A Chance Encounter

Tida's farm, January 11, Year 5, early morning

Tida awoke in the building called his house that was recently completed.  Granted, the inside as well as the outside looked like one of the buildings in the Eastern Residential district, but at least it kept the rain out and was a place that was right next to where he was going to be growing crops.  It was better than going back and forth between his old place in the Eastern Residential district and the outskirts in the southern part of Manehatten, though he wouldn't mind doing that.  He put his bedding away in the living room closet and made his way to the kitchen.

He thought about just how much he invested in what he wanted to do, as well as the things that he got for the house so far.  First he acquired land from Adophus and had to pay it back with each of his harvests, as well as put the 800 bits he brought that day also into the land.  He also had to find someone who was willing to build the house to his plans' specs.  He luckily found someone, but like everything else, it required a good amount of money.  He was thankful that he was working in the work camps, as he managed to save enough for the land as well as the building, though it was hard labor.  He managed to get a few seeds to start up: apple seeds, cabbage seeds, and a couple of other seeds that would grow well during this time.  He also managed to get a few tools to help him to plant the seeds, though they were mainly bits of pointy metal, and a dented, beat-up container to hold water in.

The kitchen wasn't anything fancy.  It was more of a food-storage area than anything.  It had a few containers of water used for drinking and watering the plants, and a few fruits and vegetables that had to be eaten soon, or they would spoil, and he would have to throw them out.  However, he took out a bland-looking, tree bark-like item that was in the closet and ate it.  He was also lucky that he had brought this plant called the Socas plant with him from Neighpon, as it made him full for a while when he ate it.  He made sure to hide the plant in Manehatten well, as it was actually very poisonous, and he didn't want anyone using it as poison.  He knew how to prepare it so that it wouldn't kill him when he ate it, so he had a constant food source.

After he finished eating, he took the seeds and went outside.  He was thankful that it wasn't raining, though he wished the sun was out.  Looking at the empty field, he sighed.  Even though I can do this all by myself, it would be nice to have some help... it would allow me to get things done quicker.  Tida shook his head, snapping him out of his train of thought I should be getting to work.  It's not like help is going to fall out of the sky anytime soon, so the sooner I start, the more I can get done.  Tida started to work on planting the seeds.

building interior:

Scarlet Thunder looked at the outside world curiously, inhaling the cool air from a breeze. How do I use these....? she thought to herself as she stared blankly at her arms. When she noticed a bird fly by, she studied briefly at how it flew, taking in how it flapped its wings and went with the air currents.  She pulled up her cloak about her, covering her body, while the bandages around her face obscured her features, excluding her eyes. She got into a crouched position, and then bounded forward, leaping up on the sixth step. After an hour of doing this, she got used to it, and she spread her forelegs out, so her wings could catch some wind, and flapped with the breeze as it passed by. When Scarlet felt some wind push up against the back of her neck, she flapped up with it, and started to glide, sliding in and out of different air currents. Oooooh, so THAT'S what I did wrong, all those years ago... she thought, as some fragments of her memory resurfaced, and making a mental note of how to fly. Gliding upwards, she looked down upon the rapidly receding earth, surprised at how adept she felt she was at flying.

Scarlet enjoyed soaring past the clouds and wind, feeling some gusts of wind in her face. It was exhilarating. Until a particularly powerful gale blew her out of her air current, causing her to plummet, her limbs snapping together close to her body from fear. Trying to snap out of it, she noticed how close the ground was getting, and desperately flapped her wings up, but to no avail, except to soften her landing. In the next second, she smashed into the ground, face-first, her cloak and bandages softening the impact slightly. After a couple of minutes of consciousnesses, she looked around, slightly dazed, and the dirt cloud obscuring her vision.

As Scarlet waited for the dust to settle, she started to see glimpses of what appeared to be a farm, and got  a clear view once the cloud was gone. Where am I? was her first thought. Glancing about her, she realized she landed in the corner of what appeared to be a barren garden devoid of life. Noticing  a brownish stallion walking away out of a "broken-in" (as Scarlet would put it) one story house. Maybe he can tell me where the heck I am! she thought enthusiastically to herself, and waved to get his attention, realizing after a minute of calling, that she was still mute.

