_____*Ponyville, 4:10 PM*_____
Sweetie Belle was with her friends, the CMC, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, they formed this group as way for the three of them to find their cutie marks together, so far, no luck, and they were still blank flanks, as Diamond Tiara called them.
Right now they were heading away from Sugarcube corner, they were done with crusading for the day and were now near the fountain in town.
"I'll see you both tomorrow." Scootaloo said.
"Yep, you too Scoots." Apple Bloom added.
"Bye girls." Sweetie Belle said.
As the three parted ways, Sweetie Belle headed home to the Boutique, she was staying there yet again while her and Rarity's parents were traveling, no surprise there, in fact, she stayed at her sisters place so often, she had her own room.
Her parents would save themselves so much trouble if they just asked Rarity to have Sweetie Belle stay, but they would never ask that directly.
Sweetie Belle let her mind wander to random things such as school, her parents, her sister, her next crusade, and even the clouds up in the sky, she did this on the way to Rarity's place.
As she eventually neared the Boutique, she she noticed something odd on the doorknob, a raindrop, which was strange since it hadn't rained in a few weeks, Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off as it was possibly just a coincidence.
Sweetie Belle opened the door and entered the building. "I'm home!" She called out.
She soon heard something fall over upstairs, she cringed a little but headed up anyway, certain it wasn't that bad.
_____*upstairs*_____
It was bad.
According to Rarity, she had lost focus for a split second, she slipped, one thing led to another, and now there was fabric everywhere.
"Uh, you need some help?" Sweetie Belle asked, partially feeling guilty for the mess.
Rarity took a deep breath, she let it out and looked at her little sister. "No no, it's alright, I don't have many orders right now, and it should not take long to clean this up, but thank you for the offer." She replied.
Sweetie Belle was......surprised, she hadn't been expecting that, normally her sister would be freaking out over this, but she wasn't going to question it when Rarity was calm. "Well, if you say so." She said before going to walk out.
"Actually, I do have a question for you Sweetie Belle." Rarity said.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder, her sister was busy working. "Yes?" She asked.
"Did you notice anything odd today? after you left, some clouds appeared over the Boutique and rained for a few hours, I can't figure it out." Rarity asked.
Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I didn't see anything, maybe it's just a prank?" She offered.
Rarity sighed. "Yes I suppose your right, it could be a prank, probably just Rainbow Dash again." Rarity muttered that last part.
Sweetie Belle headed into her room and laid back on the bed, it wasn't even that late, and she was still filled with energy, but for some reason, she didn't have anything she wanted to do today.
Sweetie Belle rolled over on her bed and closed her eyes. 'Maybe I'll get an idea after some sleep.' She told herself.
______*later that day.*______
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and blinked, she was still in her room, but she was under her covers now. 'It must have been Rarity.' She told herself.
Sweetie Belle slowly sat up and yawned as she stretched, she got off the bed and looked out the window and saw that it was night. 'How long was I asleep?' She asked herself.
She walked over to the door and opened it, she headed downstairs in search of her sister, but she found no trace, not in the kitchen, not in the main room, not even in her design room. "Strange." She said quietly.
Sweetie Belle entered the kitchen and looked around, she didn't see anything lying out, and looking in the fridge proved to be pointless, but she was hungry, and she knew where the bread and cheese were.
Soon, she started to make her sandwich, and just as she placed the bread on the cheese, lightning struck and rain poured.
Sweetie Belle nearly jumped out of her skin, she dove over the kitchen table and was now shaking from the startling event.
She heard the front door open and close quickly, Sweetie Belle took a quick breath and stood up shakily, she walked out to the main room and saw Rarity closing an umbrella and walking to the stairs.
Sweetie Belle walked out. "Hey Rarity, glad to see your back." She said.
Rarity smiled a little. "Yes, this weather is absolutely dreadful, when did you wake up anyway?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Not long ago, I was making something to eat then the Lightning struck." She said.
Upon hearing the words that her sister spoke, Rarity rushed to the kitchen to see if anything was burning, thankfully, there was nothing there except a sandwich, with a sigh of relief, Rarity looked at her sister. "It's late, go ahead and eat your sandwich, then head back to bed, I'll make breakfast in the morning." She said.
Sweetie Belle did what she was told, she ate her sandwich, then headed to her room and laid down on the bed.
But when Rarity's door closed, she headed to her window and looked outside shakily, she made sure to wait until AFTER the Lightning, to look, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, not at first at least, just as she went to leave the window, Sweetie Belle saw something moving outside, a figure, it was too dark to see anything definitive, but it was very strange, to say the least.
The figure was leaving, heading into town slowly, but Sweetie Belle wasn't too concerned. 'Its probably just somepony who didn't get inside fast enough.' She told herself.
As Sweetie laid down to go to sleep, she had a strange feeling about that figure, she couldn't quite place it, but it was strange.
_____*The next day, 8:30 AM*_____
Sweetie Belle was sitting at the table with Rarity eating breakfast, nothing special, but the waffles were very good.
"So Sweetie Belle, did you do anything fun yesterday?" Rarity asked idly.
Sweetie shrugged. "Not really, not unless another failed attempt at finding our Cutie Marks counts." She replied.
