Author's Note

I forgot yesterday's update! I broke my daily streak! I'm so disappointed in myself! I just...Darn it. I won't be able to keep up with this for much longer. School starts next week. Have some more ponies and magic stuff!

Groups and Tears

The herd had stopped once the other herd noticed them. When two herds met one another by chance like this they would both politely stop a short distance away, then send two ponies to meet each other in the middle.

If the ponies came to an agreement, the two herds would move closer and intermingle. The Leads would meet and ponies would go around. It wasn't something that happened often but such meetings were very important to the health and security of any herd.

They had reached the point where a pony had gone forward to meet the other representative. Thistle had to keep reminding herself that she couldn't just run ahead. She had to wait for Marsh Steps to come back.

"Thistle Burr, the Lead Mare wants to see you." Shiny Rock surprised her. Thistle bit down on a yelp and turned to the piebald mare.

"Alright," She cocked her head to the side, but gathered her basket. She only paused long enough to look over her group before heading towards the giant oak tree True Blue was resting under.

"Lead Mare, you wanted to see me?" She stepped forward, mindful of the young foal playing with a pinecone by the Lead's hooves.

"I want you nearby listening when Rock Slide and I meet the other Leads." True told her. "Be prepared to answer questions."

"Yes, Lead Mare." She wrestled with herself for a minute. "May I ask why?"

"We don't know if other herds witnessed the same Event that we did." True admitted, drawing her foal close for a nap. "We don't know if they might have some ideas that would be useful to us."

"If they haven't seen the Light-That-Wasn't, then we will hold a greater advantage over them and might entice a greater number to join us. Our numbers aren't as great as I'd like." She snorted.

That reminded Thistle of the question she had after crossing the river. Her heart should've been shuddering, unwilling to give thought to the question.

But the Lead Mare had brought it up. That meant it was important to the herd, right?

"How many ponies should be in the herd?" She nearly stumbled over the words. Thistle supposed she ought to be grateful she hadn't stuttered.

"To keep ponies from inbreeding there should be at least sixty ponies." Thistle winced at the answer. "It doesn't help that we're rather short on stallions at the moment, though we have more foals than most herds."

"We do?" When she'd counted the herd she hadn't given it much thought. Most mares had at least one, but two was more common. Then of course you had the mares who hadn't had their first foal yet and the mares with grown foals. Then there were at least two more ponies like Thistle and Light who'd been cast out by their dam early.

"Seventeen foals between the ages twelve and a few weeks." True nodded. "Most herds only have ten or so at a time."

"Why? More foals is good, right?" She looked down at the Lead's filly, who was now sleeping against her chest.

"It is, but also dangerous." True looked down at her foal. "Foals take up energy, they eat so much and there is no end to the things that can kill them. Wolves love the taste of infant flesh. Fevers, a bad fall, snakes. Foals will eat almost anything, even things which can kill them. And that's if they even survive being born."

Thistle recalled the foals and the one dam she'd buried. It had taken hours to dig a hole big enough for that young mare.

"With the recent changes, I think we might be a little ahead of the curve here." True speculated for a bit before shaking her head to refocus on the conversation at hoof. "But that doesn't mean I don't want this meeting to go well."

"Marsh Steps is back." True noticed. Thistle blinked then craned her neck around to see the large mare walking back with a fragile smile on her face. She ignored the questions coming at her from all sides, trotting straight for True Blue.

That couldn't be a good sign. True flicked her eyes down to Thistle, who was watching Marsh approach with something resembling trepidition in her eyes.

Did she let Thistle Burr stay and learn the whole of the situation, or did she tell the filly exactly as much as she needed to hear?

She kept the filly close.

"Lead Mare," Marsh nodded respectfully, laying down to be more equal with her.

"Are they hostile?" Get the worst of it out of the way.

"They sent a stallion." True winced. Sending a stallion as a representative was an aggressive move. Or maybe defensive. Had she unknowingly sent one of her herd into danger?

"He was...nervous, I think." Marsh Steps scratched her chin. "Young fella, barely into stallionhood. Could barely string two words together without stuttering."

"Oh? What did you two talk about?" That wasn't as bad as she'd feared. A young stallion, was it? Either they didn't have many impressive stallions or they were being as gentle as they could. Curious.

Before the Event she would've taken this as a snub. A stallion to meet one of her mares? A weak one at that? She would've thought the other Leads were mocking her.

Marsh hesitated, glancing down at the patiently listening Thistle.

