This was a disaster. A catastrophe. An absolute tragedy of the highest-
“Discord, it’s okay,” Fluttershy said sweetly, from where she was resting on the couch. “I’m fine.”
“My dear, you are most certainly not fine!” Discord replied, gesturing to her. “You nearly broke your neck!”
She gingerly prodded at the brace on her neck. “True, I did get into a rather nasty accident. But hey, I’m okay. The doctors said I’ll make a full recovery as long as I relax, drink plenty of water, and don’t strain my neck.”
Discord sat next to her, looking at how her mane was bunched up under the brace. There was nothing to be done about it but it had to be uncomfortable. “Tell me again how this happened?”
“It’s so silly,” she sighed. “I was out in Ponyville picking up some greens so I could try a new salad recipe, and while I was going across the bridge, someone lost control of their cart. I think it was too heavy for them, and I was downhill from them when their hooves left the ground and the cart went backward. I turned around and next thing I know it’s slamming into me and… well, I don’t remember much but the ponies nearby said I was kinda dragged under the cart. Got my neck twisted up weird and I got several bruises and cuts, but… luckily they got me to the hospital and I woke up there with the brace and all these bandages on.”
Discord growled. “Who was pulling the cart?”
Fluttershy took his hand, patting it. “I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“Oh, please? I want to know!”
Fluttershy gave him a stern look. “Promise me you won’t do anything to them? They already apologized.”
“Hmph. I promise.”
“Pinkie promise.”
Discord groaned and crossed his hand across his chest. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Okay. It was Roseluck bringing in several pots of soil for her new flowers. And well, dirt can get pretty heavy.”
“Ugh, Roseluck!” Discord knew her. She and her flower-flanked friends were always together and always turning mild situations into emergencies.
“Please don’t get angry with her, accidents happen,” Fluttershy said.
“Accidents are when you drop your ice cream on the ground! Accidents are giving someone a sweet tea when they asked for unsweet! This was assault!”
“An accidental assault,” Fluttershy corrected him. “She’s pulled that cart hundreds of times. Today she just overloaded it. It happens. It’s okay, look, I’m alive and I’ll get better. She’s going to help me take care of my animals so I don’t strain myself, and also she sent me these.” She pulled over a vase of beautiful red roses that was sitting on the coffee table.
“Oh, I thought those were new. Hm.” Discord read the tag on them. “Sorry for almost killing you. Love, Roseluck. Seriously?”
“She’s really dramatic,” Fluttershy said with a shrug. “I appreciate it anyway.”
“You are far too kind. If someone hit me with a cart like that I’d be lighting their cart on fire. And possibly them depending on my mood.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “And that’s why I’m the element of kindness and you’re not.”
“Well, I suppose as long as you’ve got things settled with her, I won’t go after her. But oh, I’m so sorry this happened, that had to hurt.”
“I don’t remember much of it,” Fluttershy admitted. “Getting hit with the cart was more of a surprise, then I was blacking out and well… I woke up in the hospital and by then I was on painkillers so. Yeah.”
“And how do you feel now? Any pain?”
She thought about it, then said. “My legs hurt a bit. But my neck feels surprisingly good. I think the pressure from the brace is helping.”
“That’s good. Did they give you any medicine?”
She nodded. “I have a case of pain relievers right next to my bed, to take every morning and night to help with muscle soreness. The cart banged me up pretty good. All that weight dragged it right over me.”
Discord shuddered. “Oh, you poor dear.” He stroked her head, feeling behind her ears.
She smiled and leaned into it. “It’s okay. A few weeks of recovery and things will be back to normal.”
“Well, alright. But let me know if you need anything.”
“I will, don’t worry.”
Discord helped Fluttershy a lot after that. He would walk with her outside, along with Roseluck on most days, tending to the animals. They all needed to be fed and their homes checked on. They were understanding toward Fluttershy and many gave her gifts. Acorns, flowers, pretty things they found just laying around. She thanked them all.
“Oh, for me?” she asked a bird holding a shiny pebble. She carefully reached out her hoof to take it. “Thank you so much.”
The bird tweeted and flew away.
Discord leaned down to a snake den, dangling a dead mouse. It was a good thing the live mice didn’t live anywhere close to here.
The snake crawled out, sniffing the mouse. Then he grabbed it and yanked it back into the den.
“Alright, what next?” Discord asked.
“Snakes are fed? Okay. Let’s check on the fish,” Fluttershy decided. They went to the pond, and she tried to look down, then grunted as her chin hit the brace. “Ow.”
“Are you okay?” Discord asked immediately.
“Fine. I just can’t really look down.”
Discord grabbed her around the middle and picked her up, angling her down so she could see the water.
