I didn’t think it was possible for a pony to show as much gentle kindness as he did for me

during my recovery.

        Nor did I ever think it was possible for me to feel the confusing emotions that are beginning to build up within my heart.

        Man... What did I get myself in to?

Chapter 4: The Recovery

        “Music... Music? Wake up, we’re here.”

        I groaned and opened my eyes, my vision blurred for a second before I could focus on the building before me. It was this rather large building, and you could tell from the simple yet elegant exterior that it was the home of a rather wealthy pony.

        “Is... Is this y-your home?” I whispered, considering I didn’t have the energy to speak clearly. He looked over his shoulder and offered me a warm smile, nodding slightly.

        “Yes it is. Sorry if it’s a bit small.”

I narrowed my eyebrows and tilted my head. “Are you... Kidding? This i-is the.. Big-Biggest home I-I’ve ever... Seen.” I exhaled, heavy with exhaustion, as I lowered my chin to rest on his shoulder. I was having a hard time keeping my own eyes open at this point, even though I had been asleep the entire way here.

His smile faded and was replaced with sympathetic worry as he trotted to the front door and carefully opened it with his front foot, weary to not move so I don’t have a chance of falling.

Once we were through the door, I picked my head up enough to look around. The house was absolutely spotless. The main foyer consisted of elegant scenery and abstract paintings lined down the wall, and into the main room was a delicate, small living room set. This set consisted of a rather large flat screen, a long soft leather couch that turned to form an L. A beanbag sat to the side, and a glass coffee table was placed in the center.

Across from this room was the large kitchen, which I couldn’t even begin to describe. The counters were a black speckled marble, and the wood of the cabinets was a pale gray. The flooring was a white tile, which contrasted very well with the dark charcoal carpet of the living quarters. There were clean dishes stacked next to the sink to dry, and neat towels were hung on the cabinet drawers.

He brought me through these rooms and down another hallway to the right of the living room. When we came to a closed door, he looked back at me again, his eyes soft but kind. “This is the bedroom I had offered you. I do apologize that it’s rather small, but I can take you once you recover to redecorate it. That is... If you’d like to stay. It is up to you.” His ears drooped ever so slightly towards the end of his statement, and I could tell from the slight dim of his eyes that the thought of me leaving saddened him. And in all honesty, it saddened me too even to just think about it.

I smiled at him and nodded softly, careful not to move too fast to upset my balance. “That sounds wonderful, John. I really do appreciate everything you’ve done and are continuing to do for me.” Thankfully, I had recovered even just a little energy, and could manage to whisper full sentences now without stuttering.

He nodded with a genuine smile. “It’s the least I can do.” With that, he turned forward and pushed the door open with his front hoof. When he walked in and turned on the light, my eyes had to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. When I looked around, my eyes widened to see how big the room was. It was practically the size of the house I grew up in. There wasn’t much in the room, though. There was a full size bed in the corner, and a large dresser on the opposite wall. From the doorway, the wall you faced was actually made out of giant sliding glass doors. There was a thin curtain in front of it, but it didn’t do much to keep out the moonlight.

“This... This room is huge!” He tilted his head in confusion and looked to me with a questioning glare. “This room is practically the size of the entire house I grew up in as a child. If this room is small, I hate to see what you consider big.” He smiled, the corner of his mouth twitching to prevent a laugh.

He looked forward and trotted to the bed, turning so his side was brushed against the mattress. He looked at me from the corner of his eyes. “Are you ready for me to lay you down?” I bit my lip nervously but nodded, trusting him. He lowered his frame to level me with the mattress, and as he rolled his shoulders towards the bed he also used his magic to easily slide me onto the plush mattress. I let out a soft yelp of pain as I landed on my bad leg, gulping back tears. He bit his lip in a an apologetic manner, his ears down as he stood up. “I’m sorry... That was really the easiest and most pain-free way I could move you. It’s kind of hard to move a pony bigger than I am...” He laughed nervously, as a way of lightning the mood.

After curling my legs under my body, much like a cat, I let my wings fall around me. I refused to look at how many odd angles my right wing fell in. I looked up to him, and by the look on his features, he could tell from my expression how much pain I was in. With a shaky breath, he spoke: “I do know a little bit about the pegasus anatomy and first aid, and if you wish, I could attempt to re-set your wing. It will hurt like all hell, but if we wait too long the doctor will have to re-break the wing in order to set it any later than tonight.”

