Herding Instincts

Twilight Sparkle is walking with her herd, Spike is lounging on her back as they make their way to the city docks, where the airships depart from. She looks up at the human stallion of their herd. Her heart swells, knowing what that human means to her.

Walking with the herd is a griffon. She’s expressed multiple times that she doesn’t really want to join the herd, that she’s willing to follow the rules that Citrus puts down, and she enjoys spending time with all of them. But she does seem quite fixated on the human as well. Her tail is waving almost as much as North’s is as they walk. Citrus and Cayenne are crowding up with Silver as the pegasus walks with them down the city streets. Cayenne is huffing and puffing a bit, the filly in her belly has been bouncing around a bit. Something that is normal with pegasi foals, she’s learned. As the alicorn walks, she finds herself watching Cayenne. The off white mare is in good spirits, though she occasionally battles the idea that she’s looking bad with the extra weight. Twilight had never understood how it’s said that mares are aglow when they are with foal. And Cayenne is no exception. Even with the extra sway, Twilight finds herself mesmerized by the pregnant mare’s movements. Being attracted to both sexes is the norm for Equestria, especially for mares. Though Twilight finds herself leaning more towards stallions, both Silver, and Tim. But even with her preferences, she finds watching the mares of her herd, especially Cayenne in her current state, to be more than a little distracting.

She clears her throat as she moves up next to the human. “Are you sure?”

Tim huffs slightly. “Yes, Twilight, I want to stay human for this trip, I know ponies outside of Canterlot and Ponyville really don’t know about me, but I’ve got my mares with me. You don’t need to turn me into a pony for the trip.”

Twilight looks down. “I’m just trying to help.” She pouts. Only to be stopped by his hand rubbing behind her ear. She looks up into his smiling face. “Really, I am.”

Tim smiles. “I know you are, Twilight, but as we’ve seen in Canterlot, ponies will be put at ease better seeing that I’m with a herd. And I like the idea of exploring more of Equestria. Didn’t you say that you going to Ponyville was the first time you’d left Canterlot?”

She nods. “Yeah, but since then, I’ve certainly gotten around much more. I’ve visited Manehattan, Fillydelphia, of course the Crystal Empire, Appleoosa, and so many other places.” She ducks her head under his hand again, enjoying the feel of his touch. “And some of those places you are going to enjoy. But as a pony…”

Tim looks down at her. “Twilight, I know, you guys like to walk more than I do. But it’s going to be fun, whether I’m a pony or human.” He scratches her behind an ear. “We are almost there. I’m going to miss you, love.”

She looks up at him. “I’m going to miss you too. But this is primarily you and North’s trip. And I really need to spend more time with Flurry, and Cadance, and my brother, of course. She’s had her finances restored, thanks to Citrus. But she still needs a good caretaker when she’s doing her duties as the Crystal Princess.”

He nods. “And you are going to help with that. Just don’t zap anypony into a lactating mare.”

She turns her head a bit away. “No promises.” She grumbles, getting a laugh from the human. After a few moments, she looks up at him. “What do you think of Leah?” He looks down at her questioningly before she continues. “What if she decides she wants to be a full part of the herd?”

He glances at the griffon, who had moved up to walk next to North when Twilight had gathered Tim’s attention. “She said she doesn’t want to. She’s fine playing with us. But her father.”

Twilight winks, keeping her voice low to keep the conversation between the two of them. “Tim, have you seen how she looks at you? That’s a griff in love. And the fact that she’s okay with the entire herd, she does that because of you, love.”

“Me? I’m nopony special.”

She giggles. “Of course, you, silly. I should have seen that look in Citrus, I would have been smarter about how things turned out with us, and Cadance and pretty much everypony could see how I felt about you. But now that I know what to look for, I can see it in her. She went about it smarter than I did.” She misses a step for a moment before a reassuring touch from Tim. “I know, we are past that, but I really do feel bad about what I did.” She stops and takes a few breaths. “But Tim, she’s gonna have to make a decision sooner or later. She’s already told us that her dad wants her to marry a griff, they are more monogamous than ponies tend to be. What if he finds out?”

“She’s already told him a cover story about this trip. She said he bought it.”

Twilight shakes her head. “She’s pretty young, Tim. Sometimes things she might think may not be true.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s coming with. I think she’ll have fun, bond with the rest of the mares more.”

