Chapter Ninety-Two: The Helpful Visitation

By the time the pair returned, Smokey's eyes were fixated on the lump underneath the blanket that was Chenoa crawl about. He lifted it and stopped her with his gentle clawed hand whenever she roamed close to the edge of his belly, not wishing for her to fall onto the floor and hurt herself.

Pulling the chick to his chest, his ear frills jumped at the sound of the door opening and the subsequent beating of hooves on the floorboards. Attention averting to the mare and filly, he greeted them with a loving smile.

"Did you two have fun?"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Terra Cotta grinned, dancing about in circles. "I 'taw buncha burdis! And skurls an' bunns an' many horn poni lik aniis!"

"It's too bad you couldn't have been outside with us," Fluttershy said. "I introduced her to the woodland critters. They absolutely loved her! She was having so much fun out there."

"That's wonderful!" The red-scaled drake beamed, reaching out to run a hand over the filly's head as she approached his side. "And you'll get to see them every day! What do you think about that?"

"Ayluv it!" Terra Cotta jumped a couple of times. "Ayluv anmals! So cyoot! So fuffy!"

A wide smile spread across Fluttershy's face, a warmth flowing through her. It absolutely made her ecstatic that she was developing the same love she held for animals.

"She was so happy out there, playing with the animals. You should've heard her laughing and singing out there." She trotted closer. Grabbing the hem of the blanket between her teeth, she pulled it off of Chenoa's lower body and issued a loving smile to the infantile. "Hello, sweetie! I'm sorry, but I need to change Daddy's bandages right now."

"Oh! Of course. Terra? Would you mind watching Chenoa while Mommy changes my bandages, please?" he requested of the little filly.

"Uh-huh!"

Plucking Chenoa off of Smokey's chest, she pressed a kiss to her downy cranium and passed her to the earth pony filly. As the child began to play with her adoptive sister, the pegasus proceeded to unravel the dragon's bandages. She grimaced at what was waiting for her beneath the lines of cloth.

"Oh, dear!" she gasped. "This looks awfully infected…"

Disposing of the bandages, she fluttered upstairs to gather up a bottle of peroxide, a collection of cotton swabs, and a variation of medicines. With haste, she cleaned his gaping wounds.

"No wonder they hurt… The fluid inside my wounds must be building pressure and stretching out the tissue." Grimacing, the dragon looked on as each of his inflamed lacerations were drained, cleaned, and dabbed with peroxide. "Thank you for doing this for me, darling. You are the best…"

A smile was brought to the mare's face. Unscrewing the lid from a bottle of antibiotics and multivitamins, she proffered a few of each to the reptilian.

"Go ahead and take these. It's antibiotics and multivitamins, which should help fight off the infection… At least, I hope so."

Wounds drained and cleaned, they were delicately re-wrapped in fresh bandages.

"There you go, sweetie," she crooned, pressing a kiss to his scaly cheek. "Now you just relax and rest up some more."

"Thank you, my dear."

Purr vibrating in his jugular and heart fluttering within the depths of his bosom at the kiss, he leaned in to return it to her velvety nose. Popping the pills into his mouth, he furled the arm closest to the mare to draw her closer to him. As the capsules slid down his gullet, he repeatedly planted soft kisses to multiple aspects of her face.

Nickering, she met his snout with nuzzles and returned a few of the kisses as she slipped her forelegs around his neck. She basked in the attention until a knocking at the door pulled the couple apart.

"Now who could that be?" Fluttershy wondered aloud-Smokey doing the same in silence. Gliding over Terra Cotta's head, she touched to the floor before the door and yanked it open to meet her visitors. Upon recognition, a bright smile replaced her quizzical expression. "Good morning, Twilight and Spike!"

"Hey!" the purple-scaled dragonling greeted, instantly coming forth to hug Fluttershy. The pegasus returned it, patting him on the back a couple of times and the two of them parted. "Twilight told me everything. Glad to see you're not hurt! How's Smokey? … Where is he?"

The familiarity of Spike's voice filled Smokey to the brim with excitement.

"I'm over here, Spike!"

Fluttershy stepped aside to allow Spike passage. A relieved grin tugged at the younger dragon's maw as he toddled to Smokey's side. The mare shifted her attention to the alicorn and the pair exchanged hugs and took up idle chatter.

"I was doing some research on the herb in question. It'll take a while to grow back, and I'm afraid there's not really much else we can do… There's some alternatives, but they're not quite as effective."

"You're back! And… you're…" Spike gave pause as he analyzed the scarlet draconian's current condition. "Wow. Those other dragons really did a number on you, didn't they? How are you holding up?"

The larger draconic being smiled warmly at the smaller, placing his hand on his cranium to ruffle his spines a little.

"I will pull through this. Don't you worry, little brother."

Spike hung his head, not really wanting Smokey to see the extent of his worry. However, the elder dragon was able to pick it up in his tonality.

"I was… When I heard about you, I was so worried, but, it was late. I was glad you and the girls got back all right! I was getting concerned after the third day…"

He was cut off by a small hoof prodding his side. Curiosity driving his actions, he turned his body to inspect the origins of the poking and found an unfamiliar filly

"Huyu?"

"Huh?"

"Terra, this is your Uncle Spike." Smokey gestured his head at the filly, eager to see how they would interact with each other. "Spike, this is Terra Cotta, the newest member of our family. We got her from Pendulum's circus."

There was a brief silence as the dragonling processed this, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Uh, hi!"

Terra Cotta's smile grew wide, and she suddenly rose up on her hind legs to throw her forelegs around Spike in a hug.

"Hi, Uncur Spike!"

The small dragon arched a scaly brow, hesitantly returning the hug before the filly pulled away to prance around him.

