//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: A Filly's New Hope // by Mocha Star //------------------------------//         Nova chattered for nearly an hour before she finally fell silent.         Tree looked back and craned his neck to check the cart, smiling to see her asleep.         He plotted along and began to hum a local tune to himself as he crested a hill and broke the woods’ canopy for a moment.  He could see most of the woods and beyond, to the far southeast he could barely make out his destination… several more hours and he’d be home, as long as he didn’t have to stop for the filly too often.                  He descended the hill and into the treeline again, following the road and humming his tune.         …         “Filly, uh, Nova.  Wake up, we’re almost there,” he called behind himself.  When she didn’t respond he turned and pulled the cart through the shoulder of the road.  The bumping and shaking woke Nova with a startle.         “Help! Mom, earthshake!  Ugh, where are we?” She said looking at the stallion.         “A few minutes out from Ponyville, home of the Apple family and their orchard.”         “Uh, so, apples are going to make me better?”         He snickered softly. “Nah, there’s a doctor in town and a general store, too.  The Apple family grows apples, mostly.”         “So, can I eat the apples?  Those are really special treats, like, on my birthday last year I got two whole apples!  Cinder was so jealous,” she giggled and looked around at the dark woods around them.  “So, where’s this place?  Are we there yet?”         Tree sighed. “No, but soon.”         “Ugh, I’ve been sleeping for a whole day and we’re not there yet?  I thought the world was supposed to be like, a couple hooves long, not days.”         “Hooves?” He asked himself softly, “you mean, a map?  Have you seen a map before?”         “Uh, yeah.  It was in a book I found in the creek once,” she said hopping to the side of the cart and looking over the wooden side, “I can’t readed it, but I can see the pictures good and it was four hooves big.  That’s, like, not that big,” she mumbled and trailed off.         “Well, the land’s a bit bigger than a few filly hooves long,” he said in a happy tone as they broke the treeline and the road smoothed out some more.         “Wow!  The path, it’s like, so smooth!  Did you do that?”         “No, it’s called cobblestone,” he said looking back to her, “you don’t know what that is either?  Sheesh,” he mumbled a few words to himself before falling silent for the next several minutes.  As he entered the town’s borders he began a happy trot.         “Woah,” Nova called as she fell to her side with a giggle.  The cart came to a sudden stop.  “Uh, are we there yet?”         “Yeah, we’re there; check it out.  Ponyville!”         She scampered to her hooves and across the tarp and peeked over the front of the cart to see him unhitching himself.         She gazed around in awe at the single story thatch roofed farm homes that speckled the distance.  Tree had parked by a house with a wooden roof and a red mark on the door she didn’t recognize.         “Okay, Nova.  Time ta get out and see a doctor.  Well, she’s as close to a doctor as we have,” he shrugged as he reared and grasped the filly in his forelegs and stumbled back, falling to his flank and dropping her on his chest, knocking the wind from him.         “Whee, that was fun, again?!” She asked jumping from him and hopping between hooves with a hopeful smile.         “Ugh,” he coughed, “nah.  Why’d I do that and not use magic?” He asked as he rolled over.         “I’unno.  Maybe you forgot to use it.”         “Yeah, maybe I just need a nap.  We can’t all sleep during a travel,” he said pushing himself back up and shaking his mane.  “Let’s get you in,” he said walking and opening the door.  “Ladies first.”         Her smile slowly formed to a grin. “A lady?” She asked trotting past him into the warmed entryway.         “Hello?  Miss Tender?  Are you in?”         “Over here, Johnny Appletree?  Is that you, you rascal?” A mare’s voice called from ahead.         Nova looked ahead and noticed four rooms with doors that were open and a desk to her right with a file cabinet behind it.         “Well, last I checked, and please, call me Tree.  I’ve got a patient for you.”         “Oh?  Another conquest?”         “Ugh, I’m not that kind of stallion and you know it!”         A white unicorn mare walked from the room to the back right with a stethoscope hovering above her head that draped over her neck as she approached.  “Awe, is she yours?” The mare insinuated. “No, but thanks for the thought,” he shuddered, “I’m nowhere near ready to be a dad.  I found her way out in the woods by a river… the big one, you know?” “Okay, and except for needing a bath, what’s wrong with her?” “Oh, oh!  I can tell you,” Nova hopped in place. “Well, somepony’s excited.  Did you just wake up?  Because if you did then your guardian here is in for a long night.” Tree groaned and dragged his hoof across his face then stopped.  “Eww, eew, eew, I need to wash my face!” Tender giggled. “Second room to the left.  Just, make sure to refill the pitcher before you leave.  Now,” she leaned down as he trotted quickly past them, “how’d you get hurt and where?” “Well, first she scratched my mane open and then I fell asleep and woke up when she was biting me-” “Oh my!  Was it a rabid animal?  