"Oh... okay... I think... I'm alright for now."
Sweetie slammed the gate shut with a rattle. She breathed heavily in a crouched position, tilting her head back to the gate and dark woods beyond. She didn't shine her light directly onto the forest just yet, not prepared to see what thing that had chased her here. The thing that could be staring into her back at that very moment. Instead, she listened to the darkness as the laughter started to fade into nothing. Eventually, she worked up the courage to shine her light into the forest to confirm her hopes.
Sweetie sighed in relief. She was right. At the very least, within the range of her flashlight, there was nothing but eerie trees. Though that didn't matter as her pounding heart calmed to a steady beat as she found herself staring out into the dark abyss beyond the gate. One might say she was caught in a trance as she stared. What was so alluring to the forest, the little filly couldn't quite put her hoof on. Maybe it was it the paper air plane she'd abandoned? She took it on a whim. Did she want to get it back?
That couldn't be right, the only value that thing had was sentimental value. It was probably for the best it was behind her at this point. Perhaps she was worried her friends were still out there, and still had to survive against the thing she barely escaped from. Between Applebloom's lost items and Scootaloo's history of the most reckless behavior of the three of them, it would make sense she was worried.
Then there was another thought.
Or did a part of her feel safer in the forest?
Sweetie heard a roll of thunder, followed by another streak of lightning. Sweetie was snapped out of her trance. She shook her head from the nonsense her subconscious was coming up with, and tried to pay attention to the more important matters. Like her friends. As far as she knew they were still out in the forest. Right now wasn't the time to worry about them, but do something about the situation at hoof. She still had to get in the mansion and get help. Otherwise, her friends would probably be out in a storm with no hope of rescue. Or worse, become the prey of that there was a thing out there. Sweetie had no time to lose.
She then turned around to face the mansion. Despite its supposedly recent construction, it looked decades older than it should have. The walls along the mansion's face had vines, moss and other vegetation growing from it, cradling the structure in it's long dark green arms. For all she knew, they were the things keeping it from crumbling into dust. The face of the mansion was also littered with windows from broken to decently intact. Most of the windows were black, but those with light had an eerie yellow glow emitting from them. Sweetie assumed them to be candles, or a possible fireplace, but it still didn't help deny how creepy it looked.
As she thought, It was definitely larger than what she saw from the CMC plane. It's height was somewhere around 10 to 15 floors, she didn't take the time to count. In fact, from a glance, it looked like some of the floors fused with each other from the placement of the windows. All of this loomed over Sweetie menacingly, as if trying to drive her back. Sweetie shook off as many of her feelings of nervousness and fear, disregarding them as irrational.
"N-nothing to be scared of." She told herself. "It's just a house." and began to walk along the path to the mansion.
Although Sweetie tried to stay focused on the path to the front door, her eyes couldn't help but waver off of it, curious as to what else this place had to offer. When Sweetie imagined the front of a fancy mansion (and being technically Canterlot born, she knew exactly what to imagine), she thought of beautiful grass and blossoming trees, complimenting the fanciness of the mansion.
The front of this mansion didn't have any lush trees or grass, but it definitely "complemented" it by being the polar opposite. There was nothing but dead trees and dirt off of her path. Jutting out of the dirt were numerous slabs of stone. No matter how hard Sweetie imagined, the place looked like a graveyard.
Why in the hay some pony would have a grave site in front of their house was beyond the filly. Especially if the place was so new. This felt like the setting to a Nightmare Night haunted house, rather than someone's home.
The path she was on was composed of neatly packed stone. Along the sides of the path were statues. These statues weren't of ponies however, but rather they were of dragons and griffons. Sweetie stopped in front of one of the statues to examine it. It was of a griffon, starring off to the left of the path in a stately, dignified manner. At least it's body was distinguished in it's pose, however it's face looked off. There were cracks in it's mouth as though they were wrinkles, trynig to resist that face. Sweetie stared the statue, unable to shake the feeling that the statue was somehow familiar. Like she remembered seeing the face somewhere before.
Thunder clapped and rain drops touched Sweetie's coat much more frequently.
"Ah."
She remembered the urgency of the situation. She cursed her short attention span as she ended her examination and ran for the entrance. As though on cue rain began, seemingly seconds later the world turned into nothing but water as the clouds showed no mercy for the filly. She made it to the door and takes shelter under it's stone awning. Her mane and coat were soaking wet, dripping with water.
