> A Herd in Maretime Bay > by RedRanger3142 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Flowerbeds > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Misty and her friends looked back on how she joined their little herd, the others said that they handled things poorly and that Misty handled the situation as well as she could have. Misty disagreed. In not talking to her friends and pretending to be ignorant about what was happening she had let her emotions bottle up until that conversation with her father and Queen Haven finally sent her over the edge and caused her to explode at her friends. But her friends refused to let her take the blame, insisting that they should have just told her so she didn’t have to pretend she didn’t know anything. How did it all start? Several weeks ago at the Brighthouse the day had started out like any other. Misty was sitting on her bed reading a book, Pipp was busy writing a new song, Zipp was tiding up her clues from her most recent case, Izzy was making a homemade card and Sunny was remaking her bed. Then the front doors opened and Hitch’s voice called from downstairs. “Girls, I have something to show you outside.” The girls all dropped what they were doing to come take a look. Misty was the last one down, her bed being the furthest from the ramp. She followed the others outside as Hitch led them to the community garden, where there was a new addition. Four flowerbeds; one containing mostly orange flowers with some blue and pink ones forming the shape of shooting stars, one mostly purple bed containing blue flowers forming the shape of a heart with pins in it, one mostly white bed containing blue, pink and yellow flowers forming the shape of a lightning bolt with a crown above it and a mostly pink bed with purple, white and yellow flowers forming the shape of a music note with a crown beneath it. Misty watched in amusement as the other fours mares gushed about the flowerbeds forming the shapes of their Cutie Marks before all of them went to hug Hitch at the same time, resulting in the stallion losing his balance and the five tumbling to the ground. Misty giggled, closely followed by Izzy and Pipp. Then Sunny joined in the giggling, then suddenly all six of them were laughing. Once she managed to stop laughing and wiped a tear from her eye, Misty headed back inside. Hitch had clearly meant the other four when he said “girls”, not her. The flowerbeds were another romantic gesture from the sheriff for his four herdmates. Misty knew her new friends well. In fact, she knew something about them that no pony else did. What was that? Well, it was a huge source of gossip around town that the most handsome stallion in Maretime Bay spent most of his time in the presence of four beautiful mares. Misty had eavesdropped on several conversations where ponies would argue which of the four Hitch would choose to date; the sometimes Alicorn childhood best friend, the cute Unicorn crafter, the hot tomboy detective or the sexy pop star princess. Misty initially dismissed these conversations as just gossip, but the more she observed her friends the more she realised Hitch had picked a fifth option the town’s ponies hadn’t considered; all four of them. Herds in Equestria dated back centuries, but these days they were a mostly forgotten piece of history. Misty suspected that was why she was the only one had figured out her friends were a herd, barely anypony knew about them anymore. Of course, she learned later that she wasn’t entirely correct with that assumption. While she and her friends were the only ponies in the present day who knew about herds, Misty wasn’t the only pony who had worked out the truth about her friends. > Massaging > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misty had gone back to reading her book when the others returned to the room and started eagerly grabbing things. “Misty, we’re going to the beach.” Izzy declared as she ran to the foot of Misty’s bed. “Do you want to come?” Misty smiled excitedly as she closed her book. “Sure.” Misty finished rubbing sunscreen on her arms and laid down on her blanket beneath her parasol. Looking to her left she saw the other girls rubbing sunscreen on themselves while Hitch laid out their things for them. Misty smiled before looking out across the beach. Considering it wasn’t as hot as the day she went surfing with Zipp, the beach was surprisingly packed. She spotted Seashell, Peach Fizz and Glory playing by the water’s edge. Seashell saw Misty watching them and waved to her. Misty waved back. “You’re rather fond of those three, aren’t you?” Said a familiar voice. “Oh, hey Jazz.” Misty greeted as the mane stylist approached her. “Yeah, I am. They’re the ones who taught me it didn’t matter what age I got my Cutie Mark, after all.” Jazz nodded, then gestured to Misty’s friends. Turning her head to look Misty found Hitch massaging Sunny’s back while Izzy, Zipp and Pipp waited to have their backs massaged. “They’re cute together.” Jazz commented. “Yeah, they are.” Misty agreed. That was apparently the wrong thing to say, judging by Jazz’s facial expression. “Come on, Misty. You live with four of them, I refuse to believe you don’t know what’s going on.” Misty let out a squeak. She had thought she was the only one who had worked it out. Izzy looked up as Hitch started massaging her back. “You okay, Misty?” “Totally,” Misty said, her voice unusually high. “Everything’s fine.” Izzy seemed doubtful, but let the matter drop. “Jazz, what did you do?” Rocky asked as he walked over and put his arms around her waist. Jazz playfully poked her coltfriend’s chest. “Why are you assuming I did something?” Misty snorted at Jazz’s comment. “Okay, maybe I did say something.” Jazz admitted. Misty stood up and led Jazz and Rocky over to the water’s edge. “So you know the others are a herd?” She asked in a whisper. Jazz and Rocky both looked confused. “What’s a herd?” They asked at the same time. Okay, so Jazz and Rocky may have worked out the truth, but not necessarily all the details. “A herd is when a stallion has two to five mares as mates.” Misty explained. “Oh,” Jazz and Rocky said together. “We didn’t know there was a term for it.” Misty laughed softly. “So, how did you work it out?” “Misty please,” Rocky replied. “Pipp is our boss, and the others visit Mane Melody often enough for us to see how they act together. It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.” “Well, aside from Zipp.” Jazz added. “She’s rarely ever in Mane Melody.” Misty