Cotton in the Wind

"Mr Anon, what's sex?"

You look down in a bit of a shock to see Rarity, her head cocked in confusion.

"Where did you hear that term dear?" You ask, rubbing your neck akwardly. For whatever reason, the ponies here thought it would be a great idea for you to be a kindergarden teacher. I mean, yeah its the early 1980's in Horseland, but still, don't they do background checks?

"I heard Fluttershy talk about it. Will you tell me Mr Anon?"

You kneel down and hold the young filly by the side of her mane.

"Now, there are things that youngin's ain't supposed to know little one. Life is better when you take your time to experience things at their proper times."

"But Fluttershy says she has it all the time Mr Anon! I want to know what it is!" Rarity huffs grumpily, puffing her cheeks out at you.

Your calm face suddenly fell, you look away from the young filly and begin surveying the playground. Pinkie seems to be getting along well with the others, Twilight is reading for whatever reason, its recess, not study time, Rainbow is picking on the boys...again! And Applejack seems to be enjoying her orange snacks.

Where is Fluttershy though?

"Rarity, have you seen Fluttershy today?"

Rarity looks around, and pulls you in as if she wanted to whisper in your ear.

"I heard, that at recess, she goes down to the creek to have sex!" Rarity whispered.

"Uh huh. Right. Well then." You grab your whistle and blow it harshly.

"Okay everyone, back to class! Recess is over!"

All the ponies groan as they shuffle back into the schoolhouse. You quickly pull Twilight aside.

"Twilight, can I trust you to lead the class for about 20 minutes?"

She nods her head adorably, and trots into the schoolhouse.

Time to figure out what all of this nonsense is about.

You head down by the creek that was about 20 feet from the Schoolhouse as your paternal instincts kick in. You don't know why you were transported to Equestria, or why upon your arrival, the ponies in their radical 1980's fashion decided unamiously to name you their new schoolhouse teacher, but you suppose that you were given a role to play in this world.

You hear the soft whimpers of a sad filly as you approach closer to the creek. Looks like you found her.

You slink closer to the creek, and see Fluttershy rubbing her hindquarters against a small branch poking itself out of the creek.

You sigh, well at least its not what you initially thought, seriousally, if the Parent conference found out that young colts and fillies were participating in sexual activites, your teaching responsibilities would've been thrown right out the window.

You cough loudly to announce your presence. Fluttershy looks at you, with a tear filled eyes, as she kicks the branch quickly, and forlornly watches it drift downstream.

"O-oh. H-hello Mr Anon." She states, turning her head as if she was ashamed with herself.

You walk to the bank of the creek and sit down. You pick up a single rock and decide to throw it into the water.

"You missed the recess whistle Fluttershy." You state, trying to break the obvious akward elephant in the room.

"I-I'm sorry. Please don't tell my parents." She exclaims through a froth of tears and anxiety.

You pause for a second, to carefully think out your next words.

"...About what you do during recess?" You calmly state.

She nods her head silently, refusing to say a single word.

You pat the ground next to you, and invite her to sit next to you. She hesitates for a moment, as if you activated some sort of fear inside her.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you." You reassure her.

She slowly walks over and sits down next to you. For about 2 minutes the two of you just look over the creek and watch as the summer cotton floats in the air.

You well up internally for the question thats on your mind. You wouldn't dare ask it a month ago when you came here, as everyone seemed nice and innocent, like they couldn't even hurt a fly, but...you remember something like this, a long time ago, back in your own world. Maybe this one, and that one aren't so different, once you see behind the colorful glass.

"...Did you learn that all by yourself?" You state as you pick up a smooth stone and fling it across the creek, the stone skipping three times before sinking.

Fluttershy remains silent as she picks up a stone, and does the same. You decide to press on.

"...Did someone do something that you didn't like?" You pick up another smooth rock and begin clenching it. You sincerely don't want to think the obvious, however with every silent, frustrated tear in her eye, you knew that you were getting closer and closer to the horrible truth.

