Sometime later, Mr Blue Jay returned and reported the note delivered to Twilight. So now I just had to wait. This would be a good time to do all my outside chores. The sun was getting low in the sky when some movement caught my eye. I looked up to see Rainbow Dash, wings flared, coming in for a landing.
“Hi, Fluttershy.” She folded her wings and stepped over. “Twilight got your note and contacted Captain Spitfire, who assigned me to escort… And… you’re not hearing a word I say.”
She was right. My gaze was locked on the two magnificent pegasus horses flying towards us. He was a jet-black stallion, she a snow-white mare. Their extended wings seemed to stretch out forever, and they were virtually motionless as they glided down. I softly gasped as they gently settled to the ground. All they did was coast down and land, but the elegance and grace of their movements took my breath away. I glanced at Dash to see her smirking at me.
“Don’t worry, I had the same reaction when I first saw them fly. Oh, and close your mouth.” She softly snickered.
As they walked over I could see them better. He had the muscular body of an athlete, strong legs, and the chiseled muzzle of a stage actor. She was delicate with slender legs and a face befitting royalty. Their presence was so powerful I found myself bowing my head as they approached.
The dad spoke first, “Miss Fluttershy, I presume?” I nodded. “Miss Dash says you found Peter?”
My voice lost, all I could do was nod again.
The mom added, “She said Peter was hurt. Where is he?”
I tried to speak but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Yes, I found him this morning in the forest. He hurt his wing a little, but I don’t think anything is broken. Still, you should have a doctor check him.” The worry lines on their faces faded. “He had a long sleepless night and is resting.” I realized how high I needed to look to talk to them. Horses are really tall when you’re standing next to one. “I think my cottage would be a little cramped for you. If you’ll wait a moment, I’ll go get him.”
I don’t know why, but I bowed again, and then trotted through the open door of my cottage. He was still asleep with the blanket half kicked off. Angel was lying down by his head keeping watch. I sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him, being careful to not disturb his injured wing. “Peter? Peter, it’s time to wake up.”
He scrunched his head into the pillow. “Is it morning already, mother? I don’t wanna get up yet.”
I continued to gently shake him. “Peter, it’s Fluttershy. Your parents are here.” His eyes popped open as he sat up and looked around.
He blinked several times. “Where… What… Oh. My parents are here?” I nodded and he lit up with a smile. Just as quickly it fell away as his ears and head dropped. “I’m gonna be in so much trouble for sneaking out.”
I stroked his mane as I talked. “I don’t think it’ll be too bad. They’re just really worried about you. Why don’t we go out and see them, okay?” He shook his head no. “Hmm, well, I suppose you could stay in here. Should I go tell your parents you aren’t going home with them? They would be very sad, but if that’s what you really want…” I wasn’t above a little soft manipulation.
He pursed his lips as he thought. “No, I wanna go home.”
“They came all this way to find you.” I patted one of his hooves. “I’m sure they want you to come home too. Why don’t we go out and see them, okay?” He nodded, so I stood up and headed for the door. I turned back and tilted my head towards the door. Peter sighed, jumped off the bed, and came over.
“You first.” He was pressed against my flank trying to be invisible.
It was a tight squeeze through the door as we walked side-by-side. When we reached his parents I took a small step to the side exposing him. Ears down, Peter hung his head.
“Oh, Peter, we were so worried about you.” The white pegasus bent down and nuzzled her son. “And you hurt your beautiful wing!” She leaned in closer to inspect it and the sling holding the wing steady. “Does it hurt?”
Almost at a whisper, Peter said, “Only if I forget and try to move it. It’s okay. Miss Fluttershy took care of it. It’s what she does.” He raised his eyes to look at his mom. “Most all these animals are sick or injured. Miss Fluttershy takes care of them.” His head began to come up. “There are three families of field mice here, all from the same colony, all with bad fevers.” He was becoming more animated. “She let me help take care of them. She had me mix the potion with water to give to them all. And I found a Red-Tailed hawk with a hurt wing just like me” He pointed to the bench where the temporary nest sat with the hawk eyeing us. “I helped bandage his wing and get a nest ready.” He started to smile. “I met so many critters. There’s Harry, and Angel the bunny. The chicken Elizabeak is so funny.” He pointed at the chicken coop where a hen stood watching us. “And Hummingway is super fast, zipping around from flower to flower.”
