#for fillies and monsters

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb:

“Loving a monster is madness; it is no easy task, and not as simple as just loving them. Loving a monster is to be consumed by them—pliant enough to weather the storm, and strong enough to fight back.”

Stetson

I am good at being alone—the best really. You don’t have to rely on anyone, don’t have to apologize when they feel like you’ve messed up, don’t have to forgive them when they inevitably let you down…being alone is better. But I’ve never really been completely alone; my demons keep me company in the darkest hours of the night. And even though I’m comfortable being alone, I also want to believe bad people get happy endings—the house, the horses, and the man waiting to tie me up when I misbehave. But now that I’m here, surrounded by the eerie silence of my family’s deserted ranch, with the weight of miles of fence to fix and the ghosts of my past lurking behind me at every turn, a happy ending feels farther away than ever. I need help, but where do I turn?

Augustus

I’m used to living in the shadows—the shadows of my older brother’s expectations, the shadows of my inner demons, and the shadows of her apartment building. But I’m tired of hiding. As a retired bronc rider, it’s time to start fresh and Moztecha, Texas feels like just the place to do that. Lucky for me, a desperate yet determined, blonde-haired vixen has a ranch that needs fixing up, and she just stumbled into my path at the local feed store. Just. Like. I. Planned. Every cell in my body screams at me to consume her, devour her, destroy her—and that’s exactly what I plan to do. I will gladly burn the world to ash if anything keeps me from her; that includes her own dark demons.

“It takes a monster to love a monster.”

As Stetson and Gus navigate the tiresome Texas heat and their explosive sexual tension, they must decide what secrets are worth keeping, and just how far they are willing to go to brand themselves on the other’s heart. With the odds stacked against them, and eyes watching their every move, a happy ending seems farther and farther away…like a fire flickering in the distance.

Will the flame in their hearts come together, or will the Texas heat burn them, and everything they love, alive?

Review:

From the moment he met her, he knew she was the one... now he'll do whatever it takes to become her perfect monster. Augustus is a bronc rider, he's famous, he's handsome... and from the moment he laid eyes on Stetson, he knew she was "the one" for him and that no one and nothing would ever compare. Augustus is at least 10 years older than Stetson and when he meets her he knows she isn't ready... but that doesn't mean he won't play the long game. All her life Stetson has been looked over, hated, and stepped on and when her parents' pass away and leave her with a farm that has been run down, she has to fix it... even if it means returning to the small town that hates her and is filled with horrible memories of the abuse her father had done to her. Stetson is not one to give up and she is determined to repair the cattle farm... despite the fact that no one can help her. Stetson also harbors a secret... her taste in romance is much much darker than anyone can ever know and she's never been able to find the perfect person...or monster to match her... until she hires the extremely handsome and grumpy Augustus to her farm... little does she know he's orchestrated it all and has been following her for 10 years, watching her, obsessing over her... and waiting to show her the depths of his monstrous love for her. Two people, so deeply entwined, and a twisted obsessive monstrous love that lies between them. Oh I absolutely LOVED this book!! It's so well written and the way to romance unfolds, between Augustus's past and Stetson's present, the way they are perfectly made for each other... Landyn Hill has perfectly captured the dark romance cowboy genre and I CAN'T WAIT FOR BOOK 2!!! I loved how much Augustus was obsessed with Stetson, just how far his love for her went, and I adored how Stetson was just as insane for him, that they perfectly knew each other. The story was absolutely engrossing and I am a complete fan of Landyn's now!! I WILL READ ANYTHING YOU WRITE!!!

Release Date: February 14, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Luna Literary for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[dv-kelp-face]

Click the link below to participate in a survey that only you would understand -

[alfafilly]

Com: Can't See the Forest

Commission for cryptidwynn!! This was such a fun one! Took in a lot of inspirations and it came out really unnerving yet peaceful?? Himb is just fwiend. Promise. Nooo those aren't booones ssssh.

Posted using PostyBirb

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Pitknight Filly

"2 Effect Monsters If this card is Special Summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to: You can target 1 monster you control with 1500 or less ATK; this turn, it can make a second attack during each Battle Phase, also if it battles an opponent's monster, any battle damage it inflicts to your opponent is doubled. During the Standby Phase of the next turn after this card was destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the GY: You can Special Summon this card. You can only use each effect of 'Pitknight Filly' once per turn."

[smilesrobotlover]

The sun felt warm as it shone against Talon’s skin, making his eyes grow heavy as he and his carriage slowly moved across Hyrule field. He had just sold some Lon Lon milk in Castle town, and left early in the morning so he could get home as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t a morning person, so he was doing everything in his power to stay awake. The last thing he needed was to fall asleep and get robbed by bandits.

The field was quiet and peaceful, the world not yet awakening from the sun barely peeking over the horizon. The gentle clip-clop of his horse’s hooves against the ground was soothing, and Talon began to feel too relaxed, finally giving in to his desires of dozing off.

A distressed whinny caused him to jolt awake. He looked around, expecting to be attacked by bandits or monsters, but all he saw was a small horse running to him, whinnying frantically at Talon.

“Oh my, where’d you come from, little one?” He wondered out loud, stopping his carriage and hopping off. The horse was noticeably young, with a beautiful chestnut coat and cream colored hair. It was a mare from what Talon could see, and looking at her coat, she seemed awfully familiar to him. She stomped up to Talon and gently bit his hand, attempting to drag him.

“Woah woah woah!” Talon pulled back, giving the horse a weird look. “What do ya think you’re doin’ little one?”

The horse whinnied again and started to shuffle to an area, clearly trying to get Talon to follow. Talon didn’t have much choice but to follow; a horse only acted like this when something was wrong.

“Where’s your rider?” He muttered, following the horse reluctantly. He didn’t know what he was being led to specifically, but seeing the size of the filly with a saddle of all things made him worried for a young rider, possibly injured somewhere. Seeing that Talon was finally following her, the filly started to trot towards a cluster of trees, stopping at a patch of bushes where she began to stomp around, impatiently nibbling and nudging the leaves on the bushes. Talon let out a sigh when he reached the spot, looking around to see if anything was out of the ordinary, but there was nothing. Was this filly just lost and was panicking, hoping to get help? Talon had to admit she seemed to be a smart horse, but he didn’t understand why he was led to a patch of bushes.

“Are you lost, little one?” He asked, watching as the young mare nibbled on the bushes. She nudged the leaves away with her snout while snorting, and Talon was able to catch a glimpse of blonde hair. He gasped and got on his knees, moving the bushes out of the way to reveal a young, blonde-haired boy with green clothes that blended in with the plants surrounding him. He looked to be about the same age as his daughter Malon, barely eleven, and his face was pale and covered in sweat. He wheezed as he breathed and he had a pained expression on his face, and Talon lightly touched his head to feel a burning fever. He frowned and began to shake him gently, seeing if he would wake up. The boy groaned and reacted to his touch, his eyes fluttering open. They landed on Talon immediately and several emotions flickered through his face.

“M-Mr– Bart—ten…” He choked out, his eyes tearing up as he stared at Talon. The farmer blinked for a moment, confused about what he was saying, but he let out a sigh and went to gather the boy in his arms. The poor thing was clearly delirious, and he needed medical attention.

“It’s ok, kiddo, I’ll take care of you,” he assured. The boy felt fragile in his strong arms, and he whimpered in pain as his head rested against Talon’s chest. The farmer wasted no time finding a spot for the boy in his carriage, having to move some empty bottles out of the way and laying strands of hay to add a cushion for him. He gently laid him down, finding a quilt tucked away in the corner of the carriage and swaddled him the best he could. It didn’t look comfy, but it was better than nothing. He tucked the empty bottles away to make sure they didn’t fall on him, and he grabbed a spare rope to tie to the back.

“I hope you don’t mind this, I have a feeling that boy is your rider,” Talon explained, tying the rope to the filly. The young mare surprisingly seemed willing to be tied to the carriage, and waited patiently as Talon hopped on his carriage, resuming his journey with more haste. He tried to keep a steady pace so the carriage wouldn’t jostle, and so that the mare wouldn’t be dragged behind, but he knew he needed to move fast if he wanted to get back to the ranch. He fortunately had medicine stocked up at home, knowing that if he, Malon, or Ingo got sick, he wouldn’t have time to go back and forth getting more, so the boy should be fine when they got there. He just hoped it wouldn’t turn into anything serious—Talon was knowledgeable on illnesses and injuries, but he was no doctor.

The sun was beginning to set when Talon arrived at Lon Lon, and he hopped off the carriage in front of his house, untying the mare and collecting the feverish boy in his arms.

“Daddy!”

Talon glanced up to see his little girl running towards him, an excited smile on her face. Talon smiled back and shifted the boy in his arms slightly.

“You’re back! Did ya get me anything?”

“Why yes, I did,” Talon said, pulling the boy out of the carriage and showing Malon. “I got you a new friend, but he’s a little sick right now.”

Malon’s eyes went big and she stepped forward, gently patting the boy’s arm. “Fairy boy! It’s Fairy boy! Don’t you remember him daddy?”

Talon looked down at the boy again. He was so distracted on getting him into his carriage, he didn’t recognize him as the young boy that visited Lon Lon Ranch over a year ago. Memories of him and Malon playing music at the ranch flooded in, and Talon only felt more inclined to take care of him. The situation became more personal.

“Epona!” Malon squealed, giggling at the filly who trotted towards her excitedly. Talon stared at the two’s reunion, Epona nuzzling Malon’s chest while she sang her favorite song. He smiled warmly at them and quickly headed inside, not wanting to wait much longer. So this boy and that horse used to be here in Lon Lon? Goddesses, it had been a while since Talon’s seen him, and yet it felt like it was only yesterday. Though the fairy boy was in their lives for such a short time, he left an impact on the ranch, specifically with Malon. He was the first kid her age that she’s met and played with, and Malon talked her father’s ear off about him since he went away with Epona in tow. Talon began to grow curious about where he was all this time, and why he was hidden in bushes with a burning fever.

The farmer walked up the stairs that led to his room and he set the sick boy gently on the soft mattress. He stared at him for a moment, his brow furrowed, trying to remember anything else about the little one, but nothing came up, so he turned around to get medicine, water, and a damp cloth. The folks at Lon Lon didn’t get sick often, so he hoped he remembered enough about taking care of a fever. When he went back upstairs to his room, he heard the boy whimpering, shifting in the soft bed. Talon quickly took off his shoes to make him more comfortable and rested his hand on his head. The fever was concerningly strong.

“Excuse me,” Talon said softly, gently shaking the boy. He groaned and his eyes fluttered open again, staring over Talon’s shoulder. He squinted his eyes and frowned.

“Romani? … How…?”

Talon raised an eyebrow and looked behind him, flinching when his daughter suddenly appeared.

“Goddesses, Malon, don’t sneak up on me like that!” He scolded. Malon gave an apologetic look, her dimples appearing as she smiled slightly.

“Sorry, daddy. I just wanted to see Link! It’s been a while!”

Malon leaned over the fairy boy (or Link, Talon supposed), brushing his hair away from his face. Link looked horrified as he watched Malon, clearly looking uncomfortable.

“Malon, sweetie, let’s give him some space,” Talon spoke up, noting Link’s strange expressions. “I oughta give him some medicine anyhow.”

Malon hopped back and gave her father an excited look. “Can I help?”

“Oh! Well…” Talon glanced at the bowl of water and the cloth. “You can help wipe his face when I’m done givin’ him medicine, ok?”

Malon nodded excitedly, watching as Talon helped Link sit up. The boy was so weak that he could barely move on his own, and Talon eventually pulled him into his lap so he could lean against him. Talon gripped Link’s arm firmly so he could stay in place and began rummaging his hand all over the nightstand to grab the medicine. His daughter noticed his searching and grabbed the medicine for him and Talon gave her a grateful nod, uncorking the bottle and bringing it to Link’s lips.

“You think you can drink this?” He asked, and Link nodded, clumsily grabbing at the bottle and drinking it with Talon’s help. Talon had to pull it back a couple of times to make sure it didn’t spill everywhere, but Link was surprisingly cooperative for an eleven-year-old drinking the disgusting medicine; he remembered he always had to fight Malon whenever she needed it. The bottle was soon gone, and Link leaned back against Talon’s chest, his eyes closed. The farmer cradled him for a moment, figuring that Link needed that type of comfort, and Malon walked over as she watched him with her father, her head tilted with fascination.

“Is he gonna be ok?” Malon asked, and Talon looked up at her, nodding confidently.

“I’m sure he will be,” he said, carefully moving Link so he could get off the bed. He laid him down and pulled the blankets over him, giving his hair a soft ruffle before pulling away.

“I’m gonna put the carriage away, Malon. You keep an eye on him, ok?” Talon said, and his daughter nodded back at him. Talon lingered for a moment, worriedly watching them, but finally left the room. Ingo was outside staring at the carriage annoyed, but he quickly scurried away when Talon showed up. The farmer glanced over at Epona, who was watching him silently. Talon frowned and walked over to her, giving her a gentle pat on the snout.

“That boy doesn’t have a family, does he?” He asked, knowing that Epona wouldn’t answer. It was something Talon noticed when Link first arrived. Though he didn’t remember much, he did remember that Link was by himself whenever he saw him. The only company he had was his fairy. Talon shouldn’t be too surprised—if Link really was a Kokiri, then it’d make sense why he’d have no family. But Kokiris died when they left the woods, didn’t they? Or was Link finally experiencing the death a Kokiri had when they were out of the woods? Talon rubbed his eyes with a soft grumble. He really didn’t know if any of that was true, but it made Talon slightly worried. Despite remembering that Link was from the lost woods, Talon couldn’t help but feel that he was a Hylian. Everything down to his mannerisms made him seem far more mature than the Kokiri ever were. They remained as children, their bodies and mentalities never changing, even for centuries. But Link…. His face held a mature understanding of the world that Talon only saw in adults. Either way, Talon couldn’t risk him dying. If he needed to return to the woods, he would take him there, he just needed to learn more about him.

Talon led Epona and his carriage to the barn, letting her and the horses roam with the others before returning to the house with warm Lon Lon milk. He was expecting Link to be sound asleep, but to his surprise, he was already trying to get out of bed despite Malon’s protests.

“Link, honestly! You can’t be gettin’ up now! You could barely drink the medicine my daddy gave to you!” She shouted, trying to shove him back to bed.

“I… I’ll be fine,” he mumbled, his voice raspy and hoarse. He brushed Malon off and reached for his shoes, but grew out of breath.

“Link! You’re sick! Lay back down!”

“I can’t stay…”

Talon entered the room with haste, setting the bottle of milk down as he walked up to Link. The boy stared up at him, his light blue eyes wide with guilt.

“Do you need to go to the woods?” Talon asked him, and Link frowned.

“What?”

“The woods? The lost woods? Where all them youngins are in?”

“O-oh, Kokiri forest?”

“Yeah, that. I hear Kokiri die when they’re away from the forest for too long. You… you’re a Kokiri, right?”

A devastated look took over Link’s exhausted face, his eyes spacing out as he looked down. “No…”

Talon frowned at his reaction, and he glanced over at Malon who looked concerned.

“No?”

“I-I’m not going to the woods… I’m not a Kokiri… I don’t belong there anymore. I don’t–I don’t belong anywhere,” Link’s voice grew so quiet that Talon almost didn’t catch what he said at the end. It was quiet in the room, and Link slowly went to grab his shoes, but Talon stopped him.

“What’s the rush then?”

“I… can’t stay….”

“Why not?”

“Because I…. I…” Link stammered, trying to push out a good argument, but with his feverish mind and exhausted body, he couldn’t. Talon sighed and gently pushed him back, and Link obliged, laying down on the pillow, his eyes half closed.

“At least get some rest before you decide to travel, ok?”

Link’s eyes went wide for a second, before closing, and he was finally asleep. Talon sighed and gave his head a pat, giving a proud smile to Malon.

“You handled that well, dear.”

Malon brushed some hair out of her eyes and sighed. “Thanks daddy. He sure is a stubborn one, ain’t he?”

Talon shrugged and stared at the young boy. So he wasn’t a Kokiri, that meant he wasn’t dying, thank the goddesses. But everything else about Link confused him. If he seemingly didn’t belong to the Kokiri anymore, then where did he call home? Did he even have a home? Talon sighed and began to head out of the room.

“I trust you’ll keep a good eye on him?”

Malon nodded. “I won’t let him try to get up next time.”

Talon snorted. “Try not to hurt him too much. You got some Gerudo blood in you, while he’s a simple Hylian,” Talon glanced at Link, “I think. Give him that milk when he wakes up.”

Malon nodded again and plopped herself in a chair, staring at the strange boy in bed. Talon smiled at her, leaving the room once again, feeling exhausted himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Link’s fever was persistent. Talon spent a long time with him to see if he was getting better, but he was not. He wasn’t getting worse though, which Talon supposed was better than nothing. Link stayed in bed most of the time, unable to get out due to the fever and to Malon forcing him to rest. Talon always had to make sure she was gentle with him. He knew she had such a gentle and kind soul, but her Gerudo strength, despite having only a little bit of it, was not to be underestimated. Malon stayed by Link’s side the entire time, only leaving when she had chores to do. She would talk the boy’s ear off when she was with him; talking to him about her chores, her favorite animals, and the songs she wrote. She would occasionally sing to him, and he would always listen. Talon couldn’t tell if he wanted to listen, but considering the small smile on his lips whenever his daughter spoke to him, he assumed that he enjoyed the company. Many times, Talon decided to do Malon’s chores for her so she could spend time with her friend, and eventually, Link started to feel better.

Talon allowed him to walk around the ranch, knowing that being in the same room for days couldn’t feel good for anyone, and Link happily obliged. He always seemed anxious, as if there was something he had to be doing, so being able to at least walk around made him a little more cheery than normal. But as soon as he was able to walk around, he once again tried to leave.

“Where do you think you’re goin’?” Talon asked when he caught Link packing up his things, trying to talk him out of it before he was gone. Link didn’t say anything for a moment, a guilty look on his face.

“I–I need to be elsewhere,” he finally said, finishing packing up his few items scattered across the room.

“Already? I know you’re feelin’ better, and exercise is good for you, but you can’t push yourself.”

Link let out a huff. “I’ll be fine. This fever will go away in due time.”

“Yeah, if you take care of yourself,” Talon argued, and Link shot a glare at him.

“Why do you care?” He suddenly snapped. Talon’s eyes widened at the boy’s sudden hostility. He scratched the back of his head and looked away.

“Is it so wrong for me to care about a sick kid?”

Link’s expression softened and he turned away. “How much do you remember?” He asked softly.

“Huh?”

“How much–how much do you remember of me?”

Talon was taken aback at the strange question. Though he’s only seen Link a couple of times last year, he remembered them pretty well now that he spent more time with the kid.

