Fluttershy takes care of an owl. She knows what to do, but things don't always go as planned.
Reason for gore tag: Character sustains a serious but non-fatal injury.
Edited 3/7/2021: Gave the owl a name.
Featured 2/5/2021!
Featured on Equestria Daily 3/23/2021. Thanks to 63.546 for pre-reading!
Included in the Equestria Daily fanfic list for Fluttershy Day 2021.
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Interesting story! 'Twas certainly far more dramatic than I'd initially anticipated, that's for sure.
:)
Thanks for the story!
I enjoyed this, this was a very good story, but I would make two small suggestions. First, it would have been helpful for Fluttershy to learn the owl's name—"the owl" got a bit repetitive after a while. Second, all of the past-perfect tense flashbacks in the very beginning makes it a little awkward to follow the story, as to what's going on vs. what's infodump backstory. It might have been worthwhile to write the scene of finding the injured owl out as active scene rather than flashback summary narration, and then timeskipping to the night flight in the next scene.
Either way, I enjoyed this. Thanks very much.
An exceptional Fluttershy story. I love stories about her a. being brave and b. interacting with nature. I just.... yah, I loved this.
10661966
I considered giving the owl a name for that very reason, but I'd planned on getting around to it after writing out the entire story and... well, clearly, I never did. Maybe it's something I'll come back to at a later date.
That is great feedback, thanks!
10662057
Thank you! I have another "Fluttershy interacts with nature" story that you might be interested in, "This View of Life", though she doesn't have to deal with anything trying to eat her in that one.
10662134
You're welcome! I signal boosted this on my blog, it deserves more views.
10662141
That's really kind, thank you so much.
Oh gosh!
Very tense stuff. I'll definitely check out your other Fluttershy stories after this.
Powderjaggy I work around Great Horned Owls and you are right that Owls are strong and did you know that Great Horned Owls that are in Like Zoos do not like being around other owls cause Great Horned Owls are the most vicious Owl Species in North America
Hmmm
10662424
They are extremely formidable for sure!
10662688
Yes they are, They are even known for going after Western Screech Owls which is North America's smallest Species of Owl
10661966
Although repetitive, it's also realistic. I've been working with a falconry centre for nearly six years now and we've had dozens of wild birds bought in. Not a single one gets a name while in our care. Given the often touch-and-go nature of dealing with injured raptors it's pragmatic (generally speaking if a member of the public has bought one to you, it's already 98% dead and even just exhaustion requires specialist treatment).
Another here sent by Sock.
I really enjoyed this little SoL peek into Fluttershy's life caring for her animals
10662941
That's indeed my impression of standard practice in raptor rehab, and was one of the reasons I debated naming the owl in the first place. (That she came from the Everfree was meant to signify that she was a "wild" bird.) Of course, there's no guarantee that standard practices would be the same in Equestria. On balance, I think the story would be easier to read if the owl had a name, and it's probable that I will give her one if I decide to polish this up, but I made it a point of consideration for sure.
10663016
Thanks, I'm glad you did!
10663024
To be fair from a realistic point of view, the owl was lucky it found Fluttershy. It's prognosis realistically is very poor. A broken wing would need a full falconry hack to get it back into the wild with any reasonable chances of surviving. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief owls are pretty stupid and are extremely difficult if not impossible to man down unless they're socialised pretty much from hatching- an adult owl will almost always be dangerously aggressive (Some species even if imprinted have a tendency towards being extremely nasty anyway, like snowy owls). This also makes it tricky to build an aviary to live the rest of its' life in without being stressed. Having a magical ability to communicate with animals would alleviate this issue quite handily.
Contrasting with diurnal raptors, which can be taken into captivity as adults and trained to at least tolerate humans and see a person as a source of easy food and security and can be trained to hunt quarry.
One interesting note though is where the owl injures Fluttershy's wing and she feels it's extremely painful right away. From personal experience being footed by powerful hawks it doesn't hurt, you can feel the pressure of the grip but there's not any discomfort from being stabbed in several places at once. That comes later, as everything starts to swell. I have fractured at least one bone in my hand from being footed. It only ever hurts if they get the tip of your finger- strangely enough generally the most painful ones are small falcons with talons as sharp as scalpels that make lots of very shallow cuts (the worst was when a kestrel moved its' foot to better grip a piece of food and slipped it's talon right under a fingernail!).
One of my colleagues was unfortunate enough to have an accident with a Golden Eagle and ended up with a talon sticking right through the thickest part of his hand and out the other side. He didn't feel anything until someone else started trying to unhook everything, where he could feel the talons rubbing against everything inside his hand. When it got released it felt like he'd been lightly punched. It was only later waiting in the hospital when his hand swelled up to twice its' normal size did things really start to hurt.
Interestingly though, when they do punch through treated leather it's often extremely loud, almost like a gunshot. First time it look me by surprise, given there's not a lot of noise when punching holes in leather normally.
10673828
Maybe the nerve arrangement in a Pegasus' wing is set up differently from that of a human's arm or hand.
Those are some fascinating insights, thanks for sharing! Clearly, I should have consulted you before writing this story.
There are some small changes to the story I plan to make (including naming the owl). When I do, I'll add a link in the author's note to your comment as a more realistic perspective on the events here.
10673880
Well to be fair you did do a very good job here- it's just really observations from personal experience, the owl bit not being relevant to the story so much because its' Fluttershy. But showing that she is effectively doing a falconry hack with it is very good- you'd be surprised at the number of people who don't realise that's something you have to do, they just assume once it's healed you can just send it on its' way.
On the other hand the number of people who come to a falconry center and see me with a bird on the fist or out on the weathering lawn and ask "Is it real?" is also astounding.
The injury side of thing you wouldn't know unless you've really been there and done it- it isn't something you're likely to hear about unless you're seriously thinking of learning how to train raptors, at which point the stories come out to emphasise just how much respect you need to treat them with.
10674482
Good to know that you found the story relatively credible otherwise! All in all, it's probably a good thing that I don't know what being footed feels like. Also yes, certain comments I've overheard at zoos, bird sanctuaries, and similar settings are... mind-boggling.
10673828 The swelling is mostly from bacterial infection. Gotta drown dat shiz in alcohol, peroxide, then slather it with topical clindamycin gel.
It's what I do when I get stabbed by thorns, sticks, rocks, glass, knives, elephant tusks, and tank turrets! …. You don't wanna know.
10682347
This is actually bad advice. Rubbing alcohol and peroxides cause damage to exposed tissue and going straight for heavy antibiotics without consulting a professional is a great way to promote antibiotic resistance.
You should use running water and mild soap to clean wounds unless directed otherwise. Then cover with an antiseptic cream. If you suspect the wound is infected in any way, just go straight to the hospital (agressive infections can result in loss of a limb within hours in the worse case). It also goes without saying that you should seek medical attention for serious injuries (like a gaping hole ripped in you).
If I'd filled the inside of my collegue's hand with rubbing alcohol it could have resulted in an incredibly long recovery or permanent reduction in his ability to use his hand.
10682786 Pfft, I am in medicine. I've been treating wounds this way for years and they heal incredibly fast.
You won't get antibiotic resistance when you're just topically-treating one tiny area where the wound itself is. ESPECIALLY if you're also nailing it with alcohol and peroxide, which utterly destroys any lingering bacteria.
I usually only have to treat the area like this for 3 or 4 days, then the tissue starts to close over. After that, it's just a little dab with the clindamycin gel twice a day until it's got new dermis forming.