"What did you say this was again?" Life asked as she shoved another of the delectable morsel into her mouth. Biting into the flaky exterior, she savored the sweet juices that resided inside. Swallowing loudly, she turned to the three horses that stood beside the table. Applejack and a little yellow filly, Applebloom is what she was introduced as, looked at her with slack jaws. An older mare, her skin sagging from her bones, looked at her with a weird smile.

"It's an Apple Pie young'n," replied the old mare with a cackle as she slid another in front of Life. Life began to make short work of the treat, using her hooves to assist in shoveling the food into her muzzle.

"Ish dericious!" she exclaimed through her mouthful of pie.

The old mare laughed again, "I'm glad ya like 'em but I don't think Applejack brought ya over just to feed ya all our pies."

Life stepped eating at that and looked sheepishly at the almost empty pan in front of her. Looking beside her showed a stack of similar pans waiting to be cleaned or discarded. Her gaze swung over to Applejack as she smiled softly.

"Sorry."

This seemed to snap Applejack out of whatever stupor she had been as she closed her jaw and smiled.

"Nothing to be sorry for sugarcube just... surprised is all. Ya ate like one of us Apples afterall," she declared with that same smile. She waved a hoof at Life, "Come on. I'll show you to the bathroom so that you can get cleaned up."

"Okay," she muttered, her cheeks burning in embarrassment as she stood from the chair and followed the orange mare. The flutter of wings, prick of talons, and added weight told her that the Nightingale had resumed it's perch atop her head. Walking through the doorway to the main room, she had to duck her head so that neither her head or the bird hit the doorway.

"She ate like... twenty pies..." Life heard Applebloom whisper as she stepped through the doorway. The large mare blushed again and ducked her head in embarrassment. Not my fault they were so delicious, she grumbled internally as she followed Applejack through the house. She had, at first, been surprised that these small horses lived in a house. However, dredging up the old memories informed her that Olic had also stayed inside a building for extended periods of time. Her newfound sense of deduction allowed her to reason that it was because it was his home, or at least a temporary one.

"Here we are."

Life came out of her thoughts to see Applejack holding open a plain wooden door. Stepping through, again ducking her head, Life came into a small room that held a tub, a pane of reflective glass, a pot of some sort with a spigot, and a towel. Life shifted her weight as an increasingly familiar feeling came to her cheeks.

"C-can you show me h-how these work?" she asked slowly. She saw the confused look on the orange mare's face. Feeling the need, she added, "I've been in the woods for a long time."

"I see..." Applejack replied, just as slowly as she moved to the tub. Reaching out, she turned a handle on the wall, causing a spigot far above the handle to spray water into the tub, "This is a shower. Ya turn it on by twisting the knob 'til the water comes out and adjust the temperature by twisting the knob left or right."

Leaving the water on, she pointed to the reflective glass, "That's the mirror. Press it to open it for the toothpaste, toothbrush, and manebrush," she pointed to the pot, "That's the sink where you can brush your teeth."

Another shifting of weight.

"You don't know how to do that either do you?"

Life shook her head, eliciting a light sigh from the orange mare.

-------

Finally, Life was standing in front of the mirror rinsing off the recently used toothbrush that Applejack had let her use. Turning off the water, she set the toothbrush aside as she looked at herself in the mirror with her blue eyes. Her light brown coat was clear of dirt and her darker brown mane was also clean and brushed straight. This caused a problem to become known, however; her mane was long enough to cover her left eye. I'll just ask Applejack to help me, she thought as she examined her cleaned teeth. As she did, the Nightingale jumped from on top of the mirror, flapped it's wings once, and landed on top of her head. She found herself smirking at the avian as it cawed happily.

"Why must you perch on my head?" she asked softly as she exited the bathroom and returned to the main room. She stopped as she saw that the entire family was gathered as if discussing something.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked, noticing how the entire family seemed to jump in shock before turning their collective gaze on her.

"Well I'll be. Ya sure do clean up nice," Applejack commented as she trotted over to Life with that easy smile on her muzzle.

"Eeyup," came the baritone voice of Big Mac, who then blushed deeply as he found the rest of his family staring at him with raised brows. The stallion made a speedy exit into the dining room with his youngest sibling hot on his heels, an evil smile on her face.

"Is he alright?" Life asked as her own blush vanished.

"He's just fine," Applejack replied as she looked back at Life. She frowned upon seeing her mane, "Do you like wearing your mane like that sugarcube?"

Life reached up and brushed the hair away from her eye, only to have it fall back in place. She frowned, "Not really. I can't see much but I like how long it is."

