> Helping Ponies
>  by babyuknowme13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Thistles and Rocks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small sap-brown filly sneezed in her sleep, startling herself awake. She clambered to her hooves, shaking her mane out and nickering. She looked around the clearing in confusion, not remembering lying down to sleep.

Everypony was lying down or just now waking up, even the Lead Stallion was still climbing to his hooves. Everypony seemed concerned by this, the stallions herding the mares and foals into the center of the herd. 

The filly no longer had a dam to nip her flank and herd her somewhere. Her dam had been with foal, but had started bleeding strangely. She’d laid down and died two days ago. The sap-brown filly, named Thistle Burr, had continued with the herd.

The filly looked around the clearing. There didn’t seem to be any predators about, no explanation for why the entire herd had collapsed in the middle of the day.

The adults were muttering about it. Neighing and whinnying to each other as they watched the tree line. Finally the Lead Mare whinnied to get their attention.

“This land is strange, we will leave now for safer pasture!” She commanded. Nopony disagreed with the Lead Mare. Nopony ever did. They all followed her deeper into the forest, away from the strange clearing.

Thistle Burr placed herself near a mare with a colt the same age as her. Thistle didn’t want to get left behind, and the best way to not do that was by putting herself with a mare who had a foal because it would be easier to keep pace. The mare had no obligation to make sure Thistle didn’t get separated, but it was better than being alone.

Thistle hoped she grew up fast. If she was very fortunate she only had three years before her first heat and she would be a mare. A stallion would choose her then and he would make sure she didn’t get left behind when the herd moved. If she was unfortunate it might be four years, and even just one year was a long time for a filly with no dam to protect her.

They alternated between a trot and a canter, falling into a walk only when the moon was very high. Thistle was exhausted by then, having no dam to carry her when she grew tired. She hoped the Lead Mare would stop them soon because she didn’t think she could keep this up for long. 

Thistle looked enviously up at the colt on his dam’s back. He was asleep, snoring quietly into his mother’s mane.

So distracted by her envious thoughts, Thistle didn’t notice immediately when the herd slowed to a stop. She narrowly avoided running into the hind leg of another mare, this one with a filly on her back. Thistle took the opportunity to fall on her haunches and eat a little grass.

“We will bed here for the night!” The Lead Mare decreed. Ponies began to move off in groups. Mares arranging themselves in circles and laying their foals in the middle. Half the stallions would sleep standing, the other half would not sleep at all. 

Thistle approached one of the mare circles. In the dim light she could make out a honey coat that she knew belonged to Bird Song, the nicest mare Thistle knew next to her own dam.

“Bird Song, will you let me in your circle?” She asked quietly, not wanting to wake one of the other foals.

“Of course, Thistle, go right ahead and settle in.” Bird Song smiled, lifting herself enough for Thistle to squeeze under.

“I miss Water Lily.” One of the other mares sighed, naming Thistle’s dam. “She was the best in the herd at finding water.”

That was true. Thistle’s dam had been very popular in the herd for always knowing how to find water. Thistle had often watched her. The way she found water by looking at dirt and plants was amazing. Even the Lead Mare had asked Water Lilly’s advice on where to take them whenever they moved on.

Thistle nestled in next to one of the fillies. She missed her dam too. Her dam might have known why everypony had collapsed all at once like that.

There’d been something, some kind of Light. Not the Sun. What else could make Light flash overhead like that? A huge swarm of lightning bugs?

Thistle fell asleep wondering about that, and dreamed of a trail of lightning bugs leading her to water.

The next morning she was awakened by one of the foals stepping on her to get out of the circle. Thistle grumbled but stood, making her own way out of the circle. Bird Song nursed her yearling and smiled to see Thistle awake. Thistle returned the smile easily. A smile never hurt anypony. 

It would be some time yet before they continued moving. Thistle decided to graze a bit. She didn’t know if the Lead Mare would have them trotting all day again or not so she’d better eat as much as she could now.

When her stomach began to feel uncomfortably full Thistle looked around. Everypony else was either grazing or sleeping. Only the foals played, chasing each other around their watchers. It looked like they had a decent game of Wolves and Ponies going.

Thistle wanted to join in, but stopped herself. Running around would make her tired and she had nopony to carry her. She was lucky Bird Song was nice enough to let her in the circle last night, but Bird Song had her own foals to think of. Bird Song had three foals, including the yearling, the most of the herd, and she would not be able to carry Thistle on top of that.

Thistle sighed sadly, missing her dam all over again. She looked around for something else to occupy her time and saw an old mare squinting at a familiar bush. Nightshade berries, deadly poison. Couldn’t the old mare tell that?

“What are you doing?” She trotted over to ask.

“Eh’m dinkin’ o’ getting’ a nibble.” The old mare continued to squint at the berries. Thistle frowned and peered closer. Nope, those were definitely nightshade.

“Those are nightshade, Elder!” She butted the old mare in the chest, gently, to drive her back. “Why not have some yummy grass?”

“Dees ol’ teed ain’t whut dey used ta be.” The old mare sniffed. “Nigh’shade yew said?”

“Yes, Elder, nightshade! My dam said they're poison.” She frowned. How would the mare eat without her teeth? She only had a few bits of bone still in her mouth. This might just be the oldest mare in the herd.

“Dank ye fer da warnin’, lil’ filly.” The old mare nuzzled her briefly. “Ges eh’ll jus’ spend all day chewin’ de grass.”

“You’re welcome, Elder.” Thistle…hesitated. This mare wouldn’t be able to keep up well if she couldn’t even see well enough to tell good food from bad, even if her legs were still strong. “Uhm, Elder?”

“Whut is it, lil’ filly? Ain’t yer dam gonna worry if’n yew dun’ get back to ‘er?” The old mare sniffed around a mouthful of grass.

“My dam died two days ago.” Thistle shuffled on her hooves. “Are you gonna be able to keep up with the herd?”

The old mare swallowed, with some difficulty, then squinted at her for a long time. Thistle tried not to fidget. It wasn’t polite to ask somepony if they could keep up with the herd. It had what her dam had called ‘implications.’

“Eh ain’t long for dis world, lil’ filly.” The old mare sighed. “I dun seen forty two winters now, I’m an ol’ nag.” She scratched her wrinkled chin.

The mare looked every one of those forty two years. She had wrinkles on her face, her coat and mane were dull with age and her mane was going white. She’d lost all but three of her teeth too, giving her a thick accent.

“Meh name’s Enduring Rock, whut’s yer’s?” She asked.

“I’m Thistle Burr.” She answered with a slight nod.

“Distle Burr, eh’ll remember dat.” Enduring nodded. “Got no dam, ye said?”

“No, Elder.” She shuffled again.

“How ol’ are ye?” She squinted, trying to make out Thistle’s features.

“I’m ten, Elder.” She answered again.

“Hmm,” The old mare licked her lips and then turned her cloudy eyes towards the rest of the herd. Even if she couldn’t make out individual ponies she could still get the gist of what was going on. Seemed after last night’s late stop the Lead Mare was giving them all more resting time than usual.

“Okay den,” The old mare nodded to herself, looking back down at the little brown blur in front of her. “Tell dis ol’ nag, Burr, whut all did yer dam haf time to teach ye?”

“What about?” Thistle cocked her head to the side. Enduring chuckled as she imagined the perplexed look the filly was probably sporting.

“’Bout darn near anyding, I reckon.” She explained. “Bout what food’s good fer eatin’ and whut ain’t, bout how ta find water, bout colts ‘n stallions and foalin’, ‘bout countin’ and findin’ yer way, ‘bout bein’ a proper mare all around.”

“Oh, uhm,” Thistle hesitated for a moment. “I know nightshade’s poison, yarrow’s good for fevers, plantain is good for bleeding wounds,” She continued listing plants and their uses.

“And my dam was really good at finding water. She taught me to watch the lay of the land, pay attention to the dirt and plants to see if there’s water nearby. And bugs too,” She hastily added. “Because some bugs stay close to water, but some of those bugs only like fetid water which will make you sick.”

Thistle’s ears pricked straight up as the Lead Mare whinnied for their attention.

“We will go to safer pastures now!” She commanded and began to lead them deeper into the forest.

“Yew stick close by me, Burr.” Enduring told her. “Eh wanna hear more on whut yer dam taught ye. Keep goin’, now.”

“Yes, Elder.” Thistle sucked in a deep breath as they began following the rest of the herd. 

Thistle kept listing everything she knew, everything her dam ever taught her. Mostly it was about food and water, but she could count up to fifty too. Around noon Enduring asked her what she knew of colts, stallions, and foaling. This was harder. Thistle only knew what everypony else did, her dam had never told her anything else.

“Colts have a penis, and that’s what makes them colts and not fillies. Stallions mount a mare when she’s in heat and eleven moons later she has a foal.” She began. “Uhm, heat starts when a filly is thirteen or fourteen and then she’s a mare. And heat comes every three moons unless you’re with foal or nursing.”

“Nursing ain’t always da catch’all some mares dink it is.” Enduring commented, following close behind the mare in front of them. “It’s less likely yer heat will come if’n yer nursing, but not impossible.”

“Oohh,” Thistle was going to try very hard to remember all this. “How does a foal get outside the mare?”

“Yew know dat colts got penises? Well, whut’s a filly got?” Enduring turned it around on her.

“A, uhm,” Thistle ducked her head down to look at her underside. “I don’t know what it’s called, but its the hole that the stallion’s penis goes inside, right?”

“It’s called a vagina, Burr, and yes dat’s where da stallion sticks his penis when he mounts ye.” She nodded. “Dat’s where da foal comes out when ye go into labor.”

Thistle blinked in slack-jawed amazement. That’s where the foals came out of?

“But it’s too small! A foal wouldn’t fit!” She protested. Several nearby mares snickered and giggled, driving her to blush.

“When ye go into labor da vagina’s gonna get bigger, open itself wider for da foal. It’s a tight fit and hurts somedin’ awful, but mares a hundred years ago did it and mares a hundred years ta come are gonna do it.” Enduring assured her. “Jus’ de way life is, sometimes ye gotta hurt to get somedin’ wordwhile.”

Sometime after noon they left the forest for a large meadow. The Lead Mare bent her head to graze, signaling that they would stop here. Thistle was grateful today’s journey hadn’t been as bad as yesterday’s. She still felt tired from having to walk all day and many ponies were already settling down to rest.

“Burr, c’mere filly.” Enduring called her. “Somepony oughta teach ye whut ye gotta know, dat pony may as well be me ‘n I ain’t got a lot of time ta do it in.”

“You’re gonna teach me?” Thistle followed her. “Teach me what?”

“Whelp, today I figured ye can learn ‘bout whut eh tell ye.” Enduring’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Tonight afore sleep ye can tell me whut yew dink yew learned.” 

“That’s an odd way to teach something, Elder.” Thistle wrinkled her snout. Enduring led them back towards the tree line and ran her hoof over the bark of one of the trees. She sniffed deep and nodded to herself before turning in the vague direction of the filly.

“Tell me, Burr, do yew know what kind o' tree dis is?” She tapped the bark again.

“It’s a pine tree.” She answered promptly.

“An’ whut can yew use it fer?” Enduring prompted.

“Uhm,” Thistle didn’t know any uses for it, but she didn’t want to say nothing and disappoint the old mare. “You won’t get wet if you stand under it in the rain?”

“Dat’s shelter, one use.” Enduring nodded. “Here’s a few more. Yew can eat da inner bark of dis here tree, and da pine cones and da nuts. Dey all edible. Da sap yew can put on open wounds and sores, ta keep da sickness away.”

Thistle thought she knew what the day’s lesson was. Obviously it was about the uses of plants, right? Only, the next thing Enduring jabbed with her hoof was a plant Thistle knew was poisonous.

“Uh, Elder? That’s loco weed.” She said, thinking the old mare had confused it for something else.

“Eh know, hard to ferget dat kinda smell.” The mare sniffed for emphasis. “Whut can yew use it fer?”

“It’s poisonous, you can’t use it for anything.” She protested.

“Oh, dat so?” The old mare smiled confidently and began digging up the dirt around the plant, until she’d exposed the roots. “Den how do yew explain dees roots here easing pain?”

“Easing pain?” Thistle bent down to get a better look at the white roots. “They do that? They don’t make you sick?”

“Da leaves and stem will make ye sick, but da roots ease pain somedin’ great.” To demonstrate, Enduring had Thistle separate stem from roots so she could eat them. Enduring had to chew for a long while before she could swallow it, but she claimed loco weed roots were good for old aches and pains.

“Now, whut about dis here? Can yew use dis fer anyding?” Enduring tapped the ground.

“The ground?” Thistle wondered. She poked her own hoof around in the dirt, trying to find what the elder was talking about.

“Yes, da ground. Or da dirt. Whutever yew wanna call it. How can ye use it?” Enduring challenged her.

“It’s dirt.” This was starting to feel familiar. She frowned at herself and tried to think of anything they used dirt for. “Uh, some ponies roll in dust to stay cool when there’s no water around.”

“Dat’s a good one, dust baths are good fer chokin’ out fleas too.” Enduring nodded. “But did ye know ye can use different kinds o’ dirt fer different dings?”

“There’s different kinds?” Thistle had never heard of that before.

“Mhm,” The old mare smirked. “Yer dam said she looked at da dirt ta find water, well if da dirt is soft or wet ye know its rained recently, don’t ye?” Thistle nodded.

“Whelp, dis here dirt beneath our hooves is loose, soft stuff. Dark too, even my eyes can see dat.” She broke the ground easily with her hoof. “Dark dirt’s real good, means dere’s lots dat grow here. Not jus’ grass neither, eh’m talkin’ da good stuff.”

“What’s the good stuff?” She asked.

“Oats, wheat, dings o’ dat like.” Enduring put her nose to the air, casting about like a blind pup. “Rains here prit’ regular, da ground’s soft n’ dark, means dere’s good food ta be had if’n we can find it.”

Thistle began to excitedly look around. She’d seen oats before, but had never had any. The Lead Mare and Stallion and their group had first dibs on all the best stuff, and there was never enough for everypony. She’d heard from those lucky enough to find some though that it was way better than boring old grass.

Thistle and Enduring wandered the length of the meadow, finding small copses of trees and even a small pond. Thistle wanted to tell everypony about the pond, but Enduring convinced her to wait until they’d found any oats or wheat first.

Finally, beyond a copse of trees, as far from the herd as Thistle had ever been before, they found a patch of oats.

“Oats! Oats, Elder! Look!” She cried, falling onto the patch excitedly. Oats tasted so good! Much better than grass!

“Land sakes, filly, don’ go eatin’ all o’ it.” Enduring warned her. “Gots to save some fer da rest o’ da herd. N’ eh wanna teach ye somedin ‘bout oats.”

“They’re used for food. What else can they be used for?” Thistle asked. As far as she was concerned Enduring had hung the Sun and Moon and knew everything.

“Jus’ food, far as eh know.” The mare chuckled. “But didja know oats don’ go bad?”

“Go…bad?” She repeated in confusion.

“Yew know food’s harder ta find in winter, well whut if yew had a supply o’ food, say? Somedin dat don’ rot or grow mold in da winter?” She asked.

“Whoa,” Her eyes went wide. That would be amazing, not having to be hungry all winter long. No having to dig for dried grass and roots in the snow.

“Da’s right,” Enduring nodded. “If’n yew can find somedin to put’em in yew can save dose oat grains fer a later day.”

“Something to put them in? Like what?” Like a squirrel puts nuts in a tree? 

“Me, I used ta have dis gourd, hollowed n’ dried out dey can carry prit’ near anyding.” She explained. “So next let’s try n’ find some o’ dos.”

Gourds? Thistle hummed thoughtfully and looked around. She’d seen gourds before. She’d mostly seen ponies break them open to eat what was inside. She hadn’t known they could be used to carry oat grains.

They looked high and low and found a wet patch where some gourds grew. Enduring had her get as many as she could out of the hollow, then showed her how to dry them out. Some other ponies had seen them at work and came over to enjoy the insides, though Thistle was sure to keep anypony from breaking one of the gourds. She couldn’t wait to tell everypony about the water and the oats! They were going to be so pleased!

When the gourds had dried Enduring sent Thistle to get strips of hemp. When she returned clutching as much as she could in her mouth the old nag taught them all how to make string with it. Soon there was a group of seven ponies, not including Enduring and Thistle, who had gourds on strings around their neck.

“Alrigh’ now, filly, now’s da time ta get da Leads in on dis.” The elderly mare cackled. Ponies didn’t listen to old nags, not most of them anyway. Old ponies slowed down the herd and Enduring was definitely the oldest mare any of them had ever seen. It had been a long time, around when she’d outlived the last of her foals, since anypony had listened to her or tried to help.

For this reason, Enduring stepped back and allowed Thistle full run to lead the herd to the pond and the oats patch. Everypony congratulated her, said she was a chip off the old block and just like her dam. Enduring chuckled and filled her gourd with oat grains. She normally wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the patch, her senses too dulled by age for her to easily find one and she herself too old to wrestle to the front of the herd, but Thistle insisted the old mare be allowed to take as much as she wanted and everypony was listening to Thistle.

“You have done well for the herd, young one.” Enduring pricked up her ears. That there was the voice of the Lead Mare, wasn’t it? True Blue was a good Lead, under her their herd had grown large. She was also Enduring’s great-granddaughter, though the younger mare probably didn’t even know it. Not that it mattered. By this point half the herd was related to Enduring in some fashion.

“T-Thank you, Lead Mare.” Little Burr sounded just as shy as she’d been when they’d met this morning. Burr was a good filly, kinder than most. Enduring counted herself lucky that Burr had been looking her way when she’d gotten tired of eating grass. It galled her to know how close she’d come to self-inflicted death that morning. She really was getting on in years.

Was True Blue looking at her? Enduring couldn’t rightly tell anymore, so she played it safe by wandering up to Burr for a good nuzzle. Sweet young filly, nuzzled back soft as anything.

“You are adopting her, Elder?” True Blue addressed her.

“Seems so, Lead Mare,” She nodded, getting in Burr’s scent as well as she was able. Her eyes might not be what they used to be, but there was nothing wrong with her nose.

“…Shiny Rock!” True Blue called suddenly to another mare. This one was another of Enduring’s great-granddaughters. She’d borne two foals, one was ten and one was long dead, and she had a third on the way, Enduring was sure.

“Yes, Lead Mare?” This mare was a piebald blur. Enduring missed the days when her world was sharp and clear.

“I would like you to keep an eye on Thistle Burr.” True Blue explained. “She is young yet, and may need somepony to carry her at times.”

“Of course, Lead Mare.” Shiny agreed easily. 

Enduring snorted, seeing what True Blue was doing here now. Burr had gone and made herself useful to the herd, but all she had was one old nag to make sure she didn’t fall behind. True was making sure there’d be somepony to keep Burr safely with the herd when Enduring herself failed to keep up.

She was old but she wasn’t dead yet. Mare could stand to be a touch more subtle, the only one of them that didn’t understand that exchange was Burr herself.

Well, day wasn’t quite over yet. Might be able to get a few more gourds and fill those ones up with water, if they hurried. This was a good meadow, likely True would keep them here for a day or two before they moved on. Enduring had to take advantage of every moment she could to pass on what she knew to Burr.

“Alrigh’ Burr, got yer oat grains?” She asked.

“Yep!” The little filly bounced with pride. “There’s no more oats in the patch though, everypony ate it already.”

“Den we’ll jus’ save ours fer winter.” She winked at the little filly. She could see True walking back to another large group of ponies. “Let’s go get ourselves some more o’ dem gourds, Burr.”

Enduring liked having Burr around, it was like having a bit of her youth back. Ponies noticed her next to Burr, and when they saw Burr listening they listened too. Plus Burr had picked up on just how bad her sight was and took it on herself to help the old mare. One day, when they had a bit more privacy, Enduring was gonna have to ask Burr how bad off she seemed. If anypony else knew she was darn near blind it wouldn’t take long before somepony got it in their heads to run her off.

Enduring knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the herd forever. At the moment she was just aiming for winter, maybe even early spring. Just one more year. That should be enough time to make sure Burr knew everything she could to survive.

So every day was filled with lessons. And where Burr went there were bound to be a half dozen other ponies following, learning the same things. Enduring taught her how to find out what animals called the land home, how to notice their comings and goings, what they ate, where they denned. Enduring taught her about the plants they found, what their uses were, where they grew. Enduring showed her how to mask her scent so predators could not find her, how to hide, and, for when things went wrong, where the best places to hit were to convince the predator that she wasn’t an easy meal.

After three days True Blue declared it was time to leave. Enduring sighed, stretching out her legs for the long run ahead. Burr found her, with Shiny Rock standing nearby, wearing her three gourds. One for the oat seeds, one for water, and one for nuts, just as Enduring had taught her.

“Alrigh’ den, Burr,” Enduring smiled as they began to trot. “Now tell me what ye know of yer family line.”

“My dam was Water Lily, my sire is Oak Leaf.” She recited with ease.

“But whut ‘bout yer dam’s dam? And her sire? Yer sire’s sire? His dam?” She pressed. She could tell by how quiet the filly was that she didn’t know the answer to any of those questions.

“Family lines are importan’, Burr,” Enduring told her. “If’n yew breed to somepony too close in blood ta ye da foal will be sicker n’ weaker. Ye gotta know yer family line as far back as your grandparents, at least, so ye don’t mate yer cousin or some such.”

“Cousin? What’s a cousin?” Burr asked.

“A cousin is da foal o’ one o’ yer parent’s siblings.” She explained. “Fer instance, Water Lily was related to Peach Fuzz, he’s her full-blood brother, meaning dey had de same dam n’ sire. Peach Fuzz sired three foals so far, Prickle Patch, Little Stream, n’ Pink Peach, dat makes dem yer cousins.”

“Oohh,” Burr seemed to think about that for a few moments. “So if Oak Leaf sires foals with one of his other mares, those foals will be my brothers and sisters? But not full-blood ones?”

“Dey’ll be half-siblings.” Enduring confirmed. “Don’t go matin’ wid anypony closer in blood den cousin. Now, Oak Leaf come ta dis herd later so he ain’t got no blood relations save his own foals, so ye don’ got ta worry ‘bout dat side o’ yer family so much. I reckon ye should still ask’im if he’s got any brothers or sisters n’ whut der names are, jus’ in case we run into dat herd.”

“Ain’t no shame in being prepared,” She pointed out. “Now, as fer yer dam. Her dam was Lily Flower, she died three years back, but she also had Winter Wind n’ Honeycomb, so dey yer aunts. Any foals dey have is yer cousins.”

“Right.” Burr nodded along. “And her sire?”

“Was Sudden Flight, he dead too. Two foals by him I know of, one was yer dam and de oder is Peach Fuzz.”

Enduring continued, listing the dangers of breeding too close in blood and eventually winding down with reciting the family lines of every pony in the herd. Enduring tested Burr on that backwards and forwards till she could do it without making any mistakes.
> Rivers and Snakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle dug her hoof into the ground. She shook out her mane, noting that the dirt wasn’t as soft as in the meadow, nor as dark, but it wasn’t packed tight like it would be in a drought. Looking at the plant life, this was all stuff with deep roots, but everything was vibrant and green. Rain probably only fell here during a certain season. Late summer or early fall, if she had to hazard a guess.

She clucked her tongue, realizing it would be a while before any rain fell. It was early summer now, and promised to be a blistering one. It had been three days since they’d left the meadow. It had been two days since they’d found any water.

‘Good thing Elder Enduring taught us how to make gourds.’ She patted her own water gourd. It was empty now that she’d shared the last of what she had with Enduring. If she wanted more she was going to have to find it.

Unconsciously, Thistle looked over her shoulder at the older mare. She was napping now in the shade, worn out by the daily trek as always. 

The other two gourds, one filled with oat grains and the other with nuts, hung heavy around her neck. She scratched at the itchy hemp string as she turned back towards the forest around her.

She closed her eyes, focusing on hearing and scent. She could hear the chirping of birds and the chattering of squirrels. The squirrels in particular were loud today. She opened her eyes, looking up at a tree to her right. Three squirrels chased each other around the trunk and over the branches, probably competing over a female.

Lots of squirrels meant few owls and hawks. Now if she could figure out if there were a lot of rabbits around she’d know something of interest to the herd. A lot of rabbits would mean few wolves, but too few rabbits meant there was a large and active wolfpack on the prowl.

She sniffed, trying to pick up the scent of any larger animals. Birds, squirrels, and rabbits could get the water they needed from their food if they had to, but a larger animal would need a pond or stream, even a creek would do.

Closing her eyes, she focused on what the forest had to tell her. Rustling leaves, chirping birds, chattering squirrels, and something else, something being carried on the wind. 

Quack Quack Quack!

Ducks! Thistle’s eyes popped open, facing the direction the sound had come from. They sounded low, meaning they must have found water to nest by.

She checked on Enduring one more time before she started off. She kept one ear turned back, keeping track of the herd. If she lost the voices of the foals at play she’d turn around and find an adult to walk with her. It wasn’t safe to go too far from the herd by herself. Too many things could prey on a young filly.

To her frustration, she did lose their voices. She stamped her hoof in disgust and reluctantly turned back around. The ducks would quiet down soon, and make it that much harder to find the water. She broke into a straight gallop back to the safety of the herd.

Once back in the herd she scanned the adults for Shiny Rock. The piebald mare had claimed a patch of daisies for herself. Thistle trotted forward, weaving around the adults and foals still moving around.

“Shiny Rock?” She called once she was close enough. The older mare groaned and swallowed her meal.

“What is it, Thistle?” She sighed.

“I think I’ve found water, but it’s farther from the herd than I feel safe going alone.” She explained. The ponies nearby all perked up at the prospect of water, Shiny herself included.

“Let’s get going then.” Shiny gracefully surrendered her daisy patch to a mare and her foal.

Thistle nodded and pretended she didn’t find a half dozen grown ponies following a foal to be ridiculous. Why couldn’t any of them have helped before now? Having only one water finder didn’t seem like such a smart idea.

She didn’t like being in the lead. What if she was wrong? What if she couldn’t find any water and all these ponies got mad at her for it? Thistle walked a little faster, hoping to leave the doubts and fears behind.

She didn’t have long to worry though, because the next bend in the trail brought the sound of a river. With an excited whinny, she shot forward. In mere moments she was standing on the shore of a slow-flowing river, cool and clean. The group fell upon the water with glee, drinking their fill and filling their gourds, those who had them anyway.

Thistle filled her gourd and her stomach. She licked her lips and leaned back onto her haunches with a sigh. The sun shined off the water’s surface. It was a little hard to look at. The last time she’d seen a river like this she’d been four, and her dam had carried her across on her back.

That one had been wider though, and the current stronger.

Thistle yawned, tired out from a day of walking and lessons. Confident that nothing too dangerous lay between the river and the herd, she didn’t bother to wait for Shiny or the others to get tired of the water.

Back with the herd she located the Lead Mare quickly. True Blue was laying on the grass, dozing off. Thistle walked forward until one of True’s ears flicked towards her. She didn’t speak until the Lead Mare begrudgingly opened one of her eyes.

“I’ve found a river, not too far from here.” She gestured with her head. 

“Oh?” Both her eyes open now, she climbed to her hooves. “You’ve done well today, Thistle Burr.”

Thistle tried not to beam in pride at the compliment. It was hard. Even though somepony else could have found the river, they hadn’t, she had, and she’d used Enduring’s and her dam’s lessons to do it.

She went to find Enduring and found her still asleep. Thistle curled up beside her to take her own nap. There was water, plenty of grass, and a cool patch of shade to sleep in. What more could she possibly ask for?

Unbidden, the memory of that strange Light intruded on her thoughts even as she drifted off to sleep.

“Up and at’em, Burr.” Thistle groaned, rolling away from the prodding hoof digging into her side. “Don’ give me none o’ dat, lil’ filly. Somepony tol’ me yew went n’ found us some water?”

“Yeah,” She yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Wanna go?”

“Yew betcha.” The old mare laughed. “Come on, sleepy hooves, get ta movin’.”

“I’m moving, I’m moving!” She giggled.

“Yup, dis looks jus’ ‘bout perfect.” Enduring nodded as they came into sight of the river.

“Perfect for what, Elder?” Thistle cocked her head to the side.

“Swimmin’ lessons.” The older mare explained with a careless gesture. “No better time ta learn.”

“Oh.” She thought about that for a minute. She’d never been deeper than her hocks before, unless she was on the back of her dam.

“Alrightie den, bite my tail der, Burr.” Enduring instructed. “Don’ yew let go fer nothin’, got it? Good, now keep yer nose up and move yer legs like yew was tryin’ ta trot.”

Instruction given, they waded into the water. Thistle squeaked as the water touched her barrel, shivering as it came up past her withers. She kicked, trying to do what Enduring had told her to. The water made her movements seem slow and clumsy, but she was able to keep her nose above the water. She took some comfort in Enduring’s tail, confidant the old mare would pull her back to the surface if she slipped under.

It was a struggle to take a full breath, and she grew tired quickly. Every so often Enduring would turn back towards the shallows to allow her to catch her breath.

“Ye dun good so fer.” Enduring noticed. “Dis time try it widout my tail.”

“…Uh, okay.” Thistle panted. Once she had her breathing under some kind of control she stepped into the deeper water. When she could no longer feel the ground beneath her hooves she kicked out and stuck her nose up. It wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She’d worried that without Enduring’s tail she might slip under but she was able to keep her head above the water just fine.

“Alrightie, come on back now.” Enduring called her back to the shallows. “Dun’ wanna overdo it, eh reckon da Lead Mare will keep us here fer a day or two.”

“Brrr.” Thistle shivered, shaking the water from her coat.

“C’mon now, best way ta warm up is ta get movin’.” Enduring nudged her until Thistle reluctantly broke into a gallop. The two of them ran up and down the riverbank until they were both warmed and panting from the exertion.

“Enduring, look! Bluebells!” Thistle cheered. Bluebells were among her favorite flowers. A small patch of them were growing right by the water’s edge.

“I smell’em.” Enduring commented, bowing her head for a bite. “Nice n’ sweet.”

“Mmm.” Thistle moaned around her own mouthful. It was too bad flowers didn’t save well, she’d like to put a bunch of these in a gourd for winter.

“Burr, move back towards me. Dun’ look around, dun’ ask why, jus’ move towards me now, filly.” Enduring’s voice was cold. Tight with fear. 

What was it? What was there? What had the elder seen? Thistle slowly inched sideways until she bumped into Enduring’s front hooves.

“Good filly, now jus’ go under my barrel to da oder side.” Enduring told her. “Yer doin’ good, Burr. Brave lil’ filly.”

“What is it, Enduring?” She whimpered, already moving beneath her. 

“I smell a snake.” The older mare answered honestly. Thistle froze up, half under the older mare. A snake? What kind of snake? Poisonous? She swept her eyes over the flower patch, looking for a color that didn’t belong.

There! A flicker of tan among blues and greens. Thistle gulped, taking in the triangle shaped head and the darker markings along its body. She didn’t know what kind of snake it was, but if somepony asked she’d be able to describe it later. She continued moving, stopping only when Enduring was between her and the snake.

The older mare relaxed a hair then, snorting harshly and glaring vaguely at the flower patch.

“Go fetch a stallion, Burr, eh’ll keep an eye on da nasty varmint.” She swore.

“Okay,” Thistle backed away, turning to gallop when she thought she was a safe distance away.

The first stallion she came across was Oak Leaf. Green over brown, well-muscled and one of the largest stallions in the herd. Only the Lead Stallion was bigger. Thistle slowed down as she got close to him.

He’d been her dam’s mate. He was Thistle’s sire, and would’ve been the sire of the foal her dam had lost. Thistle hadn’t ever spoken to him before, only seen him when he’d come to service Water Lily during her heats.

He was the closest stallion. Enduring was counting on her.

“U-Uh, Oak Leaf?” She stuttered, trying to stand as tall as she could.

“What?” He grumbled, lifting his head from the light doze he’d slipped into. He snorted when he saw her.

“There’s a snake, over there.” Thistle pointed towards Enduring and the bluebell patch. 

He snorted again and shook out his mane. He looked in the direction she’d indicated and then checked over the layout of the herd.

“Go find the Lead Mare, tell her about the snake.” He ordered, moving past her towards Enduring.

Thistle, though relieved their interaction had ended, had to bite back a frustrated whinny. She didn’t want to leave Enduring alone so close to that dirty snake! Reluctantly, she scanned the area for the Lead Mare.

She found her in the water, almost all the way to the opposite shore. She floated alone, nopony else had drifted so far from the main body of the herd.

Her first instinct was to yell for her, but she choked on her tongue just in time. Visions of stampeding ponies filled her head. Shouting about a snake would be a sure-fire way of setting off a panic and getting ponies hurt.

She stamped her hoof, glaring at the water. The sun would be going down soon, and the water was no doubt even colder than it had been earlier. She groaned and waded in.

It was cold, absolutely freezing. Thistle shivered as she kicked away from the shallows. The cold made her motions even clumsier than earlier, and she didn’t have Enduring to act as a safety net this time. 

She whinnied in fear, kicking faster. It was hard to get the air she needed, the water felt like it was crushing her rib cage. She took a deep breath and looked over at True Blue. She hadn’t moved. Thistle neighed and forced herself to keep going.

True Blue sighed as she heard somepony splashing up behind her. She’d swum out so far to get a little alone time from the herd. She was sore, big around with foal. 

Well, time to see what somepony needed from her this time.

She turned around, searching out the source of the splashing. It took a confusing moment to locate the young foal paddling towards her. True Blue gasped as she recognized Thistle Burr, the sap-brown filly barely keeping her head over the water and still unerringly swimming towards her.

True had never seen such a young filly swim before, let alone swim the distance from one shore to another. It had to be thirty body lengths across! She quickly swam over, grabbed the filly by her mane, and flipped her onto her own back.

“And what foolishness drives you to swim so far, Thistle Burr?” She scolded.

“Enduring and I found a snake.” The filly’s teeth were chattering. “Oak Leaf told me to find you.”

“A snake? What kind?” True set out for the shore.

“I don’t know. It had a triangle head, was tan with darker triangle markings along its body.” Thistle described.

“A copperhead, likely.” True whinnied. That was just great, they finally find a good water source and of course there are poisonous snakes about. Why not? It was always something.

On the other shore she dropped Thistle Burr onto her own hooves. The filly took off like a bird, heading straight for Oak Leaf and Enduring Rock. The stallion was standing over a badly trampled bluebell patch while the older mare watched. 

“Is it dead?” True asked Oak as they approached.

“It’s dead, nasty thing.” Oak snorted, recklessly kicking the body into view. True fought the urge to scold him, knowing that even in death a snake could deliver one last bite. “Got me once, just above the hoof.”

