//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Delays, Delays 
// Story: The Defective Warp Pipe 
// by Level Dasher 
//------------------------------//

	We managed to get to the library without making much of a scene, but we did earn a few suspicious eyeballs. I was worried that the pony Spike called Twilight would want to make a thorough examination of me when I had so little time to get back home. However, it turned out Twilight wasn’t the one that would delay me…

When Twilight came to speak with me, Spike was ready to translate. However, he seemed to be a little shocked by the words that came out of her mouth. “Personally, Mr. Yoshi, I would love to do a little research on you, but I recognize the expression on your face. You really want to get back home, don’t you?” I gave her a vigorous nod. “Okay. I know a teleportation spell, but it’s only strong enough to go short distances, and it only works within the kingdom of Equestria. If I’m going to be able to get you back home, I still need to do some research to find this Mushroom Kingdom if I’m going to be able to get you there. Getting enough information is going to take some time— I’m guessing at least one full day. Is that okay?”
The fact that she was helping me at all, I was so grateful that I couldn’t say no. Besides, I didn’t know of another way to get back home on my own, so I nodded.
“Okay. I’ll get right on it.”

“Um, excuse me? But I don’t think he should be going anywhere yet.” I jumped as I heard a soft voice behind me, then whirled around to find the pony named Fluttershy at my back. “Mr. Yoshi, you’re injured. Your left leg has a big bruise, and you have a cut on your back. I… I saw it because your saddle was hanging crooked.”
From all the shock of being in this strange land, I didn’t even think to look at my injuries. Now that Fluttershy mentioned it, my back did feel a little odd, but it was nothing major. However, I now knew what that cringing from before was about— my leg definitely didn’t feel as springy as usual. I must have caused some damage when I landed on it.
Spike spoke to me this time. “Yoshi, Fluttershy is the best caretaker in town other than the doctors, and you have at least a full day before Twilight comes up with any answers for you anyway. I think you should get looked at.”
“That sounds alright with me,” I said. “But I want to know as soon as any information comes up.”
“He says he’s okay with it, Fluttershy, but he wants to know as soon as you find out anything, Twilight.” Spike turned his attention from one pony to the other as he spoke.
“Okay,” the two ponies said in unison.

“Um, come this way with me, please,” Fluttershy said to me. I turned to follow her out the door, Spike trailing behind me. I heard him yell to Twilight that he should stay with me so he could translate, and Twilight told him it was a good idea. I also saw Fluttershy sigh with relief. It was clear she was going to need to be able to talk to me, so she needed Spike with us.
I hobbled out of the library into the main square, following Fluttershy’s lead. I tried not to make too much noise, but my leg started acting up and I winced again. When some of the villagers heard me and looked in my direction, I could tell right away that they were becoming apprehensive.
“What’s that creature with Fluttershy?”
“That’s definitely no pony!”
“Is that Spike’s brother?”
“It looks hurt!”
I was a little surprised, but quite glad that they didn’t make too much of a scene. The inhabitants of Ponyville seemed to be curious, but not chaotic creatures. 

I made it to Fluttershy’s home without too much trouble. She had me sit on her couch while she looked at my wounds. First looking at my back, she told me, “Luckily, this is just a minor cut, Mr. Yoshi; it's not very big. I’m just going to clean it out and put a bandage on it— is that alright?” I nodded. Maybe Spike wouldn’t need to do a lot of work after all.
Fluttershy wet a towel and cleaned off the wound, dabbed on some liquid that stung for a second, then applied what I could only assume was a bandage. After which, she straightened my saddle again. “OK, all done. Now could you turn around, please? I want to see your leg.” I did as I was told. I could really feel the pain this time. Uh oh… “Mr. Yoshi, I want to see how much this bruise hurts, okay? Does it hurt when I touch it here?”
“YOSHI!”
“Fluttershy, stop!” Spike yelled. Oh no, I didn’t scream my name in my own tongue unless I was in a lot of pain.
“Oh my… Mr. Yoshi, I barely touched your leg. I think you might have sprained it. How in Equestria have you been walking on it for this long?”

That was a good question. How was I not in more pain? Did the shock of landing in Ponyville really cause me to not feel it for that long? I didn’t like where this was going…
Fluttershy said, “Mr. Yoshi, I want to try it one more time— it could have been a fluke. Is that alright?”
I winced, but I nodded. I hoped I didn’t have a sprain in a strange land where I barely knew anyone. I could feel Fluttershy’s hoof getting closer to my leg, then I felt a slight tap.
“YOSHI!” Oh no. She was right.
“Oh my. Mr. Yoshi, I’m sorry, but you’re going to need to stay here in Ponyville for a while. You definitely have a sprained leg. Let me get some bandages.”

Shoot. Why me? Why now? This timing was horrible.

