Sunday, September 7th 908 AB

Waking up to a familiar, but unwelcome sound, Cure is quick to roll out of the bed. An embarrassed and slightly darker pink Title is the only one still laying there. "What? I'm gassy, blame the fish."

"... I'm getting the mallet," Cure mutters, trotting off towards the bathroom.

Hopping up to his spot at the table, Cure looks to his sire. "How'd the whole raincoat TK thing work out, pa? I only woke up when you were snuggling into bed, so I didn't see you beforehoof."

"Not bad once I wrapped my head around the right idea. Ya see, son, at first I thought I'd hafta somehow catch the rain itself, which just ain't gonna work. Then I took yer air bubble idea and did that instead. Rain just kinda ran right offa me then. Didn't even get my coat wet. Stars, I was drier when I got home than when I left the bar."

"Cool. I keep saying that the visual is important for this stuff. Imagining a bubble of force around ya is a lot easier than trying to... I dunno, catch maybe? deflect? the individual raindrops."

"Yup!"

"So... win any drinks?"

"Sure did, champ! The heated up stake worked pretty well, but I could only pull it off once 'cause the darn thing cooled off too fast."

"You shouldn't be cheating your friends!" Vines complained, setting a bowl of oats in front of her snickering son. "You're setting a bad example."

Once she turns to walk away Cure gives his dad a wide-eyed pouty look. "Yeah, dad, you're corrupting my innocent, impressionable mind with your evil ways."

Brows shooting up, Deed points an accusing hoof at the colt while shouting, "The whole cheating thing was your idea!"

Title barely holds back a snort as the two bicker back and forth.

With his forelegs folded across his chest, Cure slowly shakes his head in disappointment while explaining, "And as a parent and role model you should have vehemently refused and shown me how to be a better pony.” Waving a scolding hoof at his sire just as his dam walks back in he adds, “For shame!"

Vines, dropping a couple bowls in front of Title and Deed, jabs a hoof at her husband with a "he's right!" and trots back to the kitchen to fetch her own breakfast.

The instant she walks away Deed waves a hoof at his son. "Colt, you best shut that trap 'a yers or imma come over and make an impression of my hoof on yer rear!"

"Daaaam! Dad's threatening me with violence!"

"You little-"

"What?!"

"Nothin, babe. We're just razzin each other a bit," Deed assures the spoon wielding mare.

Title, still giggling, starts digging into her food between snorts.

"Hmm… that better be it," Vines mutters, carrying her bowl to her seat.

Ignoring the occasional glare from his sire, Cure starts eating his breakfast. After a few bites he begins updating the stallion on everything he learned last night.

"Well, son, I realize you won't turn away somepony that asks for help, but I think you need to hold off on adding more ponies "in the know" if you can help it. What time is this older colt coming by?"

"Around one or so. I figured we'd all get the garden seeded and help dam harvest what's out there this morning, then load up the wagon. After lunch we can go for our run, cool off in the pond for a bit, then I'll probably work on my Cure Tree while you're at the market."

"Hmm… you really do plan out every day, don't you?" Title asks.

"Absolutely. The culture from my memories was borderline obsessed with time management. If your shift at work starts at eight you better be at the punch clock between seven fifty-four and eight o'clock. Anything after eight and you're late. Punch in more than a tenth of an hour before and you're too early. Every day has a schedule and if you don't stick to it then things won't get done."

"I think you can kinda relax that a little, sweetie. Most ponies don't even have a clock in their home."

"I know! It's been maddening!" he shouts, throwing his hooves in the air. "It's a good thing I'm only eight because I'd lose my mind if my employees were waltzing in fifteen minutes late to their shift at a job. This whole country runs on island time… ah, that's what we called the relaxed attitude about timeliness."

Title tries to puzzle it out before giving up. "Why island time?"

"Several tropical islands were popular vacation spots. The locals didn't have the same time obsession we did. "Two thirty" could be anywhere from two to three sometimes. They're lucky our beaches mostly sucked." Ears perking, Cure almost shouts, "Oh! We should go to Seaquestria sometime!"

"HAH! Sea-questria?! What the hay is that?!"

Puzzled, Cure looks at his parents, who are clearly waiting for him to explain. "Huh, weird... it may not exist, I guess. So the folks that wrote all those stories did kind of a side story thing about this Storm King monkey-lookin creature. He's from the south and sent some busted-horn unicorn with RBF to Canterlot in an attempt to steal all the alicorn magic. He has some staff of Sanct-somethin that's supposed to suck 'em dry. The story's main protagonist, who is an alicorn by this point, slips away with her friends."

"Needless to say she eventually saves the day, but at one point she travels to Mount Aris and meets the hippogriffs, who had already been driven under the ocean by said Storm King. They call their underwater city or country or whatever Seaquestria. They turn into these half-fish ponies with some magical pearl."

"That's absolutely dumb as Tartarus, son... but there have always been rumors and old wives tales about merponies, underwater cities, and whatnot, so maybe that part is real."

