There was a brief silence after Rascal asked if Glory could help. Lightly dragging her hoof against the ground, the lithe pegasus was clearly uncomfortable. Unable to stall any longer, she sighed before she was able to meet Rascal’s gaze again.
“Gwowy tink Gwowy kno hao tu hewp Wascaww…Buh nu am nicies…an’ wiww huwties…”
Nearly all the fluffies flinched away as she said hurties, save for Rascal who simply nodded slightly, his hooves holding Angel tightly as the one winged pegasus continued to weep, scared for his friend.
“Wat…wat du Gwowy hab tu du?”
It was hard to explain, as even Glory herself didn’t truly understand it. She’d heard the nice lady at the vet talk about it but wasn’t clear on why it helped. A slew of long and complicated words that the lithe pegasus couldn’t have began to fathom were spoken back and forth between her doctor and Reginald. But from the confusing litany of terms and concepts, Glory did understand one thing the doctor had said, namely that fluffies healed exceptionally fast. But this wasn’t always a good thing, as from the small grating of her carrier, the lithe pegasus had shrieked when she saw a fluffy that was unfortunate to break it’s legs. Without being set properly, they had healed at horrible, unnatural angles, the poor thing in clear pain as it tried in vain to move. Which taught Glory the unfortunate truth that might save Rascal.
“Gwowy kno dat huwties gu way’ fast wiff fwuffies…Buh onwy…onwy if fwuffy’s huwties am taek’n cawe of…Fow Wascaww’s mow’f huwties tu feew bettah…Fwuffies gowna hab tu gib wowstest huwties…hab tu maek sw…sweww’n gu way’…”
“Nu wan gib wowstest huwties tu Wascaww…nu wike…”
“Dat sown’d scawy…”
“…Wat du fwuffies nee’ tu du fow Wascaww?”
“…Wascaww tink Gwowy am sai’n dat mow’f huwties nee’ tu be pop’d…nee’ tu wet ow’t boo-boo juice…”
“Wat?! Nuuuuuuu! Wascaww nee’ boo-boo juice! *huuu…huuu…huuu…”
“It am otay Angew…Wascaww wiww be otay…Gwowy jus’ nee’ tu gib huwties tu hewp Wascaww…Nu cwy nu mowe Angew…Wascaww wuvs yu…”
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…Angew wuv Wascaww tu…”
Rascal beckoned for Pink Berry to escort Angel from the nest, not wanting the poor pegasus to see what was about to happen. Meanwhile, Glory told Evergreen that they would need something to puncture the swollen flesh with, like a stone or a sharpened stick. Leaving to find the tool she needed, her special friend made his way into the woods, with only the lithe mare and Rascal now alone in the nest. Even with the large earthie wounded and on his back, Glory still found herself unnerved without the others around. After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, the wounded earthie finally broke it by speaking.
“Su…hao am Angew hab namsies nao?”
Her eyes widening at the question, Glory yelped, unsure how to answer without angering Rascal.
“Weww…yu see…Gwo…Gwowy nu me…nu mean tu…”
“An hao wong am Gwowy speciaw fwends wiff gween fwend?”
“Wus…wus bwite time wen Wascaww weft…dats wen Gwowy an’…Ebah’gween become speciaw fwends?”
“Ebah’gween am it? Seems Wascaww bin gown wongah den him tink…”
Even battered and bruised, Glory felt threatened by the earthie. Nervously she spent the next several minutes explaining all that had happened in his absence, from the fluffies taking names, to Angel’s attack the day prior. Before Rascal could retort, Evergreen walked back into the next, a small arrowhead carefully in his mouth.
“Ebah’gween findies wat Gwowy nee’ tu hewp Wascaww’s huwties! Nu wowwies Wascaww…Gwowy am su smawt, wike yu! Wiww maek Wascaww feew bettah soon!”
“Tank yu speciaw fwend…Dis wiww wowk gud!”
