> Herg's House for Homeless Horses
>  by Graglithan The Greater
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> It's a Fixer Upper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Hey there. Yeah that's right, I know you're there. But don't worry none, I've had my time to freak out about it so I won't mind if you have yours. Existential crisis aside, I'm pretty sure we both know why you're here so I'll just go ahead and jump right into it.

It, being my current state of affairs. This mess all started around about two months ago. It was just a regular spring for the world with regular spring time problems. Sneezing constantly during the day when ya have allergies, and the occasional gust of wind. People would go about their days working, relaxing at home, or if they were lucky enough to have the money, going on vacation out of state; sometimes even out of the country for that nice and long Spring Break. I’d have joined them, but I didn’t have any money left after my own expenses. College isn’t exactly cheap, so instead of that nice beach down in California, I was flat broke after finally paying off my college debts and stuck living in a private little apartment by my lonesome. My own stubbornness in regards to getting a loan are to thank for that. Just never really have been able to trust something that’s used to con people out of their hard earned money.

But I’m getting sidetracked a bit. That was just my situation. I’m pretty sure that there were hundreds if not thousands that were like me that day. Just watching the news and learning that a man took an entire tour group hostage, and the next moment the world decided that it didn’t have enough equines in it. Putting it that way sounds a bit confusing, but I honestly can’t think of another way to put it.

Maybe it’d be better to just start the story how that day started. I have a bit of a problem with rambling if you couldn’t tell. I think it got a bit worse when I got turned into a pony. Can't really tell. So let’s just jump to when I arrived at my sister’s home, after she asked me to come by and help her with some renovations and repairs.





Going down the highway, a old and rather beat up Ford was passing by a parade of tall trees. The truck itself was a matching green for each tree it passed. One large dent in the passenger side of the cab, a few windows weren’t very usable due to a poor tinting job that I still haven't gotten my money back from, and a bed that was full of lumber, supplies, and a few tarps to lay out. Inside, an admittedly scrawny man was driving down the road. 

What? You thought because I was from Oklahoma I was going to be ripped from farm work or hard labor? HA! I didn’t have a chance in hell to get that kind of body. My genetics made damn sure of that. Now where was I?

I’d been driving for a while after I’d gotten a call from my sister that she needed some help. Apparently, one of the upper floors in her residence had caved in and now she had a hole instead. I know she called me because of a lack of funds, but she’d spent so much on having that building put together and buying the land that it wasn’t surprising. It was around nine in the afternoon by the time I’d gotten into the town that my sister was living in. Why she wanted to keep living next to a college and run an art studio was beyond me, but I’d do anything to help out family.

That’s why I was even bothering to enter Stillwater with my array of tools. College rivalries go pretty far, and I was an OU Sooner all the way. The Pokes can kiss my- Er... distracted again. Sorry.

Anyways, that was the reason I was coming over. While my sis doesn’t actually have any kids living in that building yet, thank god, it was only a matter of time until one or two showed up. 

Turning off the highway, I started going down some smaller city roads and passed by a few schools. While most of them were inside and in class, I think a few kindergarteners were out at recess.

A few blocks later, I was finally coming across my sister’s residence and place of business, A rather tall an impressive art studio. The majority of the building was up to city standards. The outside was a nice white wood paneling, and the windows looked like they were in there properly. The front door had a beautifully crafted porch as well. While the door itself wasn't anything special, there was at least a good 30 square feet of wooden floor and ceiling. The eggshell white paint on the railings and steps didn’t hurt any either.

Leading up to the porch was a small dirt path that was lined with a few rose bushes, and fed into a larger clearing that was large enough for about twenty or so vehicles. On the farthest side, I could see my sister’s blue minivan parked facing the building. Pulling in next to her, I chuckled and shook my head. She always said she’d get one, but I never took her seriously. Not very efficient either, considering half the roads up here were dirt.

Grabbing a few bags from the passenger seat of my truck, I slung them over my shoulder and sighed. This job is probably going to take a few days.