laughed again, louder this time. “Of course she isn’t,” she said at normal speaking volume. “This is Zipp we’re talking about. She hates being dolled up.” “What?” Zipp called out just as Hitch was about to start massaging her back. “Nothing,” Misty called back. “Just that you hate being dolled up.” “Oh,” she replied. “Yeah I do.” “So, Misty?” Jazz went back to whispering. “Are you part of their herd?” Misty was taken aback by the question. Before she could answer an image suddenly popped into her head of her lying with her friends and Hitch massaging her back. Then as quickly as it came the image faded. “No. No, I’m not.” She finally said in a flat tone. Jazz gave Misty a smirk that suggested she knew what the Unicorn had just been thinking of. “Okay. Well, I’m sure you’ve got to at least have an idea of what happens behind closed doors.” Misty shook her head. “No, actually. In fact, they haven’t told me anything about their herd. I just worked it out, like you two did.” Jazz and Rocky were shocked. “Wait, so they haven’t said anything about it to you, at all?” Rocky asked. Misty shook her head again. “That’s not right,” Jazz growled. She sounded angry. “You’re their best friend, and roommate in the case of the other girls, and they haven’t told you anything?” “Jazz, calm down.” Misty whispered calmly. “What reason do the five of them have to tell me anything about their love lives?” “Oh I don’t know,” Jazz replied sarcastically. “Maybe the fact that you hang out with the five of the them everyday and sleep under the same roof as four of them. Heck, you girls all share the same bedroom for buck’s sake, the same bedroom where Hitch and the others are probably cuddling, kissing and doing… you know? You deserve to know when it’s your bedroom too.” Misty didn’t respond. Jazz had a point. The others should have told her. > Arrangement > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the group got back from the beach Misty closed the curtain around her bed, laid down and stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Should the others have told her they were a herd? Their love lives were none of her business, but as Jazz pointed out, the others were probably getting up to who knows what in the bedroom she was sharing with the other mares. She did deserve to know so she didn’t accidentally walk in on something she didn’t want to see. Granted, she already knew to be careful whenever she came home so she didn’t walk in on something, but that was only because she figured out on her own the others were a herd. And then there was something else Jazz brought up. “Are you part of their herd?” … “No. No, I’m not.” Misty was part of their friend group now, but that didn’t mean she had that type of bond with the others. She knew how close the others were. Sunny and Hitch had been best friends since foalhood, Zipp and Pipp were sisters and Izzy quickly grew close to everyone she met (Misty being an example). The five of them had formed a companionship with each other when they went on a quest to restore magic to Equestria and Sunny, Izzy, Zipp and Pipp then grew closer still when they made the decision to move into the Brighthouse together. By comparison, Misty’s connection to the others was… complicated. She had begun their friendship by lying to them, and while she was completely honest with them now and they assured her it was water under the bridge as far as they were concerned, she just didn’t click with the others the same way they did with each other. And yet, when Alphabittle asked the others if Misty could move into the Brighthouse with them they agreed immediately and welcomed her with open arms. And she felt less alienated from them by the day. The image of her lying on the beach with the others while Hitch massaged her back returned, and she had to shake her head to get rid of it. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about any of that. Right now she needed to talk to them about their herd, and if they weren’t going to bring it up then she’d have to. But since they hadn’t told her about it yet, or told anyone about it as far as she knew, that meant they evidently wanted it to be a secret. This meant the topic would need to be approached with delicacy, something Misty wasn’t exactly the best at. Suddenly she was snapped out of her thoughts by a voice yelling “Hey, Misty!” Misty shrieked and jumped, only to discover it was just Izzy poking her head through the curtain. “Izzy?” Misty asked, calming down slightly. “What are you doing here?” “It’s dinner time,” Izzy said in her usual overly cheerful and energetic tone. “Sunny said to come get you.” “Oh,” Misty regained her composure. “Right. Okay. Coming.” The next morning when Misty woke up there was no sign of the others in the bedroom. It didn’t take long to work out where they were as she could hear the shower running and the others tended to take group showers, having installed a shower taking up an entire wall of the bathroom for that reason. Sometimes Hitch would come over before breakfast and the five of them would shower together, entrusting Misty to look after Sparky while they did so. Misty showered by herself, which left her with a lot of empty space to work with since the shower was big enough to fit eight adult ponies if it needed to. Deciding to go grab some orange juice while she waited for the others to finish in the shower, Misty walked downstairs in her pyjamas, only to find Hitch sitting on the couch. He looked exhausted. “Morning, Hitch.” Misty greeted as she walked over to him. “Being a single parent is exhausting.” Hitch responded. He leaned against the couch with his arms lying across the back of it. His eyes were closed. Misty nodded. “It definitely is. I don’t know how Queen Haven would have managed it with Zipp and Pipp if she didn’t have her castle staff to support her, and I don’t know how dad managed it with Izzy after he lost me, but you’re not alone Hitch. Sparky has four amazing moms to help look after him.” Hitch opened his eyes to look at her. “Technically, he has five moms now.” He corrected. “But I’m not part of your herd,” is what she wanted to say, but she found the words stuck in her throat, so instead she asked “Where is Sparky anyway?” Hitch closed his eyes again and pointed with a finger off to his right. “He’s over there, playing with some building blocks.” Misty looked to where Hitch was pointing, and smiled. “Correction, he was playing with building blocks.” Looking over to see what Misty meant, Hitch discovered