You grip your stone, in both anger and fear.

"...Did someone hurt you Fluttershy?"

She quickly turned her head away from you. The soft whimpers grew, while soft, began to grow louder and heavier. You drop your stone, and you feel your heart sink to your stomach as she quietly whimpered.

"..Y-yes."

For a moment, you sit in bewilderment, accompanied by the soft tears of a crying filly. You honestly can't believe it, even in this magical land of colorful tiny horses, there are still people, or I guess ponies, who want to do harm to children.

"Did he hurt you down there?" You state silently, trying to maintain your adult sense of calmness around her, despite the coiling feeling of disgust writhing in your belly.

She shook her head in disagreement, as you look at her in bewilderment.

"Did...she...hurt you down there?" You slowly reply.

Fluttershy turned around quickly and flew into your arms, crying her little eyes off. You pat her on her head as you look off into the distance. This is even worse than you imagined, I mean sure, pedophiles were a dime a dozen back in your own world. You lived and worked in Manhattan, you dealt every other day with a child abuse case, but even back there, female predators were rare.

"Can you tell me her name sweetie?" You gingerly ask, continuing to pet her mane.

"I c-can't Mr Anon." She whimpers slightly.

"It's okay honey, she won't hurt you anymore." You try to reassure her.

"N-no... you don't understand. She said if I tell...she'll come back for the others..." She whimpers burying her face into your chest.

You pause for a second,

"She just said that to scare you, I promise you, everything will be okay Fluttershy."

"NO!" She slams on your chest. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She quickly pulls away from you, and runs towards the creek.

"Fluttershy! Stop it right now!" You yell at her.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I WANT TO DIE!" She begins forcing her face into the water and begins hitting herself with rocks.

Jesus crap, you've got to stop her! You quickly run into the creek and grasp both of her hooves.

"STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE! I-i-i h-hate you..." she begins tearing up again as she curls into your chest.

You pat her mane as she continues to cry in your chest. You really want to do the same, you really want to cry with her, because whoever got in her head, really screwed her up. With a heavy breath, you wade out of the creek and head back to the schoolhouse, her soft whimpering accompanying you the entire way.

Not wanting to make a scene, you gingerly set her down by the doorway. You reach into your pocket and blow your teachers whistle.

"Okay! Class ends early today students!" You yell out. As quickly as you announced, you are met with a flood of students escaping the schoolhouse in cheer.

"YAAAAAY SCHOOLS CANCELED!" The student body quickly returning to their places of residence.

"Now you all be careful, and make sure to look both ways before crossing!" You yell out to the overjoyed students.

You feel a tug at your pant leg. You look down and see Twilight looking up at you.

"Did I do bad Mr Anon?" She says with a forlorn look in her eye.

You kneel down and pat the young unicorn on the head. "Nonsense, you did an actually job Ms. Sparkle. Now head on home."

She smiles and happily trots down the hill on her way home.

She stops for a second, and turns around.

"Mr Anon... there was a weird lady who came by."

Your insides freeze quickly, as you quickly make your way to Twilight. You crouch down and whisper to her.

"Do you know who she is?"

She nods her head.

"Did she do anything?"

"No, she was just looking through the window. I was really scared Mr Anon."

"Why were you scared Twilight?" Your brow begins dripping with sweat.

"Because Mommy and Daddy said that she went away for a long time, and that she wasn't supposed to be at the school anymore."

"Who wasn't supposed to be at the school anymore?"

"Our old teacher."

You feel your world crash around you, and the ground below your feet quake with an internal rage.

"...I'm going to go home now Mr Anon."

"Okay, please be careful Ms. Sparkle." You pet her head.

You watch as Twilight quickly heads home, looking occassionally over her shoulder, as if on the lookout for a present threat. You start to understand as the pieces fall into place in your mind. You were assigned the role of a teacher, because the last one harmed her own students, and they needed one. I suppose they couldn't trust other ponies at the time, but why would they trust you? They couldn't have possibly known about you before you came here, could they?

