Author's Note

Keep in mind as you read that the writing gets better and that I've been on and off it for over the year i was writing this in the beginning, still writing, but i was busy at the time of starting it due to school and other life events. I'm doing better on staying on task with it though. ill leave this first chapter here and see what you guys think before posting the second one, any spelling errors you may or may not see (though i have tried to fix all of it the best i could) just ignore as i am watching out for those like a hawk. (Don't judge the weird paragraph format, a school friend was editing this.)

The Finding

Fluttershy trotted through the forest with her companion, Angel, hopping by her side. She smiled as he hopped onto her back.

“Now Angel, don’t give me that look, we're almost there,” The yellow pegasus assured, giving him an impatient look.

“I know the rash on your stomach is bothering you, but I told you not to chase that squirrel just because it stole some of your salted cashew nuts mixed with your salad. Poison Joke is nothing to toy with, you know.” Fluttershy recalled.

Angel gave arm waves and a few squeaks of protest.

“I know you didn’t mean to run into that plant, and you didn’t mean to actually play with it, but you should still be careful of what you do around here little guy,” Fluttershy stated calmly.

A thought then came to Fluttershy.

“But this happened late yesterday, why hasn’t your form changed?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure whether she was asking herself that, or Angel.

Angel’s ears flopped confusingly, as if agreeing with her question. Angel wasn’t the smartest animal in Fluttershy's home, but he knew well that he shouldn’t be messing around with Poison Joke. Then he gave more waves of silent speech.

“Well I guess Poison Joke doesn't have to have physical changes, I mean, when me and my friends had this happen, only Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and Twilight had physical changes. Me and Rainbow had no physical changes at all. So maybe this gave you a rash or something.” Fluttershy theorized.

Angel nodded.

“But normally Poison Joke doesn't give you any actual diseases or injuries of some sort,” Fluttershy said, putting a hoof to her chin while stopping in her tracks.

“Maybe it isn't poison joke? We could have mistaken it for a different blue plant?” Fluttershy suggested.

Angel perked up at that and nodded eagerly. Fluttershy smiled weakly.

“Well, I hope so. But when we get to Zecora’s, we will see. But let's not get our hopes up too much, okay?” Fluttershy replied, then continued her pace with a trot.

Angel squeaked.

“Hehe, yeah, we don’t want to disappoint ourselves.” Fluttershy agreed.

Fluttershy and Angel had a long conversation on the way, though others would say it would be a one way conversation. No pony except for Fluttershy could understand animals and their emotions. But otherwise Fluttershy wouldn’t argue about it.

When arriving at Zecora's place, Fluttershy knocked and then looked back at Angel, still perched on her haunches.

“Let's hope for the best!” Fluttershy said, smiling at him.

Angel smiled and flopped his head up and down in agreement. Fluttershy looked back when she heard the door open, revealing a zebra on the other side to greet her.

“Hello Fluttershy, what gave you an idea to come here? If it is something urgent, then I am all ears.” she greeted, then gestured to come in.

Fluttershy followed Zecora in without a second thought and spoke.

“Well, I don't think it's too urgent, but I do think it's something even I can't cure,” Fluttershy answered.

Zecora stopped her saunter and looked back with a smile.

“Well I'd be happy to help you Flutter, even if you don’t think it would need an adjuster,” Zecora replied.

Fluttershy smiled.

“Now tell me, what could your problem be?” Zecora asked, sitting down at her small tea table with Fluttershy doing the same.

“Well, me and Angel were having a picnic in my backyard when a squirrel took some of Angel's food and ran off. When he started chasing it, he ran into what we believe was Poison Joke.” Fluttershy explained, sitting down at the table.

Zecora and Fluttershy were talking about this, and meanwhile, other things were happening in the Everfree Forest, which was going to be noticed soon.

In the shadows of the forest, a child that was not a pony or a creature that was ever seen in Equestria before, was sprinting through the undergrowth and branches of the tall and slender trees. Some branches were thick and wide, but no matter how hard it was to run through them, the child did not give up. The child wailed and screamed, hoping anyone would hear or see him. He could hear the heavy steps gain speed, then slow down from the other side of the obstacles the child had overcome. The child would wince and yelp every time the sounds got more intimidating. He hated every single moment.

