Chapter 4
Fluttershy spent the next couple days delivering drugs. She felt uncomfortable with the idea, but it was an easy thing to do, and it paid the money that she so desperately needed. After a while her discomfort went away, and she was use to the life-style. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but nopony ever stopped her. The police never suspected a thing, and the ponies she delivered to were appreciative of what she was doing. Her deliveries always ended in praise and warm regards. She felt some level of guilt, but she couldn't feel to bad. After all, she made enough money to keep her daughter alive.
Fluttershy spent the day making deliveries door-to-door, while her daughter was at school. She had plenty of money for food now, and was well on her way to getting a roof over her head too. For the first time in a while, it felt like things were getting better, instead of worse. Fluttershy was on her way back from a delivery when she ran into a familiar face.
Rainbow Dash spotted Fluttershy from her cloud, and flew down to greet her. "Hey Fluttershy! Long time no see huh. Well its by no means the longest we've been apart, but still."
Fluttershy was startled by Rainbow Dash's approach. "Oh, hello," said Fluttershy.
Rainbow Dash rambled, "Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been working extra weather shifts. Its been exhausting, and I just couldn't find the time to drop by. This is the first day off I had all week."
Fluttershy did have some understanding for Rainbow Dash's absence. Although Fluttershy could have used some more of her help a couple of days ago, Fluttershy still thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend. "So that's why the weather has been so nice the last couple days."
Rainbow Dash loved the compliment. "I guess you can say that," she said smugly. "But anyway, have you been getting by alright?"
"It was a rough start," Fluttershy replied, "but I think I'm managing pretty well now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I get a new home."
"Well that's awesome news! Is there anything I can help with in the meantime?"
Fluttershy declined, saying everything is fine at the moment. She still had a box she needed to deliver in her saddlebag, but since she didn't want Rainbow Dash to know about the type of work she's been doing for Flim and Flam, she decided she would spend the day with Rainbow Dash, and make the delivery tomorrow.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to a coffee shop to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. Since before the fire, they never seen each other for years—not since they were fillies, and they had lots of catching up to do.
After a while of chatting, Fluttershy had to say goodbye in order to be home when her filly got off from school. Both ponies agreed to meet again tomorrow. Fluttershy agreed by saying, "I can't see why not." Fluttershy went back home, even though it wasn't much of a home now, and waited for the filly to come back.
Fluttershy waited and waited but Lantana didn't come back home like she was supposed to. Fluttershy was worried. It wasn't until several hours after that Lantana came back from school. Concerned, Fluttershy asked the filly, "Where have you been?"
Lantana began to sob as she said, "I had detention."
Fluttershy was shocked. She always imagined her daughter as her perfect little angel. She was surprised to hear that her always well-mannered daughter got into trouble. "Whatever for?" Fluttershy asked. Her voice showed even more concern than before.
Lantana was afraid to make eye contact with her mother. She knew what she did was wrong. She felt guilty. Even though her mother wasn't expressing any anger, she felt like she was awaiting another punishment. "I got in a fight," she said. "One of the other ponies was laughing at me when she over heard me say that my house burned down. I told her to stop laughing, but she didn't. Eventually I just got so angry, that I hit her, but it wasn't my fault! She wouldn't leave me alone even after I asked her nicely!" Lantana's eyes started bawling.
Fluttershy was surprised at what her daughter told her, but she understood how hard the recent events must have been for her daughter. Fluttershy tried her best to empathize. "Now I know it wasn't nice of the other filly to make fun of you, but was violence really necessary? Did it make anything any better?"
Lantana sighed with self disappointment. "I guess it didn't," she said.
Fluttershy continued, "Violence is never the right answer to solve your problems. No matter how satisfying it may seem, you will always lose more from violence than you gain. I think you got to experience that for yourself today. You missed out on a beautiful day because you had detention. Now I think you learned something from all this, but do you think you can promise me that you won't do this again?"
Lantana wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah. I learned my lesson, and I promise I won't ever do this again." Fluttershy gave Lantana a prolonged hug.
"Mommy?" Lantana asked.
"Yes?"
"Are we ever going to get our house back?" asked the little filly.
"Soon. We will soon. I promise it won't be too much longer." Fluttershy for the first time made a promise that she felt confident about. She felt that it was the first promise she made since the fire, where she had a plan to make it happen.