Herding Instincts

The effect of the deer's talking is immediate. The veterinarian ponies and their assistants back away, looking at Twilight, who freezes at the deer's words. She glances back at the herd, then she walks slowly forward. “Are you one of the deer of the Everfree Forest?”

The deer rolls her eyes. “What? You think I’m one of my retarded cousins? Look at the ears, look at the eyes, Princess. I’m not one of them.”

She glances at the veterinarians, then back at the deer. “You are not fully healed yet. May we finish?”

The deer lifts her head, looking at the two unicorns and their staff, then back at Twilight. She lays her head back down on the gurney, grumbling softly, “If I had been faster, that Manticore wouldn’t have caught me.” She closes her eyes for a long moment, then she looks at Twilight. “Yeah, just make it quick.”

Twilight looks back at the vets with a nod and a smile. As they get back to work, she moves closer and sits down closer to the deer, “Magical healing takes energy from the one getting healed, you were so weak when we got you here, to heal you fully would be fatal. So, we are stabilizing you and healing the worst of your wounds. We will let you get some rest tonight, and I’ll go into the Everfree with you in the morning to get you home. Prince Bramble knows me. It will be okay.”

The deer starts to struggle and is quickly immobilized by Twilight’s magic. “No, I’ve got to fulfill my mission. You can’t send me home yet!”

Twilight glances back at Tim and the herd. “What mission?”

The doe glares at Twilight. “Something of great importance has been stolen, I’m going to get it back.”

“You can’t be much past your spots,” Twilight scoffs, “You are telling me Prince Bramble sent a fawn on an important mission when he’s got his own guard?”

The deer obviously tries to move, but Twilight’s magic holds firm, finally she flops her head down. “I’m not on a mission for Prince Bramble, but one for my family. My mom and dad can’t go, so it’s up to me.”

Twilight sits there for a long time, finally, she shifts a bit on her hooves. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

The deer shakes her head.

“Princess,” a vet says softly, “I will not release her to be on her own tonight. She must get a minimum of ten hours of sleep after this. And plenty of food.”

Twilight nods, she leans closer to the deer. “You have a choice, you can stay in my castle tonight, with plenty of food and a comfortable bed, but with Royal guards keeping their eyes on you. Or you can stay here, in a locked room, with vet techs monitoring you.”

The doe looks at the other unicorn, then at Twilight. “But I have to go. The trail will get cold and I’ll never find them.”

Twilight stamps a hoof on the concrete of the floor. “Those are your choices.”

The doe glares at her balefully, then directs her ire at the vet, finally she flops her head down. “Okay, Princess, you win,” she grumbles.

Twilight smiles. “Once these nice ponies are done, I will get you to my home. You will be a lot closer to the Everfree at that point. What's your name, by the way?"

The doe half mumbles, half grumbles in response, "Wisteria."

"That's a pretty name," Twilight said with a smile before looking over her shoulder at Tim. "Deer love naming their fawns after plants."

"Daffodils shining, Wysteria twining," Citris starts to sing softly, "Flowers amaze us in so many ways."

The doe groans softly and covers her muzzle and eyes with a foreleg.

Tim gently puts his hand over Citrus's muzzle. "I don't think she's well enough for singing."

Twilight turns and heads over to the herd. She pitches her voice low. “I guess we will have to cut today short,” she says with a soft sigh.

“Oh, I don’t know about that, maybe you should bring the herd along with whatever is going on.”

Twilight’s eyes go wide. “But, Cadance, we could end up going all over Equestria.”

Cadance nods. “Or you could take her to the front door of your castle and let her go on her merry way. Either way, I think you spending time with the herd is a good thing.” She glances over at Citrus. “Am I right?”

Citrus glances at Twilight, then looks back at Cadance. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Twilight flinches. “You and your herd are never an imposition, Citrus.”

Cadance claps her hooves together. “It’s settled then.”

She glances back at the doe, then looks at Citrus. “I plan on teleporting us to the castle. How good are you at teleporting?”

Citrus’ eyes widen. “I can teleport myself, but that’s it.”

Twilight looks around. “I can handle everypony else then if that’s okay with you.”

Citrus looks up at the encouraging smile on Cadance’s face. “I think I will try and trust you in this.”

That gets a bigger smile from Twilight than she expected. The herd and the alicorns stay out of the way of the other ponies as they continue working on the doe.

