//------------------------------//
// Woona and Carby 
// Story: My New Life 
// by Ark125 
//------------------------------//


My New Life

Chapter 61 – Woona and Carby


Luna's POV – Age 6

"I give up! I'm going to be a blank flank forever!" I yelled as I stomped down the hall.

"Come on, Luna. You've only been at it for a few days. It took me years to find my special talent." Tia said, trying to make me feel better.

"But I have to get my cutie mark now! I can't let dumb Princess Platinum get ahead of me."

"Oh come now. Are you really comparing yourself to her?"

"No. She just said that if I can my cutie mark first, she will be my friend."

Tia sighed. "You two are so competitive. Well, we'll try again tomorrow." She walked me to my room and I got into bed. She tucked me in and kissed me on the forehead. "Goodnight Luna." She walked out and closed the door, leaving me in darkness.

"Stupid Tia. What does she know? Nothing, that's what." I said, sitting up in bed. "Stupid Platinum for not being my friend." I got out of bed and went to the window, opening it and resting my forelegs on the windowsill. "I wish I had a friend. One that liked everything I do and will always be there for me."

"HELP! HELP ME PLEASE!" I heard someone yell.

I looked around outside from the window, but didn't see anypony out there.

"PLEASE, SOMEONE! ANYONE!" They screamed.

This time I was able to find that the voice was coming from the forest.

"HOLD ON! I'M COMING!" I backed up and ran, jumping out the window, fluttering my small wings and floated towards the cries for help.

When I touched down, I ran into the thicket of trees. The cries eventually led to a large patch of brambles.

"SOMEONE PLEASE! I'M STUCK!" They called from inside the thicket.

"Where?!"

A small red leg with a brown hoof poked out and waved. "Over here!"

They were near the middle of the briars. Luckily, there was a small tunnel nearby that looked like it would lead straight there.

"Okay! I'll be right there!"

I got down on my tummy and started crawling into the tunnel. It turned out I was a bit too big as the thorns began to scrape me, but I continued forward.

After what seemed like forever, I finally found a red colt tangled in the briars and saw that they were cutting deep into his skin.

He turned his head and I saw tears falling down his face. "Help me please. It hurts so bad."

"Don't worry. You'll be out in no time." I crawled up to him and pointed my horn at the branches that held him. I concentrated and my horn sparked, cutting a branch in half. I kept doing that and soon he was free. "Come on, follow me and I'll get you bandaged up." We both crawled back through the maze of thorns and after making it out, we headed back to the castle and used one of the secret passage ways to sneak back to my room as it was definitely passed my bedtime.

I turned on my lantern once we were in my room. I looked around the room and couldn't seem to find him. "Where did you go?"

I heard whimpering from behind me. I turned around, holding up the lantern and saw him shivering in the corner. Blood was slowly pouring out of the deep cuts he got from the thorns.

I tapped my hoof on my chin, thinking that Tia would know what to do, but then I would get in trouble for being out passed my bedtime. Then I remembered the 'My Little Nurse' kit I got for my birthday last year. I sat the lantern down and ran over to my toy chest and put on a white nurse hat and a pink gown. I took out the kit and ran over to the colt who was still shivering.

"I'll make you all better." I said softly. I set down the kit and opened it. I pulled out a cotton ball and a bottle.

"W-What's that?" He stammered.

"I think the adults call it Perry Ox Hide. It's going to clean your cuts and keep them from getting infected." I poured some on the cotton and touched one of his cuts.

"OW!" He screamed as he recoiled.

"Shh. You're going to wake up the whole castle."

"But that hurt!" He cried.

"Sorry, I'll be more careful." I lightly dabbed one of his cuts and he flinched but didn't scream this time, so I continued.

As I cleaned his cuts, I was able to get a better look at him. He wasn't much bigger than me, so he was probably around 6 or 7 years old. His fur was pretty close to the same color red as the blood that I was now wiping away with a cloth. He had a brown mane and tail with a streak of lighter brown running through them. Besides that, also had red wings and a horn as well.

I gasped. "Are you an alicorn?"

"A what?"

"Half pegasus, half unicorn. You have wings and a horn, so you have to be, right?"

"Uh, I g-guess."

I pulled out the long white bandage tape and began to wrap up his cuts. When I finished, he looked at my work and smiled for the first time.

"Thank you so much Nurse… uh."

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Luna. What is your name?"

"Philos Carbide." He smiled at me. "You can just call me Carbide."

"So why were you stuck in a bramble patch anyway?" I asked.

His smile disappeared. "I was hiding. There was a bunch of stick dogs and they started chasing me. So I hid on the briars and got stuck."

"Those timber wolves are so mean. Well, you are safe now. So let's see about getting you home."

"Home?" He asked, tilting his head with a confused look. "What's a home?"

"You know, the place you live with your family."

