“All right, that’s Babs’s and Braeburn’s young’uns sorted out,” Applejack listed to herself as she finished tucking the corner of a blanket under the last of the three mattresses laid out on the floor of the room. “Fluttershy said she and Big Mac can take Braeburn and Strongheart, an’ Apple Bloom said she’s got Babs, even with—” she glanced at the pale-coated foal helping her “—everything. Golden Delicious and his family always stay in their wagon, so unless I’m forgettin’ anypony, that just leaves the Apple Fritters, and they still have their beds in the barn guest room from the last time they were over.”
By this point the two had descended the stairs to the kitchen and the elder was running her hoof down the list of the ponies arriving tomorrow for the annual reunion, double-checking the preparations one last time. “…Honeycrisp in Apple Bloom’s old room – that’s done; Applesauce in Granny’s—” She drew in an uneven breath, her eyes closed. “I reckon that’s about it for the moment, Zap, and if I’ve forgotten anypony I’ll need to shuffle the beds around in my head first anyway. How about you go feed the animals, and then your Mama Dash might have something she wants you to do out there. The food’ll probably be ready by then, so you can help me set it out if she doesn’t.”
Zap Apple nodded, her rainbow mane bouncing with the motion. “Okay, Mama. Is somethin’ wrong? Ya sound sad.”
The other smiled thinly and hugged her. “I’m fine, sugarcube. Just rememberin’, is all. Now run along – the sheep are already headin’ for the barn.”
She laughed and pranced a few steps as she felt Applejack’s tail swat lightly at her own, before running out the door and turning to follow the flock. She hadn’t intended to stop – she didn’t want to keep them waiting – but as she came around the corner of the house and saw what her other mother was doing, she stopped paying attention to her hooves and slowed anyway. Rainbow Dash was standing with another pony in the middle of the front yard directing a flock of flying tables. Or at least, that was what it looked like at first; as the filly watched more closely, she saw that the tables were lit not only by the setting sun but also by a purple glow almost the same color as the pony… yep, unicorn by her mother’s side. Then the light caught her wings and Zap Apple recognized Princess Twilight. She seemed so much smaller without her yoke and horseshoes.
With a wave and a quick bow at the two mares, she continued toward the barn. The sky had only just begun to turn orange, so there was still a little time before the chickens needed to be locked up, but she’d need to start hoofing out feed soon if she wanted enough time to talk with the sheep.
The pigs were easy enough – kick out any bedding that had found its way into the trough, pour a bucket of feed along its length, and bring over the scraps from all the day’s cooking to top it off. She didn’t even need to call them in, just do a quick tailcount and close the paddock door behind them. Water was trickier. The wide barrels seemed almost as large as herself, even if they were shorter, and needed to be tipped on their sides and rinsed out before she could carry the heavy buckets from the well to fill them. Luckily, Peppermint and Clover had made their way over to lend a hoof: two carried a full bucket between them while the third worked the well to fill another. Between them, the filly and sheep could finish everything in under ten loads back and forth. Zap Apple knew from experience that it would take twice as long to do so herself, not yet being able to handle a full bucket without help. While they worked, they talked.
“Alfalfa’s little one took a tumble down that gully ’tween those hills out to the wild woods. He’s fine, barely a scratch on him once he cleaned up, ’scept his pride. Anyways, climbin’ back out, he finds these flowers none of us ain’t never seen afore. Little red’uns risin’ like some kind of squirrel’s tail and near as sweet as new grass in the spring. Here, you give me that rope, Clover. My back is like to break if I bring even one more bucket over.”
“I’ll let my Mamas know, ’case its another weed from the Everfree. Y’all need shearin’ yet, Clover? The summer’s been plenty warm so far, an’ y’all have more’n a bit of fluff on ya.”
“Hehe, careful there, hun! Don’t want to go dumpin’ this water over a ticklin’, now. We ain’t too hot yet, an’ the nights still hold a chill. Not like the year Parsley was born, now there was a scorcher! ’Sides, y’all are gonna want us to knock the mud off after that find Alfalfa’s lamb made. You should’a seen it, matrons up to their knees in water an’ mud, a-prancin’ ’round like they was half their age! Ain’t never had such a hoot since y’all convinced the littles to join that play of yours. Scooch up a mite closer, hun, the yoke ain’t lyin’ how it usually does. Hey, Pepper tell ya of this holler we found, with the tenderest grass I’ve ever tasted in summer? Tell ya what, I’ll take you there special if’n your dams’ll let ya join us for lunch some day. It’s high time you’ve had some actual food rather’n that prissy stuff you ponies always eat.”
By the time all the water barrels were rinsed and filled, the sky was blazing red. The sheep helped herd the chickens up the ramp into the coop, after which Zap Apple brought out a bucket of grain for the hooved flock; they mostly fed themselves off grass any season but winter, but the supplements in the feed helped cover any nutrients they would otherwise be low on. Most nights she’d stay out here chatting with the sheep until Applejack rang the dinner bell, but today she still had more work to do.
The tables had been set out and were now standing calmly under trees and scattered around the yard, none so closely that they would be in the way of ponies moving between them, but all close enough that conversations would easily jump from one table to the next. Rainbow Dash and Twilight seemed to be arguing as they walked to and from the cellar carrying out barrels of cider, which they set near each table and marked by placing either a leafy branch on the top – safe for foals – or a hoof-sized rock – adults only. They stopped and leaned against their most recent load as Zap Apple approached and bowed. Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Good evenin’, Princess! Anything you need me to help with, Mama? Mama AJ said to check with ya when I finished with the animals, so here I am.”
Rainbow looked around the yard. “I think we’ve pretty much got it, Z. Still a couple barrels to bring out, but it’ll be a few more years before you’re strong enough to help with that.”
She protested, but only half-heartedly. The barrels were larger and heavier than the water bucket, even when it was full.
Rainbow ruffled her mane and chuckled. “Tell you what, why don’t we go make sure this cider’s still good? Twilight can even join us if she behaves.” She glared at the alicorn as they followed her happily bouncing filly back through the tables.
“I just wanted to say that I think I’ve identified where my hypotheses all go wrong. I’ve been focusing on your wings, but if—”
“No, Twilight. Little ears are listening.”
“Hey!” Said ears twitched, but were ignored.
“But—”
“No! It’s been eight years. That’s not my life any more. Be happy with all the ponies you’ve already helped and stop trying to fix me!” Her mouth snapped shut and her glare stopped the alicorn in her tracks, before she turned back to the stairs and Zap Apple’s wide eyes.
