Chapters Promises: These are their stories
It was flurrying one bitter January day in Southville 2019. Outside its city limits, yet still within Canterlot County, stood a secluded, massive Titanium castle on a hill. Inside resided a young woman and her babies.
Linka Santiago laid across a velvet couch watching local news from an 86” television in the apartment, er room that she shared with her husband and children.
“Loud” complained one month old Joey Santiago. The infant had thick, jet black hair with several streaks of random white across her scalp. Joey's olive skin was inherited from her father, but her eyes were her mother’s shade of sea blue. She even had a few freckles.
Joey’s twin brother, Ronaldo Santiago ll, stared at their snow hair colored mother, signaling that he was in agreement with Joey’s protest. This little boy had ice colored hair, darker ivory skin, and his father’s gorgeous caramel eyes. Even after all that Linka had encountered during these last five months, she still could not get over the sounds of her babies already speaking
Heh, it’s funny that she just blurted out my maiden name. But I can’t believe I didn’t think that Equestria’s magic would affect unborn humans that much. I am just glad they didn’t suffer any physical ailments despite being stressed and refusing to sleep for more than 12 hours after being locked in and birthed in… a small, ugly, cold windowless room for almost 48 hours.
Linka was seeing a dedicated female counselor who would visit her in the castle once a week to help her get rid of the nightmares. Zecora was able to make safe, natural remedies that would assist in somewhat alleviating her mood. The 13 year old grabbed a sheet from on top of a storage drawer that contained an unfinished crossword puzzle.
Whose idea was it to make the spelling of the word “Deer” consistent regardless of the plural? “The deer attempted to trample 17 vehicles on the highway”
“Mama!” Cried Jr. urgently.
The 13 year old youth put her paper down too look at her son. The baby was staring at the TV with fear. An exclusive report announced that a certain man in his early 30s sporting surprisingly simple clothes and a casual hairstyle…. was turning himself in. He was about to speak when Linka gasped at the recognition of his face.
It was Joshua, AKA. Silver Swirl…the man who seemed determined to experiment on her children before receiving a text from…someone that day. Links remembered how Joshua's face was full of disbelief when he read it, then it turned a ghostly shade of pale. He proceeded to remove any and all lab equipment from the room, before pulling the curtains apart and..opening the door.
Linka had to continue resting for a few hours, and the man disappeared without a word. The 13 year old went to see what the odd building’s other rooms contained. She found her cellphone in one of them, despite its SIM card being outside of it. She was able to call the police, and Rainbow Dash was accompanied by the rest of the Gang for operation “take a private jet and rescue Linka from a random island”. The young woman couldn’t think of any reason why Joshua would agree to face civil lawsuits and likely jail time for abuse of geneticist license.
On television, it was announced that his hearing would be scheduled a week from now.
Lynn Sr. Had Curly brown hair, Thick smooth eyebrows and a pointy nose.
Coincidences have happened to you before, this is nothing unusual . Linka tried to remind herself.
But why was Joshua not admitting to kidnapping her? He knew that she and the rest of the gang were watching the news. Speaking of which, Linka heard loud footsteps and doors creak open.
“I don’t think that Linka should even leave the village yet! How can I let that scum retraumatize her before a month has even passed!?” Ranted Ronaldo Sr. in Frustration.
“This is not about what you think! It’s what Linka’s willing to do. She knows self-defense and is a mother now for god's sake, so she's no longer a helpless child! ” snapped Pinkpoint.
“That’s not the point! I left her and my children in your care just because I…!”
“ YOU STILL THINK I BECAME CARELESS on PURPOSE!??” Bellowed the princess before clenching her fists.
Ronaldo Sr. realized how hot the air was that was expelling from his nose. He knew it was wrong to blame the young monarch for what happened, but he could still not believe how this freaking kid knew exactly which of his buttons to push. Pinkpoint remembered how the news also mentioned that Jezebel was using her magic to reverse the man-made experimental fail’s affect on the children. It was not okay to be so negative and automatically assume that Joshua was up to no good.
******************************************************
Linka, Ron, and the others took a jet to North City. The twins were left in the care of a nanny. Linka felt mostly ok until she stepped inside the courthouse. Her palm started to sweat, and the air was suffocating due to the blasting heater.. Linka let go of Ron’s hand, and she entered the room filled with witnesses and paparazzi. When She finally made eye contact with Joshua, he gave her an “I am sorry, but please wait look.”