"Finally... I made it." Sweetie said, panting for breath. She choked some water out of her mane. "That's alright. I needed a shower anyway." She shook the rest water off of her body like a wet dog in an attempt to dry herself off. Amazingly she managed to get a fair amount of water off this way; still damp, but the excess water was off. She knew she had best dry off before she caught something nasty.
"Now... doorbell. Doorbell." She found the doorbell up by the side of the door. However, it was too high up for little Sweetie Belle. She made an effort to knock on the door as hard as she could.
"Hello?! Anyone home?!" she called, but received no answer. The lights from the mansion were enough to prove that someone was home. She concluded that the rain was too loud for anypony to hear her. Her only chance was the doorbell she was too short to reach.
"I just got to hit that bell... wait a sec." Sweetie said to herself. Sweetie reached into her bag and took out a red rubber ball, with the letters C-M-C written in bubble letters on it. "Yeah, this'll do."
Sweetie remembered playing wall ball as well as other activities with Applebloom and Scootaloo back at the Cutie Mark Clubhouse. They each took turns taking it home and being tasked to bring it each meeting of the three friends. It became something of a charm they passed around among each other. Another symbol of their "crusader-ship" next to their capes.
"Guys... where are you?" Sweetie asked the ball, remembering a few of the games they played with it.
Unsurprisingly the ball didn't answer.
Sweetie used one of her hoof to aim the ball at the door bell. She then tossed it at the button to trigger the bell. The rubber ball hit the device and bounced back into the filly's hoof. A satisfying chime rung from the inside of the mansion. Sweetie smiled in satisfaction, thankful that she was the last to hold the toy.
Minutes passed, and Sweetie started to worry that no one even heard the bell. Sweetie gave consideration to trying the bell again, when the door finally creaked open. Light seeped out of the inside of the mansion, flooding its door step.
"Good Evening?" asked a stallion's voice said, coming from the crack in the door. A head poked out, looking left and right before looking down. "Who might this be?" He voice sounded more like a Canterlot native: dignified and fancy. It reminded her of the way rich unicorns or Rarity spoke.
"M-my name is Sweetie. Sweetie Belle." Sweetie said through the door. There was silence as the stallion continued to look down. "P-please let me in. I need help."
The door opened completely, fully revealing Sweetie's greeter. He was a unicorn, wearing what appeared to be a tuxedo. Behind his clothing were the features of a white mane, a yellow coat, and a cutie mark of a wine glass. From what Sweetie could tell, it was safe to assume he was a butler pony.
For a few moments, the stallion just stared. He was looking directly at Sweetie, but at the same time looked at her as though she wasn't even there. Past her as if Sweetie was just a cloud of fog. However, he then expressed shock to see her.
"Help?" he said. "What is a little filly like you doing so far in the forest during a storm? At night no less!" He seemed more interested in Sweetie's sudden appearance than her
"Sorry. It's a really long story. Can I come in?" Sweetie said.
The stallion stared at her again. This time, less airy and more directly at her. He bit his lip before shaking his head. "No."
"N-no?" Sweetie was caught off guard.
"I apologize for this young filly, er... Ms. Belle." he paused for a moment, obviously thinking about something "...but I'm not permitted to allow any-"
The stallion looked back into the mansion again. When he looked back, Sweetie offered the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster, hoping they'd change his mind. There was another moment of silence before the butler sighed.
"Master Yield isn't fond of any visitors without being notified in advance... but I suppose he'll be willing to make an exception so long as there's no harm." the butler pony looked past her. "Is there anyone else with you?"
"Huh? No." Sweetie responded.
"I see..." he smiled kindly. It felt fake, as though he knew he was in for something for doing this."...well, come on then, let's get you out of that rain."
The butler pony beckoned the filly in. Sweetie smiled, and trotted into the mansion.
