Swallowing her food in a gulp, she froze not sure what to do. He was busy with his meal and hadn’t looked up yet. She stifled the reflex to bolt out of the room. ‘Breath Fluttershy, breath. Don’t freak out. Nothing’s going to happen. If we have a panic attack he’ll worry about us and he’s in no condition to be worrying.’
Looking out from behind her hair, she saw her guest was happily eating, not paying her any particular attention. A sigh of relief escaped her as she devoted herself to eating the dinner and enjoying it.
The two ponies dispensed with all three plates in relative quiet. The silence only broken by polite offers as the third plate was being split between them. With the meal finished Soarin leaned back onto his bedding and looked out the window to see the sun hanging low on the long summer evening.
“Well, I guess I need to limp into town and get a room at the inn. Thanks for all the help Fluttershy” He gave her a gentle smile before trying to get up.
She watched in dismay as he tried to stand. His body visibly protested to the strain. Reflexively she reached out and placed a hoof on his withers and chest. “You need to rest here tonight” She blinked at her own statement. Her ward for his part only looked up at her in confusion as she laid him back down.
///
Soarin watched helplessly as the mare eased him back to the bedding. As much as he didn’t like the idea of imposing on her, it was clear he was stuck here. He hurt bad enough laying still, walking back to town would have been well beyond his limits.
“Thank you.” He said as he accepted that the pile of blankets would be his bed for tonight, at the very least. Not that the bed was uncomfortable. Firm, yes, but he found it a pleasant change to the cloud-beds he normally used. He supposed a firm bed would be better for his back while it’s healing too.
The evening was still young and it would be some hours before he could even try to go to sleep. As he laid there staring at the ceiling, his host took to fussing over his bandages again. He could tell the swelling was starting to kick in. Aches were turning into throbs. He knew that by sundown he would be in quite a lot of pain. “Do you have anything to make me sleep?”
The sudden question caught her off guard “Sorry, what?” she mumbled with a long strip of bandage still in her mouth.
“Herbs, something to make me sleep through the worst of the swelling tonight”
“MmmHmm” she nodded. Tieing off the bandage, she rose to her hooves and disappeared again into the kitchen.
///
Fluttershy hovered to the top of a pantry to retrieve a key she kept hidden there. Not that it was really a secret, it was just a precaution for safety's sake. Unlocking the stout cabinet nearby she opened the doors to reveal a host of jars, bottles and dry herbs. Most of the plants here were common and safe, but enough of them were rare and or dangerous that she liked to keep the ideally-curious out.
‘A couple poppy heads, valerian and maypop root. That’ll get him through the night.’ Practiced hooves plucked her ingredients from their shelves and placed them on the counter to be prepared. Next she pulled an ornate glass bottle from the medical cabinet. It was filled with distilled wine; something that Berry Punch sold only to those who knew how to ask. Two shots worth went into a cup and the herbs joined the spirits.
With her sleeping dram in hoof she went back to her ward. She could tell he was hurting more than earlier. “Here, drink this fast.” she whisked the mix one last time before placing in in his outstretched hoof.
///
He could smell the medicine well before it got near him. It burned his nose and curled his tongue. Looking into the cup didn’t help any, it was a thick emulsion of dark earthy colors.
“Drink it all before the herbs settle to the bottom” she reminded him.
Out of whimsy he gave a cheers solute with the glass before throwing it all down his throat in one pitch. By will alone he gulped the muck down, gasping and coughing the very next breath. He had never been consciously aware of his esophagus and stomach quite like he was at the moment. It was a simple feeling that he could easily describe with one word.
“Burning” he gasped.
“I know” the mare sympathized. “Here let me make you something to sip on to get the bad taste out.”
When she returned she was holding a concoction of crushed green material floating in iced clear liquid. The burn of the medicine was just abating when she sat it on the floor next to him. “That’s not more of the stuff that burns is it?”
She let out a bright giggle at the question “Oh no. That just muddled mint and ice water”
His interest perked, he reach out and pulled the glass to his lips, pausing to smell before drinking. Mint tasted wonderful, but it was the smell that had him enchanted. The lovely tingle filled his nose and ran deep into his sinuses. When the iced water found his tongue it was a little sweet and bright with mint.
It was a better mint muddle that he got from his favorite place in Canterlot, and he paid four bits a glass there. He made a point to nurse on the drink as slowly as he could.
///
The mention of mint made his ears jump, leaving them high and focused on the glass. She had know a few ponies that ‘had the taste’, and she was pretty sure he was among them. Watching him take a slow intentional sip only confirmed it.
She was happy to see somepony enjoy something so much. “If there is anything you want let me know. You’ll start feeling the medicine very soon”
He returned with a nod. “Just another blanket and pillow will do.”
She noticed his sleep speech was just a little slurred. “Are you feeling cold?”
“A bit, yea”
Pegasus are immune to cold air, but strangely weak to to their own internal temperature. A chill or fever that an earth pony could walk off, would leave a Pegasus a wreck. She had heard of ponies getting chills after a concussion. She hoped it was just the medicine setting in. The poppies would make him sleep, but they lower blood pressure too.
///
He took another sip of the cold drink before laying down. He wanted to drink more, but he was cold to his very core and the ice water only made it worse. The room spun a bit as he laid his head down. Whatever she had given him was strong. The pain was already feeling distant and his mind foggy. A shiver rolled across his body, forcing him to curl up in a ball trying to conserve every bit of body heat could.
The pretty mare returned to his side with a heavy quilt and an extra pillow. He heard her say something soft but he couldn’t make it out. The fog was quickly taking his senses and willingly gave it his sight as he closed his eyes. The weight of the blanket was welcoming, he pulled it tight to himself even as she was tucking it around him.