"Meh, somethin to look into. Regardless, the story sounded dumb as all get out. Alanna didn't even like it. I'm so glad she didn't drag Cyndi and I to go see it. Why would hippogriffs name their city a ripoff version of a country full of ponies? When they turn into fish their forelegs have hooves instead of claws but on land they have claws on their front and hooves on their back legs." Shaking his head at the nonsense, Cure looks to his mom and asks, "Are hippogriffs even a real thing?"

"Uhh… sorta. There were some ponies captured by griffons during the last war…"

"Oh. Jeez… lemme guess, rape babies. That's a War Crime right there."

"Yeah, not a pleasant breakfast conversation," Deed sadly agrees.

"I felt the capital letters on that, Cure."

"War Crimes are violations of an agreed upon code of warfare that civilized nations on Earth abide by even at the worst of times... in theory. One I have to be aware of is the use of biological weapons. Generally, war crimes can only be committed by soldiers, so technically if I used a virus against changelings it would probably just be a crime since we're not at war and I'm not a soldier."

"I'm not sure that there's an equivalent to that here, son. Please don't start whipping up viruses either way."

"I don't plan on it." Pausing to adopt a serious expression, Cure looks between his mom and dad. "Please tell me ponies didn't shun those children. I don't think I can begin to describe the amount of disappointment I'll feel if they did."

His sire is the first to answer. "No. Absolutely not. At least, not like you mean. I'm sure they got a lot of curious and pitiful looks but the pegasus community welcomed them and their dams. We're only talkin a dozen or so foals, here. They're all long gone now; their children were ponies again, just a bit bigger and stronger than most pegasi."

"I'm guessing this was a big deal if you're that familiar with the history of it," he points out.

"Son, when the princess got word of what they'd done to those mares she sent the bat ponies in at night and told 'em ta kill every griffon they came across on the way to savin those mares and their foals. The next mornin she raised the sun, then dropped it right on top of 'em, wipin that fort and a decent area around it right off the map herself. Peace talks started by the end of the month."

Genuinely impressed by the decisiveness from the mare, Cure could only nod in approving respect. "Wow... Celly don't play. Yeah I guess that warrants a note in the history books. Well… I guess I'll still need to keep an ear out for any weird monkey-whatever creatures from the south but the hippogriff nation doesn't sound like it's a thing."

"What was that word you said, sweetie? About the unicorn with the broken horn?"

"RBF?" Cure asks. Getting a nod he chuckles, "It stands for "resting bitch face" and basically means her normal plain look is a sour expression... yanno, like they just go through the day angry."

"Huh, weird," Title says. "I've never met a diamond dog before, but I've always heard they were pretty happy-go-lucky. Anyhow, as far as hippogriffs are concerned ponies and griffons do fall in love. There's a… not small exactly, but not large either, community of griffons in several eastern coastal towns including Baltimare. Try not to stare if we see any on Saturday."

"Oh yeah? Ponies must be a lot more accepting than they were depicted in those stories. There was one where the whole town freaked out over a single zebra alchemist. Like… closed shops, hid in their houses…the whole shebang. Then again when they showed a griffon visiting they didn't react like that."

"Why would they act that way towards a zebra of all creatures?" Title asks with a thoroughly confused expression.

Slowly shaking his head, Cure offers the only answer he has. "I have no idea, mom. There was no logical reason given, just fear mongering by a few ponies."

"But… zebras are almost exactly like us... just striped and less colorful. Am I missing something?"

"No, it never made any sense to me either. She's a freaking healer too, sorta. Of course the whole thing ended up being a lesson about not judging ponies based on looks or assumptions or something. Keep in mind, targeted at little kids and written to teach them lessons."

"Son, the more I hear the harder time I have believin half'a what you've seen in this future vision of yours could possibly be true. There's zebras in almost every town in the country. I think there's an older couple a few blocks away."

"Do... they live in like... a normal house?"

Snorting, Title answers first, "No, Cure... they live in a freakin hut and chase away everypony by throwin spears at 'em." Seeing the genuine confusion on the colt's face she shakes her head and explains, "That was a joke, Cure. Sorry, it was in poor taste." With a serious face, she emphasizes, "Do not say stuff like that, it's really discriminatory. Some parts of the zebras' native homeland are a little behind the times, but they have modern cities too. They're not a bunch of backwoods yokels or anything, so don't assume that about them or you'll really offend them."

"Oh... okay. Well, the zebra in the show actually did live in a hut in the woods, so... yeah. That always struck me as super cringey. I don't remember if anyone ever got all offended over it, but it definitely didn't sit right with me, probably because there was a lot of tension amongst humans over cultures, skin colors, religion, etcetera. The tribalist crap we get reminds me of that."

Shaking himself out of thought, Cure reminds them, "Anyhow, as far as the accuracy of the "visions" are concerned, I've repeatedly told you all that I'm not sure how much I know is accurate. I've even pointed out several things that are way different. Still, I've been right about a lot of stuff like magic, haven't I?"

