Previous Chapters
Close
A Moon's Reflection3,441 words
Shadows in the light3,025 words
Seeing Red in Autumn6,441 words
Fighting and Forgiving6,503 words
The Darkest Night4,525 words
No One Likes A Spoor Loser6,662 words
When the Wolf's Bane Blooms7,067 words
A Long Nights End4,312 words
Fight or Flight5,685 words
Legends Hold a Seed of Truth7,418 words
The Mare in the Mirror7,349 words
A Not so Silent Night6,191 words

A Not so Silent Night

Chapter 12: Investigation without Invitation-Waxing Gibbous

The farmhouse grew quiet as the pounding seemed to stop for a time, Sugar Beet’s emerald eyes glared in the direction where the sound had been originating as if she was trying to sense what or who was beyond the door. Emerald and Ruby eyes glowed in the cool blue darkness of the wereponies semi-destroyed room. Sugar and Autumn’s eyes locked on the door leading downstairs; the only light in the room coming from the moon outside doing little to expose what lay beyond the shadows in the farmhouse’s hallway. Elderberry and olive oil ears were perked forward twitching to listen for any other movements downstairs, both mother and daughter breathed lightly trying to calm their heartbeats.

Sugar jumped as she heard a deep menacing growl resonate through the empty room, her instincts caused her stand pulling her daughter closer to her by lowering her neck and pushing her foal towards her side; she attempted to guide Autumn behind her only to be met with resistance. A questioning look replaced the protective grimace on Sugar Beets face as she looked down and realized what had happened; emerald eyes widened as she saw her daughter refusing to move to her side for “protection”.

“Wha do ya hear sweet pea?” she asked quietly her own ears straining to hear what her daughter’s canine like ears seemed to be picking up. A cautious look overcame the adult mare as she attempted to relax her tensed muscles; to calm herself so she could process whatever her daughter told her.

Autumn was standing steadfast refusing to budge as she tried to keep her position standing in front of her mother, her stance protective as her face formed a fierce snarl. Autumn’s fangs were on full display as her lips were pulled back exposing her fangs to the moonlight her scarlet eyes glowing solid red for an instance before returning to scarlet pupils surrounded by white sclera. The young mares thick olive oil fur began to rise on her hackles her fur had grown close to its previous length on her chest, ears and body after her transformation. Her wolf-like ears twitched as they picked up the sound of hooves moving outside the farmhouse, the sound of slightly labored breathing calming, a creak of wood… the sound of the wooden porch creaking as hooves moved to look inside the window of their house.

“Mom… They’re still here,” said Autumn her voice slightly shaking as her deepened voice met her ears. She closed her eyes for a second as she breathed deeply through her nose seeing if she could decipher anything else about the intruders that had decided to assault their family homes door in the middle of the night. Four different scents seemed to meet her nose; metallic…magic, wood… smoke, iron, rain, feathers, oil and nylon mixed in with the distinct scents of three stallions… the light smell of another pony met her nose, but it was lighter…different. Maybe an old scent or one that was rubbed off onto the other ponies.

“I..” Autumn’s ears flicked back a dissatisfied look on her face as she heard the growl in her voice, and she cleared her throat trying to get her normal voice back. “I can smell them, three different ponies… they’re moving around the front of the house,” said Autumn relieved that her voice seemed to return. She turned her head as her mother moved across the room a focused look on Sugar’s face; the mare was careful not to move any of the broken furniture to loudly as she moved toward the window to try and get a glance at the would be “visitors” below.

Despite having experience with these kind of situations thanks to years of living with her werepony mate Sugar could not help the look of surprise that flashed across her face. Emerald eyes widened as she quickly took in what little she could from her daughter’s window, two ponies glancing along the sides of the house as if they were checking to see if anypony was home.

“Two sisters… yer right hon’, just as the farm mare spoke the pounding at the door began anew. Sugar Beet backed away from the window glancing from the corner of her eye she saw a shadow moving along the wood line at the back of the house. Sugar Beet did a double take to try and identify what she had seen. A loud masculine voice shouted from the front door distracted the mare from what she had seen.

“HELLO! Is anypony home?” asked the unfamiliar voice as it shouted through the house attempting to notify them in earnest or trick them into revealing they were there Sugar couldn’t tell. Turning her head back to try and see what had been lurking in the darkness she could not seem to find anything there.

