He was in a soft warm bed. Her smell was around him, which was nice, but also not. He had done something terrible. Pawing at the soft comforter on top of him, Winter thought of a thousand things he could have done differently. But... Cherry had saved him. Without her, he would have been ripped apart by hungry 'yotes.

If he had chased her away afterwards, somehow, he would have died, alone and miserable, in the desert, possibly never even pointing in the right direction for the very bed he had finally found his way back to.

"I hope you're hungry," came a sing-song voice. Summer came trotting in, a tray bouncing on her back with a steaming bowl of something. "Made some soup just for sick stallions."

He wasn't sick exactly, but he didn't correct her. He pushed, managing to re-arrange himself to be sitting up a few precious inches. Did he deserve to be fed by her hoof? She was a busy mare, with a job and responsibilities, unlike him...

"Don't look like that." She slid up onto the bed, the tray sliding off of her, soon perched before her, her fore hooves on either side of it. "I'm here for you. Shoot, Maple's here for you too."

"Sure am," came a distant voice echoing through the house.

He twitched an ear towards the sound of Maple before focusing on Summer. She had a spoon attached to a hoof and was offering him a spoonful of whatever soup she had made. "Say ahhh."

Part of him wished she would go away. Being around her made him feel dirty, a reminder of how unclean he had been and how poorly he had behaved. He didn't deserve to be hoof-served like some good kirin.

Pop, right in his mouth it went. Ooo, chicken noodle! Wait, ponies did chicken noodle? Baffled for a moment in confusion, he chewed and swallowed the therapeutic brew, only to have another offered. His self-reflection was broken, for the moment, as he ate lunch, or was it breakfast? There were no un-blindered windows in that room, so he couldn't be sure.

Summer trotted off, his belly singing her praises. He heard Maple and Summer talking, but couldn't quite make the words. Maple came in, watching him as she came closer. "Feelin' better?"

His ears were trained on her as she walked across the room.

"Not feelin' chatty?" She reared up, her forehooves settling on the edge of the bed. "That's alright. Ah can do the talkin'." Despite his silent staring, she went right on, "You look terrible, an' ah don't mean the bandages none." She pulled herself up onto the bed, looming over him then. "What's wrong? Besides it probably hurtin'."

He watched her, silent as he usually was, but she moved in suddenly. Was she going to kiss him? He turned his snout away.

Her hoof touched him on the cheek just under his eye, brushing something away. "Ya know yer cryin', right? We want to help... Does it hurt that bad?"

He stiffened. Even as a stoic kirin, his body had betrayed his emotions.

"We're here for you," she went on. "It was my fault, takin' you out like that without Cherry there ta help. Sorry... Really sorry... Ya can be mad at me."

But he wasn't mad at Maple. He needed a mirror to look at who he was mad at. He looked away from Maple.

She sat down, just barely putting pressure on his still sensitive body. "Ah don't give up easy none." She thrust a hoof at his face as he turned back towards her. "20 questions?"

He inclined his head as a great question mark appeared over his head.

"20 questions," she repeated with a smile. "I get to ask 20 things. Ya can nod or shake yer head, but ya gotta be honest."

He considered silently before he softly nodded. He would at least give her that much.

"Great!" she chimed, a bright smile on her face. "First question, are ya hurtin', physical like, more than when ya came home?"

He shook his head softly. His body was healing, he felt certain. Kirins weren't wimps. Then again, ponies probably weren't either.

"Good, good." She reached a hoof just under his chin, meeting his eyes. "Did something happen, somethin' besides getting bit a lot?"

He hesitated, tensing under her. "Alright," she said, apparently accepting his not-answer as an answer. "Did it leave any marks?"

Winter frowned faintly a moment. Did mental and spiritual marks count? He supposed not... He shook his head at Maple.

"Something bad, didn't leave no marks... Did it make you feel bad? Ah mean, guilty?"

His ears pinned against his head, tail lashing under the comforter. How was she reading him so well?! He gave the slightest of nods.

"Are ya embarrassed about runnin' off like that?" She tilted her head but held up a hoof. "Hold up, that's a bad question. Is that the main thin' yer upset about?"

He lifted an ornate ear towards her. He hadn't even really thought about that. That had been a foolish thing to do, but... he hadn't really thought about doing it. He couldn't think, he just ran... and ended up there. Still, if he hadn't, he could have avoided the other part... Still...

She leaned forward a little, her nose coming close to his. "I think that's a no."

While it would be nice to blame his run for everything... He shook his head softly.

"Alright. Next question..." she rose back up, tapping at her chin thoughtfully. "Was it somethin' after ya got lost?"

He nodded as a tremble ran through him. She was going to figure it out, then they'd all know how terrible he'd been.

"Was it before Miss Jubilee found you?" He shook his head, and that confused her.

"But if she was with ya...? Did she leave ya alone?" He shook his head softly, eyes closing.

"Now I'm confused... Was she bad at keepin' an eye on ya?" He shook his head a bit more vigorously. Oh no, she kept a good eye on him.

Suddenly her face lit up. "Did somethin' happen with the doctor?"

