//------------------------------// // I don't think we're in heaven... // Story: Family of the Blanks // by HumanSVD //------------------------------// Watching above his wife and daughter, the former pony and volunteer Guardian smiled with happiness seeing the two enjoy each other’s company after many years of suffering. He could see a return of spunk and youth that Mitta once had when they were just foals many years ago. Even after their honeymoon phase, she still had it, and it pleased him, bringing back many fond memories. Then there was Ruby, the daughter who he got robbed of raising. Frowning, the former pony thought, " I was a fool to go off and explore...if I hadn’t, I might have been there still with them and not a Manticore’s lunch.” Throwing away thoughts of what could have been, the former pony focused on the happy scene before him. He saw the best mares in the world experience happiness after such long years of sorrow. But a smile did not return, for he felt a familiar presence around him. " Why are you here? Can’t you see I’m maintaining my deal of the bargain?” The Angel that belonged to Konrad formed next to him as he sat on his rump, electing to stand above him in the same Human form from earlier. " Just letting you know what you’re dealing with.” " I already know; now, can you please leave?” The Angel sighed as he watched the former pony’s family below, frowning at the sight. " I don’t think you fully understand the major task you’ve just undertaken. You just pasted a soul from another dimension onto another one. That will cause quite a few conflicts in more ways than you think.” The former pony snorted in anger before getting up on his hind legs to face the Angel in Human form. Poking the Angel with a hoof in defiance, " Oh really? I don’t think YOU know what you’ve gotten into! You pulled a Human from his universe and threw him here for your fantasies! While I’m grateful your actions helped my wife and daughter, they also hurt my daughter’s heart! That was the last straw for me! I’ve seen her cry too many times, and enough is enough! I will ensure she has her happy ending, and I don’t care what happens to me! So if you-” Rolling his eyes, the Angel clamped the muzzle of the former pony shut, making him red-faced. " Relax, I’m not here to interfere or back out of our deal. I’m just warning you about the problems you need to be aware of.” Letting go of the former pony’s muzzle, Stallion snorted in anger before taking a deep breath. Calming down substantially, the Stallion returned to all fours and looked below at his wife and daughter, laughing below him. " Okay.....what is it then? Just tell me, okay?” Looking at the sight of the running mares, the Angel said, " Like I said, you passed two souls onto others from a different dimension. This will cause a conflict between the two souls and shock for the ones you pull from your dimension.” " Well, I figured there would be some shock, but I just thought it would be resolved after she saw him and her-” " Kids? Foals? Oh, she’ll be shocked, alright. Your wife will be shocked too, but that’s not the primary concern. The point is the soul is in conflict.” Sitting on his rump once more with worry over taking him, the Stallion asked, " Conflict? What will happen? And what do I need to do?” The Angel frowned as he watched Ruby slowly catch up to her mother, making their way closer to the town with every second passing. " For starters, she’ll start to get conflicting memories; this will be the first sign. At some point, the two souls will clash to control the body. Chances are one will win, and the other will dwindle out of the body, with nowhere to go. And when that happens, one Ruby will be lost, losing everything. The same will happen with Mitta as well.” The former Stallion’s ear lit up as he took the severity of the situation. On one hoof, he wanted his daughter to experience her dream of motherhood and the simple life she always wanted. If the soul from this dimension was lost, that one would lose everything dear to her. All the memories and, essentially, her life would be gone. It would rob her of her current life and her husband and foals of their mother. On the other hoof, the daughter from his dimension would be lost forever, crying and confused, never to be happy again as well as his wife. With determination on his face, the Stallion asked, " Okay...now, as I wondered, what can I do?” The Angel rubbed his chin in thought, contemplating a solution. Clapping his hands with a smirk, the Angel said, " Well, there IS a way to merge them, but it depends on if the two souls can join in agreement.” " How can I help do that?! PLEASE TELL ME!” The Stallion was now on his belly, wrapping his forelegs around the Angel’s feet. The Angel looked that the Stallion begging for advice and said, " First of all, get