"What does it look like?" Thistle hesitated to answer. Light was staring directly at her flank. One eye slightly larger than the other.

"...Two hooves, sharing a star." The star was five pointed where hers had eight.

"Light, are your eyes bad?" Thistle shuffled nervously.

Light buried her face in her hooves. She shook for a moment, then looked up and surveyed the area to make sure no one was close by.

"Yeah." Thistle licked her lips.

"How bad?" She watched Light wince and wished she could snatch the words out of the air.

"I can see things far away, but up close? They blur. I know there's something on my flank, but it looks sort of like a yellow smudge, not a star." She admitted shyly.

"My eyes are why my Mother cast me out." She mumbled.

"I thought it was because she wanted to focus on her new foal?" Thistle bit her lip.

"I think that just gave her a reason." Light dragged her hoof along the ground. "Is-Is it still okay to be in your g-group?"

"Of course it is!" She embraced Light, tried to pour all her love and affection into the embrace.

"You're my best friend! And...And I think of you like a sister!" She pushed the words out.

"I-I want to be your sister." She continued, slower.

"...I'd love to be your sister." Light sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes.

She had a sister now. She had a sister and friends and a group that functioned as a small herd. As a family.

What could be better?

_________________________________________________________________________________

Thistle used vines and large plantain leaves to keep Hope Springs' eye covered. Or rather, to keep her lack of eye covered. The eye itself was completely gone.

She slowly pulled her hooves away, hesitating to make sure the vines stayed in place. Hope's blue mane had dirt and blood crusted into it in places, but she still looked beautiful.

But sad too. Sad in a way Thistle wasn't sure could ever be made better.

"What could do all this?" Her jaw clicked shut. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. No pony had asked what manner of beasts could do all this damage. She wasn't sure why but she hadn't wanted to be the one to buck that trend.

"I've been calling it a Chimera." Hope sighed, almost touching the patch before she thought better of it. "Its...You know what a mountain lion is?"

"Yeah?" It was like a panther, only dusty gold instead of black.

"You know what an alligator is?" This time she shook her head no.

"An alligator is a really big lizard, with tough scales, sharp teeth, and a bite that can cut a fully grown pony in half." That sounded like a terrifying monster alright. "Usually you find them in marshes or swamps."

"Try to picture this," Hope licked her lips. "A mountain lion, merged with an alligator, and a snake. All three heads talking to you, rambling on and on about how good you'll taste."

Thistle felt her head grow lightheaded.

"T-That...something like that can't p-possibly exist." She denied.

"I thought so too, until the magic happened." Hope sighed sympathetically. "And then monsters just kept...showing up, everywhere we went. The Chimera was almost impossible to kill, but we got it with a landslide. The...the thing in the lake with seven heads chased us almost five hours, I don't know how many ponies were eaten or how many more simply got separated."

"After that, there was this...one of the colts called it a Manticore just before it stung him. A mountain lion mixed with a scorpion, whatever that is. The venom is lethal and it's big enough to hunt stallions." She shuddered. "I'm lucky he didn't take my head. We lost him by running straight into the carniverous plants. Don't ask me how a plant can be carniverous, I don't wanna know!"

"And then the Fire birds! A whole flock of the shadow-cursed things!" She raged. She dragged her hoof over her tired face. She breathed deeply, and Thistle could do nothing but watch as she fell from anger down to resignation.

"And then there were sixteen of us. Hurt and scared and desperate and every place I led them was more dangerous than the last." She laughed, bitterly and without mirth. "Until now."

"You have no idea how lucky your herd is. To have encountered nothing but the most mundane creatures, to still have friends and family beside you. To-To have thrived with this magic!" She gestured wildly towards Thistle's gourds and baskets, her collection of medicines.

"Magic-Touched, they call you. HA!" Thistle jumped. "More like Blessed!"

She gave some of the five pointed leaves to Hope, and left the mare to sleep. She did a quick check on the rest of the Other ponies. No infections, or at least only minor ones. Camellia was already chafing under the restrictions a splint placed her, but she trusted Morning and Mountain to keep the filly out of trouble.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Morning and Mountain were enjoying a little time to themselves. They hadn't had any since they'd wandered away from the herd and fallen into the cove.