Not long after Tida started to work the fields, he heard something hit the ground, coming from his piece of land.  He looked around for the source of the noise and saw a white mare bandaged up and wings on her... forehooves?  That's interesting... Tida thought, slightly surprised.  He saw her wave at him, so he put down the things he had on him and went over to her.  "Are you alright?"  He asked her, eyes full of concern, hoping that the fall didn't hurt her too badly.

Scarlet rubbed her head with a hoof, and noticed some blood staining the said hoof. She gazed upon Tida carefully, and then decided he was trustworthy enough. She nodded a little, causing blood specks to spray a little everywhere. She gestured to the surrounding area with the stained hoof, and then shrugged, the bandages on her head shifting a little as she raised and lowered her eyebrows.

A mute pony... I wonder what happened to her?  Tida thought for a moment.  "I'm guessing that you can understand me..." he said as he watched her movements "...and I'm also going to guess that you don't know where you currently are?"

Scarlet nodded, a grin spreading across her face, causing the bandages to move in tandem with her facial expression. Wow, he's really good at this! she mused to herself, laughing her silent laugh at this.

Tida nodded "That's good that you can understand me.  As for where you currently are, why don't we go inside and get you cleaned up first?"  Now that he got a better look at her, she looked very emaciated.  "Also, you can eat something as you look like you haven't eaten anything for awhile.  Are you alright to walk?"

Scarlet Thunder stood up on her legs, her feathers, along with her coat, quite ruffled. When she took a step forward, she winced in pain, and falling a little on her right hindleg. Oh great, a limp to go with my worries. I guess I'll have to take off my bandages if he's gonna have me eat...Then he'll put two and two together. That will be hard to explain. Realizing he had said something snapped her out of thought, so she nodded quickly. Limping towards the house, she grimaced. And, to add. I seriously hope I still can write. And he has something to write with, and on. Charades is never fun.

Tida knew that she shouldn't be walking, but she looked determined to do so under her own power.  It reminded him of himself: being stubborn, not wanting anyone else to help him.  He silently walked close to her, watching and making sure that if she couldn't walk anymore, he could pick her up and bring her to the house.  Besides, if he picked her up now, she might become frantic and hurt him and herself, since he didn't know how she would react to something like that.

Scarlet reached the house, after a few slow, agonizing minutes of limping, accompanied by slips.  She tried to open the door by pushing on it with her hoof, but failed. She spent a bit fiddling with the door so it'd open without leaning on her hindlegs. Once she figured to twist the knob, she did so, and opened the door to a new kind of poverty that she didn't know, for in her day, everything was all pretty and well-furnished.

Scarlet stumbled into the interior from an inadequately hammered nail with her right backleg, promptly falling face-first, again, onto the floor, her rump high into the air. A splinter pierced her bandages and invaded her cheek, as she blinked away tears. Standing up, she brushed herself off, and waddled towards the living room, collapsing onto a cushion. One of her limbs laid, sprawled across the table, revealing her mutated arm in full.

Before Tida and the mare entered the house, he quickly grabbed the seeds and things that he had taken out with him so that they couldn't be taken.

Entering the house, Tida saw the mare struggle to get around.  When she flopped down on one of the cushions that he had out, he took the time to get some water, as well as the fruits and vegetables he had in there, and brought it to the table.  He managed to get an actual, proper look at her forehoof, and was very surprised that there was an actual wing on it.  He thought he was just seeing things, but there it was.  What happened to her...?  Why does she have a wing on her forehoof...?  He mentally shook those thoughts away for a moment, and focused on helping her for the moment.  "Here's some food and water.  I'm sorry that the place is like this, but I'm lucky that I could even get it.  In any case, here you are" Tida said as he pushed the food towards her.

Seeing the food and drink she was brought, Scarlet unraveled the bandages covering her face, the splinter coming out along with them, and fully revealing her facial features, her heterochromatic eyes glittering as she stared at the food hungrily. She scratched at the "8" scar stitched together on her face. Giving a toothy smile to Tida, she turned to the food and drink given to her, and devoured them with great gusto, as she hadn't eaten in what felt like forever. Washing down the beautiful taste of actual food, she guzzled down the water given to her, as her lips and mouth were extremely parched.

