The next day found Galen up with the crack of dawn and found him with very little to do for the first half of the day aside from helping make breakfast. During breakfast, Bic Mac and Applejack were teasing Apple Bloom about the day she and her friends would be spending with Galen as only siblings could, while warning him of all the trouble the fillies might get him into. He just waved off their concerns, taking their tales with a grain of salt and told them that he'd be more than able to handle anything that they could dish out. Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, shot back at their own teasing with snarky responses that had everyone laughing and chuckling. When all the older ponies had made their way out of the kitchen, Apple Bloom lingered for a few moments to let him know that she wanted her day to be this Tuesday and for him to plan on it being an all day thing. Galen gave her the okay and she ran off with a grin.

With everypony out and about, Galen decided to kill some time by watching the construction stallions at work with Riley at his side. They had made short work of digging out the foundation like the forestallion had said and today was the first day where they would be bringing in the first blocks of stone. They had hired on some temporary laborers and had three heavy duty carts, each laden with a single thousand pound slab of stone. They were slow and methodical in their laying of the stonework and Galen didn't see the lone unicorn doing much of anything except for tapping each block with his glowing horn. When he asked about it, the forestallion told him that the unicorn's special talent was creating a solid and stable foundation. He did it with a special, and intricate enchantment that would fuse all the blocks together and ensure that as the foundation settled, it would always stay level and never crack. If that was true, then Galen was exceptionally happy that he'd called upon these contractors for his forge. When told that most every construction company had a similar unicorn, his enthusiasm dwindled slightly, but he was still content in supporting these local ponies.

He watched them work with interest for almost three hours, when they called the day early due to the demanding and grueling work they put in to provide a quality service. Well, that and so they didn't break a slab to put more strain on their unicorn to repair it. They packed up and made their way back to town with a weary, but not unduly so, stride and made their farewells. Just before he left, the forestallion came up to Galen and hoofed over a hefty bag of bits, the cover charges (along with a hefty donation from his own wallet) for all the stallions and their mares for the festivities in a few weeks' time. Galen thanked him and took the bag to his room after the stallion left.

With noon coming around shortly, Galen decided to get an early start on their lunch. He caught himself and reduced the amount needed as Applejack wouldn't be back until tomorrow because of her date with Pinkie and got to work on a light meal that would carry them through until supper for those who'd be around. The ponies of the house filed in and sat around making casual conversation until Galen finished his preparations and quieted as they were busy eating their fill. The meal was finished in short order and everypony filed back out as Galen took charge again, cleaning and drying all the dishes.

When he'd finished that chore, he decided to go out to the side of the barn and cut some wood for a while to replenish what he'd be using tonight while Riley ran off to parts unknown with Winona in the lead. The work greedily devoured the time as he got caught up in his task. He worked for roughly an hour and a half, producing a pile of wood easily three times as large as what he'd taken and spent the next half hour stacking the wood with the other fresher material along the east side of the barn. Instead of taking a shower, he just stripped off his shirt, dunked it in the rain barrel and dumped a few small buckets over his head to wash off before replacing his soaked shirt. He shivered a bit at that and decided to go check on the spot one more time to make sure everything was as he had left it. Letting Granny know, he walked off and found the spot in good order. He checked the wood and found the bottom layer only the slightly damp from the moisture in the ground. A bit of lamp oil and a few sparks, and he'd had a fine fire crackling merrily.

Satisfied with that, he returned to the farm and rounded up a small flask of said oil along with his flint, setting them on the edge of the patio for easy access when the time came along. Since it was only just coming on four o'clock, Galen decided to take an hour long nap on his bed and woke up a few minutes past his self imposed limit with Riley cuddled up by his side. He smiled and got up without waking up his furry friend and made his way out, deciding to go to Fluttershy's early so that he could get the rabbits and fish prepared without his guests having to see the tail end of the bloody process, especially since Big Mac might not appreciate it despite his acceptance of the cooking of the meat at the same fire.