"Yeah… I guess so."

"Well in ninety two years at the Summer Sun Celebration we'll see. That's when Nightmare Moon does something to Celestia, no clue what, and prevents the sun from coming up."

Sensing the topic is done and breakfast is almost finished, Vines gets everypony's attention. "We should really get started on the garden soon, honey. That is, if you want to stick to your schedule," she teasingly adds.

"First, hormone level check, dam. Yours were different again last night, but that may still be related to… recent activity."

"Oh, okay."

Holding his hoof out, Cure raises an eyebrow at his dam. "I'll always ask ya first, dam."

Meeting his hoof with her own, she gives him a bright smile. "You don't need to. Go ahead, sweetheart."

After a quick scan Cure explains, "So your hormone levels are definitely changing. It's not like everything comes with labels, but I see what I think is estrogen levels falling and a few other hormone levels spiking. I'm almost certain you're going into estrus. Unless there's some other reason you can think why hormones would go wild."

"That's it, Cure," Title jumps in, "That's what they taught us in Health at school. She's gonna start ovulating soon."

"Ah, okay, thanks mom. Dad, dam… have you had a discussion about gender or, whether you even want to have a foal now?"

"I think we are, son. We've talked about it and I think we're done holding off."

"Your sire's right. I don't think we care if it's a colt or filly. We'll be happy either way."

"Okay. Well, I'd still like to monitor your hormones with your permission, but I'll also be able to tell you when and how many eggs, assuming there can be more than one, as well as when conception happens."

"Oh, that's wonderful sweetie."
"Sure, sport. It'd be great to know."

"Good deal…" looking around the table, Cure sees everypony is done with their breakfast. "Are we ready to hit the garden?"

A few minutes later everypony meets at the shed where the seeds Vines bought are organized. The family, minus Cure, had already prepped the garden the day before.

"So… I have ideas," Cure starts, ignoring the incredulous looks from his parents, "about how I may be able to improve the crops we're planting."

Giving Title a shoulder bump before she can say something, Vines smiles at her son encouragingly, "We'd love to hear, honey."

Deed wisely remains quiet while Title pouts at her wife.

"So I don't have enough magic myself to modify and "charge" everything we're planting. What I'd like to do is make the changes to the seeds and see if you can plant them and get them started. They should look just like any other plant, just maybe a little darker, so no “biomancer here” sign will be sittin in our back yard or anything. Also, I have a theory from other books I'd like to test."

"That sounds great, honey. What's your theory about?"

"I suspect that ponies, especially family or close lovers, should be able to support each other magically too. It ties back to the concept of Harmony, really. Ponies, and really any creatures, are never stronger than when they have others supporting them."

"Okay, what exactly do you want us to do though? Details, Cure."

"I'm not exactly sure, mom. It'll take some experimenting to see if it works at all. What I'd like to try is to have you and dad harmonize your magic with dam and see if she can draw on the group instead of just her own reserves. In those fantasy stories they called it group casting. It was usually used for rituals or for larger effects."

"Huh. That sounds neat. Did this happen in your stories about here too?"

"Yes. It was kinda their ultimate move, but again… we're not looking for some mega rainbow laser, just faster crop growth. We also lack the number of ponies and the casting focus, so no idea whether this will work at all. If it doesn’t work with husband and wives I don’t see how it could any other way without the extra pieces."

"I'm game, son. Most of the magic ideas you've had worked so let's give it a try."

"Thanks, pa. First give me what we're planting, one kind of plant at a time, please."

With Vines' help the family goes through all of the ground and root crops they had planned on growing. With dozens of seeds at a time Cure holds them between his hooves in his TK field, then channels through his mark to aim his magic and modify them to maximize photosynthesis potential, temperature and pest resilience, growth, water absorption, CO2 capture, flavor, and maximum health benefits for the plant themselves and anypony eating them.

It's quickly apparent that during his initial experiments a week ago that the majority of his magic must have been being used to encourage growth. The act of simply modifying the seeds takes far less out of him than germinating them did before. To the group's amusement he briefly rants about his failure to isolate variables and the need to update his notes.

With a short break between seed types he estimates he'll still be over half capacity by the time they finish. During each break he and Title brainstorm ideas to use their TK to make seeding easier, faster, and less dirty work. The garden is still wet from the previous night’s rain, so some mud is unavoidable.

Earlier experiments failed to reproduce cutting or punching tools, but that was because of the lack of small, precise "edges" to the TK field. Such precision isn't necessary to reproduce a shovel, post digger, or even a rake, though the small prongs aren't doable yet. Instead it's basically a flipped-over shovel, but it still does the job.

The soft dirt doesn’t need to be “cut” so much as simply pushed aside, something that’s easy with the enhanced strength, quadrupedal stance, anchoring TK, and additional weight compared to a human, Cure notes.

