//------------------------------// // Act 3, Chapter 3 - Moving In // Story: Hoof and Claw Versus the World // by Chythar //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon and I had enslaved some of the US Bank Tower's management staff and had taken possession of the 71st floor. But what was she going to do with all that open space? Early that morning, we left the Alhambra police station and flew over to the condo we had 'rented' (aka, taken over) in Rosemead. As we had a new home in downtown Los Angeles, it was time to pack up our things and move out. And when I say 'pack', I really meant that Nightmare Moon de-summoned our bed and armor stands then cleaned the area of any residue of our magicks. Me? I mainly stood there and tried to look important. Neither the mare nor I had any knickknacks or other possessions, and the only clothing we had was our armor. Magical spells kept us clean and smelling nice, so we didn't have toiletries like shampoo or toothbrushes. In truth, Nightmare Moon could have done our 'packing' without me. But I was her Captain and second-in-command, so I had to stay by her side unless she ordered me otherwise. I simply stood there and waited the few minutes it took the mare to pack and clean the area of any residue of her magic. Afterwards, we left the condo and headed back to our permanent home in the US Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles. The sky began to slowly lighten on our way back, and I realized that we would not get home before sunrise. Oh, I knew we could just use illusion magic to make ourselves invisible. But I was in the mood for something a bit more...fun. I turned to speak to Nightmare Moon, who was flying next to me. "My Queen?" "Yes?" "Last one home is a griffin's uncle!" I sped away as fast as I could, then remembered the daylight and made myself invisible. I was determined to win this race, so I pushed my wings as hard as they would go. Faster and faster I flew, until my vision began to blur and I felt my body begin to shake in the air. I tried to push myself faster, but my speed didn't change. I hoped it would be enough. Once I caught sight of the US Bank Tower, and there was no sign of Nightmare Moon, I thought that I just might win the race after all. The mist cloud sped by me so fast it shattered my illusion and sent me spiraling out of control! Without Nightmare Moon's memories of flight, I would have fallen and crashed on the ground far below. As it was, I tumbled for several seconds before I managed to get my spinning under control. I shook my head several times to clear the dizziness I felt, then it took me four times to re-cast my invisibility spell. I continued my way towards the US Bank Tower, but I was flying a lot slower than before. The Night Mare was waiting for me on the building's observatory deck. As soon as I made a wobbly landing, she addressed me. "A race? Truly?" "Eh, you said you liked a challenge." "A challenge? You? Thou thinkest highly of thyself." Yet the mare wore the barest of smiles as she turned away. Nightmare Moon used her magic to push on the crash bar on both doors, and the doors swung wide for us. Again, the room was completely empty and silent except for the sound of Nightmare Moon's armored hooves. A short walk to the emergency stairwell, and a simple push of the crash bar opened the door for us. We sauntered our way up the two flights of stairs to the 71st floor, and a flash of magic unlocked the emergency door for us. Neat trick, can't wait to learn that one. I swung open the door and sighed. Ah, home sweet home. Wait a minute... Nighty's had some construction done. On either side of the emergency stairwell entrance, there were walls built up that went all the way up to the high ceiling. The one to my right had two gaps in the wall; one by the windows and one close to us, and the other side had one gap in the middle of the wall. All three gaps appeared to be about the same size, a little over seven feet tall and about six feet wide. "Mistress?" "Ah, I see the workers have been busy. Come, join me while I inspect their handiwork and I shall describe my plans to you." Nightmare Moon then turned to our right and headed for the nearest gap in the wall. "This space will be our entrance to our home. Though instead of walking up these stairs, there will be a trap door in the floor that will lead to the floor below. We will open the trap door with our magic and simply fly up to this floor. In addition, this room can also function as a private meeting room. "These gaps in the walls are for the Japonese shoji doors that I have requested." As we passed through one of those gaps, I noted that it was just tall enough for Nightmare Moon's horn to clear the top without her having to duck her head. The gap was plenty wide enough for the dark mare to pass through comfortably, but not enough for two people at the same time. While we walked towards the center of this new room, I took a look around to see what had changed. The room was quite large; I guessed that it would be the largest room on the floor. To my right was the entrance to the elevators, and at the far end of the room I could see another wall with a gap for a single shoji door in it. There was a pile of wood and drywall sheets on the floor near that gap, along with some