Four for the price of one
The blue goo lamp cast a comforting glow. Almost giddy, Sundance struggled to contain himself. There was, in fact, a whole wide world beyond that of school, and as it turned out, he could talk to mares. Or stallions, as the case may be. Of course, he utterly failed to think about how Hot Slice, an empath, might perceive his giddiness, his unabashed excitement, but Sundance was not a terrifically intelligent pony. Such was the burden of being wholly and completely average in the smarts department.
His confidence had spread its wings and soared.
At the moment, he felt lighter than air—which was generally a good thing for pegasus ponies, as being heavy was rather detrimental to their very state of existence. In a fantastic mood, he allowed his light to shine, and what a light it was. At long last, after so many years of isolation and confusion, of uncertainty and doubt, he had finally come into his own. Still, even with these changes, his ears stayed low, and his withers never aggressively squared forward. He had nothing to prove; the only thing that was truly different was that his confidence and happiness could not be contained.
"Every group is a troupe, and every troupe has its players," Hot Slice began. "Adorable little actors born to play a role. This troupe is no different. We've allowed them to define themselves and given them a safe space where they might develop. This particular troupe, the one that you might take home, they are of particular interest. Each of them were broken individuals… perhaps even unplaceable on their own. But together? If you were to have met them then, and see them now, you might not recognise them as being the same creatures. They've given new life to one another and their deep friendship has healed them."
"That's impressive."
"It is, really." With a nod of her head, Hot Slice continued, "So… hold on… I'm about to spoil your good mood." She inhaled, and in doing so, transformed. One moment, she was bubbly and cheerful, and then she became rather cool, though her passion continued to show. Something about her eyes that revealed remarkable feeling.
"Little Gerard is the voice of reason and the restorer of calm for the troupe. He's soft spoken, quiet, seldom raises his voice or even needs to do so, and he has a severe aversion to violence. He's a griffon from overseas that had the misfortune of watching his parents get tortured to death. Violence makes him queasy and he is a confirmed stress-vomiter, which might have something to do with his physiology as well as the events that took place. His avian aspect is that of the vulture. That alone makes him a difficult placement, as I am sure that you understand."
Two words stood out for Sundance, and he said them aloud: "Stress-vomiter?"
"We all deal with stress in our own special way. Gerard vomits. It might not even be because he is a form of vulture. It could just be an unpleasant quirk. But when the tension ratchets up, or there is the promise of violence, the adorable little birdy boy will just toss his cookies. It's hard for him."
"I would imagine so," Sundance said, and as he did so he wondered what Hollyhock would think about all of this.
"Gerard took the lesson of 'treat others how you wish to be treated' to heart. When he comforts others, he does so in a way that he wishes to be comforted. And the little guy is remarkably good at it. He cheers up us adults too. You can't hide anything from him, he'll know. We all believe he is gifted. He was born to help others. All of us truly believe that. Perhaps because we've seen how he's helped those in his peer group. He's reached out to them in ways that we could not. Made progress where we've only encountered failure. So, he is very dear to all of us."
"Well, I have other troubled tykes at home. Maybe he can help them."
"Probably," Hot Slice replied. "Seeing another creature in distress leaves him queasy. So naturally he goes to help so that he might help himself. He is a griffon of remarkable goodness."
"It sounds as though he will prove useful."
"Next up, we have Silent Thunder." Hot Slice's face began to grimace, perhaps from pain, but halfway through the motion, her expression just turned sad. While she shook her head from left to right, she said, "When he came to us, he didn't even have a name. During the long string of failed placements, nopony named him. Nopony bothered."
Though it took visible effort, Hot Slice recovered her cheerful demeanour.
"He's the guard of the group, and we've taken to calling him the Enforcer. Though I'm not sure how I feel about that particular title. Thunder makes sure that Gerard is listened to, because Gerard speaks for him. The colt is mute, you see. Can't say a word. Born mute. Vocal cords never developed… at all. They're both avian creatures though, and Gerard pays enough attention to Thunder's body language that he's a canny translator for the mute colt. And Silent Thunder expresses his gratitude by ensuring that Gerard's soft voice is listened to, because Gerard's voice is Silent Thunder's voice. He finally has a voice and that is a big deal for him."