“And teach you more on how griffons can be intimate when so much of them is sharp and dangerous?”

Tim shakes his head with a bit of a laugh. “Well, that too. Speaking of intimate things. How are you going to be dealing with us all being gone?”

Twilight tosses her head. “I’ve gone without plenty of times.” She reaches out a wing and nudges him. “So that means when you get back, I’m gonna jump you.”

He reaches out and fondles one of her ears, getting her to close her eyes and her wings to pop. “Looking forward to it, love.”

Twilight blinks a few times, that walk went quickly in her head. “Well, I’d better head to the train station.” She lights her horn and her magic field appears on his cheek for the briefest of moments, she tilts her head and looks at him. “Safe journeys, love.” She turns to the rest of the herd as they’ve gathered at the entrance to the docks. “Safe journeys to all of you.” She reaches her head back to nuzzle the dragon snoozing on her back. “Okay, lazy bones. Time to head for the train.”

Spike emits a snore, getting rolled eyes from the alicorn. She walks over and nuzzles each mare quickly before taking her leave and walking slowly away.

Leah smiles after Twilight before turning to the human. “Ready to head out, stud?”

Tim reaches out and strokes the side of her head, enjoying her leaning her head into his touch. “Of course. We can have fun with this trip.”

***

Nearly three weeks into the trip, the airship is moving slowly through the sky. They started their trip visiting Baltimare, and have moved along the coastline of the continent. North has been on the bridge quite often, taking notes and making drawings of what she’s been seeing. Tim noted that the faintly blue mare is happier than most times he’s seen her. She had remarked while she was working that her cutie mark had felt warm. And Tim had seen it glow a time or two. Remembering what Twilight has said, North is following her cutie mark, and that alignment has had the mare feel more content than at any time in her life.

The rest of the herd on the trip, on the other hoof, have simply been enjoying an extended vacation. On the upper deck, Cayenne is reclining in a lounge chair, staff on the airship have been assiduously caring for every need and desire of the pregnant mare. Leah has been spending much of her time with North, either fetching drawing supplies, or just crowded up with the unicorn as she works. Watching those two together has had Tim smile quite often. Nights together have been pretty fun, too. Cayenne even joining in more than once, even though she’s spent quite a bit of time simply resting, she’s found pregnancy isn’t the most fun thing in the world in her view.

Tim, though, has been keeping busy. Not only has he been assisting North with her various needs throughout the trip, along with sightseeing journeys through the places the airship has docked, but he’s also been going through schooling by the other stallion of the herd. Tim is on his knees, sweat streaming down his body as he pants.

Silver laughs. “Are you ready to give up?”

Tim looks up through his hair, he’d let it get almost shoulder length, something he’d decided to try, even though the natural curliness has turned it into more of a mane than even some of the ponies. He growls. “No.”

“Well, stand up and face me, then.”

Tim slowly levers himself to his feet, wishing for the millionth time as he’s grown his hair out that he had some sort of tie off to keep it out of his face. That stray thought falls by the wayside, though, as he levels his weapon at the black maned Pegasus. Silver smiles, holding his own weapon at the ready. The pegasus has had Citrus zap him to be the half pony half human shape that the girls like to do on dates with the human. Though this time, it’s because silver wants the greater height and reach of the taller form. Though even with the changes, he’s not as tall as Tim, something that irks the silver pony to no end. Normally, he does use his hooves to manipulate his weapon, something that Tim had called sticky hooves when he first saw the ponies manipulating things with their hooves. Silver couldn’t begin to explain how the inborn magic of the ponies manifests that way. Twilight had tried to explain, yet the explanation only gave Tim headaches. Silver has a firm grip on the hilt with his hand, though.

“Okay, again.”

Tim doesn’t simply rush in at his sparring partner. Hard teaching and getting whapped multiple times by the wood blade has cured him of that stupidity. He does, however, advance slowly, keeping his own close to his body. He glances down, trying to estimate the pegasus’ reach on this deck. Tim attempts a cut with his forearm, but he barely gets through the windup before Silver has again surprised him with how quickly he can move into range and smack Tim with his blade and then withdraw from reach quicker than a blink.

“Come on, Tim. I am fast, but not special. You’re trying to muscle it. Use your speed and trust in your blade. That strike can be done with just a flick of your hand.