that Sparky had turned the building blocks into picture frames with his dragon fire. “Oh, Sparky.” He whined. Misty laughed before walking over to the baby dragon. “It’s alright. I got him.” Sparky giggled as Misty approached. She leaned down and picked up the picture frames. They all had photos in them; one was of Sunny giving Sparky a piggyback ride after taking him to try cotton candy for the first time, Sparky still happily chewing on his in the photo. The next was of Izzy and Sparky from the time Izzy tried to teach him how to paint. They were both covered in paint in the photo, but smiling happily. The third photo was of Sparky posing with Zipp in her detective gear after he helped her solve a case by picking up what turned out to be a vital clue. The fourth photo was of Pipp and Sparky backstage during one of Pipp’s performances, with Sparky sitting on Pipp’s lap and the Pegasus dressed up for her performance. Then Misty got to the last photo, and a small tear appeared in her eye. The last photo was of her and Sparky sitting exhausted on the couch, leaning against one another. Misty remembered that day, the others had been helping Queen Haven in Zephyr Heights so she looked after Sparky all day. Feeling something pulling at her top, she looked down to see Sparky tugging at it. Curious, she bent down to his level and put the photos on the floor. Sparky hugged her, burying his head in her neck. Misty was taken aback, but wrapped her arms around him gently. “See what I mean?” Hitch said as he walked over and put his hand on Misty’s shoulder. “He has five moms.” Misty stood up, still holding Sparky. She carefully handed him to Hitch. “I’m… gonna go see if the others are out of the shower.” Running back upstairs Misty found the others coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in towels. “Hey, Misty.” Sunny greeted. “Hey, guys.” Misty greeted back. “Misty,” Izzy said cheerfully, running over to hug her friend. “How are you?” “I’m fine,” Misty replied, smiling. Classic Izzy, always so perky. “Just waiting to use the shower. Hitch and Sparky are downstairs, by the way.” “Right,” Sunny said. “We’d better get changed.” “You guys go,” Misty said. “I’ll join you down there in a few minutes.” When Misty came back to her bed after getting out of the shower she found her phone ringing. The caller ID showed it was her father. She picked it up and answered. “Dad?” “Hey, honey.” Her dad answered. “Hello, Misty dear.” Said a second voice over the phone. “Queen Haven?” Misty asked, recognising the voice. “The one and only.” The queen answered playfully, followed by a bark from Cloudpuff. “Okay…” Misty was surprised, though she should have known Queen Haven would have been with her dad. The two were dating after all. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” “We were just wondering if you’d like to come have breakfast with us tomorrow morning?” Queen Haven asked. Misty’s eyes narrowed. Something seemed… off about the tone of Haven’s voice. “Just me? And not the others?” “Haven figured it would be a good idea,” Alphabittle explained. “We’ve had some family time with Zipp and Pipp so they could get used to their mom dating again. You deserve the same chance to get used to your father dating again.” Nothing seemed off with her father’s tone. If Haven was planning something, her father didn’t seem aware of it. “Sure. I’d love to.” Misty answered cheerfully. “Excellent,” her dad said. “Meet us at the cafe on Mane Street, ten o’ clock tomorrow. Got it?” “Tomorrow, ten o’ clock, cafe on Mane Street,” Misty repeated. “Got it. See you then. Bye.” “Bye.” Haven and Alphabittle both said, followed by another bark from Cloudpuff before Misty ended the call. Misty stared down at her phone. She now had to have breakfast with Queen Haven and her father tomorrow and talk to the others about their herd at some point. She could do this. Totally. > Advice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A short time later Misty was dressed and downstairs having breakfast with her friends. “So what’s the plan for today?” Hitch asked. “Well,” Sunny began. “The four of us want to go clothes shopping at Zephyr Heights today.” “Clothes shopping for what?” Misty asked. “Swimsuits.” Pipp answered, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Misty raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly is wrong with the ones you were wearing yesterday?” “They’re old and worn out, so we need new ones.” Zipp explained. Right. That’s one reason you’d want new swimsuits. I can think of another, Misty thought as she glanced at Hitch. Then again their bikinis did look rather faded yesterday. “And what if I’m happy with the swimsuit I’ve got?” “You don’t have to come.” Sunny reassured her. Izzy didn’t seem happy about Misty’s decision to sit the shopping trip out. “Awwww. But I wanted to get you a new swimsuit too, Misty.” She whined. Izzy gave Misty a pair of puppy dog eyes that nearly made Misty decide to come along, but she held firm. “Sorry, Izzy. Maybe next time.” “Huh.” Izzy slumped in her chair and crossed her arms, looking rather grumpy. “And let me guess, you want me to come and judge how good you look in them?” Hitch asked. Sunny, Zipp and Pipp nodded eagerly, but Izzy merely jerked her head. Misty had to fight to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing because her guess had been correct. Hitch sighed. “Okay, but I want to take Sparky to Mane Melody at some point and get his claws trimmed.” “Actually,” Misty spoke up suddenly. “I’m planning on going to Mane Melody anyway to see Jazz and Rocky. Why don’t I take Sparky with me and get his claws done while you guys go shopping?” The idea had just popped into her head when Hitch mentioned Mane Melody. It was starting to dawn on her that she didn’t have the first idea how to approach the topic of herds, so she needed help. And since Jazz and Rocky were the only other ponies she knew of who knew about her friends’ herd they were her best option. Hitch’s face lit up. “Really? That’s be great, Misty.” Sparky waddled over to Misty and hugged her leg. She reached down and picked him up, letting him sit on her knee. Izzy watched the two out of the corner of her eye. Her arms were still folded, but she was smiling slightly. Misty smiled at her. Izzy unfolded her arms and smiled back. Misty and Sparky waved to the others in the Marestream as it took off for Zephyr Heights, then started walking towards Mane Melody. When they got there they found the door was locked. Hardly