Planescape: Equestria 7

>You awake to the sound of birdsong and the smell of hot buttered toast.
>A summery breeze twitches the thick curtains.
>Bright sunlight filters dimly through, suffusing the room with a warm glow that is thankfully not strong enough to offend your bleary eyes.
>It feels like late morning.
>You can hear Fluttershy singing softly to herself in the kitchen.
>There is a slight weight on your chest that doesn’t seem like it should be there.
>You raise your head and meet the gaze of a cute little bunny.
“Awww. You must be… Angel? Fluttershy mentioned you.”
>You reach a hand up to pet it, but something in its look stops you.
>It looks distinctly unimpressed, beady little eyes staring an obvious challenge into your own.
>After a brief and inconclusive staring contest it hops rapidly up to your face and commences to slap you until you scramble up, pushing it off you in the process.
>You stand glaring at the bunny, which is pointing impatiently at the blankets and quilts on the floor, tapping one foot.
“…you want me to tidy up?”
>It nods vigorously, still pointing.

>You shrug and start folding up the quilts and blankets.
>The bunny leads you to a wicker work hamper and points emphatically to the top of it.
>You stack the bedding there and it seems satisfied.
>It starts to hop over towards the front door, motioning you to follow.
>It’s pointing to the door knob; maybe it wants to go outside.
>You turn the door knob and open it up wide enough for the bunny.
>It motions you to open it wider.
>Okay…
>It sure is a gorgeous day out there.
>The sun is streaming down from a clear blue sky, birds and butterflies are flitting about Fluttershy’s lovely gardens, everything looks verdant and fresh and beautiful.
>As you stand admiring it the bunny is trying to literally kick you out of the open door, hammering away with one fluffy foot against your ankle.
“…knock that off.”
>Fluttershy comes through from the kitchen, smiling nervously.
“Oh, good morning Anonymous, I’m glad you’re up. I see you’ve met Angel. I hope the two of you are getting along.”
>She beams at the little bunny, who gives her an angry glare in response.
“Sure,” you say. “Cute little guy.”
“Oh, isn’t he? So… we have a little while before we need to leave to meet the girls. Would you like some breakfast? I have hay, or fresh fruit and vegetables, or… seeds…  oh, or bread. I don’t really know what humans eat.”
>She blushes faintly.
“Did I smell buttered toast? I could go for some of that.”
“Oh, yes, I can manage that. And some tea, maybe?”
“Sounds perfect.”

>You follow her through to the kitchen and soon you have a steaming mug of tea and some crunchy thick-sliced toast dripping with butter.
>While you eat, Fluttershy consults you on human dietary requirements so she will be able to provide Mercy with suitable meals.
>She is pleased to learn that porridge will work, since she already has a big batch cooked up.
>She begins to heat some up for Mercy, slicing in fresh fruit and drizzling honey over the top.
>You sit peacefully finishing your tea while Fluttershy takes Mercy his breakfast.
>Out of the window you can see the yellow pegasus pony trotting down the garden path between the flowerbeds to the stable where Mercy is lodged.
>Your head is fuzzy from lack of sleep and there’s a persistent sharp ache in your chest that’s been there ever since yesterday’s fight.
>Still, this is a nice, relaxing moment.
>Angel sits on the table glaring fiercely at you, as he has been doing ever since you sat down.
>His hate only seems to have intensified as he watches you watching Fluttershy out of the window.
“…I don’t know if anyone has told you this before, little guy, but you come on kinda strong.”
>The bunny just keeps glaring, and with a smile you go back to looking out of the window.
>Upon Fluttershy’s return you get up to take your mug and plate over to the sink, wincing a little with the pain in your chest as you stand.
“Anonymous, you’re hurt!” Fluttershy cries immediately.
“It’s nothing worth fussing about. Maybe a broken rib or two.”
“Oh, but that could be serious,” she says in tones of real distress. “A broken rib can sometimes pierce your lungs. Um, humans have lungs, don’t they?”
>You think about telling her no, but nod before you can stop yourself.
“And aside from that, it can lead to chest infections. Does it hurt when you breathe?”
“Only if I breathe deeply.”
“But that’s just it! If you breathe shallowly to avoid the pain, you’re at risk of getting an infection.”
“I’m pretty hardy,” you say with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
>Fluttershy looks you levelly in the eye, and you start to understand how she got three Mercykillers to write her letters of apology and a fourth to follow her around like a lost puppy.
“Take your shirt and jacket off,” she says simply.
“But…”
“Take. Them. Off.”
>Angel is hopping around the table in visible distress, and as you strip to the waist you take comfort in the fact that at least he is hating this.
“Good,” Fluttershy says approvingly. “Now follow me.”
>She leads you into the living room and directs you to lie down on the couch while she pulls out a box of medical supplies from underneath it.
>She rests a hoof lightly on your chest and applies gentle pressure until she finds the right spot, making you inhale sharply with pain.
>She gently feels about the affected area with her hoof, presumably testing the extent of the damage.
>You wouldn’t expect her to be able to feel anything much through her hoof, but then again, you wouldn’t expect her to be able to apply such gentle pressure with it either.
>Or to be able to manipulate objects.
>Something is clearly going on with these ponies’ hooves, come to think of it, so why be surprised by this in particular?
>There’s a pleasant tickling sensation as the velvety yellow coat of her foreleg brushes your chest during her examination.
“Now I want you to take a deep breath,” she says. “As deep as you can. I know it’s going to hurt a bit, but I need you to be brave for me, okay?”
>You grin, holding back a chuckle since you know that will only make your chest hurt worse.
“You got it.”

