* * *
Angel Bunny sat in the living room, greedily eating the meal Fluttershy had laid out for him. It was a few days after the fall out between Fluttershy and himself, and that whole Iron Will nonsense. She had left the room when he felt a cool breeze, one of the other critters had slid a window open. Someone wanting out, or in, the others didn’t seem to even notice. He went back to his meal, but was interrupted as one of his ears moved of its own accord, the most primal part of his self stirred a warning. Slowly looking back to the window he saw Hawk had flown inside. Again the other critters didn’t even acknowledge the presence.
Hawk unnerved him, but he wasn’t afraid. Fluttershy would never let him be harmed. Though she wasn’t here, her authority still held. Hawk would never risk being outcast from this sanctuary, and it would only take one of the animals telling her he had hunted one of them.
Plowing his face into his food he took another bite. Looking back up as he chewed a horrid sight fell on him; nothing, or rather no one. The two dozen critters that had filled the room were gone; all but one, Hawk. He was totally alone with the bird of prey, and obviously the center of his attention.
His heart beat in his ears for what he thought was hours. Then Fluttershy’s voice carried a song into the room through an open door. He looked desperately towards the interior door for his salvation. Movement near the window told him Hawk had moved the moment he looked away. ‘Never take your eyes off a predator’ his mothers voice echoed in memory. He winced into a ball and accepted his fate.
“Are you ok Angel?” Fluttershy asked.
Looking up he found himself in the Mare’s shadow and the room full of animals mulling about their own lives. He knew what had happened now; that was a message, and he got it loud and clear.
* * *
Warm summer sun awoke Fluttershy, immediately she knew she had slept in by a few hours. As her senses started coming back to her she realized she was being held by the other pony. A wing and a foreleg were thrown over her and a muzzle sat in the small of her neck. She really didn’t know what to do. It was a terribly loving embrace. Her heart raced, but she wasn’t sure why. Anxiety for sure, but bolting away from the attention wasn’t her first thought. No, she wanted to lay perfectly still.
Head motionless, her eyes scanned the room to find Angel bunny setting on the chair by the bed. He had a concerned look. It wasn’t long ago he would have pelted her for sleeping in. A gesture told her he wanted to know if she was ok. A smile answered his question and he left the room shaking his head. ‘He has calmed down so much in the past year. I wonder why?’
Her bedmate stirred a bit, pulling her tight to his chest and mumbling into her neck. There was a brief pause before the warm embrace vanished. The stallion had put space between them with amazing speed. “I’m so sorry” he blurted.
Rolling over just enough to see him she smiled slightly “It’s ok, you were asleep” Gracefully sliding out from under the sheets she got out of bed. “I have to feed the animals. You rest here. When I’m done I’ll bring breakfast up.”
///
While she was gone he took to examining his injuries. You can always tell the real damage after the first nights sleep, what will heal and what is going to take some nursing.
His first big annoyance was finding his wings hanging a few centimeters out from their proper ‘tucked in’ position. They were stuck in a half limp state, he couldn’t pull them tight or stretch the all the way out. He had strained a lot of flight muscles, it was only the middle range that he had power over. The feathers were a wreck too. He wasn’t sure what damage was from the fall and what was from sleeping on unfurled wings.
Trying his weight on his legs confirmed what the doctor had told him; he had a few cracked ribs. This wasn’t his first time cracking a few. It makes flying impossible and walking hurt, but they heal fast if you let them. The rest of him was just good old fashioned bruised. Two days and that much would be cleared up. Best of all, that skull throbbing headache was already gone.
///
Fluttershy found her animals in good health, if not a bit hungry. She had missed the normal morning feeding by a few hours. It was a good time of year to be late on the task though. The summer months meant plentiful food and pleasant weather outside the house. It was a stark contrast to the bustle of hungry, cold creatures that crowded her house in the winter.
With her morning work done, she pondered what to make for their breakfast. Laying a pan on the stove she turned to her pantry. ‘He’s going to need protein to heal faster. So, eggs in a basket and fresh fruit.’
With the tray perched on her back she walked into the bedroom to find Soarin attempting to preen himself; it was rather pitiful looking. He was obviously unable to reach the majority of his wing. “Breakfast.” She sang out. Pulling a nightstand away from the wall she sat the tray on it, making a table at the edge of the bed.
She watched him make careful movements as he edged over to the meal. She could tell he was still hurting, though his spirits were good. His appetite was good too, making quick work of the meal, punctuating it with a happy groan. “That was really good” he said breaking the silence.
“Thank you” she replied. She was only halfway through her own meal. “So how are you feeling, did you sleep well?”
Soarin stretched a bit as if to find the answers to her question. “I feel like I got ran over by a cart, but I think I’ll be fine. And I slept really well once you got me back to bed.”
Something spun in the back of her mind at the last bit of his comment. Forcing the thought aside she focused on her wards injuries and how to tend them. Moving the tray of empty plates aside she retrieved the massive sports warp that had been drying in the bathroom. “Lets get your wings wrapped.”
Slowly sliding off the bed, he stood so she could easily get around his barrel. She had to push the wings into place before binding them. As she pressed the first wing into its tucked position he gave a wince. His ruffled feathers were binding and twisting. She knew all too well that he would be miserable unless he got a good preening.