“Well now, ain’t dat somedin’.” Enduring muttered, coming up to them with Thistle Burr. “Burr, take a good look at dat bite, filly. Give it a good sniff too.” Thistle nodded and cautiously approached the stallion to do as the elder asked.

True shot Oak a hard look to ensure the stallion would stay still for the inspection. She wanted Thistle to learn as much as she possibly could from Enduring. The stallion grumbled but obediently held his hoof out for the filly.

“It smells…yucky. Like a dead thing.” She commented.

“Eeyup, dat dere’s da smell o’ poison in da wound.” Enduring nodded knowingly. “If da smell’s dat strong, probly a good dose o’ it.”

“A copperhead’s bite won’t kill a fully grown stallion.” True pointed out. 

“Maybe, maybe not,” Enduring clucked her tongue. “But it sure will make’im awful sick fer a while.”

“How long is a while?” Oak scowled. Thistle was still studying the wound, comparing it to the corpse on the ground.

“Week or two, maybe.” Enduring shook her head. True winced. That was a long time to be ill, and Oak Leaf was one of their best stallions. “Might get it down ta three days if’n we can find da right plants.”

“There are plants you can use to treat snake bites?” Thistle’s eyes went wide with wonder.

“Sure nuff.” Enduring nodded, kicking the ground. “Alrigh’ Burr, we’re gonna need plantains, yarrow bark, soft-shoot leaves, and purple oleander. Dink yew can find all dat?”

“Plantains, yarrow bark, soft-shoot leaves, purple oleander, got it!” Thistle nodded in determination and started to set off.
True stomped her hoof over the filly’s tail to bring her up short.

“Thistle Burr,” She made sure the sap-brown filly was looking at her. “Do not let anypony else know of the snake. Understood?”

“Yes, Lead Mare.” The filly nodded, ears bent back. True nodded and raised her hoof, allowing the filly to race off to gather what she needed. 

“Oak Leaf, stay near Enduring and Thistle until you heal, and dispose of the snake.” She added, wrinkling her nose at the corpse. Oak nodded and reluctantly began digging a hole to bury it in.

“Lead Mare? Do you have a minute?” True looked over her shoulder to see Shiny Rock standing back a bit. She hurried over so the other mare wouldn’t notice the snake.

“Yes, what is it, Shiny?” She sighed, feeling her foal kick her bladder.

“Two ponies have gone missing.” True frowned. The sun was going down, no pony should have wandered away from the herd, but she trusted Shiny to keep track of everypony, that’s why she’d assigned her to watch Thistle Burr.

“Who? When?” She asked, trotting away from the scene.

“Morning Dew and Mountain Shadow, they went downstream more than three hours ago and nopony has seen them since.” Shiny reported. True froze in her tracks, turning back over her shoulder in the direction Thistle Burr had raced off in.

She’d ran downstream and was already well out of sight.
> Cliffs and Bones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle slowed down only slightly as she left Enduring behind. Plantains were common, and she marked a few in her mind before moving on to look for the harder ingredients. The one she was most worried about was purple oleander, those grew in open spaces like fields and meadows, not river sides.

Thistle saw a yarrow tree and eagerly began stripping bark from it. She frowned as she realized she would have to carry everything in her mouth. Her gourds were full, and even if she emptied the water gourd the bark wouldn’t fit inside the small nozzle. She needed another way of carrying things.

For now she stuck the bark strips in her mane, braiding them into place so they wouldn’t fall out. Now she began scanning the ground closest to the river for soft-shoot plants, which loved to grow right at the edge of moving water. She walked along the shore for a while before finding those. The stems were bitter and did nothing, but the leaves were medicine. She didn’t know how they were used yet, but she was sure Enduring would tell her when she got back.

Thistle looked back upstream. She couldn’t hear the herd anymore, and the setting sun cast long shadows. She shivered, knowing she was far from the safety of the herd. 

Enduring wouldn’t have been able to keep up, Oak Leaf shouldn’t move around much with a snake bite, and the Lead Mare had told her not to tell anypony else about the snake. 

She frowned and quickly turned back to gathering leaves. She needed to hurry and find some purple oleanders before she lost the light completely.

Once she had the leaves the same problem from before popped up, as if to punish her for ignoring it earlier. She couldn’t braid leaves into her mane, they’d just fall out, and the stems were too short and fragile for braiding either.

Thistle touched a hoof to her gourds, hoping for inspiration. When nothing came she sighed and looked around. In the trees she noticed a bird fluttering down to its nest, where it ducked its head beneath one wing to sleep.

‘Nests hold things.’ Birds and eggs, but they could probably be used to hold other things if she had one big enough.
She saw a patch of reeds and pulled a few up, braiding them like she’d braided the hemp into a string. She thought it was promising, but it took a while and she didn’t have much time. She twisted a hoofull together and tied them into a circle, then slung that around her neck for later. Now, how to carry these soft-shoot leaves?

In the end she emptied out the water gourd and used a stick to poke the leaves through the nozzle. She’d have to break the gourd later to get them out again, but she could always make another gourd. Now she just needed to find that purple oleander!

Nervously eyeing the darkening sky, Thistle continued downstream, hoping that the river ran by an open area where purple oleander might grow. She was beginning to think she’d made a mistake and would have to turn back when she became aware of a loud, rushing sound. She’d never heard anything like it.

It didn’t sound like a predator, it was too constant and no predator would be dumb enough to make that much noise. Thistle followed the sound until she came to the source, a large waterfall that flowed down into a valley.

“Wow, so this is what a waterfall looks like.” She chuckled, curiously poking her head over the side of the cliff. The movement of something large caught her eye and she yelped, pulling her head back over the edge and stumbling backwards for several seconds.

“Hello?” A pony’s voice called out. “Is there somepony up there?”

Thistle poked her head out again. It was dark, but she could tell that it was indeed two ponies moving around down there. 
The valley was more of a cove, steep walls all the way around. How had they gotten down there?

“How’d you get down there?” She called.

“Thank the Sun,” The same pony who’d called out before gasped in relief. “We fell! Please, Mountain Shadow needs help! She’s hurt!”

Thistle shifted on her hooves uneasily. How could they help two ponies who were stuck in a cove? Especially when one was badly hurt and the herd was so far away?

Nopony would want to leave the safety of the herd after nightfall. Thistle shouldn’t have gone so far on her own! And if Mountain Shadow was badly hurt she might not last til morning.

Thistle looked around the edges of the cove. It looked like the two ponies had stayed where they’d fallen. One side was sheer cliff, but another was like a stack of boulders. It would be difficult, but maybe that side could be climbed?

“Hold on, I’ve got an idea!” She called down so they wouldn’t think she was abandoning them. She raced to a nearby weeping willow and tore as many long branches as she could. She raced to weave and tie them together by moonlight, until she had a rope long enough to reach the bottom of the cove, and then she added a good thirty body lengths to that for safety.

Now she ran to the cliffside she’d seen. The rock formations there looked sturdy, but she tied one end of the rope to a stout oak tree anyway. Now she slowly backed towards the edge, squinting into the darkness to find a good hoofhold for her first step down.

At every junction she could, Thistle wrapped the rope around a rock. There were several spots where she was too small to reach the next hoofhold, and each of those way-points would hold her as she carefully swung down to the next ledge. She had no idea how they were going to get an injured pony up that climb, but at least now there was a path.

The uninjured mare met her at the bottom. Closer now, Thistle could see she was only fourteen years old, barely a mare at all.

“By the Moon, I was practically chewing on my hooves watching you do that.” She gulped. “I’m Morning Dew, how are we going to get Mountain Shadow up this?”

“First I have to see how bad off she is and treat her injuries.” Thistle spoke confidently, making her way towards the fallen mare. “Where’s she hurt?”

“I—I…” Morning Dew gasped and stuttered. When she didn’t continue Thistle stepped up towards the sleeping mare to see for herself. Even by moonlight she could see the problem easily. Both her left legs were crooked, broken.

A broken leg was a death knell for a pony. You couldn’t run, you couldn’t fight, you couldn’t keep up with the herd. Thistle had never heard of anypony surviving a broken leg.

“P-Please,” Morning Dew pleaded. “She’s my best friend! I-I-I’ll carry her! Everyday! I swear! J-Just…Help?”

Mountain Shadow groaned, eyes fluttering. For a moment she seemed confused, then she gasped and tried to move. She cried out in pain, and Thistle rushed to soothe her.

“Easy, don’t move.” She ordered, trying to sound older than she really was. “I’m gonna try to help you, but I don’t need you making my job harder, okay?”

“M-Morning?” Mountain shuddered, tears streaming from her eyes.

“I’m here.” Morning nuzzled her friend. “Everything’s gonna be okay. Somepony found us.”

Thistle looked at the broken legs, wincing as Morning made promises for her. She really didn’t know how to help, but she knew she was going to try.

Broken bones could heal, she knew that. Enduring had told her about a pony who’d cracked his skull so bad you could actually see the bone, and he’d survived. Bones could heal, she just had to give these bones that opportunity.

She looked around the clearing for something, some idea. Legs needed to be straight, she could push and pull the broken ends back into place but they wouldn’t stay there on their own. She saw a dead tree and grinned as a new idea slotted into place.

“Morning Dew, I need you to go to that tree and bring me four straight sticks, about the length of her legs.” She ordered. 

“O-Okay,” With one last nuzzle, Morning Dew raced off to do as ordered. 

“You stay still, I’m going to get some rope.” Thistle told Mountain. Mountain nodded tearfully and Thistle raced off. Luckily there were more willow trees down here so she didn’t have to contend with the climb again.

Once she had several lengths of rope she came back. Morning presented eight sticks for inspection, and Thistle chose the strongest looking ones for the task.

“This is going to hurt,” She warned Mountain. “I have to pull your legs so they’re straight.” She thought about it for a moment and then gave a length of rope to Mountain to bite on. 

“Hold her still.” Once Morning moved into place, Thistle took a deep breath, grabbed a leg, and pulled.

When it was done Mountain’s left legs were twice as thick as her right ones, but they were straight. She couldn’t put much weight on them, but Thistle and Morning worked together to get Mountain on Morning’s back. She used the last of her rope to lash the injured mare in place as she finally passed out from the pain. Thistle made a mental note to get some loco-weed roots for her in the morning.

The moon was high by the time they’d climbed the rocks and made it over the other side. Morning might have been standing from sheer willpower by that point. Thistle certainly felt ready to collapse.

It was by the light of the midnight moon that Thistle realized she was standing in a bed of flowers. Her stomach rumbling convinced her to lower her head to eat, but the light of the moon stayed her jaws.

Purple. Oleanders. What were the odds and how had she missed these earlier?

Luckily for her, purple oleanders could be braided into her tail easily. She just had to grab some plantain leaves on the way back and they’d be set!

“Thank you, thank you so much.” Morning sniffed. “I thought we were going to die down there.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad I could help.” Thistle smiled weakly. She looked upstream, trying to remember how long it had taken to get this far. It would probably take twice that with how tired they were and with Morning so weighed down.

The smart thing would be to bed down here and wait for morning. Thistle nodded sharply to herself and held up a hoof to stop Morning from continuing on.

“Let’s sleep here for the night, we’ll get back to the herd in the morning.” She suggested. Morning looked at her sleeping friend before slowly nodding. It was a struggle to get Mountain Shadow down without waking her or jarring her legs, but they managed and tiredly laid down next to her.

It was the first time Thistle had ever slept outside of a mare circle, on top of being her first night away from the herd, but she fell asleep surprisingly quickly.

They set out again in the light of the false dawn. Mountain woke up and was embarrassed to be carried, and both mares were nervous about the reception of the herd, but Thistle poured confidence into her voice as she took the lead.

“Uh, okay, this is going to sound really bad,” Morning licked her lips hesitantly. “But I don’t think we ever got your name.”

“I’m Thistle Burr.” She introduced herself.

“Alright, Thistle Burr,” Mountain’s voice sounded scratchy. “What’s that thing on your butt?”

“Purple Oleanders, Elder Enduring asked me to get them.” She explained.

“No, I know what a purple oleander is.” Mountain protested. “I’m talking about the picture thing on your flanks.”

“That is sorta weird. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Morning agreed.

Thistle wrinkled her nose, wondering if some mud had dried on her flanks or something. She swiveled around to check, contorting her body until she could clearly see her right flank.

That was not mud. It wasn’t berry juice. It wasn’t a grass stain. Thistle had to forcefully shake her mind off materials so she could focus on the picture it made.

A pony with their hoof outstretched, holding out a star. 

She swiveled to the other side, finding a perfect match on her left flank.

“What in the world!?” She turned in circles, inspecting the image. She reached back with her hoof and patted the area, but it felt like fur to her. “Huh, wait here a sec.”

She waded into the water and scrubbed as hard as she could. Nothing she did could even make the image fuzzy. It acted just like fur. What on Earth was this?

She got out of the water only because she was worried the purple oleanders might get washed out of her tail.

The odd picture distracted her for most of the walk back. They reached the herd before noon, and Thistle went straight to Enduring and Oak Leaf. 

“Elder Enduring, I brought the ingredients, and I found two ponies who were lost and injured.” She explained, carefully pulling ingredients from her mane and tail. She made extra sure that none of them got mixed up.

“Eh, looks good, lil’ filly.” Enduring yawned, poking the ingredients with her snout. “Oak Leaf here’s gone n’ started swellin’ up. Le’s get this medicine mixed up right.”

“Thistle Burr, so you’ve returned.” Thistle looked up at the Lead Mare and Shiny Rock’s arrival. “It was very foolish to go so far from the herd with night coming on. You are lucky to have returned safely.”

“I had to range farther than I thought for the ingredients.” Thistle admitted, chagrined. “But I’m glad I did, because otherwise I wouldn’t have found Mountain Shadow and Morning Dew.”

“I see,” True Blue looked over the young mares in question. “Mountain Shadow, what is wrong with your legs?”

“T-They’re…ah, they’re b-broken, Lead Mare.” Mountain hesitantly answered. “I-I, we, fell from a cliff and I landed badly.”

“Broken legs!” Shiny sneered. “And you thought to hide that by covering them in vine and being carried like a foal?”

“She didn’t hide them!” Thistle argued. “I wrapped the willow rope around strong sticks, to hold the legs straight! Bones can heal if given the chance, and I wanted to give Mountain that chance!”

“I can carry her!” Morning added. “She won’t be a burden on anypony but me! We’ll even sleep apart from the herd!”

True Blue stamped her hoof, halting the argument. For a long moment she stared at Morning and Mountain, before turning her eyes on Thistle Burr instead.

“Thistle Burr,” The filly in questioned straightened to her full height. “Walk with me.”

“Uh, yes, Lead Mare.” She blinked. The Lead Mare began to lead them away from the group. They walked downriver until they were well out of earshot.

“You do not allow Shiny to carry you.” Thistle didn’t know what to make of this or how to respond. “You walk far from the herd. You swim. You do not behave as a regular filly does.”

“I…” She didn’t have an argument for that. She didn’t act like a proper filly. She hadn’t acted like a normal filly since that Light-That-Wasn’t had knocked out the entire herd. “…I’m trying to do the best I can, for myself and the herd.”

“Things are changing,” True told her. “Ever since that Light-That-Wasn’t came to us, ponies have begun changing.”

Thistle had never heard anypony else reference that light. She’d been so busy with Enduring that she hadn’t noticed other ponies acting strangely either. 

“Thistle Burr, I think,” True shook her head suddenly. “No, I know that things will only continue changing. The herd will not remain as it has always been. New things are coming, and I want to keep my herd safe.”

“I find myself wanting new things.” True sighed quietly, almost forgetting Thistle’s presence. “I want my foal to be born healthy. I want everypony in the herd to be healthy and strong. I want our numbers to grow.”

“Those are all good things.” Thistle cocked her head to the side. “What’s wrong with wanting them?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong is that before that Light I didn’t care.” True laughed, steely and cold. “Not for the other ponies in the herd, not beyond securing my position. I cared for the foal to come, but I didn’t dream of watching them grow and learn, I only cared that it was my foal.”

“Before that Light adoptions were rare, and an old nag like Enduring would not even consider it, especially not for a foal already weaned.” True continued. “And gourds and things were rare, only special ponies could make them. Your dam had a gift for finding water, a gift you did not share until after the Light.”

“And I can think back, recall the stories of my dam’s time, and her dam’s, and her dam’s dam, and never has change come so swiftly.” She finished. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Thistle frowned.

“Because I hear ponies talking about you, Thistle Burr.” The Lead Mare drew herself up. “They say the Light touched you, gave you…magic.”

“Magic?” Her eyes widened. 

“Yes, magic. And so I am charging you with a task even more important than finding water.” She spoke seriously. Thistle stood at attention, ready to hear the word of her Lead Mare.

“I want you to devote yourself to the herd, to seeing it grow, stronger, faster, healthier, and smarter.” She commanded. “Learn all you can from Enduring, and then learn more. Ponies are watching you, Thistle Burr, and they will only talk more after hearing how you saved Mountain Shadow and Morning Dew.”

Thistle shivered. She’d never been in the presence of something so commanding. She didn’t think refusing was even possible in the face of such firm leadership.

“Of course,” She promised easily. “I’ll do everything I can.”

“Then return to your mentor, Thistle Burr.” True turned back towards the herd. “She has much still to teach you.”
> Reeds and Stars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle sat a little ways off from the herd. They hadn’t moved on yet, staying by the river. There didn’t seem to be many wolves, if any, or any other large predators, and there was food and water aplenty. A perfect place to wait for new foals. Several mares were close to foaling.

It gave time for Oak Leaf and Mountain Shadow to recover from their wounds. Oak Leaf was already much better, but Mountain Shadow’s legs would take longer to heal. Morning Dew was doing everything she could for her friend, bringing food and carrying her away from the herd to dispose of waste. 

Thistle sighed, lying down on the soft grass. Two days had gone by, and she’d filled them with all the lessons Enduring could handle. Medicines mostly, though she’d found time to get a new water gourd. She’d more or less mastered swimming and now had a bit of free time to work on that reed project from before. The idea of making a nest basket for carrying things.

She was going to need more reeds. The amount she’d brought back was nowhere near enough for what she had in mind.
But she felt too tired to go collect more. The Lead Mare’s words kept ringing in her ears. And ever since she’d mentioned it, Thistle had been able to hear other ponies’ words about her. They called her magic-touched. 

She’d braided the reeds she had into a hoop. She needed more for the sides and bottom, and then she must weave willow rope in somehow to tie it to her body. Not around her neck, she already had the gourds there. It would be difficult to tie around her barrel though. Perhaps she could balance it somehow?

She couldn’t do any more without gathering more reeds. She sighed and set the project aside. Maybe she’d feel better after joining Enduring in a nap.

She looked over her shoulder. Enduring had walked her through making a poultice for open wounds, then laid down to sleep. Oak Leaf stood in a light doze a few feet away. Thistle hadn’t gotten around to asking about his relatives yet. She’d better do that soon, before Enduring recalled that he was her sire. 

Mountain and Morning were sleeping nearby too. The loco-roots made Mountain groggy, and Morning was tired out from caring for her all day. 

Thistle rolled onto her back, scratching a persistent itch. Was she getting fleas? It was the season for them. 

Well, no flea liked taking a bath. Thistle set her gourds beside her project and waded into the water. It was cool against her withers, and she allowed the current to carry her downstream a bit. Now that she’d mastered swimming she found it was actually a lot of fun! It made her laugh to know she’d been scared of the water only a couple days ago.

She came back to shore in the midst of the herd. The itch was gone from her back and she gladly shook the water from her coat. She flipped her wet mane out of her eyes. That was a refreshing swim, she ought to try this more often.

As had become her habit, Thistle twisted around to stare at her flanks. The picture was still there. Enduring had never heard of a fur pattern changing so drastically before. They had to assume it was some mark of the Light-That-Wasn't. 

It wasn't hurting her and staring provided no answers, so Thistle turned her focus back to the reed project. She still didn't feel like collecting more reeds, but she had little choice in the matter. She had to be doing something productive.

She flipped the hoop around her neck and turned back downstream. She had to walk by a few chatting ponies. Their conversations grew stilted and hushed as she passed by. Beyond those ponies were three foals, skipping rocks over the water to amuse themselves.

"Where ya going?" One of the fillies called out, putting down her rock as Thistle's shadow passed over her.

"Downstream." This was Pink Peach, right? Thistle suddenly recalled that this filly, a year older than her, was her cousin. They'd played together a few times, all foals played together sooner or later.

"What for? You're always doing cool stuff!" The single colt in the group bounced to his hooves. His name was Pucker Thorn, wasn't it? He liked playing Wolves and Ponies.

"I'm collecting reeds." She briefly touched the hoop circling her neck.

"Why?" The last filly cocked her head to the side. Thistle didn't actually remember her name. She had white hair and a cobalt blue coat. She was much smaller than Pink and Pucker but obviously she was old enough to play away from her dam. The most curious thing about her was that one of her eyes was bigger than the other. Just a bit.

"Because I'm trying to make something new." Thistle explained. "I want to make something I can carry stuff in, like a gourd, but not hanging from my neck."

"We can help!" Pucker boasted excitedly. 

"Yeah, and all the adults will be so impressed!" Pink's eyes widened. 

"Wouldn't you rather keep playing?" Thistle asked them. 

"We can play any day." The smaller filly reasoned quietly. "Please, let us come help? We'll do whatever you say." She offered. The other two eagerly nodded in agreement.

"Fine, you may accompany me." Thistle rolled her eyes. What was so exciting about reeds? 

"My dam says you're magic-touched." Pink Peach informed her.

"I suppose I am." Thistle sighed. Everypony had been knocked out by the Light-That-Wasn't. She wasn't the only one changed, it's just that her changes were...bigger? Easier to see?

It frustrated her that she couldn't understand this. What was that Light-That-Wasn't? What had it done to them?

"Is the picture on your flank magic?" Pink tapped the spot with her hoof, causing Thistle to jolt a little.

"It appeared when I was helping Mountain Shadow and Morning Dew." She explained. "I guess it's magic, but it hasn't done anything since it appeared."

"...My dam says we'll leave those two behind because Mountain will weaken the herd." Pink looked oddly determined when she said this. Thistle stopped to take her in fully.

"The Lead Mare says that so long as Morning can keep up while carrying Mountain they'll be allowed to stay with the herd." She tried to project the same confidence the Lead Mare had shown her.

Pink's ears folded back a bit. The other two foals took two steps back, away from the possible confrontation. Thistle noticed that Pink's eyes had narrowed. Was she angry? Was she afraid?

This was her cousin. Thistle didn't want to frighten her cousin.

"Mountain's legs will heal. I can't say for sure how well, or if she will ever be the same, but they'll heal." She spoke softer, relaxing her posture. 

"I...was only saying what my dam said." Pink said hesitantly.

"Well, what is your opinion?" Thistle asked kindly.

"I think..." She paused to give this due thought. "I think it would be mean to leave them behind."

"I think so too." Thistle smiled. "It'll be hard, but I think Morning can manage to carry her well enough."

The reeds really weren't all that far. Not even halfway towards the waterfall. All four ponies gathered as much as they could carry. They made competitions of who could weave it tightest, who could carry more. It was the first time in more than a week that Thistle had spent any real amount of time with foals her age. She'd missed it.

But she still didn't know the smaller filly's name. Nopony had said it yet. Or even a nickname. It was usually pretty easy to see who was being addressed. 

If Morning could do it on the walk back to the herd, then she could too.

"I'm sorry for not asking sooner, but what's your name?" She gulped, nodding towards the filly. "I know Pink Peach and Pucker Thorn, but I don't think we've ever played together."

"I am Dim Light." The filly answered demurely. "I don't really like the run and shout games." She added.

"Dim Light, I'll remember that." Thistle promised.

"Okay, so we've got the reeds. Now what?" Pucker held up a hooffull.

"Now we make a basket." And figure out how to hold it on her back without it falling off. Maybe...two baskets, hanging from her sides by a strap across her back?

"Burr, der yew are." Enduring trotted over. Seeing her mentor approaching, Thistle set aside her reeds and stood.

"Wha'chu got der, filly?" The old mare sniffed at the pile of reeds.

"I'm trying to create something to carry more stuff." Thistle repeated her explanation.

"Hmm," Enduring nodded along thoughtfully. "Seems ta me ye've got a fine idea der."

"Wha'chu gonna carry in dat 'basket' of yers?" She looked around at the circle of foals.

They blinked. They considered the reeds at their hooves and the similar expressions of confusion on their faces. Pink Peach had a water gourd. Thistle had three gourds, one for water, one for nuts, and one for oats. 

Oats and water would spill from the basket. She could fill it with nuts, but that would take weeks of careful searching. Flowers and grass could be found everywhere, and did not keep for long. And other things? Say she put a pretty rock in her basket and carried it with her everywhere she went. What for? Sure, it was pretty, but pretty rocks could be found everywhere.

"You could carry more gourds." Dim Light suggested. "One gourd has enough water for a day or two, but what if it takes longer than that to find water? You'd have a generous supply and wouldn't need to have ten or more gourds hanging from your neck."

"Da's a good idea, little filly." Enduring eased herself down. 

"Medicine." Thistle's eyes widened, hooves going up to her gourds as she recalled filling one with the plants she'd needed. And smashing it to retrieve the plants later. "I could put medicine in the gourds, so I wouldn't have to hunt for the plants when somepony gets hurt!"

"Sounds like a right fine idea, dat does." She chuckled. "So how yew goin' about makin' dese here 'baskets' anyhow?"

"Weaving them, like we do to make rope, but I'm trying to weave these into a nest shape." Thistle explained.

It took a few hours and two more trips to collect reeds, but eventually the five ponies managed to make their first baskets. The Sun was beginning it's descent then, so the three other foals went to their dams for the night after promising to return in the morning. Thistle kept their piles neat and separate to await their return.

"Alright now, Burr," Enduring rolled onto her back. "Take a break from dat weaving n' such ta look at dees stars. Ain't dey purty?"

"Yep." Thistle joined her mentor on her back. "Where do they go during the day?"

"I reckon dey follow da moon. Dey go beyond da horizon ta shine on ponies far, far away." She sighed.

"How many herds do you think there are?" Thistle asked. "Running into another herd doesn't happen often. Is it because there aren't a lot of herds or because there's just so much land?"

"Der's a lot o' herds out der, Burr." Enduring shook her head. "I done seen more'n I can count, n' I can count to more'n a hundred. I seen ponies dat yew can't even imagine."

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"To da nord, where der be lots of mountains an' valleys, I once ran wid a herd o' ponies who had horns on dey heads." Enduring sketched a shape of such a pony with her hoof in the sky. "Dey call demselves unicorns. Funny sort, but friendly enough. Dey scrape der horns against da rocks to make'em sharp."

"Huh." She considered this. 

"Yup, and dey small dings too!" Enduring cackled. "Da stallions ain't no bigger den a full grown mare here. Dey skinny too. Dey foals are da tiniest wee dings ye've ever seen."

"Stallions only as big as a mare?" Thistle giggled. "That's crazy! What do they do when they have to fight?"

"Dat's why dey sharpen der horns, dey jab at wolves an' such." She nodded sagely.

"What other strange ponies are there?" She looked up at the starry expanse of the sky. The moon wasn't yet half full, but it had the prettiest glow.

"Der are ponies wid wings to da far east, by da coast." Enduring told her.

"Wings?" She turned over, giving her mentor a dubious look. "Are you trying to trick me? A horn's not much, but wings?"

"I ain't tryin' ta trick ya, Burr." She chuckled. "Now, I didn't run wid dees ponies, but I talked to a few of dem. Call demselves pegasus. Dey can glide quite a ways wid dose wings."

"Dey ain't as big as we are, but dey ain't so small as da unicorns neither. Don't weigh much though." She sighed, thinking of the days of her youth. 

Thistle's first impulse was to say she didn't believe her. Ponies with horns? Ponies with wings? What sort of madness was that? Enduring had to be teasing her. 

But she wasn't sure. Enduring had never lied or tricked her before, even with the things she found unimaginable. And Enduring was over forty years old. She must've run far and wide during her travels. She must've seen things nopony else had ever seen before.

If such ponies existed though, then Thistle wanted to meet them. She wanted to run with them. She wanted to see and do things ponies ages from now wouldn't be able to believe.

It was the first dream she'd ever had. Maybe the first dream anypony had ever had. A dream that had no clear objective, no obvious result, and no real deadline. It was a concept.

Thistle settled in at Enduring's side and focused on the constellations. Enduring said that anypony who knew the stars could never really be lost.
> Hot and Dry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The baskets took a while to be finished the next day. Light was the one who figured out how to fashion the strap that held two baskets across a pony's back. Pink and Pucker had barely finished their baskets before they were running back to their dams to show what they'd done. Dim Light made no motion to move though, calmly running her hoof over the weaving of her own basket.

"Don't you want to show your dam?" Thistle asked.

"Oh, no. She wouldn't want me to bother her." Dim refused. "Mother wants to focus on the new foal."

"Mother?" Thistle repeated. It was another word for dam. She didn't hear many ponies using it though.

"She doesn't like being called Dam. She thinks Mother sounds more," Dim tapped her chin for a moment. "How did she put it? More respectable?"


"What's wrong with Dam?" Thistle wanted to know.

"I have no idea." She admitted. "Regardless, she'll be happier if I stay away until sundown."

"Alright then," It didn't look like Pink and Pucker were coming back though. Thistle slid her baskets on and looked over towards Enduring, Morning, Mountain, and Oak. Mountain was awake, having a good whisper with Morning. Oak was standing a little apart from the mares, lying on the grass in a doze.

Enduring noticed her looking and walked over.

"Yew fillies finished wid dose new-fangled 'baskets?'" She gave one of the baskets a good sniff.

"Yup!" Thistle wriggled a bit to make the strap set better. It chafed a bit. "Now I can carry medicine in case anypony needs it."

"Got's to get dat medicine first, Burr." Enduring reminded her. "An' yew, little filly? Yew happy wid dat basket o' yers?"

"Yes, Elder." Dim nodded shyly. 

"Time ta start gadering den," Enduring turned towards the trees. "Yew comin', little filly? Whut's yer name?"

"Dim Light, and I'd love to come, Elder." She looked between Thistle and Enduring.

"Right den. Da two of yew should keep yer eyes peeled for any gourds." They began to walk. "Burr, start practicin' yer countin'. Go as high as yew can widout stopping."

"Yes, Enduring. One, two, three," She pulled some yarrow bark from a tree as they passed. Counting was easy stuff. She could do it backwards too, if she concentrated. Not as high as she could count forwards though.

She got all the way to a hundred before Enduring told her she could stop. Thistle thought she'd proven her mastery of numbers rather well. She didn't miscount or jumble them up like other foals did.

"Alright, Burr. Now say I've got four apples and yew have seven. How many apples do we got together?" Enduring came at her from an unexpected angle.

"Uh, four and seven. Five, six, seven, no wait." Thistle held still. Seven was three away from ten, one more than that would be eleven!

"Good filly." Enduring nodded. "Light, dis one's fer yew. Say I've got six pebbles and yew've got three. How many do we got together?"

Light clearly hadn't expected to be included in the lesson. Thistle snickered to herself and began digging up loco-roots for Mountain.

"This is hard. Why do we have to know this?" Light huffed in frustration after ten more questions of that nature.

"It's a useful skill ta have." Enduring added some five pointed leaves to Light's basket.

"Useful how?" Light turned towards Thistle, as if she could understand everything that ran through the old nag's head. All Thistle could do was give a helpless shrug. She was sure that this was a useful skill, she just didn't know how yet. Enduring hadn't steered her wrong yet.

Except maybe about unicorns and pegasus ponies, but she was reserving judgement on those. It would be really neat if ponies like that really did exist!

Wondering for a moment if the horn would be heavy or how large the wings would be, Thistle kept adding to her basket. Enduring kept asking questions, making them harder and harder to answer. Dim Light kept up alright, but she grew frustrated easily with the mental exercises. 

"Alrigh', dats enough o' numbers." Enduring decided, drawing a sigh of relief from the two fillies. "Now, whut would be a good topic ta start on?"

"What about more medicine stuff?" Thistle suggested hopefully.

"Ye've got a good handle on dat already." Enduring sniffed. "Half o' making da medicine is gettin' da plants, and yer basket gonna fix up dat problem. It'll be good to always have whut yew need on hoof."

"What about foals? Can you teach us about foals?" Dim's eyes lit up.

"Foals, eh? Well, I've raised more dan a hoofful meself." She tapped her chin for a moment. "We'll start at da beginnin'. Which is heat and whut yew do during it."

"Once yew get yer heat, yer a mare. I don't recommend letting a stallion mount ya till yer at least fifteen dough." She cautioned them. "Yer more likely ta die in birth wid da foal if yer too young. Dat's whut my dam taught me."

"Fifteen!?" Thistle's jaw dropped. She'd thought waiting three years would be bad. She wasn't so afraid about dying now that she was useful to the herd, but that still seemed like a long time to wait.

"Bah, it seems a long while now but da years'll jus' fly by, Burr." She snickered at the look on her face. 

"So, da stallion mounts ye, puts his penis in yer vagina. After a couple minutes o' back n' ford, a buncha white stuff comes out of da penis an' he climbs off." She summarized. "Might do dat a few times during yer heat."

"Heat lasts about a week or so. Makes yew feel warm all over. Get an itch in yer vagina an' it starts drippin' all da time. Stallions start ta smell real good round dat time." Enduring sighed, letting memory carry her away for a moment. She shook her head to dispel the past and refocused on the fillies.

"After da heat ends yew've gotta wait a bit to see if da seed took. Yer not gonna be successful every time. Takes a few weeks before da first symptoms pop up." 

"Might start feelin' sick, like yew was gonna throw up at any given moment. Certain smells are gonna tip yew off. Some mares don't get da sickness so bad, oders have it last til da foal is born. Jus' da way nature is, I suppose." She shrugged.

She continued with various other symptoms, and what could be done to soothe them. Old Mare's Tails that told you if you were having a filly or a colt. Plants to eat before and during heat that were supposed to either prevent or encourage conception.

Finally, with Light and Thistle's baskets full and trudging back to the herd, they reached the topic of foaling.

"It's gonna feel like a wolf done bit yer vagina." She stated bluntly. "An' den chewed."

Both fillies cringed. Their tails protectively tucked against their hindquarters, legs squished together. They knew foaling would hurt, everypony knew foaling hurt, but was it really that bad? Enduring sure didn't look like she was exaggerating.

"It comes in waves, da contractions. Feels like dat ole wolf just went and hooked his fangs in deep." She continued.

