Cicada song filled the air as Soarin skimmed the tree tops. He was glad not to have to wear that infernal jumpsuit in this heat. It was too hot and the air density to low to do any real flying. He had two months to himself. Spring air shows long past and summer training concluded. Not that he ever stopped training, he just got to train how he wanted, and today that meant a long distance low altitude flight to his favorite apple cart.

He had started to go around the Everfree forest, but decided he wasn’t up for quite that long of a distance flight. Instead he just flew low and fast over it. He could see Ponyville approaching now, he was almost through Everfree. The forest was starting to thin out by degrees, he could even see a large clearing not far from the forests edge.

The most timid pony in the kingdom had built her house less than a hundred meters from the Everfree forest. Which was, as far as most ponies were concerned, the source of all nightmares. She also ran a charity animal shelter and wildlife rehab center. Why had she picked such a strange place to live and how did she earn a living? The answer was mint, wildcraft mint.

Mint doesn't grow wild in Equestria. Not that it couldn’t, it just didn’t. A sprig of mint couldn’t get more than a centimeter tall before it was smelled out and eaten by a pony, all ponies instinctually loving the taste of mint.

It did grow wild in Everfree though, and Fluttershy had found the motherload not long after falling into the area. It was a long narrow hectare of shallow soil along a low riverbank. A crisp sweet mint grew on one side and a spicy woody mint on the other. The fertile floodplain produced some of the best mint in Equestria, and it was all her little secret; she alone knew how to get to it.

It was a harvest day. A bushel from each side, every week throughout the summer months, would fetch her more than enough bits to support her through the year. She was carefully picking the new growth form the plants and pulling any weeds she found up by the roots. She had finished the woody side and almost had her quota form the crisp side when something caught her eye. A pale blue Pegasus streaked overhead.

Soarin cleared the last tree before the clearing. Looking down he saw a butter yellow Pegasus with hair of pink silk. She stood in a bright green field, looking up at him with big eyes. It was a visage he couldn’t look away from, her eyes entranced him. He forgot the first rule of flying, “you fly where you look”. The ground came up fast, but he was faster. Just a hoof's-reach from the ground, he pulled up. Then something filled his muzzle. He had plowed through not a small amount of the thick wet foliage the covered the ground.

Soarin was one of those unlucky ponies that was said to “have the taste for mint”. That is to say that a thing loved by all was a Sirens call to some. His eyes no longer looked to the sky above the trees, they were firmly focused on the clump of mint that had stuck to his muzzle. The smell overwhelmed him, his tongue lashed out to pull the foliage into his watering mouth. He hit a tree at near top speed.

Fluttershy squeaked in horror as blue feathers exploded from a tree. She ran as hard as she could to get to the crashed pony. He was in bad shape, but he was breathing. Panic set in as she realized she didn’t know what to do. Help couldn’t be brought to him, it would take too long for the round trip. She couldn’t leave him alone that long. She looked around for ideas, dancing in panic all the while.

“Calm down, you know what to do.” she said to herself. She was a veterinarian tech and trained first responder, but that all went out the window at times like this. Breathing intentionally she closed her eyes and imagined what she would do if this was one of her bird friends. Her nerves settled a bit as she thought out a plan of action.

The darkness faded into light that blinded him. His whole body was being rattled, making every bruised and broken rib scream. He tried to look away from the light but found his neck braced and his body lashed down to something indescribably uncomfortable. The searing light started to take shape. A green forest canopy made the noon sun blink at him, each pulse cutting through his eyes and shooting pain into his skull. He was being dragged through a primeval forest on a sled he couldn’t see. The smell of mint registered to him, pivoting his eyes around he realized that on either side of his head were two great baskets of the stuff. So close, yet he had no hope of reaching it.

“So, This must be Hell” He winced as his words echoed in his skill, only enforcing the idea.

The infernal shaking subsided a bit as his sled slowed down. “O’ you’re awake, please try not to move.” an angelic voice instructed him. “You hit that tree hard”

“Who are you, where am I?” He could remember leaving his house for a trip to Ponyville, but everything past that got fuzzy.

“Shhh... Don’t try to talk.” the angel cooed still outside of his vision. “I’m Fluttershy and you had a bad crash in the Everfree forest. Now rest, but don’t go back to sleep.”

Fluttershy could finally see her house, a streak of rainbow colors was flying about it. ‘That’s right, Dash and I were going to have lunch today.’ She called Rainbow Dash’s name, but her little voice simply wouldn’t carry that far. Mustering all her courage she took a deep breath and tried to yell as loud as she could, still not loud enough. She raised up go give it her all when she felt the makeshift sled fall off her back and hit the ground with a thud.

The thud was loud, but the cry of the Pegasus was very loud. “Ahhh!” echoed through the field.