“What’s wrong, Mama? An’ don’t say ‘nothing’ ’cause you were yellin’ and yelling means you’re havin’ fun or something’s wrong.”
Rainbow sighed and wrapped a wing – feathers trembling slightly – around her. “The Princess remembers me how I was a decade ago. I was still awesome, of course, but not in the same way I am now, and she doesn’t realize that not all the changes were bad.” She glanced meaningfully over her shoulder. “Now, where do you think Mama hid the cups this time? A little cider’s just what my head needs right now.”
It didn’t take long to find them resting at the far corner of a shelf under the steps, and Rainbow deftly filled three, giving Zap Apple the one drawn from a barrel that would support an apple branch once it was taken outside and holding out one of the two from a barrel in the back toward Twilight. She smiled weakly and stepped onto the stone floor, gratefully lifting the mug off Rainbow’s hoof before taking a deep drink.
“It’s just… I want you to be able to forgive me.”
“Forgive you? Horseap—Horsefeathers, Twilight, you think I still blame you? Tell me, do ghosts usually take over ponies and make them act crazy?”
“Well, it wasn’t really a ghost. That would imply it contained at least a portion of his soul. It was actually more of an arcane simulacrum patterned—”
“Twilight. In Equestrian? Ghost or not, do they?”
“…No. But if I had looked at the ley lines or—”
“It was Star Swirl’s magic ghosty thing, of course you were excited! Listen, I know how that sort of thing feels. After Fleetfoot’s crash, all I could think about was how I might have changed things. But it doesn’t help! Unless you go back in time to warn yourself – and last time you two barely got back here in one piece, remember, so don’t start talking to Starlight Glimmer about it again – the only thing those thoughts like that do is let you keep beating yourself up over it. If saying it makes it better, I forgive you for whatever you actually did do, Twilight. Now, refill that and start forgiving yourself. Hay, if I of all ponies don’t blame you, why do you get to?”
“I… I’ll try, Rainbow. Thank you. But how—You were a Wonderbolt, a great one! How can you just…” She gestured around her.
“Plans change,” the pegasus answered with a smile. “Yeah, I loved putting on a show for everypony, but I have a family now, and that’s, like, twice as awesome. At least!” She brought Zap Apple into a quick hug, frowning when she saw the filly’s mug. “That’s fuller than it was a minute ago, isn’t it?” A giggle. “Well, make that your last one, all right? Mama’s not going to like it if you aren’t hungry enough for dinner. Anyway, Twi, I don’t know what it’s like in that castle of yours, but time still passes for the rest of us out here. Lightning Dust retired from the active Guard a few years ago, and she’s, like, a year younger than me. I might be cooler than her, but the Wonderbolts takes more out of you than even what she was doing. Honestly, I’d be surprised if I was still performing, even if I could still fly. At least this way I got out when everypony still loved watching me.”
“And you’re really all right with… this? Flying was—” A bell rang out, calling them all to dinner. “It was your special talent!”
“Z, why don’t you go tell Mama that we’re bringing the last of the cider out and that we’ll be there soon. Oh, and mind putting the cups back while you’re over there? Twi, take that barrel. May as well—oof!—use the ones we’ve already opened.” As Zap Apple raced up the stairs, she heard Rainbow’s answer echoing in the uncommonly empty space behind her. “Yeah, it was hard at first. Really hard. But when I saw AJ holding Z that first time… well, I started to realize you don’t need everypony looking up to you to be awesome. Heh, you win; you got me all sappy. Don’t tell anypony…”
When she entered the kitchen, Applejack was covering a bread-like apple cake to add to the line of dishes that would be serving the ponies arriving tomorrow. The mare nodded when she heard Rainbow Dash’s plans. “It’ll be helpful not having to head back out after dinner. How about you set the table while we’re waitin’? Plates and napkins should be everything. I’ll pretty up the food a bit and bring it over.”
“Aww, Mama! Do I have to?”
“You’re here, after all. Don’t see much sense in me doin’ everything while you just stand there watching. ’Sides, I saw Big Mac and Fluttershy headin’ this way. How about we use those plates you like?”
Zap Apple perked up halfway through a muttered “Should’a ran slower,” and by the time the four ponies reached the house – the newcomers having evidently met the others outside – the delicately floral tablecloth was joined by various colorful, if somewhat faded, birds. After a few rounds of “Oh, sorry, of course you’re eating later today. We’ll just borrow a couple apples for Big Mac’s cobbler and get out of your mane, if you don’t mind.” and “Don’t be silly, Fluttershy. I was expectin’ either Apple Bloom or you two to drop by. Come on, sit down.” all six were seated around the table; Zap Apple took her favorite chair by the window, realizing too late that doing so let the Princess smile directly at her across the big bowl of apple-and-walnut salad in the middle of the table. Conversation between bites of the sandwiches (toasted tomato and daisy with a mild sauce) unsurprisingly centered on the extended Apple family in general and past reunions in particular, with plenty of light-hearted teasing all around.
“So, Mama, what’s the big event going to be this year? You’ve already done fruit bats, rogue storms, and having Z drop, and I know how you love to keep things fresh.” The pegasus winked broadly.
“What do you—oh! Um, sorry! Well… anyway, don’t forget that year with the moths, either.”
“I’m afraid I have to take some of the blame for that one. Though I’m not sure anypony knew just how attractive they found that particular magical resonance.”
“’Course, it’ll be hard beatin’ Granny timing her story so that Nightmare Moon escaped right as Grandpa Appleseed was meeting Celestia.”
“Aw, come on, Big Mac. You can’t say she has to beat that! The timing’s funny, sure, but she just happened to break free on the same day as your guys’ reunion. At least stick to what was actually at it!”
“Thanks, Dashie, but that would be a lot more reassurin’ if you didn’t still sound convinced something’s going to happen.”
Eventually, the plates emptied and the conversation died down. Big Mac and Fluttershy left with a sack full of apples, and Twilight joined them with a glance at Rainbow Dash, saying something vague about Owloysius. The pegasus and Zap Apple brought the dishes to the sink to wash before Applejack called her outside to “help with the tablecloth.” They kept their voices quiet and the portions of their conversation that did make it inside were muddled by the clinking of the plates as the filly washed them, but a few lines did still reach her ears.
“—Twilight looked a little—”
“—going to tell—weight she is.”
“How much?”
