Daylily 2 Filly Tendency pt1

>This...is not how it was supposed to go
>Return to Hollow Shades, get a house, become a guard and finally your days of glory would begin
>Instead you got told they’re not taking in any new recruits currently and now you’re sitting in a juice bar and slurping on a smoothie that’s way too deluxe for your wallet if you don’t get a job soon
>But now you’re forced to think about other forms of employment
>At least it is a very good smoothie, you can’t believe how much you’ve missed eating fresh fruits of all kinds instead of eating mushrooms and stuff in the wild, or whatever you managed to get during your travels
>You take another long sip and enjoy the feeling of the fruity goodness flooding your mouth and sliding down your throat
>You can’t help your tail from gently swishing from side to side and your ears flicking every now and then as you gulp up your little treat for yourself
>You keep sipping it through the straw while absentmindedly looking around the shop at various bat ponies enjoying their night and various juices
>So many ponies, you find yourself feeling a little...out of place...
>During your travels it was easy, you didn’t really have to waste much time honing your social skills since you only talked to shopkeepers and such and you never traveled in groups
>Not to mention you always could leave so there was no pressure of screwing up or having any kind of a reputation
>But now...you’re supposed to start a new life and get out there, make friends, get along with colleagues...it feels new and slightly unnerving
>Especially since you are not a guard, with the safety of the uniform you would not have to worry about anything, you’d always have a purpose and the fact that you are a town guard backing you up no matter where you were or who you were dealing with
>You shake your head
>No, that kind of thinking will not do, it sounds how a coward would think, and you braved the wild, the mountains and timber wolves, not to mention you’ve certainly become more than able to talk to random ponies just like that
>Yes, just like you did it in your travels
>Besides you are not joining the guard just because you need a uniform to hide behind
>Even though that was originally the idea...back then when you hadn’t yet gone out and traveled here and there
>You take another sip, enjoying the feeling of ice cold smoothie in your mouth
>But you still have to admit, you actually preferred running away from the timber wolves with Anon and focusing on surviving instead of hanging around in Hollow Shades with no purpose at all
>Anon...would it be too soon to visit him yet?
>Probably yes, you haven’t gotten a letter from him yet...
>Maybe you should go back to the cave and go look at the Olms again? It’s some ways from Hollow Shades but the Olms were good listeners...
>You crack a little bit of a smile
>They look kind of like weird living water penises
>You finish your smoothie and decide to head back home for now
>You exit the store and instead of flying you decide to walk home, you’re in no rush
>Hollow Shades, you have to admit you like how this town looks over many others you’ve seen
>suddenly you find yourself somewhere unfamiliar, you must have taken a few wrong turns when looking at the houses and streets
>Not to mention staring up at the trees that block the sun has made you walk right into a dead end none the less
>But as you turn around you find two dirty looking bat pony stallions standing between you and the way back
>”Well lookie here what we have here buddy, a lone mare all by herself!”
>The other one of them pulls out a very small knife
>”Drop yer bits to the ground lass and we’ll let you carry on without a scra-“
>He can’t finish his sentence because your hoof making contact with his face sends him flying onto his back and hitting his head against the ground
>His friend stares in shock at his friend and then pulls out a knife of his own
>”Did you not hear us lassie we-“
>but you already turned around and delivered a buck right into his face, knocking him out cold and some teeth’s out
>The one that you hit now gets up and sees his friend fall limp to the ground with some of his teeth’s scattered on the ground
>He takes flight and tries to run away but
>”M-me tail!”