The judge declared that he was to pay at least 200,000 bits in damages within a month, and he was sentenced to a year of community service. After a public apology, he carefully approached Linka and Ron. The 14 year old young man stepped in front of his wife protectively and glared at the man like a dog ready to bite. Linka put her hands on his shoulder and demanded that he breathe and listen to whatever Joshua had to say.
“What I need to tell you guys is really important. It would be hard for you guys to forgive if you had to find out some other way…so let’s go somewhere where your friends can still see you, but outside the public’s ears.”
Ronaldo was about to say something, but Linka agreed right away, beating him to it. As the three went down a hall, they noticed that Applebloom could be seen outside a storage room window. She gasped when she turned around and spotted the trio. Linka and Ron gave her a “Don’t worry” look, and entered the room, with Joshua following behind them. He shut the door slowly.
“June 18, 2005” muttered the man in a soft but chilling voice.
“I don’t understand,” said Linka confused.
“When I was 17, I had already got my masters in genetics…I knew I had the potential to help change the world drastically, but I was bound by so many rules and regulations wherever I tried to work. Because of what happened to my family, I needed to find a way to make humans less fragile. That’s when I met Jezebel…” Linka and Ron raised their eyebrows. Was this the same Jezebel who was using her magic to help Dimension EQG??
She told me that she was a sorceress who was able to travel to six different dimensions for 24 hours. I didn’t believe her at first, but then she threw me across a portal, and that's when I landed in what is apparently the 63rd dimension.
“Just get to the point already,” interrupted Ronaldo Sr.
Linka elbowed him, and Joshua continued.
“I realized that it was risk-free for me to experiment with humans from another dimension. So Jezebel helped me rob donated sperm from banks, and I would alter their properties. But at that time, I also decided to freeze my own sperm since I decided to later on get sterilized at 18 years old. On the particular June day I mentioned, Jezebel went scouting and informed me of a 26 year old highly fertile woman in the United States Midwest who already birthed five children…”
Linka felt the sweat on her neck grow cold. Why..did that description match her mother Rita back in 2005??
“Anyway, I knew she was likely going to give birth to a normal healthy baby that could be compared to many of their siblings, so…when this woman went to the orthodontist for crown surgery, Jezebel forged a medical ID for me. I posed as a surgeon and declared that I discovered complications with the surgery that needed to be resolved. So then I snuck in what I thought was donor sperm to…”
“ What…was her name?” Asked Linka. She realized that whatever he was going to say would make no sense or maybe even…
“Rita Loud,” said the man in a scratchy voice hardly above a whisper.
Linka felt anger boiling inside her. This was a sick joke. She should have never paid attention to him after the hearing, much less drag her husband into this!
“That’s how you were conceived…the fact that your biological father was born in this dimension explains many things, including why your hair is white, and why…”
Linka fumed and clenched her teeth.
“Lynn Loud l is my father! It doesn’t matter that he made mistakes. I have even forgiven him for when he agreed to help my mother give my babies up for adoption, which was the reason why Ron and I had to-“
Linka stopped and bit her lip in frustration. Why did she tell him this!? She withheld this information when she was held hostage, despite Joshua trying to pry. The man looked concerned but continued.
“The point is that someone who worked for us started disagreeing with our methods of experiment, and decided it was a good idea to switch the labels from the donor sperm that we intended to use…and mine.”
No..No..No..NO!! This couldn’t be happening! He was NOT about to say that he was…
“I had intended to observe every one of these women's children that I had helped inseminate after 18 years. Jezebel eventually announced several months ago that we were now able to hide out in other dimensions for an infinite amount of time. She knew it was risky to kidnap a youth after I had already begun to do real harm in this dimension, but I insisted after realizing how peculiar the situation was.
She took some of your blood for observation, and after enough hours passed she was able to get results from the DNA. She texted me while you were in labor. That’s when I found out that-
“NO! You can’t be! Why would..!??” screeched Linka. Her head started to throb and she felt nauseous. Hot tears threatened to run down her eyes.
“I am your biological father, and twins are my grandchildren. I’ll give you legal proof if need it.”