“Tyler! You’re here!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin as I turned around and saw my sister standing behind me in her paint splattered overalls. Standing at just over five foot, she easily snuck around when I wasn’t paying attention. “Jesus Sarah! Don't do that.”

Sarah chuckled a bit and brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face. “Sorry Tyler. I forgot how jumpy you could be.”

I just sighed a bit and rubbed my face. “And I forgot how eccentric you could be.” Smiling a bit, I gave my overly affectionate older sibling a hug. “It’s been awhile Sarah. How’s everything?”

She shrugged a bit and shook her head. “It could be better.” Turning to look at the building, Sarah got a slightly far off look on her face. “Nobody comes out here for anything. I’m just out here in the middle of nowhere, with a fancy over-sized house that left me nearly broke.”

“I’m sorry to hear that sis.” I nodded my head with a bit of an understanding smile. “I’m going to assume that’s why you called for my help, rather than hiring someone else?”

“Oh you have no idea.” She grimaced and rubbed her head. “I came back to the building a few days ago after getting groceries, and the private tub I had in the back of the building started to leak. Top that off with how cold it got last winter and I don’t think I’ll be able to live here much longer.” Turning to me with puppy dog eyes, my sister pulled her ultimate tactic. Begging. “Please tell me you’ll be able to help me?”

I tried. I really did, but in the end I sighed a bit and rubbed my head in defeat. “Well, I’ll go ahead and take a look and let you know what needs fixed. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the cost though.”

She smiled and sighed while wrapping me in a small hug. “I figured you’d say that. I’ll even let you stay here while you work on everything. I have a spare cot up in the chapel we can bring down to let you sleep where you like.”

Giving her a pat on the head, I couldn't help but chuckle. “Alright alright, let’s head in and I’ll see what’s needed.”

Now let’s take a moment and let me take a guess at what you’re thinking. It’s probably “Where’s this big old disaster you were going on about?”, or, “Why should we care about this?”, or even, “Where are all the ponies?”

Well to answer your question, I’ll tell you what happened next.

As I stepped inside the building, my head was starting to itch real bad. I wouldn’t have paid it much attention, but Sarah also gasped a bit from behind me. “Um... Tyler?”

“What is-?” Turning around to face my sister, I had to stop and share the same look of shock on her face. “Sis, what’s with your head?” Sticking out of the top of her head, were a pair of peach horse ears. I reached up just as she did, and found the same had happened to me.

That’s pretty much where my day just decided to take a dump on my head.

The next minute or two consisted of the both of us turning into a pair of technicolor ponies. Sarah was only about three and a half foot tall by the end of it, and her clothes were dangling off of her. I didn’t know freckles would be something that strange magical transformations took into account, ‘cause hers stayed on her face.

I wasn’t much better. Gone was the lanky man, and in his place was a equally lanky stallion. After we spent a good deal of time freaking out, Sarah and I both stayed in her house and just huddled for a while. Even as we kept wondering about what had happened to us, a few hours of letting the TV run alerted the two of us to a news announcement. According to a new caster who had also got turned into a horse, It was much more widespread than just the two of us. Some sorta government organization was claiming responsibility for causing this entire fiasco, saying magic and all that madness was real.

And at this point, I didn’t really have any arguments for that. I mean.... turned into a horse not even two weeks ago, so..... yeah. Both of us looked like hell when we finally exited Sarah's home, and the town didn't look much better. I mean, a week of panicking and crazed college students, plus whatever biker gang had decided to stay at the bar, and lets not forget the fact that about twenty five percent of the town's population are religious and elderly retirees thinking the world's ending, all of which got turned into horses with only a few knowing even slightly what's going on.

Needless to say, there was a lot of property damage all around. I also lost my job at the local dealership, which.... kinda was a given. I did stay off the clock for over a week, and my boss was a bit of an asshole.

Anyways, that about wraps up how this madness started. Just going to fix my sister’s home, and then boom, everyone’s a horse. Life’s been a bit strange since, and we’ve been handling it as best we could. Sarah somehow can still hold a pencil and brush, and for some god awful reason my voice got a touch deeper and a bit more southern.