The limited size of the TK bubble is a factor, but he estimates Title’s hoof to be slightly over five inches wide. With an additional two to three inches added to each side she moves a decent chunk of dirt with each swipe. The additional strength and endurance make the whole process trivially easy for her. The only issue is that the distance she can project straight out from her hoof is pretty limited.

I woulda bought her dinner a dozen times over to come help dig those fucking bushes out of our front yard. Any one of my parents could probably just wrap a chain or strong rope around one and straight pull it out of the ground, no mattock, shovel, axe, saw, or any other bullshit required.

For planting, Title shows the group how she holds the seed against her frog, pushes a TK "drill" down, then has the "bit" split open like a post digger. She drops the seed in and covers it with the shovel-shaped field, all the while keeping her hoof completely clean with a TK boot or glove. At Cure's suggestion she tries holding multiple seeds and only dropping one, but she clearly needs practice to get it exactly right.

For whatever reason manipulating small, individual items in different ways with the TK field is just a lot more complicated than latching onto one idea, something Cure points out as another thing to work on.

Once everything is planted the four ponies gather in the center of the new garden. "So… how's this gonna work, champ?"

"Dunno if it will, dad. Here's what I want though.” Looking over to Vines he calls out, “Dam?"

"Hmm?"

"Front and center. You're the key here, dam. This is your garden.” Bowing slightly he explains, “You are hereby crowned princess of this small part of the country.” Motioning at her forehead and sides he adds, “Fancy hat and extra appendages will arrive by post later. You will, hopefully, take the magic offered from your mates and focus it through your mark, spreading it all over the garden just like you normally would."

Vines smiles brightly at her son and gives him a quick nuzzle.

Hesitating for a moment, Cure adds, "I want you to think about the ponies that'll eventually eat these. Think about how they'll nourish them and all of us to help everypony grow and be strong and healthy and how happy it will make you to see them enjoying what we’ve planted today."

At Vines' curious nod Cure waves Deed over. "Okay, dad. Right next to dam, please. I want you shoulders and flanks touching. I don't know if touch is necessary, but a little PDA never hurt anypony. Dam, pretend you find him attractive and get right up nexta him," he explains, ignoring the scowl from his sire.

Standing next to Vines, Deed presses his side into her and gives her a nuzzle and a quick peck on her cheek.

"Okay dad… you're a little different from dam. I want you to focus not only on your magic feeding into dam, but also about the happiness we'll experience as a family. Think about a year from now when we'll have two new bundles of joy to love and fawn over."

With a slightly worried look to his son he slowly drawls out a questioning "Ooookaaay…?"

"Trust me, dad. I've got an idea. Just focus, okay?"

With a nod from his sire he waves his mom to Vines' other side.

"Same thing, mom. Instead of the ideas I've shared with them I want you to think about what their love and acceptance into this family means to you. These two saw somepony they loved and knew they could trust and they know you'll stand with them come any challenge. Together you all complete each other, and we're all one team workin together for the best life possible."

"You bet, Cure."

"Okay. Focus on what I told you to. Feel your magic gathering in your body. Speed up that current. Mom and dad, bring that current to your side and let dam draw from it too. Dam, visualize your mates supporting you with their magic just like they support us both financially and emotionally. When you feel the current, latch onto it and redirect it through your mar-"

Cure doesn't manage to finish the thought. He can only assume, as a blue aura washes over him, that his dam put the pieces together on her own.

Opening his eyes he first checks to make sure his parents are okay. Aside from a little shell shock they seem fine. Dam's mane is a bit frazzled, but all three are standing there looking at their work.

Cure’s ecstatic at what he sees on the ground. All of the newly planted crops are already poking a leaf or two out a few inches, clearly benefiting from his dam’s mark and going dozens of times beyond what he could possibly manage by himself. Cure estimates that he's seeing at least a week's worth of growth spread amongst a couple hundred plants.

"Everypony in one piece still?" he calls.

"Cure?” Title calls back, still looking around in a daze. “What in the flaming pits of Tartarus was that?"

"Something we should maybe discuss inside? Before anypony comes to investigate the magical discharge, preferably."

"We still need to harvest everything for the market, honey."

Anxiously looking around, Cure figures it may actually be best to just keep doing what they’re doing. There’s nopony he can see that’s staring or heading their way, so maybe the effect was localized enough that it didn’t trip any alarms. It doesn’t seem to have gone beyond the borders of the garden that his parents are still standing in the middle of.

"Well let's get our story straight at least. Dam, if anypony comes to ask, you were working on the garden and used your special talent to help the plants grow. Your magic surged unexpectedly.”

Knowing his dam won’t lie and, even if she tried, would probably be terrible at it, he suggests some possible explanations. “Maybe it’s because you’ve started working out and felt a bit more invigorated than normal. Maybe it’s because you were thinking about how excited you are to finally have another foal. Who knows? That's all true anyhow, and the truth is best with this kinda thing."

