Most villagers in Respite knew her for her laughter and boundless energy, that infectious smile that never seemed to leave her pretty magenta face. Or perhaps the way her tricolored curls bounced with each flip, spin, or cartwheel as she zipped around and played with her adoptive sister, Nimble.
A frustrated frown was anything but the norm for Toola Roola. Her ears were splayed back against her mane as she trotted through town square, her saddlebags thumping against her sides with each step. A few of her fellow villagers, pony and changeling alike, stopped to bid her good morning, then turned to ask if there was something the matter, all without fail.
“Are you and Nimble having a fight, Toola dear?”
“Trouble in school? Is my Abacus being too strict again?”
“You’re not feeling ill are you, Toola? I can make a fresh batch of pancakes if you’d like. Once I get back from waking Alto up, I can get right on it.”
Maple brought the smallest of smiles to her lips for a couple seconds. It was difficult to stay angry when everyone’s favorite pancake scarfing baker was around. He was just so darned adorable. And kind to boot.
She paused just long enough to shake her head. “No thanks, Maple. I already ate breakfast this morning.”
“Oh.” The chubby baker’s ears pinned back against his copper mane. Maple nervously tongued his fangs. “Is there anything I can do to help? I-I can make muffins, if you’d prefer those.”
Again, Toola shook her head. “There’s nothing you can really do. It’s something I need to take care of.” She stole a quick glance around town square, searching for any sign of a flash of polished black carapace and sugar pink mane tied in a long braid, or a certain nymph’s bouncy tail. There was none, but for how long? She would have to move quickly lest Esalen catch her. Dropping her voice, she leaned in close to the Enchanter turned baker and whispered, “I’m having a little trouble finding my last gift.”
Maple’s ears perked up suddenly, his eyes went wide. “But Sharers’ Day is three days away!”
“Yes, I know. I’ve got most of my gifts, but the last one is giving me …” she trailed off, biting her lip as she struggled to find the right way to explain it. “I’m completely blanking on what to get.”
“Who’s it for? If you don’t mind my asking, that is.”
Toola took another quick look around. It wasn’t necessarily that Esalen would come looking to spoil the surprise, but there wasn’t a nymph in Respite who wasn’t a fan of sneaking up on a friend and pouncing upon them before pulling them into a tight hug. Or, in her case, tickles. Lots and lots of tickles. Of course, if she was disguised, Toola would have no way to know.
Need to get out of town square before she does. “Esalen,” she said, her voice low.
Blinking, Maple tilted his head. “Wouldn’t she just like a book on massage therapy? That’s going to be her trade, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m willing to bet a full meal’s worth of love against one of your aunt’s cakes she’ll get at least one from someone else.”
“Ah! I see. You want something special for her.” A knowing gleam shone in his eyes. “So where are you off to, then?”
Toola turned to look up the path leading toward the outskirts of the village, toward where the twins’ home lay, just a short walk from that of the funny little filly who moved in a few months prior and caught the aforementioned bookbug’s eye. “Sure Stroke’s house,” she replied after a moment. “I’m hoping she might have some ideas.”
Maple beamed. “Oh, well we can walk together! Alto was supposed to be up by now so he could come eat breakfast with me, but it seems he’s slept in again.” For a fraction of a second, barely visible to those who hadn’t lived around changelings for most of their lives, his amber eyes flashed green. The corners of his mouth tugged into a grin that betrayed his glee. “So I’m going to wake him up and pester him as he deserves!”
Despite her dour mood, Toola had to giggle—finally! A familiar hint of joy in her. “Well, let’s get moving then. I’d like to hurry and get this taken care of.”
With a nod and merry buzz of his wings, Maple joined her in walking down the dirt path toward Sure Stroke’s home, each with their personal goals in the forefront of their young minds.
It was Sure Stroke herself who opened the door to her family’s home. Her deep blue eyes widened a fraction when she first looked upon the pair, then a smile spread across her face. She looked skyward and muttered a quick thanks to Celestia under her breath, before turning her attention to Maple. “Looking for Alto?” she asked with a knowing roll of her eyes.
“Is he awake?” Maple asked in reply, the eagerness in his voice betrayed by a rolling chitter and swish of his tail.
“If he is, then he’s taken up gargling marbles.” The young artist stepped to the side and beckoned him in with a flick of her wing. “He’s all yours.”
Again, his eyes flashed green. “Oh, yes he is,” he muttered ominously as he slipped inside and sped down the hall toward the slumbering pegasus’s room in absolute silence, as only a changeling could.
Sure Stroke turned her gaze upon Toola and heaved a sigh of relief. “I was just about to go looking for you or Vector or someone!” she said, waving her inside. “Come in, quick, before Aspire or Esalen see you and decide to start snooping. I swear, I’m going to whack the pair of them over the head so hard their brains will rattle for leaving me in the dark for so long!”
Her tone was enough to make Toola snort as she entered. “What did they do this time? Not tell you about Sharers’ Day?” she asked, more out of teasing than any intent to slight.
