Even Kindness needs Kindness

by Crowley

Part 3

Your eyes sting, not from the dirt that crusts around them, but from the bright, brilliant glare of the sun you thought you’d never see again. The faintest breeze, whipping through the greenest grass, causes your mud-stained fur coat-hairs to stand on end. You gratefully breathe in the chilly air, and lift yourself out of the hole you had dug.

Immediately afterwards, you turn back to the opening in the ground, and lower your fore-hooves into it. A moment later, two bright yellow hooves rise out from the darkness, wrapping themselves gingerly around your own. Slowly, you pull yourself backwards, dragging your mare companion out of the hole. First, her fore-hooves, then her head, complete with a wispy, candyfloss coloured mane. And then, to your surprise, her wings; you didn’t expect a pegasus of all pony-kind to be in a cave.

You finally pull her out completely, her mane-matching tail being the last feature to see the light of day. This is the first time you had properly seen her in full daylight, aside from the occasional passing-by in Ponyville, where she was always with somepony or another. Her formerly sleek coat of fur is dishevelled, the matching feathers of her wings ruffled. Dark, dirty clumps of mud speckle her hair and tail. Her deep, blue eyes, sunken and reddened from crying, glance you up and down as she sees you for the first time as well. Not that you looked any better off than her.

“Th-thank you for helping me back there,” she stutters, as if seemingly forgetting who startled her, thus causing the collapse, in the first place, “you… um… you have a worm in your mane, by the way.” With a quick flick of your hoof to brush away said worm, you turn the subject to something much more important in your mind;

“You should make your way home, you must be exhausted after all that,” You know you are, at the very least. “Draw yourself a nice relaxing bath or something.” You look down at your own dirt-encrusted hooves, “Yeah, a hot bath. That’s the ticket.”

“A-hem!” You both turn your heads toward the source of the throat-clearing; a white bunny impatiently taps its foot, and points to his open mouth in a “feed me” gesture. Remembering the fluffy git who sent you into those caves in the first place, you reply with a gesture of your own to him. Unfortunately, due to the lack of fingers on your hooves, the said explicit gesture was lost upon both the bunny and his shy owner forever.

“Excuse me, mister… um…” the timid pegasus spoke in a soft undertone, “but I can’t remember your name.”

“Never gave it.” you reply with a pinch of complacency. After you tell her, you ask for the pleasure of knowing hers; you could even see the faintest blush past all the dried mud on her face.

“Fluttershy.” she timidly replies.

“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy.” That name rolls off your tongue so well. “I’m heading back to Ponyville, if you want I can walk you home.” you try to give your most comforting, laid-back smirk, but looking into her deep, watery eyes you can’t help but feel a nervous twitch. Perhaps she picked up on that.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that if you don‘t want to…” she tilts her head somewhere into the distance, “My house is just a short walk away. I only live on the outskirts of town, you see. Ah!” she gives you a slight shock as something springs into her mind. “You say you live in Ponyville?”

After a brief pause, wondering where she’s going with this, you nod.

“I simply can’t let you walk all the way back there covered in dirt! Come to my house instead, I’ll make you a nice hot bubble-bath! It’s the least I can do to thank you myself!”

“Thank me for wha-?” you cut yourself off when it sinks in - the cute mare is offering to take you around her own house and give you a free bath. Of course, she’s thanking you for digging her out of the collapse earlier, but maybe it wouldn’t be wise to remind her that you startled her into causing it. The thought of a good soak humming in your mind, you agree. At the very least, it would help you take your mind off scheming bunnies and near-burials.

*******

Mice, rats, birds, chipmunks, squirrels, ferrets and… ugh, bunnies… hop, flap and scuttle around the various nooks and crannies of Fluttershy’s swarm-welcoming house. At first, they scampered off at your presence, but after an introduction by the helpful house owner, they slowly begin to warm up to you.

“So many small fluffy things,” you gently hold your hoof out, which is soon cautiously sniffed at, then nuzzled, by a nearby ferret, “Do you take care of them all, Fluttershy?”

She replies with a humble nod, “Oh yes, I could never turn down the chance to help Equestria’s creatures, great and small! Luckily, the big ones rarely need help, or else I‘d need a bigger house!” she adds with a giggle.

You spend the next few minutes asking other questions about her, and occasionally answering her own. As stressful as taking care of so many fragile little things may appear, she seems to take it all in stride, living with little reward but for the satisfaction of helping them. How a timid pony such as her could take on a passion so exhaustive, and stick to it through thick and thin purely out of commitment to care, you found awe-inspiring.

“You know, Fluttershy,” (any reason to say her name again,) “you can have your bath before mine, since it‘s your house. I’ll look after these critters in the meantime.” You opt against suggesting to share the bathing experience with her, as much as you want to - last time you tried something like that, it ended in a slap and a warning from the Spa staff.

At first she’s slightly off-put by your gentlecoltly offer, but you insist she goes first, pointing out how you can’t stand to see a pretty face hidden behind so much mud. You can’t tell whether it was an upbeat squeak or a high-pitched giggle, but she doesn’t argue with you, tenderly trotting into her bathroom.

