A sizzling sound on the stove woke a creature from her sleep, stepping out of her empty bed, still smelling the scent of her mate—no—her marefriend still lingering. She shook her head, yawning as she stumbled out of her room, smelling the familiar scent of cooking meat in the air. She rubbed her eyes with a paw, trying to get her blurry eyesight to work. She felt her way around her home, using what very little vision she had to maneuver around as arrive at the kitchen.
Her eyes finally adjusted to the morning sun as she watched one of her children, Burning Light, cook. It was pretty rare to see him cook, even rarer to see him cooking meat. She walked over to the stove and tapped him on the shoulder with her tail, sending a shiver through his body as he turned around to look at his mother, sighing as he rubbed the side of his head with a hoof. "Mom! You didn't have to do that.." he grumbled, turning to face her. "You could have just said hi, or maybe perhaps ask what I was cooking?" he said, putting a pair of tongs away.
Torch let out a purr-like noise, hugging her son tightly, though he showed that he didn't want to be hugged he gave his mother a tight hug, they both stayed like this until a splash of hot oil hit Burning Lights hoof and he recoiled back quickly with a yelp, his hooves clamoring for the mechanism that turned the gas off. With a sigh, he got it to turn off, the meat (which looked like a steak if Torch was being honest) was evenly cooked, and it looked to be expertly made.
"You wouldn't be happen to be taking cooking lessons Burning Light? This stuff is leagues better than what you usually cook, if you cooked at all," she said happily, still giving her son a giant bear hug. She didn't seem like letting go anytime soon, and Burning Light knew it.
"W-well," he began, "I started learning how to cook after I kinda lost that bet with Pine, I wanted to learn how to make great food, not just to beat Pine and finally be better than him at something, besides writing." He took a breath, his tail flicking a tiny bit, "And I also wanted to give you a gift, it is your birthday after all," he finished, looking at his mother with his eyes filled with something Torch couldn't recognize.
The thing she did notice, was the fact that a tear was rolling down her eye, "W-wait.." she stuttered, wiping the tear, "You.. you remembered the date? We didn't have to give you any hints?" she finally managed to choke out, letting go of Burning Light.
"Uh, yeah. After all those years I guess it just clicked with me, I think Blue Torch had a gift, and even Dusk has a gift for you," he said, clopping his hooves together, "We all pitched in to get you things. I made you a special breakfast, Dusk finally finished that song she's been working on, and Blue Torch got you items we thought you'd be happy to receive," he ended his sentence with a smile, looking at Torch.
"Mom?" he asked, his voice snapping Torch out of her seemingly frozen state. She could now feel the tears running down her face at a constant rate, hearing the patter of them hitting the floor that they stood on. "Mom, are you.. Crying?" Burning Light asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
"Wh-what? N-no, I'm n-not cr-crying, you're crying!" she said, making Burning Light sigh, an amused tone underlying the sigh. "I'm just.. Surprised that you guys remembered, Pine hasn't come yet, but I just know he has a gift for me. Thank you.." she sighed, looking up at Burning Light, who was staring at the food, grabbing tongs and picking them up, a dark blue aura surrounding it as he grabbed plates and put them around the table.
"I'll look around for Mum, I'll also look around for Candy, and see if Dusk is anywhere around. Blue Torch should be coming down from his visit with Pine, and Pine himself should also be coming down," he said quickly, placing one of the slabs of meat on Torchs plate and walking out the door. "I'll be here by sunset if all goes well, save some food for me," he said, closing the door softly behind him, leaving Torch by herself inside the home.
She recovered from her little cry session and made her way to the table, sitting down at her part of the table. She poked her food delicately. Tough, he overcooked it… she noted, picking it up with a fork and biting into it softly. Itś really tough.. she sighed in her head. "Maybe he didn't get lessons, maybe he just tried to cook something from scratch, at least it tastes good," she said, leaving the rest of the steak (now that she looked at it more, it looked more like a loin. Or another slab of meat) and walked back to her room.
The room was looked to be quite tidy, all of Candys items were put off to one side, her hunting gear placed in a chest in the corner of the room, her table was filled with paperwork and various furs that she either bought from Torch while they were dating, or just picked up from animals that were hunted. A pair of sunglasses was also placed on the table, along with many book on anatomy, biology, and various materials and ingredients.
Torchs side on the other hoof was practically empty. Aside from a bookshelf filled with many books that even she didn't know were about, both her and Candy's closet was on that side, along with the.. Other equipment. Everytime she opened the closet she had to prevent her eyes from immediately looking at that equipment. Part of her wanted to put it on and wait for her beloved to ravage her like a beast, and the other, more powerful and rational side, objected this.
With a groan she flopped back onto her bed, cuddling a pillow that was placed on Candys side, breathing in her scent as she held the pillow around her tightly. She imagined that today would go absolutely amazing, it was going great already, and she couldn't imagine the gift candy had bought for her. She closed her eyes and began to sleep, her breathing slowing to a crawl as she drifted off into the dream realm.
When Torch opened her eyes she could feel something warm. She guessed it was the pillow, but when she looked down it was Candy, who was sleeping peacefully next to her, her mane completely covering her left side of her face. With a rumbling purr she brought Candy closer, giving the mare a soft, gentle kiss on the cheek. This resulted in the green eyes of Candy to open, staring at her marefriend with eyes filled with love.
"Have a good nap?" Candy asked, smiling softly as she turned to face Torch.