“I remember you woke me up with a cuccoo and told me my daughter was waitin’ for me. Good thing too ‘cause I didn’t mean to fall asleep at the castle of all places. Poor Malon.” Link stayed still as stone so Talon continued, “I remember you came by our ranch and found my special cuccoo. I teased you about marryin’ my daughter and you got all shy ‘bout it.” Talon chuckled at the memory. Link looked away with an embarrassed look on his face so Talon moved onto the next memory. “I remember you and Malon played all day, and played music as loud as you two could. It sorta annoyed me when I was tryin’ to sleep but I ain’t never seen Malon sing with all her heart like that before. So I let it continue.” Talon sighed and racked everything he remembered about Link, but only one more memory remained. “And then I remember you buyin’ Epona. It broke Malon’s heart to part with that horse but she cared about you and knew you would take great care of her. And that’s about all I remember of you.”

Link continued to face away from Talon, staring blankly at the wall. Talon frowned and walked up to him.

“Why are you askin’ this?”

Link sighed and hugged himself. “You just don’t know me like you used to.”

Talon was taken aback again. “Now what in Farore’s name do you mean by that?”

Link opened his mouth but was interrupted by Malon entering the room. She spotted Link’s packed up possessions and frowned.

“You’re leaving already?” She asked as he quickly finished gathering his things. “Are you sure you feel well enough for it?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said softly, looking up at Talon with another guilty expression. “I’ve already overstayed my welcome.”

Talon tilted his head. “You didn’t overstay nothin’ boy. It was my pleasure to have you here.”

Link smiled slightly, but he quickly turned away, a sad and distant look in his eye. Talon stroked his chin and squinted at him.

“Where do you call home?”

Link glanced at Talon, then at the floor. “I—um…”

“Do you… have a home?”

Link didn’t react, and he shifted uncomfortably. Talon sighed.

“Oh… Link, if you have nowhere else to go, you can always stay here—“

“No! I-I mean,” Link shrunk away, clutching onto his shirt. “You-you guys have been very kind but I–I don’t want to be a bother anymore.”

“You were anything but a bother! We loved havin’ you here!” Talon reassured, but Link didn’t look convinced

“I-I can’t stay here for free… I—I don’t—“ Link whimpered slightly, pressing himself further against the wall. Talon backed up slightly, realizing he was being too forceful with the boy. He took a deep breath and tried again.

“Ok, if you don’t wanna stay for free, then you don’t have to,” he said softly.

Link finally looked at him, a sad look on his face. “I don’t have any rupees though.”

“Who said anythin’ about money! How old are ya? Eleven? I can't expect an eleven-year-old to be able to pay rent!”

Link stared at him confused. “Then how…?”

“Well, I can always have ya work around the farm, do whatever chores you’re capable of doin’, in return you get a place to stay and food to eat.”

Link stared for a moment, the gears in his mind turning as he thought about Talon’s offer.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Sorry to put pressure on you,” Talon quickly added, realizing he was still being forceful. “But if you want, we’d love to have you.”

Link was silent for a long time, swaying slightly as Talon and Malon watched him. He finally let out a sigh and looked up at Talon.

“Can I…. Think about it?”

Talon was relieved slightly and nodded. “Of course you can, just know that wherever you go, you’ll always have a place to stay in Lon Lon Ranch.”

Link gave a more genuine smile at him.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Talon escorted Link to the entrance with Malon in tow, the two Lon’s chatting about mundane things with Link listening silently. When they reached the entrance, Talon turned to his daughter and nodded.

“Malon, could you get his horse for him?”

“Of course, daddy!”

Talon watched as his daughter ran to where the horses were, then he glanced at Link who still had an unsure look on his face.

“Link?”

Link pursed his lips. “I… I wish there was a way I could repay you for this…”

“Oh, it was on the house,” Talon said, waving his hand. “It’s the least I could do for you.”

Link smiled, his hands clumped up on his chest. “You don’t know how much this means to me… I… thank you…”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. And my offer will always be here for you, or… if you ever wanna visit,” Talon shrugged, “you’re free to visit as well if you don’t wanna stay.”

Link’s face twisted slightly, and he shyly leaned into Talon, which surprised him. He was always so distant from the others, but he was almost hugging the old farmer. Talon wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his back gently, only pulling away when Malon returned with Epona. Link quickly hopped on the horse, discreetly wiped his eye, and he gave the two a nod.

“I guess I’ll… see you around?” He said, and Talon nodded.

“Of course, you be safe out there boy!” Talon said, waving him goodbye.

“Yeah! Come visit! I want to sing with you again!” Malon exclaimed, waving enthusiastically at him. Link grinned at her and nodded at the two. Then he clicked his tongue and ran off on his horse, heading to Din knows where. Talon watched sadly as he disappeared into the field, almost wishing there was more he could do for him. It was strange how much the boy had changed since he first met him. Link was a very playful and hyper boy when they first met him, matching Malon’s hyper energy. But now, he was jaded and serious, almost as if he was an adult trapped in a child’s body. Talon didn’t want to think about what he went through in the past year to get to that point, but he hoped that now Link knew that he didn’t have to face any of it alone, and that he had people to turn to.

He just had to wait for him to reach out.

[dazed-and-confused23]

Would love to see another one shot to Dear Hearts and Gentle People where reader runs into the ghoul when he first has lucy with him and there's flirting and lucy just looks back and forth between them like 'wtf'. Think that would be a funny read because of Lucy's reaction

I hope I did your request justice, anon. Enjoy ❤️

Continuation-> HERE

Dear Hearts and Gentle People 2

Lucy can't believe that this is the same ghoul who had shot up Filly, used her as monster bait, and then kidnapped her. She also couldn't believe that someone could just stand there while she was tied up like an animal and talk to the ghoul like they were best friends.

The three of you had crossed paths, and Cooper had greeted the other woman with a wide, mischievous grin. Lucy had thought she was finally being saved, but then you glanced at her in nothing but curiosity and then focused on the ghoul, the vault dweller already forgotten.

She couldn't understand how two people could be flirting with one another in this situation. You stood close to the ghoul, body language open and friendly, eyes flickering down to Lucy for half a second and then back to Cooper.

“Seems like you've been busy. I hope I'm not being replaced,” you say and Lucy would gag if she could when her captor slid into your space, his free hand curling around the trader's hip, a dry laugh bubbling up past his lips.

“And give up the deal we've got, Darlin'?,” Cooper rumbled and flicked his eyes across your body, arousal pooling in his stomach and making his cock twitch in interest, “I don't think so.”

Lucy watches, wide eyes and mouth open in shock when you huffed in amusement, eyes full of affection for the ghoul that held Lucy hostage. How could you look at him like that?

The vaultie hadn't realized she'd asked that out loud until she had both you and Cooper staring down at her. The ghoul looked a bit miffed, but there was nothing but easy amusement in your gaze. You grin down at the girl, unconcerned with her state.

“We've all got our tastes, girl. Mine just happens to be cowpokes,” you say to her and cast your gaze around. You see a building in the distance that doesn't look like it's about to fall in a stiff breeze and turn your attention back to Cooper.

“Speaking of, I think it's about time I collect that payment, hmm?”

Cooper follows your gaze, and his grin turns feral, his eyes shining in arousal, and he tugs Lucy by the rope around her wrist.

“Well, I think that's a mighty fine plan, Sugar,” Cooper quips and bowed at the waist, eyes tracking your ass as you walked past him.

“Lead the way.”

[yellows-secret-blog]

Faroeverse AU where everything happens pretty much normally, PI Faroe kills her partner Parker when gets possessed by this entity that soon decides wants to be called Jane Doe

Pretty regular

But here's the details

Faroe always hesitates when talking about her father, she seems to have a bad history with him, although she never really elaborates, Jane assumes he is dead

She always hesitates when speaking her last name, at some point, inspired by Jane, she decides to go only by Faroe Saltzman

She often mentions a childhood friend and a sister that died before she was even born, she often mentions the fear of being alone, and how isolated she felt growing up

Faroe is also way more chill with the supernatural than Arthur, unlike him, she isn't an atheist at all, she's more of an agnostic, but still despises religion and cults just like og Arthur

She spares the widow and is very sympathetic of the wrath in the house (s1), she doesn't feel scared by the ghostly presence at all

And then we get to season 3

She asks Yellow to describe the cabin, and goes stone silent.

"I know where we are. We need to get out of here now."

People at the red right hand aren't hostile to her at all, she learns about the scientist car and doesn't hesitate on looking for it

Yellow tries to press her for more information, all she gets is silence

Faroe doesn't get attacked by the thing in the mines, she in fact slips very ungracefully and hits her head

She wakes up in the Larson manor to the sound of someone pacing around in her room,

"You woke up!" Says a worried voice "I am going to call mister Larson"

He leaves, and Yellow keeps pressing.

"Do you know these people?! What the fuck is happening, Faroe?!"

Mr. Larson arrives and Yellow describes both men as looking anxiously at her.

"So you're back, my dear" says Larson.

"Faroe, who are these people?!" Demands Yellow.

"The tall one," Faroe says through gritted teeth "is my biological father, Arthur Lester." Referring to the man previously pacing around in the room.

"And the other one" she complements, fillied with rage "Is the child-killer monster who raised me."

Ha! I tricked you! This was @cypresswood3 Secretary Arthur AU all along!

Explanation:

20 year old Arthur leaves to work for Larson without knowing Bella is pregnant, once she dies and Daniel dies as well (for plot convenience), he takes responsibility of the kid and raises her within the Larson manor as well. In this AU in specific (not my idea btw) Arthur ends up getting the surname Larson as well bc cypress really like platonic Larthur or something so I just rolled with it, so

Faroe ends up growing up thinking Larson is her father while Arthur is some sort of cousin or something

She also has an imaginary friend, a girl around 6/7 years old who seems to know all the good places in the manor and even shows her the secret passages, entrances to hidden rooms and the best places for hide and seek, but she always hides away when a grown up is around

Her name is Addison, Arthur thinks it's adorable her imaginary friend has the name of the city, Larson is shitting his pants.

As the years go by Faroe expexts to stop seeing her imaginary friend, or that at least her friend will grow up with her. None of those happen, of course, in fact Addison is the one that stops recognizing Faroe, she doesn't disappear when Faroe's around, but doesn't seem to realize "her friend Faroe" she talks about so much is right in front of her.

Faroe ends up doing some genealogy work for the Larson family and finds... Inconsistencies. Yes, Wallace Larson is her great-grandfather, but which one of his children is Andrew Larson's father? There's only dead ends, all his children died at a young age. She ends up doing an investigation of her own, leading her to the order of the fallen star, where by piecing rumour after rumour she finds out the truth and everything just... Clicks.

Why her friend knew so much, why she never grew up, why she was so scared of Larson. But even more, the rushed conversations between Larson and Arthur, the visitors she'd only see come in, but never out, the books she was never allowed to touch, the "business trips" she was never given information on. It all made sense.

And it disgusted her.

To learn the people she loved and idolized where... Monsters. Liars.

So she ran away, took the Lester surname, met Parker, started as a secretary until he saw her detective potential, it has been less than a week since her name was put on the door. Lester and Yang private investigators. And then she opened that damned book.

Anyway that's it that's my silly au yayayayay

[bladeofolympus]

Okay what's Deltora quest

hi Kay ilu

Deltora Quest is an Australian book series by Emily Rodda following 3 main characters;

Lief - a 16yo son of a blacksmith. he's very smart and loses his sword so often. backup moves including chucking shit at monsters

Barda - a soldier tasked with keeping Lief alive. He owes Lief's dad and also believes in the Belt of Deltora and he is the token adult

Jasmine - a 16yo girl that the other two meet by chance in a nearby forest. She has lived in the forest her whole life and can talk to animals/trees. She is so violent and i love her

(honorable mention) Kree & Filli - Jasmine's animal companions. Kree is a raven and Filli is some nebulous Furry Animal. like a squirrel or something

The three of them go on a quest through the country of Deltora looking for 7 magical gems that will complete the Belt of Deltora, a magical artifact that only works (fully) for the true heir of Deltora. Using the belt will help drive out the evil Shadow Lord from Deltora and end his reign of tyranny!!

There are so many fucked up monsters in these books and there are so many riddles too. I again have not read them in years (currently rereading the first one). My favorite book as a kid was City of the Rats because Lief almost gets eaten alive by a swarm of rats

Also they made a manga/anime of Deltora Quest and while its not super accurate to the books, it is a fun way to get the main points of the plot for anyone who doesn't have the time/energy to read at least 7 books (and apparently the two sister series I didn't know existed until this week)

[calmestprincess]

MLP Mood Boards!

Hello!!! Long time, no see!! I've honestly been struggling with posting on here, mainly because of the lack of time I have irl and because I run out of ideas easily, but I had one that worked out at least and figured I'd share some cute MLP moodboards that I made with you guys!! I'll also include some headcanons on what I think the mane six would like if they regressed :) I hope you enjoy!!

1. Twilight Sparkle ✨

Favorite Books: ISpy, Madeline, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Corduroy, Maisy, The Magic Treehouse

Favorite Toys: Lite Brite, Waterfuls, LPS, Fantasy Fillies, A Calculator, Girl Tech Password Journal, Fisher Price Sets, Liquipen, 20Q, Rubik's Cube

Favorite Games: Monopoly, Clue, Cranium, Trivial Pursuit

Favorite Shows: Max & Ruby, Arthur, Sesame Street, Franklin, Blue's Clues, 64 Zoo Lane, Word World, Sailor Moon

Favorite Movies: Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia, Meet The Robinsons, All of the animated Barbie movies

Favorite Websites: Neopets, Wizard 101

Favorite Snacks: Kid Cuisine Pudding, Rice Krispie Treats, Ritz Bits, Smarties, Swiss Rolls, Cantaloupe

Favorite Drinks: Hi-C, Ginger Ale

2. Rainbow Dash 🌈

Favorite Books: A Bad Case Of Stripes, The Rainbow Fish, The Cat In The Hat, Where The Wild Things Are, Little Critter, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Favorite Toys: Rainbow Humming Top Spinner, Diving toys, Light Up Wands, Zhu Zhu Pets, Sticky Hands, Rubber Bouncy Balls, Slinky, Hot Wheels, Legos, Heelys

Favorite Games: Sorry!, Mouse Trap, Battleship, Checkers

Favorite Shows: Teen Titans, Adventure Time, Kids Next Door, Powerpuff Girls, The Backyardigans, American Dragon, Kim Possible, Garfield. Samurai Jack

Favorite Movies: Cars, Spy Kids, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, The Emperor's New Groove, Mulan, Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, Robots, Up, The Incredibles, Spider Man: Into The Spiderverse

Favorite Website: Club Penguin, Cool Math Games

Favorite Snacks: Scooby Doo Gummies, Trix, Lucky Charms, Gushers, Fruit Rollups, Fruit By The Foot, Cosmic Brownies, Push Pops, Airhead Extremes, Skittles, Watermelon

Favorite Drinks: Fanta, Sprite

3. Pinkie Pie 🧁

Favorite Books: Pinkalicious, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Olivia, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Green Eggs And Ham, The Poky Little Puppy, Madlibs

Favorite Toys: Silly Bandz, Polly Pockets, Easy Bake Oven, Slime, Magic 8 Ball, Furby, Squinkies, Play-Doh, Doodle Bear, Beanie Babies, Roller Skates, Lalaloopsies, Bloonies

Favorite Games: Candy Land, Elefun, Hungry Hungry Hippos

Favorite Shows: Curious George, Wow Wow Wubzy, Martha Speaks, Spongebob, Total Drama Island, The Muppet Show, Peppa Pig

Favorite Movies: Encanto, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Inside Out, Tangled, Winnie The Pooh, Despicable Me, Madagascar, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (2005)

Favorite Websites: Toon Town, Fun Brain

Favorite Snacks: Laffy Taffy, Cupcakes, Fun Dip, Strawberry Poptarts, Hubba Bubba, Snack Packs, Zebra Cakes, Rock Candy, Pixy Stix, Cakepops, Eggos, Pocky, Uncrustables, Lunchables Chocolate Pizza, Dragonfruit

Favorite Drinks: Pink Lemonade, Kool-Aid

4. Rarity 💎

Favorite Books: Fancy Nancy, Angelina Ballerina, Amelia Bedelia, Eloise, The Baby-Sitters Club, Guess How Much I Love You, Dork Diaries

Favorite Toys: Makeup Kits, Jewelry Kits, Crystal Growing Lab Kits, Loop Loom Bracelets, Disney Princess Dolls, Barbies, Bratz, American Girl Dolls, Pixel Chix, Lisa Frank Notebooks, Sticker Books, Nail Polish, Etch-A-Sketch,

Favorite Games: Guess Who, Operation

Favorite Shows: Minnie's Bow-Toons, Monster High, Ever After High, Winx Club, 6teen, Braceface, Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana

Favorite Movies: Cinderella, The Last Unicorn, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Frozen, All of the Bratz movies, The Princess Diaries, The Cheetah Girls, The Aristocats

Favorite Websites: Girls Go Games, Pixie Hollow

Favorite Snacks: Candy Necklaces, Toaster Strudels, Marshmallows, Girl Scout Cookies, Ring Pops, Pop Rocks, Nerds Rope, Dum Dums, Uncrustables, Grapes

Favorite Drinks: Sparkling Water, Arnold Palmer

5. Apple Jac 🍎

Favorite Books: The Giving Tree, Charlotte's Web, Frog and Toad, Richard Scarry Series, The Berenstain Bears, Each Peach Pear Plum

Favorite Toys: See N' Say, Gumby, Cards, Marbles, Strawberry Shortcake House, Fischer Price 1969 Play Family, Cabbage Patch Kids, Jacks

Favorite Games: The Game Of Life, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Apples To Apples, Chess

Favorite Shows: The Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Animaniacs, The Simpsons, The Wild Thornberries

Favorite Movies: The Princess And The Frog, Monsters Inc, Rango, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Lilo & Stitch, Robin Hood, A Goofy Movie

Favorite Websites: Poptropica, Star Stable

Favorite Snacks: AJ Cereal, Apples, Necco, Cow Tails, Oatmeal Creme Pie, Cracker Jacks, Raisins, McDonalds Apple Pie, Twinkies, BBQ Chips

Favorite Drinks: Apple Juice, Rootbeer

6. Fluttershy 🦋

Favorite Books: Ferdinand, Goodnight Moon, The Lorax, Pete The Cat, Knuffle Bunny, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, The Mitten

Favorite Toys: Schleich Animals, Pillow Pets, Care Bears, Pound Puppies, Furreal Friends, Tamagotchi, Hatchimals

Favorite Games: Let's Go Fishin', Pictureka, Hedbanz, Uno

Favorite Shows: Wonderpets, Bear In The Big Blue House, Dragon Tales, Octonauts, Zaboomafoo, Little Bear, Bluey

Favorite Movies: Thumbelina, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Spirited Away, The Iron Giant, Alice In Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, Oliver & Company, Bambi, Dumbo

Favorite Websites: Webkinz, Animal Jam

Favorite Snacks: Dunkaroos, Frosted Animal Crackers, Baby Bottle Pops, Hi-Chews, Banana Bread, Kiwi, Dinosaur Egg Oatmeal

Favorite Drinks: Caprisuns, Strawberry Banana Smoothies

-

Thanks for reading!!