Forgoing any dramatic yell, Tim takes a step bringing his rapier from the guard position he had been holding it in and slashing at Silver. “Much better.” Silver now has the outside line on him and is paused. “Now, what moves can you do from here?” Time wheels the sword around to push Silver’s away from the inside. “Good. Now thrust.” Tim stabs, landing a poke on Silver’s chest. “Now let’s try that again. That’s a very good basic combination to either use for a first strike, or as a counter to a more committed attack. Offend, mill, thrust.”

Tim tries it again, and finds he’s having more luck with it. Silver varies his angles, putting Tim through his list of cuts and parries, but he sees the principle is sound. By using a rotating motion, Tim can disengage blades while forcing a defensive response and getting his point on line for an attack.

To his surprise, the pegasus is suddenly up against him, back to him. Silver had pivoted around his clumsy strike and is now inside his defense. Silver twists his whole body to deliver a strike that goes full across his chest. Tim falls onto his rear, his breath momentarily gone.

Silver crows in delight. “Come on, Tim. You know you are faster than this. Strike then withdraw. I’m trying to teach you nearly a decade of experience in a matter of months. It may have been a bad idea to start you out on rapier, it’s a very technically demanding type of sword.”

Tim huffs a couple of times, trying to regain his breath. He notices a purpling bruise on his bicep. “I know, Silver.” He pants. He grunts and groans a bit as he levers himself to his feet. He brings up his blade to his guard position. “You’re too fast, Silver.”

“As I said, Tim. I’m not exceptionally fast. With training you can be this speed.” He rolls his eyes. “In about five to seven years of three times a week training. I am always going to be faster than you because I am so much shorter. But you are always going to have the advantage in leverage and reach. That’s why I put you on rapier.”

“So what am I doing wrong?”

“You’re trying to punch me. You forget your weapon extends four feet past your fist. Next lesson, we’re just going to do footwork and ranging. After that, I’ll bet you my date night you can beat me at least once for real.”

“Sorry.” Tim looks down. “I know it’s frustrating to try to school a noob like me.” Tim takes a step back.

Silver looks at him critically for a long moment before reaching over and grabbing a water bottle and tossing it at the human. “Tim, I love the sword. I love sparring, I love the exercise.” He walks up closer, his eyes showing genuine affection for the human. “And it’s turning out I love teaching what I’m so passionate about.” He offers a brilliant smile. “You are a rank novice, I can’t even call you an amateur. But you learn quickly, and try not to make the same mistakes over and over. So, it’s not all that bad.”

Tim’s eyes flash down to take in the stallion’s cutie mark. “Does that mean you enjoy teaching metal work?”

Silver nods. “Yes. If I find somepony interested in learning from me.” He cocks his head to the side. “Why? You interested in learning?”

Tim takes a deep swig of the water. “Oh no. I’m good with you thrashing me with a sword. I don’t have the patience for what you do with gold and silver.”

That gets a soft chuckle. “No worries, Tim my boy.” He reached down a hand and runs a thumb along the cutie mark. “You’ve been talking with North, and Citrus, and Cayenne. We are more than our cutie marks. My first love is what got me this.” He smiles fondly for a long moment before opening his eyes and looking at Tim. “But I am an Equestrian stallion.” He stops for a moment. “No, I’m a pegasus stallion. I have a warrior tradition of my tribe to uphold.”

Tim shakes his head. “But the tribes have been at peace for, what? As long as the Royal Sisters have been around for?”

Silver nods. “Yes, fighting between the tribes is pretty much done. But you have no idea how long from unification it was until multi-tribe herding started happening.”

“With as horny as the ponies are, about ten minutes.”

That got a guffaw from the pegasus. He flexes his wings a bit as he reaches for another water bottle. He takes a gulp of his water before wiping off his mouth. “Oh, Tim. I’m pretty sure that ponies from different tribes banged pretty quickly. But herding, making a family with pegasi and earth ponies, or with unicorns. That was taboo for a long time.” He stops and thinks. “I’d say that within the last fifty or so years was when having more than one tribe in a herd was commonplace. I mean, it happened. But herds that had that makeup were few and far between. And from what I’ve heard, it was mainly the unicorns that were resistant. Didn’t want to muddy their bloodlines, is what I’ve heard. Some old snooty unicorns can still be dismissive of multi-tribe herds. Hell, it would have been easier having Leah or you in a herd with a unicorn a hundred years ago than a pegasus.”