For the first time, the seriousness of the situation truly sank in and Sundance wondered what he was getting himself into. These lives were connected in ways that he could barely comprehend, and he would be responsible for them. He had no experience, was not a father, not even married—yet here he was and his task was set out before him. Doubt's cold talons sank into his flesh and refused to let go. Messing this up or making mistakes would cause a ripple-effect of suffering that he wasn't wholly certain that he was prepared to deal with.
"The group's sense of adventure and risk taking is handled by Pluck, the intrepid explorer." Visible mischief could be seen in Hot Slice's eyes as a smirk spread across her muzzle. "Pluck counterbalances Gerard's stodgy sense of overcaution. He's brave… to a fault. Now, Pluck has some… well, he has some severe scarring. But the only abuse he's truly suffered was neglect and a distinct lack of adult supervision. I don't know everything that happened, but Pluck had more than one run in with cacti, including a near-fatal incident with a needler that very nearly did him in. That prompted the Crown to take custody of him and he was brought here. The little guy was half-mustang from a lack of caretaker attention."
The smirk on Hot Slice's face never wavered.
"Pluck is the most social of the group, and he'll probably be the one that talks to you. If you can somehow win him over, there's a good chance that he'll convince the others. I would say he's your best chance at winning the group over. Good luck getting the little motormouth to listen to what you have to say though. The little guy is enamoured with gross jokes, yucky stories, and is not the least bit disgusted when Gerard has a severe stress reaction. That's actually how they bonded and became friends. Gerard, he um, he hurled and Pluck treated it as if it were no big deal. A beautiful friendship started that day. That little colt is totally cavalier."
"He sounds like a character," Sundance remarked.
This caused Hot Slice's head to bob vigorously up and down. "Oh, he is."
What would Hollyhock think of all of this?
"And the fourth?" asked Sundance.
"You might want to brace yourself for the fourth," Hot Slice replied.
"Right. Consider me braced."
"Number four. Flax. A little donkey filly." Hot Slice's tone of voice and facial expression turned deadpan. "She's… scared of almost everything. But more than anything else, she's terrified of butterflies. She has what we believe to be the worst case of lepidopterophobia ever observed. Mottephobia too. Uh, she doesn't trust sandwiches and fears that they will bite her. Little Flax requires a lot of patience and understanding. Thankfully, she has her big brothers, and they take their duty to look after her very seriously. She's the conscience of the group… the heart, the soul… she keeps the boys in line."
Having just encountered the word 'lepidopterophobia', which was said without so much as a single stutter, Sundance remained silent. A fear of butterflies. The condition had a name. How could anypony—or in this case, anydonkey—be afraid of butterflies? What could possibly cause such mortal terror? He didn't know, and he dared not judge. Nor did he dare say anything, because the barony was chock-a-block with butterflies. Corduroy chased them regularly. Maybe little Flax would grow out of this after some much-needed exposure.
"Flax is maybe two years old. We're not sure. And she has every right to be terrified. Poor little girl was trafficked in Las Pegasus. Worst of all, the Wardens allowed her to be branded—"
"They did what?" Almost overcome with anger, Sundance leaned forward in his chair.
"The Wardens made an awful choice. They could have saved her and the others, but it would have cost them exposing the trafficking ring. So they allowed her to be sold and bought, branded at the hidden processing facility, and then taken to the horrible secret hideout of that awful criminal syndicate. The bust was the largest one in history. I have… mixed feelings about what the Wardens did and what they allowed to happen." A deep and abiding frown appeared on Hot Slice's face, and her eyes darkened like storm clouds passing before the sun.
"A few foals suffered so that many foals could be freed." Miserable, Sundance slumped over, his gaze downcast at the blue carpet, and he shook his head as though this would somehow ward off the terrible thoughts that lurked in the back of his mind. "It's a tough choice, but the Wardens made it. Strikes me as being the right thing."