Looking over his slightly dazed parents he asks, "How is everypony, by the way? Tired?"

"Ehh… a little, sport. That felt kinda good actually. I’m not too tired, but some of the wind’s definitely sapped from my sails, I tell ya."

Nodding, Title agrees, "I'm okay. Same thing basically.” Leaning over, she gives her wife a bump with her shoulder. “Vines, babe, you alright?"

"That felt wonderful! Oh sweetie," she calls, walking up to Cure and laying her head in his mane, "thank you for sharing that with us. You'll have to explain everything to us later, but we really need to load the wagon."

"Yeah, okay.” Looking around as far as he can see again, he doesn’t think anypony is headed their way yet. “I don't think anypony noticed that anyhow. Great job, everypony. I think maybe we should hold off on trying that again though. For now, at least. Let's get everything done for your trip to the market later."

Harvesting goes quickly with Vines showing everypony how to use their magic to get plants to give up their produce. They can get it to work eventually, but she’s far faster and better at it due to her talent and mark, and it’s clearly draining the others’ reserves a bit more.

Cure can’t help but note that the simple act of harvesting a vine of cucumbers the way his parents do seems to drain him a lot more than it does them. It’s only after saying something out loud that Title points out the obvious. “Well, duh, Cure… you’re eight and probably less than a third our size. If you had a tenth as much magic as we do I’d be amazed.”

“A tenth? How? You all have never used magic before last week either.”

“Actively. We've never used it actively. You’ve barely used it at all. You already pointed out that Amy got better faster than she should have, probably because her passive magic use took what you did and ran with it. Even if we’ve only been passively using magic, we’ve still been using it. Besides, I know unicorns “grow” a lot in capacity when they go through puberty. We probably did too. You will also.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Cure can only agree that she’s probably right. That doesn’t help to alleviate his frustration at the situation, something she sees on his face. Leaning down, she gently nuzzles the top of his head. “I know the whole dependence thing is grating, honey. Don’t worry about it. With you using your magic like you are, once you grow up I’m sure you’ll be able to do way more than we’ll probably ever be able to.”

With no legitimate reason to keep moping, Cure returns the affection and mentally slaps himself to refocus on the task. Moving on from the topic, the pair once again works together to figure out ways to further exploit their TK field’s capabilities to speed up work.

They find that the simple approach works best for root veggies. First they shove the dirt off the top, then they put a hoof on the vegetable, wrap it in a TK bubble, and rip it up out of the ground. For plants on a vine his dam is the winning ticket.

They don't have any trees to harvest, but he figures a gentle approach probably works there too, rather than kicking the shit out of each one. That just feels rude somehow... like the tree is being mugged. Either way, his TK escalator would be a good alternative, just running the other direction. He makes a mental note to try that some day and can envision himself reaching up, grabbing a branch, and having all the apples fall on him to get caught and do a conga line down his back and a hind leg into a basket.

Cure becomes the designated pack mule, holding the crates on his back, running them to Deed to load on the wagon, getting an empty, and running that back to Vines or Title to refill. Within an hour everything is ready to go and the family, slightly muddy despite TK cheats, retires to the house to clean up and relax before lunch.

After washing off their hooves and cleaning up a bit the family gathers in the living room.

Always the most curious of the three, Title doesn’t hesitate for a moment to question him. "So what exactly did you plan there, Cure? You had something in mind with those pep talks beforehoof."

"In those stories," he starts to the eye rolls off his sire and mom, "the only time I remember them using a group spell or ability was their big attack. They also had the same thing the princesses used to stone Discord, though. That's a powerful casting focus and those were... will be, whatever, six powerful ponies, so the circumstances are different."

"Each of those ponies represents a part of the overall concept of Harmony. I figured if you're going to use a Harmony-granted mark then maybe focusing on an element may help. It either worked or dam just figured it out on her own. Nice job either way."

"And these parts are what, exactly?"

"Values, basically." Pointing a hoof at his sire he explains, "laughter or happiness," his dam next, "kindness," and then back to his mom last, "loyalty. There's also honesty, generosity, and magic. I’m not clear on how you categorize everything; generosity to me is just a specific type of kindness, but I guess technically there is a difference. Loyalty has also always struck me as the most important part, but maybe that's just me."

"Why not join in, son? I think "magic" would be perfect for ya with how interested ya are in it."

"A couple reasons. First, three is typically a magically significant number in a lot of stories. Of course seven is too but there were only six Elements of Harmony, so who knows if that matters with actual magic."

"There's also the physical size difference between us, the age difference, magic capacity difference, and then there’s the whole ape memory thing. I was trying to minimize differences in the group, and I can't in all honesty even tell somepony what the most technically correct age for myself is."

“Can you please do a better job of warning us ahead of time, Cure? I was not expecting that.”