“—cups, but I only had one, I swear!—past that, AJ, you—”
They came in happily enough, though, one of Rainbow’s wings over Applejack’s back and the tablecloth folded under the other, so the filly figured it must not have been anything serious. Once she put the latter back in the closet and started drying the stack of washed plates, the three were able to quickly finish cleaning up. At that point, the long, work-filled day caught up with them, and there was time for little more than a trip through the shower and a chapter of Daring Do – Zap Apple told her mothers of the flower the sheep had found as Applejack was flipping to the right page, but neither recognized it – before they all practically fell into their beds.
Even so, it took a while for the filly’s thoughts to stop galloping around and around in her mind. Tomorrow was the first day of something that she looked forward to all year.
The next day saw them all standing at the train station shortly after breakfast – the train from Appleoosa was one of the earliest arrivals. Zap Apple peered intently at the hills to the west, and started bouncing excitedly when she saw a faint plume of smoke. Rainbow’s ears, however, flattened at the accompanying cry.
Her wife laughed and bumped against her shoulder. “We’ll civilize you yet, Dashie!”
“Nothing—” she yawned “—nothing civil about getting up with the sun. Don’t know how you do it every day. Or Celestia for that matter. And don’t call me that where everypony can hear!”
“It’s called ‘coffee,’ darling. You’d know if you didn’t refuse to drink it.”
“Yeah, all right, that’s actually worse. Besides, it tastes like somepony picked some sticks out of the road and dropped them in a fire before they made that ‘drink’ out of them.”
Further discussion on the nature of coffee was interrupted by the hissing of the train’s brakes as it pulled into the station. The arriving cousins weren’t difficult to spot – while she hadn’t yet reached her father’s height, Strongheart still towered over the few ponies milling about – and Zap Apple ran over to wrap Truehooves in a hug, her parents following more sedately. The young buffalo enthusiastically, if less forcefully, returned the filly’s welcome, and the two began chatting rapidly about their plans, last week’s Summer Sun Celebration, the results of various plots they had set in motion the last time Zap Apple had visited him, and whatever other topics developed along the way. The adults, meanwhile, greeted each other, exchanged oven allocations and other plans and requirements, offered to carry some of the retrieved bags, declined the offer, and turned it into a challenge over who could carry the most luggage – the resulting half-and-half split looked distinctly larger on Rainbow’s outstretched wings than it did on Strongheart’s back.
A stallion ran out of one of the offices as they passed, a sheet of paper fluttering from his mouth, which he set on a table nearby. “Applejack! Glad I saw you out here. I was just about to put this in the bag for delivery.”
She unfolded the telegram. “Thanks, Key Tapper. It’s from Babs…” She winced. “Apple Butter broke his ankle – apparently by ‘kicking a wall’ – so she’s going to be keepin’ him in Manehattan ’til the cast comes off. Sorry, sugarcube, I know you were looking forward to seeing him an’ Peanut Butter.”
Zap Apple groaned. “But then they’ll miss the reunion! We were s’posed to have all kinds of fun while they were here and now we don’t know when the next time we’ll see each other will be!”
As they left the station a couple minutes later, Applejack turned to her wife. “Hmm, reckon it would be friendly of us to visit Babs soon? Give her a bit of a rest from one house-bound foal and another practically tied to her brother.”
“I just wish that stallion of hers was still there so I could—” She punctuated this with a sharp kick of the ground, making her load of suitcases and bags wobble.
“If he were still with her, Rainbow Dash, you would not have to make dire threats at him.” Strongheart took her eyes from the safely settling luggage to look for her son and, seeing him safely back in discussion with Zap Apple, continued. “Although I must admit I would not mind meeting him alone, either. Leaving a young mare to raise twins on her own… On a more pleasant topic, Braeburn and I believe we have found a pretty ‘drought-tolerant,’ I think the catalogs would call it, tree in the orchard. The fruit is small, but if it stays strong through the summer without needing the pegasi to bring in as much water, the shade from its children is going to help turn the town into a little oasis.”
“Is that what you got up there?” Applejack pointed to a pair of bags on the top of Strongheart’s portion of the luggage. “I saw some apples in one of ’em as we were loading up Rainbow.”
“You got it, cousin!” The stallion’s voice held a note of pride familiar to any Apple who ever bred trees. “And a couple more familiar ones we figured we’d bring just in case. Strongheart also packed up some fruit from the cactuses and such to make for dinner tomorrow, and if it’s anything like what she’s done in the past, it’ll be deee-licious!”
“I do realize that the theme is ‘apples’ in more ways than one, but I find that too much of one thing can make you want change. I mean no offence to your family.”
“It’s nothin’, and don’t forget you’re family too, cuz’. You won’t hear the old’uns saying it, but even with all the different ways of cooking fruit us Apples can come up with, a simple, apple-free salad can sometimes taste mighty good. You may want to think about it for the day after, though; it’ll give everypony a bit more time to get full of apples, and it’s still not the big feast. It’s a good thing y’all brought ’em for that, by the way. You don’t want to let ponies call you the mare – er, buffalo – that didn’t bring apples to the reunion. Braeburn may have finally married you several years back, but it’s still plenty early enough for that name to stick. The Oranges tried it once, an’ they won’t even use zest anymore.”
“I will take your warning to heart, cousin. Thank you. Yes, iischekáata?” Truehooves had dropped back to walk at her shoulder, waiting for a break in the conversation.
“Zap an’ I were wonderin’ if we could look around the farm, seeing how Apple Butter and Peanut Butter won’t be comin’. She says there are a few nice spots she found since the last time we were here.”
“You may, as long as your aunts say that it is all right. Just come back for lunch—or will we set out food for whenever anyone arrives or is hungry, like we did last year? Then in that case, there will be food at the house, and make sure you are back in time for dinner.”
“Yeah, you two go and have fun. Don’t want to miss the stories later, but I remember how mind-numbingly boring it got just listening to the older ponies talk.”
“Remember, I don’t want y’all playing ’round Apple Bloom’s house,” Applejack called after them as they ran down the street. “I’ll let her know ’bout Babs myself! Anyway, Braeburn, y’all are still planning on sticking around afterward for Zap Apple’s birthday, right? She’s been really…”
As early as it was, the streets were still busy enough that several collisions had only narrowly been avoided by the time the houses had given way to trees, and it wasn’t until they passed the schoolhouse that Truehooves felt he was safe in asking Zap Apple any questions that would take multiple sentences to answer.
