A Collapsed Stranger
It was just like any other sunny day that Fluttershy took her weekly stroll to the market for more food for both her and the animals. She put on her brown saddle bag and left her cottage, but not before promising Angel that she would buy him his cherry for his salad sundae. She shielded her eyes once she got outside until she was used to the brightness, and then started on her way. That is, until she saw something in the road that stopped her.
Fluttershy's house was on the outskirts of Ponyville so that she could be with all of her animal friends without having to bring them into town. Hardly nopony visited her unless it was a mail mare or one of her friends. However, that morning she discovered something interesting. Well, more somepony interesting. About halfway down the road leading to Ponyville lay a stranger that Fluttershy had never seen before.
It was a pegasus about her age, maybe slightly older. He looked about as tall as the average colt, but it was hard to tell when he was collapsed on the ground. His coat was a dark, thunder cloud grey and his wild mane and tail was a dark blue with darker blue roots. His cutie mark was a black cloud with a lightning bolt on top of it, as if he worked with weather. Fluttershy noticed that his face and entire structure was thinner than the average colt in Ponyville, but he was still also stocky. Almost like Applejack's older brother, Big Macintosh.
"Oh my," she breathed and dropped her saddle bag. She didn't care how he got there, but Fluttershy wasn't about to let him stay there on the ground. Circling him once, Fluttershy tried to find a way to take him back to her cottage, which wasn't too far, but she wasn't a particularly strong pony. If she were a stronger flier, she would pick him up and fly him back to the building, but she could barely lift herself up off the ground. She then suddenly remembered the rope she kept in her home in case of emergencies and ran to get it. When she returned she tied the thick rope carefully around the colt (making sure not to tie over his wings or tie too tightly in case he was injured) and started the long trek back to her home.
Fluttershy took great caution once she got the mysterious pony inside of her house. Although she struggled, she managed to get him lying on her couch in a way that he wouldn't fall off. She was getting water when she felt pulling on her long mane. She looked down to find an agitated Angel tapping his foot.
"I'm sorry, Angel, but I'll have to go to the market tomorrow," she said to the white rabbit. He just sighed angrily at the loss of his sundae that night and hopped off. Once the bucket was full of water, she took it back to the colt lying on her couch. The yellow mare took a cloth, dipped it in water, and placed it on his forehead. This was the best she could do until he woke up and could explain his problem. If he was injured, she would probably have to take him to Nurse Redheart as she was only trained to take care of animals. Fluttershy got off the seat she was on to start cleaning up some of the toys that the animals played with. While she worked, she started humming her lullaby that her mother had always sung to her whenever she was sick or hurt.
Fluttershy went back over to where the pony lay and picked up the bucket. When she bent back up, she noticed a pair of dull, indigo eyes staring straight into her bright, sky blue ones. The bucket dropped out of her mouth and made a loud clang, disrupting the silence ensuing between the two of them. After a short stare down, Fluttershy gasped and hid under her table, immediately feeling bad afterwards.
"O-oh my, you're awake. I'm terribly sorry!" Fluttershy apologized and got out of her hiding spot. The colt continued to stare at her as she fumbled over to him. Fluttershy looked away as she asked him if there was anything he needed. After what seemed like hours, he opened his mouth to say something.
"No. I don't think . . . that will be necessary," he said, stopping once to take a breath. Then he moaned and grabbed his head, knocking off the towel that Fluttershy put there. Fluttershy glanced at him in worry.
"Are you alright?" She asked loud enough for him to hear her since she knew not many ponies could usually understand her.
"My head hurts," he managed to say once the pain passed. Then he turned slowly towards her. "May I ask you something?"
"I-If you want. . ." Fluttershy mumbled behind her hair.
"How did I get here and who are you?" he asked. Fluttershy was surprised by these questions. She had only been asked these questions only one other time before and by somepony she never wanted to be reminded about again.
"Um. . . I brought you back here when I found you laying in the road. I am. . ." she trailed off when she saw him staring intently at her. She squeaked and hid behind her hair again before responding very quietly, "Fluttershy. . .”
"What was that?" He asked, but made no movement to lean forward to hear better. Fluttershy made her best effort to speak louder for him.
