Chapter 2
Luna’s head was resting securely in her hoof. Through half-lidded eyes, she surveyed the dining room of the inn. Last night had been atrocious; she wasn’t used to sleeping during the night, and had spent most of the night laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. She’d managed to fall asleep a mere hour before she was roughly woken by Copperhoof.
The crazy colt had insisted they come downstairs for breakfast. So amidst grumbling from her, she had accompanied him out of the room, not even bothering to fix her mane. Now she sat at a table, a steaming mug of tea in front of her, and trying to not fall asleep. Smacking her muzzle on the table, while it might wake her up, was not how she wanted to start the day.
Copperhoof, was the complete opposite. He was wide awake and rested, ready to take on the day. A bowl of oatmeal was sitting in front of him, being devoured.
Taking a sip of her tea, and silently wishing it would hurry up and take effect, she watched him. He was a curious pony, sticking up for her last night. He didn’t have to take her in, pay for a hotel room, he could have easily left her in the alleyway.
From what she’d seen of the ponies last night, she was pretty sure any of them would have left her. So, what was it that made Copperhoof different? It could have been his time working in the castle, maybe things weren’t as bad there as she thought. But, he could also just be that kind of pony.
She swirled her tea, mornings were terrible. Copperhoof should be ashamed to be this spry so early. It was barely even light... Light... Celestia was still awake it seemed. Luna wondered what she was doing right now, probably about ready to crash if all that drinking had told her anything.
A voice broke her out of her reverie. “Alright, Clover. I’m going home. It’s a few days from here, just past the Foal Mountains.” He paused, waiting as she blinked and lethargically raised her head to look at him. “Now, it’s obvious you’re not going to get far here on your own. So, I’m offering to take you with me. Or, you can stay here, on your own.”
He was certainly forthright, and blunt. Perhaps with more sleep, she could appreciate that. However, right now it was taking all of her mind to process what he’d said.
After several seconds, it clicked. He had mentioned a family last night, though she hadn’t thought about why they went to an inn instead of his house. It would appear that his family lived elsewhere. Since he no longer had a job, there seemed little reason for him to stay in Canterlot.
She really had two options: she could decline his offer, and stay in Canterlot, or she could accept, and travel with him to his family. Though only one of those options was actually valid. She had no money, she knew nopony other than him, and she knew very little about this time period. If he was offering, then she’d be a foal not to take the chance.
That, and if she was to figure out how to get back home, then she’d best perform such complex magics away from Celestia. Here in Canterlot, there was too much of a chance she would sense something and investigate. Not to mention a plethora of prying eyes, any small slip up and she might end up in a dangerous situation.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized there was no thought involved. “If you’ll have me along, then I would be glad to accompany you home. Thank you.”
“Very well then.” Copperhoof glanced to her tea. “Hurry up and finish, the sooner we’re on the road, the sooner we get there.”
“What about your belongings here? Do you not need to pack them up?”
Copperhoof scowled. “The castle provides full living quarters for servants and residents. All I’ve got is this bag of bits.” He dropped the limp bag on the table between them. “And by bits, I mean two.”
So returning home wasn’t exactly a choice for him, either. It was the only thing he could do. Two bits wouldn’t get them anything, they’d be stuck hoofing it, and foraging for food and water along the way.
“Very well,” she nodded. Talking and moving was doing a lot to wake her up. It didn’t take her long to finish her tea, draining the rest of the mug. It was a shame to drink it so quickly, but Copperhoof seemed impatient. As soon as she set the mug back onto the table, they got up and left. There was no reason to stick around any longer.
The clouds from last night had been cleared away by the weather pegasi, leaving a view of a sun that was far too close to the horizon for her tastes. With nothing to pack, and no money to buy anything, they were able to simply start heading out of town, towards the city gates and the path winding down the mountain.
They walked in silence for a time. Very few witnessed their passing, only a few lone souls were already up and about, but they paid little heed to the odd duo. The guards let them past the gates without incident. Luna felt as though something should have happened, she felt like she was sneaking out of the city and thus should have been caught, but it never happened.
There wasn’t much of a view, outside the city gates. There was a gigantic bridge spanning the waterfall that came from up on the mountain to their left. Luna remembered setting the first stone to that bridge, many years ago, along with her sister. She brushed a hoof across the railing, remembering.
