Back on Duty

The pink mare in Greg's arms was completely out by the time they reached Canterlot, which only served to prove just how exhausted she had been. Her grip around his midriff had slipped so he was forced to hold her in place. Celestia kept looking over to check on the pair and she always smiled when she saw just how carefully Gregory was minding his sleeping charge.

"If I had known how good you are at this, Gregory," the Princess said, "I would have appointed you a position in my school for gifted unicorns. The first years."

"Oh? Why that?"

Celestia had to giggle before she answered: "The colts and fillies are often frightened and homesick. I'm sure that hug would have helped a lot."

Greg chuckled as well. "Well, if you think it'll help," he offered.

Now the Princess looked thoughtful. "I will actually consider that."

The coach rolled to a stop and corporal Silverwing came around to open the door. He looked at the bundle in Greg's arms, then transferred his gaze to Celestia.

"What should we do about her, ma'am?" he asked. "If you would like, I will call somepony to-"

The Princess interrupted him: "No need, corporal. Gregory will oversee her recovery personally and so shall I." She looked over to the man and asked him: "Should I call for a physician?"

Gregory inspected the sleeping mare's face, then shook his head. "Actually, I think she's mostly fine. I don't wanna risk upsetting her again. Can you just send some food up to one of the guest rooms. I'll try and get her to eat and wash, then I'll put her to bed. We can take her to a doctor in the morning, on a full stomach."

"Good point. Thank you, Gregory. She was afraid of me, so I think I will retire to our chambers. I will come see you in the morning." She was about to leave before risking that the mare would wake up and panic once more, but Celestia paused in thought. "Oh, let me give you this before I go." Sitting back down, Celestia leaned over to plant a very warm kiss on Greg's cheek. "Thank you for doing this. You are a good human, Gregory."

He patted her muzzle and gave her a little wave. "Sleep well."

As Celestia stepped out of the coach, she gave her orders to the guard: "Corporal, please have the kitchens send up a meal to, mmm, let's see. I think Cadence's old room is still made for her - you can take that one for now, Gregory."

"Will do!"

Back to the guardpony, Celestia went on: "After you have done that, go to the Canterlot Medical and ask for Doctor Wellhoof to come to the Castle first thing tomorrow morning." She paused for a second, then added: "Unless he has critical patients, of course."

The guardpony saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" He looked a bit relieved to be given firm orders, but he still glanced in at Gregory and his bundled-up mare a little uneasily. He didn't say it out loud, but Gregory guessed that there would be a few extra guards outside of the room. He didn't really mind. Nothing wrong with taking precautions, after all.

With the Princess gone, Greg slid to the edge of the seat and carefully stepped out, mindful not to bump his head on the door frame.

The mare in his arms stirred and opened bleary eyes. "W- Where-" she started to ask, then yawned. It was adorable and Greg didn't find it difficult to smile.

"Hey, sleepy head."

The mare looked around in amazement and Greg remembered that they were just outside the Canterlot Castle, beautiful and richly adorned. Even Canterlot ponies sometimes felt awed when they saw it from up close.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. Wanna tell me your name?"

Blinking a few times, the mare looked back to him as if she wasn't fully sure why he was holding her. She wasn't gripping him, so Greg had to support her entire weight. She wasn't all that heavy, but he still couldn't keep it up for very long, so he began walking to the doorway.

The two guards posted there looked at one another, then one of them nodded and fell in step behind the human.

"Sweetie?" Greg prompted.

"Um... B-Blossom..." the mare murmured, lowering her ears.

That was good progress and Greg smiled. "That's a lovely name! Are you hungry, Blossom?"

The pony stiffened in his arms and her eyes narrowed, as if she was expecting a trick. She watched his face for a short while, then gave a single, tiny nod.

"Okay, let's get something nice and warm in you, okay?"

"N-No ho-horns?"

That seemed to be her word for unicorns, Greg assumed. He glanced back at the guard who was following them, but fortunately it was a pegasus.

"Um-" Greg began.

"Glory Tail," the guard supplied helpfully.

