It was a brisk, Fall evening in the Crystal Empire. Families were putting their foals to bed, shops were closing, and couples were out on dates. One particular couple, however was heading home after a date at one of the most poshest restraunts in the empire. They were Princess Cadence, and her husband, Prince Shining Armor, co-rulers of the Crystal Empire, "Did you enjoy it, my love?" Shining Armor asked.
"It was one of the most excellent dinners we've had all year Shiny," Cadence replied. However, before the went any further, they saw something, or rather, someone, a very young someone, was walking along the sidewalks, all alone. Judging by the wardrobe, they knew in an instant that the child was a human girl. She was wearing a very well made Gothic Lolita dress, and looked to have a very frightened face, and she looked as though she had not eaten properly in days. She had raven black hair, beautiful green eyes that were red and puffy. They had assumed she was crying, as she walked along the sidewalk, holding onto the sides of the buildings as she walked.
"I need to find my way out of here.... got to get out of this place," they heard the girl say. Judging by her accent, they assumed she was from the human version of Cadence's home country of Prance. The little girl then looked up to see the royal couple. With a frightened squeak, she ducked into the alley way, hoping to have gotten out of sight, 'Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me," she chanted in her mind, as she heard the hoof steps getting closer and closer to here. More tears began running down her cheek, as she feared the worst of the worst.
"Um, excuse me?" she heard Cadence asked worriedly. The little girls heart sank, as she looked up to see that she was discovered. She squeaked and tried to run away, only to trip over a small, but heavy rock.
"S'il vous plaît, ne me faites pas mal!" the girl pleaded in her native tongue.
"Chut, ne t'inquiète pas, je ne te ferai pas de mal. je veux vous aider," Cadence replied, speaking the same exact language. The girl look genuinely surprised to see the humanoid pony before her speaking her language.
"You speak F-French too?" the girl inquired.
"I assume that is what you humans refer to as Prench, but yes, I do speak that language," Cadence replied. The girl seemed at ease by the alicorn's tone, but was still nevertheless frightened, "Might I ask what your name is, s'il vous plait?" Cadence asked, trying to keep from scaring the poor girl.
"je m'appelle Mavis Gustou," the young girl replied.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mavis. I am Cadence, the..... head authority of the Crystal Empire, and this is mon mari, Shining Armor," Cadence said, trying to keep the girl from feeling more intimidated by telling Mavis of her role as princess.
"By the way, why are out so late?" Shining Armor questioned. At the question, Mavis began feeling utterly helpless, and broke down crying. She didn't even try to hold back.
"I c-c-can never go b-b-back to my home. There's n-n-nothing left for me there," Mavis sobbed, covering her head. The royal couple felt terrible for the little girl.
"You know, if you want, we could always take you to our home. We'd be more than happy to help you," Cadence offered. This seemed to only frighten Mavis even further.
"non non Non! Je ne peux pas vous accepter cette offre!" Mavis squeaked.
"It's alright sweetheart, we'd love to have you as a guest," Cadence replied. Mavis seemed very unsure of this, and gripped her right arm.
"W-well, I guess I would like to have somewhere w-w-warm to sleep," she murmured quietly.
"Then alright. Let's go and get you some nice hot food, and maybe a relaxing bath," Cadence said, gingerly taking Mavis' left arm, as they led Mavis to their home.
'They seem like nice.... people. But what if they're like THEM?' Mavis thought, as images of a gang of teenagers, dressed like pirates, were all surrounding her. Mavis felt her heart race faster, and her blood running cold. Her thoughts of possible impending doom were cut short, when they arrived at the Crystal Palace. She looked up in awe.
"Princess Cadence, Captain Shining Armor, I see you've enjoyed your evening," one of the guards commented. Mavis' eyes widened, not just in surprise, but in pure horror.
'P-PRINCESS?! Did I do something bad?!' she thought fearfully. She thought about running, but thoughts of the guards chasing after her quickly snuffed out that idea.
"Princess, who is this little girl?" the guard asked.
"This is Mavis. She'll be staying with us for the time being," Cadence replied.
"Um... o-on second thought, m-maybe I shouldn't," Mavis said almost inaudibly, too quiet for the adults to hear her.
"As such, could you go prepare a guest room for her? We'll bring her up after we get her something to eat," Cadence said.
"At once your majesty," the guard said, as he went to take care of the task he was given.
"As for you, let's get you something to eat. You look like you haven't eaten in days," Cadence said, as she began walking Mavis into the castle. Or rather, she was dragging Mavis in with her, as Mavis seemed too reluctant to go in, "Is there something wrong, precious?" Cadence asked.
"I-I don't think this is a g-good idea after all, princess," Mavis stammered.
"Why ever not?" Shining Armor asked.
"I-I don't want to ask for f-food from royalty," Mavis replied, trying desperately to run away.
"It's no problem at all Mavis. We're happy to give you something to eat," Cadence soothed.
"mais je ne suis qu'une fille que vous avez trouvée. Pourquoi voudriez-vous aider quelqu'un comme moi?" Mavis asked.