Rarity nodded in understanding. "I know your eager, but you have to be patient, it will come to you when your ready." She said.
Sweetie sighed, she knew her sister meant well, but it was hard to be patient when almost all of the other kids had their Cutie Marks. "You know, I did see something strange last night though." She said.
Rarity finished her breakfast and looked at her sister with curiosity. "Oh?" She said. "What was it?" She asked.
Sweetie shrugged. "I don't know what it was exactly, because of how dark it was, but it was a dark figure heading towards town, it was kinda tall, a little taller than me, I didn't see much else about it." She replied.
Rarity gave this some thought, she was doubtful that Sweetie Belle would actually confront the creature, assuming it wasn't a pony who got lost in the storm, but at the same time, she wanted to know what it was. "In any case, keep your eyes open, I'll do the same." Rarity said.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "Sure." She replied.
Afterwards, Rarity and Sweetie Belle spent some time together, then after a half hour or so, Sweetie Belle left the boutique and went to find her friends.
______*Ponyville, CMC clubhouse, 9:14 AM*______
Sweetie Belle was with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo as they thought on ideas for crusading for the day, they weren't having any luck so far, and even though they made a list of everything they tried, and one list for new ideas, they still didn't have any idea what to do.
Scootaloo soon had an idea as was evident by the now eager look on her face. "Hey, I have an idea." She said.
The other two crusaders looked at her. "Please tell me it isn't cliff diving?" Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo shook her head. "We already did that, but hey, this idea is great." She started. "Now, did either of you see something odd last night? dark figure moving through the night?" She asked.
"No." Apple Bloom said.
"Yes." Sweetie Belle said.
"You did?" The two asked.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yea, it walked by Rarity's place when I looked out the window." She answered.
Scootaloo blinked. "Huh, I thought I was imagining it, but yea, that's my idea, we should find it!" She said.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shared a skeptical glance before looking at their friend. "Are you sure about this Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yea, last time we did this kind of thing, we were stuck in the Everfree Forest." Sweetie replied.
Scootaloo groaned. "Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" She asked.
Sweetie Belle wasn't so sure about this idea, they had no way of knowing if this creature was dangerous, or hostile, or if it was just a pony out in the storm. "Maybe we should approach this carefully." She said finally.
"You can't be seriously considering this Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom asked out of disbelief.
"It's obvious that Scootaloo wants to find this thing, the least we can do is go along to make sure she doesn't get herself in over her head." Sweetie Belle pointed out.
Apple Bloom sighed, she then looked at Scootaloo who was looking at her impatiently. "Fine, but don't expect me to not say I told you so when we don't find anything." She said.
Scootaloo grinned. "Great.....so where do we start?" She asked.
"I guess we should start by asking around, see if anypony else spotted this creature." Sweetie Belle suggested.
"That's as good an idea as any this early on." Apple Bloom agreed.
_____*Hours later*_____
So far, the investigation was going well, at least ten other fillies and colts saw the figure, and five adults admitted to seeing it head toward the center of town.
It wasn't long before the three crusaders found another clue, by the fountain in the center of town, they found a muddy print, they didn't recognize it but from the way the print was facing, they assumed it was heading toward the park.
They hurried to the park, eager to follow up on their new lead, on the way, they ran into Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
Pinkie was apparently looking for the creature as well, she claimed it was somepony new, or someone new, the CMC asked if she saw it at any time, but the pink mare wasn't able to help them, but she did give them so help, they now knew that the creature they were searching for wasn't a resident, so they were now searching for either a pony or a Griffin who just got into town, or something new.
When they reached the park, they split up to try to find evidence of where the creature went.
Apparently, they all found muddy prints, with Apple Bloom finding the closest one to the town center, Sweetie Belle finding the next one, and Scootaloo finding the furthest.
"Where does it lead?" Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo pointed towards some houses across from the park. "Over there." She said.
The three quickly moved through the park and soon reached the houses, they found more muddy prints along the backs of homes, they looked at eachother when they saw that the final print they could see led to the small stone bridge.
The three carefully peaked under the bridge and saw something strange, presumably what they were searching for.
They saw a small figure sitting under the bridge with a blue hood over its head, it had small pinkish white hands and a pack next to it, it was currently feeding a squirrel and doing something strange with the water, it seemed to be making shapes with some kind of magic.
The CMC quickly hid and went to speak. "What do we do now?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Maybe we should talk to him or her." Sweetie Belle asked.
"No way!" Scootaloo said. "We don't know if that creature can put a curse on us without words." She replied.
"I hate to agree with her, but she's right Sweetie Belle, we can't just go up and talk to it." Apple Bloom agreed.
Sweetie Belle looked back at the bridge, and then at her friends. "Then we have to tell Rarity or Applejack, maybe even Twilight." She said.
"Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly." Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom nodded. "Ok, you two stay here and keep an eye on the bridge, I'll go find Applejack." She said before running off.
Sweetie Belle sighed and walked over to a nearby tree that had good sight on the bridge. "We might as well sit here, this could take a while." She said.
Scootaloo nodded and sat next to Sweetie Belle. "So uh, what now?" She asked.
"If somepony asks, we are waiting for our friend to get here." Sweetie Belle said.