"My name is Fluttershy." She said a little louder. She guessed he heard her because he didn't respond. Before she could revel in her increased confidence, she saw he had passed out again. Sighing, she began cleaning the spilled water up. By the time she had cleaned everything back up and cooked dinner, the sun had gone down and Luna's moon had begun its ascent. She was bringing her guest his meal when she heard him yell. Dropping the meal, she ran out to find Angel sitting on the colt's chest staring angrily at him.
"That isn't very nice, Angel," Fluttershy scolded her rabbit companion. She walked up and nosed him off of the stranger. "I am so very sorry about him. He normally doesn't do that."
The stranger looked at his pink haired host and noticed the mess. "Let me help you clean that up. It's the least I could do for you taking care of me." He said and moved to get off the couch. Fluttershy then remembered the dropped meal.
"Oh no! Please don't do that!" Fluttershy cried embarrassed. Then calming down a bit, she hid behind her hair to speak again. "I-I mean you don't have to. You're hurt."
"Nonsense, allow me," he said again a bit more forcefully and fully got off the couch. He fell at first, but managed to stumble his way over to the spilled soup.
"You really don't. . ." Fluttershy started, but continued to watch as he carefully picked up the pieces of the broken bowl and
threw them away. Fluttershy was quick to grab her mop and clean the soup up.
"I just had to help in some way. . ." he muttered. Fluttershy just didn't understand since he was obviously in pain.
"I don't want to bother you. . ." Fluttershy muttered. She then noticed that he was yawning and leaning hard on the door frame leading her kitchen. "Do you think you could make it up the stairs?"
The colt glanced at the stairs before nodding weakly. Fluttershy allowed him to lean on her as she led him to her bedroom. He argued that he would sleep on the couch, but the yellow mare would have none of it. She made sure he was comfortable before heading quietly back downstairs to lie on the couch. It was another half hour though before she could finally close her eyes and fall into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
Fluttershy woke with a start when she heard a thud come from up the stairs. She took a quick look outside to find the moon still high in the air. Stifling a yawn Fluttershy rushed up the stairs to find a very tangled, confused colt.
"Oh my! Are you alright?" She gasped as she helped untangle him from his blankets and helped him up.
"I think I will be alright. . ." he said as he nodded thanks to the pink haired pegasus.
"That's good," Fluttershy replied quietly and breathed a silent breath of relief that he wasn't hurt further.
"If it's alright with you, since we're both awake, shall we go downstairs?" he asked. Fluttershy was surprised that he didn't go back to bed, but nodded slightly. She let him lean on her on the way down and helped him find a seat on the couch before going to make some tea. Once the tea was prepared, she carefully brought it over and took a seat next to the colt. It was a couple minutes before Fluttershy could muster up the courage to start a conversation.
"M-may I ask you a question?" She mumbled, not daring to look at him.
"Of course you can," he said and nodded his approval. Fluttershy took a minute to search for the right words.
"I was just wondering . . . how did you end up in front of my cottage?" She asked timidly. She still didn't dare stare into his indigo orbs, but she did take a quick peek at him. He had a troubled look on his face as he stared into his cup. Fluttershy was beginning to wonder if she had broken him with that question when he spoke again.
"I . . . I can't remember. All I remember was waking up here in your cottage. My mind goes blank whenever I try to think of anything before that. I-I don't know if I even belong here. I don't think I do, but it's hard to tell when I feel this broken," he explained and sighed. Fluttershy then realized he was having amnesia.
"I-I'm sorry. . . Do you, uh, remember your name?" She asked. Maybe Rainbow Dash knew him if he was from Cloudsdale.
"Thank Celestia I at least remember my own name. I'm Thunder Burst," he smiled slightly and stuck his hoof out. Fluttershy took her opportunity to reintroduce herself.
"I'm . . . Fluttershy," She said and returned his small smile. The silence stretched after that and Fluttershy blushed slightly as she noticed him staring at her. He quickly brought his hoof back and looked down. Fluttershy could have sworn she saw him blushing as well.
"So why do you live out here instead of with the rest of. . .?" He asked once things got a little too awkward.