“Where are you, little one~” cooed an evil voice.

The child squeaked and tried to run faster, but the sound that emanated from the child seemed to attract the little boy’s pursuer to where he was, and it got even closer to him.

Soon the child was able to make sight of what was hunting him down. When he turned his head to see what was chasing him, he almost screamed.

The thing that was pursuing him didn’t make sense, but it still chilled him to the core. It was a mixed animal of sorts. The main body was a tiger with a second head, that being a dark gray goat. The tail wasn’t a tail, but a snake. The thing that stuck out to him out of all of this was that the child was able to understand what they were saying.

However, that was the last thing on the child's mind. He just wanted this creature to leave him alone. The boy cringed as he looked ahead, and slid to a stop as he realized he had come to a cliff. It wasn’t very high, but he knew that it would be enough to break a bone, or get knocked out otherwise. The boy didn’t need either of that. He attempted to backpedal, then froze as he heard the bushes being moved behind him.

The child whimpered. Why couldn’t this just end? The creature had finally revealed itself more clearly in the sunlight. The child tried to pay no attention to it, and he was more focused on surviving than anything. The kid turned around to meet the gaze of his predator. No– three predators. They all laughed.

“Haha, look at that! We got him cornered!” The tiger cackled.

“And he lookssss, daliciousssss,” the snake hissed.

Hosuh looked terrified as he kept his eyes on each of the predators.

“He sure does. How shall we split him into three pieces?” The goat asked, tilting its head.

“P-please, don’t hurt…me.” the boy pleaded.

The three just crackled and smirked at him, completely without empathy.

“Oh, don’t worry little one, it won’t hurt.” the goat replied.

“Yeah, yeah! We’ll make it quick, jusssst hold sssstill.” the snake said.

The tiger positioned himself, then used his hind legs to launch himself at his prey, but the boy jumped out of the way. The tiger and the other two landed with a face plant, almost falling over the edge.

“You're not making this any easier~” cooed the goat.

Hosuh ignored that and tried to prepare himself to dodge again. The animal pounced again, and the child was able to dodge the attack once more. The mixed animal growled.

“Stop moving!” the tiger shouted, positioning himself closer to the shaken boy.

As the creature stepped closer, the boy stepped backwards, not realizing he was near the edge of the cliff. When the boy stepped backwards, he jumped when he found his foot hit nothing but air. When he felt as if he would lose balance, he swung his arms in a circle motion to stay stable.

But, by the time he finally regained his footing, he realized that the animal was right in front of his face, making him scream. The tiger then opened its jaws wide as it reared back, ready to bite down on the child's head. Hosuh stumbled, as his fear caused him to lose his balance.

He fell backwards, tumbling over into more foliage, similar to the plant life he had just escaped.

This didn’t stop the creature from hunting him down. The tiger placed his front paws on the slope and slid down with ease. The child heard the dirt falling, and with despair he started to crawl through some bushes. By the time the boy was able to run, the giant predator hit the ground level, picking up speed once again.

The child continued screaming for help, thinking someone would hear him, someone who would help him. He didn’t need another animal chasing him. But after realizing how long he was running for, his lungs started to burn and his mouth and throat started to become dry. He was severely dehydrated. His legs ached and he wanted to give up, but he continued, hoping that someone, anyone could save him.

The more he ran, however, the more he felt as if he were giving up his hope to live and his hope that anyone could help him.

The boy checked over his shoulder behind him once again. When he saw that his pursuer was getting closer, he suddenly hit something firm. Falling down on his back and groaning, the boy raised his head to see something unexpected.

“Bye, Zecora!” Fluttershy called out before closing the door behind her.

Angel hopped alongside her as they made their way down the trail back to her cottage. Fluttershy let out a sigh after a while of silence.

“I'm glad it was just a rash, not Poison Joke.” She said, sounding relieved.