-

[ratsoh-writes]

Hello y’all! Meet the two newest AUs Farmred (fellswap red) and Farmgold (fellswap gold)!

Like all the other farm AUs, they all have an agricultural theme/background. However their climates before the crash were a little different

In farmred monsters and humans native to their farmlands were at battle with big corporations trying to buy up all the land. Unable to get the farmers to budge, they would send in paid criminals to torch, loot and rough up the villages. This resulted in an environment where violence was commonplace and a large cultural divide between the rural and the city folk. The farmred monsters come from a more modern era and tend to favor the use of lots of technology and chemical based treatments for their crops, making them less trusted by other farm au monsters/humans.

In farmgold, the monsters were the dominant culture and had discovered a new land ripe for the taking. Of course this place had people already living there, but colonizers don’t care about that. Many settled and began farming and shaping the land as they saw fit before the crash. There were battles and wars all around between the monsters and the natives before the crash making the climate rather guarded and aggressive. Farmgold monsters are both agriculturists and big wig business owners. Many from this au make up a sizable chunk of the richer farm monsters across Goldenvalley, Corncopia and many other agricultural based cities/zones in ebott.

And now to introduce the new skelebabes!

Meet dandy and filly!

Dandy(farmred sans)

Dandy is a smaller skeleton monster standing only at 5’2 feet tall. He has a dandelion yellow magic and is severely scarred on the right side of his face. His right eyelight doesn’t work properly and only emits a faint glow. He can see through it, but it’s rather blurry. He also has considerable scarring on his collarbone, neck, rib cage and spine. The scarring on his neck gives him a rather rough and gravelly voice He is aged 55

Dandy is the absolute worst at being a fell monster. He’s a naturally sweet and gentle monster and is a terrible liar. While he is capable of fighting, he has no stomach for violence and will often just stay on the defensive in a battle regardless of the damage he’s taking. He’s not shy, but past experiences have made him nervous and quiet around new people.

Dandy has a little plot of land in new hope where he grows flowers! He rotates his “crop” bringing in new flowers every season. On dandy’s plot of land is also a little shop selling homemade perfumes and essential oils from his flowers. It’s only open on Saturdays.

Dandy’s special ability is called flutter feet. If he kicks really fast, he can briefly walk on air. It’s very tiring and pretty goofy to watch so he doesn’t do it often lol. Dandy’s magic weapon is a large shield shaped as a rose. It’s purely defensive

Things he loves: flowers of course! But dandelions are his favorite. Pickled vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, pickled herring, perfumes and other floral scents, punk rock, swimming, fishing, basket weaving, the color seashell pink, gardening, bird watching

Filly (farmred papyrus)

Filly is a skeleton monster standing at 6’2. She has a very soft feminine voice that tends to contrast harshly with her sharp face. One scar on her face connects to a copper tooth in place of a missing fang. She has a teddy bear tan magic. When her ecto is summoned she has a rather muscular build. Filly is aged 49.

Filly is a protective and cautious monster. After her parents passing, she found herself as the main protector of her brother before the crash, a role that she still feels resent for despite her and her brothers good relationship. Filly with strangers is standoffish and cold, but with friends she’s nurturing and affectionate. She has a very dry sense of humor

Filly is a mailman in new hope! The mountain town has a lot of winding roads hard to access by vehicle, so she does most of her routes on horseback.

Filly’s special ability is called knock back. Exactly three times a day, she can fully rebound a magical attack sending it back to its owner. Any magic attack. She experiences no backlash from this. Once she uses this ability three times though, her defense stat drops significantly until she gets a full nights rest. Her magic weapon is a whip with barbs on the end. 

Things she loves: her horse sunny, Indian paintbrush flowers, foraging, leather clothing, hunting large game, fine wine and fancy crackers, horseback riding, rhythm games, dancing, country music, the color sky blue

And meet Cigar and Colby!

Cigar (farmgold sans)

Cigar is a skeleton monster standing at 5’6 feet tall. He has a vibrant apple green magic and a faint smattering of freckles on his skull. Around his eye sockets is a line of visible magic, a hereditary birthmark. When his ecto is summoned, he has a large strongman build with a bit of chub. He is aged 63

Cigar is a very proud monster, he’s hardworking, intelligent, ruthless and has an eye for the fine things in life. He’s earned his right to be a bit vain in his opinion and takes his reputation very seriously. He can be strict and harsh with strangers, but has a soft spot for kids and will be doting and spoiling towards them. He’s a closeted romantic and flusters easily from innocent flirting.

Cigar owns several sizable chunks of land around Corncopia and some parts of Goldenvalley. He leases his land out only to farmers and ranchers except for one street in the inner town of Corncopia. There he allows artisan good shops only. He’s incredibly wealthy and feared by many in his town.

Cigars special ability is called early set rot. When he sees a plant or animal with an infection, he can speed up the process through touch, easily killing the creature from its disease. He has perfect control over this and despises his ability. He never uses it. His magical weapon is a large hunting rifle with beautiful fall harvest details.

Things he loves: pumpkin pie and roast boar, artisan cheeses, fine wines, fancy suits, cigars of course; he’s a very heavy smoker, boats and boat rides, vintage furniture, hunting rifles, big game and bird hunting, taxidermy animals, dogwood flowers, the color bronze, calligraphy, orchestra music

Colby Smalls (farmgold papyrus)

Colby is a half breed skeleton monster standing at 6’1. He has a cheddar yellow magic and a smattering of freckles on his skull. Around his eye sockets is a line of visible magic, a hereditary birth mark. He has thinner bones than average, and when his ecto is summoned he has a very dainty petite figure. He is aged 31. His soul displays orange for bravery.

Colby is a playful and goofy monster. He’s a little shy when you first meet him, but is quick to warm up with a bit of kindness. He hates boredom and is a menace when his hands aren’t doing something lol. He doesn’t care a lick about appearances and routinely embarrasses his brother and parents on accident. They still love him though lol.

Colby is a cheese maker! He is one of the suppliers of a shop belonging to the street cigar owns. Colby makes a variety of different cheeses from the milk of local livestock in Corncopia. He’s experimental and adventurous and hopes to make his own variety of cheese popular someday.

His special ability is called sweet sense by his family and sugar tits by Colby himself lol. He can perfectly predict the sugar content of any liquid he smells before he even tastes. He uses this ability to pick the animals with the sweetest milk for his cheese. His magic weapon is a butter churn with spikes on the side that he uses as a war hammer lol. It’s hard to use but packs a punch

Things he loves: CHEESE- literally any cheese as long as it’s good quality, homemade butters spreads and jams, square dancing, horseback riding, mud wrestling, comedy shows and podcasts, weaving, painting, crochet, knitting, whittling, sunflowers, the color lemon, heavy metal rock lol

And side characters

Ruffet: farmred muffet, the reason behind most of dandy’s scars and filly’s sworn enemy. Ruffet was once a corporation sell out and was hired to drive dandy and filly away from their land. Fully managed to scare her off, but not before she injured dandy considerably. Since the crash she’s done some soul searching and regrets her past actions considerably. She’s made peace with some other past victims but is scared to approach filly and dandy still.

Iris and ginger: farmred catty and bratty. The two soulbonded monsters were old neighbors of dandy and filly and were like pseudo sisters to the two when they lost their parents. They both now work on harpy’s vineyard in new hope and are obsessed with the idea of getting harpy and dandy together lol.

Meemaw: her name is actually Ann Swatson but her grandkids make every one call her meemaw. Meemaw is an elderly human woman from Texas who moved to ebott on her sons insistence for her retirement. She’s still getting used to monster culture but adores her half breed grandkids and is willing to try for them. Meemaw was a contest winning horse breeder back in her day and struck up a friendship with filly when she saw how well taken care of filly’s mare was. Filly considers Meemaw her best friend and would die for her.

Brie: farmgold gaster and the mother of cigar and colby. Brie is a proper, polite and gently stern monster. She’s had a rough life over the years loosing her family during an overseas voyage, then her ex soulmate cheating on her and abandoning their child. Since the crash her life has been in an upturn though with her son’s success.

Worcester Wingdings: the father of cigar and the ex-soulmate of Brie. Worcester was forced into an arranged bonding with Brie for her family’s money when young. He resented her for years, and when their son was born the pressure became too much. He ran off with a human lady abandoning his family, and eventually managed to break the soulbond in his own. After the crash, he found himself alone in ebott leaving his lover behind. Worcester is a bitter and regretful monster. He wishes to reach out to cigar but fear of revenge from the ruthless skeleton holds him back

John Smalls: the human father of Colby, John is a human from farmgold. He only knew brie for a little while before Colby was conceived. John and Brie never got together but had a decent coparenting relationship for Colby when he was a child. John is now an old man working in a smoke shop in ebott. He loves his son and still visits regularly but is starting to really feel his age.

[love-byers]

Why do Milevens desperately want El to stay with someone who couldn’t say I love you to her for so long and made her feel like a monster and only seemed to hold her to superhero standards? Starting to think they just like the idea of them together and aren’t even listening to them anymore. Like they say to bylers all the time just because two characters are in scene together or happen to stand near each other doesn’t mean they like each other. El breaking up with Mike would allow her to find herself kinda like Max instructed her to do in season 3. Honestly Max is a better partner for her at this point. Max was in full support of El being her own person and knowing her own strength/power and having trust in her. She wanted her to find who El is without Hopper/Mike influences. Do people honestly think El is happy with Mike? Or that he’s happy with her?

its because they're closet fillie shippers and want to see them kiss. they dgaf about the characters or the show that's literally it. they don't care about other plots, they don't care about writing, film, character arcs, suspense, buildup, etc. they literally don't care about any of it. they want mike and el together so they can project onto el and pretend they're kissing finn wolfhard it's that simple

[ask-de-writer]

CARAMEL TREAT’S SWEETS : MLP Fan Fiction

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

Caramel Treat’s Sweets

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

18671 words

© 2016 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 02/21/16

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

“Really, Caramel, where did you get those candies?” Caramel’s unusually colored friend asked.

Slightly irritated at her palomino friend, Caramel Treat replied, “I told you that. I made them. I cooked the rest of my lunch, too.

“Mommy Brightmane had to go into town early, on business. Nurse Fields was not feeling well, so I made her a breakfast in bed and made up some things for my lunch.

“What is the problem, Peanut? Cooking is EASY!”

Sitting at the edge of Caramel’s checkered picnic cloth, spread in the shade of the big tree on the school’s playground, Peanut Brittle nodded with a slightly bemused expression. “For you, maybe. I tried to make some of that popped barley candy that you brought last week!” She shivered at the memory. “It was an awful mess. Didn’t taste that good, either!”

A solid shadow filled in some of the dappled shade under the tree. Jaret, who used to be a bully before he ran into Caramel’s Han Fu training and cleverness, stood quietly by.

There were several other ponies behind him, including Miss Cherrilee, the principal and a well respected teacher.

When Caramel looked up, she smiled and asked, “Jaret! What do you want?”

Hesitantly, he said, “Would you sell me one or two of those candies? I would like to get one of the almond slivered popped barly bars and one of those sweet honeyed apple things.”

Caramel nodded slowly. “You want to buy my candies? Why not? Would four coppers be too much?”

While Peanut Brittle watched in surprise, Caramel sold most of the candies that she had made that morning. Miss Cherrilee bought FOUR. She walked away happily chewing on one and sharing one to Miss Whinly, one of the other teachers.

Two fillies and three colts waited restlessly for Caramel to finish her lunch. “Can we play dodge-wolf, Caramel?”

“Sure, Daphne! I just need to put away my lunch basket and take my noon potion dose!” Caramel folded her picnic cloth and stowed everything neatly. Getting up, she trotted to the office.

In the door to the office, Caramel heard two strange rough voices. “Look here, Cherrilee, we knows that there is a ferocious werewolf loose here in Ponyville! We has heard that it lurks around the school here, just looking for the chance to snatch some helpless filly to devour!”

Miss Cherrilee, seeing Caramel behind them, retorted in a tart voice, “I rather think not! The so called ferocious werewolf has three Joint Royal Citations for Courage shown in rescues from burning structures. She has two Joint Royal Citations for Courage in Hazardous Material containment, including one for saving, not only this school but near to a third of the town as well!

“She is a formal part of the Ponyville Fire Department’s Hazmat Team. She has tracked down and recovered four lost foals. Some rampaging monster!”

Caramel had heard enough. She silently shifted, her cute little pony snout growing longer and leaner, with jaws full of fangs. Her whole body was shifting from a small pony to Huge Everfree Ridgeback Wolf. She had gone from fur the light brown color of a caramel candy to dark gray fur tinged with black. A black ruff surrounded her neck and stiff black fur formed a ridge from ruff to the base of her black tufted tail.

In her quiet filly’s voice she said, “You should be glad that the werewolf is better civilized than you. If she was not, you could be in serious danger, trapped here in this office like you are.”

One of the two, a pastel green often called ‘gangrene’ by the unkind, blew a short raspberry as he pulled a big knife. “We ain’t in no danger! Show 'em, Stort!”

The other pony, an off bluish white, pulled a similar knife.

They had barely got their knives out before a powerful paw slapped hard between them, knocking their knives away. At the same time, a sweep kick by a hard driven gray furred leg took the rear legs out from under them both.

The huge Everfree ridgeback wolf that was Caramel Treat’s were form, stepped delicately past the two and spoke in Caramel’s filly voice, “It is time for my noon potion dose, Miss Cherrilee.” She sat across the necks of both of the fallen ponies, preventing them from getting up.

A grinning Miss Trake, the school’s nearly golden unicorn secretary gathered up the knives with the acid comment, “It is against the school’s rules, Ponyville ordinance, and kingdom law to have knives like these in a school.

“The Werewolf that you were so eager to hunt down follows the rules and behaves herself.”

The one called Stort spoke in a muffled voice due to an enormous wolf sitting on his head, “We was showed pictures of it in a deadly rampage right out there in the school yard!”

Caramel was looking down at him, a puzzled expression on her face. Just then a filly and a colt came running up to the office door.

“Caramel! What’s taking so long? We want to play dodge-wolf!”

Stort made an incredulous noise! “Dodge-wolf! A game? I think that Sawnax got something a bit wrong!”

Miss Trake nearly dropped their knives, she was laughing so hard! “Sawnax! He CAUSED the Ponyville Potion Disaster! I was here when he knocked over Caramel’s potion and cracked the bottle! Caramel saved us all.

“She spent over a week with the Fire Department Hazmat Team making sure that the parts of Ponyville that were downwind from the school were safe.”

The gangrenous colored one asked, “What about that big Werewolf bite scar on Sawnax’s shoulder?”

The mauve colt, Jaret, snorted with suppressed giggles. “Dad told you THAT? He got less than a drop of Caramel’s potion on his skin when he spilled it! It is really dangerous stuff if you don’t know how to handle it!”

“Wait. Dad? Sawnax is your dad?”

Jaret hung his head in shame. “Yes, he is. After the mess he made here, I was alone for weeks while he was in the horspital.

“I began to find out how big a liar and sneak he is. He even kept records of a lot of it. I went to Miss Cherrilee, here and she found me a foster family to stay with. Judge Coldheart made it permanent. I don’t want to ever stay with dad again.

“What he pulled on you was just dad being dad.”

The gangrenous one asked, “If we promise to be good, will you get off of us, Caramel, uh, Miss Treat?”

Lolling her tongue out in canine amusement, Caramel simply got up.

She pointed to the cabinet where her potion was being kept. Miss Trake opened it with her magic and lifted out two potion bottles, one the red of a dangerous potion, the other the green of safety. She also got out a heat discolored metal dose cup, a set of tongs, an alcohol burner and matches. She set them all out on the counter for Caramel’s use.

She then herded all of the others from the room, leaving only Caramel, herself and Miss Cherrilee. Smiling, she told the two newcomers what the foals already knew. “To prevent any future problems like Sawnax caused, we don’t allow any ponies but us here while she takes her potion. It can be dangerous in the wrong hooves. The Manehatten Biomedical Disaster demonstrated just how bad it can be.”

Sure that every pony was out, she locked the door. As Caramel heard the lock click, she lit the burner. Pouring with care, she first added a little of the green potion to her dose cup. Then she added a precisely measured amount from the red bottle, restoppering it securely as soon as she had poured its part into the cup. She quickly drank the whole dose, even licking out the cup. Taking the tongs, she gripped the cup and heated it in the flame of the alcohol burner until it was nearly red hot. After waving the cup to cool it, she let Miss Trake put it all away.

She emerged from the office, only to be met by a member of the Ponyville Police Department. He had Stort and the green pony in chains. Miss Cherrilee came out and began to confer with the officer. She made shooing gestures at the foals and wolf. “Go play! I will give you an extra fifteen minutes because of this silliness.”

The youngsters vanished like magic. Soon there was a very active game of dodge-wolf going on! Fillies and colts were laughing and calling as they played.

Staying carefully beyond the boundaries of the Protective Order of Judge Coldheart, Sawnax watched, with satisfaction, as he saw a police pony enter the school.

Later the ugly brown pony with the big ridged and knotted scar on his shoulder glowered and ground his teeth in irritation as he saw the wolf and foals come out to the playground. He stayed long enough to see the police pony leading away the two that he’d set up. Sawnax turned tail and returned to his business.

He took out his sour mood by calling to an employee, “Lyle! I catch you putting up another load of timbers that way, you’re fired!”

Back at the school, the bell rang, as promised, fifteen minutes late. Colts and fillies returned to classes, grumbling like students everywhere, throughout time.

Miss Cherrilee was putting up the day’s arithmetic lesson. “Barley costs two silver, four bits for five kilos. Honey costs eight bits for a half liter. Cooking oil costs six bits per liter. Slivered almonds cost four silver per half kilo.

“Now, if this recipe is followed,” Miss Cherrilee chalked a quick recipe up on the board, “how much will it cost to make it up? If it is divided into fifteen popped barley/almond bars, how much does each bar cost? Also, as an extra credit question, How many batches can you make out of the total ingredients listed?”

Miss Cherrilee had the rare pleasure for most teachers, of seeing Caramel Treat’s face light up as she worked through the problem. As a teacher, she loved seeing a student understand the principle behind a problem.

Caramel was actually slow to hand in her paper but it was three sheets long! Besides the questions on the board, she had posed several other related questions and attempted to find answers or the approaches to answers.

Except for the nasty scene in the office, it was a wonderful day to be a teacher!

Only a few months later, Caramel graduated early from the Ponyville School. Brightmane, her mother, and Nurse Fields, her life-long nurse/companion hugged her after Miss Cherrilee gave her the diploma.

“Dinner at the Pink Note!” exclaimed Brightmane.

While they were happily ordering, to the background of soft live jazz that the Pink Note was famous for, Caramel was studying the menu itself. “Mom, I have an idea. Cooking is so easy for me. I would like to start a restaurant. I could specialize in my candies and such things.”

