Things had become a bit awkward at the Brown Farm. The Animalians who worked there and used to live there would have loved to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Brown joining Animalia. However, this new transition of life was not going over smoothly. Namely because Abby was a little upset with her parents over their recent conversion. Samson was trying to help bridge the gap, but this would be difficult enough for most men, let alone an uplifted horse who was still understanding this complex situations.
"Abby, your parents are in good health now and they've got more years to live," said Samson, "And they're the same species as you now. Shouldn't you be happy for them?"
"That's not the point!" snapped Abby.
"Then what is the point?" asked Samson, "I've been trying to understand what you're upset about but I can't figure it out."
"Isn't it obvious?" snapped Abby.
"No, that's why I'm asking," responded Samson.
"It's because my parents didn't tell me!" snapped Abby, "They could have just told me that they were considering becoming Animalians but they didn't. I first found out about it when Delilah told me!"
"Delilah was the first to get to you because your parents were busy-" started Samson.
"No. Don't. Don't say it out loud. That's the last image I want in my head," said Abby.
"Oh, I think I know what this is about now," said Samson.
"Yeah, I just told you," said Abby.
"You told me more than you think," said Samson, "I think the real reason you're upset is because you're not ready to see your parents like this."
"What? I don't have a problem with them being horses," protested Abby.
"I think you have a problem with seeing them as different as they were before. So many things have changed in your life that you wanted something to be consistent and you've latched onto the idea that your parents would never change," said Samson, "Their conversion rocked your world more than you want to admit."
Abby stared at Samson and said, "How on Earth did you get that idea?"
"Horses have good empathy," said Samson, "It's what keeps a herd together. And I heard it on a talk show once."
Abby blinked, having a little trouble wrapping her head around this. Samson making a surprisingly sharp psychological observation was weird enough on its own, but was it really accurate? Abby admitted that a lot of things had changed since last summer. Her home, her town, her 'pets', her friends, even her own species has changed beyond imagination. Maybe she really was trying to find anchorage and had fixed her parents as an unchanging point to latch onto. It sounded right, but was it really right?
"I think I need to talk with them about this," said Abby.
"Of course," said Samson, "They're still your parents. You can talk with them about anything."
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It wasn't hard to get her parents to sit down to talk about this. They had been trying to reach out to Abby but she had been blocking them. It didn't take her too long to tell them Samson's theory about why she was taking their conversion badly.
"And you really think that you needed consistency?" asked her mom.
"Maybe...I'm not really sure," said Abby, "Maybe it would have been better if you changed at the start of this."
"Maybe," said her dad, "But we weren't ready then. This wasn't a matter of trying to live out a personal fantasy."
Abby gave her dad a stern look and said, "That had better not be an insult to Sarah's parents."
"No, we respect them very much," said Abby's mom.
"They just had different reasons for converting than us," said Abby's dad.
"You guys just wanted to be able to keep up with the rest of Animalia," said Abby.
"Is that so wrong?" asked her mom.
"No, but you could have told me before that," said Abby.
"We were on the edge of whether to do it or not," said her mom, "We wanted to do it before you said something that would make us reconsider."
"I wouldn't have done that," said Abby.
"If Samson is right, you might have," said Abby's dad, "When big changes happen, people often look to something to cling to that they know won't change. You wanted a piece of the old norm so your life wouldn't be completely different from what you knew."
"I guess that sounds right," said Abby, "I think you guys changing without telling me is muddling that a bit."
"Well, we're sorry for having to put you through such a tough spot," said Abby's dad, "We should have been more forthright with you, especially with all you've been through."
"It's alright," said Abby, "It's just...gonna take me a while to get used to it."
"We're still getting used to it," said her mom, "Walking on hooves isn't as easy as it looks."
"The height is harder to remember than you think," said her dad, "I've bumped several doorways since I changed."
"Yeah, that does happen," said Abby. She still wasn't completely comfortable with her parents being horses, but she was getting there.