Despite Angel’s hopping, Fluttershy could tell that he responded with a nod.

“It could be worse,” Fluttershy said, looking ahead.

Angel nodded to that as well. When Angel stopped hopping, Fluttershy noticed and stopped herself. Angel waved his left arm to communicate.

“Oh, yes, don’t worry, as long as I have this ointment and we put it on twice a day, it should go away after two days, if not three.” Fluttershy reassured.

Angel gave a silent sigh, then hopped up to Fluttershy then stopped.

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, seeing that her companion was not looking at her, but in the forest.

Fluttershy gave a puzzled expression and looked in the direction that her friend was looking. She didn’t see anything, but she could tell that Angel could hear something that she didn’t. Angel still wasn’t turning his attention back to Fluttershy, so she strained her ears as hard as she could to see if she could hear what Angel was hearing. Soon she did.

She could hear the sound of a child screaming ‘help’. It filled Fluttershy's heart with terror and sadness. Fluttershy didn’t even have to strain her ears for that after it got closer, but she was so shocked that she couldn’t even yell back. She looked down at Angel, who had a confused yet scared look on his face.

Fluttershy didn’t know what to say other than;

“Angel, run home and don’t look back. Don’t tell any of the animals about this, and take this with you.” Fluttershy said, then handed him the small bottle of ointment.

Angel nodded and hopped off at a rapid pace, soon leaving her sight. By the time that happened, Fluttershy felt something thud against her hind leg.

Looking down, she saw a small unknown creature with silverish-gray hair. Her eyes widened a little as she watched it raise its head to look at her with a look of confusion and, more than anything else, fear.

Fluttershy had a worried expression as she heard something else coming their way. Fluttershy didn’t notice the child run around her and hide in a bush across the path.

She then noticed the animal that came into view; a chimera. Fluttershy could handle this.

“Hey look, more food!” The tiger said excitedly.

“What about that pathetic little one we had our eyes on?” the goat asked.

“Forget it, it will keep running. Let's get this one instead!” the tiger insisted.

This made Fluttershy very mad, calling the small critter pathetic.

The boy had hidden in a bush not too far from his hunter, but he noticed that there were no more haunting steps towards his direction. He blinked as he heard an angry tone quietly scold the creature from behind him.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, picking on other animals that did nothing to you!” a soft voice the boy had not heard before reprimanded.

He turned his head and quietly pulled down some of the smaller branches out of his face to look out at what was happening. What he saw surprised him, the big predator was not attacking the yellow creature like he had expected, but it looked scared.

The child's eyes made their way up to that yellow winged creature’s face. The pink haired creature seemed to be upset with anger, staring down the predatory animal.

“How would you like it if I hunted you down and I was bigger than you!?” the creature scolded, staring down the other even harder as she kept making direct eye contact with it.

“I-i-I ummm…” all three animals stood there stunned, not knowing how to react or respond.

“Exactly! Now why don’t you leave me and that critter alone or ELSE!!” the yellow creature lectured, stomping a hoof gently.

The three headed creature yelped and ran back in the direction that it came from. The boy was speechless at what he saw, but when he saw the yellow winged animal soften its expression, he smiled.

Thinking that he might be able to trust an animal for once, he started to consider leaving his hiding spot when he saw the creature look in his direction, probably guessing where he went. He gasped, gaining the animal's attention. The boy was having second thoughts.

What if he was thinking too much into this? What if it tricks him and eats him later? What if it's a predator too? But then again, this thing had stood up against a predator that was bigger than it, maybe he could trust it?

“Hello?” The creature called, its voice soft and soothing.

It’s tone calmed the child, but he still wasn’t really sure about this. He backed up when he saw two, on what looked like hooves, so the boy would have to assume that this was a horse or some horse related creature. Seeing the pink maned horse peek its head over, the boy startled, curling into a ball of fright.

“Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, everythings okay.” The winged horse cooed, making the boy slowly uncurl and look up to see aqua eyes looking down at him sweetly.

Suddenly, the boy felt two hooves pick him up off the ground and hold him against its chest while it sat down.

