This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc.
Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth.
Chapter 3
<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->
Captain Butterscotch looked at the earth pony stallion from her hidden perch in a tree close to the treehouse. She glared at the strange pony, especially angry at him after she saw the argument erupt between him and Princess Luna. Nopony should be able to talk to the Princess that way. If she were there during the argument, she would have decked the sorry son-of-a-bit. Her eyes narrowed as she looked onto him even more, wondering what was so special about this sorry, whining stallion who barely even lived up to his name. She personally knew his three cousins, all in different Units, and they were all strong, proud servants of Princess Luan and dark knights of Equestria. What made this one so different and spineless?
“How’s it going Cap?” Nova whispered on her left, landing noiselessly on the branch next to her without as much as moving a branch.
“Quiet you two.” Butterscotch said as Sunburst landed similarly on her right side.
“Why? We should go get ready to honor Midas and Scroll.” Sunburst said, making the trio fall back into silence, if not in a somber tone.
After a few silent moments, Nova asked “Is that really one of the General’s relatives? He’s so…” he trailed off, looking at Alder’s spiked, grey hair.
“Didn’t General Steelhooves have really long hair?” Sunburst remarked, rubbing his chin in an effort to see the similarities between this flesh and blood stallion to the one they all saw portraits and statues of.
“Like your mom, doofus.” Nova said to his brother, sticking his tongue out.
“Vaffanculo, moron.” Sunburst bickered back.
“He is a Steelhooves.” Butterscotch said commandingly, silencing them. Her gaze was pasted on the stallion with the grey liberty spikes and the navy-blue coat. True, he didn’t seem like anything, looking like he would pass out after a simple story, but she could feel it in him when she first looked into his eyes. Nopony other than a relative of the magnanimous General Steelhooves could mold the earth like that, and even the other Steelhoovess’ she knew could only do it as well as Scroll could have. Yet this whimpering ball of punk-looking pony did things that only Butterscotch could dream of. She remembered each of his attacks on the Mountain King from earlier and she knew they would not have been able to chase him off if it wasn’t for him. Grey Tail was the Battalion’s strongest fighter and even he couldn’t stand a moment against the Mountain King’s mental attack. It frightened her that this “Alder Branch Steelhooves” was currently their only one that could beat the Mountain King. It was even worse that they were to only escort him to an undisclosed location. To say she was a little distressed about him in her Unit would be an understatement.
She grit her teeth as she hear the over-dramatic stallion sigh yet again and roll over on his lounge chair to look at the sky. She could feel the anger boil up at him as he lay there, knowing that the Mountain King needed to be finished off, and soon… or at least soon enough so that her cold rage at the monster killing two of her beloved companions wouldn’t fade. Every member of the Puck Unit was her family, even if they were not blood related. She loved each and every one of them, knowing that each time they got hurt it was her own fault for not being able to protect them. She hated that.
Now, this foolish colt was going to join her unit, a colt who not only knew nothing of actual teamwork (which could be solved in time with any other pony), but more importantly, didn’t want to be part of the team. That was more dangerous than not knowing what teamwork was. She shook her head as she stared at the stallion one last time and then fluidly descended from the tree. Nova and Sunburst followed her as she noiselessly and quickly walked around the treehouse in the darkness, as to go in through the front so the light would not alert Alder to their presence.
Butterscotch stopped at the front of the house only to look out at Ponyville. The only reason she was here, not in Ponyville, but in the Lunar Battalion, was to keep her fellow coutryponies safe. Each member of the battalion was there for that reason alone. To have any pony join unwillingly and serve unwillingly would only serve to endanger the rest of the battalion. With this in mind, she reentered the library, Nova and Sunburst following suit.
As the golden light from the inside of the house absorbed Butterscotch, she looked for only one being she wanted to talk to right now: her commander and ruler, Princess Luna. She strode into the main room of the library, Nova and Sunburst in tow, until they saw the look on their Captain’s face. Each knew what that look meant, so the scooted off to where the rest of the battalion was camping out, one of the two book repositories-turned guest rooms. While they went to rest, Butterscotch kept walking until she came back to the living part of the room, the place where they had let Alder rest on one of the couches while he was unconscious. Surprisingly, she found Luna in a conversation with the fireplace.
“I know how he thinks Luna. I know the battalion will be good for him, even if he tries to deny himself from it. The only reason he dislikes it is because of the pressures of his family.” Said a logical and compassionate voice from the fireplace. Luna replied by sighing and resting her hooves in her face. She looked like she was about to cry and that her immortal years were catching up on her.
