//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Moving Day // Story: The Bug In The Basement // by Skijarama //------------------------------//     A Little Over One Month Later…     The last month had been a hectic cyclone of activity that left poor Beebee frazzled and unsure. A few days after Eventide had shown him the photos of their soon-to-be new home, the man had started disappearing for a few hours almost every day, stating that he had been taking driving lessons. This had been a part of the routine until a few days ago. And now, the time had come for them to pack their things and move out. Eventide had taken Buddha out early that morning and came back without her. He told Beebee that he had put the dog in Fluttershy's care while everything was being moved, to make sure she didn’t feel scared and to ensure she didn’t get in their way. A short time later, a long white vehicle had pulled up outside of the house. The driver had left the vehicle, and knocked on the door, sending Eventide into immediate action. He had scooped Beebee up, raced downstairs, and hid him away under the bed. He ordered him to stay put before racing back up the stairs and closing the basement door behind him. That was at least a few hours ago, and In that time, Beebee had done as he had been told and had not moved an inch. He was sequestered underneath his bed, while loud noises from upstairs told him that all of the furniture was being picked up and moved outside into something called a ‘moving van.’ Beebee had absolutely no idea what that was, but at that moment, it didn’t really matter. At that moment, all he cared about was doing exactly what his father had told him.     “Stay here, and stay hidden. Under no circumstances whatsoever are you to come out from under here or let anyone but me see you. If someone is coming, even if it’s me, hide until I tell you it’s safe. I cannot stress this enough. Stay. Hidden.” Beebee was nervous.     Okay, scratch that. Beebee was absolutely terrified.     He could hear Eventide and one other person moving around upstairs, talking loudly to each other while they moved the furniture around, the activity filling the air with a loud cacophony of bangs, thumps, thuds, and scrapes. Even from his hiding place under his bed in his basement, Beebee could make it all out quite clearly. Beebee shifted uncomfortably in his place under the bed, doing his absolute best to keep his mind occupied with happy thoughts. This was a good thing, he told himself. They were going to be moving to a new place today, and that meant that he could finally go outside and be safe from other people. He was extremely excited, but that actually made it even harder to remain still.     Any temptation to move was swiftly curbed when he heard the basement door swing open, and not one, but two sets of feet descending at a brisk pace. A male voice that Beebee did not recognize spoke up in surprise. “Woah. Do you have a son or something, Eventide?”     “N-No. This is all leftover from when my nephew was staying over,” Eventide replied without missing a beat, though Beebee did not miss the slight hitch in his voice. “I might have to look after him again sometime, so I’m keeping all of this stuff.”     “Huh… I didn’t know you had a nephew. I thought you were an only child,” the other man said thoughtfully.     “Guess you were wrong, then.”     “Mind filling me in?” ”I’d rather not get into my family life, okay Sweep? It’s a long, complicated and messy story, and…” Eventide paused mid-speech, and Beebee noticed a few flickers of red and dark blue in the air beyond the confines of his bed. “...I’d just rather not talk about it, okay? We’ve got enough on our plates without dragging up my old family drama.”     “Alright, fair enough,” Sweep conceded before shifting on his feet. “So, what are we hauling first?” he asked casually, seemingly unfazed by Eventide’s evasiveness.     “Why don’t you go ahead and grab the lamp and toybox?” Eventide suggested, walking over to the bed. “I’m gonna get some of these old kids books into a backpack.”     “Alright, I can do that,” Sweep replied before stepping over and lifting something up. There were a few moments where the two moved around before Sweep spoke up again. “Got it. See you topside.” With that, Beebee listened as his foot-falls disappeared back up the stairs. Silence filled the room, safe for some quiet rustling, and everything was motionless, save for some shifting shadows. Beebee, against his better judgment, started to inch out from under the bed.     “Daddy?” he asked in a quiet, tense whisper.     Suddenly, an open backpack landed directly in front of his face with a heavy thump, making him flinch back with a startled chirp. He relaxed when he saw that it was filled with a few of his favorite books. Then, Eventide couched down, his face becoming visible. It was stern and tense. “Beebee, get into the backpack,” he said simply.     Beebee blinked in surprise. “Wha… what?”     “Don’t ask me any questions, we don’t have time,” Eventide emphasized sharply before reaching out and grasping one of Beebee’s hooves with his hand. His grip was firm, though not harsh or painful, and he swiftly tugged Beebee out from under the bed. “Sweep won’t be gone for long. Get in the backpack, and be as quiet as possible.”     Beebee looked up into Eventide’s eyes, then into the depths of the backpack. He cringed back when he realized just how cramped it was in there. “It’s small…” he noted timidly.     “I know, Bee, and I’m sorry,” Eventide apologized softly while ushering Beebee inside with his hand. “It’s gonna be cramped and bumpy, but there isn’t much I can do about that. Just hold still and be quiet.”     Beebee, once he was fully inside, turned around to look back at his father. He gave a slow and solemn nod before his ears were filled with a loud zip, and the bag was closed. His world was plunged into total darkness, though the blue glow of his eyes quickly compensated and let him see. He wanted to whimper so badly right now. Every single one of his childish instincts were screaming at him to go to seek a parent, to call out for one for safety and protection. It did not help that the space was not only tight and uncomfortable, but the books he was standing on were less than ideal to rest against. Suddenly, his stomach fell out of him as the bag was lurched skyward. Beebee couldn’t help but let out a startled chirp from the movement, and his wings instinctively tried to buzz on his back. The claustrophobic space prevented this, and he felt his right wing flare up with a small cramp from the motion. Gravity tipped back, and Beebee slid down a little deeper into the pack. “You okay in there?” Eventide’s voice came from above, muffled through the fabric. A few faint wisps of his love and concern for Beebee’s wellbeing seeped through the fabric, and the bug was only all too happy to soak it in. Once he had slurped down the small stream of emotions, he spoke, “I’m scared, Dada…” “I know, Buddy…” With that, Eventide made his way upstairs. Beebee knew this because of how bumpy the ride suddenly became, and the sound of his father’s shoes repeatedly thumping against the wooden steps. They passed through the living room, and… out the front door. Beebee was outside for the second time in his life. He could feel it. He could hear birds singing more clearly than he ever had before, and the backpack began to warm up as the sunlight hit it. He could just feel the tiniest hints of a breeze through the fabric, and the mostly foreign sensation made him shudder. “Alright, we should probably get that big bed out of the way next,” Sweep’s voice suddenly said from right next to Eventide, making Beebee jump. He held perfectly still, sealing his lips closed and screwing his eyes shut. “Uh, Sure, head on down and get it into a good spot to lift,” Eventide answered before hefting the backpack for emphasis. “I’ll follow you down once I got this put-away.” Beebee could hear Sweep walking away, then a clunking sound. Then, the backpack was lifted off of Eventide’s back and set down on something. Beebee let slip a silent sigh of relief as the books were put under his hooves again, gravity returned to normal, and his orientation was once more upright. The zipper pulled back, and Eventide peaked in through the small opening. “You alright?” he asked in a worried whisper. “I wasn’t too rough, was I?” “I’m scared, and now I’m sore,” Beebee replied quietly, inching towards the light. “But I’m okay. Can I come out, yet?” Eventide looked away slightly shook his head in regretful apology. “No, not yet. Just stay put, alright? If anyone opens this door,” he turned and let Beebee see the oddly shaped door that he was leaning through. “Do not move or say anything. Be perfectly and completely still, and don’t make a single sound.” “You keep telling me to do that,” Beebee anxiously observed before swallowing heavily at the serious look on Eventide’s face. “Yeah, because this is important. Clean Sweep’s a good guy, but I don't trust anyone but Fluttershy and myself with you. So I’m going to keep telling you to make sure you do it. Stay still, stay quiet. Do you understand me?” Beebee shied away a little, but still gave a silent nod. Eventide relaxed, if only somewhat. “Alright… this is still gonna take a while, so hang in there.” With that, the backpack was zipped shut again, and Beebee was returned to darkness.     The next thirty to forty minutes was spent carefully taking each and every item out of Beebee’s bedroom and storing it in the back of the small moving van that Eventide had rented. They had just enough space in the back to squeeze in everything, thankfully, and as such, would only need to make one trip that day to get everything into the house.     “You got that?” Eventide asked worriedly as Clean Sweep lifted up the last piece of furniture, Beebee’s end table.     The other man gave a nod and a smile. “Yeah, compared to everything else, this is child’s play,” he gloated before starting up the stairs. He wobbled a little on his way up but was quick to catch his balance, chuckle nervously, and continue his ascent. Eventide watched him go, an amused smirk on his face before he turned and looked around at the basement.     It was empty. There was no longer a single piece of furniture inside the basement. Save for the paint on the walls and the rug he had put onto the floor, it was now even more devoid of things than it had been when he had first adopted Beebee almost a year ago. Even the old shelves that had once stored unused knick knacks against the wall were gone.     Eventide leaned against one of the support beams for a moment, just letting it all sink in. Everything that had happened so far in just this one room alone. From the day Beebee hatched, to the times he had become ill, and more recently, his efforts to get better with his magic.     Eleven months, almost twelve… had it really been that long already? It sure didn’t feel like it...     