“Yus…tank yu fow hewp’n… Ebah’gween…”
Slightly surprised to hear the earthie using his new name, Evergreen glanced over to Glory anxiously, the lithe pegasus’ expression matching his own. Desperate to change the subject, and to get the awful task over with, Glory took the small arrowhead over to Rascal, calling Evergreen to join her.
“Otay…dis wiww huwty ba’ Wascaww… Su Gwowy gowna hab Ebah’gween howd yu down an’…”
“Jus’ gets it obah wiff…”
Only nodding to the resolved earthie, Glory had Evergreen press his hooves firmly against Rascal’s front legs. The earthie shifted uncomfortably under the weight but simply took a deep breath and looked away from Glory, who was shaking as she struggled to keep the small, sharpened stone between her hooves. After several false starts, each followed by the lithe pegasus growing too nervous and hesitating, Glory pressed the sharpened edge against the bulbous angry flesh, prompting a muffled groan from Rascal. Unsure if she could do it if she pulled away again, she pressed firm, breaking the skin and rupturing the abscess, with blood and ill colored discharge leaking from the fresh wound as the earthie cried out, his body struggling against his will.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
“Su mani boo-boo juice…am Wascaww otay speciaw fwend?!”
It was clear that just seeing the oozing blood disturbed the green stallion. Still holding the shaking and trembling Rascal, Evergreen struggled to hold him still, wanting desperately to flee the sight of the earthie’s blood flowing freely. Strangely, the display seemed to bother Glory far less.
“Wascaww wiww be otay soon…Wooks bettah nao…Buh mow’f stiww nu am wite…Wowstest huwties am neaw’e obah…”
Now that the wound had been drained, Rascal’s wound looked far better, but now Glory could tell why the wound had looked so bad. The earthie’s jaw was at an odd angle, and like the other wound, if not dealt with, it would never heal properly. Taking her hooves, Glory took hold of Rascal’s jaw, getting a good grip before she shifted it as hard as her small frame would allow, the bone making an awful noise as it was shunted back into place.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
It was a loud and terrible scream, far worse than when Glory had punctured his infected jaw. Breathing hard, it took several minutes for Rascal to calm down, his mouth looking far better and already clotting. The procedure having taken it’s toll on him, the earthie collapsed, falling unconscious as Evergreen made his way off of Rascal, standing next to Glory as the pair looked down at the slumbering titan.
…Nebah heaw Wascaww yeww wike dat…Nu kno Wascaww cud…Wiww Wascaww be otay?
“Gwowy tink su…Mow’f wook su manies bettah…an’ Gwowy put mow’f wewe it gu gain’…su Wascaww shud be otay nao…Dat wus scawy…”
“Nu seem scawy fow Gwowy…Buh Gwowy shud be cawfuw doh…am soon mummah aftah aww…”
The green stallion suddenly hugging Glory threw the lithe pegasus off guard, as she tried to take in what her special friend had said. Soon mamma? She wasn’t a soon mamma?
Not far from the makeshift nest, a pair of men who wore hunter camo were making their way out of the forest, the younger of which seemed annoyed as the elder stifled a laugh. “Fuck you Ralph…It ain’t funny…”
“…You got outwitted by a goddamn fluffy…Pretty funny in my book”
“He didn’t outsmart me asshole…I just left my gear a little to close to the river, that’s all…”
“Well it’s your damn fault we gotta resupply regardless Tom…Still, pretty damn hilarious that a fluffy somehow got your shit into the water…”
“Little shit regrets it I bet…I kicked him what good, heard him scream something fierce when he hit the ground…”
“Still…bothers me that we couldn’t find the little bastard…Just…vanished…”
“Was just luck…nothin’ more old man…It’s just a fluffy after all…”
“Well where there’s one fluffy, there’s more…and with that fancy butler bein’ hospitalized an all, the reward for this fancy pants fluffy he lost will keep us in the green for months…So we resupply and regroup tonight…”
“Good…after the day I had, I’m glad she’s wanted alive or dead…”