“There we go!” She smiled at the curious fish. “Hello, little ones. Are you hungry?” She started to look back, then remembered she couldn’t do that either. “Discord, toss them some flakes.”
Discord set her down and opened the can of fish food. He pinched some and tasted it. “This actually isn’t bad.”
“That’s made of other fish you know.”
“Hey, unlike you pony folk, I don’t mind eating meat.” Discord grabbed another pinch and tossed it into the water. The fish came up to eat, and he threw some more further out for the fish that hadn’t quite been quick enough to get to the first helping.
They watched the fish eat, and then Fluttershy tested the water with her hoof. “Hm, the algae is getting a little thick. I’ll need to clean this soon.”
“I can take care of that, no problem,” Discord assured her.
“It doesn’t need to be cleaned today,” she said. “I’ll let you know once it does.”
“Sounds good.”
A few more minutes and they were heading back to the cottage. When they went inside, Fluttershy wiped her hooves off against the welcome mat, and made a face. “Oh no, I think I got mud stuck in my hooves. Oh, where’s my pick.” She looked around before grabbing the hoof pick off a table near the door. She started to lift her front left hoof, then paused and groaned. She couldn’t twist her neck far enough to get to her hoof.
Discord held out his hand and she gave him the pick. “Need your hooves cleaned?” he offered.
She blushed. “You really don’t have to do that. I can figure out some way. Maybe if I hold the hook against the wall with one hoof, and scrape the other hoof on it…”
Discord shook his head. “Please, it’s really no trouble. You won’t be able to reach down with your mouth any time soon, so I can clean your hooves for you.”
“Well… alright,” she said thankfully. “Just be careful.”
“Of course.” He gestured for her to follow him back out the front door. Once they were outside, he knelt down, facing toward her backside as he wrapped his left arm around her front left leg and lifted it. He curled it back, aiming her hoof up. There was indeed mud caked in it, along with a few small pebbles. “Oh, that’s gotta be annoying.” He took the pick and began scraping her hoof clean.
She giggled. “That tickles.”
He leaned in to watch what he was doing more closely. “Let me know if it hurts.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine, my hooves are pretty tough.”
“Heh, I’m sure.” Discord got the pebbles dislodged, and turned the tool around to the other end, where there was a brush. He wiped her hoof off, and set it down. He went to her other side to work on her other front hoof.
Fluttershy waited patiently, leaning on him slightly for balance. Discord was very careful while handling her leg, but couldn’t help seeing all the scratches on it, the missing fur. He hoped it grew back.
He moved down to Fluttershy’s back leg, gently squeezing her ankle so she lifted her hoof.
“Thanks for the help,” she said as he got to scraping it out. “That’s really been bothering me but I figured I could wait it out.”
“How often do you usually do this?”
“About once a week but it depends on how much walking I’ve done.”
Discord nodded, going to her last leg. He found a stone that was lodged particularly firmly against her hoof, and had to dig at it a bit. But finally it popped out and Fluttershy sighed with relief.
“Sometimes you never notice how annoying a rock was until it gets pulled out,” she said, flexing her ankle a bit.
“Ever considered horseshoes?” Discord asked, using the brush now. “You do so much walking out on the grass, it might help.”
“I’ve thought about it but I don’t know. Horseshoes are kinda costly, you gotta have them custom made most of the time and then, once they’re made, they nail them on!”
Discord chuckled, giving the edge of her hoof a firm tap with the hook. “Which you wouldn’t be able to feel. It’s less painful than an ear piercing.”
“I guess, but still, I don’t know if I like the idea of having nails driven into my feet,” Fluttershy explained.
Discord finished brushing out her hoof and set it down. “It was just a suggestion. But I’ve heard it’s quite simple and very beneficial if you’re a hard working pony. Applejack’s considering getting them. If the nails seem scary, you could try hot shoeing. They can use thinner nails for that because the shoes fit much better from the start.”
“I’ll look into it,” she said.
They went back inside, and Discord took the pick over to the kitchen to rinse it off. Fluttershy followed him, stretching out her legs.
“That feels much better,” she said. “Thank you, you did a great job.”
“You’re welcome! If you ever need my help again, let me know, it’s no trouble.”
“Heh, okay. I appreciate it.”
Discord took the pick back to its table. “That was quite therapeutic honestly. Is hoof picking a marketable skill?”
“Maybe at a spa,” Fluttershy replied.
“Ah. Well anyway.” Discord helped her climb up onto the couch. “Need anything else?”
“No, I’m okay. I think I just want to read.”
“Sounds good, what are you in the mood for?”
“Could you pass me True Stories of Brave Bunnies?”
Discord smiled and handed it over, and curled up next to her. She rested against him as she read, and he quietly read along. He hoped she made a speedy recovery, but in the meantime, he was going to enjoy spending extra time with her.