Brightmane paused. “You want me to buy you a restaurant? That is a pretty big graduation gift, dear.”

“No, Mom. I would want a loan to do it. I have talked to Miss Cherrilee about it. She has offered to help me to put together a business plan. Then we could do it properly, as a business. That way, you will make money and so will I.”

Nurse Fields faked crying. “Our little Caramel is all grown up!” Then she grinned hugely. “If Brightmane won’t back you, I will! I do have some savings put aside.”

Brightmane regarded her friend and long time employee with lively curiosity. “Why so eager, Nurse Fields?”

“Caramel has cooked for me before! Mostly when I was under the weather. It is always good!” Grinning at Caramel, she added, “I have seriously thought about faking it to get her to cook for me some more!

“She always leaves the kitchen neat and tidy, too.”

Brightmane nodded quietly. “If you bring me a sound business plan, Caramel, I will see about that loan.”

The rest of the meal was the celebration that it was supposed to be.

They gave Cherry Mocha, the Pink Note’s owner and waitress, a really good tip. They were strolling home through the edge of the Everfree Forest in the dusk.

Suddenly Caramel ordered, “Stop! Mom! Nurse Fields! Get back! There are ponies in the brush up ahead. They have weapons.”

With no sound at all, Caramel changed. It was like a ripple running from nose to tail. Caramel tan pony was swallowed by dark gray and black wolf. The wolf that was Caramel Treat vanished into the brush alongside the trail with ghost like silence.

In mere seconds, a clump of brush down the trail a little, erupted in pony! “Run, Stort! The Wolf’s gonna kill us!”

The gangrenous green pony shot up the trail toward town! Stort, the pale blue pony was on his heels! Watching them go, Brightmane observed, “I thought ponies had to have wings to fly!”

Nurse Fields chortled, “Apparently, fear can replace wings! Look at them go!”

The wolf came out of the same thicket, bouncing happily. “Did you see that, Mom?”

Brightmane whickered laughter. “I sure did! What were they doing here?”

With casual nonchalance, Caramel replied, as she changed back to a pony, “Nothing much. Just trying to kill me.”

Brightmane sobered at once. “Trying to kill MY DAUGHTER is not a nothing!”

The next day Caramel went into Ponyville by herself. Her first stop was the school where she no longer a student. She and Miss Trake, the secretary were chatting happily, while waiting for Miss Cherrilee to be done with the class that she was teaching.

A dark brown pony with an angry, raw looking scar on his shoulder barged into the office and demanded, “Get out of the school, you monster! You done graduate! Got no more business here!”

Caramel turned to face the bigger pony with a smile on her face. “Sawnax! What are YOU doing here? Isn’t there a Judge’s Protective Order requiring you to stay away from the school? Seems to me that it was caused by some tiny incident involving you and a student’s dangerous medicines! Only a third of the town had to be evacuated as a result!”

While Caramel was speaking and distracting Sawnax, Miss Trake was on the Magic Net mirror. “Emergency Services, please! Police. Sawnax is inside the school, in violation of the Protective Order of Judge Coldheart. He is harassing a pony with legitimate reason to be here.

“An officer is on the way? Thank you, Emergency Services!”

Sawnax, responding to Caramel’s remark snapped, “Order is done and over now that you ain’t going here no more! Now, get out!”

In a severe voice, Miss Trake returned, “That is not true! You were removed from the School Board and the Order was made permanent when it was found that, besides harassing Caramel, here, you were bothering Jaret and got caught destroying his homework!”

Sawnax growled, “Jaret is MY colt! He had no right to leave me, just because I was in the Horspital!”

Caramel looked askance at Sawnax and pointed out, “He had to have temporary fosterage while you were in the Horspital. At his age, he cannot live on his own.

“The family that took him in were good parents. HE made the decision to petition the Courts to make it permanent.

“He is doing really well in school now.”

Sawnax curled a lip and laid his ears back as he snarled, “School ain’t everything!”

A third voice joined the conversation. “Perhaps not, Sawnax. However, the fact that you are here is unfortunate. I am Constable Crager, of the Ponyville Police Department. You are under arrest for violating a Protective Order.

“Will you come with me quietly, or must I use whatever force is needful?”

Sawnax responed, “You don’t get it! I is trying to deal with a matter of HIGHER LAW! This here innocent looking pony is a WEREWOLF! A DEADLY MONSTER! At any moment the thin vernier of civilization could crack off! When it goes, she will explode into a murderous rampage!”

Constable Crager simply asked, “Will you come or not? I am authorized to use ANY force necessary.”

“I TOLD YOU! This is a matter of HIGHER LA …”

Sawnax’s retort was cut off by meaty THUMP! Constable Crager’s expertly wielded truncheon rebounded from the back of Sawnax’s head as the brown pony collapsed.

The Constable had him in manacles in mere moments. As Sawnax groggily awakened, Constable Crager informed him, “Unfortunately, Sir, neither the Crowns Law nor the Local Law recognizes your so-called Higher Law. As this Werewolf is a creature with reason, she is covered under the Edict of Equality, which you have directly violated and will be charged with, in addition to the breach of the Order of Protection.”

Protesting bitterly, Sawnax was dragged away to jail.

Miss Cherrilee was watching from the hallway outside the office. “What put a burr under his tail?” she asked with curiosity.

“I think that it is the fact that I graduated from the school faster than any pony but one,” Caramel replied. “He was going around saying what a dummy I was, being home schooled and all. Along with the Potion Disaster, my early graduation destroyed his chance to ever get back on the school board. He had political plans that needed the school board to get started.

“Besides graduating early, I turned out to be a Royally Recognized Student!”

Miss Cherrilee nodded as she entered the office, “Yes, I can see how that embarrassed him. Are you going to take up the Canterlot University scholarship?”

“I hope that I won’t disappoint you, but I don’t think so. You spoke to me about how to make a business plan?

“I think that I know what I want to do. I love cooking, you know that. I want to set up a restaurant. I have an offer of a sound business loan to do it but I need a proper business plan to get the loan.”

Miss Cherrilee smiled and nodded. “No, dear. I am not disappointed. You are a truly talented cook. I suspect that your really keen werewolf senses have a lot to do with how well you can cook.” She reared up to get a book from a high shelf.

“Here, Caramel. This book should help you a lot. Please feel free to ask me anything after you have read it.”

Caramel thanked Miss Cherrilee and left with the book. Two days later, she returned the book.

“Thank you, Miss Cherrilee. It was a great help! Here. Would you please look this over and see if I have missed anything?”

Miss Cherrilee took the thin sheaf of papers in hoof and said, “I would be happy to, Caramel.”

Caramel noticed that Miss Cherrilee had a big pile of student papers to grade. “If you are going to look over my work, would you mind me helping you with yours? I can help you to grade these papers!”

The two mares sat happily at the desk, each looking over the other’s work.

The next day, Brightmane and Caramel sat in the spacious lobby of the Equestrian National Bank. A business suited pony unctuously invited them, “Brightmane, please come into my office. We can discuss whatever business you have. I am sure that Equestrian National can meet your needs.”

Seated in his office, Brightmane smiled and handed over a paper. “All that I want is for you to notarize this loan that I am making.”

Without even looking at her paper he said in a prim voice, “Without the other principal to the loan present, I cannot do that.”

Brightmane’s smile froze. “If you could be bothered to look at the paper, you would see that she is here. I am making my daughter Caramel Treat a business loan.”

He pulled back in irritation. “Equestrian National cannot underwrite a business loan to a minor.”

Brighmane stopped smiling altogether. In a flat voice, she stated, “We are NOT asking Equestrian National to underwrite the loan. It is from MY funds and being made to my daughter. I am cosigning for her as she is a minor. Just notarize our signatures!”

Forced into a corner by his previous refusals, he pushed the paper back. “A personal loan in the family does not require a Notary stamp.”

Brightmane, now furious, demanded, “HERE! You cannot legally refuse this!” She wrote briefly in her checkbook and hoofed over the slip.

He blanched as he saw it. “You can’t be serious! A withdrawal of this magnitude, in coin!”

Brighmane curled her lip in a snarl that would have done credit to a wolf. “BY EQUESTRIAN LAW YOU HAVE 72 HOURS TO PRODUCE MY SEVEN MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY TWO THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY ONE GOLD, NINE SILVER AND THREE.

“According to the bank’s last quarterly report, you have in the entire Equestrian National Bank, all branches included, cash reserves of only five million golden bits. How you raise the other more than two and a half MILLION golden bits is entirely YOUR problem!”

Caramel spoke quietly, “Mother, destroying the whole bank over this is not wise. We will simply go to Ponyville Trust and Loan. There, you can simply write a check for my one hundred and fifty thousand golden bits loan. I KNOW that they will notarize our agreement as a free service. They can simply present your check on a secure gold asset transfer.

“That will kick this specific pony in the rear and not wreck the whole bank. Losing this much business will tarnish HIS career and not do much other harm.”

Brightmane did smile at Caramel. “Well thought out, dear. Come, let us do that. We can move our assets in an orderly fashion. You are right. There is no need to wreck a bank, simply because one branch manager is an idiot.” She picked up the loan agreement and her check as they left.

Sitting together in Sugar Cube Corner, a bit later, sipping milkshakes and nibbling frosted oat cakes, Caramel observed, “That did not take long at all. The Trust and Loan really wanted our business.” She was admiring her new check book with the Ponyville Trust and Loan logo.

Together, they began to canvass the side of Ponyville closest to Brightmane’s cottage in the fringes of the Everfree Forest. They found a dilapidated house for sale on a lot just across from a nice smallish park.

Brightmane watched with pride as Caramel checked out the structure and the condition of the property in general.

The Realtor from Shadyside Realty leaned back from his desk with a phony smile pasted onto his face and pointed out, “While that is a fine property, the house needing only a little work to be first rate, you, as a minor, cannot get a mortgage for it.”

Caramel, gestured her mother to silence and returned, “I do not need a mortgage. I can buy it with a single payment. The only real issue here is that you just lied about the condition of the house.

“It has a serious infestation of termites and several of the main supporting timbers have sufficient rot that the whole house needs to be torn down. That is a cost to set against the listed price of six thousand golden bits.

“Four would be about right under the circumstance. The demolition and removal will cost around two. I have the estimates right here.” She hoofed over several sheets for the agent.

The Realtor looked like he had just bit into an orange and discovered it was a lemon in disguise. He countered, “I have an appraisal right here and it says nothing about those so called defects.”

Caramel looked over the appraisal sheet and dropped it disdainfully back on his desk. “This is almost FOUR years old! Under Crowns Law it is worthless. If you do not have a more recent one, we are done here.”

Turning to Brightmane, Caramel said quietly, “Come, Mother. This pony is a good deal less than honest. He is right down there with Sawnax!”

Brightmane followed her daughter out of the Shadyside Real Estate office. Once outside, she asked, “How are we going to get the property if we don’t deal with the Realtor, Caramel?”

Caramel, leading the way back toward downtown Ponyville, replied with a grin, “The appraisal was prepared for the Ponyville Trust and Loan! They are the actual OWNERS of the property.

“I think that they might be willing to sell it without having to pay a Realtor a commission and get a good chunk of cash at the same time.”

Brightmane regarded her daughter proudly as their hooves clopped quietly on the cobbled street. A few clouds floated in an otherwise clear sky.

Turning into the Ponyville Trust and Loan, they were greeted by a nice gray pony who informed them, “Mister Morgan is with another customer just now. Can I get you a warm drink while you wait? Rom black tea, perhaps?”

When it was their turn, they sat in Mister Morgan’s office while Caramel explained the situation. He frowned as he heard about the assessment.

“You are sure that he did not have a more recent one? Just a moment.”

Mister Morgan left his office and returned with a modestly thick file. He rummaged through the assorted papers, some in the various colors of legal foreclosure warning notices. He pulled out a thin sheaf. He held it out for Caramel to see.

“This is the latest assessment. It is only two months old. As you can see from the notes, Shadyside Realty was given and signed for a copy. This assessment shows substantially the same situation that you described. I fear that the structure will have to be demolished.”

He sighed. “Our foreclosure lien is for 3500 gold. If you are to bear the cost of demolishing, that only leaves about 1500 plus some unavoidable legal costs. I suppose that we could let you have it as is for around 2000 plus closing costs.”

Caramel’s brows pulled down in concentration. “You do all of your investing right here in Ponyville, right?”

Mister Morgan nodded seriously. “We founded our Trust and Loan to help the local community rather than a Board of Bankers that sits in Canterlot.”

Caramel smiled at that, nodding happily. “That was my understanding. I was prepared to give Shadyside Realtors 4000 gold bits, plus closing. Since this money will be going into the community rather than private pockets, let’s go ahead and do it for that price.

“In spite of being higher than you were offering, it is less than I was prepared to pay. We both win. It does not hurt that Ponyville wins too. Shall I make it a check or do you want to simply debit my account?”

Walking home in the luminous evening, Brightmane told Caramel, “I could not be prouder of my sweet filly than I am today. You showed both good business sense and wisdom.”

Caramel smiled and rechecked her saddlebags as they reached the gate to their cottage. “Remember, Mother, tonight, I am cooking our dinner!”

Nurse Fields’ happy voice came from the door opened in welcome, “I heard that! Brightmane, don’t you dare try to stop her!”

It did take several days to get through the legal hoops to ownership of the lot. Caramel spent much of that time in conference with Houser, the architect and builder. Drawings and plans for her new restaurant got made.

Arrangements were made to remove the dilapidated old house on the lot.

Caramel was watching the crew that Houser had hired. The unicorns were working together to grab and rip off parts of the roof. Instead of simply dropping the pieces, they were loading them into a wagon for prompt removal. As quick as they uncovered structural parts like rafter beams, they pulled them out of their old place and set them out in neat piles for later sorting.

Another of the crew was dismantling the chimney. He was working with care and setting aside the stone, brick and expensive flue tiles in sorted piles.

The workers all took off to go get lunch at Sugar Cube Corner. In only a few minutes, a red pony with a yellow mane pulled up with a wagon and started to load up the chimney tiles.

Caramel asked, “What are you doing with my flue tiles? Those are valuable and we are saving them.”

He snorted, “Don’t know much about it, do you, kid? I have bought all of this salvage from Sawnax. Paid good bits for it and I am just picking it up.”

Caramel got between him and the tiles. Still mild, she explained, “The problem is that my builder is Houser and the salvage is not for sale. Sawnax has cheated you. You should go to him and get your coin back.”

He made the mistake of pushing Caramel aside as he snapped, “I paid for them and I am going to have them!”

Her return sweep kick had his hind legs out from under him! She followed up by a nerve jab that paralyzed one of is front legs. He was struggling to rise when Caramel blew a police whistle.

Constable Crager came on the run. “What is it, Caramel?”

Ignoring the constable’s asking Caramel, the fallen pony demanded, “Arrest her! She attacked me for no reason! I bought the whole salvage of this lot! I have a receipt and everything!”

Constable Crager listened and then demanded, “I must see that receipt. I already know that this lot and all on it belongs the this young mare.”

“That is crazy talk! Sawnax showed me the exact lot from that park over there!” He dug in his saddlebag and produced a somewhat wrinkled receipt. “See? It says right on it, all salvageable masonry and usable timbers, including chimney tiles!”

Examining the receipt, Constable Crager nodded, “It does say that. There is one small problem. The listed address is 421 Blackberry Lane. This lot is 318 Mane street.”

Caramel quietly pointed across the way, to the park. Sawnax was sitting where he could watch the whole mess. He was laughing.

Constable Crager trotted across to the park and spoke to Sawnax at length. He gave Sawnax a paper, which Sawnax took petulantly.

The Constable returned and gave a second paper to the pony who had been stopped from taking Caramel’s salvage.

Staring at the sheet incredulously, he asked, “I got to go to court?”

“Yes, Sir. You do. You and Sawnax will dispute your case before Judge Coldheart. He will decide which of you owes whom and how much.

“The alternative is that I simply arrest you for attempted theft. The court is cheaper and will not give you a criminal record.”

As he was glumly leaving, Houser and his crew showed up.

After explaining to Houser about the happenings while his crew was away, they got back to work. The old house’s basement proved to be both large and dry, showing no sign of any moisture damage at all.

Caramel consulted with Houser about incorporating the basement into the new shop’s design. She pointed out, “This will greatly improve my storage area for provisions. It will be cool, too. That will help things to last.”

Houser nodded and pointed to his plan drawings. “We did not know the condition of the basement when I made these. I was figuring to fill it in and use support blocks here and here. We simply make them into pillars footed on the basement floor, which is solid. There should be a loading ramp cut in at the back so that you can have carts unload into the basement easily. A stair case over here, and that will be all that there is to it.

“It will only add about a thousand bits to the overall cost and you will have total access to it, from both inside and out.”

Caramel nodded as she worked it out in her head and then examined the drawings again. “Can we put the staircase over here, instead? That will make it handier to the kitchen area.”

Houser agreed at once. “I see what you mean. For such a young mare, you are very sharp. I like the idea of a smaller kitchen for experimenting with new recipes. It will allow the development of new dishes without disrupting the main kitchen.”

Caramel smiled brightly as she replied, “That is the idea!”

Houser returned her smile, thinking of both the good idea and the addition to his profits. “I will get right on the modifications! I will have working drawings for your approval tomorrow. If you like them, I will do the detailed plans at once.”

“That will be fine, Mister Houser. I will not be free until noon at the earliest. I have two issues of civil business to bring before Judge Coldheart.”

“I see, Caramel. Good luck to you on them.”

Smiling broadly, Caramel replied, “Luck favors the well prepared. I will leave you to finish this salvage work. I need to prepare the information that I am going to need for tomorrow.”

The somewhat puzzled Houser watched Caramel trot off in the direction of the Ponyville town hall.

The next morning, Caramel packed her saddlebags carefully, being sure to organize the many papers that she had accumulated the day before.

Brightmane asked anxiously, “Are you sure that you don’t want me to come to court with you, dear?”

Nurse Fields wiped her lips with a napkin and replied for Caramel, “Yes, Brightmane, she is sure. She has only told you so three times, so far.

“Caramel, the breakfast was lovely. Thank you.”

Caramel set out into the early predawn light that made the Everfree Forest seem so lovely and serene. She had an escort of five big, full grown Everfree Ridgeback wolves. Over the years, the Stone Ridge Pack had grown used to her presence and accepted her, not exactly as one of their own, but as one who belonged and could be counted on to help the hunt.

They knew that, though she was going into Ponyville, where they would not go, that she was on a hunt of her own. They were offering her their assistance, as she had assisted them in the past. Caramel appreciated the support.

She took her leave of the pack, with the usual friendly butt sniffing and light roughhousing. Going around the hill of Red Hoof, she went straight into town.

Arriving at the Town Hall, she went inside, and took a place in Judge Coldheart’s courtroom. A little later, the big red pony came in, followed by Sawnax.

Sawnax immediately began, “What are you doin’ here, Brat? Get out now! You got no reason to be here!”

