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Stacking the Kindling848 words
Lighting the Match1,253 words
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Starting the Fire

Chapter 3

Starting the Fire

There is always Progress.

But sometimes, Progress needs to move much faster,

So, light a Fire under its arse to get its feet moving.

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Fluttershy landed in front of Dr. Faunas clinic, lightly panting from the distance and not being used to carrying a passenger. Holding the pup to her chest with a foreleg, she knocked on the door with a wing. “Excuse me, Dr. Fauna? Are you open? I have a bit of a situation……” she politely and softly yelled.

A small comotion and what sounded like a woodland chipmunk barking came from the otherside before the door was opened enough for a golden furred earth pony mare, with a two tone blue mane that was tied back, to poke her head out. “Hm? Oh, Fluttershy. How can I help you?” she opened the door all the way, softly smiling.

Fluttershy showed the fox pup, still asleep in her hoof. “I was picking berries when I heard a cry, and after i rushed to it, i found this fox pup crying and covering its eyes with its forelegs……” she explained as Dr. Fauna looked the pup over without disturbing it. “I was wondering if you could examine it, and if you know if it has a mother or not…… I would hate for this poor pup to wake up and be scared, looking for a mother that’s not there….”

Dr. Fauna sternly nodded. “Indeed. Well, come in and place it on the table. You’re just in time too, i just cleared my last patient- by which I mean scolded for faking an injury to avoid an angry mate and trying to get sweets out of me.” She chuckled, walking in with Fluttershy following behind her. “You know where it is, I’m going to get what books I have on foxes.” She disappeared into another room as Fluttershy set the pup down on the examination table. The Fox pup didn’t react to the movement except for its tail curling around itself. Fluttershy was enjoying watching the cute pup sleep when Dr. Fauna came back with a small book balanced on her back. Placing it on the table, she opens it to a page with a picture similar to the fox before her. “Alrighty then…. Based on just looking at it, I can tell that its old enough to not need a mother, but its not an adult either. And I believe it to be very healthy too. But I cannot be certain until I perform a more indepth assessment.” She moved from the book to her new patient, gently moving the tail away, noting how soft and healthy the fur felt. She softly flexed its knees, pressed its paws and felt for any deformities under the skin. Finding none, she smiled and moved onto checking its teeth for any disease or damage and was slightly shocked to see perfectly clean teeth with not a single one damaged or missing. Getting past the surprise, she grabbed her stethoscope and placed it over the left, and right side of its chest before listening to the side, checking how well the lungs were functioning. Satisfied with the clear lung sounds, she moved to the center of its chest, listening to the heart. Finishing her assessment, Dr. Fauna wrote everything down on a patient report before turning to Fluttershy, “Well, I’m happy to say that he is very physically healthy and has no underlying injuries besides possibly his eyes. But i would like to test his nervous system and his other senses when he is awake.”

Fluttershy smiled at the news, feeling the most of her worry and concern lift from her wings. “Oh that’s wonderful!” She paused, blinking. “Um, did you call it a he? It kinda looks more like a female than a male….” She questioned.

“Trust me, its a he. Let's just say there was obvious signs…” Dr Fauna giggled as Fluttershy blushed. During her laughing, the pup stirred and stretched its legs and back, similar to how a dog would. The movement caught her attention, “Oh! He’s waking up…” she lowered her head to his level as he slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

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I stirred awake, not opening my eyes or moving. Whatever i was laying on was cold, but not freezing, and I wanted to roll over to finds a warm spot but just couldn’t muster the energy to do so. Giving up on sleep, I stretch my limbs and slowly open my eyes, blinking the sleep away. What I see as my eyes gain focus, confuses me. A golden furred face with a smile is staring at me, but I’m not scared. Just confused and curious about who it is and where I am. I tilt my head and feel something on top of it, one turns away from the direction I’m looking at as I hear a soft voice behind me gasp. A few things run through my mind, and the first is that the things on my head are ears, second is that everything I do seems to make the…… pony in front of me happier, and lastly the voice behind me is the same one that I heard after I tried to open my eyes! Wanting to see the face of the voice, I sit up and turn the direction my ear was pointed. What I see confuses me, it’s another pony, but this one is different. Unlike the first one, She has what looks like wings on her sides.And the only reason I call her a she is because a bit of how she looks and the same caring and compassionate feeling I’m getting from her. I think about moving to her to thank her, when I feel my arm move, but the hand still feels off. Looking down, everything clicks. I don’t have a hand, I have a black furred paw. And I also have a muzzle based on the red fur I see at the bottom of my vision. I slowly set my paw down, getting a feel for how it moves. I stand up, wobbling at not being used to how everything feels, and slowly move in a circle, working out the stiff muscles and numbness. As I finish my little parade, I sit back down as something in my mind shifts, and every part of my body is no longer a mystery. A golden hoof waves in front of my face, breaking me out of my introspection. Curious, I look up and see that the Golden Pony and the Winged one- that I’m going to call Grandma- are both smiling at me.

