In a field littered with bits and pieces of junk, Princess Luna lay in a puddle of mud. Sitting upright, she wondered how exactly she had came to be there. Luckily, she was not alone in her predicament, she noticed a few ponies scattered about in the mud in exceedingly uncomfortable positions. Luna realized they were members of the Royal guard who had been accompanying her in her recent venture before this mud. The group of four was Luna’s favorite collection of guards, they frequently accompanied her on trips. A mutual attachment had grown, such a relationship that Luna had given them all nicknames. Naming them for where they stood in relation to her during travelling, their names were North, South, Left, and Escobedo. Many a head had tilted slightly sideways upon hearing the last name but no questions were ever asked, the matter assumed to be a peculiar nuance of the princess. The guards themselves never contested their monikers, indeed they seemed entirely indifferent to the subject, they merely responded to the names as if it were their own. An unfortunate side effect of this was that no pony, not even Luna herself could remember their actual names.
In short order, the guards who were collectively referred to as “The Entourage” had come to. There was a simultaneous disorientation as each gathered his bearings. Seeing Luna, very much covered in mud, they rushed over to ascertain her well being.
“H” said Left, examining the trees and foliage around them. Left had a strange condition that no pony could feasibly explain. He only spoke in single letters. The letters, when connected never seemed to form a coherent word, they were entirely random, leaving the matter to speculation as to what he actually meant. Despite this inhibition of sorts, Left was a very good guard, accomplishing any task set before him.
“I am quite alright, you don’t have to worry” Luna murmured as she idly inspected the mud coating her. It was slick, gooey, and to put it in polite terms, muddy. At that moment though, without much thought Luna licked some mud off her coat. Suddenly very much alert, she curiously focused on the taste of the mud. It was very sweet, with a hint of lemon. The taste however, was not to last; it took on a horribly spicy flavor, so much so that Luna immediately spit it out and began coughing. Immediately, she was attended to by her guards. South rather unceremoniously pounded on Luna’s back while North and Left held her steady. After a short while she recovered, feeling light headed but otherwise fine.
Making their way out of the swamp, the one question undoubtedly on all their minds was exactly where they could be. Luna had no luck using magic, there was nothing to be discovered. Luna realized moments later that nothing meant an unsettling fact. Except for her and Escobedo, she could not detect even a trace of magic. She pressed on with the group, her mind trying to convince herself that maybe the swamp negated magic in a peculiar way.
This proved untrue as they soon found the end of the thick trees, but Luna was distracted by what lay in front of them to notice. Large plains of grass stretched as far as they could see. Luna was comforted by the sight of the sun high in the sky above them. It confirmed her belief that they were still in Equestria, though this belief was soon to be shattered.
A very curious sight though was directly under them. A long path stretched through the grasslands, meandering towards an unknown destination. What confused Luna was the path itself, made of a strange reddish stone that seemed to give off a slight glow. She tapped it lightly with her hoof, and was greatly intrigued to hear a hollow sound emitting from it.
“Do you know how much that road cost to make?”
Luna’s head snapped up at the unfamiliar voice. She found herself already surrounded by The Entourage, each positioning themselves around her. She momentarily marveled at their coordination before turning her full attention to whoever had spoken.
Or, for that matter, what had spoken. The thing was tall, taller than her. It had smooth, tan skin, the only fur it had to speak of was a small patch on its head. Two blue eyes and pursed lips regarded Luna from what she guessed was its face. She realized she was staring at the small protrusion in between the eyes and the mouth.
“Is that a nose?” she asked rather bluntly. Luna felt embarrassed seconds after that, silently chastising herself for having such poor courtesy. The thing seemed to ignore the tone of the question entirely though.
“Of course it’s a nose!” it laughed as it said this. It looked back at Luna, giving a withering gaze, “And I have to ask you then, is that a snout?”
Luna felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “Why, yes it is.”
The thing clasped two strange appendages together.
“That is simply marvelous” it replied a small twinkle lighting up his eyes.
Luna felt relieved, this thing did not seem to be dangerous. But then again, what was it?
“I don’t mean to sound rude-” Luna started.
“Shhhh” said the thing, putting something to his mouth. “We are travelers on the road of questioning,” it looked seriously at Luna, “and no question should be taboo.”
Luna was surprised, almost nicely so. The underlying reason was simple. For all her years of living, her and her sister spoke, then heard. It was a simple part of the thing to interrupt her question, but to her it was a new experience, being interrupted.
