His shoulders tensed, his eyes squinted shut, his head slightly lowered, he tried to prepare himself for whatever would happen next. However, he was far less prepared then he intended to be, as a gentle breeze flicked a fallen golden leaf lightly against his face.
With a startled yelp, Blue Skies threw himself away from the imagined monstrosity that was the leaf, instinctively attempting to flap his wings in order to right himself. But he was far too close to the ground, and landed badly on his right wing. Very badly. The crack of a broken bone echoed throughout his very existence, and a blazing inferno of pain seared its way from his wing, into his shoulder, across his back muscles, and into his brain, sending one very concise, severe message, that could possibly be translated as "AAAAAAAAGH!"
Only once before had he experienced such pain; back when he was still a little colt, he once got smashed into by Rainbow Dash, during one of her manic training sessions. Blue was hospitalized for a month from all the bumps, bruises, and broken bones which abounded throughout his body. He remembered the complete helplessness, the suffocating sterile environment, the pitying glances his way, and the mockery from Rainbow; the incessant, ceaseless mocking. He never wanted to return to a hospital if he could help it; but this injury seemed to show that fate intended otherwise.
However the pain was so great Blue wasn't sure if he'd even make it to the hospital. He rolled over onto his good wing, moaning and mewling pitifully, his other wing sticking out at an alarmingly strange angle. He tried to touch it, but the nausea caused by even the lightest of taps nearly made him lose the delicious cupcake he had consumed earlier that day.
Suddenly, the door to Fluttershy's cottage opened, though whether it was due to the former knocking or the latter wailing, it was impossible to tell. A sharp intake of breath signaled that Fluttershy caught sight of the injured creature before her. Almost instantaneously, her face showed concern and care, any possible timidity vanishing in the throes of her passionate protective instincts.
"Oh, you poor thing!" she gasped, rushing carefully to Blue Skies' side. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Curled up practically into the fetal position, Blue could hardly manage any more of a response than a muttered and unpleasant grunt of pain. He hardly even noticed that it was Fluttershy's voice that graced his ears. All his body paid attention to was the rampant agony.
Fluttershy then noticed the pegasus's clearly broken wing. Even from just a quick glance, she knew that it needed immediate attention. If it wasn't dealt with expertly, this blue pegasus might never be able to fly again. It never occurred to her to ask the pegasus his name, or why he was there; she only cared about what happened to him, and how she could make him better.
She peered closer at the injured wing, which seemed to be broken in several places. She let out a slow, even breath, a visage of calm and steady confidence spreading across her otherwise demure face. She might be able to treat this injured pony's wing, but what he really needed was a hospital. They would have painkillers and antibiotics there, whereas all she had was a first aid kid and several herbal remedies; none of them terribly powerful. She analyzed the situation rapidly and then gently spoke to the creature in pain.
"I'm going to pick you up and carry you to the hospital, okay? Your wing is badly broken; it needs to be tended to immediately."
However, Fluttershy did not get murmured assent from the creature. Instead, the pegasus's eyes flew open, and shock was clearly written across his face, warped into a terrible guise by the underlying pain. "NO!" he screamed, cringing. He then regretted the motion fiercely. The swift movement of his body as it flinched instinctively in response to the sheer idea of being hospitalized again sent a fresh spasm of pain wracking through his body. Yet despite being nearly sent into shock, he maintained enough of a grip upon reality to beg whimperingly "Please...no. Don't take me to the hospital. You can't take me there. Please...please..." He continued muttering rejections, and pleading, and begging, and groveling. Anyone with a brain stem could clearly tell that the idea of hospitals distressed him deeply.
She knew that this pegasus would only hurt himself if he struggled any further, and so she did what needed to be done, and attempted to calm him down, murmuring gentle reassurances. It hurt her that this unwise pegasus would refuse proper care, but if he was as afraid of hospitals as she was afraid of dragons, she could definitely understand reluctance to do something that was very necessary. Plus, she got through her fear thanks to her friends. But she couldn't see any friends around this stallion.