Linkas head spun with memories as she opened the door to run towards the bathroom. It all made sense now. She knew deep down that she was different from her brothers, her half brothers in more ways that anybody knew, but no one could have suspected that she wasn't her father's daughter. Her mother Rita hardly had time for ANYTHING those days, much less a hypothetical “affair.” Linka entered the bathroom, slumped down against the wall, and cried. After 15 minutes she regained her composure.
Linka realized above anything else that she..needed her family more than ever before. The young woman's babies had absolutely no one who was related to them in this world other than Ron, the father she never knew, and herself. Links was suddenly in the mood to know everything about Joshua’s life, and what could have made him the person he is today. When she trudged down the hallway once more, Ron, her father, and the rest of the gang were patiently waiting for her at the end.
“Oh my gosh!” Cried Sweetie Belle with a look of shock and excitement. “Is it TRUE??”
“Yes, it is” Linka replied with a half-smile.
“Well, I dare say that you’ve come all this way just to be reminded of what you can’t escape” chuckled Applebloom.
Pinkpoint had a wrinkled nose, and Scooter Flame wasn't all so attentive. Pinkie Pie was crying, and Rainbow Dash just smiled.
*******************************************************
A few weeks had passed. Joshua was warmly welcomed by his grandchildren, especially Joey. The man revealed to his Linka and his.. son-in-law that he lost his parents and siblings in a car accident. The parents of Joshua's father were dead, and his mother was very distant from hers. His first foster parents were planning to adopt him at age five but changed their minds when the wife became pregnant.
Joshua kept on being shuffled to different families, some of which were emotionally or physically abusive. He feared the idea of having children before the age of 40 or so. When Joshua was 16 years old, his girlfriend fell pregnant from someone else’s baby, yet tried to pin it on him. That’s when he decided it would be best to get sterilized young. Eventually, the man earned the trust of Linka and Ronaldo Sr.
“Why did you leave your family?” Joshua asked his 14 year old son-in-law one day.
After a moment, Ron answered.
“ It’s just that…*sighs* Ok, so to start off, my mom worked as a nurse and had a good life with my dad and sister, but she didn’t really want another kid. Her birth control failed, and she was two months along with me by the time she found out. My dad was spending a lot of time working in South America, and my sister Bella’s health wasn’t really good due to her having a compromised immune system. One day my father called and revealed that some emergencies came up, so he would have to stay in Chile for another month or so. My mom started requesting adoption forms and filling them out when my dad came back after SIX MONTHS.
She was very upset, and he was NOT happy with her either for planning to give his son away after birth. One day she opened a locked box that he owned. It turned out that he got engaged to a young girl back in Chile. My mom kicked him out and did everything in her power to keep him away from me. She ended up signing the last of the documents and was about to turn them into her lawyer when my grandmother found out she had another child. She ripped up the papers and convinced her to keep me.
Fast forward thirteen years later, I had to tell her about Linka’s pregnancy. She flat out smacked my face and berated me for becoming like my father. And I was kicked out, so that’s why I had to move in with Linka and her family.”
“I am sorry you had to go through that,” Joshua replied.
“I kind of grew up feeling inferior to my sister. She was so responsible and community-driven. I had my passions, but-” he paused.
“Anyway, when I was about 11 years old, my mom realized how much of my own person I was becoming. She got the bright idea to make us move to Chicago with her parents, my uncle, aunt, and cousins for support. I heard my grandmother arguing with her one day. My mother was like, ‘You should have taken him in if you insisted against him being raised by strangers!’ And my grandma said that she didn’t have to let us live with them, but she was doing it for my sake. My mom was eager to move out after the fire though, and she was ok for a while until..you know”
The young couple and Joshua continued to watch the sky on the balcony at marvel at the February night stars.
Promises: These are their stories
One late February day was experiencing a heatwave in rural Canterlot county, 2019. In a certain castle, nearly two month old Joey Santiago laid inside of her gold plated crib. Looking out the slightly open window, and feeling the warm breeze, She breathed in and out. Joey was fascinated by the fact that this air had a stronger, more woody scent than what she was used to.
Loud footsteps were heard, and Princess Pinkpoint, one of her “aunts” entered the room with a bag of soy based product in her hand.
“Hey brats” she greeted, before heading towards the crib of Joey's twin brother Ronaldo ll.
“Hi. What need?” Asked the baby boy.
“I need your guy’s help. Should I use tofu instead of cow cheese in a cheesecake I am making? Aunt Pinkie brought it with her all the way from the east!” she held up a sketch she made that was supposed to resemble the vegan dessert.