When she almost finished the water, she trickled a small amount of water onto her face, washing away the blood from where she had been cut, and causing a small amount of stinging to her cheek with the scar, as it was still slightly open, as the cut had only been there for a couple days.  She sighed after inhaling deeply,  and turned to Tida. She tried to make a motion as if scribbling with a pencil, with her hoof.

When she unwrapped her bandages, Tida winced at what he saw, though he tried his best not to show it.  She must have been in a lot of pain...  Though, it's good that she's eating, as she will recover faster.  Noticing that she was making gestures again, Tida thought for a moment.  "I guess that you would like something to write with and on?  Hold on while I get you something"  Tida went to the closet before she had a chance to answer and went through his instrument bag and brought out some blank pieces of paper.  He then went through his saddlebags and brought out a pencil.  Putting both bags back in the closet, he brought the paper and pencil to the table and put it in front of her.  "I hope this is what you wanted."

Scarlet made eye contact with Tida, and nodded her head vigorously, almost to the point of pain. Taking the end of the pencil into her mouth, she writes down, "Thank you for getting me these. I can talk to you! I hate charades... So thanks for like, everything. Is there any way I can help in return?" She added correct punctuation and then put the pencil down, and made eye contact with Tida as she showed him the message.

Tida read the note the mare wrote, and spent a little while thinking before looking up at her.  When he did, he noticed the hetero-chromatic eyes she had and paused for a moment.  Those eyes... he thought before mentally shaking that thought from his mind before speaking.  "There is something that you can do to help.  Rest for now" Tida said thoughtfully, smiling slightly.

Scarlet noticed the subtle way Tida paused from making eye contact with her, and made a quick, mental note on it. Oh, so he likes my eyes? Interesting. Storing the thought deep away, she jotted down in response to his statement, "But I'm not tired! I'm ready to do something! Is there any way I can help out? Oh! And my name is Scarlet Thunder. What's yours?" Holding up the paper for Tida to see, she finally felt positive that he was a trustworthy pony, because of the way he talked, how he held himself, and simply because there was something about him that felt friendly to her.Hope I'm not wrong about him... she thought, as she stared innocently at Tida with big, round eyes.

Tida read what the Scarlet had written down.  "While you may want to help out and you're not feeling tired, I don't think that it would be a good idea to right now, given your current condition.  You were limping outside as you were trying to come inside of the house, and you were in a good amount of pain when you were trying to walk.  Also, it looked like you haven't eaten anything aside from what you just ate now for a while, so that probably affected your body.  I just don't want you to break anything in your body and making it worse for you to the point that you can't walk at all."  Reading the last part and looking at her, Tida tried to make it so it looked like he was looking at her eyes, but not actually looking at her eyes before saying "My name is Tida", before giving Scarlet a slight bow of his head.

Scarlet blankly stared at Tida for a few minutes, until sighing and rolling her eyes at his request, which had become more of a demand. And then an idea came to her head, One that probably hadn't seen the light of day for ten years. Jokes! Immediately, she started writing down, "Why did the cowpony get a wiener dog?" And held the paper up for the caramel stallion to see it. After about a minute, she wrote down, "To get a long, little doggy!". She showed it to Tida and giggled, which for her, was more of a grin and a headbobbing than actual giggling.

Tida didn't know what to say, or feel for that matter as he finished reading what Scarlet wrote on the paper.  He kept a neutral expression as he tried to figure out what to think, when he remembered what he said earlier.  Snapping out of his train of thought, Tida asked "So you wanted to know where you are right?"

Scarlet bobbed her head up and down, her mane starting to get more messy than it previously was.  She then made a face similar to  :dowant: and sat down attentively. She also noted that Tida wasn't big on jokes. Sighing a little at this, she rolled her eyes. So what happened to this place that nobody even laughed or made snide comments on her jokes? Or probably, any joke in general?

Tida had the feeling that he was supposed to laugh at the joke, taking note of her reaction when he didn't.  He started to explain to Scarlet about the current surroundings.  "We are currently in the city of Manehatten, specifically the southern part of the city, near the industrial district on the outskirts.  A good majority of the  city itself however..." Tida thought about what to say before continuing "...has been damaged because of the war that happened."