“What in th’ name a Celestia? Is that one of the other ponies Autumn sniffed out?” thought Sugar as she tried to spot what had moved in the darkness. Deciding that it was a lost cause she moved it to the back burner in order to focus on what was happening currently.

“I’ll keep an ear ta th’ ground but fer now those ponies aint budging an I don’ wan ta take the chance o them comin’ in here,” she thought as she moved a hoof to her chin in thought, glancing around the room she saw claw marks splintering the wood floors, the smashed bed and she recalled that Shadow had shifted in the living room and may have left claw marks there in his haste. Thinking fast the mare moved quickly to her daughters’ closet, she watched as her daughter followed her movements.

“M-mom, what are you doing?” asked Autumn as she watched dumbfounded as her mother began to sift through her closet, which was one of the few things in her room that had not become a casualty during her meltdown. Autumn walked closer to her closet as a look of surprise emerged as she ducked to dodge the fast flying clothing her mother had unwittingly hurdled towards her. She watched as an ugly Hearthswarming sweater her mother had knitted her barely whizzed over her thickly furred ears, sighing in relief she stood as her mother approached her with a maroon hoodie she would wear when it snowed.

“Put this on lil one, and this,” said her mother as she tossed a black wool beanie at her Autumn did her best to catch the items in her hooves as her mother moved toward her to help her put on the articles of clothing. Autumn felt as her mother pulled the dull red hoodie over her head and tried to voice what her mind had wanted to know.

“Mmph… Mom what the hey… why?” she asked as her flat muzzle was smooshed as her head squeezed through the hoodie’s neckline, her silver mane stuck up in various places due to static causing her silver mane to look like Disco Fever; a famous pony from the Neighties. A disgruntled look came over the teenage mare’s face as she worked to use her hooves to slick down her mane and follow her mother’s orders. Just as she managed to get her mane under control a black beanie was quickly thrown over her ears and her static riddled mane.

“Sorry sweet pea we gotta hide that extra fur a yers; tha coat has grown back like our wheat in the spring on yer ears an chest. Just in case one o those ponies spot ya I don’t wan them ta think twice,” Sugar elaborated on her quick decision to dress her daughter and understanding came over Autumn as she nodded slowly taking in what her mother had told her. Sugar didn’t miss a flash of pain that seemed to dance across the filly’s vison before Autumn shook her head seeming to come back to the current situation.

“Now ya listen ta me, Ah am gonna see who these ponies are so they don’ come bargin’ in or callin in tha calvery. Ah DON’T wan’ ya ta try anything alrigh’, I know you said ya felt somthin’ and I trust ya but we can’t just go an attack ponies. So, unless they move ta do us harm try to stay outta site… is that clear,” seriousness overtaking Sugar as she explained what she expected of Autumn.

Sugar Beet saw Autumn begin to refuse to stay out of the line of site, knowing the stubborn filly would want to be right in the thick of everything. Wolves and ponies alike defend their territories and families well, and she knew that it would be harder for Autumn to deal with these instincts as she had just begun to fully shift. She watched as Autumn looked away refusing to meet her piercing emerald gaze, her hard expression remained though her eyes softened slightly as she saw Autumns body shake slightly as she finally turned back to meet her gaze her muzzle already open as if to argue against her.

Sugar Beet cut her off with a wave of her hoof authority rising in her voice “AM I clear Autumn,” said Sugar as she met her daughters determined gaze, the matriarch refused to blink until she saw Autumn look away dejected but watched as her daughter nodded her understanding. Sugar looked at her daughter sympathetically and moved to turn Autumn’s face with her hoof so her young filly would face her again. Sugar’s expression softened to one of empathy as she saw her daughters sad, frustrated eyes still burning ruby red, tears burning at their edges threatening to fall at any moment.

Sugar moved to try and wipe the tears away, seeing this Autumn moved away from her and looked away seemingly embarrassed that she had been caught crying again. A hurt expression flashed across her face; it hurt her feelings to see her daughter move away so quickly. Sugar shook it off quickly realizing now was not the time, she turned away herself to let the younger mare quickly wipe away her tears with her sleeves. Heaving a sigh Sugar took a second to consider her options and thought of a way to at least give Autumn some feeling of control in this situation.

