Chapter Ninety-One: Blending In

As Fluttershy roused from a fitful sleep-not having slept that well-, she sat up and slid out of her sleeping bag to run her hoof over Smokey's head. Flinching from the heat radiating from his scales, she immediately trotted into the kitchen to fill up an ice pack. Terra Cotta began to stir, stretching out her legs with a yawn. Small smile pulling at the corners of her lips, she reached up to kiss the drake's cheek.

"Gud morni, Dadi."

"Morning, sweetheart," Smokey mumbled, in a state between sleep and reality. Feeling the cold compress touch his head, his tired eyes swiveled into Fluttershy's direction. "Thank you…"

"Hmmm," the mare hummed, peering out the window. Sure enough, the sun's rays were just beginning to seep through. "You poor dear, you should try and sleep. I'll make sure we make as little noise as possible for you."

"May I… have something to eat first… please?" he requested. Though he was very tired, he was still hungry and he knew that a starved body was slow to recover.

"Of course, dear." Fluttershy pressed a kiss to his cheek, near the corner of his mouth. "What would you like? Some more soup? Maybe some oatmeal?"

Not used to being cared for like this, Smokey was slightly unsure of what to make of it.

"Oatmeal sounds good to me. And… would you… put some apple chunks in it, please?"

"Of course." The yellow-pelted mare pressed her forehead against his. "Anything for you, love."

Drawing aback, she switched her vision to the filly curled up on the drake's torso. Leaning in, she connected her lips with the child's head.

"I'll make some apple cinnamon oatmeal for all of us."

"Ay h'lp!" Terra Cotta volunteered, climbing over Smokey's torso, aiming to remove herself from the couch.

"Oh! Careful, sweetie! We don't want to hurt Daddy!"

"She's… all right, darling," the reptilian grunted, wincing and compressing his fangs as her tiny hooves prodded his damaged ribs. He sighed in relief the instant the filly hopped off the couch, sliding a hand over his chest.

"Uh! S'rry, Dadi," the child apologized, guilt heavily evident upon her visage.

Checking to see if Chenoa was still within slumber's grasp, Fluttershy smiled and led Terra Cotta into the kitchen. Retrieving a pot and a can of oats, she poured the grain. The mare performed each step slowly, teaching her how to prepare the oatmeal. Peeling and slicing apples into chunks, she deposited them into the pot and showed her how much water and cinnamon was required. As it warmed, the filly watched from her spot on the counter, intrigued.

A short while later saw the girl balancing a tray with bowls and a spoon embedded in the oatmeal collected in each bowl; there was also a wet cloth folded neatly in one of the corners that would be used to clean up any messes. Taking great caution not to allow anything to fall, she came to a stoppage at Smokey's side. Fluttershy took her position behind the filly in order to catch anything were it to fall. Fortunately, that never happened. After all, the child was practiced in balancing objects, credited her life spent with the circus.

"Heergo, Dadi!"

The mare issued a warm, motherly smile as she stood abreast of the filly.

"Aw, Terra, he's sick. He can't feed himself. Here, let's help him."

"Thank you, but I think…" Smokey grunted, extending an arm to one of the bowl. "I can hold the bowl and spoon."

"Are you sure?" The mare tilted her head a slight degree. "I don't want you to feel like you're invalid or anything…"

"H' c'n duit himself!" Terra Cotta squeaked. "A'no h' c'n!"

"Terra's right." The draconian nodded, pulling the spoon out of the mass of oatmeal and apples while he settled the bowl upon his chest. "But I thank you anyway."

The pegasus' smile never faltered. She was relieved he wasn't in too much pain to eat himself. Relieving the filly of the tray, she set it down on the floor and removed the remaining bowls. Giving one to Terra Cotta, she rose up on her hind legs and reached over the drake to pluck the griffon from her spot. Cradling her, she spoke to her in gentle sing-song.

"Chenoa… wake uuuup… It's time for breakfaaaaast…"

"Wake up, sweetheart," Smokey chimed in weakly. "It's breakfast time."

Gradually parting her eyelids and releasing a great yawn, Chenoa lifted her head to smile up at her mother. Babbling a greeting, she wrapped her eagle paws around her to the best of her ability.

