//------------------------------//
// Sixth Chapter 
// Story: New Bodies, New Life 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

A treehouse. That’s where they were going. Or perhaps more accurately, a house in a tree.
Or maybe a combination of both was what it was? As they approached, Howard saw what looked like a house built directly into a hollowed out tree, one that was larger than any tree he ever saw in his life and was surrounded by tall grass, bird houses, a stream, and dozens of animals. Kind of elegant looking in his opinion, but certainly not somewhere he would want to stay if he had a choice. It kind of smelled a bit like a zoo, not to his surprise.
“Why are we doing this?” Denver asked, looking around fearfully at everything. “What if they try to hurt us? Or lock us here?”
“Then we’ll deal with that when we get to that, sweetheart,” he told her carefully, petting her mane again. “For now, like your brother said before, we can’t really turn down opportunities for help if we find it. If it’s bad, we can always leave.”
“We weren’t able to leave last time though,” she replied. “Thornton and Reece weren’t. What if they’re dead right now? We could be next, Dad!”
“We don’t want to hear that talk, Denver,” his wife spoke up now. “I’m sure your brothers are fine, and when we find them, they’ll probably tell us about how they had no trouble at all and… I don’t know. Got out of there safely. Now watch where you step. I don’t want you tripping over one of these animals.”
The yellow horse glanced behind herself as they talked, then continued forward with Barney into the little treehouse cottage. Maybe that was the best word for it. This place felt like a cottage when Howard entered; something small and compact, and yet spacious at the same time. It still smelled like animals in here, but also like tree sap and perhaps faintly of tea? It was nice and neat and had furniture and rugs– it was completely unlike anything he expected a horse to be able to build on its own. Or even in a group for that matter.
“Um, do you think you can help us find our kids?” he asked, just a little bit anxious as the three stood in the center of the room. Howard pranced back and forth from one hoof to the next as he said, “I don’t want them to get hurt, and we’re really worried about that fire in the forest we came through.” A quick glance to one of the windows showed that black smoke was still billowing up from around the center of the forest, something that made him a little more antsy. He hated that his sons weren’t with him now.
The yellow horse seemed less concerned, and rested a hoof on his shoulder in a sort of reassuring gesture. It looked him in the eyes and murmured something he couldn’t understand before drawing him in close with a hoof to hug. It must have been saying something like, ‘it’s gonna be okay’, because it repeated the gesture and hugs for his wife and daughter, too. It even made Denver seem to feel a little bit better.
After this, she used a hoof to tap to a spot that they should sit in, and then left to bring back a tray of what had to be the tea he smelled in her hooves. How a horse could carry a tray, he didn’t know, but he accepted the drink, deciding it was better to just trust that it was safe. What was he gonna do if this horse wanted to kill him? Nothing. There were probably a hundred ways to do that anyway.
“We– we need you to–” He tried to think of what he could possibly say to communicate with this thing. It seemed intelligent enough, but intelligence didn’t mean anything if it couldn’t understand him. 
“Our kids,” he said, pointing to Denver with a hoof and gesturing toward her. “They’re in that smoke,” he continued, pointing to the window of black smoke, rising up almost like a volcano. He tried to make as concerned an expression as he could– something not that difficult with what the issue was right now– as he finished with, “We need to find them. Our kids.”
It seemed like he might have gotten through to this mare, because she put on a concerned expression, too. After that, she leaned down to Barney to say something, who responded with a series of gestures that made no sense to him. But it worked to communicate something, because the yellow horse’s expression was getting more concerned. She nodded at the dog, then rested a hoof on Howard’s shoulder again, whispering something to him before heading out of the room and out the door.
“That seemed like it did something,” his wife told him as he took a sip of tea. “I hope it understood us though… are you sure that tea is safe to drink?”
“No, but I’m thirsty, and it’s probably safer than river water,” he replied in his new feminine voice, one he was already getting used to. “I just hope that it knows that I was trying to tell it… god damnit, I hate this.”
His wife didn’t say anything further. Howard was absolutely certain Carey felt the same way as he did. He wiggled in on the sofa cushion anxiously, forcing himself to stay seated and not get up and run into danger. He was a horse. Even if he did go after them to save his sons from whatever they were dealing with, what could he accomplish with hooves and no backup or supplies? Nothing except getting himself killed. He would have to hope that the yellow horse knew what she was doing and could find his kids for him. She seemed like she understood, given the concerned look on her face. And both Reece and Thornton were bound to be more resourceful than he was, especially the former, with his aspiring future military career. It would probably be alright in the end.