The black pegasus cleared his throat.
Peter turned to look at his father. His ears went flat against his head which lowered as he studied the ground. “I’m sorry father. I shouldn't have gone out last night.” His hoof pawed at the dirt.
“Peter, you know we encourage you to practice flying. And I have no problem with you doing a little exploring. But you must let us know where you’re going, and you’re still too young to go out by yourself after dark.” I watched closely and his face betrayed no emotion as he looked down at his son. “In addition, there are many ponies who dropped their responsibilities to help look for you. We owe them our thanks.”
“I’m sorry.” He looked up at his dad. “Will I be punished for this?” He sniffed once trying to remain strong but on the verge of tears. Poor little colt. He knows he messed up.
“I think…” I could see it in his eyes as he struggled between a loving dad and a stern father. He glanced at his wife who signaled him with an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “I think being grounded until your wing is healed will provide you ample opportunity to consider all this.” With a wry grin, he added, “It will also afford you time to catch up on some of that schoolwork you’ve been putting off.”
Peter let out an audible groan. After a moment, his face brightened and he turned back to his father. "Once I get all my school work done, can we go to the library? I want to get some books on animals."
His dad blinked twice. "You want to read… a book?"
Peter nodded his head. "Yes, I think I may want to be a vegetarian when I grow up."
Rainbow laughed as I stifled a snicker. "I think you mean veterinarian." Still, I wondered where he was going with this.
"Yes, yes, one of those.” He waved a hoof in my direction. “Miss Fluttershy says they can fix broken wings, and... and... and lots of other stuff."
The dad glanced at his wife and back to his son. "Well, yes, if you want to get some books on animals, one of us could take you to the library and help you find them."
"Really? That would be great. Oh, what do you call it when someone studies all the parts of the lead dancer so they can fill in if there’s an emergency?"
His mom answered, "An understudy?"
"Yes. Perhaps next summer, instead of going to those boring camps, I could come here and be Miss Fluttershy's understudy?"
"But you like the flight camp."
He nodded. "Yeah, that one's fun. But the others,” he shook his head, “are boring. I’d rather come here and help care for the animals."
"I suppose that's something we could investigate. But right now, we need to be getting back. We still have things to do before tonight. And you need to see a proper doctor like Miss Fluttershy said."
He then glanced between Rainbow and me. “My wife and I can’t express how grateful we are for your help. All our foals mean the world to us, and if anything ever happened…” He swallowed hard. “There will be a complimentary ticket for each of you at the will-call window for tonight’s performance at the Cloudsdale Colosseum. I hope you can attend. The finale will be a duet by my wife and I. It’s performed to an excerpt from Beethooven’s sixth symphony titled: The Pastoral.”
Rainbow and I both declared, “Thank you!” in unison.
“That sounds wonderful,” I added.
He then addressed Peter, “Time to go, son. You’ll ride on my back as you are unable to fly.” He turned towards me. “Miss Fluttershy, I shall make sure this sling is returned to you just as soon as we see a physician and get it replaced.”
“Oh, oh, we can’t go yet,” Peter excitedly said. “I need to say goodbye to Harry.” He took a few steps away, reared up on his hind legs with his front hooves held like claws, and gave his loudest, “Roarrrr…”
Harry’s head popped up from behind a log. He stood up and replied, “ROARRRRR!”
Peter laughed and galloped over. Both his parents gasped and tensed up. I stepped forward, “It’s okay, Harry is very gentle. They were playing together earlier. Your colt isn’t in any danger.”
Peter jumped up on the log as his ears drooped. He started talking to Harry, although we were too far away to hear what he said. Soon Harry’s expression mirrored Peter’s sadness. Both parents stood, transfixed by the exchange.