He was hauling back to give her the back of his hoof, when he saw her smile of anticipation. He had run into her Han Fu skills before. Growling, he lowered his hoof.

They heard, “All rise for His Honor, Judge Coldheart!”

They did, and Judge Coldheart, in his formal robes of office, took his place at the bench. He struck a gavel and declared, “Order, in this court!”

Sawnax reluctantly settled down. He had been here enough in the past that he knew the routine, and the cash cost of disobedience.

“We shall hear Petty Criminal maters first.

“Sawnax, you stand accused of violations of the Protective Order granted to Miss Cherrilee’s School. During the course of that violation, you further broke the Edict of Equality by verbal outburst in the hearing of the Constable.

“How do you plead? You may plead only guilty or not guilty. Silence will be taken as a guilty plea.”

Sullenly, Sawnax replied, “Guilty, I guess. I thought that the Order was over, once the Brat, there was out of the school! I went in to get her out of the School, where she had no business at all!

“As for Edict of Equality, I have tried to warn you and the town, once she is turned, that Werewolf will lose all reason and become a ravening, murderous monster! The Edict won’t apply but it will be too late for her victims!”

The judge curled a lip disdainfully. “Guilty on all counts! You are fully aware that you have just lied! You have seen Caramel Treat changed to a wolf on many occasions. She, unlike some Werewolves, does retain her reason and emotional control.

“You are fined one hundred golden bits! This is added to the sum of four thousand gold, twenty two and seven that are presently outstanding debits to this court! You may not leave the court until payment arrangements have been made.”

Sawnax ground his teeth in rage as he returned to his place.

The judge called out, “Now we will hear civil actions.

“Those whose things have no dispute may come forth to be heard and dealt with.”

Caramel stepped up to the bench. She laid a small sheaf of papers on the counter before Judge Coldheart. “I have passed my civil cart handling license. Because I am still legally a minor, it needs your signature.

“Under that, Your Honor will find my wholesale provision purchase license for the restaurant that I am now having built. It is formally granted already. That also needs your signature.

“The rest, Houser sent along with me. They are the permits needed to erect the structure and link it to Ponyville’s utilities. Again, all have the approval of the inspectors involved and simply need your signature to complete them.”

Nodding, the judge hoofed through the stack and signed where needed, returning copies to Caramel.

He commented, “It is good to see one so young, getting such a fine start in life.”

“I do have one more thing, Your Honor. I want a protective order to keep both Sawnax and the members of the Celestian Church away from my establishment. Here is why.

“This is an 'assessment of a freely given donation’ of 100 gold a month to the Church to purchase Celestia’s Blessing, without which, disaster is sure to follow. Members of the Celestian congregation to be allowed to dine for free.”

Examining the 'assessment’, Judge Coldheart nodded, “Against the Church and its members, no problem. The order, with a delivery receipt, will be delivered to you as soon as service has been made.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. What about Sawnax? He continues to slander me and has as a part of the next case, tried to sell my salvage materials to mister Red Clyde for the sum of 150 golden bits.

“His fraud garnered gold from mister Clyde, and was intended to make me a victim through the loss of my building materials.”

Sawnax promptly brayed, “She don’t know that! Red and me was in the park across the street! No way could she hear us.”

Caramel tapped an ear. “Werewolf, remember? Hyperacute senses. Hearing especially. I heard the whole scam.

“Besides, you put the 421 Blackberry Lane address on the receipt. You neither own the lot nor the salvage rights. The lot is owned by Ponyville Trust and Loan. I have here their written statement that they would not sell you salvage rights due to past misconduct.

“Here, Judge Coldheart. See for yourself.”

The judge did look everything over and smiled. “I see why you want a protective order against Sawnax. Granted. Wait a few moments.” He took out a form and began filling it in.

Hoofing it to the bailiff, he instructed, “Serve this at once on Sawnax. He must sign the service receipt or I will sign it for him.

“Remand Mister Sawnax to the Jail until a bail hearing. This business has gone far past a mere civil case. This is a criminal fraud.”

Caramel took all of her papers, thanked the judge, and left.

At the building site, Houser looked about at his busy crew. The old building was almost gone. He hoofed through his permits and smiled, “Didn’t take you too long, Caramel. Thanks. Everything is in order, I see.”

Caramel invited, “Let’s all go over to the park. I brought you all lunch!”

Seated around a table, Caramel hoofed out big wrapped submarine sandwiches and cups. She added a big flagon of tea. “I got you Rom black tea on ice. The subs are just sprouts, tomato, onion, green peppers and my secret sauce.”

The whole crew fell to. One stared at Caramel and stated, “That sauce is something else! I never had a sub that good before!”

Caramel nodded happily and hoofed out popped barley and almond bars as a desert. “I will be having these and the subs in my restaurant.”

The worker’s buddy just grabbed him and hauled toward the work site. “Come on, guys! We have a restaurant to build!”

Houser observed, “That is the most enthusiasm I have seen in one of my work crews in a long time! If you keep supplying lunches like this, I will be needing to beat away would be workers with a club!” He chuckled.

By early afternoon the old building was totally cleared away. The ground of the entire lot was being probed by unicorns with pest control certification to locate and destroy problems like termite nests and ant hills. They found only a little to deal with.

Soon the batter boards were up and the string layouts for the building to come were being set.

An ill favored unicorn with blotchy pastel blue fur and a stringy purple mane strode arrogantly up. He had a large so-called “Celestian” medallion on and wore scarf like cloth called a stole, richly ornamented with “solar” designs.

Lifting his nose as if he smelled something foul, he demanded, “I am Junior Priest of Celestia’s Holy Truth, Hillbury. You are late with your freely given good will donation of 100 golden bits to our Church. You were instructed to deliver the payment in coin to the Church no later than noon!

“You are in serious danger of having Celestia’s Blessing on your enterprise withdrawn! Disaster is sure to follow!”

Caramel smiled as she pulled out her police whistle. “Really? We must put that to the test.

“You do know that you are violating the protective order of Judge Coldheart. I am sure that you also know that your demands and threats make your so called freely given gifts extortion. That is a felony.” She blew a shrill, warbling blast on the whistle!

Junior Priest Hillbury snorted, “The orders of a Lesser Being have no authority over a True Unicorn!”

He reared impressively, gathering his dirty yellow magic about his horn. He lashed out at the work site, snapping the carefully set strings and knocking over two of the batter boards!

Caramel reared too! Her right hoof slashed out in a straight punch to the side of Hillbury’s neck!

He was driven from his legs, falling heavily! Caramel leaped in gracefully and struck a light blow up high on Hillbury’s neck, just under the skull! She followed with two quick taps beside his horn, one on each side of it!

The Junior Priest was struggling in vain to rise. Caramel slapped his head! “Now that I have your attention, LISTEN! Your LIFE depends on it! If you try to use your magic at all, you will die!

“I have temporarily disabled your horn! If you try to use it, the magic backblast will destroy your brain. You can feel it, like a horn tangle. This cannot be undone like a tangle can.

“Quit wasting your effort to get up too. I partially paralyzed you with a nerve strike.”

“You cannot do this to me! I am a True Unicorn and you are a mere Lesser Being!”

Constable Crager came up on the run! He snapped, “I heard that! You are charged with violation of the Edict of Equality!” Staring at the ruined work, he asked, “Did he do this?”

Caramel replied, “Yes, Sir, he did. The damage is about fifty bits. Not a lot, but the vandalism is part of a larger scheme. Here is their demand complete with the threat of damage. The original is in my file entered by Judge Coldheart.

“Besides that, he was violating this protective order issued by Judge Coldheart. If you look to section three, you will find the authority to charge felony extortion in such a case as this.”

Constable Crager replied sourly, “I see it. Wish that I could call a tumbrel to haul him away. These so called Celestians are becoming a real nuisance.

“They have been stirring up anti goat problems too. Had three mobs in the last two months. One of them actually killed a goat. Goats may not be the best sorts but they are covered by the Edict of Equality and deserve better than these unicorn supremacists are giving them.”

Caramel was watching the fallen Junior Priest. “Umm, Constable, it would be a good idea to get a horn cap on the prisoner and get him into manacles. He won’t stay paralyzed forever, unfortunately.”

Caramel paused, thinking back to what the constable said earlier. “You can call ahead, Sir. I had this lot equipped for Magic Net so that Houser could order supplies if he needed them. I have a mirror right here.”

She fished the Magic Net mirror out of her saddlebag and hoofed it over to the constable. Constable Crager smiled as he tapped the necessary codes into the mirror.

He briefly filled in the police station on the situation and requested, “Right. 318 Mane Street. An open tumbrel. The prisoner has been temporarily disabled by a known Han Fu expert.”

Soon the prison wagon arrived and Houser’s unicorns from his work crew helped to load Hillbury and secure him for transport through the center of town to the jail.

They were just getting ready to quit for the evening when a black and blotchy pink pinto pony in a suit and carrying a briefcase showed up.

He offered a card. “I am Partin Cumpny. I have been retained by the Celestian Church to represent them. I have been instructed to require you to pay your agreed upon freewill gift to the Church and further to drop all charges against Junior Priest Hillbury.”

Caramel smiled but only with her mouth. “Apparently they forgot to mention a few things and misrepresented another.

“First, I have a protective order against the Church and its membership for direct threats to the business that I am starting.

“Secondly, in the protective order, in part three, the so-called freewill gift of 100 golden bits a month to be given for the purpose of “preventing certain disaster” is specifically defined by Judge Coldheart as criminal extortion.

“Thirdly, the junior priest in question, not only made the same criminal demand that you just did, he committed direct vandalism of my work site when he was refused. Along with that, he violated the protective order, and the Edict of Equality.”

Mister Cumpny took the time to look over Caramel’s paperwork. Sourly, he tried, “You caused the junior priest paralysis, incapacitated his horn, and caused major embarrassment to both him and his Church.”

Caramel reminded him, “He reared up and used his magic to vandalize my new shop’s layout work. I used a Han Fu cross punch to knock him off his feet, a high nerve pressure thrust to temporarily paralyze his legs, and a pair of nerve pokes that are specific to unicorns. Those paralyze the nerves controlling the magic flow in the horn.

“Those actions were all in specific defense of both my work site and my contractor’s work crew.

“The removal by tumbrel was the work of and at the request of the officer in charge of the case.”

Frustrated, he demanded, “Why didn’t you change into a wolf and rend him?”

Caramel sat and put a hoof over her eyes. “Are you really that stupid? This is Equestria. It is a land ruled by mostly just laws. There are always idiots who try one way or another to end the rule of honest law. Most of them are lawyers. Ones like you.

“I did not turn into a wolf and rend him because we have laws that will do it far better and without giving anypony the excuse to try harming another.

“You know. Laws. Supposedly what you make your living by upholding. Go away. You make me ill to my stomach. And I AM a werewolf.”

Mister Cumpny, having done his legal duty, left.

Caramel serenely trotted towards home. She was greeted at the Everfree Forest edge by members of the Stone Ridge wolf pack. There followed the usual bit of butt sniffing and other greetings. She indicated her saddlebags and ran swiftly for home!

She got to the door before any of the pack. Inside, she shed the saddlebags and called, “Going to play, Mom! Back after full dark!”

She returned to the front yard and joyfully joined the waiting pack. They ran through the underbrush in almost ghostly silence, seeking the scent of prey.

Totally refreshed by her outing, Caramel returned to the cottage that had been her home for all of her young life. The front door was broken in. She overheard the ugly gangrenous green pony demanding, “You just keep your hooves to yourself, Ma'am! That crossbow across the room will take you down along with your precious deadly monster of a daughter.

“We are going to destroy the beast and collect the reward for its head!”

Caramel waited silently to see if they would say more. She already had everypony in the cottage located by the sound of heartbeats and breathing.

Stort snorted, “Hortimer gonna reward us royal for the brute’s head! We got it this time. It gotta come in through that door and that is when we takes it out!”

Caramel skulked in utter silence around to the back of the house. Her room window was open, as usual. Sniffing carefully, she spotted the scent of gang green, whoever, he was. Then she saw it. A thread was stretched across the open window. Checking carefully, she found the crossbow that it was attached to the trigger of.

She returned to the front, where the nervous and trigger happy ponies were holding her mom and Nurse Fields. Sitting out of sight of the damaged door, she leaned back and aimed her muzzle to the sky. The long howl that she let out had an almost unearthly timbre. It shivered and slid up and down a scale that no pony voice could hope to match.

Her call was replied to from several directions by the wolves of the Stone Ridge pack. They all converged on her. She signaled them to silence and led them to the cottage. She let them know of the dangers inside and gestured to the only path leading to Ponyville and safety. The wolves fanned out silently to lay their hunting trap.

Caramel lunged in, nearly flat to the floor! Hitting a brace with her forepaws she vaulted upward to strike the cottage wall, up high and rebound down from above and behind the green pony!

Her strike carried him from his feet! His crossbow went off as it hit the floor! The wildly flying bolt grazed Stort, leaving a bleeding wound!

In a panic, the blue pony dropped his weapon for greater speed as he fled up the trail! In only moments they heard the ghastly scream of a pony in mortal agony! It stopped abruptly.

The green pony, laying on the floor could not rise. Caramel had nerve punched him to keep him down. He did weep.

“You killed Stort! He was my brother! You murdered him!”

Caramel put a huge paw on his head. “No, we did not. You and your schemes to kill me for some imaginary reward got him killed.

“If he had stayed here, he would be, like you, still alive. He ran, like the coward that he was, abandoning you to the so called monster that has spared your life. Twice now, unless I have missed my count. That does not count your stupid business at the School.

“This time, I am afraid that I cannot overlook your plans to kill my mother and Nurse Fields, to silence the witnesses, along with the attempt to murder me. I will press charges. Mom will press charges and so will Nurse Fields. I want you to go down hard!”

Out of the darkness came the flickering flare of torches. “Halloo the house! Is aught well here? We ha’ seen a blue pony dead by the trail. Wolves, it wa’ seem, took him down.”

Caramel stepped to the door and replied, “We are all alive and uninjured. The house has been damaged and will need professional repair of door, frame and some connected masonry.

“The green pony inside, and the blue one that you found, broke into the house. They took Brightmane and Nurse Fields prisoner. Their plan, which they whispered and I overheard, was to murder me and take my head while making mother watch. Then they were going to rape and murder mom and Nurse Fields to get rid of the witnesses.

“According to what I heard, High Priest Hortimer of the Celestian Church has put a bounty on my head but only to be paid if I am dead.”

Grimly, Heather Bloom, Duchess of Red Hoof, replied, “We did wonder at the fallen. Fer he wa’ taken by the wolves but nay preyed upon beyond the killin’ o him.”

Caramel nodded her head, framed by her shaggy black ruff. “That is what they agreed to do, Your Ladyship. It was the assistance given to a friend and neighbor.

“If any of you have knife or sword, it would be good to free my mother Brightmane and Nurse Fields. They were bound by the criminals.”

Baron Dran Dale, a tan unicorn in the garb of the Far Northern Dales stepped in through the broken door, a big dirk floating in the firm grip of his magic. In a trice, the ropes were cut by his razor sharp blade.

Heather Bloom examined the broken door and pronounced, “It is unsafe that this be. Ye shall all three come up to the Hall o Red Hoof and there abide until yer home be proper repaired.”

The green pony curled a lip and sneered, “Afraid of the deadly wolves, aren’t you?”

Brightmane answered him, “Not at all. The Stone Ridge Pack have been excellent neighbors. With the door broken so badly, it is more rotten ponies like you that we want to avoid. You are not the first, though you are by far the worst.”

Shortly, the party was joined by Daphne Crager in her livery as a carlene of Red Hoof! She was panting as she led her father, Constable Crager, to the house.

Heather Bloom turned her head to speak to her. “There ye be, Daph. We did wonder wha ha became o ye. Got yer father to carry out the arrest. That be fine thinking. Wha led ye to do it wi'oot orders?”

Daphne pointed to Caramel, still in wolf form. “As soon as I heard her emergency howl, your Ladyship, I knew that something bad was happening here. Dad was the closest constable who could deal with whatever the problem is.”

Duchess Heather Bloom quickly filled in Constable Crager on the happenings of the night.

He efficiently manacled the green pony and they all left. Heather Bloom detailed one of her House’s Guard to watch the cottage and another was left to protect the scene where Stort had been killed.

The green pony looked on, face set with anger and sorrow. “Aren’t you afraid that the wolves will pull you down too?”

The guard shrugged, “Not really. I would be more worried if you and your brother were on the loose armed with toothpicks. Ever since Caramel was born, we have lived as neighbors to the Stone Ridge wolf pack. They have turned out to be pretty good neighbors.”

The next day, as Caramel was watching and assisting the work on her new shop where she could, Sawnax came barging up waving the latest edition of the Ponyville Prancer and carrying a broadax!

He was loudly demanding, “The Monster has gone too far! An innocent pony has been murdered and she did it! It is right here on the front page of the Prancer! I have brought an ax to take the head of rampaging beast!”

Houser, seeing Caramel pull her Magic Net mirror from her saddlebag, returned, “Some rampage! She is helping us to set foundation stones for this project!

“Are you sure that you can read at all? The story says nothing about Caramel killing anypony.”

Sawnax waved the paper dramatically, exclaiming, “He was killed by a wolf in the Everfree, right on the path to the Murdering Monster’s Lair!

“We must destroy her before any more fall victim to her bloodthirsty rampage of murder!”

Houser snatched the flailing paper from Sawnax’s hooves! He read out loud for all to hear, “Stort Greene, the victim of the wolf attack, was fleeing the scene of a failed attempt at MASS MURDER FOR PERSONAL GAIN. He appears to have been killed by the joint attack of least three Everfree Ridgeback wolves.

“All witnesses agree that Caramel Treat was in her well known wolf form and INSIDE the cabin of Brightmane Treat when the killing happened.

“It is worthy of note that Caramel Treat, in wolf form, not only captured one of the attempted killers without inflicting any actual injury to him, she rescued her mother, Brightmane Treat and the family’s long time companion, Nurse Fields.”

Sawnax tapped his temple as he replied, “She done the killing by using her mind to control the attacking wolves!”

A police pony, who had approached while Houser was reading the paper, said, “Sawnax, you are under arrest. The charges are violation of the protective order of Judge Coldheart, violation of the Edict of Equality, and while carrying a weapon, threatening to murder a Citizen of Equestria.”

Caramel, speaking into her Magic Net mirror, said, “Thank you, Emergency Services, the officer is now here!” Smiling grimly, she put the mirror away in her saddlebag.

As Sawnax was led away, protesting bitterly, Caramel told Houser, “It looks as though I will be going to the courthouse sooner than I had planned!”

She turned at the sound of a new voice. “Perhaps I can help. My name is Grumpeter. Grumpy for short.”

A black, brown and white piebald goat with full curl horns stood there. He smiled and offered, “I know that my kind are not popular but one place where we are listened to is the courtroom. Edict of Equality and all of that.

“I not only saw and heard this whole thing, I saw Sawnax come out of a conference in Hortimer’s Rectory, next to their detestable church. He went straight to his lumber yard and got that ax. Then he came here. The rest, you know.”

