//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Blue Moon // Story: The Problem With Pets // by Dusk Melody //------------------------------// "Run! Sparkler run!" "I am running!" "Run faster!" "I can't!" "CB! Look out for that tree!" "Buck!" Cloudburst just managed a swerving roll to the left that cleared a large gnarled tree in front of her that had come from nowhere by mere inches. Stonecutter’s warning had come just in time to stop her flying head first into it. "It's gaining! Run you guys!" she had chanced a look over her shoulder and saw the timberwolf just a few feet behind them "What do you think we're doing!?" Sparkler screamed, her lungs and calves burning with the effort of galloping through the forest, Winona was pulling her along on the leash, which didn’t help. Stonecutter, galloping alongside her marefriend, could feel the wolf's hot breath on her ankles. The chubby mare was red faced and panting hard. She wasn't built to run, let alone gallop at full tilt over uneven ground. Every thundering step she took she was scared she would stumble and fall. Every bramble and briar they than through snagged her socks and her tee shirt. "AAaaAAAH!" Sparkler screamed. The bright yellow unicorn had hit a stone hidden in a bush and stumbled forwards in mid run. She would have fallen flat on her face if Stonecutter hadn't scooped her up in her arms. That made the earth pony even slower as she was hindered with not only carrying Sparkler but Winona as well. More scared than she had ever been in her life, she crashed through the undergrowth, Sparkler's magic moving a low branch out of their way. As hard as they were running though, Stonecutter could feel a stitch coming in her side, her legs were cramping up. Her breath was coming in short ragged gasps. The snarling timberwolf would be upon them in seconds. "CB, do something!" she screamed in abject terror, narrowly ducking under a head height branch that, had she hit it, would have knocked her senseless on the forest floor. "Like what?" the pegasus screamed back, only just swerving around a bunch of hanging thorny vines that threatened to entangle her. She was beyond scared. What could she do against a timberwolf? Tickle it with her feathers? Tell it a joke and hope it laughed so hard it forgot to eat them? Sparkler, held bridal style by Stonecutter in the slate grey mare’s strong arms, looked over her pet's shoulder at the pursuing timberwolf and wished she hadn't. Until fifteen minutes ago she had never seen or heard of a timberwolf, now the feral beast was chasing them down! As she stared into its ghostly glowing green eyes, she saw, in her panic, the creature was actually made up of wood that looked alive. There were twigs and branches with fresh looking leaves all over it. ‘Duh…timberwolf. Made of timber. Fresh living wood…’ Terrified though she was, Sparkler’s brain was working hard as Stonecutter fled at her top speed, the large mare crashing through the brush heedless of the multitudinous scratches and scrapes they were earning as a result. Her eyes went wide as a plan came to her. "CB! Aim a lightning bolt at it!" "What?" she screamed back, "What good will that do? It's a bucking tree!" "Just do it!" Sparkler yelled, "Your most powerful lightning bolt, now!" "But I'll need to stop and aim!" "Trust me!" "You're crazy!" The very last thing Cloudburst wanted to do was to stop and aim. In the path of an onrushing timberwolf. "CB!" Stonecutter could barely breathe anymore. She guessed she had five minutes running left in her before she was spent. The wolf was gaining, it would be on them at any second. "Do it! Please! I can't run much more!" Tears streamed from her eyes. Every single muscle in her thick legs was screaming out in pain, begging for her to stop. 'I'm gonna die...I'm gonna die...' Cloudburst thought as she stopped and hovered in place. Rubbing the palms of her hands together, she frantically began to generate the static electricity. Harder and harder she rubbed, she felt the energy build inside her, she could feel it in her very bones. Her hands began to glow an electric blue colour as the charge built up in her forearms. Still she rubbed harder until her hands glowed white. The timberwolf ran straight at her now, seeing as she was closer to it than the earth pony and unicorn. 'I'm gonna die...Master's gonna spank me so hard!' All thought escaped her though as, when the wolf was scant feet away, she aimed her palms at the creature and released the highest level lightning bolt she had generated in her life. The level ten thunderbolt hit the wolf square in the face, above its nose and between its glowing green eyes. In a micro second, the wood was heated to forty thousand degrees and in that instant, all the moisture trapped just under the bark boiled and expanded, causing the creature to explode in a shower of head sized chunks of wood and razor sharp splinters. 'I'm gonna die!' Cloudburst saw the debris coming at her moving in slow motion, but she hadn't the time to get out the way. She just had the time to process the fact that she had escaped being eaten alive by a timberwolf only to be shredded. The pegasus lifted a wing in front of her face and scrunched up her eyes. At least it would be quick. ‘Please let it be quick,’ she thought, begging to anypony who could hear her. All she heard though was several loud thunks and lots of smaller impacts. When she realised that she wasn’t dead or cut to ribbons, she opened her eyes. Cloudburst saw a large tree branch floating in a glowing green aura. On the other side, imbedded in it, were the chunks and splinters that otherwise would have cut her apart. She turned to see Sparkler huddled with Stonecutter behind a hefty boulder with her horn lit. "You...you saved my life!" she hovered over to them and staggered to her knees. "You