Blue Skies was having what could essentially be described as a panic attack, which only aggravated his injury further. He retreated further into his own now-unstable psyche and hoped only to black out, because any escape into unconsciousness would be a more than welcome reprieve from this unending and unbearable torment. Eventually, though, he did black out, and Fluttershy immediately went to work to provide first aid.
The sound of a door quietly creaking open was enough to wake Blue Skies from his light slumber.
Blue tried blinking a few times in order to shake off the strange yet intriguing dream he had just left, which involved Fluttershy gently stroking his mane while singing him a lullaby. He could still nearly hear a hint of the words "Hush, now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..."
Reluctant to leave the comfort of his subconscious mind, he slowly opened his eyes to the new environment which surrounded him. It seemed he was in some sort of guest bedroom, tucked into a warm, butterfly-covered quilt. Gently moving around, he noticed his broken wing was snugly bandaged around his body, keeping it secure and preventing accidental movement from further injuring the appendage. It was tight, but not uncomfortably so. He noticed mostly silence, punctuated by a few chirps and twitters from nearby birds, which made sense considering the bird houses which appeared even within the room. The smell of slightly damp hay added a subtle barn-like scent to the scene, but the room was fairly tidy and well-kept. Either the owner of this house rarely had guests, or was simply diligent with maintaining a proper house.
The entire room had an underlying kind of aura, which seemed to welcome and embrace him. It was about as far from the uncomfortable, formal environment of a hospital as he could imagine. Not particularly caring how he came to be in this room, he decided he should probably go back to resting, in order to better recuperate from his injury.
That is, until he noticed that the door's creaking was caused by none other than Fluttershy, coming in with a tray laden with steaming tomato soup, crackers, fresh vegetables, and a glass of orange juice. Normally accustomed to little more than a cup of coffee as breakfast, the heavenly odors wafting towards his nose set the stomach of Blue Skies to rumbling hungrily. He blushed slightly in embarrassment, and then he stumbled upon a sudden realization. Fluttershy, the mare of his dreams, was caring for him, and not some cold, heartless nurse! He silently thanked Celestia, and then shyly decided to greet his caretaker as she set down the tray beside his bed. Clearly she was making an effort to allow him to sleep for a bit longer, but he could no longer rest knowing Fluttershy was in the room. He had to take the chance to mutter a greeting.
"Uh...hello?" he murmured inquiringly and politely, in as soft and gentle a voice as he could manage, so as not to alarm Fluttershy.
Despite his attempt at gentility, however, Fluttershy started at the sound of his voice and nearly knocked the breakfast tray over. "Oh," she responded with a bit of a gasp. "You startled me there. Are you feeling better, sir?"
The mind of Blue Skies was inexplicably beginning to make him feel comfortably warm and bubbly simply by his proximity to Fluttershy and her caring concerned words. He made an effort to show how much he appreciated her handiwork by responding in as appreciative a tone as he could muster. However, he was never really too good at conversing with mares. "Much better, thank you. And thank you for not taking me to the hospital." At his last remark, his tone turned very sincere and severe.
"Oh, it was no problem. Sometimes, we all just need to be shown a little kindness." She gifted Blue with a graceful smile before continuing, "Well, you've still got a while to heal before you're ready for flight. So make sure and eat up, and get plenty of rest. And I'm sorry in advance if the bandages are uncomfortable, but they're going to have to stay there if you want to get better." Her tone was about as close as she could get to assertive, but even Blue Skies with his sub-par observational skills could tell that she wasn't likely to do anything to anyone against their will, unless it was absolutely critical for their survival. However, this probably wouldn't matter, because in his current mindset, he was fairly sure he'd do just about anything Fluttershy asked of him, so long as she asked him in her mellifluous voice.
"How long am I going to be here for?" he asked.
