The time period after Christmas was fairly cold, but it was also something that was to be expected in a way. But it also allowed for Abby Brown to look over the grounds that had been part of her family's farm and ranch, where Animalia began. Where she'd ridden Samson before her freshman year in high school and ended up getting caught in the Animalia outbreak and becoming a Horse Animalian as well, and ultimately meant that "riding Samson" had a whole new meaning. The grounds were smaller as Animalia started and they focused on growing apples, but it was still the home that Abby knew best and being able to walk the grounds with Samson was fine for her, particularly on a day when she wasn't meeting her other friends, who were on their Christmas breaks from college, and could allow her to see on how things had progressed. This included noting how some of the dryer weather and smoke from fires in California had affected the Brown farm. The apple trees they'd all planted after her conversion looked weaker and it was clear that the fruit output from previous years would be down as a result of this.
Her return to the house took her by and through the barn, which was largely used as a storage area for the vats and tubs that the Cattle Animalians would come in to store their milk. It was another way that the farm and the Cattle Animalians could make money, particularly when vaccinated Animalians' milk wouldn't infect and thus transform people. The Cattle Animalians made money off the milk sold and the Browns made money off of owning the containers. They'd also be able to provide work for those that wanted to move the vats the milk was put in, and this work often went all year, and on her walk, Abby had come across a group of Stallion Animalians. At first, they were willing to flirt with Abby a bit, though once they found Samson was with her, that confidence seemed to float away or turn to some other mood. They then began asking Samson about how he won Abby's heart and what they could do to win a mare's heart and what they should look for. It actually left Abby a bet perplexed as the group moved off.
"So, I see you've met the new boys," came a female voice making Abby and Samson turn to see it was the Bavarian Warmblood Horse Animalian, Sylvia. The mare had been assigned to work for the Brown Farm as a means to pay off damages that occurred in Las Vegas as part of a night that ended up trashing a hotel room down there. However, the tenure on the farm for Sylvia had also been contentious as Sylvia had openly flirted with not just Samson but with her father, thus irritating both her and her mother. That, though had happened back while she and Samson had still been attending WSA and it had been more than a year since then. Abby thought that Sylvia would have moved on after repaying her debt.
"You're still here," Abby said slowly.
"And if your parents keep attracting very good-looking Stallion Animalians to come work for them... I'll stay here," Sylvia said with a smile, "and those new boys are all single, straight, and very good looking."
"From what I've heard they converted to gain confidence," Abby said slowly with Samson nodding beside her.
"And it's there," Sylvia's smile remained, "though they're adapting to a lot of things. But once they get through it... I'll get first pick before Animalia's "mane six." And then perhaps gain what you and your champion stud have. Though for the moment first meetings are interesting..."
From there Sylvia began to recall on events that had happened earlier in the year...
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"We're having to check all these?" Sylvia complained as she sat on one of the specialized benches in the Brown's barn, "again... Didn't we check them when we harvested them?"
She looked down to the wooden crates that were set out on the floor, and all filled with apples that had been harvested. There were fewer of than in previous years, which Martin and Josephine had said was likely the result of the hot and dry weather that had heavily taxed the region Lyre and Animalia didn't generally get a lot of rainfall and depended more on winter snowfall more than anything outside of the river and stream that flowed in from California curved around forming the border between Lyre and Animalia and then curving back into California south of the two NW Nevada towns. The hotter and dryer summer then dried out many of the trees and that hurt the fruit production. Sylvia wasn't an expert on science or tries, but she did have to agree to that assessment. That didn't however change some of her confusion on why this particular task had to be done again.
"The apples that were checked then went straight to the markets here in Animalia and Lyre," Martin Brown said in a low voice, "and while the cooler we have here in the barn is good for preserving things... we want to make sure that nothing has gone bad or has rotted before they're sold off to some of the other marketers and distributors in the region. You should know this by now."
"I'm not by nature a farm hand," Sylvia answered, "the fruits I'd prefer to pick... well... let's say they produce more pleasure than labor. Though... that also got me working here to pay off my debts."
"And you should have learned by now," Martin reminded her with narrowed eyes, "and at the same time... things shouldn't be too hard. Our harvest was down from last year; thus, you won't have as many to count... and Josephine has managed to get some volunteers who have supposedly offering to help with some of the work in the afternoons. They should be here in a little while."
Sylvia accepted that and simply waited. Eventually she did hear some reply coming from outside the barn. The first to speak was Josephine Brown who welcomed the group and gave instructions for them to follow her to the barn where "her husband" would provide some instruction on things that would be done. She listened and heard some interesting reply.
"But wasn't part of this gig to pick apples?" one male voice asked, "most everyone knows that."
"We've actually harvested our apples for the year, already," Josephine was heard to answer, "what we're up to now is making sure what we've harvested is good enough to essentially sell to the delivery agents that will take what we have to stores or other distribution centers. Martin will give you some instruction on what you'd need to do."
"And we'll get a snack, too, right?" another voice asked, sounding rather eager and gaining a chorus of "yeah... apples" from some other male voices.
Sylvia listened and was intrigued and hoped these would be some single males. Someone that would be a suitable companion and wasn't interested in trying turn things into a rap song or weren't double dosed children. Eventually the barn door opened, and Josephine entered with five or six Stallion Animalians following after her. They were of different colors and builds, but Sylvia wasn't good enough on all the horse breeds to give a guess on what breeds these new Stallion Animalians had become. Though, she did find them strong and able looking. They all looked to her and showed some interest, which made her smile.
"Didn't the Animalia Ambassadoria people say your daughter went off to college?" one of the new male Horse Animalians asked to Martin.
"She did," Martin answered, "This is Sylvia, she is working for us while paying off a debt she owes a hotel in Las Vegas. She is not our daughter. While you're helping out here at the farm, you'll often be working with her."
Sylvia smiled again when she heard them give a few complements. She wasn't sure if it was intended to be heard or not, but she liked the positive attention. As such, she did what she did best. She stood up and straightened her tank top so that it gave these stallions a good look at the top of her cleavage. Their eyes widened a bit as they noticed her smile.
"Hello boys," Sylvia spoke, "you're here to help out?"
"Yeah," the first spoke, "part of getting strong and getting confidence and all that..."
"We can do it!" another said eagerly.
"I have a few things we could try that wouldn't involve apples," Sylvia offered which seemed to come as a surprise, though not an unwelcome one as she caught some scent of arousal from them as well.
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"Of course, your folks then got involved in saying there was work to be done, so I couldn't get too much further," Sylvia answered, "though there were introductions... I got their names. I think I actually like Jerome the best in terms of his name... but some of their confidence... it seems to swing a bit. Sometimes they come off as very confident and very eager, and then they get second thoughts or think they're being too forward or too confident."
"Or perhaps you're a bit too forward with them," Samson commented, "if they're looking to gain confidence in being male, they may still be getting used to the bodies they've gained as Animalians."
"And being openly flirted with doesn't help," Abby added.
"Ah... but they enjoy it," Sylvia commented, "I've managed to talk them into some respective dinner dates, and they've gone well. They're actually surprisingly sweat. Then all that'll be needed is to get them confident to simply take me."
Abby and Samson could only shake their heads. It seemed that some things never changed, though, hopefully Sylvia was right in that these new Stallion Animalians didn't mind the attention and were still working on getting the confidence needed for it.