//------------------------------// // Yuuki Onna/ Snow Woman (Part 2) // Story: What if Mavis was a: // by darkmage1997 //------------------------------// The next morning soon came, and the Crystal Family was ready to leave for Ponyville. They had all gathered in the main foyer, where they had all their luggage ready to go, "Ok, is that everything?" Cadence asked. "Yep. Got mah clothes, entertainment bag, and some snacks for the trip," Nathan replied. "Ok then. I'll go and get Mavis from her room. I'll be right back," Cadence said. "Hopefully, we can get her something substantial to eat. She fell asleep before we got a chance to feed her anything," Shining Armor commented. "Yeah. And Ah'm hoping we can git to the bottom of why she's so cold," Nathan replied. Cadence was able to get to Mavis' room in not time at all. However, before she entered, once thing puzzled her.... there was frost on the area surrounding the door, "Where did all of this frost come from?" she wondered, as she opened the door. Once inside, she shivered, as she felt an unnatural cold feeling. She then saw that most of the room was coated in frost and ice. She was more confused and concerned than before, "Mavis? Are you there?" Cadence asked, as she carefully entered the room, being careful not to slip on the ice. She walked over to the bed were Mavis was still sleeping. She gasped when she saw what looked to be fresh snow on the bed. However, instead of shivering, Mavis looked content. Cadence's mind flooded with even more questions than before, but she knew the one person who could help answer her questions. And for that, Mavis' needed to wake up, "Mavis? It's morning sweetie," Cadence said, gently nudging the child, who still felt as cold as she did last night. Mavis' stirred in her sleep. "Bonjour, Cadence," Mavis yawned tiredly. She then noticed the state of the room, 'Oh non! If she finds out about that.... then I may be as good as dead!' Mavis thought fearfully. "Mavis, my family and I are going to visit some relatives in a town called Ponyville. Would you like to come with us?" Cadence asked kindly. "Uh.... ok," Mavis cautiously replied, as she got out of bed, sending some of the snow to the floor, "Désolé," she said timidly. "It's fine, sweetie. It's just a little snow," Cadence reassured. Mavis was surprised when Cadence wasn't asking questions about the snow. But she wasn't complaining. The less people knew about her secret, the better, in Mavis' opinion. Cadence then led her downstairs to the foyer, where Shining Armor, Nathan, Skyla, and Guard were all waiting. Mavis paled at the sight of Nathan. 'A.... human!' she thought, as they neared the group. "Ok, now that everyone is here, let's get going," Cadence said, as they exited the castle. She then motioned to some nearby servants, "Could you clean the room this child was sleeping in? There was a lot of frost and snow in there," she whispered. "Of course, Princess," the servant said, as they went to take care of the task given to them. Mavis felt more uneasy. She had no idea she was taken in by a princess. But she felt/knew she had to keep her composure. It took about fifteen minutes, but they soon arrived at the train station, where the Crystal Express was waiting. "Tickets please!" the conductor bellowed. Cadence gave him their tickets, after buying an additional ticket for Mavis. Once the conductor checked all the tickets, he let them onto the royal car, that was coupled to the train. Once they all got settled, Mavis took her seat, away from the others. This behavior concerned the Crystal Family, apart from the two babies, because they're just babies. The train then set off at an incredible speed. "Mavis must still not fully trust us," Shining Armor commented. "Well, hopefully, this trip to Ponyville will help her out. We can seek out Raiden to help as far as psychologically helping her, among another issue I've been thinking about," Cadence replied. "What's that then?" Nathan asked. "Well, when I went to get Mavis, I saw that the room she was staying in was completely coated in ice, snow, frost, the whole nine yards," Cadence replied in a hushed voice, as not to make Mavis feel bad. "That is mighty strange," Nathan commented. "Maybe she's an Ice or Snow Mutant, like Icezer or those other two boys from the Guild?" Shining Armor chimed in. "Maybe, but if so, then she froze her room over without any control," Cadence replied. "Well, we can have Raiden help us out as far as that. No sense in us overthinkin' things," Nathan suggested. "Yeah, you're probably right. In the mean time, I'll take Mavis to the dining car to get her something to eat," Cadence said, as she walked over to the young girl in question, "Mavis, sweetie? Would you like to come with me to get you something to eat? You haven't eaten a thing since we found you," Cadence offered. Truthfully, Mavis didn't want the Princess to take pity on her, but she was starving. "O-Ok," Mavis replied timidly, as Cadence led her through the train cars. Eventually, they arrived at the diner car, where they had ready to eat pastries in a display case. "Is there anything in particular you want?" Cadence asked. Mavis looked at the pastries, and grimaced. Her grimace didn't go unnoticed by Cadence. 