“Hon’ you can stay on lookout alright, but if I say run you need ta get ok? Now… we need ta fix those eyes,” taking her daughters hooves in hers she urged her into a hug smiling as she met no resistance this time. “Breath lil one, try tah block out what yer wolf side is screamin at ya ta do. Yer dad said ya had to wait fer the right moment tah strike but first ya gotta learn to lay low so ya can. Try ta think of th’ things that helped ya before… take a deep breath… in an out,” said Sugar calmly as she tried to sooth her daughter.

Autumn thought of her anchors, the ones that helped her when she was stuck in her werepony form. As the thoughts flashed in her mind, she began following her mother’s directions calming her heartrate as took calming breaths. It was as if the calm her mother felt was leaking into her and she sighed in slight relief; a headache she did not realize was stabbing at her brain seemed to ease away. The tension in her muscles left as she breathed in her mother’s comforting wildflower scent, her jaw seemed to relax the pain of her fangs growing fading away as they shrunk to her normal size. Feeling her mother pulling back Autumn opened her eyes to meet her mother’s familiar loving and patient gaze a small smile formed on her lips and her fangs poked through shining along with her eyes.

Sugar smiled slightly as she saw her daughters beautiful amber color begin to bleed across the blood red eyes, looking as if somepony had spilled yellow watercolor on a white paper. “Tha’s my filly,” said Sugar her voice filled with parental pride. She nuzzled her daughter’s cheek, happy that her daughter didn’t refuse this time. The dull pain from the previous refusal eased slightly as she and Autumn began to make their way to the stairs, looking at each other the elder mare nodded and called out downstairs.

“Hold yer primates, Ah’m comin’,” shouted Sugar keeping her voice as even as she could she snuck to the kitchen and opened and shut the back door as if she had been working outside and had just returned inside the house. Autumn saw her mother move to the front door from the top of the steps, carefully watching as the elderberry mare trotted quickly but calmly to the door, thankfully the pounding ceased after she responded to the stallion on the other side of the door.

Sugar took a deep breath through her nose and calmed her breath, her tail flicking in irritation as she put on a “normal demeanor” to meet whoever was banging on her door. She took a moment to straighten out her signature neck scarf and did a quick visual sweep of the visible parts of the living room seeing no visible claw marks from Shadow’s previous shift she nodded and moved to open the front door.

“Ah’m glad Shadow didn’t put tha’ new door in… the stained-glass window on the top woulda let anypony see inside the house,” thought Sugar as she tried to alleviate her stress by thinking of something ridiculous as old home renovations. Snorting at her featherbrained thought she finally turned the handle of the door; the shadow of a large stallion immediately fell over the mare.

Looking up Sugar Beet saw a large well-built earth pony stallion standing in the door, he had five o’clock shadow and a grizzled grimace covered the serious ponies face as his eyes looked down at the farm mare. His coat was a dark brown and his salt and pepper mane was cut short in a militant style, he wore blazer and seemed to have a badge clipped to his belt along with a baton; an older fedora hat covered his face from view along with dark black aviators his eyes were almost impossible to see in the low light. Looking she saw that his cutie mark was of an old magnifying glass. He smelled of smoke, and stale alcoholic cider triple proof his eyes were hard and held little warmth causing Sugar to almost shiver under his gaze.

Behind him was a dark blue male Pegasus whose eyes were hidden by his own pair of aviators, he looked younger than the larger earth pony, but his stance was eerily calm as if he were waiting for something. His head moved slightly from side to side as he was taking in the environment. Sugar Beet tried to see more of him, but he moved away from the light being cast from the door.

The large earth pony grunted as if he was already tired of the situation, he snorted and moved to be in front of the Pegasus, he grabbed his badge with his hoof and moved to present it to Sugar Beet in a practiced motion.

“Evening ma’am. Detective Hard Boiled with the Ontaurio police, I’m aware that it is late, but we had some questions for you regarding the recent incident that involved your daughter,” said the gruff sounding stallion he looked up as if trying to recall the name before giving up and pulling out worn out notebook covered in coffee stains. Sugar Beet could not help the small beads of sweat that seemed to drip down the side of her face as her mind began to race with what this stallion was about to say.