“Let me take you home, you must be starving, poor thing.” The boy decided to stay silent for now, unsure whether he could trust it just yet.

“Here, sit on my back, I can't really carry you with my front hooves.” The pony said softly.

The child was now certain this pony wasn’t going to hurt him. When she placed him gently on her back, he clutched the light pink mane, still petrified from that life-threatening instance. The pony giggled.

“Don’t worry, you're safe with me.” The boy concluded that she had to be a girl, based on how her voice sounded. So he decided to call this pony a she, for now.

“Even though it's still afternoon, it's a good idea to let you rest. You were probably being chased forever through that dense forest.” She suggested, picking up the pace.

Fluttershy knew she did the right thing. She hasn’t saved anypony’s life since the time she foalsitted Apple bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. At that time, when they ended up running into Everfree Forest after Fluttershy’s lost pet chicken, Elizabeak, she was quite petrified.

Then again, who wouldn’t be? Even though she loved her pets, she loved foals way more. Like the child on her back right now, grasping onto her mane roots to keep balance, though she knew whatever she saved was not a pony.

She decided she would ask it later when she got the chance. Asking now would be too persistent and might startle the little guy. After all, it did look scared and it didn’t seem to know where he was, or she. Fluttershy really didn’t know the gender, but soon she would.

Fluttershy reached her backyard, soon leading to her backdoor. She could feel the grip on her mane get tighter and more shaky. Fluttershy frowned sympathetically. She knew what it was like to bring in a sick or injured animal, let alone scared and lost ones, so bringing this one in was a similar experience.

Fluttershy stepped inside her home and then looked at the critter she had rescued. He was still awake and was still frightened, so Fluttershy did her normal routine for whenever she saved an innocent creature; she trotted over to her sofa and set down the small boy.

Fluttershy knew full well that this was an animal she had not seen before, but she would do whatever it took to take care of him or her. When Fluttershy had set down the critter, the boy instantly backed up against the sofa that was unnaturally large compared to him. Fluttershy slightly waved a hoof out of reassurance.

“Hey it's fine, I'm gonna help you!” She said coaxingly.

Alas, words of affirmation were not working at the moment. The child was still uneasy and still a bit frightened from the sight of a big yellow creature, even with a soft expression on its face.

Fluttershy tried to think of what else could work. She knew at some point that this would happen, it was rare for an animal to be used to Fluttershy and her home right away. Fluttershy also would be scared if she was in an environment she didn’t recognize. But, if she was rescued by an unknown creature and they were trying to help, what would be the second or first thing they do to make her calm down and feel safe?

Fluttershy thought for a few more moments. While words of reassurance or positive affirmations usually work, she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be the case this time. Fluttershy looked away from the critter and sat down, still thinking. She decided to try different love languages, the next one in line was acts of service. She had used this one a lot, mainly because most of the animals she had rescued or came to loved the idea of being served varieties of things. Food, drinks and other needs, all an animal could want. Once Fluttershy was satisfied with this option, she rose to her hooves.

“I know you probably don’t trust me yet, and I understand a lot, but are you hungry?” she asked, slowly and soothingly.

At first Fluttershy thought the critter didn’t understand her, but it replied with a slow nod, signaling ‘yes’ as a response.

Fluttershy smiled, then trotted away towards the kitchen. But, halfway there she stopped and turned her head to face her, possibly new friend, critter and asked, “What do you eat?”

The boy seemed to think for a moment, and at the same time, Fluttershy thought he was too nervous to tell her, or maybe he was thinking and was just taking longer than expected.

When Fluttershy didn’t get any kind of response, she trotted over to the critter. Fluttershy made eye contact with the kid for a few moments, which made him a little nervous. When Fluttershy understood what was going on based on his body language and the way this small critter looked around, Fluttershy knew that she would have to get this kid to get used to her first.

*Of course! Why didn’t I think of that earlier? I'm such an idiot.* she scolded herself.

