Early to mid August was one of those times of the year where many things changed. The official change of season from summer to fall wouldn't be until September, but most schools started up again in August and that meant going back. Of course the present Covid 19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on the country, with was especially hard on some schools. WSA was set to open with various sets of rules added in. All students would have to wear masks outside of eating and "social distancing" would have to be followed, for staff and students. The elementary grades also had things in a rotation. Half of the each grade would be in "remote learning" one day and would be "in class" the next in order to give the instructors the ability to handle things with some of the younger students. Though the biggest changes were more for those that would be going off to college, as many of them would have different rules and would be away from Lyre and Animalia.
And Abby Brown was well aware of that as she waited outside the barn/stable area where her family had once kept their horses at night and on days when it was too wet or cold. For she was now among those that would be headed off to college soon and would be going a fair distance away from home as it were, as she and Samson were enrolled in an ag school in Oregon. It wasn't big and was privately funded, but it did focus on the things that Abby and Samson both were looking at, ultimately in either improving the Brown farm in Animalia and working alongside her parents and that was, in a way enough. Though it also brought a fair share of butterflies to her stomach as she waited with Samson, for she knew that it would mean a new start and would also split herself away from her click of friends that she'd had for years.
She'd been friends with Sophie, Sarah, and Jessica for as long as she could remember. She'd been overjoyed that they all accepted her as a Horse Animalian when they met up again after Animalia was born before their freshman year in High School and a part of her was even happier that Sarah and Jessica joined Animalia shortly after the Animalia Virus went from the river around the Brown Family's farm and into Lyre's water supply and uplifted Malice and Jessica's pet hamster, Sammy. That had been a big thing, since Abby had been double dosed in the initial outbreak and was essentially an adult Mare Animalian and many of the parts of "growing up" had been put on fast forward for her. The friendships that she'd had with Sophie, Sarah, and Jessica that went back to when they were all little were important, and she did enjoy picking up Samson, Malice, Roger, Travis, Simon, Roland, JC, and Pauline along the way as well. They'd all had great fun together.
But now that would change. Jessica, Roger, Sarah, Travis, and Malice were going to UNLV, and while they might have to stay in a dorm for their freshman year, they'd likely get some access to the PET house that was set up there. Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline were off to SMU, and they would actually be leaving Lyre in a day or two in order to drive to the college campus. And she and Samson would be going up to the private ag school in Oregon. They'd all be apart, except for holidays and the summer, and that was something that had Abby a bit anxious as she waited for the others to arrive. And the arrival was easy to pick up as she heard "Abby" being called on the wind. That got her to look up as Sophie and Roland came in for a landing with JC and Pauline not far behind.
"Hey guys," Abby smiled to the four Dinotopians. They were all about the same height, though JC and Pauline might be a bit taller given their more digitigrade foot when compared to Sophie and Roland's more plantigrade foot and the fact that their beaks were also often pointed down so that the crests on the top of their beaks didn't add to their height.
"Hey, Abby, Samson..." Sophie smiled while Roland moved to shake Samson's hand, "are the others here?"
"No, you four are the first to arrive," Abby answered.
"Proof that flight is the fastest way to travel," Roland cheered, "more straight line travel. Hills and roads mean nothing!"
"Except in cases where one is better at gliding than powered flight," JC said slowly, "Pauline and I need to get up to altitude first and that can be tough..."
Pauline nodded, and Abby accepted that. From what Sophie had commented on, Microraptor, while it could be taken as another sign of proof of connection between Dinosaurs and Birds, didn't quite have the full flight abilities that modern birds had. Thus when JC and Pauline were uplifted from African Gray Parrots into Microraptor Dinotopians they lost some of their original flight capabilities, but the two seemed okay with that and friendly with Sophie and Roland and that counted for enough. There were some occasions where Abby had even thought she'd heard JC call Sophie "mother," but she didn't want to talk about that.
"You guys still beet the others though," Abby told them when Samson spoke up.
"But not by much," said Samson as he pointed to a Volkswagen Bug pulling onto the driveway and stopping before the Brown home.