"Yes, sorry. Glory Tail, could you run ahead and make sure there's no unicorns? I'm afraid Blossom is afraid of them."

The guardpony raised his eyebrow in surprise, but didn't comment. He passed Greg and the mare and sped up, galloping ahead. It also occurred to Greg that Doctor Wellhoof was a unicorn, which might be problematic. He decided he'd send Celestia a message via one of the guards to ask for a different doctor. Hopefully whatever was freaking Blossom out was temporary.

"Did unicorns- horns, did they hurt you?"

Blossom flattened her ears and her eyes immediately filled with tears. She nodded and then buried her muzzle in Greg's damp, dirty shirt. He didn't mind and patted the mare gently on the head. "It's okay, we'll find whoever hurt you and put them in jail, okay? You don't have to be afraid of unicorns around here, understand?"

It wasn't getting through to her. Blossom just wrapped her hooves around Greg more tightly again and was holding onto him for dear life as sobs racked her body. Sensitive topic, Greg thought to himself. He'd have to approach it carefully, or at least mention it to whatever psychiatrist Celestia chose for Blossom. He really wanted to ask her what had happened, but something told him it would be a bad idea. Celestia had been right - get the mare clean, fed and into bed. Hopefully she would feel better in the morning and would be able to provide more answers. One thing did occur to him, however. Whatever it was that had happened to Blossom wasn't a matter of a few days. That kind of fear would only have developed over time. It was still unbelievable that she didn't recognize the Princess, though. Maybe he could get away with just one question. As soon as he got her down, of course. His arms were getting tired and he hurried his step.

It wasn't too much further until the winding corridors finally led him to the room. He hadn't encountered any unicorns, which was probably Glory Tail's doing. Speaking of the guard, he was waiting by the door with another earth pony Gregory didn't recognize. When they saw him approach, the guards opened the doors for him, since his hands were full.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, can you send a message to Princess Celestia and tell her that she shouldn't send a unicorn doctor in the morning? Thanks."

Greg didn't look back as the earth pony guard closed the door behind him, but he heard the telltale whoosh of wings as Glory Tail flew to deliver his message.

"Here we are, sweetie. You'll be staying here for a while, okay?"

The mare was still weeping silently and didn't pay him any attention. Unsure of what to do next, Greg took her to the couch in the outer, drawing room. He sat down and tried to shift the mare out of his lap.

"Nnnngh!" she wailed and clung to him more tightly. Greg cupped her muzzle with a hand and gently drew it away from himself. His thumb brushed her cheek and Blossom licked his palm.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, okay? Just let go, there's a good girl."

It took a bit more coaxing, but eventually he freed himself and Blossom was bundled up in the two blankets on the couch. Greg sat beside her, idly stroking her mane.

"This is the Canterlot Castle, ever heard of it?"

The mare just blinked, as if she didn't understand the question.

"It's where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna live. Do you know them?"

Again nothing but a vacant expression. Greg sighed and gave it one last try. "Princess Celestia is an alicorn. She-"

"Wa-Watches over... um.. all h-her ponies, and... and..." Blossom said in a hoarse voice, closing her eyes as if trying to remember. "-and k-keeps them s-safe."

"That's right! You can trust the Princesses, you know that, right?"

Blossom didn't answer for a while. Eventually she muttered: "No h-horns..."

It was going to be somewhat of a journey, it looked like, but Greg felt like this was a good start. Hopefully an emphatic, trained psychiatrist would be able to get to the bottom of Blossom's fear and find out her story. It was probably going to be awful and Greg's mind buzzed with uncomfortable questions. Had she been kidnapped? Who had done this to her and how long have they kept her? Or maybe she'd been lost in the woods and had to fend for herself - although that didn't explain her fear of unicorns. Was it even fear of unicorns? Maybe she was just scared of horns, which would make sense if nasty wild creatures chased her around for a few years. Anyone in that position would develop an instinctual fear of anything horned.

Greg tried to keep from grimacing when he thought of the next question. Had she been abused? By unicorns? He didn't say any of it, of course, and his hand never left her mane. Screw psychiatrists, the human thought, I'm looking after her personally! Political documents could wait. This was more important.

