Chapter Eighty-Seven: Love Declared

Tendrils of morning sunshine seeped through what little spaces the canopies of the Everfree Forest allowed, providing a dim lighting in contrast to the usual dark interior. As the mares-with the exception of Pinkie Pie, who was the last to volunteer for the night watch-and children awoke from their nightly slumber, they prepared to pack up. Fluttershy, gently nudging Smokey's cheek with her nose, softly said his name. One of the dragon's ear frills twitched as he picked up her voice. He continued to snooze on. Even though his wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, the beginnings of infection coursed through his veins. After all, he HAD to have gotten them dirty during the scuffle with the other dragons.

"Is something wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight Sparkle queried, sliding her neatly folded blanket into her saddlebag. It had not taken them long for the party to pack up, a still sleepy Terra Cotta and Chenoa placed onto Fluttershy's back as they finished up.

"Smokey's running a fever," the mare nervously answered, feeling the heat radiating from his scales and touching the velvety skin of her nose. "He's really, really hot…"

Several werewolves returned to the campsite with their maws coated with blood, signifying that they procured a successful hunt. One of them dragged with them the leg of a large manticore and dropped it in front of their leader. The alpha didn't hesitate in devouring it.

"Twilight, do we have anything for fevers?" Rainbow Dash asked, placing a hoof gently upon Smokey's forehead.

"I didn't really think about fever reducer, but I'm sure we got SOMETHING." The alicorn rummaged through her other bag where the additional medicine was kept, a wide berth spawning upon her face as she levitated out a bottle. "Yes! I have some generic pain tablets. If we slip him some of these and keep a cool, wet cloth on his head we might be able to reduce his fever a bit for a few hours."

"I'll go find some water," Rarity volunteered, magicking a strip of fabric from her saddlebag. "I have plenty of cloth to spare."

Without even needed to be instructed, one of the werewolves rose off his haunches to escort Rarity to the nearest water source. He knew well enough she would have no idea where to go. He, and the remaining werewolves, also knew that they were running short on time. Their dragon ally would need to get to the closest town as soon as possible.

Once a cool compress was applied to Smokey's head, the reptilian shifted a small bit and slowly parted his eyelids. Vision blurred, he tilted his head to each blotch of color that represented his friends. Stopping at the blob of yellow and bright pink, he opened his mouth to speak, his voice hoarse.

"F… Fluttershy?"

"I'm here, sweetie. Shhhh…" Fluttershy responded in a soothing intonation, running her hoof over the patch of scales to the right of his first cranial spine. "Don't speak. You're awfully hurt, and you're getting sick."

Even though he was instructed not to speak, there was one question he wanted to ask.

"W… where's… Chenoa… and Terra…?" he weakly inquired, wanting his children to be near.

"They're here." The mare stepped back and turned to reveal the chick and filly upon her back, though from Smokey's vision, they were nothing more than a glob of white and rust. "They're okay. They're safe, thanks to you… and the werewolves."

He felt alarmed at the mentioning of werewolves. Wearily scanning the area, he barely managed to pick up figures of various browns and grays. He figured he had nothing to worry about if they were protecting them.

"Are… are we still… in the forest…?" he asked, noting that it was unusually dim.

"We are. We're still miles away from Ponyville, but we'll be home soon." Smiling, the mare shuffled closer to brush her hoof along his face. "Relax. Close your eyes and sleep now. You need to save your strength."

The mare choked, a couple of tears spearing from the corners of her eyes.

"You'll be all right. Don't worry. I won't let anything else happen to you."

A deep sigh slid out of the scaly being as he shut his eyes.

"How… are we going… to get me… home?"

Before any of the equines could answer, the alpha werewolf-now finished with his meal-slid his head underneath the scaly being's body. The dragon groaned in pain, obviously possessing some internal injuries, as he was positioned on the canine's back.

"You're going to be carried, silly," Fluttershy replied. A weak smile forming upon her lips, she leaned in to nuzzle his hand once and press a kiss to the back of it. "We're going to get you to a doctor as soon as we can."