Fluttershy knew what to do though, but she hoped this critter wouldn’t run or freak out even more. Fluttershy put two front hooves on the edge of the sofa and hopped up next to the boy. The child curled up again, but Fluttershy wasn’t phased by this. She lowered her stomach to the surface of the sofa and layed there facing the boy with her hooves folding under her furry chest. But that's all she did, for now. She didn’t speak, she didn’t grab the boy, she only layed there giving a warming smile, as if showing that she was no threat, even though she did that a few times before. But this time seemed to be an exception, as it seemed the boy had been calming down. As he sat down, Fluttershy extended her hoof out. The child didn’t understand at first but when everything was motionless, he cautiously walked over and then stopped when he was right in front of her. Fluttershy jerked her hoof towards her as if saying ‘come here’ which for some reason made the boy feel safe and secure. Fluttershy lifted her head higher which led to sitting down, and spoke softly once again.

“Are you scared cause you're worried I'm gonna hurt you? Or is it because you're shy?” Fluttershy asked.

That was a good question for the little one, now he wasn’t sure on how to feel. Was he still frightened? He didn't feel like he was in danger so that would be a no. This pony wasn’t attacking him either so why is he feeling so nervous? Was it an unfamiliar space? Maybe. It could even be because he doesn’t know who this pony is, let alone the name. So he figured if he let this pony comfort him, he would be okay. The boy stepped forward, giving his full trust in the pony, then saying.

“Hosuh..” he mumbled.

Fluttershy jolted a little.

“Huh? What did you say?” Fluttershy asked, surprised that this critter could actually talk and understand instantly.

She was great with animals, but it usually took time for her to understand their language.

“Hosuh..my name…is Hosuh” Hosuh replied, speaking a little louder.

“Hosuh?” Fluttershy echoed.

She then could feel him start to hug one of her front legs out of affection. Fluttershy looked down, still surprised a bit. But that soon melted into a smile and she used her other hoof to give soft prods against Hosuh’s back.

“My name is Fluttershy” Fluttershy spoke calmly.

Hosuh hugged tighter, now filled with relief. At this point Fluttershy could see teardrop sliding down his left cheek. But Hosuh was not really sure why he was feeling this way, whether it was from confusion, sadness, fear, not knowing who to trust, but Fluttershy knew why he was upset. She was good with animals afterall. He was upset because he was relieved, but whether Hosuh noticed it or not, Fluttershy was just glad that he wasn’t upset in any other way. When Hosuh let go of shy, he fell backwards, sitting upward, when he felt a sharp pain pierce through his skull. He winced and tried to ignore the pain.

“W-what's wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

Hosuh groaned.

“M-my head” he whimpered.

And with that, Fluttershy got off the couch and trotted over to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack with a washcloth. Wrapping the cloth around the pack, she made her way back to Hosuh and sat next to him again.

“Will this help?” Fluttershy asked.

Then Fluttershy realized something.

“Wait, what kind of pain?” Fluttershy furrowed her brows with concern.

“Like…well..I don't know, but I know..an ice pack probably won’t help” Hosuh winced.

Fluttershy put the ice pack down on the coffee table before checking any physical damage on his scalp, but out of pure luck, nothing was there but a bruise.

“I think I know the source of the pain” Fluttershy eventually spoke.

“What is it?” Hosuh asked quietly.

Fluttershy cringed but tried to keep calm for Hosuh’s sake.

“Well it's just a bruise, I don't know how you got that but it looked like you took a hard fall” Fluttershy explained.

Hosuh froze at that statement.

“I did fall, but it wasn’t..very high” Hosuh replied slowly.

Fluttershy gave a worried expression again and brought him in for a hug.

“I hope there isn’t any other pain than what you're feeling,” Fluttershy almost mumbled.

Hosuh shook his head.

“No, just head pain I guess” Hosuh confirmed.

Fluttershy gave a gentle squeeze to the hug and smiled.

“I'm surprised you have not broken any bones from that” Fluttershy almost amused.

The silence was soon interrupted by a small growl coming from his stomach.

“Oh yeah, I think I asked you this before, what do you eat?” the yellow pony asked.