She bought the bag closer to Jr.’s nostrils, but the baby wrinkled his nose.
“Nasty”
“Okay, we’ll let’s see what your sister thinks”
The princess presented the bag to Joey. She tried to sit up to grasp it, but failed. Joey frowned and wondered why she was still unable to sit up. Surely it was all this useless weight. The little girl felt herself getting heavier by day, and her parents seemed to always be comparing her development with her brother’s.
“Trying to kill them?” Asked Scooter Flame playfully who came out of nowhere. He was an “uncle” to the twins.
Pinkpoint frowned and attempted to quickly hide the bag of tofu. The 12 year old boy gasped before running towards the princess and tackling her from the back.
“Better thank me for saving your lives kids!” He yelled.
“Get off me!” Pinkpoint screeched from the hard marble floor, as she attempted to throw him off.
“Not until you tell me what you were planning to do with that celestia forsaken garbage”
“Never” growled the princess humorly.
“Cake” piped Joey.
The preteen boy blinked, and shook his head furiously. “Nope”
“Why not?? No magic in this world can even treat all your nasty bouts of flatulence brought on by dairy. Let me go already by the way”
The boy laughed and got up. When the princess got to face the twins, she realized how suspicious the scene must have looked, so she narrowed her eyes and placed her right pointer towards her mouth.
Scooter Flame quickly left the room, and Sweetie Belle walked in. She was carrying a plush yak.
“Hey babies!” She chirped. “I brought something for you guys to share. It was handmade by a friend who ran out of all the necessary material to make it, but that should be ok for now”
“I think they’re pretty individual people now Belle” Pinkpoint warned.
The purple and pink haired preteen lifted the twins to place them side by side on the velvet couch. She handed the toy to Joey, who buried her face in the fur and squeezed its horns with all her might. Ron Jr.’s face reddened before he frowned and started to wail.
“Use your words boy” Snapped Pinkpoint.
“That mine!” He protested.
The baby was somehow able to reach for one of the plushies feet, but it flinged off the couch’s reach, and onto the floor, many feet away:
Joey gasped at the marble before flailing her arms and legs in protest
“YOU’RE AN A*SHOLE!” She shrieked when she faced her brother.
The princess and Sweetie Belle’s mouths dropped open. Where did she learn that from?!
“Language child!!”
Pinkpoint rushed over towards the little girl before lifting her up and whacking her bottom. The baby howled and tears streamed down her face.
“What’s wrong with you?!” yelled Sweetie Belle. “Linka and Ron didn’t give us permission to do that, besides that’s no way to treat a young infant!”
The princess shook her head.
“If she can speak, then she should know the consequences of her words”
Sweetie Belle sighed and left the room. Joey continued to cry.
“Okay! Fine. I shouldn’t have treated you like that, but you need to show your family respect above anyone else.
Promises: These are their stories
One early March morning in the outskirts of rural Southville, A certain bubble gum color skinned woman with puffy hair was pacing circles inside her room in a castle. Pinkie hummed, deep in concentration while rubbing the middle finger and thumb of her left hand together. An old copper penny was carefully pinched by Pinkie’s right hand’s pointer and thumb. After a few moments, she could feel a soft static of electricity engulf the coin, and it started to expand and change the texture. In its place was now a pink macaroon cookie.
She smiled and devoured the dessert.
****************
Applebloom was sleeping peacefully in her quarters before having a dream about being chased by zombies in the Everfree Forrest. For some reason, she was not able to trick them into hallucinations by using her powers, and she saw a lady that looked like a female slenderman. Then it was suddenly daytime, and her sister was screaming at some overgrown reptile with…arms and claws?
The preteen woke up to be greeted by the warm air and dust particles dancing by the light emitting from the window.
Hmmm..I haven’t dreamt about no Forrest in while. There’s nothing for me to do there other than…Well, Zecora lives there, but it’s Dusk Light who usually picks up remedies or medication. Just then her cell phone chimed and lit up on her dresser to inform Applebloom of a text message.
***********
Linka Loud woke up to the sound of Ron breathing beside her. The 14-year-old got off the bed to put clothes on and stretch in the emerging daylight. Before Linka headed to the bathroom, she admired the hand-drawn sketch she made of her children that was framed beside the left window. When the woman dashed in front of the mirror, she noticed some bags under her eyes that weren’t there before.