He became aware of her smell. It fit the theory that she'd been lost in the woods, at least for the last couple of days.

"Blossom, sweetie?" he asked quietly.

The young mare looked up at him from whatever internal world she had been lost in.

"Would you like to take a bath? I'm sure it'll be nice to get clean, and then we'll get a delicious dinner for you, okay?"

She blinked at him in confusion. "B-Bath?" she asked. It sounded as if she didn't know what that was.

"Oh yeah, baths are great! Want me to show you?"

Blossom didn't answer, which Greg decided was a 'yes'. He put his arms on the couch to push himself up, but Blossom squeaked in alarm and lunged forward to wrap her hooves around his leg.

"Hey, hey, I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll stand up and then we'll go to the bathroom together, okay?"

Hopefully once he showed her the tub and the water she would remember, or at least figure out what it was for. Even more fervently Greg hoped she wouldn't mind him leaving the room while she washed herself. Not much chance of that, though, at least going by her recent behaviour.

Luckily Celestia's antics all that time back in his house had prepared him for this, at least slightly. Ponies rarely wore clothes. Being in the bath and washing wasn't a big deal.

Blossom gradually relaxed her death grip on his leg and he was able to stand up. "Come, let's go together," he urged.

The mare allowed him to pull the blanket off and slid from the couch. Her tail was hitched up between her legs and her head was held low as she glanced nervously around. He also couldn't help noticing how she was trembling. Greg made a slow step in the right direction and Blossom followed, her muzzle pressed tightly against his leg.

Just why had she sought protection from him specifically? Most ponies were somewhat uneasy around him when they first saw a human. They were reminded of minotaurs, who had a reputation for aggression and violence. If anything, Greg would have expected the mare to bolt straight for Celestia when she saw her. The Princess - all Princesses - invariably evoked feelings of trust and safety in their subjects. That probably came from thousands of years of being able to depend on their alicorns, Greg thought.

He led the shivering mare to the bathroom, where she looked around in confusion and wonder. It was Cadence's guest suite, so everything was lushly decorated and adorned with gold and gemstones. The bath tub was finest porcelain, built into the far corner and that was where he led Blossom.

"This is a bath, remember?"

Blossom looked at the object, then up at Greg, slightly confused.

"You get in and then warm water comes out of there and you wash yourself. You know how to wash yourself, right?"

Maybe she was embarrassed, or perhaps she truly didn't know what that meant, because Blossom just lowered her gaze to the floor and hunched down.

With a mental sigh, Greg resigned himself to a very much hands-on bath. "I'll help, don't worry. Here, stand up and I'll help you get in."

Blossom didn't move, but he couldn't keep coaxing her forever. After a moment Greg just reached his hands under the mare's belly and picked her up. She didn't resist and just hung limp from his grip. He brought her over the edge and carefully lowered her into the tub. Already she was panting and as her hooves touched the floor there was no strength in her legs. He laid her down as comfortably as he could manage. Then, keeping a hand on her cheek, Greg kicked off his shoes and climbed in with her.

The clothes would be ruined, probably, but that didn't matter a whole lot. He was not going to get naked with a strange mare in a bathtub.

"See? Nothing to it."

Greg sat down in the thankfully spacious tub and Blossom gratefully put her head in his lap. She tried to curl up against him, but she couldn't find enough purchase on the smooth porcelain. Luckily she calmed down once Greg's hand was in her mane once again.

"Good, good. Baths are nice, don't worry. It feels really nice, trust me!"

He tried to sound as cheerful as he could to hopefully reduce her anxiety about the whole situation.

"Now we get a bit of warm water going. Don't be scared."

After a moment's thought, Greg grabbed the shower head and twisted the knob to redirect the water. He pointed it away from them and opened the tap. It took a bit of trial and error before he had it warm but not too hot. Blossom watched it closely, with the air of someone expecting something dreadful to happen. Greg felt how tense she was, but he just moved slowly and confidently. He put his hand in the stream of water, then held out his wet fingers to the mare.