“Uhh… I did? At least, I explained it as best as I could beforehoof. Keep in mind I kept saying we were trying something and I didn’t know if it would work. I figured that if it worked it would just be an aura like I normally see when dam uses her magic, which is almost exactly what happened, really... just scaled up a bit.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Title reluctantly admits he’s right. “Yeah… I guess so. Sorry, Cure, that’s just the kind of thing I’m worried will be noticed.”

“No, I get it. You’re not wrong. I kept a lookout the whole rest of the time we were out there. I… uhh, I’ll come back to that. For now, did you all actually see something when the… I dunno, “spell” isn’t right, but when the whatever-that-was went off?”

“I saw something, sweetie. It was a ripple effect, like we were standing in the middle of a calm pond and somepony dropped a rock at our hooves.”

“Was it blue?” At her nod he does a little hoof-pump. “Nice! That’s the color of your magic. I wonder if you’ll be able to see it more as you become more used to using it. What about you two?”

“I only saw the plants surge out of the ground and you react to whatever it was.”
“Same here, son. Just the crops poppin up.”

“Huh. Maybe dam could perceive more because it all channeled through her mark too. Dunno,” he finishes with a shrug. “While we’re kind of on the topic, I feel like we need to address something… What would the plan be if we were to get word that the guard is on its way out to take us in?”

“HA! What do you think, sport? You plannin on takin em out?” At his son’s considering look Deed could feel his ears fall, “Uhh, son. No. We’re not fighting the guard.” Title and Vines are both shaking their heads no as well

“Eh, we don’t have to fight, just flee. We’re not far from the woods to the south… how far south do those go?”

“They go all the way to the Badlands, but there’s a swamp between here and there. That’s a crazy idea, though, Cure. There’s no way we’d get away if the guard wanted to capture us.”

“I’m pretty sure we could, considering I can alter our colors and appearance, give you all night vision, near infinite endurance, and if need be, make it so you could literally eat anything and get enough nutrients out of it. We’re talking about an absolute last ditch emergency here, though.”

Before any of the parents can even respond, Cure holds up his hooves, “Wait. I thought the Badlands were to the southwest. They’re south of us?”

“Son, the Badlands are to the southwest. More south than west, but still.”

“No, I meant I thought they were to the southwest of the entire country. Are you telling me they’re basically just to the south of us? Are there other major cities between us and them?”

“Uhh… Dodge City, Appleloosa… New Horseleans is down there too...” Deed trails off as he sees his son’s growing frustration.

Throwing his hooves out, Cure pleadingly yells, “C’mon! I keep bringing up changelings being a threat, tell you all where they are, and you don’t even tell me when I’m wrong on something? I even said they were on the other side of Canterlot so we’d be safe. Why didn’t anypony speak up?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie… I’m really bad at geography. I just figured you knew what you were talking about.”

“Well, Canterlot is kind of between us and the Badlands,” Deed explains, before mumbling something Cure can’t make out. Title kind of tilts her head back and forth, making him suspect that his sire's statement is not entirely accurate.

Pointing a hoof at his sire he says, “You mumbled at the end. What was that last part?”

“Umm… I said, if you take the train. All the tracks pass through Canterhorn on the way to the south.”

Relaxing slightly, Cure thinks it over for a moment. “Well… that’s actually probably a bit better. They can fly, but I don’t think they can cover a whole lot of distance before tiring. Then again they got to Canterlot somehow. I just… I don't know. I’d insist on giving you both heat sensors but we don’t even know if that matters.”

“I’d actually like to try those either way, Cure.”

“Oh. Okay. Now?” At his mom’s nod, he walks over and gives her the same treatment he’d given his sire. “Once you get used to having a few we can add more on. I gave myself too many at one point and was getting a bit overloaded. It can make ya jittery and stuff, so start slow, train your brain, add more as desired.”

“Cool! Thanks, Cure!”

“Dam? Wanna give it a try? If you hate it I can flip them right back.”

Looking a little unsure between her son and her mates, Vines hesitantly nods. “I’ll give it a try, sweetie. I’m not sure about all these changes, though.”

“Well, like I said… just say the word and I’ll get rid of ‘em.”

Nuzzling into his dam’s side, Cure activates his mark and adds heat sensors to the same areas as her mates. Stepping away, he gives her a quick test.

“Okay, dam… mom. Close your eyes and just follow my hoof with your heads.” Heating up his hoof a little, he moves it slowly through the air. Both mares easily track him, as does his sire who must have been feeling left out. “Dad… what are you doing?”

“I dunno… testing?”

“... fine, whatever. Dam, mom? Any disorientation, dizziness, anything like that?" Both mares shake their heads no.

Title can't hold back. She gets up and starts walking all over the house with her eyes closed, giggling the whole time. Vines, curious as much about her wife as she is about the new sensations, follows her around, minus the goofy laughter.

"So, son…"

"Hmm?"

"You do realize estrus is hitting here in the next week or two, of course."

"Uh… duh?"

"Have ya considered the other name for what happens to the ladies?"