Eventide let out a small sigh of nostalgia before reaching up and pulling on the chain that dangled from the ceiling one last time. “Time flies, huh?” he asked as the basement, Beebee’s former bedroom, was filled with total darkness. Eventide stared into that shade for a few more seconds before turning away, heading up the stairs, and closing the door behind him.     The whole house was in a similar state. Every single piece of furniture that Eventide owned had been moved out into the moving van, leaving the house feeling exceedingly empty. He walked slowly, giving each room a parting look before he stepped outside and closed the door behind him. He hesitated, then, and a soft breeze washed over him.     “This is really happening…” he thought to himself, the realization finally setting in. He’d been building to this for so long now, and yet it had always felt like it would never happen. He backed away from the door and looking at the house. The building that had served as his home for several years, now… the first place he had gone to after leaving his parents behind. The place where his son had come into his life…     Except that wasn’t entirely true, was it?     Eventide turned around and looked at the tree in the yard, the one where he had found Beebee’s egg. It was still there, standing proud, it’s leaves starting to gain just the faintest of yellow hues as summer began to give away for fall. Eventide smiled softly at the memory and walked over to it. He stood there for a short time, looking up and down its trunk, drinking in the details. He then crouched down by the spot where Beebee’s egg had been resting and placed his hand on the tree.     “I know there’s nothing here that can hear me, but” he began in a near-silent voice, his mind trailing back to the first time he had brought Beebee outside, and how the two of them had jointly thanked this tree for being the place where they came together. Beebee reached out his hoof to the tree again. “Thank you, tree,” he said quietly, making Eventide tilt his head. “Why are you thanking the tree, Bee?” he asked, genuinely curious. Beebee smiled back up at him. “Because it gave me to you, daddy.” “Oh, there goes the heart,” Eventide thought, his smile growing. He looked up at the tree himself and put his hand on it next to Beebee’s hoof. “Yeah… I guess you’re right… thank you, tree.” Buddha looked at them for a moment, then rested her chin on one of the roots that managed to avoid being smothered in snow so far. The father and his son might be here for a little while, she felt. No need to rush them. His smile grew, and he withdrew his hand. “Thank you again. Thank you so much for giving me Beebee…”     With that, he stood tall and took a deep breath. “What the?!” Clean Sweeps’ shocked voice suddenly rang out from the passenger side of the van. Eventide’s blood ran cold.     As much as Beebee wanted to follow Eventide’s commands, it was getting increasingly hard to do so. Not only was the backpack significantly smaller than underneath his bed, it was also a lot less comfortable. The hard surface of the picture books he so loved were like stone compared to the carpet of his bedroom, and his complete inability to flex his wings was driving him mad. Finally, after forty-five minutes of this, he could take no more. “Just a little look around, maybe stretch my wings,”  he promised to himself before his horn lit up with green light and he reached out. Being careful not to grasp anything yet, he was able to worm his reach through the teeth of the zipper line and found the zipper itself. Grasping just the tip of it, he began moving it. He could feel his head starting to ache from the effort of using magic, and his lack of familiarity with what he was using it on wasn’t helping. Thankfully, he managed to pull it open an inch or so, at which point he halted the flow of his magic and let his horn go dark. Sighing with relief, he then wedged his muzzle into the small gap and forced it to open wider. Little bit little, he opened the pack and squeezed out. Soon, he was stepping out and into a new environment. He looked around, and after a moment, was able to identify it as being similar to the cars he had seen in cartoons on TV. It was bigger, though, and some of the shapes were different. He spun slowly in a circle as he took everything in “This must be the moving van…” he thought to himself. He studied the interior for a moment longer before starting to stretch his incredibly stiff and sore muscles, letting his wings buzz a little on his back. He let out a satisfied groan as his tension was relieved, then turned to head back into the relative safety of the backpack. Suddenly, there was a loud thunk from the back of the van. The noise sent vibrations through the seat Beebee stood on, startling him. With a cry, he fell backward and off of the seat to crash to the floor below. He hit the ground and let out a grunt from the impact, screwing his eyes shut. He took a second to bite back any vocalizations of pain, then opened his eyes and picked himself up. His ears twitched as a sound came to them. Footsteps. Beebee’s eyes flew wide open, and a surge of fear and adrenaline began to pump through his veins. He looked up at the backpack and hopped up towards it. Whoever it was was getting closer. Beebee tried to squeeze back into the pack but was horrified to discover that he hadn’t opened it enough to make re-entry possible in time to avoid being seen. Whoever was coming was still drawing closer. Now