The first thing Thundercloud had thought upon seeing her daughter was how fragile she looked. How terribly small and delicate she was. As if she might shatter like glass at any second. She had a yellow coat like her mother, a contrast to her father’s green. Her mane was pink, a much lighter shade than her father’s red. It’d probably mixed with the genes for her mother’s white mane. White and red made pink. Just like Thundercloud and Rainsquall’s love made her. The nurse had held her delicately as she was led to an incubator at intensive care. Her birth had been a miracle. Thundercloud had been eight months pregnant. That morning she had gotten up and realized she was badly cramping. Then her water broke. Rainsquall had flown her to the hospital, nearly breaking the sound barrier to get her there. Fluttershy, named after her ancestor the last queen of the Flutter Ponies, was born three months early. For a month she was in intensive care as magical healing energies worked to keep her alive. For a month, she stubbornly clung to life while all her parents could do was wait and pray. Her breathing grew more regular and after a month she could breathe on her own. Neither of her parents could bear to part from her and Thundercloud slept with Fluttershy on her breast, wrapped up in her wings. Up until she was seven years old Fluttershy slept within the embrace of her parent’s wings. Every now and then Rainsquall would suggest that Fluttershy should learn to sleep by herself and gently encourage her to do so. Sometimes she would too and would receive great praise for it. But then there were nights when she would come into her parent’s bedroom, her eyes red with tears, and tell them that she’d had a nightmare. Thundercloud’s protective instincts would take over and she’d scoop Fluttershy up into her hooves and hold her close to her. Then Rainsquall would wrap his wings over both of them and they’d nestle together.

Thundercloud wanted to protect her. She wanted to keep her safe so that she’d never have to face all the evil in the world. It wasn’t really unusual for children to sleep with their parents. It was fairly common among earth ponies and unicorns, a bit rarer among pegasii. What was unusual was the number of things Fluttershy was afraid of. She was nearly impossible to potty train as she was afraid of the sound the toilet made. Rainsquall came up with the idea to bribe her with cookies and one of them had to stay with her in the bathroom right up until she was five years old. She was afraid of the dark and when she decided she was too old for sharing a bed with her parents they had to buy her a night light because she would wake up screaming. She was afraid the shadows were coming to get her.

She was afraid of crowds and in public would press her face against Rainsquall’s leg or Rainsquall would hold her.

She was afraid to go to school and had to be half-dragged, half-scolded and half-coaxed to get her there. Not that they scolded her too frequently or Gods forbid punished her because even something as mild as being sent to the corner would result in her being afraid of her parents for a while and hiding in her room.

She was afraid to fly and that was where Thundercloud put her hoof down. A pegasus that was afraid to fly was a pegasus that was afraid to live. Rainsquall protested, but Thundercloud was insistent. Fluttershy would learn to fly whether she wanted to or not. So one day when she was six Thundercloud gathered up the filly in her forearms and told her they were going flying. She clung to her neck. As long as she was in her mother’s hooves she felt safe. That seemed to be among the few places that she felt safe at. When they reached a cloudbank she

unlatched Fluttershy from her neck and held her around the sides.

“Spread your wings.” She urged.

She nodded hesitantly. Never one to disobey her mother she spread her wings and for a while they drifted in the air, the wind whistling and tickling their feathers as they soared together.

Slowly, Thundercloud let her go. For one too brief, glorious second Fluttershy flew by herself. She glided upon the winds, occasionally fluttering her wings like the Flutter Ponies of old. For a moment she floated with such grace that it seemed that the royal line of Flutter Valley had been reborn in her being.

“You’re doing it, Fluttershy! You’re doing it!” Thundercloud shouted, her heart swelling with pride.

That’s when Fluttershy realized her mom wasn’t holding her. Her wings snapped to her sides and she began to plummet like a rock. Thundercloud shot after her, catching her long before she could hit the ground. She was bawling and buried her head in her shoulder.

“M-mommy, please don’t ever do that to me again!”

She held her. “Fluttershy…you have to learn to fly. You’re a pegasus.”

It was the most obvious thing in the world. Unicorns did magic. Earth ponies farmed. Pegasii flew.

“Th-then I don’t wanna be a pegasus.” Fluttershy whimpered.

What could she say to that? “But, you are a pegasus.” She repeated.

She said nothing. Thundercloud realized the whole thing had been a mistake. She took her by an ice cream shop then they headed home. When she was seven she’d have to go to flight school anyway.

If they thought getting her to regular school was hard, flight school was even worse. They literally had to drag her there. Finally, Thunderclod lost her temper and made another mistake. One morning Fluttershy was crying and pounding her hooves on the living room floor in the midst of a full-blown temper tantrum while Rainsquall tried to convince her to go to flight school. Finally, Thundercloud had had enough.

“Fluttershy, you are GOING to flight school-either without a spanked behind or with one if you don’t stop this tantrum right now.”

Rainsquall shot her a horrified look.

“H-honey, you can’t mean-”

“I do.”

Fluttershy stopped crying and stared at Thundercloud in a state of shock. Of course, she knew what a spanking was. She’d seen other fillies and colts get spanked, but her mommy had never done anything like that. Of course, she had never thrown a tantrum like the one she’d just thrown. Thundercloud gave her a hard look. That’s all it took. She stood up.

