Sour Drops’ Candy Emporium, Canterville, Maine, USA
Date: Oct 20th, 2008, time: 5:00 pm

*Anzhong’s perspective*

“Let me guess. She still doesn’t have a favorite candy.”, Sour Drops said with a thick Brooklyn accent.

“Hmm, yes. Her lack of dislikes is nice when meal time comes around, but her equal amount of specific likes is rather troublesome.”, Anzhong said in his gentle, Japanese accented English.

“Ya now, I’ve heard many guys, and some ladies, come in here and say that their girl said to just get them whatever, they don’t really care, but yours is the only one that ever actually meant it.”

“Hmm”, Anzhong responded with a nod.

Anzhong heard the footsteps of a little girl. The owner of which he knew well. “Hello, little Sweetie Drops.”

“Hello Mr. Katon. How do you always know it’s me?”

“It’s your footsteps. Little girl steps are very different from adult footsteps.”

• “Cool. Can I give Ki a treat?”

“Yes, you may.”

Sweetie Drops came around the counter with a dog biscuit in her hands and, gently, gave the treat to the American Akita.

“So, how’s Emi doing?”, Sour asked.

“She is doing very well. She runs around the yard like that’s what she was born to do.”, Anzhong answered.

“Hahaha, sounds like she’s going to be a handful. Here, I just put a random assortment in for Brigid and a box of your favorites.”

“Thank you, Sour.” With that, Anzhong paid, put the candy boxes in his backpack, and he and Ki left the candy shop.

Anzhong was never a big candy eater, but he always liked visiting Sour’s store. Sour was one of the only retailers that had braille on their packaging. It was a simple thing, but it made all the difference for him.

Anzhong began making his way down an alleyway shortcut. When he was about halfway down the alley, he heard rustling in what sounded like a dumpster. “Hello?” The rustling stopped, but now he could hear quick, heavy breathing. It sounded like a little girl, a very scared little girl. Anzhong turned his head to where the breathing was coming from. “I mean you no harm. Are you alright?” The breathing was calming down now. Okay, keep talking. That’s when the smell of blood, both new and old, hit his nose. “Are you okay? Are you bleeding? Do you need help? Ki, lay down.” Ki did as he was told. Anzhong wanted to seem as non-threatening as possible. “I have some candy. Do you like candy?” Great, now I sound like I’m trying to get her into my white van. Anzhong moved to get the candy from his bag. That proved to be the wrong move as the little girl bolted. “Wait, no!” Anzhong gave chase. This must look so bad. Please, no one see this. The debris in the alley was not a problem for Anzhong with his universal attunement, but even then, the girl kept ahead of him. It wasn’t too long before they were in the woods, and Anzhong was having to dodge trip wires and other traps scattered around. Not bad, kid.

Anzhong soon came across what he could only assume was her campsite, but he couldn’t detect the girl. He checked the hammock, not there. He started poking around the area with his walking stick, until it poked something a little too squishy. Uzura Gakure no Jutsu, very impressive. Anzhong knelt beside the squishy rock and placed his hand on her back. “Please don’t run again.” She did not do as he requested and tried to bolt again. Not wanting to have to run after her again, Anzhong grabbed hold of the girl and pulled her into a tight hug. “No hurt! No hurt! No hurt!”, the girl yelled. “No hurt, no hurt, promise.”, Anzhong repeated to her. After a couple seconds, the girl stopped struggling. Anzhong picked her up and began rubbing her back. The girl clung onto Anzhong and started crying into his shoulder, speaking a language he didn’t know. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Let it all out.”, Anzhong said. What has this girl been through? “I’m going to take you to a hospital. Is that okay?” The girl didn’t respond. “I’ll take that as a yes. Ki, grab my cane.” Anzhong made his way out of the forest and began walking to the hospital.

Canterville Hospital
Date: same day, time: 6:00 pm

*Anzhong’s perspective*

There was a hospital not too far away. Once he got back to the pavement, it was only a thirty minute walk away.