up; it’s kinda silly. I’m not used to anyone begging me. Second, I’ll tell you, just listen carefully.” Getting up, the Stallion looked and listened to the Angel with every word spoken and burned into his head. There was no way he would forget any of this advice, for his wife and daughter’s well-being, was at stake. After the Angel gave his advice, he looked at the mares, who were now just yards away from the entrance of Sunny Town. Pointing a finger, the Angel said, " Well, get ready for it. It’s about to begin, just remember what I said, don’t do it too much, and if you’re careful enough, it just might work.” " Thank you...I really mean it thank you!” " You can thank me later when it works....hopefully.” With a snap of his fingers and a sudden sound of large wings flapping, the Angel of Konrad disappeared, leaving the former pony alone to his devices. With a determined look, the Stallion watched as the mares slowed down, taking the new sight before them. " Don’t worry, my favorite mares! I’ll help you every step of the way.” A long task of ensuring their happiness lay ahead of him, and it would be a while before he could sit back and watch their news lives with a smile on his face. The sight before him would soon get out of control, and he was not looking forward to it. Both mares ran in a full gallop towards the town, intent on beating each other. Both giggled in delight, cherishing the time together that they were robbed of. It reminded Mitta of the time Ruby used to chase her in the fields years ago when she was just a filly. Summer was always Mitta’s favorite season, and with the fun her daughter had during that time, it soon became Ruby’s favorite. ” My precious Ruby.... You’ve grown up into a mare! If only she could just have her early adult years back. I want her to be my little baby all the time since she doesn’t have any of her own!” Looking back at Ruby, Mitta blew a raspberry in her direction, something she used to do when she played with her long ago. This elicited a response of disbelief from the now middle age mare. " Really, mom?! We’re going back to that now? I’m not a little filly anymore!” The older mare chuckled in amusement before replying, " You’ll always be my precious little filly!.... Until you give me outstanding foals, that is. Now come and get me, little Ruby!” Blowing one more raspberry, Mitta picked up her speed, causing Ruby to press harder to catch up. " I’m NOT little!” shouted Ruby. Chucking along the way, Mitta kept galloping, getting closer to the town. Even with her newfound youthful spirit, the older mare simply couldn’t keep the speed up as Ruby continued to make gains on her tail. The older mare could see the entrance to the town coming up ahead and pressed as hard as she could. ” Almost there, I’m... Almost...WHAT THE HAY!?” Reaching the entrance, Mitta came to a sudden full stop causing Ruby to shout, " MOOOM!” Ruby collided with Mitta, sending both mares tumbling forward past the town’s entrance. When both mares stopped, their vision blurred from the impact, causing both to get up and stumble around. Shaking her head, Mitta looked around and went wide-eyed at what she saw. Around her was Sunny Town, the same town she had grown up and died in. There was no mistake about it; everything was just as it was, except for a few newer buildings that she did not recognize. It was as if somepony had gone through the trouble of expanding the town and adding new residents to the already secluded village. She could also easily recognize Starlet, Roneo, Gladstone, and Three Leaf’s homes. And in the center of the town stood a more spruced up and decorated version of Gray Hoof’s house, complete with the party decorations he was so fond of. " No.....no, no, no! This can’t be heaven! Why?! Why?! WHY!?” With her legs shaking and teeth clattering, Ruby shook herself out of her disorientation before walking over to her mother angrily. " That wasn’t funny! I know it’s great to be in heaven, but-” " Ruby...I don’t think we are in heaven...” Pointing a hoof around the town, Ruby followed it as she took the sight before her. Soon her reaction would be the exact same as her mother with her legs shaking and teeth clattering as well. Ruby couldn’t believe what she saw as the sight before she brought back many memories, all of which were poisoned. She couldn’t remember the times when she laughed, nor the times when she cheered in glee. The only thing that came to her mind was the suffering that she went through. The times when they would catch her as a ghost and force her to relive her death. And even when she did not get caught during a cycle, the memories of sorrow and loneliness crept in. Walking and wandering, forever stuck in the forest that she was tethered to, Ruby could not approach another pony for company. They would either run in fear, and if they