The farm mare kept a calm look on her face as she nodded letting the male know that she was listening to what he was saying however a serious grimace remained on her face. “Is… Is this about the fight with that snake Escape Clause’s colt… did he hire a detective? Or is this about the accident on the hiking trip?” Sugar asked herself as she tried to think of what each line of questioning could bring.

“Ah have ta be careful here, if we say tha wrong thing it may reach tha wrong set o ears,” she shuddered at the thought but covered it up as best she could to disguise her bodies response as a shiver from the autumn chill as she saw both stallions look at her movement. She moved her hooves to her green scarf covered in sugar beets and blossoms and pulled it tighter around her neck and shrugged her shoulders as she did her best to put on an act for the officers. Hard Boiled looked at her and huffed as he looked at his notebook to confirm the name and continued his questioning.

“Autumn, she was the one that found a unicorn colt named Tall Tales when he was lost in the woods is that correct?” the detective asked in a steady voice. He noted that the mare seemed calm enough and dismissed the shiver as it was cold tonight, the wind blew behind him into the house as if nature itself was supporting this theory.

“Tha’s correct Mr. Boiled… she an tha colt were found by my husband about a week or so ago… horrible what happened but were jus’ glad our daughter and Tales are back safe. But what does that have ta do wit’ why yer here?” asked Sugar being respectful but direct in her own question.

Hard’s eyes widened slightly but he knew mares could be protective of their foals though he’d keep a note of that if needed. He cleared his throat and pulled out a pack of Old Bit cigarettes, he tapped the package and a few of the fags jumped up to allow him easy access, he paused and nodded to them as if to ask for the mares’ approval, though the farm mare’s snout wrinkled in distaste she gave a slight nod stating that he could do as he wished.

He pulled out an old flip lighter with a faded mare pinup and a symbol like the sun emblem on bits produced all around the Equestrian territories but this one had a few differences it looked like an old military emblem; the mare looked at the lighter as he lit his cigarette, but that stare struck him as odd. He took a deep inhale of his fag and as the nicotine hit his system it brought a familiar addictive calm with it.

“Settle down ma’am, we are working to investigate the incident, your daughter is not in trouble. We just wanted to see if we could gain any testimony of what she saw while she was out there, after questioning the Bard family they reported that Tales had little memory of what had happened previously to him waking up to your daughter’s calls. He had significant TBI which may have caused the memory loss, so we are just trying to fill in the gaps. Some of the local police here went back to the scene and found evidence that the colt and Autumn may not have been the only ones there.” Hard watched for a reaction from the mare but only saw a questioning look overcome her as she seemed to be thinking about what he had said.

Neither ponies seemed to notice a slight flinch escaping the Pegasus behind them, his ears were now pointed towards the ponies in front of him as he seemed to be taking in everything they said. He held a notebook in his hooves as he wrote down notes seeming to become more interested now than he had been before.

“What do ya mean by tha Mr. Boiled? There was somepony out there with them?” asked Sugar her voice shaking as the ramifications of the stallions words began to build horrifying scenarios in her mind. Her blood ran cold as soon as she had heard that somepony else was possibly out there and what their intentions may have been to the adolescent ponies while they were alone. Sugar saw another shadow moving in the tree line near the front of the house before she could react farther a flash of silver reflected in the moonlight that dappled through the breaks in the tree branches setting her mind at ease. A sparkle of gold reflected the moon as it seemed to meet her gaze before it seemed to stealthily move out of site did more to calm her and she sighed slightly relieved that her mate was close by.

“Can’t devolve everything but there were signs of a struggle in the general area where the incident occurred. Is there anything that you can tell us about that night, did your daughter see anything or mention anything to you? How in Celestia’s mane did she end up out there anyway? From what I gather from other witnesses and those who were part of the search party your family was not involved in the efforts nor was she on the school trip.” Hard’s questions and statements were laid in such a way that was only gained by years of practice.

He looked at the mare as she looked sternly at both him and the rookie that the department had sent out to meet him at the house, the newbie continued to scribble in their notebook but hadn’t chimed in with their green horn questions like usual. He’d never seen this pony before but all the ponies in blue seemed to look the same. “One thing to be grateful for I suppose I’m getting to old to be correcting newbies or facehooving at their poor efforts to impress elders.” thought Hard Boiled dryly.