The guards heard it too. In the twisting and turning world of the court that they watched from a distance, interrupting the princess would be considered a legendary offence. The act was still a would be because it was an unspoken rule in the first place that was never broken.
The thing noticed North looking horrified at him and grinned at him.
“What? Could there be a monster behind me?” it shouted looking wildly around. It feigned fear and made a show of cowering.
Luna sighed and tried to press the matter.
“So, what exactly are you?” It looked at her.
“I am” it made a motion with the strange appendages it had, what Luna would later learn to be an action called wringing one’s hands. “A peddler.” It noticed Luna looking at it in a strange manner, “Hm, well if that’s your question, then I am a human.”
“A what?”
“A human.” the human looked pointedly at her.
Luna had never heard of a human before, though she was fascinated.
“What is your name?” she hesitated then added, “human”.
“Sparrow Soulnik.” The name struck Luna as odd, very odd.
“Well Sparrow, what is this road?” she gestured at the path.
“I call it the road of questioning, but if you so wish to be technical, it’s the Cantaloupe road.”
“Why is it called that?” Another pointed stare.
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t suppose you know what it’s made out of either?” Luna’s voice had a tinge of hopefulness.
“No.”
There was a momentary pause. Luna looked at the ground, unsure of what to ask. Sparrow began whistling a tune, putting one of the strange appendages in the shapely clothing he wore. The Entourage, who had watched the exchange with at first trepidation, then confusion, and ending in a sort of bemusement, were still in alert positions, should Sparrow’s intent prove malicious. Eventually, it was North who asked a question.
“If we follow this road, where will it end?” he gave Sparrow a look meant to intimidate. Unfortunately, North was less than 4 feet tall, compared to Sparrow, who towered overhead. And Sparrow found this hilarious.
“If I tell you, will you promise not to hurt me?” Sparrow looked at North with wide entreating eyes that silently mocked him. North grunted something and stalked off a ways where he stared at the sky.
“I hope I didn’t make him too upset,” said Sparrow. There was an actual edge of regret to his tone as he said this.
“He’ll be fine” piped up South from behind Escobedo, “he has his temper, but he’s really a nice guy, just can’t take a joke.”
“Oh well” responded Sparrow shrugging, “And to answer that question, if you head down this path, you’ll reach Toronto.” He looked up at the sun, shielding his face with his hand. “Oh no, I have an urgent appointment.” He looked apologetically at Luna and Co. “I hope you won’t mind my leaving now.”
Before any of them could respond, Sparrow dashed away. Luna was surprised at his particularly fast speed, a thought shared among the group. Thus began a long walk down the road of questions. Each pony had their own thoughts as they walked. Luna was particularly occupied by a mental argument between parts of her mind. One half endlessly railed on the other for not being straightforward in the conversation with Sparrow. The argument manifested itself as a series of statements in Luna’s mind starting with “I could have”. She could have asked him where they were. She could have asked him more about humans. She could have asked him what he peddled, seeing as he claimed he was a peddler, but had no cart to speak of. She could have asked him to take her and make love to her. The last statement caused no small amount of self-reevaluation on her part. North walked, stewing in his own irritation at Sparrow. Though he wouldn't admit it, he couldn't find any reason to further dislike the strange human, which only served to heighten his mood. South plodded along very much entranced by the waving grass lining the road. This resulted in his collision with Left more than a few times. Left of course did not mind much, he had a vast imagination that no one else knew he had given his state. Lastly, Escobedo was watching the clouds. He labelled them all individually and gave them names. While doing this he noted a darker cloud a little ways ahead of them. He called that cloud Angry Rock.
A short while later, their destination became clear. Before them loomed an imposing fortress, a fortress named Toronto. The tall walls were curiously black and shiny, bearing a confusing crosshatch design that confused the eye if stared at for too long. The walls stretched into the air, the peaks almost too high to see. All in all, it was quite a sight.
The second thing they noticed was the bridge. The entrance to Toronto lay across a large bridge that stretched across a wide chasm. Large stone supports stretched downwards from the bridge into the darkness below, each pillar carved with symbols. It seemed rather silly, thought Luna, that such intricate carvings should exist on surfaces so rarely looked upon.
What caught Luna’s eye the most was the traffic. Hundreds of humans, as well as other unidentifiable creatures traversed both ways on the bridge. It presented a colorful spectacle as masses streamed in and out. Luna headed towards the crowd only to be stopped by Escobedo.
“Princess” he whispered, “We do not think it would be conducive to your safety to enter the crowd” he fidgeted, looking at the moving mass. “If you would wait here, we would arrange for an escort...”