You think back to what your old partner used to say. "There are weird things out there, like multiple universes, the only reason you don't think about them, is because the government is busy keeping you distracted by trash television and fatty food products that kill your mind."

Munch was a kooky fellow, but maybe he had a point.

You turn around, and head back to the schoolhouse, where Fluttershy had still been sobbing with her face in her hooves. You quickly pull out your 1980's cellphone, as you pat her head, her sobs slowly receding with every stroke of your hand.

.....Ring.........ring............"Hello?"

"Yes, Mr Skyline Soar?"

"Yeah, this is him speaking, can I help you?"

"You have a daughter by the name of Fluttershy that attends Ponyville Elementary correct?"

"....Who is this?"

"It's Mr Anon. E Mousse. The schoolhouse instructor."

"Ah! Mr Anon! A pleasure speaking with you...wait, is something wrong?"

"Mr Skyline, is it possible you can come down and pick up Ms Fluttershy?"

"O-of course! I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

You hear the sound of rustling feathers and yelling ponies in the background.

"HEY I GOTTA JET BOSS!"

"NOT UNTIL THAT DAMN CRANE IS IN PLACE SKYLINE!"

"I GOT TO PICK UP MY DAUGHTER!"

A slight bit of silence over the phone.

"ALRIGHT, BUT GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE WHEN YOU DO!"

You hang up, as look down at Fluttershy. Her eyes dried, red and cracked from her tears.

"Is Daddy coming?" she states quietly.

You nod her head silently, as you continue to pat her mane. She scoots closer to your leg, and rests her tired self on you.

The two of you wait silently, as the summer cotton floated gently in the breeze, like gentle unmeltable flurries.

About five minutes passed, as you heard a sound like jetfire scream across the sky, leaving behind a trail of disappated clouds. A yellow pegasus quickly descended and the impact of wind blew back your tie a bit.

"Is everything alright? Are you okay sweetie?"

Mr Skyline quickly ran to his daughter and wrapped her in his arms.

"DADDY!" Fluttershy quickly returned the embrace, and began sobbing into his neck.

"Mr Anon. What is going on? Why is my daughter crying? Did one of the other students pick on her?"

You chuckle softly, "Nothing of the sort Mr Skyline. In fact, Ms Fluttershy was feeling a little homesick."

You cock your head toward Fluttershy.

"Right Ms Fluttershy?"

She nodded her head and pulled at her father's wings.

"Yeah, I really missed you and Mommy. I really want to go home."

Skyline sighed, and held his daughters chin with his foreleg.

"I know you miss us honey, but you have to stay in class..."

"It's okay Mr Skyline. I've cancelled class for today."

"Oh?" He raises his eyebrows at you. "And why is that?"

"No reason, I thought the youngins could use a day off. They've all been doing really well at classes. Especially Ms Fluttershy."

"Oh, right then!" Skyline chuckles, and looks back at Fluttershy. "Okay, sweetie, you head on home, Daddy will catch up to you."

She nods and waves back to you. "See you tomorrow Mr Anon."

You wave back as she quickly flutters her wings and heads off into the distance.

Skyline turns his head at you and shoots you a deadly gaze.

"Okay, enough of the candy talk, what happened?" he grits through his teeth.

"Nothing Mr Skyline, she honestly was homesick."

You feel the schoolhouse door behind you echo with a thud, as Skyline's hoof landed right next to your stomach.

"BULLSHIT!" He grunts at you.

"I swear to Celestia, Anon if you are--" he begins.

"I know you ponies don't trust teachers." You quickly interject, interrupting his accusation.

He drops his hoof, and his eyes look away.

"So you know?" He asks quietly.

"Yes, one of the students told me." You reply, slowly putting your hand on his wing.

He doesn't seem offended by you doing so, so looks like everything is alright. He trusts you.

"Was Fluttershy one of the children..." you slowly begin to state.

"LORD NO!" he pulls away from you quickly, with a look of anger in his face. "I can't even imagine how she would react if something like that...." His scowl turned into a look of fear and dismay as he reads your forlorn stare back at him.

