#brightwindsbarony

"Whoa" Her father says holding out a hand to stop her, then winces "Bad choice of words"

Her hoofbeats waver, falling back a step... "What ARE those... things?!"

"Thallian? SHit..." They've come at the tail end of a batttle they are not a part of.

SOme of those things don't just look ugly, they FEEL wrong

She moves over the the far side of her father, letting his broader form hide her a bit from the monsters, though she still keeps a hand on HER fellow's back, keeping him steady. "Who is 'Thallain'?" She whispers to him.

"Fought for the Elder dark.. the fomori.. how do .. are you really centaurs?"

The nocker says

They witness a giantess thundering in the center, knocking folks away

"Did Paul Bunyan have a wife?" She asks her father.... "Wait, his ox was blue... not HIM..." Eyeing the giant lady in awe.

"I don't.. oh Rose" Her father says

Her head snaps up and she looks over. "Mom? Where?"

Working the edges, firing arrows! Rose Phillips moves like a cross between Katniss and a very angry Flicka!

"Whoa... Mom is amazing... she always has been, but... Wow!"

"Did she do archery in school, or when you met?" Baffled. "She's GOOD! None of her shots are hitting the blue lady or the space sailors..."

She uses her speed to outrace the threats to her. Only one gets close, and that monster gets a hoof in the jaw .

"I think she said something about a scholarship attempt on a gym credit but I didn't think that was it" he says surprised, and grins "Look at her go" Proud.

"Ouch! Did you know she could do THAT?" Glancing back at one of her own, relatively dainty looking hooves, and she scrapes at the ground a little curiously.

It feels hard, strong. And.. a flash of vanity. She's got killer flanks

Her cheeks pink up a little. Another hoof scrape with more power, and a few rocks skitter away. She considers the space officer. "Maybe you're NOT just really light." Checking in on him. "Do you feel like you can stand now?"

"Yeah yeah.." he drops to the ground "I'm good. Thanks you.. you saved my life"

"You needed help." She replies, and looks him over one last time. "Of course I would help if I could..."

Ross has pulled out amirror, and flashes it in the starlight, somehow catching the brightness and flicking it towards his wife's gaze. She turns, sees them, and then rides towards her family

"Go, find your crew before they fly off again..." She struggles, trying to make her fingers do the Star Trek "thing"... then finally just gives him a small smile. "And tomorrow, I'll wake up, and you'll be a dream. But it's a nice dream, if I could help someone."

"Yeah uhm.... here" He hands her someething , a flower "One petal a day keeps the grays away" He eyes her , mutters something about 'questionable interconnecttiivty at best' and then heads to join the other strange space men

even as Rose returns "We should go. I don't know fully what was going on, but the ship and giantesses are safe now"

"Rose, what possessed you?" Ross asks his wife

"I don't know I just... something about those invading THINGS just felt wrong. And.. the others needed help" She tosses her mane "It's done now and I'm unhurt. "

"Mom? How did you know how to fight like that?" Reaching out to touch the bow, then drawing away. "And where did you GET this?"

"It feels like I've always had it, and, I don't know" She admits "But then I don't know where your father got that staff"

Nessa checks herself to see if she missed anything on her person.... horse person.... self...

She finds a satchel slung along her back... maybe more of a saddlebag? Simple at first glance, but when she runs her fingers over the leather, there is embossed designs on it. Leaves? It's hard to tell in the dark. Oh, it's dark, even with the Yule star above. "Maybe we should go home... Oh! Will we fit in?" Suddenly worried, and her pack forgotten...

"We'll find a way" Mr. Phillips says

"Yes," Mrs. Phillips agrees "If nothing else I guess we could sleep standing up outside with thick blankets." A trot

She nods, unsure, and trots after him... almost running into her father as she watches her hooves kicking up underneath her. "Oop!"

"Oh go ahead, honey," her mother says "Break into a gallop. it's fun!"

A smile, and she leans into it... letting go and racing off, hooves flashing. "Can you catch me?" A laugh with more joy than they have felt in a long time!

"HEY!" Her father gives chase

Then her mother

and the three of them ride like the wind!

It's fun, it's magical, it's grand!

*****

Of course, somethtings are less grand. they learn that there are .. overlapping with their 'hallucinations' (As if hallucinations let you run as fast as a horse).

And the RV was crowded before at times. Now it feels claustraophobic almost

Nessa finds that if she runs turns sideways, she CAN still sit at the little table... but it feels cramped, wrong somehow. Like she's wearing a too-small set of clothes that chafes and irritates in little, prickly ways.

"GAWD" Her mom actually bellows one morning then "Sorry... sorry, this feels impossible"

She flinches a bit back from the yell, even knowing it's not at HER but at the SITUATION. "I'll go do this outside..." Gathering up her notebooks and escaping into the blessed fresh air and room to stretch.

"I.. didn't mean to drive you off" She says after

She pauses by her mom, leaning against her, letting their flanks rest against each other in a comforting touch. "I know. It's just... I feel cramped, all mashed up. It's lovely, but... it's not all roses?"

'Ha" her mother says , lately she's been acting , well, not rougher, but more bold. She was never timid, but more and more she seems a warrioress as well as a mother and a wife.

Then there's dad.