Chapter II - The Promise
The very next day...
“I-ah… err... um,” Aaron groaned, rolling his head on the arm of his couch.
Aaron blinked his eyes a few times. Suddenly, he realized he just slept on the couch for the entire night with a magical, talking filly. If he still couldn’t believe the events transpiring in front him, then maybe Luna’s smiling gesture could help wake himself up from the weird fantasy he seemed to be experiencing.
“Good Morning!” the filly exclaimed, looking up at him from the floor. Her tail swished around she sat up on her two front hooves like a cat.
“Wha?”
Aaron turned his head to see what talked to him. Upon looking at the face of Luna, his eyes shot open as he sprang up on his couch. Startled by the sight of her, Aaron realized the episode from last night wasn’t a dream, or a figment of his imagination. It had happened. It really had happened. The proof was right there, in his living room, and looking back at him with cyan eyes.
Luna turned her left shoulder at Aaron, alarmed by the reaction she got from the seemingly normal greeting. With a hoof raised in the air to cover a part of her face, she peeked back at Aaron. He had fixed himself upright on the couch with his feet planted on the floor. Brushing dust off his white t-shirt, he looked back at Luna. She had uncovered her face and once again wore her bright smile, happy to see him.
“Good Morning...” He rubbed his eyes, still recovering from the shock. “I’m sorry to have startled you like that. I was just, surprised. That’s all.”
“Why were you surprised?” Luna asked, her head tilted.
“It's just that I thought you’d be-” he paused, bothered by what he was about to say.
Gone, is what he thought to himself. Gone from his life, an actual good thing to happen to him in quite a while. Sure, it was unexpected and completely out of nowhere, but it was something good since he realized it was also genuine to him at that moment. He somehow actually found something significant to care about in his life again since the passing of his sister. To which, the words he about spoke to Luna felt cruel and heartless to him.
Aaron shook his head. “You know what, never mind.”
He looked down at his watch and saw the time was ten o’clock in the morning. The sun had come over the horizon and shone through his blinds, illuminating the room with beams of amber colored light. That helped Aaron to see on his watch that today was Sunday, and he knew he had something he could actually do.
He gazed back at Luna. “Since I know you would get bored being stuck here inside my apartment all day, how would you like to come with me to the store?”
“Umm, what?” The filly was clueless.
“The store…” Aaron repeated with slight confusion. “Would you like to come with me or would you be alright staying here?”
“Umm… Yeah... sure.” Luna wasn’t confident with what she had agreed to.
“Is something wrong?” Aaron saw Luna put her head down.
“No,” she lied, turning herself away from him.
“Come on now, Luna.” He keeled down her level. “You can tell me.”
“I… I...” Luna murmured, “I don’t like going to the store.”
“Well...” Aaron let out a chuckle, curious to what Luna had to say. “How come you just agreed to go with me then?”
“Because…” She stuttered, “because... because I just don’t want you to leave me here, alone, forever.”
“I… I.”
Aaron was suddenly heartbroken by those innocent words as a wave of pity plagued his thoughts. With his mouth curled, he reached down and gave Luna a warm hug while his mind failed to wrap around the thoughts of her being neglected. He just couldn’t see her being abandoned and left to face this new world without any familiar faces or loved ones.
In the moments after he began to hug the filly, he somehow didn’t want to let go of her. She had become something to special to him. A magical, talking pony with a fear of being forgotten. To which, that idea scared Aaron since he wondered, What on Earth could have happened to her if I wasn’t the one to find her?
He didn’t want to answer that question. Instead, he hugged Luna as she wrapped her hooves around him in return. Tears dripped down from her eyes as Aaron heard slight sobs. He couldn’t help but let out a couple of his own as well.
After another moment had passed by, Aaron let go of Luna and looked her straight in the trembling eyes. Trails of dried up tears had ran down her face as she gazed back at Aaron with a quivering lip. He tried to wipe some of the tears off with his shirt.
“Ok, ok...” He rubbed Luna’s face, “I will tell you what. Can we make a promise to each other?”
Luna looked back up at him. “What’s a promise?”
Aaron smiled. “A promise is something that we keep between each other, knowing that we cannot do anything to break it.”
He further explained, “Let’s say that I promise you that I will give you a cookie each night.”
Luna cracked a slight grin at the thought. “I… I would like that!”
“I knew you would.” Aaron chuckled for a moment, softly patting Luna’s head. “Well then, let's say that after I promised you to a cookie each night, I don’t give you one tonight.”
Luna gasped, “Oh, no!”
“Yeah,” Aaron replied. “That is breaking a promise, and you never want to break a promise, no matter what.”
He pointed his finger at her. “You got that?”
Luna nodded, “Yes. You never break a promise no matter what.”
“Exactly!” he cheered with his fists waved out in front of him. “Now, listen to me since I am going to make this promise to you that I will keep. Ok?”
“Ok,” she replied with a small amount of eagerness. Luna lightly leaned into Aaron to hear him clearly. She stuck out an ear as Aaron made his promise.
“I am not going to ever abandon you, ever,” he said with certainty. “I promise. Got it?”
“Got it!” Luna softly exclaimed with a glistened expression. It was her first promise and she was glad to know Aaron wasn’t going to anything to leave her behind. She was absolutely certain he meant every single word of that promise he intended to keep.
Aaron smiled again. “Alright then, here’s what I plan on doing… Since you don’t like going to the store, I won’t make you come with me if you don’t want to, right?”
“Right!” Luna jumped to her hooves, tail swishing around in excitement.
“Awesome...” Aaron explained, “I will leave you here, NOT ABANDONING YOU, but just leaving you here for a short while as I go pick up some more groceries from the store.”