A dog, wolf, please describe it as best you can,” she asked picking the filly up in her magic and galloping her to the first room on the right.                  “It was Little Hoof.  She bit me right here,” she said reaching and pulling her mane open, showing the wound that was turning slightly green as well as swelling.         “You mean a pony bit you?!  Celestia, what’s the world coming to?  Lay down and I’ll start,” she said resting the filly on a soft futon filled with hay on a short cot.         “Well, she did it to free me,” Nova said, “it was my tracker thing.”         “You mean you’re a slave and you escaped?  Ugh,” Tender groaned, “I don’t even want to start on my thoughts on slavery in this day and age.  Just, relax, this will sting a few times then you won’t feel a thing for several hours around your wound, okay?”         “Wound?”         “It means where you’re hurt.  Just relax.  Have you ever had a bee sting?”         “Once, maybe twice in the fields.  Pack had a allerginic reduction and got really sick but I didn’t.”         “Well, that’s great to know you aren’t allergic to bee stings, ready?”         “Yeah, for what?  Owie!” Nova shouted as she jerked and looked up.  A hypodermic needle hovered over her.  “What’s that?!  Is it a bee stinger?”         “Well, it’s medicine to make it hurt less.  But first it has to hurt a little bit.  When you were bitten,” Tender asked kindly, “did it hurt more or less than the sting you just got?”         “I think getting scratched a lot with the trowel hurt the most,” Nova admitted as she lay back down.  Tender stared at the filly’s small form and lowered the syringe to finish the injections.  “There, good girl.  Now, do you feel that?”         “Uh, what?  I don’t feel anything, are you being silly like mister Parts?  He’s always throwing leaves at us, he’s really silly.”         “Just, stay still, this’ll be quick.  I’m cleaning your, hurt spot.  Uh, when you were there, were you hurt anywhere else?”         Nova scrunched her muzzle in thought and began to ramble a list of various cuts, scratches, bumps, and bruises she’d received over the past year and a half of her indentured servitude.         “Okay, we’re done.  I’ll have to see you in two days but overall you’re the strongest filly I’ve ever seen,” Tender complimented Nova.         “I’m a mar-, uh, young mare.”         “...Did somepony try to hurt you?”         “Well, once, but I ran away with Little’s help.  That’s why she bited me.  But, I’ll be fine.  I’m strong, right?”         “That’s what I said and I’m sticking by it.” Tender giggled as she patted Nova’s back, “So, are you ready to go?”         “Sure!  Where’s my shed?  I hope it’s not near the potty’s, I can go potty, but I don’t like the smell.  Like when I go to Sun Ray’s, he’s a cute colt I know, his shack smells really bad but he doesn’t know it.  Weird, huh?”         Tender had turned to grab a folder from a drawer and had begun to scratch some notes on a page inside it.           “Yes, that’s weird.  But, colts will be colts, right?” Tender asked with a smile.         “That’s what mom says!  Well, she’s not my real mom, she’s my surgomite mom.”         “Oh?  That’s very nice of her.  Please, wait here while I speak with Tree.”         “Okay.”         “Here, you can play with this.  You can listen to your heart with it!”         “Wow, I can’t believe how awesome the world is!  Way cooler than I thought it’d be.”         Tender gave her stethoscope to Nova and left the room, closing the door.           Nova placed the tool in her ears and then to her hoof and winced at the scratching sounds.  She tapped it and gawked at the loud thumping in her ears.  She placed it to her chest and, after listening to the scratching of her fur against the listening piece she held it still.         Her eyes widened and a smile formed as she inhaled.  The sound of her heartbeat was like a drum she’d heard some nights around the communal fire pit. An elder had played the drum as she and her mother sang songs and enjoyed each other’s company, as well as the company of her neighbors.         She moved it around her chest and listened to her breathing, the table, various tappings, the wiggling of her ears, and to her delight, the sound of her voice, albeit at a very loud volume.         “Hey, ready to head to my home?”         Nova glanced up and narrowed her eyes.         Tree rolled his eyes and motioned for her to free her ears with a hoof.         “Oh,” Nova snickered, “what?”         “Ready to head to my home?”         “Oh, sure!  I got a healing done and now I’m all better.”         “Not quite, but you’re in a better state.  Tree,” Tender asked looking to him, “make sure to bring her back in two days so I can readdress her wounds.  She barely dodged an infection and I had to give her a series of vaccines and antibiotics.  She’s not out of the woods yet, so to say.”         “Huh?  I left the woods, like, a hour ago, Miss Tenders.”         The adults smiled to each other. “Miss Tender.  Tender Touch.”         “Oh, sorry.  C’mon, show me your shack!  Will I have a room or will we be sharing?” Nova asked as she trotted from the room.         “Oh, this’ gonna be a tough week.  Let’s just hope she’s ready to live a normal life for a while and,” he leaned in closer to Tender, “she’s a local, right?”         “Right,” Tender nodded firmly as she took her stethoscope back to her neck and left the room after him.