With that thought, Galen let Granny know that he was going out to get a few things for the cookout and would be out for a while. The trip to Fluttershy's went by fairly quickly and she was both happy to see him as well as more than a bit sad that her charges time had come sooner than expected. She understood his reasoning as he explained his actions in a roundabout manner and agreed that it might be for the best. When asked about the manner he would end their lives, he explained that a quick and painless snapping of their neck would be the way he'd do it. She looked slightly queasy after his words, but nodded her approval nonetheless, saying that it was as merciful an end as she could ask for. Before leaving, he asked her if he would be able to get a large sheet of waxed paper for a few odds and ends. She nodded in understanding and said it wasn't a problem as she went about fetching a decently sized piece, returning with it a few moments later along with a wicker cage filled with healthy looking rabbits.

Galen took the paper, small wicker cage and the fish, which had already been cleaned and gutted, wrapped in a thick brown waxed paper. Noticing his slightly awkward load, Fluttershy asked if he'd care to borrow a basket to carry the fish and paper in. He gave her his thanks and accepted her gift with a warm smile before making his way back, circling wide of the house through the orchard to avoid any awkward encounters. He made his way to the hill just east of the fire pit, set the basket and fish down and readied himself for his tasks. He pulled out his largest knife and knifed out a plug of soil and lifted it out of the ground. With that taken care of, he moved back to the cage and pulled out one of the rabbits which tensed as he grabbed it, held by the neck in a tightly pinching grip just past the shoulders so it couldn't escape. He turned around, took a breath and raised his free hand, bringing it down quickly with his palm open. He made contact, feeling only the briefest of resistance as the poor creatures neck tried to withstand the force and broke like a small twig, going immediately limp as the life fled its small form.

Taking a deep breath, he placed it on the ground and turned back to the cage for the next. The other rabbits perished in a similar manner, quickly and painlessly. With that grim task out of the way he turned to the grisly task of skinning and preparing them for cooking. For this part he used his second largest blade as it had a keener edge and made quick work of the rabbits, placing the entrails in the hole he dug after draining the majority of the blood out into the same hole. When he finished with each carcass, he placed it in the basket he had been loaned, lined with the extra wax paper Fluttershy had given him. He replaced the plug, tamping it down with a firm heel to remove any indication that something was amiss.

He returned to the fire pit and hung the basket up in one of the trees on one of the bare branches so that it would be out of reach in case one of the dogs happened to catch scent of it. He set the cage at the same tree so he could keep track of everything. With that done, he returned to the farm and made his way to the bathroom to wash off as much of the scent of blood he could from his hands and cleaned his blades before checking the time. It was roughly five thirty by now, so he decided to kill the rest of the time until their meeting time by putting together the rest of tonight's ingredients. He found a pair of medium sized handled cast iron kettles, a few large old wooden bowls and mugs in the back of the cupboard, spoons, a pair of ladles and even a set of metal skewers that he asked if he could use. Granny told him that by this point he didn't have to ask her about borrowing little odds and ends before shooing him off in mock annoyance to his great amusement.

After that, he put all of their eating utensils and implements in one of the kettles and hunted down a small basket that he'd use to carry the rest of the food in. He found enough ingredients to whip up enough stew, both regular and vegetarian, and put a little note for Big Mac or Apple Bloom to let them know what all he took, promising to replace all the things with an early morning trip to the market the next day. With that taken care of, he checked the time and found that it was six o'clock. Time to head off and start the stew, so he grabbed the lamp oil and flint, putting them in his pocket when he got outside. He took the empty kettle and filled it to the brim with water from the spigot outside before finally making his lumbering way once again into the orchard.

Once he got there, he settled everything within easy reach and got to work starting the fire. It went quickly with the liberal use of lamp oil and he quickly had a good fire going. He wedged the empty kettle down into the space between the pile of wood and the lip of the pit, slowly filling it with half of the water so that it wouldn't tip over. When done with that, he took the other kettle and settled it into a spot to the left of the other and set it in a similar way. With the water heating up, Galen took two bowls out of their little pile and started dicing up veggies equally between them. Carrots, leeks, roughly cubed potatoes (after being quickly skinned), red pepper and a full clove of fresh garlic for each.

