Maple stepped off the wagon with a little almost-silent sigh. "Thanks," she limply threw to the stallions that had carried her all that way. "Hope she's alright."

"Us too," quickly replied one, the others nodding. "We're going to put the wagon away now. Ya take care now." And off they went, walking at a more sedate rate instead of the gallop or trot that had defined their movement up until then. Their day was over.

All day was over. It was entirely dark where artificial light couldn't be seen, and they didn't have street lamps, leaving only the light that spilled out of houses to work by. Maple considered fleeing to her own home. "No..." She had been asked to do something specific, and off to another pony's house she went.

She raised a hoof to the door and knocked, but between the second and third strike, the door swung open violently inwards, revealing Summer rushing out around the door. "Maple! Where is he?!"

That was when Maple could see Cherry had been entirely correct. Summer was a mess of nerves. Had she been crying? "It's alright!" She grabbed for Summer, only to be shoved back.

"Tell me what happened. Where is he?" she demanded, tail lashing fitfully. "Ah don't see him with you."

"'Cause he ain't," Maple agreed, sitting in front of her distraught friend. "He ran off. Cherry's followin' him."

Summer crashed to her own haunches. "Cherry? Miss Jubilee Cherry? Mah boss is huntin' mah boyfriend?"

"That does sound a might off on hearin' another pony say it," agreed Maple with a little smile. "But it's true. She sent me back t'tell you what was happening."

"So tell me." Summer rose up and stepped aside, waving into the house. "And c'mon in before we let all the heat out."

The two fled into the warmth of the house to catch up on what had been going on.

Winter plodded across the dark sand. His horn wasn't glowing anymore. That took effort and the moon and stars were casting enough to not trip over himself on that flat and open desert. He had to avoid running into any cacti, but other than that, he could walk freely. Anywhere he wanted. Except home. He didn't know which way that was, just that it wasn't there.

His breath misted the air in front of him. Was it normal that deserts became so cold the moment the sun was out of the picture? He wasn't freezing to death, he felt sure, but it had gone from hot to warm to mildly cold in what felt like no time at all. He could only hope it would stop getting any colder.

On the plus side, the coolness seemed to be numbing the ache in his legs.

There was barely a growl before he was jumped on, a furry figure leaping from the darkness to pounce. Winter let out a surprisingly feral equine whinny of terror as he rolled under the biting, scratching thing and kicked with all he had, sending a canine off just far enough for him to scramble to his hooves.

A coyote? A low growl had his ear turning. The coyote wasn't alone. They hunted in packs?! He stomped a hoof down, his horn flaring brightly, illuminating four coyotes in total that had decided he was a big enough prey to need a pack for. The dogs reared back, stunned by the sudden bright light and cowed by it for a precious moment. Enough time for Winter to break into a gallop where there seemed to be the fewest 'yotes that wanted a slice of his furry hide.

He led them on a merry chase, fleeing in a wild gallop from a far more concrete threat than the worry of failing as a friend and stallion.

Cherry frowned into the darkness, where a great flash of light had burst. "Signallin' me? Right kindly of ya." She hurried her steps into an energetic trot, hoping to secure her quarry. But when she arrived at where the flash had taken place, there was nothing but more tracks, and not all of them pony.

She picked out the coyote tracks and the cloven prints she assumed belonged to her target. He hadn't moved subtly, the tracks leading quite obviously away. "When ah catch up with you..." She began moving after him, taking note of how spread his hooves were. "Ah shoot..." They implied he was galloping at full speed. She weren't an expert in coyote prints, but she hazarded a guess that they were running with him.

Her own pace accelerated into a full gallop, hoping to catch up to them all before he got chomped on by the local fauna.

Winter grabbed a coyote leaping in at his front, tossing it aside with a grunt of effort as his magic sent it sailing, just for another to take its place, sinking its teeth into his foreleg. He thrashed and kicked with his other hoof, knocking it back, but another was there. There seemed to be a coyote at all times when there weren't two at a time.

He was being whittled down, fast. He was going to be killed and eaten and maybe not even in that order. His magic seemed woefully insufficient, slow enough to let another of them in when he tried to grab for one. Igniting felt like a good idea, but he wasn't sure how to do that exactly.

He lashed out a hind leg, dissuading one coyote that had been circling him, but that was an invitation that was gladly accepted by another coming in from the front, slavering jaws aimed for his throat.

Winter lowered his head, bringing his great horn down in an arc, slamming it into the nose of the charging coyote. Even as his head spun from the impact, the pained yip and the coyote's retreat was sign enough that his gambit has bought him just one more instant of breathing at least.

They weren't large creatures. Coyotes were more the size of an average dog as opposed to wolf stature. That didn't stop the pack of four of them from tearing into him. That didn't stop them from being a lethal threat. And it didn't stop him from being delicious in their eyes.