That’s odd
She had been staying up more recently due to events such as her recent birthday, anniversaries, trips, etc. It was so nice to go back to traditional activities and have more energy. The nanny that attended the twins while Linka and her husband dozed was a godsend. Linka remembered how she would lose sleep when her younger brothers were young infants. Lars was a quiet little boy who did not give her parents too much trouble, but when her twin brothers came almost nine years ago, it was a nightmare of constant off-pitch choruses. Lexx was even rowdier than Leif.
Linka then felt acid build up in her system, so she walked towards the toilet.
The chances are low, but I better not be pregnant again.
Linka discovered that she did not need to vomit after all. It was just her digestive system saying that she needed another kind of cleanse from the food she ate at 8:00 last night. Whew.
***************************
Sweetie Belle scrolled through YouTube while her friend ScooterFlame in the hallway, listening to his usual jam on his Bluetooth headphones.
Every day when you’re walking down the street
The adolescent frowned in annoyance and confusion before flinging off the headset.
“Belle! Did you just hijack my music again? I changed the password a week ago!”
The girl laughed.
“Yeah, I did because you’re late for breakfast”
The boy rolled his eyes, and Applebloom came running towards them.
“Mornin’ guys. Where’s Rainbow??”
“In the dining room. What happened?” Asked Belle.
“Dusk was in a motorcycle race accident”
“Oh no! I’ll have to visit him later on” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
“It looks like he wants to chat with you Scoot,” said Applebloom.
“I wonder why”
**********************************
Sweetie Belle fixed her hair into buns before entering the hospital with scones and a card for 16-year-old Dusk who broke an ankle and needed a cast. He was very grateful, and then motioned for Scooter.
“Hey man, I wanted to mention a delivery request I received recently over the phone. I asked for the caller's name, and it was your cousin”
“Wait, as in Noon Ray? He’s only four” replied ScooterFlame
“Well, the little guy probably got ahold of Holi’s phone, and when he called me, he immediately started asking me to tell Zecora to sell him a potion with his Christmas money.”
The heck? Thought Scooter dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I was just as confused as you until Ray went on to say that he would slip some drops in his parents' drinks. The kid thought this would help them solve some problem they’re having.”
Meanwhile in Eastside, 34-year-old Lofty was resting on her recliner, sipping her favorite tea. She had been under some intense stress lately due to someone recently reappearing in her life, and also due to the fact that some representatives that had previously worked under her in her job were quitting. It didn’t help that the tech company that she worked for was making hours less flexible for many rookies due to a minor stock crash in recent times. The teal-haired former male wanted to have more time nowadays to discuss all of this with her wife, including other subjects such as how their son was acting up in school and what could be done to help him, but…Holi was nowadays so busy taking tours to help boost her career as a fashion designer.
And she often seemed to be preoccupied with other things if they were trying to settle issues that were not of immediate importance. Like texting, even if they somehow found the time to, say watch a movie or play golf that sort of thing. Lofty’s mind kept drifting back to Grey Ink. She was not sure how she was possibly going to explain to Holi who he was and why she never mentioned him before but…Lofty knew she had to hope for the best and sit down with her when she came home.
**********
Meanwhile, a certain orange-haired 28-year-old was trying to keep her composure as she sped down the highway. She couldn’t believe what she saw a few days ago when she went to Seaview to pick up some volcano rocks at a gift shop for her and Lofty’s anniversary. Her wife was tearfully hugging a sophisticated-looking, grey-skinned, light blue-haired man. Lofty told him that he never left her thoughts even after all these years and wouldn’t know how to cope without him. Holi felt that she did not need to stick around any longer to understand what was going on, and knew that Lofty would’ve told him about her if she didn’t have anything to hide.
**********************
“Hey Pinkpoint, do you have a few minutes?” Asked ScooterFlame as he stood outside the princess’s room.
The young monarch put her notebook down on her desk and looked up.
“Yeah, do you want me to help you with something?”
“Yes. Can you teleport me to Eastview? I wanted to give my aunts and cousin a visit to make sure they’re okay”
“Oh, of course!”
