Fluttershy's New Friend

by Theblindrat

Lending a Hoof

Chapter 8: Lending a Hoof

Roadie set down the sponge, and looked up at the two smiling mares that looked at him with admiring eyes, 'What do I do now?' Roadie thought. He was trying to think of something to say, until a blushing Anonymous spoke first, "Thank you, thank you both." She looked at Roadie then turned to Fluttershy who spoke, "No need to thank us, we only did what we could to help." She giggled, "Besides, Roadie did a lot more than I did." They both looked back up at Roadie and smirked. Roadie was in a really awkward position, he was flattered and all, but he didn't like getting pointed out for something that made him so uncomfortable. He whistled meekly, "Ok, I did a lot, but that's only because I was worried about her well-being."

He had a really warm smile on, and they both saw that he was completely honest in what he had said. He didn't do it for his own self-enjoyment; he actually did it to help her. Fluttershy went to go get a towel, and Roadie reached down to the bottom of the tub to drain the water. When he reached back up he was greeted by a hug, from Anonymous. She reached around his neck, as he was bent over. "Thank you; I really cannot stress how thankful I am for how kind you and your marefriend are." She talked with a soft tone. Roadie was stuck at the word 'marefriend'. 'How did she get that idea?' Roadie understood that he and Fluttershy close, but they weren't dating. 'Do we really look like a couple?' There were a lot of thoughts going through his head, and that added quite a few more. He whistled back, "You're welcome, but we aren't dating." He smiled at her, and she smiled back, "Sorry to be so quick to judge, but you two were REALLY close when I woke up." Roadie blushed, because they were actually very close to each other before they noticed Anonymous waking up.

Fluttershy flew back in with the softest towel she had, the tub was completely empty now, except for the dirt and small amounts of filthy water sitting at the bottom. Roadie turned around and whistled to her, "Hey, can you lie that out on the couch?" She nodded and flew out of the bathroom, and Roadie, reached down and picked up Anonymous with one arm under her hind legs and the other behind her back. She still had her arms around his neck, and she was dripping water on the floor and more on Roadie on their way out of the bathroom. He set her down very carefully on the couch that had a nice, soft towel spread across it. Roadie noticed that her cuts were a lot worse than he thought, they were really deep, but they weren't bleeding very much, which worried him. Fluttershy flew in blowing on a hot cup of herbal tea. She set it down on the table next to the couch right next to the radio, and said, "Feel free to drink that whenever you feel up for it, it should help ease the pain, but be careful, it's pretty hot." She smiled, as did Anonymous, "Thank you, it looks wonderful." Roadie figured out what he was going to do about the wounds that were all over Anonymous' body. He whistled over at Fluttershy, "Hey, do you have some kind of bag or satchel I can use to store plants in?" She nodded and quickly retrieved a small apothecary satchel, which seemed to fit perfectly for what he needed it for. Roadie thanked her and slung the satchel over his shoulder and across his chest. He did the same with his guitar, but with the other shoulder. Fluttershy looked over at him, "Where are you going?" She looked slightly concerned, but he gave her an answer that she really wanted to hear.

"I'm going to gather some plants that I can use to help her wounds heal." Anonymous raised a brow, 'How can a plant help me heal?' She didn't say anything though, because she would sound rude. Fluttershy said, "You want me to do anything with the wounds before you get back?" Roadie nodded, "Put some gauze around the major ones until I get back, I should have a more 'natural' fix." Fluttershy nodded again, smiling. Roadie then opened the door and flew off after gently closing it behind him.

Fluttershy looked over at Anonymous, who took a sip of her tea. "You need a blanket or anything?" Anonymous set down the tea, "No thank you, I'm quite fine." She dripped a bit of water off of her arm as she placed the cup back on the table. Fluttershy saw that Anonymous was straining as she leaned down to rest her head against the pillow, she was covered in bruises, and her muscles were probably extremely sore, maybe even burning. And the cuts sure didn't help. Fluttershy flew up, "I'll be right back." She left the room and came back with some cotton gauze, about five rolls, just in case. "This might sting a bit, from the friction on your cuts." Fluttershy smiled weakly, and Anonymous nodded. Fluttershy carefully wrapped the gauze around the two major cuts on her right foreleg and left hind leg first. She wrapped the third around her forehead where the gash was, but she didn't really need any more than that. Anonymous looked over at the bookshelf across the room, and saw her aviators sitting next to a pile of folded clothes; they had a pair of silver rimmed aviators with blue lenses sitting on top. They were Roadie's, but she didn't know. Anonymous thanked Fluttershy for the gauze, and closed her eyes.

Roadie was about done with collecting all of the herbs he required to heal Anonymous, but he only needed one more ginger root for good measure, he found one and ripped it out of the ground. He then placed it into the satchel in a separate pocket than the other ingredients he gathered. They were the same plants he used to heal himself, he even grabbed a few of the leaves and flax stalks that he used to cover his wound. He had all of the Thyme, Mint, and Witch Hazel he needed. He saw that the sun was nearing the point of sunset, so he figured he would hurry back to help Anonymous as soon as he could. He flew towards Fluttershy's cottage; he didn't want to go too fast, as he might drop the important satchel. He saw the sunset and felt inspired to play his guitar, but Anonymous was his main worry at the moment.

