[MLP] Equestria at War: The Return of Friendship

Chapter 5: A Gentle Soul

(Y/N) slowly opened his eyes with a groan as light flooded his vision, forcing the stallion to blink several times. He was laying in a simple leather cot inside some kind of large tent lit by a few lanterns scattered around. Sitting up, he quickly realized he was not alone: Most of the cots were taken up by other Equestrian soldiers... though judging by the fact most of them had blood-stained bandages wrapped around various parts of their bodies... they were the less fortunate victims of this war.

This was an Equestrian Army field hospital. (Y/N) scratched his head, wondering how he got here. His scratching led to him wincing as he felt a small bump on the back of his head.

(Y/N): "Oh, right... rifle to the head.. not fun." He slowly sat up and swung his hind legs over the edge of the cot and stood up, stretching his back as his ears straightened up hearing a familiar, soft voice speak from the other end of the tent.

????: "I really would advise against leaving so soon.. you took an awful nasty hit, but... i-if you really need to go, I won't stop you."

(Y/N): 'I recognize that voice...' He thought to himself as he spun his head toward the direction of the voice, as his suspicions were confirmed.

Leaning against a small wash basin stood the Element of Kindness herself, Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a notoriously shy female Pegasus with a pale, light grayish gold coat, moderate cyan eyes and a long pale, light grayish rose mane and tail. Her cutie mark was three butterflies with cyan bodies and pink wings. The effects of the war on her were obvious: her usual long pink mane was instead tied up in a messy knot behind her head. Her tail was done in a similar fashion. She had light dark circles under her cyan eyes, indicating she had not rested herself in a while. Her attire consisted of a simple, messy white shirt rolled up at the elbows. Over the shirt and her body, she had a stained black leather apron tied around her waist and neck. An untied face mask hung from her neck. The armband around one of her forearms had a red cross stitched onto it: A medic... or a doctor?

Fluttershy was wiping her fore-hooves off with a towel as she stood on all fours again, setting the towel onto a desk. She merely glanced over her shoulder as she spoke. Did she not recognize her old friend after all this time?

(Y/N) blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes to see if he was imagining things. His mouth stood agape at the sight of the animal lover-turned-medic.

(Y/N): "F-Fluttershy?"

The yellow-colored mare only glanced briefly before looking back to the desk.

Fluttershy: "Yes.. you should be all set to return to your unit now. Fortunately, that nasty bump on your head will heal on its own, but please try to be more careful from now on."

(Y/N) winced slightly at the mare's semi-robotic response. But as he looked around at the other wounded soldiers.... he could see why she might be a bit occupied right now. He shook his head, thinking it best not to interrupt her while she was busy, slowly walking towards the flaps serving as the tent's doorway until he came to a stop, his ear twitching.