didn’t, out of curiosity, they would be in danger should the others catch them. The memories of wandering ponies getting curious made her feel guilty. Their fate often resulted in being cursed and effectively robbed of their lives. The screams of the innocent crying out in the night brought tears to Ruby. The cries remained fresh to her, even to this day. It was even worse when she saw them later as a Blood Hoof. Their newly acquired zombified bodies transformed them into monstrous shells of their former selves. As the memories flooded Ruby’s mind, she crumbled to the ground in emotional agony. " Mommy! I...I can’t be here! I don’t belong here!” Hot tears flowed from her eyes to her muzzle and caused Mitta to snap out of her panic. With fear gone, the fiercely protective mother that Mitta was, ran to her daughter. Running a hoof over her daughter’s mane, Mitta cooed her daughter and said, " There, there, Ruby, I’m here now. Nopony will hurt you ever again. Not now or-” " HIYA! Oh, hey, Ruby! Are you ready for your special celebration later? You weren’t supposed to be back here just yet, but oh well...Surprise!” Their ears perked up as they turned around to see the last pony they ever wanted to see again. " GRAY HOOF!” shouted Mitta and Ruby. " That’s me!” beamed Gray Hoof as he stood on his hind legs giving a salute,” Celebration Planner Extraordinaire! But you two already knew that. You two weren’t supposed to come back early; now you’ve found out the surpri-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” The Stallion immediately crumbled to the ground and began screaming like a young colt losing his favorite toy. The reason was his pride being assaulted in the worst way, which was a buck to the groin. ”AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” " Stay away from my baby! Stay away!” " Get him, mommy! Get him!” Not wasting the opportunity, Mitta pounced on the wounded Stallion, giving him a flurry of hoof strikes. " Hurt my baby, huh? Best for the town’s interest, eh?” " What?! What are you-” SMACK! SMACK! " OOOOOWWWW! STOP! PLEASE!” cried Gray Hoof as he tried to shield himself to no avail. " Stop? Why should she? Like you and the others stopped for me? Like how you killed me?” " BUWHAAAAT?!” cried Gray Hoof in confusion. The Stallion’s eyes widen to the size of saucers, with a black eye on his eye starting to form. His face looked as if he saw a mad mare ranting and raving, unable to comprehend his friend before him. " He’s acting as if he doesn’t know? How could he do that after everything he did to me!” The feeling of anger began to take over Ruby, with the memories of Gray Hoof beating her filling her mind. To exact revenge, Ruby moved her mother out of the way, who smirked, knowing what her daughter had in mind. With three quick hoof stomps, Gray Hoof began to cry and begged for mercy, ”PLEEEAAAA-WAAAHAAA-SSSEE!” SMACK! " All the times you made me cry!” SMACK! " When you hurt me because of my cutie mark!” SMACK! " Uh, Ruby...” said Mitta poking a hoof at her. SMACK! " And you tried to kill Konrad!” SMACK! " RUBY!” shouted Mitta, Stopping at her mother’s command, Ruby looked up and saw that she and her mother were no longer alone with Gray Hoof. There were ponies around them, coming out of their houses, most of which Ruby did not recognize. Not only were there adults she was unfamiliar with, but there were also fillies and colts. Near Gray Hoof’s house stood four other familiar ponies, which Ruby and Mitta recognized. Three Leaf, Gladstone, Starlet, and Roneo were the four ponies before them. Everyone had at least one type of party apparel, such as Gladstone and Three Leaf, wearing the conical party hats. In contrast, Starlet and Roneo wore matching party bead necklaces. Noticing a banner being held up over the pathway to where her house should be read, " HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!” The letters were colored with two shades of orange, the same as her mane and tail. Everypony looked at Mitta and Ruby with their jaws down and eyes wide at the scene before them. ” What is going on?! They....they are celebrating an anniversary? For what? And who are all these ponies?!” Looking back at Gray Hoof, Ruby could see something familiar in his eyes as he cowered and whimpered with a bloody snout and black eye. It was fear. The same fear she experienced in her final moments and as a ghost several times over. " No...I...but he...” " Please don’t hurt me again, Ruby! I’m sorry if I didn’t make it the way you like it or if you wanted something private with him instead. He...he asked me to set this up! Please don’t hit me!” Tears flowed down his eyes, with pain evident from his eyes producing liquid despair. Shock, embarrassment, and guilt flooded Ruby all in an instant. She had become what he had been before she passed on and was