Eventually, she turned her eyes from the spectacular waterfall towards their road. After the bridge there were trees that instantly sprang up. It wasn’t dark, like the everfree, yet the shallow shadows promised relief for her eyes. She contemplated shaking her hoof at the sun, but decided against it after a glance to Copperhoof.
If she remembered her geography correctly, this path winded straight down the mountain before splitting. One path would lead to the eastern coast, they would be taking that one. The other would lead to Las Pegasus on the west coast, it would only be a small town now. In a few hundred years, that western path would have another split created, and it would lead to a newly founded Ponyville.
The forest would not last long, it was more of a copse of trees anyway. They weren’t there in the future time of Equestria, having withered or been cut down during her imprisonment. Most of their trip would be through rocky terrain until they hit the grasslands at the bottom. Then, they would soon hit the Foal Forest in the foothills of the Foal Mountains. If they made good time, they would be able to reach the bottom of Canterlot Mountain before dark.
As they began down the path, Copperhoof took a deep breath of the open air and grinned. Luna watched incredulously as he reared and took off at a gallop with a whinny. Just as she was deciding that she needed to chase him down, he ground to a halt and spun around.
He gave an embarrassed chuckle as she approached at a canter. “I apologize, I got carried away. It’s just exciting that I’m finally heading back home to my Ginger Snap and little Granite. It has been too long.”
Luna tried to hide a smirk, but as he turned and continued forward with an obvious bounce in his step, she couldn’t help but smile outright. The stallion was clearly head over hooves for his mare. She wondered if there was truth to the words, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.
She sighed, it had been so long since she’d been with anypony. It had been many years before her fall that she’d had a stallion grace her bedchambers. For the longest time prior to Nightmare Moon, she had shut herself away from the world, stallions included. She missed the feeling of a stallion curled up next to her, caressing her, whispering in her ear how beautiful she was...
So entranced was she in her memories that she didn’t notice the rock in the path until it was too late. Suddenly, her hoof caught on something, and she found herself pitching forwards. Her muzzle smashed into the dirt path, though she didn’t really feel any pain from it.
“Clover!” A frantic Copperhoof called. “Are you alright?” His strong hoof on her shoulder helped lift her up.
“I’m fine,” she said. She’d suffered far worse than a simple trip before. As an Alicorn, she was more sturdy than the other races, so something simple like that was nothing. Even in her disguise, she was more than durable.
She could see Copperhoof directly in front of her, inspecting her. “Hmm,” he said. “You seem okay. I don’t even see any bruising or bleeding on your muzzle. How’s your hoof?”
She placed it on the ground. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She took a few steps, to prove her point. That he would worry over an Alicorn so was laughable. She could sustain enough injury to kill him, and keep going.
“Really?” He looked her over. “No bruising, not even a sprained ankle? You are one lucky pony, Clover. That fall looked like it hurt.”
If she didn’t have strict control over her body, Luna would have paled. How could she be so stupid? Alicorns were far more physically durable than the other races. What would injure regular ponies, she could shrug off. What would tire them out, she could continue going on.
Copperhoof brought up a point that she hadn’t thought of. Her disguise was an illusion, nothing more. She still retained all the attributes of an Alicorn. Her magical power, and durability, were still the same.
This time, she’d be seen as lucky for not getting injured. What about the next time, or the time after that? This time would be lucky, but subsequent times, she’d be accused of something darker. Foul magicks, maybe. She still wasn’t sure what this time’s view on magic was, but considering some of the magic she used as Nightmare Moon, she wouldn’t be surprised if the general attitude was against magic.
Her disguise, it needed to be absolute. She needed to perfectly blend in as a regular pony, or in this case, a unicorn. To that order, she needed to be able to act as a unicorn would in any situation. That included physical pain and exhaustion.
She smiled nervously and reached up to shake out any dirt in her mane. “I suppose I got lucky,” she said evasively.
Thankfully, Copper did not pursue the issue. Grunting, he turned away and trotted on down the mountain. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Luna followed.
They were going to be walking along the road for several days. Even as an earth pony, Copperhoof would get tired. Luna, though, wouldn’t. At least, not at the same rate as him. But, she would be expected to tire quicker than him, simply because she was a unicorn. Somehow, she needed to ensure that she tired, and hurt, just like any other unicorn.