tools. The rest of the room was clean and appeared to have been swept recently. A broom was leaning against one wall, next to a small pile of trash. The ceiling was still covered in ductwork and fire sprinkler pipes. The Night Mare's shoes clacked noisily against the concrete at each step, while my padded feet made no noise at all. The air was slightly stale and smelled lightly of dust. "This will be my throne room, my Captain. My throne will be behind us, in front of the wall we just walked through. In truth, my throne will merely be a comfortable yet regal couch, which I will recline upon when we entertain guests and dignitaries. You shall join me there, of course. The throne will be on a raised dais, perhaps four or six inches tall. The dais is merely symbolic, to show that we are above the common rabble. The area in front of the dais will be filled with comfortable cushions for our guests to rest upon. The leasing manager has recommended something called a 'bean bag chair'. Have you heard of it?" "Uh, yes I have. That describes a type of chair, which is comfortable but considered to be very casual. Depending on the design, they may not be regal enough for a throne room." "I see. We shall have to see if the designs chosen will be appropriate. Come, let us look at the other rooms." The Night Mare sauntered towards the far side of the room, and walked through the sole opening in the wall. Once inside, I saw a room that was essentially empty. Another emergency exit door was here, which presumably lead to another set of stairs. The other side of the room had another newly-constructed wall, with a shoji door-sized hole in the middle of it. "This room shall be used by our visitors if they wish to have a private conversation that cannot be made in the throne room. In truth, this is merely unused space that I am designating as meeting space. We can repurpose it as a storage room if we have need of one. "Now, let me show thee the final room in our new home." I followed Nightmare Moon into what looked to be the second largest room on the floor. "This room shall be our bedroom. This corner near this entrance shall contain your armor stand. Mine shall be on the opposite side." We slowly walked to the center of the room. The smaller doorway leading to the elevators was here, though the doors to it were closed. This room looked to be almost as big as the throne room, but it seemed to be more narrow; as long or longer than the throne room, but not as wide. "Our bed shall be here, placed near those doors. The doors will be removed and the entranceway sealed shut. I shall use a silencing spell to block out any external sounds, so our sleep shall not be interrupted. "Speaking of sleep, it is past time for us to slumber. I shall summon our bed and our armor stands forthwith." As expected, our bed and stands appeared in no time at all. "And now, the silencing spell. One moment." Nightmare Moon closed her eyes and her horn lit with her magical spell. After a few moments of quiet concentration, a magical surge burst out of her horn. The surge passed through the mare and me, then touched and seeped into the walls. The ebony mare then opened her eyes and smiled. "There, our sleep shall not be interrupted. Let us retire for the day." I turned towards my armor stand and put some energy into the correct spell. A moment later, my armor left my body and instantly appeared on its stand. That task done, I turned and walked towards the bed. I saw my dark Queen waiting for me next to our shared bed, and she was also bare of armor. Her ebony fur glistened in the light streaming through the windows as she smiled softly at me. I returned her smile with one of my own, then we both slipped beneath the covers. I snuggled up against the warm and cuddly mare and I was asleep in moments. I was pulled from my restful sleep by the sound of footsteps. I knew no one else was supposed to be here, so I was instantly awake and alert. However, I didn't get out of bed and confront the intruder. Instead, I stayed in bed and pretended to be asleep. If the intruder got close enough, I figured I could surprise them. So I lay there under the covers and simply listened. At that moment, I was lying on my back on the left side of the bed. To my right, I could hear Nightmare Moon's soft, even breathing. She seemed to be asleep, or pretending to be asleep like I was. The footsteps I heard had come from my left. While I listened, they stopped for a few moments, then started up again. To my untrained ear, the footsteps sounded like heels clacking on concrete. That and the light scent of perfume made me think that the intruder was a woman. The footsteps continued around the foot of the bed, and continued around to Nightmare Moon's side. Then they stopped near the head of the bed. I heard the intruder inhale, then let out a sigh. To me, that sounded like she was preparing to do something that she didn't want to do. I decided it was time to take action and protect my Queen. As fast as I could, I rolled over on to my right arm and used that arm to push myself up. My left arm flung the blankets off as I leaned over Nightmare Moon to grasp at the intruder. I felt my claws extend from my left hand, and I reached out towards the intruder to threaten them with deadly harm. At the same time, I bared