“O-okay. I’ll go. I’m sorry.”

She ruffled her mane. “There’s a good girl.”

She shyly smiled.

It was her worst mistake. For a month she apologized for everything and kept her tail folded so it protected her rear end. Like she was

afraid she was going to be randomly spanked. She hadn’t even spanked her. She’d just threatened to. How would she have reacted if she’d gone through with it?

She apologized when she spent too long in the bath.

She apologized when she got a B- in spelling.

She apologized when someone stumbled into her (‘I shouldn’t have been in your way, sorry.’)

Thundercloud soon got tired of it. She wanted to protect her and seeing her afraid hurt her to her core. One day she told Fluttershy she wanted to speak to her in private. They went to her room. She held her in her lap and promised that she would never lift a hoof to her. They

hugged and she did become noticeably less nervous.

Then there was the day she came home crying. This was nothing new, but this time a new problem had come up. Rainsquall and Thundercloud both held her as she cried about the bullies that had ridiculed her.

“I-I’m never going back even if you do spank me!” She shouted, an unusually forceful statement for her. Thundercloud believed her.

“I’ll talk to the bullies. I’ll make them go away.” She promised. And she did. She found the three colts and publically chastised them for their disgraceful behavior. During school hours on school grounds. That too was a mistake. Fortunately, the police pony only gave her a warning. Unfortunately, the bullying only got worse. It only ended when a rainbow maned filly took it upon herself to place Fluttershy under her protection. After that nopony dared bother her. Rainbow Dash protected her more than she ever could and the two fillies soon became nearly inseparable. She’d have been jealous if she wasn’t so happy that Fluttershy had finally found a friend.

The years passed as they are in the habit of doing. Fluttershy grew up and went to live on the ground to tend to animals as was her destiny and special talent. They still saw each other though and Fluttershy visited once a week.Thundercloud began to hear strange reports about her daughter. That she had become one of the legendary Element Bearers, that she had faced the dreaded Nightmare Moon and that she was now a recognized national hero. She decided to visit her to discover the truth for herself. A month had passed since he had last been to her cottage. Nothing about it had changed. It was as peaceful and tranquil as ever. Fluttershy was outside sipping some tea. She ran up to her mother and Thundercloud hugged her.

“Mama, I didn’t know you were visiting!”

“It was spur of the moment, Flutters.” Thundercloud said, using the pet name she had for her and hugging her back. “I understand you

have some exciting events going on?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes! Mrs. Woodchuck is expecting.”

“That’s nice. Not what I was asking about.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. What were you asking about?”

“I read in the newspaper that you’ve become an Element Bearer. That you fought Nightmare Moon.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, that happened too. I do hope I don’t have to do anything scary like that again. Though I met these wonderful mares.”

Thundercloud smiled. “I’m glad you’ve made some new friends. Can we go inside?” She said. She sat down at the little table Fluttershy had

set up.

“Oh, where are my manners! Let me get you some tea!”

Fluttershy trotted inside and returned a few moments later with a cup of tea.

“Were you scared?” Thundercloud asked.

“Oh, yes. Very much so.” Fluttershy said as she handed Thundercloud the tea.

“But you went and faced her anyway. That was very brave of you.”

“Oh, thank you. I did it for my friends.” She blushed slightly. “And, um, that and I thought ‘Well, Fluttershy, your mother will be very disappointed in you if the world gets plunged into eternal night and you’re too scared to stop it.’”

“Really?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’ve always wanted you to be proud of me.”

“Fluttershy, I am proud of you. So proud.” She sipped the tea. “I’m just glad you turned out so well after all the mistakes I made.”

“Mistakes? I don’t think you made any mistakes raising me if you don’t mind me saying so.” She sounded genuinely surprises.

“How about that time I tried to take you flying, dropped you and hoped you’d magically learn to fly?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, you did catch me. And I had to learn some time. It wasn’t your fault I was too scared to.”

“Or how about the time I nearly spanked you when you refused to go to flight school?”

“I thought you were bluffing.”

“I don’t bluff.”

“I was being a brat. Besides, if you hadn’t forced me to go to flight school I’d have never met Rainbow Dash or learned to fly. I’d probably still be a friendless, grounded pegasus.”

“That’s true, but do you actually like to fly?”

“Oh, yes. Not too high or too fast of course, but sometimes I like to feel the wind on my wings. It can be relaxing.”

“Especially when you get catch a nice thermal.” Thundercloud commented.

“Hmm, those are nice.” Fluttershy agreed.

“Okay, there was the time I showed up to your school and threatened those bullies then got security called to me.”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why I stopped complaining about flight school after that? It’s because I knew you were there to look out for me.”

“So, I guess I really was a decent mom.”

“The best.” Fluttershy said. “All those things you mentioned as mistakes are things I think of as good memories. Things that showed me how much you love and care about me. Even if some of them were scary at the time. Looking back you were strict because you cared about me. Because sometimes, pardon my language, I needed a swift buck to the rump.”

“Fluttershy, I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“I didn’t just say it to make you feel better.” Fluttershy said. “I know I’m a scaredy-pony, but you were the one that encouraged me to be brave, to face the world. I should be thanking you.”

Thundercloud hugged her and Fluttershy hugged back.

'Oh, Fluttershy, my little pony, what did I do to earn such a wonderful daughter?' She thought to herself.