Back on Duty

"Blossom, sweetheart, it can't go on like this! It's not proper!"

The mare only clung harder to Greg's arm. She had grasped him the second he tried to get up from the bed in Cadence's guest suite.

"Nnuuuh!" she whined.

Greg let out an exasperated sigh, but then he sat back down. He used his free hand to pat Blossom's barrel. "I'll just be in the other room, for chrissake! You have to learn to sleep alone."

Perhaps it was too quick. After all, it was only her second night, but on the other hand, Blossom was over twenty years old, even if she acted like twelve. She didn't answer, but her grip lessened. That was probably because he was sitting down, Gregory guessed.

"Look," he tried to explain patiently, "I won't leave you, okay? If you need anything, or if you have a bad dream, just shout and I'll come. But it's really not right for us to sleep in the same bed, Blossom, don't you understand?"

The mare shook her head, but that just proved to Gregory that she was lying. Using one hand to free his arm, he slid out of Blossom's grasp and stood up. Then he made the mistake of looking the the mare. It was a heart-wrenching sight. She somehow portrayed the image of the loneliest and saddest pony in all the world, with her ears not even entirely flattened because she simply did not have the energy to do so. Her lower lip was trembling and her large, glossy eyes were on the verge of overflowing. Greg closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly he was glad that Celestia sometimes practiced 'the Look' on him.

His resolve didn't break, not exactly, but the man knelt down, leaned on the bed and cupped Blossom's muzzle with both palms. She nuzzled him a little but then her gaze fell down to the bed sheet. At least she didn't try to grab him again.

"I won't be far, okay? Promise. You had dinner and a glass of water and now you're all cozy and bundled up in Cadence's soft bed. You're going to be fine."

The two stared at each other for long seconds. Blossom broke first and she nodded against Greg's hands.

"Good girl," he said with a smile.

He kept his hands in place for a bit longer and Blossom licked his palms a few times.

"Tell you what, in the morning we'll get some more pancakes from Princess Celestia, would you like that?"

Her ears went up and focused on Greg, as if she was afraid to miss a single word. The large, shimmering eyes dried up in record time and there was even a hint of a smile on her muzzle.

"Remember how to use the toilet if you need it in the night?"

Another nod.

"You can wake me up if you need to, okay?"

Again Blossom nodded and this time Greg released her muzzle. Her ears splayed as she lost the warmth, but at least it didn't seem like she would start crying again.

"Good night, sweetheart."

Greg waited for a few seconds more and was rewarded: "G-nigh'"

Grinning, he made his way to the drawing room where one of the staff had left him a pillow and a blanket. He almost asked, but remembered just in time that Blossom preferred the darkness. Probably it was the only time she could rest in that mine, he thought.

The sleeping arrangements still weren't ideal, but at least he wasn't sharing a bed with a young mare. That would be a very unpleasant rumor, if it started to spread. Hopefully Blossom would feel better in a few days or a week and then he'd be able to return to Celestia. It was just incredible how he was starting to miss that soft, warm body to wrap his arms around as he slept. Greg wondered if the Princess missed him too. Probably. She had been the one to sneak into his bed at every opportunity back on Earth. Greg undressed to his underpants and lay down. Not much longer. Blossom was making good progress. A few more days, a week at the most, he repeated to himself.

It was that time again and Blossom was decidedly uneasy. She was sitting listlessly on the couch and avoided looking at the people around her. She was mostly fine with Celestia by now, but Dr. Sherbert seemed to instill apprehension in the young mare. Even Gregory sitting beside her didn't help. Every now and the she glanced at him, but then she went back to staring down at her hooves.

"There we go. How are we feeling today?" the old doctor asked. He wasn't a bad sort, but he spoke with authority and Greg guessed that was what was bothering Blossom. The earth pony doctor didn't mind when she failed to answer, he just walked over and peered closely at the mare. She stiffened up, but with Greg's encouraging pat on her withers she let the doctor pull her foreleg.

"Hmm," he murmured to himself, then looked up at the mare. "Does it hurt when you stretch it?"

It didn't look as if Blossom would answer, so Greg leaned closer and whispered. Of course Dr. Sherbert could hear, but it was more about the gesture than any sort of secrecy. "Answer the nice doctor, Blossom. He's only here to help and make sure you're healthy."

The mare gave Greg a pitiful look, but then she swallowed a lump and muttered: "S'fine."

"Good, good!" Dr. Sherbert exclaimed. He turned her foreleg the other way. "How about this? Let me know if it's sore."

By now Blossom was starting to understand she wasn't in trouble, but her voice still trembled. "N-No."

"And this?" He latest manipulation made Blossom hiss and jerk her leg away. "Oh, I'm so dreadfully sorry, young miss!" he apologized profusely. "It hurt when it went that way?"

Blossom just nodded while she was rubbing her injured foreleg with the other hoof.

"Is that bad?" Greg asked.

"Oh, no, no," Dr. Sherbert answered the human. "Just a slight sprain. Don't go too hard on it and you'll be fine in a couple of weeks, miss."

That much was a relief.

"Okay, now say 'aaaa'," the doctor ordered, leaning closer. When Blossom didn't comply, he demonstrated by sticking out his tongue and going: "Aaa!"

It was unexpected enough to make Blossom giggle. That seemed to break the ice and she copied the doctor: "AAAAA!"

He peered into her mouth, 'hmm-ing' to himself, until he was satisfied. "Good, good," he said, rummaging in his bag for his auriscope. Greg felt a small touch of pride for knowing what it was called.

"Turn your head, now," the doctor ordered.

Blossom shrank away from this strange new tool with some apprehension. Luckily Greg noticed.

"It doesn't hurt, sweetheart. The doctor will just look in your ear to make sure it's okay. Here, just look at me."