Jessica and Roger were quick to climb out and dust themselves off as they approached those that were already there. A few more hellos were exchanged along with a hug or two, before one of Abby's ears twitched and that made her look up. From there she could see Sarah, Malice, Simon, and Travis jogging up the street toward them, making it clear that they weren't too far behind Jessica and Roger. Sarah and Malice were both in matching jogging shorts and tank tops that were cut low enough to see the to of their cleavage and the straps of the black sports bra they had on underneath the white tank top they were wearing. Simon was in a pair of shorts and a blue tee-shirt that had the letters "APD" on its front in white letters. Travis had a pair of windbreakers on, but then when considering that Dalmatians were known for their short fur while Huskies, like Sarah and Malice, and Wolves, like Simon, were better adapted for winter weather, which wouldn't be too far away now as end of the summer break neared, it'd make sense.
"So... we're all here?" Travis asked as he looked around.
"We are now," Abby gave a smile, "the whole gang together again... for the last time..."
"Not the last time," Roger pointed out, "all our colleges will have breaks, and to a general extent... they'll probably line up with each other. So we might be able to see each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas and so on... Not to mention that it'll still take four years to get a bachelor's degree... and even more if one wants to get a higher degree..."
"And more debt," Malice commented.
"Mom's lessons on business and finances have worked!" Sarah laughed.
"Only because they get repeated so often!" Malice laughed back as the two sisters rubbed each other's shoulders.
"He's still right that we'll be able to see each other," Sophie commented, "and some of the breaks... like Christmas break, they'd actually have students have to go home. Even if they don't have to pack up everything because they'd keep the same dorm room... they'd still have to leave the dorms for Christmas break. So we'll be able to see each other."
"It'll still be different," Abby said slowly.
"Yeah... but that's a part of life," Sophie answered with an understanding smile, "I mean... before high school, we were all Human... and you were easily the strongest out of all of us. But if we'd stayed that way, Jessica would grow into the most voluptuous out of off us... since her mom's like a large C... our moms are just barely in the C range, if they are at all..."
"Assuming they didn't convert," Sarah commented, "my dad got into it and converted... and mom accepted it because she loved him, and now we're all DD or Es, depending on the bra..."
"And my mom and I are about the same now too, though a solid E," Abby nodded.
"But that's the great point," Sophie commented, "we all changed at some point between graduating middle school and graduating high school. We became Animalians and were either double dosed as you, Sarah, Malice, Travis, Simon, Samson, JC, and Pauline were... or grew into it as I, Roland, Jessica, and Roger did. And that's come with all its perks and changes. We're all proportionately the same size and can do things we never could do before... And I'd think everyone's been happy with all the changes that we've all gone through, regardless of how or when."
"And you all found mates who love you," Simon said and licked at Malice's muzzle, "and while I will be here with the Animalia PD... I'd expect that we'd all get along and that once you guys get through college, we'd have one hell of a wedding in the summer after you graduate college."
Abby accepted that, though she did notice a wide eyed look on Samson's face, which made her chuckle a bit. Though she decided not to push things that far. The bond that had formed between her and Samson when she first became an Animalian was still strong and in many ways felt like marriage and the love that came with it, but there was the sort of formality that marriage represented that could be a bit "big" at times and she supposed it was best to wait on that.
"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves," Abby then spoke, while taking Samson's hand in our own, "we all have our loves... yes... but we're mostly dealing with getting ready for college... and some last fun before we head off."
"Not to mention that it'll mean I can only see you at breaks and in the summer, too," Malice said to Simon.
"You know I'll be loyal to my beautiful Husky... with her beautiful eyes," Simon said to her. That raised some of scent of arousal from both Simon and Malice that Abby could smell slightly. The bigger alert was the sight of Malice wagging her tail.
There were nods of agreement at that and Abby could see a few pauses among each courting pair to nuzzle their bond-mate. It was eventually Roger that spoke up again after nuzzling his muzzle to Jessica's.
"I think a lot of this is just how everyone is recognizing how big the move to college will mean," Roger said slowly, "I mean... becoming Animalians and growing up are all big changes, but we were all coming together for that. Going off to different colleges and being apart represents that whole sort of change. And that's what people fear. My brother's had that sort of fear too... afraid that he'd lose me as Jessica and I grew up... and enrolled in UNLV."
"You'd still be his brother," Jessica said to him, "and all things considered... Codey isn't that bad."
Roger nodded, "and he did come to recognize that... though it would appear that that wasn't until after he ran into Michiko at the comic convention."
"So your brother might become a Rabbit Animalian to be with her," Jessica smiled, "hopefully he'll be happy."