I bit my lip in fear, looking down. When I looked up at him, I found myself nodding softly. I could see the slightest of cringes across his features, because I knew he didn’t want me to say yes. I knew he’d hate having to cause me pain, but we both knew it would help me in the long run. With a long audible exhale, he walked closer and pulled himself up onto the mattress with me. He sat behind me so I didn’t have to move, my right wing practically laying in his lap. I could hear a slight shake in his voice, and I think he was just about as scared as I was about this. “U-Uhm... Are you sure? This is going to hurt... A lot.” I nodded again, laying my head on the bed and squeezing my eyes shut. He let out another long exhale and I felt him nod. “Alright...”

When his shaky hooves even barely touched my wing I let out a loud whimper, and it caused him to hesitate. After a moment, he managed to grasp one hoof around the base of my wing, and the other near the tip. I could hear him loudly gulp, and I tensed my muscles in preparation for the drastic amount of pain I knew I was about to experience.

He slowly breathed in and out about three times before gulping again and whispering to me, “Are you ready...?” I nodded again and bit down on the sheet. “I’m going to count down from 3... And at 0, I’m going to pull your wing back together, alright?” I nodded again, whimpering to get him to get on with it already.

He exhaled. “Three...”

He inhaled slowly. “Two...”

First thing I noticed was that his grip suddenly got tighter, and then I felt a quick, strong pull against both sides of my wing. Not being prepared at all for it, I had screamed out in pain considering it felt like my wing had been ripped off. But what he had actually done was pull it back in to place in one swift tug versus separate ones like I was expecting.

As soon as it had started it was over, and I could feel a deep throb of blood returning to the vessels in my wing. I panted against the bed, my body limp from the setting of my wing. I felt a gentle hoof stroking at my back, and I knew he was attempting to comfort me. I mumbled something, but was too dizzy to speak.

“Shh... You’re probably gonna be dizzy for a bit after that. I’ll be right back with something to help the pain.” I felt my ear twitch in irritation, but he quickly continued to cover what he said. “I would have given it sooner, but re-setting your wing would have nulled the effect of the painkillers because you would have been brought right out of it. That, and it would have taken more time than we had already wasted before we set your wing.” I exhaled and nodded, and I felt him get off the bed and trot out of the room.

A few minutes later I opened my eyes when I heard hoofsteps nearing my bedroom. I noticed that there was a floating glass next to him, and floating pills on the other side. I tilted my head, confused, but just shook my head, summing it up to being too tired and dizzy to be seeing straight.

He approached the bed and set the pills in front of my nose. I raised my head to look at him, and the floating glass was close to my face. I narrowed my eyes at it, staring at it intently. “Why the hell is it floating?!” A complete look of shock swept his face.

“Uhm.. What?”

“Why... Is the glass... Floating?”

His mouth twitched in a way that showed he was trying not to laugh. “Uhm... Unicorns can use magic to float things so we don’t have to hold them... Did you not grow up with unicorns in your village?” When I shook my head, he cringed, thinking he had offended me. “O-Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t know.” I just stared at the glass, almost giving it an evil glare.

“But... It’s a glass... It shouldn’t float... It doesn’t have wings!”

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Uhm, Music... Your body’s natural way of numbing the pain is kicking in and I think it’s making you a little dazed. And honestly, this isn’t going to help either. But it will help the pain, and it will probably help you sleep. Take those pills and use this to get them down. It’s a red wine I’ve had stored in case I ever needed it. It’s a pretty decent brand, and it will definitely help.” I nodded and licked the pills into my mouth, reached forward and taking the liquid as well, using it to push the pills down my throat. I cringed and coughed when the liquid ticked my throat, and nearly spit it out. Once I got it down, I had a sour expression on my face and my tongue was sticking out.

John’s mouth twitched again, and he looked down, deeply inhaling to keep from laughing at my face. Once he managed to compose himself, he looked at me again. “I take it you’ve never had wine before, have you?” I shook my head. He smiled, the side of his smile raised slightly higher. “I can tell.” He set the glass on the dresser on the other side of the room and curled up on the bed with me again. I nuzzled my head against his leg, closing my eyes as I hiccuped softly. He smiled genuinely down at me and softly stroked the back of my ear with his hoof. My tongue lolled out of my mouth as I closed my eyes, highly enjoying the rubbing.