"Oh. Um. Then I guess I don't have a home. Or a family."

"But who takes care of you?" I asked shocked.

"I've taken care of myself ever since I can remember."

"But who gives you food?"

"Food?"

"The stuff you eat when you are hungry."

"Um, I guess I've never been hungry before."

"That's crazy. You're crazy."

"No, you're crazy." He said back.

"No, you are." I stepped forward.

"No, you are." He stepped forward as well.

"You are!" I got closer.

"You are!" He got his face right up to mine.

We stared at each other then we both started laughing.

He then stopped and looked into my eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing. I thought I remembered something, but it's gone." He looked down. "Oh gosh! You're still covered brambles!"

"Huh?" I turned and saw brambles stuck to my tail. I took off the gown and there were a bunch stuck to my fur as well. I looked back at him. "You're one to talk." He also still had some stuck to his mane and tail.

"Hmm. Oh I know. Turn around."

"Why?"

"Trust me."

I shrugged and turned around.

"Okay. You can look again."

I looked and he had a pair of tweezers in his mouth.

"Where did those come from?"

"Um, your kit."

"It came with tweezers? It doesn't say that on the box." I said, looking at the kit.

"It was a bonus prize. Now hold still."

He came close with the tweezers still in his mouth and started pulling off brambles. After he pulled all of them off my body, he dropped the tweezers back into the kit and looked at me.

"Okay, now to get them out of your mane and tail." He said.

"Oh, I have a brush we can use." I walked over to my dresser and picked up a brush with my magic. I turned around to show it off, but he already had a brush. "Where did that come from? And don't say the kit because I know there wasn't one in it."

"Oh…um… I brought it from home." He said nervously.

"You didn't even know what a home was until a few minutes ago." I said with an eyebrow raised. "What's going on?"

He sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll show you, but you have to keep it a secret."

"I promise I will."

"Okay." He held up the brush in his magic and concentrated on it. It started to turn black and then change shape into a ball and finally turning red. He let go and it dropped to the floor.

"A rock?"

"Not a rock, a ruby."

"Wow! That is so cool!"

He blushed. "Oh, thanks." He picked up the ruby and turned it back into a brush. "Now then, let's get those brambles out."

I sat down and he began to gently stroke my mane with the brush.

"This is nice." I said softly.

"Hmm? What is?"

"This. Having someone to talk to."

"Don't you have a family?"

"I have a sister. Though my parents died when I was young."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I don't even remember them and Tia won't tell me about them. All she does is work and rarely has time for me."

"That's terrible."

"I'm used to it. It just gets lonely is all."

"Don't you have any friends?" He asked, lowering the brush to work on my tail.

"Not really. Royalty doesn't get to have much contact with the common folk. At least I don't."

"Royalty? You're a princess?!"

"Yes. It wasn't obvious by the castle?"

"You're talking to the pony who doesn't even know what food is, remember?" He chuckled.

"Oh yeah." Laughing as well.

"Well, that will do it." He said, finishing my tail.

"Now it's your turn." I said, taking the brush in my magic.

"Okay."

I began to brush out his mane, but it was all hard and filthy.

"Geez, when was the last time you took a bath?"

"A bath?"

I sighed. "You know, washed yourself."

"Hmm." He thought for a moment. "I don't know. Why?"

"Well for one, you have dirt clods stuck in your mane. Your hair is almost rock hard."

"Look who's talking. You have dirt all over your fur too."

I looked at my fur and noticed I did as well. "This won't do. If Tia sees me like this, she will know I went outside. We are going to have to take a bath."

He blushed. "Together?"

I smiled. "I won't tell anyone if you don't."

"Well okay. Lead the way."

I walked to the bathroom and over to the tub, turning on the faucet. Warm water began to fill the tub and I poured in some bubble bath.

"What's that?" Carbide asked.

"It's bubble bath, it makes the water bubbly for more fun."

"Neat."

After the tub filled, I turned off the faucet and stuck my hoof in the water. "Ooo, perfect." I turned to him. "Alright, let's get in." I stepped into the tub and let the warm water engulf me.

"Are you sure this is okay?" He asked.

"What are you chicken?"

"No."

"Then get in here."

He sighed and stepped in as well.

"Isn't this nice?" I asked.

He shifted. "I suppose."

"Alright, now turn around."

"What? Why?" He asked.

"So I can wash your mane, silly." He turned around reluctantly and I came up behind him, grabbing the shampoo off the shelf with my magic and poured some on his head. "Close your eyes." I told him and started to rub the shampoo in. I picked up a cup and got water in it, pouring it over his head.

"Gah!" He yelped.

"Calm down. It's just water." I grabbed a sponge and was about to wash his back when I realized he still had the bandages on. "Darn it."

"What?"

"We forgot to take off your bandages. Hold still, I'll take them off."

