Morning eased onto the duo with the sounds of birdsong and scampering creatures in the underbrush. Bright Leaf woke before Flurryshine to a frosty morning. The ground and even themselves were covered in a light frost. Even the fire, that had gone out while they slept, had some frost on it. Bright Leaf slowly eased his head from under Flurryshine, careful to set the alicorn’s head gently on the ground. Flurryshine made a small noise in her sleep at the touch of the cold ground, but did not wake. She was warm to the touch. It was comforting to have her there with all this frost nearby. Bright Leaf slowly moved his wing to untangle his feathers from where they had intertwined with her wing. Flurryshine did not fuss in her sleep even once as he did so. Bright Leaf had learned over time that his natural inclination to move slowly and carefully made him less likely to disturb her than other ponies tended to.

When he was back on his hooves, he took time to tuck her cloak closer to her body. He wanted to make sure she would stay warm enough without him there while he went in search of something to eat. Flurryshine seemed fine without him as she snuggled into her own cloak. She was truly a seasoned adventurer. Not even this cold seemed to bother her as Bright Leaf walked off to find something edible.

Bright Leaf found himself stumbling aimlessly through the forest. Out of all this vegetation you would think it would be easy to find a nice patch edible plant life. Sadly, this part of the forest was rough and harsh. One look at the plants around him and he could tell they would probably make them sick before they fed their bellies properly. Bright Leaf trudged onwards and didn’t notice a series of vines around his fetlock. His hooves became entangled and he quickly went tumbling down a hillside. Dangling in midair amongst a myriad of vines, Bright Leaf cursed his luck. If Flurryshine found him like this she would laugh her plot off. He could almost hear her laughing now.

Bright Leaf glowered down below him where he could’ve sworn he heard laughter. To his surprise, there was a pony laughing at him; and that pony was on a road! Oh Bright Leaf thanked his clumsiness for blundering upon civilization! The pink earth pony below him giggled as he struggled in the vines. He gave her a sour look as he dangled there. She was a pretty pony. Not as tall as him, but a very cute little pale pink pony. Her silvery locks hung in ringlets on her mane. Her matching tail had a pale blue bow at her dock. She continued to giggle sweetly at him for a few moments more.
“Um, as funny as you find it to see me dangling here, could you assist me?” he asked in voice that was a cross between agitated and polite.
“Oh! Yes, I’ll have you done in a jiffy,” she replied in a voice that sounded like a series of tiny bells.

The mare placed her forelegs on the hillside as she glanced over the vines tangled around Bright Leaf. She smiled before she began to nibble on one wrapped around his stomach. Bright Leaf fought back some laughter as her teeth tickled his underside. Snap! The vine was chewed through and he fell like a ton of bricks on the tiny earth pony. The mare squeaked in surprise as he grunted on impact. As the two raised their heads dizzily to find Bright Leaf lying on the downed earth pony’s back, a voice spoke in a bored tone from above them.
“You having fun down there?” said the voice that sent a cold chill down Bright Leaf’s spine. He didn’t want to look, but he slowly turned his head toward the voice to see Flurryshine’s glare.
Bright Leaf scrambled to his hooves and tripped backwards away from the earth pony on his haunches. He ducked his head under his front hooves as he squealed, “It’s not what it looks like! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!”
“Bright Leaf, I heard you fall. Stop acting like you’re actually guilty of something. You there, who are you?” Flurryshine said before turning her attention to the mare.
The pink pony squeaked with fright at the vicious, but usual, glare Flurryshine wore before she said,” Um, I’m Thistle. And…Y-you are?”
“..Your name is a wild plant that cures aliments? Right, I am Captain Flurryshine of Braying Cliffs,” Flurryshine said in a bored manner. Bight Leaf had no doubt she said her full title because she secretly had to be angry about finding him on this mare, but he was more surprised she had a bucking clue that thistle had medical purposes!

Flurryshine leapt from the hillside to the road with ease. She walked over to assist Bright Leaf up, who had his jaw hanging in shock still. She grabbed his cloak in her muzzle and yanked him to his hooves unceremoniously. Bright Leaf made a gruff noise at the rough treatment. Flurryshine didn’t say a word as she turned to face Thistle. She glowered down at the normal sized pony, which was greatly shorter than her. Thistle hunched down low on the road as she stared fearfully up at Flurryshine.
“Thanks for saving my clumsy companion,” Flurryshine said flatly before she turned to head down the road. Thistle almost fainted on the spot at the fact that’s all Flurryshine was going to do.
“Um, yes, thank you. Do you mind directing us to the next town?” Bright Leaf said as he came to comfort the overly frightened mare. Thistle only pointed a shaky hoof the way Flurryshine was headed and made a noise between a gasp and a squeak.
“Bright Leaf, stopped smooching your girlfriend and come on!” Flurryshine said from the distance she had already made from the other two. Bright Leaf groaned before he nodded in farewell to Thistle and galloped after her.

