Part 8 - Care
School continued on as usual. It’s been two weeks since the incident with the luck that no one was seriously injured except for one. The human, Valiant, has been in the hospital to recover from his injuries. Life goes on with the norm with students going to their seats. The six talk about the upcoming classes and activities they’re about to do. Meanwhile, in the hallway, Twilight Sparkle was talking with Applejack as they head to their respective classrooms.
“So they found nothin’ from that crazy human from that attack?” Applejack questioned.
“Unfortunately, the human was really too far gone,” Twilight explained. “Chewka was right about him being delusional. All he keeps saying is that he’s the Dragon Warrior.”
“That’s a darn shame. I’d really like to know who had the guts to do a stunt like that.” Applejack huffed at the thought that someone sent a beast like that to a school. “Speaking of Dragon, how’s he- er… Valiance, doing?”
“I visited Valiant two days ago and the doctors told me he may need more time to recover. He’s getting better, but not quite enough for him to be moving on his own.”
As Applejack listened, she looked around the corner and saw the human walking through the halls. “Uh, well he sure seems to disagree.”
Twilight turns to see Valiant with her mouth agape. The two galloped over to him, stopping him in his tracks. “Dragon- I mean, Valiant! What are you doing here!?” Twilight questioned him. “The Doctors told me you needed to stay where you were!”
“I’m perfectly able to function, Princess Professor Twilight Sparkle,” he told her, waving his hands in assurance. “I can walk around just fine.”
Applejack inspected Valiant, checking his forehead and looking at him from head to toe. She then looked at his stomach area before doing a light tap.
“Hurk.”
“Did you just grunt?” Twilight looked at him quite intensely.
“It was a hiccup,” He told her. “I didn’t eat, which is why I did it.”
“Oh! Perfect. He didn’t eat either.” She said as she placed her hoof on her face. “Valiant, you need to go home and rest. Getting better should be your top priority!”
Valiant looked away from her gaze but gave in. “... Alright then.”
The human left as told, leaving Twilight and Applejack to sigh at the strange human boy.
“He’s quite a handful like this.” Applejack noted.
“I’m starting to worry that if we leave him alone, he’ll do something else besides recovering.”
“Maybe we should get some pony to watch over him until then.”
A few knocks on the door grabs Valiant’s attention. When he opens the door, he finds Fluttershy waiting behind it.
“Professor Fluttershy?” he spoked, unsure why she was here.
“Hello Valiant,” she greeted back. “Twilight told me you needed some supervision, so I came here to help you make a fast recovery!”
“That’s quite alright, Professor Fluttershy, I’m capable of taking care of myself in this situation.” He assures her. “This isn’t even the worst kind of injury I’ve had in my career.”
“Oh my! That won’t do at all,” Fluttershy said as she revealed a basket behind her. Valiant steps away as Fluttershy enters the building. “Taking care of yourself is important! Which is why I brought all the essentials you’ll need to relax and get better!”
Fluttershy has Valiant lie down on the bed as she takes out the so-called essentials. She takes out an extra blanket, pillows, a bowl of soup, napkins, a wet towel, and an extra roll of bandages on the table.
“This seems… excessive,” Valiant stated.
“Well, your injuries are much more serious than back then!” Fluttershy reminded him. “This isn’t just a scratch like last time, so you need to stay still as much as you can and eat!”
Fluttershy balanced the spoon on her hoof and gave it a nice blow to cool it down. She placed the spoon near Valiant’s mouth. “Open wiiiiiide~!”
“What are you-” he spoke before being interrupted by the spoonful of soup. He tasted the golden goodness of carrots and seasonings causing him to make the face of pure delight. Fluttershy was taken by surprise at the human’s adorable reaction as she fed him another spoonful.
“And that’s everything we went through in class today!” Fluttershy said proudly, managing to recall everything they’ve talked about with the students in school.
Valiant was diligent throughout her lectures, taking notes as she finished up. “I see. Thank you Professor Fluttershy.”
“You can just call me Fluttershy when we’re not in class, Valiant.”
“Understood.”
“Well, I have to be going for now,” Fluttershy told the boy. “I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ve left some food in the basket, you just need to warm it up if I’m not around.”