"Awww," Fluttershy cooed, unable to resist the urge to nuzzle the downy head. "Who's my good, sweet baby? Who's my good, sweet baby? You are! Yes, you are!"

Transferring the baby to one foreleg, she planted herself on her haunches and utilized her free hoof to spoon a small portion of oatmeal. Bringing it to her beak, the pegasus spied Terra Cotta digging into her own bowl out of the corner of her eye.

Taking a single bite of his breakfast, Smokey watched as Fluttershy spoon-fed the baby. Chenoa squealed and burbled between bites, thin rivulets of her food mingled with saliva dribbling down her beak and soiling the feathers on her throat. As mildly gross as it was, the sight was amusing and endearing to him. Having prepared for this, Fluttershy-armed with the aforementioned washcloth-dropped the spoon into the bowl and promptly wiped the chick's beak between every few bites so that she wouldn't create too big of a mess.

"You are such a wonderful mother, Miss Fluttershy," stated Smokey upon swallowing his bite.

Fluttershy paused upon this comment for a pair of seconds and resumed spoon-feeding Chenoa.

"I try to be," she said softly. "I need to be, to make up for my earlier failure…"

"Darling, you didn't fail… You just made a mistake," he proclaimed in an attempt to reassure her.

"It was a huge mistake." The mare wiped the baby griffon's face again. "And one I'm not going to make again."

The mare shifted her attention several feet away to the pet bed where her rabbit still rested.

"… You did your best, Angel. It's not your fault. I don't blame you."

The still sleeping leporidae foot twitched, his nose and whiskers wiggling from side-to-side a couple of times.

"I feel bad that… I have to rest," Smokey sighed. "I really want help you feed the animals and care for the children."

Fluttershy shook her head.

"Don't feel bad. You're sick. These things happen." She leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "You took care of me when I was sick-now I get to take care of you! Besides, you help me up so much… and you've done such a wonderful job at helping me raise Chenoa."

"I'm only doing the father's part, like I should." Even though he had been told he didn't need to feel penitent, he couldn't help but do so. He was supposed to do his share and he couldn't in his sickly condition. "I still wish I could help you…"

"Don't worry about it. I was able to handle the animals before, I can certainly do it now. Besides, Terra Cotta can help me!" Her eyes swiveled to the filly. "Can't you?"

Terra Cotta nodded fervently with an excited grin.

"That's true." A pink blush dusted over the mildly embarrassed dragon's cheeks, feeling quite foolish that he had temporarily forgotten that she cared for every animal by herself before he came along. "I can watch over Chenoa while you and Terra feed the animals."

The rosy-maned mare kissed the infant on the top of her head as she finished feeding her. Wiping off the remnants of the meal from her beak, she settled her down by Smokey and gave him a kiss as well, which resulted in a purr from him. Once she and Terra Cotta consumed their breakfast, the bowls and spoons were piled in the center.

"We won't be long." she said, turning to Terra Cotta. "Are you ready, Terra Cotta?"

"Yis, Mami!" the filly chirped, scampering off with Fluttershy at her heels.

Holding Chenoa in one arm with his other hand holding the spoon, he kept the child in place as he ate. When he finished, he set the spoon in side the empty bowl and placed them on the pile resting on the tray on the floor. Making himself comfortable, he proceeded to entertain the chick with a game of peek-a-boo.

Ceasing at the cabinets, Fluttershy pulled out the assorted feed for the indoor animals. Dumping the pellets on the floor, Terra Cotta jumped, startled as the pile was swarmed. The mare then prepared a quick salad for Angel before leading the filly to the cabinets by the front door. Grunting and straining, she pulled out a full industrial-sized bag of feed. It had been so much easier when Smokey offered to carry the heavy bags for her, but she was fully capable of doing it herself.

Heaving as she dropped it onto the floor, she fished out a much smaller bag of bird seed and settled it on Terra Cotta's back for her to carry. Dragging the large back outside, Terra Cotta Came up from behind her. As the mare shuffled outside, she flung the bag off of her back with a heavy breath. She could already feel a portion of her energy drained from the exertion.

"Terra, would you mind spreading out some of the bird seed over there?" Fluttershy panted, pointing a hoof to a patch of grass beneath a few birdhouses.