“Dagger, how do you know? We know for a fact he is against joining the battalion and all that the battalion stands for. We believe it would be best if we just get him to where Crimson specified…”
“To where? The moon?” Dagger replied harshly, stepping out of the roaring flames of the fireplace, shaking ashes off of himself and patting down small flames that had sprung onto his body. “Princess, I know you want to please everypony, but this will not do. He is old enough to understand what the Lunar Battalion truly stands for and what he stands for. This continued ‘I stand for anything against my family’ act is getting old, even for me. Especially for him, even if he doesn’t consciously acknowledge it.” He finished with a sigh, grabbing his spectacles from the mantle, and sitting down next to Princess Luna before spotting Butterscotch.
“Captain,” he asked her as he put on his spectacles, “What do you think of Al joining your squad?”
“It is a Unit.” She answered back coldly, hoping that she could talk to Princess Luna alone.
“Excuse my ignorance then, but please, grant me your answer.” Dagger replied even colder as he examined his claws. Butterscotch grit her teeth. If anything could annoy her other than surprises like Alder, it was this dragon. Yet, for the sake of Princess Luna, who had just looked up with a torn disposition, she spoke.
“I don’t like it at all. From what I have gathered, he is selfish, not a team player, and somepony who would try to stop us at every turn just because of his emotional connections with his family. If history serves me right, he sounds nothing like General Steelhooves from long ago, and it doesn’t sound like he deserves to be in the Battalion.” She said quickly and stoically, before turning to Princess Luna with an apologetic look and said “Sorry, Ma’am.”
“What did we tell you?” Princess Luna said to Dagger, surprising Butterscotch. Indeed it was her who had ordered Alder to join the battalion. Why would she want him to stay out of it right after ordering him to join?
“I know your worries Luna,” Dagger continued in an even voice. “But he will prevail. I know this. And you really don’t have to worry about him stepping out of line.”
“And why is that?” Princess Luna asked.
“Well, first off, you have a great Captain who knows what is important.” Dagger said with a nod over to Butterscotch. “And secondly, Alder will not be the only addition to the Battalion. If my math is right, you are down two soldiers…”
“You don’t mean…” Luna and Butterscotch said together incredulously.
“Yes,” Dagger said with a rare, wicked smile. “I am coming along too. If he doesn’t join of his own will, then I will just help escort him. It’s time I get out and about again and more importantly, I need to watch out for my younger brother.”
“This is not a good idea.” Butterscotch deadpanned.
“Not at all.” Dagger answered. “But I am a dragon and also much, much more powerful than you if I choose to be. So I see two options for you. A.) Let me join and help Al. B.) Try to stop me from joining, only to choose the first option after I beat all of your battalion twice over.”
A smug silence filled the air as Butterscotch gave Dagger a deadly glare as he returned it with a smug smile. Luna looked on in shock, but then started laughing hysterically, effectively killing the silence if not lightening the mood.
“You cad!” she said as she playfully slapped Dagger on the back with a gentle hoof. “Fine, I will allow this, but only for you my dear Dagger.” She said in a friendly tone, which quickly changed as her eyes narrowed. “But if you do a single thing to jeopardize my battalion with Alder, do not forget that I know of a place that even dragons cannot stand…”
“I would never even think of it.” Dagger replied calmly, yet his eyes deceived him, as Butterscotch could see a spark of fear in them. But it disappeared with a sigh from the dragon as Princess Luna turned to face her Captain.
“Captain Butterscotch, good job tonight. What happened to Midas and Scroll was not your fault.” Luna said, making Butterscotch cringe. “It would do you well to get some rest. We leave tomorrow after we have paid our respects to our fallen comrades. Now please, go get some rest.” Luna finished gently, nudging the numb Butterscotch off in the direction of where the rest of her unit was sleeping. Butterscotch slowly walked into one of the rooms and fell onto an empty cot that Dagger had found for them in the basement of the library. She laid there with her eyes closed, trying to forget the memories of Scroll and Midas swimming through her mind. Their faces disappeared as she saw the Mountain King appear in her mind. She clenched a hoof around her pillow and grit her teeth for the umpteenth time tonight. If anypony could stop him, she hoped that this Alder kid would be able to do it. If not, she wasn’t sure if she would kill him herself or not.