ashamed of what she had done. She couldn’t understand why he was in heaven with her and Mitta. Did everypony have their sins forgiven when they passed on? Was he forgiven when he understood what he had done? Or was life just an endless repetitive cycle of the same thing with a good or bad outcome? Another thing Ruby noticed, perhaps the biggest shocker so far, was that everypony had a cutie mark. Gray Hoof had one that was in the shape of a pink birthday cake with candles lit on the top of it. Even Roneo, Gladstone, Three Leaf, and Starlet had cutie marks on their flanks. Because of this, Ruby now looked like a raving mad mare hellbent on making Gray Hoof suffer for no valid reason. " I want to go home!” No longer able to take the existential confusion and emotional torment, Ruby bolted in the direction of her home, desperate to escape the scene before her. Looking around and lowering her ears in shame, Mitta ran after her daughter to comfort her. The tough-as-hooves mother couldn’t understand what had transpired before her but knew she had to stay with Ruby to prevent retribution for their actions. The thought of the same thing repeating was still in her mind, and the mother would do anything to prevent it from occurring again. As both mares quickly exited their old home, a more emotional and shocking sight would greet them very soon. Roneo, Starlet, Gladstone, and Three Leaf galloped over to assist Gray Hoof in helping their friend first before confronting Mitta and Ruby for their violent and bizarre behavior. " Gray Hoof!” shouted Three Leaf, “Are you okay?” Sniffing up some of the blood coming from his snout and moaning in pain, the Stallion responded, " I....n-nooooo....ouuuuuchh!” Shaking his head, Gladstone pulled out a white rag from his saddlebag and began to wipe the dripping snout blood with his right front hoof. After wiping the excess blood off, the orange-maned Stallion gave the rag to Gray Hoof and said, " Okay, Hoofies, hold this and keep it until it stops.” Chuckling a bit before wincing in pain, Gray Hoof replied, " H-hey, you’re not my mother. Only she’s allowed to say that to me.” Chuckling before giving him a playful hoof punch, Gladstone asked, " Why did Ruby and Mitta do that? Did they say why? That’s not like them at all! They are the nicest of the mares around here!” " Not nice anymore if you ask me. That was very rude and mean of them. It looked like they were going to kill him!” said Starlet. " I...I don’t know,” replied Gray Hoof as he checked the rag and noticed he was still bleeding. “She...they said that I had killed Ruby or something then beat me up. Something is very wrong with them. It’s just...not like them at all!” Everypony looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Several ponies began to come out to aid Gray Hoof while others moved the curious eyes of their foals inside and away from the scene before them. " Everything is fine, everypony; we have a misunderstanding, that’s all. We’ll deal with it. Until then, the celebration is on hold.” While this seemed to satisfy most of the ponies, two, in particular, refused to leave with very concerned looks on their faces. As the majority of the town was, both earth ponies walked over to Gray Hoof. One was a mare with a bright red crimson mane and tail with a white coat with a cutie mark of a red bass guitar. Even her eyes were revealed to be crimson red as she waved her jagged cut mane back to see Gray Hoof better. On the other hoof, the Stallion had a gold blond shaggy mane and tail with a light green coat. His cutie mark resembled a Lemon and a Lime being crushed by a boxing glove. " Why did this happen again? I didn’t catch what he said.” asked the Stallion. " Gray Hoof said Ruby claimed to have murdered her or something to that effect. She seemed emotionally unbalanced and upset for some reason,” replied Roneo as he began to help Gray Hoof up. " What?! The hay is wrong with her?” shouted the mare. " Probably going crazy from her estrus-induced hormones.” whispered the Stallion. Receiving a punch from his mare friend, the Stallion turned around to her and said, " OW! Crimson Bass, the hay?!” " I heard that, mister Sprite Punch!” chided Crimson Bass. “So, you guys going to confront them?” Watching Roneo put Gray Hoof over his back, Three Leaf replied, " Yeah, we’re going to put Gray Hoof in his house for now and go find out what’s happening. Something is very wrong.” " I want to come along, her hubby and I are pretty good friends, and he’s going want to know about this,” said Sprite Punch. " Yeah, and find out his wife beat the hay out the party organizer for their anniversary is going to drive him up the wall. He’ll be able to tell us more about her mental state later and let us know if we need to cancel the party or not. Poor Gray Hoof.” said Gladstone shaking his head in