Midas groaned as he stumbled into the sunlight, dragging his hooves as if they were weighted with each step. His tail hung heavy, too, long strands trailing through the dust behind him. In fact every movement seemed to pain him, even the breath he took to groan again.
Dia struggled to hide a smile as she watched his approach. She'd forgiven him for his absences enough to be fond of hin now, but she also felt comfortable poking fun at him when she felt it was deserved, and boy did he deserve it now.
"Someone played a little too hard last night , did he?" She could hear the promise of laughter behind her own words, but she just couldn't stop herself. He looked miserable! "You're not getting any younger, you know?"
Midas cut her a sideways look and snorted lowly, shaking out his aching mane. "I'm still young enough to beat you in a game of hoof-tap. Besides, I play just fine. It wasn't the playing that got me. I think I was drugged."
"Drugged?" Dias ears pricked foreword in curiosity. "How did you get drugged? Who would do that?" She paused before asking, "*Why*?"
"How should I know?!" Midas snapped back. He regretted it as the grou d under his hooves seemed to dip and swim. "All I remember was a pasture, a pair of pretty mares and a bushel of apples."
Dia rolled her eyes. "It's always a pair of mares, isn't it? Never just obe. One's never enough."
"One is never enough," he echoed soberly. "Besides,"" he added as a memory of dappled hidea and twitching tails drifted throygh his mind, "two is the perfect number."
"Uh-huh. Go on."
Midas took a deep breath. "There we were, the mares and I, enjoying a nice afternoon. There was a breeze. We were laughing. We had a race across the hills and I won, of course."
"Of course," Dia said, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes again.
"Not by too much," he clarified. "I didn't want to upset them."
"How thoughtful."
Midas bearded, a little of his pain melting away. "I know! So we had a race. After tyat, we had a good roll on the grass."
Dia stamped a hoof. "Dad! How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to know..."
"Not like that!" Midas cut in. "We ran, we got sweaty, it was itchy so we rolled to scratch!"
"...ohhhh. Right. That's better. Okay, moving on."
Midas blew threw his lips. "Moving on, we..." His forehead wrinkled. "It was the chedtnut mare, I think. She nudged me and she said, 'After a run like that, you must be hungry." He shrugged. "I didn't feel it before she mentioned, but then my stomach growled, so I said I guessed I was. Her friend..." His smile went distant. "She was the cutest little pinto..."
"Dad!"
Mudas started and. cleared his throat. "Right. Her friend said, 'Someone left these apples here. They must have wanted us to eat them.'"
Dia groaned. "Dad, you didn't."
"Well, what was I supposed to do? They were right there and they smelled so good, all warm and ripe and just waiting. It made sense that someone must have left then there for us."
Dia let her head droop a little. "Go on."
"I took a bite, and Dia, believe me when I say that those were the best apples I've ever had!"
Dia snorted, muttering, "I bet " under her breath.
"They were crisp and perfect," Midas enthused. "And juicy! So juicy they make my mouth water even now. When I bit through the skin, it was like the juice inside bubbled on my tongue. It sparkled in my mouth. It was the most wonderful sensation!"
"And how many did you eat?"
Midas looked over at his daughter and felt a creeping sense of shame. "Well, that's the thing..."
"How. Many?"
Midas shifted his weight. He was the father here. How was was it that she could make him feel so guilty? "Well, they were so good, and the mares were cheering me on, you know, so I just kept eating. They were so excited, and the apples were so sweet that I didn't want to stop, even after my head started to swim. So. I didn't."
"Didn't wear? Stip eating?"
Midas shook his head slowly. "Not until the bushel waa gone." He lifted his head. "I was proud that I'd done it. I knew the mares would be proud, too." He passed. "But."
"But what? They weren't proud? Did they laugh?"
"No!" He paused again. "They were just gone. They were gone and I could hardly walk in a line. I think they put something on those apples so they could have a little fun!"
There was a long silence and Midas looked at hus daughter only to find her fighting a smile.
"So what were their names again? Your pretty little friends. A bay and a palomino, right?"
"Ri--," Midas began, but then stopped himself as his head throbbed. Was that right? "I... didn't get their names. I think they were..."
"Nope " Dia said, putting a hoof down firmly again. "My turn." She stepped forward. "I think, for once. your ego got the better of you. I don't think there were any mares at all."
"What?" Midas snorted. "Of course there were!"
"But you can't remember theur names, which isn't *that* weird, but not even what they looked like?" She tossed her mane. "I don't think you were drugged, either."
"Then why do I feel so funny?" Mids demanded to know.
"Because, " Dia answered and kicked a small object toward him that rolled unevenly across the ground. It thuddede agaibst his hoof and when he leaned down to inspect it, he found it was a small, misshapen apple. It still smelled good, though, and a little bit fuzzy in his nose.
"I think you ate a bunch of *those*," Dia pointed out. "Those apples have been lying around in the sun for a while. I think they turned funny because they were starting to go bad. And I think that the mares and the bushel and the games were all in your head."
She nudged himn gently wirh her shoulder. "Though I kinda wish I'd seen you out here, racing noone and rolling around on the ground like a foal."
Midas took a moment to think, replaying as much of his fuzzy memories as he could recall. Maybe ... he hadn't really had to anyone else to chase around. Maybe the mares... the dappled grey and the nlack, maybe they'd just been the company he *wished* he'd had.
Dia nudged him again and bumped his shoulder with her nose. "It's all right, dad. It could happen. to anyone." She paused a moment, then grinned. "But I'm still gonna tell Njal. He's gonna laugh *so* hard." The way she laughed now "Come on, old man. Let's go get you some water."
She led him back toward home, still teasing him about his new imaginary girlfriends.
[WC=1,175]