my teeth and growled at the intruder to make my threat clear. The leasing manager screamed at the top of her lungs and dropped the large briefcase she was holding in her hands. She then flung herself backwards to escape my deadly wrath, and slipped on the dusty floor. She fell down on to her butt and skittered backwards on the floor to put more distance between us. Once I realized who the intruder was, I backed down from my red alert; I relaxed my lips to hide my teeth and retracted my claws. At the same time, I lowered my arm to rest upon Nightmare Moon's side. The leasing manager's screams had also awakened the Night Mare, who looked up at me for an explanation. "Good morning Mistress, I thought we had an intruder." I broke eye contact with the dark mare, then called out to the still very frightened leasing manager. "Sorry about that. I didn't know you were coming here today, and I thought you were an intruder here to attack the Mistress." "Didnst I tell you that she is allowed to awaken me if she has need of my attentions?" "No, my Queen." "Ah, the blame is upon me then." Nightmare Moon made to get out of bed. I rolled back onto my side of the bed to give her some space. She rolled over and slipped out from under the covers, then slowly walked towards the frightened woman. The leasing manager had managed to retreat all the way to the far side of the room, and was leaning up against the far wall. Once Nightmare Moon reached the woman's side, she bent her head down and lightly nuzzled the leasing manager's cheek. She spoke softly to her minion, mostly small platitudes and comforting words. The leasing manager's shivers slowly calmed down, soothed by Nightmare Moon's silver tongue until she stopped shaking altogether. The Moon Mistress helped the woman to her feet, then cast a cleansing spell upon her to clean her clothes of any dirt she had picked up from the floor. The dark mare lead the now calm woman back to our bed so she could retrieve her dropped briefcase. "Now, what is it you wished to discuss with me?" "Ah yes, Mistress. The custom shoji screens we ordered on your behalf are on backorder and will not arrive for several weeks. However, the basic design is in stock now but without your custom changes." "Unfortunate. I am unwilling to wait so long, so order the basic doors and I shall alter their colors myself." "Understood, Mistress. Also, I need you to attend some meetings with me today. Some of my colleagues need to be enslaved so we can cancel the contract for the restaurant that was supposed to be here. In addition, you will need to enslave more workers in order to speed up construction." "I see. At what time do you need my presence?" The leasing manager looked at the time on her watch. "In about 20 minutes, Mistress. Immediately afterwards, we can meet with the construction workers. We should be done in about two hours." The dark mare sighed aloud. "Very well. Is the saddlebag on the floor for me to ride in?" The leasing manager picked up the large briefcase and opened it up, showing it to be empty. "Yes, Mistress. I grabbed a larger one that looked more comfortable for you." "How considerate." Nightmare Moon summoned her armor from the nearby armor stand and put it on. She then turned into her mist form and streamed into the suitcase. The leasing manager gently closed the briefcase, then turned to leave without saying goodbye to me. I ignored her rude behavior and went back to sleep. I was roused from my slumber by the nuzzling of my Queen. Blearily opening my eyes, I saw that she was no longer wearing her armor but merely clad in a warm smile. And she was under the covers in bed next to me. "My duties for the day are complete. Here, cuddle with me. I am in need of your comfort." How could I refuse such a request? And honestly, I didn't want to. So I snuggled close to the Night Mare's barrel and nuzzled her chest. In return, she rested her muzzle on top of my head then gave me a light squeeze with her forelegs. We slept that way until the sun had fallen below the horizon. This time, I woke up before the Mare in the Moon. I roused her from sleep by stroking her muzzle and gently scratching behind her ears. Waking the mare so nicely earned me a kiss for my effort, so the evening was already shaping up well. As she slipped on her armor, Nightmare Moon informed me that her minions would be working on our bedroom this evening. As such, she needed to remove our bed and armor stands to keep them out of the way. Once she had finished putting on her armor, she did just that and the two of us left to complete our conquest of the Alhambra police station. The night was uneventful yet productive; we returned to our new home near daybreak. The Alhambra police station was now completely ours, and did not need any more of our attention. We even had time to enslave an officer who worked the night shift at our next conquest: the Northeast Community Police Station near the city of Glendora. This officer would let us into the station the next evening, and we could easily start our takeover without fighting our way in. Back at the US Bank Tower, we made our way inside and up the stairs to the 71st floor. As soon as I opened the emergency exit door, I saw that things looked quite different than when we left. There were rolls of