A/N: this is just a silly little idea I had - inspired mostly by The Walking Dead Ponies created by normanzombie - just adorable creative little things!
As always, The Walking Dead identifiable characters and situations are not mine; no infringement is expressed or implied, and are presented here for entertainment purposes only - same goes for the My Little Pony branding
Something was happening, and she didn't like it. A hormone change brought on by stress or scarce food or a combination of the two. She didn't like how her body was feeling, and the closest she could compare it to was pregnancy. When she carried Sophia, the last two months and about six months after delivery she would get the worst headaches. Migraines that would sit behind the eyes and scream at the merest shift in light. She tried everything, from conventional therapies to old wives tales, but the only thing she'd ever found that gave her some measure of relief was a counter-sensation: sour.
The more extreme and intense the better. She'd discovered it by accident once in the doctor's office waiting room. She'd started coughing uncontrollably, and another mother reached in her purse and offered with a sorry all that she had, a super sour military grade candy bomb. Not only did it soothe the coughing, but it had the magical side effect of practically eliminating the migraine she'd been having.
From that day on she stocked her purse with sour candies and at the first hint of one coming on, she pop one or two in her mouth. She looked around her prison cell. There was nothing even remotely sour, candy or otherwise. And she knew there was nothing in the food supplies.
She was starting to get the first flash, a sensitivity to light, soon there would be a blinding pain and she'd have to lay down in the dark quiet of her cell. She walked out onto the perch and looked below to the general meeting area, she'd hoped to maybe catch Glenn or Maggie and ask when the next formula run would be.
She felt the air stir behind her. "Who ya lookin' for?" Daryl came to stand directly to her left, he placed his right hand on the rail directly next to hers. He reached out his pinky and tapped the side of her hand. "Huh? Hey you lost in thought or what?"
"Just looking for Maggie or Glenn, I had something to add to the run list." She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the light.
"They left about an hour ago. They were going to try a different direction, but it was further so they left early."
Daryl was looking at her now, he could tell something wasn't quite right. She put a hand on her shoulder and directed her to her bunk. When she sat down she covered her eyes with both hands. "You need some pain medicine or somethin'?"
"No, that won't help, once this thing starts it doesn't work very well. I need to block the light and lay down for a bit I think."
Daryl rose and secured a sheet over the door. He sat down at the foot of the bed and stared at her a bit. There was genuine concern in his eyes. "So are you okay?"
She gave him the quick version about the migraines. "And there's nothin' that can help?" Of all of his expressions, she disliked his helpless one the most.
"Well there is something that might help, but Maggie and Glenn have already left."
"I need to restock ammo anyway. Just tell me what you need."
She felt silly telling him to find her sour candy, but she did and she added, "the more sour the better." He seemed to take a bit of delight in that.
He removed the red handkerchief from his back pocket and folded it neatly into a rectangle, handing it to her. "Just lay back here and rest with this over your eyes. I might be awhile. Try to stay comfortable and don't move much, k?" He secure a heavier blanket to the door which blocked even more of the light "I'll tell them downstairs not to bother ya, and don't you go looking to go all mother hen either. You just stay put."
He pulled a shawl off the chair next to the bed, and wrapped it tightly about her. She laid back on the bed with his cloth over her eyes and tried to still her breathing. Suddenly, all she could smell was Daryl. It was by no way displeasing, but to her sense-heightened brain, it was too much. She opted instead to pull it to her chest while she buried her head into the pillow to block out the light.
Time shifted for her a bit. The pain was blinding, but she also drifted in and out of sleep. She had no idea how much time had passed when she heard boot falls on the landing. She sat up just as the blanket was pulled aside. Daryl ducked in and allowed the blanket to fall back into place, keeping the light once more at bay. In his hands he carried a plastic shopping sack, relic of a time before. For just a moment, the world felt a bit normal like every thing was just fine, and he was running a simple errand for her.
Daryl sat beside her on the bed and pulled out several packs of sour candies. "These ought to last you a bit," he smiled, quite proud of himself, she could see it in his eyes. He clutched the bag closed, but it looked far from empty.
"What do you have there? Your ammo?"
"This?" He held up the bag then dropped it quickly to his lap. "Naw, this is just a little something for me, nothing special. I best go unload the extra ammo I did find, a little more than this little sack could hold." He smiled and rose to leave. He turned and lowered his head so his eyes could meet hers. "Now don't forget to take one of those, I risked life and limb for ya." A smile cracked the corner of his mouth and he was gone.
The candies had the desired effect, and by morning she felt more like herself. She busied herself with her normal morning routine. She tried to wash the pillow cases frequently for everyone because they seemed to get the dirtiest, so she made her rounds collecting cases from each cell. When she pulled Daryl's pillow forward she was greeted by an adorable pink pony with an orange and yellow flowing mane. She smiled in delight. She knew the pony's name by the three little feathers on its flank, Feathermay. Sophia had been passionate about the ponies, and apparently Daryl was too.
She patted the pillow back into place and set about the rest of her chores with a smile on her face. This is how you fall in love, she thought, the little things...the little things.