"No no, I know that, but what do WE do, you know, to pass the time?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle took a breath and blinked. "Twenty questions?" She offered.
_____*Some time later*_____
Apple Bloom finally returned with Applejack, who seemed to be more skeptical of the situation then anything.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood up, they walked along with Apple Bloom and Applejack as they went to the side of the bridge. "Over there." Apple Bloom said quietly.
Applejack glanced under the bridge and saw the blue hooded creature, she backed off and looked at the fillies. "Thanks for letting me know about this girls, but I don't know what y'all expect me to do." She said.
"Scootaloo was afraid that the creature would put a curse on us." Apple Bloom said.
"Thanks for that." Scootaloo muttered out of annoyance.
Applejack sighed. "Didn't I tell you three that curses ain't real?" She asked.
"You did, but it's a legitimate fear." Sweetie Belle argued.
"Look, I don't know what you three are expecting, but I'll prove to you that that creature won't curse us." Applejack said.
The three Crusaders watched as Applejack headed under the bridge.
"Howdy." She said.
The creature simply turned its head to look at Applejack. "This might sound weird, but my sister thinks you'll curse us." She said out of some amusement.
The creature tilted its head, it then used a small stone to make a question mark in the dirt. "Oh I get it, you don't know what I'm saying?" She asked.
The creature pointed at the question mark, it then went back to the small stream, making symbols with the water.
Applejack walked back out and looked at the fillies. "I don't think it knows our language." She said.
"Maybe Twilight has some sort of translation?" Sweetie Belle offered.
"It's worth a shot I guess." Applejack said.
_____*twenty minutes later.*______
"You want me to do what?" Twilight asked.
"Translate what the creatures saying, you know more languages then any of us." Applejack said.
Twilight sighed. "At least I know a translation spell, it should help." She muttered.
Applejack watched as Twilight approached the creature.
The creature glanced and looked at Twilight who had her horn lit. "Can you understand me?" She asked.
The creature blinked, but soon nodded.
Twilight was relieved at that, at least she had a way to communicate. "We don't mean any harm, we are just curious." She said.
The creature looked at the little stream and continued making the symbols with the water. "Ok." It said quietly.
Twilight approached the stream and sat down. "Anyway, I should introduce myself, my name is Twilight Sparkle, you?" She asked.
The creature looked at Twilight with a disbelieving expression. "That's a name?" It asked.
Twilight tried her best to not feel offended, but she soon realized that the creatures culture probably didn't have names like hers. "Yes, it is." She replied.
The creature returned to its symbols. "My name's Mana." It said simply.
Twilight nodded. "Nice to meet you Mana." She replied.
Mana looked at Twilight. "Aren't you going to ask?" It asked curiously.
Twilight blinked. "Ask what?" She wondered.
"His name." It said.
Twilight looked and saw a little squirrel sitting with Mana. "Oh, I see, what's his name?" She asked.
"Onyx." Mana replied.
The Squirrel chattered and waved. "He said hi, also, to avoid confusion, I'm a female." Mana said.
Twilight noticed one thing about Mana when she first saw her face, she didn't say anything, but she saw red circles under the girls eyes. 'She's been crying.' Twilight noted. She then decided to bring up a question. "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Ponyville?" She asked.
Mana looked at Twilight. "That's what this place is called?.....huh." She then stopped with her symbols. "And to tell the truth, I don't know, I woke up last night in the middle of a forest during a storm." She replied.
______*last night.*______
Mana groaned as she felt feeling return to her body, her head throbbed in intense pain, her chest was killing her, she could hardly breath, and she could hardly feel her arms.
She slowly opened her eyes and as she did, she felt the soft dirt that she was on, she could see trees in the direction her head was facing, and she could feel the pain in her chest grow.
Mana grunted as she forced herself to sit up, her mind still numb from the storm.
She felt off, not in the sense of being sick, but she did feel like something was different.
It was hard to see right now, she rubbed her eyes carefully and she soon remembered what she was missing. "Onyx?" She asked quietly.
Mana looked around frantically for her friend, she was afraid that he had gotten in trouble, or ran off, or had drowned.
Her fears were alleviated once she felt her jacket moving, she raised the bottom trim up and out came the squirrel, he looked up at Mana and stamped her leg. "I'm alright Onyx." She finally said.
Mana sat there for a few minutes to let the pain subside a little, but she soon stood up after having Onyx climb onto her shoulder, there was still pain, but not unbearable, she quickly looked around for her pack, she checked her back and saw that it was still there, sighing in relief, she looked at Onyx. "Let's hope for the best, right bud?" She asked.
Right now Mana was torn, on one hand, she wanted to find her parents, on the other, she knew she had to find shelter for the night, she bit her lip and, with deep regret, made her mind up, she began walking in a random direction in the hopes of finding shelter.
Onyx chattered and tugged her hood.
Mana nodded, she pulled her hood up and continued walking. "Thanks." She said, trying to fight past both her fear and her sorrow.
Eventually Mana reached a small creak, she knelt down and drank some water, it wasn't entirely clean, but it was better than nothing, as Onyx drank some, Mana looked around. "Where are we?" She asked herself.