“Are you starting to feel better, Music?” I nodded slowly, hiccuping again. Honestly at this point all I could feel was the dizzy, fluttery feeling in my tummy. Besides that I was sort of numb. I felt his hoof move down to stroke along my shoulder, even running as far down as my back before coming back up in a longer pattern than before. At one point, he came close to my wing and my facial expression had changed slightly, but only for that second. I couldn’t tell, since my eyes were closed, but John was watching my facial expression and did in fact notice the change.

I felt his hoof move by my wing again, but when he did his hoof moved slightly slower. Without meaning to, my expression had changed again, but as before reverted back when his hoof moved away. To my surprise his hoof suddenly grazed against my wing, causing a soft gasp from me. I heard a hm from him, though it didn’t register that it was just a noise of curiosity considering I wasn’t able to think at all at that point. His hoof pressed against the bottom of my wing and was dragged up in a messaging stroke, which combined with the fact that it helped the sore muscles, a pegasus’ wing is also the most sensitive part on a pegasus’ body. The result of this motion was a quiet growl to go off in my throat. I raised my head and sat it across his lap, every muscle in my body relaxing even more to the attention. John did it again, dragging his hoof across the length of my sore wing, and this time a soft moan escaped my lips.

I heard an almost silent, but quick inhale from the pony beside me. But he did it again, slower, as if playing with my reactions. My wing stretched to his touch, as if giving in and making it easier for him to massage my wing. I bit my lip as another moan sounded from my throat, my ears flat backwards against my mane. He rubbed his hoof against my wing again, but pressing harder now that it was easier. He was careful not to press too hard, but was doing a rather good job at massaging my muscles. Though I don’t think he realized what it did to me. I exhaled deeply and moaned again, the core of my body spreading heat through my limbs.

At this point he was continuously massaging my wing, and I was pretty convinced he was doing it on purpose. With each stroke a moan would escape my throat, and I was practically panting by now. The veins in my wing were throbbing, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t for the reason John would think it was. My feathers were fully extended, and I was on the verge of groaning as he continued rubbing my wing. “J... John...” The way my voice came out made me blush a deep crimson because it sounded so desperate when I genuinely was just trying to get his attention.

I managed to open my eyes and look up at him as he looked down at me, an odd glare in his eyes. “Y-Yeah?”

The fact that even though I was still trying to talk and he was still rubbing my wing made this all the more difficult, because at this point it was impossible to hold back the moans or the panting. “Wh... What are... Nn.. You d-doing?”

He tilted his head, just watching me try to compose my features but being miserably unsuccessful at it. When he didn’t respond, I tried to continue. “Y-You’re... Nnn...” He smirked, pressing against a spot near the tip of my wing that seemed to make me moan every time. When he did I pushed my hooves against the bed and groaned deeply, giving him an irritated expression once I recovered. “J... Joohhnn...”

He laughed softly and tilted my chin up with his free hoof, making me look up at him as he kept stroking my wing. “I’m sorry... Do you wish for me to stop?”

I groaned again, completely at a loss for an answer. “U-Uhm... I...” He laughed again, tilting his head. He pressed against that special spot in my wing again and I moaned loudly, arching my back as I exhaled heavily. “Johhn...” He tilted his head the other way with a grin and bent down, pressing his lips against mine mid-moan.

I was surprised and confused for a second, though my inability to think didn’t help. After a couple seconds of not being sure what to think, my eyes closed themselves as I pressed into the kiss as well. Even during the kiss he continued rubbing my wing, and I think he highly enjoyed feeling my moans against his lips.

Though suddenly, something snapped and he quickly pulled away, wide-eyed and shocked. Considering he pulled from the kiss and my wing all at once left me dizzy and confused. Before I could even ask he spoke, “U-U-Uhmm... I...”

I looked up at him, not even caring how completely and utterly desperate I looked. He gulped audibly. “I-I’m... I... I g-got... C-C-Carried... A-Away... I... I’m s-sorry...” His face was burning bright crimson, and he was leaning away. He probably would have gotten up, but I was still partially laying in his lap. I inhaled softly, composing my voice before I spoke.

“I-It’s... O-Okay...” Before I could finish my thought he had cut me off, managing to pull himself from under me.

“N-No it’s not.. I.. No. I shouldn’t h-have even... Ugh...” He got off the bed, turning to face me. “I’m... I’m sorry, Music.. I.. I’ll just let you sleep... Uhm.. I-I’ll see you in the morning...” Before I could protest, he quickly left the room and closed his door behind him with his magic.

I nearly collapsed, limp on the bed. I was dizzy as all hell and could barely even see. Really, in my current state, the only thing I could think was Talk about a kiss and run...