More specifically, both of us were turned into "Earth Ponies" as a lot of the town referred to us as. As some form of cosmic joke, the same happened for most of the town. My own fur was an unnatural rust red. My hair at least stayed the same shade of brown, but my eyes had turned a vibrant amber. I'll admit, I spent a bit longer staring at the mirror then I should have. My sister on the other hand only had the real addition of peach fur. Her hair stayed as blonde as ever, and her eyes still rival oceans. Doesn't help that they're bigger now too.

I also learned that for some reason or another, we have "Cutie Marks".... dear god I want to slap whoever came up with the term, but they're probably already dead. A lot of the town I've spoken with that know more then I do said that they represent one's "Special Talent", and if that's truly the case, it hit the nail on the head for my sister and I. She's got a pencil drawing a sketched and shaded heart, and I've got a old handsaw and hammer.

So that brings me to where I currently am; Staying with my sister and learning how to use my tools again as I fix up the damage to her home. Speaking of which, the damage is actually a bit sad to even talk about. These complete dumbasses didn’t even build the house up to code! There was absolutely no insulation in the roof, or the wall! The tub they’d "installed" had seven loose pipes that weren't even needed, and don’t even get me started on all the electrical work that needed fixing. This house is a damned nightmare, and if I ever find the jackoffs that built it, I’m tearing them a new one!

Regardless, I just hope that life doesn’t throw me anymore curve balls anytime soon. It’s hard enough using a jigsaw with hooves. I don’t want to know what else she can dish out.
> Some Unexpected News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Want to know something you wouldn’t expect from being magically transformed into a horse? The mountain of paperwork that both Sarah and myself had to fill out would certainly be one. 

It had happened during our initial month’s worth of panicking, but the president had actually started to set up an entire organization to deal with this magic mumbo jumbo. It may have taken over a month for any work to finally be done, but they certainly made a difference for most of the situation, often pulling recluses out of hiding or similar problems. I think a few bikers got arrested as well when they started a magic style showdown and blew up a bar.

Unfortunately, this entire organization of new federally funded and specially trained agents came with a small toll. The sheer amount of paperwork that needed to be filled out for every last citizen. It didn’t help that we were up until 5 in the morning going through it all either.

“Coat color.... eye color...” Yawning, I looked up at Sarah and rubbed my face. “I want to say I can’t see the point of this, but that would be a bold faced lie.” Looking back at the papers, I shook my head and reached for another pen. “Wish it wasn’t so dang boring though. I’m about to fall asleep.”

Sarah sat on the other side of the table from me and was leaning onto one hoof, had a cup of coffee in the other, and was writing down yet another requested piece of information with the pen in her mouth. “Jush geh ih done....So tired...” Spitting the pen out, she brought the coffee mug to her lips. Sarah ended up blinking a bit and looking into the mug before turning to me. “Can I get a refill?”

That’s pretty much how we spent the next three days. After we got through the last of the filing and got back onto normal sleeping schedules, morning routines had become rather simple again. I’d wake up, shower as best I could thanks to all the fur, and then get to work fixing up one of my sister’s many home issues. On the other hand, Sarah usually slept in until around noon, and spent most of her time working on an art piece. It was pretty much like the transformation just hadn’t happened.

This time however, was a much different story when I woke up.

I was still a bit groggy, but even through the walls I could hear my sister talking. “What do you mean it got misfiled!? I only signed up for... Yes, I know that there have been-... but you can’t just do that without my consent! It’s a violation of m-... NO YOU SHUT UP! I only agreed to be a foster parent not a-... I know that I have a home large enough to qualify, but that doesn’t change anything! This is still a-...” During all of the yelling, I walked over into the main room, where I finally spotted Sarah glaring angrily at a wall while on the phone.

Walking up to her and putting a hoof on her shoulder, I unintentionally made her jump for a moment. “Sarah, everything alright?”

Taking a moment to catch her breath and put a hoof over the phone’s receiver, she glared at me for a moment. “Stop sneaking around like that, you scared the-” She jumped back into the call. “What?” Silence was all that filled the air. Whoever my sister was talking to now slowly drained away her anger and replaced it with... I wasn’t sure what emotion. Sarah kept staring ahead, before she nodded shakily for a moment. “O-Oh.... I see.... I’ll be waiting then.”