The inside of the mansion was more than a slight contrast from the outside. Once Sweetie entered the warmth of the mansion, and her coat instantly drying, she thought she was in an entirely new world. Light filled every corner of the room magnificently showing every detail of the foyer. The decor was new and shiny, as though it had just been built that day. The marble floor looked expensive, the way Sweetie could see her reflection off of it as she walked along side the butler. A grand staircase went up to the next floor along the center of the foyer, with doors on either side. Columns evenly placed around the foyer seemed to keep the roof stable, and from falling on top of their heads. There was fountain at the center of the room, with mirror faces decorating the base. Portraits of famous ponies, such as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, decorated the walls of the foyer. Other paintings of other dignified looking ponies that Sweetie didn't recognized were along the wall. None the less, they looked important, from the way they dressed, to their serious facial expressions.
"Come along Ms. Belle." the butler pony said. "We must notify Master Yield of your arrival. I could only imagine how he'd react to a filly such as yourself suddenly showing up at his door step."
"Okay mister butler." Sweetie said, following close behind him. "Um... this is a dumb question, but do you work here?"
"Yes madam. I am the loyal servant of Master Specter Yield. As well as the supervisor of his other servants." the butler explained.
"What's your name?" Sweetie asked "I mean, it's probably weird to call you 'butler' all the time"
"Believe me child, it's less queer than you'd think. After all, that is my last name."
"A butler named Butler?"
He seemed to resist a groan before he spoke. "Yes. You may call me Spiffy Butler." he paused. "And... against my preference for formalities, I'd also prefer if you refereed to me by my first name."
Sweetie giggles. "Okay Mr. Spiffy." She said. Spiffy ignored the filly's immature laugh.
As they headed through the door to the left of the staircase, and into a hallway, Sweetie noticed how quiet the mansion was. The only ponies she saw were other butlers like Spiffy. She also noticed how lifeless and robotic they were in their actions as they performed their various cleaning and moving tasks around the mansion. They didn't even seem to notice the strange pair as they moved through the halls.
"Um... excuse me Mr. Spiffy?" Sweetie asked. "But... isn't there supposed to be a party here?"
"Yes, I do believe we did." Spiffy nodded.
"Well... where is everypony? It's already over?"
"Indeed." Spiffy confirmed. "Though I'm sure, according to your Ponyville standards, parties seem to last into the morning, hm?"
If you're at a Pinkie Pie party, you're lucky for the party to end at all. Sweetie thought, but just responded to Spiffy with a nod.
"Yes, well you see, Mr. Yield isn't fond of hosting extremely long parties. I don't believe it lasted for more than one or two hours."
"O-only one or two hours?" Sweetie asked, surprised. "What time is it now?"
"It's coming close to nine." Spiffy explained.
Sweetie thought back to when her and her friends were working on the plane. Sweetie was sure they had been working for at least five or six hours. And even surer they had been working when Rarity left with her friends to head to the Yield mansion. By his logic, they should have noticed them back, or at least been found by the time she woke up in the forest. Then again, there was that peculiar absence of the moon to make things difficult. "Are you sure?"
Spiffy thought for a moment. "...actually, I may have mistaken. It might have gone on until seven. Maybe I just remembered the time Master Yield wanted to end the party... I also remember it getting a little out of hoof, which may have stretched the party out a bit."
"Really? How?" Sweetie asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, I wasn't present the entire time. Only to clean up after their messes." Spiffy said. "But from reports from the others, and what I had to clean up, it must have involved something with a musical number, some streamers, and Ping-Pong..."
That's Pinkie for you. Sweetie thought to herself. Sweetie could imagine Pinkie throwing some random activity with those random items. Either way, Sweetie supposed that made sense. Perhaps Rarity and the others were just getting home around the time she woke up.
"Also, a young white mare also caught the eye of Mr. Yield, who he must have flirted with for maybe an hour or two. Definitely for a majority of the duration of the party." Spiffy said with a smile. "About the same completion as you. If not a shade whiter."
"That's my sister!" Sweetie blurted out. There was something about Sweetie's tone that off put him off enough for it to visibly be shown. "Heh... sorry I um... sorry."
"That's fine, but the Rarity character is your sibling? The group that came wasn't all your family, now was it?" Spiffy asked.
Sweetie giggled. "No. They're like family to me, but they're just my friends." Sweetie said. "The white pony, you know, she's actually my sister... some of the closest family I have."
"Oh..." Spiffy said. "I hadn't realized that... are you parents- no, I apologize, I shouldn't be prying into such an sensitive-" Spiffy tried.