Onyx chattered and splashed a little water. "Don't be ridiculous Onyx, time travel is impossible, I know that, you know that." She said, she rolled her eyes and let Onyx onto her shoulder. "I'll figure this out bud, just keep your eyes open will you?" She asked.
_____*an hour later*_____
Mana passed some trees, she was moving carefully, as she didn't know what poison plants, roots and weeds there were, or if the air itself was toxic, but the last one she was willing to risk, as she had no way to filter the air, she wasn't coughing or wheezing, so that was something.
At least that was, until she smelled something foul, she held her nose shut and gagged at the smell of it, she looked around for the source of it.
It took a moment, but she found it, and she did not like it one bit, it made her eyes widen and her heart rate skyrocketed.
Standing directly behind her, was a massive wolf made entirely of wood, an eerie green glow surrounded it and it gave out a repulsive stench, she was able to avoid passing out on sight by remembering that she had to survive, she remembered that there was a small creek nearby, but she knew she wasn't very powerful with waterbending, she gulped and slowly backed up, knowing that would be her only method of escape.
The wooden wolf did not like this movement at all and suddenly snapped at her, trying to take a big chunk out of her neck.
Mana yelped and ran off as fast as she could, which wasn't as fast as the wolf.
Mana tripped on a root but quickly recovered, thankfully, as the wolf tried to chomp down on her, she managed to shove a long stick in its mouth, slowing it down briefly.
As she ran, she could see the creek getting closer, she looked back and saw that the wolf was already on her tail, her eyes widened even more as she tripped over her own feet and collapsed to the ground.
The wolf lept to her with its jaws wide open, in a last ditch effort to defend herself, Mana raised her left arm and shut her eyes, to her surprise, she felt no pain, she opened her eyes and saw that the wolf had gotten knocked to the ground, but what truly surprised her was the fact that her arm had turned to hard ice, she blinked and went to stand up, she winced as she felt intense pain on her left leg, she clutched it and looked at the wolf.
The wolf apparently hadn't given up, it got up and looked at Mana fiercely, it roared and charged her again.
Mana tried to call water from the creek to help her, but she was having no such luck, as she only succeeded in splashing the wolf with a small amount of water, not even fazing it.
She noticed that her arm was still ice, so she decided to defend with that, she forced herself to stand, and went to block with her arm.
The wolf seemed to become smarter after that, as it went around her arm and went for her legs instead.
Mana quickly threw her arm down and it broke the wolf's head off, she quickly backed off and was breathing heavily, she didn't feel well all of a sudden, while the wolf was trying to eat her, she didn't like the feeling of killing something, she soon felt the sudden urge to vomit, after losing her lunch on the nearby ground, Mana looked back at the wolf, and she was shocked.
The wolf was rebuilding itself, after it was done, the wolf looked at Mana and growled.
Mana's breathing was now panicked, she was sweating heavily and she noticed that her arm wasn't covered in ice anymore.
Mana fell to the ground in defeat as the timberwolf approached her slowly.
She could only watch as she felt her limbs freeze up, as the wolf growled in her face, she gulped, she raised her right arm in front of her face, she closed her eyes as she looked away.
The wolf roared and snapped at Mana, aiming to have her for dinner.
Mana screamed as she felt teeth sink into her flesh, but she soon heard the wolf Yelp.
Mana's eyes shot open and she looked, the wolf had been set ablaze by......something, Mana looked at her hands and saw nothing, though her eyes were blurry from crying because of the pain.
She stood up and went to run off, only to fall down again.
Mana's gaze turned to the wolf, she saw that it was aflame, she still didn't like the idea of killing, but she did need to escape it, and the fire offered the perfect opportunity, she winced and she heard water splashing, she looked and saw the wolf wasn't burning anymore,
Soon enough the wolf looked at Mana, it roared and ran off, not willing to continue the fight.
Mana clutched her mangled arm and forced herself to stand. 'I need to find some help, I can't heal myself yet.' She said to herself.
Onyx chattered. "I know, I don't want to find another one either." She said as she slowly walked.
_____*hours later*_____
Mana eventually reached what appeared to be the forests edge, she couldn't see any more trees in the direction she was facing, so she kept walking, the pain had worsened in both her leg, and her arm, but she was still able to move, albeit slowly.
She left the forest and continued walking, she didn't know where she was going, but she needed to find some form of civilization, it was night now though, and it was difficult to see.
But just as she left the forest, a lightning strike struck and rain suddenly began to fall, she groaned out of annoyance. "Perfect." She complained.
Onyx quickly hid in her jacket.
Mana kept on moving until she came up on a town, it didn't look like any town she had ever seen, but she needed help, and she had no options.
She walked into the town as the rain soaked her, she winced as she felt her wounds worsen, she continued walking, she remembered walking by some buildings, but she didn't think anything of it, as she had a more important concern.
She walked by a fountain and through what seemed to be a park, eventually reaching a bridge, she went under it and sat down, she winced as her leg shot up in pain, she continued holding her arm and sighed. "It's ok to come out bud." She said.
Onyx came out of her jacket and looked at Mana with concern, he chattered and rubbed her leg. "Thanks for your concern bud." She said out of appreciation.
As Mana sat there in silence, she eventually started to cry, partly from the pain, partly from her loneliness, and the rest, came from some part of her believing that her parents had drowned.
