So she just hugged him again and told him, “Good night.”

* * *

“I get why you’ve been sleeping out here,” Keefe called without turning to look at Sophie as she made her way over to check on him the next day. “I seriously can’t remember the last time I slept for so long.”

It was already a little past noon.

But no one had wanted to wake him up earlier.

Even Grady had begrudgingly admitted that after the emotional turmoil of the day before, Keefe probably needed all the rest he could get.

“I think it must be Calla’s songs,” Sophie told him, trying not to grin when she noticed Keefe’s hair, which looked like it had been chewed on by baby alicorns. “But Wynn and Luna help too.”

“They do.” He patted one of the pillows piled next to him, and Sophie took him up on the invitation, fidgeting a little when he turned to study her. “So.”

“So,” she repeated, not sure what else to say to that.

“I’m guessing you didn’t sleep much, since you let me steal your spot, huh?” he asked.

“Actually, I did. Really,” she added when he raised one eyebrow. “Silveny helped me fall asleep, which was nice, since she hasn’t done that in a while.”

“Aww. Is Mama Glitter Butt overwhelmed by the twins? I can see why. I woke up about an hour ago, and I’ve been watching them wreak havoc all over the pastures. That teleporting thing they do is crazy.”

Sophie frowned. “Teleporting thing?”

“I think that’s what it is. That thing where they slip in and out of sight?”

Sophie shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Really?” He craned his neck, trying to find Wynn and Luna—but they didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. “They only do it when they’re running really fast. At first I thought they were vanishing or something, but then Luna ended up ducking in and out of the pterodactyl’s enclosure, and you guys keep that locked, right? So I don’t see how she could do that unless she’s slipping in and out of the void.”

Sophie’s frown deepened.

Keefe’s theory would solve the mystery of how Wynn and Luna kept sneaking into the gorgodon enclosure.

“But… you have to free-fall to teleport,” she said, not sure if she was arguing with him or herself.

“That’s what I thought too,” Keefe admitted. “But you know what it kind of reminded me of? Remember that time at Everglen, not long after you and Dex were rescued? We were playing base quest and you did that Amazing Flying Foster routine, and we all wondered when you’d learned how to blink? Wasn’t that before you figured out that you could teleport?”

“It was,” Sophie said as her mind slowly dredged up the memory. She hadn’t thought about that moment in months and months and months. “I actually realized later that some of the things I’d felt when that happened were things that reminded me of teleporting.”

“See?” Keefe said. “Maybe it’s something all baby alicorns do when they’re learning how to master their power.”

“Uh, except I wasn’t a baby alicorn—and I’d be very careful with the next joke you make, Smirking Boy,” Sophie warned, “because if it has the words ‘horse girl’ in it, I’m not giving you your present.”

“You got me a present?” Keefe asked, his eyebrows rising when she patted the satchel slung across her shoulders.

“I did. Had to make a very special trip to go get it for you too—and enlist a little help to make it happen. So what were you going to say?”

“I… I don’t know.” He reached up to run a hand through his hair and seemed to realize for the first time that his current hairstyle could serve well as a nest for small animals—and his cheeks turned very, very red. He cleared his throat. “Does that mean I get my present?”

“I suppose,” Sophie said, tempted to tease him more first, since he was so clearly thrown off his game. But she flipped open the satchel and pulled out the crinkly yellow-and-brown package, setting it proudly in his lap.

“You… got me E.L. Fudges?” Keefe asked, doing an adorable double take between her and the cookies.

Sophie nodded proudly. “Well, technically my sister stole them from my parents’ pantry so I wouldn’t have to deal with converting lusters to dollars and finding a grocery store and whatnot. It was hard enough convincing Grady and Edaline to let me teleport to see Amy without all of that. So a couple of cookies are missing, but Amy said they opened the package last night and they’re still fresh. Besides, we all know what you really care about is—”

“The fact that they’re shaped like tiny elves!” Keefe said, clapping his hands before he pointed to the label. “Hang on—they call them ‘elfwiches’?”

“They do, Keefe. They do. And that’s not even the best part.”

“AHHHHHH LOOK AT THEIR LITTLE FACES!” Keefe shouted as he peeled back the plastic cover. “THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN—EVER!”

“Greater than when you discovered Fitz slept with Mr. Snuggles?” Sophie had to ask.

“Um. Yeah. They have names, Foster. NAMES!” He held up one of the cookies and pointed to the name tag the little elf was holding. “This one’s Ernie! AHHH AND THIS ONE IS FAST EDDIE!” he said, snatching a different cookie. “And this one is Buckets! And Elwood! I don’t know who named these guys, but whoever they are, they’re a genius, I tell you—a GENIUS. Also, I think Elwood kind of looks like me, doesn’t he?”

He held the cookie up to his face and raised his other hand in a wave, just like Elwood’s pose, and Sophie couldn’t hold back her giggle.

“He has your smirk,” she agreed.

“Yup, he’s a good-looking elf-y cookie. And wait—there’s writing on the back.” He flipped the cookie over. “What does ‘from the Hollow Tree’ mean?”

“That’s where the Keebler elves make their cookies.”

Keefe snorted. “Of course they do—why didn’t I think of that? Humans are my favorite. Though, this one says ‘uncommonly good,’ and this one says ‘uncommonly made’—so it sorta seems like the dude deciding this stuff was running out of words, doesn’t it? But whatever, he gave us Fast Eddie, so I’ll forgive him. And wait, why does this one say ‘dunk head first’?”

“The cookies taste best dunked in milk, so they’re saying to dunk the head first before you eat it.”

He blinked, turning the cookie back over to stare at the little elf. “Woooooooow, that got DARK. Poor Buckets. I didn’t really think about how weird it was going to be, eating food with a little face on it staring at me—especially a little elf-y face. Look at his little ears! And his little hat! Humans are cruel. But here we go.… Sorry, Buckets, dude—know your sacrifice was for a noble cause.” He raised the cookie to his mouth and flipped it at the last second, biting off the feet instead of the head. “I don’t know why that seemed less brutal, since he totally has no legs now. But it made sense in the moment—and more important… eh.”