disapproval. As the rest of the town’s residents went inside their homes, Roneo returned after taking Gray Hoof home. The Stallion held the rag over his back and gave it back to Gladstone, who simply put it in his saddlebag. " Well, his party mood will be dead for a while,” said Roneo. " Oh no! Poor thing! Is he okay, honey?” asked Starlet. Letting his wife join him, Roneo nuzzled her before saying, " Yeah, his snout stopped bleeding, and he’s got a black eye, but he’ll be fine. He’s lying down now; he’ll probably fall asleep soon since he took some sleep medicine. He asked me to tell you guys he’s not going to continue with the party until Mitta and Ruby apologize. Does anypony know where that human hubby of hers is?” " He should be home. I saw him take his kids home from school today, so he should be there,” said Sprite Punch. " Okay then, let’s go, everypony. Hopefully, this won’t get any worse than it already has,” said Gladstone. As the oranged maned Stallion led the way with a gallop, the others followed behind, eager to discover why Mitta and Ruby assaulted their dear friend. Everypony hoped that her husband would be able to help as he always had in the long time they’ve known him. Ruby kept galloping and galloping as fast as she could, with her mother following close behind. Nearing her house, Ruby continued to cry the entire way, reflecting on what had happened. ” What have I done?! I’m just as bad as Gray Hoof! I’m a bad pony! This isn’t heaven! What is this place?!” " Ruby! Wait up! We’ll solve this together!” Hearing her mother close behind, Ruby continued forward, anxious to just hide from the embarrassment she brought upon herself. As Ruby continued to cry as she galloped, she couldn’t help but notice that her old house and the area around it had been maintained very well. The grass was cut, there were no wild thorn bushes to be seen, no weeds at all, and a flower bed with various bright flowers was in front of the house. The house was kept very well, with no broken wood or rotten wood planks in sight and no broken windows with lovely sunny colored curtains held open. The entire atmosphere of the cabin was nothing short of friendly and harmonious, all the more reason for the upset mare to take refuge in it. ” Oh, Konrad...I need you more than ever!” Finally reaching the door, Ruby extended a forehoof to open it but found it locked. " No! Locked?! But this is my house! Open the stupid door!!” shouted Ruby as she banged the door in frustration. " Ruby, don’t fret. Just look for where we usually kept the spare key.” " RUBY! MITTA! WAIT UP! WE JUST WANT TO TALK!” shouted a stallion in the distance. Both mares recognized the voice belonging to Gladstone, causing their ears to perk up in a panic. " Mom! They’re coming!” " I’ll hold them off, Ruby; you look for the key.” Heeding her mother’s word, Ruby headed to the well where the spare key was usually kept. Turning the crank, the bucket filled with water but lacked a key. As Ruby began to panic, the sound of ponies galloping at full speed continued to get closer and closer. " Mom! The key isn’t there!” " Ponyfeathers! Break the door down! We’ll barricade it after we get in. Just keep trying!” Ruby ran to the door and began buckling it as hard as she could. The door turned out to be sturdier than she remembered it to be and quickly began to wear out. The door would not break down, or buck open no matter how hard or desperate Ruby tried. Sweat and tears began to form as she tried vainly to break the door open until she heard the sounds of ponies behind her. " Please, we just want to know what’s wrong. We’re not going to hurt you.” Turning around with her back heavily pressed against the door and standing on her hindlegs, Ruby noticed Gladstone leading the pack of ponies. Roneo, Starlet, Three Leaf, and two other ponies with whom she did not recognize but had an air of familiarity. " BACK! Stay away from my daughter! You won’t get her this time! Not now, not with me in the way.” shouted Mitta. Mitta began to buck the area near anybody who dared to get close, doing her best to prevent a repeat incident of Ruby’s past demise. Everypony looked at each other in mass confusion from Mitta’s threat before something else happened. The door Ruby pressed against suddenly opened, causing the mare to fall on her back. " OOF!” cried Ruby at the impact of her head, making her eyesight blurry. " Alright, who’s banging on my door?! My kids are doing homework! I don’t want...honey?” said a familiar voice. Shaking her head to clear the dizziness, Ruby’s jaw dropped at sight above her. Looking right down at her with his blue eyes was none other than Konrad. Despite him being a different species, she could see the subtle appearance of an older middle-aged man. He was wearing a green shirt with a pair of loose blue jeans and an apron