Welcome back to the newest thread of Occupied Equestria
In Northern Equestria on the Changeling side, Spark has given refuge to a mare claiming to be stalked by a Changeling drone.
In the southeast, in Baltimare, Amber tries to slip past police in her infiltration of the Police Headquarters. Iron prepares for his next fight against griffin gangsters. Silver enjoys downtime, and Midnight checks out a local church.
>>147603“Okay… thank you… I don’t think he will like me traveling with a stallion, but…”
She does not complete her sentence
>>147604"You are already in danger. Him being upset at my presence won't effect too much. May I know what it is that we are looking for?"
>>147605“Well it’s, you know, clothing. Personal items….”
>>147607“Well… my actual apartment… is in Bluefield. I think it’s several miles from here? I’m not really sure where I am.”
>>147608"Don't worry. We are new around here as well. You are in good company."
>>147609“Okay. Good. And thank you.” She says
>>147610"I'll have to consult the doctor to see if he knows where Bluefield is."
>>147611"Okay." She says, more assured now.
The doctor is laying on his back, mouth open, still sleeping. He isn't quite "snoring" in the strict sense, but he isn't quiet either.
>>147613His eyes jump open, and he bolts up
"What? No. I didn't do anything!"
He says, startled
>>147615"Wha? Oh. Uh... Good morning."
>>147616"We may have breakfast cooking and we may need to know how to get to Bluefield. Heard of it?"
>>147617“Yes, it’s a neighborhood in the Northwest, sort of near the river. Not that far west though. Still on the east snd Whinnyapolis side of the river.”
>>147618"We will have to head over there and grab a few things for our new guest."
>>147619“New guest?” He looks up confused, though perhaps less so when his eyes move over towards Wellspring.
>>147620"We had some visitors knock on the door last night."
>>147579Iron's smile widened just a bit, dedicating one foreleg for each mare as he continued to stroke both mares' manes simultaneously and hopefully rub his short coat against the mares to his sides to add an extra bit of comfort for them.
He boldly yet carefully rested his head against Cauldron's neck with a happy smile, closing his eyes a bit just to enjoy the moment they were spending together.
>>147621"I see that... Uh, who is she and why is she here, exactly?" He answers, looking over at Wellspring
>>147622Black Cauldron emits a small grumble, while White Sands moves in and seems to purr. The latter's eyes are closed.
>>147624"Changeling patrols are chasing her."
>>147625His eyes widen, and he says the following with more than a bit of fear:
"Then why did you bring her here?! Now they may come after all of us"
>>147626"Because she was outside the house and if they found her there, they likely would have thought we were hiding her. They have no direct proof of her even being here, so we are in the clear for now."
>>147627“Uh… okay…” he says
He looks over to Wellsping
“Uh, hi. What’s your name?”
“Wellspring”
“That’s a pretty name. Mine is Faithful Oath.”
Over in the kitchen, Petal has started cooking, while Ply Press is coming down the stairs into the living room.
>>147624Iron couldn't help but stifle a little chuckle at Cauldron's grumbling, breathing contently on Cauldron's chest as he relished every second of his combined petting onslaught against the two mares currently sandwiching him in. "I like your mane," he offered the grumpy zebra mare with an innocent smile.
>>147629“Thanks.” Black Cauldron does seem to smile at this compliment, and almost laughs with a “heh.”
>>147630Mission accomplished.
Knowing Iron was clear to go for the time being, all he did was to pet and stroke both mares' heads and manes respectively, trying to both get accostumed to splitting his attention between the two plus let themselves get more physically intimate with him and eachother.
He'd continue to indulge in his real-life fantasy he's just achieved, always keeping a watchful yet serene eye on the two mares' mood and wellbeing, ready to soften them up with some lighthearted quip.
>>147628Spark waves hello to Ply Press.
>>147631White Sands seems as if she is about to fall asleep. At least, she is laying down next to Iron with her eyes closed, and if she makes any noise at all it's cat-like purring sound. She has placed a foreleg overtop of Iron, almost like he's a pillow, or Ursa bear.
Black Cauldron, by contrast, keeps her eyes open and directed at Iron, and not often smiling.
>>147632He comes down the stairs, wearing Winchilla slippers.
