When Kindness Entered In

Chapter 4

I could tell by the look on her face that this winged cartoon horse was happier than how she was an hour ago. It was at first funny how a house, a warm bath, and the attention of another person could lift someone’s spirits. The more I realized it though the more I found looking for the same things. I also found that this creature resting on my couch was more human than animal than I thought, even from when I first met her out in the rain. Funny how we take speech for granted and how it is such an important identity of being human.  With the knowledge of this creature being able to speak, I felt prepared to try and communicate with her and hopefully answer the questions that flooded my mind.

“I’m glad you are doing better,” I said carefully shaping my sentences like a painter making a picture, “Can you tell me your name?”

“M…my name? Um… it’s Fluttershy,” she said in a voice so soft that you swear the silence in the apartment was louder than her voice. It was no wonder that she was like this after finding herself in an unfamiliar place alone and scared. Still hopefully my persistence would pay off.

“I’m sorry, can you tell me your name again?”

“it’s… Fluttershy,” again she spoke, this time softer if that was even possible. It was bad enough that I strained to hear what she had to say before but this time it was ridiculous!

“I don’t think I caught the whole thing,” I said being as kind as possible but trying to subtly tell her to speak up. My efforts though were received by only a scared little frightened squeak as she recoiled at even the slightest raising of my voice. Although I found I could talk with her, everything was not perfect as I felt like even the next thought I made with talking to her had to be planned out with the smallest detail. Speaking came naturally to me as I was able to usually say what I needed to say the moment I needed to say it. With her though it was like walking on eggshells, but I couldn’t just leave it go and spend however long I was with her not talking to her.

“I’m sorry if I raised my voice,” I replied along with giving my name, hoping to rebuild the conversation, “I want to help you but I can’t if you won’t talk to me.”

I felt my frustration rise at the moment, wondering if this was all a good or night for me to even consider helping her. I watch as her own insecurities are played out on her face. She didn’t say anything but I could tell that her mind split itself between trusting this stranger further or escaping to where it was just her on her own. At that moment I realized it was not just me thrust into this situation but her as well, and her problem was worse than mine.

“I… I’m sorry,” she finally said this time with a much clearer voice, “I didn’t mean to be so … well… shy to you. It’s just that I’m scared that’s all.”

“You don’t have to be scared. You’re safe now and I’ll keep you here until you get better.”

The creature nodded as some relief appeared on her face, replacing that of her worry and distrust.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” I replied hoping that now that she was more relaxed she was ready.

“I think so, just nothing too personal, ok?”

“Ok. Well first of all, what are you? You remind me of some flying horse thing.”

“Oh, well I’m a pony, a Pegasus to be more specific. Are there no ponies like me here?”

“Not like you. There are ponies, but they can’t talk and they certainly can’t fly or are brightly colored as you are. So are all ponies like you, that they can fly?”

“Oh no, there are some that can fly but there are also unicorns that are great with magic and some ponies that don’t have wings or a horn that re great at growing or creating things. There are even ponies called Alicorns that are a mix of all three pony types! My friend is one of those. There are others too but mainly ponies where I come from.”

“So where exactly are you from?”

“I’m from a kingdom called Equestria,” she replied softly, “but I live in a town called Ponyville. It’s a really nice place filled with very friendly ponies.”

She paused as if something loomed on her mind before asking, “Where am I now?”

“You’re on Earth. Here there are mostly people like us, people called humans. We’re sort of friendly to each other I guess, maybe not as much you and your pony friends are. Can you tell me Fluttershy how you got here?”

“I… I don’t know. I remember there was a terrible storm in Ponyville that I tried to help stop but I became caught in it. The next thing I remember was waking up in a grassy place during a storm. I was cold and hut and needed a place to stay. That’s when I found that box, until you came.”

I could tell that her mind focused on the fact that she was no longer with her friends in Ponyville. In an instant she had been plucked from the safety of her world and dropped into an unfamiliar place. I could never imagine being moved unexpectedly from a place I knew to another, especially to an entirely different world.

“Do you think you can help me get back to my friends?” she asked looking back at me with her pleading eyes.

“Fluttershy, I don’t know how to cross into other worlds. I didn’t even know that there were others world that existed that had life like what you said you came from. But I will try to find a way to help you if I can.”

The mare felt sad that I couldn’t be the answer to all her problems, but there was at least the ray of hope in me helping her. This put her mind at ease at least for the time. We knew that this was going to be a difficult journey but I felt committed to helping her return to some normalcy in her life.

“Thank you,” she replied with a smile, “for everything you’ve done and everything you will do.”

“You’re welcome. Now how about you tell me more about your life in Ponyville and I’ll tell you about mine?”