“Excuse me.”, Anzhong said to the desk attendant. “I think this girl is injured. She seemed to be living out in the woods by herself.”

“Okay, please go take a seat, and I’ll call someone to come take a look at her.”, the attendant said.

Anzhong headed over to the seating area, placed the girl in one of the open seats, and took the seat next to her. Anzhong then pulled out his phone and made a call. “Hello, Brigid. Can you please come to the hospital?"

"Ara ya alright?"

"Yes, I’m fine. I found this kid rummaging in a dumpster, I’m guessing 9-10ish, and I’ve taken her to the hospital. The problem is, I don’t think she knows English, and I don’t recognize the language she has been speaking. Can you come here and-?"

"Be a universal translator."

"Yes, that."

"Okay, Ah'll be dere in a few."

"thank you." Anzhong hung up the phone and was going to put it away when the girl grabbed his hand to stop him. “Have you ever seen a smartphone before?” The girl didn’t answer and just retracted her hands. Anzhong finished putting his phone away.

Canterville Hospital waiting room
Date: same day, time: 6:10 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

“Ah, dere ya are.”, Brigid said in her thick Irish accent. Her voice used to be naturally booming, but after having a baby, she’s gotten a lot more mindful of her volume. Brigid kneeled down so she was eye level with the girl. “So dis is da wee lassie ya were tellin’ me about.”

Anzhong simply responded with a nod. The poor little girl look terrified. Brigid couldn't blame her. She's a scary woman.

“Do ya have a name?”, Brigid asked. The girl pointed to herself. Brigid then pointed at the girl and simply asked, “Name?”

“Lit-tle Red”, the girl said in a pea soup thick accent that Brigid couldn’t recognize. Dat’s probably not ‘er real name.

“Name, Brigid.”, she said while pointing at herself then pointing at her husband. “Name, Anzhong.” She then pointed at the sleeping bundle strapped to her chest “Name, Emi.”

Little Red looked down at Emi and seemed to relax slightly then pointed at Brigid and said, “Brig-id”. She then turned her head, pointed at Anzhong, and said, “An-zhong”. She then turned back to Brigid and pointed at the 3 year old “Emi”.

Brigid simply nodded her head.

Brigid heard footsteps coming up behind her and turned around to face the newcomer.

“Hello, I am Dr. Lights. Which one of you is my patient?”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Katon. Mo fella foun' dis kiddo rummagin’ through a dumpste' n' livin’ in da woods. She doesn’ appear ta speak English and is fearful a’ new people. Ah’m 'ere ta attemp’ ta communicate with ‘er.”

“What are your qualifications?”, Dr. Lights asked, an incredulous tone slipping in.

“Ah’m a prof a’ anthropology at Canterville College. N’ yer qualifications?”

“Okay, can you get her to take off her hoodie?”, Dr. Lights quickly said.

Brigid turned to Little Red and motioned for her to take off the hoodie. Little Red did as instructed. As soon as she did so, all vision-abled adults were immediately drawn to the hole surrounded by red in her sleeve. Dr. Lights immediately went to inspect the site which made Little Red flinch. Anzhong placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her down, and Dr. Lights slowed down so as to not scare her again.

“It’s clear she’d been shot, but it looks like the wound has healed.” Dr. Lights stood up. “I’d like to take her back in order to do a more thorough examination. Dr. Katon, do you believe that she is comfortable enough with you that your husband can stay out here?”

“Ah think so.”, Brigid said. She then handed Emi over to Anzhong. “Little Red, Dr. Lights n' Ah wanna take ya ta be checked out. Is dat okay?”, she said, offering a hand to Little Red

Little Red turned her head to Anzhong. Anzhong smiled, nodded, and motioned for her to go with them. Little Red turned back to the doctors, took the offered hand, and got up to follow.

