Thistle was standing with True Blue by the group of fruit trees in the valley. There was the lake in the northern half of the valley. It was massive, she could barely see the outline of the opposite shore. The fruit trees Hope had told them about were apples and pears, and were full and ripe. She could see a spot with lots of flat rocks pushed together where somepony had gotten the idea to dry apples the same way they dried grass.

She hoped it worked. It was going to get cold soon and any kind of store they managed to build would help.

"How goes food gathering?" True asked, setting her filly down so the foal could run around a little.

"Ponies keep bringing in more grass." Thistle looked away from the trees, towards the growing pile of 'hay' at the center of the field. That reminded her, they needed to start thinking about shelters. If the rains got the hay to mold they'd lose a lot of food.

"Somepony thinks we might be able to dry apples." She pointed towards the bed of flat rocks. "Holly Berry has been walking around and marking places with winter food."

"Hmm, How are our new herdmates settling in?" True watched Bluebell investigate a dandelion.

"Most of them have joined or formed groups now. There are these two foals, a brother and sister, who usually walk alone, but I think they're fine." She considered this for a moment. "Hope Springs keeps herself apart from the herd though. She hasn't made any friends and I don't think any stallions have approached her. Even Bright Finish is avoiding her."

"Yes, I've noticed that as well." True shook out her mane. "Well, she'll settle or not in time. At least the rest are doing well."

"I suppose." Thistle still wanted to find some way to help Hope. "No pony is causing any trouble, not that I've seen anyway. Most ponies act a little strange around me these days."

Stranger than the first days by the river. When they came to her for help with their minor hurts they always called her Healer and spoke respectfully.

"They don't want to kick up any dust." True scoffed. "So they keep their arguments out of your ears, if they can." She paused to study Thistle for a moment.

Thistle had grown these past few months. Physically, yes, but also personally. She was more confident, or was better at hiding her nerves. True wasn't sure which it was, or if it was both to some degree. When it came to helping or healing Thistle always seemed to know what to do or say to help that pony, even when the pony in question refused any aid. Still, when they spoke privately like this Thistle Burr often sounded quieter, almost uncertain.

"I recommend finding a pony you trust and having them go around the herd, reporting to you discretely afterwards." She advised. It took but a moment for Thistle to understand.

"Like Shiny Rock to you?" True nodded. She'd known Shiny since they were young foals and the mare had a knack for keeping track of everything. Problems often ceased to be after Shiny got wind of them.

What she was doing was very irregular, mentoring her own replacement. The position of Lead Mare afforded power and security. Actively teaching a pony how to replace you was the height of folly. Ex-Leads were chased away from the herd.

Well, she hadn't chased Hope away because the mare had willingly surrendured her title. At this point it almost seemed inevitable that Thistle Burr would one day take over the herd. If not for the fact a Lead Mare must be a dam, she wondered if certain ponies would have already starting talking.

"I think I know somepony who might be able to help me." Thistle's voice startled her out of her thoughts. Instinctively, she checked on Bluebell. The soft blue filly was trying to put a stick in her mouth.

True waited for a moment. Sometimes you had to let foals figure things out for themselves. When it looked like Bluebell was going to poke herself in the eye she intervened and tossed the stick away. She distracted the filly from the resultant temper tantrum by laying down to feed her.

"Is there anything else you'd like to bring up with me, Thistle Burr?" She asked once the filly had accepted her fate.

"Not yet," Thistle sighed. "Right now I want to start thinking about shelters. May I be excused, Lead Mare?"

"You may." True watched Thistle leave with a thoughtful gaze. Once the sap-brown filly was out of earshot she turned to her filly. Bluebell continued nursing.

She took a deep breath. This valley was large and, hopefully, safe. If they could survive here this might be the place Bluebell grew up. They weren't just staying here for a few weeks or a season.

She hoped this worked. She prayed this worked. So many things had changed since the Light-That-Wasn't had appeared, surely this could be another change.

True Blue looked over her herd and pretended she wasn't afraid.

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Thistle hadn't been across the whole valley yet, that would take more than a couple of days, but there was a spot from which you could see most of it. It wasn't quite a mountain but it was a bit more than a hill, and it was free from any trees to obscure the view. At the top she could see all the way to the opposite shore of the lake, she could see two mountains to the northeast, from which the river that fed the lake flowed. Before the mountains and extending to the east was a forest of fruit trees, apples and pears mostly.

To the south were fields, rich with fertile soil. A few creeks ran through the fields, providing water. To the west were larger trees, mighty oaks and pines. Huge obstacles that broke the wind nicely, and deeper into that forest was a gully. It was almost dry now, but she suspected it carried meltwater in the spring and summer.

