//------------------------------// // Settling In // Story: Herg's House for Homeless Horses // by Graglithan The Greater //------------------------------// Looking around the main room, the three foals marveled at the sheer size of it. To me and Sarah, it wasn’t all that impressive, but seeing how small they were, it didn’t surprise me much that it looked as imposing as it did. Honestly, I was still getting used to the size difference myself. The room had been built for an average occupant height of at least seven feet, and now the tallest residents of the nation were maybe four at the most. “Woah...” Little Franklin was staring up at the various paintings and sketches as he walked, and almost tripped a few times. I think he was also finding the rafters interesting and appealing from how much he was looking them over between drawings. I smirked a bit as the thought of finding him hanging upside down above someone as they walked in, completely unaware, crossed my mind. That would be pretty funny. Turning to Sarah, I let her push Tiffany’s chair forward. “Hey, I’m gonna go ahead and help get their stuff inside.” She gave me a brief nod before showing the kids around the main room and all the places she thought would interest a foal. Heading outside, I spotted the bus driver fiddling with some keys in her hooves and grumbling next to a large side panel. “Can drive all the way here, but the moment I need to get something out of the storage, I can’t even handle a key ring.” Walking up, I got a better look at the mare. It was like fate had decided that she was to be a bus driver, or at the very least a taxi with her yellow coat and black mane. “Yeah, I can relate.” The poor yellow mare jumped in surprise, dropping her keys, before realizing I was standing nearby. I’ll admit, I may have gotten lost in her amber eyes a bit. As soon as I realized I was staring, an awkward and somewhat uneasy smirk was all I could really give her in return. “Er... sorry for spookin’ ya... and staring.” Chuckling a bit at herself, the driver rubbed the back of her head and picked up her fallen keys with a blush. “No, no, it’s alright.” Looking at her keys, she blinked a bit before deadpanning at the single key that was pointed up. “Really? Dropping it was the answer?” Rolling her eyes, she made quick work of the locked door, and it swung open with ease. “So, I take it you’re here for their bags?” “Yep.” I gave her a quick nod and started to help unload everything. Two of the duffle bags were placed on my back, along with a smaller backpack. She on the other hand, was managing to carry another three. “By the way, I’m Tyler.” Closing the panel on the bus’s side, she smiled over at me and we started to walk up the building. “Tina.” “Well Tina, I gotta say I’m impressed that you drove that behemoth here.” Placing some of the bags down on the porch, I glanced to the bus. “I haven’t seen many people who drive that much anymore.” Tina barked out a laugh and looked at her flank. “Yeah, but at least this whole situation proved that I really am the best at what I do.” Following her gaze, I saw a single driving wheel was displayed on her flank. Glancing at my own flank for a moment, I shook my head and sighed. “Okay, can I just say how terrifyingly accurate these things are?” Dropping the last of the bags down, the yellow mare giggled and started off to the bus. “I know right?” She paused for a moment, and suddenly turned back around, trotting up to me. “Oh, and before I forget, the school system was informed about the situation here, and they set up a quick detour my usual route to pick up any kids from here.” I smirked a bit and nodded in approval. “Well that solves one worry for Sarah. I’ll be sure to let her know.” With a quick wave, Tina was headed off to her bus, and I started to bring everything into the house. As I did, I spotted Sarah and the foals moving back into the main room. “And that almost wraps up our tour of the building. Any questions?” Brianna frowned a bit as she looked around, eyes moving this way and that. “Why do you have so much art stuff here? Isn’t this a, um, you know?” Her lips scrunched shut as she glanced around. I was either going to have to get used to this overwhelming feeling of sympathy and pity for these foals, or it was going to destroy me emotionally. Sarah thankfully caught on to what she was going to say, and waved a hoof to the pictures with an embarrassed smile. “Well, this was originally going to be my art studio, but one thing lead to another, and here we are. Even then, I couldn’t bring myself to take down any of the paintings.” Her smile turned back to that calming one from earlier and she looked to the foals. “So, see any you like?” Tiffany waved one of her hooves to the side. “Ooh, that one!” Glancing at where she was pointing, the painting of a pair of musicians dueling each other upon a brightly