It was a crisp autumn morning on Sweet Apple Acres. The warm rays of sunlight spread over the tree tops, making them glow in hues of reds and oranges as what birds that had not yet migrated to the warmer south began to sing their morning tune. Walking down the dirt road of the farm and towards the house was a pastel yellow pegasus with pink hair, looking a tad tired but otherwise in good spirits as she gently hummed along with the birds. When she had a better view of the porch, she noticed a big, red stallion sitting in one of the chairs, nursing a mug of what she would guess was coffee since it was the drink of choice among most of the Apple family.
"Good morning Big Mac. Is Applejack in?"
"AAAAAAAAACHOO!"
The loud, almost thunderous sneeze that came from the second floor caused Fluttershy to squeak and her whole body to lock up. Luckily since she had to deal with her body locking up many times, she had practiced and now could maintain her balance, preventing her from collapsing onto her back as she had done so in the past.
"Eeeyup."
More than used to Big Mac's being a stallion of few words, Fluttershy could take a guess that her friend was sick and immediately a wave of guilt washed over her.
"Oh dear. Will Granny Smith be taking care of her?"
"Cain't. Off n' Manehattan visitin' the Oranges. N' lil' Bloom's in school so s' up ta' me."
"Oh no it' ain't!"
Both Big Mac and Fluttershy looked to the door as it opened, revealing a very sick looking Applejack. The orange coated mare's eyes looked sickly, it was easy to see she was flushed beneath her coat, and she was having such a hard time standing up that she had to lean against the door frame. It took her a moment for the world to stop spinning as she snorted up some snot that tried escaping her nostrils.
"Ya' got chores. Ah got chores. N' Ah ain't that sick!"
Of course the look that Big Mac gave her showed that the stallion wasn't buying it and he set aside his cup of coffee before standing up to take his sister back to bed. By force if he had to, which usually was the way it went when his sister was acting as stubborn as she was right now. Before it got to the point where he had to wrestle her onto his back to carry her upstairs, a gentle yellow hoof placed itself on Applejack's shoulder. Big Mac was surprised to see that it had the effect of immediately calming Applejack down and stop resisting.
"Please, Applejack. You're too sick to be out of bed! Let me help you back upstairs and I will make you something to eat."
"Fluttershy, Ah told ya' Ah'm fine."
Big Mac watched with some amusement as Fluttershy actually started moving Applejack back into the house and to the stairs. Sure the pegasus was being firm as she helped his sister, but he could tell that the only resistance the blonde mare was putting up were in her words. With a smile and a shake of his head, the stallion closed the door and went back to his coffee.
"I'm so sorry Applejack."
When they had reached Applejack's room, the orange mare had started up a coughing fit, which only made the pegasus feel all the more guilty as she helped the farmer into bed.
"Fer... what?"
"You got sick because of me. You tripped into that pond while helping me try to find Angel in the Everfree forest last night."
Seeing the other try to sit up, Fluttershy made the blonde mare lie down before pulling the blanket over her and tucking her in. Not noticing that the other mare's face seemed to turn a bit redder at the tender care provided.
"D-Dun' worry 'bout it 'Shy, ya' don't have ta' take care a' me cause of that. Don't want ya' gettin' sick..."
"But you're always helping me. I insist that you let me take care of you for a change! Now, you rest while I fix you something to eat and see about finding some medicine."
Before she could protest further, the yellow pegasus was already to the door and gone. Applejack sighed softly before taking off her hat and resting it on the bed post, finding it a little hard to relax knowing that the pretty mare would be at her bedside. What was worse was that she probably looked like a gross mess, sneezing and coughing and hacking things up. Normally how she looked didn't bother her as much but this was Fluttershy! The blonde let out a soft groan, covering her face with her hooves as she felt another coughing fit come on.
The pegasus would return just as Applejack began dozing off, the blonde immediately snapping to attention and sitting up... only to have to lie back down when her room began to violently spin around. Fluttershy set down the tray she had in her mouth on the nightstand, immediately at her side and checking her temperature with a hoof. Feeling how hot Applejack was (although Applejack wasn't sure how much of it would be fever and the other her temperature rising from physical contact with Fluttershy), the pegasus got a wash cloth out of one of the bowls on the tray and wrung it out before placing it over Applejack's forehead.
"Better?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Good. I managed to find medicine, how about you have that first before your food?"
Seeing the bottle on the tray, Applejack's nose scrunched up as she caught a whiff of what was inside when Fluttershy poured some of the medicine into a spoon.
"Ugh, Ah dun' like that stuff."
"But you need to if you want to get better."
"Mrf..."
"Please?"
As if the way Fluttershy had said please wasn't enough, it was over the second Applejack looked into those beautiful, pleading teal blue eyes. As much as she wanted to say 'no' she felt her stubbornness just wear away under the kind assault of the pegasus. With a small sigh, Applejack nodded before opening her mouth and allowing Fluttershy to give her the medicine. The moment the medicine touched her tongue, Applejack jerked her head back away from the spoon, her lips puckering as the bitter taste spread through her mouth and slide down her throat to her stomach. She always hated the medicine her Granny kept around the house! But as always she survived, giving off an unhappy groan and needing something to wash out the taste. Thankfully, Fluttershy had also brought up a glass of water that the blonde mare took and chugged down greedily.
"S-Sorry... will you still want soup? It's potato and butternut squash."
Once more she was subdued by Fluttershy's gentle demeanor and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that Fluttershy would be feeding the soup directly to her. With a different spoon than the one for the medicine thank goodness!
Applejack would eat every last drop given to her, finding it was some of the best soup she had ever tasted in her life. By the end of it she was starting to feel much better than before, although much more sleepy.
"Thank ya', 'Shy. Really needed that."
"Oh, it was no trouble. It was the least I could do."
"Mm... ya' look a 'lil tired yerself. Ya' gonna get goin'?"
"Well, if you want me to, I will leave you to get your rest."
Before Fluttershy could leave, Applejack reached out with a hoof, thinking she could reach the pegasus's shoulder but not quite reaching. It was a little hard when she was slowly starting to fall asleep and her eyelids just wouldn't stay open.
"I wish... ya' din't... have to go."
Soon the orange mare was lightly snoring, completely asleep as Fluttershy stared at her for a moment. Then the yellow mare gently put Applejack's arm back onto the bed, hesitating a moment before climbing on as well. It was a little bit of a squeeze but as she lied down on top of the bed next to the farmer, she stretched out one of her wings to cover Applejack, smiling softly as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into a light slumber.
Three days later at Fluttershy's cottage.
"A... achoo!"
"Gimme a sec, 'Shy! Ah'll get that soup up to ya' in a jiffy!"