“What was that Aunt Applejack said ’bout Aunt Apple Bloom? Are the two of them not getting along or somethin’?”
“Nah, Auntie’s fine. She’s just got somepony stayin’ with her my Mamas an’ ’specially Uncle Mac don’t like. Keep tryin’ to listen, but I ain’t heard nothin’ yet an’ the sheep are even quieter ’bout it. Hardly even go near the place any more, an’ they ain’t scared of the Everfree.”
“We are plannin’ to check it out, then?”
“Of course! Just need to run by the treehouse first – that’s where I got Auntie’s old capes. If ya wear one an’ say you’ve been ‘crusading’ they won’t look twice at where ya’ve been, ’specially if you can talk ’bout something else ya did. ’Specially ’specially if that something’s more dangerous’n it sounds an’ they know it, for some reason.”
“But is the point of the trick not to keep them from knowing ya did somethin’ they would not want you to?”
“Nah. Well, maybe sometimes, but mostly it’s just so they say ‘be careful’ rather’n ‘don’t do that.’ This hill’s easier to get up if we go over that way a bit. I’m thinkin’ we go find this flower the sheep mentioned. It’s even ’bout the right direction, if somepony sees us. Maybe we bring one back to see if there’s some kind of Guide to the Flowers of the Everfree Forest at the castle or somethin’ – the Princess likes collectin’ weird books like that.” It didn’t take much longer to reach the old clubhouse, and Zap Apple started digging through the closet. “Here, this cape’s the biggest for Scootaloo’s wings, but it should work for your legs as well.”
The old treehouse had been restored before the Crusaders passed it over to her, but it was still showing its age and the lack of three fillies dedicated to spending their free time in it – the breeze blew in where the boards of the walls had come loose and the rainbow tail sticking out of the closet made the paint seem all the more faded. When she shut the door behind her, having retrieved a second cape, the hinges squeaked more loudly than Sweetie Belle would ever have allowed in her time.
“Not sure whose this one was, but it don’t really matter.” She picked at the edge of the blue-and-white patch. “Still holdin’. Whatever spell Rarity put on these must have been mighty strong. Now, you remember that pond I was tellin’ ya about, with all the tadpoles? I was thinkin’ we might stop by there first, if ya want to. Probably a lot bigger’n the last time I saw ’em.”
Not long later, she could see they had indeed grown, and most now had two legs kicking on either side of their tails as they swam. While the pool itself had shrunk in the beginnings of the summer heat, it was still more than large enough for the two – once Zap Apple got bored of just watching the swimmers but before Truehooves was interested in leaving – to wage a full-scale splash fight that, ignoring temporary ceasefires, lasted until the sun was high in the sky. Eventually, however, a truce was reached – and more importantly, respected – and the two combatants continued west, leaving the besieged tadpoles in peace.
“Nope, that reed’s still in your mane. Still there. Here, let me grab it. I’ss really ’angleth in there—ptoo! Sorry about the hair.
“Anyway, I saw the sheep over this way, ’fore we went down to the pond. The flock ain’t too swift normally, so we should be able to spot ’em once we’ve got a good view. Most sheep’ll remember where they’ve been just fine, but don’t try askin’ ’em for directions if you can help it. Now, I know there’s a lot of trees down there, but if you can catch a flash of white ’tween the leaves…”
Truehooves was the first to spot one, and, their direction obtained, the two descended into the valley. When they reached them, the flock milled around the new arrivals. Zap Apple happily greeted each sheep that came up to her, introducing the increasingly bemused buffalo. Once most of the sheep had returned to their grazing and everything had calmed down somewhat, she turned to him.
“Sorry ’bout that; I forgot ya hadn’t met ’em up close yet. Friendly as they are, I know it can be overwhelmin’ if you ain’t used to ’em.”
“No, no, they were fine. It was actually just remindin’ me of how a buffalo herd would greet someone. I cannot promise to remember everyone’s names right from the get-go, but I have practice and am willin’ to bet I got more than most ponies would.”
“Well, go on, then. We’re listenin’.” One of the sheep still standing nearby trotted up to Truehooves and, seeing his confused look, bumped his shoulder. “Provin’ ya remember who’s who, o’course! You ain’t fixin’ to leave us with an empty boast, now, are ya? Don’t worry, we ain’t gonna bite ya none if’n someone gets given the wrong name.”
“In that case, you are Clover an’ your friend there is Lavender. That is Thyme grazin’ over there next to where either Sorrel or Parsley is nursin’ her lamb, while the other is the one standin’ on that big rock. Peppermint and Jasmine are at the base of that tree – Jasmine is on our left – an’ Lupine is chasin’ Heather around them. I remember Ivy, Alfalfa, and… Olive, but I cannot pick them out, an’ the lambs younger than Heather and Lupine were introduced only by who their mother is.”
He had drawn the attention of more than a few sheep, and they applauded, hooffalls muffled by the grass. “Good memory, Truehooves, ya got more’n half the flock up ’tween those horns. This here’s Alfalfa – Lavender’s over there—” one of the watching sheep raised her hoof “—an’ it’s Sorrel on the rock, but everyone else was nose on. The little’uns don’t get their names ’till they survive the first winter. It ain’t such a problem for our flock as some, with the barn an’ the food y’all’s family gives us, but the waitin’s tradition an’ even we lose a lamb now ’n’ again. So, way I figure it, y’all ain’t here just for a simple chat. Let me guess, that story we told ya of the squirrel-tail flower has your wool in a twist an’ ya want to go find it? Thought as much. Here, how about I take y’all that way? Really, ’tain’t no bother, it’s just a bit of a walk.”
Zap Apple beamed, satisfied. “We’d really ’preciate it, Clover. Thanks!”
With that, the sheep led the two toward the mountains. Her pace was slower than what they had been making, but steadier, especially when she went straight up the side of a hill rather than using the less direct – but flatter – route the others would have taken on their own. A short while after they began seeing the darker trees of the Everfree Forest on the horizon each time they reached a crest, Truehooves’s stomachs rumbled. Clover’s ears cocked and she stopped.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear, I should’a asked if y’all were gettin’ hungry. If y’all ain’t wantin’ to head back, it’s still a mite early for apples, even green’uns. There’s a bramble patch over yonder that might be ripe by now – blackberries, I think they are. Or there’s this bed of heavenly grass I was tellin’ your cousin ’bout, just over that hill an’ up the crick a bit, if’n your kind graze, or so long as your pride ain’t too strong to try otherwise.”