With that done, he brought out the ingredients for the base and started distributing them into the water; a parcel of whole wheat flour, a few heaping tablespoons of corn starch, salt, black pepper and a medley of dried herbs. The water was still heating up and the offset heating would delay it that much further. Confident that it would keep to itself for now and not run away with its boiling for a decent while, he left everything as it was and made his way back just in case any of his guests were early for the festivities. As he made this next trip, he swore to himself that this was probably the most work he'd done since coming to Equestria, aside from getting his forge put in order, and felt a sense of contentment solely from the fact that he was doing this for his friends and acquaintance.

When he made it back to the farm, he hunted down a clean bucket in the house after checking the time, filled it with ice and some water and made his way down to the cellar to pull a dozen hard ciders for the adults along with four non-alcoholic ones just for Spike since he wasn't sure if he could have any. Normally, he wouldn't add the water to the bucket, but it would serve a dual purpose in case he needed to re-water the kettles if they had boiled too far down by the time he made it back. When he reemerged from the cellar and walked to the front, Big Mac was sitting just in front of the porch and nodded with a smile to Galen who returned the gestures. Setting the bucket down, he waited in amicable silence with the stoic stallion as they waited for the rest of their guests since it was roughly ten before seven.

Apple Bloom was the first to show up, even if she wasn't coming along. She livened up the atmosphere with a brief retelling of her adventurous summer day and a hug for both of them before cantering on inside to get about making supper for her and Granny. Not even had the banging echoes of the storm door shutting died down when a trio of shadows was seen making their way down the dusty old trail. Galen perked up with an excited grin and called out with a overhead wave. A familiar baritone called back with a similar gesture and they picked up their pace. Soon enough, the guests of the hour appeared from the shaded path and approached with grins and good spirits with spirits under arm as well, in the form of a medium sized cask of dark ale.

“Evening, ev'ryone,” Galen said when they were a couple paces away. He adopted a fake posh accent that grossly failed to hide his unique speech which made all those around him chuckle and laugh in amusement. “Glad yew could make it. Righ' now, Ah've got tha stew base thickening fireside an' all tha goodies ready ta be cooked an' added. Fer us meat eaters, Ah chose two options. One bein' trout while tha other is rabbit, both of which are awaiting our leisure.”

Everyone got a laugh out of that last bit, but Lero led the reply, “In that case, please, lead on fair host.”

“Righ' this way,” Galen replied with a chortle as he grabbed the bucket and led them off, whistling a quick, note as he opened the front door to the house to call Riley. He came bounding from the kitchen, likely pestering Apple Bloom for free tidbits and thankful for the mooch to be called away. As they walked, Galen made small talk and asked a few questions while Riley sniffed and snorted around the newcomers, curious about who some of them were and where they'd been. It turns out that Spike can have alcohol since his inner fire metabolizes it almost as quickly as he can consume it. Lero made a few offhand comments about teaching Galen a few of his massage tricks involving earth ponies that had him giving Lero the stink eye as he wondered how much he knew about what was going on. Big Mac talked about how Galen's forge was progressing with Lero and the others agreeing as well on the evident progress that had taken place, easily seeing the work in progress as they walked by it. Alexandria made a few comments on this or that as they talked, but generally kept to herself. Galen knew she'd be the toughest nut to crack to open up if they all wanted to have a fun time together and made a mental note to bring her out of her shell.

Before he knew it, Galen smelt the telltale scent of wood smoke and picked up the pace, as he wanted to check on the kettles. The others followed behind him, silently eager to get this cookout on the way. When Galen and the others came up on the pit, the fire had burned itself down to a merry crackling while the base had thickened a bit too much for his liking. He draped his forearm across the lip of the bucket in his hand to hold back the bottles and poured a measure of chilled water into each kettle and pulled out a ladle to stir each one back to a proper thinness for cooking. With that done, he grabbed a bowl of diced veggies in each hand and dumped one in each kettle with a patter and a plop.

