Deekin opened his eyes once more, each cyan gem flooded with silent tears. He wasn't angry with the Princess anymore. He just wanted a friend. He wanted to have a better life. It didn't really matter that his magical ability was drastically severed by the shattering of his horn; He was still incredibly adept with all things arcane, and in these last years his power had grown to some fraction of what it once was.

He really could do better. He just didn't know how to handle himself around other ponies anymore... He lived on his own, moving from place to place, and hadn't even spoken to anypony in over five years. He tossed his crimson tail back and forth in apprehension... He would indeed be very socially awkward if he were to go back. He smiled weakly to himself when he came to the conclusion that he'd have to find somebody as shy as he was...

Deekin looked once more down to Ponyville, and then to a small cottage in the distance. Often he would sit atop this mountain and see what he could from his perch, and there always seemed to be a busy-bee mare with a pink mane zipping in and out of that cottage. She must have been very busy.

He began his trek down the mountain peak under the Equestrian moon. It would be a long walk, and he wouldn't get there until morning, but that was just fine. Maybe it was because he was an Alicorn; He didn't sleep on a regular basis.

Perhaps he'd try and make a friend today.

Chapter 2: Hooves of a Healer (Part 2)

Once more, Angel facepawed. Before him, sprawled out on the floor beside her bed was an emotionally overwhelmed creme Pegasus, bawling her big, cyan eyes out. "Angel, I tried, I really did, he was just aslee-" She was interrupted by another wave of chokes and sobs. Angel had tried everything to make her feel better.

The birds sang a song for her, but that only made it worse.

Angel tried bringing her sweets, her photo album, and a wide variety of furry friends to cheer her up, but to no avail. She was determined to dehydrate herself through her tear ducts, and there was nothing he could do.

"I... I... I ca-" She was delirious, trying so hard to speak. Angel parked himself on the floor next to her nose and hugged her as much as he could with his tiny rabbit arms. After several minutes of agonized convulsion, she finally calmed down enough to speak coherently.

"Angel, I don't even know if it was the right thing to do... I mean I 'like' him, but... Oh, no, no, not like that... I need air... I need to go for a walk... or flight..." Bringing herself to her hooves, she wiped her tears from her eyes and looked to the window. Angel knew what she was thinking, and he didn't have any way to stop her, so he just glared at her disapprovingly and pointed to the stairway downward.

Fluttershy took no notice. In less than a second of flying, her head connected with the closed window and she feel back on her flanks, almost ready to cry again. Angel answered with another facepaw.

She opened the window and took off again, this time hitting her head on the window frame. Angel hopped to the window only in time to see the Pegasus fall onto a bush and bounce out to the yard beneath the window... The bush had softened her fall, but she still hit the ground. Hard. She couldn't be okay after falling that fast... She wasn't moving.

Angel raced down the stairs and outside as fast as he could. Bounding off of the doorstep, he turned the corner to see Fluttershy lying on her back, struggling to breathe...

Deekin emerged from the tree line at Fluttershy's cottage and was mildly blinded by the bright morning sun, secretly hoping that she might not be there. He had become pretty shy himself in his years alone, and he didn't know if he could face her yet... That fantasy was crushed when he saw her on her back with a small white bunny trying frantically to help her.

Deekin rushed to her side and looked into her eyes... And they were full. Full of a lot of things. Full of tears, of love... And full of hope that the hooded stranger standing over her might be able to help her... And he would. Her wing was broken, and perhaps her back was hurt, as well as her neck. Deekin didn't have to look at her to see these things. He had a way of empathizing with woodland creatures and knowing what kind of mending they needed... This gift seemed to work for ponies, too.

Angel's distress at the sight of Deekin wasn't helped at all by the green etherial dagger of light that was now being levitated by Deekin's magic. Fluttershy shut her eyes, still unable to speak or breathe properly, and still suffering the sheer agony from her injuries. Her tears mingled with the blood that was trickling down the side of her face.

A soft verdant glow could be seen beneath the purple cloth of Deekin's hood as the dagger began darting wildly at seemingly random spots in the grass around the injured Pegasus, carving out runes of equally random shapes and sizes.

The dagger suddenly ceased to exist, and again Deekin's stump of a horn glowed a soft green. The air around them grew entirely silent as the runes seemed to suck the light from the objects around them and focus it on themselves, glowing a bright blue. Angel clung to Fluttershy's neck, expecting the worst...

Fluttershy looked into the eyes of a grey stallion with a purple hood, scared out of her wits. She needed help. Her wing was broken, her head hurt, and her back might be broken too... She was so scared for all the animals. If she... died... she wasn't going to be able to help them anymore.

She watched helplessly as the stranger's glowing dagger rapidly carved out shapes and patterns on the ground around her and were illuminated. The stranger stood motionless, still looking at her face.

The pain gradually subsided until she didn't hurt anymore, and the runes disappeared. Although she wasn't in any danger, Fluttershy was still in shock after what had just happened. She almost never hurt herself, and wasn't really conditioned to feel pain to any extent.

"Are... Are you..." The quiet, shy voice that spoke stumbled over its own words. Angel peeked at the stranger with one eye open, and was just as shocked as Fluttershy; The quiet voice did not belong to Fluttershy, but to the well-built stallion that stood above her.  

Fluttershy didn't know what to say... so she stayed on her back where she was, looking up into the eyes of her rescuer... Or in her heart's words, her hero.

Neither of them said a word for a very long time, and Angel felt rather awkward being there. Deciding that the stranger wasn't a threat, he jumped happily to the corner of the house around which he peeked back at the two ponies.

"Are you... O-okay?" Deekin spoke again, dropping to his knees at the sound of his own voice. When he hit the 'o' syllable in 'okay,' his voice cracked horribly. Angel could hear a faint chuckle from Fluttershy, and he smiled to himself. This had worked out quite well... Perhaps perfectly. Angel smiled almost as widely as Fluttershy when he saw the grin on her face... It was faint, but it was there. She was a filly again.

The stranger held his hoof to her as if to help her up. "My name... Is... D-Deekin... What's your-" Fluttershy quickly pushed one hoof to Deekin's mouth while lightly biting the other. Another chuckle escaped her lips as she said with new found confidence: "My name is Fluttershy."