After a bit more than an hour, one of the vets comes over. He reaches up a hoof to take off his sterile cap and wipes his face with it. “She’s as healed as we can do, Princess. I will release her to you. But she needs to sleep and eat. She mentioned a manticore, so we’ve administered some antivenin. She is going to be exceedingly drowsy for a while.”

Twilight nods her thanks, then gestures for the herd to follow her, though Silver takes a step back. “Not to be disrespectful, Princess, but I’d rather be home than out on some adventure.”

Cayenne speaks up. “I’ll second that. I’m a city mare, I don’t like the idea of running around on some crazy adventure.”

All eyes move to North, who squeaks, “An adventure sounds fun to me.”

Twilight glances at Citrus, who nods. “Then I will make sure the rest of the herd makes it safely home.” She reaches over and hugs Silver and then moves over and gives Cayenne a hug as well.

Cayenne hugs Tim tightly. “Be safe, love. And I’ll make sure your job remains for when you get back.”

“This could be quick.”

“Or it could take weeks, either way, don’t worry.” She glances at Twilight, then gathers up Silver. Twilight takes a moment to envelop them in magic and they wink away. Twilight takes a deep breath then looks over at Citrus and lights her horn again. After a few moments of charging, the deer along with the herd, winks out.

Winking into the castle, Twilight's horn stays lit, holding the now sleeping deer in her magic. A few seconds later Citrus and Cadance pop into existence in the entryway.

“Twilight?” comes a young voice, and quickly a young dragon scampers into view. He skids to a stop, taking in the scene before him. He blinks slowly at the deer suspended in Twilight's magic. “Well, looks like I’ll get a couple of guest rooms prepared. Duchess Cadance, your room is already ready.”

“Spike, just tell the staff, don’t act like you are the only one making the castle work,” Twilight says with a giggle as Cadance bids good evening to the rest and heads off.

The young dragon shrugs his shoulders and scampers off. Tim follows Citrus and North as Twilight escorts them into the castle. She opens one of the guest rooms and canters to the bed to place the deer on it. She covers the prone form with a blanket and extinguishes the lights. As she shuts the door behind her, she looks at Citrus. After a long moment, she scuffs a hoof on the floor. “I don’t suppose you three would accept an invitation to my bedroom for the night?”

Citrus tenses, but before she’s able to get a word out, Twilight flushes bright red. “I’m not asking for sex!” After the outburst she somewhat withdraws into herself. “I just haven’t had anypony to sleep with in a long time, just sleeping together.” She looks up at Citrus with tears in her eyes. “I know that I’ve messed up any chance of anything more, Citrus, but it doesn’t have to be all of you. Just you could, and Tim and North could use one of the other guest rooms. I just need…” She trails off, a few tears falling.

Citrus stands there for a long moment, glancing at Tim, and over at North, but focusing mainly on the alicorn silently weeping before her. “No.” She says softly, “Your bed is not going to work. I know what happened in there, and I can’t see that being helpful for repairing relationships.” She stops and glances at Tim. “I also am not for having us sleep apart. Where Tim sleeps, I sleep. And if you want to join all of us in slumber, I can agree to that, on more neutral territory.”

The change in Twilight is immediate, her ears perk forward, and a happy smile appears. “Really?”

Citrus nods, only to be nearly bowled over by the larger alicorn leaping at her in a big hug. Citrus hugs back, a genuine smile on her face. After they part, Twilight excuses herself to prepare Spike for sleep. As she trots off, Citrus watches her. “She’s so mothering.”

North smiles, “Yes, she is. That is a good trait, you know.”

Citrus turns and heads down to the other guest quarters, in that wing of the castle that Twilight had indicated. “I know it is. She has a lot going for her. She’s earnest, very intelligent, an exceptional mage. Had there not been such bad blood from the beginning, I would have thought of her as herd material much sooner.”

“You know, we don’t have to go with whatever she’s going to do.” Tim says softly.

Citrus nods. “I know. This is something she would normally go with her friends on, the other Element bearers. But if she wants to join the herd, we have to know more about her. Maybe getting some idea of what goes on when we normally wouldn’t be around would give us some perspective on what her life is like. Why she is the way she is.”

Tim nods. “You know, I’ve told you what she’s told me about her life growing up. Her birth herd, and how she ended up in Ponyville.”

Citrus looks back with a smile. “I know, Tim. Her family is Canterlot elite. Twilight Velvet, her dam, is a teacher and a member of the EUP. She’s well respected as a mage herself. I’m not the biggest fan of Night Light, from what you’ve told me, and he’s the only sire of the herd. I do worry about his influence.”

