Iron got his ass beat and has pissed off a whole criminal syndicate, Amber is doing some shady shit at the police station, Silver is making friends, and Spark is enjoying Whinnysotan hospitality.
>>146297She slowly moves closer, then closer, snd then into the hug. Iron doesn’t have as firm of a grip on her as on Sands though.
>>146298There is movement under the sheet, and Makade - or who seems to be Makade - starts to sit up, with one paw out and another under the covers.
>>146299"Makade, I spotted an intruder out the window."
>>146300Makes moves the covers off, unveiling the rifle. He wraps the sling around his neck, and steps out, coming towards Spark at speed.
“Which window? How many?”
>>146301"Only one at the kitchen window, but the thing is, he was in a cloak. A changeling can do recon as any creature. Why pick a pony form with a cloak to snoop around in?"
>>146302“If I had to fight ponies, and I could chose to look like a regular, harmless, colorful pony, I would. The cloak is either to hide details of for the cold. What I am more skeptical of is how many there are. Either more are hiding, or it’s a scout.”
He follows Spark, or perhaps even walks past Spark, going down the stairs, slowly and quietly approaching the bottom floor, looking out the front windows with his rifle leveled.
>>146303"When fighting yes, but a squirrel or bird is more inconspicuous for spying at night. Being a shape that could be seen as an intruder seems like a blunder, seeing as it has done exactly what they wouldn't want to do, alert us."
Spark points out the window to where the cloaked figure was.
>>146304“Can they shapeshift into squirrels? I thought those were too smal for them. I don’t think we’ve caught any of them as squirrels near our village. Then again, we wouldn’t know.”
Makade’s first act is to look through the front windows, at first from a distance, and then moving closer to them, hiding over to the sides. Then he careful opens a door on the right side of the entry way, and looks around the first floor making sure there are no intruders.
Makade looks out the window. Spark can see the equine form too. The form is exactly where Spark last saw it, under a small tree, sitting down against a fence, head down.
“An odd sight, to be sure”
Makade says
>>146305"Regardless, should I approach?"
>>146306Makade looks behind him, then picks up a pair of pillows off the bed, placing one beside a chair on the dining room table, then placing one on the table, then placing his rifle over it, then trying to set the other pillow over top of the first and the end of the barrel, then pressing down the top pillow, and poking through the scope, to find he is unsatisfied with this arrangement.
“Perhaps. I’ll stand guard from a distance.”
>>146307Spark nods and heads out to confront the cloaked stranger.
>>146308The door is unlocked, and Makade advises Spark to open it very slowly. Spark is free to walk into the narrow backyard, which ends in a wooden fence on the far side, and wrought iron fencing to the left and right; all in all a very small and narrow backyard, with fencing on all sides.
The creature in question does not seem to move. What little Spark can see of thee cloaked figure is a feminine curved pony muzzle with a mauve coat that shimmers in the light. The figure is crouched against the fence next to a poplar tree that is undersized, maybe 10 feet in height, and blocks part of the light from a street lamp on the opposite side.
>>146310The night is decidedly cold. The wind varies, being sometimes still, sometimes low, and sometimes rushing in chilling gusts. The figure sits in a positions against the fence that provides some measure against the wind.
The figure moves it's head up with a "gasp." The face is definitely that of a female pony, with glimmering steel eyes and narrow cheeks. The little portion of the mauve muzzle that sticks out beyond the hoodie, and beyond the shadow of the poplar tree glimmers in the light.
Quickly, she places her hooves down, and starts to stand up, though she stumbles slightly. She gets up, in front of Spark. She still has not answered his question.
>>146311"I'm going to need you to answer. Who are you?"
>>146312She stands up, and looks around, side to side, breathing heavily
"I'm... I'm just passing through."
She answers, in a definitely feminine pony voice
>>146313"Well, come on inside and we will help you on your way. It won't do too much good to be having this conversation in the cold."
>>146314She looks around more, and then back into Spark's eyes with her own blue eyes.
"Uh, oh, okay..." She answers
>>146299That would not do at all.
Iron would attempt to guide the two mares inwards through his forelegs, so the two of them would be right next to eachother to the point of their coats touching in front of him, in order to properly pet both Cauldron and Sands with tenderness.
>>146315Spark motions her to follow as Spark heads inside.
>>146319Sands accepts this, almost with a smug expression, but Cauldron is a bit more reluctant.
>>146321The mare moves forward, walking towards the door slowly, and inside the dining room. Flakes of snow cover her cloak, and her entry into the little area to the right of the main dining room is uneventful. She says nothing to Spark, moving her head up to look around. Her muzzle sticks further out, as well as the end of a lock of coral colored hair.
Makade has moved back to the kitchen and his rifle is not visible.
>>146322“That’s better. The name’s Shimmering Spark by the way.”
>>146323She looks up towards Spark, and blinks
"I was just sleeping."
>>146324“Sleeping in the cold snow isn’t exactly the best choice... I don’t believe I caught your name.”
>>146322Seeing Cauldron's reluctance, Iron soon tried to ease her into the closer petting by adding a little encouraging nuzzle while each foreleg tenderly caressed each mare without much worry of what they would think.
>>146325She mumbles
"Wellspring">>146326She smiles somewhat, and closes her eyes.
>>146327Seeing Black calm down considerably, he'd soon nudge her closer to White in such a way that his head was nested between the two mares' necks in order to achieve multi-pony nuzzling!
>>146327“Nice to meet you. Are you headed somewhere in particular?”
>>146328She's still resistant to coming into contact with White Sands. With Iron separating the two, however, she is more amenable.
>>146329"There was a place I was staying..." She answers
>>146330“Where is that? Do you need help getting there?”
>>146331"Well, I am not sure I should go there now..."
>>146333D'awww"I mean... I'll go home."
>>146334“I just need some context as to what you mean. I don’t mean to come across pushy, but I don’t know your situation.”
>>146335"Well... I can't really go home. I don't think it's safe."
>>146337"There's... look out for this pony. Can I not go back on the streets? It's cold outside."
>>146338“I’m not sending you out there. I just would like to know what happened. Are you in danger?”
>>146340“What happened? It might be hard to protect you if I don’t know what the danger is.”
>>146330Thus, Iron simply slides his head up and down while he continued to provide some more comfort through petting for the two mares for their booped snoots.
>>146343Stalwart:
"That is how they came in, with a conquest. They want to consolidate their holdings and this is the pretext."
>>146342White Sands simply accepts the pets in silence. Black Cauldron, however, asks
"What are you doing?"
>>146344"It is my way to make up for the snout assault," Iron replied without much fanfare and not stopping in the slightest.
>>146345"Is that what this is?" She says, smiling
>>146346"Yes," Iron wholeheartedly agreed, accentuated with a slow drag of his cheeks against the two mares' necks.
>>146347"You're kind of silly" Black Cauldron says
>>146348Iron couldn't help but chuckle a little at the frank remark, opting to trail his head back up just to give Cauldron a small peck on her cheek for her trouble. "You should know that by now," he slyly concurred soon after.
>>146349She smiles again, and breaks out of the hug
"Just one more shot" She says
>>146350Is she speaking to the other BPD officers besides Stalwart or to the two SSA officers?