With that done, Galen put the bucket at one end of a log and smiled at the others. “Find a seat an' make yerself comfortable,” he said with a mock bow and a sweep of an arm. “Ah'll put tha meat over tha fire an' set ta cookin' in a moment.” At his words, the others moved around and found seats on the pair of logs and were commenting on the slowly building aroma of the stew. Lero took a spot on the log opposite the wood pile and sat his keg down on the ground beside him. Spike sat beside him, while Big Mac and Alexandria sat at a comfortable distance on the other. Riley followed Galen as he made his way over to the tree and fetched the basket of meat. He barked with a whine as he suddenly realized what was in it and pranced about Galen with an unmistakable look of happiness. Galen laughed and fended him off with one hand when he'd make a lunge for the basket. Finally, when he reached the fire, Galen turned to Riley and said in a commanding tone, “Suí!” Riley let out a hurt sounding whine as he stopped in place and sat down, but Galen only shook his head and laughed. “Yew can be patient, Riles.”

“You seem to have your dog well trained,” Alexandria said idly as Galen took the skewers laying about and started lancing them into the rabbit carcasses before forcefully pushing the bases into the ground to anchor them in place. “Is that some special code you made so that Riley only listens to you?”

“Not trained well enough if yew ask me,” he replied with a rueful smirk. “Yew gotta be stern with 'im 'r 'e'll jus' ignore ya. As fer tha code, it ain't one. It's tha one Ah spoke most growin' up. It's called Gaelic an' it's tha language o' mah ancestors.”

“Interesting,” she said with a tilt of her head. “Were they known for much?”

“Not a whole lot,” he replied with a predatory grin as he kept putting more meat on skewers and setting them. “We mostly kept ta ourselves until we got visitors. Tha Holy Roman Empire, ta be precise. They wanted ta take our land an' civilize it, but we weren't havin' none o' tha'. We stopped tha military might o' the strongest civilization in our region cold with a horde o' berserkers unwillin' ta let 'em 'ave what they 'eld dear. They never did defeat us. Best they could do was cut their losses an' build a wall ta hold us back. We bled 'em dry fer years fer even darin' ta try wha' they did.”

Alexandria blinked with a mildly surprised expression. “So your entire people declared a blood feud on an entire civilization? Were their lands extensive or their families large?”

“Not exceptionally,” Galen replied nonchalantly. “We jus' wanted ta see 'em gone. Whether they left o' their own will 'r watered the ground with the last drops o' their blood. We protect wha's ours 'gainst any threat, by tooth 'r nail.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad said,” Spike remarked with raised eyebrows.

Galen snorted in laughter before replying, “As long as yew don' steal mah fair maidens, Ah think we'll be good.” Everyone laughed at that, Alexandria a good bit harder than the rest.

“So, how 'bout a few ciders ta kick this off?” Galen asked the group after setting the last skewer.

“Fine by me,” Lero replied with a grin while the others nodded eagerly. Galen nodded with a smile and moved to the bucket, pulled out five ciders and passed them around, unscrewing the cap for Big Mac when he got to him and sat down on the seat closest to the pile of wood. They all took a few moments to sip and appreciate the crisp bite of the perfectly chilled drinks and started chatting as the smell of roasting rabbit and fish permeated the air.

They kept the conversations out of serious territory as they waited for the food to cook, opting to talk about some event or other that had taken place during the week. Impromptu hoofball games, funny stories about things that had happened a while ago, and the odd joke for the most part. Galen got up after a few minutes and took one of the rabbits off the fire and tossed it on the ground in front of Riley who knew enough to wait for it to cool down from previous experiences. He returned to his seat and cracked open another cider after he drained his current one. Spike took a non alcoholic one shortly after that, saying that since it really didn't matter since it tasted about the same to him and that it would be better if they appreciated the alcohol in his stead.

After some time, Galen checked on the meat again and asked if any of them wanted theirs cooked medium rare. Alexandria took up the offer, so Galen took one off the fire and checked the stew with a spoon. It was close enough to being thoroughly cooked by now, so he ladled out a dish for her and put a fresh spoon in it before passing both the skewer and the bowl to her. To say that she wasted no time in tearing into the rabbit was an understatement as she gasped and tried to cool the meat, both in her mouth and on the skewer faster in her greed to eat it as quickly as possible. Everyone laughed at her and she weathered it with a serious expression on her face. Considering the fact that she had actually been close to two months without any red meat in her diet, unbeknownst to Lero and the others, and focused more on eating the succulent meal given to her.