Hosuh didn’t understand.

“What do you mean?” he asked, dangling his legs over the edge of the sofa.

“I mean, well i've never seen a creature like you and I don't know what you eat” Fluttershy stated timidly.

Hosuh was about to speak but Fluttershy kept going.

“Then again, how young are you?” she asked, giving a curious expression.

Hosuh was also caught off by this.

Hosuh said nothing.

Fluttershy’s ears dropped to her skull when she noticed he looked uneasy.

“Oh um okay, what about my other question? If you don’t mind answering, that is” Fluttershy grinned sheepishly.

Hosuh stayed quiet for moments before responding.

“Well, I do eat fruits and vegetables” Hosuh replied happily, then pain came back to him.

Fluttershy grabbed the ice pack and handed it to Hosuh.

“Here, hold this against your scalp and wait for me to get back, i'll make you a fruit salad or something if that's alright” Fluttershy suggested.

But she left before Hosuh could respond. Hosuh tried to keep the ice pack on even though the ice cold temperature was almost unbearable. But even as the ice was freezing and very uncomfortable, it was also very comforting in a way. Some of the time he had trouble finding the spot that Fluttershy had forgotten to mention where his bruise was located. But it wasn’t hard after a couple of failed attempts to find it. While this all was happening, Hosuh could hear things being moved around in the kitchen. Hosuh wasn’t sure why he was tempted to go and meet Fluttershy there, he guessed he liked, if not, loved her embrace. She kinda treated him like a kind mother, which this thought led to Hosuh thinking about his own parents. But he didn’t, he didn’t remember his parents. He remembers having some but not being with them. All he remembers is that they got killed and mauled by that morphed animal in the forest when they were hiking, that's how he met Fluttershy 20 minutes after being chased.

But now that Hosuh thought about it. Will he ever have parents again?

Hosuh pulled the ice pack from his head to think deep about it.

If Hosuh is now an orphan, who will be his parents? He can’t be an orphan for the rest of his life. Hosuh started to worry and his eyes were getting watery again. Hosuh didn’t want to think about this. But he started to wonder, will he get parents again? Who would be his parents? He doesn’t want to be alone forever.

*I'll ask Fluttershy about this, I don't want to be alone! Not forever!* he whimpered to himself.

At this point Fluttershy came over as she spoke.

“I don't have very many fruits but I hope this will do” Fluttershy stated gleefully.

She turned her head from the bowl and instantly frowned when she saw that Hosuh had tears in his eyes again.

“Hosuh what's wrong?” she whimpered with a small high note in her voice.

Hosuh set down the ice pack with Fluttershy doing the same with the salad, then got down from the couch. Hosuh sprinted over to Fluttershy out of eagerness and sadness, needing her for comfort again. When Fluttershy noticed this she immediately sat down to bring him close. Hosuh started to sob, not hard, but enough to spill a few tears.

“Hosuh tell me what wrong?” Fluttershy repeated, giving back strokes to calm him down.

“i-i-i..*sniff* mmmhmm..i-i-i-i..” Hosuh stuttered, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything now that he was quivering a little and sobbing.

“Shhhh~” Fluttershy cooed.

“Please calm down and tell me what's troubling you” Fluttershy begged.

Hosuh was starting to stifle a bit of sobbing, but still sobbing lightly. When Hosuh was able to have the strength to speak, he spoke.

“I actually wanted to *sniff* ask you something *sniff*” Hosuh weeped.

Fluttershy didn’t change her expression however.

“What is it?” she asked, putting her full attention on him.

Hosuh stayed silent for a few seconds.