"Dere's herbs an' such yew can take for pain ahead o' time, but labor's a lengthy process. Takes most of a day." Thistle's ears flattened against her skull. A day? 

"But," Enduring suddenly gained a spring in her step and a chipper tone. "Once all dat hullabaloo is over an' done wid yew get a foal! Give it about an hour or two and da foal should be standin', taking der first steps n' all."

"If'n der not, well," She pricked her ears forward, towards the river they could hear. "Some foals take a bit longer. Try givin'em a helpin' hoof. Get'em to yer teat. If dey don't walk by da end o' der first day it usually means da foal isn't gonna survive."

"But we're gettin' ahead of ourselves a tad." She licked her lips. "Da labor is a complicated ding an' der's plenty dat can go wrong der. Startin' wid bleeding."

So began a lengthy description of all the known ways foaling could go wrong.

"I am never having foals." Light whimpered. She found it difficult to walk with her tail plastered to her rear, but felt too vulnerable without it to consider removing it.

"You keep the stallions off me, I'll keep the stallions off you." Thistle whispered.

They hadn't even gotten to foal care. Enduring had worn herself out and barely managed to finish a terrifying description of a breech birth that killed dam and foal, along with a horrifying story about a foal born with an extra leg.

"Hey guys, where ya been?" At the coltish voice both fillies screeched to high heaven and took off at full gallop.

Staring at the dwindling cloud of dust, Pucker and Pink were left wondering what had gotten their tails in a twist.

_______________________________________________________________________________

The first mare to go down for foaling was Shiny Rock. Although the mare was tasked with keeping an eye on her, Thistle hadn't seen much of her since they'd arrived at the river. She'd wander by a few times a day, make eye contact with Thistle, nod, and walk off again. Thistle wasn't too heartbroken over it.

After Enduring's...graphic description of foal birth and all it's dangers Thistle wasn't in a hurry to experience the miracle of life up close. She'd much rather bury her nose in a tuft of grass and graze until it was all over.

There was an awful lot that could go wrong, but there were also ways to fix a lot of those things. Thistle had already learned about them from Enduring. She had several medicines, or at least the ingredients for them, in her baskets.

So she was here, standing awkwardly in sight of Shiny. The piebald mare was on her side, panting hard. Two mares hung around, one might've been Shiny's first daughter, now a mare grown. The other didn't look old enough to be her dam, so it might've been a sister or a really close friend.

Thistle thought about the things Enduring had said during that lesson. Things like vaginal tearing, sack tearing, umbilical cord tangling. She had spider webs in one of her basket, all bugs and spiders carefully pulled out. Those helped with bleeding. She had a sharp rock for severing a tangled umbilical cord.

For every problem with a potential solution there was one with almost certain death as the only possibility. Thistle couldn't say she was particularly fond of Shiny Rock, but she didn't want the mare to die either. She wanted to help.

Shiny Rock knew she was there and hadn't told her to leave yet. That had to be good enough for now, no matter how much her hooves itched to help.

"Will something happen?"

"Thistle Burr wouldn't be here if it wasn't important to the herd."

"What are those things she's carrying?"


Thistle flicked her ears away from the conversations around her. They didn't matter. She wondered where they got that impression of her though. She wished Enduring was here, but the old nag felt she wouldn't be welcome.

The labor was progressing. Thistle shifted uncomfortably and didn't allow her eyes to wander away. The real pushing had begun. 

Shiny Rock had lost a foal once and then had trouble concieving for some time. What had caused the loss? Would it happen again? Was it tearing? Was it a tangled cord? Did the sack rupture too soon and choke the foal?

Shiny Rock was as silent as she could make herself be. Only the occasional grunt or groan revealed the pain she was feeling. All mares did that, Thistle knew. All mares muffled themselves. Foaling was such a vulnerable activity. So many predators loved the taste of infant flesh.

There was a hoof! Thistle leaned forward, unconciously matching her breath to Shiny's. The daughter saw it first, excitedly encouraging her mother to keep pushing. Thistle took a step forward, watching.

First one hoof, then two. More and more leg slipped out. Watching the head emerge was too excrutiating. Thistle buried her nose in the grass for a deep breath. When she managed to raise her gaze again she saw the foal was most of the way out. Finally, their back legs slipped free.

She watched as the foal was cut free of the cord and then left to climb to its feet alone. The three mares were clustered around it, Shiny had shakily climbed to her hooves to hold her teat above the foal's reach.

To get that first milk the foal would have to stand.

It took a little time for the foal to figure it out, but they managed. Within the hour they were having their first meal and the ponies surrounding them sighed in relief. Thistle joined them, then slowly walked away to the part of the river bed she'd started to think of as 'hers.'

That was the first birth of the season. It was pretty much the best case scenario for a birth. 

The next one was not as lucky.

Thistle, having been witness to one birth, felt no further urge to observe the miracle of life. She'd all but decided that foals and stallions had no place in her life, at least until she was fifteen. Right now she was ten, nearing eleven, and in no hurry to push a tiny pony through her vagina.

With most of her fears and concerns assauged, though she heard of the second mare going down to foal, she did nothing. She mixed medicine while talking to Dim Light, who weaved baskets for Mountain and Morning.

She didn't have the ingredients for every kind of medicine Enduring told her about, nor the gourds for some of them, but she had enough for a nice little stock pile. If anypony else got bit by a snake she wouldn't have to range very far for medicine.

"Thistle Burr? I need Thistle Burr!" A mare was shouting, galloping towards them. Thistle hardly had time to make eye contact before the mare was dropping to her knees in front of her.

"Thistle Burr, there you are! Please, my dam is foaling but the foal won't come and her water broke before sunrise and and and and--!" The mare began breathing too quickly.

"Whoa, hold up there." Thistle cocked her head to the side. "Your dam?"

"Marsh Steps, her water broke just before sunrise, but it's been ages and there's still no foal! Please, help!" The young mare, either thirteen or fourteen, begged.

"O-Okay," The foal had to be dry in the womb by now. What had Enduring said about that? "Let me just-!"

The young mare swept Thistle off her hooves and took off back the way she'd came. Thistle yelped and wrapped her forelegs around the mare's throat to avoid being blown off. Ponies followed them with their eyes. 

In a few seconds they'd arrived. Marsh Steps was near the bank, panting tiredly on her side. It couldn't be more obvious that she was exhausted by her struggle. Another filly, this one nine or so, was brushing the sweat from her forehead.

Thistle jumped off her ride, running to Marsh Steps. The muddy brown mare briefly focused fuzzy eyes on her, but quickly lost the strength for even that much. Without allowing herself the luxury of hesitation, Thistle touched her hoof to the tender area. Bone dry.

A dry birth. Bad. Foals rarely survived, and when they died they tended to take their dams with them because there was no way to get the foal out after the mare lost all strength.

Well, almost no way.

Thistle dug some loco-roots from her baskets and chewed them up. Once soft, she spat them onto her hoof and made Marsh swallow them. Now she looked to the crowd of on-lookers.

"You two," She pointed at two full-grown mares. "One on either side, help me walk her to the water."

"Huh?" One of them startled.

"No time! Get moving!" She snapped, driving the two into action. Marsh moaned in pain as she was brought into the water. Thistle carefully instructed one mare, a peach pink with an orange mane, to act as a rock to keep Marsh from floating away. The other mare was drafted to hold Thistle up so she didn't have to think about swimming.

There would be time for hesitation and disgust later. Right now these two had only one hope. 

Thistle stuck her hoof up another mare's vagina.

__________________________________________________________________________________


The foal hadn't made it, but Marsh had. Thistle had hoofed over some leaves good for making her sleep, then as a final favor she'd taken the dead foal into the woods. She had to walk far to make sure no predators would follow her back to the herd. All the while she'd carried a dead foal on her back.

She'd meant to leave the foal, a colt who'd never breathed, on the forest floor. She'd meant to. It was what they did with the dead. Leave them to become one with the Earth again. Leave them for the predators and guard the living.

But the idea of a wolf tearing into such a tiny foal was unbearable. If she had any talent for climbing she would've put him in a tree. Instead, she dug into the soft ground, tears streaming from her eyes, until she had a hole big enough. 

"Sorry I couldn't help you." She whispered to the foal as she laid him down. Slowly, she filled the hole up again.

Once done, there was just a small mound of dirt to show where a potential pony was buried. No wolves would get to him, probably, but it still felt like she hadn't done enough. 

Somewhere behind the herd was her dam, rotting away. There was also an older sister, one she only barely recalled. Ponies got left behind. They died. Sometimes the herd came across the bones of a pony, though she couldn't recall any such occassions personally.

A hole didn't seem like enough. Given a few weeks for the rest of the expectant mares to foal and the herd would move on. Time would disguise the fact that in this forest was a pony who never got the chance to grow.

She wanted some way for other herds to pass this area and know what had occured here. She looked around and spotted a few rocks. She gathered them up, arranging them in a neat pile over the hole. Once the pile was nearly as high as her withers, she left.

It was dark before she got back to the Herd. Dim Light had returned to her mother, and Oak must have decided he was well enough to leave their little group. Morning and Mountain were asleep, but Enduring's head came up as she approached.

"Enduring, what happens when we die?" She asked, cuddling in close to the old nag.

Enduring sighed deeply, looking up towards the stars. She thought about Burr's question for a while.

"Nopony rightly knows." She finally admitted. "Some ponies say dere's noding. Every ding jus' stops, like yew fall asleep forever."

"Oder ponies, dey say dere's a place our spirits go, de ding dat makes us who we are. Our spirit goes to a place where dere's a pasture wid no end, wid no predators and food and water for everypony. And when we get dere we'll see all our friends n' family again."

"An Endless Pasture?" No predators, lots of food and water, and all the friends and family you lost along the way? Thistle closed her eyes and tried to imagine reuniting with her dam. It was hard to picture.

But it sounded perfect.
> Foals and Wolves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that, ponies kept coming to Thistle. One day no less than three mares had gone into labor, and all demanded her personal time and attention. She'd only resolved that one by getting some ponies to move the expectant mothers so she could keep an eye on all three at once.

Then of course the Lead Mare herself had gone into labor, but she hadn't needed Thistle's help to deliver a healthy filly.

By the thirteenth and final birth, Thistle had an all new understanding of why Enduring had never done anything with all the knowledge she'd obtained. It felt like her headache had taken permanant residence in her skull, and that was with napping every free minute she had.

Of the thirteen births, ten of those survived. Of that ten, seven were fillies and three were colts. Two had been named in her honor, the filly Thistle Patch and the filly Thistle Weed. One dam had died with her foal.

"Thank Sun and Moon that's over." She groaned, collapsing to the ground after successfully delivering the last foal. That one had been stubborn, and had the cord tangled in her legs.

"Must be great being magic." Morning commented. Mountain was trying to scratch her legs without messing up the splint.

"Tiring. Exhausting. Not great." She protested. "I want to sleep forever. Wake me when I reach the Endless Pasture."

Well, it was over now. It would be months yet before the next group of mares were due to deliver. Time to relax, re-gather her medicines, figure out how she was going to manage without dropping dead. 

But first, sleep. Wonderful, restful sleep. She had a nice patch of shade here. 

When she woke up it was a few hours before sunset, and Dim Light was calmly weaving another basket together. Morning had gone off somewhere and Mountain was amusing herself by using her right foreleg to stack pebbles until they fell over. This stack was almost eight high before it collapsed.

"Catch up on yer sleep yet, Burr?" Enduring chuckled, revealing herself from the shadow of the trees. Morning was with her, and both were carrying branches stripped of their leaves on their backs.

"What are those for?" Thistle asked.

"The herd's going to be moving on soon and, well," Morning scuffed her hoof through the dirt. "I had an idea for carrying Mountain along!"

"What idea?" She jumped to her hooves, helping them lay the branches out. Thistle noticed there was also a sizeable supply of vines, willow-rope, and hemp.

"If I tie all these branches together then tie more rope to one end, then Mountain can lay on it while I pull her!" Morning explained excitedly.

"I mean, I could just carry her, but it's hard to do that without hurting her and I thought this might be easier." Her face was flushed and her ears tucked back.

"Sounds cool to me, but my legs really don't hurt as bad as they did at the start." Mountain assured her. 

"But think of the other cool stuff you could drag behind you!" Morning prompted them. "Like mares with more than one foal, or food, or gourds of water!"

"Like the baskets, but bigger!" Thistle brightened. "Okay, so how should we tie them together?"

They started with the two biggest, sturdiest branches. Laid with about half a body's length between them, Morning used the next strongest branches to make a frame over them, similar to the technique used to make baskets. Once the frames were tied firmly in place the rest of the branches were laid on the frame.

Once it was done Thistle climbed on and allowed Morning to pull her around as a test. They quickly found that the puller had to watch out for rocks and roots in the path. Morning then helped Mountain into place before taking the reins again.

"Wow, this is so much easier!" She giggled, slipping into a canter. Mountain seemed to be enjoying the ride too, waving at the rest of the group when they passed by.

"See, Mountain? There's nothing to worry about! I'll be able to keep up with the rest of the herd, no problem!" She boasted cheerfully. "And you know, I bet lots of ponies would like to have one of these once they see how useful they are!"

Thistle meant to say something. She meant to agree, possibly even suggest ponies who might like a sledge. Before the words could cross her lips though, there was a flash of Light-That-Wasn't.

They all stood stock still. Eyes peeled wide and ears swivelled in every direction. Their muscles were tensed with the preparation to run.

This flash hadn't been as bright as the one which had knocked out the entire herd. It was only a fraction as impressive. Still, it took several deep breaths before Thistle felt brave enough to turn her head and check on the rest of the herd.

No pony in the main body of the herd seemed to notice what had happened. They continued grazing and enjoying themselves. Thistle snorted and carefully looked over her group. No one appeared hurt or even dizzy. In fact, most of them didn't even seem afraid anymore.

"Okay, that was weird. We can all agree that was weird, right?" Morning cautiously straightened.

"Y'know what else is weird?" Mountain's head was cocked to the side and her eyes were pinned to Morning's flank.

"What?" Morning twisted around to see what her friend was talking about. Curious, Thistle moved in closer so she could see what Mountain was staring at.

On Morning's flank was the perfect image of a sledge, just like the one they'd built.

"A magic mark!" Morning yelped, twisting out of the ropes to get a better look. "What in the name of Sun and Moon? How did that get there?"

"It's...kind of like the one you have, Thistle." Light murmured, squinting at the new mark. 

Thistle checked her flank. She forgot about it a lot, but the mark was still there, just as perfect as the day it appeared on her flank. She was almost sure there was some kind of meaning attached to it, but she hadn't yet worked out how.

"Does this mean I'm magic?" Morning's eyes went just about as wide as eyes could get.

"Well now, mayhap dat firs' Light gave everypony a touch o' magic." Enduring scratched her chin. "Would explain all dese new fangled ideas popping up. Maybe dat mark's got some kind o' meaning to it."

"That's just what I was thinking!" Thistle grinned. 

"So, what? It means I'm good at making sledges?" Morning frowned. "But I didn't even make this one on my own."

"Maybe it was what you said about everypony wanting one?" Light suggested. "Like your new purpose in life is to make sledges for other ponies?"

"A purpose?" Thistle muttered, too low for anypony else to hear.

"Huh, I guess? Maybe. Sounds cool to me." Morning shrugged. "Hey, Mountain, you want to ride around the herd so I can show off to everypony?"

"I don't have anything better to do, knock yourself out." Mountain settled in, apparently content to be a prop for Morning's cause.

"Burr, yew got real quiet der." Enduring noticed.

"Just thinking." About purposes. About helping ponies.

"Hmm," Enduring stared down at her for a moment. "Well, time enough fer dat later. Ain't much sunlight left, but I reckon we could try ta find some gourds."

"May I go with you?" Light politely asked.

"Won't yer dam expect yew back before sundown, li'l filly?" She sniffed.

"Not anymore. She has a new foal now." Her dam had cast her out. That was cold. Thistle was glad she had a goup willing to lay with her at night.

"Alright den, I got no complaints. Let's get a'movin'."

______________________________________________________________________________


The next day when Pink and Pucker arrived they told them about Morning's new mark. It lit a fire under their tails and now both were eager to discover their own 'purpose' in life. Mostly, Thistle thought they just wanted to be magic too.

"I officially declare my purpose in life to have ten mares following me!" Pucker decreed to the sky.

"Pfft!" Thistle snickered. "That's it? Ten mares? Not even the Lead Stallion can take care of that many!"

"Yeah, Puck." Pink whooped. "Besides, it's gonna be hard enough for you to find one mare!"

"Well, then, I'll be Lead Stallion someday!" He decided. "I'll protect the whole herd!"

"I don't think this is working, there's no flash." Light pointed out, poking Pucker's blank flank.

"Maybe we have to be doing and deciding something, at the same time." Thistle suggested.

"Hey, yeah! That's gotta be it!" Pucker reared up to flash his hooves. "I'm gonna go find out what it takes to be the Lead Stallion!"

"Wait!" Pink grabbed his tail before he could race off. She hung on until he grunted and sat down. "You can't go bothering the Lead Stallion! Didn't your dam ever teach you anything? If you're lucky he'll just kick you away!"

"Oh yeah," He hadn't seemed to consider that the Lead Stallion was not a pony blessed with patience and understanding.

"Okay, let's think for a minute." Pink laid down, prompting the rest to join her. "What do we all want to do with our lives?"

"Live to be as old as Elder Enduring?" Light suggested in confusion. "I would think that's a perfectly respectable goal."

"You sure act like you're forty." Pink rolled her eyes. 

"I want to help the whole herd." Thistle sighed. "Make us stronger, keep more of us alive for longer."

"That's a good goal. Can I use it too?" Puck asked. "I want to fight off wolves and bears and panthers! I want to keep everypony safe!"

"Pink? Light? Any ideas?" Thistle smiled. Pucker's goal was great. She hoped he found a way to pull it off.

"...This is hard." Pink groaned, rolling onto her back. "Purpose in life? What purpose to life is there? We're born, we have foals, we grow old, we die. That's how life works!"

"But you can do things with that life." Light reasoned. "Thistle has already saved lives. We've created baskets and Morning created a sledge. Ponies are going to remember that, even when we're gone. We changed things."

"I guess," Pink didn't look like she believed it. "I mean, doing something different is great! Even my dam was impressed when I showed her my baskets!"

"But it's hard to think of cool, new stuff to do." She sighed.

"How do you come up with stuff, Thistle?" She wriggled around until she could look Thistle in the eyes.

"I just...think of stuff I need. Stuff that'd be useful. I had to gather a bunch of medicine stuff a few weeks ago and I had a hard time carrying it all, so I thought of baskets." She waved vaguely down the river.

"So let's think of stuff we need!" Pucker perked up. "Like...uh, Liiiiike...?"

Before any of them could come up with any ideas, thunder cracked across the sky. All four foals bolted to their hooves, running to the nearest adults. This happened to be Enduring, Morning, and Mountain.

"Eeyup, gonna be a storm. Bad'un." Enduring snorted at the clouds up above. "Pink an' Pucker, yew two oughta run to yer dams now. Dey'll be worried 'bout ya."

"Yes, Elder. Bye, Thistle!" Both ran off to the main body of the herd. Thunder cracked again, scaring them into putting on an extra burst of speed.

Thistle whimpered and ducked beneath Enduring. Storms were wild, dangerous things. It sounded like the whole sky was mad at you. Rain was cold and wet and lightning was terrifying!

Dim Light squeezed under with her. Pretty soon the small group was pressed beneath two trees with thick canopies. They waited in grim silence until the rain began to fall.

The storm continued for hours. By the end of it Thistle was sure she'd never feel warm or dry again. Light shivered beside her. Enduring shivered on her other side. Thistle couldn't feel it but she was pretty sure Morning and Mountain were shivering too.

There was a bit more thunder and lightning before the clouds rolled away. The stars seemed brighter after the total darkness they'd endured. Thistle picked out the Turtle and Hare constellations with ease.

"Well, dat was a trial." Enduring huffed softly. "It's gettin' ta be da season for dose. We're all gonna have mold growin' on our coats afore long."

"Ugh, more rain." Thistle wrinkled her nose in disgust. 

"Here's a thing we need, better shelter than a couple trees." Light laughed without real humor.

Better shelter? Thistle blinked. Was that something she could make? 

"Hardly any point ta dat." Enduring sniffed. "It'd just get left behind when da herd moved on."

Oh, that was true. Thistle was going to miss this spot by the river. So much had happened here. She'd saved ponies, made friends, learned so many new things. 

AAARROOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!

With no need for prior thought or discussion, the five ponies stood and galloped for the main body of the herd. Morning practically threw Mountain onto the sledge and rather than hitching herself in she simply bit down on the rope and began to pull. In a minute they were safely within the main body of the herd.

Everypony had turned outward, towards the forest. They kept their backs to the water. The stallions moved up front, flaring nostrils and flashing hooves providing the first line of defense. Behind them were the young mares, mostly those either with no foals or with their foals old enough to care for themselves.

The dams were behind those, and the foals behind them, as close to the water as they could get without actually getting wet. Enduring pushed Thistle and Light into the group of foals, then turned to watch the trees with a ferocious scowl.

Nopony really slept that night.

______________________________________________________________________________


Wolves aren't stupid. They wouldn't be so dangerous if they were. The pack had seen the herd united, with no way to sneak behind or around them. The pack had lingered in the tree line for hours, only departing with the sunrise to find less well-prepared prey.

Thistle's heart doesn't slow down until two hours past sunrise. The younger foals have already collapsed from exhaustion. Light leans heavily into her to remain standing. 

It's not a good situation to be in. And the wolves knew it. The storm had kept them awake and shivering, and the wolves had only made it worse. Sooner or later, something had to give. The herd would leave it's tight formation and start moving on, but that would leave a few unlucky ponies to be stalked by the slobbering beasts. Or the herd would stay in place, on edge and sleep deprived, until some unlucky pony wandered just a bit too far from the main body.

In a way, Thistle is grateful for the weeks of sparse sleep. The practice makes it a little easier to keep standing straight. Her head feels like somepony stuffed it full of cotton puffs, but she's awake.

"Thistle, psst! Thistle!" She looked curiously over her shoulder to see Pucker standing beside her, leaning his head close so they can whisper. "I got an idea."

"About...magic marks?" Her tongue feels swollen and clumsy. 

"No, for something new! Something we need!" He whispered excitedly, lifting his head for a moment to make sure nopony was listening. "Remember what you said about Unicorns?"

It took a moment. She'd repeated the story Enduring had told her to the other foals. She hadn't thought Pink or Pucker believed her, but Light had been thoughtfully silent. Slowly, she nodded.

"They fight by poking things with their sharp horns, right?" She nodded again.

"So, what if we had something sharp to poke the wolves with?" His whisper nearly grew into a shout. He checked for eavesdroppers again.

"But...we don't have horns?" Thistle brought her hoof to her forehead. No pointy bump. Right, because Earth ponies didn't have those.

"It doesn't have to be a horn!" He reassured her. "I was thinking, what if we got some strong sticks and sharpened those? Then we could just carry those and when a wolf came, hee-yah!" He demonstrated a jabbing motion, as if he were already holding a pointy stick.

But the sticks were in the forest, with the wolves. Thistle was usually pretty casual about wandering away from the herd, but that was before an actual pack of wolves appeared. 

No, wait, there were some sticks that weren't in the forest! They hadn't used all the sticks for the sledge!

She gently lowered Light to the ground, where she curled up. Then, free of her burden, Thistle reared onto her back legs to see the pile of sticks left. The pile was nearer the water than the trees, but wolves were fast. Still, she pointed out the pile to Pucker.

They moved to the edge of the foal group. That was as far as they got before the obvious problem occured to them.
The adults were never going to let two foals race out for a few sticks.

She pulled Pucker back by his tail when it looked like he was going to give it a go anyway. They were only going to have one shot at this. She pulled him to the very back of the foal group, to the shallows of the water.

"Do you know how to swim?" She asked him, dropping his tail.

"Uh, no?" He pranced in place, looking at the water with distrust.

The water woke her up a bit more. Enough to come up with a plan. Maybe even a plan that would work. But first,

"We're gonna need Pink and Light." 

Light hadn't been happy, with either falling asleep or being woken up. Pink had circled so far into tiredness she'd ambushed energetic from behind. Neither Pink nor Light could swim, so Thistle explained her plan to them in the shallows.
Then, as quietly as she could manage, Thistle began swimming upstream.

She watched the herd as much as the tree line. One adult spotting her could ruin the whole thing. She made it though, re-entering the shallows nearest the sticks.

Here she pulled rope from her basket. Well, from Light's baskets really. She hadn't wanted to risk washing away any of her medicines so for now they'd traded.

Standing unsteadily in the shallows, she tied a loop in one end of the rope. It was a trick knot. When it caught on something the loop would close around it. Useful only for pranking other ponies by tripping them, but if she could throw it just right she wouldn't have to get out of the water.

After every throw she paused. She watched the trees first, then turn towards the herd. Everypony was watching the forest. Ponies were moving about the lines, discussing things, but their eyes and ears were all turned towards the trees.

It took several tries to catch her first branch. She dragged it into the water, untied it, then let it float downstream towards the other foals. Light caught it and passed it to Puck. He'd collected some rocks with edges, remembering her story about Unicorns sharpening their horns on rocks. 

Thistle turned back towards the sticks and readied herself for another toss.

Eight branches later, they had what Pucker had deemed spears. And as soon as the name had sprung from his lips there was a flash of Light-That-Wasn't to slap a mark on his flanks.

Two spears, crossed over each other.

The foals couldn't speak for their excitement. They admired Pucker's marks until he waved one of the spears to fend them off, reminding them of why they were doing this.

Now came the hard part.

The four of them left their baskets with Morning and Mountain. When the mares asked what the foals were doing, Thistle said they were helping the herd.

Carrying two spears apiece, the foals wove between ponies to reach the Leads.

Ponies moved out of Thistle's way. She'd been uncomfortable with it, but now it was a blessing. Being magic was a blessing. She needed to be like True Blue. She needed every ounce of confidence the world was willing to give her.

"Lead Mare, Lead Stallion, I have something that will help."

True Blue was the Lead Mare, she decided where they went and where they stayed. She kept track of their numbers and especially kept track of the useful ponies.

Rock Slide was the Lead Stallion. Any danger that came to the herd faced him first. Any stallion that didn't fulfill their responsibilities answered to him. If a pony did something truly wrong, he was the one who cast them from the herd. 

"Pucker Thorn made these." She held up one of her spears, sharp end towards the sky. "They're called spears. They're strong and sharp."

"If we are attacked by wolves, these will do more damage than hooves alone." She held it out towards Rock Slide.

The stallion's black mane was tangled, and there was a bald spot where a challenger had ripped it out. Still, his coat rippled over rock-like muscles and his hooves could crack stone. He was the biggest, strongest stallion in the whole herd.

He looked down on the sap-brown filly holding out the branch, but that was only a matter of size. By her side was a colt with a dusty brown coat, a wheat blond mane, and a magic mark on his flank. He'd already heard that Morning Dew had been blessed with a magic mark. He hadn't heard of a colt gaining one.

True Blue had spoken to him about Thistle Burr. The filly who didn't act like a filly. The magic-touched filly. She'd saved lives these past few weeks. Now here she was offering a way to save more.

"Oak Leaf," He called to his best friend and the sire of this oddly brave filly. "Pass out these 'spears' to the strongest stallions and explain their use. When True Blue gets us moving make sure every pony with a spear is evenly spaced around the herd."

As the foals passed their burdens forward, he studied them. The other two fillies didn't have marks, but he wondered how long that would last when they followed Thistle Burr. 

One of the fillies, the blue one with the white mane, was one of his brood. Dim Light, he recalled. Small and sickly. The other filly was obviously sired by Peach Fuzz. He didn't recall her name but she was large for her age.

The colt was Pucker Thorn, one of Summer Storm's foals. Summer Storm was an odd one, a stallion satisfied with just one mare. Still, a well-enough stallion. His colt was turning out well. He wondered if the four foals were planning to roam together when they were older. It wasn't odd for fillies who were friends to scope out a nice stallion while they were still young.

Thistle Burr reminded him of True Blue. The same mare who'd approached him at thirteen and made him a deal. Help her become Lead Mare and she would make sure he was Lead Stallion. 

It was entirely possible he was looking at the next Lead Mare.

"It's done." Oak Leaf returned to report. He flicked his ear and nodded. He met True's eyes.

"Thistle, give me a moment to find Flood Plain, then lead me to Morning Dew. I have a task for her." The filly nodded. The other foals, recognizing they were being dismissed, returned to the foal group. The colt lingered, eyes caught to the spear in Slide's hooves. Rock Slide nodded his respect to the foal, then turned back towards the forest.
> Spears and Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning was pulling the foals. Flood Plain carried Mountain on her back. Given Flood was the largest mare in the herd, and quite possibly the cheeriest, this wasn't a bad arrangement.

Morning was also tasked with building more sledges at the next place they stopped.

Thistle wasn't riding the sledge, but she was barely keeping pace with it. Most of the foals were already asleep. Those who were too old for the sledge either rode on their dam's back or stumbled as she did.

Thistle would've preferred for Light to ride somepony, but her mother had cast her out and there was no pony they could ask. Enduring was too old, Morning was pulling a lot of weight already, and Shiny Rock had a new foal to take care of.

As it was, she had some rope with a noose around Light's neck, to keep the filly following her. Thistle wished she was big enough to carry Light, but she wasn't and she had to accept that. She just had to ignore how tired she was. Just keep putting one hoof in front of the other.

The wolves weren't gone. They were following at a distance. With all the foals in the middle of the herd, instead of scattered with their dams, there weren't any stragglers to pick off. But the ponies weren't moving fast and they had to sleep sometime.

Thistle knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake for another night. She'd fall asleep and have to trust that the herd would keep her safe. And she did trust the herd, really. Especially with those new spears Pucker had created.

But there were wolves in this forest. And just the thought of that made her want to gallop.

Not that she'd get more than twenty body lengths before collapsing. She could barely keep walking.

"I'm tired." Light sighed, so quietly Thistle wasn't sure she'd meant to be heard. The filly's head was drooping so low it was a wonder she didn't trip on her own mane.

Her headache was back, and there was an ache in her neck to accompany it. Still, she tried to stretch and wake herself more. The Lead Mare wouldn't keep them going long. Nopony was prepared to keep going long. They'd find someplace good enough before sundown. 

How long would the wolves follow them?

She tried to spot any glowing eyes or gray fur through the trees, but came up with nothing. Some stallions kept sounding off whenever they happened to notice a wolf though, so she knew the herd was still being followed.

She wondered what would happen if they were still in the forest come sundown. The trees were packed so tightly it was hard just to find a path the sledge could use. They wouldn't be able to bunch up as they did at the river.

Maybe the Lead Mare had come to the same realization. All of a sudden the pace started to pick up. A trot instead of the slow walk from before. Thistle forgot for a moment that Light was tied to her and ended up choking her friend by mistake. 

"Been dis way before," Enduring told them. "Bout two hours out der's a big hill, one side's got a river windin' around it. I reckon it feeds into da same river we just left."

"We cross da river by dat hill, da wolves won't be able to follow us." She finished her explanation, teasing a relieved smile from both fillies.

"Thank Sun and Moon." Thistle sighed with relief. Two hours at a trot? She could do this.


_________________________________________________________________________________


She couldn't do this.

She'd pictured a river like the one they just left. An easy-going current with a gentle incline.

This river was a monster. It roared. It ran fast enough for her to track a stray branch caught in its stream flow out of sight in a few minutes. It wasn't as wide across as the last one, but it was fiercer. This was the kind of river that ate ponies.

"Hmm," Even Enduring looked uncertain, ears pricked forward. "Forgot how strong it was."

"Oh geez, I'm a terrible swimmer." Morning whimpered.

"At least you have all four legs to work with." Mountain gulped, still laying on Flood's back. "Great Mother Earth, we're going to drown."

"Thistle?" Light nudged her. "Any ideas?"

"Uh," Ponies were milling about, a lot of dams were hovering near the sledge still carrying their sleeping foals.

Wood floated. Everypony knew that. The real question was, if they kept the foals on the sledge would it still float or begin to sink?

"Everypony, grab a foal, bite tails!" The Lead Mare shouted over the roar of the rapids. "Stronger swimmers up front!"

Ponies began moving. Only the stallions with spears remained on guard against the wolves. Ponies found vines and tied their foals to themselves, then turned and bit the tail of their neighbor.

Morning lashed Mountain to Flood's body, then picked up Light to ride her back. Thistle bit Enduring's tail, while Enduring bit Morning's. The sledge was temporarily hitched to Flood, since the larger mare had a better chance of getting it across the water.

In several long chains, the herd began to tread water.

This water was colder, sharper. It bit and stole air from her lungs. Her small body wasn't able to fight the current, and only her grip on Enduring's tail kept her from drifting away. She did her best to kick at the water and keep her nose up. Mostly she just tried not to let go.

Her legs were going numb. Her jaw ached. She couldn't see how much further they had to go and she couldn't hear anything over the roar of the rapids. The only good thing about the cold was that it kept her wide awake.

Something struck her side. It felt like a rock. She whinnied and redoubled her grip on Enduring's tail. Thistle pushed off the rock, gaining a bit more height and a brief glimpse of the other shore.

Soon. Nearly there. Any second now Flood Plain would find dirt beneath her hooves.

From the corner of her eye she saw another pony, lost from their chain. She lashed out with her tail, and nearly screamed as the pony latched on and nearly ripped it out. They hit the same rock she'd found a moment ago and used it to steady themselves.

Everything was numb and burning by time they reached shore. For a minute Thistle wondered if she'd ever be able to open her jaw, before it popped open. She rubbed at her sore cheeks until her legs gave out under her.

The pony who'd nabbed her tail had likewise collapsed, moaning softly to themselves with their hindlegs still in the water.

"Everypony, away from the water! We will huddle together and rest now!" The Lead Mare declared, to a rousing cheer.

Thistle decided her spot was good enough. She didn't even have the energy to curl up. Somepony clamped their teeth over her crest and carried her to a pony pile. Thistle recognized Dim Light and pulled her close so they could shiver together.

It was ravenous hunger that roused her next morning. She curled tighter with Light and tried to ignore it. Her body ached. Surely her stomach could wait a few more hours? 

Light wriggled out of her hooves, leaving Thistle fighting the betrayal. Now she didn't have anypony to curl up with and she was cold as well as hungry. She moaned and rolled over, hoping that would help.

Light held a hoofful of grass over her nose. Thistle ate it without thinking.

"Grr!" She grumbled, reluctantly opening her eyes. Light stood over her with a smug grin, waving another hoofful of grass just out of easy reach.

"Sun will be up soon." She informed Thistle.