“I don’t need an escort” Luna snapped at him. Escobedo’s expression went carefully blank and he backed away. Luna found herself feeling increasingly bold, partially excited to explore this city she had never seen before. She confidently strode towards the crowd while The Entourage bumbled behind her trying to keep up. They seamlessly merged with the crowd, Luna feeling on top of the world.
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Entering the gates, Luna hardly noticed her surroundings. She simply stared forward, feeling resigned. She admitted to herself that her guards had been right to suggest an escort. She gingerly felt with her hoof where a heavy boot had knocked the air right out of her and further flattened her on the ground. Needless to say, it was a bad experience. Within 10 seconds of entering the crowd, a human had roughly brushed by Luna, in the process stealing her regalia. In 15 seconds, a large lumbering creature had knocked her on the ground. In 20 seconds, approximately 19 pedestrians had stepped on her, over her, and around her. Struggling to get to her hooves again, she was roughly jostled.
“Don’t just stand there, keep moving.” came a voice from the mass around her. She stumbled forward blindly, keeping her eyes on the back in front of her.
The second problem lay in that Luna had no idea where The Entourage were. She scanned the passing crowd to no avail. Sighing heavily, she began walking again. Slowly, as more avenues appeared, the crowd thinned to the point, where it was a loosely dispersed crowd, easy to part, easy to enter. Traversing a small alley, she suddenly collapsed as she became acutely aware of pain slowly spreading over her body.
“You need help there?” came a voice from above her.
Looking up Luna saw a large figure standing over her. Not caring for introductions or much else, she simply nodded. She felt herself being lifted off the ground.
“Let’s get you inside, you look like shit”
Luna was confused, “Wh- What is shit?” She heard a laugh.
“Never mind then. How did you get so banged up in the first place?”
“Gates... Got stepped on.” Luna was rapidly fading in and out of consciousness.
“Hmm, new here huh.” Luna felt herself being placed on something soft, “Well then, welcome to the Satanic Fortress of Toronto. My name is Sami, and I will be your server today.”
Luna nodded once then fell asleep.
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The recent excursion into the mob had not only left Luna bruised and battered; the whirlwind of activity had split up the entire Entourage. South, who was by far the most worried about this fact was the first to make a concerted effort to reunite the group. He began to ask if medium sized white ponies similar to him had been spotted nearby.
A clear distinction should be made at this point regarding The Entourage. They were not Luna’s regular guards. A side effect of Luna’s odd circadian rhythm, there were often times where she would set about when the majority of the night guard were either asleep or in no state to travel. For this reason, The Entourage consisted entirely of draftees from Celestia’s guard.
South, who had had no luck in finding his associates among the crowd, entered a nearby doorway to ask for assistance. Then he entered the next doorway. And the next.
“Look” said the large man as he looked at South from behind a large contraption, “I don’t know how to navigate that crowd any better than you do. So I really can’t help you.” South nodded sullenly and walked out again. There had been no particularly helpful encounters, and South was getting discouraged. Until he met Juventas. At that point, South walked with a dull gaze of despair, noticing little and meandering aimlessly.
“I thought I knew what failure looked like, but you just redefined it entirely.”
South looked up, more surprised than angry, and saw a pony. He looked younger than South by only a few years, but with a posture suggesting years of experience. He walked towards South, carrying himself with grace and poise, seemingly unbecoming of one so young.
“Haven’t seen many ponies around here these days” the smaller pony muttered to himself. His coat was a washed out green, covered with small red markings. South noted to himself that the new pony did not have a cutie mark, but further thought was interrupted by the other pony speaking again; “Let’s get out of this crowd” he said as he almost dragged South into the alleyway.
Introductions were brief. That being said, they both expressed interest at each others names, South being more than frank in asking what exactly Juventas meant.
“I think it has something to do with youth” Juventas shrugged as he said this. He leaned close to South, “And don’t tell anyone, but I think it’s a woman’s name.” He crossed his hooves and frowned as South tried, and failed, to suppress a snicker, “Well if that’s so funny to you, what’s the deal with your name? South? Who names their kid that?” South stopped snickering and looked straight at Juventas.
“It’s a nickname” he said, matter-of-factly.
“Well then” said Juventas, smirking slightly, “What is your real name?” He was met with silence. “Nothing? Whatever then. I’ll just assume you’re embarrassed enough that your name has to be worse than mine.” He grinned triumphantly. “Anyway, what brings a pony like you wandering around these parts?” He seemed to be sizing up South, “And with such decor.” With the last word, he made a flourish with his hoof.
