Red On White

by BTDFilly

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Death, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 7978

In the remote snow barrens of Yakutia, something is wrong. Ponies are disappearing, strange things are seen in the dark, and nopony quite trusts the local doctor.

In the remote snow barrens of Yakutia, something is wrong, ponies are disappearing, strange things are seen in the dark, and nopony quite trusts the local doctor.

First published story so any and all criticism is greatly appreciated.

Published 2022-12-28 22:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-09 05:47:30 UTC

A Romp in the Snow - 1

Salty Caramel lay on the snow, looking through a pair of binoculars at a point where the road crested a distant hill, the furthest point she could see of the road from the vantage point she had selected, giving a strategic view of the road for about three miles. Beside her lay her sister-wife Mint Chip, who she could already tell was bored to tears at the reconnaissance mission they were set on before she even opened her muzzle.

“Caramel.”

“Yes, Mint?”

“Why are we up here.” Not phrased as a question.

“We are waiting for a caravan moving items of vital importance to Master Chunk. You were there when he explained this to us this morning.” Both of these mares, well, mare and filly, were sister-wives to a rather peculiar stallion by the name of Chocolate Chunk, who using a series of runes carved into the flesh, a process of which the less said the better, mind magic, and old fashioned cult indoctrination had acquired a harem of unquestionably loyal and horny mares. Stripped of their names, a hearty portion of their memories, and most of their free will these mares served both the purpose of companionship and brutal tools with which to achieve his various ends, such as now. Chunk’s conditioning meant that for the most part they were to address him with a deferential title, Caramel chose master but others could be used.

“Daddy Chunk said I just need to be here to kill the bad ponies once you spot them.” Mint was the most heavily modified and Caramel suspected she was Chunk’s favorite, a position which she eyed enviously. It was true, however, that Caramel was really only here because Mint could not be relied upon to concentrate on anything for more than five minutes.

“That’s true, you could sleep until we have visual, if you want” And with that, Mint was out like a light. Caramel wasn’t sure if that was just an inherent skill of Mint's or a modification Chunk had made, but regardless she wanted it; the nightmares plagued her terribly. Still, she believed it would inconvenience Chunk to request it, so she wouldn’t.

Caramel set down her binoculars for a minute to rest her eyes and looked over to Mint, who it seemed was already hock deep in one of her Chunk dreams, her hips bucking erratically under the blanket Caramel had brought for them. Again, Caramel felt envy. How she wished her dreams could be about care free times with the one pony in this world she loved unconditionally. Frankly, she dreamed of Mint more than Chunk and those dreams always had her waking up screaming, which was followed up with a bout of rune induced full body agony as she realized she probably had disturbed her master’s sleep again.

It was a relatively warm day in the frozen tundra they called home, early spring had taken the bite out of the cruel winter winds and the sun beat unobstructed onto the brilliant white snow. It was still well below freezing, of course, but the long furred natives of this land were well adapted to the climate; and Caramel reckoned they probably had not needed the blanket. But better safe than sorry. Or like her old sergeant always used to say, proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. She was pretty sure that was her old sergeant, anyway.

All of her memories before Chunk were hazy and difficult to recall with any certainty. She knew the broad strokes of her life, a poor peasant filly, her parents forcing her to join the territorials when they couldn't feed her, the stable career she had been carving out for herself. It was the details she lacked. No faces, no names, she couldn’t even recall specific memories: sometimes she could feel them in the periphery of her mind but they slipped like oil when she tried to bring them into focus. This was a consternating game of cat and mouse to play inside one’s own head, and lent itself to migraines.

Caramel lay on the hill for hours, near motionless save for some shifting to stretch herself out. Patience was a virtue, and Caramel thought herself a very virtuous pony. Several wagons passed under her observation in this time, but did’t fit the description Chunk had given them, a single covered wagon with an escort of ten outsider ponies. She didn’t know where Chunk got his information from, but then, it wasn’t her place to ask. Chunk had been operating in this area for almost five years now, in the role of the local government physician, though he had somewhat unorthodox ideas about what his duties as a healer behooved.

Finally, as the sun began to set Caramel saw their prize. A large wagon with two hefty looking earth ponies pulling it, four other ponies trotted beside it in the ridiculously oversized coats mainlanders needed to withstand these temperatures. Four more ponies in what looked like insulated barding kept something of a picket watch spread out at the corners of the small caravan. She could see even at this distance that none of the group were unicorns, count blessings, but she thought the two ponies pulling up the rear guard were pegasi. They would have to be priority targets.

“Look alive, Chip, they’re here.” Mint Chip didn’t so much as stir, much to Caramel’s feeling of dread. Waking her sister-wife up when she didn’t want to be could be a harrowing prospect. Shuffling out from under the blanket, she braced herself and quickly ripped the blanket out from Chip’s small hooves. Instantly Mint was up and awake, launching herself after the blanket unfortunately in Caramel’s muzzle. Expecting this sort of reaction she hit the snow as Mint sailed over her with a vicious snarl.