Tim nods. “Those two do seem like oil and water.”

Citrus opens the door and looks around. “Wow. Fancy.”

“Much like Canterlot Castle,” he says, looking around.

North Point prances over to the bed and hops on. “Now this is comfortable.” She moans as she stretches out. Citrus looks back at Tim before cantering over to the bed herself before hopping on. She pats the bed and Tim reaches to pull off his shirt and jeans. He tosses his socks on the pile of clothes as he crawls into bed with the girls.

Citrus snuggles into a shoulder, “Why are you keeping your boxers on?”

Tim finds his face heating. “Because Twilight…” he trails off.

Citrus giggles, “If she can’t keep her hooves off of that part of you, then we don’t have much to trust her with. You have us here. I know you are more comfortable sleeping nude. But if you really want.”

He hurriedly pulls off his boxers and tosses them at the other clothes on the floor, getting a happy sigh from Citrus as her magic draws the covers up, she snuggles again into his shoulder. North has her head on Citrus’ withers, a hoof on his stomach as she snuggles closer.

In only a few minutes the door opens silently, Twilight walks in, being careful to not make too much noise with her hooves as she approaches the bed. Tim looks over at her drowsily, Citrus is already breathing deeply in sleep. Tim pats the bed and the lavender mare leaps easily up. She slides her way under the covers and lays close to him, one forehoof draped over his chest and touching Citrus’ own hoof, the rest of her body pressed up against him. She sighs happily as she snuggles closer. Her muzzle ends up against his neck, her horn just barely touching his hair. She had laid on his arm, so he brings it around and holds her close, much like how Citrus is lying on the other side. He looks at all three mares, one falling towards sleep, with two others already in dream land. He smiles softly as his own eyes close and he relaxes towards sleep himself.

***

Tim shifts a bit; the windows are letting in the light of the rising sun. Since coming to Equestria, he hasn’t had to use an alarm clock. Today is no exception. He opens up his eyes to the yellow face of Citrus Blush. He lies there on his side, warm and content, looking at her. His slight movement has apparently brought her out of her sleep, she opens her eyes slowly and smiles as she sees his face. He leans his head forward and she eagerly meets his mouth in a kiss. He pulls his arm out from the wing over him and cups her cheek as the kiss continues. After a few moments, he hears North pipe up from around his waist level from her head lying on Citrus's cutie mark. “Good morning love.”

He feels a burst of pleasure down below and looks down, North is stroking him gently, a hungry look on her face. His eyes widen. “Ummm, North, we have an extra in the bed,” he says softly.

She pouts for a moment, but quickly recovers. She squeezes between Citrus and Tim and moves up for a kiss. Tim obliges, though North’s hooves do roam over his body rather freely. Twilight’s wing retracts when they finally part, both panting a bit. Twilight wiggles a bit to lay her head on his shoulder. She yawns loudly, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Princess,” Citrus says.

That gets an annoyed grunt from Twilight. “Citrus, we spent the night together. A very pleasant night, I might add. I haven’t slept this well since Rainbow Dash was over for a sleepover. But you should know, that crown doesn’t matter once we make it into the castle. Cadance has told me that I have a chance with you. Though I do hope that’s possible, I still want to treat you like family no matter what. Any of your herd is welcome to stay here any time you wish.”

Citrus's eyes narrow for a moment, then she smiles. “Okay… I’m going to assume that wasn’t a pass, Twilight.”

The lavender mare throws the covers off the bed and rolls off to land on her hooves. She shakes herself quickly before heading to the bedroom door. “I have a feeling the deer will want to be going soon. Thank you, Citrus, North, and Tim. I haven’t slept that well in ages.” She walks sedately from the room, her tail wagging from side to side.

As she closes the door behind her, Tim throws the covers off and slides over to the edge of the bed. It doesn’t take him long to don his clothes, quite aware of his mares watching his every move. For some reason they enjoy watching him get dressed, almost as much as they enjoy watching him get undressed. He pulls his shirt over his head and adjusts the collar. He turns back to two smiling faces. “Ready?” They nod and hop off the bed themselves, making a beeline to the bathroom. In a matter of minutes they both emerge, manes all brushed and clean. Tim takes a moment to empty his bladder in the toilet, then he steps to flush and hurries to catch up with the girls.

