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.
>>147653"I should..." Iron uttered, sounding quite sleepy "but I know you want me to stay awake like this for a few more moments together. My heart cannot help but try to comfort you for as long as you need to."
>>147653“Thank you. You are the kindest pony I ever met.”
Spark waits for the cooking.
>>147654"That's okay. I know you need it. Just... some time. Show me loving like you did before. Like earlier."
>>147655"D'aww. Just helping out our guests."
When she is done, she presents a meal based in potato, carrots, onions, and cream of mushroom. She also provides toast with strawberry and apricot jam. For the two wolves, she again has baked salmon. To go along with this is apple juice, milk, and a few fruit like pears and strawberries.
"Sorry... we're out of coffee and sugar." She apologizes, as she prepares the table
>>147656"It is a date," Iron playfully replied, lazily kissing Cauldron's snout before going back to nuzzle her neck.
>>147657"Hehehe" She giggles and smiles, tugging on Iron's neck with both of her forelegs wrapped around him in a hug.
>>147658Iron couldn't help but chuckle along slightly, tightening his hug with Cauldron back in turn, enjoying the moment while his other hoof slowly but surely halted its constant petting and instead wrapped itself around Sands' shoulders.
Such a warm hug from both the worried zebra and the self-interested unicorn started to really lull the native into a peaceful slumber, meaning if the former wanted him awake for a bit longer, she'd have to shake him awake slightly.
>>147659It's definitely more of a lunch meal, and frankly a dinner meal, but it suffices. Cream, mushroom, potato and vegetables, besides all of the fruit, fruit juice, and fruit jam.
The doctor comes in, as does Ply Press, Petal, an observant Makade, a very tired looking Waabishki, and finally, a cautious Wellspring, who sits next to Spark at the dinner table. The table itself requires more chairs to be placed, and creatures to sit closer together.
>>147660There's a purr from White Sands, and a brief frown from Black Cauldron that is replaced with a smile when he comes closer to her. A chill air comes over Iron, like a sudden draft that has seeped its way in from the winter outside.
>>147661Spark listens to the conversations around the table.
>>147661Iron couldn't help but shiver lightly at the feeling, wondering if it had any deeper meaning that he should be wary for. "...chilly," he absentmindedly uttered, disturbed slightly from the sudden intrusion but still on the verge of passing out.
>>147662Ply Press and Petal make small talk about the meal and events around them, and then try to ask questions of Wellspring and Waabishki. When both are mostly silent and closed, they talk with the Doctor, who is more familiar with Whinnyapolis and more open.
>>147663"Need to get under the covers?" Black Cauldron asks
>>147664Iron couldn't help but pull both mares a little closer to him instead in an attempt to stave off the elements, mumbling something intelligible in turn. As far as Cauldron knew, that might've been a yes.
>>147665White Sands is a little on the cooler side, but Black Cauldron is warm. She asks him directly:
“Yes? Or a blanket?”
>>147664Spark interjects a question when the conversation stops.
“So, what should we expect in Bluefield?”
>>147666"Mhm," Iron slowly and tiredly muttered, hoping that chilly feeling could go away so he could sleep in peace. However, deep down he thought it might be telling him that trouble was approaching, considering his propensity to dislike it plus all that vision stuff that told their death.
Needless to say, the native was a little creeped out.
>>147668Black Cauldron tries to pull down the covers under Iron, and then over
>>147667Wellspring looks over to Spark
"An apartment. And maybe a drone patrolling around there. Maybe many."
>>147669“I see. Why so many there?”
>>147670"There may only be the one... but he could have friends, or whatever Changelings have. Brothers, I suppose."
>>147669Iron would shuffle a bit to help Cauldron slide the covers from under him to over him, hoping that all three ponies were neatly tucked in the cozy warmth of the bed in order to finally rid himself of those pesky chills.
>>147672Black Cauldron places herself under the covers, while White Sands, not getting up, uses her magic pull the covers over her, and even pulls some away from Black Cauldron, who loses no time in pulling them back her way.
>>147673In response to the little tug of war, Iron decided to ensure the two mares were as close to him as possible so that they could both have plenty of bedsheets to cover themselves with, giving both of them a tired nuzzle on both of their cheeks with something along the lines of no fighting, only slurred and almost undiscernible.