knew that would happen, didn't you?" "Kinda..." Sparkler dropped the branch that had shielded Cloudburst and panted for breath, "I remembered science class...about why you never take shelter under a tree during a lightning storm…h-hey!" she squeaked as Winona, still held in Stonecutter’s arms, broke free from the exhausted earth pony’s grasp and started to lick Sparkler all over the unicorn’s face. “Aww don’t take on so,” Stonecutter, still breathing heavily, panted beside her marefriend. “She’s just saying thank you, that’s all. I think I’ll take her lead.” Sparkler, who thought Stonecutter meant Winona’s leash, was rather surprised when the slate grey earth pony wrapped her up in a bone crushing hug, planting kisses all over her face. “Yeah,” Cloudburst joined in, “I’ll get some of that action!” When Stonecutter let her go, the pegasus stepped up and hugged Sparkler with not just her arms but her wings as well. She then reached into her left wing and, with a hiss, pulled out one of her primary feathers just where they transitioned to the secondaries and presented it to her new friend. “Thank you, for saving my life, Sparks.” Sparkler didn’t know what to do or say. She took the offered feather and placed it reverently in her bag, content to blush like a tomato. Fortunately, her marefriend broke the silence that had grown between them. “Um…guys?” the earth pony spoke up, “Where in the world are we?” They all looked around themselves. They had ran at full gallop and flew at top speed for over twenty minutes. In that time they had crashed through underbrush, twisted and turned, changed direction many times in an attempt to throw off the incessant timberwolf. The realisation slowly dawned upon them one by one that they were hopelessly lost. There was no path where they were for them to follow, no trail, no clue which way to go next. Each of them offered a shrug of their shoulders. “Hey,” Cloudburst said after a few moments of oppressive silence, “Do you guys hear that?” “Hear what?” Stonecutter asked before being shushed by her marefriend. All she could hear was the blood still thundering around her ears and her own heavy breathing. It was at times like this she cursed herself for being so overweight and out of shape. “I hear it…I hear it!” Sparkler’s eyes went wide. At first she thought the sound was just a trick of the forest, but the more she listened, she heard what she was sure was making the pegasus grin. A frantic hooting sound was coming to her ears from not very far away at all, if she was any judge. It was Owlowiscious, she was sure of it! Now, even Stonecutter heard the hooting sound. She shot a disbelieving look to Sparkler and Cloudburst. “What?” she asked defensively when they answered her look with incredulous ones of their own. “No way are we that lucky as to stumble on Professor Twilight’s owl all the way out here like that…” “Lucky!” Cloudburst exclaimed, interrupting her best friend, “Do you call almost being killed to death by a timberwolf lucky?” “You’re alive, aren’t you, featherbrain?” Stonecutter snarked, “I’d call that pretty lucky.” “Girls!” Sparkler cut across the both of them, before it could get out of hand. The bright yellow unicorn was in no mood to referee a slanging match between the two best friends. Not while they were still lost in the heart of the Everfree Forest, anyway. “Science saved us, not luck.” She put her hoof down. “Yeah, ‘science’,” Cloudburst added finger quotes to the last word, “and my lightning bolt…” Sparkler cut her off with a look that could have stopped a charging Ursa in its tracks. “It. Was. Science. Got it?” She put a finger on Cloudburst’s collar and then flicked her nose. “Now, we should get going. Next time it could be something bigger and more dangerous than a timberwolf that chases us. I want to get out of here before the next time.” With that, she took Winona’s leash in her hand and started to walk through the shrubbery towards the sound of the hooting. As they walked along through the thinning shrubbery and rotting mass of leaves that made up the forest floor towards the sound of the hooting, Stonecutter sighed. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’ve had enough of this bucking place…” Sparkler and Cloudburst both muttered their agreement to what the earth pony had just said. All three of them were on alert for a manticore, or a cockatrice or chimera or whatever else this damned forest would throw at them. A few more steps though and Winona began barking, pointing her nose at something on the ground. Warily, in case whatever it was might burst forth from the rotting mass of crap and eat them all alive, Cloudburst investigated what the brown and white dog had found. What she had found both surprised and elated her in equal measure. “Hey guys!” she called out, picking up the object and holding it victoriously in the air, “Look at this!” What ‘it’ was, was a feather. A brown feather. A brown feather that was covered in soot. For the first time since leaving the wishing well, Sparkler smiled. “That’s got to be from Owlowiscious!” The other two mares concurred, for they were both greatly heartened by the physical evidence of the last pet. They were convinced the hooting had to be him, and what was more they were closer than ever! Like they had been given an adrenaline shot, they picked up the pace. They no longer cared about the brambles and shrubs they crashed through, they wanted this whole thing over with. On they walked, negotiating their way over and around low branches and sharp thorns. The closer they got to the hooting sound the more of the soot covered feathers they found, convincing them further that they were on the right trail. Presently though, they emerged from the dark twisted trees into a wide shadowy glade. Parting the low branches framing the entrance to