surprising, considering it was twenty minutes before opening time. But Misty had come prepared, as she had borrowed Pipp’s key. So she just unlocked the door and walked in. “Oh, hi Misty.” Jazz greeted as the Unicorn entered the shop, Sparky following her in. “What brings you here so bright and early?” “Hitch wants Sparky’s claws trimmed,” Misty explained. “And I wanted to talk to you…” she dropped her voice to a whisper. “About the herd.” Jazz nodded in understanding. “Ah.” Rocky sat Sparky down in one of the chairs and began filing his claws with a re-enforced nail file specifically designed for dragon claws. Misty and Jazz sat down on the edge of the stage to talk. “So what’s the problem with the herd?” Jazz asked. “Well, I decided that if the others weren’t going to bring up the herd in a conversation then I’d do it. But when I tried to mention it to Hitch earlier the words sorta… caught in my throat.” Misty explained. Jazz thought about it for a second. “Do you know why your words caught in your throat?” Misty shook her head. “No. I had no trouble talking about it with you and Rocky yesterday or right now, but when I was talking to Hitch I couldn’t get the words out.” “I have an idea why,” Jazz began, a cheeky grin on her face. “Okay…” Misty said, not liking the look on Jazz’s muzzle one bit. “Maybe it’s because you want to join their herd?” Jazz suggested. Misty choked on nothing as her face turned red. The image of her and her friends on the beach while Hitch massaged her back jumped into her head again, clearer than it had been before. Misty shook her head desperately to get rid of the image. “What? I-I… no!” Jazz didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?” She asked in a singsong voice, her smirk growing. “Yes!” Misty answered, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. Her discomfort must have showed in her body language, because Jazz’s face changed from shit eating grin to genuine concern. “Sorry,” she apologised. “I just thought that since you were growing so close to them…” Misty felt the blush start to fade from her face. “It’s okay,” she reassured Jazz. “But I don’t think that’s it.” “So what do you think the problem is then?” Jazz asked. Misty thought about it, and then an idea came to her. “I was on my own for a long time before I met my friends,” she began. She had technically been living with Opaline during that time, but she had been so neglectful Misty might has well been living on her own for all the difference it would have made. “It was difficult for me to get used to being a roommate. And the herd is an even more difficult topic to bring up, especially since they’re being so secretive about it.” “Well, how did you bring up the topic of being roommates?” “Er,” Misty paused. “I didn’t, actually. My dad asked the others if I could move into the Brighthouse, and they said yes. So they moved my stuff in for me and I just… moved in. The transition wasn’t easy, I felt extremely overwhelmed, but I didn’t say anything because I thought the others would be mad at me for not being grateful for what I had been given. Eventually it became too much for me and I ran off to spend some time with my dad. When I got back it turned out the others realised I needed my own space so they moved my bed into its own corner.” Jazz shook her head, then gave Misty an encouraging smile. “Misty, you can’t keep bottling up your emotions until you snap. If you need to talk to the others about something then you need to take the initiative and just do it.” Before Misty could respond Rocky interrupted. “Done.” He declared. Sparky hopped off the chair and walked over to Misty to show her his trimmed claws. Misty smiled at him. “Looking good, Sparky.” She looked up to the Pegasus stallion. “Thanks, Rocky.” He smiled back at her. “No problem, Misty.” Jazz looked at her phone. “It’s opening time in three minutes.” Misty stood up and picked up Sparky. “We’d better get out of your hair.” She quickly paid Rocky and went to leave. “Bye, you two.” Rocky said. “And good luck talking to the others.” Jazz called as Misty closed the door. Misty was barely paying attention on the way back to the Brighthouse. She wasn’t really looking where she was going, nor did she notice that Sparky (who she was still carrying in her arms) was playing with her mane. Her mind was still on the conversation she’d had with Jazz, and in particular one line. “Maybe it’s because you want to join their herd?” The sentence was replaying in Misty’s mind like a record on loop. She didn’t want to join their herd, did she? She thought about her friends one by one. Starting with Izzy; she was Misty’s best friend, and the first real friend she’d ever had. Her cheerful and energetic personality should have been off-putting for the timid and withdrawn Misty, and it had been at the start. But Misty had quickly gotten used to it, as well as the hugs Izzy always gave her. All of her friends, but particularly Izzy, taught her what true affection felt like. Misty might not be part of their herd, but with the exception of kisses Izzy was as affectionate with her as she was with the others, even nuzzling her on occasion. Izzy had clearly grown fond of her Unicorn friend, and Misty had grown fond of her too. In contrast with her friendship with Izzy, Misty’s friendship with Zipp didn’t start out well, mostly because Zipp was the only one who saw through the lies Misty was always telling when she first met the group. Misty didn’t hold it against her, partly because Zipp had been right about her lying and partly because she knew why Zipp was so suspicious of her. Zipp was very protective of people she was close to, a trait that probably stemmed from being an older sister. She saw that Misty’s story wasn’t adding up and thought she might be trying to hurt her friends. Zipp had been determined to see beneath Misty’s mask, and when she finally did she saw the truth that not even Misty herself saw at the time, a frightened mare who desperately needed help. The Pegasus was the first to discover Misty’s lack of a Cutie Mark and rather than being disgusted, like the Unicorn thought she would be, Zipp was encouraging. These days the two got along much better. They would often go surfing together and Zipp had embraced Misty as part of the group, being as protective of her as she was of the others. Zipp made Misty feel safe. Pipp had been hard for Misty to get a read on, but she soon realised that was because Pipp had two personas, the pop star princess she portrayed