Her mind worked as they walked the path down the mountain. How was she going to accomplish that? She knew that there was illusion magic she could use, similar to her disguise, but it wasn’t perfect. It took an active thought to maintain that complex of an illusion, so if she was asleep, it wouldn’t work. She needed something else, something different. Something that would work even if she was asleep or not concentrating.
This would require magic. But not just any magic, it would have to be complex. Magic that she couldn’t simply cast on herself on a moment’s notice. She knew the basics, but a simple illusion wouldn’t last if she got cut and somepony else treated her. It was next to impossible to maintain an illusion of blood flowing from the body, especially if she wasn’t conscious. The odds of a situation like this happening were slim, but she’d already proven that accidents do happen. She needed a spell that would work unconsciously, and that nopony would suspect.
To that end, she might need to actually figure out how to suppress her natural Alicorn abilities, at least on the physical level, down to that of an actual unicorn. That was dangerous, if she actually sustained what would be a mortal blow to a unicorn, there was a chance that she wouldn’t be conscious to stop the magic. There would need to be safeguards in place. This was complicated spellwork, she’d need to weave spells together.
Luna continued to rack her brain on all the elements she would need to implement into her spellwork. The safeguards would have to be flawless, she couldn’t risk them being set off for even high risk events to her body. But, she also couldn’t allow them to not activate if she somehow sustained a mortal blow. Somehow, she needed to craft in a very delicate balance. Then, on top of that, there would be countless spells that she’d have to create to work in tandem with one another so that her body would seem... Normal.
There was no way she was going to be able to actually work on this as they walked. She needed to be able to fully concentrate on the magic. Right now, she was in a dangerous position. She needed to act like a regular unicorn, but she wasn’t able to. At best, she’d have to watch Copperhoof closely, watch for signs of physical exhaustion, and then amplify those signs in herself. And make sure not to trip, or otherwise do anything that should lead to injury.
She sighed. What had started out as a simple walk, had suddenly turned into something far more complicated. Of course she would need to weave complex spells together. She’d already been thrown into an entirely different time period, why not throw more problems at her? It felt odd to her, that she’d so suddenly worked to integrate herself into this world. Her priority needed to be getting home.
But, she needed a place to work, somewhere she could recreate the magics that had gotten her here. Her head drooped as she began thinking about all the complex mechanisms that Twilight Sparkle had put together, there was no way she could recreate those. All she had were the magical theories, no equipment.
Luna set her jaw. Yes, she’d get home, but not now. She needed a place where she could work in secret. Maybe, eventually, she’d get the materials she needed... Except this, time travel, had been an accident. There was no way she’d be able to recreate that, and have it give her positive results. No, whatever had happened, she would have to study and build from the ground up if she wanted to get home.
She sighed again, there was no way it was going to be that simple. If she was honest with herself, Luna had no clue how she got here. Was it actually time travel? What if it was dimension travel? Was that even possible? She hadn’t known travelling time was... So, who was to say dimension travel wasn’t possible? Now she had more unanswered questions than ever before.
Whatever the case, she would work on it later. Now, she was in this world, it required her attention. She was lagging behind Copperhoof, he was giving her worried... or were those impatient glances? Luna put on a smile and cantered to catch up, reassuring him she was okay.
The miles disappeared under their hooves. Travelling down the mountain was easy, yet while they had walked for hours, they hadn’t made much distance. Eventually, Copperhoof called a halt near a small field.
The rocks had given way to a small patch of grass a little ways off the road. It ran all the way to a cliff, which, as Luna observed peering over it, dropped about fifty feet. She could see the Everfree Forest from here. It was dark and foreboding, yet she thought she could catch a glimpse of a spire in the midst of the trees, but it might have been her eyes playing tricks on her.
She turned to see Copperhoof already grazing. It didn’t surprise her that this would be lunch, and probably every meal until they reached his hometown. What did surprise her was his willingness to eat fresh grass, him being from the castle and all. It was probably a result of his life from before being a castle worker, she should find out more before their trip was concluded.
“Either you can go hungry, or eat while we’re still here.” Copperhoof’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “But, in any case, stop staring at me. Never seen a pony eat grass before?”