>You fill your lungs, expanding your chest against Fluttershy’s hoof and causing the expected sharp pain in your rib.
“That’s good. Once more please.” She shifts her hoof a little.
>You do as instructed, and she nods.
“You have three cracked ribs,” she says gravely. “But there’s no danger of internal injury, and they should heal by themselves in about a month as long as you are careful. No heavy lifting and DEFINITELY no fighting, mister. Take normal, deep breaths, even if it hurts a bit. Here, I have some ointment that will help with the bruising and should soothe some of the pain.”
>She roots in her box of medical supplies for a moment and comes up with a tube in her teeth.
>She somehow squeezes a large dab of white ointment onto one of her hooves, and begins to rub it into your chest.
>The stuff is cool and slightly tingly on your skin.
>At first the pressure she’s putting on your bruised and battered chest is painful, but soon the ointment starts to do its work and what she’s doing begins to feel more like a nice massage.
>You relax and lie back, closing your eyes, enjoying the feeling.
>Fluttershy goes on rubbing your chest, making sure that all the ointment is thoroughly worked in.
“Angel, if you can’t stop kicking my leg, I’m going to need to put you outside,” you hear.
>Is it your imagination, or is Fluttershy sounding a little husky?
>Again you feel the slight tickling sensation as the soft fuzz on her leg brushes lightly across your skin, and a smile comes to your face.
“…you’re very tense, Anonymous. It’s no wonder you got injured easily, with your muscles all tight like this.”
>Her other hoof comes to rest on your chest and goes to work in tandem with the other, kneading firmly but gently, easing all the tension from your muscles.
>You don’t remember the last time you felt so totally relaxed. It’s heavenly.
>Then two things happen at once.
>Fluttershy’s door opens, and a hearty greeting of “howdy y’all!” reaches your ears…
>As you emit a throaty growl of pure pleasure.
>You open your eyes to see Fluttershy blushing furiously, frozen in position.
>At some point she had obviously decided to get a better angle for her ministrations by climbing up onto the couch with you, straddling you with a hind leg on either side of your body.
>You look sidelong to where Applejack stands frozen in place, an answering blush on her features.
>Behind her are all the other ponies, similarly frozen.
>Except Pinkie Pie, who prances happily past the rest of them.
“Hi Anon! Hi Fluttershy!”
>She pauses for a moment to take in Fluttershy’s mortified expression and your own poker face.
“Ehehehe, you look silly! Isn’t it a beautiful day today? And we’re going for a royal audience! It’s so exciting. Are you excited? I’m really excited! You’re going to loooove Canterlot, it’s such an amazing city, there’s so many things to see and so many p0nies to meet!”
>While she talks you gently but firmly lift Fluttershy and place her on the floor so that you can stand up.
“Looking forward to it!” you say. “Say, could you pass me my shirt from the floor there? Thanks again for the ointment, Fluttershy, I think the swelling has gone down a bit already.”
“A bit,” Rarity says, smiling wickedly at you as you pull on your shirt.
>Applejack seems to choke on something, and Pinkie goes into a peal of girlish laughter, rolling on her back.
>Rainbow Dash looks awkward and embarrassed and pretty pissed off, blushing almost as fiercely as Fluttershy and glaring off into space without meeting anyone’s eye.
>Fluttershy is taking her time over putting her medical box back where it came from, since that gives her the opportunity to keep her head under the couch for an extended period of time.
 “So what’s the plan, how do we get to Canterlot?” you ask in as breezy a tone as you can muster.
“We take the train,” Twilight says.
“...train?”
“…you know, the train. Big metal carriages on wheels, runs on tracks, steam powered?”
>Sounds like no contraption you’ve ever seen in your life, but whatever, go with the flow.
“Right, the train. Okay. How long will it take to get there?”
“About two hours. I’ve booked our tickets on the three ‘o’ clock train out of P0nyville, so we’ll be in Canterlot just after five. That way we’ll be in plenty of time to get to Princess Celestia’s audience chamber well before dusk, and we still have some time to get you ready before we set off.”
“What sort of preparations did you have in mind?”
“Your clothes, darling,” Rarity says. “No offense, but you look like you’ve been in a street fight and then spent all night hiking through a forest… or something. Leave your outfit with me and I’ll see that it’s washed and mended in time… and I might just be able to make an alteration or two to make it more suitable for a royal court, as well. In the meantime, you can take a nice long bath, or just spend some quality clothes-less time with the rest of the girls here so that they don’t get too jealous of Fluttershy.”
>Fluttershy, who had begun to creep out from under the couch, promptly turns crimson again and returns to her hiding place.
>Rainbow Dash shoots Rarity a dirty look, which is met with a wide-eyed smile of perfect innocence.