“For the love of Chunk, Mint! They’re here!” Caramel shouted, glaring at the small violent filly.

“Oh, okay. Don’t shout Salty they might hear you.” Unlikely, their target was dots in the distance and the wind was blustering in her ears.

“Right, so, looks like four combatants, two earth ponies two pegasi, I’m gonna play the panicked mare in front of them and you’ll take them from the rear. Remember, pegasi are priority, can’t have them flying away to be witnesses” Chip silently nodded at this plan, she rather disliked Caramel, as she disliked any competition for Chunk’s attention, but couldn't deny she had a better mind for tactics then the young filly.

“Put this on, you’ll blend into the snow better.” Caramel said, hoofing over a small white jacket she had been working on for this kind of operation. Snow ponies generally had coats that blended well into the white landscape but Mint was an exception, her pale green coat and chocolate colored mane standing out in the wintery environment.

“Okay. What are you making for dinner tonight?” the little filly asked nonchalantly, wriggling into the long sleeved garment.

“It’s Cream’s night to cook, ice wheat noodles I believe.” Caramel replied, checking through her binoculars again before they set off.

“I want meat.” Mint intoned emotionlessly.

“You always want meat, hun, the rest of us don’t like it all that much.” setting down her binoculars, she was sure the rear two were pegasi now as they approached. She began to reach through her saddlebags for her blade and sheath. Mint, of course, would be unarmed.

“Don’t call me that, Caramel, and I won’t be big and strong for Daddy Chunk on ice wheat.” Glaring over at her sister as she worked her fur over the strap, and slid the blade into the sheath on the inside of her leg, away from obvious view.

“You’ll be just fine. Ready?” She said, looking over at Mint, who she knew needed no prep to be combat ready.

“Of course, sister Salty, good luck.” And with that Mint bounded off into the snow faster than any filly had a right to be, taking a wide arc to get behind the group. Caramel found herself thinking they were fortunate the wind was whipping up the fresh powder today, or else the cloud Mint kicked up would be quite visible.

Setting off at a trot she began to make her way to the traders, still about two miles out. She remarked to herself that this would be a very good day, full of purpose and accomplishment. Master Chunk was a gracious host and didn’t overwork his mares but Caramel couldn't help but
find this frustrating at times. Often her days were spent lounging around the few cabins that made homes for Chunk and the dozen or so other mares that made their home there, relaxing and attending to Chunk. It itched on her, she liked being given a solid purpose and the futzing about trying to think of what to do to make her master happy was anxiety inducing. She knew most of the mares were content to wait for opportunities to come to them but Caramel was a mare of action. So this would be a good day, and she felt her arousal as she imagined Chunk praising her for a job well done.

Mint Chip had also been kind to her today, by Mint’s standards. She was often sent on these missions where violence was necessary and was prone to filling the time in between with tormenting her fellow mares. The rest of the mares got on amicably, realizing that Chunk wanted a harmonious harem to sink into. Mint seemed able to dodge this particular mental hurdle. To her, there was Daddy Chunk, and there was obstacles to his attention. So long as Chunk never realized his youngest mare’s abusive tendencies, there would be peace. No one told him for a mixture of fear of Mint’s reprisal and a desire to not worry him.

Once Caramel was within about a mile, she was spotted, seeing one of the guards point a hoof at her and turn back to say something to the traders. That was her cue, breaking into a gallop and adopting a look of panic on her face as she neared. The guards all pulled in closer as she approached. Finally, they stopped moving and one of the guards stepped forward to meet her as her gasping self reached her target. Being out of breath for what was to come was regrettable, but she wanted to sell her part and fully capture their attention.

“Ma’am, what’s wrong, are you okay?” Sweet Sun Wolf he looked like he was actually concerned for her! Outsider ponies were too soft for their own good. She took stock of his kit, a short spear strapped to his side and she thought she saw a knife hilt over his boots. His ‘barding’ was almost laughable, obviously tailored more to keep him warm than for protection. An overly thick wool gambeson was worn under plates strapped to his sides and front, with ridiculously large gaps in between them. Clearly, they didn’t expect any trouble, and dressed for comfort. More’s the pity for them.

“Pl-please sir, I don’t know where to go I dont have a home I've run from my husband he was, he was hitting me, hurting me I couldn’t stand it I had to leave but now I have nowhere! Please I can’t be alone I think he’s looking for me I don’t know what to do.” Caramel stammered, wild eyed, trying to bring herself to tears. She could only hope Mint was in position, she didn’t think herself much of an actor and didn’t like her odds of carrying this on for long.