Scarlet stared blankly at Tida for a minute, trying to process it. When it finally registered, she turned whiter than she already was. Her pupils narrowed, and she fell over onto her back. Her face just spoke of all the what that just occurred to her. A war was going on? How long was I down there? Scarlet decided to stare at the ceiling, trying to find her happy place that didn't exist. When she snapped back to reality, she got up, and wrote down on the paper, "How long have I been down there.... How long has this war been going on?"

Down there?  Was she a prisoner of the war?  Closing his eyes and trying to keep a neutral expression, Tida decided not to press that matter further, as it seemed that it was the source of the scars as well as the mutation on her forehooves.  He knew the trauma that ponies experienced when things like that were brought up.  He still kept his eyes closed.  "The war has been going on for roughly 5 years now... I can only hope that it will end soon"  Tida said opening his eyes and looking at the floor.

Scarlet tried to count the years she had been down there. I was kidnapped when I was...... Eight, yes. It was on my birthday. my last birthday. How old am I now? She gazed upon herself, judging by body size and structure. Well, I'm obviously a lot older than thirteen, but... I couldn't be any older than twenty.... She felt a small buzzing deep within her skull suddenly, and she tried to ignore it, until she understood the message. There was a number there. Eighteen. Scarlet held herself back from throwing up, and she hit her head on the table while falling down to her original position of laying down. She rubbed her head a little, crying silently. Ten years. I was tortured and mutilated for a decade. Feeling the tears cascade from her cheeks, she shoved her face into the pillow. 

Scarlet closed her eyes, and vividly remembered the day they murdered her parents. She had the cloak to prove it. It was stained with their blood, after all. Scarlet wrapped it around her like it was going to protect her. Her last piece of home and childhood, was dried blood. How revolting.... she thought, her nose scrunched up from the pain that washed over her like a wave from those awful memories. She faintly felt her back, and rubbed the small, protruding lines that marked her original placement of her wings. She curled up into a ball, and continued to cry her eyes out.

Tida heard Scarlet hit her head on the table, as she ended up curled up on the pillow, crying.  He frowned as he tried to think of something to say.  That cloak must have been very important to her...maybe a memento?  Tida could only manage to say "I'm sorry" to Scarlet in a sad voice as he continued to frown.  She must have remembered the thing that happened to her... Tida opened his mouth to say something else, but decided against it as he watched on.

Scarlet slowly slid off her coat once she stopped crying, revealing the scars from the torture they inflicted upon her, and her original placement of her wings, and brought the red insignia to her lips, kissing it. She tasted the metallic-copper flavor of dried blood, and buried her face into what was left of her mother, father, brother and a sister. I wish I could remember you four. Oh how we would laugh this all off and then drink milkshakes... I wonder if they even have those anymore.  Shaking her head, she slipped the shawl over her body again, and stood up, her eyes red from the crying. She brought a hoof to her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks, and stood up. I-I'll be a strong filly, for you, mum... She took the pencil into her lips again, and wrote down, "So what would you have me do around here? I need to help to make up for the ten years of nothing in my life."

Thinking again, Tida avoided looking into those eyes, as it reminded him of a time in which he wanted to forget, but couldn't.  Seeing the note, and knowing that Scarlet wouldn't take no for an answer, Tida smiled slightly.  "Well, for now, why don't you help me by passing seeds and such as I work the land?  I know that you would probably want to do things like digging, but at least it's something."

Scarlet nodded in agreement, and started on the grueling journey to the door, making sure to step around the nail. Gesturing with a hoof, she stepped out of the doorway, and felt her heart lightening, as she hates enclosed areas. Okay, gonna live outdoors, then. Fresh aaiiiiir~ Sighing to herself, she grinned a little, and flew around in a few circles, around the barren yard.

Making his way back outside, he took the seeds and the pieces of metal that he brought out before Scarlet appeared on the farmland and walked outside.  Seeing that Scarlet was happy when she stepped outside, Tida chuckled a little before starting to prepare the ground to plant the seeds.  She looks happy to be outside... I would be if I were a prisoner and locked up, as he used his forehoof and metal 'tools' to start digging.