Luna gave him a withering look for his brazen tone before turning her back to him and beginning to select her own clumps of grass. It wasn’t bad. Just, very simple. She could have gone without, but she knew that a regular unicorn would be famished. In her mind, it seemed such a plebeian thing to do. Yet, if she was to disguise herself as one of the common ponies, she’d have to accept such things as commonplace.
She made sure to keep eating until Copperhoof had finished. It seemed a reasonable enough time, and he was ready to get moving again anyway. The earth pony was certainly an impatient stallion. She didn’t like his continued implications that he’d leave her behind if she fell behind.
They continued on down the mountain. Copperhoof was content to just plod on down the path, his silence gave Luna plenty of time to consider how she was going to go about implementing her more detailed illusions. She didn’t mind the quiet; as an age old alicorn, she had plenty to think about. Yet, she couldn’t help but think that the stallion was brooding or some other unhealthy activity. No pony she had met was ever comfortable for being silent for long, even if they were shy.
Eventually they made their way down the mountain. Before them stretched a small copse of trees before the grasslands hit. The sun had long since vanished behind Canterlot Mountain, yet its halo of light lingered for a number of hours. It wasn’t until they descended below the treetops that it became dangerously dark. Copperhoof wasted no time in finding a place to bed for the night.
The last traces of sunlight had just disappeared by the time Copperhoof decided on stopping underneath a large fir tree. There was a small hollow in the branches at the bottom creating a quaint little cave for them to rest in.
Luna knew he had to be exhausted, yet he hid it fairly well. However, he couldn’t help but sigh when he got off his hooves. She tried not to giggle at him lying flat on his stomach, in the dirt no less. It was odd that a castle pony like him would disregard getting dirty so easily.
Deciding it would be good to express her own exhaustion, she promptly found herself a grassy spot, getting off her hooves. Mimicking her companion, she let out her own sigh. While she could easily keep walking, it did feel good to rest, though perhaps not as good as Copperhoof was currently feeling. She could see his sides panting, even if she couldn’t hear it.
“Long day,” she commented. “How many days is it to your home?”
“It’s a 3 day walk to Hollow Shades. We should get to the forest tomorrow, camp on the edge of it. Then it’ll take another day of walking through the forest to reach the town.”
Luna turned her head to face him. “Why walk through the forest. Could we not go around it?”
He laughed. “That wouldn’t work. Hollow Shades is in a clearing in the middle of the forest.”
That seemed like an odd place to put a town. Effort would have to be maintained to keep the forest at bay. Beyond logging, she couldn’t think of a reason why anypony would live there. Searching her memory didn’t bring up any relevant information about the town. Instead, she would have to ask Copperhoof.
“Tell me about Hollow Shades. Why is it built in the forest?” she asked him.
Copperhoof raised his head to look at her. “It’s built in between mountains. It’s an ideal place for a mining town, plenty of places to go digging on all sides.”
“What all do you mine? Gems?”
“No, we mine iron. The mountains are full of it.”
“I see, and that keeps the town alive?” Luna asked. “How long has it been there?”
“You sure do ask a lot of questions,” he replied.
“Oh, my apologies.” She tried to think of a way to continue the conversation. She needed to know as much as she could about this time period.
“No,” Copperhoof said after a moment. “It’s just, different, is all. Usually you unicorns are always so aloof.”
“We are also taught to explore those things we are curious about at the Academy. While they intended that to relate to the study of magic, I feel it also works amongst more social aspects.”
Copperhoof sat up and turned a curious gaze on Luna, or as he saw her, Clover the unicorn. “Tell me more about this academic life of yours. How are you so... at ease, with the world? For being such a, presumably, learned pony, there sure seems an awful lot you don’t know about.”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “Almost everything we learn is about magic. New spells, studying new schools of magic, theorizing and quantifying. We’re not only taught, but accept that our lives are dedicated to the craft. When we graduate, we still won’t leave the Academy, instead secluding ourselves inside, studying and furthering our knowledge, of magic. The world outside is of little concern, so we don’t learn anything about it beyond a few basics.”
“So what really goes on at an academy? What is life like there?”
Luna paused a moment, trying to think and remember what she knew of the academies came from before her downfall. Though given the speed at which academics changed, it was likely that her memories and the current truth were the same.
“Structured,” she said. “Life in there is structured. Somepony is always telling you what to do and when to do it. Every hour of every day is filled with some sort of learning. You don’t socialize much.”