"See? It's just hot water. It's nice."

She leaned closer to sniff it, then licked his fingers.

"See?"

It didn't seem as if Blossom was about to bolt, so Greg brought the shower head and its jet closer to her muzzle. Of course she shrank back, so he just held it there, not touching her but within her reach. He put his free hand in the water again.

"Look, try it. You'll like it, I promise."

In his years in Equestria Greg had yet to find a pony who didn't enjoy a hot bath, or at least a shower.

Blossom looked closely at his face, maybe fearful of a trick, but then she extended a trembling hoof and stuck it gingerly in the water. Her eyes widened and she withdrew after a second.

"Oh, sorry! Is it too hot? I can make it cooler-"

He lowered the temperature a tad, then stuck his hand in there again. He nodded to the mare with a smile and she got the message and extended a hoof again.

This time she didn't pull away, but she lowered her ears and looked up at him pleadingly. "I l-liked it bet-better before..." she murmured almost too quietly to hear.

Stifling a chuckle, Greg couldn't help grinning to himself as he adjusted the temperature again. "Okay? I'll get all of you nice and wet, and then we'll get you clean. Sound okay?"

Having felt the water, some of the fear seemed to have been taken away from the whole ordeal. Blossom nodded slightly.

"Tell me if it's too hot or if you want it hotter, Blossom."

She didn't reply, so Greg carefully shifted the water jet to her back. The mare gasped a little and her grip around his leg tightened for a few moments, but then she gradually relaxed. He made sure to move the shower head slowly. After a few moments he put his hand on her coat and began gently rubbing some of the dirt out. It was pretty well ground in, as if the poor thing had been covered in fine dust or some kind of a powder for years. Maybe she wasn't even that shade of pink and it was just an effect of whatever this was. Greg had only seen something like that when they were building his house and there was this light, fine powder coating everything. Her fur didn't look as filthy from a distance, but that was because the dust was so fine and so thoroughly worked in that it looked like her skin was almost pure white. Three, maybe four lathers and rinses, Greg decided. Luckily Cadence had left some of her personal scented shampoo on the edge of the bath tub the last time she visited. Hopefully she wouldn't mind if they used it up. He'd offer to pay for it when he saw the Princess of Love next time.

Pushing those thoughts out, Greg concentrated on his work. Pretty soon his pants were soaked and his shirt was decidedly damp, but Blossom was nice and wet. Greg rinsed her whole body one more time, following with his hand, then shut the water off.

If anything, Blossom looked disappointed. It was an encouraging sign.

"Now we rub in some shampoo and then we'll do the water again, right? Don't worry, you'll like this too. It smells nice." He was saying 'don't worry' and 'trust me' a whole lot, Greg realized. Hopefully some of it was sticking, at least.

The bottles weren't labeled, so Greg picked a nice, pink one, similar to Blossom's coat, and opened it. He held it near her nose.

"See? Smell this. It's nice," he offered.

It was rose-scented and very mild, although Celestia assured her that pony noses were a lot more sensitive and Cadence's shampoo was one of the more potent ones. Blossom brightened up and tried to lick the bottle, but Greg got it away just in time.

"No, this isn't for eating! Don't try to lick this, okay? I'll get you some food when we're done."

He waited until the mare nodded, ears splayed in dismay. He gave her head a gentle pat.

"I'm not mad, Blossom, sweetie. Just don't eat the shampoo."

That little problem averted, he squirted a bit of the goop in his hand and then spread it across her back. She tensed up under his touch, but then gradually relaxed. It was slow going as Greg didn't want to startle the skittish, bewildered mare. He lathered as much as he could reach. She was lying on her belly, but that could wait until she was a bit more comfortable. There was also the... 'tail area', which Greg was dreading.

He spotted a sponge in a little wire basket on the near wall and took it out. "Good, now we'll rinse with the hot water again. Don't be scared," he reassured her.

This time Blossom didn't react to him opening the tap and she leaned into the jet of water, eager for the warmth. Greg watched the stream flowing into the drain with dismay. It was white and gritty, almost like a very diluted plaster powder.

