"Why are you so mean to her?"
"I'm not mean." I was riding on Winona's back at her request during one of the outings the ponies always scheduled when Winona asked me.
"Yes, you are. You're always giving your pony a hard time when she doesn't deserve it. Half the time it's when she's doing something for you that she isn't obligated to. What is up with that?" She yapped, sounding annoyed.
"Okay, I know you don't like me, Winona. I'm not all that besotted with you, either. But that's hardly any of your business." I snapped.
"Hardly any of my business, my left paw. You're just saying that because you don't have a reason for being such a jerk." Winona yapped right back. She had stopped walking at this point.
"I do have a reason." I said quietly.
"Then why won't you tell me? I won't tell any of the others." Winona added in a gentler tone.
I was quiet for a moment before heaving a resigned sigh. I had known Winona for long enough to know that she would keep after you for the rest of your life if you were keeping a secret from her. "Do you promise?"
"Cross my heart."
I looked both left and right to make sure no one else was in our immediate vicinity before I began. I didn't really want anyone else to hear my confession of sorts. "The day my pony came to us seemed normal at first. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, all that. Then we saw a vaguely bird-shaped creature fall from the sky, waving its legs like it was a ladybug that had been tipped over. Once the butterflies caught it and helped it land we saw that it was a baby pony from the cloud city above us, a female. Me, Snowy, and Hummingway took to her the fastest, because somewhere in our hearts we knew we could trust her." I looked at Winona to gauge her reaction. "Know what I mean?"
She wagged her long tail. "Yep. Like with my pony. I chose her."
I nodded. That was exactly what it was like. "And right before the rainbow explosion, she told all of us 'I'm going to take good care of you all. I promise.' And she did. She came down to the field where we lived every day and took care of us. She talked to us, too - she told us stuff that not even her fellow ponies knew. Like how a group of foals in her class weren't very nice to her, and how someone named Rainbow Dash always defended her. How she always felt so pressured to do well because both her parents were Wonderbolts when all she wanted to do was stay here on the ground with us." I swallowed hard. I didn't like the next part.
"Then one day, she came down just like always - but she was flying funny, and there were a bunch of little cuts all over her that were still bleeding. When she managed to land, we were of course all over her asking what was wrong, and she kept assuring us that it was just some cuts and her wing just needed some rest, and asked if we minded if she used the bandages and salve she kept in an old fox den in case one of us got hurt to fix herself up. She asked if we minded when she was all banged up. Right then was when I realized just how fragile she was, like a newly-hatched baby bird. That's when I made a promise." I took a deep breath.
"A promise to take care of her like she took care of me, go wherever she might fly and give her confidence, and all the while toughen her up, so that one day she might not need me anymore. And I've kept that promise since the day I made it, and I'm going to keep it for the rest of my days."
Winona was silent. At one point she had started walking again, and now we were closer to the others. I saw my pony talking and laughing with one of her friends, the white one, and occasionally blushing. But not once did I see her stutter or shy away.
She was getting better every day, and the day was coming soon when she wouldn't need me with her anymore. But that day wasn't today. And I was okay with that.
"You're like a knight." Winona suddenly piped up.
"What exactly is a knight?" I asked.
"Sometimes my pony reads stories to the little one, where a noble and brave someone protects or rescues a princess, and usually falls in love with her. That's a knight. With story knights, it tends to be kissy love, but with you it's more like brother love. That's a real knight to me. A brother." She wagged her tail.
"And here I thought you didn't have one rational thought in that fluffy head." I chuckled. "Now hi-ho Winona, to my pony."
"There's the Angel I know and constantly reprimand." Winona trotted over to my pony and set me down, then dashed off to her home. Everyone was starting to leave by now.
"Do you want to go home, Angel?" Fluttershy murmured in my ear with a soft, delicate voice - a filly's voice. A filly's voice from long ago, reminding me that inside, the foal from the cloud city was still in there somewhere, scared and lonely and desperate to be loved.
The filly I had to take care of sometimes, just like she took care of me.