<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->
“Object glum-ness and desperation” was a pretty good phrase to sum up my morning emotions. I finally rolled out of my lounge on the balcony around sunrise, threw my saddle bags over myself, and I tip-hoofed downstairs, trying to make sure nopony knew I was up. Especially the Puck Unit.
I saw Dagger gently snoozing in the fireplace on a bed of cooling coals. I smirked at his goofy face and his curled up, cat like form. He had a good room, right below mine, but he often preferred to sleep like that. He said he liked it better because he was closer to his precious books and also much more comfortable. Dagger said it reminded him of his home, back in the Magma cores of the Dragon Mountain range. He was born and raised there, in that inferno he loved so much, but soon became Lord Spike’s apprentice after he reached the young age of 90 years. He was still an adolescent in dragon years at the time, but Lord Spike wanted him to start learning early. He and Dagger traveled around the world for, Equestria and beyond, for about 20 years, and then Dagger settled down with my family about thirty years ago, when my father was barely out of his teenage years. They were great friends, so Dagger moved in with us when they had me, as my older brother and nanny, since both my parents were so busy with their jobs and other work. Dagger had always been there for me and cared for me in his own way, even if it was a bit bossy, he was my family. He was my brother and I loved him.
So, I gave him a small smile as I snuck out of the house silently, like I always did when I wanted to be alone. I walked out the door and into the early morning in Ponyville, the bright beams of light chasing away the darkness of the night sky and reflecting off of each candy-colored house of my hometown. I took in a deep breath of the morning air and soon all my troubles seemed to melt away into meaninglessness as I walked. I didn’t know where I was going, but I kept walking, knowing I’d stop when I knew it was right.
I found where I was looking for in the bluff that overlooked Ponyville Pond and the valley Ponyville was founded in. I sat on the edge of the bluff and enjoyed the view as the sun rose over my home. Yet, thoughts about the night before still managed to pop up in my skull, defying all the good I was seeing. I kept thinking back to the idea of actually being as close as I could to being in the battalion. My first emotions were bitterness and repulsiveness, of course, but then I actually thought of what it would be like to be in the battalion.
What would it actually be like?
Could I come to like it?
Would I make friends?
I chuckled as I thought about the babe-captain and I knew I’d definitely like to be “friends” with her. But my dirty thoughts were cut short as I heard bushes rustle behind me from the edge of the Everfree Forest. I tensed up and stood, connecting to the earth if anything were to come out threateningly. However, I calmed as I saw a large, grey muzzle pop out of the bushes. It was the timberwolf of Puck Unit.
He came out of the forest, his muzzle red with blood, and a game bird between this teeth. He glanced nonchalantly at me with his deep, ruby eyes and ignored me completely as he sat down next to me and started to devour his catch. If he were to do this to any other pony, they most certainly would have run away screaming and throwing up at the sight of not only a timberwolf, but meat being eaten. Perhaps some of the stronger ponies would have stayed and tried to hold a stiff face. But not me.
“It tastes better if you add a rub and then throw it over a fire. ‘BAM!’ You know, like Emril?” I said, having been taught in the art of meat preparation and also how to hunt. Having a dragon brother and griffon/dragon friends taught you how to get over the differences in what other species ate, even if that might end up being you.
The timberwolf stopped eating and looked at me with an incredulous, bloody muzzle. Soon, his lips started to convulse as he stared at me with wide eyes, which closed at he broke out into a loud series of laughter. He rolled away from his gory, half-eaten meal and onto the green grass of the bluff. His black stomach fur and a necklace with one crow feather showed to the sky as he rolled around on his back laughing. When his mirth stopped he got up and gave me a weary, yet happy, look.
“The others may not really like you kid, but you’re good by me. I haven’t had a pony yet tell me how to cook me meal, or even sit around with me while I’m eatin’. Whatcher name?” he said with a predatory grin and an extended paw.
I extended my hoof similarly. “Alder. Alder Branch Steelhooves.” He shook my hoof with such force I almost toppled to the ground.
“I’m Grey Tail. So what are ya doin’ up here so early?” he said before digging into his meal again. I pulled out a cigarette from my saddle bags and lit it with fire magic as he dug in.
“I don’t know.” I said with a wave of my hoof. “I just wanted to go for a walk.” I looked over to him to find that he had stopped eating and was looking intently at my cigarette.
“How’d ya do that? I thought you earth ponies could only move the earth…”
It was my time to smirk at him. “That’s most earth ponies who are trained in earth magic. That’s why they’re called Earth Mages.”