the wide glade, the three mares saw that the space was empty but for two things; an extremely tall and ancient looking oak tree, its gnarled and twisted branches extending out from its trunk, and the ground which was covered from the base of the tree with a mass of beautiful blue plants. The plants – blue petals, blue leaves and blue stalks streaked with dark blue veins - covered the whole of the open ground from the tree out almost to the edge of the glade where they were standing. Flying repeatedly into the trunk of the large tree, hooting crazily like he was drunk, was Owlowiscious, the poor owl looked cross-eyed and dopey, a lot like Cloudburst looked when she was confronted by a math test. A fact that Stonecutter was quick to point out to her best friend. And her best friend was quick to raspberry her in return. “So, seriously,” the earth pony spoke up, “How do we get him back?” “What do you mean, how?” Cloudburst looked at the overweight mare like she had grown three heads. “I’ll just fly there and grab him. Easy!” she spread her wings and prepared to demonstrate just how easy it would be when Sparkler surprised them all. “I have had it with this place!” the bright yellow unicorn threw Winona’s makeshift leash at her marefriend, who caught it in her fumbling hands. “To Tartarus with this forest and everything in it!” Cloudburst and Stonecutter glanced at each other like Sparkler had gone mad. “I. Have. Had. Enough!” she then ran at a canter out from the trees and headfirst into the mass of blue plant. “Bugs! Spiders! Rotting plants! Dirt! I’ve had enough!” she punctuated each word with several running steps towards the tree. “Stone…your Mistress has lost it…” “Yeah, I’m beginning to think you’re right, CB,” Stonecutter looked worried at her best friend. She had wanted to stop, think, make a plan, just Sparkler had done every time so far, but she was as stunned as the pegasus beside her when she saw the unicorn just blunder off into whatever the plants were. “Hey! Hey Sparks!” she called after the running unicorn to no effect, “Come back would you?” “Sparks!” Cloudburst yelled, snapping her fingers and sending a low level lightning bolt over her head to get her attention, “Wait up! Come back dummy!” The insult did it. Halfway to the oak tree, Sparkler stopped and turned around, anger all over her face. How dare she, Cloudburst of all ponies, call her a dummy? “What!?” she screamed back, stomping her hoof on the ground. Alas, this was a grave error. Unbeknown to the unicorn, and in fact the other two, the plant was poison joke. Stomping her hoof into them, Sparkler had unwittingly released thousands of the plant’s pollen into the air. The longer she stood amongst them, the longer she breathed in the air, the more she was being affected. “Come back! We need a plan!” Stonecutter yelled, not wanting to touch the strange plants. “I’ve got a plan!” When Sparkler turned back to face Owlowiscious, who was still flying drunkenly around the tree, the unicorn lit her horn and she attempted to levitate him to her with her telekinesis. However, what happened was that several Catherine wheels and roman candles burst from her horn and erupted in a shower of light in the shadowy glade. “I um…I didn’t mean to do that!” “Sparkler!” Stonecutter was worried now. “Get back here!” “Y-Yeah…yeah, I’ll come back…” She wanted to put one hoof in front of the other. What actually happened was she found herself walking sideways left to right. Like she was drunk, none of her steps corresponded to where she wanted to go. The more she tried to concentrate and walk straight, the more crazy it looked. “I…I got this!” She tried to levitate herself, which sent three enormous rockets exploding into the sky like it was the Summer Sun Celebration. When Sparkler tripped over her hooves and fell face first into the mass of blue plants, Cloudburst had seen enough. “I’ll get her, Stone. Don’t worry.” Spreading her wings, the pegasus took off like she had wanted to in the first place and she flew over the poison joke. She covered the distance to the oak tree in no time at all and, in a deft movement, she grabbed the errant owl and, on her way back, she swooped down low and grabbed Sparkler’s hands, half carrying, half dragging her back to the edge of the glade. “There, told you it was easy!” “Sparks, are you okay?” Stonecutter asked as she carefully helped her marefriend up to her hooves. “I’m fine!” Sparkler giggled stupidly and lit her horn again, which caused another bright shower of fireworks to light up the sky and the surrounding wood. “They pretty!” Cloudburst, as it happened, was having her own issues. Though she had caught Owlowiscious, Owlowiscious it seemed did not want to stay caught. The more the owl tried to stay still, the more he flapped his wings in an effort to break free of the pegasus’s grasp. Fortunately, for the three mares, Sparkler’s light show had not gone unnoticed. A shadowy figure, who had been walking abroad in the forest that she called home saw the bright display and, in a curious mood, she had gone to see what the source was. Even in the Everfree Forest, unexpected fireworks were an unusual sight. What greeted Zecora when she emerged from the trees and lowered the hood of her cloak surprised the zebra to no end. “What have you foals done?” she called out to them, it only took her a second to see the strange reactions and the blue plants and add things up, “Poison joke is no fun!” “Look at me!” Sparkler cried, before shooting off more fireworks and giggling like an idiot, “All the pretty colours!” “Zecora! Ma'am,” Stonecutter recognised the zebra straightaway. She had taught some classes at the Friendship School when Professor Fluttershy had been unable to. She had always liked what she saw as an eccentric older mare – her stripes and gold rings were