After being engulfed with light for a few moments, The young teens were now 70 miles away in the coastal that some of Scooter Flame’s relatives called home. Pinkpoint returned to Southville, and Scooterflame approached the familiar brick house surrounded by bird feeders and orange trees. When he was three years old, his mother decided to join Scooter’s father in his archeological discoveries in other countries. Snap Shutter’s baby sister Holi agreed to take her nephew in since she was a young 18-year-old woman who was not going to college and was still seeking her talents and purpose. By not dating, she had more time to enroll in marketing classes at age 20 while ScooterFlame went to kindergarten.
As she nearly reached her 24th birthday, Holi was still struggling to get officially recognized for her abilities. Just when things started to look up, some people leaked a certain part of her identity that she had wished to hide from the public, and she was no longer considered for an offer that seemed promising. That's when she met Lofty. A nearly 30-year-old biological man who was recently starting to transition to womanhood. Holi never expected Lofty to understand her in so many ways, and it didn't matter to the 24-year-old how Lofty looked like, or who she used to be. Their connection was undeniable from the very start.
Holi fell pregnant with her child before Scooter got the chance to be introduced to Lofty. Although in a difficult situation, the 30-year-old did not hesitate to propose to Holi, and the three ended up moving in with Lofty in order to become a household of four within months. The now 13-year-old boy approached the large window on the left side of the house. The couple inside was arguing intensely. ScooterFlame tried to get closer to hear their conversation more clearly but did not want to be spotted. Holi raised her voice, and the boy could hear her yell the word “Something..something...B*tch!” before grabbing Lofty’s beautiful hair.
The woman responded by shoving her to the ground, and tearfully announcing something. Holi’s face froze for a moment before she sniffled and got up to head out the door. A distraught Scooter ran in front of it and came face to face with his aunt.
“Hey kid” she muttered quietly.
“I hope you're okay. A friend of Noon Ray recommended that I see you guys”
“I am glad you did, but worry about us. I need a break from Lofty. We've been having issues for a while, but I hope to get things sorted out somehow. I'll call your grandfather to make sure that he checks up on your cousin in a day or two.”
“Alright” ScooterFlame headed inside the house to see his adopted aunt laying on the recliner. No one said anything for a moment until Lofty broke the silence.
“ I have a half-brother named Grey Ink” she muttered.
This was news to Scooter.
“Grey Ink?” As in the senator of cloud 51 who went missing almost ten years?”
“Yes. He had to go into hiding because there were rumors that people from his past were coming back to make his life a living h*ll. Grey wasn't too concerned about it until there was strong evidence that some people he trusted were working in his office to gather classified documents and other evidence to leak.”
“Oh no”
“Several days ago, Grey wrote me a letter telling me to meet him at a beach in Seaview. When I got there, he told me that he was recently diagnosed with kidney failure, and wondered if I or any of our other siblings would possibly be compatible and willing to donate”
“Kidney failure? Isn't he kind of-”
“He’s 53 years old and my father’s eldest child. Even when my dad disowned me many years ago, Grey and a sister of ours were there for me when nobody else was able or willing”
ScooterFlame swallowed, and the woman continued.
“I know. I should have mentioned him to Holi, but...I just didn't want her dragged into anything bad just in case...you know” Lofty sighed
Outside the window, the two-spotted school bus getting ready to halt beside a curb. A handful of small children rushed out, and the view of a certain little boy with yellow skin, blue eyes, and red hair became clearer. Noon Ray rushed towards the door and knocked. ScooterFlame opened it before Noon gasped and greeted him with a hug.”
“ Mommy! Scooter!”
“ Hey kid, long time no see”
“Hi, Buddy!” Do you want a snack?”
“ Yes please”
Five minutes later, the three were sitting at the kitchen table. Scooter filled his aunt and cousin in on important events that have happened recently while Noon munched on peanut butter crackers. Scooter had leftover chicken soup that was warmed up, and when he was done the three went to the living room to watch TV. After a few hours, Lofty informed her nephew that she had some work to do but to come by again in several weeks. Scooter texted Pinkpoint that he was ready to come back to Southville. She didn't respond right away, but that was alright.
He grabbed an old skateboard of his from one of the closets and used it to cruise down the sidewalk. He normally joined Ronaldo, but it was nice to be alone right now. It wasn't even very hot today, and he could hear birds chirping and dogs barking. Sometime later he returned it to the original location before seeing a familiar face outside the window. The princess came to retrieve him and they returned to Southville.