The couple followed the road in silence. Bright Leaf dared not speak a word. He couldn’t be sure what had caused it, but Flurryshine was exuding a particularly lethal aura. He felt the slight slip of the tongue or hoof out of place would end up with him stranded somewhere no pony would ever find him. But, he had to break the tension. If they were going to a pony settlement, it wouldn’t be long until they made it back home. The last thing he needed was Flurryshine in a foul mood with him when she had a brigade of soldiers at her disposal. He visibly shivered at his exaggerated mental image of Flurryshine’s fury. Then again, this was the mare that tried to lock an entire town in eternal winter he was thinking about. Bright Leaf steeled himself for any kind of retaliation he would receive. He gulped as he turned to face her. One piercing glare was shot back at him, and his courage faltered. He stared at her as he began to shake in fear.
“Well?” Flurryshine said in an irritated voice.
Bright Leaf gulped again before he stammered,” D-did I…Did I up-upset you?”
“No,” she said flatly and looked back ahead of him. This was bad, she only spoke in one word sentences to people she didn’t care to talk to. He had to have done something!
“If it’s about Thistle I-,” he tried to explain.
“It’s not about that half-witted mare!” Flurryshine hissed with a glare. Bright Leaf yelped, stumbled back a bit, and laid his ears back.
“…Are seriously doing this? Are you really doing this now?” Flurryshine said in a bored tone.
“Doing what?” Bright Leaf asked as he walked back up to her side.
“Acting like some terrified rabbit would in the clutches of some wolf,” Flurryshine replied.
“I-I not trying to! That is a good representation of our personalities, but I swear I’m not!” Bright Leaf stammered.
“…My stomach hurts,” Flurryshine stated before walking onwards, leaving Bright Leaf standing there in a confused state.

Bright Leaf regained his senses and cantered up to her. Flurryshine seemed less grumpy at the moment. Her ears were flopped low on her head, her gaze looked like she was in a daze, and she stumbled a bit as she walked. Then it hit Bright Leaf. She was sick! He examined her closer as she walked. Her gate was irregular, her face was flushed, and she wasn’t glaring at him for staring to hard at her to notice these things.
“Flurryshine, did you eat anything when you woke up this morning?” he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.
Flurryshine flinched at the strange voice before she said,”Y-yeah. Some plants growing in the forest along that obvious trail you made in the underbrush.”
“Flurryshine, I was looking for food. None of those plants were edible,” he replied with concern tinting his serious tone.
“Ugh, now you tell me,” she said as she stopped a moment to wretch.

Bright Leaf offered his side for her to lean on. Flurryshine graciously took it as she staggered along while they headed onwards to the town. She heard not sound of complaint from Bright Leaf. Not even a tiny grunt at having to practically carry them both to this distance town escaped his muzzle. His face held a serious expression as he trudged on. Flurryshine began to relax while she leaned on him when her stomach churned on her. It felt like it was twisting into knots and doing backflips. She gagged as the urge to vomit hit her, only to leave her giving a few meager dry heaves. Bright Leaf stopped to give her a few moments to get ahold of herself. She almost collapsed has her vision became hazy. Bright Leaf moved to catch her, but Flurryshine steadied herself. She was panting heavily as a cold sweat broke out across her body.

Bright Leaf guided her to a shady patch of grass along the side of the road. Flurryshine roughly fell on the grass as she panted and wretched at the urge to vomit again. She grunted in frustration as she glared at the ground. Bright Leaf eased closer to her and placed his hoof on her stomach. It tensed and he barely dodged a swift hind kick meant for his muzzle. He gave Flurryshine a reproachful glance and stamped his hoof. Flurryshine matched his glance with a glare of her own as she gritted her teeth. With a huff she rested her head on her forelegs and allowed Bright Leaf to win this round.

Bright Leaf sighed in relief at her reluctant submission. He thanked his lucky stars she trusted him enough as a healer to allow him to touch her. He placed his hoof over her stomach again. It churned at his touched and Flurryshine cringed. It was nothing for it. She had eaten something she shouldn’t and now it was twisting her stomach. Bright Leaf sighed knowing she wouldn’t like his diagnosis.
“Flurryshine, I’m going to go get something that will make you vomit,” he said flatly.
“No you’re not!” she shouted back before succumbing to the throws of her stomach pains.
“If you want to stop that ache in your stomach you will,” he scolded.
“F-fine…Just do it already,” she groaned as she curled in on herself in pain.
Bright Leaf got to his hooves and nuzzled her before he began to walk back into the forest. He stopped a half-step into the forest to say, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With that said, he was gone. He didn’t stay to hear her respond. Flurryshine wouldn’t have replied anyways. She watched him leave through a pain filled glare. She then laid her head down and closed her eyes. Her stomach churned relentlessly as Flurryshine tried to rest. She focused her thoughts away from her stomach. Her thoughts were with Bright Leaf rushing through that forest to find whatever he felt could induce vomiting.

Bright Leaf tore through the forest on surprisingly deft hooves. Any ledge or tricky underbrush was no obstacle for this pony on a mission. He landed in a cloud of dust on an old deer trail. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air around him. His ears perked as he looked to his right. Like a bullet, he shot off down the path in a full gallop. He stopped short at a small green plant growing near a stream. It looked like an ordinary plant at first glance. But, Bright Leaf knew this plant well. The plant would cause Flurryshine to vomit and will not cause any other ill effects. Bright Leaf carefully harvested the plant and hurried back down his trail.

Meanwhile, Flurryshine was struggling to sleep in the shade. That insistent flapping of wings nearby wasn’t helping. She growled as she opened her eyes and glared at whatever was making the racket. She turned to be face to face with a blue dragon. The creature was a big beast. He stood taller than most cliffs back home. The beast didn’t seem to like the glare she had given him. It roared in her face, causing her mane and tail to stand on end. It reached out its clawed hand to what looked like he meant to squish Flurryshine.
“Crap…” Flurryshine commented at her situation.

Next Chapter: Caution: Dragons May Induce Vomitting Estimated time remaining: 5 Minutes