As she hung the phone back up, the peach mare slumped into the wall and stared in a daze. I walked over and sat next to her, a worried frown across my face. “Sarah?”

She gulped and glanced over at me. “That... was the DHS.”

Raising an eyebrow, I had to blink a bit at that. “The DHS? Why the heck would they be calling you? And what was with all of the yelling earlier? There isn’t something wrong with the paperwork is there?” Then again, if there was something wrong with that, those guys from the Magic Administration or whatever would have called instead.

Sarah pursed her lips a bit and snorted as she shook her head. “Well, according to the Director of Homeland Security, about seventy different people in the US just got labeled as Orphanages due to a filing mishap with not only their previous information but also the new paperwork as well, and now I have seven kids heading for my home by tomorrow morning.” With a sigh, She stood back up and headed for the kitchen. “I need a drink.”

The information took a few moments to set in for me. My sister’s home is getting turned into a freaking orphanage? I rushed after and found her rummaging through the fridge for a beer. Before she could crack open the can though, I took it out of her hoof and put it back in the fridge. “Before you get smashed, you mind elaborating?”

Glaring at me as she huffed and moved to the table. “Fine.” Sarah sat down and motioned for me to do the same. “I guess I’ll start at the beginning of the mess. You know how I’m...ya know?”

I grimaced a bit and nodded sadly. It’s been a while, but about 5 years ago, my sister was declared barren. Lost her “boyfriend” as well after he ditched her when he heard the news. “Yeah. Broke mom’s heart like nothing else.”

Sarah gave me a nod. “Well, it wasn’t long after that jerk Andrew and I broke up that I had decided to try and be a foster parent. I filled out the papers, had everything set up, and was ready to go, but unfortunately, unmarried single woman living on her own doesn’t exactly scream ‘suitable housing’ to the DHS.” She sighed and slumped over onto the table. “So I ended up in the sea of ‘potential’ housing and hadn’t been called in any way I wanted to be. Just reminders for updating information like when I had the studio built and the like.”

Blinking a bit, I took a moment to process that before my face contorted in confusion. “You signed up for foster care without letting anyone know?”

Sarah blushed a touch and smiled faintly. “Yeah... guess I’m getting what I wanted after all, huh?”

“I guess...” A scoff escaped my lips. “I’m just impressed you managed to keep that a secret from mom.” The two of us sat at the table for a moment before I sighed and rubbed my face. I really wanted to bring up a detail of this that was bugging me, but it seemed like this was not the proper time. “So what now, and how much are we going to have to do?”

Getting up and getting another beer, one I didn’t take away from her, Sarah cracked it open and sat on the floor. “We wait for them to show up.”

The two of us were silent as we either sat in thought, or drank the last beer she’d be allowed for quite a while. I wasn’t really sure how I should have felt. On one hand, I was furious. This was a complete load of bull to have suddenly dumped onto anyone, and it just did happen to my sister. On the other though, Sarah said it herself, she was getting what she wanted in a way.

The silence was broken when Sarah got up off of the floor. “I need some time to think.”

Looking over at the window, a scowl crawled across my face. Regardless of how I felt, this was a mess that definitely needed to be fixed as soon as possible.


Later that day, there was a knock at the door, as I was lounging in the living room from exhaustion. I would have stayed there too if allowed, but instead, I heard Sarah from shouting from her studio. “Tyler, could you get that?”

With a groan, I got up and headed for the front door. “Alright.”

When I got to the entrance and opened it up, I found myself looking at... nothing? “Uh...?”

I jumped a bit when someone spoke up. “Oh for Pete's sake... Down here.”

Glancing down, I could see a grumpy teal ball of horned adorable glaring at me from under a slicked grey mane with their violet eyes. “Are you the owner of the residence?” Okay not adorable; hateful. A tiny ball of hateful, horned fur. 

