//------------------------------// // Meet the Family // Story: Autumn: Next Generation // by Hazel_Hester777 //------------------------------// “Alright, Hazel, do you know why I have called you here?” Snowdrop asked the young Captain. She had her summoned for a discussion involving her attitude towards Autumn. She had prepared some tea for both of them. “Let me guess, is this because of the Autumn girl?” she folded her arms, obviously bored. “I’m afraid so” Snowdrop nodded, putting her teacup down. “You are well aware of what would happen if she doesn’t have everyone on her side when she goes into fight” “IF she goes into fight” she emphasized ‘if’. “She said it herself, she doesn’t slay” “She’s confused, and overwhelmed by everything around here. You remember very well that you were Lauren’s guide when she was here. Autumn may have learned about Wonderland through the many tales she told her, but she needs to learn about this new environment we all are in. I was hoping if you, her mother’s guide, could…” “Correction: I WAS her guide, before she…” she didn’t want to remember the last part. “I know your resentment towards her, but I’m asking for this small favor. Lauren didn’t mean for that to happen, so don’t blame her. Please, can you just forgive Autumn and help her for once? She’s vulnerable if not all her friends are gonna be with her. She’ll need you” The Captain kept a poker face before glaring. “Where was she then when we needed her most?” Snowdrop sighed. She couldn’t get her to help. This was hopeless. “It’s a good thing then that I decided to do this” Brutalight spoke as she entered the room. Right then, Hazel started to notice something else: She was suddenly shrinking slightly. She had a feeling that it was not the DRINK ME potion that tea was laced with. She felt herself getting younger. “What did you do?!” she demanded. “I had a feeling that you didn’t want to cooperate, so I laced your tea with some Youth potion. Relax; I only used enough to make you grow back eight years” “Brutalight, I said no!” Autumn yelled at her. The now twelve-year old child lunged at the Pony Freak, taking her down by surprise. She tried to get up, but she proved to still be stronger than her age and size. “I’m done playing games!” She then straddled Brutalight as she began to strangle her. The Alicorn tried to pry her off with magic, but the child was still very experienced due to how she put a Magic Restriction Ring on her horn. She began to throttle her without mercy. Every once and a while, she made sure to punch her in the face or kick her in the stomach. “Of all…things I have faced…you are…by far…the craziest thing…I have encountered…” Brutalight choked out. Right at those words, they all noticed something: There was some black liquid seemingly dripping from where Hazel’s covered, left eye was. She parted it slightly, only enough for Brutalight to see. Right then did the mare look like she was watching a horror movie. “Change me back! Change me back! Change me back!” the child on top of her yelled at full volume. “I can’t! It’s permanent for four days!” Hazel stopped her whole torture process. She let Brutalight go with a loud thud. By that time, the Alicorn was already covered in bruises. She was never going to forget that experience for the rest of her life. She started to crawl away after the ring was removed, keeping a wary eye on the child who attacked her.  “Next time, I turn you into foal, or worse!” the Captain threatened. She wiped away the black, before eyeing Snowdrop and Autumn. “So how does changing me back to twelve years old solve anything?” “Well, we are aware of your background past and all that, and how your attitude seems to be like a reflection on how your mother was like” Snowdrop spoke up. “I am nothing like Deceptive” she called her mother by her name. “Unlike her, I don’t abuse my kids” “But your attitude in battle is somewhat similar to her. If Twilight were here, she would agree that your anger and rage came from her, and you’re now using that in battle” “And what if I was? Again, I don’t use it on my kids” “That’s the thing. You see, we picked up something coming from your house. We’re going to arrange for Autumn to live there with you for a while to see how you handle your family matters, and also meet the OCs” They didn’t know if it were either from anger or if she had a fit of Bipolar Disorder, but her eye twitched. “WHAT?!” “Just for a few days! We have to let her meet them” she tried to not make her angry. “She’s gonna get herself killed in there. I’m not the only one here who has resentment towards her. They have me, but they also miss their other Mom” “A few days, okay?” Autumn backed away slightly as Snowdrop seemed nervous. If she could attack the Queen of Pony Freaks in a way that would send her into permanent fear, what could she do to them? Finally, Hazel sighed as she walked out of the room. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” she grumbled. They watched her leave before letting go of the breath they had all been holding. “She doesn’t even need weapons, her tantrums are deadly enough” Autumn had been accompanied by Snowdrop to get to Hazel’s house. She always wondered why the girl stayed in an ordinary home and not stay in the room reserved for her and Hester where there’s more safety. She learned that Hazel hated fancy objects due to how it brought back painful memories of her past. That was highly understandable. When she got to the front path of the house, she was greeted by one of the OCs. It was Bunita, or Bunny, the little firstborn and Original. She looked a little different now. She had two yellow flaps coming out of her neck. She was wearing a white nightgown and was glaring at Autumn. “Oh, hello, you must be Bunny” the girl tried to be friendly to the OC. “It’s Bunita Katsuma to you, perp!” she yelled at her, cold and hostile. “Walk and talk with me, I haven’t got all day!” Autumn thought that was a little rude, considering how the alien was only about seven years old according to Snowdrop. Nonetheless, she followed her to the front door. “Okay, you’re going in. Keep your head down, your breathing normal, and with good behavior, you’ll be out in time for my graduation ceremony” right after those words, the alien turned into a mist and went in through the chimney. Autumn knocked on the door, and was greeted by Hazel. She wasn’t wearing her armor right now, just her black dress. Right now, she looked just like how Lauren described her to be, only with shorter hair and tired eyes. “Hey, Hazel, I hope I’m not late for dinner” She still glared at her, probably still angry about being stuck in her twelve-year old form again. She gestured for her to come in before closing the door. “And I hope you don’t mind sleeping in the kid’s room tonight, Sweetheart” Hazel’s home was very well-kept. It was just simple and homely. It looked like an ordinary, average home. There were some photos around. Dinner was good too. Autumn wondered why, apart from Bunny, the OCs weren’t around. Hazel explained that she keeps them in curfew and their bedtime is always 8:00 PM every night. If she didn’t know better, she’d make a good mother in reality. She did wonder what was that about earlier from the incident with Brutalight and what was that coming from her eye, but the child always changed the topic. “Watch your back” Hazel warned as Autumn entered the room where the OCs slept. “Thanks, Hazel, can I just say…” she was cut off when the door slammed in her face. “I guess not” The room of the OCs was pretty nice. It had rather peculiar beds, but it was explained that it was the OCs decision. She saw Bunochius, who was wearing a dark blue nightgown. She was sitting on a bunk bed. There were carvings on the bedposts. “Oh, hey, you must be Bunochius” she greeted her. “Nice symbols, what’s that?” “That is the mark of my Mother, who you left to die, so I know why I’m always empty” “Quite the love of a child” she mumbled. “And that?” “The marks of both my Mom and Mother together, meaning I will always love both and they always love me, and I will kill anyone who tries to intervene” She was getting uneasy. “And that?” “An explosion, so people will know I will unleash havoc on them if they try anything to upset my family’s happiness” “Kinda looks like a sea urchin” “Does it?” she looked at it. “Yeah” “Well, it’s hard to carve on wood with your claws, okay?!” she yelled, angrily. “Woah, whoa, chill down, why is everyone so on edge here” she then noticed how another OC was acting. “And what’s up with her?” Sitting on a bed made a fur was Brazy. She wore a red nightgown. She was grinning creepily, as she pet a doll she made from a filly. She then pulled the head right off and licked it. The mere sight of it made Autumn almost want to throw up. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mess with that one. She’s been driven mad due to the goings on, and Mom tries anything to help, if you catch my drift” “I guess” Bunochius grinned. “Aww, you think I’m normally insane too, thank you” Autumn smiled at the sudden calmness. “You’re welcome. I’m gonna go sleep now” she tried to climb up on the bunk bed on top. “Hey!” she whipped the girl with a diamond attached to a string from her hat, making the girl fall. “I get the top bunk, punk!” There goes the progress. “Ow, what was that?” “I amplified my diamonds in the hat so they could be weapons” she growled before climbing up to the top to sleep. Autumn sighed before she lay down. So that was what Hazel meant by she wasn’t the only one who was angry at her. Those OCs, young as they are set to, really have an attitude. She hoped that she could get them to be nice soon. Out of the glint of her eyes, she watched as Bunster went to her electronic bed. She was wearing a faded pink nightgown. When she noticed Autumn, she glared angrily and made a sign that said, “I’m watching you”. Now the girl was unsure if she could sleep at all with the mad OCs around her. “I AIN’T GET NO SLEEP CAUSE OF YOU! YOU AIN’T GETTIN NO SLEEP CAUSE OF ME!” Autumn awoke with a jolt to the sound of yelling and pots and pans banging together. She was getting deaf from all that. Once she recovered, she noticed who was waking her up like that. It all the four OCs, each armed with pots and pans as they formed an Indian