Houser eyed the goat askance and asked, “How did you happen to see all this?”

The goat nodded, making his ears flop comically, as he agreed, “Fair question. The Celestian Church fronts on a park down on the other side of the Town Hall. I live about three blocks from the park, luckily, on the side AWAY from those jerks.

“I was taking the air in the park and, I admit, snacking on a bush or two. Broke student and all that. Had a clear view of the rectory.

“Being a curious sort, I tagged along after Sawnax because HE is an Earth pony and they are Unicorn Supremacists. I wondered what was up. When he got here, I found out.”

Caramel looked thoughtfully at the goat for a few moments and offered, “If you are willing to go and give Judge Coldheart a sworn statement on this, come back after my restaurant is open.

“I will give you special low prices or even free if you need it. I am a werewolf. I know what it is like to have nutcases after me. Has to be bad for you, too.

“Broke student? Let me get my place started and maybe I can find a way to help you out.”

The goat flipped his tail happily. “I am on my way! It is great to meet somepony besides Reverend Smallflower who is nice to goats!”

Grumpy trotted away down Mane St. toward the town hall.

Houser and his crew returned to work. Caramel went back to assisting where she could. It was not long before the foundation was all laid and the cut for the outside loading ramp into the basement was well underway.

It was time for lunch!

The workers all looked expectantly at Caramel.

She patted a fat saddle bag, grinned and offered, “Clover burgers and fries with Rom black tea to wash it down?”

There was a near stampede for the shady park tables!

As Caramel was starting to pass out the wrapped sandwiches and open the package of fries with dipping sauce, several of the work crew turned their backs and snapped, “Get out of here, Goat! This is for decent ponies!”

Caramel quietly closed the fries package and retrieved most of the wrapped burgers. She left the table and chose a vacant one. She invited, “Want some lunch, Grumpy? I seem to have plenty. How did the deposition go?”

The piebald goat looked troubled. “Miss Caramel, I did not mean to cause you any trouble. I just wanted to tell you that my deposition has been copied and added to both your Celestian Church case and to your Sawnax case. Because of it, they have been linked.”

Caramel patted the bench. “Go ahead and have a seat, Grumpy. That was a huge favor that you did for me.

“Here, have some tea. That is a clover burger with onions, lettuce, tomato, and sauteed mushrooms. The big box has fries and dipping sauce.”

Having seen to Grumpy, she returned to the table with the work crew. “Lunch is over there.” She pointed.

“A lot of ponies don’t like him because he is a goat. That is something that he can’t do anything about. A lot of ponies, including Sawnax, this morning, don’t like me because I am a werewolf. That is something that I can’t do anything about, either.

“Share a table with us, the social outcasts and eat for free, or go BUY your lunch somewhere else.”

She turned her back on the crew and went back to sit by Grumpy. Shortly Houser came over and sat with them. Caramel smiled and hoofed him a burger, tea and a portion of fries.

The workers saw their boss at the table with the goat. More importantly, he was eating his sandwich with gusto! One by one, they joined in.

To their surprise, the goat turned out to actually be pleasant company and had a great sense of humor. When one of them thoughtlessly told a goat joke, he laughed right along with the rest of them.

One of the workers paused in mid laugh to ask, “Didn’t that bother you, Mister Goat?”

Grumpy’s floppy ears lifted a bit and he smiled. “Yes, it did a bit. It was also a classical situation that would have been funny regardless of who it was told about. I have found that it is easier to laugh than try telling off every pony in Equestria.”

Caramel asked him, “What are you studying and where? Ponyville does not have any school but Miss Cherrilee’s that I know of.”

Grumpy smiled as he answered, “Non Equine University is open to all, regardless of kind. Princess Luna is the Chancellor and all classes are by mail at the student’s own pace. We even get our textbooks by mail. Unfortunately, it isn’t free! Hence, me being a broke student!”

The whole table laughed at that.

Soon, lunch was over. The crew went back to work. By the end of the day the timber framing was started.

Houser told her, “If nothing happens, we should be ready to begin installing the kitchens and pantries the day after tomorrow.

The next morning, Caramel showed up early. The Ponyville Fire Department was there first.

Concerned, Caramel picked her way past the hoses from the pumper wagon to ask, “What happened, Battalion Chief? My place seems to be standing.”

The Battalion Chief pushed back her helmet to wipe sweat from her brow as she replied, “It is, thanks to an early tip. You have one timber that got fairly badly scorched. It was attempted arson.

“Between the tipster and forensic magic, we already have APB out on a suspect.” She chuckled. “He did everything without using any magic. Soaked the timber in lamp oil, laid a wick, and put a candle on it for a timer, so that he could be far away when the fire started.”

Now very interested, Caramel inquired, “How did forensic magic trip him up if he didn’t use any magic?”

The chief’s face lit with a grin. “He tried to use matches but he was not used to using them. Unicorns like to use their magic for candle lighting. He broke all of the matches! Between the broken matches and his finally lighting the candle by magic, we got a really good signature on him.

“He has been in trouble with the law before this, so the station had a copy of his magic signature on file! His name is Pect. Disre Pect. The beat cops have been notified already.”

Houser and his work crew showed up. The Battalion Chief quickly filled in Houser on the problem.

He looked over the damage and pronounced, “Still sound. We will need to do a little cosmetic work to the timber. Nothing major.

“Not really surprised that Pect did this. He used to be a pretty good worker. Got tied up with that Celestian Church that Celestia herself dislikes so much. Went bad real quick. He pushed the other workers around. Called them Lesser Sorts. I had to fire him after I caught him stealing from work sites.”

Caramel asked, “Are any of the things that Disre handled still here, Battalion Chief? I would like to get his scent.”

The Chief pointed. “Don’t know if they will do you much good, Caramel. Those broken matches got pretty well soaked while stopping the fire.”

Caramel shifted, the change running down her body from nose to tail. The caramel color of her pony form turning to the gray of the wolf. It looked like she got bigger, but that was actually just the change from fuller barreled pony to the leaner body and proportionately longer legs, of the wolf. Her tail changed from the long flowing hair of a pony to the wolf’s brush-like gray with a black tip. Her mane changed to a black ruff framing her head and protecting her neck. From ruff to tail a ridge of stiff black hair stood up. Her ears became the black tufted cones of the wolf. Her snout and jaw grew longer and filled with huge razor sharp fangs.

She turned her head to the chief and asked, “Have you got my Fire Helmet and Department ID badge, Chief?”

“I do, Caramel. Why?”

“Because I want to underline a point and make any action that I take part of an official investigation. I already have his scent from the scene, here. I am pretty sure that he is in that crowd of spectators, just over there in the park.”

With a grin, the Chief hoofed over Caramel’s famous Volunteer Fire Fighter and Hazmat Team badge on its fireproof sash. As soon as it was settled, she donned her helmet, securing it into place.

She turned at once and trotted over to the spectators in the park. Several unicorns among them moved to block her way but she simply sat.

In her disarmingly innocent filly voice, she addressed the group. “I am assisting in the investigation of the small fire over there. Do any of you happen to have a Magic Net mirror?”

Several chuckled, “We ain’t doing anything for you, werewolf!”

Sullenly an indigo unicorn among them replied, “I do. What do you want it for?”

Caramel smiled a wolf’s smile full of fangs. “We want to check the current listing of Wants and Warrants. Would you please open that posting for us?”

Curling a lip in irritation, he pulled out his mirror and tapped the codes. His eyes widened at what he saw. Eyes barely flicking back to see, he snapped, “Not helping you, Wolf!”

His magic gathered about his horn and lashed out!

Disre Pect, near the back of the crowd, fell heavily! His feet were yanked out from under him by the indigo unicorn’s magic!

The indigo unicorn crowed, “Easiest five hundred bits I ever made!”

Shouldering through the rest, Caramel reached the fallen Disre Pect and gave two quick jabs at his forehead. She informed him, “Mister Pect, you must not use your magic, or you will die. I have given you a temporary horn tangle.

“You are under arrest for attempted arson by the authority of the Ponyville Fire Department and the Ponyville Police.”

She sat on his neck to keep him down. She told the indigo unicorn, “Sir, for your assistance in this arrest, you will be paid one hundred and fifty bits at the police department when the suspect is booked. You will get the remaining three hundred and fifty bits of the reward after his first hearing.

“I see the police arriving now. Shall we accompany them to assure your reward?”

Just to remind ponies of the part that she already played in the Fire Department, Caramel, in wolf form, trotted back from the police department to the construction site, wearing her badge and fire helmet.

There, she was in time to assist with stowing the fire equipment back into the pumper cart and return her helmet and badge to the Chief.

Houser, watching her careful work setting the stone masonry in the half timbered front of the building, commented, “I wish that all of my help was as quick and careful as you are.”

Seeing that some of his workers had overheard the remark, Caramel replied, “Being a werewolf helps a lot. I have faster reflexes and am stronger than most. Your workers showed me not only how to do it, but what made for the best work. They are a fine crew.” They overheard her reply too, just as Caramel meant for them to.

Caramel found a calm satisfaction in setting and mortaring the stones into place. The others of the crew were doing mostly carpentry on the interior spaces, side and back walls. Two were putting the finishing touches on the back stairs to the basement.

They were sitting to lunch in the park and talking over how fast the work was going, ”We will be ready for the interior finish work and plastering in only another day if the roofers get their work done on time!”

Houser nodded, reaching for one of the covered boxes that Caramel had set out, “They will be. It is all set up. They should arrive this afternoon.”

Glancing over to the park’s bushes, Houser noticed the piebald goat from the other day. Rather than wait for Caramel’s OK, Houser gestured welcomingly, “Come on over, Grumpy! I see that Caramel either planned on you or she miscounted boxes!”

Caramel grinned, “I didn’t! How do you like Sea Grass Puffs and Alfalfa patties, Grumpy? I have three different dipping sauces for the puffs!”

The whole crew laughed, but also agreed, “It is pretty unusual, all right! We never see it in the markets here in Ponyville. Did you try the sweet/sour sorrel sauce?”

There was a goat at the table that fast! “Sea Grass puffs?

Really? I only had Sea Grass at the Fair before this!”

The roofers arrived before lunch was over, actually.

The shingles were going on rapidly. A pile of shingles started to slip on the pitched roof. A roofer, trying to stop it began to slide for the edged of the roof!

The whole crew watched aghast as the potentially fatal accident developed. Caramel bunched and started her spring as a pony. It was the huge wolf who landed in the path of the sliding pony!

Wide braced, she caught him!  As his mass hit her, she started to slide, herself!  Sliding shingles cascading from the roof made regular footing impossible! She slammed a forepaw right through the new shingle work and used the grip that created to stop them both!

The last of the shingles clattered to the stone patio below.

Concerned, she asked the roofer, “Are you OK? Did I hurt you?”

He replied, “No, Ma'am! You did not hurt me! That is a stone patio down there. I would likely have at least broken bones when I hit it. Maybe could have died. I can sure see why the Fire Department values you so high.”

Chuckling with relief, he joked, “You put a big leak in the roof, though! Gonna have to charge extra for fixing that!”

Caramel made sure that he was OK and that he had his footing as she retorted, “Some ponies will do anything to get a few extra bits!” She bounded lightly down from the roof and gave the heap of fallen shingles a long sniff.

She waived Houser and his workers away from the shingles and ordered, “Houser! Call the Police! We need a forensic magic expert to get a signature off these shingles! This was no accident! Some pony has tried to murder your worker!”

That brought everything to an instant stand-still! They all looked at each other in worry. Caramel added, “It was nopony on this crew. See? The bundle tie is still up on the roof. We know that it was tied securely when it was put up there. Charl still has the half bundle that he was working on and it is still up there. It did not slip, even though he was working with it.

“My nose verified that nopony has handled the fallen shingle bundle except those of our crew who had proper business handling it. The answer is magic. Unicorn magic, specifically.

“That is why we need the forensic magic expert. He or she can sort out the magical signature of whoever did this and it can be compared to those of known criminals. There is a good chance that the signature is already on file.”

Soon two uniformed police arrived, the iron shod wheels of the Forensic Investigation cart making a clatter on the street cobbles as they pulled up. One of them was opening lockers on the cart while the other began to speak to Houser.

They carefully gathered their evidence, including the shingle tie and several of the shingles themselves. The expert, who was an Earth pony, ran his tests, using Non-Equine magic to avoid contamination of the magical traces left on the tie and shingles.

He turned to his partner, face grave. “Confirmed, Jeral. Got a weak but really clear signature. Worse, we have a match. Those three recent industrial accident cases? Four injuries and one death? Same unicorn. Call it in and put out an All Points. This is another attempted murder charge on this individual.

Caramel looked over to the park, brows furrowed in puzzlement. Then she glanced down the street, where the piebald black, brown and white goat was trotting up, announcing his presence with clip clopping hooves.

He politely spoke to the officers, “Sirs, my name is Grumpeter. I know how it looks like I came here.  I was in the park. I sneaked out of the park and down two blocks to come back and give you my information. I did that to mislead your suspect.

“He is the gray unicorn with dirty pink mane and tail, right over there in the park. His cutie mark is a broken ruler.

“I came here because Caramel Treat had a lunch for me, which I ate along with the work crew. I stayed in the park afterwards. The gray and a buddy ran me off, so I hid in the bushes and watched.

“The gray pulled up his magic, really thin like. Near invisible to a pony. Goats, and you can check this, see unicorn magic more clearly than ponies do. He sneaked it across to the roof work that was going on. I could not see what he did, but I saw the result. When the shingles started to slide, Charl tried to stop them. He lost his footing. He almost went off the roof but Caramel leaped up and stopped his slide by slamming a hole in the roof for a grip.”

The Earth pony forensic expert took careful notes and asked Grumpeter for his address and other basic information.

Across the street, in the park, the two unicorns started to quietly sneak away.

The other member of the forensic team noticed them trying to leave! He blew his whistle and yelled, “You two in the park! Halt in the name of the Law!”

They broke into a flat out run! Caramel changed as she charged! By the time that she had crossed the street, the two were being pursued by a giant of an Everfree Ridgeback Wolf!

Ignoring the other one, she homed in on the gray unicorn with the broken ruler cutie mark! An educated, low, nearly flat, leap caused her shoulder to slam his right hind leg at the hip while her massive paw and foreleg tangled his lower leg! They fell in a wild tumble of wolf and pony!

Rolling free, Caramel struck the unicorn’s forehead just at the base of the horn, on both sides. As she did, she demanded, “Do not try to use your magic! You can feel the horn tangle!”

She followed by simply putting her full weight on his neck to keep him from rising! The officer arrived on the scene and efficiently horn capped and manacled the prisoner.

Caramel changed back to her normal pony self, slowly, so that she would not alarm any watchers.

The forensic expert watched her change and asked, “Do you have a magical profile in our files, Miss Treat?”

She nodded, “When I was inducted into the Fire Department’s Hazmat team. They took one then. They did say that it was really distinctive.”

That was when the police department’s open tumbrel arrived to transport the prisoner. He was informed, “Sir, you are under arrest. The charges are vandalism of a work site, four cases of injury great enough to require Horspital treatment, two counts of attempted murder and one count of murder.”

Police unicorns lifted him into the tumbrel for the “free ride” through town to the jail.

As he was being pulled off, and they were walking through the leafy shade of the park, Caramel asked, “Murder? Attempted murder? Injuries? That is way more than happened here. What happened?”

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Grumpeter filled in, “They can’t talk about it now, Caramel. It might prejudice the case against this jerk. I can tell you this.” He pointed a hoof at the expert. “He took signatures off Charl’s hocks. Got at least two positives that I saw. Charl did not slip and that was a stone patio that you saved him from falling onto.”

Caramel put that together slowly. “I do not know if it will mean anything to a court. Broken Rule, there, practically stank of that 'Celestian Incense’ that Hortimer and his Church are so fond of.”

The Forensic Expert nodded. “No clue what it will mean, Miss Treat. I will note it in the report. That is all that I can do.”

Caramel returned to working with the crew and thinking. Approaching Houser, she asked, “Can we find some work for Grumpeter? He has been really helpful to us, already. I don’t know, maybe he could be a go-fer or something? We know that he is poor and we know that he is responsible.”

Houser thought it over carefully. “I really don’t know, Caramel. It is unfortunate but there are other considerations. Hiring a goat can have other consequences. Many, in total violation of both law and rightness, will not allow a goat to work on their projects.”

Caramel hung her head. “What of those, like me, who do want to hire one? I like Grumpy.”

Houser thought some more. Suddenly he smiled. “We can use him on interior finishing! There are lots of tight corners and such places where smaller hooves could be a blessing. If you want to, invite him over.”

Caramel nodded, face thoughtful. “I will do that.”

She went across to the park to look for Grumpy. He was backed into a corner with two unicorns facing him. One, an off green, was starting to gather his magic, the glow around his horn a brownish yellow, to match his mean eyes.

The other, a greenish blue, noticed her and snapped, “Buzz off! You seen nothing if you values your health!”

Caramel’s sweep kick took both hind legs out from under greenie, sending him tumbling into the blue one. His horn full of magic shorted across the back of the blue, causing them both to scream in pain.

Caramel, not waiting, followed through with her horn tangling forehead punches! Not bothering with a warning to them about not using their magic, she asked, “Grumpy! Just the goat that I was looking for! Come with me. I have some paying work for you.”

Bluebell, trying to rise, snarled, “You don’t get it! That is a mere goat! He is trying to get our friend Broken Rule in trouble with the police! We was just going to teach him a lesson about messing in the business of his betters!”

Caramel nerve punched the inside of his hind leg joint, causing him to flop back to the ground. She gave his buddy a nerve punch to a foreleg.

That done, she pointed out, “I do not see ANY pony here that is better than this goat. As for Broken Rule, he was already in trouble. One count of murder, two of attempted murder, and four cases of assault leading to serious injury. The goat here, had nothing to do with him being in trouble. The police were already looking for him.”

Bypassing Broken Rule’s problems, the greenish one griped, “We are UNICORNS! That makes us better than any creature of Luna, like that goat!”

Caramel flipped her tail derisively as she pointed out, “You claim to worship Celestia! Celestia herself says that you are WRONG! The Edict of Equality was specifically drawn to protect goats and other non pony kinds from idiots like you!”

Turning her tail to them, she offered, “Come, my friend. We have some real work for a goat. You are first in line for it!”

To Caramel’s surprise, Houser had gathered the whole work crew. To Grumpy’s surprise, the work crew all said, “Welcome aboard, Grumpy! Come on into the shop, here. We will show you what needs doing!”

Houser shrugged, “When I suggested it, THEY pointed out that Grumpy saved our framing work from arson and suggested to the forensic expert that Charl be checked for Magical signatures. That is how the police got the final evidence to make the attack on him attempted murder.”

Caramel’s eyebrows rose at that little revelation. “I did not know that, Houser. Hiring him feels even better, now.”

Houser agreed, “One other thing. They have met him over lunch and they like him. That helps a lot, too.”