“Yeah, like ole’ Scroll.” He said with a sigh. “One of our ponies who died in the fighting yesterday.” He explained.
“Oh.” I said numbly, holding my cigarette to my lips, not breathing in or out, just tasting the smoke. I coughed a little after a while, interrupting the silence and again, Grey Tail asked me again how I had lit the cigarette.
“I’m stronger than any other earth pony out there.” I boasted, only to realize it wasn’t the place or the time, especially after the mentioning of the Earth Mage who had died. I realized, maybe if he was as strong as I was, then he wouldn’t have met such a terrible fate.
“But anyway,” I continued, swallowing my pride with humility, “I’m no ordinary Earth Mage. I’m more of an Elemental Mage. My strongest magic is Earth magic, but I can do things with the other elements too, like conjure small flames to lite things like cigarettes,” I said as I counjured a small flame on the ground in front of me, only to let it die out in a few seconds; “move a small breeze, mold water and ice, and of course, move the earth.”
The whole time, Grey listened intently, with curious eyes. When I finished, he asked me, “Have you ever heard of the Star Mages of my people?”
“Of course. They are some of the strongest in the known world.”
“Your magic…it reminds me of ours for some reason. Maybe…no, never mind.” He said as he sunk his muzzle back into his catch, feasting yet again.
Yet, I wanted to know what he was hiding from me. “What do you mean ‘never mind’?” I asked as I started to pull his catch away from him. However, I suddenly regretted it. He glared at me and I could hear a deep growl coming from him which raised the hackles on the back of my neck and made me step back from him. He went back to eating and I got up and walked away, a little shaken. I was used to seeing predatory students and my older brother, but never, never had I been threatened with such a primordial act, making me just a bit scared to be around him.
“Nice meeting you.” I called from over my shoulder as I walked down the sloping path up to the bluff. I heard a return yip and I knew I was somewhat scared by him, but also intrigued by him too. Yet, I walked home, in a numb fog, remembering the two ponies that had died. I didn’t know them, but I had found out the unicorn was an Offensive Mage and the earth pony was an Earth Mage. This small sliver of knowledge only proved to plague me as I walked home. Another Earth Mage, no matter who he was, died in the line of duty. I felt sad and mostly shocked that something like that could happen. Earth Mages were the best at defensive magic. How could something like this even come to pass? I knew I was strong, incredibly so compared to normal ponies, but still…if something like this could happen to another who was knew the arts, then I was no different. I walked around the Ponyville Pond, slowly smoking as I moved, letting this fact hit me over and over in waves of numbness and fear, until I ran into somepony. I felt my world get inverted and my stomach go into my skull as I got flipped over and sent tumbling down to the ground. I saw stars as I tried to find out who threw me.
“Oh horseapples…You’re alright, aren’t you?” I head a familiar voice say.
“Holy Faust.” I replied dazed and confused as her silhouette came into my view, blocking the morning sun from my eyes. “That was…”
“Violent?” she asked as she extended a hoof in kindness and her face betrayed the same solemn look it I had met her by showing an inkling of worry. However, I saw that there was a flash of irritation in her eyes as she helped me up.
“No, awesome!...kinda...” I said in half-hearted excitement, trying to cheer her up. On one hoof, the violence and ease at which she did it like it was natural to her scared me. But it was also amazing how she could move like water around my body and direct it to her own will. She just rolled her eyes at me and gave me a deadpanned look.
“You’ll get along smoothly with Nova and Sunburst.” She said before she swiped my cigarette from my mouth and crushed it between her hooves.
“Hey!” I shouted.
She glared at me. “None of that in my battalion, even if you are somepony we need to escort.” She said with a wave of her hoof. I tried to glare back, but the steadfast look in her pink eyes and the sun gleaming off of her coat made it hard to be angry at her. I almost faltered, but then I remembered that she wasn’t some beautiful mare: she was the captain of the unit and she WOULD make it hell for me if I didn't give it my all to cooperate. I could see it in her eyes.
With a blink of her eyes, she looked away from me nonchalantly. “We’re going to be away today-for the funerals. Pack you things and remind your ‘brother’ to do the same. Princess Luna, I, and the rest of Puck Unit will come for you two later tonight.” She said gently.
I swallowed her words with seriousness and respect, until I heard them again in my mind. “Wait, what?”
“I said…” she started, clearly irritated she had to reiterate.
“No, no, no.” I replied shaking my head. “I know about the packing thing and how you guys will come and kidnap me later,” I said giving her small frown at my “kidnapping” part, “but what the buck did you mean about me telling Dagger to pack too?”