Scarlet did her bound again, jumping on the eight step, and spread her arms, embracing the amazing feel of flying once more. She started to make a steep incline, following air currents until Tida was a tiny speck. Flapping a once or twice more, she made a nose-dive to the ground, as fast as lightning, with wind screaming past her ears. Once she was dangerously close to crashing into Tida, she made a giant loop around the yard, slowing down a little. She then went upwards a little more after three loops, and spiraled down, so she landed in front of Tida without crashing. That was AWESOME! she thought, as she gestured towards the seeds, because she wanted to help in repayment for letting her eat his food that he had worked hard for, probably.

Tida continued to dig a line in the ground to plant the seeds in.  As he finished, he looked up in time to see Scarlet coming straight at him.  He was about to react when Scarlet managed to do all of the acrobatic moves, even though she had wings on her forehooves and landed in front of him.  Slightly shaken, Tida noticed that she was gesturing towards the seeds that he had.  Taking that as a sign that she wanted to help, Tida gave her some of the cabbage seeds.  "Alright, could you put one seed in the ground, and space them so that they have at least 6-12 inches on either side?" he asked, as he started to prepare the next line for planting.

Scarlet dug a hole with one of her forehooves, making it an inch or two deep. Planting one of the seeds, she buried it with the minuscule mound of dirt from making the hole. Taking a gaze at the dirt row, she guesstimated eight inches between each seed, and, after twenty long and tedious minutes, she finished the row. As a particularly cold breeze blew past her face, she brought the hood of her cloak around her face, protecting her head from the January weather.

Digging the line was easier than he thought, as he thought that he would be hitting a lot more rocks in the ground.  Because he worked in the work camps for a long time now, he managed to dig 3 more rows for planting in the time it took Scarlet to seed the first row, because of the hard working conditions of the camps.  He went back to the third row, then started to plant turnip seeds in them, occasionally looking up to see how Scarlet was doing.

Scarlet went to the next row, and started repeating what she did on the previous row. It took a lot less time, since she could line the seeds up with each other instead of measuring every single one. This took her ten minutes, and she wiped her brow of a little bit of sweat, since she was unused to physical labor. Yawning, she looked towards Tida, who could get twice the work done in half the time, and sighed. Well, at least I can fly. I think my academic career already came to an end.

Getting into the groove, focused, Tida finished sowing the other two rows with the turnip seeds.  That should be good enough for now.  I'll plant the apple seeds later.  Taking the beat up container, Tida went to the small well that was made and filled up the container with water.  He went back and started to water the seeds, looking up to the sky to see around how many more times he might need to water them again, if he needed to.

Scarlet gazed upwards and noticed some clouds floating nearby, so did her usual routine and, once in-flight, she sped towards them, doing a loop to place her behind the clouds. Once there, she pushed them together, and then forced them so they were over Tida's yard. She then built and put them together to form a little home that was open-roofed. She grabbed some cloud and made a sort-of hammock out of them, and reclined on them, and curled up, taking a little bit of a nap.

Seeing Scarlet make a house out of some clouds, then go inside to what Tida would assume to rest, he thought about doing the same.  Maybe I should rest also... it wouldn't be good if I kept working he thought.  In fact, it would be a good time to practice on my instrument for a little while, since I haven't done that recently.  Bringing the bits of metal, container, and seeds into his house, he went to the closet in the living area and took out his instrument.  He went back outside and sat against the wall.  He gave his instrument a few plucks to make sure that is was in tune, then be began to play, singing with the playing.

♫Yunaguni nu mayagwaa
  Uyanchu damashi nu yakara hari
  Niseidamashi nu
  Yakara shikiwari youshu nu mai hari♫

♫Yonuyo shu nu mai hari, shirtari yonzo haiyasasa...♫

He continued to play, then finished.

Scarlet woke up to the art of music, and listened intently to Tida, soothed by the beautiful sounds that emanated from Tida. Stretching, she made a hole through her little sky fortress and poked her head through,  bobbing her head about to the music. That is, until she fell out of the cloud. Screeching silently, she flailed her arms about, until she realized, once again, she was a pegasus and not a unicorn. Flapping her wings, she spiraled down, landing a little roughly on her face, falling over onto her stomach. As she did so, she clapped her hooves. in approval of Tida's beautiful music.