"Good Morning."
He turns his head to Wellspring
"You brought a
mare" he says
>>147633"A surprise guest even for us."
>>147633Iron was thankful he didn't have to worry much about Sands, and he figured she wouldn't try to nab his attention after getting her on the bed with Cauldron included.
Speaking of, the native soon looked up to her with a sheepish smile, unintentionally ruffling her rough chest with his cheek to accomodate for it. "I have got to say," Iron uttered, still carrying on his petting for both mares with a satisfied smile "pillow fights really take the air out of one's body."
>>147634"Oh..." He goes over to Wellspring, and starts talking to her; questions like "What brings you here?"
Waabishki walks down the stairs slowly, looking tired.
>>147635"Is that what has happened? You're done in by a pillow fight?" Black Cauldron asks.
>>147636"It was hard to find Sands in her hiding spots," Iron relayed to the striped mare, blushing ever so slightly at her incredulity "plus your swings were no joke and I still have not fully recovered."
>>147637Black Cauldron scrunches
"So, you want to sleep now?"
>>147636Spark waves to Waabishki.
>>147638Iron couldn't help but tilt his head at the scrunching, starting to feel there was actually something wrong about... something. "I figured it would be a good activity to end the night," he uttered softly, looking up at Cauldron with a softened look, smile waning just a little bit.
>>147639She enters the room wordlessly, but she does look over to Spark, and he can see that her eyes are heavy and black. She slowly walks through the living room, past Wellspring and Ply Press, and past Makade, who watches her. She starts to enter the kitchen, where now the doctor has positioned himself (evidently preparing a drink of some sort), and she goes up to Petal, to whom she says her first words of the day:
"May I have some water?"
>>147640"Sure." She says
"This... won't be the last night. Right?"
>>147641Oh, Iron thought to himself, realizing why she was so disappointed and grumpy.
He had the time to think this through, thankfully. His heart egged him to stay just one more night to ensure all his wounds were healed before setting off for a long time while his mind reminded him he shouldn't make any promises he knew he couldn't keep.
Nonetheless, the native looked up to Cauldron with a confident smile, puffing his bandaged chest out to exhude a sense of control over his situation. "It will not," he swiftly declared. "I will make sure of it."
>>147642"Will you come back to me?" She asks, nearly sounding afraid
>>147643"I will," Iron dutifully replied, continuing to pet both mares' manes with utter devotion and fueled by Cauldron's fear of losing him. "Nothing shall stop me from being with you once again."
>>147644"Okay..." with this, she moves closer, and places a foreleg over him, then she tries to get another foreleg under him, and tries to move a hind over his lower section. She moves her muzzle over top of his muzzle, face, and a portion of his head, trying to keep him close.
>>147646"Sure" Petal says to Waabishki, and she pours water for her. Waabishki drinks, and then starts on her way back out.
>>147645Iron, of course, allowed himself to be practically held by Cauldron through facilitating her positioning, nuzzling her exposed nape when she was done. His heavy heart thumped firmly against his chest, sharing his beat wit hers as he sunk himself into her savannah. He felt himself ready to face the eventual challenge of hiring help, picking out a spot to lure the kill squads to and keeping a stock of health potions to maximize his efficiency: It was going to be long and ardurous, but he'll
do it!He'll do it for the mares he loves, no matter how much he has to sacrifice. He'll be there for them. He has to.
>>147647“Maybe we should take a few more minutes to rest.”
>>147648Black Cauldron nuzzles him from her position
>>147649Petal:
"Do what you feel you need to. Breakfast will be ready when you are ready."
>>147650Feeling her nuzzling against the top of his head, the foreleg he was previously using to simply pet her mane soon slid down a bit past her withers to give her a much needed hug to tell him that he was still with her, alive and breathing, as the fatigue started to grip onto him once again.
>>147650Spark grabs something to eat.
>>147652Unless Spark is getting cereal (possible), Petal's meal isn't
quite ready yet.
"I hope you don't mind if it's a bit heavy. I'm making a hot dish, since you'll be on your way pretty soon, and I wouldn't want you to go on an empty stomach, or get hungry anytime soon."
>>147651"So you.... want to sleep now?" She asks him