The return of fall brought many new things and new circumstances. The most notable of this was the changing weather that would lead to the changing of colors of leaves. Most of the area around Lyre and Animalia had a patchwork of planted trees that the Browns and others that had ranch land around Lyre had planted before Animalia's birth, and after Animalia was born, more trees that could handle the temperatures and dryer climate of northern Nevada were planted, often as decoration. Running water and irrigation did a lot to keep these trees alive and healthy, but outside of that, most of the trees in the area were in the more mountainous areas that pushed toward the California border.
But the planted trees did provide a rather nice look in both Animalia and Lyre, and despite the air temperatures getting cooler, it wasn't yet to the point of getting cold. This let a good many people go out and enjoy the fall leaves. Among them were Luke and Marjorie. The two Diplodocus Dinotopians had had fun running some of the summer camps and encouraging activity among people of all ages and continued to enjoy each other's company, though like Jen and Andrew, they'd agreed to essentially wait on marriage until the right time. There were some ideas waiting until after the planned Dinotopian Colony was established in Texas before starting into anything more than that.
"The leaves do look rather pretty," Marjorie commented, "with the coming golds and reds coming in."
"A sign of what is coming," Luke commented, remembering the past winter and how it seemed to go on for much longer than normal.
"At least now with Project Mesozoic now open to the public and Animalia getting some things that are suited for Dinotopians OUR size... we now have a bed and furniture scaled up for OUR muscular weight," Marjorie commented while bending her neck a bit to look over to Luke and then at herself. Both had put on a lot of additional muscle mass when they became Dinotopians, and Marjorie still relished the memory of throwing the mobility chair she'd needed into a dumpster like it was a basketball, though she did have to admit that her gargantuan breasts weren't exactly "muscular," though they were firm and round, and held Luke's interest, and her back and chest muscles seemed more than strong enough to hold them. "So if it gets too cold this winter and the Cavern Spa is booked... we can cuddle up under the blankets. I can keep you warm, and you keep me warm."
Luke chuckled at that as they walked along and enjoyed looking to the leaves on the trees as they changed color. And of course, with their height, many of the smaller trees weren't even as tall as them, even if Diplodocids were more horizontal than vertical among Sauropods. In some ways the line was something that both Luke and Marjorie could have some humor at and even provided some optimism for the new colony. As it was expected that Texas would be warmer.
"So... what would you think fall would be like in Texas?" Luke then asked to Marjorie, "Will they have good changes in the leaves too?"
"Probably," Marjorie gave a shrug, "and that'd make it beautiful to look at there and open up for some ideas that I've been thinking over..."
"Like what?" Luke wondered.
"Some sort of exercise club," Marjorie answered, "We might even be able to get some people down there to join us too."
"Hmm," Luke commented with a nod as they continued to walk along.
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"The one bad part about being fall is that things keep gettin' chillier," Amos commented inside the apartment that many of the Project White Lily members had moved into after joining Animalia and settling in.
"You can't be going completely cold blooded," Buford teased, "besides even if it were that cold... they got their saunas and the hot spring to keep you warm."
"Doesn't mean it isn't getting cold," Amos answered as glanced out a window to see a few loose leaves blow by.
The first group of Project White Lily members had enjoyed the summer and the events that came with it. The A-BC tournament had been great fun, and for Buford especially. The trophy and the winnings for himself and Aleta in the couples part of that competition was good for both of them, but the part that all of them took the most out of was that they'd participated in it clean with no way that things like steroids would be an issue. Having joined Project White Lily and converting to cure themselves of the massive negative effects of the "performance enhancing drug" was something that all of them were pleased with. Even Anton was happy for them, though their friend was now back to his normal school schedule which limited how often they could talk with him.
"Well, it isn't too cold yet," Esteban commented, "thankfully."
"Thankfully," Larry agreed, "though that begs the question on what shall we do now? They might sponsor additional contests as new Animalian colonies are established and more people convert and so on. And I hear the UFC-A is looking into some "fake fights" as part of a Halloween promotion."
"That'd actually be a bit interesting," Buford commented as looked across the living room to the specialized sofa that Amos and Larry were on across from him, while Aleta was seated in a wooden chair to his right and Esteban was in another chair to Buford's left, "Might be something to promote for some of the spookiness for Halloween. Shoot... Amos, you and Larry could probably put a match together... a devil versus a dragon."
Amos and Larry both dismissed it with a wave of their hands. They'd heard about the idea, but they thought the idea was either a joke or something that was supposed to deliberately play to the classic movie monsters. They were about to move on to something else when Aleta spoke up.
"But this "fight" is supposed to be a promotion... for..." Aleta began.
"Halloween," Esteban answered, "kids dress up in costumes to get candy and adults occasionally have costume parties for some social fun on the night... and people generally go out looking for a good scare."