"What in the hell have they been doing to you?" he muttered.

Blossom lowered her muzzle and sniffed.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

This time the rinse was quicker because Blossom's coat was already wet and she knew what to expect, so Greg didn't have to be as careful. Soon he turned the water off and picked up the sponge. He didn't explain what he was doing and he was glad to see that Blossom didn't try licking the shampoo again. Lathering was easier with the sponge, mainly because Greg didn't feel like he was touching the mare quite as inappropriately. Except there was still a big problem ahead of him. A big 'behind' problem. Greg nearly groaned at the bad pun, even if he had thought of it himself.

"Blossom?" he quavered.

She lifted her head to look at him, ears perking up a little. Greg held the sponge in front of her face.

"I need you to take this and- um- wipe yourself really well... back there."

She blinked, looking at him blankly.

"You know- under your tail. That whole area? It's not okay for me to touch there, so you'll have to do it yourself. Take the sponge, it's not difficult."

This meant she had to stand up, but by now Blossom seemed to trust him enough to take his word. She stood awkwardly on three legs and Greg placed the sponge in her waiting hoof. She looked straight ahead, concentrating, as she reached down with it. Somehow, it was a relief. Greg didn't think she'd be this nonchalant about it all if she had been abused. He relaxed a little and took the opportunity to run his soapy fingers through the fur on her face.

"Don't lick, remember?" he reminded her.

It took Blossom a minute or so and she nearly fell over a few times until Greg supported her barrel with a hand. Then she brought the sponge back out and offered it. He accepted it gingerly, noting with concern just how much grime was on it.

"Good girl. You can sit and we'll rinse again, okay? And then we'll do the whole thing a couple more times, until you're nice and clean and pretty, understand?"

For a moment her eyes sparkled in joy at being called pretty, but then Blossom lowered her muzzle and nodded. She wasn't very talkative, but that could come later.

There was a knock on the door, of course at exactly the wrong time. Blossom gasped and gripped Greg around his waist, and he put a comforting hand on her head in response.

"Don't worry, it's just the food," he told her. "Come in!" he said louder.

The door opened and a maid peeked in. "S-Sir? I was told to bring dinner here."

"Yes, thank you! Could you just leave it on the table? Thanks!"

The mare came inside, a tray floating in the air behind her. At the last possible second Greg grabbed Blossom's muzzle and kept her from looking around.

"It's fine," he whispered to her. "It's just the food. Let's finish our bath, okay?"

She didn't struggle against his grip, except to give a slight nod. Greg mentally cursed himself. He forgot to tell Glory Tail to make sure the kitchen sent a non-unicorn. It had never been an issue before and luckily Blossom didn't see. Even better, the maid was new and apparently a little nervous about seeing humans, so that she didn't linger around and left as soon as the food was down. Greg allowed himself to relax a bit and he released Blossom's muzzle.

"Very good. Now where were we?"

She was thoroughly soaped up and starting to shiver from the chill. Greg nudged the tap to make the water a tiny bit hotter, then turned it on again. This time Blossom brought her head under the jet as soon as it was near enough and she even let out a relieved sigh as the heat returned. Next rinse he would focus on her mane, Greg decided, and he'd give her the sponge for her... rear again. The fact that the water had less of that powder in it seemed to bode well. A couple more times and they'd be done.

Of course that would raise another problem - that of his wet clothes. Greg closed his eyes in exasperation. He would probably have to strip down to his shorts, at least, and then just wrap a towel around himself for basic decency. Princess Cadence probably didn't have any human clothes in her suite, either. If she did, then hers and Shining Armor's marriage was very likely in trouble.

Fetching some clothes for him would be another task for Glory Tail, or whichever guard was stationed outside. For the moment, however, Gregory focused on rinsing out this strange enigma of a mare.