>You grabbed onto his tail with your teeth’s and hold him from flying off, which only makes him flap his wings faster
>And you answer by pulling on his tail as hard as you can and slamming the whole pony against the side of a building before falling on top of his unconscious companion
>Now with both of them out cold you simply grab both of their tails into your mouth and start walking towards the nearest guard post while dragging the two ponies along the ground, attracting very curious glances from random bat ponies
>The guard turns to look at you with confusion on his face as you drag the two damaged assailants in front of him, their mouths now full of dirt and a few more scraped and bruises from being dragged along the ground now on their bodies
>You spit their tails out before talking to the guard that’s for some reason eyeing you cautiously
“They tried to rob me”
>The guard pony looks at the two in confusion and worry as you simply take flight and head towards your house now that you delivered them to the proper authorities
>Maybe you even left a good impression on one of the guards, that could come in handy if you do decide to become a guard
>You smile happily while flying away as the guardspony and a few others quickly get to tending the two robbers who’s various body parts point in the wrong direction


>You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, it was nice to do something guard-like for once
>Currently you’re flying towards your little home at the top of a tower-like building
>It is a bit small, but fairly cheap, and since you do not have many belongings or furniture to begin with it was perfect for you
>You look down at the streets while flying, surveying a few ponies doing this or that
>It’s going to be the morning soon so most bat ponies are heading our or already have headed to home for bed
>But then you notice something out of the ordinary, a little filly looking through a dumpster
>you stop and look down at the filly as it abandons the trash can and moves onto the next one with a sigh
>She must have been doing this for some time now since her mane seems dirty, shaggy and unkempt
>Maybe she does not know what time it is and should have been at home a while ago?
>This is good practice for being a guard, you swoop down and land down before the bat pony filly
>She seems spooked by you and tries to scamper away, but ends up slipping and falling onto her back
“Are you ok?”
>You walk closer to the little filly whose hooves flail around in the air almost like she was still trying to scramble backwards while keeping her eyes closed shut
>You take a closer look at her and find that she lacks a cutie mark, and also notice other things about the filly
>She shares your coat color and wing colors, except they seem to be inversed compared to yours
>Her long unkempt, shaggy and very dirty mane and tail, now that you look at them more closer they really are dirty, are light steel blue
>She stops scampering and opens up her eyes, and then looks at you with her mint colored eyes, eyeing you carefully
>She keeps her eyes on you while getting back on her hooves and then giving a few flaps to her wings, dusting them off
>she must be a shy little pony, you better tell her that you are not doing anything weird to her
“I just wanted to make sure you know it’s soon going to be the morning and you should hurry back home”
>The filly seems a bit weirded out by this but nods slowly
>”Um...ok...”
>Satisfied that you did the good deed you open up your wings and take flight
>”...but I don’t have one...”
>And miss a flap and almost fall back to the ground
“You...don’t have a home?”
>The filly sits down onto the ground with her head hanging down in a depressed manner, coupled with a lower lip tremble
>”N-no...sorry...”
>You land back down
“No that’s fine, is there an orphanage or-“
>Suddenly the filly hits the ground and pleads at you with her eyes
>”Please not the orphanage!”
>You reach out a hoof to the filly, but decide not to touch her when she stares at it with worry
“Calm down, I’m not taking you to the orphanage”
>The filly sits back up, looking just a hint less alarmed
>”Y-you wont?”
>You shake your head
“What were you doing out here, looking through these trash cans?”
>The filly looks ashamed and averts her eyes from yours
>”I was looking to see if anypony had thrown out any leftover fruits that haven’t gone that bad...”
>Now you feel a bit confused, no matter what state Hollow Shades would be in you would not think that any kind of a homeless pony would need to go through any trash cans for things to eat, and as far as you know the local orphanage is very good and friendly over all
“Should I take you to a...guard outpost?”
>The filly looks worried and pleading again
>”Please don’t...”
>You’re left pondering how you should proceed
>Leaving the filly to be would not be very guard-like, and if anypony ever found out you did something like that you’d be kicked out of the guard for sure, or loose all respect ponies might have for you
>Well depending if you become a guard in the first place but still, it would not be right, it would not be just
>But what does that leave you with?
“Do you...want to come to my house?”