“Oh, feather it, Clover, it ain’t done y’all any harm yet. You’ve got my stomach convincin’ me to give it a try. This way, you said?”
The calf was less sure, but he followed the pony anyway. Clover walked by his side, and he soon leaned into the gentle contact. “Listen, dear, I know them ponies have some right strange ideas ’bout grazin’, an’ seems like your kind does too. But your cousin’s right, it ain’t no different from the food y’all have every day, just fresher, is all.—Yes, that’s the meadow up there, hun—Sorrel saw your yeller-an’-red cousin passin’ us not long afore y’all swung by, her nose to the barn or the town beyond, so the nearest people who ain’t us or flock is in that house with all them critters, way over yonder. I obviously ain’t gonna judge ya, and look at your cousin goin’ at it down there—ya need to give it a good jerk, hun, it’s tougher’n it looks—she ain’t in no position to judge nobody. Only one lookin’ at ya sideways out here’s your own pride.
“Thing is, I know how strong a master she is, ain’t none stronger. If’n ya can’t beat her, I ain’t gonna blame ya none. An’ that one neither. She might love talkin’ big, but if I know one thing an’ one thing only ’bout her, that’s she won’t never hold nothin’ ’gainst you but that you never try.—I know it’s been cropped mighty close already, but try not to pull up the roots ’less ya want a mouth full of dirt—An’ I ain’t talkin’ ’bout tryin’ the grass, here, but tryin’ to beat your pride. Way she thinks, if’n ya try that an’ lose, that’s near as good as beatin’ her, ’cause then ya know you ain’t never gonna be willin’ to do whatever it is. That ain’t how sheep see it, no way, but if I was bein’ honest I’d have to say the flock needs more’n just her thinkin’ like that. So what do ya think, dear, your pride showin’ a limp?”
Truehooves considered it for a moment, nuzzled Clover’s neck, and stepped forward. He bent his head. His teeth closed on one of the longer tufts of grass. His tongue felt the firm stalks as his mind raced, checking one last time that he really meant to do this. He jerked his head forward. The grass was tougher than it looked and he lost a few blades he wasn’t gripping tightly enough, but he still had a decent enough mouthful when his head came up. Chewing was interesting: the texture reminded him of biting too far into a flower stem and the ends bobbed in the corner of his eye. But it wasn’t bad. He stood still a moment after he swallowed, thinking, and felt Clover’s coat brush his as she stepped beside him.
“Well won, my dear, ya do your kin proud. Remember this next time the Many-Faced One tries to point your nose somewhere. Now, before you go makin’ any final call, try the shorter, greener stuff. What you got there ain’t bad if it’s all you got or ya want somethin’ with more fight to it, but otherwise ’tain’t nothin’ on young grass.”
He aimed his second bite lower, and immediately noticed it was easier to tear off – forward, not upward, as he learned from watching Zap Apple’s attempts. It had a softer texture as well, though still far from that of lettuce or flower petals, and was much sweeter. The flavor was very different than the complex art of pony or buffalo cuisine he was used to – a single gentle core with a sharper edge – but he found himself appreciating it in its simplicity, once he considered it on its own.
He stepped forward for another clump at the edge of his reach, and Clover moved with him, sheering off one next to his. He took another, the rhythm of her chewing providing a counterpart to his own. Another bite. Another. The pattern was soothing, almost hypnotic: Step. Bite, tear. Chew, chew, swallow. Step. Bite, tear…
The sheep and the buffalo grazed together for a while, before he only half-consciously wandered toward the patch of broader leaves – still supporting a few small flowers – that Zap Apple was eating and Clover turned toward the grass with “more fight” farther from the creek. Later, with no more thought than before, he followed the best-looking clumps back toward the center, leaving the pony behind. The rhythm of grazing and the sounds of his friends doing the same, accompanied by the quietly burbling stream and the gentle songs of the birds relaxed him more deeply than he had been in a long time. He could almost hear the apple trees singing in the breeze, could feel the warmth of Clover’s care and contentment, laced by an icy thread of old loss. He finally understood how his ancestors had met spirits throughout nature.
He didn’t look up until his hunger had been satisfied. Zap Apple was already done, stretched out on a log beside the water, her eyes closed and the old cape hanging over one shoulder. Clover slowly made her way back to them, nibbling at a couple tufts along the way, before she spoke.
“How’d y’all find your first graze? Been wonderin’ what it’s like for outsiders a long time now. Lambs ain’t got the words to talk ’bout it, an’ I’m ’fraid it loses some of the power once you’ve been doin’ it your whole life.”
“It ain’t like Mama AJ’s meals, but it definitely weren’t bad.” Her eyes blinked open. “What’d you think?”
“It… I felt… Yes, I liked it. I really liked it. As for how it felt… only way to describe it would be by sayin’ I felt the spirits of everythin’ round here—no, that I was the spirits of everythin’, all of them at once. An’ that still is not close to the actual feelin’. I guess I am still like one of your lambs: I don’t got the words for it either.”
Zap Apple looked at him curiously. “I didn’t get that. It sure was relaxin’ an’ I think there might have been somethin’ like you were describin’, but it wasn’t anywhere near as strong. An’ if it had been… that sounds a mite overwhelmin’.”
“That there may well be why ya didn’t feel the magic as strong, then,” the sheep broke in. “Or it may be ponies don’t got no flock ties or herd ties or whatever no more. Or that you just ain’t as sensitive to it as your cousin. I certainly ain’t no scholar.”
They lay in silence for a moment. “Clover, the next time I come over here, could I go grazin’ with y’all again? It is nice, even if it is not actually spirits.”
She hugged him, eyes wet. “Oh, dear, you don’t know what you’re askin’ by that. It ain’t just a good time, that there’s the greatest compliment a sheep can give: ‘I know who ya are, an ’spite that I trust ya strongly ’nough to be wantin’ to see ya that close again.’ Rougher places, you’re trustin’ ’em to not let ya get et. Short of it is, you’re sayin’ you call ’em family.”
Truehooves nestled closer, the wool soft and warm against his face and side despite the tangles and dried mud. “In that case, Clover, may I graze with you again the next time I come visitin’?”
The sheep did start crying at that, and held him tighter. “Yes, my dear, yes you most certainly can.” She sniffed. “An’ if I may, you should feel what it’s like when ya have the whole flock with ya.