"Sun's not up yet. Neither am I." She did want that grass though. She reluctantly pushed herself up so she could snatch it. Light gave it up way too easily. She already had what she wanted, which was Thistle, awake and unhappy about it.
Her stomach cramped, drawing a startled groan from her lips. She'd already had two big mouthfuls, why did her stomach act like she was still denying it?

There was no way she'd be able to sleep through that.

She probably left a few bruises on the other ponies in the pile. Her limbs felt like somepony had filled them up with rocks. By the time they stumbled out of the pile they were both eager to fall upon the first clear patch of grass. Only once their hunger had been mostly sated did they look up.

There was the river, still roaring and still hungering for the lives of ponies. There was the herd, all scrunched together to sleep away their exhaustion. More than a few had been woken by their bellies and were eating whatever was closest.

Thistle found the sledge, and through it Morning and Mountain. The sledge had lost some sticks and rope. Somepony was going to have to fix that before they got moving again.

She reached back to take some rope from her baskets and her hoof felt nothing but air.

"Where'd my baskets go?" Had they fallen off while she slept?

A thought occured to her. A terrible, heart-breaking, rage-inducing thought.

"You can have mine, if you'd like. Since I was riding Morning they didn't fall off." Light offered kindly.

"All that medicine," She groaned, covering her face with her hooves. "Gone to waste."

"We can make more baskets and, uhm, find some way to tie them on better?" Light suggested. 

"Uuuuggghhhh!" She was too tired to even think of gathering those plants again. Unfortunately, she was now too awake to fall back asleep.

She made herself get up. The memory of that pony nearly being swept away drove her to look over the herd. She wasn't sure how many ponies were in the herd, she'd never had the chance to really count before, but she wondered if she'd recognize an empty space where somepony used to be.

The ones she recognized in the pre-dawn light, she was grateful for. The ones she didn't recognize, but were still present, she was relieved by. Numbers kept adding up inside her head.

All told, there were 43 ponies in the herd. For some reason she thought the numbers should be higher. Had they lost ponies? She couldn't tell. She couldn't tell and she was too afraid to ask.

"Thistle, what's wrong?" Light nuzzled her.

"Nothing, Light." She sighed, nuzzling back. There was Pink Peach curled up with her dam. There was Enduring, near Morning and Mountain. Flood Plains was snoring. Over there was Pucker, already awake and grazing. Oak Leaf still had hold of his spear and was talking with the Lead Stallion. The Lead Mare was nursing her filly, deep in conversation with Shiny Rock who was likewise feeding her filly.

The light got better, letting her make out more and more familiar faces. There was Bird Song and her three foals. Racer was getting a drink from the river. Blueberry and Blackberry were laying side by side. 

She didn't know everypony's names, but she knew most. 

With the Sun coming up other ponies would wake up. Thistle heaved another sigh and began inspecting the surrounding area. She needed to make a new basket and start re-gathering medicine. She should probably try getting more rope and branches for the sledge too.

"Light, want to help me find some reeds?"

__________________________________________________________________________________


A week later, Thistle watches a mare run at a tree and jab it with a spear. She does this over and over, from different angles and at different speeds, until the spear is ruined. Being made of pointed sticks, this isn't really an issue. The mare will just go to Pucker and ask for a new one.

And the spears make ponies feel better, knowing there's wolves and bears out there. Despite not actually using the spears against any living creatures yet, most ponies are pretty confident with them. The same with sledges, now that five are in existence. Morning's still working on number six.

Reminded of this, Thistle turns towards the mare in question. Beside her is Mountain, listlessly stacking rocks. Thistle looks at Mountain's splints and wonders how long it takes bones to heal. How long has it been?

Almost two moons. Mountain hadn't needed any loco-roots in a while. Had they healed? Was there a way to check without risk of making it worse?

There probably wasn't. She hoped two moons was enough.

"Mountain, I think it's time to look at your legs again." She announced, walking up to the pair.

"Oh, thank merciful Moon!" The mare groaned. "I'm going to go absolutely insane if I can't stand on my own four hooves!"

"Take it slow!" Thistle warned her. "No pony has ever healed broken legs before. They might be weaker than they used to be so you have to be careful."

"Yes, okay, I get it!" Mountain wiggled her good legs. "Just please say I can take off these itchy ropes!"

Thistle undid the first knots carefully. She probed and prodded the old wound, testing for soreness. It was a little thinner than it's counterpart, but hopefully it would be strong enough to hold her. The second leg was much the same, though that one was a little more achy.

"Okay, try standing." Mountain did so, happily. Morning hovered at her side, nearly bouncing in place. Thistle probed and prodded both legs again.

Mountain had no issue walking. She claimed her back knee felt 'funny' but it didn't hurt. Just felt weak. A light trot and canter were both taken easily. The gallop didn't go as well as the first three tests.

She could run, but after about twenty body lengths her back leg would give out. Thistle's heart had leapt into her throat and she spent several minutes making sure the leg wasn't broken.

"I think," She swallowed nervously and tried again. "I think it's okay, it's probably just weak because you haven't used your legs in a while."

"Who cares?" Mountain reared. "I can walk again!"

"Never dought eh'd see da day when a pony would survive broken legs." Enduring commented.

"I'm glad I was able to help." Thistle sighed with relief. "Time for more lessons?"

"Always time fer more lessons, Burr." Enduring chuckled. "C'mon now, I heard ponies talk about some mushrooms dey found and eh ain't had da opportunity ta teach yew about mushrooms yet."

"Alright! Some ponies say mushrooms are good to eat but others say they're poison." She beamed.

"Der's different kinds. Let's go see what kinds dees ones are." Enduring led them to the patch given a wide berth by the rest of the herd.

"Most mushrooms smell real similar, so dat's no good. Got to pay real close attention to what dey look like." She cautioned the young filly. "Now, describe dees ones."

"Uhm, short, round and white. White all around." She leaned in close to see if there was any detail she'd missed.

"Ah, I always call dose ones White Ball mushrooms. Dey're good fer eatin'." Enduring demonstrated by taking a large bite. "Da texture takes some gettin' used to."

Thistle took a bite and grimaced. The taste was fine, just sort of bland, but the texture was weird. Like chewing tree sap. Only it wasn't sticky really. She had to force herself to swallow.

"Yuck." She took a bite of grass to wash out the taste. "I don't think I like mushrooms."

"Most ponies don't, but mushrooms are good ta have around. Dey like dark, damp places so ya know it either rains often here or der's water close by." Enduring told her.

"I think we've had enough water for a while, Enduring." Thistle wiped away a stray grass stem. 

A sound caught their attention. Their ears turned back, trying to understand what they were hearing. They weren't that far from the main body of the herd. 

"What's going on?" Thistle turned, trying to catch the sound better. It sounded like everypony had just gotten really excited all of a sudden. Had a wolf been sighted?

"Dunno. Better head back." Enduring snorted, already leading the way. Thistle swiped a few mushrooms for her basket before following the old nag.

The garbled sound became clearer as they returned to the herd. Ponies were racing back and forth between friends and grinning from ear to ear. It took a moment for her to concentrate on one voice long enough to figure out what was happening.

"Another herd's been spotted!" She gasped. The last herd they'd met was two years ago. This really was something to be excited about! Enduring caught her grin and matched it before they both raced back to their group.

"Elder, Thistle, have you two heard?" Morning pranced in place. 

"There's another herd nearby?" Thistle wanted confirmed. "How far away?"

"Somepony found signs of their passing," Morning gave a side long look to Mountain, who only looked pleased with herself. 

"Yeah, those 'signs'" Mountain rolled her eyes. "Were definitely fresh. They aren't more than a couple hours ahead of us. The Lead Mare will probably get us moving soon."

Indeed, Thistle and Light barely had time to greet Pucker and Pink before the Lead Mare began to move them. Thistle barely stopped herself from racing ahead. Beyond the excitement shared with the rest of the herd was a question she very much wanted answered.

Had these ponies seen the Light-That-Wasn't too?
> 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.
> Eyes and Monsters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"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.
> Grass and Plans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world was getting colder. She'd started noticing the leaves changing colors. Her hoof came unbidden to her oat gourd on more than one occasion. It wouldn't be much longer before winter was upon them. Already, summer was coming to a close.

It was always hard to imagine, but pretty soon food would be scarce. With their herd as large as it was ponies would be arguing over food before long, and they'd need to find a place to settle for the winter.

Right now they were travelling through plains. Large, wide open spaces and grass that reached her shoulders. Ponies were keeping their foals close to avoid losing them. Those ponies who came from the Other herd were constantly checking the horizon and the skies and even the ground below for threats. Most of them carried spears.

There was a lot of grass here. If they stayed here through the winter they'd be able to dig for the grass for most of the season. 

But there weren't any good sources of water here. There'd been a pond covered entirely by algea. Only one pony had been brave enough to drink from it. He was recovering now, but it had taken almost all the spare water gourds Light had. The less she thought of the mess, the better.

A river, or even a creek, would make this place perfect. They'd been travelling in this direction for eighteen days now. 

Well, mostly this direction. True Blue often spoke in depth with Hope, and took them in long, curving paths to avoid certain things. Most ponies couldn't navigate by starlight and so hadn't noticed the odd pattern. They just followed the Lead wherever she led.

It seemed True Blue had a destination in mind. Thistle yearned to ask, and she truly believed she might get an answer, but that yearning hadn't tipped her forward yet. Her days were busy enough with lessons and tending to the wounded.

She couldn't think of a use for that knowledge either. It wouldn't be any place she'd been to before. The only thing she should concern herself with is that the place had food and water to last through winter.

The storms were getting more frequent. She shot a suspicious look to the sky. Clouds were starting to gather. She gave it another two hours before they were all drenched. Did she have a large enough store of yarrow bark? She should check Morning's sledge again.

She hopped onto it and began checking the baskets. These ones were woven from grass, not reeds. They weren't as sturdy but they could be woven tighter. Pink had thrown herself into basket weaving lately. Said she wanted to find a way to weave baskets tight enough to hold water.

"Healer Burr," Thistle looked up from her supplies. A young colt, around twelve or so, was now walking beside the sledge. "The Lead Mare wants to see you." 

Message delivered, he trotted off to return to his group. Thistle watched him go for a moment. She sighed and replaced the supplies before she jumped off the sledge. She exchanged nods with Light before racing off to see what True Blue needed.

They were travelling near the middle of the herd, but on the outskirts. She had to pass a lot of ponies before reaching True Blue. The Lead Mare was, of course, carrying her filly. Thistle thought her name was Bluebell or something similar.

"Lead Mare?" She cleared her throat.

"Thistle Burr," True nodded, then gestured for the two of them to walk a little further ahead. They settled into a pace that gave them some privacy from everypony else. "I wished to speak to you about our destination."

"For our wintering grounds?" She recalled that the Lead Mare had often asked her dam for advice on where to take them.

"Our destination," True Blue hummed thoughtfully. "Thistle Burr, what do you think of our habits? Travelling for days, staying a few weeks in pleasant areas before moving on?"

She had to put thought into this. It felt like a question Enduring might ask. This felt like a lesson.

"...Some ponies can't keep up." That was the biggest issue. The pace was unforgiving to those weaker than their herdmates. The ill, the wounded, the old and young, all those could fall behind and be lost all too easily.

Her thoughts turned to the Other ponies. They weren't Other anymore, but their experiences had scarred them. 

Sometimes she wondered if there might be scars around their very hearts as well as on their flesh.

"And there's always the risk that whatever area we venture to is dangerous." She continued numbly. 

"Hope Springs has told me about a fertile valley." True told her. "With a lake, fruit trees, open spaces, few predators. They used it as a foaling ground last year."

"Will we winter there?" It did sound like a nice place.

"Mmm," True didn't answer. "Thistle Burr, what if I said I wish to stay there? If I wished for my herd to stay in a safe place, rather than roaming over hill and dale?"

Stay in one place? It sounded...well, part of her thought it was crazy but another part of her thought it sounded wonderful.  The clouds thundered overhead, reminding her about Light's suggestion of better shelters. If they stayed in one place, they could build shelters, couldn't they?

What would the rest of the herd think? Ponies were always talking about how wonderful this or that place was, but no pony had ever suggested staying there. She knew more than a few might enjoy not having to carry their foals around for most of the day. The Other ponies would probably enjoy the stability too.

What about food and water? 18 plus 43 equaled 61. There were 61 ponies in the herd at this very moment. If the lake was large enough they probably wouldn't have to worry about water, but what about food? Plants took time to grow, but 61 ponies needed to be fed every day. Just getting through winter without anypony starving would be difficult to accomplish.

But Thistle didn't think this was insurmountable. Difficult, sure, but not impossible. She looked over her shoulder, eyes searching for the ponies with baskets and sledges. Most of the herd had one of the two by now.

"We'll need to store food, and we'll need to start now." Food to get them through winter and the earliest parts of spring. After that? 

She looked down at the grass they were walking through. Dried grass would keep for a long time. 

Enduring told her that some herds made a habit of leaving seeds in the places they liked best, so when they traveled that way again more of those plants would have grown. Fields of flowers, oats, and wheat left to mark old foaling or wintering grounds.

What if they did that but then, just didn't leave? What if they just cleared a big spot for oats or flowers? Or even this tall grass! 

"Lead Mare, I think I've got a few ideas." She grinned ear to ear. 

The rain started an hour later, while the two of them were still deep in conversation. True Blue excused her to rejoin her group, and reminded her to get started with drying grass first thing tomorrow.

When the Sun dawned hot and bright, the Lead Mare made an announcement. Everypony was to cut as much long grass as they could, and carry it on their sledges to let it dry in the Sun as they walked. She explained that this would be an extra food source for the Winter.

Thistle was as enthusiastic as anypony else in piling grass on Morning's sledge. She explained the full details to her family, listened to their misgivings and ideas. Pink and Pucker stopped by and heard the abbreviated version. The version she hoped the rest of the herd would like and support.

A place to raise their foals in safety. A place with food in abundance. That sounded good, didn't it? 

Part of her worry was that she couldn't plan much on the move. She'd never seen this valley they were going to. She didn't know what creatures called it home. All she could do was pile grass onto Morning's sledge and run around to check on the injured and sick. There were 61 ponies on this march and she wanted there to be 61 when they arrived.

Thistle forced herself to breathe deeply. It would be a while yet before they reached the valley. They were going around a marsh that Hope claimed held glowing creatures that led ponies astray and drowned them. Supposedly that was the last obstacle between the herd and the valley. With luck and good weather, they should reach their destination in ten days.

For a moment the Sun was blotted out. A huge shadow, large enough to cover most of the herd at once, passed over them. 

By the time Thistle looked up, whatever had cast the shadow was gone.

________________________________________________________________________________


They left the plains with their sledges piled with dried grass. It looked like a wealthy store of food. Ponies happily added to the piles, eyes shining with pride. Thistle was the only one who looked at the piles and frowned.

"You wanna share, Thistle? You look like somepony kicked dirt at ya." Mountain asked with concern.

"I'm just thinking." Adding and subtracting. She'd found a use for Enduring's number lessons. This much grass, subtract what 61 ponies eat in a day. Take that amount, subtract again. 

At most, they had enough to feed the whole herd for six days. It looked like a lot now, when everypony was eating the long grass and only adding what they didn't eat to the sledges. Once they were forced to turn to the sledges for food that would change. Their little store would run out fast.

There were seventeen sledges in the herd now. Each sledge could hold enough food for about five ponies. Assuming every pony got an equal share of the grass, less than half the herd would be able to eat the next day.

There just wasn't enough grass to feed all of them through winter. 

What else would keep over the winter months? Roots and bark mainly. Watercress, if they could find it, and cranberries. 
Ponies were looking forward to a winter of ease, but that just wasn't going to happen. They'd still be digging through the snow. If they weren't careful, ponies were going to starve. Just like every winter.

She didn't want to lose a single pony. She wanted True Blue's idea, her dream, to work! A permanant place where they could live. It would only work so long as there was food to live on!

So much would depend on the valley itself. What grew there? More importantly, what grew there during winter? Had Hope's herd only visited during the spring? 

"Burr, yew look like some fool stallion done kicked a hornet's nest at ya." Enduring commented, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I'm thinking about winter food." She looked away from the sledge and the grass. Enduring licked her lips and hummed for a moment.

"Der's food a'plenty in da winter, if'n ya know where ta find it." She gave Thistle a positively mischievous look. "Most o' da edible mushrooms I know of grow in winter."

"Yuck," She shuddered. Those yucky, chewy things! 

"Der's plenty o' roots and barks good in winter too. Takes some digging ta get to'em. Cattail roots are good, n' sometimes yew can get da new shoots in da later months." She sighed. "Course, yew got yer juniper berries, an' yer birch bark."

"Cursed Shadows, sounds like there's plenty of stuff to eat in winter." Mountain grumbled, re-settling Camellia. The little filly yawned and continued sleeping on her back.

"Der is, just most ponies only eat dem in winter cuz' most of'em taste bitter." Enduring shrugged. "Dey won't eat it a'tall if'n der's any oder option."

"I wonder how much of that grows where we're going." Thistle muttered.

"We could ask Hope Springs." Light suggested. "She's been there before."

"I know, it's just," She tucked her ears back. Talking to Hope Springs hadn't gotten any easier. Bright Finish was downright enthusiastic and the rest were settling in nicely, but Hope Springs kept apart from everypony else. The only ponies she talked to were True Blue and Thistle.

"Some ponies go cold like dat when bad dings happen." Enduring softly sighed. "Dink dat if dey don't love anypony, den dey can't be hurt by anypony. But dey wrong. Dey keep hurtin' and da pain never goes away."

"She hates monsters." Thistle thought most of the Others did, but Hope Springs was different. Hope Springs was active in her hatred. She was loud and proud of it. The kind of hate that drove a pony to fight, even when it cost them more than they could gain.

"Is there anything that helps with that?" She turned towards Enduring. Enduring had seen more than any pony alive. 

"Time, an' friends n' family." Enduring snorted. "Dose kinds o' ponies dink dey can avoid da hurt by avoidin' da ponies, but dey wrong. Being alone only makes da hurt worse."

There wasn't much Thistle could do then, unless Hope started letting her help. More than just letting her check her injuries. Hope didn't appear to have any living family left, and the only pony who might've claimed to be her friend was Bright Finish, who seemed to be avoiding her as much as she avoided him.

"I'm going to talk to her." She decided. If she didn't she'd just keep worrying about the food. Even if it resulted in another graphic description of a pony being ripped in two, she still had to try.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Somepony had found a patch of wheat. It was fully ripened and looked unbearably tempting. It was the first patch of 'good stuff' since the oats Thistle and Enduring had found.

Back then, Thistle and Enduring had gotten some oats because they'd been the ones to find it. This time, Thistle was ushered to the front of the herd because she was part of the Lead's in-crowd. She came away with two gourds of the stuff. One went around her neck, the other was shared with her family.

"Savin' dat fer winter, Burr?" Enduring smiled knowingly at her fourth gourd.

"Nope!" She answered cheerfully, to their confusion.

"What are you saving it for then?" Light asked.

"Planting." She tapped the gourd.

"Planting, Healer Burr?" Holly's eyes widened.

"Where we're going, we'll be staying for a long time, even after winter ends." She reminded them. "Well, I think having some oats and wheat growing to eat next year will make everypony pretty happy. And if we grow enough, then some can be stored for next winter."

"That's..." Marsh cocked her head to the side. "Food all year round."

"Good food all year round!" Her daughter, Summer Showers, corrected her. Showers had never had wheat before. Thistle hadn't had the heart to deny sharing with her followers. The whole family stopped, staring at the spot where the pile had been set. Only a few stray kernels remained.

"So, what you're saying is, we probably should've saved all that." Mountain remarked, poking one of the remaining kernels.

"I brought the second gourd to share with all of you." She shook her head. "What's the point of having food for later if we don't treat ourselves occasionally?"

"Heh," Enduring chuckled. "A'fore long hunger's gonna be a ding o' da past if yew keep dis up."

"That's the idea." She nodded. It wouldn't be the Endless Plains exactly, but it would be a lot closer than where they were now.

"How much longer til we get to this valley?" Morning asked, already hitching herself back to the sledge. They still had plenty of sunlight left and the herd was starting to move.

"A few more days." Thistle answered. "Just a few more days."
> Valleys and Shelters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

__________________________________________________________________________________


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.
> Colts and Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first shelter was almost finished when nightfall began to threaten. Thistle stared uncertainly at the painted sky. Pink was usually careful to always go back to her dam when it got this late. 

"Just a little more." Pink muttered, holding her hoof down for another hooffull of thatch. It had to be dipped in a basket of mud before being applied to the roof. Pink claimed it would help shed off rain and make the roof stronger.

"Pink Peach! What in the name of the Mother Earth is keeping you?" Thistle nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around on the spot to see a towering mare fast on the approach, accompanied by a colt.

This was Cardinal, Pink's dam. A bright red mare who was every bit as vibrant and bold as the bird she was named for. 

Cardinal recognized Thistle at the same time Thistle recognized Cardinal. If the mare was a bird she would have smoothed out her feathers. She had a winning smile and a spring to her step that honestly befuddled her. A moment ago she'd sounded mad enough to shake the tree tops.

"Oh, Pink dear, I didn't know you were still with your friend!" She continued, much sweeter if not softer. "Won't you introduce us, dear?"

"Uh, yes Dam." Pink judged the distance between herself and the ground. It wasn't that far. Still, Thistle flinched when she jumped.

"Dam, this is my friend Thistle Burr." Pink's smile looked as if somepony had carved it there. "Thistle Burr, this is my dam, Cardinal."

"Oh, it's simply delightful to finally meet you, Thistle Burr!" Cardinal giggled. "Why, my Pink Peach has told me so much about you I feel as if I know you already!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The lie tasted foul on her tongue. Thistle sternly told herself to be polite. This was her friend's dam. 

"And so polite!" Cardinal waved her hoof flatteringly. "Your dam must have taught you well. I only wish I could've done as well. Pink dear, you forgot to introduce your brother, Woodpecker!"

She shoved the colt forward. He was almost a stallion, with a red mane that matched his mother's coat. His white coat was the cleanest Thistle had ever seen. He must've washed in the lake recently.

"Hello there," His smile was smoother than his dam's. Thistle found herself smiling back without really knowing why. "If I had a friend like you I'd stay out late too."

"Oh, t-thank you?" She stepped back. The reminder helped rally her.

"I apologize for keeping Pink Peach so late, we were really hoping to finish the first shelter today." Her cheeks were flushing.

"The first shelter, you say?" Cardinal's eyes tracked over it, taking in every detail. It was a round edifice, as tall as two ponies and large enough to fit six inside comfortably. The only opening was wide enough for a pony to step through. They hadn't really come up with any way to block the opening to keep predators out yet.

"My, this is rather impressive, isn't it? Well, Pink dear, don't let me distract you! Your friend is counting on you after all!" Cardinal's smile held too many teeth.

"Yes, Dam." Only Thistle saw the way Pink rolled her eyes. "Marsh Steps, could you help me get back on the roof, please?"

"Sure thing." Once back in place, Pink began weaving more thatch in.

"Thistle, do you mind if I call you that? Thistle," She continued without waiting for an answer. "Do tell me about yourself, dear? You have so many responsibilities for the herd, don't you?"

"A fair few." She answered humbly. "I speak to the Lead Mare most every day, and I tend to the ill and wounded. Lately my concerns have been in ensuring we have enough food and shelter for winter."

"Cursed Shadows, that seems like a lot." Woodpecker tutted sympathetically. "Is my sister much help?"

"Yes, I've started relying on her more and more since we first made baskets by the calm river." She looked up to see if Pink was listening. Her ears were turned towards them but her hooves were moving at a steady pace.

"She's the one who thought of shelters made of rocks." She pointed out. "And I thought her water proof basket was amazing."

"I'm so proud of her," Cardinal held her hoof up to her heart. "Such a busy little bee, always willing to help her friends."

Something about this felt wrong. She just couldn't forget how angry Cardinal had sounded when she first approached. She couldn't forget how Cardinal had advocated leaving Morning and Mountain behind either.

But she had to be polite. Cardinal was her friend's dam. She had to be polite.

"Thistle," Woodpecker sat down beside her. Close beside her. She shifted a little so they weren't so close to touching anymore. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Ten," She answered promptly. "Eleven this spring."

"Wow, and you've already done so much. One wonders what you'll manage to do when you're finally a mare." He laughed, inviting her to join in on the joke.

"I haven't exactly planned out that far." She looked at the ground between her hooves. "I've still got a few years yet before I can be called a mare."

"They'll pass quick," He assured her. "Sun and Moon know I've been impatiently waiting the day when I can be called a stallion. This spring I'll be turning fourteen."

"Are you nervous?" Mares had it easy compared to stallions. Once their first heat arrived they were mares. It was different for stallions. When they turned fourteen their sire challenged them to a fight. The colt had to prove themselves to the herd. 

Rarely were the fights serious. A few charges, some exchanges of hooves. Last spring Thistle had watched one colt get knocked down five times but he'd come away with only a few bruises. 

"Not at all," He cockily shook out his mane. "I've been spending more time with my sire lately, learning all I need to know to be a stallion."

"Who is your sire, if you don't mind my asking?" It wasn't Peach Fuzz. Enduring said he'd only sired three foals so far. Well, four now with Firefly being born at the river.

"Tree Stump, he's white with an orange mane." He described. "I'm more interested in your sire. Your dam was Water Lily, right?"

"Yes," She checked Pink's progress again. Was she speeding up? "My sire is Oak Leaf."

"Ah," He nodded to himself. "I imagine he must be proud to have fathered such a fine filly."

A flash, gone so quickly she almost thought she imagined it. Once it registered though, she was on her hooves, looking upwards.

Pink had just finished. She'd barely laid the last bit of thatch down before the Light-That-Wasn't had appeared. Now she was frozen. Thistle couldn't tell from this angle, but she was positive the light had come from her.

"Well, don't that beat all?" Marsh laughed, hoisting the filly down. 

"Pink," Thistle gasped. "You have a magic mark!" She wrapped her hooves around her cousin's neck. It took a moment for the shock to fade, but once it did Pink returned the embrace just as tightly.

"I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!" She cheered, untangling herself so she could see the new mark. It was three stones piled on top of each other to make a triangle. She danced this way and that to take the mark in fully. "Building things! That's--That's my purpose!"

"Oh, Pink dear! I'm so proud of you!" Cardinal swept her up into a hug. 

Pink's smile turned a little more frigid, but no less genuine.

__________________________________________________________________________________


That made five ponies with magic marks. Thistle, Mountain, Pucker, Light, and Pink. Five out of a herd of sixty one. If this kept up how much longer would it be before everypony had a magic mark?

It wouldn't be special then, if everypony had one. The thought made her sigh. Ponies treated her so strangely now, but if they all got marks there would be no reason to single out those Magic-Touched.

"Sighing over that Woodpecker colt, Healer Burr?" Marsh's voice reminded her she wasn't alone.

"Woodpecker, what about him?" She raised one brow.

"I'm not sure I approve of him." Holly's brows were furrowed. "She's not anywhere close to being a mare yet and he was already bringing up family lines."

"Some ponies like to start searching early," Marsh didn't look convinced by her own argument. "Though usually it's the mare that does the searching."

"Wait, what?" Thistle couldn't believe her ears.

Both mares froze comically. Summer Showers looked equally confused. They exchanged a series of looks, holding an entire conversation without a single word being said.

"Marsh, Holly, are you...? You don't think Woodpecker was...flirting with me, do you?" She laughed nervously. She was ten. She was a filly.

"He pretty obviously was." Marsh scratched her neck in discomfort. "I mean, he sat down close enough to touch, he kept trying to make eye contact, he talked about being a stallion, and he brought up family lines. That's about as obvious as you can get without swishing your tail."

"But...But I'm ten." Too young for a stallion. 

"Some ponies start searching early," Marsh repeated her earlier argument. "Still, I always knew Cardinal was a bit of a Carrot-Chaser, but her colt? Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Cardinal wanted to get ahead in the herd? It was a good place to be, Thistle admitted now that she'd been living in it for a few months. 

"I still don't understand," She shook her head. "If Cardinal is a Carrot-Chaser, why would Woodpecker flirt with me?"

They exchanged several more looks. Thistle exchanged her own frustrated look with Summer Showers. 

"Healer Burr, you're a very important pony." Holly began. "And, someday when you're old enough, any stallion who convinces you to follow him is going to get a huge boost in status."

"Woodpecker wants to be that stallion, so he's flirting with you." Marsh nodded sagely. "If he gets you interested now, then he'll have an easier time convincing you to follow him."

"Oh," She shrunk inwards. She'd thought he was weird, but she wasn't sure what to think of his intentions now. She wasn't ready to think about stallions. She wouldn't be ready for years!

"Well," She scrambled for something to say. "I'm not looking for a stallion any time soon, so he's plum out of luck."

__________________________________________________________________________________


"Wow, oh wow!" Morning was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. "Our little Thistle is all grown up now!"

"Pffahahahahahaaa!" Mountain rolled around, flinging her legs with wild abandon.

"It's not funny!" Thistle stamped her hooves. "What part of this is funny?"

"If it makes you feel better, I don't get the joke either." Light assured her.

"Bah, dey just foolin' round cuz dey season is coming on." Enduring sniffed.

"Haaa, wait, what? You can tell?" Mountain wiped her eyes.

"Eeyup, been around long enough to know da signs. Yew two been sneakin' off fer privacy more often lately." Enduring nodded.

"Wait," Thistle's eyes widened. "Mountain and Morning are going into heat?"

"Yeah, I can feel it." Morning groaned, scowling at her flank. "Mother Nature is screaming at me to get a move on."

"...Are you two following a stallion?" She didn't recall them mentioning it if they were.

"Nooooo," Mountain whistled. "We haven't really looked, ya know?"

"Best decide if dat's somethin' one or both of yew want now." Enduring warned them. "Not too late to get some o' dose preventative herbs if it's not."

They looked at Camellia, who was already out cold after another busy day.

"We sorta already got a foal." Mountain muttered. "Morning, what do you think?"

"Uh, I don't know?" She studied the filly pressed against her side. "I mean, I do want foals. We're at a pretty good place, lots of food and water and we're planning to stay. And Camellia's six, is that a good gap?"

"Neither of us actually foaled her, try to remember that." Mountain rolled her eyes. "And we're in a big group, so it's not like we've got to worry about taking care of an extra foal."

"A family." Thistle blurted suddenly.

"What was dat?" Enduring squinted curiously. She took a deep breath.

"A-A family! I just...we're more than just a group, you know. Groups just sort of walk together, but...we take care of each other." Her cheeks burned.

"Thistle and I have decided we're sisters." Light supported her.

"Well now," Enduring smiled softly. "Been a long while since eh had a family. Got me two good grandfoals."

"Gee, what does that make us?" Mountain scoffed, but her smile was strained from nerves.

"Cousins," Thistle answered swiftly. "You and Morning are kind of like cousins, and that makes Camellia a second cousin?" She looked questioningly at Enduring.

"First cousin once removed, Burr. Guess dat means I've got four grandfoals and a great-grandfoal. Woohee!" Enduring slapped her knee.

"So, family?" Morning was tearing up. "We're really a...not just a group?"

"Groups walk together, family takes care of each other." Thistle reiterated.

"Heh, one weird family we've got here. Not a one of us related by blood." Mountain nuzzled Morning. "And not a single stallion to boot!"

"Not unless little Thistle here brings in Woodpecker." Morning smirked, setting them both off again.

"It's not that funny!" She groaned.
> Appointments and Stallions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle watched True Blue walk in and around the first shelter. Pink was trying to come up with a cover for the opening, something strong enough to keep out wolves but easy for ponies to use. She looked away from them to study Bluebell, who was playing with her tail. The foal giggled softly to herself as she played.

"This is most impressive, Pink Peach." True Blue commented. "How goes progress on the covering?"

"I'm thinking thick branches, woven together with rope and then hooking that onto these uneven spots on the side here." She pointed them out. "Add a smaller stack of rocks on the inside here and then you could use another branch to hold it closed from the inside to prevent entry."

"I see, let me know how that goes." True Blue nodded. "Once that's done, I ask you to begin teaching other ponies how to make these shelters. We'll need at least one for every group."

"Once those ponies are sufficiently trained, I would like you to work with Thistle Burr in planning and constructing a shelter for holding our store of food." She finished.

"Yes, Lead Mare! I'll get to work right away!" Pink Peach promised.

"Excellent." She turned away from Pink to address Thistle directly. "Thistle Burr, meet me on the northern side of the orchard at noon."

"Yes, Lead Mare." She passed Bluebell back to her dam. "See you then."

"Oh, I can scarcely believe my little Peach is moving up in the world!" She winced at Cardinal's crooning. 

"This is the start of a whole new age for the herd." Woodpecker sidled up to her, brushing against her side and bumping her with his hip. Thistle took a step to the side, well aware that her family was present and watching.

"I'd love to stick around and chat, but I've got some ponies to see to. Lucky Streak is still recovering from drinking that bad water a while ago and I should really check up on the foals again." She squeaked.

"I'll come with you!" Light quickly followed her. 

"Pink, I'll be back to talk in a couple hours!" She called over her shoulder.

__________________________________________________________________________________


"Oh, by the Sun, that was hilarious." Mountain snickered as Thistle made her escape.

"Shh!" Morning hissed. "Somepony will hear you!"

Mountain rolled her eyes. Thistle was already long gone and in her opinion that colt needed somepony to give him a good kick in the tail. Thistle was way too young for serious flirting. She'd been giving every sign that she was uncomfortable with his attention.

Some ponies just couldn't take a hint. Part of a group's responsibility was making sure all their members ended up with good mares and stallions. Mountain figured a family had an even bigger responsibility to get the pushy ones to back off.

She was still trying to decide if she wanted to have a word with the colt when Morning leaned into her.

And oh boy, that smell!

"Guess you're ahead of me." She mumbled, nuzzling her softly.

"And not happy about it." Morning pouted. "Can we go find a little privacy?"

"Patience, Love." She nuzzled her. "Got to find somepony to keep an eye on Camellia."

Now, who would be a good foalsitter? Marsh was busy helping Pink, Mountain didn't want Cardinal within a single body length of Camellia and that went double for Woodpecker, and Holly had her twins to take care of. Okay, Enduring it was.

She plopped the filly onto her back and walked over to the old matriarch.

"Hey, Granny, mind watching Camellia for a bit?" She asked without preamble.

"Hmm? Oh, I can handle her fer an hour or so. Go on and have yer fun, yew silly dings." Enduring waved them off, laying down to regale the filly with an exciting story about a colt and a bear.

