Feather Touch all but fell out of his portal, luckily the alley wall was there to catch him. He slumped against the brickwork. The portal shimmered away into nothingness, leaving Feather Touch to rest his eyes in the solitude of the alley.

Common sense stomped all over his fatigue. With a fine layer of brick dust clinging to his fur, he forced himself to stand and limp out of the alleyway. Feather Touch groaned as he saw his destination on the opposite side of the road.

He took a moment to check himself over, giving a low groan punctuated with a whine of frustration. His usually yellow coat was stained with all manner of colours and substances. Mercifully, the only smell was that of a stale stallion.

With a weary sigh and the odd rhythm produced by his injured hoof, he hobbled across the road. Feather Touch stepped up onto the curb, waving off a concerned mare with his hoof. He approached the step of a well-to-do house (at least well-to-do for Baltimare) and jabbed his hoof onto the door handle.

It remained steadfast, Feather Touch let his head thump onto the door. Without raising his head he reached back toward his saddlebag and took out a small key. He raised it to the lock and fumbled against it. The key dropped from his grip and fell to the stone steps with a ping.

Feather Touch took a deep breath, letting it out in a harsh snort. He quickly leaned down and snatched up the key. As he straightened up, his head collided with the door's second handle. A spike of pain shot through his skull as he tumbled backward, raising his hooves to rub his head.

Amidst a tirade of angry muttering, Feather Touch grabbed the key and jammed it into the lock, he unlocked the door and shoved it open. He stepped into his home and slapped the door closed with his tail.

"Feather? ...Is that you?"

Feather Touch sighed and took a moment to re-lock the door.

"Yeah, sweetie, I'm home," he chastised himself quietly, a wash of guilt sinking into him at making his marefriend worry.

"I've had a bit of a rough day, hun. I'm gonna wash up then head to bed, alright?"

"Aww! Sweetie! You go and relax, I'll be out in a moment!"

Feather Touch's ear twitched toward the kitchen, the sound of cooking fading into the distance as he trotted toward the bathroom. Feather Touch yelped as he walked past the sofa, tripping over a small set of stairs. He landed with a heavy thud as he face-planted into the floor.

"Feather, sweetie? Are you ok?"

Feather Touch grumbled as he stood up, thankful that he hadn't injured his leg further.

"Yeah, just tripped over the stairs..."

"Well, they're big enough to see!"

"Shame I can't say the same about you!" Feather Touch called back, he decided to beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom before his marefriend decided to pay him back for the jab.

Shoving his way into the room he let the door close behind him. Feather Touch limped over to the bath and clambered into it. He leaned toward the shower controls and gripped a short chain, pulling it down and attaching it to a small hook.

A torrent of water poured from the showerhead, washing over the stallion who let out a quiet groan as the water soaked into his mane and fur. He lowered himself to the bottom of the bath, careful to rest on his uninjured side. Feather Touch closed his eyes and let the hot water wash away the grime and filth from his coat.

The shower water took on an oily sheen, with various shades of browns, reds, oranges, and all manner of dirt starting to trail along the bottom of the bath. As an afterthought, Feather Touch reached over the rim of the bath and grabbed Tender Care's bath pillow; he placed it under his head just in case he fell asleep.

A few quiet moments passed, disturbed only by the running water and Feather Touch's muted groans as he shifted every so often, letting the water soak into a different part of his fur.

His eyes flickered open at the sound of scrabbling against the door, he considered getting up to open it before he heard the firm grasp of tiny hooves on the handle. The door swung open and he heard the sound of hooves on the tile.

"Feather, sweetie? You in here?" a confused voice called out. A few seconds later Tender Care's head popped over the edge of the bath. "What are you doing in-Feather? Are you alright?" her brow furrowed and her muzzle scrunched as she took in the state of him.

"It's been a rough day," he smirked, rolling onto his back and exposing his belly to the stream of water.

"You can say that again, you look like you've been dragged through Appleoosa three times over!" she frowned. Tender Care vanished from the side of the bath and Feather Touch heard the clatter of cupboards. She returned a moment later, clambering down into the bath with a few items in tow.

"You're never gonna get clean like that, let me help you," she took a bottle of soap in her mouth and a sponge in her hoof. With a sharp buzzing of her tiny wings, she fluttered over toward Feather Touch, landing on his chest and bracing her rear hooves on the bottom of the bath.

"You don't have to do that," Feather Touch frowned, but Tender Care simply bopped him on the muzzle with the sponge. She frowned at him as the water started to soak her. Knocking the bottle open with her hoof, she poured a generous measure of soap onto Feather Touch's chest. Dropping the bottle into the bath she started to work the soap into his fur with her hooves.

"Shush, you look exhausted. What even happened to you anyway?" she shuffled back to let more water onto Feather Touch's fur, making up a fine lather of soap.

"It's a long story," he sighed. "It's been about three days since I last saw you."

"Three days?!" Tender Care cried, slipping in the soap and landing against his chest. "No wonder you look so rough," she straightened herself back up. She picked up the sponge and used it to start scrubbing his fur.

"Gee, thanks," Feather Touch smirked, earning him a whap with the sponge. Tender Care rolled her eyes, grimacing as she got a good look at the deluge of filth falling off of her stallion.

"Good thing I decided to hop in as well," she started to meticulously scrub his fur, watching the tension melt away from Feather Touch. Tender Care gradually scrubbed lower and lower, pausing for just a split second. 'Later' she smirked, opting instead to start cleaning his right leg. Tender Care jumped back as though shocked when Feather Touch jolted and let out a sharp gasp.