A few minutes pass, as you enjoy watching the occasional hummingbird flutter from one of the many birdhouses to another, or a couple of squirrels racing across the wooden floorboards playfully. Eventually, a small, light-brown rat pokes its head out of a nearby mouse hole, and scuttles over to you, looking up quizzically with its tiny eyes. You might call yourself crazy, but it looks like it’s trying to ask you something. Before you can even try to understand what it’s asking, the bathroom door opens, a fresh, clean pegasus sauntering out.

Her hair runs in slightly damp, pink strands down her head, her wings widely spread to help dry faster. Her lips are cutely raised into a tiny smile when she looks at you, but that quickly disappears when she sees the small rat by your side.

“Mrs Scabbins,” she breathes, her slightly upbeat demeanour replaced by one of gloom when she realises what she has to do. “Um, you can have your bath now,” she tells you quickly, “I’ll just… need a moment with the animals.”

*******

Who would’ve thought a wooden tub would be so relaxing? You feel all the stress from the cave-in fiasco melt away with the dirt you finally scrub off. Once you feel clean enough, you sigh, contently, deciding it probably wouldn’t hurt to lie in the bath’s warm waters a while longer, half-tempted to fall asleep right there. Hold on a minute…

You hear the smallest murmurs coming from the other side of the wall. It’s certainly Fluttershy’s voice, you can tell, but it’s so quiet it’s nearly unintelligible to you. Creeping out of the tub, you hastily dry yourself with the nearest (and incredibly fluffy) towel, before pressing you ear up against the wooden door. Still not loud enough. Breath held, you turn the knob as quietly as possible, pushing the door open by the tiniest crack.

“…didn’t wake up. I’m so sorry.” Peeking through the gap, you see Fluttershy kneeling on all fours, speaking tenderly to the rat. It takes you a moment to realise she’s being the bearer of bad news. That dead creature she was cradling back in the cave - the brown rat she was speaking to now must have been its significant other. Another tiny rodent, so small it couldn’t have been more than a week or so old, scampers up to its mother.

Poor Fluttershy could only watch pitifully as the two creatures return to their mouse hole in the corner of the room, knowing their home and family would forever be one rat short.

Slow seconds tick by while the poor girl stays frozen in her kneeling position, seemingly deep in thought. Or maybe she’s shocked at what she just had to do. Another lingering moment painfully passes, and you notice her gradually close in on herself; her once-light wings hang down to the ground, her legs bending from kneeling to a near foetal position. The ears on her head pitifully droop, her face burying itself deep into her forelegs.

You creak the bathroom door fully open, finally stepping out to let her know you‘re there. You carefully amble to her side just in time to see her break down into a shivering wreck.

Comments

[Chill Mists(Chilly)]

Fluttershy sad is the worst thing possible.

[Random Duty Guard]

Aww... Poor rats D:

[ElektroNeko]

So far I've read now, I don't like as much as your Dash story: That one really pulled me in. This one kinds of keeps me on the surface and like I'm actually watching another person/pony. It might have to do with the fact that I'm a girl and the protagonist is clearly male. The Dash story was completely ambiguous, with the exception of the mature part. And despite the mature part, I can really applaud and appreciate that. I might also not like it as much because Fluttershy is not really my favorite pony.

Still, it sure is another really good story. Keep it up! I'm looking forward to your next one X3

[Bold Promise]

great work, but I have a problem: ponies can't clean themselves, I'm pretty sure they either need help or go to the spa to do that

[WinterTwister]

108048 Well it was a bath. Just dip in and let the bubbles degrade the dirt

[emore]

´´ last time you tried something like that, it ended in a slap and a warning from the Spa staff.`` is he the dude that asks about a ''happy ending'' from the lotus and aloe story?

[iloveportalz0r]

the timid pegasus spoke in a soft undertone, “but can’t remember your name.” <-- I think you missed a word
"she’s being the barer of bad news" - Isn't it bearer?

[Crowley]

395938
Thanks. Always interesting how some errors just slip by for ages...

[Lucky424]

Heh, a dirty Fluttershy is always appreciated!!!!

[Noman]

Must hug Fluttershy! It is the most honorable thing to do. Now to the next chapter!

[FriendlyTwo3]

1875932 Hey now! Let's keep this PG-13!

[Icy Creation]

“A- hem !” You both turn your heads toward the source of the throat-clearing; a white bunny impatiently taps its foot, and points to his open mouth in a “feed me” gesture. Remembering the fluffy git who sent you into those caves in the first place, you reply with a gesture of your own to him. Unfortunately, due to the lack of fingers on your hooves, the said explicit gesture was lost upon both the bunny and his shy owner forever.

Did this stallion meet a human at some point?

[Crowley]

9753385
He's met other species that have fingers, namely gryphons, whom he'd learnt said gesture in the first place. As for them being called "fingers" and not, say, claws, remember it's the narrator saying it, and not the main character himself.

[Lunar_Flare6234]

101185
It really is, my poor heart can barely take it