"Well, to be on the safe side, it will probably take about three weeks." she replied.
"That's a while. I should probably send some mail up to Cloudsdale so Rainbow Dash doesn't get her feathers in a flutter."
"Oh, of course. And I never asked before... what's your name?"
"Um... I'm Blue Skies.
"Well, it's been very nice meeting you, Mr. Skies. I'll get right on sending a missive with Ms. Doo tomorrow morning. Is there anyone else you can think of who needs to be contacted?"
Pondering for a bit, Blue realized that there weren't all that many ponies who would be very concerned with his well-being, and thus not many other people he could think of sending a letter to. Soarin would most likely be busy with Wonderbolt practice and airshows, and he had never put too much effort forth into keeping in contact with his parents. After a few moments of silent thought, Blue Skies slowly shook his head at her. "No, thanks. I'd just cause people unnecessary worry at this point if I told them about my wing. I'll be fine. But hey, quick question," he added after his somewhat somber statement, "Do I have to stay in bed, or am I free to walk around?"
"Oh, no, not at all. Feel free to move around, make yourself feel at home. Just don't do any strenuous activity, or you'll upset your injury further, okay?" Fluttershy said, again in that voice for which there was no sufficient comparison.
Blue Skies nodded thoughtfully and then carefully made his way out of the covers. "What time is it anyway?" he added, feeling a bit groggy after his moderately untimely awakening, rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hm," Fluttershy murmured to herself quietly, "Probably about noon by now. You've been asleep for a good while; I was actually getting a bit worried. But now you're awake, so I guess there's nothing to worry about." Suddenly Fluttershy's ears twitched towards various chittering and chattering sounds, coming from downstairs. "Oh my, it's time to feed my friends. Can you take care of yourself for the time being?"
"Yeah, I think so," Blue responded. "Go ahead with your animal feeding duties." He finished with just a hint of a smile, ever cheered by the sheer reality of holding a normal conversation with her, the ludicrously beautiful mare.
"Coming!" Fluttershy then yelled softly, exiting the room with her usual grace.
Blue Skies then proceeded to explore his surroundings a bit more thoroughly, but always moving slowly and with caution, so as not to agitate his wing. Wandering over to a nearby window, he saw a bright summer day, perfect for just about any kind of outing. However, he'd rather stay inside with his new caretaker, even if it meant he'd never see another sunny day again. Fluttershy was all the warmth and sunshine he needed to be happy. He only wished she were able to say the same about him, but he highly doubted that was true. She was just caring for him until he got better. In all likelihood she wasn't even considering being his marefriend. But he contented himself with the knowledge that he'd get to spend a good three weeks with her, and just her, nursing him back to health. His contentment caused another smile to spread across his features, as naturally as the sun's daily rising and setting.
Lost as he was in his own musings, he almost didn't notice Angel, who had suddenly appeared before him with a rather haughty stare.
"Um... hello there?"
Blue felt a bit silly talking to a bunny, but this one seemed to mean business. Blue wasn't sure what kind of business, but it must have been a very serious matter, to account for the very serious expression on the adorable critter's face.
"What's the matter, little gal?" Not realizing that Angel was actually male, Blue had just unwittingly insulted a rather cantankerous little bunny rabbit, which decided to vent its frustration by throwing a pointed orange object at a rather swift speed, directly at Blue's face.
"Whoa, sorry little... guy?" he questioned apologetically, after just barely dodging the carrot projectile. "I didn't mean to insult you, it's just I didn't realize... I'm sorry little guy."
Hardly appeased, Angel then angrily stomped out of the room in about as surly a manner as was possible for a fluffy white bunny.
"What was that all about?" Blue Skies muttered to himself, as soon as Angel was out of earshot. "I wonder if he's jealous that Fluttershy's spending more time on me than on him? No, that can't be correct. How could a bunny rabbit be jealous of something so trivial?" Slightly exasperated, he wondered briefly why he was talking to himself, but then decided he really didn't care too much.