charcoal carpet lying on the floor, scraps of a dark blue carpet on the side, and several large paint cans were piled up on one wall. And I could smell drying paint, the chemical smell unmistakable. Nightmare Moon had also noticed the smell. "Ah, let us see if my instructions for our bedroom were carried out correctly." She then strode towards the open doorway to our left. I was just as curious, so I followed immediately after her. Inside the bedroom, the chemical smell was much stronger. The walls had been painted midnight blue, a metallic paint I had only seen on cars, but it worked wonderfully on the walls. The sun was just coming up, and the light made the metallic paint glint and sparkle. The carpet was a dark blue, a slightly lighter shade than the paint on the walls, but it had this dark shimmer to the fibers so that it looked like faux fur instead of carpet. The carpet was thick and very well padded, it made me feel like I was walking in a grassy meadow rather then on artificial carpet. Each of the numerous windows had a navy blue sun shade installed at the top. These sun shades were different than the usual window blinds, as they let a little bit of sun through instead of blocking it all. The paint fumes were getting to me, but I pushed on. The ceiling and everything up there had been painted a flat black. From what I could see, there were now electrical wires and conduit running down to power outlets near the floor. The ductwork for the air conditioning and the fire suppression pipes were still in place, just painted the same black as everything else up there. In the middle of the floor, there was a folded piece of white paper. Even though it was small compared to the room, it was very visible against the dark blue of the carpet. Nightmare Moon reached out with her magic to pick up the paper, then took a moment to read its contents. "Let us see what we have here. Ah, it is from the leasing manager - Janice. I believe that this is the first time I have heard of her name. Regardless, Janice writes that she has used a Midnight Blue paint for the walls and a Toronto Shag navy blue rug for the floor. She apologizes that she could not match the color of the window shades to the paint on the walls, but she was able to find a navy blue from something she calls 'Amazon'. Do you know what she speaks of?" "Yes, I do. Amazon is an online retailer that is so commonly used that most people know it by name. She must have bought them yesterday and paid for One-Day Shipping." "What is an 'online retailer'?" "Oh. Uh, it is a store or shop that does not have a location in every town, but will ship your orders anywhere. Um, like if a store was in Fillydelphia but would gladly send your items to Canterlot for a fee." "I see. "For the love of the moon, the smell of this paint is driving me mad! Let us step outside, and I shall accelerate the curing process." Once we had retreated from the bedroom, Nightmare Moon stuck her horn back through the doorway and began to cast her spell. I could feel the heat coming from the room in moments, and the air was starting to swirl around inside. I hope she doesn't set off the fire suppression system. "My Queen, I need you to stop so I can tell you something." "Can it not wait until this work is complete?" "Nope. Curing the paint with heat might melt the carpet and destroy the room." The Night Mare let the magic in her horn fade away, and I felt the temperature in the room drop noticeably. "Now, repeat what it is that you have just said?" "The carpet is made of an artificial fiber, and will melt if heated too much. So will the sun shades." "Melt? Art thou certain?" "Yes, though I'm not sure how hot is too hot." "Hmph. I have my doubts." Nightmare Moon looked around the room, and focused her attention on the dark blue carpet remnants piled in one corner. She picked up a small scrap in her magic. "I shall test the carpet myself, and see if it burns or melts." The ebony mare lit her horn one again, and I could feel the heat rolling off the carpet fragment immediately. "The carpet can still burn, my Queen, if the temperature is very high. But it's more likely to melt first than burn." A few seconds later, the carpet fibers suddenly melted and began to ooze into a solid lump. Nightmare Moon's horn went out immediately, and the intense heat faded away. Wisps of smoke curled off the melted polyester as the material cooled. And the mare's large teal eyes were wide in surprise. "One of these days, you really ought to believe your Adviser when he gives you advice." The Moon Mistress dipped her head in apology. "This world has many strange and fantastical things, it is difficult to believe them all. "I shall protect the carpet and shades with the same fire-proofing spell that I would use on a book." "One more thing." "Yes?" "There is a special fire suppression system in the ceiling. Glass bulbs hold back water under pressure. Intense heat will break the glass and water will pour out all over and destroy the room. And please don't test this with heat, the system can't be easily fixed once it's been set off." "Truly? Very well, I shall carefully inspect the ceiling." Yet again, Nightmare Moon lit her horn with magic. "Let me see...oh! You are correct, I have found the glass bulbs you speak of. I see, the glass bulb does