"Do we really need a reason to help someone? You're someone whose scared and alone. Keeping you from feeling like that is more than enough reason for helping you," Cadence replied. Mavis tried thinking of something to counter that, but she quickly dismissed that idea, as she didn't want to argue with a princess, and just gave in.
"O-ok. I would just like some du pain grillé, s'il vous plait," Mavis sighed in defeat.
"Is that all you want?" Cadence asked. Mavis simply nodded, "Alright, how many slices would you like?"
"seulement deux," Mavis replied.
"Would you like butter, or jam on your toast?" Cadence asked. Mavis shook her head. "Well, what about something to drink?" she added.
"peut-être juste un verre de lait?" Mavis asked.
"Of course," Cadence said, as she led Mavis to the kitchen. There, they saw a familiar human boy, fixing himself a sandwich.
"Hey Mommy, welcome back," Nathan greeted. Mavis hid behind the counter.
'Oh no, a human!' she thought, trembling fearfully.
"Fixing yourself a little snack, I see?" Cadence asked.
"Yeah, I wanted something on my stomach before hittin' the hay," Nathan replied.
"Well, just nothing big. We don't want another of your sleepwalking incidents," Cadence warned. Nathan shuddered at the memory of the aforementioned incident. Images of him walking around in his underwear, while in a trance, filled his head. Nathan then took noticed of something around the corner, "Oh, that reminds me. We have a guest staying with us," Cadence said, pulling Mavis from her hiding place. Mavis was full on hyperventilating upon being seen by Nathan, "Nathan, this is Mavis Gustou. Mavis, this is Nathan, my and Shining Armor's eldest son," Cadence said, introducing the two.
"Nice to meet ya Mavis," Nathan said. Mavis didn't reply, only hiding behind Cadence.
"She's very shy and timid. You might want to give her some time to warm up to you," Cadence advised. Nathan nodded, as he took his sandwich, and went back to his room, "Now Mavis, you don't need to be scared of Nathan. He can be a bit of a.... tough guy, but he's a very nice boy," Cadence reassured. Mavis didn't seem too convinced, 'What in Equestria happened to you?' Cadence thought to herself, as she began making toast for Mavis. She put two slices of bread in the toaster, before going to make a small cup of milk. She got the milk carton from the fridge, and poured it into the cup. The toast finished, as they popped out from the toaster. Cadence place both slices on a plate. She then sat Mavis at the table, and placed her meager dinner in front of her. Mavis then proceeded to eat the toast, and drink the milk. After a few minutes, she was done.
"Merci beaucoup," Mavis said.
"Now, how about a nice bath before bed?" Cadence suggested, as she took the 'human' girl to her room. Mavis thought worriedly for a second.
'I can't let them know about that. They may turn me in as some attraction,' Mavis thought fearfully, "Uh, p-princess, if it's not too much t-trouble, could I maybe b-bathe alone?" Mavis asked.
"Whatever makes you more comfortable. I'll be right outside the door if you need me," Cadence said, as she prepared the bathtub, making sure it wasn't too hot or cold, and was just the right height. With that, she gave Mavis a towel and a washcloth, and exited the bathroom. Mavis began undressing. After she did, she looked at her right arm. From the shoulder down, it was a metal arm. Images of someone swinging a sword at her filled her head. She remembered the agony of the pain from getting her real arm cut off, and from getting a replacement arm. Mavis shook her head. She then looked at the tub, and climbed into it. Once she was in, a pink flash emitted from below the surface. A fish tail then resurfaced where her legs would've been.
'I must do everything I can to hide these,' Mavis thought, as she began washing herself. She took extra care around her artificial arm. Once she was completely washed, she rinsed off, and began draining the water. She then began drying off. She took extra time, drying off her fish tail, which, after a few seconds, reverted back into human legs. She then redressed, and exited the bathroom.
"Do you feel any better after a nice bath?" Cadence asked.
"Oui," Mavis replied solemnly. Cadence was worried about Mavis' well being even more.
'Maybe I should talk to Aunt Celestia and Luna about helping her. I should also contact Twilight and friends about this as well,' Cadence thought to herself, as she put Mavis in bed, "Alright Mavis, bonne nuit et fait de beaux rêves. And if you need me or Shining Armor to help, you can always ask a guard to come and get us," Cadence said, tucking in Mavis. With a kiss on the top of her head, she left Mavis alone to sleep. Once Cadence left, Mavis looked fearfully all around the room. She then began to cry softly.
In the Royal Bedchambers,
Shining Armor had just finished up checking on the infants, before returning to his and Cadence's bedchambers. Moments later, Cadence had come back, "Hey Honey, how's our little guest?" the alabaster unicorn asked.
"I honestly haven't a clue. She hardly spoke after I gave her something to eat, and she seemed even more glum after taking a bath," Cadence replied.
"I have a feeling that whatever's bothering Mavis, I'm not going to like it," Shining Armor commented.
"I agree. I'm going to contact my aunts and Twilight. We're going to need all the help we can get with helping Mavis," Cadence said, as she wrote two notes. She sent one to Canterlot, and the other to Ponyville. With that, she crawled into bed with her husband, and slept the night away.