“Oh, please wait a moment.” Valiant reached for his bag, exiting the comfort of his blankets and pillows. He reaches out for his coin purse and gets ready to pay her. “Thank you for your services. How much would compensate for today?”
“Oh, Valiant! I don’t need any money for what I’ve just done.” Fluttershy assured him.
Valiant raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t understand. You’ve went out of your way to take care of me.”
“Well, it was because it was the right thing to do. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“And you deserve a reward for that.”
“Oh Valiant! I don’t need bits as a reward for what I’ve done today!” She giggles before heading for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
After she leaves, Valiant ponders in thought about what she meant by that. She didn’t want money to reward her efforts. What else could she have wanted?
Fluttershy stretched as she woke up from her bed. She gets ready for the day and begins by checking on all of the animals. However, she notices something strange as she approaches the many bowls and plates around the room meant for the animals. They were already filled with feed for each respective animal. Not sure what to think of it, she goes outside and notices the other animals seemed to have been fed as well and were quite satisfied. All seemed fine until she saw Valiant attempting to carry a large sack back to the storage. He falls down and drops the sack, causing the yellow pegasus to run to his side.
“Valiant! What are you doing here!?” She inquired.
“I was feeding the animals to help you with your chores,” he answered.
“How’d you even get in?”
“A rabbit with the key opened it and took something from the room.”
Fluttershy turns to Angel who was sweating when he was found out. She returned her attention back to Valiant to help him up. The two walked back to her cottage as she had Valiant rest on the couch with blankets, pillows, and a wet towel. “You stay right there mister, I’m going to make you something to eat.”
Valiant did as he was told. He felt defeated that he didn’t muster the strength to finish the tasks in time before he was caught. His body was definitely not in its usual state as even the sack proved difficult despite the enhancements he had. After some time, Fluttershy brought over the bowl of soup, this time with different ingredients. She fed the exhausted Valiant until he finished his food. She goes to the door and tells him to stay put until she returns.
Valiant waited patiently in the cozy cottage. Being wrapped in blankets felt nice and the soup made him feel content. He didn’t sleep though, waiting for the yellow pegasus to return. When she finally did, she had brought over some groceries as well apparently.
“Don’t you have to teach the students today?” Valiant asked her.
“I told Twilight about your condition and she let me stay here to watch over you.”
“Why?” Valiant asked her. “There are many other students who require your guidance.”
“Because you need help and I want to be there to help,” Fluttershy reasoned with him. Valiant looked as if he was still having difficulty grasping the logic of her actions. She decided now would be a good time to review what he had learned at school. “Valiant, why do you work so hard for your Tribe?”
“Because it is my duty,” He told her. “My loyalty to my tribe and my people requires me to help them in their time of need.”
“Good, loyalty is one of the qualities we rely on to help each other!” Fluttershy stated. “But we also do things because it is done out of the kindness from our hearts.”
“Kindness is being courteous and well mannered, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s true...”
“And it would only be right to repay that kindness, wouldn’t it?”
“If you want to repay someone for their kindness, you’re free to do so. But not all kindness needs to be repaid, Valiant.” Fluttershy reminded him. “I remember you never asked for anything from your Chief despite everything you’ve done for him.”
“It was done for the good of the Tribe. My aid will continue their ability to survive, and in the long run will help me survive as well.”
“I suppose if you want to look at it from something more structural, that makes sense,” she admitted to the logic. “But you should think of kindness as the same way parents take care of their children!”
“So that they can grow up and be able to work to repay their family?”
“Um… Not exactly...” Fluttershy stammered at the response. “Not all parents take care of their children just to want something back. In fact, most parents take care of their children because they love and care about them! I’m sure your parents were the same way.”
Valiant continued to stare at her very confused by what she was trying to say. “I don’t follow.”
“Your parents never hugged you or said, ‘I love you’ before?”
“I don’t have parents I can recall.” Valiant told her. Fluttershy looked at him with wide eyes, clearly shocked at what the child had said. “I was raised at the Training halls.”
“Training Halls?”
“It’s a place where they help children become stronger so when we grow up, we can assist the Tribe after mastering one of the trades. The one they had desired the most at the time were warriors.”
