//------------------------------// // Something Under the Bed is Drooling! // Story: Your Human and You: Dinky and Locke // by MadMaxtheBlack //------------------------------// THUMP THUMP THUMP Sighing heavily, Ditzy closed the book she had been reading and glanced up at the ceiling above her, a miffed look on her face. Placing the book on the small table beside the couch, the mare stood with a huff, ruffling her wings in the process. Above her, the thumping sound continued, reverberating throughout the small house like a drum. THUMP THUMP THUMP Making her way up the stairs, Ditzy grumbled quietly to herself, “How is it that that filly can run around all day long, and still have this much energy at night? I didn’t even give her any sugar today!” THUMP THUMP THUMP Walking down the hallway towards her daughter’s room, the pegasus paused briefly just outside of the closed door. Placing an ear against the wood, Ditzy could still hear the sound of something thumping around on the other side of the door. The muffled sound of giggling could also be heard. THUMP THUMP THUMP Slowly reaching out a hoof, Ditzy grabbed the door knob and turned it as quietly and as carefully as possible… THUMP THUMP THUMP ...and flung the door open as quickly as she could. As the light from the hall flooded into the darkened room, Ditzy could see that her daughter and her human were both tucked snugly into their bed, buried beneath the covers, exactly as she had left them only an hour ago. Both of them were giving her the sweetest, most innocent looks the mare had ever seen. Nowhere in the room was there any evidence that either one had been up and about, making the thumping noise. Everything was as she had left it when she had tucked them in for the night. Ditzy felt her eye twitch. Sighing, she closed her eyes and hung her head in defeat. I will never understand how they can do that. Lifting her head up, Ditzy glared at the pair currently occupying the bed in faux anger. “What's all the noise coming from up here?” she asked, trying to sound as stern as possible, all while her heart was melting at the sight of her daughter snuggled happily up against her human. “Muffin, you're suppose to be asleep. You have school tomorrow.” “It wasn’t me!” Dinky cried, sitting up in the bed, a hurt look on her face. As she looked at her mother, her lower lip began to tremble and she pointed a hoof at the human beside her. “It was Locke, mom! He was jumping on the bed! Honest!” Ditzy immediately scrunched up her face, trying with all her might to hold in her laughter. Rolling her eyes, the mare huffed, trying to look angry, but failing horribly. No matter what it was, she could never be truly mad at her little muffin. “Locke wasn’t jumping on the bed, honey,” Ditzy chided, a small smile finally working its way onto her muzzle. “Now please, go to sleep. I don’t want you tired for school tomorrow.” “Awww, but mom~!” Dinky whined, falling back against the pillow and crossing her forelegs in a cute little pout. “No buts, Muffin,” Ditzy said. “Now, go to sleep or no blueberry pancakes for breakfast.” Dinky stared at her mom in horror, her mouth agape. Slowly, tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. “N-no pancakes?” she whimpered, her ears splaying backwards. Ditzy just chuckled, shaking her head as she closed the bedroom door with a soft click. I swear, that filly is such a drama queen sometimes. And the stories she can come up with! Locke jumping on the bed... Still chuckling to herself, Ditzy turned and headed back down the hall, fully intent on finishing one more chapter of her book before heading to bed herself. She just had to find out if the nerdy bookworm would be able to finally confess her feelings to that athletic pegasus she had her eye on. After her mom left, Dinky just sat there in the darkness, pouting with her hooves crossed. After several seconds of silence, she glanced over at her human companion, giving him an adorable angry look. “You were too jumping on the bed,” she grumbled hotly under her breath. Locke huffed, crossing his arms as well. “Yeah, well, you were the one playing the bongos!” Uncrossing his arms, Locke reached a hand under the covers. Sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth, he rummaged around underneath the covers for several seconds before his face lit up. Pulling out a small pair of bongos, the human place them on his lap before turning and giving Dinky a large smile. “So, you want to continue where we left off?” Dinky’s eyes widened in alarm and she waved her hooves in front of her frantically, shaking her head. “Nonononononono,” she cried, ears splaying backwards. “There is no way I’m risking missing out on mom’s blueberry pancakes! You heard her; let’s just go to sleep.” As Dinky snuggled down into the blankets, Locke ran a finger around the edge of one of the bongos, sulking. “I don’t know why I have to go to bed now. I'm not the one that has school in the morning.” “I can’t hear you~!” Dinky said, turning around so that her back was to her human. “I said ‘I don’t know why I have to go to bed now. I'm not the one that has school in the morning’.” “I’m not listening~!” Locke gave the little unicorn an incredulous look before his eyes narrowed. “If you aren't listening, then how come you’re responding to what I’m saying?” “I’m not,” Dinky huffed. “I’m fast asleep!” “Muffin!” cried a muffled voice from downstairs. “Settle down and go to sleep!” “...yes mommy.” ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ It was some time in the middle of the night that Dinky woke up. Blinking her eyes blearily, she looked around her darkened room, trying to find what it was that had awaken her from her sleep. Moonlight streamed in through her bedroom window, illuminating the floor in the middle of her room. Her toys were scattered around the room, each lying where she had left them when she had finished playing with them. Beside her, Locke was still asleep. The human's chest was rising and falling gently, and he was breathing softly. His feet were hanging off of the end of the bed, the blanket unable to cover them. Dinky snuggled up closer to her human as she continued to look around the room, the feeling of him pressed up against her helping with her feeling of uneasiness. Something was there; she was sure of it. Tentatively, she leaned forward and glanced over the edge of her bed. She pulled back with a terrified squeak when she saw something slip back underneath her bed, hiding from view. Fear coursing through her, the young unicorn hunkered down beside her human, trembling slightly. There was something under her bed! What if it’s a monster? What if it wanted to eat her up like a snack! If it ate her, she wouldn’t be able to have any blueberry pancakes! Swallowing nervously, Dinky steeled herself and took another peek over the bed. There it was again! Something had just ducked back underneath her bed the minute she had looked down! Not only that, but something dark was leaking out from under her bed, flowing like water. Dinky’s heart began to race as she realized what it was. She leaned back quickly, trying not to wet the bed. Raising a trembling hoof, Dinky shook her human, trying to wake him. “Locke,” she whimpered. “Locke, w-wake up.” The human awoke, grunting as he stirred. Raising his head up, he gave Dinky a confused, tired look, blinking owlishly. “Locke,” Dinky whispered, her ears splayed backwards. “Something under the bed is drooling.” “...whazzat?” “Something’s under the bed,” Dinky repeated urgently. “And it’s drooling!” Locke looked at Dinky, blinking several times before his eyes slowly drifted towards the edge of the bed. Together, both of them leaned forward and glanced over the edge of the mattress. The dark substance was still there, flowing like liquid. Locke’s eyes widened as he looked down at the wavering shadow that was emerging from beneath the bed. Beside him, Dinky retreated with a squeak at seeing the shadow, and she leaned up against Locke’s side, trembling. “What do we do?” she whimpered pitifully. She had never had something like this happen before, and she was terrified. “Make a run for the door?” “No,” Dinky hissed, shaking her head. “It’ll get us the minute we get off the bed!” Locke chewed on his lip, still looking over the edge of the bed. “Call for you mom?” “No!” Dinky gasped, giving Locke a stunned look, the very thought terrifying her. “If she comes in here, the monster’s sure to get her!” There was a brief moment of silence before Locke straightened up, smiling. “I know! Start tying the sheets together. We'll go out the window!” “But how?” Dinky asked, gesturing to the window that was across the room. “There’s no way we could reach the window before the monster gets us.” Slowly, her eyes began to tear up, and she fell backwards onto her flank. Locke watched the filly silently as she began to sniffle, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Glancing back and forth from the filly to the side of the bed, Locke chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking. Suddenly, he sat up straighter, swing his legs out over the edge of the bed. Dinky gasped as he began to lower his legs towards the floor, “Locke, no!” Leaping forward, she wrapped her legs around his arm, clinging desperately to her human, trying futility to stop him. Locke patted the top of Dinky’s head gently, smiling nervously at the unicorn. “Don’t worry, Dinks. I’ve got this.” Swallowing thickly, Locke closed his eyes, grimacing as he slowly lowered his feet to the floor. After several seconds where nothing happen, he cracked an eye open and glanced at his feet. Dinky could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and she prayed desperately that nothing bad would happen to her friend. Pushing himself up off of the bed, Locke stood perfectly still for several seconds before slowly kneeling down beside the bed. Reaching out with a shaking hand, Locke grabbed a hold of the bed’s dust ruffle. Pausing, he glanced up at Dinky, who was peeking over the side of the bed, her forehead furrowed with worry. Locke’s expression hardened, and with a quick pull, he yanked the dust ruffle up and glanced quickly under the bed. Dinky held her breath for several seconds as Locke looked under the bed, before she