Mountain let Morning take the lead. It wasn't like it slowed them down any and she got such a lovely view of Morning's flank as her tail swished behind her. The smell coming off was intoxicating, better than all the loco-roots Thistle had stuffed down her throat.

Mother Nature was screaming at her too, but Mountain was blessed with an easier cycle. She didn't know if that meant she was more or less fertile than Morning, and she didn't particularly care either. As soon as they were deep enough in the western forest to be safe from discovery she was pulling Morning into a searing kiss.

"C'mon Love, show me that pretty little slit." She licked Morning's ear.

"Hnng, Shadey! Shadey, Sun Ablaze that's hot!" Morning's eyes rolled.

"C'mon, can't get anything done if you won't let me see it." Another lick, before she went for a kiss to steal every last breath. 

Morning tasted exquisite. That salty-sweet tang that nothing else could ever match. Mountain groaned, reveling in the fluttery clasp around her tongue. Her hoof came up and gently nudged the bump that made Morning squeal. Her love was always a little louder than usual during heat.

"Shadey, OOOoohhh." Morning's front legs bent, her tail was as raised as it could get. "Shadey, please! Please, I need it! I-I need you to-to...!"

Mountain would never neglect her love. She dug her nose in until she physically couldn't stretch her tongue any further. She pressed circles into that little nub, hummed and moaned to make Morning scream her release.

Of course, Mountain lacked the part necessary to do what Mother Nature really demanded of them. She couldn't squirt any seed inside to make a foal. Sometimes she wished she'd been born a stallion just so she could see what it was like to really fuck Morning Dew.

"There we go," She purred. "There's my Lover." She pressed a sweet kiss to the twitching vulva, drawing a protesting moan from her prostrate lover.

Mountain stepped back to admire her handiwork. Morning slowly lowered herself to the ground, still dazed from what had to be an Earth shattering orgasm. Yeah, she did good.

Biology could wait another few minutes.

"Oh, Shadey," Morning sighed in contentment. Mountain laid beside her, shivering lightly as their sides brushed against each other. Mother Nature sure was loud today. "That was perfect, just perfect."

There'd been times, when her legs were still bound with rope, that she'd wondered if she'd ever get this again.

Her hindquarters hitched, a sudden rise in heat making her whole body tense up. She scrunched her eyes closed and willed it away. No pony, not even Mother Shadows Cursed Nature, was gonna tell her what--!

Morning rolled her onto her back. While Mountain was still processing this sudden change, she arranged herself so she was standing over Mountain, with her face perilously close to her marehood.

"O-Oh," She whimpered. Morning's still-wet slit was hanging over her, all she had to do was crane her neck upward. She could feel Morning nuzzling her thighs.

"You took such good care of me, Shadey." Mountain shivered. That was a tone of voice she still wasn't used to. Morning hadn't always been this aggressive during sex. "Now I'm going to take extra good care of you."

"You...You always do." Her voice sounded a bit strangled. Stars, it was hard to keep her mind focused when Morning was that close to her dripping mound.

"Mmm," Morning dipped down, giving her slit one slow lick. Mountain twitched under her, forgetting for a moment that Morning's own entrance was hovering over her snout.

She remembered quickly, and reached up with her forehooves to hold Morning's flank in place as she returned her attentions. This was a position she'd never thought of before. If she had needed any proof that Morning was a genius she certainly had it now. She'd found a way to make already amazing sex even better.

Mountain nearly sobbed when Morning pulled away. Was she not doing a good job? She whined into the seam of Morning's leg. Another slow lick that was more torturous than pleasurable drove her head back, forcing her to release her prize.

"Mor-Mooh-Morning!" She cried, fighting the grip holding her hips in place. "Why...Why'd you?"

"Shh." Oh, that tone again. Silky smooth, soft as foal's fur. She loved absolutely everything Morning said in that tone of voice.

"I'll make you feel good, I promise. Just keep doing what you're doing, Shadey." Shakily, she rose her head to obey. Morning wouldn't leave her aching. Morning tasted so good.

An inquisitive touch traced her lower belly. The hoof brushed against her teats, drawing a deep throated whine from her lips. Mountain tried to copy what Morning was doing to her, but she could barely focus enough to know what that was. Still, she traced Morning's teats with her hoof.

Morning started grinding down on her face, which made it easier as she didn't have to keep pace anymore. Mountain gasped and moaned, barely able to breathe under this relentless onslaught. Morning's every touch was feather light, up until the moment she realized it was driving Mountain crazy and she suddenly got rough. Mountain was never sure what to expect between one touch and the next, and it quickly drove her mad. All she could do was try to reciprocate as much as she could.

And beg.

"Fuck, fuck me, Sun n' Moon! Morning, Love, need you! Pleasepleaseplease!"

She had never cum harder in her life.

Mountain came to with Morning stroking her mane. She was always touching her, not just to be flirty but to be close. Taking simple joy in touch. 

"Awake?" Morning whispered softly.

"Mmm, nah." She sighed, burying her nose deeper into Morning's chest. Her head was jostled when Morning giggled, but that was a small price to pay. Sun and Moon, this mare had her by the teats and she loved it.

Dozing off seemed like the perfect idea up until she shifted slightly. Ugh, the only bad thing about sex was how sticky it made you. This is why she never wanted to do this unless there was a water source nearby. 

Reluctantly, she pulled her head up to meet Morning's eyes.

She could get lost in those big blue orbs.

"We gotta get cleaned up." She pointed out sadly.

"Yeah," Morning seemed in no hurry, happy to braid another flower into Mountain's mane.

"What do you think about foals?" Mountain raised her brow at the sudden topic change.

"They're small, roundish, kinda noisy for the first six years or so." She listed. She might have deserved the shove she got from Morning.

"I think the most important question is, what do we think of stallions?" Mountain reminded her. They were sorta necessary to the whole baby making process. Otherwise she and Morning would have their own little herd between them by now.

"...Moss Glade is cute." Morning suggested.

"I guess," There wasn't really anything wrong with him. He was a decent enough stallion. Mountain just couldn't forget the fact he'd once kicked his own colt hard enough to hurt him. She didn't want to subject any colts they had to his guidance.

"Riverbank?" Morning tilted her head to the side.

Now there was an idea. He didn't have any mares yet and he was only a year older than them. Since his sire had died he'd taken to mentoring his younger brother. 

"He's nice," He didn't have a group yet. If they went to him it would be likely he'd join theirs. Might be interesting to have a stallion join the sleep pile.

"He's a definite maybe." She nodded. 

"We're not considering Cliff Face, are we?" Morning frowned.

"Sun Ablaze," She cursed. "Not if he was the last stallion in the herd!" That stallion didn't have kind words to say to mares who loved each other.

"Hey, what about that Other stallion, Hornet? He's around our age, isn't he?" Mountain recalled the bright yellow stallion. He was as nervous as they came, but that wasn't a bad trait. He didn't seem to have any mares, not that she knew of anyway. Most of them were put off by the burn scars on his back.

Which Mountain had heard he'd gotten from protecting one of the foals of his herd.

"I've heard good things about him." She rested her cheek on her hoof. "And he's definitely cute, in a coltish sort of way."

"Wait, who will carry it, me or you?" Morning asked.

"Uuh," They could both get pregnant, but both at once with Camellia to take care of already? And due right on top of each other? Ouch, Thistle hadn't done anything to deserve that.

"I'll do it." Morning told her.

"You will? Are you sure?" Mountain didn't dislike the idea of having a foal. She really didn't!

"Yes, I'm sure." Morning nodded decisively. "I'd like a foal, Hornet seems nice, and I don't mind carrying it."

A few months ago, Mountain would have accepted that at face value. She sounded so sure of herself. Morning had never been the type to say things she didn't mean.

But a few months ago, they'd fallen from a cliff and Mountain had taken the brunt of the impact. They never would have gotten out of that cove if they both had broken legs.

And then the worst two months of her life had passed. She hadn't been convinced her legs would really heal. She was a burden, serving as nothing but dead weight to drag Morning down. She'd tried more than once by that calm river to persuade Morning to forget about her. She'd tried to convince Morning to leave her behind.

Morning had basically invented the first sledge out of spite.

And the first time Morning had ever used that sultry tone on her was just before her lover had thanked her for surviving.
Those two months had forced her to slow down and think more, even if most of those thoughts had been terribly dark in nature. Now she wondered if Morning was volunteering because she wanted to spare Mountain the strain.

She wasn't going to say anything though. There'd be no faster way to insult her lover than to question her decisions. 

"It's gonna be hilarious when you're so big around you can't even see your flanks!" She smirked instead.

"You jerk!" She totally deserved that shove.

But she didn't deserve Morning Dew.
> Walls and Pride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle sniffed the piece of dried apple curiously. The pony who'd thought of it was Apple Blossom, a sunset pink mare who shifted her weight nervously as she waited for Thistle's verdict. The piece didn't smell bad. It looked sort of weird but some foods just did. The only real way to know if it was still good five days after being cut was to eat it.

So she did.

"It's still good!" Her eyes lit up! It tasted strange, but was still sweet. 

"It worked! I knew it worked, I tried it myself first, but you like it!" Blossom pranced in place happily. 

"Oh, I've got so many ideas! I mean, I've been drying pear slices too but what else can be made to last?" Blossom babbled. "Flowers just wilt, so they're out, but I'm sure there's berry bushes around somewhere! My filly can help me gather what I need, and my sister is already looking for more large, flat rocks! We've gotta work fast to get enough dried before winter!"

At this point, Thistle was half expecting the flash of light that signified the appearance of a magic mark. It was just confirmation at this point.

"Congratulations, Apple Blossom." Six ponies with marks. Fifty six to go.

Blossom gawked at the three apple slices on her flank. She barely mustered a numb nod. Thistle chuckled and discretely swiped another apple slice.

"Keep up the good work. Maybe you could consider having somepony sitting nearby to shoo off the birds?" She eyed two crows circling overhead. 

"Oh, uh, yes...Of course." Blossom still seemed star struck by her flank.

Thistle chuckled again, resisting the urge to take more fruit. Blossom would come out of it on her own, eventually. Her rounds with the Other ponies had finished. Lucky Streak was fully recovered and hadn't actually needed the check-up. She hoped he'd be more cautious before drinking strange water from now on.

She'd lost Light when they reached Bright Finish. He'd started talking about other places the Other herd had visited and things had escalated from there. She'd left them in the middle of a story about a Lead Stallion who fought off eight challengers, one right after the other, before surrendering peacefully to the ninth.

She was sort of interested in hearing more about that one. Why had the old Lead surrendered then? 

She checked the sun's position and decided it was close enough to noon to seek out the Lead Mare. She snorted to herself and set off towards the designated meeting point.

"Lead Mare?" True Blue was playing with Bluebell when she arrived.

"Thistle Burr," She nodded a greeting, only briefly tearing her eyes from her offspring. "Anything new to report?"

"Apple Blossom has a magic mark now. In preserving food, I think." Thistle explained. 

"Hmm," True Blue smiled in satisfaction. "Anything else?"

"We should have another shelter done before nightfall, maybe even get a start on a third." Thistle had passed the rocky field a few times during her rounds. The Other ponies were really starting to spread out now. "Pink Peach had four ponies learning under her last I saw, so she'll probably have them trained enough to function on their own in a day or two. I'll have to ask her later to be sure though."

"Uhm, Lead Mare? I think the current consensus is that you should get the first shelter," At least, no pony had said anything to the contrary. "But how are we giving out the rest?"

"I will make an announcement each morning after a shelter is completed." True Blue explained. "Rock Slide gets the second shelter, the third will go to Shiny Rock."

Okay, that handled the first three shelters. Thistle Burr would ask Pink's help in spreading word about the announcements. That should keep the rest of the herd from getting into fights.

"Most of the wounded are fully healed by now." Thistle remarked. "I think that's about it for today."

"Very good." True Blue sighed and placed Bluebell on her back. "Come, Thistle Burr."

"Where are we going?" They were cutting through the orchard. Bluebell's babble kept them company through the journey.

"The highest point, I wish to look over the valley." The big hill then. They didn't exchange another word until they arrived. Bluebell's babble was the only sound that reached their ears.

Once at the top, the two of them looked out over the valley and the herd. Ponies were laughing, talking, running around below them. From here Thistle could pick out Enduring with Camellia. The rocky field was a flurry of activity. Two more shelters were taking shape. It looked like they might be ahead of schedule.

"What do you think of the Lead Mare position, Thistle Burr?" True Blue asked her.

Thistle gave it some thought. The Lead Mare led them places, decided what direction they went, settled disputes within and without. A mare must have had at least one foal to qualify, and then must challenge the current Lead with at least half the mares of the herd supporting her to gain the position.

"...I think some changes might be needed." She admitted. "If we're really not planning on leaving again, then the Lead Mare has to do something different."

"The same conclusion I reached." True sighed, laying Bluebell down to nurse. 

"Undoubtedly, there will be new challenges to arise even without traveling. Ponies are still ponies, and there is always the chance another herd will happen by." Thistle listened attentively.

"The challenges we face will be unlike any that came before. Bear this in mind, Thistle Burr, and keep an eye out for potential problems, and solutions." She commanded. "For now, ensure our food is safe and guarded. I do not want ponies fighting because somepony got more food than the next come winter."

"Yes, Lead Mare." So she had to find a pony, or several ponies, who could be trusted to keep an eye on the food without taking any for themselves. Such a position was going to be difficult to fill. Perhaps Pucker would be interested? But realistically a colt wouldn't be able to do much against a determined adult. 

"If there is nothing else, I believe today's meeting can be adjourned." True Blue announced. "I shall see you at the announcement tomorrow."

"See you then, Lead Mare." Thistle nodded and set off for the rocky field.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Dim Light walked by the creek bed. Well, a creek bed at any rate. This valley had no shortage of water. The grounds she walked on were fertile and flat, perfect for growing all the seeds Thistle had collected over the past season. 

For now, this was where most of the Herd bedded down. The wide open spaces made it difficult for predators to sneak up on them, and everypony could see everypony else. Living in one of those stone shelters would be an interesting change of pace. Would they be cool in summer? Warm in winter? The dark would no doubt play havoc with her already poor eyesight.

Light smiled despite herself. Even the action she took now, a simple walk, was once too dangerous to partake alone. It would be too easy to wander away from the herd and fall victim to some predator or other misfortune. Before this valley she'd always been careful to be with someone.

But over the past week she'd walked all over this valley. Mostly with Thistle on her rounds, but also with Enduring and those ponies with stories to share. Light had put all her mental abilities into finding landmarks recognizable even to her eyes.

Here was one now, a large rock with darkish gray pieces. It looked as though at some point lightning had struck it. It was large enough for her to pick out even over a considerable distance.

She placed a hoof on the rock and considered her next move. If she turned right she'd eventually come to the orchard. Continuing straight would take her to the large hill, from which you could see the whole valley. Beyond that was the rocky fields, and she was sure she could find the site of the shelter construction by her ears at that point.

Left, far left, was the western forest. She could walk there is she wished, she knows a few paths that are easy to find, but she doesn't feel too confident in that just yet. Maybe someday.

They're not leaving any time soon. She has the time.

She looks down at the rock, studying the gray and darker-gray blurs. The rock is old and crumbly. The part she has her hoof on rocks when she puts more weight on it.

"Hmm," She pushes harder, testing it. Slowly she puts more weight on. She's leaning against it heavily, one hoof poised to catch herself if she slips, when it snaps off. "Whoops!"

She giggles. Righting herself, she rolls the piece she broke off. This one has more black-ish bits than the rest of the rock. It's edges are jagged, reminding her of the rocks Pucker uses to sharpen his spears. They feel sharp. Maybe he'd like them?

Shrugging, she places the rock in one of her baskets and moves forward. She'll head to the rocky fields and see how construction is going. Maybe Pink will have a few minutes to talk. 

Her ears catch the comforting murmur of conversation as she approaches. Too indistinct to make anything out yet, but she's getting closer. She's almost reached the big hill. 

"Dim Light," The sharp crack of that voice on her ears is familiar. Familiar in the way the crack of thunder was, a sound that reached down into her very bones and made her want to gallop.

"Mother," She turned in the direction of the voice. Coming from around the other side of the hill is Starlight. An elegant blue mare with the finest white mane and the most beautiful amethyst eyes.

Well, or so she says. Light is really no judge of that sort of thing. She's not even sure what an amethyst is, though from the way her mother describes it the gem must be the most brilliant in existence.

If her eyes were green she'd say they were emeralds. If they were blue they'd be sapphires. If they were black they'd be exotic onyx. Starlight had often spoken of dazzling jewels. Light imagines the only reason Starlight wanted a pair of baskets was so she could carry gems if she ever came across more of them.

Light listens carefully, ears twitching. Yes, there's the softest brush of air as her baby sister breathes. It's slow and even. She must be napping. 

Is Starlight looking at her? She must be, there's nothing else to really look at. She used to fidget beneath the weight of this gaze. She used to send her mind casting for some percieved fault or flaw.

Her new family has done her so much good. Light hopes she can give them half the love they gave her.

"You are doing...well for yourself." The words sounded vaguely strangled. 

"Yes, I am much more confident these days." She nodded in agreement. "Did you wish for something, Mother?"

She feels so bold. Brave, like Thistle. Like the filly who wandered at night in search of medicine, and in doing so saved two lives.

"...I need nothing from you." She is a bit surprised. She can't imagine why her mother would have sought her out. 

When Starlight passes her by without another word, Light is forced to assume this meeting was nothing but coincidence. She won't deny there's some hurt still from being rejected by her mother, but the hurt is soothed by thoughts of her family. She has family and friends who know about her eyes and don't care. They love her anyway. 

Light stands there for a moment, smiling softly. When the pain is as weak as it ever gets, she continues rounding the hill. It sounds as though most of the herd is there, constructing those shelters. She wonders if Pink will have a moment to sit and talk.

__________________________________________________________________________________


"No, the rocks have to be a certain size!" Thistle listened to Pink scold one of her workers. "The small ones are being piled down by the lake. We'll figure out something to do with them later!"

The first three shelters are done, and Thistle can see the outline of the food storage shelter. It's five times as big as one of the regular shelters. All grass and rocks have been cleared from the floor. Ponies are going around, adding rocks and mud to slowly build the walls.

"We need more gully mud! No, regular mud isn't good enough! It's not as strong when it dries!" She sounded frustrated. Thistle couldn't actually see her through the crowd though.

She could see Holly Berry though. She checked for Marsh and Summer nearby but she didn't see them right away. She'd find them later if she needed to.

The food storage shelter looks massive, at least from what's done so far. Thistle sits herself down to watch the other ponies at work. They're moving rocks, mixing mud, most of them have coats dyed gray by mud. They're talking and laughing. They're not just happy, they're proud.

Look at what we are building. We are building the future.

She feels proud too. A year ago this was unthinkable. Magic was something that only existed in stories and little mysteries. How do the seasons change? It must be magic. Now they have a bit of magic in them too, and it is propelling them further than any pony has gone before.

If this is how much they've accomplished in less than a year then where will next year leave them? By Fall of next year what will they have done? Most of the herd might have magic marks by then. Every group will have a shelter. They'll be bringing in their first harvest.

She catches sight of Holly now, watching her fillies play in the grass, cleared of any rocks. Those fillies won't have any memories of anywhere else but this place. Theirs is a new generation. 

She could get up and help with the construction. They're not going to turn away helping hooves. Some ponies are marking out places for more shelters. Pink comes out from around a wall, waving her hoof in a broad circle to demonstrate...something. 

She could get up and help, but Thistle has been doing a lot of helping lately. For now, she just wants to sit and watch her herd build itself up in front of her. 

Someday she's going to have foals, and she'll get to stand in front of them and say, this is how we changed the world.

> Snow and Gems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their new shelter is big enough for all of them, even with the new addition of Hornet. He's the shy, yellow stallion and the sire of Morning's first foal. Thistle hasn't talked to him much. He was bad enough when she was visiting daily with aloe for his back, but now he can barely get two words past his lips whenever she's around.

He'll get used to it or find some other mare to bunk with. Morning and Mountain are happy and that's what matters. This is easier than building a whole new shelter for him to live in by himself.

"Sun n' Moon, don't dis beat all?" Enduring chuckled as she settled into a bed of straw. It doubles as food they won't have to ask Shiny Rock for, if things get hard this winter. For now, it serves to cushion old joints and provide some insulation from the cold ground. The wall is lined with straw, providing beds for all of them.

"No, Camellia, we don't eat the beds yet." Mountain scolded her filly. "That's for later on. I'll let you know when it's okay to eat it."

"But I don't want any more stallion's beard!" Camellia whined, glaring harshly at the white roots Thistle had presented for dinner. "It tastes bad!"

"Well, that's what's for dinner, young filly." Mountain huffed. "You should count yourself lucky to have so much to eat during winter. Morning and I used to take turns eating last winter. We ate snow to stop the grumbling in our bellies!"

"If you eat all your stallion's beard you can have three pieces of dried pear." Morning bargained.

Thistle bit her lip to keep from blurting out that every pony was getting dried pear after stallion's beard. It wouldn't work as a bargain if Camellia thought she'd get some anyway. Luckily the six year old didn't require anymore coaxing.

"Anyding new today, Burr?" Enduring snickered as the youngest member of the family fell upon her dinner with determination.

"Blackberry and Blueberry are nearing the end of their pregnancies." Thistle reported. She was glad Morning and Mountain were staggering their pregnancies. Thistle wasn't looking forward to visiting the twin sisters' shelter in the middle of the night, especially with the recent snowfall.

"Are ponies getting hungry yet?" Light asked, swallowing the last of her portion. "I don't think anypony else is willing to range as far as us to find winter food."

"No, I dropped off a basket's worth at the Food Stores before I came home." Thistle sighed. "The Leads were there, talking to Shiny Rock. They might have to set up guards to keep ponies from taking more than their share."

"Phooey!" Enduring spat. "Winter makes dieves of us all. How can dey be sure da guard won't sneak a lil' somdin' home?"

"And who are they gonna get who has nothing better to do than sit by a door holding a spear?" Mountain scoffed. "Talk about boring, and this is coming from a mare who spent two months unable to walk."

"How much longer do I gotta wear my spins?" Camellia tugged on Morning's mane.

"Three more weeks, Camellia. And it's Spuh-Lin-Tss." Morning corrected her. Camellia moaned and forced down another mouthful of stallion's beard.

"Maybe the Lead Stallion will do it?" Thistle considered, bringing them back to the original topic. "And maybe Oak Leaf."

"Yer sire? Stoic sort, not much of'a talker as eh recall." Enduring coughed into her hoof for a moment. "But decent stallion, took down dat snake widout flinchin', even when it bit him."

"S-S-Snake?" Hornet shuddered. 

"Copperhead, lousy varmint." Enduring wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He came out fine as anyding. Stuck around da group til his swellin' went down."

Thistle hadn't talked to him, not really. She'd talked about the treatment she was giving him, she'd asked about her heritage, but largely any conversation they had was hopelessly one-sided. She wasn't sure he even liked her.

"Mountain, I gotta question!" Camellia turned to her gray dam. "How come sires don't play with their fillies?"

"Because they're fillies?" Mountain rolled her eyes. "That's just the way things are. Stallions teach their colts, dams teach their fillies."

"But don't we know the same stuff?" Camellia wanted to know. Before Mountain could answer the filly had already stood and walked over to Hornet. His eyes were as big around as baskets when she stopped in front of him.

"Do you know stuff only colts know? How come only colts can know it?" She sat down and patiently waited to be answered.

"U-Uh, w-well," His eyes darted around the room. Looking at his expression alone might cause a pony to think he was cornered by a wolf, rather than a foal. He re-focused on the filly and straightened himself, not looking anyone else in the eye as he answered. "Y-Yes, I know things only colts are t-taught."

"Like what?" Camellia pressed. Hornet's ears folded back. Thistle thought he was going to ask one of them for help but his shoulders suddenly stiffened as he opened his mouth.

"My sire t-taught me how to know wh-when a p-predator was nearby, and how to-to fight it with my bare hooves. Wolves, b-bears, mountain lions, p-p-panthers, cougars, boars, crocodiles, snakes, he taught me about every predator he knew of." His stutter lessened as he got into the groove. "And how to kill them."

"T-Then, he taught me h-how to fight ponies." He shifted uneasily. "F-For challenges, or d-during territory d-disputes. A-And, u-uh-uhm," Thistle saw his eyes dart towards Morning before a flush crawled across his face.

"H-How t-to c-care f-for mares?" His tone was more questioning than sure, and he shrunk in on himself, wincing in preparation for a blow that wasn't coming. When he seemed to realize no one had lifted a hoof towards him he relaxed.

"Mares take care of themselves." Camellia's voice brokered no argument, spoken with the calm certainty only the young could muster.

Thistle nearly choked on her stallion's beard. Light was giggling into her hoof and Enduring was waggling her brows at all of them. That old nag had some impressive control over her eyebrows.

"That's stallion stuff, Camellia." Mountain reached forward and nipped the filly by the crest, pulling her away from blushing stallion. "Most of it is just making sure their mares don't fall behind and get lost or something. That's not going to be much of an issue here in True Valley."

"True Valley?" Thistle's ears pricked forward.

"I heard some ponies calling it that." Mountain shrugged. "We're the True Herd so long as True Blue leads, and this is our valley now so I guess it's the True Valley."

"Phooey," Enduring cleared her throat. "Next yew'll be tellin' me we're naming our favorite trees or some such nonsense."

"I kind of like it." Light smiled. "It shows how special this valley is as our new home."

"Well, I'll give ye dat much, dis place is pretty special." Enduring ruffled her mane. "Mother Earth knows I seen some beautiful places in my day, but dis valley's got somedin' no oder place has ever had."

"What?" Thistle's eyes widened.

"Got my whole family, don't it? All happy, healthy, an' growin'." Enduring laughed. "We keep goin' at dis rate we ain't all gonna fit next year."

Thistle sighed in contentment. True, this little shelter of theirs would be more than a bit cramped before winter was through, but it was home. Their family was the biggest in the herd. 

Tomorrow's troubles would wait for tomorrow. For now, she began passing out dried fruit.

__________________________________________________________________________________


All the shelters looked odd with the dusting of snow over them. No more than a couple inches, but enough to make the whole world seem fresh and new. Thistle watched her breath turn to mist before her eyes. She wondered why breath did that when it got cold out. Someday she hoped to find out the answer.

She trotted through the collection of shelters. Some ponies had taken to staying inside for as long as possible, trying to keep warm. Others took winter food gathering seriously and were already scratching through the snow for edibles.

Thistle nodded politely to Bird Song, who was walking with her oldest filly towards the western woods. Bird Song and her filly nodded back and continued their discussion about edible bark.

True Blue's shelter was close to Thistle's, but today she'd asked the sap-brown filly to meet her at the Food Storage shelter. It wasn't much higher than the regular ones, but it was many times bigger. The whole herd could fit inside with room to spare. Well, they could before they filled it with so much grass and dried fruit.

Bright Finish was standing by the door, spear in hoof.

"Hello, Bright Finish." She greeted him.

"Healer Burr, here for the meeting?" He stepped aside to let her through. "How's things with your group going?"

"Morning Dew is with foal now. Hornet's settling in I think, though he's very shy." She smiled. She was kind of interested in that colt-talk from last night. Most of what he'd said was stuff Enduring had taught her. She hadn't realized there was so much overlap.

"I'm glad he's got a couple of mares now." Bright patted his spear. "It'll be good for him."

It was hard to remember that this stallion had been the Lead Stallion of his herd. He was certainly large enough, but he didn't act anything like Rock Slide did. He was chatty and cheerful and downright doting on the orphan foals. She'd seen him playing with colts and fillies alike.

She wondered if he was just that strong or if all the other stallions in his old herd had just liked him too much to challenge him.

She was still thinking about it as she stepped inside, allowing Finish to close the door behind her. The large shelter was mostly open, but large rocks had been arrayed in lines to mark areas for food to be placed. Those areas had been lined by straw first, to keep dirt off the majority of the food. Apples in one area, pears in another, grass here, berries there, bark here and roots there. It was a neat little stockpile.

True Blue, her filly, and Shiny Rock were already present and waiting for her.

"Lead Mare, Shiny Rock, sorry to keep you waiting." She stepped forward.

"No apologies necessary, Thistle Burr." True reassured her. "We are still waiting on one more pony."

Was Rock Slide joining them today? She wondered what was going on important enough to involve him. It was strange enough that True had wanted to hold the meeting here with Shiny Rock.

A fresh burst of cold air announced the arrival of the final guest. Thistle looked over her shoulder and blinked in surprise to see Pucker come in. At first she thought he might be here to bring food back to his group, but she was quickly proven wrong.

"Pucker Thorn, thank you for joining us today." True greeted him.

"Lead Mare, Shiny Rock, Thistle, thank you for inviting me." His teeth chattered lightly. Thistle noticed a light sheen of sweat on his coat and wondered if he'd run here. How much warning had he gotten about this meeting?

"Now that we've all gathered here, we can begin." True sat down, encouraging the rest of them to do so. Bluebell took this as an invitation to crawl over and around them, using them as personal mountains to conquer. Thistle did her best to ignore the tiny blue hoof leaving bruises on her neck.

"Pucker Thorn, tell Thistle Burr and Shiny Rock what you told me." She ordered.

"Yes, Lead Mare." Pucker pulled his spear around, laying it in front of them. For the first time Thistle noticed that rather than being sharpened at one end Pucker had instead tied a sharp rock to it. 

"I was north of the orchard, near the twin mountains, when I began noticing odd pawprints." He explained. He dragged the tip of his spear through the dirt to sketch the shape. It wasn't wolf or bear. She'd never seen real lion prints but Enduring had sketched one for her and this wasn't anything like that.

This print was more angular. Sharp. The claw marks extended far beyond the toes. If Pucker's sketch was at all accurate this creature had claws as long as her leg!

And the size of this thing! Without seeing the depth of the real prints she had no idea how to gauge the weight, but the print Pucker drew was large enough to stomp him flat into the ground. If this beast had the weight to match it would be a frightening monster indeed.

In fact, that's probably what it was. A monster. A beast of magic that preyed on ponies. 

"I thought about going to Bright Finish or Hope Springs to see if they recognized it, but I figured talking to the Lead Mare first was better." He scuffed his hoof self-consciously. 

"This was real close to the mountains, like I said." He continued. "It sort of looked like it had been digging. I found tons of rocks pulled out and tossed all over the place. Weird, glittery rocks of all sorts of colors were mixed in with the normal ones."

"Glittery rocks?" Shiny Rock hummed in interest. Pucker nodded and reached into his baskets. He set four bright, glittery rocks on the ground. One was deep green, one was blood red, and two more were a late evening blue.

"Gems." True Blue sighed in recognition.

"I've never heard of rocks like these." Thistle poked one of the blue ones.

"The blue ones are called sapphires. The green ones are emeralds. The red ones are rubies." True Blue explained. "Your mentor may have heard of them. They're not all that rare, but they don't have any uses I know of so nopony cared to carry them."

"If they have no use why was that creature digging for them?" She wondered aloud. The larger sapphire had jagged edges that reminded her of something. She picked it up and held it closer, frowning at it. 

"We will need to bring Hope Springs and Bright Finish here. They might have encountered a creature like this." True commented. "I may make an announcement to declare the area near the mountains as forbidden."

"You can take them to Elder Enduring if you want, Thistle." Puck offered. "But can I come? We never get to play together anymore."

"Sure!" Thistle beamed, putting the mystery of the edges away for now. "I bet Light will be happy to see you too."

"Let us first summon Hope Springs and Bright Finish here, you two." True Blue reminded them.

"Bright Finish should be outside now, he's supposed to guard the door until noon today." Shiny Rock clicked her tongue as she thought. "Hope Springs is likely within her shelter. She does not venture out often."

"I could get her and ask Bright Finish to come inside." Thistle offered. 

"Do so, and return with haste, Thistle Burr." True nodded her permission. For now Thistle left the jagged sapphire with the others. She passed Bluebell over to Pucker unthinkingly, and so missed his bamboozled expression as the filly blew a snot bubble in his face.

"Bright Finish? The Lead Mare would like to see you inside." Thistle told him. "I'll be back once I collect Hope Springs."

"Hope?" Bright paled slightly. "A-Alright, if the Lead says so."

Why were those two so set on avoiding each other? Weren't they following each other in their old herd?

Thistle shook her head and took off at a quick trot. It was too cold to be lingering lost in thought.

Above her the clouds gathered and slowly began to release the next snowfall.
> Gifts and Stories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Enduring, I'm home!" Thistle couldn't stop the shivering. She had the awful feeling that icicles were forming on her snout. 

The house was warm, not anything close to a summer day, but warm enough for her. Somepony was always here, and the house seemed to soak up their warmth a little.

"Goodness gracious, Burr." Enduring leaned forward, worried. "Yew sound like yew gargled ice water. C'mere and get warm."

Thistle gladly dumped her baskets, burying herself in Enduring's side. The old nag stiffened at her icy touch, but lowered her head to nuzzle her. Mountain and Camellia laid down on her other side, bracketing her in a pile of warm bodies.

"Sun and Moon, that meeting sure ran long." Mountain huffed. "What could be that important?"

"Dat can wait til' Burr's melted a touch more." Enduring said firmly. 

"Where's everyp-p-pony else?" Thistle asked.

"Light is..." Mountain's answer stopped. "Actually, I have no idea where Light is. Morning went to see if she could find hoof cloves. They're supposed to ease morning sickness. Hornet went with them."

"Light's gatherin' dinner tonight." Enduring told them. "Said she saw some cattails an' wuz gonna...gonna bring us..."

Thistle felt every wracking cough. Enduring struggled for several minutes before her breathing eased. Pressed tight against her side, Thistle could hear her lungs seizing up. She almost swore she could hear Enduring's bones rattling from the force of her fit.

"Are you alright?" She asked in concern, pulling her head up.

"'m fine, eh'm fine." Enduring waved her off. "Ol' nag like me, we cough at da slightest dings when ye get ta our age. Jus' gotta tickle in my droat."

"Are you sure?" She squinted suspiciously. "You've been coughing a lot lately."

"I'm ol', it's cold, course I'm gonna cough." Enduring rolled her eyes. "Don't yew worry none. Our medicine stock's good n' strong. If I get sick ain't no pony in da world more prepared dan yew."

"Thistle, what's these?" Camellia's question surprised them. At some point the filly must have decided she didn't like being pressed against Thistle's icy flank. She had tipped over Thistle's basket and was now curiously inspecting the emerald.

"Those are gems. The green ones are called emeralds. The blue ones are called sapphires. And the red ones are called rubies." She'd left the smooth sapphire with True Blue.

"Oh? Ain't seen da likes o' dees in some time now." Enduring smiled crookedly. "Bring'em 'ere, Cam. Le'see what Burr brought home."

