Your Family and You

Primrose was crying.

Tears streamed down her face as she held the half-eaten tomato in her hooves. Blood-like juices dribbled from the corners of her lips, staining her fur dark, but she didn’t seem to care. Her eyes were closed as she chewed reverently, and small sobs shook her chest.

“This…” she said after swallowing. “I can’t… this. Gods, I’ve missed this. The flavor. It… it reminds me… of… ugh.” Choking back another sob, she dug her fangs aggressively into the tomato again, tearing off another chunk. “I can taste again! It… it tastes like a tomato. Fang and fur, oh how I’ve missed this! Food. Actual flavorful food!”

Beside her, Vinyl sat with both her cheeks bulging. She had stuffed a second tomato whole into her maw after viciously devouring the first. Unlike Primrose though, the fur around her muzzle was still pristine white, as she was almost zealously slurping up all the juices that were trying to escape. Her eyes were wide open, and her pupils were dilated to the point of practically consuming her red irises. She was still, save for an ear tapping against the side of her head.

“I’ve never seen her like this before,” Octavia said. She waved a hoof in front of Vinyl’s face and received no reaction. “Did… did you break her?” Placing a hoof against Vinyl’s chest, she tried to push her over, but the unicorn had become a statue. “Oh my.”

“Apparently it tastes really good?” At the sound of retching, I glanced over at the sink where Twilight was trying desperately to rinse her mouth out with the hose extension. A tomato with only one bite out of it rested on the floor, discarded quickly in her mad rush to purge her mouth. Pyresteed eyed the fruit curiously, nudging it with her big toe. “Only for sanguinarians though? I guess?”

“Because they were grown with blood?” Octavia eyed the tomato plant in the window. “I… just don’t understand it. It shouldn’t be possible.”

“The impossible is delicious,” Primrose mewled as she eagerly plucked another fruit. With a crisp snap, she took another mouthful. “I’m in love. These tomatoes. So flavorful. I had forgotten how good they were.” Crimson liquid dribbled down her chin and dripped to the floor. “It’s like my tastebuds are alive again.”

“Interesting,” Ebony muttered. She leaned in, studying the plant closely with a critical eye. “It appears to be a mutation, but not one based on the genetics of the plant. It couldn’t have crossed-bred with anything yet, so… what factor caused the change?” Rubbing her chin, she plucked one of the tomatoes with her magic, holding it up into the sunlight.

I felt something grab my arm and looked down. Twilight was back, her muzzle still damp from the sink. She gripped my arm in her magic, twisting it about to get a better look at my veins. “Could it be residual chaotic magic leftover from before? Some lingering energy from Discord’s influence?”

“Doubtful,” Ebony said, still playing with the tomato. “It’s been long enough that any residue should have evaporated off of him.”

“What if he’s generating his own magic?”

“Possible.” Lowering the tomato, Ebony glanced at me. “Try to use magic.”

I stared at her blankly before lifting my unbandaged hand and snapping. There was a moment of silence as if the world was holding its breath… but nothing happened save for a crow crying off in the distance.

Perturbed, Twilight released my arm. “Okay, so it’s not that then,” she grumbled.

Pyresteed had by then retrieved two tomatoes and, with very little grace, had crammed both into her mouth, her cheeks bulging in a chipmunk-ish fashion. Her eyes crossed as she tried her best to chew the massive fruits, and her cheeks began to darken.

“So,” I said slowly as I scratched at my beard, “putting aside the impossibility of what happened, do you think we should try it again, but with a different plant?”

Ebony gave me a confused look. “What? You mean with other fruits and vegetables?”

“Yeah. Like with lettuce or carrots or cabbages or something like that.” Taking the tomato from her, I turned it about in my hands. “If we can grow tomatoes with blood, what else can we grow? Or was it a once-off?”

“Hmmm, that might be worth looking into,” Ebony hummed, nodding her head.

Octavia watched us with wide eyes. “Weren’t the tomatoes enough? You didn’t even know this grotesque experiment would work! I might not be much of a farmer, but my Earth pony senses don’t like the feel of it one bit.” She shivered, trotting in place. “It’s one thing to completely defy the laws of nature once, but now you want to do it again? For what purpose, might I ask?”

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I held the tomato out. Almost immediately, the fruit was snatched up in a crimson aura, followed shortly by the squishing sound of it being consumed with gusto. Tugging at my beard, I gave Octavia a sidelong look. “I’m not sure yet, but I think I might be getting an idea.”

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

It was humid in the greenhouse. Not even five minutes inside and I could already feel my shirt clinging to my chest. Sunlight streamed in through the green-tinted glass panes and condensation clung to them, adding to the atmosphere inside the building. It was a medium-sized structure which Ebony had constructed behind the library, tucked into a couple of larger roots that forked off from the base of the treebrary. The whole thing was designed to look organic—like it was an extension of the library itself.

Ebony rummaged through a couple of drawers that lined the back wall. Her bandana was wrapped around her head and a pencil was tucked behind her ear.

“Right,” she said, holding up a packet of seeds. “Here’s the plan. Most of these things will grow relatively quickly. However, for the sake of the experiment—and because I happen to be well versed with plants—we should be able to speed up their growth rate without tainting them too much.”

“Taint?” I asked.

“Cause the food to become inedible or poisonous from corruption or rot due to the cells not forming properly.”

“Ah, gotcha.” Glancing over the seed packets she was pulling out, I took note of what she had selected: tomatoes, onions lettuce, carrots, potatoes, peppers, jalapeños, spinach, cabbage; just to name a few. “Is this everything you have?”