Staring down at the rather rude unicorn, I raised an eyebrow. “...No, I’m her-”

“Where is she then?” The pompous little bugger glared as a clipboard floated from a bag around their shoulder. “This is supposed to be the residence of one Sarah Herg, so where is she?”

My eye twitched just slightly as I forced a smile. “She’s upstairs in her studio. As her brother I’m sure I could-”

“Nonsense, this is business that needs to be conducted with the individual in question.” The unicorn then walked under me to get inside. “A thorough inspection of the facility is also needed. Bruce!” I looked back to the door and spotted an exasperated stallion walking up to the front of the house. “Get in here!” Holy cow I think I saw a vein bulge out of his head.

The poor guy groaned and glared at the unicorn. “Cassandra, I could have you arrested right now, and I wouldn’t feel any pity. Stop barging into people’s homes, and act professional!”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the larger of the two. “So... just who the hell are you?”

Bruce sighed and put a brown hoof to his head for a moment. “I’m Bruce Cardons, and the disrespectful one is Cassandra Hues. We’re both coming from the DHS to confirm residency and see to it that the establishment is suitable for housing.”

A glance into the kitchen spotted the small unicorn poking her nose into nearly every cabinet she could. “And if it’s not?”

“Then we have to supply the necessities required until the situation can be properly corrected.” Shaking his head, Bruce looked past me at his partner. “and Cassandra is only here with me to aid with writing thanks to my own lack of practice. She’s not even a real-”

“Finish that sentence and I will end you!” The small unicorn shouted.

We looked over at her for a moment before I stepped aside for Bruce. “Come on in. At least one of you is polite.”

Bruce smiled and walked in with a small nod. “Thank you. Now, where again is Ms. Herg?”

I looked over at the stairs and put a hoof to my mouth. “Sarah! We’ve got company.”

The sound of hooves above us headed off to the stairs. “Alright, give me a-” Sarah was cut off when the sound of tumbling, more than likely from her, crashed down the stairs. “Ow...” Yep, it was her.

I gave Bruce a small smile and sighed. “The stairs are fine, she just can’t climb them well.”

We headed for the couch in the main room as he straightened his suit. “You would be surprised how often I have heard and seen that with the people I’ve visited recently.” Bruce chuckled for a second, “So much so I would recommend installing a ramp next to them.”

Before I could reply, the small nasty unicorn came back into the room. “It’s about time.”

“Cassandra, please have manners.” The brown stallion just sighed and rubbed his face again.

Sarah finally joined us after that and took a seat next to me, rubbing her own head. “Sorry for the delay.” She winced a bit and pulled her hoof away before smiling at the two agents. “How may I help you?”

Rather than going over every last detail of that conversation, I’ll spare the boring parts of it all and just get to the important stuff. After going over the house, the DHS duo came to the conclusion that they’d need to send over some beds and the like to put in some of the rooms, as well as set up an account to give my sister her paychecks for food and necessities. Other then that, the house was up to their standards. All the two of us had to do is make sure that the place stayed clean until they sent over the children, er... foals.

Still getting used to that.

Through the entire process though, I couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. I know there’s an amendment somewhere in the constitution that allows the government to seize property in times of desperation, so long as the owner was compensated, but this seemed like a bit of a stretch.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if what I’m feeling is right or not.
> The New Arrivals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The following day, Sarah wouldn’t stop pacing about in the living room. I’d tried to stop her on several occasions, but every time, she’d just go back to wearing a rut into the floor. Rather than continue a fruitless endeavor of preventing more damage to repair, I went to fix her main art room’s lighting. The mess that had been installed in there finally shorted out a fuse, and I really wanted to smack the electrician who made it this way.

Thank God for Dad’s breathing technique, or I’d have probably ripped all of these extra wires out already; drywall be damned.

It was when I was just about to finish up with fixing up the main culprit of the mess, which happened to be the one of the ceiling lights, I could hear someone pull up into the driveway. Glancing out of the window, I could see a few large vans pulling up. “Looks like those government guys might be here already.” As I started for the front door, I shouted up the stairs to Sarah. “Hey, we’ve got company out front. I’m gonna go see who it is.”