The child complied. She ended up spilling a little too much bird seed and had anticipated a scolder for her blunder, but none came. Instead, she was given a nuzzle and a reassurance that it wouldn't go to waste. Fluttering back into the cottage, Fluttershy emerged with two large metal bowls. Tearing the tape from the new bag of feed, she dipped one of the bowls into the bag to fill it with the pellets. Settling it on Terra Cotta's back, she filled the second one.

"Go ahead and take the bowl over there."

This time, Fluttershy gestured to a clearing partially surrounded by trees. Nodding, the filly trotted off. Upon reaching the center, she gave pause as several creatures of all assortments poked their heads through the branches and bushes. The smile child was taken aback and fixed upon the vast variety of animals congregated all in one place. She had never seen so many animals, even in Pendulum's collection! Gasping, her jaw dropped, her eyes went wide, and she stood shock still.

Having never seen Terra Cotta before, the animals eyed her cautiously, not knowing if it was safe to be in her presence or not. A couple of the bold birds of prey stepped closer, their eyes dilating as they studied the filly.

"Eeep…" Terra Cotta squeaked, backing up a few steps as her eyes focused on the hawks' talons and beak.

Tossing food for the fish and other aquatic creatures she had in her pond and nearby stream, she cast her glance to observe Terra Cotta inching away from the raptors. Allowing the bowl to fall off of her wing, the mare clopped over and rested a gentle hoof on the girl's shoulder. The filly jumped, tilting her head up to her adoptive mother.

"Don't worry. It's all right!" she comforted. She settled her smile upon the birds and the rest of the animals before them. "Everyone, say hello to Terra Cotta. She's the newest member of our family."

There was a joyous uproar of various animal noises as they verbally greeted the child. A large portion of the beasts closed in to surround Fluttershy and Terra Cotta to curiously take in the filly's scent.

Terra Cotta emitted a gasp, followed by another squeak.

"Don't worry, Terra," Fluttershy assured, her gentle smile allowing ease to settle upon the filly. "They're not going to hurt you."

It was only a couple of seconds later that Terra Cotta's gasp had broke out into squealing giggles. One crow in question seemed to take a liking to her, brushing his beak against her chest. The child responded by sitting up-the bowl of feed subsequently slipping off her back and spilling onto the ground-as she pulled the bird into a light hug. The raven squawked blissfully, tucking his head underneath her chin and unfolding his wings to stretch them out. Another bird, a toucan, landed on the filly's head and turned his head to the side before bending to gaze into one of her eyes. She giggled, rolling her eyes up to meet his gaze.

"Pwitty buhdi!" Terra Cotta chirped, surveying the myriad of birds with a wide grin plastered upon her face. "Izdis Hevin?"

Fluttershy gave a nickering laugh.

"It… certainly feels like it."

A buck-the very same Chenoa had interacted with-lowered his head to Terra Cotta's face to sniff her. Taking in her scent, he smiled and raked his tongue across her cheek.

Terra Cotta squealed, removing her forelegs from the crow to extend them above to hug the buck's face to the best of her ability. A beaver seemed to want a hug, too, and chattered to garner her attention. The filly, smiling, shuffled forward to curl her forelegs around the creature.

Fluttershy couldn't help but feel her heart warm. All of her animal friends seemed to like her-and Terra Cotta was having so much fun with them already. Beaming, she decided to continue her rounds dishing out feed while her daughter interacted with the critters to get better acquainted with them.

The beasts relished in the attention they were given by Terra Cotta, but mostly quieted down once they began eating. Terra Cotta broke away to assist Fluttershy with the rest of the feeding. She had gotten a significant kick out of being permitted to hold some food in her hoof and watch a few of the tiny animals eat directly out of it.

Fluttershy couldn't recall seeing a foal so… happy. A tear was brought to her eye witnessing just how much Terra Cotta was laughing with mirth. A hodgepodge of colorful birds took turns eating out of the filly's hoof. Once the seeds were gone, they took to the trees and went about their business. They wouldn't be returning until the next mealtime.

She sat there, gazing into the trees and waiting to see if they would come back down.

"Terra, sweetie," Fluttershy called from her position by the door. "Come on back inside. The birdies will come back around dinner!"

Frowning slightly and turning her body into Fluttershy's direction, she gave one last glance at the trees before heading inside. Door closing behind them, she scampered to the living room to check up on her father.