“It’s okay, you’re alright, you can walk with us for awhile, we’re on our way to Snösynd right now.” The stallion was trying to be comforting, Caramel just felt sickened, she would have never trusted herself in his position and resented the weakness. The plan was working though, she had the attention of everyone present, all looking concerned for the fragile looking mare.

“Thank you, truly, you-” As it turned out, she was worried over nothing as Mint took this moment to begin their attack. The snow came up to her barrel already and when crouched she could get pretty much her whole body under the cover of the snow. This is how Mint was able to get close to one of the rear pegasi without being detected. Close enough that she could leap upon the stallion and sink her sharpened teeth into his throat.

Everypony whipped their head around as their comrade began screaming, half choked by the jaws clamped on his windpipe, even the pony standing right in front of her. Not wasting a moment of the stallion’s distraction, she reached down and pulled her blade from its sheath and leapt forward to plunge the blade into the back of his head. Her knife parted wool and flesh as it stuck home in his skull, dropping him instantly.

Her guard’s earth pony counterpart noticed her strike though, and got his spear out to face her. Out of her periphery she could see Mint had moved onto the other pegasus, who was desperately backpedaling and trying to keep her at bay with his spear. The traders just stood there slack jawed as their escort fell around them, eyes casting about wildly as they suddenly took in a lifetime’s worth of bloodshed. The ponies pulling the wagon rushing to free themselves. One mare was screaming.

Caramel suddenly found herself in a fight she really didn’t want to take. She had a small weapon with poor reach against a foe much larger than herself that she knew very little about, poor odds. She dashed forward towards the screaming mare, really little more than a filly now that she was looking at her, barely out of adolescence. Must have been somepony here’s daughter.

Caramel slammed into the poor girl, knocking her off balance and wrenching her knife up to the newly acquired hostage’s throat.

“Not one fucking step or she’s dead!” Caramel shouted, projecting murderous intent in her voice; she thought she could hear the filly’s heart thundering even through her coat. The stallion just stared at her, unmoving, clearly unsure of what to do as his precious seconds counted down. Even now Caramel could see the pegasus fall to the ground, a mortal wound taken out of his neck as Mint began to round on her next target.

Seeing the numbers advantage turn against him, the overgrown colt actually made a prudent decision.

“I surrender! We surrender! Take whatever you want just don’t hurt her.” The panicked guard said, dropping his spear. It was a practical move, but unfortunately for them Chip and Salty were not the average highway mares.

Caramel waited until she saw Mint was in position before drawing her blade into the young mares throat. Blood gushed over her muzzle as the filly tried to scream on a severed windpipe. She saw unbelieving horror in her opponents eyes before it gave way to panicked horror as a filly with unbelievable jaw strength leapt onto his back and set to her grisly work.

Her mind cleared and a feeling of accomplishment swept over her in the wake of dispatching the guards. Lazily, she turned over to the remaining traders in time to see the worst case scenario.

A small stallion in the rear of the group had been fighting to get his coat off, now revealing a set of wings as he ran away from the carnage to begin his takeoff.

“Mint! Pegasus!” Was all Caramel had to say as she took off in vain of the escaping trader. This was disastrous, the most important part of any mission was the elimination of any witnesses. Chunk thrived in this inhospitable backwater by virtue of lack of oversight. It was a hard place, with dangerous geography and more dangerous creatures that prowled the tundra, ponies went missing all the time, even before the arrival of the good doctor.

Having somepony witness their mayhem and report back to authorities in Equestria would undoubtedly bring retribution back to them. Caramel knew from experience that the detection of a warlock would bring down at least one company of territorials to comb the countryside. If they were particularly unlucky they could be facing the Royal Inquisition, battle mages specially trained to combat dark magic practitioners. It was utterly paramount that they remain secret, Caramel had the vague thought that their rate of operations that exposed them like this was unnecessarily high and they were lucky to have gotten this far undetected. Realizing this was a critique of Chunk’s strategies she promptly forgot this notion.

The pegasus beat his wings frantically while she was still a good ways out, she threw her knife in desperation but it sailed clear over his head. He was swiftly gaining altitude and beginning to speed away when Mint leapt for him. Planting off the frozen ground with all her strength she took off in her own right, closing the distance she opened her sharpened maw as she looked to clamp down on his flank.

The terrified pegasus saw her coming and bucked one hoof out at the last second, crunching Mint’s snout and sending her back to Equus.

“FUCK!” was all Caramel could say as their nightmare scenario unfolded before her eyes. Her gut twisted as she realized what her failure meant for Chunk, for her family; she could hardly think through the pain.

She stood there, staring as the pegasus became a spot in the sky as her mind reeled with the implications until Mint came over to her.