>The filly is still wary but now also looks at you with obvious confusion on her face
>”Why? I’m dirty and filthy and no good and homeless and unwanted and...”
>Oh no, she sounds like she is about to cry so you interrupt her
“I can’t leave you out here either by yourself, it would not be right”
>The filly opens up her mouth as if to say something but then closes it and just stares at you while making unsure sounds like she was having an internal struggle while thinking about it
“You can wash up and it’s warm”
>The filly keeps looking unsure and nervous
“I’ve got fresh fruits?”
>The filly’s stomach growls loudly, making her ears droop and gulps as her mouth waters visibly
>”O-ok, I’ll come with you”
>You spread your wings open and the filly does the same
“Ok, follow me”
>You take flight and the filly does so too, and now you are heading home with a little filly behind you, looking around cautiously as the two of you fly
“My name’s Daylily, what’s yours?”
>The filly turns her attention to you and shouts out something that you don’t hear over the sound of the wind
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that”
>The filly inhales before cautiously yelling out her name with a bit more volume this time
>”Tulip!”
>You give Tulip an awkward and nervous smile and a nod as you answer her, before turning your attention back to where you are flying
“Ok”
>Don’t want to fly into something like you did back in the cave when you were flying away from the timber wolves
>A filly...to come to your house...what on Equestria are you getting yourself into?


>You close the door to your front porch/perch and then look at the little filly named Tulip standing in the middle of your living room/house
>It is a small house with only a few rooms, a big living room that is practically the whole house, and then a few smaller rooms like a bedroom with a small bathroom, and then a small one pony kitchen
>She isn’t shivering anymore, but still seems very cautious
>But she also seems a bit defeated? The way she hangs her head and how her ears are remind you of yourself after finding out you failed the test to become a guard pony in the past
>She keeps glancing at you and then back at the floor, and you keep glancing at her and then up at the ceiling
“Do you want to get washed?”
>The filly looks at herself and touches her mane
>”I guess...”
>Her stomach lets out a loud growl
>”B-but food...”
“You can eat first if you want to”
>Her head lifts up a bit almost like that made her a bit happier
>”Ok”
>She stares at you...is she waiting for you to show the way?
>You walk to the kitchen and Tulip follows you there, and sits at the table as you pull out a few cans
“Is there anything you’d like in particular?”
>”Mango”
>You grab the can of mango pieces with your left wing and dive your right wing claw down on the top of it, piercing the lid
>You work your claw like a can opener and open up the can while Tulip stares at the scene with wide eyes and an open mouth, her timidness forgotten by you poking a hole in the lid like it was made from tin foil
>You dump down all of the things in the can into a small bowl and set it down in front of Tulip, and as you do so you suddenly have a flashback of yourself when you were younger
>Sitting at a table in excitement as your mom served you some kiwi for breakfast
>You suddenly feel an odd knot in your tummy as you realize how mother-like this thing you are doing is, it is a whole new kind of a feeling, and an uncomfortable one at that
>Tulip instantly dives down and starts to eat with hurry, getting her snout messy from the mango juice
>it does not take her long to finish all of it and let out a burp before wiping her mouth on her mane
>She sees you staring at her and quickly apologizes
>”Sorry for burping, it just happened...”
>You’re shaken out of that weird feeling you were feeling the whole time she ate
“No that’s not what I...it’s alright, do you want to wash up now?”
>The filly shrugs
>”I guess?”
>The two of you stare at one another in awkward silence for a moment before you tell her to follow you
>You are unsure if it is normal to let a homeless filly use your shower, you have never ever met an actual homeless filly before
>Or even a homeless pony for that matter, it makes you really wonder why she was out on the streets in the first place
>You leave Tulip to wash up by herself and crack open a can of pineapple for yourself
>Just as you finish eating it Tulip returns, now considerably more clean
>Her mane still looks the same though, minus the dirt, maybe that’s how it is naturally?
>”Umm...I have washed now...”
