//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: A Filly's New Hope // by Mocha Star //------------------------------//         “...and then she magicked me out of the bath and across the lawn!  What’s the deal, Tender?  Can you explain this to me?”         “J-, Tree, please, she has no horn,” she said softly to Tree as they stood outside the door to the clinic room Nova was in.  She listened absently as she played with the stethoscope, “she can’t use magic.  Not only that with no training she has no experience and,” she pointed to her own horn, “I know a thing or three about magic.           “I know you do as well, but honestly, you only use basic magic and even that’s rare since you moved out here.  Just let me handle the magic and you can use those blue eyes of yours to watch over her.  Now, stay calm and just treat her like a normal filly and her wounds are healing fine.  If you can’t handle her, you can always move her to the Apple’s farm.”         “...I-”         “Agh!” Nova shouted with a giggle. “Agh.  Oo~o.  Bla~h-”         “She’s found the fun of talking into it, it seems,” Tender giggled to herself as she peeked into the room.  Nova was lying on her back, stethoscope in her ears and she was making noises into the earpiece.         “Fine, I’ll mull it over.  As long as she’s healing from being almost -eaten-” he hissed quietly, “by another pony on a plantation a days trot from here.”         “Mister Tree, please.  It wasn’t her fault and it seems she’s luckier than most.  I’ve used advanced healing magics on her wounds so they’ll be closed by morning and then you can send her on her way or whatever-”         “Hey,” he replied harshly but quietly, “I am not sending a filly into the wilds on her own!  She’s staying with me and that’s…” he stopped when he notices Tender was smirking and had her eyebrows raised.                  “Is that so, ‘Dad’?”         “She told you about that?”                  “All she does is talk, Tree, and you know that better than anypony here,” she reached and shoved his chest lightly, “it’s just good to know you care so much, even though you don’t have a vagina,” she giggled as he rolled his eyes with a huff. “Honestly though, you know the Apple’s will always take her in if you can’t handle it.”                  “Maybe I can’t,” he said bringing a hoof through his chestnut mane.  He looked at his brown coat and sighed at the darker specks of dirt that still clung to his body. “Maybe I just need to keep her safe until we find her parents or family.”         “Tree, you know as well as I do that she’s most likely an orphan, just… don’t eat more hay than your stomach can handle, okay?”         “Is that a euphemism or advice from the doctor?”         “Both, and I’m a nurse,” she said raising a foreleg and placing it on his cheek, “the whole town’s still here for you.  We’re going to help you get your merchandise replaced and get you traveling again.  It’s what makes you happy, and the whole town knows it.”         “But, now I’ve got a filly to watch over-”         “I’m not a filly,” Nova shouted from the room.         “...we’ll finish this later.  I’ve got a young mare to get fed and whatnot.”         “That’s fine.  Oh, and good job with the bath last night, it meant a lot to her.”         Tree blushed slightly. “Yeah, taking a bath alone is just, well, lonely.”         “You’ve got a heart as big as a horse, Tree.  Just, follow it.”         “Okay, okay,” he pulled back from her hoof on his cheek, “it’s almost mid morning, I’ve got chores.  I’ll collect her and get out of your mane.”         She slapped his cutie mark as he passed.         “Tender…”         “Just reminding you of my name,” she winked.         “I remember plenty,” she smirked as he pushed the door open.  “Nova, time to go, we’ve got a big day ahead of us.”         “Okie dokie!” Nova shouted and whimpered, “I’ll take these off now,” she said taking the stethoscope and dropping it to the floor as she trotted from the room.         “See ya later Miss Tender.”         “Have a great day, Nova!”         …         “Well howdy to the newest Apple on the tree,” Apple said as she met Nova on the path, “Ah’ve been waitin’ a good few minutes fer ya.  Glad ya made it, let’s get ta work,” she said jubilantly as she pronked in place, “we’re takin’ it easy and you’re workin’ with the other children.  They’ll show ya how ta work like an Apple seed.”         “Ha!  I get it,” Nova said looking to the orchard, “will I be over there?”         “Nah, can’t have apples fallin’ on yer heads.  Y’all’re gonna be workin’ the plots and plantin’ seeds.  Still time ta plant and harvest corn so we’re gonna do it, and maybe a bit more.”         “Oh, sounds easy peasy.”         “Heh, eeyup.”         “Young’ns, Nova’s here!”         The other youth stopped their playing and galloped over gleefully, whisking Nova into themselves and taking her away like she was part of a swarm of fish.         “Have fun!  Ah’ll be watchin’ over y’all from right over there.”         The children replied with various acknowledgments.         …         Hours passed and the afternoon approached.  The youth had several snacks and time to play; a blissful change for Nova from the year and a half she’d been a slave.         “Chow’s on!  Lunch spread’s ready,” a mare shouted from a distance away.         Nova followed the other children and around the building, gawking at a large table set up, piled with all varieties of foods and snacks.         Nova stopped running to a walk and looked wide eyes at the table. “Where was this yesterday?”         “Who cares!  Chow time,” a colt said as he passed her in a gallop.         Nova felt drool running down her chin and wiped it quickly as she joined the others in line.  She was handed a plate and balanced it on her head and wasted no time moving it to her teeth and grabbing any and all items she could to fill what her eyes said her stomach could hold.         “Well, some filly’s a bit hungry,” Apple’s mother said from the head of the table.         “Yes, ma’am!”  Nova shouted as she turned and joined the other fillies and colts on the grass, laying the plate on her forelegs, and began nibbling a little of each item, loving each morsel.         “Excuse me, ponies,” A stallion shouted from the path garnering the attention of nearly off the Apples.  Nova’s ears fell to her head and she crawled back until she bumped into a foreleg.                  A large hat fell on her head and Apple’s mother quietly murmured. “Grape Juice,” then trotted away to greet the approaching ponies.