"Better than most of them, and my pillow better to cuddle with than ever," the hybrid said, sighing peacefully. She could feel the world around them dissipating, with them in the centre. It felt cliché, but honestly, she didn't care at all. She just wanted to be alone with Candy at this very moment.
"Hmm, I wonder why?" Candy teased, placing her own hooves on top of Torches and pressing against her.
"Well, I would have to attribute that to you, because it feels quite warm, and it's better to cuddle than some cold, lifeless pillow," Torch purred roughly, she wasn't used to making that sound. She could feel Candys tail drifting along hers, and with a sudden quickness, twined their tails together. It felt natural to her, and it felt like she was protected from anything while with Candy.
"All credit goes me me of course, who else besides me would have the best cuddling experience?" she whispered happily, pressing her face against Torchs chest, "That's right, no one else," she finished after a few seconds of silence, garnering a snort from Torch.
"Whatever you dork, you want to.. To…" Torch murmured, being interrupted by Candy planting a kiss on her neck, giving it a small nip.
"Torch, shut up," Candy said huskily, adjusting herself so that she was hovering above Torch, "Let it happen," she whispered, kissing Torch, having both of them be under the sheets as he moved downwards.
With a grunt, Torch got off the bed, her legs still quivering from her experience just over two hours ago (Candy was known for her incredible stamina, and after every session, Torch couldn't feel anything for a while) and peeked outside. Candy was busy talking to Burning Light, and Blue Torch could be heard from outside, flying around the house, most likely practicing for his new lesson. It seemed nice, but Pine nor Dusk had arrived.
"Oh, you're up, we were just talking about you," Candy said, wearing her hunting gear. "We were considering moving on up to the mountains, not permanently, we just want to see Pine," she explained. Torch gazing at her hunting gear. It looked more dangerous, more.. Lethal.
"Uh, what's with the new equipment?" she asked, tilting her head, it seemed as if she was going for a more, 'stabby stabby' equipment style rather than her usual, 'hush knockout' style.
"I'm hearing that there's been a dangerous Wraith in the mountains, and I've gotten orders from C to kill it if I see it. No use studying this thing while it's alive," she said darkly, "I know Pine can handle himself, but he hasn't moved all of his equipment, he could be put in a bad situation," she picked up one of her swords, tucked in safely behind her flank and swung it around, barely missing Burning Light.
"Watch out!" he exclaimed, using his magic to catch it in midair, "You'll kill us first before you take out that Wraith," he grumbled.
"So, wait, you're just going to waltz up into the mountain, knowing that there's a chance that you could die, and who are you bringing with you?" Torch inquired, walking towards the two and sitting down between them.
"That's the plan, yes. I can't risk any of you guys dying, it'll be quicker, easier, and less risky if I go by myself," Candy said, putting the sword away. "And besides, someone needs to stay behind and watch over the place."
Torch sighed, placing a paw on Candy, "No, I'm not going to allow you to go alone, we can have Burning Light or Blue Torch stay here, but not me, I'm coming with you," she said confidently, staring Candy right into the eyes, "I know I'm not experienced at fighting Wraiths like you, but I can help you. You know that."
Candy looked back at Torch and smirked, "I didn't expect anything else from you," she said, a slight hint of pride in her voice. She got up, leaving Torch to quickly follow her. She turned around to look at Burning Light, "Burning Light, you're in charge of watching over the house, if something does south, you'll know, we have the signals," she drilled, Burning Light nodded in response. "You also tell Blue Torch to keep a watch out, from there, just act like we're out the house."
Torch looked behind her, gulping a tiny bit as the two mares walked outside. "Something on your mind?" the smaller one asked, looking up at Torch with a cold stare, "You could always head back if you want, I'm not stopping you," she said, starting the trek up the mountain.
Torch shook her head, "No, I hope you aren't doubting me, I'd imagine you would be the last pony to doubt my abilities," she said, shaking some snow off a paw. "I'm just feeling like something bad is going to happen," she admitted, looking down at Candy.
Candy shook her head, "No, I'm not doubting you, I'm worried that you'll die."
"So you are doubting me."
Candy looked at Torch in shock, garnering a sly, evil chuckle from her, "You forget that after so many years of being with you, your body isn't the only thing I know how to twist properly." She kicked the snow beneath her, sending it flying into Candys fur coat.
Candy let out a shriek, Torch giggling at her squeal. "No! This is going to get ruined! You're a monster!" she squeaked, burying herself into Torchs body, giggling along with her. It was strange, one second Candy was ready to slaughter the next town she had seen, but the next, she was acting all sappy and cute with Torch.
She had always known this, and used it to calm Candy down, if she was feeling down, Torch made sure to lift up her spirits by doing anything. Sitting down to talk, giving her a small gift, even a kiss if she had too, it was all for Candy.
They kept on trekking upwards the mountain, the storm making their eyes squint, they stayed right next to each other, not only for the feeling of them next to each other safe, but to make sure that no one got lost.
They trekked on, keeping each other warm, until they arrived at the cottage, completely missing the detached leg, and the breakfast that stained the snow next to it. "So, this is it," Candy said, looking at Torch. "In all honesty, I expected it to be ea-"
"Candy!"
A tentacle had wrapped around Candys waist, dragging her backwards. Torch ran after Candy, trying to catch up, grabbing her hunting gear, but ripping it off. With a horrified look in her eyes, she was thrown away, disappearing over the mountain range.