rather exotic – but right then she could’ve kissed the friendly face as she held onto Sparkler’s waist. “We ah, we didn't know it was poison joke!” It seemed obvious though now that the zebra had named it. Of course it was poison joke. “Will you hold bucking still?” Cloudburst grunted, only barely managing to hold onto Owlowiscious at the same time she was keeping her pack with Opalescence and Tank inside, on her back. “Why are you in the woods so late?” Zecora asked as she stepped into the diminishing light of the day and wrapped her travelling cloak around her body, “Are you trying to seal your fate?” “We were getting our teachers' pets back,” Stonecutter explained, like her best friend, she was having difficulty keeping Angel and Gummy in her bag while at the same time holding Winona’s leash and keeping Sparkler on her hooves. “We're staying at Professor Fluttershy's place pet sitting till they get back from the Badlands.” Suddenly, Sparkler laughed loudly as her horn erupted like it was a sparkler fountain. “Look, see? Sparkles, get it?” she nudged Stonecutter suggestively, “I'm a sparkler!” “You're a pretty firework, baby,” though she rolled her eyes, Stonecutter looked worried. She was at a total loss on how to make her marefriend better. “Ma'am, can you help? She got a heavy dose...of whatever those plants do.” “The yellow pegasus is far from this wood. Follow me if you could. Bring the owl that can't fly. Down from up there in the sky. Bring the pony light show. I will show you were to go.” It was obvious to Zecroa – it was obvious to a pony with no eyes – that the unicorn was in a very bad way. “Damn it, Stone, she reminds me of that bucking well...” Cloudburst said out of the corner of her mouth to her friend as they carefully skirted the very edge of the shadowy glade where there were none of the pretty but dangerous blue plants. Stonecutter tried to walk normally with Sparkler by her side but the stricken unicorn’s steps were still uncoordinated and all over the place. She seemed incapable of walking in a straight line. She supposed, were they not lost deep in the Everfree Forest, that it would be funny. After a few steps of this she lost all patience and she picked up her marefriend like a bride and she just carried her. It was easier. “Tell me about it, CB.” Quietly, Zecora led the three effortlessly through the forest to her hut. It appeared to the three following the zebra that she followed no path, or wasn’t led by any direction that they could see, but she got there to her home. “Come inside and close the door,” she said once she entered her large tree home, “I’ll see what I can do and more.” “It's a tree.” Cloudburst stated the rather obvious, looking up at the overgrown mass of branches and leaves. Not warm and welcoming like Professor Twilight’s tree had been, this was as twisted and scary as every other tree in the forest. “So?” Stonecutter shot her a look, “There's no timberwolves in there, so who cares if it’s a tree?” “Good point. Well made.” Shaking her head at her best friend’s apparent foolishness, Stonecutter followed Zecora inside the hut. “We really appreciate this, ma'am, you're a real lifesaver.” Inside, Zecora had her back to the three young ponies, the zebra searching a windowsill and an adjacent shelf for some strange and no doubt exotic ingredients to aid her unexpected guests. “Much easier to do when you're alive still. Let me look for some herbs on my windowsill.” “Wow…” Cloudburst was struck otherwise dumb as she looked around amazed at the inside of Zecora's house. Her eyes were drawn everywhere at once to the enormous black cauldron in the centre of the large open plan room, to the many shelves with all manner of weird and wonderful things inside, to the quite scary looking tribal masks propped up along the walls. In the circumstances, ‘wow’ seemed to convey her awe. Stonecutter too was looking around at, well, everything. She was honestly scared to even look at most of the things in the jars in case they were still alive. “Do not touch anything, CB,” she warned. She knew what her friend was like. After consulting her book, ‘Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super’, Zecora gathered the necessary ingredients for the poison joke antidote. “I hear many animals not yours in fear,” she said as she placed certain herbs, plants, and flowers that were also found within the Everfree Forest around the cauldron, “How did they happen to be here?” “So ah, that poison joke, you called it? What does it do?” Stonecutter asked, the earth pony looked worried at the stricken Sparkler whom she still held in her strong arms. “Is she gonna be okay?” While Zecora was working, Cloudburst told the zebra the story of how Professor Fluttershy got them to pet sit while the six Professors and Spike went on a Friendship Quest to the Badlands sent by the Cutie Map. The pegasus told her how Angel made the scene he had and all the pets had ran off and how they managed to get them all back. Zecora listened attentively, not saying a word until the story was told. “Poison joke is a plant that wants fun. The cure will remove the effects when done.” She then prepped a large pot of water – smaller than the main cauldron but still large – and lit a fire, she placed it beside its large neighbour. She then added the crushed herbs and flowers until it turned blue. “Poison joke is a small flower that is blue. This water is the same hue. Wash your friend hoof to horn. She will be as good as she was born.” Stonecutter, who hadn’t let go of her marefriend and Mistress since she picked her up after she got a face full of the plant’s poison pollen, bowed her head to Zecora and, gratefully, she said, “Thank you ma'am.” She then kissed Sparkler’s forehead, below her horn. “Come on, babe, we'll get you right, you’ll see.” “I can do