inched closer to the side of the bed. “See anything?” she asked tentatively, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. Locke just shook his head, still looking under the bed. “Nothing. No monsters here.” “Are you sure?” Locke was silent for several seconds before he laid down completely on the carpet. Wiggling around, he slid himself forward, heading under the mattress. Dinky squeaked in alarm as her friend disappeared underneath her bed. She danced nervously on her hooves, chewing on her bottom lip. Seconds felt like hours as she waited for her friend to emerge safely. As Locke slid further under the bed, he glanced around. There was no sign of a monster anywhere, but he had to be sure; he couldn’t let anything get Dinky. It was extremely dark under the bed, the only light coming from the moonlight that could slip underneath the dust ruffle. When he was fully underneath the bed, he looked around again, a small smile playing across his face. Still no monsters. Whatever had been down here seemed to have left. Locke paused in his search as something caught his eye. Cocking his head to the side, he reached out and picked up the strange object in between his finger and thumb. He studied the object closely, unsure of what to make of it. It looked similar to the delicious white fluffy treats that the white pony had kept in the nearly impenetrable container located inside the room that smelled too clean. Squeezing the object in between his finger and thumb, Locke continued to muse. It was as fluffy as the delicious white fluffy treats. It had the same texture as the delicious white fluffy treats. It was about the same size as the delicious white fluffy treats. Locke’s eyes lit up, and a smile slowly spread across his face as he stared at the gray unknown fluffy thing held in between his fingers. ...could it be as tasty as the delicious white fluffy treats? Trying to hold in his glee, Locke slowly lifted the gray object up and popped it in his mouth. He froze, his eyes widening as his brain slowly registered what was in his mouth. Suddenly, Locke began to retch, spitting out the disgusting gray fluffy horror. Sticking out his tongue, he tried to scrape it off on his shirt, desperately trying to get the taste out of his mouth. Locke wasn’t sure what that gray fluffy abomination was, but he knew what it wasn’t, and that was delicious. Glaring at the fluff, Locke hissed at it before turning and sticking his head back out from beneath the bed. Glancing up, he saw Dinky giving him a worried look as she chewed on her bottom lip. He gave the filly a comforting smile, and shook his head. “No monsters under here! It must have run off. We can get back to sleep.” “B-but, what if it comes back?” Dinky asked nervously, glancing around her room as if expecting to find the monster standing in the corner of her room, watching her. The smile slid off of Locke’s face, and he looked up at Dinky with a blank expression, blinking owlishly. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he pulled a hand out from under the bed. “Hand me one of the pillows, will ya?” Picking up a pillow in her mouth, Dinky carried it over to the edge of the bed and dropped it down into Locke’s waiting hand. As he pulled the pillow underneath the bed, the filly gave him a confused look, “What are you doing?” Locke just smiled up at her, his tired eyes sparkling in the darkness. “There will be no room for a monster underneath the bed if there is a human there already! You stay up there and get some sleep. I’ll sleep down here tonight so that the monster can’t return.” “Are you sure?” Dinky asked, pawing at the edge of the mattress. "It doesn't look very comfortable down there." “Positive!” Giving her human a grateful look, Dinky smiled weakly. “T-thanks, Locke.” “Any time, Dinks.” Pulling his head back under the bed, Dinky listened as the human moved around, getting as comfortable as possible beneath the bed. Plodding to the foot of the bed, the filly glanced over the end. She giggled to herself as she saw Locke’s feet poking out from under the bed, his toes wiggling. Turning, she made her way back up the bed and slipped under the covers, snuggling into the warm blankets. Without her human, the bed wasn't as warm, and felt empty. She missed her sleeping companion, although she could still hear Locke breathing below her, and the sound seemed to calm the little unicorn as her eyelids slowly began to droop. Even though her human was no longer in the bed with her, he was still there, protecting her from the monster that had been under her bed. Dinky yawned, her pink tongue poking out of her mouth as she tried to get comfortable. As she drifted back off to sleep, a smile slowly spread across her face. From somewhere below her, Locke’s gentle snoring began to fill the room, lulling the filly into a pleasant, fitful sleep. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ Things were not going according to plan, of that Luna was sure. The night had started out the same as any other: she had met with her sister, lifted her moon into the night sky, made sure that she had left a… surprise for Blueblood in his dreams, and had begun her nightly watch of the slumbering ponies of Equestria. She had been keeping vigilant watch over the dreams of her subjects, entering a nightmare here and there to help calm the ponies and return them to their pleasant dreams. Everything had been going perfectly fine… ...until she had decided to pay a visit to this particular small household in Ponyville. The young unicorn filly had been having a strange dream, and she could sense that it could possibly evolve into a nightmare. Luna had decided to nip that particular calamity in the butt before it could form. However, it turned out that she had pumped too much dream magic into the filly, and the result was that, instead of fixing the dream, Luna had forced the filly awake. Panicking and not wanting to alarm the filly, or have her scream and awaken the human sleeping in the bed with her, Luna had done the first thing she could think of. She turned herself into shadow and slipped beneath the filly’s bed. Not her best decision, but Luna didn't do well under pressure; her experience at Nightmare Night could attest to that. Hopefully Twilight Sparkle would get her flank over that particular upset soon. Tia had returned the human, and Luna had said she was sorry... She had planned on remaining there, beneath the bed, and waiting for the filly to drift off back to sleep, but that plan was scrapped the instant the filly had caught sight of the shadow of her flank sticking out before Luna could squeeze it beneath the bed. Curse those sugary treats that the chefs down in the kitchen make! I should have known better than to have eaten them; I mean, just look at Tia’s flanks! After a few, Luna thought she was in the clear, until she heard the filly speak, “Locke, something under the bed is drooling.” Luna had scrunched up her face in confusion at the filly’s words. What in the blue moon is she talking about? Glancing behind her, Luna’s shadowy eyes had widened when she saw that her mane and tail were wafting out from under the bed. In the gloom of the darkened room, and to the imagination of a scared filly, they would have looked like a puddle of drool. Cursing her luck, Luna had quickly pulled her traitorous tail and mane back under the bed. It was too late, however, as the human had apparently already woken up. He had gotten up and slide under the bed with her. Luckily for the Lunar Princess, she had been in shadow form and had blended in with the darkness beneath the bed, preventing the human from seeing her. Being in shadow form, however, didn’t prevent the human from crawling on top of her. She had been forced to lie there as the human had rooted around, searching for the “monster”. How the filly had trained the human to do this, Luna wasn’t sure, but all she could do at the moment was lie still and pray that she didn’t reveal herself. The last thing she needed was for the human to attack her, and to have to explain to the filly’s parents what she was doing in their daughter’s bedroom. She had about gagged when the human had eaten the dust bunny he had found beneath the bed. It had gotten even worse when the human had then spat the dust bunny out and it had landed on her cheek. She had to bite her lip hard to prevent herself whimpering in disgust. The worst part was that her forelegs were currently trapped beneath the human’s torso, so she couldn’t brush the dusty bunny off. She couldn’t use her magic either, without revealing her presence. She had given silent thanks when the human had begun to slid back out from beneath the bed, but it had turned to confusion when he had returned with a pillow. She watched in horror as he had laid the pillow down, gotten comfortable, and fallen asleep… ...right on top of her! Now she was stuck there, trapped beneath the human, underneath the bed. She couldn’t slid out from under him; the spell wouldn’t let her. She couldn’t revert to her normal form, as there wasn’t enough room under the bed for both her AND the human, and that would definitely reveal her presence. She couldn’t teleport, as the human was currently touching her and would come with her if she tried. So, Luna was stuck there, musing on how things weren’t going according to plan. Let's see she mused to herself. It’s currently three in the morning. If I remember correctly, school usually starts around eight-thirty, so the filly should be… getting up around... seven... Luna resisted the urge to groan aloud as she realized that the filly and human wouldn’t be getting up before the sunrise, and she couldn’t lower the moon without using her magic. I’m never going to hear the end of this from Tia. This is worse than the time she told me it was now customary to greet nobles by french kissing them. Luna shivered at the memory, causing the human to stir, grumbling as he shifted in his sleep. Grumbling silently to herself, Luna tried to make herself comfortable as she attempted to think up an excuse for her sister. As idea after idea ran through her head, the other two inhabitants of the room sleep soundly, each dreaming happy dreams. ... ... ...Shouldn't have had that monster gulp super soda before I left the castle.