>>147674With the bed being fairly small and not really made to fit three ponies, moving the two mares closer together doesn't bring much resistance, given there wasn't all that much room to either side. White Sands, noiselessly accepts, and places a hoof around him, with her eyes closed and a bright smile on her face.
>>147675The creatures finish up their meal. Makade gets Waabishki talking a bit, and she finally starts to eat.
>>147676Now that hit the spot. Iron exhaled softly, now feeling the combined hugs from both Cauldron and Sands at once.
Surely the two mares would simply come together from their conjoined like for him, right?
>>147677Hard to say. Iron separates the two, and White Sands generally feigns sleep (or maybe she actually has fallen asleep. Hard to tell).
>>147678So long as the two mares were actively hugging him, Iron would have little problems with that arrangement. More likely than not, they'll find common ground due to their shared background as mob grunts. He'll simplt has to mediate their affairs and provide support whenever needed for their friendship to finally blossom.
>>147676Spark thinks about how he is going to be able to sneak to an apartment unseen.
>>147679For the moment.... not so much
>>147680And now, later in the morning, Spark is ready
>>147681Iron exhaled softly through his nostrils, slowly creaking a spying eye to confirm he was indeed being hugged by both mares right now. He didn't really have the energy to wake back up again and stop this silly quarrel.
>>147681"I don't suppose you know a good way to get over to Bluefield, Wellspring?"
>>147520Mollis and Sweet Dreams direct their respective creatures to stand in a certain location.
Mollis:
"First, dry"
She holds up a blow dryer, and attempts to dry Silver Sword
>>147685Silver tries to help direct her in how to dry just how much floof he has.
>>147686Silver's floof starts to expand and spread out as it is warmed, and Mollis seems to have a hard time with it. Meanwhile, Sweet Dreams is making nice progress on the short-furred Jubilosa
>>147704"Ah, this feels nice. You are doing just fine, Mollis."
>>147705She makes a strained smile, and continues on blow drying. Sweet Dreams, after some time, moves on from drying to brushing, while Mollis is still bogged down.
>>147708"If you need me to assist, I am more than happy to, Mollis."
>>147709“I wrought wris.” She says, with a blow dryer in her mouth, still attempting to subdue the unruly mountains of fur.
>>147710It's almost like its own little world, all of that fur and fluff. Silver could make kirins jealous.
>>147711Sweet Dreams, carefully brushing Jubilosa, takes done pity on Mollis, and gives her the other blow dryer to help her. Now, Mollis slogs on with two dryers.
>>147713Silver does wish he could help her in some capacity, feeling bad for how much work this is.
>>147714After the passage of more time still, Mollis finishes drying. The drying, however, has unleashed a forest of thick, unruly fluff. She takes out a brush, and then, deciding that brush won't suffice, takes another, larger one. She presses this into Silver's fur, and it becomes caught. She tries to pull it out, perhaps with some pain to Silver, and after finally succeeding, leaves the room. She comes back with an even bigger brush, which she just manages to comb through Silver's fur.
>>147715Silver, who hardly reacted to the pain, is sufficiently impressed by the size of the brush.
"Celestia, how many times do you have to lug
that thing out here?"
>>147716"It's for polar bears, when we get them." She answers, using both hooves and the weight of the front of her body to force it in downward strokes.
>>147717"Huh. I guess my fur is like that of polar bears, then."
>>147719"It's... ugh... You have a lot" She says, continuing with these downward movements, combing out the fur.
To her dismay, a decent amount of fur remains in the brush, and she has to stop to clean it.
Over on the other side, Sweet Dreams is combing through individual feathers.
>>147720"It is my winter coat, though I will be honest, when it is being dried and combed like this, it occurs to me that I really do have lot of fur..."
>>147721"So... much...
fluff" Mollis says to herself, trying to comb through the fur, pressing both hooves down
>>147723"I...." She seems nervous, or even scared. The brush almost is caught in the fur.
>>147724Silver gives her a kind, apologetic look.
"You have done so well already. Please, let me help."