“Salty, we still have a job to do.” Mint’s nose was bleeding and her muzzle was canted off to the side, clearly broken. She had a hard determined look on her small face, clearly trying to stay focused and not dwell on their colossal fuck-up.

“Right, of course, the mission.” Caramel said softly, turning back to the traders, who she could now see were doing their level best to run from the two of them. Encumbered with their thick clothes and obviously having difficulty with the deep snow, they had not covered much ground. Caramel broke into a gallop and quickly started to close the distance, Chip surpassed her, bounding effortlessly with her uncanny speed.

Making a final jump, Chip hit one of the traders and brought them to the ground, biting deeply through his coat she rended a sizable wound into his gut and promptly launched herself at the next target. Salty caught up to one of the traders and snagged her hindleg mid stride. The mare hit the snow face first and Caramel was on her, she had lost her knife in pursuit of the pegasus and so merely started stomping the life out of the mare. Blood soaked into the pure white snow as choked cries for mercy fell upon deaf ears and died on the winds of this remote ice born hell. Bones broke and organs crushed while Caramel barely registered any of it, her mind a maelstrom of hurt, pain, and rage.

“She’s dead.” Mint had finished the other four traders without her even noticing, now streaked in gore that covered most of the loaned coat she had been given. Caramel looked down at her victim, now a crushed pulp beaten into the snow, features unrecognizable after the brutal attack.

“Let’s go home, Salty, Chunk’s waiting for us.” Caramel could have sworn she heard fear in the filly’s voice.

Author's Note

So I wavered on just marking this as complete, I have some ideas about where to go with it but I think the premise is just a little bit, how you say, contrived garbage. I'll see, if some people like it I could continue with this.
Pretty please leave any feedback you have, I haven't written much and I really need the help.

That Sinking Feeling - 2

Take a step, heave, take a step, heave. Caramel was dragging bodies towards a hole Mint had been digging. It was slow going digging through the frozen ground but it had to be done. This road got traffic most days and their bloodbath would likely be discovered in a matter of hours if they didn’t cover their tracks.

Mint had dug wide and shallow to accommodate her small stature, so Caramel was laying them down side by side as she went. Looking at them all in detail now she suspected they had slaughtered a family. As she lay the crushed pulp she had beaten next to a middle aged mare she could see that their coloration was almost identical. While dragging an older stallion over she realized she could feel wings under his coat, didn’t want to abandon his family she supposed.

Caramel was furious with herself for not considering what could have been beneath those coats. In retrospect it seemed so obvious to consider that the clothes could be hiding wings but she just hadn’t thought about it at the time. Yakutia natives were all earth ponies, so Caramel had only seen a handful of other races before. Wings simply weren’t part of her regular life.

They didn’t always bury their kills, Mint’s victims especially often looked like they could have been done by the terrible beasts that prowled these parts. However, this was a luxury for the winter and fall, when snow would cover the bodies. Spring was upon them now and before long the summer melts would reveal another year’s worth of bloodshed. Yakutia was infamous for the grisly scenes that hid in the snow, unearthed all at once in the short warmer months. Moreover, Caramel was keen to hide everything they could from this scene especially. The escaped pegasus could likely lead any investigators back to the scene of the crime and if they managed to hide any trace that it happened there was an outside chance he wouldn’t be believed at all.

Having time to cool off and evaluate, Caramel realized their situation wasn’t as dire as she first thought. Yes they had a witness, but all he had seen that anyone would suspect as dark magic was a supernaturally athletic filly with sharp pointy teeth, another point towards the incredulous. But supposing they did believe him, they being the Yakutian Territorials, all they would have to go on is they suspected there was a warlock in Svartskog District who controlled a couple thralls he used for banditry. All in all, Caramel did suspect an investigation, but at this point doubted they’d go farther than checking the site of the attack and asking around the local settlements.

Caramel was panting by the time she dropped the ninth pony into the hole. She looked west to check the sun and cursed under her breath, they were running out of time. The sun would be down in maybe two hours and that was about how long it’d take to walk back to their camp, an hour and a half if they hurried. Yakutia was no place to be out after dark. The local ecology was outrageously dangerous and it seemed to have a special hunger for ponies. Most places such as this were rightfully uninhabited, but Yakutian ponies were a hardy, stubborn sort who loved their land and refused to leave, even if it only hated them back.

They would have to come back the next day, there just wasn't enough time to hide everything. She wanted to properly bury the bodies and destroy the wagon. They would have to settle for covering the mass grave with snow and dragging the wagon out of view of the road, the rest could wait for tomorrow.

“Okay, Mint, start hauling off the wagon, just over that hill.” gesturing with her hoof over the incline on the opposite side of the road from them. “I’ll cover them up for now but we’ll have to come back, we’re out of time.” Mint silently nodded and began to trot off. She was a hard pony to read at the best of times but she liked to think she saw relief in the filly’s features. She had no doubt also been watching the time and was eager to not get caught out after sundown.