After the laughter died down, Galen offered bowls of stew to his guests who readily accepted the first serving of vegetarian stew and filled them close to the brim with the thick, hearty substance. After everyone had been served, Galen took the kettles off the fire and passed about another round of drinks as they waited on their meal to cool. By now everyone, except Spike, was just starting to get a warm and fuzzy feel creeping up on their mind as the alcohol did its job. As was the usual in such situations, they felt their comradeship strengthening and felt far more at ease with one another than they already were.

“This is pretty good, Galen,” Lero said with a grin after he had sampled his first spoonful of stew. “Is this your own recipe or something you picked up?”

“Jus' somethin' Ah whipped up with what Ah had,” he replied with a half shrug. “Ain't no forever stew, but it'll do tha trick.”

“Forever stew?” Alexandria asked as she cocked her head.

“It's a stew that you always keep going,” Lero supplied. “As you take out, you add in more. Normally it has meat in it, but a vegetarian version isn't unheard of either. Basically, it turns into this absolutely delicious amalgamation of all the different herbs, spices and ingredients that literally never ends as long as you keep adding to it.”

“That sounds absolutely delightful...” Alexandria said with a decidedly dreamy expression, a glob of drool sliding out of the corner of her beak as she imagined its flavor. “Do you think you'd be able to do something like that?”

“You know what Lyra'd say,” he chastised with a smirk. “Besides, it's easy to do and maintain. You need to do this stuff more on your own, now that you don't have somepony to take care of you...”

“You're right...” she said with a slight flush at the memory of how bad she had been at just about everything except drafting hundreds of new inventions over the course of a few months. “I don't know why I'm so bad at taking care of myself...”

“You can't help it when your passion consumes you,” Lero said in a consoling tone. “You just need to learn how to bank your desires into a manageable state.”

“Ah don' smith ev'ry day,” Galen cut in with a knowing smirk. “Hell... Ah used ta go on survival stints fer months at a time before tha forge called me back.”

“Hmmm...” she mused with a small smile. “Maybe you'll have to teach me how to just let go for a time and find something else to devote myself to?”

“Ah could always use a huntin' buddy,” he replied. “Not sure wha's goin' on after next week, but Ah could prob'ly plan a trek inta tha Everfree if yer game.”

“That sounds like it could be dangerous,” she said with an unsure look before a decidedly predatory look took its place. “Count me in. I could also use that time as a field test for some of my inventions...”

Galen and Lero both broke out in laughter for different reasons at that. Lero, simply because he knew how she'd go to insane lengths to prove the validity of her inventions and Galen for her casual brushing aside of flagrant danger in the face of going out for a good time. “Ah'll hold ya to it, birdbrain,” Galen said once he regained his breath. Alexandria squawked at that, her neck and wings fluffing out in indignation at his casual insult. Galen noticed her reaction and guffawed loudly for a few moments while the others looked askance between the two and waited for the sparks, or feathers and blood as the case may be, to fly. “No need ta take it so seriously, Lexi,” he said as he suppressed his mirth. “Jus' a rib between buddies, righ'?”

“I'll have you know that I have several different devices specifically designed to non-lethally incapacitate targets with the most allowable pain to be inflicted without involving a maiming...”

“Scary as tha' migh' be, Ah think Ah sould tell yew a tale before yew whip out tha thumb screws, missy...”

“It had better be good,” she replied as her fluffy appearance diminished somewhat, her razor sharp mind exerting complete control for now despite years of griffon social reactions regarding insults, not to mention the pair of ciders she had drunk so far. She never had been able to hold her alcohol very well...

“Oh, it's good,” he replied with a chuckle. The others turned to him and listened intently to his tale. “Ya see, when Ah was growin' up, there was this odd bloke tha' lived a couple moors north o' me. Ah found 'im one day when Ah stumbled upon a Shetland filly o' 'is when Ah was out roamin' tha wilderness. Took me a while ta find 'im, but 'e was lookin' fer 'er as well an' we stumbled upon one another jus' when we were both jus' 'bout ta give up. Anyway, tha bloke was some guy who was interested in our old tales an' such; come all tha way from Australia ta hear our gran'mams yarn on 'bout Cú Chulainn 'r tha Morrigan. 'E 'ad a thing fer manly men 'an battle, but Ah don' judge none. Anyway, even though 'e came fer tha stories, 'e stayed fer tha ponies if yew know wha' Ah mean...” he paused for a wink directed at Lero who blinked a few times in confusion at the memory trans-location. “'E was inta a wee bit o' animal husbandry an' there were no stallions in 'is 'erd if yew catch mah drift.” Lero finally caught on and made a face that had Galen laughing for a few moments. “Tha's what Ah thought when Ah figured it out.