blue!” Sparkler cried, heavily under the influence of the poison joke, lighting up her horn and bathing the whole of the large room in a neon blue light. Once the antidote was ready, Zecora decanted a generous amount of it into a large container and Stonecutter carried it and her marefriend off to a side room that the zebra indicated was the bathroom. The earth pony was grateful of the privacy. She hated to imagine a sober Sparkler’s reaction if she discovered she had been stripped and washed in the cauldron. “Come on, let's get you clean…” As she watched the other two leave the large central room for the bathroom, Cloudburst offered up the still madly flapping owl. “Shall I just dunk him in the pot, miss?” she asked, not really knowing what was expected to do now. She was just grateful that the rest of the pets were behaving themselves, though she was sure that was more to do with the intimidating surroundings. “While that may be fun to see. Another solution I have for thee. Hold the owl over the pot. I will pour the potion, it's not hot.” “You got it!” Cloudburst giggled, noticing that all the pets were not only being very well behaved but were all sat in a row along one wall. “You know, that's the best they've all been all day long!” “They know more than you what I can do,” Zecora commented, laughing heartily as she gave the pets a very knowing look, “Many wise ones fear my zebra voodoo.” Involuntarily, Cloudburst shuddered as Owlowiscious was cleaned. “Yeah, but you're cool,” she said, watching the antidote seep into the bird’s feathers. Almost instantly, he calmed down and began to hoot normally, not like he had been when he was flying head first into the oak tree back in the glade. “I mean look at all this stuff!” “This is the magic of life. Through it you can cure strife.” “I won't pretend to know what that means, but I know it's awesome. And so are you, to live out here.” Cloudburst could think of a thousand and one other places she’d rather live, even Whinnyapolis, where you weren’t in danger of being eaten alive by manticores, chimeras, timberwolves, magic bears and Celestia knew what else as well as plants and insects designed to debilitate and most likely kill you as well. Not her idea of fun. “You can let the owl go,” the zebra mare nodded, “He will join them that I know.” Just as Cloudburst let Owlowiscious go, and the brown owl did indeed flutter over and join the other five pets, the bathroom door opened and Stonecutter carried Sparkler back into the large main room. The bright yellow unicorn was all cleaned up and cured, following the very thorough strip wash in the tub that her marefriend had given her. “Thank you, ma'am,” Stonecutter nodded to Zecora, who was now busy feeding the well behaved animals, “I think she's all better now.” “Miss Zecora?” Cloudburst laughed, hovering in the air she pointed at Sparkler who was trying valiantly to hide her face in Stonecutter’s hefty bosom, “You got anything to cure her blush?” “We will never talk of this again!” Sparkler squeaked, her yellow cheeks a deep tomato red, because of her recent predicament, Cloudburst’s teasing and last but not least, where her face currently was pressed. “No, oh Mistress of the Pretty Colours!” Cloudburst bowed low to Sparkler, making the poor unicorn squeak all the more and Stonecutter to give her friend a warning glare to stop teasing. With an amused look on her face, Zecora turned and addressed Cloudburst now that the six animals were all happily eating the feed that the zebra had given them. “If I did, would you give it an apply?” she asked with a devilishly bright twinkle in her eye, “By the tongue below the eye?” “Not me!” Now it was Cloudburst’s turn to blush hard. “She hasn't got the equipment I like. Stone might though,” she tried to banter her way out of the moment, before she remembered she had to call Seafoam. Her Master would be angry with her if she left it so long that he had to call her. “Hey, do you mind if I make a call real quick? “Miss Zecora, ma’am?” Stonecutter spoke up, “I don't mean to impose, but it's dark out, can we please stay the night?” She looked down at Sparkler in her arms and both mares shared a look between them that they both recognised. Neither of them wanted to be outside in the Everfree Forest at this time of day. If they were honest, neither of them wanted to be out there in the daylight, let alone now. Zecora thought it over for a brief moment. She could lead them out, but even for her, the forest was a dangerous place at night. It would be doubly so if she had to keep looking over her shoulder to check on her three wards. “You should stay the night. Outside is a terrible fright. I have a phone the over on that post. You can call who will miss you the most.” “Thank you,” when Cloudburst walked over to a quiet corner of the large open room though, she used her cell phone to call Seafoam’s number rather than the antiquated looking telephone bolted to the post. This was because the pegasus had never seen a rotary phone in her life and she had no idea how to operate it. “Yes, thank you!” Stonecutter exclaimed, not caring how relieved she was sounding, “We had a hard enough time finding our way during the day. I'd hate to go and do it at night…” “The path I know and could go. With you three though, we'd be to slow.” At last, Stonecutter set her marefriend down in a low stool by the cauldron, because the fire was very warming and welcome. She looked at her and gently she stroked her mane. “How are you doing, my love?” “I'm doing very well, thank you.” Sparkler replied, the unicorn sat up bolt straight, her tone short and snippy. “I’m afraid I've had a slight memory lapse since getting the owl back,” she looked Stonecutter dead in the eye, that dominant tone back in her voice. “Which I don't need to be reminded