hold back water under pressure. If the glass breaks, the water streams in automatically. Very simple, and I imagine fairly foalproof. I shall make the glass bulbs shatterproof temporarily, so they cannot break." "I would make the glass bulbs in the adjoining rooms shatterproof as well, in case some of the heat leaks out." "Agreed, though it is a simpler task to make them all shatterproof for a short time." One more time, the mare's horn lit with her magic. I could see the sparkle of magic at all of the sprinkler heads within my sight. Next, a surge of magic flowed across the carpet, and a shimmer of magic over the rolled-up sun shades. Then her horn went dark. "There. Is there anything else I should be aware of?" "Nope, I think we've covered it all. Oh, one question." "Ask." "Why do all this work yourself? Wouldn't it be easier to get your new minions to do all this for you?" "I wish to sleep in this room tonight. If we wait for our minions to do the work, we will have to wait until the morrow before we can rest in this room. And thou knowest I am not a patient mare." "I agree with the last part." Nightmare Moon stuck her tongue out at me. "Any more interruptions, Captain?" "No, ma'am." "Then I shall re-commence the curing of the paint." As before, Nightmare Moon stuck her horn back through the doorway and began to cast her spell. The temperature rose quickly, and heat waves began to radiate through the doorway. "Are you just throwing heat at the paint? Too much will burn or bubble it." "I am aware of this. "This is a custom spell... "...and not just a heat spell. "It requires great focus... "...to perform and monitor. "Do not disturb me." Minutes passed. Suddenly, the Night Mare's horn went dark and she gasped. "Oh! This curing spell requires an intense amount of concentration, and the shock of releasing the spell is always a harsh one. "Now, to vent the hot air and gasses." While I watched, a small black ball appeared in the center of the room. The wind picked up as air was sucked into what I presumed was a miniature black hole. Electricity arched around the sphere as it sucked all the hot air away. Soon, the air around me had gotten noticeably cooler. Just as suddenly as it appeared, the miniature black hole disappeared with a 'pop'. Once the swirling winds had calmed down, Nightmare Moon turned to me. "Forsooth, inspect the walls for any damage to the surface." She then strode into our bedroom and turned to the right, then began examining the wall closely. I shrugged internally and followed the mare into the room. However, instead of shadowing the ebony mare I turned left instead. A glance down the painted wall did not reveal any obvious flaws or imperfections in the paint. I placed my hand on the painted surface, and to my surprise it was still warm to the touch. The warmth reminded me of the heat of a warm summer day, and quite pleasant to the touch. I was a bit sad that this warmth would fade fairly quickly, as it was just an after effect of the hot curing process rather than a special feature of the wall. I ran the palm of my hand over the wall's surface as I walked farther into the room. From my experience, paint that wasn't completely cured would smear when rubbed. But I couldn't see any smears in the paint. After a few steps, I paused to take a look at the underside of the hand rubbing the wall. I also knew that paint that dried too fast would not stick to the surface, so it would shed chips of paint when touched. I couldn't see anything like that on my hand. I I also knew that paint that wasn't fully cured would still smell if you got close to it, so I got close and carefully sniffed the surface. I could smell a tiny bit of something, but it was more of a 'hot surface' smell than a 'wet paint' smell. Good job, Moony. This paint is completely dry and cured. As if on cue, Nightmare Moon called me from across the room. "Anything?" "Nope. It looks like this paint is all dry and cured. Good job." "Excellent. I shall remove the protection around the glass bulbs above us, then summon our bed and armor stands. I see no need to dispel the heat protection on the carpet and blinds." In a flash, the deeds were done and the room was complete. I had to admit to myself that the color choices were excellent. The dark blue sheets of the bed were a different shade of blue than anything else in the room, but all the blue shades blended together very well. The black wood stain of the bed and armor stands accentuated the blue sheets and the blue paint on the walls. I was no interior decorator, but it looked really nice to me. "And finally, a sealing spell for the walls to keep unwanted smells and sounds out. The act of painting the walls will have disrupted the spell I cast last night." A few seconds of magical casting, and the aforementioned spells were in place. I couldn't tell if they were working, as there were no other sounds or smells on the floor. But I trusted my ebony Queen and her magic. "Ah, at last we have our permanent home. The room is a bit sparse, but I am certain that we shall fill it with possessions and knickknacks in no time. But for now, let us rest." The two of us removed out armor and slid beneath the bed sheets. We cuddled together and fell fast asleep, knowing that our future together was finally taking shape.