“Alright! Be down in a minute!” True to her word, just as I was getting to the front door I could hear Sarah falling down the stairs again. “....ow....” Only a day since they were here, and I already think I should speed up my plans on building that ramp.

Heading out to the parked vans, I was greeted by a unicorn that was just getting out of the vehicle. “You the brother we were informed of?”

Oh look at that, I’m popular. Too bad I don’t care. “Depends. You are?”

“Agent Daniels. Call me Danny.” I shook the grey unicorn’s hoof and he pointed to the vans. “We’re just bringing in the supplies to make this place ready for the kids.”

Grunting a bit, I looked over at the house and frowned. “If by supplies, you mean workforce. The idiots who build this place didn’t have a clue what they were doing.”

“So I’ve heard.” Agent Daniels looked over a small clipboard as he pulled it from the van with his magic. “According to the half-pint, anyways.”

I raised an eyebrow for a moment and glanced back at the house, remembering the rather short meeting with the two from yesterday. “When did she-?” Agent Daniels tapped his horn for a moment. “Ah. I see.” So some magic was going on last time when she was crawling through our cabinets.... Pretty sure that’s an invasion of privacy. “Well anyways, let’s get this moved into the house. The heat isn’t all that nice.”

Daniels nodded and looked over at the van, waving a hoof for a moment before a group of other ponies started to climb out and move some large boxes from their vans and into the house. “This shouldn’t take them more than a few hours. In the meantime, I’d like to talk to you and your sister for a moment.”

“Excuse me for a moment, I just need to slip through... here...” Sarah tried to squeeze past some of the boxes as they were heading in and got stuck for a moment, which Daniels seemed to find a bit funny. With a small heave and a pop as she came free, Sarah dusted herself off and shook out her mane as if nothing had happened. “Sorry for the wait. Now, who do I have the honor of meeting?”

“Agent Daniels.” A quick handshake passed between the two and Daniels looked at the house for a moment. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to also get a few pieces of business out of the way while the boxes are unloaded and beds assembled.”

Giving him a nod, the two of us moved off of the porch and sat in the front lawn. Not exactly the most luxurious of places, but it kept us out of the flow of boxes. Sarah looked a bit confused, but at the same time, expectant. “So what is this about?”

Daniels waved a hoof and gave her a disarming smile. “I just thought you’d like some advice for what you’re about to undertake, and to know some details about the ones being sent to live here. More so the ones that are due to arrive in a few days.” He looked over at his van and a few manilla folders started to fly over to us. “As a Matron, it is important to make sure the children in your care are well taken care of, but at the same time, you don’t become too attached to them. It is important that they are able to leave here and become part of loving families, but still retain the needed social skills for normal life.” 

Sarah’s ears flicked back slightly and a rueful smirk crossed her lips. “I... kinda figured. Can’t go and be happy with another family if your heart’s still somewhere else. One of the downsides, I guess.”

His smile dropped a bit and turned more melancholy. “Now, as for the arriving children, we’ll start off with some of the more common cases, at least compared to what we have to work with.” As the first folder landed at our hooves and flipped open, I felt a spike of worry. The picture on the papers showed a Mulberry filly, with a strawberry mane, and lilac eyes. “Brianna Maye. Age seven. Earth Pony. Parents died in a car crash day of the transformations and no relatives could be found. The crash also left her with multiple scars on the back of her neck, and a severe phobia of automobiles. The scars also have caused her a lack of flexibility as they are rather large, and numerous.”

I cringed a bit at the thought of a neck injury like that. Without my hands, my mouth and neck have been nearly vital for getting anything done. “That’s.... That’s horrible. For something that bad to happen to a seven year old...” That magic hoof holding thing wasn’t working well for me even when it did work, and I couldn’t imagine something like that onto a little girl. A glance at Sarah and I could tell she felt the same.

Daniels’s smile vanished entirely as he kept going. “As we were unable to contact family, her former teachers were able to let us know just how withdrawn she has become since the accident.” He sighed and closed the file, moving it to rest next to Sarah. “Brianna was completely different from how they remembered. She’s shut herself into her own little world, and won’t talk to anyone. If you can get her to talk to you, try to convince her to seeing a psychiatrist. We would normally mandate this, but she has been through enough as it is, and personally I think a different approach might be needed for her.”