“You were… working to fight when you were a child?” Fluttershy gasped. “You never were… hugged by your mom or dad when you grew up? Or went out with any family of your own?”
Fluttershy began to whimper and tear up at the revelation. Valiant saw her suffering and got out of his blankets to check on her. “Did I do something wrong? I apologize, I’ll-”
Fluttershy hushed the human boy and brought him to a bed this time. She wrapped him with blankets, fluffed his pillow, and brought another wet towel for him. “I want you to stay in bed and don’t leave. Don’t try to pay me back, don’t try to think about paying me back, just rest. If you’re hungry or your bandages don’t feel right, call me. I can replace your bandages and make you some food until then.”
Valiant nodded and complied, much more satisfied when she was no longer about to cry. She smiles warmly and leaves to cook. Over the time he rests, she fed him another delicious meal. She read him stories to entertain him while in bed. She checked his temperature and his wounds. When the time came to replace his bandages, she brought him to the bathtub to wash him up. Fluttershy even respected his request to keep his shorts on and told him to stay put in the tub so she could help him get clean.
Valiant’s back was being scrubbed by Fluttershy with a sponge being pressed down by her hooves. As he sat there in the water, he noticed that Fluttershy had already had an extra set of clothes waiting for him on a stool. He merely does as he’s told, but none of these instructions have made him work or lift a finger for someone else. Everything that’s been requested by her was for his sake. Was this about kindness? The lesson she was attempting to teach him? Or about having parents? The concept isn’t alien to him. There are many families in his Tribes. Mothers and fathers work so they can feed their kids. Their kids go to various teaching facilities that are less strenuous than the Training Halls from what he saw. It all leads back to benefit those who invested their time and effort. The parents will have strong and capable children who will give back to what they have been given. That’s how it works.
Isn’t it?
Fluttershy gives him the privacy to dry up and change to his other clothes. They were comfy sleeping wear. Soon after, Fluttershy replaces the bandages and brings him back to bed with another meal awaiting him. He eats as he thinks about what could she have to gain from all of this. If he was not going to do anything for her, why go through this effort? Why do it for one out of all kinds of students? Was he special? Did he need more help than others?
“Am I pitiful?” He muttered.
“Huh?” Fluttershy looked at him, unsure of what he just said.
“Are you only helping me because I’m injured? Or that it seems like I cannot take care of myself?”
Fluttershy gives a soft sad smile. “Because I can only imagine how difficult it is for you to do this alone. You may not think you need help from others, but I want to help you get better. Even if I might not, I want to do what I can.”
“You’re only my teacher,” he reminded her. “You don’t have the responsibility of being my mother. You don’t have to cook me food every single time you think I’ll be hungry.”
For some reason, his eyes became watery.
“You don’t have to give me your bed and make me comfortable. You don’t have to give me a bath just because I’ve got a light wound or replace my bandages. You don’t need to read me books or feel sorry that I don’t have parents to do all of that for me.”
As he talked more and more, tears dripped from his eyes. His face was flushed pink and his voice was becoming raspy.
“I’ve always been able to do those things on my own! There’s no reason for you to do it for me and nothing you can do that I can’t!”
Valiant has never yelled at anyone for something so petty. He felt incredibly embarrassed yet spoke about everything on his mind regardless. He didn’t even realize that he climbed halfway out of bed during that speal. He felt shame, disgust, relief, anxiety, frustration, and sadness to himself. He believed he was pitying himself and felt even worse when his mind crossed that. Fluttershy didn’t falter however. She went up to him and embraced him with her hooves kindly wrapping around him. His mind was silent. A peaceful, calm, tranquil silence that eased his troubles away.
A loving hug was the one thing he couldn’t do for himself.
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I hope in the next chapter Smolder will visit Valiant?(Rus-Eng)
10182634 Don't be too hard on yourself, and don't talk down about creative writing exercises. My story, The Unity Pact, started as a personal creative writing project and became a huge saga.
Just please don’t leave this story. It is very wonderful, I even want to know if Valiant and Smolder will be together?(Rus-Eng)
The kid needs to learn that getting help does not make him weak.
"A loving hug was the one thing he couldn’t do for himself."
way to distill the existential dread of reality in a single sentence
Fuck that's sad, I need hug man