“’Bout that other thing you said, magic an’ spirits ain’t two things for us. That there’s a pony story to keep ’em from thinkin’ ’bout what ’zactly they’re usin’. Hear a sheep tell it, souls is just magic growin’ together as one leaf. The life of a sheep or flower or rock, that’s all just part of the life of the world. Them wild woods back of the hills, that there’s livin’ magic, an’ that’s how come they ain’t fond of it. They got so familiar with what they’ve cut an’ dried, they ain’t got no idea how to treat magic that still knows its own mind.”
Zap Apple had been watching with a small smirk, but she laughed at that. “Nah, it’s ’cause the Everfree’s full of all sorts of creatures that’ll eat a pony straight up! Ain’t anything that calls for some ghost story to explain.”
“An’ yet that striped one is a-livin’ clear in the thick of it just fine, an’ you yourself got an uncle an’ two aunts right on the edge. Naw, hun, them critters ain’t no big bother if’n ya keep an eye sharp an’ know how to handle ’em.” She stood up and began walking back down the stream. “C’mon y’all, ain’t far to the gully now. I will grant ya, hun, we ain’t got quite the same care ’bout dyin’ you ponies do – though believe you me, it’s still mighty painful – an’ that might keep more ponies away than I was figurin’. Don’t ’splain your aunt’s guest, though. Even we ain’t so dumb as to invite death to graze…”
“Hey, Clover, I’ve been meanin’ to ask. What do y’all know ’bout him? Mama keeps tellin’ me to keep away, but she ain’t said—” Her mouth clamped shut and the sheep gave a quick laugh.
“Ya went a mite far there, hun. I still ain’t gonna be who tells you somethin’ your mamas don’t want to. I will say she ain’t overstatin’ nothin’ this time. You do honestly want to avoid comin’ ’cross him, specially if’n your aunt ain’t with ya. This trip out here… tell me y’all ain’t fixin’ to ditch me to try an’ spy on him.”
Truehooves glanced at the filly. She hesitated before answering, but her hoofsteps remained steady. “That was our ’riginal plan. Sorry ’bout tryin’ to trick you. But if you really think we shouldn’t, gettin’ that flower’ll be good for the day, with the grazin’.”
“It would be such a weight off my mind, hun. Thank you. Word of advice, though, both of you. Don’t go grazin’ with someone you’re keepin’ a secret from. I ain’t able to tell what it is, but ’tain’t hard to know if’n you’re hidin’ somethin’.”
Zap Apple froze, ears pinned back. “Then this was all—”
“This was ’cause I call you kin an’ wondered if’n you could feel the magic the flock does! It weren’t no big scheme! I was happy ’nough takin’ you at your word an’ ya tellin’ me if’n you had anythin’ I needed to know.” She sighed sharply. “This here’s the gully. We found them flowers ’round that rock halfway up the wall there, see it? As I ’member it, we ate every one there ’long with what else was near, but there might still be somethin’ small left. Else, it ain’t unlikely there’s a patch further in.”
“Thanks, Clover. If you’re wantin’ to head back, I figure me an’ Truehooves’ll be able to find it; I know this is a long time for you to be away from your flock. I promise we ain’t gonna do any more’n find that flower an’ head back home. Or maybe to the castle to find a book to tell us what it is, but then we’ll be goin’ home.”
“Are you sure y’all’ be fine? An extra nose an’ pair of eyes ain’t gonna go awry.”
“No,” the buffalo agreed, nuzzling her, “we should be able to find it ourselves if you want to get back to them. Thank you, Clover. I really enjoyed meeting you.”
“In that case, even if you ain’t got time ’round the get-together for a good graze, feel free to just drop by some time for a chat. I know I’d love to see ya again, an’ I bet the flock’ll like you as well. Now, you remember I’m trustin’ ya, hun. Don’t go leadin’ Truehooves too far wrong.” She gave each of them one last hug; Zap Apple rolled her eyes but didn’t otherwise protest. Then she turned and made her way back the way they came, disappearing under the trees.
“Well, I guess we should start searchin’ – I’ll head up to that rock if you want to look around down here,” Truehooves suggested. “You said it was a red spray?”
The buffalo surged up the slope, nearly as sure-hoofed as a goat, if not as graceful, while the pony poked her nose around every rock and splashed through the water cutting a hoof-deep channel through the mud. Once, in a crack in a rock, she found a patch of strange leaves clustered around cropped-off stems, but they were close enough to the edge of the Forest that she did not know all the wild plants, and so she left it alone. As they continued up the ravine and the walls grew higher, the two focused solely on one bank, still dividing the work between high and low but intending to search the other on the way back if necessary.
That time came with a surprisingly abrupt change of foliage.
“Truehooves, I think we should be turnin’ back ’round now. I ain’t found it yet, an’ those branches up there look like the edge of the Everfree.” Unfortunately, with her face raised toward the calf above, she was not able to watch her footing, and the stone under her rear hoof shifted, sending her tumbling down the slope with a cry of pain and surprise. By the time her chest stopped heaving and the world stopped spinning, Truehooves was already almost at the bottom next to her.
“On the bright side, at least I wasn’t up where you were,” she told him shakily as he helped her to her hooves. Her small laugh turned into another yelp as she tried to put her weight on her leg and collapsed into him, sending them both back to the ground.
“Horseap—Well, would you look at that,” she said, pointing between two boulders her head had, thankfully, missed, “it was here all along.” Nestled in the cleft were several red flowers, the small, feathery, trumpet-shaped florets spreading from the gently curled stem in a manner that did call to mind a squirrel’s tail.
“What? No, never mind that. Your cape—Are you bleedin’?” He lifted aside the sticky fabric, wincing along with her. As it came away, it revealed a patch on her shoulder had been scraped bald and raw, roughly the size and shape of her ear, along with several smaller bare patches and the beginnings of what promised to be very impressive bruises. The red of blood and flesh made a brilliant contrast to her nearly white coat and skin. “I do not think that is serious, despite how it looks. It is too bad I did not watch my mother work her craft more often…”
“Serious or not, stop pokin’ at it! That featherin’ hurts!”
Truehooves stood and turned up the wall. “I will go look for someone who knows better what to do. You just—”
“Don’t you give me that load of horseapples ’bout not movin’! I ain’t goin’ anywhere an’ you know it. Auntie’s prob’ly gone to our place by now, but Uncle Mac an’ Aunt Fluttershy should still—Is everythin’ all right up there?”