“'E 'ad a decent plot o' land an' lived it on 'is own, 'cept fer tha ponies tha' called it home as well. We got on well an' became friends faster 'n yew c'n say 'buck.' 'E taught me a bit 'bout 'is homeland, how insults 're a 'how do ya do' an' always strivin' ta give better 'n wha' ya got. 'S a challenge, more 'r less ta show yew c'n stand toe ta toe with 'em an' 'ave 'ide thick 'nough ta weather their taunting.”

“I maybe understood one word in three...” Alexandria said with a few blinks. “I think your native tongue is coming out...”

“Ah'm to sober fer this,” Galen muttered under his breath with a chuckle at Alexandria. At least she didn't look like she was half ready to rip his throat out. He said out loud instead, “Long story short, jus' brush it off an' insult me back, yew daft bird. It don' mean a thing unless yew don' think yew can trade insult fer insult.” His tone turned mocking at this point. “If tha's tha case, yew should jus' turn in yer tough girl card an' go pick some daisies fer a little flower bonnet an' go skippin' through a meadow with an' teach a class o' fillies 'ow a real mare behaves... Besides, if mah native tongue came out, Ah'm sure yew'd prob'ly get a tongue lashin' an' come back fer seconds!” At that, Galen broke into laughter and waited to see how she'd respond.

Oh. If there were words to describe how livid Alexandria was, they certainly don't exist. Her expression was one of wide, dilated eyes, fluffed feathers, brilliant flush, slightly parted beak and a squirming movement on her seat that none could translate properly. Galen and Big Mac were laughing while Spike and Lero were worriedly looking between the two. Eventually, Alexandria responded in a way that surprised one of the pairs to no end. She snorted in a decidedly cute way that almost could have been mistaken for a dainty sneeze. She made a grinding noise in the back of her throat for a couple seconds and finally began laughing herself as the absolutely ridiculous and outlandish insult Galen had thrown her way apparently broke her ingrained sensibilities, because how could one take an obviously absurd insult like that seriously?

When she finally stopped laughing, she had to bring a talon up to her eye and wipe away a tear of mirth before she could look at anyone. Galen had a wide, smile on his face as he waited for her response. Well, if that was how they did things back where he was from, she'd certainly try her best to oblige him and his odd customs.

“If I were to teach fillies about being a mare, I'm sure you'd do just as well in my place,” she shot back with a snort. “Your insults certainly have the touch of a milk drinker...”

Lero and Spike looked at Alexandria in shock at her words, only to look back at Galen who replied after downing the rest of his cider. “Tha only milk 'round 'ere's what yew let drip from yer haunches an' tha's not ta mah likin'. Not like yew got a lot ta offer anyway, seein' as yer as prickly as a porcupine who 'ad an unexpected visitor go up 'er ol' dirt road.”

“I don't mind a trip up the old dirt road as long as they're not trespassing,” she replied with a wink as Galen's smile turned almost feral in his enjoyment. He grabbed another cider and popped the cap with a sharp hiss before downing a third of it quickly as Alexandria continued. “I bet you'd make your way just fine with that flimsy little walking stick I'm sure you're packing...”

Lero and Spike's eyes were comically wide at this point as they witnessed this interchange of insults between the two. “It's big enough to beat off anyone who goes barkin' after mah tree,” he said with a bark of laughter. “Ah would say standin' stone, but it's bein' lazy righ' now.”

“And I'm sure it would topple just as easily,” she said with a disdaining smirk. “Hart to put up but fall down easily enough...”

“Fekkin' 'ell, lass...” Galen said between wheezes, continuing after he caught his breath. “Le's jus' say tha' if it falls easy, it'll leave a mighty fine furrow in whatever field it finds itself in...”