Caramel got low and began sweeping snow over the pile of corpses. She just wanted to get home and crawl into bed, acutely exhausted from the day's events. Intense dread filled her at the prospect of giving her report to Chunk, causing her physical pain that radiated through her whole body. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too angry, she had tried her best, hopefully he’d see that.

Another sweep of her leg and another face submerged in white, Caramel couldn’t stand the sight of them anymore. They were reminders of her failure. She almost let tears hit her murder victims. One final effort and they were all hidden from view. The snow was obviously disturbed and anypony looking closely would be able to see something was being hidden beneath, but it would have to do.

Caramel walked over to the wagon Mint was hauling. She had just gotten started as it was a bit of a trick to strap herself to the wagon designed to be hauled by two adults. Mint had ended up just tying straps from either hitch to her barrel and begun trudging. Drawing up to the rear of the wagon Salty started to push. The effort she could add would be minimal compared to the strength Mint could pull with but she didn't just want to watch. This was all her fault and Mint might be punished for it; she felt awful.

It was slow going forcing the wagon uphill through the snow but after several agonizing minutes they crested the peak. They stopped to free Mint from the traces, the far side of the hill was steep and they’d be able to let it roll down on its own power. Caramel walked to the front and helped Mint undo the makeshift straps she had tied onto herself. Her hide looked slightly raw from the effort.

“Alright, help me push this thing.” She said dejectedly, relieved to finally be done and on their way.

Mint cocked her head ever so slightly before lightly reminding

“Salty, the package.”

Runic agony shot through Caramel like lightning at having forgotten her Chunk-given task, causing her to stumble and drop to her knees. What was wrong with her! All this trouble and she had been about to leave without the entire reason they were out here! She was unsettled, clearly she wasn’t thinking straight! They needed to get back, Caramel no longer trusted herself.

“Right, right, of course, sorry.” She said through gritted teeth. Pushing herself up she shuffled over to the back of the wagon and pulled herself up. They were here to retrieve ten pounds of lunium, a very thaumaturgically active metal Chunk needed for one of his projects. Apparently he had been on the lookout for this particular material for the better part of three years. But territorial backwaters weren’t overly rich in rare magical materials, so it had taken a while for an opportunity to surface.

Chunk had said it would be easy to find, the material was unstable and would be kept in a small enchanted box. Sure enough, after rifling through some crates containing bulk sheets of wool, she found it, hidden at the bottom of one such box. Hefting it out, she took the package in her hooves. They started to tingle and it made her feel slightly ill to hold. The box was made from some dark metal she didn’t recognize with ornate carvings on its surface. Prying it open to check that this was indeed what they were looking for caused her mild queasiness to turn into violent heaving as Caramel immediately retched up her breakfast to the side of the box. Glancing over to verify that all five rods of slightly glowing metal were present, she slammed the box closed. She wondered how Chunk would even work with something like this, but that’s what made him the genius.

Balancing the box on her back, Caramel climbed out of the wagon on wobbly legs where Mint was impatiently waiting for her.

“Did you throw up?” The chocolate maned filly asked with a disgusted look.

“Yeah, it was the metal, makes you sick to be around but it’s alright in the box.” Caramel replied. “Help me push this thing.”

One step, two steps, three steps and the wagon was moving on its own power, slowly at first and then gaining speed as it neared the bottom. Catching on a rock hidden in the snow, the wagon overturned and crashed in a heap at the base of the slope.

And with that they set off, first the short walk back to the rise Caramel had left her saddlebags on, and then began the agonizingly long walk back to the compound. She realized she had mistimed the setting sun and they actually had less time than she had estimated. They ended up trotting the whole way, Caramel relying on the indefatigable Mint to keep a lookout as she was panting too hard to properly scan their surroundings. Clear hills turned to evergreen forest as they closed in on home, racing the setting sun. Fear was well and truly gripping her now as the evening light cast long shadows through the foliage, several times making her jump as she mistook a trick of the light for a beast of the night. Suddenly, her tiny traveling companion pulled up short.

“Stop.” Caramel obediently froze mid stride and immediately started trying to look for whatever Mint had spotted.

“Does that tree look funny to you?” she said, pointing at a copse of trees some distance in front of them. To the ignorant gaze it was perfectly innocent, four pine trunks all joined at the base in a thick knot on the ground, a funny looking tree. To the lifelong inhabitants of this forest, it was recognized for what it was, a terribly fatal ambush predator called a timmerryck. It waited perfectly still, looking for all the world like a normal tree, until any unsuspecting victims got close enough. Then its branches would lash out with terrible speed to crush its prey. It had some method of draining the life magic from its kills, and didn't consume them in any traditional way. Instead, it would pick them up and hang the corpses from its branches. This worked to draw in further prey as scavengers sought out the untouched corpses, but it was a dead giveaway to any ponies. Don’t go near the tree with all the dead squirrels in its branches. Or investigate loud snapping sounds in the forest outside your hut.