“...Fluttershy? Will I have parents soon?” he asked, looking up at Fluttershy with what Fluttershy would call in one word ‘pleading’

Fluttershy froze for a few seconds, she hadn’t thought about parents when she found him. Will he have parents? Soon? How will she respond to that? She really didn’t know how to tame this situation. She could tell easily that he wanted parents, but who in ponyville would adopt some creature she had just rescued? Surly no one would. He isn’t a pony and even if he was, she would put him up for adoption. But he wasn't a pony, she doesn’t even know what he is yet. If she ever gets to know his species. But that doesn’t matter right now. What mattered is how to respond to Hosuh’s complicated question. Fluttershy may have been good with foals and animals, she even knew herself that Hosuh was a foal or whatever word they used for his kind when it came to their young, but she didn’t know how to answer questions like this. But she would just call him her foal since she really didn’t know what else to call him besides his name. But then again, she could keep Hosuh for herself for now, not as a mother per say, but as a companion. She wouldn’t have minded becoming a mother herself, but not when her hooves were full with angel and his rash, alongside that she had to visit Rarity in a couple of days for a spa day and after that some redesigning for her grand galloping gala dress, shopping had to be done as well sooner or later to top that off. She had most, if not, the whole week planned. Fluttershy looked down at him, had she not realized she was looking straight ahead. Hosuh didn’t seem to be weeping as much now, but she knew he would keep it going if she either didn't respond or accidentally gave an answer that would make this situation worse. Fluttershy tried to give the best answer and tone she could muster.

“Well I'm not sure, I might have to check with other ponies to see if they would, okay?” Fluttershy said with a reassuring smile.

Hosuh frowned again, but kept his water works behind this time.

“What do you mean ponies?” he asked, confused.

Fluttershy gave a sheepish smile this time.

“Well your kind isn’t normal in this place, so you would be the first to appear” she replied.

Hosuh softened his expression then let go of Fluttershy, then sat down in a folded leg position.

“I hope I find some new parents soon, I really don’t care who it is, whether it's just one parent or two, I just want to be in a family” he murmured.

Fluttershy’s heart almost melted at that statement, putting one hoof to her chest. She had met nice fillies from time to time, but Hosuh would definitely be the icing on the cake. She did look down at Hosuh as he looked up at her in awe. She lowered her hoof over his head and gave a couple pats.

“Let's eat, we don't want it to go to waste don’t we?” Fluttershy asked, smiling warmly.

Hosuh stood to his feet and nodded in agreement. Then pushed away her hoof lightly, also shyly smiling.

“I guess” Hosuh said calmly and a little unnerved.

Fluttershy picked him up and set him on the couch so that he could eat, then grabbed the fruit bowl and showed it to Hosuh. Letting him see what fruits were presented to him. Like Fluttershy had said before, there weren't very many fruits. But the fruits that were chosen were: bananas, apples, pears and grapes. And what's a salad without a few lettuce leaves decorating different areas of the bowl. Fluttershy sat down next to him and tried giving him an apple. But for some reason he wouldn’t take it, although he did look like he wanted it.

“What's the problem now?” Fluttershy asked, surprisingly not upset in any way.

Hosuh blinked uncomfortably and looked away.

“I...I don't know? I never fed myself before” Hosuh replied, turning embarrassingly pink.

Fluttershy blinked, astonished but at the same a little puzzled. But Fluttershy didn’t mind this, she could handle hoof feeding him, now that she knows that she probably should. But would Hosuh be comfortable being fed by a pastel colored pony?

“I'd be willing to feed you if that's okay…” Fluttershy suggested.

Hosuh looked up at her, half pleased and half considering the offer.

“Sure..i'll learn to feed myself at some point” Hosuh replied, hesitant but at the same time just wanted to eat something.

Fluttershy moved the sliced fruit towards him with her hoof. Hosuh looked up at her as if he didn’t understand, but then flutters just put the piece of fruit into his mouth.

“It's a soft apple, don't worry,” she assured him.

After chewing on the apple for a few seconds, Hosuh then choked and coughed it up on the sofa.

“Sorry, I didn't think that would happen” Hosuh said with a few coughs escaping his mouth.

Fluttershy sighed.

“It's okay, i'll just get you some applesauce instead” Fluttershy said, cleaning up the mess and then heading into the kitchen to grab the food that she knew she had.

Hosuh wiped some choked tears from his eyes and sighed a little.

*why can’t my life be simpler* he thought.