herself as in public and the real Pipp Petals she only showed when the group were alone. The pop star princess persona was a little… loud for Misty’s liking, but she understood Pipp just wanted to spread joy with her music. The real Pipp was much softer and always eager to make everyone feel welcome. When Izzy first introduced Misty to the group Pipp always made sure that Misty was included in activities and when Misty finally got away from Opaline, Pipp took her under her wing to make sure Misty was adjusting to life in Maretime Bay after living alone for so long. Misty enjoyed this more gentle side to Pipp. It made her feel comfortable. Unlike Pipp, Sunny was easy to read, because the mare wore her heart on her sleeve. She was kind and caring to a fault, and her cheerfulness and energy could rival Izzy’s. Sunny was also an excellent cook, putting together meals for her friends that put even the five star courses Queen Haven had served them at royal events to shame. Sunny always tried to put a positive spin on situations and make others smile when they were feeling down. The Brighthouse had been her home all her life, but she was more than happy to let Izzy, Zipp, Pipp and later Misty move in with her. Sunny gave off an aura of positivity that was infectious. And finally there was Hitch. Misty could see why the others fell for him. He was dedicated to his role as Maretime Bay sheriff to keep everyone safe, but that wasn’t his only dedication. He was a caring and loving father to Sparky. It wasn’t surprising Sparky chose to keep living with him instead of living with the other dragons at the Isle of Scaly. Hitch was also dedicated to looking after his friends. If he could help any of them in any way, he would. Not to mention he was also charming, not just to his herdmates, but also to other mares, including Misty. Add onto that his good looks and well toned abs… Shit. Misty stopped walking suddenly. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Jazz was right. Misty did want to join the herd. Swaying on her feet from the realisation Misty fell against a lamppost and slip down it into a sitting position on the ground. Sparky looked at her in alarm, tapped her chin to try and get her attention. After several seconds without a response she shifted his head to look at him. “I’m alright, Sparky.” She managed to say, sounding like she had a head cold. How was she supposed to bring up the herd now? > Conversation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Misty got back to the Brighthouse with Sparky the others weren’t back from Zephyr Heights yet. And honestly, Misty was relieved. She wasn’t sure how to face the others after what she had realised. Since the Unicorn was walking around again, Sparky assumed she was alright now. But in actuality Misty was in a trance, barely aware of what she was doing. She only snapped back to reality when she tried to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and ended up getting most of it in her mane. Sparky stared at her in confusion. Misty gave him a nervous smile. “Heh, heh.” Then she unexpectedly slammed her head into the counter top. “I’m a mess.” She muttered. Sparky reached over from his seat on the other side of the counter top and patted a part of her mane that wasn’t messy. After this minor incident Misty decided to make jam on toast instead. She managed to put together the meal without making another mess, but only ate half of hers before leaving the rest for Sparky and running upstairs to take another shower so she could clean her mane. As she stepped under the jet stream and began running her fingers through her mane (discovering it was also tangled, probably because of Sparky playing with it) her thoughts turned back to her friends’ herd. If the topic was hard to bring up before, it was going to be nearly impossible now. How was she supposed to talk about the herd without mentioning she wanted to be part of it. And then another thought occurred to her; would her being part of the herd even work? Given how her first few days living in the Brighthouse went, her honest answer was no. Something those days had taught her was that while her friends all had different interests, they were all very outgoing, Zipp a bit less so than the others, but it was still very easy to see that the five were romantically compatible. Misty on the other hand was a bit more private and preferred to keep to herself sometimes. It was why her bed had been moved from the centre of the bedroom to its own corner and why it had a curtain around it. Sure, Misty was more outgoing than she used to be and the others were always willing to be accommodating to her, but she still wasn’t sure she’d be romantically compatible with the others. As she was grabbing the shampoo she heard the familiar sound of the marestream landing outside and found herself shivering suddenly. Right now the only thought going through her head was please don’t be too awkward in front of the others. When Misty exited the bathroom with a towel around her, she found the other girls sitting on their beds. “There you are,” Sunny said as Misty came into the bedroom. “Made a bit of a mess making lunch, did we?” Misty laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. “Sorry about that.” “Don’t worry about it,” Izzy waved her hand dismissively. “We cleaned it up for you.” Misty smiled at them. “Hey, thanks. By the way, where are Hitch and Sparky?” “Down here,” Hitch called from downstairs. “We heard the shower running and worked out where you were. Don’t worry, neither of us are coming up until you’re dressed again.” “Okay.” Misty called back. She ran over to her bed where she had left her clothes and climbed onto the bed, using her magic to close the curtain. “Hey, Misty?” Zipp asked as the Unicorn was unwrapping the towel from around herself. “Yes?” Misty responded as she started dressing. “That’s twice now that you’ve gone off to see Jazz and Rocky. Is something going on?” Misty let out a surprised squeak, which was fortunately drowned out by Sunny, Izzy and Pipp all rather sternly yelling “Zipp!” “Can you not go two weeks without interrogating Misty?” Izzy asked, sounding very annoyed. “Sorry,” Zipp said. “It’s just that I know for a fact that I came up in at least one of the conversations and I got the impression they were talking about us.” “Well, no duh, detective,” Pipp said sarcastically. “They’re our friends, of course they would talk about us.” “Misty, what were you three talking about?” Sunny asked, trying