When her hooves pushed the pillow under his head he could feel the warmth of her coat and reflexively pressed his cheek against the soft warm foreleg. The warm coat held there motionless, lending him warmth and comfort as sleep demanded its attention.
- - -
Blackness filled his existence before becoming aware of movement. His mind refused any thought, the world was moving around him. Even as his eyes opened he couldn’t make anything out. It was dark and he was in a small space. Something pulled at him as he felt himself being dragged up some impossible rough surface. The only sensation he could put words to was cold.
He was impossibly cold, it robbed him of all perception and control. Through shivering and delirium he could feel a warm body grasping him, tugging him; its movements were frantic. At some point he realized they were on the stairs, he was being dragged up the stairs. Dark sleep again demanded it’s tribute.
A dream came to him in this demanding slumber. The gentle sound of falling water echoed through thick fog. Firm warm rocks held him as he soaked in deltifully warm water. The Canterlot hot springs were at there finest on this summer day. A beautiful spa mare gently rubbed sore muscles. Occasionally her pink hair would move just enough that he could see her face, the mare’s absent minded smile warmed him as much as the water.
“Soarin” she called to him. Her voice seemed odd, both distant and urgent.
He couldn’t remember her moving, but now she was behind him holding his head and lapping the warm water up into his chest. “Come on Soarin wake up” she urged him.
Bright white filled his vision. The waterfall sound was replaced with the distinctive hollow noise of water filling a bathtub. He was still cold, but warm water embraced him and the mare’s hooves were vigorously rubbing at his coat, bringing the blood back to his extremities. Wincing, moaning he allowed his eyes to adjust to the bright bathroom and its white porcelain. He was awake, though his mind still groggy from sleep and drug.
Another shiver racked his body. It made sinking a little deeper into the steamy bath all the more welcoming.
///
Finally he was awake. Another shock of shivering had taken him, but that was better than the non-stop fit it had been. The hot bath was slowly lending him its warmth. It had taken all her strength to get him up the stairs and into the tub. She was glad he was a Pegasus, she would not have been able to carry an Earth pony or Unicorn.
Keeping her hooves on him, she moved in front of him placing herself in his line of vision “Can you hold yourself up?”
She felt him test his own strength against the tub before responding “Yea, I’ll be fine”
She had not bothered to take his bandages off before getting him in the tub. Now she could let go without fear of him slipping under the water. Diligently she sat about removing the bandages; not allowing him to help any more than she absolutely needed.
- - -
He hadn’t shivered in a while, that was a good sign. She was wet up to her chest, with both forelegs standing in the warm water. Her hair stuck to her neck as she pulled away the last bandage with her teeth. Letting the bandage drop to the soggy pile in the floor. It had just occurred to her what a wet mess she was when a hoof weakly brushed the hair out of her eyes.
“Thank you” he whispered.
Hair no longer blocking her view she could see him meekly smiling at her, his hoof still resting on her shoulder. For a moment she was trapped in his gaze.
///
Fluttershy had spent the last few minutes fussing over getting his wet bandaging off. His agent of mercy was taking great pains on his behalf, he was starting to feel bad about how much trouble her had caused her. A few times he had tried to say something to her, but she took it as him trying to help her and she was having none of that.
As she worked, he watched her face, or at least tried to. Her hair seemed to forever be hanging in the way. When she paused after the last wrapping had been discarded, he decided to take matters into his own hooves and brush back the pink vail himself to get her attention and tell her ‘thank you’.
She first looked at his hoof, then met his eyes. It was an electric moment he hadn’t expected. Their eyes held in magnetic lock for several heartbeats. What little chill was still with him was quickly driven off.
“Well I should probably get out of the water befor I get a fever.” he blurted. looking away from Fluttershy as if to contemplate how one goes about getting out of a bathtub.
///
“Oh, I suppose you right” she mumbled, looking away from the stallion with the excuse of finding a towel. She hoped he hadn’t noticed the blush she felt on her cheeks.
Returning with the towels she found that he had drained the tub already. He stood on his own but was clearly uneasy about trying to get over the walls of the tub unaided. With a wing and a hoof she steadied him as he climbed out. As clumsy as it looked it was far better that the way she had rolled him into the tub earlier.
His movements were slow and she caught him wincing from time to time as she helped him rub his coat dry. “No sense in trying to get you back down stairs, you should sleep in the bed since you’re up here.”
“What time is it anyway?” he asked.
“I think about three”
She felt bad for him. He was clearly distressed about the late hour.
“I so sorry, I can’t believe I kept you up all night” He whimpered.
“It’s ok, now lets get you in bed again” she cooed giving him a little support as the walked across the hall to the bedroom.
///
She let him lean against her as they walked to a bedroom. It was too dark to make out any details. The bed was a welcome thing though, soft and warm it was already turned down.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark he realized that this was not a guest room, but rather her bedroom. “Are you giving me your bed? Where are you going to sleep?”
Looking up he found her already curling up in a large chair. “I’ll be fine, I want to stay close in case you need me.” she replied.
“At least share the bed with me.” He heard himself say, before realizing the implications. It was meant in all innocence, but still an awkward thing to say.
“Um... Are you sure you’re ok with that?” She asked quietly with her ears lowered.
“Yea, I’ll feel bad knowing I ran you out of your bed... Besides it’d be nice to have somepony warm next to me, I’m still a little cold.” he confessed. For all his worries that she would be offended by the idea he felt the bed shift with her weight as she moved through the shadows.
After a few moments wrangling the sheets he found himself comfortable and politely sharing a bed his mare of mercy. It was in fact nice to have her warmth under the sheets and the bed was much better that the makeshift one downstairs. Sleep pulled at him again, with gentle tugs this time.