This particular timmerryck must have recently relocated, as its branches were empty. Forest creatures in these parts had some way of figuring out which areas of the woods meant instant death and avoiding them. Hence, the killer trees would periodically pick themselves up by their branches and slowly carry their lumbering mass through the forest in search of more fruitful ground. In the fading light and without Mint, Caramel might have walked right into the thing. She felt gratitude at her sister’s perceptiveness.

“Good spot, thank you.” Caramel got out between pants. She altered course to give the predator a wide berth. Giving that it had almost no source of locomotion, they were practically harmless once identified. Still, Salty tried to memorize where they were, casting about for landmarks. This was close enough to their compound to be a problem and she wanted to mark on their maps where the hazard was.

It was well and truly night by the time they got home, the last vestiges of twilight leaving them as they saw the distant lights from the cabins penetrate the foliage. Frustratingly, they had to slow down as night fell on them. With the nocturnal creatures out to prowl it was more practical to carefully watch out for anything and avoid crashing through the underbrush, which would attract undue attention. Both mares were on the razor edge of their nerves as they slipped past the staked fetishes that marked the magical defenses of their camp. Said stakes were mostly distractionary in effect, causing anyone not marked for entry to see a normal patch of forest and affecting any creatures to part around them.

The camp consisted of four long cabins centered around a communal firepit. By far the largest of these cabins was the home and work area of Chunk, which included his library, workshop, kitchen, and on the second story, a bedroom. The other three cabins were still quite sizable and would be considered very large homes elsewhere in the province. The entrances were home to a communal kitchen and living space while a hallway extended back leading off to each mare’s bedroom.

Two mares were around the firepit, watching the flames and eating some stew when Caramel staggered into the firelight completely out of breath. Mint kept stride with her as she approached the fire, and Caramel didn’t protest. She didn’t want to debrief Chunk on their failure alone. The mares, Cookie Dough and Vanilla, looked up at her arrival and Cookie spoke up.

“Sugar doll where ya been? Chunk’s been up in a tizzy worrying ‘bout yer sweet flanks!” Cookie's eyes fell on Mint as she trotted into the firelight, “Oh my golly Mint yer face looks a wreck!” Cookie wore her emotions plainly upon her face, obviously concerned. Vanilla simply stared at them.

Caramel couldn’t help it, she was almost in tears already looking into the concerned face of a mare she had now endangered. Everypony she cared about was now in danger and it was all her fault.

“Mint got kicked. Look, something bad happened, a pegasus, he escaped. I’m so sorry I really tried but he got away.” Caramel felt so weak, her words coming out in almost a whisper. Cookie’s face contorted through first alarm and then, strangely, even greater sympathy. Caramel felt so damn guilty, she didn’t deserve the understanding.

“Oh hun it’ll be alrigh’, we’re all gonna be just fine and Chunk’s gonna understand, yall’ll see. Tell ya what you two can come by our cabin first thing tomorra’ morning. I’m gonna be makin’ my grandma’s pancakes, get yas feelin’ snug as snow m’kay?” Despite everything, Caramel nodded and gave her eldest sister-wife a weak smile. Cookie Dough always knew a comforting thing to say, and Luna help her that ridiculous accent Chunk had her start doing was slowly growing on Caramel.

“Thank you, I’ll do that. We’ve gotta go talk to Chunk. I hope I didn’t worry him too much.” The plump mare gave her a nod and a reassuring smile as she started dragging her hooves to Chunk’s front door. Vanilla just kept staring at them.

Coming to the threshold, Caramel took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and opened the door. Inside she found much what she had been expecting. Cold Brew was cleaning dishes in the kitchen while the inviting smell of a meal recently finished wafted through the open floor plan of the kitchen dining room.

“Hey Cary, Mint, Chunk was worried about you two, I told him you guys could handle yourselves. He’s in there.” nodding over to Chunk’s study. Cold was almost slurring her words with a lazy smile plastered on her face. Some mares got a lot out of their Chunk time. Caramel thought it was a little silly to be cleaning while actively dripping something else onto the floor, but to each their own.

“Thanks, we had some trouble out there, I’ll tell you about it later.” Caramel couldn’t do this with every mare, it was breaking her heart looking everypony in the eye. She didn’t even stop walking, going immediately back to Chunk’s study.

“Oh, uh, feel better?” Cold called after them, confusion evident.

Caramel was shaking horribly as she turned the handle and took a couple halting steps through the threshold. She had to keep it together, Chunk didn’t want to see her cry again. She couldn’t cry because Chunk wouldn’t like that. She desperately tried to cling to that thought as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. The dull throb she’d been pushing through since the fight had quickly risen to a nauseating degree of suffering.