"Huh? Oh, no. That's not what I meant." Sweetie said. "My parents are just busy ponies and the rest of my family's all over Equestria so I barely see anyone that isn't Rarity. Still, she takes care of me like my mom and dad used to."
"I see." Spiffy said. "... Miss Belle-"
"Call me Sweetie." Sweetie requested.
"Alright then Sweetie. If you wouldn't mind my asking... how did you find yourself on this property?"
"Oh, that... It's a long story."
Sweetie begun to tell Spiffy everything she recalled. He had a demeanor that seemed trust-able. His eyes were entrancing, but not at all menacing like the forest. Besides, even if it was just a mask, it wasn't as if telling her little story was going to hurt any pony right? She started with telling Spiffy about her friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and their desire to obtain their cutie marks. Sweetie then told Spiffy about the paper airplane project, their newest attempt at getting their marks. She told him about the lack of planning, resulting in the crash in the middle of the forest. She then told of her trek through the forest, eventually getting chased by some unknown monster to the mansion. Spiffy listened to every word of the filly's story.
Spiffy shook his head. "Though it's not my place, I must say, how did you imagine that plan would work out?"
Sweetie shrugged and sighed. "I dunno. Ever have one of those ideas that just 'seemed like a good idea at the time' and nearly got you hurt badly?"
"I suppose I'd be lying if I said I didn't make my fair share of idiotic decisions in my youth." Spiffy agreed. "As for the monster, I'm sure you're aware Everfree is known for it's monsters. One of the things your friends warned us over the party."
"Yeah, I know about them. I don't know what all of them are, but I know about them."
"Neither do I, but I suppose so-long as you're within these walls you'll be fine. In the time we've been here, not one creature, besides ponies, the dragon, or the occasional griffon, has wandered onto these grounds. I can assure you you're safe here."
"That's a relief... just wish my friends were here..." she then gasped. "MY FRIENDS! T-They're still out there!"
"Actually, that's something I wanted to discuss." Spiffy said calmly. "Were there two of them? A yellow filly and an orange filly?"
Sweetie turned to Spiffy. "Yeah! You saw them?"
He nodded. "Yes, they came through here somewhere around sun-down. They asked for directions back to Ponyville. I remember greeting them, and giving them the directions, saying they should make it there before nightfall if they moved hastily. Strange..."
"What?" Sweetie asked.
"They never mentioned you." Spiffy said. "Like you, I queried if they were alone, and they said it was just the two of them."
"A-are you sure?" Sweetie asked.
"Positive." Spiffy said.
Sweetie's heart sunk. Did her friends really come through here, without making any effort to even look for her? Did they forget about her? Sweetie shook her head at the thought. Applebloom and Scootaloo were her best friends. They must have had a good reason for not mentioning her. Maybe the sun was still up and they figured I just head home.
I'm not that big of a scardy cat to run away without making sure my friends are okay girls.
"Ah, here we are." Spiffy said stopping in front of one of the doors in the hallway. "This is Master Yield's study. Please speak to him with respect... but you seem like a well-mannered filly already. Still, your presence is rather unexpected and is worth noting."
Sweetie nodded. "Wait, you're coming with me?"
He shook his head. "I still have quite the array of tasks to complete before the hour grows too late." He raised a brow "I can leave you on your own, correct?"
"I guess." Sweetie supposed. "Okay, then. Bye, Mr. Spiffy."
Spiffy nodded and walked off further down the hallway, and entered a door of his own, leaving her alone for the moment. She felt a chill through the hallway at the sudden solitude, as though the atmosphere had suddenly changed now that she had lost her escort.
Weird. She thought with a brief shiver. Must be a draft somewhere.
Sweetie entered the room and was once again greeted by the warm comforting atmosphere that resided in the study. It was lit by a single fireplace, but it is enough to make out the major details of the room. It had a blood red carpet, tan walls, and two comfy looking love seats. On the fireplace mantle were expensive looking plates and china. Maybe about 30,000 bits worth or more. Above the mantle was a large portrait, larger than the ones the filly had seen before, of a stallion. From the gaunt frame, dark green coat, red mane, yellow eyes, and brown splotched cutie mark, it must have been the pony Rarity described.
"Spiffy, my stallion, get me another glass of wine. I feel like celebrating." the stallion said. A glass with a sip of purple liquid floated in front of a chair before retreating back behind it, followed by a sip. "Ah... Years of work are finally about to pay off."
