KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
“I think three knocks would’ve done it.” Hitch said to Sprout.
“I haven’t really been here this much,” Sprout replied, “Not been banned or anything, just don’t really swing by that often. And-and not because of any biases, any I had-”
“Okay, okay,” Hitch calmed Sprout down, “I think you could use a drink after that story.”
“Yeah, a drink would be nice,” Sprout said meekly.
Suddenly, the doors swung open, and there was a dark green unicorn greeting them. His look of ennui quickly turned to shock and horror upon seeing what was on the other side of the doorframe.
“Hi Jasper,” Hitch greeted him, “The tea rooms got some visitors.”
Jasper gazed lonely at the monsters before him.
“They’re nice, they won’t attack,” Hitch reassured him, “…Will you?”
The monsters all shook their heads, except for the Bel’Yawn Zirro, who nodded, was smacked by the Soulxs Vessel, and then nodded.
“Umm…” Jasper faltered, “I, uhh… Come in.” Jasper was clearly taken aback, but gave a weak smile. He held the door open, making sure he was on the other side of it, and the monsters entered.
It was a standard day in the tea room. Onyx and Dapple were performing some spoken poetry, half of the tables were occupied by various ponies, most of which were unicorns, and there was Alphabittle, whipping up some drinks.
“Uhh, Alphabittle,” Jasper called, “you’ve got guests.”
“Ah, guests,” Alphabittle replied, emerging out of the kitchen, “What can I, uhh…” he trailed off as he too caught sight of the monsters.
“they’re cool, they’re with us,” Hitch reassured him. “They mean no harm, but they do want to perform.”
The monsters all nodded enthusiastically.
“Hmm,” Alphabittle slowly muttered, examining them, “Where are they from?”
“Not from this universe,” Hitch explained, “They came here through portal from a place called Knottshurr Island, in a place called ‘The Lost Landscapes.”
“Huh,” Alphabittle replied, clearly as lost as every other pony who had been listening. Most of the tearoom’s attention was now on these weird monsters. “You said they wanted to perform, correct?”
“Yes,” Hitch replied.
“Yeah,” Sprout chipped in, “They’re singing monsters, even though most of them play instruments. You should really hear them, me and Misty did, and it sounds really good.”
“Huh, alright then,” Alphabittle replied, “We’ve got a free spot after Onyx and Dapple are finished, I’m sure you can do your performance after them.”
The monsters all exitedly smiled, except for the Knottshurr Tree, who couldn’t change his expression.
*MYM*
“Alright, you guys have fun,” Hitch said to the monsters, “Me and Misty are gonna go find Sunny and discuss this book.” Hitch eyed to the book Misty was levitating. “You sure you can look after them, Sprout?”
“Sure,” Sprout replied, “And if things get outta hand, I’ll have backup.” He irked towards Alphabittle.
“Okay then,” Misty said, “See ya fellas.”
And with that, Misty and Hitch promptly left, leaving Sprout in charge of the monsters for the immediate future.
“Remember ladies and gentlemen, the song may be eerie, but these monsters mean no harm.” Sprout reassured everypony.
The monsters were prepared, the stage was set. Now all they needed to do was perform. It was only a two minute performance, and all the monsters were eager to impress. They signalled to eachother a few times before counting eachother in. The Bay and the BoOoo started off, and then the Flocca and the Chimbickle made their contribution. And one by one, the monsters began their melancholic ambient music. At first, the other ponies were all taken aback by the overall sound of the song, though none were entirely put off.
The unicorns in particular were used to melancholy themes, from the times when their magic was taken away, so their performance was much more welcome than back in Starlight Ridge. Everypony was loving it. Even Alphabittle was impressed.
“And they perform this every single day?” Alphabittle asked Sprout.
“Apparently yeah,” Sprout remarked, “Don’t ask why, I’m clueless. Anyway, you got any drinks?”
“Here, have some of this,” Alphabittle handed Sprout some orange juice.
“Thanks,” Sprout thanked him, and drank. He then walked over to another table to enjoy the performance.
By this point the performance was halfway through, the ponies were becoming more accustomed to the visitors themselves. They weren’t half as horrifying when they found how chilled they actually were. Chilled, for the fact most of them looked like they came from icy climates, which of course they had. Some were even swaying along to the beat. Though none dared to sit themselves any closer than they already were, especially next to monsters like Mount Mound for example..
*MYM*
“So let me get this straight,” Sunny began, “They came from another dimension, and we can only send them home by casting a special spell, which only I can manage.”
“That’s right,” Hitch claimed. He and Misty had called Sunny when they were a little distance away from the Tea room for slightly better reception. Sunny had been at her smoothie stand back in Maretime Bay when she received it. Lucky for them she was on break, so could talk for a while. They had explained the whole ordeal to her in about 5 minutes.
“But to make it work,” Sunny continued, “We need to perform it in the place they originally came from, exactly a week after they arrived here, in our dimension. Do I have that right?”
“That’s what the book said,” Hitch remarked, “So basically yeah, that’s about it.”
Misty chipped in, “You should start learning the spell now’s o you can be ready in time.”
“We’ll I haven’t really been that into spells all my life,” Sunny explained, “Not just because of the lack of magic and being an Earth pony, but just because there hasn’t really been any big need for spells like that over the years. I mean, most if not all unicorns nowadays only use their horns to levitate things.”
“I get that,” Misty replied, “But it shouldn’t be that hard, right? There’s been harder spells. Plus I’m sure these monsters would like to get home sometime.”
Then, Hitch had a thought. “I’ve just had a thought,” He said aloud, “Where are we gonna keep them?”
“Huh?” Misty and Sunny said in unison. Before they began rattling on about jinxing, Hitch spoke again;
“It’s still four days before we can perform the spell. Where are the monsters going to sleep? I don’t think they’d like to sleep in the mountains in the Ridge again.”
“He has a point,” Sunny remarked to Misty, “It’s a little sudden to have to think about where to house them until then. And with Hearth’s Warming right around the corner, everywhere’s gonna be very busy by next Friday.”
Sunny was right, the first of December was in two days time, and even by the third of the month, everywhere was going to be very bustling over the oncoming days, and it would only get worse after December 1st until the 25th. It was a dilemma to be sure.
“I think we’ll just have to house them around town.” Hitch decided. “I’m sure some ponies wouldn’t mind housing one or two of them for half a week. And maybe Sparky could use a roommate.”
“Maybe we could house a couple in the Brighthouse.” Sunny suggested. Even with Misty recently moving in, there was still more than enough room for a few extra hooves, or claws, or tentacles, or limbs in general. Misty knew she would love to have a little Flocca jumping around for a couple of days.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said aloud. “Let’s do it!”
They all agreed and trotted off, Sunny to arrange accommodations, and Misty and Hitch so see how the monsters were getting along back in the tea room.