"I just hope we can find one that can help. Though, we'd likely be better off swinging by Zecora's," Twilight Sparkle commented, recalling that neither the local doctor OR veterinarian could treat Spike when he was suffering from greed-growth. If the doctor couldn't, then the zebra was their best alternative.

"Yeah, one that can look inside of ya. Sounds like you got some injuries we can't see," the prism-maned pegasus stated, referring to the groaning he made when the werewolf lifted him onto his back.

"We have no time to lose," said the alicorn. "We need to get going. Now."

Fluttershy dragged her snout over the dragon's hand again.

"Do you hear that, Smokey? We'll be home soon… Hang in there…"

Smokey lethargically nodded, forcing a smile for her, the children, and their friends. As the mares turned to fall into position behind the alpha male, each of them were swept up off their hooves and hoisted onto the backs of six of his pack-mates. Each of them were startled at first, but were becalmed as the realization of what was going on descended upon them.

"Hoo-wee!" Applejack exclaimed with a glint of excited anticipation sparked in her eyes. "This is unusual."

"It's not what I would call riding in style…" Rarity mused, her dark blue eyes dropping to the head of the werewolf she was seated on. "… But, it's better than walking."

"And it'll totally get us home faster!" Rainbow Dash pointed out, digging her hooves into her werewolf's coarse fur.

"Ya got that right!" the apple farmer concurred, kicking her hooves into the canine's sides. "Yee-haw! Git along now-Y'ah!"

The beastly canid whipped his head around to issue the equine an unamused and quite irritated expression, which she responded to with an awkward grin.

"Heh… Sorry, sugarcube," she apologized, patting the thick fur of his neck.

Demanding the attention of his comrades, the alpha werewolf snarled and gestured his snout to the left, signifying they would be heading in that direction. Taking off into a fast gallop, he led his back off. The creatures were naturally built for non-stop travel over distances that stretched for many miles. Reaching into the stores of energy pulsing through their muscles, the pack was able to get the fellowship to their destination in a fraction of the time it would have taken them without assistance. Grouping at Fluttershy's cottage, the mares took a look at Smokey's lacerations. His fever had gotten worse and the skin surrounding his wounds had swollen up with a discharge of pus and fluid.

Inside, Angel was curled up into a ball in the middle of the living room and rocking back-and-forth in a nervous wreck. He had invested days searching for Chenoa, and, of course, he never found her. At the moment, he was waiting for the inevitable return of his caretaker and the scolding of a lifetime.

The door burst open, and there was a flash of light from the doorframe, a silhouetted figure standing there fleetingly. Fluttershy rushed in, Chenoa on her back and Terra Cotta at her side. Twilight Sparkle, utilizing her magic, carefully lifted Smokey inside from the werewolf's back and onto the couch, Rarity and Pinkie Pie following from behind.

"Is there anything we can do?!" Rarity despaired, as she cast a quick glance at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, the two mares rocketing off towards the hospital to drag over a doctor, for fear they would likely exacerbate Smokey's injuries.

"Get some herbs and berries from the back room," Fluttershy ordered. "And some extra cold cloths and compresses from the freezer. I need a needle and some antiseptic!"

"Got it!" Pinkie Pie said, her usual happy-go-lucky demeanor now gone, as was Fluttershy's otherwise shy persona. Smokey's condition having steadily worsened had only tempered their resolve to make sure he received proper treatment.

Angel's eyes sprung wide open at the sight of Chenoa on his owner's back, completely flabbergasting him. He wondered how in the world did she ever find her. Apparently, that wasn't important right now. As the yellow mare handed out instructions, he observed as the dragon was tended to. He was glad they managed to get him back, but he couldn't help but mentally question what happened to him.

As Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle carried out Fluttershy's orders, the pegasus didn't even seem to notice Angel at all as she took one of the reptilian's hands in both of her hooves.

"Please hang in there, Smokey…" she whimpered. "Please hang in there…"

Feeling fairly useless and wanting to stay out of the way, Terra Cotta decided to distract herself with the first thing she saw, which just so happened to be the white rabbit. A few responding groans escaped from Smokey's half-conscious form. Twilight Sparkle rushed upstairs to retrieve the quilt from Fluttershy's bed to drape it over the shaking dragon.