Finishing the song, Tida closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He sat in silence, his mind remembering those days back in Neighpon where he would listen to his grandfather play.  A crashing sound jarred him out of his thoughts, and he saw that Scarlet was lying on the ground, clapping to what he could guess was the song that he played.  "You like the song that I played?  Thanks..." he said shyly, looking at  the ground as he wasn't used to praise, as no one else usually heard his playing.  He sat back down, quietly practicing another song, but not singing this time.

Scarlet flew up to the makeshift home she made, and piled it together, pushing it down, close to the ground. When she reached it, she formed it into a floating hammock, with a little umbrella to keep her shaded. She bobbed her head up and down to the beat of the music, the sounds lulling her to sleep. She yawned, and stretched out, falling asleep.

Tida continued to play for a little while after he saw Scarlet fall asleep.  After he finished, he quietly got up so that he wouldn't wake her, and made his way into the house.  He put his instrument away, then took out his tools and the apple seeds to plant, then went outside to continue to work.

Scarlet sleepily brings the clouds from the umbrella around her hammock to make an enclosed home, and fluffed up her pillow. She pokes two holes through the left wall, and then falls into a deep sleep.

Tida dug the hole for the apple seed to go in and planted it.  He then covered it up a little, then watered it.  Realizing that he had to go to the work camp to work, he put his things away, took another Socas plant, packed it into his saddlebags, as well as some containers for water and food and left.  I'm sorry to leave you here by yourself Scarlet, but I'll be back.  Stay safe.

---

Timeskip: January 11, Year 5, Late Afternoon

Tida returned from one of the various work camps in the outskirts of Manehatten with just a little more bits as well as food and water that he could give to Scarlet.  Another hard day of work... though if the rumors about a more brutal type of work camp is true, then I should be thankful that I'm not in it... if it exists.  He saw that the cloud structure that Scarlet built earlier this morning was still there, so that was a good sign.  He put his things away first, then went back outside and tried to look into the cloud structure to see if Scarlet was still there.

Scarlet lazily opened an eye as her home was disturbed, and, seeing Tida, waved and smiled happily at him, not having moved an inch since she last saw him. Stretching out, she popped out of the structure, and quickly demolished it to get it out of the way. Scarlet, looking up at the sky and then to the city, pointed to it, and stared with wanting eyes, much like a puppy who wants to go explore. A minute later, she bounded off, and flew into the sky, waving back at Tida as she soon disappeared from sight.

Before Tida had a chance to say anything, much less offer some food that he got while he was working at the work camp, Scarlet took off towards the city.  He waved back to Scarlet, before she became a small speck in the sky.  Afterwards, he went into the house and put the food and water that he got away in the kitchen closet.  He then took out his tools and went outside to tend to his fruit and vegetables that he started to grow.  Looking to the sky, Tida thought about what happened during this day, as it was very different than most other days so far.  Remembering what he wanted to do, Tida shrugged and went back to tending to his plants.

With the sun starting to set, Tida finished watering and cleaning the area around where he had planted Even though the griffons didn't patrol this area often, he still didn't want to take any chances.  He picked up all of his things, and went inside of the house.  He then took out his bedding from the living room closet and set it up on the floor.  Going back to the kitchen, he took out what he had put away earlier, and started to eat it.  He wondered if he could find help, as getting things done faster would be good in general.  Setting those thoughts aside as he finished eating his meager meal, he prepared to turn in for the night, doing pretty much the same as most other days.

---

Characters: Scarlet Thunder, Tida

Summary: While at his newly-completed farm, Tida hears something crash in the corner of the land.  Investigating, he finds an emaciated, mutated pegasus mare.  Tida takes her in and gives her food and water.  Realizing that she was locked up for a long time, Scarlet decides to repay Tida for helping her by helping him with his garden.  Afterwards, Tida goes to work in the work camp while Scarlet takes a nap.  After Tida returns later, Scarlet flies off towards the city, and Tida prepares for the next day.