And in the middle, between all these things was the herd. 61 ponies talking and laughing, piling grass and dried berries in one spot for the winter.

At the top of the rise, Thistle looked out over everything and started planning.

"Heya!" Thistle yelped, nearly tumbling downhill in surprise. Pink Peach snickered behind her.

"Not funny," She pouted. Her cousin snorted and offered a hoof up. "Why, in the name of the Mother Earth, did you do that?"

"You just looked so serious, I couldn't resist." Before Thistle could respond to that she found her hooves suddenly holding a basket of water.

A basket of water.

"You got it to work?" She gaped at the basket in her hooves. The outside felt dry, and stiff. There were no droplets, no signs of any leaking at all.

"All that and still no magic mark." Pink sighed, sending a disappointed stare at her flank.

"You'll get it." She said confidently. She took a drink of the clear lake water and gently set it down between them.

"I'd better!" Pink groaned. "My dam's been nipping at my tail to get a mark already. She thinks me having one will give me a higher status in the herd."

"Well, she's not wrong, exactly." Thistle allowed. "The herd does treat Magic-Touched ponies differently."

"Pucker hasn't stopped bragging since the Lead Stallion asked him personally for another spear." Pink wrinkled her snout. "Has Light been acting insufferable since she got her mark?"

"No," She cocked her to the side. "She's just been going around listening to stories. And telling them. She wants to know the history of the whole herd."

"Ugh, lucky." Pink rolled onto her back to scratch an itch. Once she righted herself she turned back to Thistle. "So why'ya up here anyway? Thinking of something cool?"

"I'm trying to decide where to build shelters." Thistle shrugged. "I'm thinking by the lake side." Pink stood up to get a better look.

"What are you gonna do when it floods though?" She asked.

"Floods?" Thistle blinked.

"Yeah, you haven't been down there yet? There's water marks up to..." She pointed to a lone standing willow. "That tree there."

'Huh' that wasn't too bad, but it was definitely within her shelter zone. No pony liked to wake up ankle deep in water.

"So further back then," She frowned. She could see a bunch of rocks from here. Those would have to be moved.

"So how are we building these shelters then? Has anypony got a shelter mark yet?" Pink smiled.

"No, there's been no new marks since Light got hers." Thistle scratched her chin. It would've been convenient for somepony to get a shelter mark.

"Me, it's gonna be me!" Pink grinned. "First pony with a shelter mark, here I come!"

"Uh, Pink," Before she could stop her the filly was already racing downhill, completely forgetting her new water-proof basket. Thistle looked between the basket and the filly galloping towards the rocky field.

She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Pink about being her confidant. Hopefully Pink would slow down long enough to hear her out before nightfall.

She sat back and, after checking to see if anypony else was sneaking up on her, began to think.

Okay, so she had Pink working on making shelter for everypony. Considering Pink had somehow managed to make a basket that didn't leak, Thistle was confident she'd eventually hit upon a way to do the same thing on a larger scale. Now the question was, did she make one big shelter for the whole herd, or a bunch of smaller ones for groups?

Until the first shelter was built she had no way of knowing which one would take longer. She'd have to wait for Pink to tell her something about that. Another reason to stamp on her cousin's tail.

So moving on, she really should explore the valley more. It'd be good to build up a better stock of medicine, and she could even collect seeds for spring planting. She should probably take somepony with her when she did, and let somepony else know where she planned on going. Somepony to help gather and carry things and somepony who would know how to find her in an emergency.

She had to think of something for Marsh and Holly to do besides talk about how great she was. She still wasn't entirely sure why they were so set on following her, but that didn't mean they couldn't be helpful. Marsh seemed enthusiastic about the planting idea, but that wouldn't take off until spring. What could they do over the winter?

She lifted the water basket to take another drink. Pink had reached the rocky field below. She was just a little pink spot racing around. What was she doing? Thistle leaned forward but couldn't quite make it out. After a moment Pink raced off towards the forked creek where Thistle's family had taken their rest.

She still had no idea what was going on down there. She'd have to ask Mountain and Morning later. Two streaks, one gray and one pink, suddenly took off for the western forest. That left Morning to keep watching Camellia while Enduring...napped? She couldn't tell if the old mare was awake or not.

Thistle's eyes drifted back towards the water basket. It was still mostly full. She wondered if Pink would be willing to teach Marsh and Holly how to make these.

Carefully setting the basket on her back, Thistle began her slow descent.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"What did Pink want with Mountain?" She addressed Morning as she finally reached them. Her journey had been slow with her trying not to spill the water. Her back was damp from where she hadn't completely succeeded.