"Actually, Enduring, I wanted to ask you something." Thistle pulled the jagged sapphire closer. "These markings on the gem reminded me of something, but I couldn't figure out what. Do you recognize these?"

Enduring relied more on her hooves than her eyes, but she looked it over with both. She was quiet for several moments, shaking her head back and forth before squinting harder for another pass. They waited patiently until she passed the gem back.

"Don't quote me on dis, Burr," Enduring frowned deeply. "But I could swear dose look like teeth marks. Not quite a wolf's bite, or a lion's, but it's gotta pattern like some predator's done taken a chunk out o' it."

"Something bit through solid rock? You've gotta be kidding me!" Mountain scoffed. Thistle didn't say anything, rolling the gem end over end.

They did look like teeth marks. She'd never seen a predator's bite wound on anything but the Other ponies, but now that she was thinking it they did look similar. Not exactly, but enough to recognize.

Something bigger than twelve ponies had dug straight through solid stone for gems. Gems which, according to the Lead Mare, held no value. Why go to so much trouble for something you couldn't use?

Answer: Because you could use it, as food.

Shivering from more than just the cold now, Thistle told them about the meeting.

__________________________________________________________________________________


True Blue had not declared the twin peaks forbidden, but only because a blizzard had hit before she had the opportunity. After that no pony was willing to go too far from the village. Even Thistle cast a skeptical eye towards the sky before she planned for any travelling.

One pony had not made it home before the storm hit. Their body had been found south of the village. Her name was Flicker Light, she was Light's aunt. Thistle had convinced Rock Slide and Oak Leaf it was best to bury her so her body wouldn't attract scavengers.

They set aside an area just north of the orchard for burials. Light's mother had cried as they lowered her into the ground. Flood Plain rolled a small boulder over the grave to keep anything from digging it up.

Sometimes Thistle looked towards the twin peaks when she walked along the lake shores. The Light had been kind to her herd and they hadn't personally encountered any monsters. This might be the first beast her herd would ever contend with. She wanted to know what it was, where it's weak points were, and if it ate only gems. 

Not badly enough to risk her life though. 

She sat near Flicker Light's final resting place and pulled out the jagged sapphire. She'd taken to carrying it with her. It really was beautiful, like a little piece of the sky. She wondered if gems came in other colors, and what those were called. Maybe Enduring would know.

"Healer Burr?" She jumped, whirling around to see who'd managed to sneak up on her this time.

"Starlight," She stood up, absently wiping snow off her tail. "I'm sorry, were you coming here to visit Flicker Light? I'll get out of your mane." 

"Wait," Starlight held up a hoof, eyes locked on something. Thistle froze and followed her gaze. Starlight was looking at her sapphire. "Where did you get that?"

"My friend gave it to me." She answered. It probably wouldn't be wise to tell her where the gem had come from.

"A sapphire." Starlight sighed with open longing. "I haven't seen one since..." She shook her head, stopping so suddenly that Thistle thought she'd slip. She set her hoof down and looked away. Thistle looked down at the sapphire, then up towards her sister's mother. 

"Would you like it?" She offered.

"Why would you offer it to me, Healer?" Starlight frowned. "Was it not a gift?"

"Of a sort." She nodded. "But I have no use for a gem, while you find it enchanting. Would you like it?"

"...Yes, I would." She smiled softly as she passed it over. "Thank you, Healer."

"You are welcome." She silently bid goodbye to the little piece of sky. "Have a nice day!"

Warmed by a good deed done, Thistle returned to the village.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Winter was settled into a routine. They woke up, shivered over breakfast, a few would go out to forage, obligations would be seen to, Thistle would meet with the Lead Mare, and then they'd shiver together over dinner before turning in for the night. It was a boring way to spend a season. Hours ticked by with nothing to mark them. There was no spare grass to weave into baskets, food stores were holding, and no dangerous beasts had stumbled upon their home.

Luckily, they had Light. By this time the cobalt filly had gotten what she felt was the story of the entire herd. When the family came together they could listen as Light told stories of ponies and places they would never see.

Tonight, for Camellia's benefit, was the story of the First Ponies.

Long, long ago, before Earth became Mother, the world was still. Earth looked upon herself and sighed at how bland and lifeless she seemed, for there were no plants or creatures to decorate her surface.

Her sigh drifted across the valleys and hills, weaved through the mountains, whispered in canyons, and everywhere the sigh went life began to bloom. First the grass, which was small and fine. Then the flowers, which came in every color imaginable. Then the bushes, with their sweet rewards and warning thorns. Then the trees, towering over everything else.

Earth gazed upon herself and began to weep, for though she was now beautiful she was still, and Earth detested all that stood still. The tears rolled from her eyes and filled the rivers and lakes and oceans of the world. The waters flowed and babbled and raged and waved, providing motion for the world.

Yet she was not satisfied. Blinking away her tears, she felt a tickle in her throat and began to cough. The shakes and tremors these caused opened up mighty cracks in the world, from which crawled the first creatures. Earth became Mother as they spilled from her womb. Birds and squirrels and rabbits and wolves and fish and bugs all emerged and made their lives upon her surface.

Entranced, Mother Earth watched her creations for many days and nights. They crawled and ran and flew and swam over her surface, in ways she could neither control nor predict. Stillness had been forever banished and she loved her children dearly.

And yet, as time wore on, she grew lonely. Her children were numerous, but they could not speak to her. They lived without ever knowing their Mother. They died with no way to call them back to her loving embrace.

With this in mind, for the first time in history Mother Earth sought to create with purpose. She concentrated very hard on this, designing a child that could understand and love her the way she loved them.

First, she made their hooves, the better for travelling across her vast surface to see all the wonders she'd made. Next, she made the legs, making them fleet of foot to avoid the predators who hungered for their flesh. Next, she made their barrels, making them large and well-muscled to throw off those they could not outrun. Next, she made their head, with eyes wide to catch every loving detail. Finally, she made their manes and tails and coats, to provide beauty.

With their body completed she laid a kiss upon their brow, giving them life and love and understanding. She set them upon her surface and watched them awaken.

Thus, the first pony was born.

This pony stood on shaky legs, like a newborn foal. She sniffed the air and found it sweet. The wind caressed her like a mother's touch and the sun kept her warm. She smiled upon all she surveyed and, noticing Mother Earth's watchful gaze, she spoke.

"I am new to this world and this life and all I see is good. Mother Earth, I am in awe at your beauty and your kindness. I feel unworthy next to one such as you, but I understand my purpose, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Seek out all that lies upon my surface, dear child, and only remember to speak to me often so I might be content." Mother Earth smiled upon her daughter. "Ask me for your needs and I shall tend to them, but be warned, never ask for my blessing in greed or I shall not answer."

"I understand, Mother." And so the pony walked through the wilds of the world of old. She climbed mountains and swam oceans. She explored caverns and wandered deserts. Every day she found something new and shared her discovery with her Mother, and every day she was content.

Until her Heat began.

"Mother, I am ill! Some deadly fever now wracks my body and I know of no cure. I am scared!" She called out.

"Have no fear, dear child. This is a natural part of life. You are in season, as I am, and your body wishes to create new life as I do." Mother Earth spoke soothingly.

"But I am not as you are, Mother." The pony cried. "I cannot create life from myself with nothing! All other creatures must have a partner, and I am your only Knowing Child!"

Mother Earth knew this was true, and felt sorry. She had not realized that her daughter would one day wish to become a mother as well. 

"Be patient, my dear child, and I will make for you a male to father your children. Speak to me in three days time and I shall deliver them to you."

So Mother Earth closed her eyes and concentrated. First she made the hooves. Then the legs. Then the barrel. Then the head. Then the mane and tail and coat. When she opened her eyes again a new pony had been made. With a tender kiss she gave them life and love and understanding.

"Daughter, here I have made for you a partner. He shall share in life's trials and walk with you upon my trails. He will fight for you against any foe you care to name and all he asks in return is your care and compassion. Go forth, my children, and multiply."

So Daughter met Son and together they bore the first foals. Those foals grew under their parents and became adults themselves and asked the Mother Earth for partners of their own. It took many days to make a pony though, and so Mother Earth decreed that she would only make one male for every five females. The ponies agreed this was fair and continued to roam her lands, always seeking new discoveries and joys.

Mother Earth watches us all, and though ponykind has long forgotten the ancient tongue in which she speaks, we still hear her voice. We hear it in the rush of wind and the sigh of night. We fear it in the rumble of quakes and crack of thunder. We love it in the bird's song and babbling brook. And she hears us, in every prayer we offer.

One day when our Journey's done we will leave this life behind. We will tell her of all the things we saw and ponies we knew and she will welcome us as only a mother can.
"
And that is the story of the First Ponies." Light finished.

"Tell it again!" Camellia pleaded.

"Camellia, it's late." Morning scolded her. "You can have another story tomorrow."

"Aww, but I want to hear more about Daughter and Son! And their foals! And what about Sun and Moon?" She looked between them all.

"I'll tell the story of Sun and Moon tomorrow." Light promised. "But only if you go to sleep right now."

At once Camellia collapsed, spitting fake snores as loudly and sincerely as she knew how. Peeking through her eyelashes the whole while to see if anypony bought it.

"You tell really great stories." Thistle whispered.

"Everyone knows that one." Light shrugged, laying down to sleep. "Remind me to tell you the story of Seed Counter some time. That's a really good one."

"I've never heard of Seed Counter." Thistle murmured thoughtfully. "Good night, Light."

"Good night, Thistle."
> Walks and Conversations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope Springs lived alone. She wasn't the only pony to do so, but she was almost never seen leaving her hut. The snow by her door remained undisturbed.

Thistle lifted her hoof and knocked sharply against the stones. She waited for a minute before knocking again.

"Hope Springs, may I come in?" She called, in case the mare hadn't heard her.

"Might as well, Healer. Might as well." Permission given, Thistle opened the door and stepped inside.

It wasn't much warmer than outside. A few degrees and a lack of wind. It was no darker than any other hut, but it was lonelier. There was no bed of straw on the ground and only a single basket of food to take up space. Nothing like the cramped quarters Thistle's family enjoyed.

"How have you been doing recently? I don't think I've seen you since Flicker Light moved on to the Endless Pasture." She left the face no pony had seen her since then unsaid.

"I have little reason to leave my hut these days." Hope Springs did not move from her curled position on the ground. Thistle hesitantly approached.

"Not even to see old friends?" She sighed quietly. "Hope Springs, why do you stay alone all the time? It does you no good."

"It's relaxing. No pony needs me to settle their differences anymore. I don't have to deal with their petty problems." Hope Springs didn't meet her eyes. "I can simply lay here and gather my thoughts. Or sleep. Sun and Moon know I didn't get much sleep leading my herd into the gaping maws of monster after monster."

"They don't blame you for that. You did the best you could!" Thistle argued. "The Light-That-Wasn't brought magic and not all the magic was good. You simply had...poor luck."

"Poor luck." Her nose wrinkled as if she'd bitten into something rotten. "Forty-eight ponies I led, and I could barely deliver to your Lead sixteen of them."

Their herd had been bigger than Thistle's. Sometimes the thought of such terrifying creatures gave Thistle nightmares. It so easily could've been her herd decimated. If Mother Earth had been a little less kind it would have been.

"Staying in here with the darkness and regret will do nothing." Thistle sighed. "You could do so much if you left your hut."

"Such as? Care for the orphans? No, not after losing my foals. Gather food? The closest places have been picked clean and only you and yours are willing to travel further in these conditions." She challenged. "Grab a spear and spend my day hurling myself at trees and rocks? As if that could prepare you for facing down a manticore? HA!"

"No, Healer. There is nothing out there for a pony like me to accomplish." She rolled over, turning her back on Thistle. "Go in peace, there is no healing to be done here."

"I will return in two days, Hope Springs." She stood in resignation. "Take care."

There was no reply. Thistle left the hut feeling more unsettled than when she'd arrived.

She still wanted to find some way to help Hope Springs. She seemed to determine to live apart from the herd, doing the bare minimum to survive. Thistle didn't like it. It was too easy for that bare minimum to slip.

Back the way she came, between her hut and Hope Spring's, was Bright Finish. His hut held all but two of the Other foals. The brother and sister had their own hut, fifteen body lengths away.

The wind picked up as she stood there, lost in thought. Thistle shivered and cursed all shadows. Her hooves felt like blocks of ice as she reached Bright Finish's hut and knocked on the wall. The snow by the door was undisturbed, so it was likely the whole group was in right now.

The door was nosed open by the oldest colt. He blinked hazelnut eyes at her for a moment before he looked over his shoulder.

"Why do we let Current answer the door?" That was the voice of one of the fillies. One of the older two, Thistle thought.

"Just let them in, Current." Bright called.

Thistle stepped inside, tension releasing as a breath of warm air tickled her fur. Now this was a cozy hut. Straw beds lined the walls, baskets and spears were settled in open spaces. The fillies were playing a game kicking a rock across the floor.

"Healer Burr, what a pleasant surprise!" He laughed when he saw her. "Children, make space for the healer."

"They don't need to break up their game." Thistle smiled warmly. "How have you been, Bright Finish? The guard shifts haven't been too rough for you, have they?"

"Boring and cold mostly." Bright shrugged, resettling his great frame. Current settled against the opposite wall and proceeded to stare. "Shiny Rock says if a storm is brewing to go home, so I'm not too bothered by it."

"You're watching for frostbite?" She squinted suspiciously. Getting a stallion to admit he was hurt or sick was a surprisingly frustrating challenge. Her sire had been so docile when he was recovering from his snake bite that he'd spoiled her for well-behaved stallions.

"I am, I am! Honest, Healer Burr, I'm taking care of myself! Somepony has to be well enough to chase after these three." He side-eyed the fillies.

"We're not that bad!" One of the older two, either Mimic or Melody, protested.

"Three days ago, you fell into the gully and couldn't get out, Melody." The other older filly snickered. So that was Mimic. That left the youngest filly to be Chime, didn't it? Were those three related?

Thistle tried to fix in her head. Mimic had a magenta coat and violet mane. Melody was olive with a juniper green mane. Chime had a lilac coat and a plum purple mane.

Current was easy in comparison. He stood two heads taller than she did and was slate gray with a honey gold mane.

"I would've been fine! I could've just walked until I found an easier place to climb!" Melody argued fiercely.

"Girls," A single stern word from their guardian brought a halt to the brewing argument. "Please forgive us, Healer Burr. Long periods of cramped quarters brings out the temper in us all."

"It's much the same at my hut." Thistle smirked. "Though usually I'm the one being teased."

"Healer, while you're here..." Bright Finish's eyes flicked over to Current. "Would you take another look at Current? He still hasn't spoken a single word and he is...much slower than he once was."

"I can look again but after all this time I don't think I'll find much." Thistle walked over to him. She began running her hooves over his head, remembering one of the mares saying he'd hit it against a rock at some point. Head wounds were tricky things, Enduring said. Especially if they went too long without treatment.

"Are you in any pain?" She asked him. She didn't feel any odd bumps or dents, just the same as last time. It took a minute for Current to shake his head no.

Next she laid her head next to his chest and listened to him breathe. Nothing rattled that shouldn't. There was no wetness in his lungs. She looked down his throat and didn't see anything to worry about.

It had to be his head, but there was just nothing there to treat.

"I'm sorry, but I can't find anything. It was too long ago and head wounds have to be treated right away." She reported sadly. "How is his behavior though? He has no trouble understanding, does he?"

"He's slow, but he always understands. We try to keep things simple though." Bright Finish ran a hoof over his face.

"He likes to walk around outside, even when it's cold like now." Chime beamed, eager to be of help. "He just walks all around the village in a big circle with his spear!"

"Well, it's good he has ponies willing to take things slowly with him." Thistle relaxed a touch, gently patting the colt on the shoulder. "You know if anything hurts you can tell me and I can get you some more loco-roots, right?"

She waited patiently until he nodded. She patted him again then stood.

"Bright Finish, would you mind stepping outside with me for a moment? I promise it won't take long." She smiled nervously.

"Of course, Healer." He stood and carefully stepped over Chime. Thistle led him straight into a fresh gust of wind, leaving them both chilled.

"Brrr, winter can't be over soon enough by my reckoning." He glared at the cloudy skies. Only a few patches of sunlight got through. "What did you want to talk to me about, Healer? Is it Current?"

"No, he's as fine as can be considering everything." She quickly reassured him. "I think so long as ponies are willing to be kind to him he'll be fine. No, I wanted to talk to you about somepony else."

"This is about Hope Springs, isn't it?" He groaned, leading them further away from his hut and any curious ears.

"Why do you two avoid each other?" The only time she'd seen them together was at the gem meeting in the Storage shelter.

"I wasn't the Lead Stallion when the Light-That-Wasn't appeared." He revealed. "It was my brother, Bright Spot. I took over from him after he was poisoned by the manticore."

"I avoid her because...well, he died saving me. A lot of ponies died." He bowed his head as they walked, blinking back tears. "And she kept trying. She pushed us all to keep going, even when some of us wanted nothing more than to lay down and die."

"Ponies died faster after my brother died. I just wasn't as good as him. We lost her foals within days of my appointment." A pained look crossed his face. "After that, I focused less on protecting the herd and more on protecting the foals. And we still lost three more."

"She blames herself for leading all of you into danger again and again." She stamped through the snow and noticed they were getting close to the forest. The edge of the village wasn't all that far from the treeline. "She hardly leaves her hut."

"A fine pair of Leads we were." He laughed, a barren sound that made her stomach queasy. "One leading us to danger and one no protection from that danger."

"You both did the best you could! It's amazing any pony survived all you went through!" Thistle argued. "If it had been my herd--!"

"A herd of Magic-Blessed." Bright sighed with longing.

"You don't think we were fated to be so blessed, do you?" She wondered.

"How else do you explain all this?" He turned and waved a hoof over the whole village. "Nothing like this has ever existed before. And it is all thanks to you, Healer."

"I didn't decide to settle the valley!" She blinked in surprise.

"You learned to heal, you gained the ears of your Lead, you suggested hoarding food and building shelters. You were the first Marked." He listed reasonably. "I dare say if not for you none of this would have happened."

"I'm a filly!" She stamped her hoof. "I'm learning to heal from Enduring, I'm doing my best to help everypony! But I. Am. A. Filly! I'm not Magic-Blessed! There's nothing I do that somepony else couldn't!"

"What about the Magic Marks?" He cocked his head to the side.

"What about them?" She groaned.

"Aren't you the one bestowing them on special ponies?" Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks. Was that what everypony else thought? Did they really believe that?

"What on Earth gave you that idea?" She spluttered.

"You were present at every manifestation thus far, were you not?" He nodded his head absently as he thought back. "Morning Dew, Pucker Thorn, Dim Light, a mare named Apple Blossom has been bragging about it for weeks now, and the filly who invented the shelters, Pink Peach."

"But I didn't bestow the marks! They just appeared in a flash of light!" She shook her head. "I'm sure sooner or later somepony will get a mark when I'm not around!"

"Maybe," He didn't look as if he believed her. "All I know is you're a special pony, even among other special ponies."

"I'm not divine! There's nothing truly special about me! I just do my best, same as anypony else." She had to look away. She didn't want to start crying. There was already a rock in her throat.

"You do more than anypony else. But fine, say you're not Magic-Blessed. What's wrong with it?" He asked.

"What happens when I fail, Finish?" She glared. "I failed before. When a pony fails, that's normal, and ponies forgive them. What happens when something divine fails?"

It took him a moment. Slowly, his eyes rolled upwards, towards the bank of clouds coming to bury them deeper in snow. Behind those clouds was the Sun, hardly burning at all. How many ponies were even now shaking their hooves at the sky and demanding the seasons turn?

"Oh." Thistle sighed and forced herself to part ways peacefully. Maybe she'd finally convinced somepony that she wasn't special. Maybe not. Either way, she had things to take care of and she'd better get to them.

__________________________________________________________________________________

She'd gone foraging to clear her mind first. Talking and acting confident was a lot harder when she was upset. It was hard enough to remain calm around Woodpecker without this morning's conversations added to that. She had some pinecones to show for her work, so that would at least provide something extra at dinner tonight.

Thistle lifted a hoof and knocked on Cardinal's hut.

"Who is it?" Cardinal called through the door.

"It's Thistle Burr! Is Pink Peach in?" She answered, fidgeting in the snow. She swore she caught a hissed warning from inside before the door swung open to reveal Pink.

"Thistle, so good to see you! Won't you come in?" Pink's eyes pleaded with her to say no.

"Actually, I'm afraid I need to speak with you privately? Could you come out and walk with me?" She hoped that was the right thing to say. From the way Pink smiled she thought it was.

"Pink dear, don't leave your friend out in the cold!" Cardinal scolded her.

"Sorry, Dam. Thistle needs to speak to me privately! I'll be back before sundown!" Pink nearly slammed the door behind her and began pulling Thistle along by her hoof.

"Thank Sun, Moon, and Earth you came when you did!" She moaned, flopping into the snow once they were halfway to Look-Out hill. "I don't know how much more of that I could take!"

"What was going on back there?" Thistle frowned.

"Just the usual, but she hardly lets me out these days so I can't get away from it!" Pink's face twisted sourly. "Pink Peach, if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, you've got to think about your prospects now while you're still young!"

"Yikes." Thistle winced. "Is she always that bad?"

"Eeehhh," She waggled a hoof back and forth. "Some days I can do no wrong and I'm going to be the next best thing to Lead Mare. Some days I'm a lazy daydreamer who's barely fit to follow a cripple."

"So what's up? Need me for something? New building project?" She asked excitedly.

"Not exactly." Thistle couldn't help but smile. "Actually, I wanted to ask your help with something. You know Shiny Rock?"

"Uh, the mare who parcels out the food? Lead Mare's best friend? Who doesn't?" Pink wrinkled her nose.

"Well, she's sort of the Lead Mare's confidant. The pony who listens to the herd and tells the Lead Mare what she heard. Keeps track of everypony." Thistle nodded. She stopped and thought for a minute.

"Your dam wants you to be the next best thing to the Lead Mare. Is that something you want?" She faced Pink head on.

Pink's eyes widened. Her ears flew back. Time held still while they waited for her to answer.

"Thistle, do you really mean that? You want me to be your...your confidant?" Her voice squeaked.

"I do. I've been meaning to ask since the day you built the first shelter." She nodded.

"Wow, really? Me?" A slow smile crept across her face. Thistle was nearly thrown back by the force of her cousin's hug. "You won't regret this! I'll be the best confidant ever! And you're gonna be the best Lead Mare ever!" She thought of something and quickly pulled back.

"Does this mean we have to follow the same stallion? Because I promised Pucker Thorn I'd follow him someday and my dam is really set on Woodpecker sweeping you off your hooves."

"I don't think we have to, but I don't really like Woodpecker all that much." Thistle winced.

"If I tell her that I'm going to be your right-hoof mare she'll probably let it go, but I'm not sure Woodpecker will." Pink shrugged apologetically. "What does a right-hoof mare do anyway? Keep track of ponies and report stuff to you, sure, and I'll take any opportunity to get out of the hut, but what else?"

"I have no idea really. Maybe you could ask Shiny Rock what she does?" She suggested.

"Another excuse to get out of the hut! I love my job already!" Pink laughed, pulling her in for another hug.
> Blizzards and Treats
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A long time ago there was a stallion who had no mares. When the herd moved somewhere new he always walked alone. He ate alone. He slept alone. Every day he looked upon the other stallions who ran back and forth between their mares, counting their foals and ensuring no pony got left behind. He was glad he didn’t have to run around so much. With no mares following him and no foals he had no one to worry about but himself.

This was very fine to him. He continued on this way for a long time. Sometimes a mare would approach him, flicking her tail, but he always turned them away. 

“I am only responsible for myself.” He’d say with pride. Rejected, the mares would find other stallions and the herd would continue.

One day, a young mare with a foal laid down for a nap. When she awoke, she found that her foal had already woken up and wandered off. In a panic, she reared and begged the herd to help her search. Her stallion and fellow mares began looking behind every tree and rock, peering through every bush.

The stallion who stood alone watched all this and scoffed. This was why he didn’t want any mares. If he had a mare he’d have to help her keep track of her foals and he didn’t want to search the jungle for a stupid foal.

The distressed dam noticed him standing apart from everypony else and approached him.

“Please, friend Stallion, won’t you help me find my foal? Even one more pair of eyes may make all the difference!” She pleaded with him.

“It is not my foal that was lost. I see no point in helping you.” He turned away with a huff and continued eating his grass.

The foal was never found and many days passed. The dam did not forget his cruel words and told the other mares of how cold he’d been. The stallion stopped getting mares offering to follow him, but he did not care. This was exactly what he wanted.

More days passed, and the stallion continued with the herd. One day, as they trotted, he noticed an elderly mare falling behind. He did not care of course, because she was not his mare. Besides, she was past foaling age so no pony would care about her. So though he saw her falling further and further behind, he said nothing.

Later that afternoon, when the herd stopped to rest, a mare looked up and noticed that her dam was missing. Alarmed, she galloped through the herd, asking ponies if they’d seen her. The nag was old, you see, but she was wise and had many living foals still. They began asking every pony in the herd if they’d seen her and when.

“Please, friend Stallion, have you seen our dam? She is old and slowing with age, but much loved by us.” One of the mares asked the stallion.

“I did see a nag by that description.” He nodded, swallowing a mouthful of flowers. “Several hours ago I noticed her falling behind.”

“And you said nothing?” The mare gasped in shock. “Why did you not tell somepony that she needed help?”

“She was not my concern. I am only responsible for myself.” He answered. The mare turned away in disgust. Several of them ran back along the path, hoping to find the old nag, but had to return in failure.

Days passed, and the stallion continued walking alone. Seasons changed, summer to fall, fall to winter, and winter to spring. With spring came new foals. The young stallion saw all this and felt nothing for they were not his mares and not his foals. 

One night, while the new dams recovered, a ghastly howl was heard. The herd rallied together, quickly trying to organize. But the wolves were already upon them, terrifying mare circles and snapping at vulnerable flesh.

The stallion saw this and whinnied bravely. He did not fear wolves. He struck out at any that neared him, putting his back to a large boulder so they could not surround him. He saw ponies struggling to protect themselves and their foals, but he did not care. He had his own fight to win and besides, they weren’t his responsibility.

When the sun rose the wolves fled, glutted by tender young flesh. The stallion, though wounded, had survived and was proud of himself. He noticed a passing stallion and hailed them.

“Ho, fellow Stallion, look and see what victory I have won. Two wolves I slew this past night! They feared me too greatly to attack after that!” He boasted.

The other stallion looked down at the corpses cooling at his hooves and scowled at the young stallion.

“A mighty fighter you are, fellow Stallion, yet I did not see you attempting to protect the mares and foals.” He commented.

“I do not have any mares or foals to worry over. I am responsible for only myself.” He grinned, still excited by his victory. He was surprised when the other stallion stomped his hooves fiercely. 

“Before last night I had two mares and three foals, and now they are all dead but one! One foal I could protect! Five wolves I slew last night but only one life did I save!” The other stallion growled. “And I might have saved more if a mighty fighter such as yourself had helped!”

The young stallion couldn’t think of anything to say to this. He did not feel like he should have helped. They were not his mares and foals, so he didn’t have to, right?

Before long the whole herd knew his name and avoided him. The young stallion walked alone, as he always had, but noticed this time that there was no one willing to make conversation with him. Ponies avoided him, leaving the places where he lingered. It was as if he had some plague and they were wary of catching it. 

Days passed, seasons changed, and ponies came and went. Most would be warned about the selfish stallion, but not all. The stallion grew into himself, and one day his eyes fell upon a mare from another herd. She was beautiful and bright and soon he pursued her. For the first time in his life he wanted to be responsible for somepony.

So they followed each other and, when her heat came, they made a foal together. The stallion was the happiest he’d ever been with his new friend to talk to. He finally understood why other stallions had always been so keen on having mares and foals.

Then, one day, he looked up during their daily trek and noticed his mare was not at his side. His foal was, a young colt who was bright and sure to become as mighty a fighter as himself. He looked over the heads of the other ponies and called her name, but could not find her.

Placing his colt upon his back he began to search, asking ponies if they’d seen her.

“We are not responsible for her.” They’d answer, over and over again. By now frantic, the stallion raced back the way they’d came, calling desperately for his mare.

Only silence and his colt’s fearful whimpers answered him.

He tried to rouse his herd into searching, but again and again he received the same answer.

“We are not responsible for her.”

Losing hope, he remembered all the times he’d refused to aid his herdmates in their endeavors. He recalled the lost foal, the aging nag, the hungry wolves, and felt sick. He now knew how those ponies had felt when he turned them away.

Desperate to make right some of his wrong, the stallion raised his colt alone. Together they left the herd for a new one, and another one, and another one. Everywhere they went, he’d ask ponies if they’d seen his mare. The answer was never good, but where ponies didn’t know his name at least they weren’t cruel.

He never gave up hope of seeing her again, but many years passed. His colt was thirteen, almost a stallion now, and the stallion taught his colt everything he would need to know. How to fight, what to eat, and, most importantly, how to be kind. How to be faithful. How to be loyal. How to be a good stallion.

Finally came the day when his colt began the ritual fight to prove himself a stallion. The stallion was proud at the strength of his son’s hooves and his cleverness. He finally announced the colt’s training complete and declared him a fellow stallion to the world.

While his son went with his friends to celebrate this momentous day, the stallion walked alone. He left the company of the herd and wandered to a clearing in the forest. There he sighed deeply, staring up into the stars.

“For ten years I have searched for you. I failed you when you needed me, but I have not failed our foal. He is a stallion now, a better one than I was at his age.” The stallion confessed his past sins to the stars. He told the story of the lost foal and the nag and the wolves. He apologized to the spirit of his mare for the wrongs he’d done that sealed her fate.

“Perhaps not sealed as tightly as you think.” With a gasp he whirled around, for he knew that honeyed voice. He knew the mare who approached him, no older than the day she’d vanished. Her beauty was as real as he remembered, but somehow it was even more so. Her mane and tail flowed on an unfelt breeze. Her eyes twinkled like the stars. From her lips fell words dipped in sweet nectar.

He knew then that she was no mortal mare. Still, he loved her, and fell upon her in a warm embrace.

“Mother Earth saw the path you walked on and sent me to teach you a lesson. You were strong and brave, but you did not care for the hearts of your fellow ponies.” She told him sadly. “But you have learned much in the time I was away. You have raised our foal well.”

“Mother Earth tells me he will be safe now, and find many mares and sire many foals.” She revealed to him. “Your work on this world is done. Come away with me now, my Stallion. You have earned your rest.”

So the stallion who walked alone followed his mare. His son never saw him again, but something within told him all was well and his sire was happy. And just as Mother Earth said, the young stallion found many mares and sired many foals, never forgetting the lessons his sire imparted to him.

Enduring sighed at the end of the story. The part with the nag always got her these days, but there wasn’t anything better than a happy ending. It was too dark to see of course, but she felt when Light laid down her head to sleep. Morning and Camellia were already snoring, and Mountain and Hornet weren’t far behind.

Burr snuggled deeper into Enduring’s side. The old nag coughed as quietly as she could manage. The chill in her bones had moved in to stay, even with the warm bodies piled up on every side.

But on top of the cough was a weakness in her body. She’d lived a long time, and never had her body failed her like this. Getting up was such a struggle now and her joints screamed for relief. She ate loco-root every day, but their supply was running low and it wasn’t helping as it used to. She hardly left the hut anymore, only to relieve herself these days.

She’d known when she took Burr on that she didn’t have long left to live. The Endless Pasture was calling her, a little louder each day. She’d known winter might be her end, though she’d hoped for spring.

She still hoped for it. She no longer feared that Burr might die without her guidance. It hadn’t taken more than a month or two for her to realize that filly was unstoppable. Enduring wasn’t so sure about this Blessed business, but she didn’t fear for Burr’s fate anymore.

She nuzzled the fillies at her sides, remembering other foals who’d once slept there. There was her first, little Pebble. Enduring had loved her from the very first breath. And then had come Stone Steps, and Honey Suckle, and sweet Berry Patch. All told, eight foals had slept at her side over the course of her life, ten including Burr and Light.

And then there’d been grandfoals, so many wondrous little faces experiencing the world for the first time. Fillies and colts to make the fussiest mare proud. Oh, that fever had gone through and stolen more than half her loved ones, including six of her grandfoals, but life had gone on. Honey Suckle had left to join another herd and Pebble had fallen and broken her neck. Stone Steps died while fighting five wolves to save two other ponies.

Enduring counted the living and dead. Twenty ponies in the herd were related to her, though if more than five knew that she’d eat her basket. Blackberry and Blueberry were due to deliver soon, weren’t they? That’d make twenty-two.

“Enduring?” Burr’s whisper made her jump out of her skin.

“Whut is it, Burr?” She murmured back.

“You’re shivering.” The filly pointed out. She tried to stretch her little body more to cover more of Enduring’s side. Such a sweet filly.

“I’m old, it’s cold, course I’m gonna shiver.” She chuckled, nuzzling her. “Don’t you pay no mind. It’ll be mornin’ before long. Best sleep now before dose Berry sisters start foaling.”

Burr grumbled at the reminder, burying her head in her hooves. She didn’t move away though, providing her own warmth for Enduring to leach off of.
Enduring hoped she could make it to spring.

Thistle wished she was home right now. Enduring had to have something to do with this. The Sun hadn’t even peaked over the horizon before Blackberry stumbled into their door babbling about Blue’s water breaking. Now she was in the Berry sisters’ hut, cold and hungry, waiting for the new foal to get a move on.

“Should it be taking so long?” Black fretted at her sister’s brow.

“This is completely normal. She’s progressing nicely.” Thistle repeated for the sixth time. There wasn’t any blood, her dilation was increasing steadily, all signs pointed to a good birth. The loco-roots must’ve been taking effect too, because Blue didn’t seem to be in as much pain.

“Never again. Never again! Foals are terrible!” Of course, that didn’t mean Blue wasn’t in any pain.

“Mares did this a hundred years ago and they’ll do it a hundred years from now.” Thistle assured her. “You’re doing fine, just keep breathing. Do you want some water?”

“Yes, please! UUUGGGH!” Another contraction hit. Thistle pulled the water basket close so Blue could sip from it. They didn’t need a repeat of the time she’d nearly drowned herself from the pain.

This was getting to be a routine. Foaling was still a nerve wracking experience, but it was also a lot of waiting.

Still, this would be the first foal born in True Village. That was cause for celebration. A lot of ponies were excited about it, oddly.

“Hhsssssss!” Her ears pricked forward. That didn’t sound like Blueberry. She looked up and met Blackberry’s eyes.

