Acheron lets out a loud yawn, his fangs glinting in the morning light. He stretches out on his ceramic bed and tiredly climbs down. It’s barely sunrise. He walked to his door and opens it to find-

“Ash!” Dio said, smiling up at his big brother. Ash jumps back, shaking the floor a little with his weight. After a moment of rattling, the house settled. “Ash, are we going?!”

“…Dio, have you slept?” He asked, noting how chipper his young brother was. The little unicorn nodded.

“Yeah, I did. I just woke up super early.” He stated, clearly proud of himself. “You said to be up at sunrise so I went to bed super early and-” Ash patted him on the head, smiling softly.

“Okay, I get it. I’m very proud of you, Dio.” He said, watching Dio beam up at him. “Now we have to go get Mary and Holly.” His smile fell, a pout replacing it.

“They’re asleep.” He stated. “Lets just go without them.” He suggested happily, wanting to hang out with his big brother. Ash thought about it. Mary wouldn’t care, she just liked being around others. Holly on the other hand… She’d bite his ears until they were red.

“Dio, get them.” He ordered, walking past the colt. With a huff, Dio ran down the hall to his sisters room, careful not make too much noise. Mom’s animals were light sleepers, especially Angel Bunny. Ash shuddered, thinking of the horror of waking that furball.

***

Soon the four of them were walking down the path toward Ponyville. Mary and Holly were still asleep on his back as Dio walked beside him. The little colt was staring with a gaping mouth at the surroundings. He’d never been this close to town.

“Ne, Ash, why are we up so early?” He asked, looking up at Ash. “Mom usually goes to the market, right?”

“Yeah, but dad usually goes with her.” He replied, looking back at Mary and Holly. Still on his back. “Apparently, she’s still no good at being as assertive as dad. And one has to be assertive to haggle properly”

“Why doesn’t papa just go with her?” He asked. “Papa is a lot more assertive that mom. Dad might be good but papa is better, right?” Ash thought about it. Papa was scary. Not scary to them but scary in general. He was sweet but there were times Ash could sense a deep seated darkness within him. Seeing it made him feel concerned.

“Papa can’t go.” He stated, simply. “Papa isn’t well liked in Ponyville.”

“Like you?” Ash flinched, though he knew Dio didn’t mean it to be an insult.

“Yes, like me.” He sighed. “But do you remember what dad said about being brave?” Dio stood up on his hind legs and pointed to the sky with a hoof on his hips.

“Don’t let others choose your path, rather let them feel your wrath!” He cheered, scaring away a flock of birds. Ash continued walking, knowing Dio would follow. “But I like your thing better.”

“My thing?”

“Yeah! About how a real stallion is responsible and cool, like you, Ash.” He said, beaming up at him. “So don’t worry about those other ponies who don’t like you, Ash. Me, Mary and Holly all know you are the coolest big bro, like, ever!” He said, rubbing up against his leg. Ash said nothing, not really sure what to say to that.

“…I see.”

****************

… I think I lost track of this at some point. Anyway, this is a redraw of my other picture from maybe a week ago.

A welcome back to my Flutter-herd kids!

Fluttershy works from home, Iron travels a lot and papa Sombra can’t enter Ponyville (he sticks out) so Ash usually goes out to town to shop. This time, his siblings wanted to go too, even though they’d have to leave super early in the morning to get all the good sales. Since he knows Holly would never let him live it down if he left without her, he chose to take his sleeping sisters with him. Dio was the only one awake that morning, standing in front of Ash’s door with a wide smile, waiting for possibly hours. It scared ash just a bit.

As much as Ash adores his brother and sisters, he is very reluctant to go to town with them. Why? Because the citizens don’t like him. He’s huge compared to most ponies and his mane, tail and general aura scares ponies, despite him being generally a sweet heart. He doesn’t want his siblings to hear the bad things ponies say about him, which is another reason he goes to the early morning market. There are very few ponies there.

Note: Ash here is about 12, yet he is as big as an adult stallion. When he get older, he will be bigger than big Mac and his hoofsteps can be felt from yards away. As such, he’s very noticeable.

Holly is 9

Dio is 7

Mary is 5

Note: I decided to try and make Holly look more Minotaur-y since she is half Minotaur.