Mana had cried for hours in silence, eventually crying herself to sleep.
_____*the present.*_____
Twilight and Mana were in silence now, after she finished her story, Twilight really didn't know what to say.
Soon however, Twilight had something logical to say. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need to get you to a hospital, your injuries need to be taken care of." She said.
Mana sighed and looked at Onyx, she then looked at Twilight, and nodded. "Ok." She said quietly, slowly standing up.
Twilight carefully helped Mana up and helped her walk as best she could. "Steady." Twilight said.
Mana winced, she decided to listen to Twilight's instructions, she seemed genuinely concerned, and she did need help.
Even though Onyx didn't like it, Mana was sure even he would understand.
Mana was still clutching her arm, as such, she wasn't able to block the sun from her eyes when it assaulted her, she had to release her bad arm to pull her hood all the way up, she allowed Twilight to take some of the weight as they walked.
Mana spotted three smaller horse like creatures and the blonde one from before watching, she noticed them begin to follow, she was guessing they wanted to know if she would be alright.
She did notice one thing however, as they walked, they recieved stares from everyone nearby, Mana made a mental note that people here probably didn't see either her kind, or strangers very often. "Hey Twilight, what's your species called?" She asked, trying to take her mind off the pain for the moment.
"Technically, we are Equines, but there are three main variants, Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn, I'm a Unicorn, Applejack is an Earth Pony, and the ponies with wings are Pegasi." She explained.
Mana grunted as they moved. "I see." She said.
_____*a while later, Ponyville Hospital.*_____
Twilight entered the hospital with Mana, she had deactivated her translation spell a while ago as to conserve magic. "We need a doctor!" She called.
To Mana's surprise, there were more ponies out to see to them almost immediately, and while she had absolutely no idea what Twilight had said, she was willing to bet that she called for a doctor.
The doctors quickly pulled out a gurney and helped Mana onto it, after Twilight told her it was alright.
Mana allowed the doctors to take her away, and for some reason, the pain flared up as soon as she laid down, and she was forced to hold in the cries of pain with all of her remaining strength.
_____*in the ER*_____
Mana had no idea what was going on, she could here voices, but she couldn't understand them.
She could see blurs in her vision, but soon she felt something press on to her face, and then she suddenly felt very tired, and then slipped into unconsciousness.
______*hours later.*______
Twilight sat in the waiting room in nervous anticipation.
When the doctor eventually exited and walked up to her. "Miss Sparkle, am I to assume your taking responsibility for the patient you brought in?" He asked.
"Yes, I'll take responsibility for her." She said, while she didn't know Mana that well, she did feel responsible.
The doctor nodded. "Very well, then I believe you will be happy to hear that she will recover fully, the arm will take much longer to heal than the rest, but it will be fine." He said.
"That's good." Twilight said, relief washing over her.
The doctor then turned grim in expression. "However, there was one thing I was unable to remove." He said.
Twilight grew concerned quickly, she knew that when doctors gave bad news, it was always severe.
"There was a small amount of wood lodged in her arm and chest, as well as a strange root in her left leg, we can't remove it in her condition and there may be too much of a risk to remove them safely even if she recovers, I can however say that she is in no danger right now, but she may experience pain when moving her arm, her leg, and her body in certain ways." He explained.
Twilight took a breath and thought about this for a while, she eventually looked at the doctor. "You should remove the wood, I don't think she would want to live with that pain." She said.
The doctor sighed. "Are you sure about this? If this goes badly, she may lose the ability to walk, or even use her left arm, so I ask you again, are you sure?" He asked.
Twilight nodded. "I am sure." She replied surely.
"Doctor!" Called a nurse.
The doctor turned around and saw the nurse in the doorway. "What is it?" He asked.
"It's the Jane doe, somethings happened!" She said in a panic before running off.
The doctor quickly ran after the nurse to see what was wrong.
Twilight knew better than to follow, she honestly did, it took all of her strength to not run off after them, she simply started pacing rapidly.
_____*two hours later, 5:20 PM*_____
Twilight was very antsy, she had no idea what was going on, and the doctors couldn't tell her anything other than it was a confusing situation.
Much to her relief, the doctor from before exited and walked over to her. "How is she doctor?" Twilight asked.
"She will be fine, we managed to remove the root from her leg and she's showing normal life signs, however, the wood in her arm and chest......" He took a breath.
Twilight felt her heart drop some. "It went wrong.....didn't it?" She asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No no, nothing went wrong, it's just that.....how do I put it." He then sighed and looked straight at Twilight. "The wood in her arm has fused to her bone, and the wood in her chest vanished, we don't know what happened, but from the looks of it, she doesn't look to be in danger at all, it will also be impossible to remove the wood from her arm without irreparably damaging it." He explained.
Twilight was curious as to how the wood fused to her bone, but she was more concerned with Mana herself. "How long do you think it will be until she recovers fully?" She asked.
"If she takes it easy? A week or two, if she doesn't, a month at most." He said before starting to walk off.
Twilight nodded. "Oh and doctor?" She said.
The doctor looked at her. "Her name is Mana, if it helps." She said.
The doctor smiled a little. "You should head home miss Sparkle, you can visit tomorrow." He said.