“I was accompanying the royal Princess Luna when we were separated” South replied, “and I need to find her urgently.”
Juventas seemed to entirely ignore the tone of South’s voice. “Oh so you’re guard detail,” he glanced at South, “A fine job you’re doing” he added dryly. Before South could respond he held up his hoof, “Look, i’m sorry for that.” He smiled, “Just have to stop you before I get called out on my sense of humor again. I’ll make it up to you, let’s try to find your princess.
South looked at Juventas. He was smiling again, a warm genuine smile. And for all it was worth, South smiled back at him.
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Left found himself in a situation. Separation from The Entourage bothered him less than separation from Luna. In jaunting throughout increasingly confusing byways and passes he was both unnerved and lost. To gain his bearings, he walked into a nearby building bearing an overhead sign of a magnifying glass.
“Welcome to the Abyss” an older human female waved to Left from a counter, “Tell me if you need any help.”
Left nodded and pretended to leisurely browse the shelves. The pretense of pretending faded away as Left became fascinated with his browsing. Trinkets and curiosities lined the shelves, a glove for, as Left had learned from eavesdropping on human conversations, hands among other things, dusty books, balls of yarns, and small patches called bumper stickers. These among other things, distracted him greatly.
“Welcome to the Abyss” came the woman’s voice again. He looked up, hearing a change in her tone. “Why are you here? I thought you had piano lessons.” The voice had gained a conversational tone, tinged with confusion.
The response came from another human standing in the doorway, a young girl. Left stared at her, then kept staring at her. With long flowing red hair and a slim dress, she made an imposing figure. As he stared at her, she looked at him. Her face clouded momentarily, then she smiled at him. It was a serene smile, one that made Left smile back in return.
“It was boring, so I came here” the girl said, “Your curio shop is by far the best in the city”.
“Discounts are not calculated based on flattery”.
“It’s not flattery if it’s true” said the girl mischievously.
The lady behind the counter smiled at this, resting her elbows on the countertop. The rest of the conversation proceeded with the grace of a dance, the woman and the girl trading comments flawlessly. Left glanced at the two humans, focusing longer on the girl, then left the store.
The quiet atmosphere of the store created a contrast with the bustling outdoors. Wandering away again to search for his lost companions, Left looked back once at the curio shop. It was almost a wistful glance.
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North was the least perturbed by the preceding series of events. Finding himself in an area that had the looks of a place where good times flew fast and punches flew faster, he put on his best intimidating face and blended in. Convincing himself he didn't need the others to find Luna, he strode confidently down the street. A large mistake as it turned out.
The area where North had unfortunately entered was the Nella Becci district of Toronto. The name came from a longstanding tradition the numerous local bars of the area followed. It dated back many years ago wherein the Legendary Patron Isidora Takumi had smashed her way through the 15 main bar’s toughest wrestlers. In celebration, the entire district had renamed itself the Isidora Takumi district. It was an unwieldy sort of tradition. Throughout time though, the concept refined itself into a sort of competition, where a challenger would fight their way through 15 death matches for a shot at the title. The champion, or as they were known, The Legendary Patron would receive free drinks and hospitality at any of the 15 establishments along the road, at the cost of having to defend their title and by extent their lives from challengers.
North’s mistake, as it was, was projecting an air of confidence as he walked down the path. This behavior usually indicated a challenger and as a result, North was rather suddenly knocked over the head with a heavy object, falling unconscious before he hit the ground.
Another important fact about the competition; there were no rules.
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Escobedo’s encounter was the odd one out so to speak. He had never made it into Toronto in the first place. While crossing the bridge pursuing Luna, he had been in the midst of a particularly nasty fight. In the scuffle, Escobedo was somehow pushed over the bridge. He spent the next 5 minutes falling.
At that point, Escobedo was firmly convinced of his impending death and had spent the time cursing his luck. Falling off a bridge could hardly be considered an honorable death for a member of the Royal guard. How they would tell his story and laugh, thought Escobedo bitterly, a story barely worthy of a campfire, the story of Escobedo who fell off a...
He hit the ground before he finished his thought.
Surprisingly though, he didn't die. Death, feeling quite miffed from being cheated left Escobedo with an inordinate amount of pain instead. And so Escobedo lay, happy to be alive, wishing to be dead, and altogether feeling broken in 3 pieces. His misery turned to apprehension when he heard something coming. It made strange noises as it walked along the ground. Loud cracking sounds were mixed with soft squishing ones, creating a terrible image of what Escobedo would face.
