Pumpkin Fiends

It was a pleasant autumn day until they came along. Rotem peeked over the haystack, his teal eyes gently rolling over the pumpkin patch. Adorable, normal looking families and groups of friends gathered around the city of pumpkins. They were all respectable looking lons, wearing basic scarves and hats. The pockets of pouflons scattered across the patch, peacefully deciding what nice pumpkin to bring home. Rotem smiled kindly at them. Then, there were the strangers. His face scrunched up in suspicion, eyes flitting to the carriage at the far corner of the field. The old, creaky thing had dropped in earlier from the sky, following a giant, black vespire with piercing gold eyes. She gave one chilling glance at all of them when she landed. Then, without a greeting or anything, slipped into the carriage. Since then, everylon and he himself had strayed away from the weathered looking vehicle and its intimidating driver. Over the hour, he noticed that the black vespire entered and exited the carriage multiple times. She would linger over the pumpkins, surveying them intensely. Then she would jab them in the side. Rotem gulped every time she did this, nervously imagining how sharp those claws of hers was. When she had her pick, the vespire would lift the pumpkin back into the carriage. This happened an uncomfortable amount of times. He counted more than 30. Rotem wondered how the carriage was able to fit both the vespire and the now insane amount of pumpkins she had claw-picked. The vespire was at least half of the vehicle's side…. Then, to his surprise, an orange pouflon wearing a plaid red cape exited the carriage. She was immensely more friendly in demeanor to the vespire, bearing a bright smile with sparkles in her deep purple eyes. She hopped enthusiastically towards the pumpkins. She looked rather normal, until he noticed an otherworldly scar on her chest. It was red and black, and grimfully gaping like a doorway to darkness. Rotem brought a hoof up to his mouth in horror. Whatever it was, he felt it was dangerous. A giant vespire with a killer eyes, and a pouflon with a peculiar, foreboding scar… What kind of business were they up to here? This was an innocent pumpkin patch that he had chanced upon on his travels, where local families and friends gathered to pick a celebrational gourd. Normally one would just pick a single pumpkin or two… Yet here, these strangers appeared to be stockpiling pumpkins like no tomorrow. He watched them intently. Both vespire and pouflon had gone to and fro the carriage, taking the pumpkins into the four wheeled beast, until an empty patch of field and naked haystacks encircled them. The other pumpkin pickers had noticed, and warily shoveled their children and friends away, casting questioning glances at the operation. They whispered charged gossip at each other with worried glances. Rotem grinded his teeth. The nerve! Nevermind the unexplainable amount of space the carriage somehow had… They were exploiting the generosity of the farmers who put this together! He rose, about to take a step towards the carriage. He would tell them to stop and leave some pumpkins behind for others. Maybe even put some back! They hoarded enough! He bravely stepped forward. Just then, the carriage coughed and sputtered, and a cinnabar colored smoke plume rose from the chimney above it. A horrible grinding sound whisked through the air from the thing, attacking his ears. He cowered and zipped back behind the haystack, ears flat against his head. The carriage wheezed and hacked, and the light in the windows flickered on and off. The roof tiles shook, clinking together violently as the vehicle vibrated. It growled, and the door began to make wild thumping sounds. Something was behind there. Rotem's eyes were as wide as teacups. What were they doing in that cramped carriage?! Suddenly, the door exploded open, smacking against the carriage. An army of pupkins, a creature resembling pumpkins, spilled out and scattered in all directions. Their movements were erratic, and they yelped in a high pitch as they escaped. Rotem yelped as one leapt over his head. He glared at the carriage. They were Dark sorcerers! If there was anything he knew about wild mages that weren't tied to any country… it was that nothing good comes out of them. They must have brought those pumpkins in and turned them into an army of pupkin creatures! Turning inanimate objects into living was definitely illegal where he came from! Rotem could hear the children scream nearby. He glanced at them, seeing that the pupkins began to pounce on them and adults alike. Wings flapped and surprised yells broke across the just then quiet pumpkin patch. He clenched his teeth and stood up, walking towards the carriage, eyes blazing. This chaos had to end. These strangers had crossed the line! He was going to stop these rogue veggiemancers! "S-stop!" He whimpered loudly, in front of the vehicle. The large shadow of the vespire loomed above him, standing in the doorway of the carriage. "Move away." She monotonously said. "N-no! You stop those pupkins! And return the pumpkins you stowed away!" The vespire's gold eyes glared downwards, and she ignored him, stepping past him. Something shiny was in her claws, but he couldn't make it out. Rotem gasped. Shiny and sharp.. Was it a weapon?! He leapt at the vespire. "Stooop!" The vespire turned, just in time for Rotem's lunging face to hit the shiny thing in her claws. Splurt! Shimmering, orange goop caked his entire snout. Surprised, Rotem fell backwards. Without thought he licked the substance, and his eyes widened. "This is…!" "Damn. You ruined our little surprise." The vespire snorted, looking mightily grumpy. "It's alright, we got more where that came from!" The orange pouflon exclaimed. She wheeled out a cart with stacks of orange filled aluminum circles. The delicious smell of baked pumpkin hammered Rotem's nose. "Pumpkin Pies?!" He yelled. "Yeppers! They're for everyone! Dig in!" Rotem watched as the other pumpkin pickers cautiously gathered towards the carriage. By this time, most of the pickers had fled, and so, only a handful of pouflons saw the pumpkin pies of the strangers. He looked down at the pumpkin pie his face buried in. All those pumpkins… They had used those to make these pies! "But why?" He asked the orange one. "Ah, the farmer told us they had a lot of extras this year. Made her sad to toss em when the pickings over… So we thought it'd be nice to make a treat out of them!" The pouf took a bite of a slice, giving a delighted grin. "Yum!" Rotem squinted his eyes. "But what about those Pupkins?! You've attacked others with them!" "Attack?" The pouf tilted her head in confusion. Behind her, a couple of blooms screamed in happiness as they played with the pupkins. They were pouncing on eachother in a jolly manner. Rotem's mouth opened in disbelief. "I told you corralling them was a bad idea." The black vespire chided at the orange one, shaking her head. "Hey, they were getting in the way of pumpkin picking! It was your sneeze that scared em!" Rotem chuckled in relief. The strangers weren't so bad at all. He still thought they were odd of course, sticking out like a sore thumb next to all the other pickers… Regardless, the day resumed as a pleasant autumn event. He spent the rest of the daylight eating the pie and conversing with the strangers. By the end of it, he was wearing a small smile.