleep.
new beginningsThis place is a hole. The pavement is littered with trash, living and inanimate. People are sharing their depression with everyone they come into contact with. The only thing bright and colorful is the graffiti, half of which is my work. The best part of my day is when I get to go home, triple lock the door, and stare at the pretty colors on my monitor like a possessed moth. I live in an apartment building, by myself. In fact I own the place. Before my grandparents died, my grandfather would always tell me to get into the rental business. “It’s hard at first,” he would say,” but it’ll pay for itself with time.” My grandfather was a great investor and an even greater man, it was because of his investments that I was able to buy this building. I had it all planned out. I would buy this place, have it refurbished, and paint it beautiful colors! People would flock to my beacon of light and we would turn this town around for the better. The entire city would become a tribute to my grandfather! But that didn’t work out. I had purchased the building with plenty of cash left to have it refurbished and painted. I was on my way to the bank when a stray bullet from a drugstore robbery hit me in the gut. Soon all of the money I had set aside for my dream was lost, the med boys had a hard enough time keeping me breathing. They took every dime for their services. But I can’t complain, they did their job. I’m still alive, living inside a dead dream. I still gave that building color though. Every inch of that place is covered in intricate graffiti. Murals I like to call them, graffiti seems a bit demeaning to me. Soon my “murals” spilled out into the rest of the town. What can I say, it was my stress reliever. I came home one day to see a giant, amateur, poorly drawn, name sprayed all over my murals. Sammy, with s replaced with $. Man was I ticked. The one thing I really took pride in was now ruined. I shouted curses at the perpetrator for a solid twenty minutes. I needed to let off some steam, I grabbed my spray paint and went for a walk. Block after block, I walked on. Finally I came up to a good spot on a clean house, and pulled out my spray paint. But before I could get down to work I heard a soft cry. I just ignored it and began to lay a base pattern for my new “mural”. Then I started smelling gas. The cries stopped. “Oh god,” I thought, “whatever’s in there must have passed out!” I knocked on the door to no avail, there was no response. Everything was starting to blur, my adrenaline was pumping, I knew something had to happen now. “Jesus Christ!” I murmured,” I’d better not get arrested for this!” I took a step back and launched myself at the door shoulder first. Before I knew it I was on my back staring into a newborn’s fading eyes. Before I could think I grabbed the infant and took off, trying to escape the fumes. Block after block I raced on. Finally I found a good spot in an abandoned parking lot. I stopped to get a better look at the child that I “technically” abducted. What I saw I couldn’t comprehend. Behind all the long pastel pink hair (that I somehow didn’t notice) was a little yellow snout, and two deep blue eyes that gazed into my soul. What was this thing?! It looked more like a cartoon character rather than a real living thing. Yet here it is, breathing heavily, heart beating, and body warm. After a few seconds of peace and wonder, the little creature began to stir lightly in my arms. It opened its eyes and stared at me in a questioning sort of way. It seemed to come to the conclusion that whatever was happening was bad, and began to cry. “Shhh shh, no crying!” I whispered to her as I wagged my finger about in a “shush” motion. She let out a loud giggle at the movement, and latched onto my finger with her undeveloped teeth. It didn’t really hurt, but it was kind of annoying. Anything to keep her quiet I guess. I walked home with her, shielding her from the view of the other people with my jacket. It’s kind of hard to do though when you have a giggling infant suckling on your finger. I think a few people even thought I was nursing! Finally we got home, after an hour of walking my finger was getting pretty pruned. It was late at night and both of us were tired. I set her down and triple locked my door as I normally do. When I turned back around I saw the little creature yawn and stick out what appeared to be wings! I tried to gasp, but her yawn was contagious. The result was apparently the funniest face ever. She toppled over with laughter, and soon she had me laughing too! Soon we were both on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Finally we stopped when I heard her stomach growl. “Is the little miss hungry?” I asked. She jumped up at the remark and started prancing about. I went to the kitchen and sifted around for something to eat. “Well,” I said, “she kind of looks like a horse, and horses like oats!” I grabbed a few packages of instant oat meal and poured it into a bowl. My logic is unmatched! We sat on the couch eating oatmeal and watching the news. That’s when I saw the house where I rescued the little critter. It was ashes on the ground, nothing remained. Some unfortunate soul got a free cremation when he lit a cigarette near the gas leak. Poof, the gas ignited and they were history. I got a little choked up after seeing that. That could’ve been her, life is too precious to waste. I gathered my little friend up in a hug. She seemed a bit annoyed at my interruption, she wanted to get back to her meal. I let her go and she resumed eating. I started channel surfing, no one likes the news anyway. After a few clicks I saw an almost exact version of her on the T.V. .Except the one on the screen was orange with blonde hair, and said she was applejack and something about a fritter. I pulled out my laptop and looked up the name of the show. On the image results I saw a yellow Pegasus with pink hair, along with that applejack character and four others. “That’s you isn’t it!” I said to her, “you’re fluttershy, and those are your little friends!” She smiled at me and yawned. “Ok, ok I can take a hint.” I said. “Oh well, my theory isn’t that crazy if you take into account everything else that happened today.” She just stared at me and yawned again. “All right, bed time flutters.” I murmured. I picked her up and took her over to an old dog bed I had and set her down. I made sure she was all tucked in and said goodnight. Ten minutes later I felt her crawl onto my bed and snuggled up under my chin. That really touched my deep inside. I shed a few tears and whispered “good night angel”. I realized that this had been the best day I’ve had in a long time.
The Short ChapterAnother day another struggle, although this one was a bit unusual. Fluttershy and I woke up at seven a.m., gone through our morning rituals, and set off for work. I had used an old make up kit to make her fur turn brown which had made her look, oh I don’t know, 20% doggier. She giggled a bit as I rubbed in the dark powder, being very careful not to hurt her in the process. After that she put the clown costume on, I took a photo for memories, and we were off on our merry way. We even skipped for a while, seeing as no one was around to see. Everything was going great (I even think everyone thought she was an actual dog!) I guess I got Flutters a bit excited and to the first person she saw she shouted a very flamboyant “YAY!!!” I was mortified for a few seconds, just staring at the man in front of us. Fluttershy must’ve been proud of her first yay because she started shouting yay repeatedly. The man stared at her for three seconds (yes, I counted) then looked back up at me saying, “You need to get a video of your talking dog, YouTube is waiting!” The man chuckled at his own remark and passed us by. “Fluttershy! We’re in public now, you can’t say things like that in public.” I said, scolding her a bit too harshly. She stared up at me with what was at first anger, then melted into sorrow. Her eyes welled up, showing the signs that she was about to cry. I quickly gathered her up in a big hug, trying to desperately comfort her. “There, there. It’s ok. I know you didn’t mean to. You were just excited. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you.” I said in a soft voice. Her tears had disappeared, replaced with a gentle sigh to show that she was all better. I set her down on the pavement, and explained to her why we needed to be silent. After that we walked off, with no more outbursts. Soon our little test run had dissolved into routine. Things started to get a little brighter, nights got a little less cold, and my life now had a little color in it.