"He asked about magic." True ran that over in her head for a moment before nodding. That confirmed it then. This other herd had witnessed the Light-That-Wasn't. If their fortune hadn't been as good as hers that might explain sending a stallion.

"He was real vague about it though. Didn't mention any of the Magic-Touched." The name for the three magic mark bearers.

"He was hurt, I forgot to mention that!" Marsh thumped her own head. "Not real bad or anything, I don't think, but his fur was...odd."

"Odd?" Thistle echoed. "Can you describe it?"

"Kinda blackish around the ends, all along his back, and this was a bright yellow stallion so it really stood out." Marsh hummed thoughtfully. "Reminded me of seeing lightning struck trees. And he was limping too."

"Did he roll in fire?" True couldn't help but scoff.

"Not sure. He got even more nervous when I asked about it." Marsh hesitated again, this time staring at her hooves with...fear? No, bewilderment.

"He, Lead Mare you've got to understand, I didn't even swish my tail around," She spit out in a rush. "But that young colt out and out said that his herd wanted to merge with ours!"

True shook her head. When that didn't dislodge the foreign words from her memory she was forced to concede that they might have been real.

"Merge? What's that mean?" Thistle looked to her.

"It means something has occured to drive their numbers so low they don't even qualify for herd status anymore." She explained. From the sounds of that stallion it must've been a forest fire. "Although, usually when such occurs the ponies in that herd scatter, rather than merging with one larger herd. To do so, without even recieving an invitation, is unheard of."

Like fillies who didn't act like fillies. Like real magic and magic marks. Like a light that came from no where and went no where and scrambled everything in your head like a shell matching game. What's under shell number three? A hundred new headaches.

"How low is too low?" Thistle looked stricken by this information.

"I think we'll find out soon enough." She placed her filly securely on her back and stood. Four body lengths away she caught Rock Slide's eye. He stamped his hoof in agitation and came to join her.

"What are the names of their Leads?" True sighed.

"The Lead Mare is Hope Springs and the Lead Stallion is Bright Finish." She reported.

"Marsh Steps, thank you for acting as the herd's representative." She gave a smile she didn't truly feel. "I realize this may be asking for too much, but would you do me the favor of caring for my foal while I meet with the other Leads?"

"I-I..." The large mare's eyes began to water. "I'd be honored, Lead Mare."

True passed the sleeping cornflower blue filly over, kissing the crown of her head as she lay on Marsh's back. It made her heart twinge in pain, but she let it pass. Rock Slide had already arrived.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Thistle walked into the clearing, two steps behind and to the right of True Blue. The Lead Stallion walked to the left of True Blue, matching her step for step as they met the Other herd in the center of the glade.

How many ponies made up a dying herd? Turned out the answer was sixteen. Only two of those were stallions, though there was also two colts.

Two stallions, two colts, eight mares, four fillies. That was the entirety of this Other herd.

"By Sun and Moon," True Blue gasped as if somepony had bucked her in the barrel. "What happened?"

"Monsters," The Other Lead Mare spat viciously. Her left eye was closed and sunken in its socket. "Monsters happened."

True Blue frowned, looked again over the bedraggled remains of the Other herd.

"I think true discussion can wait. We have healers, please let us tend to your wounded." She offered. Thistle held her breath. Her hooves itched with the need to soothe their hurts. To help!

"There will be no discussion necessary, Lead True." The Other Lead Mare sighed, all hate and spite vanished like dust on the wind. "Will you take in those of us who still live? I will...I will gladly give you leadership. If...If you refuse,"

She let it remain unspoken.

"Welcome to the herd, former Lead Hope." The former Lead bowed her head submissively.

"Thistle Burr," Thistle shivered, forcing herself to meet her Lead's eyes. "Fetch your mentor and any pony you think might be of aid. We have wounded."

"Yes, Lead Mare." She made sure she was already galloping away before she started crying.

She ran headfirst into Enduring's legs. Bawling and trying not to be loud about it.

"Wha--? Land's sakes, filly, what's wrong?" Enduring bent low to nuzzle her. "Der now, shh, what's all dis fuss about?"

"There's only sixteen, Enduring!" She gasped, choking on a rock lodged in her throat. "And most of them are hurt! There's only sixteen!"

"Mother Earth guide us," Enduring prayed. "Alright, Burr, yew jus' let it out now. Gonna have ta be a big mare in a minute or two, but fer now yew go ahead and cry."