with something she couldn’t see from this angle. With his more mature look, Ruby couldn’t help but find his appearance of him very attractive, and the best part for her was the fact he referred to her as “honey.” ” He’s here! He’s here! He called me honey! We are together! I take this back! This is heaven!” While no one could see it, tiny little hearts popped all around her, causing the man to be greatly confused by the love-struck expression before her. On the other hoof, Mitta couldn’t believe the sight before her. As Konrad stood over her daughter, she noticed what the light pink apron said, " World’s Best Cook and Daddy.” Surrounding the sentence was the outline of a heart with 3 crudely drawn stick figure ponies and 2 stick figure humans that she couldn’t identify who they were supposed to represent. However, the word “Daddy” caused Mitta to take notice very quickly. As if to confirm her suspicions and hopes, the sound of a young filly could be heard, but neither she nor Ruby could ever have guessed the sight that appeared before them. " Mom? You okay?” Both mare’s turned their attention to take notice of a young human girl. She wore a simple white t-shirt and skirt in the same orange & yellow highlights as Ruby’s mane with the emblem of a Ruby gem at the bottom right corner. Even more noticeable was that her hair was the same as Ruby’s mane, while having the same blue eyes as Konrad. Neither mare could comprehend the sight before them as they witnessed an impossibility. As if things couldn’t get any more shocking for the mares, the sound of a colt could be heard galloping on the hardwood floor. " MOOOM! What are you doing? Is this a game? Oh, I wanna play! Homework’s boring!” The young colt appeared on the opposite side of Konrad and jumped up and down, seeing his mother lay before them while smiling. His mane was very similar to Konrad’s hair while having the same coat as Ruby and Mitta. Instead of having Konrad’s blue eyes, they were golden yellow, just like his mother’s eyes. He did not have a cutie mark on his flanks. Looking at Mitta, the young colt waved to her and said, " Oh, hi, Nana!” Looking back and forth at both the apparent son and daughter of Konrad and Ruby, both mares muttered in turns, " I have two-” said Ruby. " Grand-” said Mitta. " Foals-” " I can’t-” " Believe-” " This.” said both of them. " Well, you better believe it; you gave birth to them after all.” said the man. Both mare’s eyes widened as the human daughter’s face palmed while the young colt asked Konrad tugging on his jeans with his hoof, " Daddy? What does “birth” mean?” " Uhhh.... You’re not old enough for that talk yet, son.” " Son...daughter...mine. All mine,” said Ruby. " Yeah, that’s about right, hun.” No longer able to take the shocking information presented before them, both mares fainted, leaving a confused group of ponies and humans. " Uhh...Kids, go to your rooms.” " But dad, I need mom’s help with this one question!” asked the human daughter. " And I wanna play the fainting game! Wee! Ow!” said the colt trying to fall down safely but failing miserably. ”Katja, Blau Streifen, go to your rooms NOW.” Stomping on the word “now,” the children got the message and quickly made their way to their rooms. As Katja and Blau Streifen made their way to rooms, Konrad looked confused at his wife and mother-in-law. " Umm...what happened?” " Oh, nothing much, except your wife and mother-in-law beat up Gray Hoof pretty badly in front of the whole town,” replied Sprite Punch. ”WHAAAAAT?! Why?” " Don’t know; we were wondering if you could help us find out. It’s strange; they acted like we were murderers. Ruby kept shouting that Gray Hoof did something, and her mom helped her.” asked Starlet. " What the...” " Hey Konrad, the rest of the town is shaken up. Gray Hoof won’t let your anniversary party go forward until they apologize. We think it’s best if they stay home for a bit until we can get this sorted out,” said Gladstone. " Y-yeah...I gotcha. Damn...” facepalmed Konrad. " Yeah, sorry, but hey, nice apron,” said Sprite Punch with a snicker. Looking at his close friend, Konrad crossed his arms and glared at the green Stallion. " What’s wrong with wearing an apron?” " Oh, nothing; you just need to hand over your stallion card, though.” " Sprite!” chided Crimson Bass. Everypony either chuckled or smirked at the man’s apron, giving his close friend the middle finger. " Yeah yeah, whatever, buddy. Okay, guys, I’ll come by Gray’s house tomorrow. Tell ol’hoofies my apologies.” " Will do!” replied Three Leaf. As soon as everypony was out of sight, the man sighed, looking at the passed-out mares before him. " Mares... Can’t live with them. Can’t live without them.” The man began the task of bringing his wife and mother-in-law into the house, muttering swear words that nopony had ever heard before.