"No....no... it can't be. My...little princess..." He stammers, eyes quickly dilating, as his wings twitched fervently.

You nod your head silently.

Skyline quickly collapses as tears of anger and agony dripped from his eyes.

"I thought she went away. I thought we got rid of her for good!"

"So, it was the old schoolteacher?" You state, patting his back, trying to make the gruff pegasus more comfortable.

"Yeah." He wipes away some snot from his teary face.

"Ms. Iron Trap, woman was a monster I tell you, even before the other parents and I found out her...well, hurting the students." He gritted through his teeth, as if remembering a very painful memory.

"How so?"

The old hag was a perfectionist Anon, you had to do everything exactly the right way, or she would beat her students with a iron branch."

You continue to pet his wings, when you accidentally run your fingers over a branch shaped scar near his wingpits.

"How...long did she teach at the school?" You ask, slowly dawning upon you, that this has been an ongoing problem

"As long as anypony can remember Anon." He mirthfully whimpered, unknowingly rubbing his scar.

"The others parents and I, we all had our run ins with Ms Iron Trap, but you see, those were different days Anon. When you screwed up, you expected a lashing or two."

"So she never did..."

"No, not until recently..." Skyline turned away and began whimpering when he began recalling the tale.

"Well, we were just interested in getting rid of her position as Schoolmarm, especially since our own children were coming home with bruises. Topsy Turvey's daughter was hit so hard, her one eye became damaged!"

He stopped for a moment.

"but...one of the parents, I think Golden Russet, noticed his daughter had bruises near her flank."

He pauses, as if his tongue was caged in misery.

"And so did Dairy Scoops' daughter...and Fuzzy Bumpkin's daughter..."

He turned and looked at you in woe.

"When Freezy Breeze came home to her parents, she was said she was bleeding... from her downstairs."

He stomped his hoof into the ground.

"That's when the parents and I all knew. Iron Trap had crossed the line, and she had to pay!"

You quietly touch him on his shoulder.

"What did you do Mr Skyline?"

He pulls away from you, and grunts in disgust.

"What would've YOU done Mr Anon? When the person you are supposed to trust MOLESTS YOUR CHILDREN?" He lashes out.

He suddenly became very quiet.

"...We burned her house down."

"Excuse me?"

"While she was sleeping, we locked her in her own cottage, and burned the house down as she slept."

He turned around and screamed at you.

"SO YEAH, IM SORRY. BUT WE HAD TO DO IT ANON! SHE WAS HURTING OUR CHILDREN!"

You quickly place both of your hands on his erect wings.

"Well, she hurt all of you as well."

He grew quiet, and wrapped a hoof around your back.

"We... we were just so angry." He began sobbing, as you patted his mane.

"It's okay. I understand."

You quickly come to a sudden realization.

"Wait a minute... if you and the others burned her cottage...then what is happening now?"

"That's why I'm afraid Anon. We got rid of her, but for some reason, now she's back! And Fluttershy...oh god my daughter..."

"It's okay. I'll figure it out Mr Skyline."

He wipes his face again, and looks up to you.

"Thanks Anon... we knew you'd be a great guy to have around."

"So... you did know about me and what I used to do then?"

"Yeah. We know alot things Anon, and we really needed you, and we still do. I know it sounds selfish, especially since there were people who needed you back there too... but we weren't really sure what to do... and it didn't look like you'd make it either..."

He quickly flinches, as if he accidentally said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Sorry, I really have to go."

"Wait, hold on a second" You go to stop him, but he quickly gets himself off the ground and begins hovering away from you.

"I'm sorry Anon, but I really have to comfort my daughter."

He turns around, and begins to fly off, however he pauses for a moment.

"Thank you, for taking care of my daughter."

"At least tell me where I can find Ms Iron Trap's cottage."

He pauses, and silently points towards the forest.

You nod your head, and head off, as Skyline Soar does the same.