Caramel watched the progress of the interior with joy. “Easy, Charl, up at your end just a spot. Perfect! Hold it while we get the screws in to hold that cabinet.”

“Thanks, Grumpy! Your eye for this finish work is near perfect!”

The piebald goat wagged his tail in pleasure at the compliment.

Caramel’s admiration of the finish work was interrupted by a familiar voice, “Caramel, are you busy? I would like to ask you something.”

Caramel spun about, delight on her face!  “Peanut!  I heard that you are going to graduate in another week!”

Peanut smiled and looked down, lightly pawing the floor with a hoof in uncertainty.  “I am.  I, well, I was wondering if maybe I could get a job from you?  You know that I will do the best that I can.”  

Caramel gave Peanut Brittle a big hug!  “Yes!  I am going to need somepony to handle the front while I do the cooking in the back!  You just saved me a lot of money hunting for a good waitress and hostess.  Thanks.”

Peanut gave a relieved smile.  “I never really thought that I would find work so easily after I graduated from school!  It is a real load off my mind!”

Puzzled, Caramel asked, “Why, Peanut?  Most fillies want to go for a summer or two, staying at home, maybe paying with chores or the like.”

Grim of face and voice, Peanut answered, “That won’t happen for me!  Dad told mom that he would come back to her if she dumped me!  Being a golden palomino is great except that the colors are not pastels.  Dad abandoned mom for being unfaithful.

“Lately, digging in genealogy, mom found TWO golden palominos in dad’s line, about three hundred years after the last Nightmare War.  She found one in her line too, about the same time back.  Modern genealogy calls my pattern “recessive.”  That seems to be the modern way to say really rare and BOTH parents need to have it in their background.”

Puzzled, Caramel asked, “Didn’t that end it, then?”

Sour voiced, Peanut answered, “Not for Dad!  Now it is MY fault that he left mom!  Oh, and HERS for not finding out about their ancestors sooner!  BUT, he will be GENEROUS and come back to her as soon as I, the cause of his leaving, am gone!”

Grumpeter wandered over and suggested, “If the input of a goat is welcome, I have an idea.”

Peanut sort of pulled back a tiny bit but Caramel smiled and offered, “What is your idea, Grumpy?  I have noticed that you do have a lot of good suggestions about our work here!”

He brightened up and suggested, “Go see Reverend Smallflower.  He is a really good pony.  He is white, a spare build even for a pegasus, and wears a flat black hat.  Knows more than he says.  His Assembly is open to all, even goats like me.

“If there is a place that you will be able to afford, he likely knows of it.”

“Clance!  Not there!  That one goes over here!”

Caramel brightened at once.  She turned to Houser and told him, “Can we do without Grumpy for a bit?  My friend Peanut Brittle needs a place to stay and Grumpy can show us a pony who will help us out.

“Peanut is going to be a waitress for me when I open up the store.”

Houser nodded, and replied, “Sure, Caramel.  We will manage.  Take care of your friend.

Turning back to the little group, he said, “Better hurry, though!  Grumpy is really good at keeping the crew organized!  Things are already starting to be almost NORMAL!”  He grinned and made shooing motions.

Soon the trio found themselves facing the Assembly Hall.  It was a simple building.  Reverend Smallflower was a simple, sparely built white pegasus who gallantly swept off his plain flat black hat.

“Grumpy, my friend!  Who are the lovely young mares with you?”

Grumpy made the introductions, outlined the problem and added, “So, Reverend, do you know of any apartment or small house that Peanut could move into?”

The Reverend smiled, lighting up his office as he did so.  “I do know of several places that could meet your needs, Miss Peanut Brittle.  They will require deposits and both a first and last month’s rent to be paid but that is normal for any better places.

“Will the Assembly need to assist you with the finances?”

Caramel shook her head.  “No, Reverend Smallflower.  To open my business, I have a very substantial loan.  I can cover it for her, since she will be working for me.

“Turing your question around, Reverend, can your Assembly use some help with its finances?  A donation, perhaps?”

The Reverend smiled with delight and said, “We never turn down free food!  That applies to more than mere food.  We would be honored to accept whatever you see fit to give.”

Caramel took out her checkbook and wrote briefly.

The reverend’s eyes widened as he looked at the amount.  In return, he wrote both a tax note for Caramel and several addresses for Peanut.

As they emerged from the Assembly, they were faced with a pair of unicorns wearing “Solar” pendants.  The orange one turned to the dusty yellow and said, “See, Eustace?  I told you that I saw a vile creature of Luna go in there to House of Worship for the Lesser Sorts.  Let’s teach that goat a lesson!”

Caramel managed to look totally surprised!  “Grumpy?  I thought that you meant ME!”

As they were rearing and gathering magic impressively about their horns, Caramel charged!  She blasted between the two, her shoulders taking the inside hind leg of each one!  They fell in an undignified heap of ponies!

Caramel bounced to a stop and leaped back, striking the gut of Eustace with all four hooves pulled together to a near point!  As his breath was whoofing out, she bounced across and did the same for the orange one! At her next bounce, she landed on both of her hind legs, jabbing nerve points in both unicorns’ necks!  They stopped moving at all, except for labored breathing.

The whole thing took only seconds!  Looking up brightly, Caramel said, “Reverend, it appears that some pony left a heap of trash on your lawn.  Perhaps you should call the garbage service to remove it!”

Turning to the still surprised Grumpy and Peanut, she chirped in a cheerful voice, “Come on, guys!  We have an apartment or house to find for Peanut!”

The first place that they looked at was a small cottage.  The landlord, a chubby reddish earth pony, let them in to look it over.

Grumpy made a bee-line for the back door.  He opened it and examined the frame at the lock level.  Then he took a close look at the door itself.  Lastly, he gave the burglar chain his scrutiny.

He gathered up Caramel and Peanut, escorting them out as he explained, “He did a fine job of patching the holes in the plaster of the walls.  That could have been just one bad tenant.

“The back door says that this place is some other pony’s private bank.  The door itself was replaced.  Since then, the burglar chain has been torn out twice.  The door frame at lock level has been broken at least four times.  The repairs are not really well done, either.  I think that, as small as I am, I could buck it in.”

Caramel replied, “Thanks, Grumpy.  I would have missed that, except for the plastering.  I just learned something new.”

Peanut nodded slowly as she worked it through her mind.  “I agree.  Thanks, Grumpy.  I am beginning to see why Caramel likes you so much.”

The second place was a ground floor flat.  It looked a bit shabby.  Grumpy gave it his once over.  He tested the water flow in the faucets and poured a big bucket of water down the drains.

He pronounced, “Good place.  Needs some paint and a little basic housework.  Tell the rental agent that it needs paint and floor needs refinishing.  Either bargain for a reduction in rent or get a written promise to have it done by a deadline.”

Peanut asked, “Why don’t you bargain for us, Grumpy?”

“I am a goat.  They won’t listen to me.  Pro tip.  If you get that rent reduction?  Hire me and a few of my friends to do the work.  We will do it cheap!”

They did get the reduction in rent.  As they came out of the office, Peanut commented, “Thanks for everything, Grumpy.  You too, Caramel!  My new place is going to be really convenient to the shop, too.”

“Only two blocks to walk and you are at work!  For me!” snickered Caramel.

The two block stroll, under the shady trees lining Ponyville’s cobbled streets, was a pleasant one.

The surprise that awaited them at Caramel’s new shop was a pleasant one, too.  Houser proudly showed them through the whole place.  Gesturing proudly, he declared, “Tomorrow the paint will be dry and you can install the stoves and other equipment.  Once the sign is up, you will be in business!”

Caramel gave him a sideways look and shifted her gaze to Houser.  “How much would it cost to fit cooling like this into the interior public dining area?”

Caramel looked over everything with the utmost care.  Down in the basement, she checked out the expensive cool storage rooms.

Grumpy commented with delight, “With the weather outside, I could get used to this!”

He paused.  He took out his plans and studied them with care.  “I don’t know if we can, Caramel.  I will have to study this back at my office.  There are references there that I need.  This is not a simple structural problem, like the stairs to the basement.”

Caramel nodded her understanding.  “Let me know tomorrow, if you can or not.  I will go ahead and have my cooking equipment delivered for set up tomorrow.”

In Gabe’s Furniture and Appliances, she was met by an apologetic, “I am afraid that there was a slight mix up in our warehouse.  Your whole order was sold to somepony else.  Of course, we can place the order again.  It will only take two weeks to get those stoves and other things.  We will get them for you at cost, of course.”

Caramel looked him in the eye and demanded, “No.  You will deliver my whole PREPAID order tomorrow, as specified in the contract.  If you have to replace it, you will bear the whole cost, including freight and local haulage.  No other equipment than what I ordered will be acceptable.”

He gave her a condescending smile as the gray sales pony said, “You just don’t get it, do you?  Business realities.  If you want it tomorrow, just buy some replacements from our stock in the warehouse.”

Caramel gave him a slitted eye glare.  “I did not buy that garbage because it will not do what I need it to.  I will not pay you any more for any goods at all.  I have ALREADY paid you for my whole order.  Delivery will be tomorrow at my new shop by noon or else.”

Totally irritated that his ploy had failed, the sales pony demanded, “You have no choice!  If you need it that badly, you will have to pay us for our recovery costs!”

Caramel paused, glared at him and snapped, “What part of NO is unclear?  The N or the O!?  My order is FULLY PREPAID!  Noon tomorrow or face the consequences.”

She turned her tail to him and left.

Just then, Gabe, a brown pony with yellow mane, came out of his office.  He was looking perplexed.  “Snarker, why did Miss Treat leave like that?  She seemed quite angry.  I mean, we have her whole order in the warehouse, ready to deliver as soon as she wants it.”

The gray sales pony glared at the floor and scraped his hoof as he replied, “She wants it by noon tomorrow.  That kind of rush gotta cost a few bits extra.  Didn’t want to pay it, that’s all.”

Gabe pulled his head back in surprise.  “What?  That delivery is all set up with Hackamore Hauling.  We just let them know when to have it at the destination.  It is all prepaid.”

Snarker muttered, “FINE!  You handle it!  You ain’t paying me enough for this menial job!”

Nodding to himself, Gabe turned about.  “Come to my office, Snarker.  We need to talk.”

In Gabe’s office, Snarker sat.  He could see the letterheads of several letters on Gabe’s desk.  Nervously, he tried, “Um, Sir, I got an appointment.  Gotta go.  It’s important.”

Gabe looked up and tilted his head, ears set skeptically.  “I daresay that it is, to you.  Unfortunately, you have an appointment right here, too.”

He hit his intercom and asked, “Mellisen, did you make the call that I asked you to do?”

The scratchy intercom voice replied, “Yes Sir, I did.  Is there anything else?”

“Yes.  Snarker is leaving our employ.  Please make out his final payment and bring it in.”

Snarker slumped.  “Look, it was an emergency.  That Caramel Treat, she isn’t even a pony, not really.  We can work this out.  I mean, we can deliver on time so she has no beef with us.

“You don’t have to fire me.”

Laying his hoof on the letters on his desk, Gabe replied sadly, “If it was just one customer, I could give you another chance.  It is not.”

There was a light tapping at the office door.  Mellisen, a light blue mare with a soft magenta mane entered.  She laid Snarker’s file, the pay packet, and the final accounting on Gabe’s desk.  

Gabe examined everything closely and signed the account.  He wrote briefly in the file and closed it.  He put the letters into another file and closed it.

“Please, Snarker, check the account and the pay packet.”

Sourly, he did, and signed it.

A solid hoof was laid on his shoulder.  “Mister Snarker, I must inform you that you are under arrest for customer embezzlement.”

Turning angrily, he was facing a large orange pony in a Ponyville Police uniform.  He was led out in manacles.

Gabe picked up a Magic Net mirror and made a quick call.  “Miss Treat, Gabe of Gabe’s Furnishings here.  I am calling about your order.  I fear that Snarker lied to you about it.  It is still in our warehouse, all on the rail pallets and ready to deliver.”

He listened.

His reply was, “Before noon tomorrow.  No problem.

“I have found out that what Snarker tried on you was not his first offense.  We not only fired him, we had him arrested.  Are you willing to provide testimony in the case against him?”

After listening again, he nodded.  “In spite of Snarker’s interference, it was a pleasure doing business with you.”

The next day, Caramel’s stoves and other restaurant equipment was delivered on two wagons from Hackamore Hauling.  At first, Caramel’s hackles arose at the sight of the truly lovely all black mare who was directing the delivery.

From pictures that Caramel had seen, the mare looked exactly like Coalsmoke Hackamore, one of those tried for the attempt to murder Brightmane, her mother.  She decided to be direct.

“Pardon me, Miss.  You look just like somepony that I have seen pictures of.  Are you Coalsmoke Hackamore?”

All of the black mare’s lights went out at once.  She slumped.  “Yes, Miss Treat, I am.  We will get your loads done as carefully as we can and not bother you more.”

Shocked at the change, Caramel began to think back on things that she knew.  “Um, Coalsmoke?  Please wait a moment.  I just realized that Dray Hackamore and Doctor Red Mane were both convicted of the attempt to kill Mom.  Judge Coldheart, in acquitting you, said that your only crime was being married to a criminal.”

Coalsmoke looked up, hope in her eyes.  “So many remember that I was tried.  So few remember that I was acquitted of all charges.  Tell me, how is Brightmane doing?  I have been afraid to ask.”

Caramel smiled sadly.  “I was almost one of those remembering that you were tried.  I am sorry about that.

“Mom is doing fine.  We and Nurse Fields have a nice cottage out in the Everfree, not far from Zecora’s place.

“I did not make the connection between you and Hackamore Hauling until just now.  Every business pony that I asked about getting deliveries done said your company was the best.  What I am seeing bears that out.”

Coalsmoke’s head lifted with real pride.  “As Dray’s widow, I got his company when he was killed in a prison brawl.  It was worth almost nothing then.  I have built it into the best there is!”

Her workers, true to her word, unloaded the wagons expertly. 

The watching Caramel nodded.  “It shows!”

Houser’s crew began to ponyhandle the big stoves and other equipment into the new building.  Before the afternoon was out, Caramel had got the inspectors to approve everything.

She stayed late, delightedly testing the new specialized steam kettle candy making equipment with batches of sweet sorrel fudge, barley nut bars and assorted chocolate dipped fruits.  Her new candy wrapping equipment got a workout too.

Alongside them, the Alfalfa Press ™ got a separate “test.”  She put up fifty quarter kilo round Clover top patties with a dash of sweet sorrel for extra flavor and twenty five one kilo “steaks” of alfalfa, clover and chopped wheat kernels.

After everything was put away and the kitchen properly cleaned, it was nearly ten pm.  Somewhat tired, but very happy, Caramel emerged from her shop to lock up.

Peanut was close by too.  The whole party had frosty tumblers of cold water already served to them.  Bemused, Caramel beckoned Peanut to come inside.  She pointed.  “That is the time clock, Peanut.  Clock in.  Instead of tomorrow, you are starting right away.  As soon as you clock in, get into the crisper and set them all up a light salad for starters.

It was not to be.  Gathered at her outdoor tables, were Brightmane, Nurse Fields, Daphne Crager, carlene of Red Hoof, Heather Bloom, Duchess of Red Hoof, and her consort, Tam O’ Canter, Baron Drandale.  

Her mother called cheerfully, “When you did not come to the Great Hall in a reasonable time, we came to see what was happening!  Just in time, too!  We could smell your cooking, so we waited!

“Come down to the cool room and get a look at what we have so that you can tell them.  Our menus are not due here until tomorrow.  Get their orders.  I will start the stoves.”

Peanut clocked in, grinning.  “I could not sleep, thinking about tomorrow being my first day of real work!”  She snickerd, “I was wrong!  It is starting already!”

Peanut did come down and do a fast assessment of everything, including the contents of the cool and cold rooms.  Nodding to herself, she scooted upstairs.

Caramel came up to see that Peanut had put out the yellow evening lights on the dining patio, already had most of the salads served and was putting up the last two.  That was not all.  The orders were on neat tickets stuck to the springs of the order carousel.

Caramel gathered the ingredients and called for and began to cook!  She mused, “Who would have thought that I would need snowstar sauce even before I opened?”  As steaks cooked, she stirred the sauce and put a vegetable medley in the steamer.

While things were all coming to a head, Peanut clattered down the stairs.  Caramel heard the cold room door close.  Peanut darted past.  Out front, at the waitress back table, Caramel heard the quiet roar of her brand new milkshake machine!

With satisfaction, she put all the orders up on the service shelf almost at once.  She flopped two more steaks on.  That snowstar sauce smelled heavenly!  She set up fried onions and mushrooms in butter sauce to go alongside the steaks.

She brought them out so that she and Peanut could join the party!  Peanut saw what she was being served and made a dash for the waitress back table and returned with a pair of salads.

At last, everypony was well filled.

She made a second fast dash, punctuated by the soft roar of the milkshake machine.  She returned with shakes for them both.

In spite of eating and joining into the banter about the tables, Peanut was right there, every time that a drink needed a refill or a plate needed to be removed. 

Heather Bloom requested, “Our check, please, my lady Peanut.  All wa far better than merely good.  Yer service wa excellent as well.  We ha all come fro Red Hoof’s Hall, sa cover ’t all, I shall.”

To Caramel’s surprise, Peanut took the assorted order checks and swiftly totaled them all up.  Seeing Caramel’s look, Peanut explained, “Our menus may not be here, but I helped to put them together.  I remember what we sent to the printer.”

She presented the check on a small tray.  Heather Bloom returned it with golden coins, to which Tam had added some as well.

Peanut stammered, “This, this is far too much!  We have no change to give you.”

Heather Bloom replied, “Nay, lass.  T'is correct.  We ha given to ye wha such fine food and service be due.”

Tam cast a practiced eye to the street and commented, “As soon as all be cleaned, tidied and stored away, we shall escort ye to yer home, lass.  There appear to be some as might be unpleasant to ye awaitin in the dark.”

Peanut and Caramel cleaned up and put things away.  Last to go were the lights, tables and seating on the patio.  Caramel locked up.

Aside from the clatter of retreating hooves fleeing the large party, the two block walk to Peanut’s new apartment was uneventful.

Like Peanut, earlier, Caramel could not really sleep.  Her dreams when she did  were of hunting with the Stone Ridge wolf pack.  When they cornered the prey, it was a great golden bit!

Her fangs were just seizing it when she was gently shaken awake.  Nurse Fields was smiling down at her.  “It was a good dream, Caramel.  I can tell.  You became a happy wolf in your sleep.  Hunting again?”

Caramel nodded as her change to a pony flowed over her.  Stretching luxuriously, she acknowledged, “Hunting with my friends.  We were bringing down a big golden bit!”

They both chuckled at the image.

Breakfast was an informal affair.  One of Heather Bloom’s house carls was making sure that the buffet stayed well supplied.  The whole household, Lady, Laird, carls, carlenes and  guests alike filled plates and choose places to eat.