He had bounded over the lip and frozen. As he backed stiff-leggedly right to the edge, Zap Apple thought she saw the branches behind him shift. Then a pair of glowing green eyes appeared, and she recognized the head of a timberwolf staring hungrily down at him. Something seemed to catch its eye, however, and the head cocked at an angle. It extended slowly toward the calf, lowering to sniff at his side. She could see him trembling from where she lay, but he didn’t move as the wolf sniffed again, shaking its head in apparent confusion. It turned its gaze to her. The sheer force behind the eyes pinned her more surely to the ground than her leg would ever be able to.
An eternity later, it turned back to Truehooves, proximity apparently serving as well as that stare to keep him paralyzed. She knew this was when it began tearing him apart, and yet she found she couldn’t look away. The wolf put one huge paw on his back, all but covering him as it pressed him to the ground. Then, miraculously, it turned and walked out of her sight. The buffalo’s rear end rose slightly, before he quickly dropped back to the ground, cowering. She could tell from his sigh when it had truly left. It was several minutes longer before either of them spoke, the calf still facing away from the creek.
“I think he has gone, but I do not want to turn around only to find he was still watchin’. If he comes sneakin’ back – or worse, catches me movin’ if he still wants me to just lie here – I want to see him before he starts breathin’ on my shoulder again.”
“I get that, believe me. I can still talk to you this way, though. Long as it leaves us alone long enough, Clover’s going to notice if we don’t pass the flock on the way back, and she’ll come looking.”
However, neither of them were able to offer any topic that lasted beyond the first few sentences, as their minds turned back to everything that just happened: “Would you mind if I chew my cud? It helps me relax.”
“Go ahead. What’s it for, anyway?”
“Just another way of eatin’, I guess. I never really thought about it.”
Some time later: “So what’s the story ’hind your name? Gotta be better’n ‘’Cause you’re an Apple with a rainbow mane, an’ your Mama wanted somethin’ “radical”.’”
“Not really. The tradition is to name calves after what you want them to have or become. In my case, careful hooves and correct decisions – my birth mother was a medicine cow, and, like ponies, it is lucky for a calf to wind up followin’ their parent’s trail.”
After a series of pained grunts: “Are you all right down there?”
“Yeah, I’m—ow!—fine. Just tryin’ to get one of these flowers while I’m here.” The sounds of more scrabbling echoed up, followed by a gentle crunching. “Pepper was right, these are really sweet!”
“Make sure you save a couple! I want to taste them as well, and ’member we were supposed to be gettin’ a sample to identify.”
“I know, I know. I ain’t hungry, just wanted to see how they tasted.” Some more chewing. “You know, I think my leg might be gettin’ better. It ain’t hurtin’ as much, at least.”
“I still do not think you should be movin’ it. It seemed pretty bad before.”
“It ain’t that good! It still hurts like a plucked feather, it just ain’t throbbin’ so strong.”
By the time Truehooves’s ears pricked at the sound of approaching steps – hoof or paw he couldn’t tell – almost anything new felt welcome. Even so, the green glow in the dappled shadows made his breath catch until a mare’s outline became clear, the glow revealing itself as an amulet hanging from Apple Bloom’s pink manetie.
“Oh, good, you’re still all right. He said Zap Apple’s lyin’ down there?”
“That you, Auntie? I’m fine, just twisted my ankle, is all.”
“I helped raise ya, don’t forget, an’ since you’re still lying there,” she called back as she peered down, “I’m guessin’ it’s a bit more’n that. Now, since I know you’ll tell me the truth, what were you and my niece doin’ all the way out here?”
“We were lookin’ for some flower the sheep told Zap Apple about.” His aunt raised her eyebrow and stayed silent. “Well, we did mean to check on you and your guest, but we talked to Clover an’ she… um, Auntie Apple Bloom, I think the timberwolf is back. I just saw its eyes over there.”
“Ah, right. Ya may as well come out.” Truehooves shrank back as the wolf padded to her side. Apple Bloom patted its leg. “This is Heartwood. We’ve known each other a long time, an’ he said he felt how sad I was when Granny Smith died, so he’s been stayin’ even nearer to me since then.” Heartwood growled, limbs shifting. The amulet flared brighter. “Yes, this is the one I told you about. I guess his horns are a bit hard to tell from his ears, sorry.” The buffalo squeaked in protest but didn’t dare to do more. “Heartwood is nice enough to not eat ponies for me, but you look a lot like a deer. An’ then y’all practically serve yourselves up to him ’fore I have a chance to see you, let alone introduce you to him safely? Wearin’ our old capes was probably the only thing that saved you. He ain’t goin’ to eat you, though, now he knows you’re family. All right? I’m goin’ to check on your cousin. Y’all play nice, now!”
She walked a few steps alongside the bank before setting her hooves wide and sliding down, the rocks she kicked loose rolling safely past the filly. “Your ankle, you said?” She poked it gently, then harder. “How much leechweed did ya eat?”
“That’s what this stuff is? Should’a just asked you before. But then we wouldn’t—Oh, right. ’Bout four or five flowers. But it didn’t seem like there was this many left before. Why’d you want to know?”
“You’d be feelin’ a broken bone even with that much in ya.” She poked again, and this time got a flinch. “Sprain, then. A bad’un, but it’ll heal. Now where—ah, your shoulder. Anyway, leechweed. Hides your pain an’ makes ya bleed faster. Only blooms when somethin’ bleeds on it. Yeah, those scrapes’ll be mighty painful in a couple hours, but if they’re still only bleedin’ like this after that much leechweed, you’ll be fine. I’ll have to remember it’s up here; normally I can only find it deeper in the forest.” She unfastened the cape and started retying it around Zap Apple’s chest and under her opposite foreleg. “Don’t look like that, this ain’t the first time it’s had Apple blood on it. It’ll wash right off. Heartwood, ya mind tossin’ me down a stick? Straight, ’bout as wide as your claw an’ a bit shorter’n your ear.”
The wolf took his nose out of the calf’s mane, sneezed, and reached around to bite one of the shoots growing out of his back. Then, in a single motion, he twisted his head – snapping the branch off with a loud crack – and leaped over the edge to land at her side. The stick was gently dropped in front of the filly’s wide eyes.
“Thanks, didn’t need to be one of yours, but that’ll definitely help the healin’. Now, Heart—hold on a sec’!” She finished wrapping her untied bow around both the leg and the stick, the pendant now looped around her pastern. Zap Apple groaned a couple times, but the leechweed kept the process merely uncomfortable. “Now you can see what she smells like.”