>You scratch your head
“Yes, you have...”
>The two of you stare at one another before both of you look away
>This is...weird, you have never really dealt with young ponies before
>You were an only foal so you didn’t have any siblings, and in your travels you only met and dealt with adult ponies so you find yourself a bit more reserved than you normally would be
>Not to mention the overall confusion as to what exactly is happening here in the end
>Maybe you should just take this slow, focus on this evening only for now, you have offered her a bath and food and a place to stay for the night
>You can worry about her situation and what to do next tomorrow, though you know that just letting her return back to the streets is not an option
>You must do something, that is a given, if not out of your strong need to uphold some rightness due to wanting to be a guard then just out of common sense
“Do you want to go to sleep now?”
>Tulip shrugs again and lowers her head a little
>”Do you?”
>You swish your tail
>She flicks her ear
>You shake your wings around a little so they can rest more comfily against your body
>She glances at her hoof she is rubbing against the floor awkwardly and then back at you again
>You scrunch your mouth and briefly glance at the clock on the wall
“I guess?”
>”...ok?”
>...yes sleep is for the best, good nice interaction-free sleep
“You should go to the sofa while I grab some pillows and such”
>You point at your tiny 2-seating sofa and Tulip walks to it and hops on it while you quickly grab a few pillows and a blanket from your bedroom
>You lay them down for the bat pony filly and she lays down on her back and pulls her hooves close to her body while looking at you like she was expecting something
>Does she want you to tuck her in?
>You place the blanket on her
>Are you supposed to tuck it in or wrap it around and encase her in a little burrito? Or just leave it on her like that?
>”So...I’m going to sleep now I guess”
“Yeah, me too. Let’s...you can wake me up at any point if you need to I guess”
>Tulip nods and wiggles around a little bit to get more comfortable
“I’m going to go now, to my bedroom, so good day”
>Tulip seems worried as she nods and you quickly make your way into your bed
>This is harder than you expected, helping out a homeless little filly
>And then you simply lay there. but sleep does not come to you
>After tossing and turning around in your bed and almost feeling a bit feverish like you were coming down with a cold your ears pick up sounds coming from Tulip
>You silently get up and sneak to her
>She’s whimpering a little and moving around in her sleep, and her blanket seems to have fallen off
>You pick it up and place it back but as you do so she suddenly grabs a hold of your hoof in her sleep and pulls it close to her
>You freeze up completely with your eyes wide in shock as the filly snuggles her head against it
>Her mane feels soft and you can feel her body heat against your hoof
>It is a whole new kind of a feeling, it feel nothing like touching ponies has felt like, a hoofshake, high five, punch, kick, bite or an accidental bump
>This feels...strange, it is made out of things one would consider good, softness, warmth, but for some reason it feels bad? Overwhelming in a way
>You quickly pull your hoof away and return to your bed with your mind racing about various thoughts about the nature of motherhood, coupled how embarrassing even thinking about such things is!
>You’ve never really thought about it, or even acknowledged that it could be something that might happen to you someday in the far future
>You’ve never ever thought of children this way, and all of these new thoughts and feelings about various matters so grown up are scaring you
>Not in a way a timber wolf or a manticore would be, but a whole different kind of scary you didn’t really know even existed
>You force yourself to stop thinking about it and about becoming a guard instead, and eventually you manage to fall asleep


>”Umm...”
>Zzzzzz-huh what where? Your bed...
>Groggily you let the corner of the pillow go from your mouth and lift your head up to look at the little filly next to your bed
>Or somewhere around it, you’re sprawled all over the bed in a random manner with one pillow on the floor and most of the blanket either on the ground or covering very random parts of your body
>Why is your head at the bottom of the bed and not at the top?
>”I’ve slept so I’ll go away now, right?”
>You stare at the filly in confusion as your mind tries to catch up
>You shake your head to get some of your bed mane out of your field of vision, wait she’s leaving now?