"U-um, I'm not Mr. Spiffy." Sweetie said nervously. "I'm Sweetie."
The speaker paused for a moment, as if in momentary shock, before revealing himself from behind the chair facing the fireplace. From what Sweetie could tell, it was the same pony in the portrait over the fireplace, only with a few more years on him. The same pony that had been described to her by her sister as well, wasn't it? His yellow eyes caused the filly to take a step back. They looked as though they belonged to some kind of deranged monster, rather than a normal pony. Eyes she could have easily imagined sharing the same sockets as the thing that had chased her less than 20 minutes ago. They were much more menacing in person, than through the portrait. How could the mares she called friends call this one anything resembling "good natured"?
"A kid?" the stallion said. "What are you doing in my mansion at such a late hour?" He seemed annoyed at the sudden arrival. This was probably what Spiffy was talking about when he said his master wasn't fond of guests.
"I-I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to..." Sweetie trailed off, once again, getting caught by those yellow eyes again. She couldn't help but stare into them. They seemed to pull her in, rather than drive her away this time. It was the same hypnotic state she felt when she was staring out into the forest. Something pulled at her gut that there was something "abnormal" about this stallion. She felt as if she would go insane if she kept staring into those eyes. "S-sorry. I'll just-"
She wanted to run. The way he looked at her made her want to run out of the mansion right then and there, and take her chances with the forest. She didn't want to be here-
"Oh, I see." The old stallion Sweetie assumed to be Specter at this point laughed, causing Sweetie to take another nervous step back. The only reason she didn't run out at that point was that his eyes had softened, becoming less intense. Instead they looked more welcoming. "My apologies... what was your name?"
"Sw-"
"Wait, wait don't tell me..." he thought for a moment, then looked back at her. "I'm sure somepony told me about that mane before... yes. Mulbery mane. Green eyes. Sweetie Burn?"
"Sweetie B-elle." She corrected hesitantly, as if doing so ran the risk of him ripping her head off right then and there.
"Right, right, Sweetie Belle. One of my guests mentioned you living with her. I figured from the description she gave, you must be the little filly she was talking about."
"Right..." Sweetie said softly.
"Well, Sweetie, I didn't mean to sound so rude in that greeting. Please, have a seat." The stallion Specter beckoned her over to another seat by the fire place.
Sweetie followed the stallion's instructions, taking a seat in the chair. From here she got a better look of the pony. Like the butler, he is dressed in a tuxedo. His hair is well kept and neat. If it wasn't for the different colors of his mane and coat, and the fact he looked considerably older, she might have mistaken him for Spiffy.
"Um... are you... Mr. Specter Yield?" Sweetie asked to confirm.
Specter nodded. "And you are in Yield Manor. Created and owned by the Yield family."
"So your family built this place?"
He blinked. "Yes. I'm sure as you've probably already realized, this mansion was built rather quickly. Unlike your earth ponies in Ponyville, we use magic to set up our architecture."
"I know. Rarity said that's what they do in Canterlot too. Sometimes in Ponyville even." Sweetie said. "But... it's just that this place is so big... and kind of old looking too... no offense."
"None taken Sweetie." Specter smiled. "I'm actually quite aware of the deterioration of my abode. You see, usually, when ponies use magic for building, it's on a much smaller scale than this. The smaller it is, the less quickly it will age. Likewise, the larger it is, the quicker it will age... and as you've noticed, this mansion is quite large."
"But... If you knew that this mansion was going to get older so fast, then why did you make it so big?" Sweetie asked.
"My, my. You are a curious little filly aren't you?" Specter said, pausing for a moment. "Claustrophobia. Are you aware of the definition?"
Sweetie nodded. "Isn't that when you’re scared of being in small spaces?"
"Yes. Phobias like that are common within our family. Fear is a bit of a genetic disease I suppose you could say... but yes, I couldn't live in a small space, so I had members of my family build this mansion for me. On a temporary basis of course. I can't really see this mansion standing for longer than a month now."
"Oh." Sweetie said. "Temporary?"
"Yes, I have some business to attend to between Ponyville and Canterlot." Specter said. Before Sweetie could utter a "Like what?" he added: "Confidential things, I'm sure a young filly like you couldn't understand."