lit stage rested on the wall. Sarah nodded. “That one was pretty fun to draw. I got the idea from some of the similar drawings I’d found online, and tried to make a similar work. It’s not for sale of course, but it still is a good example of my work for when someone shows up.” Franklin looked over to the right and trotted to one that had a picture of a young girl baking alongside an young man in a kitchen that faded away towards the edges of the canvas. “What’s this one?” Walking over, I sat next to him and smiled. “That one is actually a picture of me and our little sister. I was teaching her how to make cookies, when someone decided we were the perfect subjects for her next drawing.” “And I think it turned out pretty well.” Sarah giggled as I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. Brianna was looking at one that had an older woman kneeling down before a flowerbed and tending to a rosebush. “What about this one?” Sarah’s eyes soon caught glimpse of the picture in question, and she paused for a moment. Her smile twitched for a second, before she let out a small breath through her nose. “That one’s a picture of my mother. I, um, haven’t actually seen her since the change. I’m not sure what she looks like right now.” The mood in the room was quickly dropping at the mention of mothers, so I stepped over to Brianna and nudged her slightly. “Hey, why don’t we wrap up the tour and get you guys somewhere to rest.” Giving me a thankful smile, Sarah nodded and started towards a different hallway. “Right, we can all keep talking later. For now, let’s all jet get a small break from everything and get some rest.” Tiffany frowned. “What? But it’s only noon!” “Yes, I know, but you all deserve a small break at the very least.” Walking into the hall just ahead of the children, Sarah motioned to the pair of doors on the left. “These will be your rooms for your time here. The first one will be Brianna’s, and Franklin’s is just a room over.” Heading to the first room, Brianna did her best to push open the door herself, and eventually managed to get it open enough to see inside. She glanced around the room, walking about to get a better look before moving back towards Sarah. “Why are there four beds if it’s just my room?” Sarah gave her a reassuring smile and helped Brianna climb onto the bottom bunk of one of the beds. “That’s because there will be more ponies arriving later, and you’ll be sharing your room with them. The reason you’re not sharing one with Franklin is because this room is the filly’s room. The colts are going to have their own bunks in the room that Franklin’s going to be staying in.” She gave the little filly a kiss on the head and smiled. “Go ahead and rest for now. You’ve all had a long day. Tyler and I will get your things inside.” Turning to leave the room, She gave one last glance to her before turning to the small colt. “Come on Franklin, let’s get you to bed.” “Miss Sarah?” Turning to look at the filly, Sarah tilted her head a bit and let her continue. “Could.... Could you bring me one of my books?” Giving the scarred filly a quick nod, Sarah smiled kindly. “Certainly. I’ll bring it over as soon as I get Franklin settled in.” Franklin didn’t say much as he let Sarah move him into the other bedroom. He kept his head down some, and it was clear he wasn’t happy about being here. Poor kid more the likely missed his parents something fierce, and I couldn’t blame him for it. As the two disappeared into the room, Tiffany frowned a bit while tilting her head. “But what about me? I’m a filly, so why don’t I get to stay in the filly’s room with Bri?” I chuckled a bit as I continued to push her a little further down the hallway. “Your room is going to be a little different than the others, seeing as you’re have a slightly more unique set of needs.” A little ways down the hall, I pushed the filly’s wheelchair over to a third and final room. On the door, a large, blue drop of water was painted in an equally blue box. Tiffany’s ears perked up as I pushed her inside, and a small gasp escaped her when she saw what waited within. It wasn’t a grand pool, but it still was fairly large. Spanning at a good twelve by twenty four feet, the pool had a gradual decline from a simple two feet deep to about seven feet. At the bottom of the deep end, lights were set up with a waterproof button to turn them on and off. There was also a large hydrophobic bed secured to the pool floor. The drain was resting off to the far corner of the pool, where it was slightly deeper to allow water flow. I moved Tiffany’s chair to the edge of the water and gently moved it down the stairs into the pool. “Seeing as you’re a bit more inclined to the water, we were able to have this built just in case any more seaponies show up. For now though, it’s your room.” “Wow, this is so cool!” Leaning forward, the little white and green filly slipped