“Hello Little Fox, how are you?” Grandma asks, seeming to constantly give off love and compassion.

“Um… Okay? Very confused…..” I respond, but all I hear is a mix of soft barks and a whine, making me think she can’t understand me.

But my jaw nearly fell off when she softly smiled and rubbed me between the ears- which was a feeling of pure bliss- and responded. “Well, I found you in the forest, scared and by yourself. And it seemed like you were hurt, so I brought you to Dr Fauna- She’s an animal doctor….” She giggled and hid her muzzle behind her wing at the look of confusion and surprise on my face. “Oh, um… I forgot to mention, but I can understand animals….” she blushed, partially trying to hide behind her mane.

I shook my head, hoping to get my ears petted more. “I-its alright, i was just surprised for a pony to understand me…… um, Thank you for helping me…” I attempted a reassuring smile, but it didn’t feel like i could with the muscles in my muzzle, so I settled for swishing my tail back and forth which seemed to draw her out from her mane with a smile. Feeling stiff, i stood up and stretched out my forelegs while stiffening my rearlegs, a yawn escaping my muzzle. “So…… if I am healed, what next? I feel a bit cramped inside here……”

Fluttershy snapped out of her shyness, the fox’s question making her think about what to do with him after Dr Fauna was done with her check up. She could just take him back to the woods and let him go, Fauna did say he was old enough to start being on his own. But then the images of him curled up and crying, calling out to a mother that wasn’t there and she immediately tossed that idea aside. Instead, she decided she would take him back to her cottage and care for him until he was fully grown. She smiled at the idea, remembering Dr Faunas words before the fox pup woke up. “Well,.... When I found you, you were crying and covering your eyes with your paws. So, Dr Fauna wishes to test how well they are. So, please sit still just a bit more and listen to her, please?” The fox let one ear drop and let out a half whimper but nodded his head, which made her giggle at the cuteness.

Dr Fauna took that as her que and lightly tapped the table with a hoof to get the fox’s attention. Once he was focused on her, she took a small, low powered flashlight and slowly moved it over his eyes, checking to see if they dilated according the the amount of light they received. “Proper reaction to light, equal movement and dilation. No observed deficits.” She finished with a smile, placing a flavored treat at his paws for such excellent behavior, smiling as he quickly devoured it, a happy look in his eyes. “I do not know what happened to him before you found him, but I can one hundred percent give him a clean bill of health! You are free to take him, and I hope to not see him on the table again.” She light heartedly joked, having turned that sentence into her unique way of saying goodby.

Fluttershy smiled and gently fluttered her wings in excitement. “Thank you, Dr Fauna! He seems a little wound up, so I think I will walk him around town to get used to other ponies. He seemed a bit surprised to see us.” She softly smiled and nuzzled the little fox before gently picking him up by the scruff of his neck with her muzzle and setting him on the floor, and walking out the door. “Alright my little fox, our first stop is the Market to get you a few housewarming gifts!” She shouted, which for her was everyone else’s normal level.

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Okay, first of all, that snack was amazing! I’m almost tempted to get myself hurt just to get one after every visit. But that would probably make Grandma worry a lot, as she seems the type to get easily distraught. Secondly, getting picked up by the scruff is weirdly comforting. Like, I went from feeling twitchy from staying still for so long, to ready to snuggle up for a nap in an instant! I don’t know who this kind and wonderful winged pony is, but she was a professional.

But what did she mean by ‘housewarming gifts’?

Author's Note:

SO!!!!!!

Im still doing somwthing on here besides get lost in 20 tabs of others works.
Truth is, im in the second to last semester of a two year degree in Paramedics, had a job practiving that skill, untill three months later they fired me, took an old job back that i didnt want to return to for feeling like they would know i failed, and now after i finish homework and paying work, im beat with no motivation to do anything.

BUT!!! here is something for the ones that seemed to like this random idea that i have based around the simple line of no War(FoE universe), No crazy magic plot (My self insert fic) and something with a bit of everything,
PS, any one want to make some money bsing some Critical Thinking Journal Entries? PM if interested to go over details.

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