"It's Ponyville. The reason is because of the animals," Fluttershy smiled again when she began talking about her animal friends. It was like she was in a whole other world. "I live out here so I can be with the animals. I wouldn't want them to live with me in Ponyville and then run around causing problems in the town whenever I'm gone."
Fluttershy became her shy self again as she heard him laugh. She whimpered and hid behind her hair. Thunder stopped when he noticed her sudden attitude change.
"Come on now; don't be ashamed at what you're good at. I was only laughing because I can imagine the trouble they would get in if they didn't have you," he explained, but his expression turned sad and distant again. "It must be nice to be able to enjoy what you do. I may not remember my job, but I have a bad feeling that it was horrible."
"Oh. . . I'm sorry. . ." Fluttershy looked down.
"It's fine. It's just a feeling, right?" He said sheepishly and chuckled. Fluttershy's smile faded as his chuckling died down and they both sat in an awkward silence until Thunder Burst finally yawned and talked again. "It is still late and I should probably head back to bed. It was really nice talking to you. It made me feel . . . whole again," He sighed happily and smiled at her.
"Would you like help getting up the stairs?" Fluttershy asked. He shook his head and stumbled up the stairs on his own. Fluttershy couldn't relax until she heard the bedroom door close. Once she heard it shut, she calmly took the cups back out to the kitchen and went to lie back down on the couch. Her mind was racing. Thunder Burst was so nice. He was at least nicer than the last pony she took in. Without wanting to, she thought back to when she had taken in another injured pegasus. . .
* * *
"I do hope you become comfortable in your new home," a white unicorn with curly, purple hair said worriedly to the pink haired pegasus who was just smiling shyly.
"I think I'll be alright, Rarity." She replied.
"Oh, but I do still worry. Remember my door is always open if you ever want to come over again," Rarity smiled and said. Fluttershy hugged her new friend before closing the door to her cottage. She had stayed with Rarity while the abandoned cottage was being fixed and her stuff was being moved down from Cloudsdale. Now she had a bunch of her personal belongings to unpack as the movers had been kind enough to put her larger stuff together and put them where she needed them. Fluttershy was about to open the first box when she heard the crash outside.
Fluttershy thought Rainbow Dash might have crashed outside so it surprised her for what she did find outside her door. A pegasus lay unconscious and moaning right on the pathway leading to her home. The pegasus was cream colored with a dark brown mane. She had a light dash of freckles right under each of her eyes. Her cutie mark was a feather with light wisps of air surrounding it. The thing that worried Fluttershy, though, was the scar going down her left cheek and the awkwardly bent wings at her side.
. . .
"Ugh, where am I?” came the voice of the mysterious pony on Fluttershy's couch. Fluttershy couldn't just leave her so she managed to drag her into her house and bandage the mare's wings and face. There were subpar, however, as Fluttershy was only familiar with the caring of little animals.
"A-Are you awake?" came Fluttershy's timid voice from behind her chair.
"It appears that way, huh? Who exactly are you?" The pegasus replied. Fluttershy came out from behind the chair.
"I-I'm Fluttershy. You crashed in front of my cottage so I took you in and tried to bandage your wings and your face, but they aren't very good. . ." Fluttershy explained and watched sadly as the bandages on her wings loosened further. She noticed how dark the other pony's eyes had gotten. Fearing she was sick or in pain, Fluttershy started freaking out.
"Although we should probably take you to Nurse Redheart to-" Fluttershy started, but stopped as the pegasus' dark, green eyes turned towards her. Fluttershy cried out in fear and started to back up.
"You shouldn't have taken me in, kid. Bad things happen to those who want to help. . ." She said and left Fluttershy's cottage. Her words rang through Fluttershy's head until she ran to Rarity's home. She stayed there until she felt confident enough that nothing would happen to her. Even still those words continued to ring through her mind. . .
* * *
Fluttershy came out of her flashback with tears in her eyes. Even to the day she remembered those words and that pony. She laid her head down and closed her eyes, letting the tears fall down her face. She began to hum her mother's lullaby as she began to grow drowsy. Eventually she fell into a restless, dreamless sleep.