Examination room
Date: same day, time: 7:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset now sat on a hospital bed in nothing but her secret croup covers. The two creatures didn’t seem surprised to see them, so Sunset figured these were normal to wear. By then, she had learned the differences between the males and females of her new species. The females have these growths on their chests; while the males lack them. What bothered Sunset is that she seemed to be in a male’s body. She completely lacked these growths, and she couldn’t ask these creatures about it as she didn’t know enough of their language. This wasn’t the first time she had her clothes off, but this was the first time the cold wasn’t rushing her to get them back on. She took this opportunity to really look at herself. All of her old scars transferred over to her new body, but the real interesting part was her back appendages. They weren’t hands. They had the same general appearance, but the base was a lot longer and the digits were much shorter. The whole structure was almost 50% longer than her hands. It looked like everything from her ergot down now made up this new appendage.

The creatures and her have been doing a lot of charades to try to communicate. So far, Sunset was able to explain how she got most of her scars during combat training, but now they seemed to specifically ask about her newest scar. Sunset shaped her hand like the leader held his weapon and mimicked the motion she remembered seeing. The Brigid creature left the room for a few minutes and then came back with three items Sunset couldn’t quite identify. The Brigid creature gave her two of the items and mimed something with her hands. Sunset took a closer look at both items. One of them was several sheets of yellow paper bound together and the other was a cylindrical object with tapering ends. Sunset tried mimicking the motions the Brigid creature made, but nothing happened. The Brigid creature took the cylindrical object back, pushed on one of the ends, making a clicking sound, and gave it back to Sunset. Sunset tried the motion again, and this time it produced ink. The cylindrical object was a quill and ink pot in one. Sunset did her best attempt to draw the weapon the leader used. It was not good, and Sunset glared at the paper like it insulted her mother. The Brigid creature looked at the drawing and then gestured for Sunset to give it back to her. Sunset did and was then handed the third item. It appeared to be a calendar. Examining the calendar, Sunset learned that these creatures’ calendar was almost identical to the Equestrian calendar. The only differences were that their moons ranged from 28 days to 31 days, instead of being 30 to 31 days each, and the year was also divided up into sections of seven days. They even had four seasons. The Brigid creature flipped the calendar to a specific page, tapped on one of the dates, slid her finger along the preceding days, and then pointed to Sunset’s new scare. She wants to know when I was shot. Sunset counted up how many days had passed since she was shot, flipped to the previous moon, and pointed to the day she was shot on. The Brigid creature said something to the male creature, and the male creature left. The Brigid creature motioned for Sunset to get her cloth back on then left the room.

Once Sunset was dressed (Minus her hoodie. They took that from her.), she found herself getting bored. That was interesting as back in Equestria, it took her longer to get bored. Perhaps these creatures require more stimulation. I hope I can get another look at one of those communication devices. Sunset was looking through the cabinets, looking for something to entertain herself. The anatomical displays were interesting, but she was too tired to really appreciate them. Sunset had climbed up onto the counter in order to look inside the upper cabinets. As she was opening one of the cabinets, she lost her balance and began falling. This is going to hurt. Sunset closed her eyes, preparing for the impact, but before she hit the ground, some creature caught her. Sunset opened her eyes to see it was the Brigid creature. She was saying something and sounded both scared and mad. What I did was stupid and dangerous. I’d be mad too. The Brigid creature looked so much like Sunset’s mother at that moment. I miss my mom. “I’m sorry.”, Sunset sheepishly said in Ponish. It was more likely Sunset’s tone she understood, but either way, the Brigid creature sighed and righted Sunset once again.

The Brigid creature brought Sunset back out into the waiting area and to the front desk. The Brigid creature drew something on the yellow paper and then showed it to Sunset. It was a very crude drawing of four of the creatures inside a house. The Brigid creature pointed to the second shortest one and then pointed to Sunset. She then pointed to the tallest one and then herself. - She’s saying I'm going to live with them. The idea of not worrying about freezing to death appealed to Sunset. She nodded her head to signal she understood.

Author's Note

I highly recommend you look up the meaning of all of the main and reoccurring character's names. They all have meaning, even if it's less obvious.