He reared up with a whinny, spooking them back, but only for a moment before they came rushing in towards his chest and exposed belly.

A sudden loud shout distracted everyone, looking off into the darkness just a moment before the figure emerged, a refined mare with a scowl crashing right into one of the coyotes, knocking it over and sending it skidding. "Git!" shouted Cherry. "Go on! Ain't no free meals here!"

The sudden presence of two creatures was well enough to skew the battle in their eyes. The coyote scattered, howling to let each other know which way they had gone. The attack was over just as suddenly as it began.

Winter fell back to all fours, shivering violently. "T-thank... you," he got out. Had it been that cold before? He felt chilled to the bone. Laying down felt like the right thing to do. "Thank--" He collapsed in place, thudding against the ground limply.

Cherry shook her head softly at the unconscious stallion. "Ah do swear..." She trotted up to him and began inspecting. A sharp gasp was the first sign she made as she saw the numerous wounds the hunters had left him. "This ain't good. Ya awake in there?"

"Mmm?"

"Good. Ah need you to help me to help you some." She lowered her head and began nuzzling under Winter, working him back up. "Stand with me, lean against me if ya have to. C'mon..." She had him on his hooves, but he was almost entirely flopped against her. "Good thing yer a slight thing." More shaped like a mare, he lacked the heavy bulk of a stallion, and she didn't see a reason to complain about it at that instant.

"Now, don't you worry none. Just one hoof in front of the other," she gently advised, the two following his trail backwards. "Don't suppose ya have some creature power that'd help us out?"

He made another soft intelligible word or three, too injured to really think about not talking.

"Reckon ya ain't much in the mood fer it even if ya did. They really gotcha good. But don't worry none." Cherry walked in relative silence, the thumps of their hooves on the ground the only sounds they were making. Soft calls of night time animals tickled their ears. New insects emerged. Small predator and prey began to scurry. The desert was alive around them, but she had her eyes forward on the goal.

"Tweren't mah brightest moment." Keeping one of the stallions seemed like a good idea in retrospect, to help carry the injured kirin she was helping along. "Figured ah'd find you bein' more confused than hurt none. Ya can blame me fer that, won't hold it against you." She glanced aside to see Winter's eyes were closed. Was he asleep? She couldn't tell and pausing to check was a tact she decided against. They had to get back to town.

"So let me make sure ah got this right. Now my boss' out there, lookin' fer Winter. Both of 'em, in the middle of nowhere, with no supplies or nothin'."

"That's about right," miserably agreed Maple. "She insisted, and ya know how Cherry can be when she puts down a hoof."

"Ain't nopony that can turn her," sighed Summer in agreement, sinking on the couch she had been perched on. "Ya said he gone and... set himself on fire?"

"Not like he had no match or nothin'. He just... Boosh--" She spread her hooves in an explosive demonstration. "Not on fire, then on fire. He was so angry, fer me... He was ready to fight ta keep me out of jail."

Summer put a hoof over her face. "Ah ain't sure if I should congratulate him or kick him. Reckon both wouldn't be out of place... But only if he's safe." She rolled over with a groan. "They could both get hurt, or worse! This ain't right! It's one of the first lessons a foal learns. Don't be outside the town when it's dark." She thrust a hoof on the final words, glaring at Maple.

"Ya don't have to remind me none!" She held up both forehooves flat to Summer. "Ah just hope they both come back safe... Maple, why'd ya have to go an' do that! He weren't ready..."

"Ah know that now! It was goin' so good... He was meetin' ponies and they were meetin' him... We were havin' a fine time of it." Maple rubbed one leg with the other hoof. "Then the law came in and ruined it all."

"Don't you go gettin' sour on the law none." She stuck out her tongue a little. "You done shown your back end to the law plenty of times. It's about time ya got bit. Just wish ya didn't do it with Winter there to get in trouble too."

"That's just cold." Maple stuck out her tongue at Summer. "Ah'm gonna assume those're the words of a hurt mare that's worried fer her stallion."

"Good! Because they are." Summer flumped in place, pawing at the couch in an impotent display. "Ah really hope they're both alright..."

"They gotta be..." Maple glanced towards the dark window. "'sides, Cherry's a strong mare! What could take her down? Heard she fell off a cliff once and she's still around to complain about it. Don't reckon one night in the desert'll finish her off so fast."

Summer perked an ear at that. "Fell off a cliff? Where do you even get these wild rumors?" She smiled a little, imagining her employer plummeting through the air. "Bet her mane was still stylish on the way down. Don't know how she manages it."

The two mares shared a laugh. They'd have to wait for word on their friends.

Author's Note

Coyotes strike from the front, and will attack in packs against larger prey, like a pony or a kirin. I learned some random facts about them as I did this chapter up.

Written early for patreons who got this ahead of everyone else. Want to get early chapters, or even your own story written? atreon!

Join my discord to chat!