Though it turns out hurrying wasn’t necessary. They wait for nearly an hour before Twilight emerges with the deer walking next to her. Twilight is wearing a heavy set of saddle bags, the clasps on them matching her cutie mark. The deer has what looks like a small barrel hanging low around her neck. Twilight smiles, “Sorry about the delay, Wisteria here needed a new flask, and with my visits to the Everfree, I’ve acquired a couple. And I had to get packed. Wisteria has agreed to allow us to join her.”

Citrus nods. “So what is going on.”

The deer looks back at Twilight, who nods encouragingly, she turns back to the herd. “A couple of days ago, two unicorns visited our home in the Everfree. They wanted to buy barrels, my family makes some of the best in the Everfree. We agreed to sell two dozen to them. Well, instead of loading empty barrels, they loaded their cart with barrels full of a very powerful plant growth potion.” She paws the ground. “We didn’t notice at first, apparently one of them had shifted over the empty barrels in place of the full while the other was talking to us. It was a good con. But this is my family’s work. I need to retrieve the potion.”

Twilight beams with a smile. “And we are going to help.”

“By the time we found out, they were out of the forest. The birds of the forest told me where they went, but I had to hurry, and I wasn’t paying attention. So the manticore got the drop on me, he even broke my favorite flask. Princess Twilight was kind enough to let me have this new one.”

Citrus looks back at North and Tim, then back to the deer. “We will be happy to help, Wisteria.”

That gets smiles all around as Twilight guides us out. They don’t take very long to make it to the edge of the forest. Twilight asking questions of the deer the entire time. Finally, she asks the deer to describe the ponies. After hearing about their coloring, clothing, and cutie marks, Twilight growls a bit. She stops and looks at the deer. “Those two are Flim and Flam. They are con ponies, and they’ve tried to run cons here in Ponyville. They very nearly got Sweet Apple Acres out from under my friend Applejack.”

“You’ve dealt with them before?” Tim asks.

“Yeah. Applejack was actually in Los Pegasus recently, they actually helped her when it comes to a friendship problem. But apparently they’ve gotten bored with that, so are now doing something else.” She stops and puts a hoof to her chin. “Well, they apparently were looking for good barrels. I guess they just saw an opportunity and took it.” Her ears go back, a scowl appearing on her face. “Though that doesn’t excuse them from doing this.”

The doe is walking around. “Yeah, this is where I was attacked.” She leans down and noses some broken pieces of wood. “Yeah, this was my flask at the time. He got me good with his first swipe before I knew he was there. A couple of ponies head the commotion and called for help while one of them stayed with me. I only remember bits and pieces after the pegasus drove the manticore away.”

“Do you know who the pegasus was?” Twilight asks, her ears perked forward curiously.

Wisteria’s own ears fold flat, side to side. “No. All I remember is her coat was gray with a blonde mane and tail.”

That gets a smile from Twilight, “I think I know who you are talking about. I’ll talk to her and congratulate her later.” She looks at all assembled. “Okay, they were unicorns, so I’ll do a resonance test, see if we can determine their direction.” With that, she lights her horn and closes her eyes. Tim takes a step back from the power being used in close proximity. For a long time, Twilight is silent, with her horn glowing brightly. Citrus and North look back and forth at each other. Then North takes a tentative step forward, her own horn lighting. Twilight seems to notice this as her eyes open for a moment, then she smiles at the smaller mare. She nods and their glow changes somehow, it looks like the horn shine from both seems to come from one source. North gasps a little bit and her eyes start to glow. After a few moments, the magic is released and they look at each other. Twilight smiles. “You were invaluable there, North.” That gets a blush and a shy smile from the gray mare.

Tim leans down, “What happened?”

Citrus looks up at Tim. “Twilight and North formed a ring. North is good with directions and such, so she was able to add her expertise to what Twilight is doing.”

Twilight brightens, teaching is where the lavender mare is most comfortable. “What I was doing was feeling the resonance. If a unicorn uses magic somewhere, I can feel the residues of that magic. And luckily, they were. They were using it continuously as they walked, so I’m guessing they were using magic to pull the cart they had. I could read the trail and they went to the southwest.”

North pipes up. “And with us connected in the ring, I can direct us to them easily. Since that is more in line with my natural talents. Which I’ve discovered more about, thanks to you, Tim.” She beams a big smile at Tim, getting a blush from the human.