“Caramel! You’re back! I was really worried about you, I thought something had gone wrong.” Chocolate Chunk set the book he was levitating down as he moved to get up. “How’d it go? You got the lunium?” He cast his concerned gaze over her agonized face, “You look hurt, are you okay?” She could see his face fall as he saw the obvious torment she was fighting through.

Caramel’s brain felt like it was splitting in half as she willed herself to speak, through gritted teeth she got out “Yeah, we got it… listen Chunk, it went wrong. A witness, he got away.” immediately going to her saddlebags to retrieve the metal, glad to have an excuse to break eye contact. The pain was killing her.

“Oh is that all? Don’t worry about it, Carmy. Can’t win ‘em all.”

Caramel almost came on the spot as an intensely blissful relief flooded through her and doused the pain in her body like an ice cold waterfall, momentarily pushing her saddlebags and their contents from her mind. She had been so silly! What was there even to worry about? She had already forgotten. Chunk said not to worry about it so she didn’t. Wow! She couldn’t believe how worked up she had gotten, it all just seemed so ridiculous now.

"By the Sun, what happened to Mint?!" Chunk exclaimed as he noticed her smooshed snoot and began fussing over her, instantly snapping Caramel out of her afterglow.

"Oh, the pegasus kicked her in the nose when she tried to catch him." Caramel explained with a careful indifference, not wanting to let on to Chunk how much she resented his over the top concern for Mint.

"You let a stallion kick Mint in the face?!" Crushing guilt instantly flooded Caramel, causing her ears to flop and her proud posture to suddenly deflate. How could she have let Mint get hurt?

"I- I uh," was all Caramel could manage, unable to justify Chunk's disappointment in her. Suddenly, Mint interjected, pushing Chunk's hoof away from her muzzle.

"It's not her fault Chunk, she tried to throw a knife in him but he dodged it. He got lucky." Caramel wasn't sure how to reconcile Mint's interjection with her normal tendency to throw her fellow mares under the wagon; but nevertheless the small measure of hope it gave Caramel for clemency was a boon to her quailing heart.

Chunk glanced back at Caramel's still semi-wilted form as he grabbed Mint's muzzle in his telekinetic grip.

"Well, good try then I suppose." He said, mollifying Caramel’s reaction to his earlier implication. Indeed, Caramel immediately felt loved and appreciated again, and she basked in the warm glow of Chunk's affection.

"Anything for you, Master Chunk!" Caramel blurted out. Chunk only grunted in affirmation. With a loud snap and a suppressed whimper, he set Mint's snout back to its proper shape.

“So, the lunium?” Chunk asked, still concentrating on Mint’s muzzle as he repaired the damaged flesh.

“Right! Here it is.” Retrieving the box from her saddlebags and going over to set it on his desk. “Be careful, when I opened the box it made me vomit.”

“Oh yeah, it’ll do that, I made an array to handle it inside but I’ll have to test if it works. Do you mind helping me with that?”. Chunk’s brow further furrowed as an audible pop came from Mint’s muzzle. The filly just warmly stared back at him.

“Of course master Chunk! Right now?” Caramel beamed at her master, very excited that he had yet more work for her, and was apparently not upset with her blunders today.

“Err, no, after breakfast tomorrow I mean, please.”

“Of course, is there anything else I can do for you today?” Caramel was still disappointed that Chunk hadn’t made eye contact with her since starting his work on Mint, but she understood.

“No that’s all for now, thank you Caramel. You can go ahead and get something to eat.” Chunk was now levitating out a stream of coagulated blood from Mint’s muzzle. “Mint how were you breathing like this?”

“With my lungs, I think.” With that, Caramel turned from her beloved master with warm affection in her breast. On her way she saw Cold on her knees wiping down the floor.

“It was fine right? Told ya Chunk’d understand, he’s the best.” Quickly finishing her work and getting up to walk with Caramel.

“So c’mon, what happened? Why’d Mint’s face look like that?” Cold peered over at her with an easy going smile.

“Ugh, just stupid, there was this pegasus in the caravan who ended up escaping. He kicked Mint as he was flying away. Chunk said not to worry about it though, so I guess it wasn’t too bad.” There was something wrong about that but Caramel couldn’t quite pin down why, she could feel a pressure building in her head so she changed the subject. “Cream made dinner right? It’s her night.”

“Mmm I think so, I ate Chunk though so I’m just gonna go to sleep.”

“Ate with Chunk?”

“Heh, yeah.”

Cookie had apparently gone into her cabin for the night but Vanilla sat alone by the fire as they passed by. Vanilla stared at them.

The warm smell of home greeted Caramel as she walked in the door. The heat of the cook fire in their small space brought cozy feelings after a long day out in the elements. Creamsicle turned to greet the two mares as they entered.

