"Okay...where next?"
Flash squinted at the sheet of paper in his hands, reading the instructions over and over again. He looked up from the thing to glance left, then right, before finally deciding which street to walk down. And this was going on for several times, with him stopping every once in a while to check that paper, to the point where he nearly bumped into one or two passers by on the way. But in the end, after reaching the end of one street in particular, he looked up and cracked a smile.
"Guess that's it."
Before him, just on the outskirts of town, was a small cottage. Truth be told, it looked very much like the kind of place that would be right at home in some sort of fairy tale, with a nearby woodland and even a small pond out front. But Flash simply made his way over, his eyes only occasionally glancing to the more serene features of the place as he drew closer to the door. Once there, he balled his hand into a fist, ready to knock upon the door. However, he soon stopped, hearing a voice on the other side. Naturally the conversation was muffled, but it soon ended with a loud beeping, the kind you'd hear from a phone. After making sure that he wasn't interrupting anyone, Flash then chose to finally knock.
"Oh! Coming!"
The voice was familiar, and so Flash waited for a few moments before the door finally opened. On the other side was Fluttershy, and while Flash was at first pleased to see her, his smile faded when he took in the full sight of her. Rather than her usual outfit, the girl was dressed in a large green dressing down, complete with similarly-coloured slippers. But what really caught Flash's attention was the fact that her nose was a bright red in colour, and her eyes had a slight puffiness to them. And all that, coupled with he fact that she just had a general look of tiredness about her, gave the boy more than enough reason to sound concerned.
"How...how have you been, Fluttershy?"
The animal lover tried wearing a smile for him, only to stop when she began to let out a loud and unhealthy-sounding cough. Flash maintained his look of concern, but Fluttershy, in that typical manner of hers, tried putting on a brave face for his sake.
"Oh, Flash...you don't need to worry about me. I'm just fine."
But Flash raised an eyebrow to that.
"No, Fluttershy, you're not. I can see why the other girls said you needed someone here for you."
A look of embarrassment crossed Fluttershy's face at this.
"I...I know they mean well, but..."
However, Flash raised a hand, stopping her.
"I know you don't like others being worried about you, Fluttershy. But you really do need to have someone close by. Sunset and the others would probably be here themselves, but..."
He didn't finish, instead just looking off to the side for a moment. Fluttershy on the other hand, already knew what he was going to say.
"I know."
He looked back to her, seeming, for a while, confused at her words, prompting her to gain a somewhat nervous expression.
"Oh! I mean...it's alright. I know they have a lot of important things to do today. Applejack and her harvest, Sunset helping Sonata with that big test..."
Looking back to her, Flash's serious expression softened, and as he let out a sigh, he spoke in a gentler tone.
"Well...no matter. I'm here now, and if Sunset wanted me to look after you today, then that's what I'm going to do."
But Fluttershy simply shook her head again.
"That's very sweet of you, but I really can take care of myself,."
Flash looked like he was about to respond, only to stop when the girl, yet again, let out another cough. This time, Flash looked to her with determination.
"No, Fluttershy. You need somebody with you right now. But firstly, we need to make sure that you get plenty of rest."
The girl opened her mouth to speak, only to suddenly realise from looking at her guest that there was no argument here. So she simply gave a brief nod, stepping aside so as to give him proper entry. As Flash stepped into her house in earnest, he politely closed the door behind him, looking to her with that softer face he wore before.
"Okay now, Fluttershy. Let's get you somewhere comfortable."
She nodded, pointing down the hall.
"Well, I was in bed before you arrived."
Flash raised an eyebrow.
"But...I thought I heard a phone earlier?"
Fluttershy's eyes widened, and she stumbled for a moment.
"I...er...I mean...I was in my bed before that."
She composed herself soon afterwards.
"Don't worry, it's not far."
The girl attempted to show this by, very carefully, starting to walk down the hall herself. Unfortunately, with her current illness, it was more of a shuffle, steadily moving one foot in front of the other at a pace that even a tortoise would call slow. This, coupled with the fact that she then let out another cough, caused Flash to let out a sigh, taking a step towards her.
"Sorry, Fluttershy. But you need help."
She began to turn, no doubt ready to refute those words, only to find herself suddenly lifted off the ground. Though taken aback by this, Fluttershy soon became aware of her situation, as Flash had was now carrying her in a bridal fashion down the hall. As one would expect, this caused a rather fierce blush to appear on her face, but she said nothing for the time being. On Flash's side of things, carrying this girl was by no means as difficult as his other task, that of actually finding her bedroom. But after a while, Fluttershy simply pointed to one door in particular, giving him his final directions.
"Here we go."
And so it was that Flash now entered Fluttershy's room, which as anyone close to her could predict, was filled with all sorts of animal-style items, stuffed animals in particular. But the boy instead focused on her soft and comfortable-looking bed, which he carefully walked to before setting her down as gently as possible. Moments afterwards, he reached over and pulled the nearby covers over her, making sure she was properly tucked in before looking down to her.
"How's that?"
Looking up to him, she offered a smile.
"It's...nice."
Afterwards, her eyes drifted over to a nearby bedside table, upon which Flash could see that there was a half-finished bowl of soup. Even without asking, he knew its contents.
"Chicken soup?"
Fluttershy nodded, and Flash, after looking around for a bit, grabbed hold of a chair in the corner and brought it to the girl's bedside. Before she could even protest, the boy took possession of the bowl, as well as the spoon that was within it, and held it steady for her.
"Oh! You don't need to go that far Fla..." she started.
But as was the way at this point, her own words were cut short by yet another untimely coughing fit. Flash watched her, his face full of sympathy and concern, and when she stopped, she looked to him in a rather embarrassed and sheepish manner.
"Well...um...maybe it wouldn't hurt to get a little help."
Flash chuckled to this, lifting a small spoonful of the soup out of the bowl and towards Fluttershy's mouth. Instinctively, she opened, allowing him to properly feed her. After taking a few moments to swallow, the girl gave him a sweet-looking smile.
"Thank you, Flash...for being here for me."
The boy returned the smile.
"No problem, Fluttershy. I hope...well...I just hope I'll be decent company for you today."
Fluttershy nodded.
"She did say you would be."
Flash looked to her with justifiable confusion over that remark, which immediately caused Fluttershy to regain her earlier look of nervousness.
"Oh! I mean...it's just...Sunset always talks about how nice you are, so...I guess I just figured you being this way would just be...you know...expected."
Though at first unsure of her words, Flash soon returned to his prior smile.
"Well, either way...as your friend, I promise I'll do whatever I can for you today, Fluttershy, for as long as you need me."
While the girl was clearly appreciative over these words, she soon seemed to appear concerned about something.
"But...aren't you worried? About getting sick yourself I mean?"
To that, Flash simply let out another hearty laugh.
"Don't worry. It wouldn't be my first time getting sick."
His face softened as he looked back down to her.
"Besides, if I do get ill, then who knows? Maybe you could come over and look after me?"
Though the two shared a brief, yet stifled laugh over this, Fluttershy soon changed into a look of thoughtfulness. She stayed quiet, watching as her carer began to stir the soup in its bowl, not really looking at her as he did so. And in this moment, when he wasn't looking, she bore a happy smile, thinking over what had been said to her before, in the end, whispering under her breath.
"Yes...I think I'd like that."