out of her seat and swam effortlessly through the water, looking around and doing a quick flip under the surface. I calmly pulled the wheelchair out of the water as she enjoyed herself and couldn’t help but smile. Despite what had happened to all three of them, this little filly who couldn’t even walk on land anymore still had enough in her to smile and be happy. Her head poked up from under the water and she shook, splashing me slightly. “Do you think I could get some stuff to have down here?” “We’ll see. For now, let’s just go ahead and get some rest.” Giving me a nod, the little filly swam back down to her bed and quickly slipped under her covers. Stepping out, I made my way back over to the colt’s room. Glancing inside, I could see Franklin shyly holding onto Sarah’s tail as she had started to leave. “Yes Franklin?” He whimpered a bit and looked towards the bed. “C-could you please stay with me? I-I’m scared of the dark.” A small hint of amusement at the thought of a bat being scared of the dark sparkled in the back of my mind, but I quickly snuffed it out as I was noticed by Sarah. Walking over to a window, I pulled the blinds up and let some sun spill in. The little colt was blushing a bit as I laid down on the floor next to and and smiled. “Did your parents have a nightlight for you?” Blushing a bit, the little umbra colt nodded. “Well, then why don’t you and I see if it’s in the stuff that got brought over.” Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Franklin moved back over from the bed and gave me a quick glance as he looked towards the ground. “T-Thank you sir.” Sarah gave me a quick glance herself before shaking her head with a smirk. In no hurry, Franklin and I went back to the main room and found Franklin’s bag; making short work as we began to dig through its contents. It took a little bit, but I eventually pulled out a cookie shaped nightlight and brought it back to the room. As we moved back to the room, the little colt sniffled a bit as he looked back to his bags. I felt a sad smile tugging at my face, threatening to fall into a frown and leaving me with a grimace. Stopping for a moment, I gently put a hoof on his head, accidentally spooking the poor colt, and started petting his mane to try and calm him down. “Hey, don’t you worry none. Everything will get better. I promise.” He peered at me out of the corner of his eye, but looked away and sniffled. “I miss my mommy.” Sighing, I looked down the hall before laying down and motioning for Franklin to do the same. “I know this might be rather insensitive, but how much do you understand about what happened?” Franklin’s ears were pinned to his head, and a few tears were building in the corners of his eyes. “The other ponies said that... that they’re not coming back.” My heart hitched, but I gave the colt a soft pat on the back. “I... don’t like saying this, but they were telling the truth.” Poor Franklin whimpered, but I kept rubbing his back. “But, that’s why Sarah and I are here.” He looked over at me in confusion, his heat tilting to the side and getting his mane in his face. “H-huh?” Giving him a small smile, I waved a hoof towards the hallway. “This whole place? It’s to help get fillies and colts, like yourself. Whether that means getting a new mommy and daddy, or helping them grow up, we’re right here for ya.” “R-really?” Franklin had this sparkle in his eye. It was like a small fleck of hope was rekindled in him. That or I’m being melodramatic in my dialogue and it was just his watery eyes. “Really really.” I smiled a bit before glancing both ways down the hall. “Can I tell ya something secret?” The little colt’s ears perked back up as he walked a little bit closer. Whispering, I leaned a bit closer and held a hoof to my mouth. “I don’t got a home right now either.” “What?” Franklin squinted his eyes in confusion and raised an eyebrow. “But....” “I know, you think I live here, right?” Getting a nod, I sighed a bit and rubbed the back of my head. “Well, truth be told, I used to have an apartment. Then I forgot to go back to it for two months, and it got sold to somepony else. I’ve been living outta my truck lately.” “Reeeeeealy?” Both Franklin, and My own spine shook in fear as I slowly glanced to the side and spotted Sarah looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I could only give her a sheepish grin. “Eheh... uh...” No, there was no way out of this. I most assuredly, was boned. Stepping over to me, she tapped her hoof on the floor and kept her gaze on me. “Franklin? I need to talk with Tyler for a moment.” Taking the nightlight from me and handing it over to him, she gave him a warm smile. “Could you go ahead and pick a bed for yourself while I do?” “Y-Yes ma’am.” Franklin bolted a moment later, tripping a bit over himself as he fled to the room. I had no chance to do so for Sarah’s sisterly wrath was soon upon me.