Twilight looks at North, then at Tim. “Your intuition when it comes to cutie marks is exceptional, Tim.” He grins. North turns and starts walking. Twilight and Citrus quickly follow, and Tim follows them quickly. The doe stops and watches the party for a minute before scampering off to join them.

As Wisteria gets close, she falls in next to Tim. They walk in silence for a few minutes before the doe looks up at Tim. “So, what’s your story?”

Tim looks down at her. “My story?”

She nods. “I’ve never seen your kind before. And you don’t look like minotaurs or other bipedal tribes from around here.”

Tim nods. “Ah, well, I’m not from Equestria.” The doe walks in shocked silence as he explains. “Then I moved in with Citrus, and we’ve been adding in more to our herd.”

She looks at the mares walking before them. “All three of them?”

Tim shakes his head. “Twilight isn’t a member of the herd as of yet. We’ve just resolved some…” he glances forward. Twilight’s ears are perked forward as she looks around as they walk. “Difficulties with her in heat.”

The doe actually blushes, “I don’t know much about ponies in heat. But I know how bucks are during rut.”

“How are they?”

She nods. “When does are receptive, the bucks are really aggressive. There are a lot more does than bucks, so they tend to gather harems. It used to be one buck would take all the does in an area, but newer sexual rights legislation has prohibited that. Prince Bramble has scaled that back a lot in our city. But some fighting does occur.”

Tim shakes his head. “I remember Princess Celestia telling Twilight about the jet engine in the Everfree, telling them that ponies should clean up their trash. They didn’t know that it wasn’t from the ponies, but from when I arrived.”

She continues walking, though her head droops, along with her ears. “So you are stranded here?”

“It’s not bad at all, I have a herd that loves me, and that I love. Twilight is an amazing teacher. And I’ve got a job. Life is good now.”

“Well, there’s that.”

***

It’s been a very quick week following the magical trail. North Point has been guiding them unerringly quite far from either Canterlot or Ponyville. Tim is glad he’s gotten used to how the ponies tend to walk everywhere. Twilight’s magic saddlebags are bigger than they look. When asked, she just said there was a spell on them. But cold food was still cold, hot food was still hot, she had a tent, and quite a bit more in them. She had even thoughtfully included some clothing for him, getting an approving nod from Citrus. Sleeping was easy, a pad on the ground, and everypony, human and deer all piled in together. Usually with Twilight and Citrus on each side of him, with North cuddling around his middle. After the first night, the doe had curled up at his feet. Striking camp every morning is fascinating again as always. Citrus and North help Twilight, but packing everything into the saddlebags seems to only be able to be done by Twilight. As her horn goes quiet, she watches Citrus douse the ashes from the previous night’s fire. She looks around, “We are getting near a town, it’s called Appleoosa. We will see what’s going on there. The trail still heads that way, North?”

North Point nods. “It’s still faint, and fading, but I’m still getting good resonance. It should last at least one or two more days.”

Twilight smiles. “We should get some clues in Appleoosa. Then we will know what to do.”

They depart quickly. Tim checks his shoes. Walking as much as they have done the last few days has been interesting to say the least. The are as comfortable as ever, though. The white mare that made his clothes seems to have a very good grip on cobblery. He catches up with the rest and keeps his head moving, looking at the desert they are moving into. The last three days of walking have actually been in plains, not very many trees, but high grasses everywhere. Though ponies traipsing through the plains with a human and a doe in tow have actually gained some attention. Pegasi from the weather service have landed nearby, asking if they could be of assistance. Twilight simply told them that they were busy, and they were okay, and the pegasi would take off, saying to shout if they needed anything. Tim always looked at the retreating pegasi, so willing to help without knowing anything about the ponies. It’s actually quite wondrous to him.

Twilight looks ahead, the town is visible in the distance. Though she seems surprised by the view. Tim walks up next to her. She points at the farms visible around the town itself. “They have an orchard here, much like Sweet Apple Acres back home. Farming hasn’t been very big down here. But look at that.”

Tim follows where she’s indicating. “It’s green, in winter.”

She nods. “It’s most certainly the wrong type of year for this much new growth.”

Indeed it is, large swathes of the land show the bright green of new growth. Wisteria stops and looks at the sight, blinking slowly. Then she yelps, “They are using our formula!!!” And scampers towards the town. Only to be stopped by Twilight’s magic.

As the deer is floated back to the group, Twilight looks at her. “We stay together, Wisteria. You going off on your own is part of why you still have a few bandages.”