'They all look so full of sugar,' Mavis thought, but the grumbling in her tummy snapped her out of her trance, "C-could I m-maybe have some t-toast?" Mavis meekly asked, flinching immediately. Cadence was saddened by how fearful Mavis was behaving, but was not about to let her starve. She then turned to the worker. "Could I get two slices of toast?" Cadence asked. "At once, your majesty," the worker replied, as she began to work on some toast. Cadence led Mavis to the side, to get out of the way of the other ponies who were walking through. In about five minutes, the toast was ready, and the worker gave it to Cadence, along with some packs of butter and jelly. "Thank you for this," Cadence said, as she and Mavis went back to the royal car. Once they were back in the car, Cadence got Mavis settled at the table, placing her toast in front of her, "I'll get you some milk to drink, if you want," Cadence asked. "M-merci," Mavis replied. With that, Mavis went to the fridge, and got a cup of milk for the young girl, and brought it her, as she started eating her first slice of toast. Within a few bites, she finished her first sliced, and proceeded to the second one. Once that was done, she went to drink the milk, only to find it was slightly frozen. Mavis, however, didn't mind, as she drank the milk. It was then that they all felt the train slow down. "We must be nearing Ponyville," Cadence commented. Mavis put her cup down, and went back to her seat by the window, gazing out the window. She saw the town they were approaching was nothing like the villages she was used to. The doors looked to be made entirely of wood, and opened inwards and outwards. Soon, the train stopped, arriving at the station, "Come along now Mavis," Cadence said, as she and her family led Mavis out of the train car. However, as she stepped out, she got brushed with a face full of steam, causing her to cry out in pain, "Mavis, what's wrong?!" Cadence quickly rushed to the young child's aid. "The.... the steam.... It's too hot!" Mavis shakily replied, her face reddened by the heat, and was covered in sweat. This definitely raised concern among the Crystal Family. To them, the steam was barely warm. "Well, let's go git ya cooled off then," Nathan said, as he picked Mavis up, bridal style, ad carried her out of the station. As he did, he noted that as he carried her, she felt unnaturally cold. Normally, a person would have some degree of body heat, but this girl had almost no heat to her at all, 'What is with this girl?' he wondered, as they neared Twilight's castle. "Mavis, if you want, we can wipe your face off when we get inside," Cadence offered. "O-Ok," Mavis timidly replied. She was on edge with a human carrying her. Once they arrived at the castle, Cadence knocked on the door. In moments, Twilight opened the door. "Hi Twilight!" Cadence said, as she and Twilight did their little nursery rhyme. Or rather, they attempted to, before Shining Armor cut them off. "Can we skip this part? We have someone who needs to be cooled off," he stated. "Ah, right! Sorry Twilight, but can we ask for some cold wet wash cloths and an ice pack or two?" Cadence requested. Twilight was taken aback by this odd request, but seeing the overheated girl in Nathan's arms, she decided not to question it. "Of course! Bring her to the throne room, and set her on the table," Twilight replied, as she went to get the requested items. Nathan then carried Mavis to the throne room, where he promptly laid her out on the table. Mavis was still breathing heavily, her face was flushed from the heat of the steam. Twilight came in with a few ice packs, and some wet washcloths. "Ok, lets try to cool her off," Cadence said, as they placed ice packs all around Mavis' body, and wiped off her forehead. When she did so, Cadence saw the water on both Mavis' forehead and on the washcloth had frozen. This did not go unnoticed by the others. Twilight then pulled out a something that looked like a remote, and pressed it against Mavis' forehead. Once she got a reading, she was flabbergasted. "What the....?! -20 degrees?! She's freezing!" Twilight exclaimed. "Maybe so, but she looks more relaxed than when we got here," Nathan observed how much more relaxed Mavis looked. "We just assumed that she could be another Ice Mutant, like Icezer," Shining Armor added. "Probably. But we shouldn't move Mavis, just to be safe. I'll have Raiden come over with Icezer, if they're not out on