Chapter Ninety-Four: The Definition of Bravery

The sun rose above the horizon, bathing the land below in its rays of warmth. Residents of Ponyville awoke from their slumber, but of course there were those who indulged themselves in sleeping in. Though the equines and other various creatures awoke cheerful and ready to tackle another day, there was a certain dragon who wasn't. Smokey woke up with an elevated fever, his fangs chattering and his lips tinted a bluish color as he shook with chills. Tucking his tail and head inward, he grasped onto the hem of the quilt and hugged it closer to his scales in an attempt to warm up, but with failed efforts.

Stretching and parting her lips in a yawn, Fluttershy lightly kicked the cover of her sleeping bag off of her and sat up.

"Good morning, Smokey," she chimed, getting to her hooves and approaching his side. Taking notice of his trembling, her chipper smile faded. "Are you… oh. Oh, dear. Smokey, are you… cold?"

"F-freezing. M-may I have a-another b-blanket?" he requested as he balled up, taking care not to disturb the lumps beneath the quilt that were Chenoa and Terra Cotta.

"Freezing?" she parroted, bringing a hoof to experimentally feel his forehead. She flinched, withdrawing her hoof just as quickly as she touched it. "My goodness! Smokey, you're burning hot!"

She looked him over again. While she needed to dispel his fever, she was compelled to eradicate his discomfiture first.

"I'll do you one better. I'll draw you a nice, hot bath."

"I appreciate th-that, b-but… is a h-hot b-bath g-good for a f-fever?" he queried, looking over at her with half-laden eyes. While he knew the basics of combating illness, this in particular was something that he wasn't quite sure about.

"The fever is just your body's way of fighting off infections," she explained. "All it's just doing is raising your body temperature to try and kill off the illness by making it too hot to survive. Putting you in a hot bath shouldn't hurt.

"Besides," she continued, "Adding another blanket will make you warmer anyway, and you have the chills. You're all blue in your lips..."

"I-I am?" Smokey stuttered harder, unable to control the rapid movement in his jaw. "A-all r-right. A w-warm b-bath does s-sound n-nice."

After the children were gently transferred to Fluttershy's sleeping bag, Smokey lethargically sat up and slid off of the couch, refusing to remove the blanket. Stepping around the sleeping bag, he sluggishly shuffled into the bathroom, the simple task of walking requiring him to summon all of what little power he had. Fluttershy remained by his side, as if she were concerned it he would fall over at any moment. Planting her beside the bath tub as he reluctantly dropped the quilt and climbed in, she turned on the water. Water heating to the desired temperature, she plugged the drain and allowed the basin to fill as she fetched a loofah, soap, a towel, and a couple of trash bags for his broken wings. Tub filled with the ideal amount of water, she shut off the faucet.

"How does that feel?" she asked, relaxing from the steam rising from the water.

A relieved sigh flowed from the dragon's mouth, relaxing and balling up as he attempted to submerge as much of his body as possible. The hot water warmed him, but he still shook with chills.

"I w-wish I could f-fit my n-neck and h-head into the t-tub."

"You poor dear," the mare crooned. "We can't DIP you in, but I can do something else."

Fluttershy left for a scant moment to retrieve a plastic cup. Holding it in her teeth, she dipped it into the water and brought it above Smokey's head to pour it over his exposed scales. She repeated this a couple of times before setting it down and planting a kiss on his nose.

He exhumed another sigh, immensely grateful for the care he was given.

"Th-thank you, s-sweetheart. I r-really a-appreciate you t-taking care of m-me…"

"You did the same for me when I was sick," the pegasus reminded him. "I just want you to get better, and I'll do everything I can to help you get better."

Exhaling through his nostrils and opening his eyes, he gazed lovingly up at her.

"I never had care like this before…"

"That's because you never had anybody that would care for you. No family. No friends…" Placing herself behind him, the feathered equine draped her forelegs over his shoulders and curled them around his neck. "But you have us now. Me. Chenoa. Terra Cotta. Our friends. We'll always be here for you, Smokey."

"I kn-know," he murred. "You and y-your friends p-proved that w-when you t-traveled a-all the w-way to L-Las P-Pegasus to b-bring me b-back h-home."

The mare responded with a content hum, nuzzling the back of his neck and reaching around and up to kiss his cheek. She couldn't think of much else to say, so she pulled away to grab the loofah and soap. Lathering up the sponge, she slowly and steadily scrubbed his neck, back, his arms, and any part of his body that wasn't submerged or bandaged.

"Let me know if the water gets cold," she spoke up. "We can drain this and add more hot water. I wonder if some essential oils or epsom salts would make you feel better, too."

"We c-can try." The dragon glanced down at the bandages coiled around his mid-section. "M-maybe… we sh-should t-take my b-bandages off a-and g-give m-my I-injuries a s-scrub…"

Fluttershy stared at him as if coming to a realization and steadily dropped her vision to his chest and abdomen, fixating on the bandages.

"… Yes… I… probably should've had you remove those before you got in," she admitted, unable to prevent herself from feeling a sliver of embarrassment for having forgotten this.

"I will r-remove them n-now."