She frowned slightly, but then she opened her mouth. “I thought you knew. Dagger said he was joining us as well.”
My right eye twitched slightly, making a worried look appear on Butterscotch’s face. However, it disappeared as I ran past her, sprinting towards my house. I head Butterscotch call something after me, but I couldn’t hear it as I used the earth’s magic to fill me with energy and sprint at impossible speeds. In no time, I was barreling straight into the library door. Using the earth’s magic yet again, I made the wooden door of my house melt away so I wouldn’t demolish it at my current speeds. I tore into the house, making smoking skid marks in the wooden base boards of the floor as I streaked to a stop before the fireplace. I looked into it and Dagger wasn’t there.
“DAGGGERRRR!!!!!!!!” I yelled, waking everypony in the house who wasn’t already up from my grand entrance.
“Faust, what is it?” Dagger replied, coming out of the kitchen with his small “Buck the Chef” apron on and a rolling pin in one of his claws. His other one was covered in powdered sugar. “Why are you screaming?” he said, not a little too angry.
“What the buck? Why didn’t you tell me you’re coming along?”
“You were asleep, moron. Plus, you would have just found out about it today. I didn’t think you’d freak out so much.” He said with an amused smile on his face. I frowned and punched him in the shoulder.
“You understand you could die, right? You understand it’s going to be complete hell, don’t you?!?” I shouted at him. He frowned at me and bopped me on the head with the rolling pin, flattening one of my spikes and getting white powder all through my gunmetal grey hair.
“No duh. But family sticks together.” He said flatly, giving me a glare. “I thought you knew this.”
As soon as he said the words, I smiled and hugged him tightly.
“Let go of me, idjit. I got some bin-hays to finish.” he said with a muffle from his face being in my thick coat.
“Bite me.” I said, which I later regretted, since he did that. I shouted and let him go and he ran into the kitchen. I sprinted after him and was doused in the face with a clawful of sugar.
“Why you…” I threatened as I laughed and picked up some of the ben-hay dough off of the counter in the middle of the kitchen and threw it at him, hitting him in the face and having the soggy, sticky dough get caught up in his spikes. I smelled something burning and suddenly the dough on Dagger’s face caught fire. A dragon tongue quickly swiped up all the burnt dough off of his face (but not out of his spines) and into his mouth. He gave me a sinister smile and I saw that he had two eggs, one in each hand.
“Don’t you dare…” I said, backing up as quickly as I could, but it was too late. I felt yolk drip down my face as they hit. I snarled at him and lunged back, grabbing the powdered sugar off of the counter as I jumped over the table to begin my full assault.
<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->
“What in Faust’s name is going on in here?” Princess Luna asked with a surprised look on her face as she saw the messy pair of us caught up on the floor of the kitchen. We had managed to create a stalemate in our fighting by tackling each other and holding each other down. I had a Dagger’s body caught in a leg lock, but he had both claws on one of my forehooves and his mouth around the other, biting it so I wouldn’t move. We tried to both wriggle ourselves out of the hold, but neither one of us would give up. Stubbornness is a trait found in all members of my family, even if they aren’t related.
Luna started to laugh the more she looked at us and I could guess why. I knew for a fact three of my spikes had been flattened and most of my mane was now a dirty white thanks to the sugar. Splotches of egg yolk and dough matted down my coat and making it sticky and discolored too. Dagger didn’t look any better than I did. The sugar didn’t show on his white scales, but each and every egg I hit him with stained it a dull yellow and the dough I managed to cover him in stuck up in globs in his spines and on his spectacles. Either way, we were both a mess and us fighting each other, not to mention rolling around on the now-dirty floor didn’t help our cause. So, we slowly let go of each other and got up to face the laughing royalty the only way we could: with evil smiles.
“Hey Luna?” I said in my most cutesy voice.
“What Alder?” she asked as she wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes.
“I think I need a hug.” I said as I approached her with open hooves. She jumped back quickly, but not fast enough, because Dagger had gotten on her other side.
“She needs a hug too, Al. Here, let’s all have a nice big hug.” Dagger said as he stepped closer to Luna, corralling her towards me.
I smiled sinisterly. “Let’s all be nice.” I ran at her for a big messy hug, but she teleported away at the last second, leaving me to run into my smaller and messier dragon brother. I heard her reappear behind me and start laughing again, bringing me to realize that the entirety of Puck Unit was watching us and laughing just as Luna was. Dagger and I got up and started to laugh too, looking at the messes we made of ourselves.