Sarah shook her head and looked at the file for a moment. “That was a common case? That was horrific!”

Daniels sighed and looked to the files he had in front of him. “Unfortunately, yes. The mainstream news might not be showing these stories at large, but they did happen, and usually were shown on smaller local news networks. There were numerous people who were driving the day we all changed, and not everyone had the calm or control to pull over safely. As some people say, ‘eighteen wheelers don’t stop on a dime’. An extreme few of them failed to get out alive without injury, and half of those few died due to their shifting anatomy not being compatible with the safety meant to protect them as they collided at over 70 mph. That being said, Brianna is lucky that she was found her as soon as she was. We have been trying to keep cases like this in groups while they recover, so that the affected have someone nearby to communicate similar feelings with. If you receive any letters from a Rebecca Talmin, that would be her former roommate.” Agent Daniels opened the next folder for the two of us and laid it at our hooves.

I looked down at the files and took note of the picture. “That’s probably the youngest pony I’ve seen yet.”

Sarah was leaning in closer to the paper to read the details, despite having her mane fall a bit into her face. Giving a quick puff to push it away, she squinted a bit. “Franklin Cooper...four years old.... Thestral? Those are the pegasus with bat wings right?”

Daniels nodded as he sighed. “That’s right. Like with Brianna’s case, his parents died in a car crash, nor could we find any living relatives. But unlike her seatbelt, his carseat still did what it was meant to do and kept him from harm. He hasn’t shown any immediate signs of trauma, but if any do start to show, let us know immediately, and we will help with finding and scheduling an appointment with a psychiatrist for him.” He set the file next to the first and pulled another one out. “The rest of these are less physically traumatic than Brianna and Franklin’s cases, but some have more mental harm in certain areas. I would go over them with you now, but they aren’t due to arrive til later, so I advise you to read them all within the week. All except one, that is.” Handing over the file for the two of us to look over, Agent Daniels rubbed his head with a sigh. “This one, is why we are going to install a pool.”





Two days after the delivery, and having some actual help repairing the majority of the more imposing problems, the house was ready to have the first of our new arrivals show up. The lower floor’s main gallery was altered into a trio of bedrooms, each designed for a different type of pony. Well... okay, one just had blackout blinds on the windows so if Franklin really was nocturnal he could sleep during the day, but that’s still a little bit of customization! Regardless, I tried to keep a positive face and looked over at Sarah as we sat on the porch, but I could tell she knew I was worried. “Ready to make a good first impression?”

Sarah let out a huff and smirked a bit. “Ready as I’ll ever be. This is gonna be.... A lot of things, and stressful is definitely one of them.” The silence was punctuated by the occasional bird call. Our eyes and ears trained to both ends of the road, waiting and watching. Until Sarah spoke up again. “Do you think I’ll do a good job?”

I glanced over at her and smiled reassuringly. “Hey now, you’ll do just fine.” Giving her a pat on the back, a more genuine smile crept across my face. “I could do that impression you mentioned if it helps any.”

She snorted a bit and raised an eyebrow at me. “Seriously? You don’t have to do that for me, you know that right?.”

A chuckle escaped me as I pushed my chest out and posed. “Eeyup.”

The sight of her shaking in place as she fought back the giggles amused me greatly, even when she punched my ar- foreleg in retaliation. “Oh my god, Stop that I was joking!” 

My smug smirk only intensified. “Nope.”

“You are such an a-.” Before she could finish her insult, the sound of crunching dirt caught our ears, and made them swivel to the left. Glancing at a rising cloud of dust rapidly approaching, Sarah’s ears lost some of their perkiness. 

It wasn’t long before a small bus had pulled up in front of the driveway, the main door screeched, and a familiar brown stallion walked out. “Alright everyone, time to get off the bus.”

Wordlessly, the first off of the bus was a small umbral thestral with a silver mane hanging over one of his eyes. He seemed a bit nervous at first, and kept glancing at the roof of the studio as he stumbled every now and again. His motor skills are a little clumsy... but that might be from the change.