Fluttershy came back out shortly with the whole container of mashed apples and a spoon, which Hosuh knew what that was for. He was less embarrassed and more eager. This time instead of sitting opposite Fluttershy, he crawled over to sit in front of her. Fluttershy noticed and smiled. She took a reasonable amount of applesauce in a spoonful and held it close to Hosuh’s face, where he almost instantly took the spoon and put it in his mouth. Swallowing it with ease.

“Heh, what do you know, not only do you like the taste way more, you also happen to eat it way easier, I guess it's kinda like baby food for you” Fluttershy amused.

Hosuh blushed, but tried not to pay any mind to that and continued with his feasting. When Fluttershy fed him his third bite, Hosuh found out, even at his age he can have somewhat of a messy face when it came to eating. He went to go and wipe it off but Fluttershy stopped him.

“Let me get it, you're just going to make it worse, not that it's a bad thing all the time though” Fluttershy voiced an amused tone. Trying to hold back a few giggles.

Fluttershy lifted one of her wings and used it to flick it off, which worked perfectly. By the time Fluttershy fed him his 10th or 11th bite. He was full, pushing away the spoon.

“Okay, well you let me know when you get hungry again” Fluttershy said, closing the lid and putting everything they had out, away for the day.

Fluttershy returned to the living room and saw that it was nearing sundown at this point.

“Oh my, we should turn in soon, we don’t want to oversleep,” Fluttershy spoke.

That however earned some yawns from Hosuh and Fluttershy looked over, then smiled. Seeing him yawn while rubbing his eyes made him really adorable to Fluttershy. She trotted over to him and lowered to his level on the sofa.

“Is someone getting tired?” Fluttershy cooed softly.

Fluttershy stood back up, smirking. Then saw Hosuh reach both of his arms out, signaling that he wanted to go to bed, or maybe he just wanted to be held. But regardless, Fluttershy picked up Hosuh and placed him on her back to rest. But she was only a few hoof steps away from the coffee table when she could feel two arms tap her shoulder. She turned her head to meet eyes with Hosuh. His blue eyes never leaving hers.

“Can you carry me? In your arms?” he asked, doing the pick me up gesture again.

When Fluttershy shook her head to say no, since she wasn’t really the type to hold things with her hooves while walking, Hosuh gave pleading eyes and they started to tear up again. Fluttershy almost panicked but managed to calm herself down. She gave in, but realized she could just fly up to her room since there was no other spare room in the cottage. She did so, cradling Hosuh in her front fore legs as she gently flapped her wings up into her room with quick but soothing speed.

Putting Hosuh down into the bed was tedious, he would constantly keep grabbing Fluttershy’s mane, hooves or wings whenever he got the chance, as if letting her go was the end of the world.

“Its okay Hosuh, i'll be down stairs on the sofa. You can come and get me if you have a nightmare or if you need something, okay?” Fluttershy said, still trying to pull Hosuh off of him.

Hosuh just whined and tried to fight the urge to cry. But when Fluttershy had given up, she started complaining.

“Come on Hosuh I want to go to bed, don’t you?” she asked, seeing that Hosuh had somehow been able to hang onto her chest fluff.

He nodded but still didn’t let go of her.

“What do you want then?” the yellow pegasus asked, her mood changing.

Hosuh looked up and made eye contact with her again. Giving the same pleading eyes.

“Please sleep with me, I don't like the dark” Hosuh spoke, his voice almost sounding hoarse from tiredness.

Fluttershy decided to give in one last time to this boy.

“Okay fine, but you're sleeping by yourself tomorrow okay? I don't want to make the mistake of crushing you” she insisted.

Hosuh nodded in agreement. Fluttershy smiled and crawled into bed with him, this time Hosuh actually let go and snuggled into her neck, where he was met with hooves and a pair of wings wrapping around him. He giggled and was about to speak when Fluttershy hushed him.

“Go to sleep..” she said calm but playful.

Hosuh closed his eyes, his stomach satisfied with food and was able to find a place to stay until he found a fitting home. Fluttershy too was satisfied, closing her eyes also, soon giving themselves up to slumber.