She did as instructed, but her ears were in a permanent state of folded down. After a few seconds, Dr. Sherbert cleared his throat. "Could you lift your left ear for me, miss?"

All Blossom did at the prompt was close her eyes tightly shut. Greg sighed and very carefully lifted her ear with his hand. It twitched in his fingers, but he kept a firm hold.

"It's not gonna hurt, trust me," he repeated.

The doctor didn't waste time. He pushed the thin end of his instrument in Blossom's ear and peered inside. Greg idly wondered if the thing was battery powered. Probably not, he decided. Ponies relied on magic the same way humans relied on electricity.

The examination didn't last long and Blossom let out a breath she had been holding when the device was removed.

"Good, good," Dr. Sherbert said to himself. "Now the other ear, please."

Maybe having seen that the procedure doesn't hurt was helping. Blossom shuffled around until she was facing away and her ear half-lifted by itself. Greg still helped out with his fingers. This time she didn't fight him. The examination was just as fast and soon the doctor was stashing his device back in his bag. He brought out a stethoscope next and fixed the ear tips in place.

"Very good, this is the last thing, I promise. The Princess said no blood samples and no gynecological examinations."

"That's correct," Celestia confirmed. It was the first thing she said since she had introduced the doctor and Greg.

"Very well," Dr. Sherbert said and deftly balanced the metal disc of the stethoscope in his hoof. "Deep, regular breaths, now." There was very little chance of that, but the stallion didn't seem to mind. He slid the drum across Blossom's barrel. He held it in place for a while. "Mmm, a little fast, but I suppose that was to be expected," he commented. "Can you cough for me, miss?"

Blossom blinked and turned her head to look at Greg. She didn't know what to make of the request.

"Just try."

She obediently opened her mouth and coughed, just once.

The doctor smiled as he pulled the instrument away and removed it from his ears. "Very good, very good," he praised. The stethoscope went back into his bag and the stallion turned to Celestia.

"She's healthy, as far as I can tell. A bit more muscular than normal, even for an earth pony, but from what you told me that's to be expected."

Greg, who hadn't noticed any such thing, looked at Blossom again. She was quite lean, but he couldn't spot anything else. It showed that he'd never paid too close attention to ponies' bodies.

"Other than that, no illness that I can see, at least without a blood sample. No injuries, but we'd have to do an x-ray to see if she broke any bones in the past. I give her a clean bill of health, Princess."

Celestia smiled with relief. "Thank you, doctor. Once she is feeling better I will arrange the rest, but for now this is good news."

The stallion bowed, slung his bag on his back and headed for the door. "You'll call me if anything changes, right?"

"Of course." He was about to leave when he suddenly grinned and came back. "Oh, sorry! Almost forgot this!"

Blossom was already cringing against Greg in fear of some new medical torture, but the doctor had other plans. He plucked a colorful lollipop from his bag. "I knew I had it here somewhere!" he exclaimed. "It pays to have a little reward for the young ones and it seems it's also appropriate here."

He held out the treat. At first Blossom didn't know what it was, but then she caught the scent and her nose twitched.

"See? Most doctors are quite nice, Blossom."

The mare looked at Greg, then transferred her gaze back to the offered sweet. She reached out gingerly and plucked it from Dr. Sherbert's grasp. Moments later it was in her mouth and she was already crunching it. Just listening to that made Greg's teeth hurt and from the look on the doctor's face he felt about the same.

The stallion got over it quickly. "There, you've been a very brave young mare, miss. Bye now!"

With this he left for real and the only sound in the room was Blossom's crunching of the hard candy.

"You should have just licked that, you know?" Greg commented.

The mare stopped and looked at him with the plastic stick poking out of her muzzle.

"It's okay. Just remember for next time. It'll last a lot longer. Here, don't eat the plastic."

Greg pulled it away. It was already stripped clean. A moment later Blossom resumed chewing and scant seconds after that she swallowed.

"Well, that was some good news, at least," Celestia said. Her face looked troubled and she was staring off into the distance.

"What's wrong?"

"I got a very disturbing report from the scout wing I sent to look for that mine. More than that, the report from my clerks was... let's just say 'lackluster'." The Princess sighed. "I feel like I am not being told the whole truth and I do not like it."

"Want me to take a look at those?"

She smiled at Greg and walked over so he could pat her muzzle. "Yes, but I also do not want you to leave Blossom alone. I will handle things."

"Nonsense. Put the reports on my desk and I'll go take a look at them. I have to do something anyway and Blossom seemed fine in my office yesterday. We even spoke with Star Bright."

"The unicorn?!"

"Yep! He gave Blossom some muffins. I guess that helped."

Both of them looked at the mare in question, but she didn't seem to care what they were talking about, even if it was about her. She was still leaning heavily against Greg, resting after the ordeal of a medical check-up.

"Well, that is good, but perhaps you should not keep Blossom cooped up inside all the time."

"What do you suggest?"

Celestia leaned her head to the side in thought, then her muzzle split into a grin. "How about this: I will go and help Luna handle Court. That way she will be done a little sooner. We'll both join you and Blossom out on the terrace for lunch. It is a very nice day outside, have you noticed?"

Greg looked at the window and saw that it was indeed quite sunny. "Sounds good. Blossom, would you like to have lunch with us out in the sun?"

The mare followed his gaze and frowned a little in thought. Then she looked back at Greg and nodded.

"Good! It's a date!"

Celestia gave him a quick kiss. "Mm, I like the sound of that. It has been too long, Gregory."

She was right. Their weekend getaway hadn't really counted as a proper date with all the socializing they'd had to do, not to mention their encounter on the road. They would have to catch up once Blossom was well enough that she could spend an evening alone, or with someone else.

"I'll make it up to you, Princess."

She winked as her grin widened. "You better!"