“Our Autumn… she struggled for a while to earn her cutie mark, but she had a habit of lookin for things when we went for walks or when we were takin brakes from harvestin. Our lil’ one was so creative… seein’ things in broken twigs or noticing critter tracks even at a younger age. Ah had no idea tha’ could’ve been her callin, so we tried to push her to other things; cooking, farmin’, anythin. She’s got a heart o’ gold an’ she’s as hardheaded as a yak, jus’ like her dad. So when she heard her friend Tall Tales was lost an they were lookin’ fer ponies ta help…she wanted ta be there,” said Sugar as she seemed to reflect on the fact that she should have known about what her daughters talent may have been. Sugar’s face scrunched up in slight frustration at her lack of attention, but she saw no judgment on the stiff detective’s face as he nodded seeming to understand what she was saying.

“She sounds like a good kid, so I’m guessing she went to go help find her friend?” asked Hard Boiled his eyebrows rising as a slight lift of the corner of his mouth almost exposed a smile. He wanted to get more to the point of his question the pride in the mother’s voice as she talked about her kid sparked a small bit of warmth in his heart.

“She is…me an’ Shadow are so proud o her,” said Sugar as her eyes softened along with her expression. A small smile covered her muzzle before it was wiped away by the memory of the previous events. “Autumn managed to sneak out, she found one o the search parties an’ followed them ta the campsite to try and help to find Tall Tales. Even though she was sick she still pushed herself to follow those signs that no pony else noticed… those broken sticks, bent grass. My lil one… turned out to be a natural born tracking pony,” said Sugar her voice thick with liquid pride as she lovingly talked about her daughter’s borderline heroic, if reckless actions. Hard Boiled listened to her as she spoke, his eyes widening from what he was hearing but she continued.

“From what she told me she followed a trail of broken grass and followed these “signs” until she found the colt injured on a rock shelf, she managed to pull him out and did her best to find her way back to camp or to one of the rescue teams. She followed the trail that she created while tracking the colt back as much as she could. There were supposedly Timberwolves in the area, from what she said she heard one close to them and ran carryin’ her friend,” said Sugar Beet her voice scared despite these events being long over. “Ah guess Shadow an Ah never really addressed that, after we’re done with all this craziness,” she thought frustrated at how much danger her daughter had managed to put herself in.

“Soon as ah found out she was missin’ Ah went out ta find ‘er. Ah was crazy wit panic; thankfully, my husband returned from a business trip delivering our goods to The Hopps Brewery a few towns over. Ah tol’ him what was happenin an he ran off ta find our lil one. He was a skilled trap maker before we built this farm together, he had some experience tracking and by some Celestia’s given miracle he found them both and brought them home with only a minor injury, he said he had gotten snagged on some rough rocks as she slipped” said Sugar her voice emotional but not overly so as she recalled an abridged version of their tale.

Hard Boiled shut his eyes nodding at the mare’s recount of the story and took another deep drag of his cigarette before he finished it and put it out on the aged wooden porch. He breathed the smoke out through his nostrils looking more like a surly dragon than a pony, Sugar’s face moved to one of distaste at the rude actions of the stallion, but she kept a level head as she waited to see the stallion’s reaction.

“That is quite a story Mrs. Moon, your husband and daughter sound like amazing ponies. Is there any way we could have a word with him or your daughter to ask them a few questions?” asked Hard Boiled as his eyes peeked past his aviators. He noticed that the mare became slightly panicked at the request, her eyes green eyes widened, and her ears twitched as if they were about to lay flat against her head, but she stopped them. His eyebrow rose slightly in question at the mare’s reaction.

“Sadly, Autumn has been a little under the weather as o late, an Ah don’t think there’s much more she could add ta yer notes. An’ Shadow is out; Ah told ya everything they both told me,” Sugar said slightly defensive of her family, but she tried her best not to show it to the perceptive pony. Hard Boiled didn’t seem to react to her change in voice or demeanor, he finished writing his notes as he took another huff of his cigarette looking to the side as he exhaled the smoke.

“Her story lines up with most of the evidence, there were Timberwolves in the area and from the other witness accounts it seems like most of her story lines up… seems like we won’t be getting much from these farmers turned “hero’s”. No point pushing to talk to the husband and kid for now… I think that’s enough for one night,” thought Hard as he wrote down a few more notes and cleared his throat.