I cut our laughter as I looked into the kitchen and saw the hungry lunar soldiers around us. “Maybe we should get cleaned up and make some breakfast…” I said to Dagger.
“We can handle the cleaning and the cooking. You two should go wash up and rest. Tonight will be busy for you two.” Luna answered, giving the soldiers a look. They were soon all on the floor with rags and other cleaning materials they pulled out of our cabinets. Dagger and I looked at each other and shrugged: she was right. Dagger took the basement shower (his favorite because it always had hot water, unlike the one in my bedroom) and I went upstairs carefully, trying not to touch anything as to get it dirty. I opened my bedroom door and traveled into my room and then straight into the bathroom. I hit the water on my shower and jumped in without waiting for it to get warm. The cold water woke me up and I almost jumped back out of the shower like I did ever morning, but then the water turned warm and I got used to it.
After I scrubbed all the gunk out of my coat and mane, I jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. I wiped myself off quickly, as I could smell breakfast from downstairs, and whatever it was, it smelled delicious. I took a look in the mirror and saw that my spikes had gone flat, but I could change that at any time with a little dirt and my magic. All I had to do was take less than a hoof-full of dirt and use my magic to let it settle in a cone shape right in the middle of my hair. I know other ponies may have seen it as dirty or gross, but when you can control the earth, nothing of the earth is really ever “dirty”. All it takes is a simple urge, and all the dirt, dust, mud, and other earthen materials would be off of me. However, eggs and dough didn’t really fall under that jurisdiction, so I needed to bathe for those sorts of messes. Plus, it felt good, so a shower a day really wasn’t too bad. But as I looked into my mirror, I not only saw my flat mane, which now was about shoulder length and hung low around my head, I saw my door slide open. As I saw Butterscotch’s reflection enter, I quickly brushed my mane back, hoping I wouldn’t look like too much of a bum.
“Princess Luna has asked me to come up and get you for breakfast.” Butterscotch said, standing at the edge of my doorway. I came out of the bathroom and shook the rest of my fur out, spraying water in every direction.
“Let’s go.” I said to her, only to be answered with a stare. “What?”
“I didn’t know you could actually wear hair normally.” She answered.
“Thanks, I guess.” I deadpanned at her compliment.
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Said a voice from above me.
“Yeah, what the captain meant to say is ‘Ohhhh Alder, I love your hair…’” said another pesky voice above me, making me look up to see two pegasi resting on one of the posters of my poster bed. One had an electric blue coat while the other had a bright red coat. Both had a flaming yellow mane and impishly emerald eyes.
“And then you have to say ‘Ah know baby. Now come here for the smooching’.’” Said the one with the blue coat.
“And then it will be ‘Oh Alder! Oh Butterscotch!’” said the one with the red coat.
And then to my horror they started to make kissing noises. I knew I was blushing and to my surprise I saw Butterscotch’s face turn a bright pink when the twins went from making kissing noises to making slurping noises mixed with their laughter.
“ENOUGH!” Butterscotch yelled, making her two subordinates look at each other with a mischievous glint in their eyes. Butterscotch turned to me and said, “Breakfast. Downstairs. Now;” between clenched teeth, before stomping down my stairs and the twins started to laugh again. I looked up to them and coughed to get their attention. They smiled and swooped down from the poster of my bed to me, one on each side.
“You’re Alder right?” said the blue one on my right as he eyed me up and down.
“Relative of the General Steelhooves, correct?” said the red one on my left as he similarly looked me up and down, grabbing one of my legs and tapping it like an antique collector would do to a rare find.
I pulled my leg out of his hooves. “Yes. I’m Alder Branch Steelhooves.”
Each of them pulled on one of my forelegs and shook me from side to side violently.
“I’m Nova Blast.” Said the blue one.
“And I’m Sunburst Blast.” Said the red one.
“We’re twins.” They said together. “And we’re gonna bother the hell out of you and Captain.”
“Oh boy.” I muttered as they left a dazed me at the top of the stairs. They went downstairs together talking animatedly in another language. From what I could barely make out, it sounded Neightalian. However, I didn’t know what they were saying, but as I followed them downstairs, I knew every time they laughed, that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
First a lovely, yet ice cold, Captain, then a gory and sometimes scary timberwolf, and then two mischievous Neightalian twins. Who’s to meet next?