“You can’t!”
>The filly seems spooked now and her tail goes right between her hooves
>”I c-can’t?”
“I mean...breakfast! You haven’t had breakfast yet!”
>She does not think you’re some strange mare does she? That would not be good
>Tulip’s tail lefts back up from between her hooves and she tilts her head to the side
>”I guess I should have breakfast...”
>You quickly try to climb out of the bed and end up falling face first to the floor in a cocoon consisting of blanket because your hooves got tangled
>”Are-“
>You wave towards the doorway to the bedroom with your free wing without lifting your head up
“I’m fine, just go to the kitchen”
>After you manage to collect yourself up you too join Tulip in the kitchen where she is resting her head against the table in a bored manner
>She seems a little surprised of you as you walk into the kitchen, your bed mane and tail can’t be that bad can it?
“What would you want for breakfast?”
>”Banana”
>Banana...do you have any banana in a can? Do banana’s even come in a can?
>You start going through your various cans of fruits
>You really should stop buying canned fruits and eat fresh, but it’s so much more cheaper not to mention more universal as a ration
>But to your surprise you do find a can labeled “Banana’s in syrup”
>You crack it open and pour out a few small, sloppy discolored soggy bananas onto a plate
>It’s very...unappealing
>You set the bowl down on the table and join Tulip who now eyes the bananas cautiously
>”A-are you sure these things are bananas?”
>You pick one up and shudder how soft and soggy it feels like
“I’m sure they’re fine”
>Tulip picks one up too and then carefully gives the tip of it a lick
>Seems like the syrup tastes good at least because she seems positively surprised and starts to lick the syrup off of the banana in little bat filly licks
>You stare at the filly licking the banana here and there while lapping up the syrup and suddenly you get the feeling something is wrong with this picture, but you have no idea what it is
>So instead you bring your little banana to your mouth and take a careful bite out of it
>Wow this is actually pretty good! It’s like a soft squishy banana that is covered in banana flavored soda pop and oozes out melted banana flavored candy
>You take a bigger bite out of it while Tulip stares at you, frozen in mid-lick
>You swallow and lick your lips
“Eeeeee~”
>And stop making your happy bat sound when you notice Tulip staring at you
>As a bit of a blush forms on your face Tulip too takes a cautious bite out of her floppy banana and she too seems to like it greatly as she wolfs it down pretty fast
>Now with a much more happier mood in the kitchen both you and Tulip enjoy the canned bananas until there are none left
>And then breakfast is soon over with and you’re left to wonder what to do next about Tulip
>She’s still sitting at the table but she most likely will attempt to leave soon
>You are going to take her to the orphanage. That’s a final, even if she would not want it
>You did think about it a little bit last night and it is the best option you can think of, taking her to the guards might spook her and letting her return to the streets is not an option
>But the hardest part is telling it to her since she was so much against it yesterday
>If push comes to shove you’ll just drag her there against her will
>It might be a bit cruel but if there is a place that specializes in these things that is where she should be.
“I’m going to take you to the orphanage”
>You prepare for the resistance she will put up
>”I know...”
>But instead she just hangs her head in a depressed manner and submits to her fate?
“You...know?”
>Tulip nods and now you stare at her with surprise and confusion
“But you were so much against it yesterday...why are you not against it anymore?”
>But Tulip just sighs and stays silent, confusing you even further
>But she’s willing to go there with you so maybe you should not question it?
>You decide to not think about it too much further and to take a shower instead, leaving Tulip to slurp on the leftover syrup
>And after a little bit of washing you’re stuck in that shower-trance where you just stand under the warm water and completely loose track of time
>it just feels so much more better than washing yourself in a cold river or not washing yourself at all for long periods of time, or having to take painstaking amounts of work to get some warm water to bathe yourself in when on the road
>And soon enough you will have brought this random filly to the right place where she should be and you can focus back into doing the things you were supposed to do before this unforeseen event took place