“J-Just…uh…sympathy pains, I’m sure. Nothing to worry about, Healer Burr!” Blackberry gave a sickly smile.

Thistle didn’t buy it for a second!

Of course, a blizzard had to hit before Blackberry’s foal was ready to come out. At least Blueberry’s delivery was over. One healthy colt, with all four legs and no cleft lip. He was a perfectly normal orange with green mane. His name was Carrot Top.

Blackberry’s filly was deep, almond brown with a white mane. Her name was Sapling.

Thistle smiled at the foals sleeping between their dams, even as she cursed the weather. She wasn’t dumb enough to go trekking outside in these conditions, but she wanted to be home with her family right now. Blizzards could last days! She wanted to curl up with Enduring and Light and listen to stories. She’d even take being teased by Morning and Mountain!

She shivered where she lay. There wasn’t much in the food baskets, so they’d probably have to eat the beds sooner or later. Thistle wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make. She felt like she’d never be warm again. Those long ago days by the river felt like a fairy tale.

The blizzard lasted for two days, and they did eat one of the beds. It was marginally warmer next to Blackberry, but Thistle hadn’t slept much regardless. She barely managed to shuffle home through the snow before collapsing next to Enduring. It didn’t matter to her that it was no warmer, it still felt good to be home.

After catching up on her sleep, Thistle was forced to resume her usual routine. She thought of a list of ponies she needed to see and checked her baskets. She made a note to go foraging if she had time later. As it was, she bid her family good day and walked in the direction of Soft Touch’s hut.

Soft Touch was abrasive at the best of times. One day after a two-day blizzard was not the best of times. She opened the door only just enough to snag Thistle by the mane and drag her through, slamming it shut behind her.

“We’re both fine, we have enough to eat, he slipped on some ice and scraped his fetlock just before the blizzard hit but he’s fine.” She reported in a rush.

“Good to hear. Do you want me to take a look at it?” Thistle carefully climbed back to her hooves. Soft Touch, like Thistle’s family, was a firm believer in winter foraging and thus had a larger supply of straw and roots.

“Hi, Healer!” Pine Needle, the four year old colt, was much happier than the first time she’d met him. He was maybe a little small for his age and he didn’t talk much. Well, not to anyone who wasn’t his sister anyway. Thistle could get a sentence or two out of him each visit but he didn’t babble like any other young foal did.

“Hi, Pine Needle.” She briefly nuzzled him, then brought his fetlock closer so she could see it better. “Yowch, that must’ve hurt, huh?”

“No!” He denied cheerfully.

“Wow, really? If I hurt my leg like this I would’ve been crying.” She giggled, running her hoof over it. Soft Touch had been keeping it clean.

Pine Needle giggled, apparently done with verbal interaction for the day. Thistle told him he was very brave for letting her poke at his wound, then gave him a slice of dried apple for being so good for her. She’d decided that the foals who didn’t scream and bite and kick her would be getting dried fruit as rewards. Word had spread like wildfire and made her job a lot easier.

“Anything you two need before I get going?” She asked Soft Touch.

“Can you get Bright Finish off my tail? He keeps nipping my flank about moving in with him and the other foals.” She complained. “I’m practically a mare and we’re doing fine, so he can just lay off.”

“I can tell him you’re doing fine, but I can’t keep him from nipping your flank about it.” They had this talk every time Thistle visited them. She could understand Bright Finish wanted to make sure that they were taken care of, but it wasn’t like they lived all that far apart anyway.

“Ugh,” She flattened her ears in irritation. “Well, whatever. Don’t let so much of the cold in on your way out.”

“Have a nice day!” Thistle stood outside a moment later and reflected on how refreshing such interaction could be. One day she hoped that Soft Touch would call her Thistle.

But that day was a long way off. It had been a while since she’d gathered any edible bark. She had a mental list of places with winter food to visit. She kept hoping she’d find another willow tree to take bark from because she didn’t want to kill the one near the lake.

Shivering against the cold, Thistle set off towards the western forest.
> Fires and Fillies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It just kept getting colder. Ponies were doubling up in their homes to stave off the cold. Without the shelters it was highly likely they would’ve lost half their number to the cold already. As it was, Thistle was kept trotting trying to treat colds.

It was getting too cold to forage, and that hit her hardest of all. She missed going on long walks, even if the walk was interrupted by having to dig for roots.

“The food store is holding, at least for now.” True Blue informed her during the day’s meeting. Rather than facing each other like usual, they were huddled side by side with Bluebell nestled between them. Rock Slide had also moved in with the Lead Mare, but he was guarding the food today. The guard shifts had to be cut in half to keep the guards from freezing. They were also guarding from inside the storehouse.

“Bellies will be growling, but we’ll make it into spring.” True resettled herself tiredly. Thistle had noticed that as the cold wore on everypony had been getting lethargic. Most didn’t bother leaving their huts anymore, unless it was to relieve themselves or get food.

“I’ve been planning something with Marsh and Holly that will hopefully get us a better buffer next year.” Thistle kept her teeth from chattering. “Those fields to the south of us have good soil. We’re going to clear them of grass and rocks and plant edible things.”

“Mother Earth watch over us, it would be nice not to have to watch our dwindling stores so closely.” True sighed. “This winter is uncanny with its ferocity.”

“I can’t remember a winter ever getting so bad.” She agreed. She was young though, surely this was just a normal hard winter? Surely the whispers of the herd were wrong and it wasn’t magic. Two ponies had already come up to her and asked if there was anything she could do to make it spring sooner!

“Hard winters happen from time to time. They are deadly to most herds.” True looked at her slumbering filly. “This winter would have been deadly for us if we hadn’t built these shelters.”

“Pink told me some ponies have been using moss to plug cracks in the walls, and they’re talking about using mud when it thaws.” Thistle reported. It did help cut down on the cold breezes, but Thistle was so cold all the time she didn’t really notice a difference.

“Is there anything else you’d like to bring to my attention?” She looked at her. Thistle ducked her head, hesitating. Finally, she spoke.

“Elder Enduring is ill, and not improving.” Her cough was more constant, her hearing dimmer, her limbs weaker. Thistle had tried every combination of herbs she knew and hadn’t found any method of revitalizing the old nag.

“Mother Earth calls us all back, sooner or later.” Her ears bent backwards at the gentle sigh. She didn’t want to think about Enduring dying.

“We will be poorer for her loss.” She looked up uncertainly. The Lead Mare honestly looked grieved by the news.

Thistle doesn’t know what to say to that. It feels wrong to grieve while Enduring is still breathing, still alive, still trying to pass on her wisdom.

But there is the problem. Enduring is trying to pass on every kernel of wisdom she’s gained over the course of 43 years and she’s trying to do it in the span of a few months, not even half a year. Thistle feels like she’s known Enduring forever, but she hasn’t. Not really. Life before the Light-That-Wasn’t doesn’t feel quite real anymore. It feels like a story that Light told her. No more substantial than that.

Leaving True’s hut, Thistle winces in pain. The icy breeze is sharp, as sharp as a spear digging into her side. It cuts through her fur like it isn’t even there. Her hooves ache from walking in snow all day.

She grits her teeth, snorts and paws the ground, then forces herself to march home. There will be no foraging today. Not if the simple act of walking outside has become painful. She needs to get home and make sure Cam doesn’t try getting into the healing herbs again. Some of those weren’t good for eating, however tasty they looked.

A hard gust nearly bowls her over. Thistle sets her stance wide and waits it out. When she looks up, blinking snowflakes from her eyes, she’s surprised to see Starlight out and about. The dark velvet coat is unmistakable against the white landscape. She doesn’t have her filly with her, which is good considering the temperature they’re experiencing, but she does have baskets.

Baskets that gleam in the fading evening light.

Thistle ponders on that for a moment before Starlight pulls out of view, going into her own house. A fresh breeze reminds her that she’s standing outside gawking. She shakes away the questions forming in her mind and redoubles her efforts to get home before the next storm began.

“Sun n’ Moon, Burr, yew gone n’ let all da warm out.” Enduring shivered as Thistle wrestled the door shut again. Everypony else was already in, dinner laid out and waiting for her.

“Sorry.” It’s all she can say. Even with seven ponies living in here there wasn’t much warmth to lose. They didn’t sit in a circle to eat anymore, now they all huddled together in the center of the room.

“Cursed Shadows, what I wouldn’t give to feel warm again.” Mountain whined, curled around Morning.

“Do you think if we ask Mother Earth real nice she’ll make winter go away and never come back?” Camellia sniffed, wiping her half-frozen snot onto her hoof.

“Moder Eard’ can’t go doin’ dat, li’l filly.” Enduring hacked and coughed. “Winter’s one o’ dose necessary dings. Widout winter, we don’t got no spring. Jus’ da way da world works.”

“Aww,” Camellia rolled onto her back, flexing all four legs in the air. She’d been so excited to have her leg healed, but she hated walking through the snow, particularly since the snow piled up to her withers now.

“Spring’s not that far off.” Thistle settled herself next to Light and accepted her portion of the food gratefully. “Another moon of this and we’ll reach spring.”

“I want it to be spring now!” Camellia cried, angrily pouting at the ceiling. “Why can’t there be magic to make it warm?”
“If magic like that exists, no pony has found it yet.” Thistle sighed. She wanted to know the answer to that question too, but she had so many other things to keep her attention. Just one more moon of this and they’d be free.

Hornet doesn’t know if this is what it’s supposed to be like, being a stallion. He spends his days inside mostly, or pulling guard shifts. He’s still smaller than the other stallions and it must look ridiculous to have him standing with his spear inside the door. He’s got room to grow still.

When he’s inside, he tries to keep himself busy. There’s a whole lot of nothing to do, but it leaves him too much time to think. Too much time to think about everything they lost. Everything they never had a chance to gain.

So he keeps himself busy. With Camellia mostly. Morning gets tired easy and Mountain watches Cam when he’s guarding. Enduring doesn’t move much anymore, and she falls asleep faster than Morning does these days.

Mostly, he spends his days with Camellia. He doesn’t know what to do with a filly, but he’s not sure he’d know what to do with a colt either. In the end, he does the things his dam used to do for him and mixes it with stuff his sire did and it seems to work. He’s probably teaching her a bunch of stallion stuff that she doesn’t really need to know but it’s not hurting anypony.

Besides, this family doesn’t seem to care much about stallion and mare stuff. Enduring, Thistle Burr, and Light know more herb lore than the deceased healer of his old herd. And Light’s not even a healer, she just helps out when Thistle Burr needs an extra set of hooves. Morning and Mountain aren’t too picky either.

Well, they couldn’t be picky if they chose him, there’s plenty of much better stallions in this herd. Stallions who are older, more experienced, stronger. Stallions without burn scars on their back.

“Hornet, I’m booorrreeed!” Camellia moans as if the affliction causes her real pain. She rolls back and forth on her back, watching her legs kick up in the air.

Are all foals this entertaining to watch? He’d never noticed before.

“Do you, uh,” He casts around the room for something quiet to do. He spots the emerald on the floor, left ignored and dusty. “want to play a game?”

“What kinda game?” Camellia squints suspicious little eyes at him. Hornet chuckles as he grabs the gem and three empty water baskets.

“I’m going to put this gem under a basket, then move them around really fast, and you have to guess which basket is hiding the gem. Get it?” He’s quite proud of himself for thinking of it.

“Yes!” Camellia bounces up, sitting up properly so she can watch. He goes slowly the first few times, getting a feel of the baskets. Camellia guesses those easily but she’s still amused so he guesses that’s a success?

“That one!” She points confidently at the far right basket.

“Whoops, you guessed wrong there.” He lifted the middle basket to reveal the gem. “Want to try again?”

“I’m gonna win this time!” She informed him.
Hornet chuckled and got back to switching.

Mountain regrets joining the guard. Sure, the position carries respect and some extra food rations, but Cursed Shadows is it cold! Even inside the storehouse it’s freezing. And there’s nothing to distract her from it here except for Shiny Rock, and that mare doesn’t know the meaning of the words ‘small talk.’

She resists the urge to look over her shoulder at her. Shiny Rock is doing what she always does, cuddles her foal close and warm and counts the food. If a pony comes in Shiny Rock decides whether or not they get more food, based on how much that group has taken that week. She’s heard ponies grumble about it, but they’re all aware that it’s still better than fending for themselves. No one’s starved to death this year.

But there are snowflakes in her mane and ice crusted in her hooves so Mountain’s not feeling too generous about it. She’s sick and tired of being cold all the time. Sure, spring is just around the corner, but there’s got to be some way of making it warmer in winter.

She sighed tiredly and adjusted her spear. No pony had even tried taking any food so she wasn’t sure what purpose a guard served. Then again, maybe no pony tried because there was a guard. Some ponies weren’t above stealing food from each other during hard winters.

It made her pretty damn glad she had a family now. They split the food evenly and curled up together at night. They looked out for each other. And it was absolutely adorable how Hornet would play with Cam when everypony was busy. The stallion could barely string two words together around an adult, but he could entertain a foal for hours.

It was a wonder he didn’t get along with Thistle and Light better. Then again, Thistle was a healer and Light acted like an old nag. At least things were peaceful at home, and never boring.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” She yelped in surprise, bringing her spear up at the door. Confused and not a little scared, she looked over her shoulder at Shiny Rock.

“Let’s go see what’s going on.” Well, don’t let anypony say Shiny Rock didn’t have balls the size of boulders. Mountain nodded and galloped through the door first.

Ponies were screaming, panicking, on the verge of stampeding if only enough of them could find a direction safe enough to run in. Mountain gaped at the sight of such unrelenting terror. What was causing this? Snakes and bears slept in winter and there’d been no sign of wolves in the valley.

“MONSTER!!!” One of the Other mares screamed shrilly, diving into a snowdrift and caving it in on herself.

Mountain swiveled this way and that, looking for whatever beast could inspire so much terror. Was it a manticore? A chimera? A hydra? Oh, sweet Mother Earth don’t let it be one of those!

A whoosh and a crackling sound encouraged her to duck, just in time to miss being raked across the scalp by some kind of bird.

But it was the heat that got Mountain’s attention.

“What in Sun and Moon is that?” She watched it climb and dive again and again, squawking terribly as it attacked ponies.

“Who cares? Look at the roofs!” Shiny scowled, pointing.

One of the houses was on fire. Mountain’s jaw dropped and she quickly found the bird again. It’s wings and tail flickered like flame.

A bird made of fire.

A bird made of fire attacking her herd!

“Oh no you don’t!” She galloped after the thing, dodging screaming ponies along the way. Shiny was running at her side, stone tipped spear held aloft. She split off, circling around a hut to try to cut the bird off. It cawed at her like a hawk, Mountain swung her spear and missed, but the bird veered off for another go.

“Get back here you Shadows Cursed Monster!” She shouted. Shiny took a whack at it, nearly causing the bird to fly into a wall. It shrieked at them both in fury.

Mountain held her spear steady. She’d never tried to hit a moving target before. It was surprisingly difficult. She had to wait for the bird to slow down. A young colt, the mute one from the Other herd, came out of nowhere and stabbed at it with his spear. He got pretty close before the feathered menace turned tail.

Right towards her. Mountain smirked and readied herself, when it saw her it tried to turn left but her spear was already waiting for it. She clipped it’s wing and felt her stone tipped spear dig in. Blood so hot it was bubbling oozed from the wound.

“Kill it! Kill it!” Somepony screamed. Sobbed.

That was when Hope Springs appeared, fury and hatred on her face. Without mercy or hesitation, she struck, slamming her spear straight through the bird’s head. The whole thing twitched for a moment, then disintegrated into ash, except for some feathers and charred bones.

Mountain panted. Bubbling blood dripped down her spear, startling her into dropping it. The snow hissed as it came into contact with it. Steam poured off.

And she was warm. Sun and Moon blessedly warm. Her heart was pumping and her legs were trembling.

“Mountain!” She gasped as Morning nearly tackled her.

“Whoa, whoa, easy! I’m alright!” She laughed. She was alive and warm and she had Morning’s legs wrapped around her. Honestly, could things get any better?

“Uh, Hope Springs? Your spear is on fire.” Oh, and Thistle was here. Mountain untangled herself from her marefriend to see.

“I am aware.” Hope Spring’s lip curled up in distaste. Mountain eyed the sparking flame with longing, then lunged forward when Hope Springs threatened to douse it in the snow.

“Wait!” She stopped her. “Can I have that? I’ll trade!”

“Why do you want a flaming spear?” The ex-Lead frowned.

“It’s warm.” Who wouldn’t want it after all this snow and ice?

“It’s fire. It burns.” Sheesh, now she just looked plain disgusted.

“Only if you touch it, everypony knows that.” She rolled her eyes. “C’mon, I’ll trade! My spear has a stone tip!”

“Fine.” She accepted her burning spear with great satisfaction.

“Mountain, you are not cuddling me while holding that.” Morning sniffed.

“Aw, Love!” She pouted. She’d deal with it, at least for a while. For now she held the spear from the end that wasn’t on fire. She needed to get some wood and find a dry place to set this down.

At the hut she got Hornet to help her clear a space in the middle of the floor. Morning, though she didn’t understand Mountain’s plan, agreed to break up some of the branches she had left over from building sledges. Once they were all half the length of a leg, Mountain made a small pile of them and set them on fire. Only when that flame was as big as its parent did she douse her charred spear.

“Tada! I’ve made it warm!” And bright. Wow, she could actually see the walls and everything now. The huts usually only had what light came in through the cracks of the doors.

“I like it!” Cam declared, happily sitting close to the fire to bask in the warmth. Mountain joined her with a happy sigh.

“Oh, wow.” She looked at the door to see Thistle walking in. She wasn’t looking at the fire though. She was looking at Mountain’s…

“By Sun and Moon!” She jumped up to her hooves. “When did that get there?” A little pile of wood, lit on fire, was sitting on her flank.

“Mama’s gotta Magic Mark!” Mountain froze, turning wide-eyed to Camellia.

“What did you just call me?” She had to have heard that wrong, right? Cam just pronounced Mountain really weirdly?

“Mama.” The filly answered. “Because you aren’t my dam but you act like my dam so I asked Hornet what some other words for dam was and he said there was mom and mother and mommy and mama. There’s a bunch of other words for dam!”

“Oh, he taught you that, huh?” Hornet blushed almost as red as the fire.

“Yep, you’re Mama and I’m gonna call Morning Mommy!” Camellia announced with pride.

“And what are you going to call Hornet?” She could see this hadn’t occurred to the filly yet. She turned on Hornet, placing her front hooves on his chest.

“What’s some other words for sire?” Mountain couldn’t take anymore. She broke into huge gales of laughter.

She had a daughter who loved her enough to call her Mama. She had a stallion sweet enough to teach his filly things. She had a loving family. She had a Magic Mark.

And, best of all, she was warm.
> Reports and Requests
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I honestly don’t know what to make of this.” Thistle sat and watched the Lead Mare stare into the fire. The Lead Mare looked at Thistle then back to the flames, seeming no less flummoxed than when she’d walked in. “I really don’t know what to make of this.”

To be fair, she’d walked into the Lead Mare’s hut carrying a burning stick and a bundle of wood on her back. True Blue had simply watched, holding her filly back from the flickering flames. Shiny Rock and Rock Slide seemed equally confused and uncertain. Hope Springs stared without emotion.

“It’s warm.” Thistle offered Mountain’s best argument for the unpredictable foe.

“It is nice to feel warm.” Shiny Rock muttered, tentatively inching closer.

“Let’s…Let’s start the meeting. We’ll discuss fire when we get to it.” True Blue shook her head. Rock Slide took that as his cue to begin.

“Couple of mares were in the western forest, foraging, when that monster attacked them.” He reported. “They took off running for the village, screaming about fire and birds.”

“When the Other ponies heard that, they started panicking. Some took to the hills, took them a few hours to feel brave enough to come back.” He paused, then looked at Shiny expectantly.

“There are still two ponies unaccounted for. One we know ran towards the orchard. The other no one’s seen since this morning.” She offered. “Picked Fruit ran for the orchard. The other one is a stallion named Cliff Face.”

“Let’s hope they make their way back to us.” True Blue decided. “I don’t think anypony is feeling brave enough to go looking for them.”

Thistle would, if she was asked. She hoped no pony would ask. It was dark out and there were apparently flaming birds eager to claw ponies’ eyes out.

“What occurred after that?” She sighed, massaging her temples.

“The fire bird, what did your ponies call it? A peenex?” Rock Slide prompted Hope Springs.

“A phoenix. Don’t ask me where the name came from.” She shrugged.

“Mountain Shadow and I were inside the food storage building when we heard screaming.” Shiny explained. “We grabbed our spears and ran out. To her credit, when faced with her first monster Mountain Shadow didn’t hesitate before charging after it. I’m also impressed by that colt, Silent Current.”

“I thought his name was just Current.” Thistle cocked her head in confusion.

“Then the title is spreading quickly, three ponies described him that way.” She considered this for a moment. “He is the mute colt, isn’t he? I can see where the name came from.”

“Bright Finish is taking the place of his sire for the spring ritual.” Hope offered.

“Mountain Shadow wounded the beast, and Hope Springs slew it.” Shiny nodded. “Thistle, you took the bones and feathers, why?”

“Partly because the feathers are really pretty. And partly,” She frowned. “To try to understand what the Light-That-Wasn’t did to those birds to make them burst into flame. How can a creature live when it’s on fire?”

“A good question.” True allowed. “Though that brings us around to this.” She pointed to the fire casting its warm glow over everything. Bluebell had stopped trying to touch it and now laid peacefully between her dam’s legs.

“Mountain Shadow offered to trade spears with me before I doused the flames on mine. Since hers had a stone tip, I agreed.” Hope shrugged. “When I tried asking why all she said was ‘it’s warm.’”

They all stopped to study the fire. Thistle enjoyed having it. Sure, it popped and cackled and sometimes shot off sparks, but it gave light and warmth to her home. She was hoping both would do Enduring some good. It certainly made Mountain more cheerful.

“I will not force ponies to take fire into their homes.” True Blue snorted. “However, should a pony and all those who dwell within that hut desire it, then I see no reason to keep it from them. Winter isn’t over yet and I’m sure ponies are tired of doubling up to keep from freezing.”

“We’ll have to warn everypony not to let foals near it.” Shiny wrinkled her nose at Bluebell. “Too young to understand it can hurt them.”

“I want one.” Rock Slide scuffed his hoof along the ground. “What happens if it goes out?”

“Well, if lots of ponies have fires, then I guess you could just ask somepony to share theirs.” Thistle shrugged. “I know it’s possible to make fire, I just don’t know how.”

“Friction.” Hope hummed. “I remember a pony when I was a foal, she used to use hemp and sticks, rubbing them together until the friction made sparks for her to use in scaring everypony else.”

“What happened to her?” Thistle asked before she could think better of it.

“The Lead Stallion chased her out after she threw sparks at his tail for rejecting her.” Her eyes widened at the story. That sounded exciting and even a little funny. She wondered if Light knew it.

“Mountain Shadow got a magic mark after she got home with the fire.” She informed them, bringing them back to the topic at hoof.

“That’s nearly everypony under your roof, isn’t it?” True Blue raised one of her brows.

“Only Camellia, Enduring, and Hornet left.” Thistle confirmed.

“So, that’s four foals and three mares.” Shiny Rock hummed thoughtfully. “None older than sixteen. Interesting.”

“How so?” She blinked.

“All younger generation ponies.” She waved her hoof. “Could mean it’s easier for younger ponies to get marks, or simply that older ponies can’t get marks at all.”

“I don’t think that’s right.” She frowned. “As far as we can tell, a mark shows up when a pony displays a talent in a skill that becomes their purpose in life. Like helping ponies for me.”

“What do stars have to do with helping ponies?” True Blue cocked her head to the side.

“I don’t know. But I also don’t know what they have to do with stories and Light has a star in her mark.” She shrugged helplessly. “It’s not like we can choose what sort of mark appears.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Every day it took a little longer to remind herself why she didn’t go running to Thistle’s hut at the end of the day. Her dam was over bearing and definitely a carrot-chaser and she was never shy about sharing her opinion, but she was still Pink’s dam. This was the mare who’d kissed her scraped fetlocks and sang her lullabies at night.

But if Pink was forced to listen to one more lecture about her mating prospects she was going to scream!

“Now, obviously you can’t herd with Thistle Burr if she’s with your brother, but that Pucker Thorn colt? He’s the only colt with a magic mark. Sure to grow into a fine stallion!” Cardinal laughed to herself. “And it wouldn’t be difficult for Woodpecker to befriend the colt. Following the right hand hoof of the Lead Stallion, yes that would do quite nicely.”

“He’s eleven, isn’t he? Just a few short years from stallionhood.” Woodpecker joined in. Pink wished her group was bigger. Cardinal and Woodpecker always censored themselves around other ponies. It would be nice to come home without facing another lecture.

At least her dam was on board with the whole ‘following Pucker Thorn’ plan. Pink had accidentally let that slip a week ago and she was sure she wouldn’t approve. Pink had forgotten that Puck had a magic mark. Most ponies who spent time around Thistle got one sooner or later. She was just waiting for the day the Lead Mare walked out of her hut with a mark on her flank.

“Dam, Woodpecker, haven’t we gone on about this long enough? Thistle and I are still years off from getting our heats.” She groaned.

“Nonsense dear. Early is never early enough.” Cardinal scoffed. “I was looking at your age, you know. Ugh, if only I’d been a member of this herd before Rock Slide began following True Blue. I could’ve been Lead Mare!”

Probably the best thing about all the magic and the Light-That-Wasn’t was that her dam wasn’t dead set on Pink becoming the next Lead Mare. She was still basking in the relief of that load being taken off her shoulders. Really, as soon as Thistle became a mare she was going to have to beat the stallions off with a stick. And as soon as she confirmed a pregnancy? Yeah, ponies would be counting down the days until Thistle could make a bid for Leadership.

But realistically, Pink no longer had a snowball’s chance in summer of becoming a Lead someday. Talk about a relief. Number two of the Lead Mare though? Well, Pink already had that one. She was Thistle’s confidant after all. Her eyes and ears in the herd.

“Pink, dear,” Uh-Oh, she’d zoned out. “Would you mind sharing your report to Thistle earlier?”

“Only Cliff Face’s hut, Hope Spring’s hut, and the Storehouse don’t have a fire in them.” Pink began, pointing at the fire sitting neatly in the center of their hut. “He claims its because he’s not ‘weak’ enough to need a fire. I personally think he’s just too afraid to get one.”

“Why Hope Springs doesn’t have one, she wouldn’t say. It’s definitely not fear though.” A mare who could kill a phoenix without blinking obviously had nothing to fear.

“That mare who ran into the orchard during the attack finally made it back. Thistle spent most of today nursing her near a fire but she’s confident Picked Fruit will make a full recovery.” She paused for a moment. “Of course, you’ve probably already heard Starlight bragging about her gems.”

She decided not to mention the part about the mountain she got them from being potentially inhabited by a giant, gem-eating monster. Puck had told her about that ages ago when he first found the tracks. The Lead Mare was gonna have to declare that area forbidden to keep anypony from getting eaten. Whatever made those weird tracks was a lot bigger than a phoenix.

“That’s about it for today. It’s been quiet.” She finished. She waited to hear what her dam had to say. Her dam was a pretty good judge of what the fussier ponies in the herd would say.

At least, that’s what Shiny Rock had told her. Pink went to her every day before reporting to Thistle. It helped her figure out what was important and what wasn’t. Shiny Rock had even told her she had good instincts for this kind of thing!

Pink wanted to be just like Shiny Rock when she grew up.

“Yes, quiet.” Cardinal murmured. “Anything of interest from you, Woodpecker dear?”

“That Silent Current colt? He’s apparently very popular right now for his heroism.” Woodpecker drawled. Pink held back the urge to wince. Her dam had never had anything nice to say about Current.

But like the winds,

“My, such a brave young colt. Would that we all had such courage!” Her dam could change her mind at a moment’s notice.

The politest thing her dam had ever had to say about Current before was that he was quiet. The colt was mute, of course he was quiet! It wasn’t a good thing!

Ever since that day by the riverside, Pink had been a little more discerning about the things her dam said. The way Thistle had just looked at her still sent shivers down her spine. Pink had no trouble believing Thistle was a bit more than Touched.

She zoned out of the conversation. It would just be more of the same. She’d probably encourage Woodpecker to make friends with Current now.

Pink wondered if her dam would ever realize Pink told Thistle about her too.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If she closed her eyes it was like she was laying out in the sun on a hot summer’s day. After all the snow and ice it was positively luxurious. Morning had been a little uneasy at first, but Sun and Moon was fire a good idea! She’d have to remember to thank Mountain properly. When they had some privacy.

Which probably wouldn’t happen until spring. It was too cold to get up to shenanigans outside and the hut was never empty. There were some mares who thought nothing of raising their tails in mixed company, but Morning wasn’t one of them.

“What are you sighing over, Love?” Mountain nuzzled her belly. She’d started showing about, oh, a month ago. It felt heavy. And she still had most of a year to go.

“I’m warm. Have I mentioned lately that I love you?” She smiled.

“Oh, about three times, since sunrise.” Mountain laughed, rubbing a hoof over her belly.

“Well, I love you.” She sighed, stretching out her legs, being careful not to push any straw towards the fire. It was nice now but she suspected it wouldn’t be so nice if it consumed their home. Now they couldn’t stretch out over the middle of the hut everypony had to go back to laying against the walls. They were nose-to-nose or rear-to-rear all along the wall at night.

She was about to stretch her head over to kiss her fire-mare when a great hacking cough reminded her they weren’t alone. She winced, sitting up to take in Enduring’s trembling form.

“Oh geez,” Mountain stood and wandered over to the old nag. She began beating her back, trying to help dislodge some of whatever was choking her. Enduring’s coughing fit eased slowly and left her wheezing. “I thought the fire was helping! Hold on, I’ll run and find Thistle.”

“No, you ain’t!” Enduring grabbed her by the hoof. “Distle Burr can’t help wid dis.”

“Are you sure?” Morning trotted around the fire.

“Burr can’t strip da age off a pony.” Enduring sighed tiredly. “An’ it would only upset her ta try n’ fail. Endless Pastures are callin’ my name, girls, an’ eh’ll have ta answer’em soon.”

Morning exchanged looks with Mountain. Together, they eased down on either side of Enduring, wrapping her in a warm embrace.

“In da ol’ way of dings, I’d’a fallen behind months ago.” She laid her head down. “I’ve been holdin’ on, tryna get as much of my know-how in Burr’s brain as possible. Such a sweet filly, ain’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s sweet alright. Always wants to help.” Mountain frowned. Morning saw she was blinking back tears. She felt a little like crying too.

“You girls gonna look after her? An’ Light too? Dey just ten, der’s still so much dat can kill’em out dere.” Enduring shook, softly sobbing. Morning nuzzled her, offering what comfort she could. “An’ little Cam, so excited ‘bout darn near everyding. Yew gotta look after each oder too now, don’t go makin’ yerselves sick wid worry. Ain’t good for da foal.”

They let Enduring keep dispensing advice until she wore herself out. Hornet got back with Camellia shortly after, bearing some food from the storehouse. Light returned an hour later, chilled almost to the bone but oddly pleased with herself. Thistle arrived after sundown, talking about Pink Peach and Pucker Thorn.

“How has everypony’s day been?” She asked through a yawn.

“Camellia, do you want to t-tell Healer Burr what you learned today?” Hornet nudged her gently.

“One, two, three, four,” Up and up the numbers went, until Camellia came to a proud stop at thirty. Morning squealed and snatched her filly up for a hug.

“Look at you, learning to count so high!” Mountain laughed, the loudest she’d been since Enduring fell asleep.

“We counted snowballs! We were gonna use pinecones, but we couldn’t find any!” Camellia giggled. “We were digging for pebbles, but then I made a snowball and we decided that was more fun and we could throw them after we counted them! I hit Daddy a bunch!”

“Oh, did you? Sounds like you had a lot of fun with Daddy.” Mountain snorted, sending a teasing look to Hornet. The poor stallion turned as red as an apple. Morning leaned over and groomed his mane to show there were no hard feelings.

“What about you two?” She turned to Light and Thistle. “Anything interesting happen today? Though I doubt there’s anything to compete against the monster attack yesterday.”

“My Mother traveled to the twin mountains and came back with basketfuls of small gems.” Light informed them. “All sorts of different colors. She’s quite pleased with herself. She’s been bragging all day.”

“Huh, so that’s why her basket was so glittery the day after the last blizzard.” Thistle hummed thoughtfully. She winced suddenly and groaned. “The Lead Mare was planning on making that area forbidden! I completely forgot!”

“Forbidden, why?” Mountain scratched the back of her head.

“Because when Pucker Thorn went up there he found giant tracks of some monster! A monster that apparently eats gems!” Thistle massaged her temples. “The Lead Mare didn’t declare it forbidden because Flicker Light died of the cold and no pony was eager to go that far from the village. She’s not gonna be happy when she hears about this.”

“Do you think my Mother will get in trouble?” Light seemed conflicted.

“Probably not since she didn’t know about the monster tracks.” Thistle shook her head. “She’s just not going to be happy because Starlight could’ve been hurt.”

“Starlight must wanna play lots of games if she’s got so many gems.” Camellia spoke seriously. For a moment, everypony stared at her. It was only when they realized Hornet was blushing again that they switched to staring at him.

“I, uh, made up a game for Cam? S-Something fun to do when we’re inside all day?” He fidgeted nervously.

“Show’em, Daddy!” Cam ran for the empty water baskets, tossing them at the unfortunate stallion. She then pulled the emerald out of the basket they used for odds and ends. Hornet continued blushing furiously even as he slipped the gem under one of the baskets and began shuffling them around.

“Now ya gotta guess which basket has the emerald!” Cam informed them cheerfully.

“Oh geez, is it…that one?” Mountain smirked, deliberately pointing to the wrong basket.

“S-Sorry, better luck next time.” Hornet smiled nervously, revealing the true hiding place.

“That really is a fun game.” Thistle chuckled.

“Wha’s a run? What’re we running from?” Enduring’s head popped up, swiveling around to squint at them.

“We’re not running from anything, Enduring. Hornet made up a fun game for Camellia.” Thistle explained. Morning did her best not to think about the way the old nag had cried earlier.

“A game, is it? Yew gonna show Granny Enduring how to play, Cam?” She smiled, showing the lack of teeth in her gums.

“Yeah! C’mere!” Camellia tugged her forward. “Daddy’s hiding a emerald in the baskets and you gotta guess which one! Do it, Daddy!”

“Okay, okay!” He laughed, shuffling the baskets around again.