Morning watched Mountain stretch out all her legs. After weeks of her best friend's despondent mood she was overjoyed to have her freedom again. Mountain refused to lay down until her legs gave out under her. And even that was only for as long as it took to catch her breath.

Even as Morning was thinking it, Mountain had rolled onto her back, gleefully kicking her legs in the air while she wriggled around. It looked ridiculous and altogether too happy for her to bear it. She pounced.

The went rolling over the brush. Laughing and giggling like they were fillies again. When they stopped, Morning laid her head down on Mountain's chest. Mountain began running her hoof down Morning's spine.

"I missed this." She felt Mountain sigh. And then, because Mountain was a jerk, she ruffled Morning's fur the wrong way.

"Eeep!" She tried to pull away, but Mountain had hooked her legs around her. She even had the audacity to laugh when her ticklish yelps became shy whimpers.

"You're a jerk." She whispered into Mountain's fur.

"No, I'm not." Mountain denied, still teasing her.

"Yes, you are." Her tail was starting to rise and swish. Gosh, she hoped they were far enough away from the herd.

"If I was a jerk, I'd leave you like this," Another stroke, this one starting all the way at the base of her tail. Great, now it was fully risen. "All excited with no pony to help you out."

Morning sighed again, luxuriating in the feeling of being pressed against Mountain. Just them. No scratchy ropes or pokey sticks.

Her eyes came open. Mountain wasn't as diligent about keeping her close, so she was able to raise herself up and move down her body.

"Morning?" Mountain asked uncertainly.

She smiled. Mountain would just about chew her own hoof off before complaining. Though there was no reason to complain this time. She lowered her face between Mountain's back legs, nuzzling her marehood gently. The full body shudder was a classic reaction, though she didn't normally get to spoil her friend so much.

"Morning!" Her name became a yelp as she licked. Mountain sighed, hips trying and failing to buck. Morning worked her tongue over the folds again.

"Haa, Morning, love," Mountain panted above her. "L-Let me aah let me help. Let me touch you, please?"

"No." She was firm. She'd never heard Mountain whine like that before. She dug her tongue in a little deeper to see if it would happen again.

"Love, you're killing me here. I wanna touch you too!" Did she say Mountain hated to complain? Clearly she'd just never seen Mountain pushed far enough.

"No, shh." She found the clit, lavving special attention to it. Her own marehood was dripping, but nothing mattered next to Mountain.

Mountain's voice. Mountain's taste. Mountain's body.

"I love you." She kissed her lips. Those beautiful, dripping lips. "Love you so much."

They'd been planning this when they were walking downstream. Just them and roar of the water.

She chased away the memories with Mountain's warmth. Her presence. Licking and kissing and sucking until Mountain lost the ability for words. Nothing but low nickers and whines remained. From the twitch in her hips, Morning thought she was close.

"So glad you're here." She blinked away tears. She dug her tongue in deep and felt it when Mountain clenched, her climax catching up to them.

"Hnng!" Mountain shuddered, breath coming fast and hot. Morning smiled, licking away the juices clinging to her chin before she kissed her lover on a different pair of lips.

"By Sun and Moon, Morning." Mountain's crooked little smile made an appearance for the first time in moons. "Want a little help down there?"

"No," She gentled her refusal with a kiss to the nose.

"No?" Mountain frowned.

"This was for you." Morning kissed her cheeks. She felt a throb from her marehood that she determinedly ignored. "This was a thank you."

For a moment Mountain only blinked. Morning saw the moment realization lit up in her eyes. She smiled and turned them onto their side, letting one hoof drag over Mountain's back. The right way, not the ticklish-pleasurable way. The way that would bring calm, happy sleep.

"I would've done it a hundred times." Mountain whispered, so sincere it broke Morning's heart.

"Not for that, Shadey." She chuckled, whispering into Mountain's ear.

"Thank you for surviving."

__________________________________________________________________________________

Thistle wasn't sure what to make of the sight before her. This was her group's spot. The place in front of three oak trees where they laid down to rest. Her family's spot.

The herd didn't avoid her family, but they did give them some space. A nice little barrier of space where Thistle didn't have to listen to whispers of Magic-Touched.

She didn't know how she felt to see her family's spot intruded upon by five ponies.