"You're hurt!"

"It's just a sprain," Feather Touch relaxed once more, Tender Care took up the sponge once more and started to carefully dab at his leg.

"Didn't anyone at the E.T.A try and help you!? What is wrong with those creatures?"

"They did, but I insisted on just heading home-" that earned him another whack with the sponge.

"Well that's for being an idiot, once I've got you cleaned up I'll take care of it," Tender Care frowned. "Honestly, if I ever get over to that place I'm going to give that princess a piece of my mind, letting you wander out without getting seen to."

Feather Touch simply laid back and let her continue to scrub him clean. Eventually, Tender Care fluttered up to the showerhead and detached it from its fixing. She brought it back down to ground level and started using it to blast Feather Touch's fur clean. Feather Touch obediently shifted each limb at Tender Care's insistence. She continued to soak him until she was satisfied that the water was running clear.

Giving herself a quick rinse off, Tender Care reached up and yanked the chain off of its hook, bringing the shower to a stop. She shook off the worst of the water from her coat and looked down at Feather Touch.

"Get yourself up and dried, I'll be right back," she clambered out of the bath and fluttered out of the room. Feather Touch begrudgingly pulled himself up and picked up the nearest towel. He stepped out of the bath and started to dry himself. As he pulled the towel off of his mane he spotted Tender Care out of the corner of his eye.

She trotted back into the bathroom, a first aid kit carried between her teeth. The diminutive mare was barely able to keep the large box from scraping off of the floor. She set it down and tapped her hoof on the floor impatiently. Feather Touch threw down his towel and laid down atop it.

Tender Care smiled as she took up a brush she had set aside earlier. She reared up against Feather Touch and worked the bristles into his fur, using both of her forehooves to run the brush along his coat. Feather Touch gave out a low groan, water dripping from his coat as the brush did its work.

"Feeling better?" Tender Care asked with a chuckle, Feather Touch nodded into the towel.

"Good," she continued her work diligently, being careful of Feather Touch's injured leg. "I went to the doctor today..." Feather Touch frowned, lifting his head from the towel.

"You are a doctor," his attempt at humour earned him a whack with the brush, a chiding blow tempered by appreciation.

"A pony doctor, doofus," her gentle smile faded as she focused on smoothing out Feather Touch's coat.

"What did they say?"

The brush halted mid-stroke. Tender Care closed her eyes and shook her head. Feather Touch shifted around on the towel and brought his hoof around her, pulling Tender Care into a close embrace. She sniffled into his coat as he planted a kiss on her neck.

"I'm sorry, love."

Tender Care pried herself out of his embrace, quickly wiping away a tear with her hoof. She hitched a smile and took up the brush again.

"It's alright, even if we could I'd be too high risk anyway," she managed a sad smirk, tilting her gaze at Feather Touch. "Besides-" her smile became just a bit more sincere "-I've already got one child to take care of," Feather Touch snorted, hiding behind it as he wiped away a tear of his own.

Tender Care finished her work quickly, leaving her coltfriend looking like a presentable stallion again. She stashed the brush away and pulled over the first-aid kit. "Leg."

Feather Touch complied, presenting his injured leg promptly. Even he didn't dare to cross Dr. Tender Care, lest she do to him what she did to that parakeet the other week...

With practiced skill, the deft pegasus had his leg wrapped tightly in fresh bandages; securing them in place with a careful and firm knot. She smirked proudly as she packed away the first-aid kit.

"Thanks, doc," Feather Touch leaned forward to give her a quick nuzzle. One she returned before stealing a quick kiss. Feather Touch gave a startled gasp. "Dr. Tender Care! Romantic relations with a patient!? How scandalous!"

Tender Care broke out into a fit of giggles. "Well better you than my regular patients. Especially the dogs, at least you don't slobber all over me," the pair collapsed into a fit of laughter. Petering out to a quiet chuckle, Feather Touch stood up and tested his leg. It was still sore, but at least now he could walk on it.

"Right, bedtime, you. You need bed rest, doctor's orders," Tender Care reared up against his foreleg, earning her a gentle nuzzle from the full-sized pony.

"Alright, alright. Not like you'd let me do anything else anyway," Tender Care nodded in agreement, giving a smug smile as she trotted back toward the bedroom. Feather Touch followed her at a more sedate pace. As Tender Care moved toward a small set of steps at the end of the bed, Feather Touch simply clambered in. He settled himself down before fixing Tender Care with a curious smirk, the filly sized mare having perched at the end of the bed.

She bolted beneath the cover with a smirk, zooming underneath it in every direction. Feather Touch burst into peals of laughter at the lump zooming around the bed. Tender Care followed the sound of his laughter, burrowing through the covers and snuggling herself against Feather Touch's chest. Her frantic mole impression never failed to get a laugh out of the comedian.

Feather Touch hiccoughed as he brought her into a tight embrace, curling around her as his laughter slowly died down. "How was I so lucky to find such a funny mare?" he nuzzled her mane gently, Tender Care twisting gently to snuggle against his chest.

"I learned from the best."

Author's Note

A followup!? In my anthology!?
...
I mean it's not surprising, considering I said I was going to do one. But it's not something I ever planned for this series.

No exercise this time, I just fell in love with the E.T.A AU I setup and wanted to write some more of it. That and I have an odd liking of stories about exhausted characters just getting some much needed rest.

As always, any and all feedback will be very greatly appreciated! And if you have any scenes that you'd like to see, please offer some suggestions. I've still got a lot of skills to develop, but hey, I get exercises, you get free stories! Win-win!