Squirming on Fluttershy's back, Chenoa burbled, wanting to climb onto Smokey the instant Terra Cotta left her. Gazing up at the rust-coated filly, Angel stared at her with a confused expression, befuddled as to why there was a second child, but he didn't complain.

Ears perking at the infant's babbling, the young mare reached behind her to pluck her off her back and place her on Smokey's chest with a deep sigh. Feeling the sudden weight on his chest, the dragon groaned and his eyes opened as he became more aware of his surroundings. He saw that the concerned mare had been about to remove the baby, but he shook his head to non-verbally reassure her that the chick was fine where she was. Despite the pain, his desire to have his daughter near him outweighed the discomfiture.

"Here, darling." Rarity wandered in from the kitchen, cold compress and cloth in a bubble of magic. Stopping at his side, she wrapped the cloth around his neck and placed the compress on his forehead. "This should hopefully make him feel better…"

"I got some medicine!" Pinkie Pie declared, hopping down the stairs with bottles sticking out of her mane. "I think they're expired, though."

"Throw them out, then," Fluttershy said, not diverting her vision from her child and dragon. "I have some tea in the kitchen we can brew; some special blends from Zecora that might help."

Shrugging, the pink mare bounded into the kitchen.

"Mami? … Mami, who dis?" Terra Cotta called to her adoptive mother, pointing to the leporidae in front of her.

"…?" Distracted, the addressed mare glanced over, a small smile finding its way to her. "That's my Angel, sweetie. Angel bunny, meet the newest member of our family, Terra Cotta."

"Eain-ga," the filly spoke, returning her eyes to the rabbit. "Pri-ti bun-ni."

Angel blinked and arched a brow at the child's speech impediment for only a second before basking in the compliment. He always thought he was a dashing fellow.

"I can fly over to the pharmacy and get something," Rainbow Dash piped up, fluttering over to the other pegasus' side. "What do you need?"

"Anything to combat fever, pains, aches, sores-strongest medicine they have available," Fluttershy replied. "I'm thinking dosages rated for ponies aren't cutting it. We might need a double-maybe even a triple-dose, but… too much and…"

"We could be doing more harm than good," Twilight Sparkle finished.

"Exactly. And I can't take that chance. I… love him too much…"

Nodding understandingly, the rainbow-haired mare rocketed out of the cottage towards her destination.

Ear frills perking at the mare's final words, Smokey felt his heart flutter wildly in his chest. Placing a hand on Chenoa's back to stroke her down and fur, he gazed up at the equine with adoration and admiration. This did not fail to escape the notice of the alabaster unicorn.

"Um, Fluttershy?" Rarity spoke up, leaning in to nudge the mare, attaining her attention.

"Hm?" Fluttershy hummed, her eyes wide with confusion.

"… I think he heard you," the fashionista responded with a smirk, tilting her head into Smokey's direction. This caused the yellow pony to rivet her attention back to the dragon in alarm, her face hot with a blush.

"We're friends…" he said, grinning from ear frill to ear frill. "Friends are supposed to… love each other…"

Fluttershy pursed her lips. Tearing up, her bottom lip quivered as she shifted closer. A tear spilled down her face as she realized she had nearly lost him twice, and she still hadn't revealed to him her feelings.

She had to tell him. She had to tell him now, or she thought she might lose the chance.

"Yes, but… Smokey… I…" She was interrupted with a choked sob. "It's not that. I… I love you."

With no hint of a warning, she closed the gap between them to press her lips against his. Holding it, she slid her forelegs around his neck while making certain not to squash their baby. Smokey thought that declaration of love was platonic up until now. It happened so fast-a tidal wave of emotions crashing over him. Love, shock, and an overwhelming euphoria. For that short time, they felt the world aside from the two of them phase out of existence.

"… ttershy? Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!"

Startled, the mare broke off the kiss. Pulling away, she spun her head into the direction of the voice to find Applejack with a pony at her side in a medical uniform.

"Ah… brought help."

Even after the kiss ended, the draconian was still in a stunned-yet mirthful-state. He wore the biggest grin he had ever sported, his tail thumping against the arm rest and back support of the couch and his heart racing and hammering against his ribcage. He was in an entirely different world at the moment.