He would have been frozen in shock if he was not already broken from shock when a face appeared directly over his. Escobedo could only explain it in relation to how a human’s face looked, it was vaguely human in shape, but replacing the soft skin was smooth shiny scales. It blinked once, Escobedo blinked back.
“Ooh, you’re alive, that means I win” said the reptilian creature.
Escobedo looked at the creature, “What?”
“I’ll fix you up and bring you back. That will show him.” The creature grinned as it moved toward him. In no position to argue, Escobedo allowed himself to be borne away by the creature.
Author's Note
I failed it once
Not Today
When Luna woke, she was seized by aches, undoubtedly caused by her recent experience as a floor mat. Luna was grateful though, while the aches persisted, much of her earlier pain had significantly subsided. She made a mental note that she owed Sami. Slowly shifting about, Luna looked around the room she was in. The walls had an orange tint, Luna guessed mud walls. A low light was thrown across the room by a collection of candles on a small wooden table, the glow made the whole room seem a bit more orange.
Sami entered the small room. He seemed worn and tired as he brushed his hands on the large apron he was wearing. Upon seeing Luna watching him, he smiled, his face appearing physically younger for a moment. He squatted to look her over, nodding in approval as he scanned her body.
“Well, you look a lot better” he said, still nodding.
“Thank you” Luna responded, “I am in your debt.”
Sami shook his head, “No need for that, we all help each other out here” he grinned at her, “so if I may, and I feel that I earned the right when I fixed you up, what is your name?”
Luna smiled back at him, “It’s Luna, and knowing that, I think I should know yours.” She paused a moment and a look of embarrassment crossed her face, “Oh yes, it’s Sami”. Luna looked at Sami apologetically.
Sami shrugged, giving Luna a rueful smile, “It doesn’t matter Luna, everyone forgets stuff.”
Luna suddenly sat straight up remembering a task she had indeed forgotten. “What time is it?” she asked Sami, looking very worried.
Sami shrugged again, “I was out a while ago, it should be around late afternoon now.”
Luna practically jumped off the bed she was on, wincing as she landed on her hooves. “I have to do something important” she spoke urgently. Luna trotted briskly down a small hallway to a doorway that led into the alley she recognized from before. Slowing down to observe her surroundings, she grimaced at the trail of blood she knew to be hers leading out of the alley.
Sami came over to where Luna was standing, “Hey Luna, I understand you have things to do, but be careful on that leg” he gestured to one of her legs.
“I’ll be fine” she said to him, not really paying much attention, “Sami, where can I find an open area?”
Sami stroked his chin, a motion that might have looked different had he had a beard. “I guess we could go to the plaza?” He looked at Luna.
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On a normal excursion, a trip to the plaza for Sami would take 15 minutes. During his exercise, which is to say his attempts to keep up with Luna’s pace, it took only 7 minutes.
The plaza, one of many to be precise, was modeled upon the ideal plaza. It was rectangular, lined with shops, and had 3 entrances. Directly in the center of the plaza was a large patch of dirt. The small patch had long been a very curious centerpiece, flowers simply refused to grow in it. This proved to be an attraction in itself, many coming to see the patch, called the dead dirt by some.
In her rush, Luna noticed none of this. It had almost reached the point of a bad habit. She did calm down however, seeing the sun still in the sky, albeit slowly disappearing. Luna’s task of course, was raising the moon. Though Luna knew that her sister could easily handle this if so required, she figured that raising the moon herself would indicate to her sister that even though she was in an unknown place, she was unharmed and capable.
Sami of course knew none of this, thinking that perhaps Luna had a meeting with a contact or some other sort of occupation. A small possibility remained, one that he refused to acknowledge, that perhaps this trip was the result of a whimsical desire brought on by pregnancy. He hoped not. That thought resulted in a new one, unfortunately another question Sami could not ask under most circumstances, the subject of Luna’s age. He had no way of knowing the truth of her improbably large age, and her thus-far inconsistent actions proved nothing. He guessed 50.
There was no particular ceremony or preparation for raising the moon. Luna simply did it and nothing else. Luna watched the last vestiges of sunlight slowly fading as dusk fell, feeling vaguely apprehensive. The fact that she was still in a relatively unknown city, separated from her guards (whom she felt a mild responsibility for) and apparently unknown among the population was unsettling. She tried to regain her concentration by focusing on the ground. Contrary to previous knowledge, Luna did have a single preparation for raising the moon. A single deep breath. This being done, she looked directly at the sky and focused her magic.