about. Understand?” Smiling, Stonecutter kissed Sparkler’s lips. “I understand, Mistress. Are you hungry?” “Hey Foam,” Cloudburst greeted her stallion with a kiss which she blew down the phone line, “miss me?” “Yes,” Seafoam replied, a grunt of annoyance in his voice, “every moment I'm here cleaning up your mess. It’s dark,” he looked out of the recently repaired window of Professor Fluttershy’s cottage and the hippogriff shuddered at how dark it was outside, “where are you?” “It wasn't my fault this time!” Cloudburst protested, “We're at Miss Zecora's hut in the forest. She's letting us stay the night.” Seafoam was at least placated by that. “You mean that crazy zebra that talks like a rapper all the time?” “Yes Master,” Cloudburst giggled, “the cool zebra, that's the one.” She then took a deep breath before delicately broaching the rather iffy subject that threatened to become an elephant in the room. “Sooooo, how goes the cleaning over there? You guys having fun?” “Cloudy Skies is a task master!” Seafoam exclaimed, before a deep sigh left his beak, “Blackbeak and I have the living room almost clean. Cloudy is in the kitchen. How...on earth did you…oh never mind, I'll pretend you just changed to get it this way.” Cloudburst blew a long raspberry down the phone. Just because she was notoriously messy, just because when she changed the bedsheets the dorm room looked like a bombsite, just because she had more clothes on the floor than in her closet, was no reason to assume it was her fault. “Blame the bunny. That's what we're going with. Did you get the things we were talking about earlier?” Seafoam had a wide grin on his face when he answered her. A grin that carried down the line. “I got the whole kit in canary yellow.” “Awesome. Did you bring our toys, too?” “We're in Professor Shy's house. I only bought our starter kit too, less the collar you're wearing.” Cloudburst wasn’t phased in the slightest. Sure, she would’ve liked to have more of their stuff to play with, but anything was better than nothing. “I'm sure we can do a lot with that. Now, I haven't forgotten about the trip to Cloudsdale for the beers.” She supposed she did owe her stallion and her friends – ‘brothers’ a crate of beers for helping them out and cleaning up their mess. “I'll believe it when I drink it.” “I haven't!” she protested, though not very vehemently, “I was gonna go after I get off the phone to you.” “Stay safe out there,” Seafoam warned immediately, hardly giving her the chance to finish her sentence before he jumped on her. “I can get a buzz anytime.” “I've done night flying before, it'll be fine.” Though she rolled her eyes in such a way that he could hear it down the line, she followed it up with a blown kiss. She knew he had her best interests at heart. He looked after her and he took care of her. She was as much his world as he was hers. “I love you, Master.” “Loves you too, pet.” When the call was ended, Cloudburst put her phone away in the pocket of her hoodie and she announced to the room as a whole, “Guys I just gotta go out for a bit. Master needs a beer run.” Zecora didn’t like the sound of that in the slightest. “There are more than creatures that crawl and creep. Some can fly or do a giant leap,” she warned, for against such a creature, her aid would be essentially worthless. There was precious little she could do against a flying manticore or bugbear. “It's cool,” Cloudburst nonchalantly waved her hand in the air. “I'll be fine.” “Are you sure, CB?” Stonecutter really didn’t want her best friend going outside in the dark. She was dead against her night flying in general, but leaving the safety of the zebra’s hut for the danger of the Everfree, even for a few seconds, sent shivers down her spine. “I was going to cook for us all…” “Well, save me some.” Cloudburst shrugged her shoulders, “You always do enough to feed Ponyville in any case, there'll be leftovers. There are always leftovers.” Sparkler though wouldn’t be easily dissuaded from the argument. “Why could you possibly need to go out now?” “Master wants a beer run,” the pegasus answered simply in the manner that said that was that and there would be no further discussion on the subject. “He likes the Cloudsdale beer the best.” Therefore, it was simple in her mind. She had been asked to get beer, she would get beer. Easy. “This is a reason?” Sparkler asked, blinking her eyes incredulously, “Miss Zecora, do you have wine?” she asked in the hopes it would get the impetuous pony to change her mind. “My jungle juice is quite good,” Zecora had a wicked twinkle in her eyes, “Sure to get you in the mood.” Sparkler decided not to ask again. “A bottle of red would be good, CB. Ah, safe flying, out there.” “You got it, Sparks. Wine for you, two cases of beer. Tell you what, I'll drop off the wine when I get back from my run, then I'll fly over to Professor Shy's place. I got a feeling Foam wants me tonight,” she gave them all a very salacious wink just so that they all knew exactly what she meant. “I'll be back soon guys. Don't worry about feeding me Stone, Foam will feed me later.” “You be careful!” Cloudburst waved her hand at her best friend and lifted the hood of her school hoodie up over her head. “Will do!” She was out the door before she had finished speaking, so eager was she to spread her wings and get a really, really good flight done. Sat imperiously on her stool, Sparkler waited a few moments to speak until she was sure Cloudburst was gone. Not that she didn’t like her new friend, she did, a lot, she just didn’t want to lose face. “I'm doing alright, pet.” She nuzzled Stonecutter’s arm, “I just never felt so weird in all my life. So, you have food, Zecora?” she asked when her belly rumbled. “I have many a tasty treat. You'll find them all fine to eat. But best you close your eye, before you give one of them a