“It sounds boring.”
She laughed, a light titter. “To you, perhaps. To those who live there, it’s life. It’s what we know.”
“So why didn’t it work for you?”
Her smile faltered. “I love magic, and I love learning about it. I just didn’t see eye to eye with the Archmages.”
“I see.” Copperhoof shuffled his hooves for a moment. “Well, Hollow Shades has been around since before I was born. I never was one for the history though, I’d suggest taking that up with the librarian. Ponies have been mining there, passing down the trade through the generations.”
“It sounds like a nice town.”
He nodded. “It is. A good place to raise a family.”
“You mentioned that you had a family. I’d like to know a little about them.” If she was going to be staying with him, she’d like to at least know what she was getting into before arriving.
A small smile crept its way onto Copperhoof’s features. “Yeah, a wife and a foal. Ginger Snap, and Granite, the best little filly anypony could have. I can’t wait to see her again.”
Luna couldn’t help but grin at the sparkle in the stallion’s eye. “What about your Ginger?”
Copperhoof laughed. “Ginger Snap? You couldn’t find a more perfect mare if you tried. Well, to me at least. She’s an amazing cook, a great mother, a brilliant wife and a lovable friend. Why if I... Well never you mind that.” Copperhoof tried to frown at Luna, but he couldn’t keep it up.
“You sound like you really miss them.” She pondered for a moment before continuing. “Forgive me if I’m prying, but why did you leave and go to Canterlot?”
Copperhoof lost his smile at that. He sat silent for a long moment, Luna almost thought he wasn’t going to answer but he began speaking suddenly. “The mines are a dangerous place. There has always been more and more things to mine the further we go, but that also increases the risk the more we dig. It’s a dangerous job, being a miner.”
Once again he grew silent for a while before finally continuing. “I left because, at the time, it seemed foolish of me to risk my life for such a pitiful wage when I had a young foal and a wife to provide for. The promise of gold drew me to Canterlot, and, while it did not disappoint, I’ve begun to wonder if it was really worth being away. I’m glad I’m coming home, I don’t think I should have left.”
Luna met his eyes with her own. “Yet if doing so kept you out of financial troubles, or improved the quality of life for your family, then you did the right thing.”
Copperhoof waved a hoof. “Well that is neither here nor there, it’s late and we should sleep if we’re going to get an early start tomorrow.”
With that the stallion turned and laid back down on the ground. It wasn’t long before his breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. Luna remained sitting, watching him for a time and thinking about what he had said.
Eventually she stood up and stealthily snuck away from Copperhoof. She exited the small cave and found herself a place to settle down out of sight of the cave entrance. There were enchantments that needed to be completed and it wouldn’t do to have Copper waking up in the middle of her work and see something he shouldn’t.
Luna glanced up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the moon, but was stymied by the thick foliage of the trees. Disappointed, she took a deep breath, breathing in the moist, woody smell of the forest around her. She cleared her mind, taking another breath of the thick air as she turned her thoughts to her task at hoof.
She was about to attempt very complex enchantments. An alicorn was a powerful creature, so suppressing her natural abilities would take a massive amount of magic. Plus, she would need to establish the triggers. Should she be placed in mortal danger, the magic must automatically fall, preventing her death.
It was... complicated. She needed to be sure that everything was correct before starting. Once the process was underway, she wasn’t entirely sure she could stop it.
Her eyes closed as she sat perfectly still. Only her chest moved as she breathed, deeply and slowly. Softly at first, but with gathering brightness, her horn glowed.
First she needed to gather the magic. Every unicorn, and in her case, alicorn, had a reserve of magic stored in their bodies. With practiced ease, she immersed herself in her own magic, it felt like diving into a cool lake. As an alicorn, she had more magic than even ten of the strongest unicorns put together, yet it all flowed through her like a quiet stream.
Layer after layer of glow was added to her horn as she channeled more and more magic into it. She was glad that the cave entrance was out of sight, as she was sure her surroundings looked like the sun had risen.
Finally, she had all the magic she’d need. Now it was time to start the process. She took a deep breath, running over exactly what she was going to be doing one more time.
Letting out the breath, Luna began casting.