“Barely anything,” Sure Stroke replied darkly. She kicked the door shut with a bit more force than was necessary, which made the pictures hanging on the wall shake precariously before balancing once more. Huffing a breath through her nose, she shook her head and motioned for Toola to follow her down the same hallway Maple had dashed and invited her into her room. “I swear, those two are just trying to wind me up so they can tease me for not getting them gifts!” she snapped, flaring her wings.
Toola frowned. It wasn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility for the twins to hide things from a friend, but not for entirely selfish gain. They liked to make sure everyone got something out of the exchange. “I don’t think they would do that. Especially not with how much Aspire loves you.”
A yelp and a thump from down the hall made both fillies pause to glance at the door. Judging by the chittering laugh and muffled crooning, Maple had woken up Alto at last.
Out of the corner of her eye, Toola saw a fond smile spread across Sure Stroke’s face before she heaved another sigh. “I know,” she said softly. “I know they wouldn’t wait so long to tell me for some silly reason like that, but I specifically asked for details on how the village celebrated Sharers’ Day and they kept dodging! All the way until I said it in front of their mother!”
“Oof, how’d it go when they tried to dodge then?” Toola asked, fully knowing how the twins could never properly let go of a ruse.
“She boxed them both over the ears and made them tell me about that it was meant to be a gift exchange between friends and lovers, sort of like Hearts and Hooves Day, and a little bit about how it came to be. So now my parents and I get to scramble around like mad ponies trying to find gifts!”
Aha, there it is. Toola shook her head. She was right after all. The twins were up to their tricks again, but this time with a more traditionalist flair.
That was an easy enough fix. She could play the role of tutor to the village’s newest filly this time around.
Her troubles with finding a fitting gift for Esalen could be put on hold for that long.
She trotted over to Sure Stroke’s bed and hopped up to sit, then patted a spot next to her. “Come sit with me,” Toola said. “I’ll try to fill in the blanks they left out.”
Sure Stroke trotted over to the bed, her brow arched but her ears perked and ready to listen. With a shrug of both wings and shoulders, she hopped up to join Toola. “Okay. So … this is supposed to be a thing the Caretakers got from the crystal ponies?”
“The changelings as a whole, yes,” Toola corrected. “The way the story goes, which you’ll hear more in detail on Sharers’ Day when Queen Euphoria and Mister Breezey tell it, the changelings got a lot of help from the crystal ponies during the early days of their alliance, so they wanted to do something nice in return for the crystal ponies.”
“Right, right,” Sure Stroke said, bobbing her head. “Aspire told me that much. So from that, it became a gift exchange.”
Toola shook her head. “No, at first it was just a day where the changelings offered gifts to the crystal ponies as thanks during the winter, to commemorate the act of kindness that saved the hive. After everything fell to pieces thanks to the Dark King—”
“Which no one has told me anything about because it wasn’t in Legacy,” Sure Stroke noted testily.
“Well, no, it’s not in that story, it’s part of the series. But that’s not the point!” Gently, Toola gave her a little shoulder nudge. “The Caretakers stuck most rigidly to what they learned from the crystal ponies, which meant they also did their best to make sure any future donors knew how much they appreciated their kindness. Sharers’ Day was Queen Serenitatem’s idea. A specific day in which changelings would offer gifts to the ponies for that express purpose, and the ponies would understand why.”
Her pegasus friend hummed, furrowing her brows in thought. “That explains part of it,” she began, “but that’s specific to the Caretakers giving gifts. Ponies were just supposed to expect to receive them and … what? That’s it?”
Toola Roola bobbed her head, giggling at the look of utmost perplexion on Sure Stroke’s face. “That’s how it was meant to be. It started out that way, but, as you might guess, we ponies don’t always follow the plan our Caretaker friends lay out.” She waggled her ears. “Really, you could say this was the first time ponies in the village turned one of their games on them and dug their hooves in.”
“So, a way to sort of put forth a challenge by … insisting they give something as well?”
“Exactly. Willow Wisp, the leader of a group of settlers from a nearby village that eventually joined up with Respite after a fever outbreak, was adamant that ponies owed just as much to the Caretakers for allowing them to stay in the village and enjoy protection as new members of the hive. Sort of a reverse of the changelings’ arrival in the Crystal Empire, if you think about it.”
Sure Stroke brought a hoof to her chin, her brows furrowing in deep thought. She hummed to herself, fluffing and rustling her feathers as she considered the point. “I suppose that does make sense, when you put it like that,” she said after a few moments. The smile returned to her face. “Thank you for explaining that. I feel a little better knowing what this is all supposed to be for.” There was a beat of silence between them, then those soft violet ears twitched as if catching a word spoken in passing. She cocked her head to one side. “Come to think of it, Toola, what are you here for? Maple knows the way well enough, so you weren’t just leading him here …”
A sheepish laugh escaped her lips. Toola gave her tail a little flick as she ran a hoof through her mane, her smile turned a hint lopsided. “Well … funny you should ask.”
The pegasus said nothing. She merely arched a brow in silent prompting.