Twilight nodded. "Yea, i could use some rest." She said to herself.
_____*the next day, Ponyville Hospital, 9:00 AM*_____
Mana groaned quietly as she woke up, she slowly opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling, she blinked and slowly moved her good arm to run her head, which was throbbing.
'Am I still at the hospital?' She asked herself.
Mana looked around the room she was in, devices she didn't recognize were all around the room, there was a unicorn in the bed next to her, and her pack was in a chair next to the bed she was in.
Mana sat up slowly and noticed that she was in a hospital gown, she looked at her left arm and saw that it was bandaged up, and that she wasn't feeling any pain, she decided against touching it and got out from under the covers, she examined her left leg and saw that it was bandaged as well, along with some bandages on her right leg, she held her side and felt more bandages there, she sighed and rubbed her eyes more, her vision was still foggy, but after rubbing her eyes, it was better.
Mana reached out for her pack, she heard the door open as soon as she did, she heard a voice as she grabbed her pack, she looked and saw an Earth Pony walking over.
Mana looked at her as she talked, she opened her pack and pulled out her spare change of clothes, she also pulled out the journal.
Mana tilted her head as the nurse talked, she then shrugged, and looked around for a second door, thankfully, there was a second door by the entrance, she slowly stood up and winced as she felt a small amount of pain in her foot, she looked at the nurse and pointed at the second door.
Apparently, the nurse got the idea, and let her into the second room.
Mana took the gown off when she shut the door and quickly put her pants on, they were light blue with two pockets, her shirt was light blue as well, it was short sleeved and had a white line on the sides, it also had a blue undershirt that reached her wrists, and a Fire Nation symbol on its back.
Mana soon exited the room and threw the hospital gown on the chair, she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.
'I don't know what the nurse was saying, and I'm not sure I want to know.' She said to herself.
______*hours later*______
Twilight was kind of surprised, the hospital called her to see Mana, apparently she had completely ignored a nurse who was trying to keep her in bed, they also didn't have any staff member who knew the translation spell, and since she had so much experience talking with Mana, they called her, not that she wasn't going to visit her anyway.
So when Twilight entered Mana's room to find her writing down in a book, she was more than intrigued.
Twilight lit her horn. "Hey Mana." She said.
Mana held a finger up and finished writing. "Sorry, I wanted to finish that page." She replied.
Twilight approached and sat down next to Mana. "I see your doing better?" She asked.
Mana lifted her left arm and shrugged. "Could be worse." She replied.
Twilight nodded, her expression then turned serious. "Mana, I think we need to have a talk." She said.
Mana lifted her right arm and it slowly turned to wood. "You think?" She asked as it turned back to flesh.
Twilight's eyes widened. "That's.......not normal." She said out of surprise.
Mana leaned back on the bed and rested her head on the wall. "One thing I will say, I did not expect this, I wasn't expecting any of this." She said quietly.
Twilight sighed. "When did you figure out how to do that with your arm?" She asked curiously.
Mana tapped her leg. "An hour ago I think?" She replied.
Twilight was of course curious about this, but there were things that needed to be discussed. "The doctors want to know where your staying." She said.
Mana blinked. "Uh, when I'm out, nowhere, I mean, I have a bridge I can sleep under if that counts?" She answered, she was confused about the question.
Twilight told the doctor who then asked her a question, she shook her head a little. "What about age?" She asked.
"Why do they want to know that?" Mana asked curiously.
"They want to know so that way they know if they need to call someone to pick you up." Twilight replied.
Mana looked at her legs, she sighed and looked at Twilight. "Seven." She said finally, she wasn't happy with how things were going, but she had little choice now.
Twilight told the doctor and he told her something. "He said that he will have no choice but to place you with child services, unless someone willing to take full responsibility for you comes along, basically, a legal guardian." She said.
Mana bit her lip, she really didn't like either of these options, she would have preferred the bridge at this point.
Twilight stood up. "I'll be right back." She said.
Mana nodded silently, she then went back to thinking.
Twilight and the doctor were talking about options. "Doctor......what if I took care of her?" She asked.
The doctor blinked. "Miss Sparkle, are you positive about this? Mana has clearly suffered trauma, there is much to do to place you as her guardian." He said.
Twilight nodded. "The same goes for anypony else doctor, besides." She looked in on Mana. "She needs somepony she can trust, if anything, I can at least give her that." She said.
The doctor sighed and after a few moments, relented. "I need to make some arrangements, it will take time, until then, Mana needs to stay here, at least for tonight." He said.
Twilight let the doctor go, she then walked into the room, even though she knew she was getting into a very stressful and delicate situation, she knew that it was better than adoption, especially since she was planning on trying to help Mana go home.
"Hey, the doctor said you have to stay for the night." She said.
Mana nodded. "Ok." She said quietly.
Twilight then blinked. "One more thing, I've volunteered to be your legal guardian, but I do plan on helping you to go home." She said.
Mana looked at Twilight. "Do you even know where I was before I was here?" She asked.
Twilight shook her head. "How could i?" She asked.
"Drowning." Mana said flatly.
Twilight went wide eyed and her ears went back behind her head. "I......I'm sorry, I didn't know." She said.