Morning leaned into Mountain and watched her family enjoy their evening together.
> Death and Tragedy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thistle wished ponies got a winter coat like other animals. Her hooves were numb and her legs ached from the cold. Digging in the snow for winter food wasn’t helping matters. If she fell through one more snowbank, Thistle was going to scream.

Even as she thought this, her hoof slipped out from under her. Yelping, she pulled herself up and skidded backwards, shaking off snow as she went.

She hadn’t even been able to fill one basket this time. Everywhere she looked the gathering places were picked clean. Even the furthest ones that only her family ventured to. There was no more denying it, they’d have to start asking for food from the storehouse.

She took a second to orient herself towards the village. It was a long walk, but the weather was clear. No signs of anymore storms. Hopefully the weather would stay clear like this until spring arrived. She wasn’t sure Enduring could take another blizzard, even with the fire.

Thistle folded her ears back. Enduring slept more and more these days. And was forgetful when she was awake. Her hearing was going badly, her eyes hardly saw anything anymore, and even her sense of smell was dimmer. Somepony had to help her outside to relieve herself every day because Enduring couldn’t stand up on her own anymore.

And there was nothing she could do about it. Everything she’d learned and nothing had told her how to wipe the years from a pony’s face. Enduring didn’t have long left before she would go to the Endless Pasture.

Thistle stopped walking along the path, checking to see if there was anypony nearby. Seeing she was alone, Thistle bowed her head close to the ground. She dug out a small space, just enough so she could see the dirt. With her head hanging low, she began to whisper.

“Please, Mother Earth, make the Endless Pastures as nice as Enduring said they were. Make sure all her friends and family are there to welcome her when she arrives.” Thistle swallowed around the rock in her throat. “Make her young again, so her joints don’t ache, and she has her teeth and she can see how pretty everything is. Make it warm.”

“And please, guide those of us left behind. I’m scared of what will happen when she’s gone. I’m scared I haven’t learned enough.” With nothing else to add, she thanked Mother Earth for listening and then continued on her way.

The edge of the village was marked by Hope’s hut. Thistle thought about stopping to see her, but it never helped. Maybe ponies who were hurting like that had to take the first step for themselves.

She still took a few steps towards the hut, uncertain. She shook herself free and turned towards the path leading to her own hut instead. Her frozen hooves took two tries to open the door.

“I’m home.” She slammed her weight against the door to shut it again.

“Burr,” Another shiver wracked her frame. Enduring’s voice was weak, breathless.

Everypony was there. Morning was crying into Mountain’s mane. Hornet was rubbing his hoof over Camellia’s back. Dim was nuzzling Enduring, the fur of her face wet with tears.

“Enduring, what’s wrong?” She stepped around the fire, then lowered herself next to the old nag.

“Nuttin’, nuttin’s wrong, Burr.” Enduring sighed, milky eyes blinking closed. “Got’s my fam’ly all togeder now.”

“Why’s everypony crying?” Her breath hitched around a sob.

“I’s gonna be okay, Burr, sweet filly. Everyding will be okay.” She had to lean close to hear her. “’Member whut all I taught ye, n’ love eachoder always, okay?”

Thistle’s heart turned to ice. Burning tears slid down her cheeks.

“Enduring,” She started. Stopped. The words refused to come.

“So lucky ta meet yew, Distle Burr. Gonna do great dings, I know.” Enduring chuckled before breaking into a coughing fit that shook them all. It took several minutes for her to catch her breath.

“I love yew, Burr. Love all y’all. Wanted ta get ta spring. Wanted…ta see…ta see.”

“See what?” Thistle nudged her once, gently, then harder. “See what, Enduring?”

“Enduring!” She raised her hooves to shake her. Nothing, not even the rustle of breath. She couldn’t draw in enough air. “Enduring, please! You gotta tell me! You can’t go yet! You still have lots to teach me!”

“Thistle,” She felt Hornet’s hoof on her back. She stopped trying to shake Enduring awake.

Losing her dam didn’t feel like this. It hadn’t felt like a loss at all, except for when she thought of how hard it would be to survive on her own. There hadn’t been this rock lodged in her throat. There hadn’t been this ache in her chest. This trembling in her hooves.

This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be normal. She felt like her heart was going to stop. It would burst and she’d lie down and gallop to the Endless Pastures. Nopony could survive this pain. Nopony should have to.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Frozen ground was hard to dig in. It took hours before it was done, and the light was fading when the herd gathered together for this funeral. Mountain and Hornet carried Enduring’s body to the sledge, Morning pulled it to the hole.

Dim Light, Thistle, and Camellia followed behind it. Light kept her head up, weak eyes following the passage of the sledge. Thistle walked in the middle, and Light made sure they walked close enough to touch.

At Flicker Light’s funeral she hadn’t known how she felt. Flicker Light was her aunt, but Light hadn’t felt any real grief at her passing. At best, she’d been shaken because Flicker was the first pony to die in the village.

Enduring though, Enduring’s death felt like a loss. A real one. Like somepony had stolen her leg out from under her and she had to continue without it.

When they reached the field with the hole, Light tried to focus on the pile of rocks that marked Flicker’s resting place. Silently, she sent an apology to her aunt for not grieving her the way Light grieved for Enduring.

The three of them stopped before the hole while Morning pulled the sledge alongside it. There, Hornet and Mountain worked together to lower Enduring into the grave. Rock Slide and Oak Leaf then began to bury her.

“Today, we lost Enduring Rock. She was forty-two years old, and was granddam or great-granddam to many in the herd.” The Lead Mare spoke to the herd. “After the Light-That-Wasn’t, she adopted the orphaned filly, Thistle Burr, and taught her how to heal. May she run forever in the Endless Pastures of our Mother Earth.”

There were whinnies of agreement and a general stomping of hooves. Light glared at the ground so she wouldn’t have to see it. None of them had cared about Enduring. They were here because everypony else was. It felt like a trespass.

Thankfully, the herd thinned quickly after that. Ponies didn’t want to be out in the cold as the sun finally set. Light didn’t feel the cold. She’d stay here as long as Thistle did.

She nuzzled her sister and was nuzzled in turn. Light could hear Camellia crying as quietly as she could on Thistle’s other side, and she felt it when Thistle shifted to hug Cam. Mountain, Morning, and Hornet were grouped together by the grave, piling rocks overtop so they wouldn’t forget where their granddam was buried.

“Dim Light,” She flinched in surprise. She and Thistle both turned to see her mother standing nearby. Light could hear her baby sister fussing in her mother’s basket.

“May I speak with you, Dim Light?” Mother’s request was shy and uncertain. Equally unsure, Light turned to Thistle.

“Go, we’ll meet you back home.” Thistle urged her.

Mother’s hut glittered. Gems of every color decorated the walls, held there by gully mud. The light of the fire made the whole room sparkle. It was easily the most beautiful hut in the entire village. Even with her eyes, Light couldn’t help but think it was the most beautiful thing imaginable.

Starlight had a basket stuffed with grass that she laid her baby sister in. Light leaned forward to take in the foal’s scent. The filly giggled and grabbed her snout. Light had never been this close to a foal before.

“Her name is Sunlight.” She turned one ear towards her mother, content to let her baby sister pat her face.

“She’s adorable.” Light offered.

“She is.” The tension built between them. Light did her best not to let it get to her. She didn’t know what her mother wanted to talk about, but Light’s place wasn’t here. She was meant to be with Thistle and the rest of her chosen family.

“Dim Light, will you look at me, daughter of mine?” It took her a moment to believe she’d really said that. Gently, she pulled away from Sunlight to face her mother.

“Daughter of mine, your group, do they love you?” Starlight asked.

“They do, and I them.” Light nodded. The rainbow of gems was beautiful, but it made it even harder for her eyes to focus.

“…I have been thinking of this since we came to the valley, and my thoughts only grew more urgent when Flicker died.” Light heard her take a shaky breath before forging onward.

“In the normal way of things, when a mother died, the foal often died within days of her. But, since the Light-That-Wasn’t, that isn’t what happens anymore.” Her mother’s blurred form stepped forward and around her, so she could offer her hoof to Sunlight. “Now, ponies take in the foals left behind.”

“Enduring Rock took in Thistle Burr, Morning Dew and Mountain Shadow took in Camellia,” Light stepped aside and sat down, listening.

“Flicker left a colt, Sun Patch. A mare in their group took him in.” Starlight took a deep breath, this one steadier than the last.

“I don’t have any others in my group, Dim Light. Flicker was my only relative in this herd, besides you. And that is why, should I die, I ask you to please take in Sunlight.”

“Mother,” She wanted to step forward to hug her, but her mother had never been receptive to her affection in the past. With the way things were between them, given all that had happened, Light didn’t know if she really wanted to anyway. Her mother had cast her out, to live or die by her own merits. And that was after ten years of telling Dim Light she was a failure in every way because of her eyes.

“Should something happen to you, and I sincerely hope nothing will, I’ll take in Sunlight.” She promised.

“Thank you,” Light waited, then stood to go. At the door she paused to take one last look at the dazzling room.
Part of her wanted an apology, but the rest of her was too grateful to demand one. She had a family that truly loved her, and that family was waiting for her at home, not in this hut of colored light.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Days passed, bringing a sun that shone through the icy air. The storms all but ceased and, slowly, the snow began to melt. Grass started to push its way through the soil as spring found its way to True Valley.

“Ground’s finally getting soft enough its easier to dig in.” Marsh commented, plowing through a small patch of dirt with her hoof. Leaning against her side was a spear, with the spear head curved instead. This she began to drag a small furrow with. Her filly, Summer Showers, followed behind and carefully began planting oat seeds.

“Can you imagine an entire field of oats?” Thistle jumped in surprise, turning to see Pucker Thorn had snuck up on her. He was a little thinner after winter, but most ponies did look thinner. He looked good though, the food they’d gathered was almost all gone but it had kept the herd fed for the entire winter.

Nopony had starved and only one had died of the cold. It was a miracle. A blessing.

But Enduring wasn’t here to see it.

“Hey,” He bumped her shoulder until she looked at him. “It’ll be okay.”

“…I just wish she could’ve seen this.” Thistle looked out at the field they’d marked off.

In a few days, the oats would begin to sprout. Things were changing, always changing. Ponies were running around. Even the adults were acting like foals, stretching their legs after the long winter. Everypony was just so happy to be alive!

Thistle took a deep breath. Yes, everypony was glad that spring was finally here. It hadn’t been easy and there had been losses, but here was the herd, still going strong.

“Uh, Thistle,” Pucker tapped her shoulder. “I think somepony’s here to see you.”

Curious, Thistle looked over her shoulder. Hope Springs had left her hut. She had baskets on her back and her spear in hoof. She’d parted her mane to fall over her lost eye. Her ribs poked through her sides and her legs were nobly with all the weight lost. The season had not been kind.

“Healer,” Hope nodded to her, then gestured towards the western forest. Thistle moved to walk beside her.

“I’m glad to see you out of your hut.” She smiled shakily.

“Somepony else may have it. I am leaving.” She offered in explanation.

“You’re…what?” She gasped. They stopped walking, now within the boundaries of the forest.

“Leaving, Healer.” Hope repeated. She turned to look in Thistle’s eyes. “The herd, the village.”

“But why? You’ll never survive on your own!” She argued.

“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Hope sighed and sat down facing her. “This valley will not remain hidden for long, Healer Burr.”

“What do you mean?” They weren’t hiding. What was Hope trying to say? “Hidden from what? Monsters?”

“Ponies can be monsters too.” Hope muttered sourly. She continued, “My intent is to learn what I can of monsters and other herds, see if they have magic as well. I want to see if other ponies have been blessed.”

“I’m not blessed.” She protested. “And why? Sooner or later another herd will wander across our valley and we can learn then. And the monsters? We can’t learn anything if you’re dead!”

“And how sure are you that the next herd we meet will be benign?” Hope challenged. “We are about to have entire fields of food, we have shelters, fresh water, no major predators nearby. Do you really think other herds will simply leave in peace when we have such resources? And, unless they are unluckier than even I, they will not simply ask to merge with us.”

“And how do you expect to prevent that by leaving?” Thistle asked.

“By coming back!” Hope stamped her hooves, sides heaving. “And telling you, so you can prepare.”

“I can’t stay here, with no purpose,” Thistle winced at her words. Hope stood up to walk away. “At least if I die out there, it will be for a reason.”

Thistle couldn’t stop her. She didn’t have the right words. Hope had never really attached herself to the herd. She’d only lingered on the edges, as outcast as a pony could be without being banished.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to make.” Hope confided. She wouldn’t turn around but Thistle could see she was shaking. “It wasn’t until your mentor’s funeral that I finally made up my mind.”

“Enduring? W-Wha? How did that help you decide this?” Thistle frowned. Now Hope looked over her shoulder to face her.

“Because now you know how loss feels.” The words stung at her eyes. “And you are so kind, Healer. I don’t want you to feel that loss again.”

“I’ll feel it again if you die.” Thistle wiped away her tears. “If you’re determined, then I can’t stop you. But I’ll mourn you if you die, Hope Springs. So you’d better come back!”

“I will return, if I am able.” Hope Springs walked then. She walked through the forest until she was out of sight and hearing of Thistle.

Thistle stood there and pretended she wasn’t shaking.
> Trials and Evidence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She needed to start marking places where medicinal herbs grew. She’d found last autumn that some herbs could be dried to last longer. With the weather warming up now she could afford to go through all her supplies and see what was still viable. Did medicine go bad?

“Thistle, my mane is not a bunch of reeds!” Pink’s scolding tone startled her out of her thoughts.

“Oh, whoops!” She eased on the tugging. She was meant to be braiding Pink’s mane with the blue flowers that had come up on Lookout Hill. “Sorry, Pink.”

“It’s fine.” Pink rolled her shoulders. “Just hurry up so I can do yours.”

“Um, why do you want these things put in your mane, Healer Burr? They’re not very pretty, or yummy.” Summer Showers asked shyly, holding up strips of bark.

“They’re medicine, or used in medicine.” Thistle explained. “I like to carry as much as I can for emergencies. And you can call me Thistle, if you want.”

“Dam would want me to show you proper respect.” Summer shook her head, leaning forward to pull Thistle’s mane back. Light laid behind her, ready to start on Summer’s mane. All four of them sat in a circle, grooming out tangles so their manes could be braided with their chosen adornments.

“Marsh Steps,” Thistle sighed. She had all the tangles out of Pink’s mane now.

“She and Holly Berry mean well.” Light smiled serenely. “They’ve both done well collecting seeds for planting.”

“Yeah,” She had to give them that. Having followers was useful. Thistle would never have been able to collect all those seeds by herself. Now on top of the oat field they had a field for radishes, a tuber called a potato, and carrots. Marsh Steps was going to have a hard time keeping animals out of the fields once everything started growing.

“You’re not still thinking about Hope Springs, are you?” Pink asked in concern.

“Not at the moment,” The Leads had taken it well. Shiny Rock had been furious though. She didn’t like it when ponies weren’t where they were supposed to be, even ponies who exiled themselves.

“Her words show wisdom.” Rock Slide huffed as she recounted Hope Spring’s reasoning. “There are ponies I’ve met in the past who would gladly run the stallions here off and take the mares for their own for what we have.”

There were ponies who would do that. There were ponies who would see what they were building here and, instead of sharing it, would want to steal it. The idea made her sick.

“Do you think she’ll come back?” Summer’s hooves grew still. There was a piece of bark itching at the back of her neck and it was taking every ounce of Thistle’s willpower to not scratch it.

“Uh, have you ever seen that mare?” Pink scoffed. “She eats fire birds for lunch! I give her a year tops before she’s back with the head of a hydra or something.”

“I bet she’ll have good stories to share!” Light lit up.

Thistle had heard some of Hope’s stories. She hadn’t shared them with Light.

“I’m done, Pink.” She tied off the hemp string knot. The soft blue flowers looked nice in her orange mane.

“I wish we had some darker flowers for you, Light.” Pink sighed, picking out another pink one for Light’s braid. Pink and yellow flowers were braided throughout. Darker flowers would match her coat better.

“I think they look very nice.” Summer assured her.

“I don’t really care.” Light shrugged. “I can barely see flowers anyway.”

“Not saying you don’t look pretty, but darker ones would look better. Thistle, you agree with me, right?” Pink nudged her.

“I like the yellow ones.” Thistle smirked, enjoying the way Pink threw her hooves up in faux-disgust.

“You’re getting bark braided into your mane, you’re not allowed to have an opinion on flowers anymore.” Pink declared.

They laughed, letting Light and Summer finish off their braids. Thistle shook her head back and forth, trying to get used to the scratchy feeling.

“Tails next?” Summer grinned.

“Healer! Healer!” Thistle stiffened. Pine Needle was in a full gallop up the hill. The four fillies rushed to meet him half way.

“Pine, what’s wrong?” She stopped him, checking him for cuts or bruises. But if Pine Needle was the one running for help, then Soft Touch was the one who needed help. “Where’s your sister?”

“The big, broken rock! That mean stallion’s hurting her!” He cried.

“I know the rock he means, it’s between here and the fruit forest.” Light told her.

“Summer, watch Pine, get a stallion.” A mean stallion, Pine said? Had another herd found them already? She pressed the colt into Summer’s side and took off running, Pink and Light close behind her.

The broken rock wasn’t far, just a two minute gallop. Thistle lowered her head as she charged. All she saw of the stallion was his dark brown coat mounting himself on Soft Touch before Thistle tackled his side. Pink followed up by stomping on his barrel when he tried to get up.

Thistle reared, flashing her hooves threateningly. She let the stallion roll out of the way of her blows. She and Pink placed themselves in front of Soft Touch while the stallion climbed to his hooves.

She recognized this stallion. His name was Cliff Face.

“Thistle, she’s hurt!” Light reported. Thistle craned her neck around and saw Soft Touch, really saw her. She was trembling and there were tear tracts in her fur. There was blood on her neck where’d he’d bit her.

“She’s a mare! Not a foal!” Cliff Face spat. “I’m fully in my rights to claim her now!”

“Soft Touch isn’t a mare!” Thistle growled.

“She’s in heat!” She heard Soft Touch whimper at his words.

“Her first heat and you mount her like an animal!” Pink snarled, dragging her hoof through the dirt.

“I AM—!” Cliff Face’s expression twisted to sick rage.

“Dead!” Bright Finish came barreling past her. Thistle had a split second to enjoy the look on that monster’s face before Bright Finish slammed into it. She looked over her shoulder to see who else had arrived.

Rock Slide, Oak Leaf, Current, Moss Glade, Riverbank, Woodpecker and Tree Stump, Hornet, every stallion in the herd was here bearing spears and dark looks.

“Enough!” Rock Slide grabbed Bright Finish by the mane and pulled him off Cliff Face. Given they were almost equal in size it couldn’t have been easy to pull the enraged stallion off. Oak Leaf and Tree Stump moved to stop Bright Finish from finishing what he started. The Lead Stallion looked down at the bloodied mess left at his hooves and for a moment Thistle believed she was about to witness a culling.

But he stayed his hooves.

“Healer, tell us what happened here.” He commanded.

“Yes, Lead Stallion.” She stepped out of her combative stance. “Myself, Pink Peach, Dim Light, and Summer Showers were on Lookout Hill when Pine Needle came to us at a gallop, crying that his sister was in danger due to a stallion. I left Pine Needle with Summer and led my friends here, believing Soft Touch was under attack by an enemy stallion. We did not hesitate to force him off her and only recognized him after we separated them. He forced himself on her because she entered her first heat and he wanted to claim her.”

“That is not how claiming is done!” Bright lashed his tail.

“Heat means she’s a mare! That means she can follow me!” Cliff Face defended himself.

“Mare or no, it’s against herd law to force a following.” Rock Slide spoke coldly. “I for one do not take it lightly. Oak Leaf, Moss Glade, confine him to his hut until I decide what to do with him.”

“Decide what to do with me? Me? I’m a stallion! A warrior!” Cliff Face shied away from the spears aimed at him.

“Healer,” Thistle turned back to the Lead Stallion. “Tend to Soft Touch. Pink Peach, go to True Blue and tell her what happened here.”

“Yes, Lead Stallion.” They both nodded obediently. Pink ran off immediately while Thistle turned to face Soft Touch fully.

“Soft Touch?” She stepped a little closer. Her sides were heaving and she wouldn’t look up from the ground. Thistle wanted to treat her here and now but…

But not when they could still hear Cliff Face spewing his poison.

“Let’s go back to your hut.” She suggested, gently nudging Soft Touch into motion when she didn’t move. Step by step, walking around the village rather than through it.

They passed an overturned basket that Thistle picked up. It still had a few soft green hairs from Soft Touch’s coat.

“Alright, you’re safe now.” Thistle breathed easier when they could shut the door behind them. Thistle built up the small fire a little brighter. That done, she pulled a water basket forward and leaned in to look at the bites.

“Where’s Pine Needle?” Soft Touch stiffened when Thistle brushed her mane away from the bite marks. Cliff Face had not been gentle.

“He’s with Summer Showers. I’ll get him for you after I tend your wounds.” She promised. Soft Touch nodded, letting her wounds be cleaned and treated in silence. When Thistle had finished wrapping the plantain bandages where necessary, she looked at Soft Touch’s flanks.

“Does it hurt, back there?” Her cheeks flushed. Enduring had told her everything that went on in foal making, but suddenly the words felt vulgar.

“It hurts.” Soft Touch stared at the wall. Thistle didn’t ask her to expand on it, only helped her to stand so she could see everything fully. Her flanks were tender, developing bruises, but there was a little stream of blood leaking from her vagina, mixed with a white fluid.

She didn’t know how to treat this. Loco roots were for deep, long-lasting pains. Could those work for this? Or did she need something stronger and more immediate?

She took a deep breath, regretting it as she took in the full musky-wet scent of Soft Touch’s heat. The first step to treating any wound was to clean it.

It would be easier if she could use something other than her hoof. She refused to use her mouth. She pulled some of the relaxing herbs from her baskets for Soft Touch to chew on while she worked.

“I hate him.” She didn’t need to ask who Soft Touch was talking about.

“I hate him too.” She hoped Cliff Face got everything that was coming to him.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

True Blue watched as Cliff Face was marched before her. Three stallions held their spears pointed at him, the rest stood with cold looks. The mares of the herd were likewise gathered, pawing at the ground and tossing their manes whenever they caught his eye.

Rock Slide stood beside her, solid and reassuring. She flicked her tail. They exchanged one look before Rock Slide stepped forward.

“My ponies!” His voice boomed. “We are here because a pony among us has broken herd law and attempted to force himself on a new mare, fresh in her first heat. Our Healer tends her wounds even now and this stallion awaits his punishment! We, your Leads, will decide his fate!”

There was a rapturous stomping of hooves. The mares of the herd looked positively frenzied. ‘Good.’ True Blue allowed herself a thin smile. When Pink Peach had told her what happened the first thought that appeared in her mind was that the victim was her older daughter. The fear and rage that consumed her mind had shocked her.

But Honest Day was a grown mare with a foal of her own now. Not a new mare.

Still, the idea that it could have been her made True’s vision go red.

“Following is a time honored tradition. It separates us from the animals.” True spoke clearly so the whole herd could hear. “The laws of Following are clear. It must be agreed upon by two consenting adults. Anything otherwise is rape.”

“Rape is a terrible crime. It discourages the victim from bearing or siring foals, and thus threatens the longevity of the herd. In some cases it can even cause the victim to become barren.” She narrowed her eyes at the sullen stallion before her. “Rape against an adult is punished by banishment from the herd. Rape against a foal is punishable by death.”

“My ponies, this stallion committed the crime of rape today.” She declared. “As much as I would like to see his skull smashed beneath the Lead Stallion’s hooves and his body left out for the vultures, I regret to say he did not rape a foal, but a mare. So his punishment is decided.”

“Henceforth,” Rock Slide lifted his hoof, prepared to deliver judgement. “The stallion known as Cliff Face is banished from this herd and our lands! He will be run out beyond the borders of the valley by myself and any volunteers. If he should ever return he will be killed without mercy. Who volunteers to help me run this enemy from our lands?”

“I volunteer!” Bright Finish hefted his spear menacingly.

“I volunteer!” Oak Leaf announced.

One by one, ponies volunteered.

“You banish me? Fine!” Cliff Face’s eyes were wild. “Run me out! You’ll wish you had killed me!”

“My ponies, run this enemy from our lands!” True Blue reared. Cliff Face bolted towards the east and was pursued by easily half the herd. True watched until he was out of sight, coldly satisfied.

There was a flash. True blinked, recognizing it as the Light-That-Wasn’t. But she did not feel faint.

“True,” Shiny Rock’s mouth fell open. “You have a mark.”

Slowly, True turned her head until she could see her own flank. There, bold as the sunrise, was the blazing red form of a bird of prey descending with its talons outstretched.

She lifted her eyes and scanned the herd.

“It seems the theory that Thistle Burr is somehow bestowing the marks is wrong.” She commented idly.

“So it would seem.” Shiny chuckled sardonically. “Congratulations, Lead Mare.”

“I will be returning to my home now.” She decided. “I’m sure Bluebell must be hungry by now, and I left Pink Peach to watch her until judgement was passed.”

“Good day then, True.” Shiny inclined her head. “I’d best see to my own filly. Mother Earth knows my group isn’t the most responsible.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thistle left Soft Touch’s hut as quietly as she was able. Soft Touch was drugged to a happy slumber, with a basket of food and water nearby and her brother tucked in to her side. Thistle would be back tomorrow, and the day after. For now, she closed the door behind her and tried not to wake them.

Outside, the sun was lowering itself below the horizon. Stunning reds, oranges, and pinks lit up the sky. Most ponies were returning to their homes now. Would the chasers have returned from running Cliff Face out yet?

By habit, her hooves carried her to Hope Springs’ door. Even knowing it was empty, she still pushed the door open to peer inside. There was a basket and a spare spear inside, but nothing else to say a pony had ever lived here.

Thistle closed the door and moved on.

Her family’s hut was warm and inviting. Enduring wasn’t there to ask about her day or dispense advice, but she still had her family. They’d be okay.

“Thistle!” Cam cheered and ran up to hug her as she came in.

“Mountain and Hornet are still out chasing Cliff Face.” Morning explained the two empty places in their circle.

He ran east and there was a pass beyond the fruit orchard. At a gallop it would take about four hours. The chasers wouldn’t be running straight back though, not with dark coming on. They’d go slower to avoid injuring themselves.

“They’ll be getting back late then.” She settled in her usual place, accepting the food Light passed to her. Fresh cattail shoots, grass clippings, and early spring flowers, yum.

“How is Soft Touch?” Light asked quietly.

“Physically, she’ll be fine. But she’s angry and…” She groped for the words. “Not scared really, but quieter. I’ve never known her to be so, so,”

“She let me treat her wounds without protesting even once.” She finally settled on.

“My dam’s sister was raped once, she was still just a filly.” Morning frowned. “She was absolutely terrified of stallions afterwards. I don’t know if she ever got over that.”

“But why did Cliff Face do that?” Cam frowned up at them. “Why’d he hurt her?”

“Some ponies think that just because they can do something, it means they have to.” Morning pulled her close. “They think they’ll get away with it.”

“There’s lots of stories like that.” Light nodded. “Ponies who think they can take what they please, but in the end, there are always good ponies to stop and punish them.”

“I still don’t get it.” Cam laid down with a huff, disturbing the bedding.

“Cliff Face was mean and stupid, so long as you understand that I think you’ll be fine.” Morning assured her.

“Mean and stupid.” Thistle agreed.

But he was also proof that sometimes ponies could hurt even each other. As if there wasn’t enough danger in the world already.
________________________________________________________________________________

The herd was gathered by the shore of the lake. Smooth pebbles and sand marked the edge of the waterline. There were marks up to the big willow tree that showed flooding, and with the snows melted the water was nearly submerging its roots.

Yeah, Thistle was very glad Pink had stopped her from building here.

“It’s nice here.” Pink Peach sighed, looking up through the canopy. “Peaceful.”

“When are we going to get to the fighting?” Pucker whined, causing Pink to wince.

“Well, it was peaceful.” She rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Pucker. They’ll get to it when they get to it. We’ve got all day.”

“It’s the Coming-Of-Age Ceremony, Pink! Every colt lives their whole lives waiting for this day!” Pucker stuck his tongue out at her.

“And you’ll be waiting another three years for it, so calm down. Look, the stallions and their colts are approaching.” Thistle looked away from the back-and-forth routine. Three colts would become stallions today. Their sires led the way.

The stallions had come to an agreement on the lineup then. Woodpecker versus Tree Stump, Big Wood versus Rock Slide, and Current versus Bright Finish.

The herd formed a circle around the six males. Rock Slide reared up and whinnied, silencing their idle chatter.

“Today these colts will prove themselves to the herd! Today they become STALLIONS!”His hooves came down with an almighty crack.

First up, Woodpecker versus Tree Stump.

“Go, Woodpecker!” Pink cheered. Woodpecker pawed at the ground, preparing himself before he charged Tree Stump.

Tree Stump pivoted on his front hooves, bringing his rear ones around to buck Woodpecker in the face. Woodpecker barely avoided that and threw his body into his sire’s side. He nearly lost his balance, but both males were soon on their hind legs batting their forehooves at each other.

Thistle had seen previous bouts, and even real fights between stallions when emotions got heated. The fact of the matter was that a colt could not beat a full grown stallion. Woodpecker went sprawling in the dirt after a high kick to the jaw.

The matches didn’t depend on a win though. What mattered was whether or not Woodpecker could stand up again after being hit. Fighting despite pain for the sake of the herd was what made a stallion a stallion.

Woodpecker picked himself up and launched himself at his sire again. Kicking, bucking, biting, anything he could do to demonstrate that he was willing to do whatever it took to win.

Woodpecker was knocked down five times, and got up each and every time. Last year Thistle had watched the fights with excitement. This year, she was thinking about how easy it was to hurt somepony just by accident.

Tree Stump stopped Woodpecker before he could charge again.

“This colt of mine has proven he is willing to fight for the herd! I recognize him as a stallion in his own right! Welcome, Stallion Woodpecker!” The herd cheered.

“WOOO! Yeah, Woodpecker!” Pink shouted. Ponies were stomping their hooves to congratulate him.

“That was great! I can’t wait for the next fight!” Pucker was almost vibrating with excitement.

“Big Wood against the Lead Stallion next.” Thistle sighed. The fights didn’t feel the same anymore. She was glad for Woodpecker, really! It was just hard to get excited over a fight when she knew how easy it was to get hurt.

“Is he…?” She looked up as Pink’s question died off. Big Wood had stepped into the ring, carrying a spear. Thistle’s heart leapt in her throat. How many ponies had hurt themselves with spears and then come to her for treatment. And none of them had ever purposely turned those spears against a fellow pony.

Did she interfere or not? Interrupting the Coming of Age Ceremony was a big deal. She couldn’t remember anypony ever doing so before. But that was a spear and spears hadn’t existed before.

“It’s unsharpened.” Pucker placed his hoof on her shoulder. “Thistle, it’s okay, they’re not going to get stabbed.”

“Unsharpened?” She echoed. Pucker smiled bashfully and ran his hoof through his mane.

“He talked to me about it a couple days ago.” He confirmed, pointing back to the fight.

Rock Slide had allowed the unsharpened spear. Big Wood alternated between holding it with his mouth and his forelegs and he’d clearly put a lot of practice in. The spear helped him keep clear of Rock Slide’s flashing hooves. Given those hooves could crack solid rock, Thistle didn’t blame him.

But Rock Slide wasn’t the Lead Stallion for nothing. Big Wood extended his neck out too far during his thrust and Rock Slide trapped the spear between his hooves. The entire herd flinched as the shaft of wood exploded into splinters. Left with half a spear, Big Wood tried to rear back but Rock Slide caught him in the chest, sending him sprawling onto his back.

Big Wood stood up again, ready to keep trying, but Rock Slide held up a hoof to stop him.

“This colt of mine has proven he is willing to fight for the herd, and has the ingenuity to use the herd’s tools to do so. I recognize him as a stallion in his own right. Welcome, Stallion Big Wood!” The herd began pounding their hooves in applause.

“Thank Mother Earth, that’s over.” Thistle muttered under her breath. No pony had gotten hurt. Big Wood was already being congratulated by the rest of the herd.

“That was amazing! Did you see that?” Pucker trotted in place happily. “I’ve never seen anypony use a spear like that!”

“It was impressive.” She agreed, regretfully. One more fight to get through. Current and Bright Finish were already taking their places.

By an unseen signal, the two charged each other. Thistle watched Bright Finish lunge forward, aiming to bite into Current’s neck and throw him. Current pulled his head back and then forward, rapidly, slamming their skulls together loud enough for everypony to hear. Current latched onto a length of Bright Finish’s mane and yanked, intending to throw him down. Rather than resist, Bright Finish pushed himself forward against Current.

Current dropped the hank of mane in favor of keeping himself on his hooves. The herd held their breath as he snorted, pawing at the ground to challenge Bright Finish.

Bright Finish reared up, intending to bring his full weight behind the next strike. Current flashed forward, slamming his hooves into Bright’s barrel. Thistle winced as the stallion staggered back on his hind legs but managed to bring his front hooves down on Current’s back. Most colts would’ve been driven into the ground from that sort of blow. Current managed to stay on his hooves.

He stayed on his hooves through the whole bout. It didn’t matter what Bright Finish tried, and no pony could accuse him of going easy on Current either. They could hear those blows land. Thistle was honestly shocked that Bright Finish could strike so strongly against a foal.

The fight lasted twice as long as the last two. Current was still on his hooves, visibly trembling with exertion and his sides streaked with sweat. There was a brief flash and the herd gasped at the rearing stallion painted on his flank. Bright Finish straightened up with a laugh.

“This colt I’ve taken in has proven himself willing to fight for the herd, and never be knocked down! I recognize him as a stallion in his own right!” He beamed. “Welcome, Stallion Silent Current!” The roar of the crowd was deafening.

“Did you see? Did you see that?” Pucker was practically foaming at the mouth. “I’ve never heard of anypony who didn’t get knocked down!”

“Ha, bet my dam won’t be saying anything bad about Current for a while.” Pink snickered. “Thistle, what do you think?”

“I think they’re both going to be covered in bruises by tomorrow morning.” She frowned at them.

“Ah, you’re no fun. The bruises are the best part!” Pucker stuck his tongue out at her. “I can’t wait until I’m the one in the ring! It’s going to be great!”

“In three years.” Pink smirked, causing him to deflate.

“Three years.” Thistle chuckled despite herself. They’d be adults in three years.

Adults, mares and stallions of the herd.

Thistle didn’t feel ready to be a mare yet. Good thing she still had three years to prepare.