I saw a little white rabbit hop up to the couch with a roll of bandaging tape. “Why, thank you, Angel! Mr. Yoshi, this is my good friend, Angel Bunny. Angel, this is Mr. Yoshi.”
“Just Yoshi is fine, Miss Fluttershy. Thank you very much.” I gave a small wave to the bunny she had just introduced— a gesture he returned with a smile.
Spike helped me out. “Fluttershy, he said you can call him just Yoshi. And he says thank you very much.”
I saw her blush a little bit. “Okay, and you’re very welcome. I, um, apologize for the circumstances.” It seemed as if she wasn’t used to being complimented on doing something right. I couldn’t tell if that was really the case, but she was clearly the most timid of the group of ponies I had just met. “Angel, didn’t I see a board about this size yesterday? Do you know where it was?” I saw the rabbit jiggle its head up and down very quickly and then hop away. “Um, Yoshi, Angel is going to get me a splint, and then I’m going to wrap up your leg. Luckily, everything else is alright. Unfortunately, that means you really should, um, stay off that leg for at least a week. Probably more.”
Oh NO! I needed to get back to Yoshi Island! I needed to get back to Mario! I couldn’t wait a week! Still… I wouldn’t be much help with a sprained leg, and the ponies seemed to be very friendly. I figured I would be better off. But I needed to find a way to contact the Mushroom Kingdom and tell them I was alright! First things first, however…

“That’s perfect, Angel! Thank you so much!” I looked up and saw Fluttershy with a board in one hoof and the bandages in the other. “Mr. Yoshi, would you please stick your leg out for me? I won’t lie, this will hurt for the first few seconds.” I had anticipated that— I was ready. “OK, Mr. Yoshi, here we go.”
I gave a hard wince as Fluttershy set the splint against my leg. She apologized again as she started wrapping it up. It took about a minute or so, but when she was done, I looked up and saw my leg cleanly wrapped, and Fluttershy standing over me with an apologetic smile. I’ll be honest— it hurt. But the support definitely made it hurt less. I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you very much, Miss Fluttershy.”
“He said thank you very much, Fluttershy.” It seemed Spike was translating a lot of ‘thank-yous’ for me.
I noticed her blushing again. “Oh, um, you’re very welcome. I hope it didn’t hurt too much. Now the question is, how are you going to get around? I’m guessing you won’t want to be bed-ridden?”
I shook my head. I had been wondering that, too. The ponies clearly didn’t use crutches like the people in the Mushroom Kingdom do. I don’t think my arms would have supported crutches anyway. What was I going to do? All my motorcycles and karts were at the racetracks in the Mushroom Kingdom…

Then Fluttershy put up a hoof and exclaimed, “Wait! I, um, I have an idea. Spike, do you mind staying here with Mr. Yoshi for a little while? I’ll be back soon.”
“Sure thing! And Fluttershy, he did say you could call him Yoshi.” I nodded my approval, but she was out the door already. Spike turned back to me and said, “Geez, I’m really sorry about all this. You’re in a bit of a rough spot, huh?”
I nodded and replied, “Yeah, no kidding. Fluttershy seemed pretty happy about her idea, though. Do you have any idea what she’s thinking about? I’ve never sprained anything before.”
“No idea. Most of the solutions she finds involve her forest friends, but I can’t see how they could help you support a sprained leg for a week.”
“You mean she has more little animal friends other than her rabbit, Angel?”
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it…”





About an hour later, Spike had told me most of the advanced aspects of the pony community. It had started with an explanation of Fluttershy’s special way with animals, which led to the mention of her Cutie Mark. This in turn led to the explanation of what a cutie mark was, and the other five ponies’ cutie marks, and that was just the beginning! Spike was just starting on Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes when Fluttershy came back.

As she slowly came through her door, Fluttershy said, “Um, I’m sorry I took so long. It took me a while to find the pony I was looking for.”
Spike asked for the both of us, “Who were you looking for, Fluttershy? What did you think of?”
“Well, um, I was looking for Scootaloo. I asked her if I could borrow this.” She then wheeled in a wagon that looked like it had been modified for downhill racing: a steering wheel had been attached, and the back wheels had been replaced with much bigger ones so they could be reached from inside the top of the wagon. It was perfect!
Fluttershy could clearly see my excited expression, but Spike still had to translate this one: “It’s perfect! That will definitely work for a week or so. But, are you sure I have permission to use this? It looks like it's being very well cared for.” Spike gave Fluttershy the long and the short of it.
“Oh yes, Mr. Yoshi. I told Scootaloo I needed it for an injured friend who would only be staying here until he got better. She said, ‘If he needs a ride, he might as well ride in style!’ and gave me the all-clear. She also said she had taken a break from the wagon and had been more focused on her scooter, anyway, so you have it for as long as you need it!”
I gave Fluttershy a very grateful smile and climbed into the wagon to test it out. It seemed quite large— big enough for two ponies, or maybe three young ones. I was just able to reach the large wheels to give it some acceleration, and the steering wheel worked quite well. I turned to Fluttershy and said, “I would like to meet this Scootaloo and give her my thanks. Where is she?” Spike informed Fluttershy of my wishes.

Fluttershy seemed to be totally fine with me meeting Scootaloo. She said, “I finally found her in the Sweet Apple Acres orchards with the Crusaders, and she brought me to her storage shack to give me the wagon. Let’s ask Applejack if she went back.”
I turned to Spike and asked, “Crusaders?”
He rolled his eyes a little before he answered, “That’s a story for them to tell you themselves. If you’re up to it, ask them when we find them. It may be a longer story than you’re willing to hear. Basically, they’re three fillies, that’s young ponies, that formed a little club, but it’s a bit more than that…”
I nodded, then followed Fluttershy out the door in my new transport apparatus, with Spike trailing closely behind explaining about the aforementioned fillies.