Mana shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "No, don't be, your just trying to help." She muttered. "Even if we did manage to send me back, It wouldn't mean anything." She said
______*The next day, 1:10 PM*_______
Twilight was frantically running around Ponyville, she was trying to find Mana, she had disappeared from the hospital last night.
Twilight looked everywhere for Mana, high, low, back and forth, no where to be found.
However, she soon heard Pinkie laughing, she paused and hurried over. 'An extra pair of eyes will help.' She said.
Twilight soon found that her search was over, as Mana was sitting on the Sugarcube corner steps with Onyx on her right leg, and Pinkie laughing with her. "Mana? Why did you run out of the hospital?" She asked.
Mana smiled and tapped Onyx. "I missed my friend." She said.
Twilight looked at Pinkie. "How did you find her?" She asked.
Pinkie smiled. "I was cleaning the steps, Onyx ran up to me, and Mana here soon followed, looking for him, we've been sharing jokes." She said.
Mana giggled a little. "Pinkie here can understand me, and she told the best joke before you showed up." She said, barely containing her laughter.
"Mana, do you realize how this will look?" Twilight asked.
Mana smiled. "The way I see it, I'm just a confused girl, trying to find a friend." She said, letting Onyx run up to her shoulder.
Twilight went to go off a little, but she found that she couldn't, she instead took a breath. "What was the joke?" She asked.
Both Pinkie and Mana lost it and burst out laughing.
"What?" Twilight asked, feeling left out.
Mana and Pinkie shared a glance, and then a grin. "Not telling." They both said.
Twilight was really hating this now, all of a sudden she was getting the feeling like she was being led on.
Mana then looked at Twilight. "So now what?" She asked curiously.
Twilight sighed. "I'm not sure, I have to wait on somepony to show up about the guardian status, then more waiting, it's going to to take time Mana." She said.
Mana nodded and stood up slowly, she looked at Pinkie and grinned. "Nice talking with you Pinkie." She said before walking up to Twilight. "Let's go I guess." She said.
Twilight then said goodbye to Pinkie and led Mana back to the hospital. "Think about it this way, by the time all of this waiting is over, you should be fully healed." Twilight said.
Mana rolled her eyes. "Except for the arm thing." She added.
"Yea, except for that." Twilight agreed.
Mana didn't recieve many stares this time, but she still kept her head down as she walked.
Twilight noticed this and decided to bring it up. "Is there a reason you hide your face?" She asked.
Mana blinked, she really didn't get that question often. "I'm shy." She said simply.
Twilight could actually see that, Mana didn't even try to talk with Applejack, or any of the hospital staff, the only reason she talked to her was probably because she could understand what she was saying, as for Pinkie Pie, she must have taken some time before talking, the only other person she talked to was Onyx, but she was guessing they knew each other for a long time.
Mana followed Twilight closely, never straying far, she did feel better now, but she still grieved for her parents and everyone else on the boat, but she managed to fight her way past it, at least for now, if anything, Mana was suddenly very glad she had a more mature mindset then her classmates back home, she was still a kid, but she could handle logical thought much better.
She finally reached the hospital with Twilight and stopped at the door. "Hey."
Twilight stopped and looked at Mana. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Mana rubbed her eyes and sighed. "I really don't want to go back in there, could you just get my clothes and pack and give them to me?" She asked.
Twilight nodded and went inside, while she doubted that the doctor would he completely willing to just let her go, she didn't think that Mana would allow herself to stay another night.
Twilight chuckled, she was just like Rainbow Dash in that regard, a complete dislike of hospitals.
Mana sat down and rested her head on a nearby wall, she closed her eyes and waited.
It was about ten minutes later, but Twilight eventually walked out of the hospital again with Mana's pack and her torn cold weather clothes.
Mana opened her eyes and looked at Twilight who set her stuff down next to her, she looked up at the sunny sky. "Thanks Twilight." She said.
Twilight sighed and looked down at Mana. "Well, where are you going to go now?" She asked.
Mana shrugged. "I don't know, like I said before, I can live under that bridge, no laws against that, and it shouldn't take long for you to go through with that whole process right?" She asked.
Twilight shook her head. "I have no idea how long that will take, and you can't live under a bridge." She said.
Mana sighed. "Then where? I can't stay with you because of that process, so where?" She asked.
Twilight bit her lip, she eventually sighed, she sat down next to Mana. "I have no idea, all I can say is that we need to come up with an idea and quickly." She replied.
______*later that day*______
Mana stood in Twilight's home, they had decided that there was nothing wrong with a visit, and Mana was surprised at how many books there were in the tree house, apparently this was also the library.
Mana looked around while Twilight headed upstairs, she walked over to a bookshelf and grabbed a random book, unsurprisingly, she couldn't read the book at all, but it was still a thrill for her.
"Maybe I should teach you how to read and talk our language?" Twilight offered.
Mana looked at Twilight. "That would be helpful." She admitted as she returned the book.
Twilight walked over and swapped the two books around. "Maybe reading should come first." She said.
'Actually, I think speech should be first." Mana argued.
Twilight looked at Mana. "Oh yea, right, at least then you won't need me to translate." She said.
