Twilight was busy getting things ready for the arrival of her family from the Crystal Empire. She had the guest rooms prepared for the few days they would be staying in Ponyville, "Ooh! They should be here any minute!" she squealed. It was then that she heard knocking coming from the front door. Twilight then quickly made her way to the door, and opened it, reveal the Crystal Family. Cadence and Twilight did their normal greeting, before embracing, "I hope the trip wasn't too draining on you guys," Twilight said, breaking away from the hug.
"None at all. The Crystal Express is the fastest passenger train in all of Equestria," Cadence replied.
"Twiley, we brought along a guest with us," Shining Armor added, motioning to Mavis, as she wheeled herself in.
"A centaur?" Twilight asked in surprise. She remembered how Tirek was when it came to the ponies, but it appeared that this young centaur was nothing like the evil magic siphoning tyrant.
"Yes. We found her last night when we came back from a night out on the town. She had some kind of injury to her leg, which is why she's on this crutch scooter," Cadence explained. Twilight then noticed the young centaur's leg, and how it was wrapped in gauze, "And before you ask, no, she can't drain magic like Tirek can," she quickly added. Twilight took this information in, and carefully approached her, as not to make the girl feel threatened.
"Hello sweetie, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, but please, call me Twilight," she carefully introduced herself.
"B-Bonjour," Mavis quietly replied, quickly avoiding eye contact.
"She seems very well mannered, but shy," Twilight commented.
"She's not very talkative, and has hardly said much since last night," Cadence explained.
"We were thinking bringing her to Ponyville could help her to relax around us," Shining Armor added.
"True. Perhaps meeting our friends will help her out. Let me show you all to your rooms, then we can head out," Twilight said.
"Ok. Mavis sweetie, we're going to go with Twilight to find our rooms, then we'll be back for todays outing. You can come with us to find your room, or you can stay here if want. Your choice," Cadence said.
"O-Ok, I will just stay here then," Mavis replied, wheeling herself off to the side. Twilight then proceeded to show the Crystal Family to their rooms.
"Twilight, could you possibly give Mavis a room that's close my and Shining Armor's room? I'd rather her not be too far from me if she feels scared," Cadence requested.
"Of course! She seems to trust you most of all," Twilight replied, as she let them all unpack, and returned to the foyer, where the young centaur was waiting.
"By the way, where are Josh and the rest?" Nathan asked.
"They had some things that needed taking care of, so they couldn't stay," Twilight replied.
"I see. Well, maybe we can meet up with them in town," Cadence said, as they all exited the castle, with Shining Armor helping Mavis down the stairs, setting the scooter on the ground.
"We should probably head to the guild first. Raiden's new invention may be able to help out with Mavis' leg," Twilight suggested.
"Good call," Cadence said, as they began to make their way to the guild hall. Along the way, Mavis felt more uncomfortable because of the stares she was getting from the townsfolk, some of them being dirty looks. The dirty looks the townsfolk were giving Mavis didn't go unnoticed by Cadence and the others.
"Actually, it'll be faster this way," Twilight said, as she teleported them out of town, and in front of the guild hall. Mavis looked at the guild hall in awe, "Impressive, right? It used to be a castle before it got turned into a guild," Twilight explained, as they entered the gates. Mavis paled at the sight of multiple humans among the grounds. One of them, she saw exiting the castle, and coming towards them. It was Eliza, one of the S Ranked Members.
"'Ello there, Princess. What brings ye ta our neck o' the woods?" Eliza asked.
"Hello Eliza. Is Raiden in right now?" Twilight asked.
"Aye. He's in his lab, workin' on some experiment," Eliza replied. Then she took notice of Mavis, who immediately flinched at being looked at, "Who's this wee lassie?" the Scottish girl asked.
"This is Mavis. We were hoping to talk to Raiden about an injury she somehow got on her leg," Cadence replied.
"Ah. Well, do nae let me stop ye from your plans," Eliza said, as she left the guild grounds.
"Well, come along Mavis. We'll go and get you fixed up," Twilight said, as they all entered the Guild Hall. Once inside, Twilight went over to where Silver was working the drink counter, giving some soda floats to some of the guild members.
"Ah, Twilight. What brings you here?" Silver asked.
"Hello Silver. Would it be alright if we went to see Raiden? We have a guest with us with an injured leg," Twilight asked.
"Oh sure. His lab is down the hall, second set of double doors on the right," Silver replied.
"Thank you," Twilight said, as she led her family from the Crystal Empire down the hall to Raiden's lab. Twilight then carefully knocked on the door.
"It's open!" she heard Raiden call out. They then proceeded to enter the lab, where they saw Raiden working on some kind of experiment, "Well, that's a bust," he grumbled, before turning to the family, "Ah, Twilight, and Cadence and Shining Armor too. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" the thunder teen asked.
"Well, we were hoping you had something to help with healing injuries," Cadence replied, motioning to Mavis, who flinched at being observed by Raiden.
"A centaur? I thought Equestria didn't get along with centaurs?" Raiden asked.
"Well, it's just with Tirek. He's the only centaur to ever show malice towards Equestria, and wants to make the magic of every pony his own," Twilight replied.
"I see. Well, you're in luck. I have just the thing. But I'll have to ask this young one to lay down on this table here," Raiden said, motioning to an examination table.
"Ok. Mavis, this nice young man is just going to look at your leg, and try and make it better, ok?" Cadence said to Mavis.
"O-Ok," Mavis quietly replied, as Cadence helped her up onto the table. Raiden came over with a device that appeared to look like a giant bubble wand.
"Ok Mavis, I want you to try and extend your injured leg. This invention of mine will take care of the rest," Raiden said, activating the device.
"O-Ok," Mavis was more on edge, being this close to a human. Raiden fed Mavis' injured leg through the device, taking it all the way up to her lower torso. He then brought it back down. Mavis no longer felt the pain from the injury.
"Is there any tenderness still?" Raiden asked, examining the young centaur's leg. Mavis flinched from being touched, pulling away from him.
"Sorry about that, but Mavis doesn't seem to keen on being near humans," Cadence apologized to Raiden.
"Hmm, based on her mannerisms, it does seem like she had a traumatic experience of some kind," Raiden observed.
"Can you recommend any actions we should take? Mavis doesn't seem like the type case like you, or the rest of the humans were," Twilight asked quietly, as Cadence and Shining Armor helped Mavis off the table.
"Hmm, the best thing you can do for her is to give her time and space from the other human kids until she's warmed up to them," Raiden recommended the best course of action he could think of.
"Well, it may take a long time, but things like this do take time," Twilight replied.
"Indeed. Try not to force her into things she doesn't want to do. Let her do her own things at her own pace," Raiden advised.
"We will. Thank you for helping us out," Cadence said, as they all left.
"No problem. And if you ever need any more help, you can always come by," Raiden said.
"Well, now that Mavis' leg is healed up, maybe the next stop should be to get her some more clothes. It must be uncomfortable wearing the same dress all the time," Shining Armor suggested.
"Good call. What do you say, Mavis? Want to get a few more outfits?" Cadence offered.
"W-Well, I certainly would like some more outfits," Mavis replied.
"Then we have the perfect place to take you for new outfits!" Twilight said, as the group left the guild hall, and made their way to the center of town.