circle around her as they kept yelling and banging the objects. “LET ME HEAR YOU SAY WHOMP, WHOMP, WHOMP, WHOMP! GET UP! GET THE HECK UP! WHOMP! WHOMP! WHOMP! WHOMP! I AIN’T GET NO SLEEP CAUSE OF YOU! YA’LL AIN’T NEVER GET NO SLEEP CAUSE OF ME!” Autumn tried to get them to stop, but they proved to be merciless to their act. She hid her head under the pillow in an attempt to block it out. Unfortunately, one of the OCs just had to Fluttershout’s daughter in design so she was still louder than her Sisters and still sounded so loud, no matter what Autumn tried. Finally, Hazel came in and stared at the sight before her. “Children, stop!” At once, they all stopped their antics. “That is no way to treat a guest, even if they ARE the reason all of this happened” she reprimanded them. “But, Mom, she turned you back to twelve!” Bunochius pointed out. “That’s not an excuse to deprive her of sleep. Now go downstairs and eat your breakfast. I want those pots and pans back where you found them by the time I get down” They all sighed before making their way out of the room. Hazel sighed. “It’s okay, Sweetheart, they’re gone now” Autumn peeked out timidly. “What’s with the wake-up call?” “That I don’t know. I was downstairs, preparing breakfast when I noticed that the pots and pans were missing. I then heard yelling and banging up here so I came to investigate. I guess they really hate you to the point that they would wake you up in the worst way possible” Autumn sighed as she sat herself up. “Thank you for stopping them” “Don’t thank me yet, Sweetheart” Hazel then tossed over a white shirt with a black pants over to the girl. “Wash up in the bathroom before joining us for breakfast. It’s the one with the yellow door” The girl watched as the child left the room. She did as she was told, taking a shower in the bathroom. It was normal temp so she was fine. When she was done, she found a towel on the sink that had a paper on it, “Autumn’s” She smiled before she started to dry herself off with it. She checked it before to make sure it wasn’t a prank by the OCs to dirty her again, and it was clean. Then again, the paper had Hazel’s handwriting. Only when she was all clean did she put on the shirt and pants. They were just her size. She then went down for breakfast. The OCs were each eating something different. Bunny was having some salad. Brazy was finishing up on some eggs. Bunochius was having some egg sandwich. Bunster was sipping some cocoa. She walked over to where Hazel was. The child was wearing a pink, flowery apron with white lace over her black nightgown. If she didn’t remember what happened with Brutalight, she looked rather adorable. “Why are you staring?” the child asked, snapping Autumn out of her thoughts. “Sorry” she hung her head low. “It’s fine; I wear this every time I make a meal so there won’t be a mess. I didn’t choose the design, it was…” she stopped herself before handing Autumn a bowl of oatmeal and a spoon. “And in case if you’re asking why all their breakfast meals are different, it’s because of the different Versions they’re in” Autumn nodded before taking her bowl to the table. “Aren’t you eating with us?” “I’ll wait until you guys are done. I need to clean anyway” “I can…” “It’s fine” Autumn said no more as she went to the table to take a seat. It was a little awkward sitting with those angry OCs. She saw one seat empty, but Bunochius was leaning her paw on it. “Will you mind if I sat in that chair?” she asked cautiously. “Yes!” Bunochius yelled before she took another bite of her sandwich. She settled on a seat beside Bunny. Compared to the others, she was the least aggressive. As she ate, she couldn’t help but notice how the OCs looked now in daytime when not in their nightwear. Bunny was wearing a white dress suited for the apocalypse, and her belt had a small dagger. She had yellow flaps sticking out of her neck. The flower on her collar wilted a bit and had a torn petal. Brazy was wearing what looked like her version of Pinkamena’s dress. This one had the cutie marks of her victims. It lacked wings, and it was a cloak rather than a dress. She still had her horn collar, but it was slightly torn now. Bunochius had looked rather tired. The gemstones on her hat were dull and rough on the edges. Bunster was slightly dull-colored. Her left eye was bandaged. Her ribbon was faded and had a small tear in it. Her left ear was droopy. There was a burnt mark on her tail. “Isn’t it a little dangerous for a kid with paws?” Autumn asked when she saw Brazy playing Five Finger fillet with her Agony Blade. She knew that the Huntress was immune to its effects, but was still worried. “I wouldn’t make eye contact with her when she’s playing” Bunny spoke monotonously while popping a lettuce leaf in her mouth. “Why?” She got her answer when Brazy lunged forward and knocked her out of her chair. She only skedaddled away with her creepy giggle after she shoved an ordinary knife in Autumn’s mouth. “Dervila, we’re gonna be out on your training today after breakfast. Better get ready” Hazel spoke up as she went upstairs for her armor after cleaning all the OCs plates and putting her apron aside.