"People would want to be scared?" Aleta wondered. She was individually very smart, though there were some things that seemed a bit puzzling to her. Buford noticed and reached over to take her hand in his. She'd seemed to adapt well enough to human society, but there were still some occasional things where she wasn't as sure about how to handle them. In some ways it made sense, as while sharks could be relatively sociable at times, they weren't known for many aspects of higher thought in nature and generally didn't follow things that humans did as anything more than a potential source of food, though more often than not because humans threw things like chum into the water to attract sharks.
"In a way," Buford said to her, "think of it like going to see a horror movie. You go because you know that there is something that will scare you in the movie."
"Though in real life... it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go all out," Esteban commented, "in case someone thinks you're being serious. The real fun though is for the trick or treaters. They come to your door and you give them candy... though, I'm not specifically sure on what Animalia would replace candy with... since many Animalians can't digest many of the artificial ingredients in most candies..."
"Maybe we could go to a party," Aleta commented, "Invite Anton, his wife, and their hatchlings. We can all have fun together."
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The fall for Goldenrod and some of the Project Hermaphroditus members carried some of its own issues, though primarily for the hermaphrodite horses with Daffodil and Goldenrod both being pregnant. Daffodil had some confidence that the father of hir child was Xenophon, but Goldenrod really couldn't be sure on who the father of hir child was. At the same time, the fact that shi was pregnant was still something of a surprise, even now that not only had the over the counter tests given that indication, but the more accurate medical tests at Horizon Light had confirmed that Goldenrod was pregnant. Determining the father of the unborn foal would have to wait until after the foal was born, as the group of hermaphrodite horses had ended up in some rather extensive parties.
Though, Goldenrod wasn't necessarily opposed to being a parent. Shi was actually fairly happy with it, and particularly that Samson was happy for hir. They may have been distantly related, but in a way, knowing that shi had blood family that had not only been uplifted but was also close at hand was a good thing. The thing that Goldenrod had expected, however, was that with hir enjoyment of hir uplifting as part of Project Hermaphroditus had restored the parts of hir equipment that had been lost when shi'd still been a mundane horse, it was more that shi'd expected to be a father. Particularly with the fall mating season being part of what had lead to the expected pregnancy for Daffodil and the unexpected pregnancy for Goldenrod. And that weighed on Goldenrod's mind.
"The cold won't be bad for the baby, will it?" Goldenrod asked with her small group as they picked apples on the Brown farm.
The payments that had been made by the previous administration and Horizon that had lead to the accidental creation of the Animalia Virus, and thus Animalia, had provided enough of a base that they had been able convert many things over to growing apples instead of raising ranch animals that they could afford a rather communal nature, particularly with various Animalians that had once been part of the livestock that the Brown Family had raised. It meant that tax time could be interesting as everything the Brown family sold, be it apples, or unfertilized eggs or milk from the cattle Animalians had to be counted, in addition to some of the bonuses that Josephine Brown earned with her seat on Animalia's City Council, and with some of the other "prizes" that had been part of the sponsorship for the Mister and Miss Farmhand Competition and Abby's work with Animalia Ambassadoria, but for the most part the system worked well, especially so long as everyone stayed up to date on their vaccinations.
"It's not that cold yet," Xenophon commented, though shi could feel a slight chill in the wind as shi reached up to pick an apple and place it down in the basket that had been set near where the four Project Hermaphroditus members were working. In this shi knew that while it might not be cold yet, with the leaves on the apple trees starting to change color and what apples were on the trees being ripe, that winter couldn't be far way. And in pure theory, if it got cold enough, not only would Goldenrod's foal be at risk, but so would Goldenrod... but shi didn't see that happening. "I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Yeah, don't worry, Golden," Hirshi said to Goldenrod and nuzzled Goldenrod's cheek softly, "our winter coats are starting to come in, and that one big discount store in Lyre does sell some things that would fit Animalians. I'm sure you could get a nice jacket if things get too cold."
Goldenrod didn't answer for a moment, and simply looked out over the trees that had been planted there. While the odd spring had reduced the size of the Brown family's apple crop, shi could still plenty of fruit on the trees looking bright, red, ripe, and ready to be picked. It left a semi awkward silence that the others picked up on rather easily.
"What's wrong, Golden? Are you feeling okay?" Daffodil asked, knowing that even in the earliest stages of pregnancy, dizzy spells and morning sickness wasn't fun.
"I'm fine, physically," Goldenrod answered with a small smile to hir friends, "but a lot of this is new for me. Before all of this... I was not only male but a gelding. Breeding wasn't something that was on my mind. Yet now... I got my... my stuff... back and a few extra things... and has meant that everything has changed. I'm going to be a mother, and I can't help think about him or her or hir... and whether or not I'm good enough. Particularly as all of this has been so fast. And all the supposed spooky stuff related to Halloween doesn't help much, either."
"A lot of that is pretty normal," Hirshi commented, "lots of parents worry about their children, especially if its their first."
"And Halloween won't be too bad," Xenophon assured hir, "and I've heard some things that the Mister and Miss Farmhand competition winner will be announced during the Halloween party. So not everything will be scary."
"And we'll always be there for you," Daffodil added, "No matter what."
"Thanks, guys," Goldenrod answered