As his nose buried itself behind her ear, she stared, horrified, at the teeth not a hoof from her eye. He breathed in. More than just her scent – with a distinct tinge of fear – it felt like he plucked at a strand of something more intrinsic to her self. All her instincts were telling her to run but the wooden wall above her and the weight of the power behind it kept her stiff and still. He snorted and pulled back. Her heart seemed to start beating again.
“Satisfied? You might want to make yourself scarce now. I sure love havin’ ya around, but I don’t think the others’ll be as friendly.” She nuzzled the beast, and he walked up the creekbed. His eyes gleamed back once before he disappeared into the overhanging trees. “No, don’t move. Once you start feelin’ things again and you know what’ll hurt, you can do as much as that ankle’ll let you. Until then, it’s way too easy to push it too far.”
“Is it safe to come down now?” Truehooves’s eyes were round as he peered down at his aunt. Her “yeah” sounded almost disappointed. He rejoined them, nearly tumbling down the bank when a bird flew overhead and casting fearful glances toward the forest the entire time.
Apple Bloom sighed. “Are you bleedin’ anywhere? Then eat… two of the flowers, stalks and all, an’ make sure ya don’t start. It ain’t the best for forgettin’ things, but leechweed should help take a bit of the edge off your memory anyway. I’d rather your mind worked everything out on its own, but seems like it could use help.”
“…so when I get past the ponies running around, I see this timberwolf just coming down the road. The thing’s huge, probably as big as Strongheart, and—”
“Oh, come on,” Apple Bloom called from the enveloping night. “Heartwood’s only a few hooves taller than me. Four at the most.”
“A-hem! Anyway, it’s—oh, fine, he’s growling like a snoring dragon. He has his nose to the ground but keeps stopping and looking around as he trots along. That’s when he sees me. I spread my wings and get ready to protect everypony. Right before I’m about to leap at him, Apple Bloom runs past me and practically hugs it! Remember, this thing’s head alone is almost as long as her barrel.”
The pegasus pointedly ignored the comment about her seeming happy enough to back down.
“Then she starts talking, and it sounds like he’s talking back. She calls over at me to get Applejack and Braeburn and Strongheart and to follow her, and then she takes off cantering across the field with that great big wooden beast just trotting along beside her like it’s enjoying the breeze. I still don’t know what’s going on – she wasn’t overly clear about that – but I find them and then we all run off in what we hope is the same direction.”
Someone threw another log on the dying fire and the flames jumped, throwing light and shadow across the gathered faces.
“You’d think that something so big would leave some pretty impressive hoofprints, but they were even lighter than Apple Bloom’s. Before long, we’ve lost the trail, so Applejack suggests we ask the sheep we had just passed if they knew where they could have gone. I didn’t see it the first time through, but most of them are pretty spooked, so it’s not hard to figure out they ran close to the flock, but with how quick it was and the panic afterward, none of them can remember which way they were going.”
Zap Apple felt Truehooves shudder next to her, his limbs pulled tightly to his body even before Rainbow Dash began the story, and nuzzled him. Her own legs were folded awkwardly, but as long as she didn’t move much, her ankle and bruises didn't hurt as much.
“Eventually, one of them realizes that she saw these two in what might have been the direction they were heading, and offers to take us where she left them. Once we finally get there, we see Apple Bloom standing over them and waving at us from further up the ditch. The timberwolf had already slunk back into the forest, but not before sc—a lot of looming over them, and Z’s lying there with one of the Crusaders’ old capes tied around her barrel and AB’s bow wrapped around her leg. Luckily, she’s assured us it’s nothing a bit of rest won’t fix. Eventually, at least. After the others are done fussing over Z and Truehooves—”
Braeburn snorted at her use of “others.”
“—we get Z onto Strongheart’s back and head back. I think that’s it – nothing exciting happened as we walked and we’ve all pretty much just been hanging around here talking or cooking since then. And yeah, having that thing lurking around means we should probably be careful if anypony goes out near the Everfree Forest, but AB tells me he doesn’t hurt ponies and he’s going to be staying off the farm or anywhere else we’d want to go. And yeah, I know you still don’t trust him, Big Mac, you don’t have to look at me like that. But I do honestly believe Apple Bloom on this. He had two foals alone and hurt, and he didn’t just not eat them, but he went to get help. …So unless either of you have anything you want to add, like maybe what happened before you took that tumble, I think somepony else can take her turn.”
Heartwood was not someone they wanted to recall in more detail yet; grazing was not anything they’d tell anyone about. Meeting the sheep and watching tadpoles had been fun, but couldn’t carry a story. Everything that had happened in the past weeks and months could wait for a better lead-in. They shook their heads.
A voice rumbled from across the fire as a leafy-maned stallion stepped forward to sit on the logs ringing the light. “Well, we don’t got no wolves in the bayou, timber or bone, but that made me ’member a time Grandpappy Custard Apple found him a lost kelpie, way back when he was first buildin’ the house…”
Author's Note
Edit 3/27/16: I don't like changing this so long after posting it, but it originally went up without anyone's eyes but mine having seen it. Since then, I've gotten comments from SongCoyote and an anonymous EQD prereader on how to fix it, and have made some minor revisions based on those – probably not to the extent they'd hoped, but Kin was always going to be a rather experimental fic with only niche interest, so I don't mind it being a bit rough. On that topic, a huge thanks to all of you who liked or favorited this! It's always wonderful seeing that notification that someone's read and enjoyed it.
Most of the edits are just fixing mistakes I made or tightening up characters' voices, but if you don't want to comb through everything again, the only ones with any real significance are giving Zap Apple a birthday a couple days after the reunion, hinting a bit at Clover's reaction to Truehooves, and actually giving the cousins a reason to be waiting around at the end.
This was originally going to be a more proper AppleDash fic – you can see a remnant of the original idea in the conversation with Twilight – but it wound up taking on a life of its own beyond that. Since I initially decided to write it essentially on a whim, I prefered not to try to force it into submission. It was, however, still inspired by the fourth AppleDash contest, and because it doesn't technically violate the terms of that contest (except for, you know, the lack of any actual shipping) I figured I still may as well toss it in as "Family at a Special Event", even without any real intentions of winning.
There are quite a few facets of the world that ~~surprisingly~~ didn't make it into the story, so if there was any part that was unclear or anything you'd like more detail on, I'd love to explain in the comments/a PM.