"… Hi… Uh…" At a loss for what to say to the child, he riveted his attention to the others. "So, uh, how did she…?"

"She was cared for, but abused by her older sister. We decided to bring her with us and give her a real home. A real family," Fluttershy answered. "Mr. Pendulum even said that Terra Cotta needed to be with a loving family."

"I should have warned you that she's affectionate," Smokey chuckled, his eyes trailing the earth pony.

"She sure is. How old is she, anyway?" Spike inquired, his emerald eyes following Terra Cotta as she described another circle around him. "She looks like she's younger than Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo."

"She is," the pale yellow pegasus affirmed. "She's not too much younger. She's older than Mr. and Mrs. Cake's foals."

Smokey nodded with a proud smile directed at Terra Cotta.

"She has already adjusted to her new home. She's a wonderful big sister for Chenoa and she shares our love for animals!"

A wide grin dawned upon the small reptilian's face, analyzing and acknowledging the filly's euphoria.

"Looks like it! I'm glad she seems happy."

"We are, too. She was so miserable with her old family. Stormy Skies was…" Fluttershy broke her sentence to expel a sigh. "Terra Cotta told us how abusive her older sister was to her."

"Yes…" The mare's companion nodded. "Of course, we'll make sure nopony-nothing-ever harms her again."

Neglecting to check where she was directing her body as she pranced, Terra Cotta bumped into Fluttershy and crumpled against her forelegs. Reflexes responding, the mare caught her child before she could reach the floor. Lifting her into an embrace she nuzzled the girl and planted a kiss on her forehead before placing her back down onto her hooves. Squeal escaping the filly, she resumed her mirthful prancing.

"Be careful, Terra," Fluttershy warned in a warm, maternal intonation. "Don't hurt yourself."

"I guess she's kind of cute, for a filly," Spike commented.

"She's just as cute as Chenoa." The elder dragon then transferred his eyes over to Spike. "And you, little bro."

"Hey!" Spike indignantly exclaimed, going mildly red in the face. "I'm not cute!"

"No," Twilight Sparkle giggled, stepping over to Spike's side and lowering her head to nuzzle his cheek. "You're adorable!"

"H-hey, knock it off!" the lavender-colored drake stammered, stepping aback and into Fluttershy's forelegs, the mare embracing him from behind. Jumping, he attempted to pull away only to find himself trapped as Twilight Sparkle moved in to hug him as well. Terra Cotta, not wanting to be left out, scampered over to throw her forelegs around him from the side. Chenoa let out a laugh as Spike was embraced from nearly every side. Also feeling the urge to join in, the griffon crawled over to the small amount of Spike that was exposed, planted her haunches onto the floor, and lifted her eagle paws up to his mid-section with a mirthful string of babbles. He sputtered a bit, both mortified and flustered.

"… Awww, all right," he said, rolling his eyes. "You girls…"

"You know you love it, Spike," the alicorn princess commented, nuzzling him again. "As much as you try to deny it, you love the attention."

"… I guess I do kinda like being noticed."

"Who doesn't want that kind of attention?" Smokey ribbed as he sank into the couch.

"Who would?" the young dragon inquired while Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Terra Cotta, and Chenoa let go of him.

"You'd be surprised," the violet-coated mare answered, sporting a soft grin. "Give it about ten years or so."

"You will understand then," Smokey contributed before smirking playfully in Fluttershy's direction and sending her a quick wink. This was the causation of the pegasus' school filly giggle. Rosy blush blooming upon her cheeks, she unfurled a wing to partially obscure her countenance in a mixture of bashfulness and playfulness.

"What ever you say, Twilight," Spike said, shaking his head.

"Well, anyway," Twilight Sparkle started, horn glowing and drawing a thick book from one of her saddlebags in her telekinetic grasp. "I wanted to drop off this book. This will give you some alternative plants you might be able to use, but until that herb grows back we obviously won't be able to use it."

Ripping his eyes from Fluttershy, Smokey smiled gratefully at the horned-and-winged equine.

"Thank you, Miss Twilight. At least we'll have something to fight my infections."

"Myself and the others felt terrible that we couldn't find that herb for you. I know the alternatives won't be AS effective, but…"

"We appreciated it," Fluttershy reassured, stepping forth to curl a foreleg around her friend's neck and withers to bring her into an embrace. "I'm sure the book will help."

"Yes, it's much better than nothing." Smokey sighed, he and Fluttershy visibly relaxing upon knowing that they at least would have something to assist his immune system in combating his ailment. "Thank you both so much!"

Twilight Sparkle and Spike nodded almost in unison.

"Well, we need to head out and get some things done," the alicorn informed, levitating the book over to rest upon a nearby table. "We'll come visit again shortly-the others will be dropping by throughout the day."

"Yeah, you just take it easy and let Fluttershy take care of you, all right?" said Spike, a mischievous glint suddenly sparking in his eyes. "I mean, if I were sick, I'd be milking that for all it's worth!"

"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle admonished, directing a condescending scowl down at the young dragonling. He summarily responded with an expression of mild guilt. Pushing out a sigh, the mare shook her head. "Aaaand that's our cue to leave. Come on, Spike."

The couple-as well as the children-quickly recovered from the snap. With the youngsters returning to their play, their adoptive parents dished out another set of grateful smiles.

"Thank you so much for stopping by, you two," Fluttershy said.

Smokey nodded in accordance.

"It was lovely seeing the both of you."

Lifting his arm, he and Fluttershy waved a farewell. Once their visitors were out the door, they relaxed even further. With the knowledge that they had some alternatives besides the antibiotics and multivitamins, they were confident that he would be on his feet and full of vigor. Minds and spirits at ease, they set their full attention on their children, indulging themselves in observing their play.