It didn’t help his nerves any, but Barney coming up to him and pushing his body against his… fur? He felt kind of furry for a horse, more than he expected, but then again, wolves weren’t supposed to be made out of wood. Where in the world were they? How could something like this even happen?
And how could a horse pick up a cup with hooves? He didn’t know, but certainly didn’t question too much how it was possible for him to do right now. Instead, he focused on drinking tea and feeling his dog run his body back and forth against his legs. As well as scooting closer to Denver, who still looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.
“How is this happening?” she asked for what had to be the tenth time so far. “This can’t be real. I should be in school. Not here as a unicorn. Why is this happening?”
“Just take a breath and calm down, sweetheart,” he said softly, taking in the cottage of animals running around, ones that ignored them, thankfully. “We just need to stay calm and figure out a plan. The grass tasted like it could be eaten, and the horse gave us tea. Those are good things.”
But his kids. Sitting here was doing nothing to find his kids. He hoped that the yellow horse was doing something to find them, but he’d rather be out there himself looking for them and trying to help them. Not that there was anything he could do if he ran into that forest again, one burning with fire and had weird alien monsters in it, but still. They were his kids, and he hated knowing that there’d probably be nothing he could do except sit here and hope horses who spoke an alien language could help. He tapped a hoof anxiously, hoping for their eventual safety and avoiding any thought of his sons being hurt. Or worse.
“A-are you okay, Dad?” Denver asked nervously, her voice quiet, barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, I’m fine, honey,” he replied quickly, using a hoof to pet her mane, Barney crawling up into his lap as the dragon stood behind the two of them, not enough space on the couch for his wife to sit with as big as she was. 
It might have almost been a nice moment, if not for the fact that they were horses-creature things in a strange world, and for the fact that Reece and Thornton weren’t there right now. Howard’s heart was pounding with worry, and he knew his wife was probably worse off than him since he could almost hear how fast hers was beating despite being behind the couch. He might have been a step or two away from crying, and knew it wouldn’t take much to get the tears to flow. Was it his turn to break down?
No, not yet. Right now was the time to look up and kiss the dragon, placing a hoof behind his wife’s head to rub against her scaly skin. She was already crying, albeit silently, and knew that Denver wouldn’t be well off if he did, too, at least not yet. For now, he just had to close his eyes and focus on breathing deeply to try and keep his nerves as steady as the situation would allow.
It became more and more difficult to do that as time went on. It must have been a few hours, although there was no way to tell with how motionless the sun stayed in the sky. Howard was able to see the billow of smoke rising up out of the forest becoming bigger and bigger. He didn’t know if it was just closer or if it was him being a horse, but after a while, if he breathed in deeply enough, he could start to smell it.
Please, please let them be okay, he thought silently. God or the universe or anyone who’s listening, please let my sons be okay and let us get back home safely.
“I bet they’re gonna be okay,” Denver offered quietly, looking between him and her mother. “Reece was in Boy Scouts before, right? And Thornton’s smart, too. I bet at any moment, that yellow horse is gonna come back here with both of them, and Reece will say something like, ‘it wasn’t a big deal’ because it was so easy to get out of there.”
The larger unicorn didn’t really believe it, not yet, not with how worried he was, but he smiled down at his daughter anyway. “Thanks, honey,” he told her just as quietly as she spoke. “I bet you’re right, right, Carey?”
The dragon sniffled, and smiled, too, but like Howard, didn’t seem like she really believed it. They both took the reassuring words anyway, the unicorn knowing it was better to maintain hope than be despaired during uncertain events.
It almost made Howard jump with how soon after Denver said what she did when the door slammed open. All three creatures gasped, and Barney’s ears perked up at the sight of another horse making its way inside. This one was also a mare, but with a bright purple coat and a dark purple mane instead of yellow and pink. It had wings like the yellow one did, but a unicorn horn like he and his daughter did.
It didn’t bring any sign of Thornton or Reece with it, neither the bug thing nor the moose-horse trailing behind it, to the dismay of all three. However, it was smiling, almost excited, and sounded like it squealed as it hopped into the air with a little skip in its step.
There was still no way to communicate with it, the excited whinnies that could have been a language coming out in an unintelligible, probably incoherent stream. Howard wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to make out what it was saying even if he could understand it. 
But that didn’t seem an issue for the winged purple unicorn, who, without warning, lit up her horn and teleported the trio away to somewhere else.