"I can think of a few names for the process… what are ya getting at, dad?"

"Well, son… just how sensitive are your sensors?"

"I've only had 'em since Friday night and I had to turn them down because I was getting a little overwhelmed. Why?"

"The word I was lookin for is "heat," son. It's an accurate name, ya know?"

"Ah… so, walking around with heat "vision" is going to be kind of awkward isn't it?"

Waving a hoof in a so-so motion, Deed shrugs. "Sorta. Most mares will take medicine to control the scent they put off. I don't think it does anything to reduce the actual temperature of… yanno."

Slowly listing off a few alternative names, Cure offers "The 'ol hot box? The toasty muffin? Fiery pit? Lovin' oven? Sizzlin snatch? The parched passage? How about schlong sauna?"

Deed can't hold back. He starts laughing after the “muffin” and is rolling on his cushion cracking up. A moment after Cure suggests the last one he stops suddenly, sits upright, adopts a stoic look, and stares over Cure’s back.

Not even turning, Cure smiles back at his sire. "Yeah, nice try dad. They're not behind me. I have heat sensors on more than just my face."

Deflating slightly, Deed pouts, complaining, "Aww, yer no fun."

"So yes, I am aware of the fact that I'll be walking around perfectly capable of telling which mares, including my dam, are in heat. It's just part of life, dad. Just wait until we elevate all of our senses to super-equine levels. You'll be able to tell when somepony is lying, for example, if their heart rate speeds up."

"That's useful. Potentially, that is."

Cure can't hold back a big yawn. Ugh, gonna need to recover before the run.

"Yeah, it'll probably be much easier to read micro expressions and smell when ponies start to sweat a little. Of course you can already detect when they're getting hot, which can be another sign of deception… yanno, nervousness raising body temp."

For a minute, neither can come up with anything to say. Eventually Cure breaks the silence.

"I guess we can sort out our “worst case scenario” some other time. I still think we should have a plan, even if it’s “surrender and beg for mercy” though… at least we’ll all be on the same page then.”

With a sigh that turns into another yawn, he meet’s his sire’s eyes. “So… Exactly how much are we telling your grandsire? How close are you and how far do you know you can trust him? Also, what did you already cover in the letter?"

"The only thing that letter will tell him is that we need to meet. I would keep the memory stuff quiet for now, but everything else is fine."

"If we need to, we could disclose the memory part without bringing up the knowledge about this world. Having him not treating me like a typical eight year old may be advantageous."

"True. That doesn't feel like "first meeting" material though. As for how close we are?” Waving a hoof in a so-so motion, Deed continues, “Not terribly. He's my grandsire but he had a dozen other grandfoals and who knows how many more great-grandfoals. Probably thirty or more."

"That doesn't sound close at all, dad. No offense but would he recognize ya if he bumped into you on the street?"

"I… think so? Yeah, probably. Unless his memory is going with age. He’s not that old yet, though… he's barely seventy I think."

At Cure's intense stare Deed couldn't help but fidget. For a solid minute the two ponies sat in near silence, the only sound from the occasional movement of a tail or shifting of Cure's cushion as he looked from his sire to some other part of the house and back.

It is the first time the colt's behavior ever made Deed feel uncomfortable, and the only reason he could come up with is because the colt looked almost disappointed in him.

"That’s… far less than ideal, dad. I was kinda under the impression you two were closer. I guess that’s why I don’t remember ever meeting him before, huh?” With a slight cringe, Deed can only nod in agreement.

It takes another minute of consideration before Cure comes to a conclusion.

“I'm not telling him about the memories, world knowledge, or biomancy until I get to know him better. I'll trust him with the health scan and healing but he needs to earn my trust before it goes any further. Is that going to be okay with you?"

"Sure. That's fine. I get it, but that'll mean we won't be able to find a lawyer as soon. We'll need to save for a little while, possibly."

Once again, Deed felt a slight sense of unease creep through him while Cure mulled something over. Lost in thought, his only reaction to the mares returning was the movement of his ears.

Sensing the atmosphere, Title is the first to ask, "Is something wrong, babe? You kinda got that "I wanna run but am afraid of moving" look goin on." Following Deed's eyes to her son, she asks him instead. "Cure, honey… what's wrong?"

Finally snapping out of it, Cure casually waves a hoof. "Eh, I'm just frustrated with myself. I shoulda asked more questions before we sent the letter to great grandpa. It sounds like he's only biologically family, not actual family if ya know what I mean."

Vines looks questioningly at Deed. As the two get comfortable he gives them a recap of their conversation and his son's decision about how far to trust Brick initially.

"Sweetie, you’re eventually going to have to trust somepony other than just the three of us with at least some of what you can do. I know you’re very worried about what ponies will think, but I don’t see any reason why you can’t be a little more forthcoming with your great grandsire.”

“Yeah, Cure. He may not be as close as you’d like, but he is still your family. I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything bad at all. How else are we going to get an attorney we can trust?”