try,” Zecora giggled to herself at her own joke, because she knew full well that zebra cuisine was not for most equine tastes. This was demonstrated when she showed Sparkler the meal worms, locusts, crickets she had in her stores and Sparkler got a distinctly green look to her face. Stonecutter giggled like a filly. “I’m sure they'll be fine once I cook them up, Mistress,” she nuzzled Sparkler’s cheek, who remained looking unconvinced. “Ma'am, may I cook for us all? Consider it my thanks for letting us stay in your house.” “You cook zebra food?” when the earth pony shook her head, Zecora continued, “That won't be good. I have Ponyville fare. That I'll let you dare.” She then showed her the 'tame' food she had in her store cupboard. Looking over what Zecora offered, Stonecutter grinned as she thought of Sparkler’s green face. She decided to take the zebra’s warning and play it safe. “I think the pony stuff you have will be just fine, ma'am. I can make us a meal with this.” As Stonecutter helped herself to the parsnips, cauliflowers, broccoli, carrots, peas and beans, Zecora nodded and she went outside into the relative safety of the grounds of her hut to take care of what she was doing when she first saw the fireworks, namely planting some seeds and using some odd coloured mulch in her garden. While she was cooking the hearty and filling casserole – she found the cauldron and fire very easy to work with, having cooked extensively at home for her parents and herself, Stonecutter looked at Sparkler, studying her carefully. “Are you feeling better? I can get you a water if you want?” “Is there only water in it?” Sparkler asked nervously, furtively glancing around the hut like any one of a number of imagined horrors would leap out from wherever they were hiding and pounce her. Misunderstanding what she meant, because she was busy chopping up the vegetables for the casserole she was going to make, Stonecutter said, “I'm sure I can find something stronger, if you prefer?” Quickly, Sparkler shook her head. “I'm not trying that jungle juice! I just want to be sure that something wasn't swimming in that 'water'.” Looking around in Zecora’s fridge, Stonecutter giggled as she held up her prize. “It's fine, it says drinking water on the bottle, see?” she showed it to the fretting unicorn and, when she got a nod of approval, she pours it into a glass and passed it over to her marefriend before adding the ingredients to the boiling water in the pot. Lighting her horn, Sparkler cast a simple telekinesis spell – after her experience with the poison joke, it was all she felt confident casting – and levitated the glass of water and the bottle over to her. Pointedly, she made sure the bottle's seal hadn’t been previously broken before she drank the water. Keeping her voice low, she said, “Doesn't this place creep you out?” Busy at the pot, adding in seasonings that she had taken from her bag, you never knew when you’d need food, and tasty food was the best food, Stonecutter shrugged her shoulders. “Not really. Like I said earlier, earth ponies tend to go with the flow. After making a dolly for an ursa minor and asking you out, and getting dunked in a swamp, talking to a magic wishing well and being chased by a timberwolf, this place isn't so weird.” Blinking her green eyes once then twice, Sparkler blushed, “Well when you put it that way…” still, she was a Canterlot mare at heart. Had somepony told her several months ago that she’d be in a hut like this, she would have laughed in their face. She was only just getting used to Ponyville. “Just don't open the freezer. I don't need to see a leg with a cutie mark.” “You do know that's all just a myth, right?” Stonecutter, stirring the water, was rather surprised. What should’ve taken the better part of three hours to cook was already looking about there, after just a little over thirty minutes. Shrugging, she put that down to the wood that was burning under the pot. She’d never seen blue, green and bright red flames before. Sparkler waved a hand dismissively in the air. She’d seen enough enchanted fire at the school in Canterlot to really notice this one. “Myth, rumour, common Canterlot gossip…right now I don’t really care. She hasn't taken an axe to us, and I'm just talking to calm myself down.” Had she been back at home, she would’ve made herself a stress salad and curled up on her sofa. Watching her carefully, Stonecutter could tell a mare on her ragged edge when she saw one. After all, she had comforted Cloudburst enough times when her parents had no-showed one of her harmonica recitals often enough. She could see that Sparkler was only barely keeping it together. ‘It’s understandable,’ she thought as she filled three plates until they were heaving with food, ‘For a neat freak like her who’s scared of bugs, she sure has had a lot to deal with today…’ Working quickly, she set the steaming plates on the table. “Come on, sit with me, Mistress. I’ll keep you safe. Miss Zecora, ma'am, food's ready!” Walking over from the stool she had been perched on like the floor was on fire, Sparkler inhaled the heavenly aroma and almost instantly she began to feel better. “This does look good, pet,” she smiled and gratefully nuzzled her submissive marefriend’s cheek, “Thank you.” “You have made such food with great care,” Zecora said appreciatively as she came back in from outside and sat down at her table. She then cast an amused look at the young unicorn, “I couldn't find my axe, do you know where?” Sparkler’s groan could be heard from outside. “You heard that didn't you?” By way of reply, the zebra just smiled and ate. Sat in between Zecora and Sparkler, Stonecutter burst out laughing at their host’s joke, but she stopped abruptly when she saw the fuming deadpan look on Sparkler’s face. “Ahem. Sorry, but that was funny, Mistress.” As