“Wait, really? Other species, but not other tribes?”

He nods. “You forget, Tim. I’m a reader of history. And yeah. Princess Celestia, for a long time after Luna, was in seclusion. The local nobles of Canterlot were basically running Equestria, all unicorns. For a while, it was almost as bad as in the bad old days before unification.” He raises his sword. “Now, again.”

Tim sighs and puts his blade in the guard position that Silver had shown him. He nods grimly before the pegasus takes a step. With a loud clack, he is rewarded with the sting of the strike hitting his own sword rather than vulnerable flesh. He takes a step back, lowering the sword to intercept another strike aimed at his legs. He swipes out with his own blade after deflecting the second strike, only to have Silver dance away. Tim grits his teeth.

“Watch my shoulders, Tim, trying to watch my hands or the blade is futile, they move too fast. Watch what moves them, what controls them.” He strikes out, and Tim desperately blocks the strike. “Good.” Silver steps to the side, his blade on high guard. He feints, and Tim flinches into a guard, while Silver pivots the pommel in his hand and strikes from the other direction. Tim is helpless to the strike from the unexpected direction and Silver crows in delight on giving the human another bruise. Tim stumbles back and holds up a hand. “You done?”

Tim pants a few times before nodding. “Damn, Silver.” He reaches out and grabs his water. “You are good.”

Silver walks over and places his sword on the table before walking back and holding out his hand. Tim meekly places his own sword in the pegasus’ hand and Silver places the human’s sword next to his. He stops for a moment and looks at both weapons. A few months after his fight with Shining Armor, Tim had come to him, asking for Silver to train him in the ways of the sword. And for quite a while, Tim had sufficed with a wooden practice sword. Not knowing that Silver had talked to Citrus and Twilight, getting them to contract a royal armorer to make the human his own blade. Shortly after Cayenne’s pregnancy was confirmed, Silver had been able to present the blade to Tim. The blade itself is forty inches long, with a leather wrapped handle, made heavy for the humans large hands. The royal smith was an absolute master and had charged a premium price. Which Twilight had happily paid over Citrus’ objection. Silver had to confess, it was of a higher quality than his own rather utilitarian blade. But, Silver is happy to have a sparring partner. Even though he’s had to drag Tim’s skill level up quite a bit for the human to be any sort of challenge to him. He knows it would be years before Tim would have any chance in any kind of sword fight. He turns back to Tim. “Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you why you were so keen on getting into sword fighting.”

Tim smiles. “You defended your herd’s honor over my actions. I want to be able to do the same, for you, bud.”

Silver stops, looking at Tim. “Tim, my boy, I know what a mare in heat smells like. I know what to do. Yes, challenges do happen. But you caused the problems you caused because of your ignorance.”

Tim huffs. “I know that, Silver. But…”

Silver cocks his head to the side, his ears flicking back and forth. “You really felt helpless, didn’t you?” He gets a nod from his herdmate, eliciting a smile. “No worries, Tim. I sincerely doubt that you would ever need to call upon these skills in a real fight. That being said, I have no doubt that, under my tutelage, you’ll be able to lose gracefully to a grand master like Shining Armor.” He punches Tim in the shoulder. “And if you are lucky, might get a good lick or two in.”

Tim smiles wanly as Silver moves over and grabs the storage bag to put both swords away. Citrus is in their cabin, and he’ll stow the swords there, and get changed back to his usual four hooved shape. Being on two legs has its own benefits, he has to admit. But he much prefers being the way he was born. Even if he can say honestly that having hands is a nice thing too. Silver watches as Tim heads up to the bridge, where North has become a near permanent fixture during the trip. Silver moves over to the hatch down into the interior of the ship. As he walks, the bag slung over his shoulder, he notes the silver and gold work done throughout the rather utilitarian corridors of this airship. When Twilight Sparkle books an airship, she goes all out. Silver would have charged a lot of bits for this work. As he reaches the stateroom, he opens the door and steps in. He smiles at Citrus as he stows the swords.

“Have fun?”

He nods. “He told me why he’s been so keen on learning the sword.”

Citrus leans forward, “Oh, really?” Her ears flick back and forth. “You wanna switch back?” He nods and in moments she’s zapped him. He smiles as she tilts her head to the side. She continues. “Why?”