He blinked his eyes open, his vision blurry with fresh tears. The doctor? He shook his head.

Maple's mouth opened and closed a few times. "We're runnin' out of things it could be... Did... Miss Jubilee do anythin' that hurt ya?"

The door to the room suddenly banged open, making both of them jump. There was Summer, nostrils flaring. "What did she do?!" she demanded, stomping closer.

Maple slid right off Winter. "I was workin' on findin' that out, but ya--"

Summer hopped up onto the bed, eyes locked on Winter. "Ah can't understand you. Ah could hear you, loud as day. No words, but ah knew what ya meant... That stopped." She thrust a hoof at Winter, just shy of touching his nose. "What did she do?!"

He shrank away from her growing anger even as his own flared in response. He was trying to be a good kirin! Didn't she understand? Of course she didn't. She wasn't trying to be a good pony, she just was, unlike him. His anger fizzled with a miserable pop and he flopped back.

Her expression softened, ears lowering. "Look, Winter... Ah ain't mad at ya... Ah'm mad fer ya. Please... tell us what hurt you."

Maple bobbed her head quickly. "Yes, please. Oh! Wait a moment." she bounced down from the bed and galloped away, only to return with a notepad in her mouth. She set it on the bed and got to scribbling on it and tearing sheets out.

Soon there was a collection of suspects. A coyote on one, Jubilee on the next, an outline of a pony with a question mark through them on the next, the sheriff on the one after that, and the doctor on the last one." Maple wobbled a hoof over the lot of them. "Point at the one that hurt you."

Summer blinked softly. "Well, obviously the 'yotes hurt him. Why he has the bandages an' everythin'." She looked to him with a little smile. "Don't reckon we should count that, unless they hurt you most?"

His eyes darted from paper to paper, spending the most time not looking at the little mockup of Jubilee. But what would he point to? The coyotes would surely be a fine excuse... He pointed at the canine.

Summer booped him right on the nose. "Ya said it happened after Jubilee rescued you from them. Look, whatever it is, ah won't be mad." She held a hoof to her chest. "But no more lies. Tell me."

She had been listening? He quirked an ear at her before it fell back down. They had teamed up to trap him, to learn the truth... Because they cared about him. He flumped with a heavy sigh, his horn glowing as the picture of Jubilee lifted into the air in his magic.

"I will tear her apart!" Summer jumped to the ground, looking ready to storm off, at least until Maple landed on her in a sudden tackle, driving her to the ground.

"Let's not get too hasty," quickly insisted Maple, wrestling to keep Summer from getting away too quickly. "This is... Miss Jubilee... we're talkin' 'bout. She'll fire you and that won't be the last of it."

Summer suddenly shoved Maple free, growling at the other mare. "She hurt Winter! He won't talk to us none, so we gotta get the words out of her."

Maple circled in front of Summer. "I wanna know as much as you do, but we can do this more subtle-like than askin' fer trouble."

"And how do ya reckon we do that? Just ask her nicely?" She was stepping towards the exit, closing in with Maple with a growing scowl.

"We could start with that," timidly noted Maple, backing up a little. "Ask subtle-like... At least try to do it without trouble."

Summer applied a hoof to her own face. "We're already in trouble. Mah stallion's hurtin' somethin' fierce an' we're sitting here bein' scared to do somethin' 'bout it?"

A touch from behind had her spinning around with a defensive snarl, only to see Winter standing there, shivering on unsure legs. Her anger fizzled as her eyes went wide. "Ya shouldn't be up!" But he came in and gently hugged her. The both of them crashed to their haunches. "Go... back to bed," she weakly insisted, but he was crying, and soon she was holding him, her arms wrapped around him. "Stubborn stallion..."

New arms joined them, Maple hugging the both of them. "We'll figure this out... as a family." She squeezed them firmly. "Even if ya'll decide ah'll be a family friend, that's still family."

Summer snorted in a sudden fit of laughter. "Maple, ah swear... ain't angry at you none right now... ah..."

Winter suddenly touched her nose with his own, the two staring at one another for a quiet moment.

"He doesn't want me to," she sighed out. "What did she do?" she blurted out at him, hugging him all the tighter. "We're here for you."

Maple tilted her head. "Maybe she talked herself into somethin', like ah did when we first met... Maybe she declared herself--"

"She wouldn't! Would she?" Summer looked between Maple and Winter. One was looking unsure, the other had started to avoid her gaze. "She would... She did!" She pointed down between Winter's hindlegs. "She did things to you. We didn't use our 20, so answer true. Did she do something to you, down there?"

Winter looked between Summer's heated glare and Maple's worried sympathy. He could just not answer, but that would be an answer all on its own. His head tipped forward, hanging before it bobbed weakly.

Summer smoothly stood up on her hooves, kissed him on the cheek, and walked off into the house.

"That was calmer than I--" Maple and Winter both cringed as they heard a plate or a glass smashing against something hard, shattering, and it wasn't the last, just the first.

Author's Note

Summer is not a happy mare.

Written early for patreons who got this ahead of everyone else. Want to get early chapters, or even your own story written? atreon!

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