Mana walked over to a nearby chair and sat down. "Well, we should get started." She finally said.
______*hours later*______
Mana groaned as she rested her head on the soft dirt under the bridge, Twilight had practically driven her insane with teaching, so far, all she managed to learn was how to say hello, yes, no, maybe, thank you, my, me, you, and her name.
Mana looked at Onyx. "I have never been so exhausted from learning since dad tought me how to write." She said.
Onyx chattered some and sat down next to her. "I know bud, but if I'm going to be stuck here, I might as well learn the language." She replied.
Mana then blinked, she looked at her right arm and then at the ground, she shrugged and started to turn her hand into wood, she then began to experiment with what she could do with it.
She also began experimenting with ice, using her left arm.
She grinned at the results a few hours later.
______*the next day, 2:00 PM*______
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the conundrum before her, Rainbow Dash had shown up and told Twilight that there was something strange in town.
Twilight thought she knew what that strange thing was, but she was wrong.
Apparently, under the bridge where she found Mana, there was now a strange wooden and ice wall on both sides, she blinked and approached after lighting her horn.
Twilight noticed a small crawl way and knocked on the wood above it. "One sec." Mana's voice replied.
Mana, soon appeared and looked at Twilight. "Can I help you?" She asked.
Twilight pointed at the wall. "Oh, that, sorry, I dozed off." Mana apologized.
Soon enough, the ice and the wood quickly went away, and Mana stepped out. "Why did you make that, and how?" Twilight asked.
Mana shrugged. "I used my newfound power, and as for why, to keep someone from barging in." She replied.
Twilight shook her head. "Ok, that settles it, you need a place to stay, you can't live under there." She said.
Mana sighed and crossed her arms. "Where exactly am I going then?" She asked.
"I just found out today that I can have you stay with me until this whole mess is straightened out." Twilight replied.
Mana nodded. "Fine then, let's go." She said.
Twilight held her hood up. "Uh uh, first things first." She then looked at Mana. "When was the last time you ate?" She asked.
"Uh, since the night I came here?" She said.
Twilight sighed and started walking. "Ok, that's the first priority, food." She stated.
Mana heard her stomach growl, she quickly started following the unicorn.
They eventually stopped at a small building that served food, Mana didn't catch the name, nor did she care at the moment, as they sat down, Mana noticed that she had a pair of eyes glance over. "I take it you don't get many visitors." She said.
"We do actually." Twilight said. "Just not many different species." She added.
Mana nodded. "I see, well, my village wasn't like this, we were used to things that weren't normal." She said idly.
Soon, a waitress popped over and took Twilight's order, she then walked up to Mana and spoke, Mana only understood 'you' from that sentence. Mana shrugged and looked at Twilight. "I have no idea what she said, or what anything on this menu is." She said.
Twilight then looked at the waitress and talked to her, Mana couldn't understand most of the conversation, but when the waitress nodded and walked off, she had an idea. "I hope you like eggs." Twilight said.
Mana nodded and crossed her arms, she looked up Into the sky, watching as the birds and Pegasi flew by, the latter of the two pushing clouds. "How are they pushing clouds?" Mana asked.
Twilight looked up and smiled. "It's magic, Pegasi are born with the ability to walk and touch clouds, as well as to create and control weather." She said.
Mana looked at Twilight. "That seems a bit hard to believe." She admitted.
"Trust me, as somepony.....sorry, someONE, who has studied the subject several times over, it's true, but they do need a lot of concentration and skill to create weather." Twilight said.
Mana and Twilight talked back and forth a while, mostly with Mana asking questions, and Twilight answering.
When the food arrived, Mana ate at a normal pace, she had learned a long time ago that eating quickly can lead to one of many unpleasant consequences, such as hiccups, stomach ache, or even vomit, if you pushed it.
After they ate, Twilight left some money on the table, and they left. "I was going to say, why did you pay with gold coins?.....kind of carefree with money?" Mana asked.
Twilight blinked, she then shook her head. "Actually no, that's Equestria's common currency, they are called bits." She explained.
Mana nodded in understanding. "Oh, because where I'm from, the currency goes from copper, to silver, to gold, well, in coins anyway." She explained, producing a small copper coin from her pack as an example.
Twilight noticed a symbol on the coin. "What's with the symbol?" She asked.
"This coin is made in one of the Water Tribes, it's an old coin, but still of value, I have a small amount of them, but I don't think now is the time for examining coins." Mana said as they approached the library.
"I do have one question though Twilight." Mana said.
Twilight looked at Mana. "What is it?" She asked.
"Unless you have a spare room and bed, things will get awkward very fast." Mana said.
Twilight nodded. "Then it's a good thing I have a spare room now isn't it?" She replied as they entered the library.
Mana looked over her shoulder and at Onyx, the squirrel chattered and patted her shoulder. "Oh yea, good point." She said in agreement.
Mana then looked at Twilight. "Do you know a place where we can get more pet food?.....I'm running low." She said.
"Not me personally." Twilight said. "But my friend Fluttershy should know a good spot." She added.
Mana then set Onyx down on the ground and started walking towards the window, as she looked outside, she noticed something odd, a rainbow maned Pegasus flying......right towards the window. "Duck!" She shouted.