At this, it was Alexandria's turn to wheeze and laugh. “You two sure you should be goin' at it with language like that with Spike here?” Big Mac cut in just as Alexandria was about to retort. Their eyes widened slightly as they had forgotten all about their companions in their brief war of insults and not-so-cleverly hidden metaphors.

“It...” Spike began, only to cough and clear his throat as he realized the show was about to end because of him. “It's cool. I just turned sixteen a couple months ago, so it's not like I'm a kid or anything.”

“Well, tha' settles tha',” Galen said with a grin.

“Indeed it does,” Alexandria added with a pleased expression. “Now, quit holding onto all the ciders and pass me one, or are you saving them for a special occasion?”

Galen grabbed one and tossed it to Alexandria who caught it mid flight with a deft swipe of her talons. “Looks like tha' bird brain's gettin' a bit catty,” he replied with a smirk.

“Just remember that both halves have claws, smith,” she said with a wink.

“Ah'll be sure ta get yew a scratchin' post an' roost combination fer yer birthday in tha' case,” he shot back. Everyone broke out and laughing at that as she did a rather spectacular spit take as she herself laughed. After that, the ice seemed well and truly broken between them as Galen let their brief war of insults die off. He checked the meat again and it had cooked to a medium well-done in their time talking. When he announced that, Lero and Spike both said they'd that theirs like that, so Galen took the two off the fire and passed the skewers to the pair.

Taking the last rabbit for himself, he slid it into his bowl straight from the skewer before laying the skewer down near the log he sat on before moving back to the kettle and serving himself some more stew to mix in with the rabbit. When Spike and Lero saw what he had done, they copied him readily. Alexandria took this as a chance to eat her fill as well and asked if she could have some fish. No one minded with rabbit on their plates, so she put a fish in her bowl and filled it with stew as well.

“Guess tha stew was all vegetarian, Mac,” Galen mused out loud to his friend with a smile. “No worries though as long as ev'ryone eats their fill.”

“Eeyup,” was his simple reply.

As they all ate, the beer was cracked open and their mugs were filled. It was just as dark as Galen remembered and tasted even better with the stew. They talked and laughed as the night carried on, their merriment and good cheer rising with the moon. Eventually, Spike and Big Mac started yawning more as they were both up far past their usual bed times. That being said, Mac had to graciously duck out due to chores the next morning. Lero almost made to leave as well to return Spike to home, but Galen offered to let Spike take his guest room back at the farm house for the night, saying that it was a perfect night to sleep outside anyway. He took the offer with a smile and Spike tottered off after Big Mac's retreating form with a call.

When the pair was gone, Lero leaned back on his seat and looked over to Galen with a smirk before saying, “So... I hear you've got a pair of fillies chasing after you.”

Galen nearly choked on his mouthful of stew and nodded before taking a swig of beer. “Yeah,” he replied with a slight wheeze in his voice. “An' Ah could use a bit o' advice here an' there.”

“No problem,” he replied with a grin. “I'll give you all the help you'll need.”

“I'm surprised you hadn't received any attention sooner,” Alexandria put in. “I mean, with how few stallions there are, mares tend to gravitate and try to establish a relationship as soon as possible.”

“He probably had and just didn't catch wind of it because the mares here behave so much like we did back home,” Lero supplied. “I mean, Rainbow basically had me claimed against all the other mares in town for close to two months and I never even knew...”

“Yeah?” Galen said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he replied with a chuckle. “I'll tell you all about it sometime.”

“Awww, isn't that sweet,” Alexandria said with a smirk. “I hope you two sweeties have a good time on your first date. Just remember that no self respecting stallion gives up a kiss on the first date~”

At that, Galen and Lero sputtered and choked as they tried to come up with a response, all while Alexandria laughed and laughed, falling off her seat with a thud. That just made her laugh even harder. After they eventually settled down, the night progressed well. Food was eaten until there was almost nothing left, jokes were told and much alcohol was drank. They all eventually wound down and began getting drowsy. They each found a spot to lie down around the fire after Galen tossed a fair amount of wood on it to keep it going throughout the night. They fell asleep quickly with full bellies, fuzzy heads and a happiness in their hearts born of a good time had by all.