He reached the doorstep and knocked lightly, Fluttershy answered the door carefully, and she saw Roadie and opened it wider, to welcome him in. He took the offer and stepped in, with Fluttershy closing the door as gently as she opened it. He set the guitar down next to the couch where he usually leaves it, leaning against the wall. He turned back around to see Fluttershy whispering something into Anonymous' ear, and they both had grins on their faces. They noticed he turned around and they both stopped whatever they were talking about and giggled lightly. Roadie rolled his eyes with a smile and walked over to Anonymous with a smile, "Would you mind if we could use these to help heal your wounds?" He lifted the satchel and opened it to show her the plants that were inside. Fluttershy raised a brow with a smile, trying not to laugh, "What do you mean 'we'?" She almost laughed, but held it in, "I wouldn't know what to do with those plants, and I would just get in the way." Roadie was confused, this wasn't like her at all, and he knew something was up, but he would ask her about that later, he had to deal with the wounds straight away.

Roadie looked back at Anonymous, and put on an asking smile, raising the satchel again. Anonymous giggled again, "That would be nice." Roadie just realized what was up, what they were whispering about, they were trying to make him feel a little uncomfortable by putting him really close to Anonymous, by himself. He knew it was just a little girl prank, and they were jokingly testing him, and Roadie was going to show them what's up. He remained in a serious but caring expression that surprised Anonymous. 'Is he really going to do this alone? Man I cannot believe this fearlessness.' Roadie was actually filled with fear, about what she was going to think about him for doing this alone, but more worried if it would get as awkward as what had happened that afternoon in Fluttershy's bathroom. Roadie was almost in a cold sweat, 'Please don't let me do anything stupid' he thought to himself.
Fluttershy was beaming with a smile, 'He is just such a nice colt, and I've NEVER met someone so kind to everypony, why couldn't I have met him sooner?'

Roadie knelt down in front of Anonymous and began removing the gauze on her left hind leg first, as it was closest to him, it was only slightly bloody, and he didn't mind, he set it down on the floor and began unraveling the next roll of gauze on her right foreleg. He left the gauze on her forehead alone as it might bleed more before he could patch it up. He reached into the satchel and pulled out a few large leaves and some already braided flax stalks, and a single ginger root. He handed the ginger root to Anonymous, "Eat this; it'll help you while I fix you up." She smiled and took it, chewing on the ginger root slowly, He took out a small hoof full of the Witch Hazel, Thyme, and Mint, and then mashed it all together into the powder that he had previously, it wasn't very fine powder, but it wasn't last time either. He placed it on one of the large leaves and quickly placed it against her hind leg where the wound was. It only stung for the quick second that he pressed it against the wound, but then she couldn't feel any pain whatsoever from that area of her leg. Roadie then continued, tying it into place with the flax braid. It went all the way around her leg, which was good. He then did the same with her right foreleg, and the leaf was large enough to go around twice, so he made it do so. Anonymous and Fluttershy were in awe about how professionally he was taking this; he was just about stone-faced the entire time. He then looked Anonymous dead in the eye while he removed the gauze on her forehead, and repeated the whole process. Anonymous regretted questioning his methods before; she felt no pain at all from her cuts, the only parts that were still in pain was the places where she had all of the bruises.

Roadie was finished, and he had won the little game of 'make Roadie uncomfortable'. Anonymous said, "That's amazing, how did you know what to use?" Roadie smiled, "I used it on myself to fix the gash on my leg, I knew how the ingredients worked, but I didn't realize how well they worked together." Fluttershy pitched in, "Do you have anything with you that could help relieve the muscle tension and soreness?" Roadie was fear-stricken for a single moment, because he didn't have anything with him to do so; he only knew one thing… a massage. Roadie shook his head, and whistled in an unreadable tone, "I do not have anything with me that I can use to help do that, but I do know something, and that's a nice, relaxing, massage." Anonymous' face lit up, as did Fluttershy's, they could just not believe how well he handled the situations that were thrown at him.

Roadie turned back to Anonymous, who was already waiting front side down on the couch, waiting patiently for what she had coming to her. He placed his hooves on her shoulders first, and began rubbing in a circular motion, making sure to get the muscles as relaxed as possible. She was enjoying what she was receiving, and Roadie was not sure about how he felt giving it. Fluttershy was sipping on her own cup of tea, waiting to ask for her own turn, as this looked quite enjoyable. He continued down to her back, and did the same motion, but more towards her front sides, working above her hips. He then worked her forelegs, making sure that they were not tense in the slightest. Anonymous was in heaven, this was the most relaxed she had been in a long time, and she was loving it. He then got her hind legs, avoiding the leaf that he used as gauze. He then got just below her flank on both legs, but then realized how dangerously close he was to making this awkward, which he did NOT want. So he finished out with her neck, rubbing forward and backward, in long, smooth, strokes. When he finished, she was almost asleep she was so relaxed.

Roadie got worried, he thought that he had damaged a nerve in her neck and paralyzed her, but then realized that this wasn't the case when she sat up. "That was… amazing… thank you. I can't feel any pain at all anymore." Roadie smiled; proud that he did what he could to help. Fluttershy tapped Roadie on the shoulder, "Can I have one too?" Roadie could not say no, even if he wanted to. He nodded, and she smiled so wide that Roadie thought it was going to rip in half. Anonymous stumbled up off of the couch, feeling refreshed to let Fluttershy have her turn. Fluttershy laid down front side first and Roadie thought to himself, 'Here we go again' Then Fluttershy sat her head up and looked at Roadie to say something made him blush a bright red, "Please don't hold back, give me one that's just as good as she got." Roadie was still blushing when he reached down to her shoulders and began; Anonymous was passed out across the room in a rocking chair with a smile on her face. Roadie began rubbing in circles again.