Marsh Steps was talking to Holly Berry, Thistle was too far away to hear the topic and neither mare had noticed her yet. Holly's twins were nursing. That left Marsh's nine year old filly, cheerfully braiding flowers in her dam's mane.

"I don't think they'll leave if we just linger here, sister." Light nudged her shoulder.

"You're probably right." She sighed, then straightened to her full height. "Let's see what this is all about."

They hadn't bothered Enduring at least, and Marsh's filly was happily tolerating Camellia's attempts to copy her. She wondered where Morning and Mountain had disappeared to.

"Burr, Light, finished up gadering dat aloe?" Enduring smiled in greeting.

"Yes, Enduring!" Thistle wondered if Enduring would mind being called Granddam. Or perhaps something shorter. Like Granny?

"Enduring, look, Light has a magic mark now!" She pulled her sister, her sister, closer. Enduring perked up and eagerly squinted at Light's flank.

"It's a mark for story telling! She wants to share the herd's stories with everypony!" Thistle babbled excitedly.

"Well, dat makes four now, don't it?" Enduring scratched her chin. "Guess eh gotta start givin' more history lessons, don't I?"

"Would you?" Light's eyes widened.

"Sure ding, filly, sure ding. Yew settle down now, le'see," She hemmed and hawed for a few moments. "Alrightie, we'll start wid how ponies came ta be and go from der."

Thistle wanted to hear this story. Of course, everypony heard it sooner or later but she'd bet anything that Enduring knew it better than anypony else.

But there was still those five ponies in her family's spot, and Marsh and Holly had long realized she was there. It would be rude to keep them waiting any longer. Reluctantly, she left Light and Enduring to their lesson.

"Marsh Steps, Holly Berry," Did the twins have names yet? She didn't know the name of Marsh's filly either. The twins had finished nursing and were now going down for a nap.

"Healer Burr," Holly leaned forward excitedly, before she seemed to realize something and quickly bowed her head. She wasn't quite fast enough to keep Thistle from noticing her blush though.

"Please, allow me to apologize for my dreadful behavior earlier today, Healer." She shrunk in on herself. "It's no excuse for causing you such trouble, but the weeks of constant terror made me unwilling to bring my foals into the world. Thank you so much for your patience."

"...You were understandably distraught." She blinked. What in the name of the Mother Earth was going on here? "I accept your apology, and you needn't thank me for helping you. Helping ponies is what I live for."

She might have made things worse. Marsh and her filly joined Holly in staring at Thistle as if she'd hung the Sun and Moon. It made her want to fidget, but the Lead Mare never fidgeted and she wanted to be as confident as True Blue.

She took a deep breath while she waited for one of them to say something.

"Didn't I tell you? Healer Burr is Magic-Touched, and she spreads that to the ponies around her." Marsh nodded in satisfaction. If Holly had looked awed before it was nothing compared to the light in her eyes now. For a moment they wandered, falling on Light's flank before she gasped in wonder and delight.

"She saved my life when my foal was stillborn." Marsh's eyes misted up. "Maybe if I'd called her sooner my foal would have lived."

Thistle tucked her ears at the reminder. She wondered the same thing. Her memory raced back to a colt with a pile of rocks over his grave.

"Healer Burr, please," Holly stumbled over her words. "Allow us to follow and aid you in the future!"

"Follow?" She repeated in confusion. They couldn't have meant the same way a mare follows a stallion.

"Yes!" Holly flushed red. "You do so much to help other ponies! We want to help you too! We want to secure a brighter future for our foals!"

She looked down at the twins, then over to Marsh's foal.

They wanted to help their foals.

Well, if that was the case how could she say no? How could she deny them this chance?

"What are their names?" She pointed to the twins.

"O-Oh!" Holly lightly patted the foal with the green mane. "She's Mercy and her sister is Peace."

She nodded, commiting the names to memory. She looked over at Marsh's filly. She'd finished braiding her dam's mane, and was sitting still to allow Camellia to braid hers. Camellia's efforts looked more like knots than braids, but she was very enthusiastic.

And what is your name?" She asked kindly.

"Summer Showers, Healer Burr." The rose pink filly bowed her head submissively.

'Well, this is going to take some getting used to.' At least she had her family with her. She could do anything with them at her side.

Author's Note

Behold, a sex scene. I don't think I'm very good at writing those. Or maybe I'm just not good at writing pony sex. Who knows?