“But they are using my family’s potion,” she whines plaintively.

“We will get to the bottom of this.” She looks back. “Let’s get the lead out, ladies and stallion.” She sets off at a brisk trot. Tim jogs with them for a bit. Though after a mile or so, she looks back as he’s wheezing a bit. “Tim, you okay?”

He nods. “Just…a…little…winded.”

"Oh, come on, we are just starting!" North Point gives Tim a nuzzle before she starts to sing cheerfully, her tail swishes side to side in time with the song as she prances. "Will you be lost by time, or be part of history?"

Blinking, Citrus smiles brightly and bounds up beside North point leaning against her as she starts to prance as well. "Will your story be told or remain a mystery?"

Looking back over her shoulder at the girls Twilight giggles. "Will they sing your song, telling all that you have done?"

Putting his hand over Citrus's muzzle Tim looks down and groans, "Is now really the time for singing?"

"Ouch, song denied," Wisteria says with a smirk.

Twilight shakes her head. "Fine, we'll do it the Spike way." Her horn lights. She picks up the human and places him on her back. After a moment, she looks panicked and glances over at Citrus, who nods with a smile. The group picks up the pace and they get into the town rather quickly.

As they stop, Tim quickly climbs off of Twilight, avoiding her tail flagging. Though she does look back with an apologetic smile. Her tail thrashes for a moment before settling down, and she also works to refold her wings, which had extended a bit during the run. Citrus actually giggles a bit at the alicorn’s discomfiture.

“I haven’t run like that in a while,” North pants.

Citrus moves over to her. “It’s the desk job. I don’t run very often either, but with my volunteering and my store, I’m kept busy and on my hooves.” She looks over at Tim. “With those long legs, you should be able to run for next to forever.”

Twilight actually answers for Tim. “It’s his species. I was able to look through much of the cache information in his phone. He had looked up something on human beings about six months before on something called Wikipedia.” She stops and shakes her head at the odd name. “Well, humans are predators, and before they built civilization, they were endurance hunters.”

That gets furrowed eyebrows from everyone. Twilight smiles and continues, “Basically, they were unable to run down prey in a speed contest, so they would walk them down. They would keep following the prey until it either died from exhaustion or was simply too tired to flee anymore. Walking, he could likely put you or me into the ground, but it would take several days at a much higher pace than we’ve set with our travels.”

Citrus looks up at Tim. “That’s horrifying. Running away, then every time you stop to rest, the hunter shows up, making you flee again.”

Twilight nods. “There is a reason they are the apex predator on their world.”

Tim blanches a little bit. “You know I’d never do that. I like my chicken already dead and cut up.”

Twilight moves over and rears up to hug him. “I know, Tim. But we are talking about your species generally. Some of the cached pictures shows different body types. And some of those humans, I guarantee couldn’t walk down a jelly doughnut much less a deer or a pony.”

That gets laughs from everypony. Tim looks around. “This is Appleoosa?”

She nods. “And let’s find Applejack’s cousin.”

Together they head over to the orchard, which is hard on the edge of town. Twilight knocks on the door of the farmhouse. Quickly a yellow stallion answers the door, wearing a vest and a similar hat to the one Applejack is always wearing, “Well, Twilight Sparkle, welcome back to Appleoosa.” He looks over, “And I see you brought friends.”

She nods. “We actually are here for a purpose, Braeburn. Want to tell us what’s happening with all the new plant growth?”

He blinks his green eyes for a moment before shaking himself. He had been staring at Tim. Finally he focuses back on Twilight. “Oh, it started just a few days ago. That miracle plant-gro is better than anything the earth ponies here could do. He even guaranteed freeze resistant plants so we could grow and harvest year-round. And it seems to be working. What you see around town is only a couple of days of growth.”

“He? Who is he?”

“The one selling the miracle plant-gro solution. They are little bottles, and you have to dilute them with water. But just a little bit really works. Better than some of the stuff those two that are his partners have sold around here before.”

Twilight growls, “Flim and Flam?”

He nods. “Those were the names.”

“How do ponies keep – never mind, do you know where they are?”

“They are set up in the Appleoosa general store.”

Twilight thanks the stallion and they head quickly back into town. The small size of the town makes finding the general store easy to spot. Twilight opens the door, causing a loud cow bell to ring as they enter. Tim looks around, they have all kinds of interesting things for sale here. But Twilight moves off with a purpose. She turns a corner and skids to a stop. “YOU!”