"I can fix that dearie, just take a seat in front of ol' Granny," stated the old green mare as she climbed into a rocking chair after grabbing a blue circle. Glancing briefly at Applejack, the mare giving a nod, Life moved to where she was in front of the old mare and then sat down on the floor. Granny frowned as she still ended up looking up at the mare.

"Lay down," commanded the old mare. Following it, Life lied down so that her head was near the chair but so she was facing away from the chair. Remembering the bird, Life thought about how to remove it from it's perch atop her head. Luckily, she didn't have to think long as the bird left her head of it's own will to perch itself on a high shelf that was in Life's line of sight. With the bird out of the way, Granny began to run her hooves through Life's mane, pulling it back gently.

"That's a mighty fine bird ya got there," AJ commented as she took a seat on the couch, "Never seen one like it before."

"Oh. She's a Nightingale," Life paused, wondering why she classified the bird as a female. Thinking about it, she couldn't find any reason it feeling 'right'.

"Well, she sure is pretty," Applejack stated.

"Mhmm," Hummed Life as she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of Granny's hooves running through her mane. She didn't think it'd take this long just to get her mane out of the way but she wasn't complaining. This, she found herself frowning softly when her mane was pulled back and held in place by something.

"There, that should keep your mane out of the way dearie."

Opening her eyes, Life saw that while Granny had removed her hooves from her mane, the hair was staying back. Seeing a mirror on the other side of the room, under the shelf that the Nightingale had perched on, Life stood and walked over to it. Standing in front of it, she turned her head side to side to examine her mane. Like it felt, it was pulled back and held back by the blue band she had seen earlier. The mane beyond the band hung freely like a tail. As she examined her new mane style, the Nightingale took the opportunity to return to her favorite perch. Smiling, both at the mane style and the bird, she looked back at Granny.

"Thanks Granny, I love it."

Granny chuckled and waved a hoof dismissively, "It was nothing dearie."

Looking past Granny, Life's smile faltered a little. She could see the setting sun outside the window behind the rocking chair. A sense of urgency rushed her; she had to get to the clearing.

"Ya alright there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, a brow quirked.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean... I gotta go," she stuttered. She gave a sharp whistle and the Nightingale on her head was up and out the cracked window in a blur. The horse made to follow, "I'll try to be back tomorrow."

Neither of the Apple clan made to stop her as she quickly exited the house and made for the woods. Confusion and shock had rooted them to their seats. As Life galloped into the forest, the Nightingale swooped down from the leaves and began to lead Life Whisper as it had that morning.

"It is indeed time to return to Olic, mortal. Tell him of what this world holds. He will know what to do."

"Of course... my Mistress."

--------

Olic stood at the edge of the clearing they had arrived in, cloaked by shadows. He had attached his Nightingale sword to his left hip, the sheath blending in with his armor. Standing with arms crossed, he waited, as he had been since the sun first touched the horizon at the end of it's journey.

He had been awoken by his sister a little after midday. After explaining everything to her, Anetha had grabbed one of her tomes and sat herself at the edge of the clearing, losing herself in words and runes. With her dealing with the situation in her own way, Olic had adventured a little away from the clearing. During his adventure, he had killed one animal and had found a cave in the side of a hill. Inside had proved nothing of interest besides a few animal droppings and bones. The rest of the day saw the siblings moving their equipment from the clearing to the cave.

With Anetha preparing the kill, Olic waited for the reappearance of Life Whisper so that he could lead her to their shelter. He frowned at the thought of treating a horse as he would his fellow thieves. She is a servant of Nocturnal; as am I, he reminded himself as the occupier of his thoughts stepped into the clearing. He noticed that the Nightingale was perched atop her head.

A sense of shock traveled through him as he took in her... cleanliness. Her fur wasn't matted with dirt and her mane and tail weren't tangled. In fact, he realized that her mane had been pulled back into a ponytail while her tail hung freely behind her lower hindlegs. She looked... he wouldn't say beautiful but presentable would be the best word to choose.

"Olic?"

Shaking his head, Olic stepped out of the shadows.

"I am here, Life."

"Where is Anetha and our gear?" she asked, glancing about the clearing before aiming a raised brow at Olic.

Olic smiled behind his mask, "Safe at our new camp. Follow me and then you can tell me where you found a tub and a brush."

The smiled faltered. Is she blushing? Sure enough, the mare was blushing as she shifted weight between her hooves.

"Okay," she finally replied, nodding. Giving an imperceptible sigh, Olic turned and began to head to the cave. He could already tell that tonight was going to be an interesting and confusing night.