He looked at the carrot that the bunny had somehow conjured up and thrown, only to be painfully reminded of how long it had been since he'd last eaten. His stomach once again rumbling, he wandered back over to his breakfast tray, and began to sloppily gobble up every last delicious morsel that Fluttershy had prepared for him, several solid and liquid consumables haphazardly flying every which way. Only after he finished did he realize that he had made a rather large mess of the previously tidy room, speckling the walls and floors with droplets of tomato soup and bits and pieces of vegetables, as if they had been shredded into shrapnel. Realizing his mistake due to his insufficient manners, Blue instantly regretted that he had made more work for the sweet mare. She had taken such good care of him... wouldn't there be any way that he could return the favor?
He swung his gaze about, looking for anything that could be used to mop up the mess before Fluttershy finished feeding the little critters. She deserved to come back to a neat, tidy, unstained room which did not look as if it had witnessed the veggiepocalypse. He frantically paced around the room, contemplating. There were some pictures hanging on the wall... no that wouldn't work, you can't desecrate artwork with tomato soup splatters!
After a bit more fruitless searching, he returned to the tray, staring with dismay at the mutilated corpses of vegetables, desecrated through the defiling eating habits of an extremely hungry pegasus. He looked at the bowl, which he had previously attempted to lick clean, and suddenly remembered noticing a few napkins in his peripheral vision, only after he had picked up and begun to slurp the bowl. Striking his hoof firmly against his face, Blue Skies internally berated himself for not looking under the bowl for cleaning instruments.
However, dismay began to crawl across his features as he compared the size of the mess to the amount of napkins he had to work with. No, nothing could overcome his desire to please Fluttershy! A look of determination settling firmly on his face, he set out to accomplish his goal, no matter how heavily the odds were stacked against him.
With flourish and finesse, Blue Skies zipped around ground zero of the tasty vegetable explosion, utilizing every single white bit of the napkins until every conceivable cleaning fiber was stained red, orange, or a combination of the two. For the tougher stains, he made sure to add some saliva into the mixture, scrubbing with gusto, as if he were accomplishing a task of supreme importance and significance.
Just as he finished up his attempts to polish the floor, assuring a shiny finish in which one could practically see their own reflection, Fluttershy happened to decide to return to the room to check up on her charge.
She witnessed a triumphantly standing pegasus, speaking to the room around him as if he had just returned victoriously from a vicious war. And admittedly, the bandages did seem to lend a small bit of verisimilitude to his returning soldier persona.
"Haha! Despite your stubbornness, I have cleansed this land of your influence, you reddened soup stains and pulpy orange splotches! Your existence shall no longer be a blight upon this land of tidy harmony! And now, I shall cast away all that remains of your filth, and you shall forever be banished from this hallowed ground!" Theatrically turning around, he set his eyes to search for a nearby waste receptacle in which to dispose the accursed and now useless napkins, only to realize that Fluttershy had just walked in on his embarrassing performance.
Blue Skies was firmly rooted in place, frozen in an uncomprehending stupor.
With an interesting mixture of worry and bemusement, Fluttershy asked the obvious question. "What are you doing?"
And with a blush on his face and a slightly awkward smile, he eloquently replied "Uhhhh... cleaning up?"
A snort. A giggle. Fluttershy suddenly couldn't help herself. She burst into laughter, but not in nearly as raucous or as bawdy a manner as Pinkie Pie. Her laughter was like wind chimes dancing in the air, gracefully melodious and infectious and not at all spiteful.
Rather than increasing the discomfort, her laughter seemed to slice through the tension in Blue Skies like a knife through butter. He gradually joined her joyful mirth, laughing at the ridiculousness of his actions, rather than hiding in shame. Here, in Fluttershy's cottage, he felt like a million bits. It was such a wonderful sensation... the feeling that he belonged.