Peter’s mom whispered to me, “Peter made friends with… a bear?”
I nodded. “They do seem to have a connection.”
Without looking away, his mom softly added, “What have you done to our son?”
I choked. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–”
She turned towards me. “Peter isn’t interested in anything. Well, flying, but what pegasus doesn’t love to fly and do so every chance they get?”
A little embarrassed, all I could get out was, “Umm…”
She glanced back at Peter again. “And now he’s talking about wanting to learn about animals and how to care for them. What happened here?”
“And books?” Peter’s dad added. “He wants to read books? He hates any kind of study or reading. The only thing he seems to enjoy are comic books, and I think that’s mostly for the artwork.” He and his wife looked at each other. “And now he wants to read about animals?”
They both turned to me as he continued. “And what about this apprentice thing Peter mentioned. Is something like that even possible?”
“Oh, yes.” I smiled and nodded. “I’d love to have Peter back if he wants to learn more about taking care of animals. Although, I might know of something even better…”
“Oh?” His mom leaned in just a bit with interest. “What’s that?”
“Medical training is the same for everypony. Then, during the second half, students have to specialize as either a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or a Doctor of Equine Medicine. Before making that choice, they do a one-semester practicum in either specialty. Some students do both to help them decide.”
“But that’s medical school,” he noted. “That’s way in the future for Peter, if it even happens.”
“I know. But our local veterinarian, Doctor Fauna, is an approved practicum instructor. She’s always got a med student or two working at the animal hospital. I could talk to her about having Peter shadow her or a med student for a few hours each day. I have a spare bedroom where he could stay. And when he’s not working at the hospital, he could help out around here. He’ll see the best, and the worst that this career has to offer. It will either drive him away or make him love it all the more.”
“Miss Fluttershy,” the dad started. “We may owe you a debt far beyond just finding our son and helping him. Let’s give this a moon to see if his interest is real and if it lasts. Then we’ll consider contacting you again. Either way, thank you for all you’ve done for Peter.”
“You’re very welcome,” I replied with a smile and a small bow of my head.
He then turned towards his son and called out, “Peter, it’s time to go now.”
Peter glanced back at us and then looked up at Harry again. As he talked to Harry, a thought invaded my mind. The mice, the hawk, and Harry… Is it even possible? I watched the ongoing exchange between the two. And Peter, how much does he actually understand? If Peter comes back, I’m going to have some questions.
As the conversation ended, Peter reared up and did his best to give a bear hug to a bear. Harry gently returned it with one foreleg. After a bit, Peter let go and dropped down. He sniffled and wiped his nose with a leg. Harry rubbed Peter’s head with a paw, letting it linger on his cheek. Peter leaned into the paw and nuzzled.
After a few moments, Peter jumped down from the log and started to return. Halfway back he paused, looked over his shoulder at Harry, and waved. The huge bear returned the wave, and I was sure I could see a tear escape his eye.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Peter said as he approached his dad. He glanced at me and added, “Thank you for everything, Miss Fluttershy.”
I smiled. “You’re very welcome, Peter. It was a pleasure to have you here, even if for such a short time. You are welcome to visit any time you are in the area again.”
Unable to contain himself he came over and gave me a big hug. Pretty strong for a colt, I thought as I felt the air squeezed out of me. He let go, sniffed a couple times, then returned to his dad. His mom helped him up, and they took to the air. Once again I was mesmerized watching their grace in flight.
Rainbow glanced at me. “Sorry, gotta escort them back to Cloudsdale. See you tonight.” With that, she shot off in hot pursuit leaving nothing behind save a small feather fluttering down. I watched the flying trio and passenger shrink into the distance until I lost sight of them.
I sighed heavily as I kept watch almost as if I was hoping for just one more glimpse. I gave my head a little shake. “I have a lot left to do today. So I think my next task…” I happened to notice a certain bear staring off into the now empty sky. His ears were down and shoulders slumped. “I think my next task is to sit with an old friend for a little while.”
– The End –