on the verge of absolute panic, Beebee pulled his head back and quickly dove back down to the floor, hoping for a hiding place. There was none. He was completely exposed. Now hyperventilating, Beebee looked up towards the open window. He could just make out someone’s shadow on the frame, and it was not Eventide’s. Beebee screwed his eyes shut. “Why did I leave the backpack!? Why didn’t I just do what Dada told me?!” He screamed at himself in his mind. He knew that there was a stranger here, he knew that he wasn’t supposed to let himself be seen. Now, because he was so impatient, he had put himself right in the open. He was going to be seen. He was going to be taken away by men in lab coats and experimented on with needles or something. He was going to lose his father, and it was all because he couldn’t have waited for another few minutes because he couldn’t just do as he was told! He was so enveloped in his terror, in his dread of being seen and taken away because he was so different, that he didn’t even notice the green light on his horn, or the sudden swirl of green flames that wrapped around him before vanishing just as quickly as they came. He heard the steps come to a stop, he heard something being set down on the seat, and he fearfully opened one of his eyes. The man in the window looked down at Beebee, and his eyes went wide. “What the?!” he yelled before taking a step back. Here it came… Beebee watched him apprehensively, expecting the man to reach down and try to grab him. He began to open his mouth to say something but stopped. Something was wrong. His fangs were missing, and his tongue felt a lot shorter and… wider. The man stared at him for another few moments, and the fear that had been bleeding off of him flickered and changed into something brighter. A combination of pale blue and sunflower yellow. The colors of relief. He let out a chuckle and glanced over as someone else approached. “Hey, I think I found that other pet you kept mentioning,” He said with a big grin before stepping back. Eventide suddenly appeared in the window, his eyes wide and filled with abject terror. Dread and fear were bleeding off of him in record amounts, putting a terribly rancid and bitter taste in Beebee’s mouth. He stifled the urge to gag and looked up at his father, and the two locked gazes. Eventide’s face went from terrified to confused, and the emotions bleeding off of him shifted colors to match. “Wha… uh…” Beebee blinked and tilted his head. In doing so, he finally noticed the two long ears covered in thick-black fur that were handing off the sides of his head. He turned his head when he felt them moving, hoping to get a look, and it was then that he realized that his entire body had changed. Where once there had been a small, chitin-clad quadruped with enormous, glowing blue eyes and insectoid wings, there was now a dog, a black border collie with a triangle of white fur on his chest and striking blue eyes. Beebee looked at himself for another few seconds, then looked into Eventide’s eyes again. “‘Tide? You alright?” Sweep’s voice asked from behind Eventide, jarring him out of his stunned state. He spun around and gave Sweep a large grin. “Uh, yeah! My other dog. Heh heh, uhm… he’s uhm, super shy, so, uh… you know, doesn’t like strangers?” Sweep nodded along slowly, and Beebee could see the suspicion in the air around him. “Ah, I gotcha…” he said slowly. “What’s his name?” “Oh, uh…” Eventide glanced back at Beebee, then back at Sweep. “Beebee.” Sweep smiled widely, his skepticism slowly fading away. “Aw, that’s a cute name.” Eventide chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, it is... uh… anyways!” he clapped his hands together, swiftly changing the topic. “Do we have everything in the van?” Sweep hesitated for a second, then gave a nod. “Yeah, everything’s in. Is there anything else you need here?” Eventide shook his head quickly. “No, no, I think we’ve got it. Thanks for coming over and helping me out, man,” he said, his tone gradually starting to relax. Sweep gave a nod and a smile. “Sure thing, but are you sure you don’t need any help moving this stuff inside when you get to your new place?” Eventide shook his head. “No, I already have someone else helping me with that. You’ve done plenty.” “Alright. If you need anything else, though. Gimme a ring,” Sweep conceded before turning and walking out of Beebee’s line of sight. “I’m gonna head home. I got Ogres and Oubliettes with the girlfriend tonight.” “Okay. Give her my best. Have fun, and thanks again. Bye, Clean Sweep!” Eventide called after him while waving enthusiastically. There was a muffled response that Beebee couldn’t quite make out before he heard the sound of another car starting up and driving away. As soon as it was fully gone, Eventide spun around and looked down at Beebee with his confusion returning. “Beebee, is that really you?” he asked in a strained and hushed voice. Beebee nodded slowly, his new tongue rolling out to instinctively lick at his chops. He had to resist the urge to cringe when he tasted his fur and snout. “Ew… doggy snot,” Nonetheless, he found his voice and answered. “Yeah… I think so,” he said experimentally and was amazed to find that his voice was exactly as it always was, if perhaps without the slight distortion. Eventide just watched him for a moment, becoming visibly relaxed and relieved as the tension of the situation bled away. He then stood upright and his face formed into a frown. “So… why are you a dog?”