“He wants to be able to do for me that I did for the herd and him.” He stops and looks at Citrus. “How sweet is he?”

She blinks a few times. “Really?” At his nod, she sniffles a bit. “We really treated him wrong, didn’t we?”

He tilts his own head. “Yes…and no.”

“You are going to have to explain that, Silver.”

He chuckles. “Well, we are ponies, we think like ponies, and we expect others to think like us. So we treated him like a pony. Which is actually kinda good. Since we accept him, as different as he is, as one of us. He’s a member of the herd, a member of our family. Reaping the benefits, and suffering the woes of our lives.” He looks down, his ears flicking back and forth. “But that’s also a downside. We didn’t realize exactly how different he was to us. We thought he was just another intelligent creature like us. But he has his own thoughts and feelings, that we didn’t understand.” He smiles a little bit. “It took North, realizing how our treating him as an equal in our minds, wasn’t right for what he needed. To his way of thinking, we were unjust. He didn’t understand how others should be punished for his transgressions. How I was treated by the herd.” He looks up at her. “Don’t get me wrong, as I am a pony, I know that the fuckups of the head stallion can easily fall on all the stallions of a herd. But he didn’t understand that. He didn’t know to redeem himself, he had to get those stallions on his side.” He reaches over and nuzzles Citrus. “I didn’t fully understand how he was human, how different he was, so my reaction was to be salty towards him. To goad him, get his temper up. And for a long time, that backfired too. I didn’t understand that he felt guilty over his own actions, and having me pile on just made him feel more like dirt.” He stands straighter. “Though I think I got through to him.”

“Yeah, getting him pissed enough to clock you in the jaw.”

He barks a laugh. “Yeah, but he did show that he was the alpha, he is the stallion lead of our herd. He got me behind him, he showed me his strengths. He earned my respect. Something that is instinctual to us, he had to figure out. I’ll give it to him, though. He did figure it out, and he got me wanting to uphold our family honor. And in doing so, he showed that he’s a smart cookie. He’s a great choice for lead stallion of our herd.” He sighs softly. “And now he wants to be able to protect our herd the way I fought for our honor.”

“Can he?”

“Not yet. He tells me they just don’t use swords back home.” Silver rolls his eyes. “But duels aren’t always swords in the middle of the Grand Galloping Gala. Sometimes they are out and out brawls, and if he goes up against an Earth pony, he’d be in trouble. But he’s smart, smarter than most ponies would think he would be. I don’t doubt he’d come up with a way to win. You chose well when you fell in love with him.”

She snorts. “As if I had a choice, he was just so…”

“Wonderful?” Silver says softly.

She nods. “Yeah, just something about him.”

He nods, “Yeah, I know. He’s got four devoted mares, and a griff, and little ole me.”

“Little?” She smiles. “I remember you the other night, and I wouldn’t say you were little.”

That gets a guffaw from the silver Pegasus. “Okay, maybe not all that little.”

She reaches out and drags Silver closer, giving him a long, passionate kiss, getting his wings to flair. When she pulls away, she whispers into his ear. “Why not get him, and both of you can see if you can wear me out. North is busy, and Cayenne is being fawned over by the staff.”

“Ya know, we haven’t spit roasted you, yet.”

Her face glows, yet she has an excited smile on her face. “That sounds like fun.”

***

Being a griffon, Galileah sometimes like to perch up high, having many of the instincts of a pegasus speedster, without actually being a speedster herself. As Tim is walking through the streets of Canterlot with his herd, he has the griff on his shoulder, her wings slightly extended which brings her inborn magic into play, reducing her mass and making her weight on his shoulder to the point that she’s not taxing for her to be perched on his shoulder, but he is aware of her weight. She’s laughing with the herd as they get closer to the herd’s apartment building. Finally the large structure is visible among the other high rises in the district. Her claws clench slightly on his shoulder, getting Tim’s attention from a joke that Silver was saying, he gestures to the pegasus and looks up at Leah. “What is it?”

She huffs out a big sigh. “We are at your home. I have to go to mine.” She looks forlorn to the point that Tim is a bit worried about her.

“When are you going to visit again?”

She grins. “I’m leaving and you can’t wait to mount me again?”

“That’s not what I…” Tim sputters his way through an attempt to respond, only to be interrupted by laughter from the griffon.

