The party at Twilight’s library home was winding down for the night. It had been a great party. Her friends and the Braying Cliffs heroes had quickly taken to the festivities. It was almost a shame Flurryshine had chosen to skip out. Twilight Sparkle had been waiting to see the young alicorn again. She wanted to see her as more than the crippled pony she left in Bright Leaf’s capable hooves after they defeated her during the great storm. It was almost unlike Flurryshine to miss a chance to come see them. Twilight could only giggle as she toyed with the thought that maybe Flurryshine was off having a romantic get away with the nervous Bright Leaf that has such a huge crush on her anyways!

Oh. Oh, how wrong Twilight Sparkle was. Little did the lavender unicorn know, Flurryshine had intended to come to the reunion party. Twilight was right on one thing though. It was Bright Leaf’s fault Flurryshine never made it. The two in question were now tumbling down a waterfall and screaming their heads off. The, oh so klutzy, Bright Leaf had tripped when they reached the edge of the river, this sent the two over the waterfall that the river ended at.
“I…Blame…You!” Flurryshine hissed as Bright Leaf untangled himself from her only to grab her again. His unkempt but strong wings managed to steady their decent, while Flurryshine’s damaged wings just lay limp along her sides.
“Oh come on! How was I supposed to know there was a waterfall?!” Bright Leaf complained.
“Look before you canter for one!” she shot back.
“Ugh….” He groaned as they descended safely at the edge of a pool beneath the gigantic waterfall.

Her bandages soaked by the water, Flurryshine tried to remove them from her broken wings. Bright Leaf sighed as he watched her struggle. Without even fully registering what he was doing, he went over and helped her remove her bandages. Her white wings were disheveled from the constant bandages. Flurryshine sat on her haunches, eased her stiff wings open, and began to preen her tattered feathers. Almost self-conscious watching her struggle to groom her damaged wings, Bright Leaf sat on his haunches and took the time to preen his. The usually unkempt feathers began to look like a pair of presentable wings. The pain in Flurryshine’s wings made it hard for her to open them enough to clean them completely.

Bright Leaf saw her struggling and got up. He slowly nudged her wings open with his muzzle. He cringed when she let out a pain filled gasp or a small cry in agony. He looked over at her face to see her biting back tears as she nodded in thanks to him. Flurryshine began to preen the feathers she previously couldn’t reach. His urge to assist people in pain as a healer drew Bright Leaf to her opposite wing. He cringed as she squealed at him opening this wing ever so gently before softly preening it for her. He was completely lost in cleaning and trying to get the feathers to stay in place. He didn’t even notice Flurryshine finish her preening and looking at him graciously. When he did notice her gaze, he reflexively flushed in embarrassment. This only made Flurryshine giggle softly before she negotiated laying down with her wings still outstretched. She couldn’t fold them now easily either anymore.

She smiled up at him before she grimaced from trying to fold her preened wing. Fresh tears were in her eyes as she slowly did manage to close her wing again. She panted as she felt the pain shoot through her wing. Bright Leaf gulped hard when he knew the wing he had preened would have to be folded too. Flurryshine gasped in pain as he gently guided the other wing into a folded position. Her eyes were streaming tears now. Flurryshine had spent most of her life in torment, but the pain in her wings trumped anything she had ever experienced.

As she cried softly, she felt someone lay beside her. Flurryshine’s tears couldn’t make it down her face before they were lapped up by a sympathetic tongue of another. She glanced at the blushing Bright Leaf. He didn’t notice her gaze, he was purely focused on her tears. He kept lapping his tongue against her cheek until the tears stopped. It was only then he noticed beside the tears on her face, Flurryshine’s was blushing. He flushed a deep shade of mahogany as he turned away from her flushed face. Flurryshine dared to inch her muzzle close enough to give his cheek a lap of her tongue. When he flinched reflexively she quickly turned away and buried her head in her hooves.

Bright Leaf was a deep red in the face when she hid in her hooves. His wings went straight up and his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he gazed across the pool in a daze. Flurryshine looked up and rolled her eyes. He was daydreaming. Judging by the goofy look on his face, she shouldn’t have given him that thank you lick. She sighed as she nuzzled next to him to rest a bit. She was hungry and hurting, but she could wait until after he stopped imagining her or whatever Bright Leaf does when he makes that face. She hoped it wasn’t something she would have to clock him for later on.
“She wants to make foals…” Bright Leaf mumbled dreamily.
“What did you just say?!” Flurryshine exclaimed as her head shot upright.
“H-huh? Oh, hi Flurryshine. …..Flurryshine?! Oh crude!” Bright Leaf screamed as he got to his hooves.
“Oh crude is right! Now exactly who are you imagining having foals with?!” Flurryshine growled as she too got to her hooves.
“N-nobody! I-I mean...you? Gah! Don’t kill me!!!!!” Bright Leaf stammered out as he dodged Flurryshine charging him.
“Get back here!” she neighed as he took to the air.
“I’m sorry. But I’m not coming down until you promise not to kill me,” Bright Leaf said half-frightened out of his mind.
“Fine,” she said coolly.
“Fine? Really?” Bright Leaf asked suspiciously.
“I promise not to kill you,” she said with a genuine smile.
Bright Leaf let out a sigh of relief. The brown stallion landed in front of the mare. He was happy they had resolved this small slip of his tongue nonviolently. It was then he was pushed down on his back with his wings splayed out under him. He gazed into the amethyst eyes of most terrifying creature in both his dreams and nightmares.
“However, I didn’t promise to not beat you to a pulp for fantasizing about me having your foals!” Flurryshine hissed with malice right before the agonizing beating took place.