When the little guy finally noticed Sarah and I, he flinched a bit before walking over with his head hung low. “H-Hello...”

Laying down on her belly to be eye level with the little colt, Sarah smiled and nodded. “Hello to you too. My name’s Sarah. Could you tell me yours?”

The silver mane on his head bobbed as he scuffed his hoof on the ground and gave her a brief glance. “Franklin.”

The warm smile she gave him in return made him blush a bit, but Sarah either didn’t notice it or chose to ignore the blush. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Franklin. Could you go and wait by the stairs for me while I greet the others?”

“Yes ma’am.” The little colt moved with a silence that was rather impressive, and was sitting on the steps patiently.

The next off the bus had finally gotten off, not from lack of want, but from needed assistance. Her mobility was something that made itself apparent from the moment anyone laid eyes on her. Her neck was stiff as a board as she walked over, where there was a slight bob from everyone else. Her legs trembled ever so slightly as she hurried off of the bus, but that didn’t stop the mulberry filly from reaching us. It was then that I noticed her back had a large number of scars traveling down her spine. Most of them were hidden by her fur at a distance, but my sympathy for Brianna doubled instantly regardless.

“Hello there. May I ask your name?”

Looking up at Sarah from under her strawberry mane, the little filly’s lilac eyes flicked about every now and again towards the bus; warring between fear and sorrow. “My... My name is Brianna...”  

Giving the same smile she gave Franklin, Sarah nodded to her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, even if I wish it could have been from better circumstances. Could you go over to the stairs and wait with Franklin?”

Brianna whimpered slightly as she glanced to the stairs. “Do... do I have to sit?”

A twinge hit Sarah’s smile, just enough for me to almost not notice it. “No, you can stand if that makes you comfortable.”

Brianna’s face smiled a slight bit at that, but still held the sadness from earlier. “Thank you.” As she walked past, gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

Back to the bus, the last of our arrivals was being let off of the handicap elevator. Her white body resting comfortably in a wheelchair as the driver helped her down. A hydrophilic blanket was draped over her waist, and glistened in the light. “Thank you for the help.”

Smiling, the driver helped move her closer. “Think nothing of it dear. Now, have a good day.”

“Bye!” She waved a finned hoof and at the sight of it, I instantly felt reminded of the feeling I had when we first learned of this. One of the rooms towards the back of the house now was a fairly decent sized pool, complete with a filtration system to help keep it clean. For everywhere else however, this particular sea filly would need some assistance.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. “Well. At least one of my newest guests is chipper. May I ask a name?”

Looking back over at us, the seapony nodded and accidentally got her sea green fin/mane over her rich purple eyes. “I’m Tiffany! It’s nice to meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you too. Let’s move you into the house so I can get the introductions out of the way.” Sarah quickly went behind the wheelchair and started gently pushing Tiffany over to the house. 

As we all moved to the front of the house, the admittedly adorable seapony kept looking over at me curiously. “Who are you?”

“You’ll find out in just a moment.” I gave her a wink and soon, all of us were standing at the steps to the front porch. Sarah and I walked up the steps and looked over the three of them.

“Okay now,” Sarah smiled at the three kids and waved a hoof towards the building. “For the foreseeable future, welcome to your temporary home. I’ve already introduced myself, so I feel that I need to let someone else do the same.”

Getting the hint, I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “My name is Tyler, and before you ask, I’m her brother.” That got a giggle out of Tiffany. “Me and Sarah here are going to do our best to help get you all to nice new homes. But for the time being, all we ask is that you don’t cause any trouble, listen to us, and follow the rules.”

Sarah nodded and stepped off the porch. “We can go over house rules later. For now, let’s just get you all inside so you can get a look at your rooms.” With a helping hoof, Sarah got Brianna up the steps slowly. Franklin wanted to help get Tiffany’s wheelchair up, so I let him pull from the front while I got the wheels over.

If I’d known they were sending a wheelchair, I’d have gotten that ramp project done to the porch too.
	
	
> Settling In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	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.