Ears down, eyes dark, her nostrils flaring, Hot Slice fought a visible battle to keep herself composed. "I have strong feelings about the issue, myself. What happened was awful, and I understand why it was done, but I still don't feel good about it. Not at all. Flax and those other foals suffered beyond imagining just so the Wardens could make their bust. Now, she's scarred for life, in more ways than one. To see her, to see what they did to her, it is heartbreaking."
"Sometimes," Sundance said to Hot Slice, "life only gives us bad choices. Bad decisions. And we have no choice but to make a choice and accept the consequences."
"I know." She nodded. "I know. No matter what is said, I can't come to peace with it."
For Sundance, no words seemed worth saying.
"The boys took to her. Silent Thunder is very protective. She's brought out the very best in him. He's learned to care for somepony other than himself. Gerard, he holds her when he's nervous. She's almost like a doll to him, but far more precious than any toy. As for Pluck, having Flax around has given him a number of lessons on how his actions affect others. As a result, he's become far more considerate. He falls apart when she starts crying… more so if he's the cause." A small portion of Hot Slice's smile returned and then she added, "The whole of the group is greater than the sum of its parts. To know them is to love them. And just in case nopony has said it, we're all very grateful that you're willing to keep them together."
"They will be kept together," Sundance said with as much reassurance as he could muster.
"It's really quite amazing. You'd think that boys wouldn't want a bratty little sister, but you'd be wrong. They adore her. She adores them. Thunder chases away the horrible butterflies. They are a loving and tight-knit family and all they need now is a forever home. A permanent placement. So, all that is left to do is for you to convince them to come home with you. If they all agree, they're yours. If they refuse, well, we start over. Maybe with you, or maybe with somepony else. After all that has happened, they deserve a say when it comes to their shared futures."
"So when do I get to meet them?"
"Well, how about right now?" she replied. "We have them waiting in an observation room."
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When a vulture vomits, it’s in self-defence, as their stomach acid is just short of being classifiable as a bioweapon. Does the young fellow instinctively aim for the eyes, as that could answer a lot.
i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/05/d3/b405d39c1c36d2408765ae2d0d7be03d.png
That is all.
I can only imagine how heartbroken she would be if they met
dam i almost want to adopt them my self.
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I'm interested that you think that the butterflies are the problem, and not the sandwiches...
I think some of them might get along swimmingly with the peasants. Just sayin'. :)
I know "forever home" is a really popular phrase these days but it gets my goat (so to speak). I get why people use it but I don't like it.
I love these kids already. :D
This is fun to read both because yay! new and interesting characters to keep things lively, but also 'cause these tykes came from the submissions sent in and it is a lot of fun to see the short blurbs become in-fic characters.
I'd say it sounds like little Flax needs a hug, but it seems that’s already taken care of.
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All of them need a hug. So far I'm seeing more support for Flax when everyone's gone through their unique traumas that are just as bad to them as something we'd weigh as worse happening to another.
Hollyhock is not enough. Even if she's reformed, she physically can't handle all of these children. Even just one can be enough stress to do in a parent, let alone, what, how many? I can't even remember, she's already got like four or so? And she's about to double that number, this time with a group that has to be won over because they keep their own counsel from the looks of things, and each one needs to be treated in certain ways that are different from her current kids, but also treated in certain ways in relation to each other individual in their group.
There's not enough sanity or hours in the day. Sundance needs more caretakers.
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Help is coming, if you recall.
Save one to spite the others you know are out there. There was of course the risk that something could've went wrong not an easy choice and one I wouldn't want to make
Baby vulture griffon! Oh, but those backgrounds...poor things.
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I couldn’t find a cartoon depicting a pony being afraid of sandwiches...
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That's how insidious sandwiches are. They leave no witnesses.
Really interesting characters. I can't wait to see how they develop under the care of the barony, that in of itself will be a struggle I think.
it's horrible what extreme trauma will do, especially if you can't process it, you displace it somewhere else so as to avoid thoughts that may damage ya, it can lead to some pretty destructive coping strategies too, poor kid.