A few moments later the couple was scrounging the brush for some kind of edible vegetation. Bright Leaf keeping far back from Flurryshine, his head was throbbing from the walloping he received his right eye was blacked from a good left hook. The stallion’s tail twitched as he nibbled like a primitive pony in days of old upon somsome edible vegetation. He looked up from his lunch to see Flurryshine growing frustrated trying to discern what was safe to eat and what wasn’t. Bright Leaf sighed and trotted slowly to her side. With a nudge from his muzzle on her shoulder, Flurryshine turned to see him point to a patch of daisies. Bright Leaf smiled as she gave his ear a nibble before munching on the daisies. It was strange the way this forest was bringing out the worst and best in their relationship.

Bright Leaf grinned deviously as he softly walked backwards a bit. With Flurryshine focused on her daisies, she never had a chance. Bright Leaf leaned his head over the top of her haunches. With Flurryshine distracted she never knew what hit her when a small tickle was on her spine near her haunches. She squirmed and even tried to flick whatever was nibbling on her with her tail. She heard something stumble about next to her after the swish of her long purple blue tail hitting something. She looked up to see Bright Leaf regaining his balance and turn to grin at her sheepishly.
“Do I want to know what you’re doing nibbling on my backside?” she said half laughing, obviously in a better mood after some food.
“Um…I swear it has nothing to do with foals,” Bright Leaf replied.
“It better not!” Flurryshine laughed at him.

The two smiled at each other as they laughed with each other, as the quieted down, they found themselves looking into each other’s eyes dreamily. Not thinking at first, they inched closer to each other until their lips almost touched. As if realizing what she was doing, Flurryshine cringed and side stepped to see Bright Leaf stumble forward at the unexpected loss of his kissing partner. As he came to realize what he had almost done, his face turned a deep red with embarrassment. He shuffled his hooves nervously as Flurryshine turned away to walk off. Her own face was slightly red as she refused to look back at Bright Leaf and vowed to never eat daises again!

The two managed to find an old deer path as they traveled further into the forest. It was a welcome relief from trudging blindly through the wilderness. Bright Leaf stayed close to Flurryshine as the sun began to go down. The forest was much different than it was on the other side of the waterfall. The night seemed much more eerie down here. The sounds of many creatures broke the silence of Luna’s night. Bright Leaf jumped at a snap of branches and bumped into Flurryshine.
“My hero,” Flurryshine mumbled as she rolled her eyes.

The two ventured farther down the path until they came to a clearing. The pitch black night made it near impossible to see in front of them. Their ears were perked and nostrils flared as the kept close to each other. The two slowly inched into the clearing until they felt exposed on all sides. Instinctively clustering closer together, Bright Leaf and Flurryshine couldn’t be closer to each other unless they were the same pony. Taking the chance of revealing them to some hidden creature, Flurryshine summoned a small light at the tip of her horn. They relaxed seeing that they were alone. Bright Leaf trotted in and out of her magical light to collect dried branches. Flurryshine took them graciously as she built a steady base for a campfire. A small spark from her horn lit the branches instantly. Bright Leaf carefully added some tinder in the form of some of the underbrush from the surrounding forest.

The two lay next to each other close to the fire. They wrapped their cloaks more tightly around them as a cool breeze rolled in. Flurryshine noticed Bright Leaf was staring into the fire in a daze. She smiled as she rubbed her head against his. Bright Leaf jumped a bit before he returned her affection. The cool breeze was becoming cooler. It was turning into a night they would have to spend huddled together for warmth.
“If it gets too cold, I’ll make it spring or something,” Flurryshine whispered to Bright Leaf.
“Don’t waste your strength. We will never get out of here if you lose your strength,” Bright Leaf replied as he rubbed his head under her own.
Flurryshine couldn’t help but smile at his words and closeness. She sighed as she said, “It won’t be so bad to be stranded out here with you forever.

Bright Leaf flushed as he smiled softly. The two intertwined their necks as they cuddled closer. The warmth of their bodies and the fire was comforting for the two lost ponies. The mixture of the cool breeze and their own feelings caused their faces to flush. Slowly their wings flexed towards each other. Beneath their cloaks, the wings of the two ponies intertwined feathers the same as their masters had intertwined their necks.

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