Soarin regretted the reflexive yelp. His head had been splitting before, now he couldn’t even see from the pain. A distorted voice spoke near him, then a second joined it. The pain receded and his vision started to clear. Two mares were looking down at him. One of butter and pink and the other was a familiar face, Rainbow Dash.

Dash hovered above the downed Wonderbolt, looking between him and her friend. “Ugh, Fluttershy, this isn’t like that book 'Misery' you lent me, is it?” Landing between the two she popped a sprig of mint and started chewing it slowly, looking to Fluttershy for an answer.

“No, Dash! I saw him hit a tree while I was gathering mint. I think he’s hurt bad, go get the doctor.”

Dash shrugged and lept into the air, leaving her rainbow contrail behind her as she went to find a doctor.

The butter and pink mare looked down at him again with sad eyes. “You’re going to be ok. Lets get you in the house.” Her voice was soft and caring.

“You’re Fluttershy?” he asked. Making sure the voice from earlier belonged to this face.

“MmmHmm” she nodded with a faint smile.

‘She has a really cute smile’ he thought. Her face vanished from his view and the sled again began to grind along the ground. ‘At least the ground is smoother here’

After a moment sky vanished and was replaced with a panel ceiling. The sled again dropped to the ground, but this time with a gentle motion. He watched the baskets beside his head get carried off, going somewhere unseen. With the wicker blinders gone he could see Fluttershy fetching a pile of blankets from a closet. Carefully she laid them out to make a bed parallel to him.

“I’m going to move you again” the soft voice warned.

The sled lifted and slid on top of the bedding. A uncontrolled sigh of relief escaped him as he felt the makeshift gurney unleash from his body and slide out from beneath him, leaving him on the plush bedding.

“There I bet that much better.” cooed the mare. He smiled in response, his neck still braced. “I’m leaving the neck splint till the doctor says it’s safe though” she continued.

She sat near him and placed something on the floor near him. The sound of sloshing water told him it was a bowl of water. He winced has a warm wet rag brushed a tender wound.

“I know, it hurts, but I have to get the dirt out of your wounds”

The care was painful, but soothing at the same time. She hummed a soft tune as she worked on cleaning every cut and scrape. As a colt he envied his friends whose mothers would dote on them like this. When he came home with a bad case of cloud-rash his mother’s response was always to hand him a little rain cloud and a can of disinfectant spray, with orders of “Go out back and clean up, don’t bleeding on anything.”

A door opened somewhere and a new voice entered the room. It was the doctor they had sent Rainbow Dash to fetch.

Soon the familiar tingle of a doctor’s unicorn magic rippled through his body. It was the same spell that they all started with. It would let them see bone, muscle, and tendons alike; as if he were made of glass.

“Well, no neck injury, the splint can come off. But, you have a mild concussion, several cracked ribs, and you pulled a lot of tissue in your back, muscle and tendons alike. You should recover one hundred percent, but I’m going to ground you for a month. For that matter you’re not allowed to do anything strenuous for a month. no flying, not running, no lifting. Just take it easy and let your body heal.”

Soarin felt the neck splint slide off. Slowly he sat up and looked around. Fluttershy was busy with something in her kitchen, Rainbow Dash stood near the door. He met the doctors eyes. “Grounded, for a month?”

“Yep, and don’t push yourself and treat those wings like new born foals, or I’ll be sending a letter to Spit Fire telling her about how you have to sit on the bench for a season.” The doctor gave him a firm look.

After further examination and a thorough bandaging, the doctor had left; Rainbow Dash quietly went with him. Leaving him alone with Fluttershy in her house. He felt he should probably get up and get to finding a place to stay for a few days before it started getting dark. His efforts to stand and walk quickly made it apparent that he wasn’t going anywhere unaided.

“Dash, Soarin, I have dinner ready.” Her gentle voice called from the kitchen.

“Ugh, Dash left with the doctor” Soarin said looking up at her as she came into the living room baring several plates.

“O’ strange. Dash never turns down a free meal. She must of wanted to talk to the doctor about something in private” The three plates found their way gently to the floor in front of him as she sat down on a cushion near him.

He looked at the meal as the mare seated herself. It was a cornucopia salad, fresh mixed greens with fresh fruits and vegetables of all kinds laid around the edge of the plate and a citrus smelling vinaigrette drizzled with care over the whole. Hunger suddenly bit at him as his stomach growled. Not waiting for his host, he took a mouthful.

She really didn’t think too hard about Rainbow sliding out like she did, and there’s no sense wasting food, her and her guest would just have their fill tonight. Though she wasn’t much for eating on the floor, she knew getting Soarin to the table would be a painful exercise, so she just joined him where he lay. It wasn’t until she looked up from her meal to the sound of Soarin humming in delight as he chewed, that the situation clicked together for her.

The late afternoon sun dimly lit the room where she was sharing a home cooked meal with a handsome stallion in romantic seclusion.