“Oh Tim. You are so easy to fluster.” She leans down and rubs her cheek across his for a moment. “No, I miss you when I’m gone. I think about you and your herd all the time.” She stops, her face warming. She blinks a couple of times. “I don’t know, but I know I’ve fallen hard for you…” She glances around at the rest of the herd. “But I think this is ending up something more.” She sighs. “Well, those are questions for another day. He tenses as he feels her shift her weight, she launches off of his shoulder and does a loop in the air before landing before the herd and offering an elaborate bow. “Til next time!” She crows and takes off straight up. Everypony’s eyes follow the griff as she heads off.

Cayenne clears her throat. “Well, I’m glad she had fun.”

“Well, we all did.” Tim says, looking at North, who is standing there, she offered to pull the wagon they had rented at the station, over Silver’s objections. Though in the end, they had hired an earth pony mare to pull it so it can be returned. In it is all the herd’s luggage, along with several boxes full of maps and notations the unicorn had been working on the entire trip. She’s already exclaimed several times how much she wants to do with all of the notes she was able to garner with this expedition. She tosses her head a bit and the herd gets the point and continues walking. Before long they are standing before the entrance to their building. Cayenne and North light their horns along with Citrus and everything is lifted into the air. Citrus offers a stack of bits to the driver, who had been paid in advance, which are accepted with a bright smile and the mare turns and pulls the wagon back down the street. The herd all look at each other for a moment before they head inside. Quite quickly, they are in their apartment.

Tim looks around. “I’m guessing Twilight hasn’t made it home yet?”

Citrus giggles, “She easily could have been called away by that map in her castle. Or a friendship problem requiring her to be in Ponyville. She’s fine. Don’t need to worry about her.”

Tim nods. “She certainly knows how to take care of herself. We don’t need to worry, do we?”

Citrus nods. “Of course not.” Her ears flick back and forth. “Well, I guess some. She’s told us about some of what she did before you came to us.” She shudders. “That mare has gone through a lot.”

Cayenne moves over and nuzzles Citrus. “You are lead mare of this herd. She may be a princess, she may be a fantastically powerful alicorn, but she’s still a member of the herd, and of course you’ll worry about her well-being. That’s your job, Citrus. And you are exceptional at being a lead mare.” She gestures to her swollen belly. “Just like you’ll be a fantastic herd mom once I drop this little one.”

Citrus offers Cayenne a kiss, and for a long moment, time ceases to exist for them. When they come up for air, Citrus glances at Tim, and she flinches away, her face reddening.

North trots back downstairs, grabbing a couple more bags. “Come on, lazy bones. I, for one want to get a nap in before we get into dealing with life outside our herd.”

Cayenne nods. “Well, I, for one, am hungry.”

“We can use the phone, order from hayburger?” Citrus offers, bringing up the device from her daily carry pouch. Then she notices Tim’s face. “Oh yeah.” She giggles. “Perhaps something else.”

Cayenne shakes her head, “Oh, no. I’m not in the mood for food made by somepony else. It’s nice to have a personal chef during an extended cruise taking care of your every whim. But no, I want to make something.” She looks at Tim. “With meat. I swear, with a pegafilly in me, I find myself hankerin for some meat almost daily.” She tilts her head towards the kitchen. “Want to help, love?”

He nods. “Of course, love. Any time.”

Silver grumbles a bit, sometimes it seems almost like a competition between the two on who gets to help the mares with daily tasks. Tim directs a grin at the pegasus before they both head into the kitchen.

Tim loses track of time, helping the spicy mare as they work in the kitchen. Her attitude while cooking is far different than the executive chef she hired at her restaurant. But within an hour or so, two pots are bubbling on the stove and the oven is fired up, bringing delicious smells as they work. Tim opens the oven door as Cayenne floats the laden pan into the interior. He smiles as he closes the oven, getting an answering smile in return.

“I’ll get it.” Silver says as he bounds towards the front door in response to a knock. After a few seconds, Silver’s voice floats into the kitchen, “Ummm, Tim, Citrus?”

Tim looks at Cayenne, who nods and he grabs a towel to wipe his hands as he walks into the entry foyer. Silver is sitting there, holding Leah, who is sobbing into his chest. “What’s going on?” Citrus walks in and stops, a hoof raised in surprise.

Leah turns and looks at the human, her eyes red and tears streaming. “Daddy kicked me out!”