to settle things. Misty took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. There was no way she was bringing up the herd after being put on the spot like that, so she needed to think of a lie, fast. Or, she could say something that was somewhat close to the truth. “Oh, nothing. Jazz and I were just having a playful argument about some gossip about you lot.” “What gossip?” Zipp asked. “The gossip around the fact that the most handsome stallion spends everyday with four very pretty mares,” Misty answered as she finished dressing and pulled her curtain back. “Jazz and I were trying to settle the debate of which of you four Hitch would choose to date. I’m dressed by the way.” She added, calling down to Hitch. Sunny, Izzy, Zipp and Pipp all looked at each other, then burst out laughing. “Are people seriously still arguing about that?” Sunny asked between laughs. “Yes.” Misty replied, having heard towns’ ponies talking about it as recently as the previous week, yet she, Jazz and Rocky were the only ones she knew of who had guessed correctly. “So what part of the gossip were you and Jazz talking about?” Hitch asked as he came upstairs with Sparky. “Ah, it was stupid. We were just making points as to why you might pick one of the four.” Misty lied, feeling a familiar sense of self loathing bubbling up inside her chest. Hitch chuckled. “Misty, you of all ponies should know that gossip is just gossip. I could never pick one of them over the others.” Which is why you chose all of them, Misty thought before she remembered something. “By the way, Queen Haven and Alphabittle invited me to breakfast tomorrow.” Pipp looked up at that. “Wait, what? I’d understand if it was just you and your dad, but why is mom going?” Misty shrugged her shoulders. “They said it was so I could get used to my dad dating again, like how they did for you and Zipp.” “Is that all they said?” Zipp asked curiously. “It is, but…” Misty paused, her eyes narrowing. “Something was off with Haven’s tone. I think she’s planning something. Whatever it is, I don’t think dad’s aware of it.” “Do you want any of us to go with you?” Izzy asked. Misty shook her head. “No thanks. I don’t want to make a scene if I turn out to be wrong.” The following morning Misty was up, showered, dressed and out of the house before the others were awake. On the way to the cafe she was cursing herself for lying to her friends again. She’d promised she’d left that part of her behind when she left Opaline’s side. Lying to her friends had always made her feel like shit before, but now it was even worse. Back then she’d been lying because Opaline had convinced her it was for a noble cause, and she was just getting to know the others anyway. Now though, the group had embraced her as one of their own in spite of the fact that they knew she had deceived them, yet here she was falling back on old habits because she didn’t know how to handle broaching a subject. Jazz’s words about taking the initiative when she needed to talk to her friends about something echoed in her mind, and Misty felt even worse for lying yesterday, but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she arrived at the cafe. She could worry about the topic of herds later. Entering the cafe she spotted Haven and Alphabittle instantly. She waved at them and walked over. “Misty,” Her father stood up and hugged her. “How are you?” “Hey dad,” Misty said. “I’m alright.” “Hello, Misty dear.” Haven stood up to shake Misty’s hand after the father and daughter separated. “Hi, Queen Haven.” Misty greeted, noticing there was something odd about the smile Haven was giving her. The Unicorn was already beginning to regret turning down Izzy’s offer of someone coming with her. The three sat down, but as Misty was reaching for a menu her dad raised a hand to stop her. “Before we order, I wanted to give you these.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out nine cards, all of them different colours. Misty took the cards and read one of them, which had her name on it. Misty Brightdawn You are invited to the grand opening of the Zephyr Heights Crystal Tearoom Misty’s eyes widened in surprise. Haven and Alphabittle had mentioned the idea of opening a Crystal Tearoom in Zephyr Heights, but she had no idea it was actually happening, and so soon at that. Flipping through the other invitations she found they were for her friends and Sparky, Jazz and Rocky. “Well, what do you think?” Alphabittle asked as Misty pocketed the invitations. “I’m amazed. How did you manage to do it so fast?” “You’d be surprised what can be accomplished when you combine Pegasus flight with Unicorn magic.” Haven commented. Misty nodded her head. “I’ll give these to the others when I get back. Now can we eat?” Alphabittle clapped his hands together. “Yes, let’s.” Misty and Haven looked at each other, then giggled. Breakfast was mostly pleasant, but Misty noticed that Haven was leaving Misty and her father to do most of the talking. The queen seemed to be deep in thought, and Misty had a feeling she was preparing herself for whatever she was planning. “Haven, you’ve barely said anything,” Alphabittle said eventually. “This is supposed to be an opportunity for Misty to get used to us dating, and you seem like you’re a million miles away.” Haven shook her head and smiled apologetically. “Sorry.” She straightened her posture and looked Misty right in the eyes. “So, how’s life in the Brighthouse?” Misty felt a strange sense of foreboding, even though Queen Haven’s question was perfectly innocent. “Everything’s fine, now that I’ve settled in properly.” She answered. Haven nodded before looking out the window. She seemed to be steeling herself for what was coming next, which meant it couldn’t be good. “Misty,” Haven began suddenly as she looked back to the Unicorn. “Is there… something going on between you girls and Hitch?” Alphabittle had been adding sugar cubes to his tea, but he was so shocked by the question he missed the cup entirely. Misty’s eyes narrowed. So that’s what this was about. Zipp and Pipp once had a chat with Misty about the fact that their mother was dating her father. During their chat the sisters talked about how their mother told them about the relationship while they were at the jinxie games… and how during the same conversation Haven had asked Zipp and Pipp if they were dating Hitch. The sisters had denied it, but Misty knew they were lying. She wasn’t sure exactly when the herd was formed, but she knew it definitely existed by that