Stonecutter wiped a tear from her eyes, Sparkler fixed her with a most unamused look. “Sorry, I'm trying to figure out the funny part, pet.” “When you open your mouth to speak, Humour out of it does leak.” Zecora snickered in between mouthfuls of one of the best casseroles she had ever tasted. She fancied that the earth pony’s skill with food was why she was the size she was. Sparkler just facepalmed and decided that eating was the best way to silence. Stonecutter, still chuckling, decided it was worth a spanking from her Mistress to enjoy the joke. “When you've been living in mudtown a bit longer you'll loosen up, Sparks.” Rolling her eyes, Sparkler shovelled a large spoonful of the amazing casserole and looked away to see all the animals are also eating, and doing so quite peacefully, apparently without any supervision or direction from Zecora or Stonecutter or herself. Indeed, Opalescence and Winona were both curled up asleep. “How did you do that?” she demanded, waving her hand at the pets. “I know recipes to share,” Zecora answered mysteriously, “Now they eat with great care.” “Well, I was totally going to take all the credit for them behaving, but it seems even the demon rabbit knows when to behave himself. Like in the middle of the Everfree at night,” Stonecutter put in, never once stopping in the decimation of her meal. Sparkler sniffed, “You need to tell us what pet food you use.” Playfully, Zecora shook her head. “Yes, pet 'food' you might say. None of them want it that way…” the zebra thoroughly enjoyed the faint and green look on Sparkler’s face. While Sparkler had decided that her food and the space immediately in front of her was her whole universe, the other two silently ate as well. When they had all eaten their fill, Stonecutter had fourth helpings, because she wasn’t letting go to waste and even Sparkler had two servings, the earth pony gave her Mistress a casserole flavoured kiss. “I have the dishes!” Imperiously, Sparkler waved a hand. The meal had gone a very long way to making her feel a lot like her, again. “Do carry on, pet.” While Stonecutter carried the dirty dishes to the sink, Zecora went and got two large comfortable looking sleeping pads out of her storage cupboard complete with blankets, sheets and pillows. “Out here you will have to sleep. My room to myself I will keep.” Not long after that, as Stonecutter was arm deep in soap suds, Cloudburst reappeared. She explained that she had flown to Ponyville, got a fast cab to Cloudsdale and back and that she wasn’t staying. She dropped off the red wine for Sparkler and bade her friends her farewells, before leaving the hut and getting back in the taxi that would take her to Fluttershy's place and to Seafoam. Practically licking her lips, Sparkler used her magic to open the wine. “Are you having some with us, Zecora?” “I will drink with you this wine. I'm sure what she bought is fine.” What with having a meal like that casserole cooked for her and now free wine, the zebra supposed she should have visitors more often. “You can be sure CB got the good stuff, ma'am!” Stonecutter, just finished with the dishes that were now draining beside the sink, dried her hands and helpfully she provided wine glasses from one of Zecora’s cupboards without being asked. She was quite happily nestled in her subspace and she didn’t want to leave. Sparkler, who was fully recovered now from her misfortune with the poison joke both physically and more importantly, mentally, watched her marefriend carefully. As she seemed content in her submissive role, so to was she feeling more and more dominant. She supposed it was a shame they were in Zecora’s hut. While she wanted to do more, all she intended to do was sleep really close to her pet. When she sipped her wine, she agreed it was a good red. She drank in silence and smiled deeply when Stonecutter joined them at the table. After the huge bottle of wine was at last gone, Stonecutter yawned a very big yawn, stretching her arms out in a manner that pulled her tee shirt tight across her belly and large chest. Wow…I'm beat!” Yawning in a similar fashion to Stonecutter, Zecora stood up and stretched. “The food was good and the wine fine. Now off to the bed that is mine.” Giving them both a good night, the zebra walked out of the only other door in the room at the back of the hut. When they were alone, Sparkler removed her horseshoes and her white socks, closely followed by her ‘Saturday clothes’ of plaid skirt and blouse. Neatly, she folded everything so that her clothes had nice crisp corners and she placed her bundle by her pillow. Winking at her marefriend, she moved the sleeping pads next to each other and used the blankets for one cover and got in. “Don't dally, pet.” Standing by the improvised double bed, Stonecutter quickly stripped down to her panties and bra. There was none of the hesitance and blushing that she demonstrated at the edge of the swamp. She pulled her clothes off and, letting them fall in an untidy heap on the floor, posed for her marefriend, fat pudgy belly, wide ass and not to mention her ‘generous’ chest. “No Mistress. No dallying.” Once Stonecutter was in the bed, Sparkler very gently placed her delicate hand on her marefriend’s arm. “Face me.” On her side, the large mare rolled over until they were muzzle to muzzle with each other. Sparkler then gave her a light, chaste kiss. Smiling coyly, the unicorn then rolled over to face away and she pushed her back against Stonecutter's front. She could feel her curves pressing into her body and she loved it. “Keep me safe.” “As long as I have strength in my arm, I promise you'll be safe, my love.” Stonecutter promised, kissing the back of her marefriend’s neck, she snuggled in as close as she possibly could and, as they drifted off to sleep, she proved to be an excellent big spoon.