"Yes... though he'll be at the University of Washington and Michiko will be staying here to help her father run the martial arts school he's set up," Roger answered, "the point though is that everyone will be afraid that the friendships we've had might go away..."
"I wouldn't want that to happen," Sarah commented.
"Me neither," Malice agreed.
"I don't think any of us would want our friendships to go away," Roland commented, "I mean... I was the last human to join your group of friends, but I could see how close all of you were to each other. No one ever wants those things to be lost."
"And hopefully they won't," Travis spoke up, "I mean we all have each other's cellphone numbers and email addresses, right?"
The others all nodded in agreement at that. Those things had all been one of the few extras that they had been allowed to buy with the money they'd earned doing Animalia Ambassadoria, and enough of that had been saved up that for the moment they only to pay the service fees for the phones and that wasn't too bad. In that, while they might be apart in terms of geography they would still be able to contact each other.
"And that'll be good," Samson commented to the others and held Abby to him, which Abby did like, "we can all talk and share how the day went..."
"We'll always be friends," Abby smiled, getting some reassurance from that and seeing the others smile too as there followed a series of hugs between all of them. It gave Abby some reassurance that to a degree that all of them had felt about the same way in terms of what they felt about the changes that would be coming as they began to break up for college. She could only imagine on how some of the others throughout Animalia were going through with the same issue.
The Five Elements for example, put out a whole celebratory web-page announcement on Nate Bowman becoming a Water Buffalo Bull Animalian to be with Shuixing, and that page had gotten lots of "congratulations" comments from all across Animalia and those that followed the Animalia linked web-pages. But so far as most knew, Nate was still enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and had at least one year there to finish, and Wisconsin, like all of the colleges that the Animalia Ambassadoria crew would be attending, was open for in person learning and expected all students to show up when the fall semester started. That'd mean that Nate would have to leave Shuixing's side to finish his degree. About the only one that Abby could think of that would likely understand the position Shuixing would have to be in was Malice, who'd had to be apart from Simon after he graduated from Lyre High.
"That we will," JC spoke up as he nuzzled Pauline and looked to Sophie, "no matter where we end up going... we'll always be friends."
"Friends and family," Pauline agreed.
"Friends and family," Sophie agreed, though she also was picking up some scent of arousal on all of them... and she could feel it a bit as Roland's hands drifted down to her hips to hold them together as they rubbed their crests together. As it seemed that each of them seemed to pair with their respective bond-mate, and it did also seem like one of Roger's hands was drifting toward Jessica's butt. And as each sought their own assurance that that their friendships wouldn't go away, just change as their lives in general would change, all of the added hormones that related to being Animalians... mature Animalians, be it by being double dosed or growing up, were coming into play. "Though... now that we're all assured that we'll be able to stay in touch and stay friends... what is the plan for the day? I mean... we've passed the torch onto the new team for Animalia Ambassadoria... and the most we can do there might be just to take some polling type stuff and email that to the new team for thoughts and opinions outside of Lyre/Animalia... so what do you guys want to do?"
"A lot of times when we met up before Animalia it would be to go riding," Jessica commented, "share thoughts on the day... and ride over the farm's grounds. Abby always made sure she had Samson and we'd have to settle for one of the other horses..."
"Abby still rides Samson," Sarah gave a chuckle, "of course... now that has a whole new meaning."
"That part sounds like fun though," Malice gave a smile, "I mean... we have a few hours... the barn there is big and there's still soft hay in there."
"And the edicts about public mating?" Jessica asked carefully.
"Technically the inside of the barn is "private" and my folks and the other hands shouldn't be in for awhile," Abby said slowly, "and Samson and I... and my parents have had sex in there before."
"And it's not like we haven't seen each other naked," Malice added, "and we have nothing to be jealous over... All of us girls have generous curves and our mates have generous you know whats."
"You're dirty girl, Malice," Sarah said to her sister.
"Then why are you getting turned on?" Malice taunted back, "besides... maybe it could be something like the shows at the school... Simon graduated so I didn't get to enjoy him in there... and all this Covid stuff hit before Sophie and Jessica even got the chance..."
"Point," Sarah admitted, "but I'm not sure an orgy was what was imagined as the thing we'd do before going off to college..."
Things were quiet for a few moments before it was actually Jessica who spoke up... "Well... we are all mature Animalians with bond-mates... some of that interest is bound to be there..."