A small stack of breaded and fried patties caught Caramel by the nose!  They smelled heavenly.  Taste bore out the scent.

“What are these, your Ladyship?  I have never had anything quite like them!”

Heather Bloom looked up from her own breakfast, surprise on her features.  “They be but Northern Dales oatmeal.  It be cooked wi diced dates, raisins, diced apple, any other diced fruits handy, some honey and a touch o molasses.  When it cool ye but slice it to portions, batter dip an fry.” 

Caramel was nodding slowly as she listened.

Back at her restaurant, while impatiently awaiting the arrival of her sign, Caramel began grabbing oatmeal, and an assortment of dried fruits.  As it began to cook, she added the honey and molasses a little at a time until it smelled right.  Unable to resist experimenting, she added a healthy lot of butter, too.  She poured it into a sheet cake pan and let it set.  While it was setting, she heated the oil and made up a sweetened batter.

She wound up with a substantial pile of the golden brown slices on a platter.  

Peanut entered and clocked in, then took a whiff of the breaded oatmeal.  “Is it an experiment, Caramel?  I think that I know exactly what to do with them!”

Caramel raised her eyebrows at that and offered, “I thought that they were pretty good the way that they are.”

Nibbling one and swallowing before answering, Peanut nodded, “That they are!  Let’s try this!”

Caramel looked up from the new dish with eyes that looked like her mouth had found heaven.  “Besides being beautiful, this is a fantastic taste, Peanut!  Make a note to add five golden bits to your first pay packet!

She set two of the slices on plates and carefully scooped two perfect balls of ice cream onto them.  She added sweet cherries on top and very carefully drizzled chocolate sauce in spirals down the sides.

Caramel’s indrawn breath at the beautiful effect made Peanut smile broadly.  She ceremoniously served her employer one and took the other for herself.

“You always were better than I in art classes and this really shows it!”

“What does, Caramel?” bleated a familiar voice from the front door.

Caramel smiled happily and exclaimed, “Grumpy!  You are just in time to taste test our newest treat!”

Turning to Peanut, she said, “Please set up one of these for Grumpy!  Without his help, this place would not be almost ready to open.”

While Peanut was setting up the treat, she commented, “I bet that he came to get paid!  His team fixed up my place in jig time!  It looks great now!  You would not recognize it for the place that we rented!”

Grumpy nodded, proud of the work and happy with the good words that he was hearing.  “That I did, Miss Peanut.  Looks like my timing was pretty good too!  

“We figured up the bill, Caramel.  It comes to two gold, four and six.”

Nodding, Caramel replied, “Most reasonable.  You enjoy your snack while I get your money.  Since I expect to open today, I have a change bank.”

Shortly, Caramel returned and placed four gold bits on the table for Grumpy.  “No, Grumpy.  Not a mistake.  I am paying you and your team what you are worth, not what you charged.”

It was nearly ten before the sign painters showed up with the new roof sign.  They used a crane to lift it up to the roof, where they anchored it expertly.

A crowd had gathered to watch.  As the crane and other dangerous equipment was cleared away, several trotted over and took seats on the outdoor plaza.

Peanut brought them all some of the new treats and announced loudly enough to be heard by all of them, “Free Northern Dale snack for the first ten customers who place orders!”

There was a mostly orderly stampede to the dining tables!  Peanut happily took orders and delivered the Northern Dale snacks.  The sight of ponies being served brought in more customers to dine under the new sign’s beautifully scrolled letters spelling,

CARAMEL TREAT’S SWEETS!

~THE END~

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[quinloki]

Birthday Request Event v2024

"It's my birthday and I'll write what I want to \o/"

Gift Details ♥ Reader Style: cisfem Character: Roronoa Zoro & Kaku Vibe: Writer's Choice (NSFW consensual) AU: Monster AU Prompt: Only One Bed Gift Giver: @zoros-sheath

Summary: You'd wanted two rooms for your trip with your were-beast lovers, instead you didn't even get two beds.

Content Notes: double penetration, knotting, little prep, established relationship, cream pie, gods give credit to this bed where it's due.

This birthday party is 18+, consensual unless explicitly stated otherwise, and BYOB

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, we can all fit.” Kaku says as he and Zoro carry the luggage up to the hotel room. “Even with two beds, someone was going to be doubling up.”

“Two rooms, Kaku.” You correct, sighing a little as you reach the last room left at the hotel. There’d been a booking error and your glorious plan to leave Kaku and Zoro snoring in their own room was completely ruined.

Not that you didn’t love and appreciate your monsters dearly, but you’d wanted a little space during this trip. Not much. Just a little.

“Ah, sorry then, filly.” He kisses the top of your head. “We’ll do our best.”

“Humph.” Zoro grunts as you open the door for the two of them.

“Oh no.” You hear Kaku before you get into the room, but you have a feeling you already know the problem.

“Not two beds, huh?” You can’t help the groan.

“Ah… well, we’ll make it work.” He says, setting the suitcase down and stepping back so you can see.

A single. The only bed in the room was a single. Not a double, not a queen, and certainly not a king. At this point you were almost relieved to see it on a frame.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” You let out a breath, trying not to lose your temper over something you couldn’t do anything about at this point. “Does the couch have a pullout?”

Zoro lifts the cushions on the small love seat in the room and shakes his head. It was, at least, a place someone could sleep, but at this rate someone was going to be on the floor.

“I suppose we can roshambo for it.” You offer, poking your head into the attached bathroom. Of all the things this room didn’t have, somehow it had a whirlpool tub. “Though at this point, throwing the bedding in the bathtub might actually be enough room for all of us.”

“We can fit.” Zoro asserts and you look at him like he’s grown a second head. Monster that he and Kaku were, that wasn’t one of the things they did as far as you knew.

“Can you turn into a small cat?” You question and Kaku laughs, effectively answering your question.

His brows furrow and you know you’ve irritated him at least a little. “No.” He says curtly.

“Well, then I don’t see-.” You start, but Zoro disrobes and pulls the covers aside. By himself he filled most of the bed. If he slept on his side, Kaku could probably join him, the giraffe being slender and almost lanky by comparison.

Kaku pulls your sun dress off in an easy motion, causing you to yelp a little in surprise. Long fingers move against your body and his fingers are already against your clit before you can even ask him what he’s doing. A sweet moan is the only sound that passes your lips and you hold onto his arm to steady yourself.

Pressing soft kisses in the crook of your neck, he slips your panties down with his free hand, and you can feel two sets of eyes on you, devouring every shiver. Despite the near constant bickering between the two shifters, they worked remarkably well when it came to you.

Cool gel presses into your ass, giving Kaku’s finger access easily. You’ve long since stopped trying to figure out how they managed such tricks. Zoro’s gaze grabs yours and you see his tongue slip across his lips as Kaku works you into a frenzy with his fingers.

“Please,” you gasp, legs trembling. You couldn’t keep your feet much longer and you weren’t even sure what it was they were going to prove by doing this. “I’m gonna - haaa, more, please, I want more.”

“Want?” Zoro prompts, raising a brow.

Your body throbs at the tone of that single word and you press against Kaku’s hand. “Need, need!” You cry, as Kaku pulls his fingers out of you. “I need more, please.”

Zoro motions, and Kaku helps you, lifting you up and straddling you over the feline were-beast’s cock. He was already hard, red at the tip, precum glistening as it twitched, knot already thick and swollen at the base. Zoro helps steady you, holding onto your hands and helping you stay upright as you settled onto his shaft.

The sweet stretch, the dull ache that left you desperate to have his knot buried inside you, was a relief you didn’t know you needed. A striped tail, soft fur tickling against your skin, pushes your bra up, leaving the lace at your collarbone as your breasts were laid bare. The fur against your skin is warm, and a little ticklish.

You settle against the knot and Zoro leans you forward as you feel Kaku get on the bed with the two of you.

“We’re - the bed… the noise.” Your voice is shaking, dripping with need even before the tapered tip of Kaku’s cock pushes against your tight, well lubricated ass.

“No one will hear us, little sheath.” Zoro promises.

Kaku’s hands are on your shoulder, and Zoro helps him angle you until the giraffe is deep in your ass, his own knot pressing against you. They’re already grinning at the shivering twitches ravaging your body. You swear they delight in the anticipation more than the orgasms.

Kaku’s hands slip down your arms, gripping them just above your elbow and holding you off Zoro’s chest at and angle that was good for both of them. Zoro’s hands grip your tits, teasing your nipples between his fingers, hunger scrawled on his face. He twists them a little and when you cry out his tail pushes into your mouth.

It wasn’t the first time he’s gagged you this way, but it was always a surprise. Any concerns you had about the furry tail were pushed out of your mind as Kaku and Zoro begin to move inside you, pistoning in and out in perfect time with one another. Leaving you little room to do anything else but drown in the pleasure.

Zoro’s cock tickled your g-spot as Kaku pulled out, and Kaku hit some sweet spot in your ass as Zoro made room for him. Your moans are well-muffled, body shaking and curling in the grip of the two beasts who had laid claim to you. Ravenous and sweet, and insistent that it was you who had them in the palm of your hand.

As your body warmed and your vision went hazy, Zoro pulled his tail from your mouth, letting the rough, dribbling gasps of pleasure drip from your chin.

“Already too far gone, huh?” He grins and you can’t even argue.

“More,” you huff, body covered in sweat. “Please.”

“As though we would ever deny you, little filly.” Kaku responds, voice heavier than usual. You can feel his tongue against your back, licking against the shimmer of your skin and sending electricity through your muscles.

“Focus,” Zoro warns as they begin to pick up speed. “Breathe.” He commands as they race you to your high.

Tears prick your eyes as you practically pant from the assault. You can’t help squirming in their grasp, but nothing you can do is going to let you get away from the growing pleasure. Nothing you do will allow you to move enough to accidentally hurt yourself either.

It’s not just the impending orgasm, making your heart pound in your chest like the bass at a rave, it’s the knowledge that they’re going to fill you beyond anything anyone else could. Being knotted at the same time was intense, and you’d passed out the first time they did it, but nothing else could compare.

It was addicting. They were addicting. Addicting like air. Like water. Things you couldn’t live without. Core pieces of your very existence and life.

Something almost beyond love.

Their grips shift. Zoro holds your shoulders, and Kaku covers your mouth. The knots push into your body, the overwhelming stretch hurling you over the peak and driving the pleasure of orgasm into your bones. Your breath freezes in your lungs, and your body goes taut as steel. Your eyes roll back and you can feel thick, hot sperm fills your insides as the sensations stutter every response you have.

Soft fur brushes your nipples and you scream into Kaku’s hands, the gentle caress being enough to shatter the freeze in your overloaded body. His hands move enough you can gulp in big gasps of air, sobbing moans falling from your lips with each exhale, and shaky whimpers escorting air back into your lungs.

“There’s a good girl,” Zoro praises you. “Breathe.”

“How well you always take us,” Kaku adds, hugging your back to his chest as he and Zoro roll their hips and squeeze a few more soft babbling sounds of pleasure from your lips.

Holding onto Kaku’s arms, you regain enough of your senses to form the few important words you realize were missing from the start of the conversation. “Sleep,” you say in a shaky voice. “I meant room enough… to sleep.”

You can feel them both flinch.

“Oh.”

[skynya]

she's sooooo cute!!! like what are you on about silly filly a monster is destroying the city

[orphicswanart]

description under here

It is unknown what's the source of the infection, but it al started in town called Ponyvile, on one of the local farms. It happened in the middle of the night when they youngest member of the family heard strange noises from the woods near the farm house. She couldn't wake her family up from their deep slumber so she decided to explore on her own, venturing in the dark forest. The young filly went missing for two days, her family worried sick for her well being and hoping for her safe return. One the third day she returned, well she was returned, nobody knows how she was and she didn't remembered anything that happened in the woods only why she went there. The young filly was missing her left front hoof with mysterious purple liquid mixing with her blood. Sadly after 3 weeks she passed away from the paint brought on by the her injury. Ponies around her noticed that her blood had a purple glow to it. The mystery liquid might have also contributed to her losing vision and loss of her teeth.

Months later [redacted] was infected, they survived, which might be a worse fate than death as their body started to transform into something akin to the gods of the old world, they grew aggressive towards others and would even go on to attack other residents of Ponyvile infecting them as well to grow into disfigured creatures like themself.  In the tragedy of the attack, a surprising discovery was made, the infection only effects ponies (pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns as well as zebras), every other species seems to have an immunity to it, as the dragon was just fine with only sign of the attack was a skin pulling bitemark. Not long after Ponyvile became the first ghost town in Equestria due to the mystery virus. The safest pony species were the pegasi as the infected cannot use their wings not magic, they only crawl and cry if they're able, if the still have mobility or a mouth. It is also impossible to kill them as they would regenerate at a very fast speed, approximately 30 to 60 seconds.

Even after 10 years since the first 2 cases no cure has been made and ponies migrated to different places of Equestria and started to mix with other species to insure the infection won't have effect on their offspring. Rumors' have the infection might have to do with a creatures from the old world, as it might have return to the land of the living from it's thousand of year old slumber.

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Something not so cute...tho I still have to work on my monster designing

[nostalgiclittlespace]

Request: Little!Angel being a sleepy baby (little age: 0-1) and CG!Husk and Fat Nuggets provide him lots of cuddles

SFW AGE REGRESSION FIC. DNI IF NSFW, KINK, PROSHIP, OR SIMILAR. DO NOT REPOST TO OTHER SITES.

Title: Cuddle Bug

Word count: 1023

Pairing: CG!Husk & Little!Angel

Description: Angel stays up late waiting for his Papa to come home, if only so he can get tucked in properly. Luckily, he isn’t left waiting for too long and Husk (and Fat Nuggets) can treat him to some cuddles. (All comfort, no hurt)

Angel laid on his playmat, Fat Nuggets and plushies surrounding him like a halo.  Lullaby tunes drifted from his Hellphone, the tranquil notes suggesting that it was almost time to sleep.  Indeed, Angel’s eyes had been fluttering shut for the past ten minutes, only to startle open again.

Cant sleep yet, Angel thought, rubbing his eyes.  Papa not home yet.

Without Papa, who would tuck him in?  Who would check under the bed for monsters?  Technically, he could ask the other Hazbin residents, but they didn’t do it right!  Sir Pentious was just as scared of monsters as Angel was, Vaggie didn’t check carefully enough, he didn’t trust Alastor, and Charlie always tried to make him face his fear by checking under the bed with her.  

Only Husk would check the closet, the corners, under the closet and bed, and in the toy chest without question.  Only Husk could give him a tight hug properly—stuffy enough that he felt safe but not so tight that he couldn’t breathe.  Only Husk would also say goodnight to Fat Nuggets and remind him of his duties as Angel’s sleeping buddy (“Remember, Fat Nuggets, Angel needs snuggles all night long.  You’re his best piggy buddy, so it’s your job to make sure he’s safe and comfy,” he would say every night without fail)

Husk would never forget to turn on the nightlight, or to leave the door open just a crack.  Husk would come check on him an hour or so after tucking him in to make sure he was sleeping, and if not he would read a quick story or give him another plushie to make him more comfortable.  Husk would ruffle his quaff as they sat in the rocking chair.  He would hold all of Angel’s hands when he was scared, them carefully gathered in his paws and held close to his heart,

So Angel had to stay awake until Kitty came home!  He had to run an errand for Alastor, which involved him leaving the Hotel for a little while.  Angel had been Big when he left…but now that it was bedtime he wanted him to come home as fast as possible!  Mentally, Angel added this to the list of reasons he disliked that Radio Demon.

Angel rolled over onto his side to watch Fat Nuggets snuffling around the carpet.  The pig’s round body and adorable little snorts practically begged to be cuddled with.  He cooed, giggling breathily as his pet nosed one of the plushies with his snout.

Attention caught, Nuggets looked up and titled his head.  Thrilled by the small gesture, Angel’s smile widened immensely.  At the call of more mumbles, Fat Nuggets trotted up to him.  Both squealed delightfully as Angel scooped up his pig, the best he could while his dexterity had decreased and he laid on his side.  Nonetheless, the end product ended with them cuddled close together.

Just as thoughts of his favorite cat fillies his head again, threatening to overspill into tears, there was a fumbling at the door.  Angel craned and twisted his neck towards the source of the noise, heart filling with hope as the knob turned.

“Hey, Angie,” Husk greeted.  His eyes found the spider laying on the floor, and didn’t falter before asking , “How are you doing, baby?”

Coherent sentences lost, Angel just kicked his feet and cooed.  “Papa!”

“Yeah, I’m home now.  Sorry I’m late, buddy.”

Angel tried to grumble his complaints about Alastor, but judging by Husk’s easy, amused smile, the words didn’t make much sense.  The ex-Overlord seemed to get the message, however, as he sat on the floor beside him with a deep exhale.

“Yeah, I know, I know.  You’re up past your bedtime and I wasn’t home.  How about we get you ready for sleep?” Kitty suggested.

Angel nodded, releasing Fat Nuggets for only a moment to extend his arms pleadingly.  Husk complied with the silent request, pulling Angel off the floor and into his arms.  He managed to get a hold of Nuggets too, who he then handed back to Angel to carry back to his bed.  The latter relaxed, almost limp; he could finally go to sleep now that his Papa was home. 

Per their usual routine, Husk carried him over to the bed and helped him under the cozy pink sheets.  Fat Nuggets nustled beside him while Husk flipped on the rainbow lamp on the nightstand.

“Check for monsters?” Angel mumbled, even though he knew the cat would never forget.

“‘Course, Angie,” Husk replied before his head ducked and disappeared as his precise eyes scanned underneath the mattress.  Then he stood, strolled to every corner, opened the closet, and even looked inside the toy chest.  Angel watched his every movement, because even if he was scared of the what monsters could be hiding, he also needed to make sure Papa was safe.

“No sign of monsters here, baby.  All safe,” Husk said as he returned to Angel’s bedside.

As soon as the cat had sat down, Angel wrapped two pairs of arms around his waist, dragging himself forward to snuggle some more.  Yes, his eyes were drooping.  Yes, he wanted to sleep.  But he also missed Kitty!

“Looks like I have a cuddly bug tonight,” Husl chuckled, then eased onto his side.  Angel cuddled impossibly closer, wrapping his legs around him and burying his face in his chest.  A deep breath calmed the arachnid entirely, as something rich, smokey, and fresh drifted into his nostrils.

“Ready for sleep, bug?” Husk murmured, ruffling his hair.

Before Angel could nod, a certain piglet rose from his nest in the sheets, trotting up to Husk’s and Angel’s faces.  The pig’s snout pressed against them, causing a weak complaint from Husk and a giggle from Angel.  Thankfully, Nugget’s show of affection ended there, as he circled around and flopped into a new place: right between Husk and Angel.

“Good, pig,” the cat rumbled.  “You’ve gotta keep Angie safe too, you know.  A guard pig to help him feel better.”

Said courageous animal was already snoozing, but Angel nodded a little despite his drooping eyes.

“Good night, Angel.”

“Ni’night, Papa.”