Toola fought down another laugh. Sometimes she forgot just how intense everyone’s favorite Doodle could be when she wanted answers.
All those wing smacks upside the back of Aspire’s head certainly hinted at such.
“I’m having a bit of trouble finding a gift for the last nymph on my list,” Toola admitted. “This one is … rather special to me. She’s sweet, she’s fun to be around, and the way she smiles and chitters when she’s happy or laughing is just … she’s gorgeous.”
“I see.” A slow smile began to spread across Sure Stroke’s face. Those deep blue eyes flashed with a knowing gleam. “And does this nymph have a name? Or do I have to guess?”
Toola Roola ducked her head. “I’m not that obvious,” she protested weakly.
“It’s Esalen.”
A low whine sounded in the back of her throat. “You could have pretended to think!”
Sure Stroke scoffed and trailed a feather up Toola’s side, drawing a squeak and sudden fit of giggles. “Aspire and I noticed it ages ago, giggle box. I’m pretty sure any nymph who’s been within tasting distance has noticed, including Essy herself.”
Toola felt heat bloom across her face, her cheeks tinged rosy red. “R-Really?” she squeaked. “If—If it’s that obvious, then why hasn’t she …”
“Esalen is …” Sure Stroke tilted her head to the opposite side, frowning in thought. “She’s very coy about things. She seems to internalize a lot, but I’ve noticed her eyes lingering on you for a while. And flicking her tongue a lot.” If she noticed the way her words made Toola flush deeper with each passing second, the pegasus paid it no mind, instead simply pressing on. “I don’t know. Essy is sort of contrary—she’s so much like the other nymphs, especially Aspire, but she’s very different.”
“That doesn’t help at all!” Toola moaned.
Sure Stroke just shrugged. “That’s all I can say. Aspire and I are pretty sure she feels the same, and we both know how powerful his taste is.”
True, Toola did know just how able Aspire’s tastebuds could be. If he’d been telling Sure Stroke about how much love he tasted from everyone’s favorite bouncy gymnast, it would be no small chance he’d checked to see if his sister felt the same.
But asking Aspire so close to Sharers’ Day and making sure to lead him away from Esalen would almost certainly give her away. And when Esalen wanted answers …
Well, there was only one villager who loved Toola’s laugh as much as her adoptive sister. It just so happened to be the same nymph she’d been pining after.
“I want to tell her,” Toola muttered. “On Sharers’ Day. It’s sort of the big day for romantic things like proposals, picnics, and the like, so it’s not exactly unique, but it’s special. In its own way.”
Sure Stroke laid down on her side and propped her head up on her hoof. “So you want something special for her, right?” At Toola’s nod, she continued, “I suppose this is a bad time to point out that I, and probably a few others, are going to get her books on massage techniques.”
Toola’s smile was as brittle as fine china. “I was trying to avoid massage books for that exact reason.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to rub it in.”
“I know. Just … frustrating, you know?” Despite her mood, Toola laughed. She laughed and shook her head. “I want to tell her how I feel, but I can’t think of something to give her to go along with it! Of all the Sharers’ Days I’ve had since being adopted, this one, right? The one I decide I’m going to finally say something would be the one I draw a big blank on.”
Sure Stroke tapped her free hoof against the mattress, chewing on the inside of her cheek. After a few seconds, she bobbed her head from side to side. “Well,” she said slowly, “we were going to run to Manehattan, just Mom and me, I mean. Dad’s got to stay to keep an eye on the weather with the stormy season starting up. And I guess it sorta doesn’t look as conspicuous if it’s just Mom and me, so maybe they won’t prod?”
The hint of uncertain hope in Sure Stroke’s last line brought a wry smile to Toola’s face. “You’d better hide it well, then, because if any of the Caretakers see it or taste any hint of something that’d give it away …”
She left the last bit unsaid. It was all she needed to say to draw a shudder from the pegasus. “Right,” Sure Stroke said. “I’ll just quickly hide it away. That’ll work.” Almost as soon as she finished, she sat up straight and clapped her hooves together. “I’ve got it!”
Toola raised her brows. “Got what? An idea for gifts?”
“No, I’ve got a way to help you out!” Grinning, Sure Stroke hopped off the bed and tugged Toola along.
“Hey! I’m all ears, but don’t jerk my legs off!”
“Come with us!” Sure Stroke replied, giving her wings a happy flutter. “We’re going to shop in Manehattan and there’s a million stores! You might find something you want to buy her if you go look with us!”
Toola thought as she allowed herself to be tugged off the bed and onto the floor, landing nimbly on her hooves. Truth be told, it could very well work. Maybe a change of scenery and actually looking things over might spark something.
It just might be what she needed.
Slowly, a smile began to spread across her face, a bounce began from the tips of her hooves, to her knees, until a bubbly giggle built up in her chest and escaped her lips as she allowed herself to give in to merriment. Quick as a flash, she leapt sideways and cartwheeled around Sure Stroke, landing on her hind hooves and sweeping her friend into a hug.
“I’m in!” she chirped between titters.