Clawed hands moving to the bandages on his chest, he carefully peeled them off. His ear frills dropped as he winced at the sight of the swollen closed lacerations.

"Well," the yellow equine began, looking over the cuts as he removed more bandages. The plastic-covered wings would be the only parts of him that would be left alone; she would take a look at the sliced fringes and clean the leathery skin later. "On the upswing, those cuts are looking MUCH cleaner than they did yesterday. Question is…" She tilted her head back to meet his eyes, "how do they FEEL?"

"Th-they s-still h-hurt… Th-there s-still must b-be f-fluid in th-them if th-they h-hurt like th-this," he answered, tracing his index and middle finger over the top stitch.

"We need to drain those," she said, gently placing a hoof on another puffy section of skin and scales. "All said and done, these should heal up nicely in time. Though… you might have some scarring…"

"It's f-fine… I'll p-probably l-look c-cooler with a f-few b-battle s-scars. H-how a-about that, h-honey?"

Fluttershy's cheeks changed into a slight pink upon being labeled the pet name.

"I think it'll all go to show ponies my Smokey is brave." She paused to send him a wink. "My big, strong, courageous dragon."

"C-come now. I-I'm not THAT b-brave. I f-fight w-when I h-have to," the draconic being insisted, taking his turn to blush.

"Being brave doesn't have to involve fighting. You risked your life for us." A gentle smile played on her lips, settling a hoof on his upper arm. "Just like you risked your wellbeing to save Sweet Tum. And when you saved me and Chenoa from drowning in that hole. I'd say all of that was quite brave in and of itself."

"I… c-consider it an a-act of k-kindness th-than b-bravery," he admitted, twiddling his thumbs as he eyed the gauze wrapped around his left arm. "I th-think we sh-should get to th-the rest of m-my injuries."

"Kindness… Bravery…" Fluttershy shuffled closer. "Smokey… if it hadn't been for you, Chenoa and I would still be at the bottom of that hole. Sweet Tum would've been crushed beneath those logs."

The mare gave pause, reaching up to take the dragon's muzzle between her front hooves to tilt his head closer to hers in order to touch her lips to his nose.

"I can't ever thank you enough," she whispered, letting him go in order to assist him in removing more bandages.

"L-loving me a-and g-giving me a b-beautiful f-family and w-wonderful f-friends is m-more than e-enough… The d-day I l-left h-has made m-me realize h-how m-much you a-and the o-others m-mean to m-me."

The mare nodded slowly as she ran soapy water over his stitches to ensure that they were clean.

"It's funny, really. How it takes something drastic for us to realize our situation and appreciate it all the more. You don't know what you have until you lose it…"

"You a-are r-right a-about that, d-darling. B-but…" Silencing himself, the draconian tilted his head to meet Fluttershy's vision and brought a hand to her cheek. "W-we don't h-have to w-worry a-about that… W-we're t-together again…"

Leaning into his caress, she brought a hoof up to rest against his hand.

"Mhmm… I certainly hope we don't have to worry again."

She closed her eyes partially, giving him a blushing smile. The scarlet-scaled dragon chuckled with an adoring grin, dropping his head to gently nuzzle her cheek.

"Y-you are s-so a-adorable when y-you b-blush."

"You're too sweet," he mare said with a light shake of her head. "Always so complimenting. You're… wonderful, you know that?"

The dragon's cheeks flushed with a purr rumbling in his throat, dropping a ribbon of gauze onto the pile beside the bathtub.

"Y-you are th-the w-wonderful one."

The mare's cheeks darkened, dropping her eyes to the set of stitching on his recently unraveled arm.

"My poor sweetie…" she crooned, furling her forelegs around him once again to nuzzle him. "A trip to the sauna might work wonders for you, but I don't think you would be okay to travel. I can get some rocks heated up and we could make our own little sauna."

"You d-don't h-have to d-do that. A w-warm b-bath is e-enough. Though… I r-really sh-should keep my I-injuries dry… I c-could g-go back t-to c-curling up on th-the c-couch w-with more b-blankets…"

"We could keep your wounds dry AND make sure you're nice and warm with a sauna!" the mare insisted. "The warm moist air would help open your pours and your nasal cavities and help you breathe better."

"W-well… all r-right. I-if it's n-not too m-much t-trouble," he caved in, nuzzling her lovingly. "I l-love y-you…"

"And I love you, Smokey," Fluttershy whispered, returning the nuzzle as her eyes pooled up. "I love you so very much…"

The draconian felt his heart flutter wildly and hammer against his rib cage. Fluttershy was without a doubt feeling the same sensation. He sounded a blissful purr and administered a more passionate nuzzle accompanied with a lick to the cheek. Resting her head against his, she exhumed a sigh, holding him close. After a short while of basking in each other's comfort, the winged equine drew aback.

"Go ahead and rinse off the suds. I'll get our personal little sauna set up."

Drawing the curtain around the tub, she fluttered out of the bathroom to collect a bucket and rocks, but not before checking on the children and the animals. The little ones were still fast asleep. As were the majority of the creatures. It was still early in the morning and she knew the youngsters, nor the critters, would complain if she would be occupied for a while longer.