a job, and look over her," Twilight said, quickly writing down a message on a scroll, and sent it away. "It's for the best. Her health is more important than the outing we planned on," Cadence replied. With in minutes, some knocking came from the front door. Twilight went to answer it, and revealed both Icezer and Raiden standing before her. "We came as soon as we got your message," Icezer said. "Thank you both for coming over. Please, right this way," Twilight said, allowing the two boys into the castle. "So, what's the deal with this kid?" Raiden asked. "Well, she appeared to be severely overheated, and when we took a wet washcloth to her face to help cool her off, the water froze. The weirdest thing was when I took her temperature, it read well below 0 degrees," Twilight explained. "Hmm, she sounds like an Ice Mutant, but she probably isn't," Icezer replied. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked. "See, Ice and Fire Mutants are immune to temperature. They could take blasts from the other, and not feel any heat or cold," Raiden replied. "Ok, but if she ain't an Ice Mutant, then what could she possibly be?" Nathan asked, as the three of them entered the room. "I have a theory. Icezer, can you place your hand on her forehead?" Raiden asked his brother. An odd request, but the icy teen did so. As soon as he made contact, he immediately pulled away. "Whoa, she IS freezing!" Icezer commented. "Cold enough for even you to feel?" Raiden asked. "Yeah, which is really weird," Icezer replied. "Which confirms my suspicions," Raiden commented. "What have you got?" Cadence asked. "Mavis here, might just possibly be a Yokai spirit, known as a Yuuki Onna," Raiden replied. "What's a Yokai?" Shining Armor asked. "Yokai are spirits that are often believed to be the cause of mundane occurrences, such as being clumsy, depressed, etc. The legends of them originate in Japan. But in the case of a Yuuki Onna, they're also called 'Snow Women'. They live in snow covered mountains, waiting for travelers to come by and freeze them solid to decorate their lairs. They can be extremely dangerous Yokai," Raiden explained. "But Mavis doesn't seem dangerous at all," Cadence replied. "I said they CAN be dangerous, not that they ARE," Raiden clarified. "Are there lots of Yokai species?" Twilight asked. "Oh yeah. Legends tell of the Oni, who attack human villages, slaughtering anyone who crosses their path, devouring the flesh and blood of humans, the Noppera-Bo, who are basically faceless ghosts, then there are the Onryo, spirits born from a grudge towards someone who wronged them in life, and quite a plethora of others," Raiden replied. "In fact, there's a movie franchise that's actually based on the story of an Onryo," Icezer added. "My word. Human world ghost stories are more gruesome than I thought," Cadence commented. "And believe me, there are a lot more, equally gruesome stories," Raiden replied. "Yuuki Onna stories are usually rooted in tragedy. Some stories tell of one being forced into a hot bath, where she melted instantly," Icezer added. "Well, if that's the case, then ice baths are what Mavis needs," Cadence commented. "Well, I have something that could help her out even more than mere ice," Raiden replied. "Oh yeah. You got a shipment of liquid hydrogen, right?" Icezer asked. "Yes. It's temperature is about 0 degrees Kelvin. It should be cold enough for Mavis to be comfortable with," Raiden replied. "But isn't 0 degrees Kelvin extremely dangerous?" Shining Armor asked. "To warm bodied creatures like you and I, yes. But a Yuuki Onna's coldness is supernatural. Normal coldness may not affect her the same way it would affect us," Raiden replied. "Ok, but should we still use ice baths for Mavis? I'm not exactly sure on how to use or dispose of liquid hydrogen," Cadence replied. "Yeah, you could do that. And if she wants something colder, just bring by the guild anytime you guys come to visit, and I'll set up a sprinkler system for her with the liquid hydrogen," Raiden replied. "Thank you both for your time," Twilight said to the two brothers. "Any time, Twilight," Icezer replied, as the two of them left. Once they did, Mavis began to stir once again. "Mmm, I feel nice and cold again," Mavis murmured, as she sat up, holding the ice packs close to her, enjoying the cold. "Ah! Mavis, are you feeling any better?" Cadence asked, coming to the child's side. "Oh... uh.... oui," Mavis replied quietly, focusing more on the cold packs. "Mavis, if you feel rested enough to come with us, we'd love to have you with us while we walk around. There may even be something you might like," Cadence offered. "Uh... ok," Mavis replied, as she carefully got off of the table, and onto the floor. She wobbled a bit, trying to balance herself. With that, they all left the castle, and made their way into Ponyville.