point. Evidently Haven still wasn’t convinced, if she was asking Misty. “No, there isn’t.” Misty lied, feeling the sense of self loathing again. She didn’t like lying to Haven anymore than to her friends, but if her daughters wanted her to know the truth they would have told her when she asked. Alphabittle looked at Haven in disbelief. “Is this why you wanted to invite Misty here? To ask her that?” Haven stared down at her tea, unable to look him in the eye. “Partly.” She admitted quietly. “It’s okay,” Misty said, trying to make the queen feel better. “I’ve overheard some ponies wondering if something’s going on.” Alphabittle sighed. “Aye. People will do that when a good looking stallion like Hitch spends all his time with a group of attractive mares like you lot.” Misty nodded in silent agreement. “Oh,” Haven looked up suddenly. “This was foolish. I’m so sorry, Misty. I’ve ruined the mood.” “It’s okay,” Misty repeated. “Just one question. Why are you asking me this? I haven’t been part of the group that long.” “Perhaps, but you are part of the group.” Haven answered. “I assumed that if something was going on, they would have invited you to join in or at least told you about it.” Misty didn’t respond. Alphabittle tapped on Haven’s shoulder. “If you wanted to ask my daughter something like that, you should have run it by me first.” He whispered in her ear. “We could have asked the six of them together, and in a more polite way.” “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She whispered back. Suddenly Misty stood up so quickly her chair fell over. Haven and Alphabittle looked at her in surprise. “I need to go.” Misty said hoarsely, before turning and running off. “Misty, wait.” Her father called, but she didn’t seem to hear him. Misty left the cafe and bolted down the street. Haven buried her face in her hands. “Oh Haven, you’re so unbelievably stupid. You’ve gone and upset the poor girl.” Alphabittle looked from Haven to the cafe door, torn between going after his daughter and comforting his girlfriend. Deciding that Misty probably needed some time before she’d be willing to talk, Alphabittle pulled Haven into a hug. > Confrontation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once she put some distance between herself and the cafe Misty slowed from a run to a walk, Haven’s words echoing through her mind. “I assumed that if something was going on, they would have invited you to join in or at least told you about it.” Misty felt anger spreading through her body like a poison. She wasn’t angry at Haven for bringing the topic up. Haven was just being curious, and had no idea what had been going through Misty’s mind the last few days. No, Misty was angry at herself for lying to loved ones again. And the worst part was that she was lying to protect a secret that she technically was never let in on. Misty knew the truth, but that was because she worked it out. Her friends never told her. Her friends. The ones who embraced her as part of the group in spite of her past, considered her as one of Sparky’s moms and let her move in with them so she could have a home where she felt welcome. And yet, they never told her. “They don’t trust you,” said a voice inside her head that sounded an awful lot like herself. “Why would they? You lied to them for so long.” Misty scowled as she approached the Brighthouse. She could see the others outside in the community garden. Hitch and Zipp were examining a wobbly section of fence with Sparky sitting on the nearby grass, Pipp and Izzy were taking photos of themselves in front of the Cutie Mark flowerbeds Hitch had grown and Sunny was kneeling in front of the carrot patch, growing carrots with her plant magic. There was a basket of recently pulled up carrots next to her. Sunny looked up as she heard Misty approaching and waved at her. “Hey, Misty.” She greeted, before noticing how angry the Unicorn looked. Sunny’s usual cheerful smile faded and was replaced by a concerned look. She stood up and opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. “Don’t say anything.” Misty snarled as she walked past. Ignoring the shocked look on Sunny’s face Misty walked up to the Brighthouse and pushed open the front doors with such force that they bounced off the interior walls. Misty stormed upstairs and over to her bed, pulling out the projector the others had given her from under it. Closing the curtain around her bed Misty sat down and turned the projector on. Projections of videos Pipp had taken of the group started to appear on the wall, but they did little to calm Misty down. In fact, all the videos did was remind her that she and her friends were supposed to be a family, yet the others hadn’t trusted her with their secret. “Um, Misty.” She looked to the source of the voice, only to find Izzy poking her head through the curtain. “Are you… feeling okay?” “I’m fine.” Misty growled. “No, you’re not.” Zipp said as she appeared next to Izzy, pulling the curtain back to reveal that Sunny, Pipp and Hitch were there too. Sensing her friends wanted to talk, Misty decided she should at least give them her full attention. She turned the projector off and put it back under the bed before shifting around so she was facing her friends. The atmosphere wasn’t pleasant. Misty was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, glaring at the others, almost as if daring them to speak. “So,” Pipp began finally. “What exactly happened? You went out for breakfast with mom and Alphabittle and came back in a huff.” Misty’s only response was to look away from the group. “Misty, please don’t shut us out.” Hitch said politely. “We’re your friends. We want to help you.” Misty laughed bitterly at that statement. “Friends,” she repeated sarcastically as she looked back at them. “True friends don’t keep secrets from each other. I know that better than most ponies, especially after everything I’ve done.” The others stared at her in confusion. “What does keeping secrets have to do with anything?” Zipp asked. “Are you hiding something from us again?” Misty laughed bitterly again and shook her head. “No. This time it’s you guys who are keeping secrets.” Izzy tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean, Misty? What secret?” They don’t even realise, do they? Misty thought, getting angrier by the second. They don’t even realise they’re hiding it from me. “Your herd, that’s what.” She shouted at them. The five were so shocked they took several steps back from the bed. Misty glared at them in anger for a few