“By paying one, I guess. I have some ideas on that. Dam, did you talk to Lemon Sweet about something when we were at their house the other day? She pulled me aside when I took the girls to her shop and said something about “other services” that I may be able to do.”

“Oh! Yes, she was complaining about stretch marks she had left over from Cherry and had asked if that was something you could help with.”

“Ah… that seems silly when they’re hidden by her coat, but self-image issues are a thing. I think I may go talk to her tomorrow and see what she has in mind. I got the impression that she wasn’t just talking about a one-time thing, so it may be worth looking into, but I'm really leery about trying something under the table. I just can't shake the feeling it's a bad idea to try. Either way she's a close family friend, so I can see about helping her out.”

Looking to his mom and sire next, he asks, “Can one of you please inquire with a trusted attorney how much they would charge for a simple consult? I know you said lawyers are expensive, but if you’re basing that off of how much it cost just that one time it may be a lot less than you’re expecting. Actually taking legal action or representing somepony is a lot more involved than a sit-down talk. If you happen to know one that may benefit from my “services” then all the better. We may be able to barter instead.”

“That’s a pretty good idea, sport. I can check with a couple tomorrow when I take my lunch and see what they’d charge. There’s no harm in askin, I suppose.”

“Exactly. Just remember, you don’t need to tell them anything specific. Just that you would like a consultation as a client. Oh, and even if we can barter we pay them at least a single bit either way. I assume that works here too.”

“Ah! That’s good thinkin, Cure. As long as we pay it’s privileged, but if you just bartered it may not be.”

“Yeah, it was kind of a cliché thing in my memories. Give them a bit, get a receipt, and anything you say, aside from those exceptions you gave, is protected. I can’t take credit for that one.”

“Dam?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you get the impression Lemon wanted me to talk to her privately or is she fine with Amethyst being there?”

“Amy was there when we were talking, I don’t think she’d mind if you want to just go to their house instead of all the way to her shop.”

“Okay, well that’s low hanging fruit… I’ll go sometime this evening, maybe after dinner when I know she'll be home from work," Cure says while fighting another yawn. "I'm pooped. Anypony else want a nap before lunch?"

With a bright smile Vines leans to her left side, opening a gap big enough for Cure to crawl in between her and his sire. Accepting the invite, he trots behind them and turns around. Squeezing in between them, he snuggles against her side, giving them both an affection nuzzle before settling in. It's only a moment before he's fast asleep, and Vines joins him soon after.

"Aww he musta wore himself out with all the seeds," Title quietly says from over her husband's back. "Or from harvesting… he was struggling with that some." Giving Deed a bump while dismounting his back she asks, "Why'd ya look like a cornered rat when we walked in?"

Shrugging, Deed softly explains, "I dunno, babe. He just kinda looked like I'd let 'em down when I told ‘em about Brick and I not bein that close. I guess he assumed he had somepony else out there he could trust. It's the first time I felt like I'd kinda screwed up when he trusted my decision." Thinking for a moment he adds, "Between that, the idea of the guards swoopin in, and some lingering changeling threat I guess I just kinda worked myself up."

"Eh, he's just bein paranoid," she says, waving dismissively. "It's probably a predator survival thing he's got in the back of his head. You saw the look he gave when he was askin about the guard. He was serious about runnin, and he didn't object to resisting either. It's a different thought process, babe."

Giving her husband a nuzzle, she adds, "Besides, he doesn't seem too upset with ya, I saw him love on ya before he fell asleep. Don't worry."

"I guess you're right. Still, I'm a little nervous about how everything will go. I was so sure grandpa would be the best pony to reach out to. Now the colt's got me wonderin if sayin anything was a mistake."

"It'll be okay, babe. We'll figure it out either way."

With a big yawn, Title rolls to her right until she's on her back, then wiggles back over against him and twists to rest her hind legs on his back. Giving Deed a look, she pats her chest. Not one to turn down an invite, he scoots close, rests his head between her forelegs, and, after a few gentle pets down his mane, is soon asleep.

Author's Note

Kind of a chill fam-time chapter before we get into some heavier stuff in the next two chapters. BTW, I actually sat down and mapped out a calendar. I think it helps a lot to do that if anyone out there is thinking of doing a longer story. I'm sure there's some inconsistencies with earlier dates like Title's pregnancy that could have been prevented had I done so earlier, so I'll have to go fix that at some point. Maybe. If I'm not lazy.

So I've planned the next (roughly) ten chapters over the remainder of the year and four for the first quarter of next. Unless I come up with some wild plan starting in 909 I'll likely switch to smaller, 2-4k word chapters (maybe even less) while we work our way towards Cure's 9th birthday.

Big note - There probably will not be any chapters from approx. 11/14 through the end of November. Between travel, family obligations, etc. I doubt I'll have time to really put the time in to ensure the quality (at least, technical quality) is where I want to be, so don't freak out if I go silent for the 2nd half of next month.