"She wants a sledge to move some rocks or something, so she and Mountain are getting branches." Morning shrugged, she was in the middle of teaching Camellia how to count using some pinecones.

"Oh," That was a clever idea. Pink would probably enjoy having her own sledge too.

"Done wid yer errands, Burr?" Enduring lifted her head. "Yew been galloping hither n' yon since we got here."

"There's a lot to do if we're really staying here." Thistle defended herself sheepishly. "I talked with the Lead Mare, checked the wounded, did some planning. I think I got everything out of the way."

"Got any lessons for me?" She asked with a fond smile. She was so busy lately that she didn't always get to sit down and learn things. She sort of missed the days by the river when she had nothing else to do. She wouldn't give up Light, Pucker, or Pink, but all the new responsibilities she had were rather grating.

"Course I do, don't I always?" Enduring chuckled, climbing to her hooves. "Let's walk a bit, eh've got ta stretch my legs before sundown."

"H'okay," The old nag sighed as they reached the fruit orchard. "Now den, did we cover pests yet? Ain't gonna be much dis late in da season, but I can describe'em just fine."

"Der are plenty o' bugs dat like ta chew on ponies. Most of'em are annoyin', but harmless. Some dough," She clicked her tongue in distaste. "Some make a pony mighty sick, might even kill'em. Don't know if anypony's ever been mad enough ta see if dey can be used as medicine, but I doubt it. Some dings got no good part in'em."

Thistle breathed in that crisp autumn air and listened to her mentor teach.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"So, why are you lining them up like this?" Thistle gazed steadily at the line of rocks. None were smaller than her head, and all had been richly lathered in an odd gray mud. At the start of the line the mud had dried, leaving the rocks stuck together.

"To build the shelter, duh." Pink rolled her eyes and continued lathering the next stone with mud. "I found this weird mud in the gully, it's really sticky."

"Okay," It looked like it was working so she wasn't going to say anything. "So you're building it out of rocks?"

"Well, what else would I use?" Thistle had no answer to that.

"Why a circle?" She had to know.

"Because I wasn't sure I could make them in a straight line, but I can make a circle by tying some hemp to a stick!" She pointed at the stick standing straight up in the middle of the shelter.

"Oh, that's pretty neat!" Thistle watched Pink use the string to measure where to place the next rock. She rolled it into place and started coating it with mud.

"Yeah, it's just going to be a pain to get all the rocks and mud without the mud drying." Pink frowned at her dwindling pile.
Thistle resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. She already knew what she'd see. Marsh and Holly were watching her and talking. They might've been talking about foals, considering Holly had just discovered she could carry the twins in a pair of baskets, but Thistle wouldn't count on it.

"I think I know how to help with that." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Marsh, Holly?" She approached the two mares. She noticed Summer Showers had her eyes locked on Pink. "Do you think you two could help me with something?"

"Of course, Healer Burr!" Marsh's smile rivaled the Sun. "How may we be of assistance?"

"Pink is working on building the first shelter, but she needs somepony to bring her more large rocks and more mud from the gully." She explained patiently. "Could one of you handle the rocks and one of you handle the mud?"

"We'd be honored! Helping to build our herd's first shelter!" Holly gasped, absolutely delighted.

"I'll get the rocks!" Marsh made for her sledge.

"I'll collect the mud!" Holly cheerfully trotted towards the gully.

Thistle blinked. She honestly hadn't expected them to be so excited by rocks and mud. She shifted her weight, momentarily conflicted. Having grown ponies doing what she told them felt nice and all, but on the other hoof they were doing everything she told them. And they were grown mares. Following a ten year old.

She rubbed at the headache building in her temple. To her left she noticed Summer Showers still watching Pink go about her work.

"You could offer to help, you know." She tried suggesting. She was pretty sure Showers was only hanging around because her dam was.

"Hmm?" The younger filly blinked, seemingly having forgotten she was there. "Oh, yeah. I think that'd be fun." She nervously walked over to the rising shelter.

Thistle didn't know what to make of her. Finally, she shrugged and decided to let them be. She hadn't gone down to the lake side yet, and she really should.

She wanted to know every inch of their new home.

Author's Note

Got some news. First off, I'll be updating on the weekends for the foreseeable future. School's begun and I don't have as much time for writing. In other news, PeerImagination has offered to start editing for me! They're the same person who edits for one of my favorite authors, Gentlehoof! The author of Herd Life!

So, I might go back and fix up any errors that she finds in the earlier chapters. I'm expecting a few, considering I was updating almost daily for over a week. I'll put notes in when a chapter has been freshly edited.