seconds before the realisation of what she just said hit her, and she froze. Instantly all her anger vanished. Misty unfolded her arms and stared down at her hands. “Misty?” Sunny asked gently as she slowly approached the bed again. She was acting like Misty was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any second, and Misty could hardly blame Sunny. She had just exploded at her friends simply because she was really worked up. “Sorry…” Misty managed to say. Just saying that one word felt like a struggle. Why was it so hard to talk suddenly? “I didn’t mean…” she stopped when she noticed she was trembling. What the fuck was wrong with her? Seeing the state Misty was in, Izzy ran forward and climbed onto the bed, pulling Misty into a hug. Misty melted into Izzy’s embrace. “What’s happening to me?” She managed to ask. “Sometimes when your emotions are a wreck, your nerves are too.” Izzy explained. “You’ll stop shaking once you calm down.” Izzy held Misty until the latter stopped shaking. Pulling out of the hug Misty found that Izzy was giving her a smile that was wide even by Izzy’s usual standards. Looking around Misty saw that the others had gathered around her bed again and were smiling too. Feeling like herself again for the first time since she left the cafe, Misty smiled back. “So, our herd. You knew about it.” Izzy said. Misty nodded. “I’d been trying to work out how to bring it up for the past few days, but I didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that.” “That’s okay. Your head wasn’t in the right space to be thinking clearly.” Sunny assured her. “How long have you known, anyway?” Misty had to pause to think about it. When had she figured it out exactly? “Since… about five weeks after I first met you guys.” “What? You mean it only took you two weeks to find out?” Pipp asked. Misty tilted her head in confusion. Two weeks? “The herd was formed three weeks after we first met you, Misty.” Zipp explained, seeing the confused look on Misty’s face. “Oh,” Misty said in understanding. “Right.” “And you thought we didn’t trust you with our secret?” Hitch assumed. Misty nodded again. “The thought did cross my mind.” “Oh, we’re sorry Misty.” Sunny said. “We didn’t mean to hide it from you, we’re just so used to keeping it secret.” “You know,” Izzy began awkwardly. “It’s actually a funny story.” Misty raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘funny story’?” “Well, remember the day we first met Opaline?” Zipp asked. Misty looked away in shame. That day was one of the worst in her life. It was the day she nearly got her family killed, just because she chose to follow Opaline’s orders. “Hey, don’t give us that frowny face.” Pipp told her. “We’ve told you a million times it wasn’t your fault. Anyway, you came to see us afterwards, but you were too tired to walk back to Opaline’s castle so you ended up falling asleep on the couch next to Sparky.” “I remember.” Misty said. She also remembered that the others must have moved her off the couch while she was asleep, because the next morning she woke up in Pipp’s bed. “Well, after you fell asleep Izzy called a group meeting.” Sunny continued. “Really? About what?” Misty asked curiously. Izzy looked rather embarrassed. She mumbled a response, but Misty didn’t hear it, so she leaned forward. “Sorry Iz, could you repeat that?” “To suggest inviting you to join the herd.” Izzy muttered quietly. Misty’s heart leapt into her throat. “And we all agreed we’d love to have you join our herd.” Hitch said. Misty was silent. Her voice didn’t seem to want to work. “But since you were just starting to wrap your head around the fact that you were free from Opaline, we decided that we shouldn’t invite you just yet.” Zipp explained. “Although, we all agreed that we should tell you we were a herd,” Pipp said, picking up the story. “But between the Cutie Blossom Bash, you finding your father and moving into the Brighthouse, Nightmare Night, finding the Dragons and the final battle with Opaline we never got the chance to tell you, so we just sort of fell back into our usual routine of keeping it secret from everyone. Sorry about that.” Still unable to speak, Misty nodded her head to show that she had heard. “So, do you want to join our herd?” Izzy asked. There was an unmistakable tone of hope in her voice. The image of her and the others on the beach with Hitch massaging her back appeared in Misty’s mind again, clearer than it had ever been before. Shaking her head to get rid of it, Misty finally got her voice back. “Part of me does,” she admitted. “But remember, I’m very different to the five of you. You’re all socially outgoing and gel together really well, whereas I’m a social wreck at the best of times. Sure I’m getting better at the whole ‘being social’ thing, but there’s still a reason why my bed is away from the rest and why I have a curtain around it (she briefly grabbed the curtain with her hand for emphasis). I’m worried that me being part of the herd wouldn’t work.” “If you’ve thought about it this much, then I’d say it’s more than just a part of you that wants to join the herd,” Zipp said, giving Misty a playful smirk. “Besides, who says we can’t make it work.” “Yeah, we know you can get overwhelmed easily,” Sunny added. “If you’re uncomfortable with something, you can just say so. We’re not going to make you do it.” Izzy leaned forward slightly. “So, you’ll join the herd?” She asked hopefully. Misty thought about it for a second, then gave Izzy a wide smile. “Of course I will.” “Yay!” Izzy cheered happily, giving Misty a quick kiss on the cheek before wrapping her up in another hug. “Welcome to the herd, Misty.” Laughing at Izzy’s joyful reaction, Misty returned the hug. Then the other four climbed onto the bed and joined in the hug. Eventually a familiar sound brought the group back to reality, and they looked up to see Sparky standing there. At some point during their conversation he had wandered up the ramp and was now standing a few feet away from Misty’s bed. He was looking at Misty with concern written all over his face. Figuring he was probably worried about her like the others had been Misty wiggled out of the group hug and climbed off the bed, walking over to Sparky and gently picking him up in her arms. “It’s okay, Sparky. I just had a bad morning. I’m alright now.” That was enough to satisfy Sparky, as he smiled at her before snuggling into her chest. “Awww.” Hitch and the girls cooed from the bed. Misty was positively beaming. We really are a family.