Several layers of glow were lost from her horn as they spread over her entire body. The magic tingled where it touched her coat. It sunk into her skin, entwining itself with her very being.
She couldn’t feel it, but she knew that her skin was losing its alicorn resilience. The illusions she had been maintaining were the first to go. Her body morphed into the small, petite figure of the unicorn she had been masquerading as while her wings receded into nothingness.
She would miss the ability to fly, but leaving them covered by a mere illusion was too dangerous. If somepony were to touch her sides, they might feel them. Or she could lose her concentration and the illusion could drop, thus exposing her. No, the wings needed to go.
Several more layers of glow vanished. This time the magic flowed inside of her. Things like her increased healing, her resistance to diseases and sickness, even her ability to tolerate copious amounts of alcohol, all of those were being suppressed.
It had only been a few seconds, but the spell was almost complete. All that was left was to put in the triggers which would end the effects of the spell in certain situations. Now that she could be injured, she needed to make sure that it wasn’t taken too far. In the event her body sustained an injury that would be fatal to a regular pony, the spell would need to immediately drop, thus preserving her life.
Luna also wanted to add an additional trigger. This one would allow her to drop the spell upon a command. A thought would be preferable, but she didn’t trust her mind to not arbitrarily think of the phrase and ruin everything. It would have to be a spoken phrase.
Yet, what phrase to use? It would have to be something she’d never accidentally say aloud. Something that she would never forget. After a moment, a ghost of a smile came to her face, she had the perfect phrase. A thought, and the magic was set.
There were only three layers of glow left on her horn. Two of them vanished. Those would make sure that her spell would remain active, no matter what. Not being asleep, unconscious, nor any other loss of control would be able to cause them to fail. Only the triggers being met would end the spell.
Now her horn was only left glowing with one layer of magic. Her spell was nearly complete, only one thing left to do. With this last bit of magic, she set a limit on her own magic. The idea was so that she would be able to perform spells and use her magic as normal; but she’d feel a tingle, a warning, in the back of her mind when she had used as much magic as a regular unicorn could. That would be her cue to stop using magic before she became suspicious.
After a moment, she smirked. She was supposed to be an Academy trained pony, not just a regular unicorn, meaning she could use more magic. Mentally, she moved the threshold up a notch, although it still felt like a pitiful amount compared to her full strength.
Well... Maybe she could be like Clover, the prodigy... The magical threshold moved up a couple more notches. There, that was a little better.
Finally, the glow on her horn died out entirely. She was done. For all intents and purposes, she was naught but a regular unicorn now. She really was Clover.
Concentrating, she tried to flap her wings. If they were hidden under an illusion, they would still work, just nopony would be able to see them.
When she stayed firmly on the ground, she smiled. The spells had worked. Though, one more test, just to be sure.
Looking around, she spied a few stones scattered about. Picking some up, she inspected them. One the fifth one, she found what she was looking for. This stone had a sharp edge.
Gingerly she raised a hoof, placing the edge of the stone against her skin. She could feel it sitting there, her magic pressing it gently down.
With a deep breath, she simultaneously pressed the stone harder into her skin, and drew it across her leg. She yelped, feeling a sharp pain. The blue coat started darkening as a small trickle of blood flowed out.
Within a few seconds, a drop of crimson hit the dirt. She caught the next one on her other hoof, gently tasting it. Good. It was real blood, her blood. The spells were working if something like that caused her harm.
Heady with success, she raised her hooves up towards her moon. “Ha!” she exclaimed loudly. Just as quickly, she put her forehooves over her muzzle. Copperhoof was still sleeping not far away. It would be best to not wake him.
Sleep... Using all that magic had worn her out. Even an alicorn would need sleep after something like that, and she was no longer an alicorn.
Quietly, she headed back into the cave. Copperhoof still lay where she had last seen him. His chest gently rose and fell, indicating that he hadn’t woken while she’d been applying her spell.
Selecting a patch of dirt not too far away from the stallion, but far enough that he wouldn’t raise questions, she settled down. Her moon was at its peak, so she had a few hours before the sun would come up. Just enough time to rest and recharge her magic.
She frowned and looked at the small cut she had made on her leg. It sure stung for such a little thing. Luna was no stranger to pain, but feeling even just a little from so insignificant an injury was new to her. She hoped that she didn’t get too many other little injures if they were this irritating.