Dropping the wrap she nudged him back towards the bed. “Lay back down” she said softly.
///
He was confused by the order, but complied anyway. She guided him silently until he was laying prone in the middle of the bed. His confusion was traded for a blush when he felt her stretch out one of his wings and start preening it. “You... you don’t have to do that.” He stammered.
She gave him a sad look from over his wing. “But, you’ll be miserable if I don’t and you can’t reach them.” She cast her eyes to the ground as a sad shadows crossed her eyes. “Unless you just don’t want me preening you”
It was look he couldn’t bare. “No. I mean yes. I mean...” He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. “It would be very nice if you preened my wings for me, but only if you want to.” His comment earned him a smile before she took to tending the wing again.
Letting his head rest on the bed and enjoyed the attention. She had a good touch, he imagined that she gave a good massage too. He had drifted into the happy half-sleep that massage and preening are want to send one to, when he felt her move beside him. She had gotten up and moved around to lay nose to tail; leaving her own wings right next to his head.
It was by some sort of reflex that he reached out and took her wing in his mouth. He had already tended a few feathers before he realized what he was doing. Any worry of having offender her quickly passed as she continued working on his wings and made no effort to retract her own appendage from his attention. With a mental shrug he went back to tending the yellow wing. It was a lazy, cozy scene; two Pegasus preening each other on a bed, bathed in the warm light of the morning sun.
///
Fluttershy laid the last feather in place on the wing she had started. ‘Now to the other wing.’ As she stood up she carefully pulled her own wing from it’s attention. She repressed a coo when he gave her a disappointed look as it left his reach.
She would repeat the process on the other wing; first pass form the trailing edge, second pass from the leading edge. As she started in on the grooming she watched him doze off again. ‘He’s cute when he asleep. Actually, he’s always cute.’ she blushed at her own thoughts.
With the bulk of the damage straightened out she moved around the outstretched wing to get at the leading edge and begin the more delicate portion of the process. She had just started when she felt the stallion take the opportunity to again groom her. It was nice, though she felt a bit guilty too. She should probably tell him he didn’t have to return the attention, but she was afraid he would stop.
- - -
About an hour after her first attempt to wrap the stallion’s wings she finally had them properly secure. “How’s that feel” she asked
He shifted his weight around a bit and took a few steps to see how the binding would shift. “You’re better at that than our team’s sports therapist.” he replied.
“I have some business in town this morning.” she said as if apologizing. “So, please make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in a few hours. If you get hungry, help yourself to the kitchen.” her eyes popped open as if she just remembered something. “But, please don’t strain yourself!”
“I think I’ll be fine” He assured her.
“Ok, but let me help you down to the living room.”
- - -
The last of her mint delivery was to the cakes. She had dropped off the larger order first, the vendor was out of Canterlot and would fly the harvest straight there. Now with the last package she walked into Sugar Cube Corner.
“Afternoon Mis. Shy” Mr cake called out to her.
“Hello Mr. Cake. I brought you some sweet mint”
Mr Cake popped the till open and counted out a small stack of bits. It was an obviously practiced transaction as he passed her the money and she walked back into the kitchen to leave the produce with whoever was baking at the time. Today that was Pinkie.
“Hay Fluttershy!” the pink pony exclaimed amidst a pile of dough. “Put it in the icebox. I’m about to go to lunch you want to join me!”
With the package safely stowed she gave a nod to her friend. “That would be nice.”
- - -
The two mares sat across from each other eating their sandwiches. Pinky had been rambling about her week since they sat down. Not that she minded, she liked listening to her stories, Pinkie always had something interesting going on in her life.
The earth pony finally permitted a moment of silence in the meal. She had paused to ponder the virtues of vanilla bean over vanilla brandy. “I think I have a crush on somepony” Fluttershy blurted out in a whisper.
Pinkie actually fell out of her chair. It was a short lived displacement though. Just as fast as she had fallen she was back in the chair “Oh! who is it?” She whispered, leaning across the table; she was visibly restraining a tremendous outburst. Before she got a response her face transformed from excitement to confusion. “But wait, I thought you already had a special somepony?”
Fluttershy was left speechless beyond her normal quiet nature. She blinked for several moments till her thoughts found voice. “Goodness no. I don’t have a special somepony.”
Pinkie sat back into her seat and took another bit of her sandwich. “Then why did you get Twilight to cast the no-foal spell on you this spring. We all assumed you had a colt on the side that you were just too shy to introduce to us.”
The Pegasus fidgeted for a moment before answering “My heats are kinda intense, and that spell takes the edge off them. Plus if I do something... impulsive I don’t have to worry.”
“Oh” the pink pony replied “That’s smart. So, anyway, who is it?”
///
Pinky listened intently as her friend told her a hurried story of seeing a Pegasus crash in the forest and her care of him for the rest of the evening. It was when she got to the part about waking up in his arms that she found her friend getting a little dreamy eyed and suddenly adding a lot more detail to the story until it ended with her leaving him alone in her living room. There was no mistaking it, her friend had a crush.