“You were expecting more?” Ebony asked. “This is what I have at the moment. If you want something specific, I’ll have to visit Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck in order to get it.”

“No, that’s fine. This will work for now. What’s next?”

Ebony sucked on her lip. “Well, this is going to be the hard part. We need blood. Lots of blood. Lots of your blood, specifically. And that’s going to be a problem, as it’ll take you too long to naturally replenish the supplies.”

“Can’t we just use someone else’s blood as well?” I asked. “I’m sure if we all contribute, we can get enough.”

“If you want to ruin the experiment aspect of this,” Ebony sniffed. “Plants won’t grow with pony blood, or else major battlefields of the past would be fertile farmlands. They’re not. Just look at the wastelands. However, we do know that they’ll grow with your blood. At least, that’s what we’ve already observed. For all we know, that was an anomaly which we’ll never be able to replicate and we’re about to waste a bunch of seeds. Still, the fewer variables we have, the better. Ergo, we need to use your blood, and only your blood, for this first batch.”

“And we’ve already used most of our supply on the tomatoes,” I sighed. Running a hand through my short hair, I shook my head. “Okay, so… this might not work then. We’re already running into issues and we haven’t even started properly. Are we going to have to scrap this idea until a later date?”

“Eh, not necessarily,” Ebony said with a thoughtful look. “We have enough of your blood saved up to get started. The issue is in maintaining the supply without draining you dry. Normally it’d take about eight weeks for you to be ready to give more blood, but…” She trailed off, her eyes darting back and forth. “I might have a solution, actually. An old colleague of mine used to dabble in blood magic in her spare time. She miiight have a workaround for our problem. I’ll send her a letter, and set up the plants in the meantime.”

“Alright. Keep me abreast, if you wouldn’t mind.” I turned to leave, only to turn back. “Oh, and you might want to invest in some security for the greenhouse.”

Ebony glanced up from the seeds she was sorting out. “What? Why?”

Wordlessly, I pointed over my shoulder to where Vinyl had her muzzle pressed up against one of the glass panes. Upon seeing that we noticed her, she gave us a crooked smile. “Hey, neighbors! Yous got any more of them there ‘maters?”

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

Night had settled over Ponyville, bringing with it an abnormal chill in the air. A thin layer of mist hung across the streets, glowing softly beneath the streetlights. There were no clouds, yet the moon offered no warmth and the stars peered down with disinterest. According to the weather team, it was the start of a cold front that would last for a few days before dissipating. Rain was scheduled for tomorrow, and even with the lack of clouds, you could still smell it in the air.

Twilight was already in bed when I got out of the bath, wrapped cozily in a blanket while she read by the light of the bedside lamp. She glanced up as I entered, and her eyes immediately went to the towel about my waist.

“Like what you see?” I asked as her ears perked.

“Perhaps,” she purred. “Did you have a nice soak? Are the scented candles helping you relax? Vanilla is supposed to help with stress and happiness.”

“It was nice,” I said. “I’m not sure if the candles are helping, but I did almost fall asleep. Although, that might have just been the darkness.” Making my way to the dresser, I started to rummage through the drawers. Due to her lack of need for clothing, Twilight’s clothing only took up the top drawer, and even those were not articles of clothing one would want to wear in public (unless one was into that sort of thing). The other three drawers were left to me. The first contained my shirts, the next held my underwear and socks, while the last one was packed with my pants.

After a moment of looking through my shirt drawer, I straightened back up, shirtless. Scratching my head, I looked to Twilight. “Uh, have you seen my shirt with the purple rose on the right sleeve?”

“Not that I can recall,” she answered. “Did you check the hamper?”

“It wouldn’t be in there,” I said as I searched through the drawer again. “I haven’t worn it since last laundry day. Hell, I haven’t even seen it since last laundry day, come to think of it.”

“Why do you want that shirt in particular? You have plenty of them.”

“Because it’s a comfy shirt.”

“And the other ones aren’t?”

I turned around and pointed my bandaged hand at her. “Look. I don’t expect someone who barely ever wears clothing to understand, but certain things are just… comfier than others. Like, you’ll have one shirt that’s just better than all the rest, and you can’t explain it, but you’ll wear that shirt until it falls apart around your shoulders.”

“And that shirt is the purple rose one?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“No,” I said, turning back. I grabbed a random shirt—a dark gray one with a purple slash around the middle—before closing the drawer. “That shirt is currently missing as well, so I was going to settle for my second comfiest shirt. But now that one is missing too. Several of my shirts are missing, and yet no one is fessing up to it.” Pulling the shirt over my head, I let out a disgruntled huff. “I swear, it’s like they’re just vanishing into thin air.”

“Maybe it’s Pyresteed?” Twilight offered as I climbed into bed with her.

Grabbing the blankets, I pulled them back, exposing Twilight to the cool air. Her complaints died quickly though as I slipped inside, snuggling up next to her before pulling the blankets about us again, cocooning us in a shell of warmth.

“I doubt it,” I said. Settling my head on top of hers, I sighed. “She only ever wears the one shirt, and she refuses to part with it except for when I force her to wash it. The minute it’s dry again, she has it back on.”

“Strange.” Twilight fell silent and resumed her reading.

Letting her return to her book, I turned my attention to the window. Outside, Ponyville was dark, the few remaining lights turning out one by one as ponies headed for bed. There was a faint hoot from above as Owlowiscious took off to hunt, the owl’s dark shape disappearing into the night. I stargazed, subconsciously pulling Twilight closer to me as I stared up into the vast, incomprehensible heavens above.