"No, no. That's fine. I can do it."

"I insist."

"Please, don't. I got it." He turned around and tried to bite the bandages off, but he couldn't reach.

"Let me help." I took hold of the bandages in my teeth and tore them off. I looked over his cuts and found that they all had mostly closed up. "What the-"

"Now you know. I am some kind of freak." He said, starting to cry.

"Freak? What are you talking about? That is awesome! You healed super-fast!"

"You don't think I am weird?" He said sniffling.

"Weird? No. You are really cool, though."

"Thanks. You are, too."

I went ahead and scrubbed his body and tail and then he did the same for me. Soon, we were all clean and I let the water out of the tub. We got out and I got us towels and we dried off.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Clean. Cleaner than I have been for a while. Thank you." We finished drying off and walked back into my room. He then bowed and began to walk away. "I better get going."

"Going? Where?"

"Well I need to find somewhere to sleep for the day."

"Sleep during the day?"

"Yeah. My body has the habit of turning off when the sun is out. So my last hours of night are spent finding a safe place to sleep."

"Oh, okay." I said sadly.

He walked to the window and got up on the ledge.

"Wait!" I said running to the window.

"Yeah?" He turned to look at me.

"You could stay here. It's safe here and I have a big bed."

"But what's the exchange?" He asked.

"The what?"

"Sorry. I never mentioned. I live by the Law of Transmutation. Basically it means something is traded for something that is equal."

"Wow, for a pony who doesn't know what food is, you know some weird things."

"It's just something I've always known and lived by. Anyways, what do you get in return?"

"How about a friend?" I held out my hoof.

He jumped down from the window and shook my hoof.

"Deal. But you are only getting a friend, while I will get a friend and a place to live. How about we just be best friends and in exchange for me living here, I teach you the Law of Transmutation?"

"Even better!" I squealed.

"Well I still have a few hours left, what do you want to do?"

"Oh! I know!" I ran to my desk and pulled out paper and crayons.

"What are you doing?"

"Making it official." I drew a picture of us sitting together, smiling under the moon with the words 'Best Friends Forever!' written at the top. "There! Now we just need a frame."

"I can do that." He picked up the brush and turned it into a frame.

"Perfect!" I put it up on the wall and then stepped back to look at it.

"Yeah it is."

"Luna!" The door swung open and Tia walked in her nightgown. "What are you doing awake?"

"I'm playing with my new best friend."

"What do you mean? There is no one else here besides me and you."

"He's standing right here." I pointed to Carbide. "Say hello Carbide."

"Hello Carbide." He chuckled.

I laughed too, but Tia just stood there with a confused look.

Then she smiled. "I get it. My little sister has her first imaginary friend." She turned to Carbide. "Nice to meet you Carbide." She giggled as she bowed. Then she turned back to me. "Now Luna, you have a full day tomorrow of learning magic. It's time for Carbide to go home and for you to go to sleep."

"Actually, I invited Carbide to live with me. Is that okay?"

"Of course. In fact, I would have it no other way."

Me and Carbide squealed and pranced around Tia.

But then, I stopped. "Also, Tia?"

"Yes?"

"Carbide is only awake at night, so is it okay if I start staying awake at night and sleep during the day?"

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "But only if you continue to practice your magic."

"I promise. Carbide is really good with magic. He can even turn-"

I saw Carbide put his hoof to his mouth and shush me.

"He can what?"

"Never mind. He is just really good with magic."

"Alright. I guess I'll check in tomorrow evening. Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight!" We said in unison as she closed the door.

"Well it's even more official now!" I squealed.

"Yeah, but what did she mean by imaginary friend?" Carbide asked.

"Who cares? We can be best friends forever now!"

I hugged him and he hugged me back.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Uh... Oh! Let's play 'the floor is lava'!"

"Yeah!"



Luna's POV – Present

"I can't believe I forgot about Carbide. His lessons about equivalent exchange eventually led to me getting my cutie mark when I was able to raise the moon."

"Yeah. I was pretty good, huh?"

"But how do you fit in? I mean the part of you that was stuck in the human world."

"Remember how I had to sleep during the day? That is when Pure Heart would be awake. In a way."

"What do you mean?"

"They were never really awake neither were they asleep. They were just kind of just dreaming of each other. Which is why they don't remember each other, most of the time."

"Most of the time? You mean how sometimes you remember really good or bad dreams."

"Exactly. But they would each remember the opposite ends. Pure Heart would remember the really good times you and Carbide would have and become jealous. While Carbide-"

"Would remember the really bad times that Pure Heart had and become terrified." I said solemnly.

"Exactly."

"This explains why I was the only one able to see Carbide. I have power over dreams and since he basically was one, we could interact."

"Now you're getting it."

"But why did I forget about Carbide?"

"The dream ended and the nightmare began."