And nothing happened.
A minor misstep was a forgivable mistake. Luna was annoyed for a moment, then tried again.
And nothing happened.
Luna was aghast. Second mistakes were at best millennial occurrences, which neither Luna, nor her sister ever admitted to happening. It would, should the fact be known, raise the theory that perhaps the sisters were in fact being affected by age, a theory Luna would detest. And so she tried again.
By the seventh failure, Luna finally admitted to herself that something could possibly be wrong. To say the least, she was confused. As she looked up, the moon rose into the sky of its own accord, which only served to make things worse. In desperation, Luna tried one last time to connect to the moon, to feel it, to do just about anything to it that she could.
This final failure resulted in several things. First, Luna knew for sure that she was not in Equestria. This moon was unfamiliar, it was unfriendly. As she stared at it, a sneering face manifested itself.
“I applaud your stupidity.” The moon’s voice dripped with condescension. Luna’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. It started again, “Though it was a commendable effort, you’re a fool if you think you can tell me what to do. I don’t believe in charity either.” At this, the moon’s face disappeared, leaving Luna staring at the distant surface.
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Rumors are troublesome, a fact that is near universally known. As the hours dragged on, several choices made themselves available to Sami. His situation was interpretation. Standing in the plaza, he thought to himself how unfortunate it was. Luna had no ideas, in fact she had not much of anything. Sami was baffled that somehow in the space of minutes, Luna had become apparently catatonic. She stood stock still, staring into the sky, completely unresponsive to Sami’s repeated questions and eventually frantic arm waving. Sami wondered what would be concluded from the odd scene, then decided he didn't want to know. With considerable effort, he dragged Luna away.
Sami walked the cobbled streets lit by small, ornately carved lamps. He had found that carrying Luna was far easier than dragging her around, and he now had her slung over his shoulder in a manner similar to a sack. Reaching his destination, he carefully laid her down on a nearby table. Luna was limp, her eyes distant but almost amusingly crossed. Sami entered the building, returning minutes later with his package. Sitting down in front of Luna, who seemed pitifully small for no apparent reason, he looked her straight in her dull, unseeing eyes and held up a cone.
An ice cream cone.
An incredibly good deal, it was mango flavored in a large waffle cone. Small chocolate sprinkles dotted the top, an appealing aspect of a delicious treat. The sweetness was almost palpable, Sami would have eaten it himself. However, he continued to hold it in front of Luna.
And 10 minutes passed. Then 20. 30. 40. 50.
Exactly one hour later, or at least Sami would have liked to think so, Luna licked the ice cream once.
Sami smiled, “Hard part’s over.”
An hour later, she licked it twice. Another hour, three times. Luckily, the night was cool and the ice cream did not melt. Sami looked at a clock on the wall briefly. He looked back at Luna with grim determination. Sacrifices had to be made.
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It was around 4:00 in the morning. Pedestrian traffic had slowed to nearly nonexistent. However, the souls who traversed the dark streets were infinitely more curious than in the day, and many cast a sideways look at the spectacle. Sami sat quietly, thinking to himself. The ice cream was half gone. As the clock struck 5:00 Luna licked the cone approximately nine times. Now that Sami had had time to consider this development, he found it incredibly strange, almost in an endearing way. The arrangement of sorts lasted until 2:00 in the afternoon. The entire cone had been painstakingly licked clean by Luna, who was still unresponsive. Sami considered it progress.
Sami carried Luna over his shoulder once again. Turning into an inconspicuous doorway, he rapped on the doorway several times.
“Hey, I need some help, open up.”
“You didn’t knock enough times” came an indignant reply from directly behind the door.
Sami sighed in frustration, “Forget the secret knock, you know it’s me.”
“Tradition precludes emergency.”
Sami sighed again, this time in an incredibly exaggerated manner. He knocked on the door once, paused, knocked 5 times, paused again, and kicked it. The door cracked slightly, a single brown eye peeking out.
“Hi Sami, do you need something?” came a bright and chipper voice.
“Do you have a moment?”
“I will in a minute, just let me get ready.” The door shut again. Sami waited, very much impatient until the door opened again. The girl who answered the door was young, only about 13. She presented quite the strange image, wearing comically large sunglasses that somehow complimented her short black hair. She wore a loose, red v-neck and lime green yoga pants, along with a formal looking white cape. Her name was Amber. Sami called her Vixen.
Author's Note
I feel better now
I think
It worked, did it not?