“Alright Ma’am thank you for your time, that’s all we need for now. If we need anything else, we will let you know. Again, your family is in no trouble with the law at this time, so you are free to move as you would, if you go on vacation or any other business trips, we will find a way to contact you,” said Hard Boiled as he closed his notebook and placed it in his jacket pocket. He tipped his hat toward the mare in the door, she nodded her understanding but showed no other tells the seasoned law pony.

“Ah hope this helps ya’ll sorry ah couldn’t be of more help, ya’ll git home safely Mr. Boiled and…?” questioned Sugar as she tried to get a name for the Pegasus behind the grizzled detective. The Pegasus looked startled for a second but seemed to recover quickly, his wings fluttered slightly and cleared his throat.

“Storm ma’am, Rough Storm,” he answered curtly his voice deeper than was expected as if he had a sore throat. He put his notebook away as well and seemed to be eager to leave the area as soon as possible. Sugar nodded though she could barely hide the suspicion that seemed to creep onto her muzzle, she nodded and faked a smile as best she could before she nodded at the Pegasus. She closed the door as they turned to leave, as soon as the doors knob clicked into place, she let out a sigh of relief and her body slumped slightly in relief.

Sugar’s eyes snapped open suddenly as she heard the creak of the wooden floors in her kitchen move as they were supporting weight. A hardened look overcame her face and her eyes locked onto the door in front of her, she moved as silently as she could manage to the door ready to buck whoever had snuck into her house into next year. Just as she turned the corner the matriarch of the Moon family jumped as she was suddenly met with a shadowy silhouetted pony form in a space that she didn’t expect one she shouted slightly scaring the other pony into yelling as well and nearly lashed out with a left hook before recognition covered her face.

“Aaahh, M-mom w-wait… it’s me,” said Autumn her voice raising in octave in slight fear at the prospect of her mother ready to attack her for scaring the both of them out of their coats. Seeing the displeased look from her mother caused Autumn to look instantly sheepish as she had been caught where she was not supposed to be, she lowered herself to her haunches and lowered her head in a submissive gesture hoping to escape some of her mother’s anger.

“Autumn! I told ya to stay upstairs, how in tarnation did you get into the kitchen?! Why did you move?” asked Sugar her voice barbed with irritation at being disobeyed. Even through the black beanie she could see her daughter’s ears flatten against her head joined by a wild silver tail curling around her front hooves as she looked pleadingly at her mom.

“I’m sorry mom, I… I just wanted to be closer in.. in case something happened. Something still didn’t feel right, and I thought I heard something moving around outside… I’m sorry I didn’t listen but I’m pretty sure neither of them saw me,” Autumn’s voice semi-pleading, she hoped her mother would understand what her intentions were. Looking up hopefully she saw her mother’s face soften slightly before the elder mare snorted and her striking emerald eyes grew sharp again not wavering just yet. This caused Autumn to shiver slightly.

“I understand you wanting to see what tha sound was… and that you wanted to be able to help if somethin’ happened. But next time I tell ya to stay put you WILL listen, understood?” asked Sugar as she looked at Autumn with a raised eyebrow and a stern expression.

Autumn nodded furiously, her eyes were wide in surprise and fear like an old pony cartoon. Autumn’s fuzzy ears flew up from their position on her skull instantly, grinning slightly to match the small grin on her mother’s face from her slightly goofy behavior. She was relieved she may have dodged another possible punishment for her disobedience, but the moment of levity was short lived.

Sugar and Autumn both became more solemn as they looked at the door, both Moon family mares felt uneasy as if there was still something wrong. Sugar glanced at Autumn as an uneasy feeling seemed to cause a ball of ice to form in her stomach.

Autumn’s amber eyes looked at her mother and saw that she was uneasy, she wished there were something she could do. Autumn’s Tale swished and she looked down and her new cutie mark the broken stalk of wolfsbane reflected by the crescent moon, a small soft smile formed on her muzzle when she remembered how proud her mother sounded when she was talking to the detective about what she did.