Thistle felt Light brush against her, nuzzling. Morning and Mountain were whispering together close by, but she felt it when they joined the huddle. Her group was together. These ponies...they were closer to her than her own dam had been.
Enduring was her...granddam, really. Morning and Mountain were her cousins. Light was her sister.

And so long as she had these ponies, Thistle thought she could take on all the heartbreak the world had to offer.

"They're injured." She wiped tears and snot away. "H-How? How do you treat burns?"

"Hmm, I ain't covered dat yet?" The old nag clucked her tongue in disapproval. "Der's dis little herb called Aloe. Da juices are real nice fer burns. Dey grow low to da ground, wid long pointed leaves. Smell somedin like mint. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

Sixteen ponies, and not a one came away without some damage. The youngest foal was a four year old colt who'd bawled when she'd taken him from the oldest filly. The filly had explained that they were brother and sister, and their dam was among the dead.

Thistle had treated them together. The colt had a sprained hoof and the filly had a cut across her forehead. It looked like a bird had swooped down on her.

The next colt was maybe a year shy of being a stallion. He wouldn't talk, no matter what she tried. She got him to open his mouth, but she couldn't find any physical injury to keep him from talking. He had a big bump on his head, and one of the mares stated he'd been slammed against a rock. She asked him if it hurt, then gave him loco-root when it took two minutes for him to nod.

The other three fillies had some burns, and one had a broken leg. Thistle had ordered somepony to fetch Mountain Shadow, so she could reassure the filly that she would make a full recovery in just under two moons. From the way the Other ponies never quite looked at her, Thistle thought this filly might end up in her group. She set the leg and left her with Mountain and Morning, enjoying a sledge ride.

One mare had been holding in a foal for a week. Thistle knew it was possible, but she'd never heard of a mare doing it for longer than a day. She was unsuccessful in convincing the mare it was safe to allow the labor to progress. She had to mix-up a mash that soothed nerves and hope the relaxing properties would do what diplomacy had failed. Thistle reminded herself to check in on Holly Berry again in an hour.

Enduring and Light had finished up with the rest of the Other ponies. Thistle still went over them, but briefly. Light only needed a little help in getting the nervous yellow stallion to hold still for the aloe juice to be applied.

When she checked on Holly again it was just in time to witness her water breaking. It looked a lot like the mare had just peed on herself. She'd had to get Marsh Steps to hold the mare down. Twin foals were born, both fillies, they were both sunburned orange but the older had a forest green mane while the younger had a mud brown mane.

Holly Berry had calmed remarkably once her foals had started nursing. Thistle had skipped the whole Let The Foals Stand Up First thing and just stuck them next to her teats. She left Marsh to finish the job of calming her down. Marsh was a wonderful mare.

Another check in with all the Other ponies. She gave Hope Springs more poultice for her eye and told Bright Finish he'd done a good job and it was time for him to lay down and sleep. He wasn't the Lead Stallion anymore. He could afford to sleep.

The filly with the broken leg had been adopted by Morning and Mountain. Her name was Camellia. She was six and she'd watched her dam be devoured alive by some sort of giant, carniverous plant.

Which...Okay. Thistle was glad that she was at least much cheerier than she'd been earlier. It seemed the only reason the Other herd hadn't abandoned Camellia was because the mare who'd carried her had been Camellia's aunt and it was a last request from her dam. A request the aunt in question no longer felt obligated to.

Thistle tried to remember what the foal of your cousin was supposed to be. Second cousin? Or was it that first cousin once removed that she didn't fully understand?

Maybe niece would be easier.

She was about to begin a third check when she noticed Light was standing on a rock. The Other foals were all gathered in front of her, listening to whatever she had to say. Curious, Thistle approached the group.

"Thistle Burr was awed by the might of the waterfall, and stuck her head over the edge to watch it splash below. Imagine her immense surprise when, at the bottom of the cove, she saw two ponies curled around each other." Thistle's eyes widened as she recognized the story. She didn't remember telling Light exactly how she'd met Morning and Mountain. One of them must have told her. She was a good story teller.

Foals from their own herd joined the group, until even some young mares and stallions were sitting around to listen. Light described her dangerous climb down the cove, the ingenuity to heal broken legs, the climb and the long trek to reunite with the herd. It all sounded so much more heroic than it felt at the time. It culminated in Thistle gaining her magic mark. A mark for helping ponies.

The story ended. There was a flash of Light-That-Wasn't.

Thistle began to laugh. She raced through the crowd and swept her sister into a hug.

On Dim Light's flank were two hooves appearing from opposite sides, passing a star between them.