Thunder rolled outside before Sweetie can continue her interrogation.
"Quite a storm tonight." Specter said looking out the window of the study. "What brought a filly such as yourself out here?"
Her gut told her not to trust this stallion, but Sweetie's head saw no reason not to. She had already told his supposed "right hoof stallion" so one way or another he would find out. Best to hear it from the horse's mouth as the saying goes. She told the same story she gave to Spiffy.
"I see. You've been through a lot tonight... how would you like to stay here, in my mansion for the night?"
"What? N-no, I couldn't." Sweetie said. "I'd really like to get back home. Rarity is probably worried sick by now." It wasn't just that however. Sweetie's instinct told her to get out of this mansion while she still could. Though, in all honesty, there was nothing driving her away from the mansion, aside from the front she'd already passed.
"Ah, Miss Rarity, that kind pony from the party." Specter laughs to himself. He seemed to lose himself in memory for a moment. "What an... interesting group of ponies... especially that white unicorn."
"She's my big sister." Sweetie said flatly.
"I'm aware." Specter noted. "None the less, I can't allow you to go back out into that storm."
"What? Why?" Sweetie asked.
"Why do you think?" Specter raised an eye brow. "Just listen."
Sweetie heard the rain beating against the window of the study. It was pitch black outside, and the only light came from the lightning that flashed through the sky.
"Even with supervision Miss Belle, I'm not sure you'd make it back to Ponyville in one piece, even if you were an adult, let alone a filly." Specter said. "If your sister truly loved you, I'm sure she'd rather you stay here, safe, and be worried, than find you drowned the next morning in the rain, hm?"
As much as Sweetie hated to admit it, Specter was right. At this point, it was suicide going back out into the storm. And there was also the matter of the laughing thing, more likely than not, was still lurking in the forest somewhere. And her friends were safe, so there was no real reason to go back out.
"I'm only looking out for your best interest Sweetie." Specter said. "I'm not sure how I'd live with myself if something happened to you, the sister of such a beautiful mare."
-Flinch
Why does he have to talk about her like that. She's not yours she's-
"...well... I guess you’re right. I'll stay." Sweetie decided.
"Excellent." Specter got up out of his seat. "Here, let me take you to your room."
"You mean Spiffy isn't going to?" Sweetie asked.
"I think it would be much more efficient for us to just go to your room, rather than locate some butler to do it for me, wouldn't you agree?" Specter said. "After all, if he was the one to escort you here, and felt it necessary to leave you alone, I'd imagine he has more important things to do."
Sweetie had to agree. "Yeah, I guess."
The two exited the study, and walked back to the foyer. Specter led Sweetie up the stairs to the second floor. As Sweetie looked up, it was too dark. She couldn't even see the ceiling of the mansion.
"Miss Belle?" Specter asked.
"Yeah?" Sweetie asked.
"Once we get to your room, could you do me one favor?" Specter asked.
"What?" Sweetie asked.
"Don't leave it." Specter said flatly.
Sweetie stopped. "Huh? Why?"
"I... just don't feel comfortable with a little filly running around my mansion unsupervised. Please understand. I trust you will respect my request?" Specter asked.
Sweetie doesn't feel comfortable the way he asked, but she nodded. It was his house after all, and she had to respect his wishes. "Okay... or as Pinkie might put it: Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Specter smiled. "Yes, quite."
After walking through different hallways of the mansion, they found a bedroom. "Here, I hope it is to your liking."
"It's... wow." Sweetie said.
The room was splendidly furnished with a chair, a couch, and a queen sized bed. A dresser was along the side of the bed, with various perfumes and scented items, which made the room not only appealing to the eye, but the nose as well. The room didn't feel fit for a filly. It felt fit for a princess.
"Thank you so much Mr. Yield." Sweetie said, taking her saddle bags off and placing them on the dresser. She then headed for the bed. She got on, and immediately felt her previously tense muscles release at the comfort of the bed. It was so soft and comfy... the grips of the sand pony had begun to take Sweetie off to dream land.
Sweetie felt herself drifting into sleep.
Before Sweetie is fully asleep, she heard Specter silently laugh to himself. "Sweet dreams..." he said, before closing the door to the bedroom. The odd thing though was it sounded different from before and
Sweetie yawned.
...somehow
Sweetie nuzzled against her pillow.
...familiar...