Putting Blossom in bed proved to be an entirely new challenge. By this point Gregory was exhausted, both physically and mentally. All he wanted to do was get it over with and go to sleep. Unfortunately it didn't seem as if he would be allowed his own bed. Getting Blossom to sit on the covers, still wrapped up in Cadence's soft, pink towel was one thing. Getting the mare to ungrasp him was quite another. Gregory seriously believed he would break Blossom's legs before getting free. Still, that wasn't the worst of it. No, the worst bit was when she looked up at him with those eyes, brimming with tears, and her ears lowered, like a sad, sad puppy.

Then she whispered: "Please don't leave me."

Gregory had zero chance of saying no to that. He put his hand on her head and gave one of her ears a gentle scratch. "Okay, okay. I'll just go and tell the guardponies and then I'll be right back, okay?"

Blossom looked just as scared as before, but she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, swallowed, and gave a slight nod. Her hooves around Greg's waist relaxed and fell away. Greg took the opportunity and walked out of the bedroom, through the drawing room and to the door outside. He could hear Blossom's breathing quickening as she was left alone. He would have to make it quick, so Greg opened the door and poked his head out, keeping the rest of him modestly hidden behind the frame. Yes he had a towel wrapped around his waist, and the ponies normally went around without any clothes at all, but Greg still had his sensibilities.

Two guards glanced at him, not even slightly surprised. They had probably heard him walking, even barefoot, Greg guessed.

"Oh, Bright," he recognized one of them, "could you go and let Princess Celestia know I'll sleep in here tonight? She'll understand. Oh, and can you ask someone to bring me a set of clothes from the laundry tomorrow morning?"

The pegasus saluted smartly with a wing. "Sure thing, Greg!" he agreed and trotted smartly away. The other pony, whom Greg didn't recognize right away, just returned his gaze to the far wall, determined to stand at the door all night.

Greg shrugged a little to himself. Some of these ponies took their duties a little too seriously in his opinion. He ducked into the room and closed the door. On his way back he looked longingly at the couch. His first idea had been that he'd sleep there, letting Blossom have the bedroom, but he could already hear her hyperventilating. A few more minutes would take her to total panic.

How had she even survived out there on her own at all?!

"Blossom, sweetie?"

The mare's eyes never left him as he returned to the bed and now she tensed up. Maybe it was a mistake to poke into that right now, but Greg was curious and too tired to think straight.

"Why me? Why didn't you ask the Princess for help. Why were you afraid of her?"

Her eyes closed and her breathing got even quicker. Silently cursing himself, Greg hurried to the bed and sat next to Blossom. Almost immediately she fell on him and hid her muzzle against his bare chest. The weirdest thing in Greg's mind was how warm her tears were. He had expected her face to feel damp and cool, like wet cloth.

No answer, at least not yet. Greg heaved a sigh and patted the poor thing a few times. "Nevermind, it's okay."

Whatever story she would eventually tell would be both intensely interesting and incredibly horrifying, of that Greg had no doubt. He looked around the room for another, easier topic, and his eyes landed on the nearly empty food tray. It was amazing how much Blossom had eaten, especially after he had repeatedly assured her that the food was for her, and that it was okay.

"Would you like some more water before we go to sleep?" Greg asked.

Blososm shook her head.

Greg glanced around again. "Want me to leave the light on?"

This time her head-shaking was more emphatic. "Mmmuh," she whimpered.

"Really?! You'd rather be in the dark?"

He distinctly felt her urgent nodding. Well, that was a bit unusual, but he wasn't about to argue. It'd be a lot easier to sleep without the light. Luckily, the switch was on the wall just above the bed. All it took was a slight shuffle and the room was plunged into darkness. Blossom quickly relaxed.

Greg sighed again and finally gave in. He sought out the edge of the cover with his hand and pulled it open. "Come on, let's get this over with, then."

It took some shuffling, but Blossom quickly understood what Greg was trying to do and climbed under the blanket. She immediately curled up into a ball, after making sure that her back was pressed into Greg's warm belly. In the silence he could hear her breathing gradually slow down. When he put his hand on her side, the mare stiffened, but only for a moment. His other hand sought out her muzzle for a brief pat and he got a friendly lick in return.

"Good night, Blossom."

There was no reply and Greg fell asleep while waiting for it.