Suddenly there was a huge thump coming from upstairs causing both Autumn and Sugar to jump. “Wha was that?” asked the wine-colored mare she looked at her daughter a determined stare on her face. “STAY here Autumn, don’t move,” said Sugar her voice leaving no room for argument. She stood up and moved in front of the olive furred adolescent werepony, her ears lay flat against her mane as she snorted at the possible threat. Sugar grabbed a frying pan off the counter in her teeth, she moved quietly out of the kitchen stashing the would be weapon out of site. Sugar Beet sat defensively in front of the kitchen, her eyes looking defiantly up at the approaching sound.

Autumn growled her eyes flashing red she took a breath through her nose, before she straightened up her eyes turning back to their amber color. A heavy set of cloven hooves moved down the stairs the sound of their movement familiar to both Autumn and Sugar Beet both of their faces went from aggression to relaxed relief. Sugar saw the familiar shape of her mate walking down the stairs of their home, all the aggression left her as her entire body relaxed.

Shadow walked down the stairs his head down, his dark black mane covered his amber eyes, his breathing was slightly heavy. The massive silver wereponies paw gripped the stairs railing as he walked down the stairs. Shadow looked up glancing around the living room entrance before his eyes met Sugar Beet’s emerald gaze, a loving smile covered his muzzle as he moved to hug his mate close to his chest. A relaxed sigh escaped the large werepony as his paws wrapped around his smaller wife, they nuzzled each other as the werepony shifted back to his stallion form.

Looking to the side the stallion’s amber eyes grew wide in surprise as he noticed a cast iron skillet hidden along the side of the couch, a light chuckle left his throat. “Prepared I see… heh heh, so tell me is that for intruders or?” Shadows teasing fang filled grin grew at Sugar blushing as her eyes flicked to the offending kitchenware, as soon as his mate began to rub her own arm in embarrassment, he decided he had teased her enough. Sugar snorted and hit his shoulder lightly rolling her eyes at her mates’ decision to tease her at what may be an inopportune time.

Sugar returned his smile and returned to her favorite spot in the crook in Shadows well-muscled neck and chest, the large draft pony’s hooves wrapped around her once again. “Ah dunno handsome, ya keep teasin an’ we’ll see,” said Sugar feeling Shadows chest shake in a near silent chuckle helped calm her and her small smile grew at her own barb. Neither ponies noticed as Autumn moved to approach the door leading to the living room, seeing her parents in an embrace she stopped smiling at her parents enjoying the sight of them happy together deciding not to ruin the moment.

“So who was runnin down the road love, do we have anythin’ to worry about?” asked Sugar tentatively her voice a whisper hoping to dissuaded Autumn from overhearing them. Worry was etched in her face as she turned her head into her mates neck for comfort.

“The ponies running down the road were just some kids and a skinny unicorn stallion. Are you both ok?” asked Shadow his voice and body exhausted. Sugar nodded in his arms and he instantly relaxed happy to hear that nothing else had happened in his absence. His golden eyes flashed as he cracked them open, he was not eager to voice the thought that was itching to be released by his fanged mouth.

“We may need to leave Vanhoover sooner than we thought,” said Shadow his voice strained as he spoke, he looked up from the old farmhouses well-worn wooden floors. A questioning look on his face as he felt Sugar Beet stiffen in his arms, her eyes seemed fixed on what was to the left of them.

“W-we’re leaving Vanhoover?” a sad broken voice met his thickly furred ears he whipped his head to the side moving away from his mate seeing a depressed looking Autumn standing in the door of the kitchen. “Horse Apples,” thought Sugar beet and Shadow Snare as they turned to face their daughter what their near future held.

Author's Note:

It has been a while.... I am sorry for how late this chapter is coming out. Life has gotten quite busy, and for a while I wanted to build this chapter better than the last. I took some time with this and can't wait to see what you all think. I thank you all for your patience and hope to see you guys enjoy future chapters. Cheers!

I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and wish you all a Happy Holiday.

444 views

Previous Chapters

Comments ( 12 )

Viewing 1 - 50 of 12
- Newest First
- Oldest First

prism heart

prism heart #1 · Dec 24th, 2020 · 1 · ·

I don't trust the "rookie" any more then he spoke .

TraumaLane

TraumaLane #2 · Dec 24th, 2020 · · ·

10596512
Guess you’ll have to wait and see what happens, and thanks for checking out this story and your comment! I love feedback Cheers! Hope to see it in future chapters.