“Hi girls, noodles are almost done, could one of you go get Moose?” Cream presided over their largest pot full of steaming pasta, gently stirring the contents. Cold Brew spoke up before Salty could volunteer herself.

“I’ll get her, sorry I already had dinner with Chunky so I’m going to bed.” Caramel sat down at their table as Cold sauntered away down their short hallway, a small groan escaping her as she finally got off her hooves after a long day.

“Where’s Mint? She went with you right? I haven’t seen her all day.” Cream’s eyes cast about the room as if she was expecting Mint to be about to ambush her, which was not all that unreasonable.

“Hmm? Yeah, she was with me, got a little hurt though so Chunk’s fixing, err, healing her.” Caramel found herself suddenly very tired, the emotional whiplash of the day finally catching up with her

“Oh okay, Did you guys have much trouble? It was some kind of ambush thing for a wagon or something right? You said you were getting some metal for Chunk this morning.” Cream had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous.

“It was fine, little complication but it went fine. We might want to go out there tomorrow to finish cleanup, ran out of time today.”

“Just you and Mint again? I could go for the walk, haven’t left home in weeks it feels like.” the noodles were apparently done as Cream got out three bowls for them to use.

“Well Chunk wants me for something in the morning, You could go with Mint if you want, she’ll need somepony to give her a hand.” Caramel said as she got up to help Cream.

“Oh Caramel no. I don’t like being alone with Mint, she always disappears in the woods and tries to freak me out.” Cream pouted.

“Don’t be a foal, she was fine for me all day.”

“That’s because you’re all big and tough Caramel, she knows I’ll scream. Anyway, grab a bowl, it’s done.” The smell of the ice wheat noodles was intoxicating now, reminding Salty of vaguely good times from her childhood. Ice wheat was the only crop that could grow in this frigid environment and was the chief export of the province. It only grew when the temperature dropped below freezing, being planted in fall and harvested in spring. Sown in fresh fallen snow and then packed down to a hard layer, the seed germinated in the ice before crystalline roots took hold in the solid ground. Once the weather got relatively warm it sprouted into a long stalk in a matter of days and the seed pods were harvested. The result was something remarkably close to wheat, but with a distinctly herbal taste. Moose Track’s heavy hoofsteps signaled her approach as the heavyset mare walked into the room.

“Smells great, Cream.” Track’s rich contralto sounded as she lumbered into the kitchen that suddenly seemed small in her presence. “Caramel.”

“Hey Tracks, how was your day?” Caramel rather liked Moose Tracks, she was strong, reliable, and never had a complaint. She was a mare Chunk could depend on.

“Good, Chunk had me splitting rocks for the new outsider house.” The ‘outsider house’ was what they called the portion of their home the uninitiated could find, outside the defenses. Officially, Chunk served the district as an employee of the central government, and he wore many hats. He was something called the “Governmental Consul to the Provinces With Provisions for Medical Care”. Most ponies just called him the doctor though Chunk was most definitely not a doctor. The position was something Equestria devised almost a hundred years ago when the northern territories were annexed. The idea of the position was to be a do-it-all bureaucrat for depopulated areas. Making Chunk part postmaster, part notary public, part comptroller, part medical practitioner. This was supposed to be a temporary measure until a more permanent bureaucracy could be established but Yakutia was the afterthought of afterthoughts so here the system persisted.

The ‘provisions for medical care’ part came more recently in a nationwide push to provide cost free magical healing to every corner of Equestria. This was meant to send qualified doctors to remote areas. Yakutia got Chunk, a (at the time) low level clerk who happened to have an associate’s degree in physiology, and more importantly, a horn. This was all a rather convoluted system that worked rather poorly to govern anything with efficiency, but the bottom line was Chunk occasionally got visits from ponies across the district in need of healing. This is where the need for the outsider house came in. Additionally he had to spend one week in every month in the district capital catching up on a mountain of paper work. The upside to all this for Chunk was a monthly salary of bits and a valuable position in the government of the district.

“Splitting rocks for the foundation?” Caramel picked up a bowl for herself and Moose and went to sit back down, setting down the second bowl before sitting down herself.

“Well, yes, but Chunk also wants stone walls, said it would look more official. He’s very smart.” Tracks got out her words slowly, as if she considered each one before saying it.

Cream interjected as she joined them at the table “Oh what a good idea, I mean, duh, Chunk came up with it.”

Caramel felt warmed hearing such nice things about her master. “Right? We’d be so lost without him.”

The three mares talked amicably through their meal, finishing their bowls, then a second before being satisfied. They spoke of their thoughts on their other sister-wives, what they were working on recently, and what they could look forward to in the coming warm weather.

But mostly, they spoke of Chunk.