“You got that?” he asked, lifting himself off the floor and back onto his feet.
Luna nodded her head. “Uh-huh!”
“Good.”
Aaron walked over to his bedroom and closed the door behind him, making sure Luna remained in the living room. After reemerging with a fresh new set of clothing, along with some shoes on as well, he walked over and grabbed the keys to his car from the top of the mantel. He then said his goodbyes to Luna as he headed for the door.
“Alright now…” He directed, “You behave, and don’t do anything I will get upset over. Got it?”
“Got it!” she replied, lying on the couch. “I promise.”
Aaron could only laugh and smile at that.
A half-hour had passed before Luna heard the front door’s lock tumble. Poking her head up at the noise from the couch, she saw Aaron unlock the door and bump it open with his back. With his arms completely occupied to the elbows in heavy grocery bags, Aaron walked with a grunt before he used a leg to close the door behind him.
“You’re home! You’re home! You’re home!” Luna exclaimed as she jumped up and down on the couch.
“Eeyep,” was all that Aaron could muster out as he slowly walked towards the kitchen, bags in tow.
Managing to finally set down his bags on the dining table with a soft thump, Aaron let out a sigh of relief before Luna trotted into the kitchen. Like a dog, she continued to be ecstatic over the fact he returned, nearly jumping all over his legs. From Aaron’s view, he could see the bright smile she proudly wore on her face as she hopped on her hooves.
“You’re home! Like you promised!” she exclaimed with a certain beam in her eye.
Aaron began to remove the various items of food from the bags. “Yeah, I’m home, just liked I promised. Did you behave yourself?”
“I did,” she replied, sticking her chest out with a bit of pride. “Like I promised.”
Luna then looked up at the bags and asked, “Are there more cookies in there for me?”
“Only if you continue to be a good little girl… erm.” Aaron was surprised by the words he spoke. Shaking his head for a moment, as his eyes wandered around while his mind searched for the correct thought.
“Uh, I meant filly.” Embarrassed by what he said, Aaron turned his attention away from Luna as he put some cans of chicken noodle soup away in the pantry.
Right as he looked back at her, Aaron saw Luna levitate a piece of paper off the countertops. With a puzzled look, Luna floated it over towards him in a cyan aura to get his attention back. As soon as he grab it, she let off the spell.
“What is this?” he asked, inspecting the paper.
Luna shrugged. “I don’t know, but it was slipped under the door while you were gone. So I put it up there until you got back.”
“Hmm…”
Aaron took a look at the piece of paper. However, it didn’t take anymore than a few seconds before his jaw became unhinged. He was absolutely flustered by what he read:
Apartment Notice - 07/26/16
Lease Violation
To the resident of Apt. 101,
You have 48 hours to correct the following violations to your apartment or otherwise face a penalty fee of $100 added to the month’s rent:
Unauthorized pet: Please remove your Cat? Pony? Dog?
Your apartment will be inspected on 07/28/16 to make sure you are within compliance with this notice. Please see the community manager if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
The Management Team
Aaron facepalmed.
“Well, great,” he sighed.
"What is it?" Luna asked.
Later that night...
You should have told her! He thought to himself, It’s not fair to hide that sort of information from her! She can’t stay here in this apartment! She has to go! Yet... Gah! She just... can’t!
Aaron wasn’t able to sleep for almost the entire night. As he sat up on his bed, his mind was bombarded by unrestful thoughts. All of them were concerns about what the notice actually meant to him. It wasn’t an issue to him about how and why he broke the rule. The true problem was over the matter of Luna’s residency. She couldn't stay there at all. Otherwise, it would be an extravagant cost against Aaron.
While he didn’t make a fortune as a restaurant floor manager, Aaron was still able to get on by with the pay he received. It’s a living wage, but with no benefits. Therefore, Aaron had to cover for his own various insurances. Adding on the cost of his bills, groceries, and gas, spending money was near myth to him since the rest went into an emergency fund.
In the case of this notice, the money he would owe if he didn’t follow through was minimal since the fund could quickly cover for it. The true problem was the fact he could lose his home after a couple of more intentional offences. In other words, if Luna kept on being seen.
That is where Aaron began his thoughts. What if I just tell Luna to never go near that window ever again? No… She needs the daylight and to see the outdoors. I cannot shelter her like a pet since that would be unfair to her! Gah! She can’t be seen though! To which, that means she cannot go near the window again. However, that means she can never go outside again!
Aaron rubbed his temples. No, no, no, no, no! Again, she’s a girl- erm, filly that needs to go outside and have fun without the world shutting her in. Without me shutting her inside this apartment, hiding away her own every existence. She wouldn’t understand that. Thus, it would leave only herself to blame at first before it turns on me.
Aaron took in a deep breath before he briefly exhaled. Ok, I don’t want that to happen. Yet, if she does keep getting seen then it will be both of us that are left without a home. Where will I go? I cannot afford any other place since they are more expensive than here. Also, I know my mom and grandma won’t let me stay at her places for too long. As for Luna though….
Aaron looked up and gazed across his bedroom. On the floor and near his walk-in closet was a makeshift bed made up of white sheets that curled around Luna. Aaron admired how she slept peacefully without a single worry to her while his mind continued to frantically search for the answers to the current situation. Troubled, he got up and walked out of the bedroom.
After he quietly stepped into the kitchen, Aaron turned on the light. Once his eyes had adjusted, he walked over to the countertops and picked up where he left the notice. He then reread it word-for-word.
Skimming his finger over a single sentence, he mumbled, “Please see the community manager if you have any further questions.”
He huffed. I guess that’s what I need to do. If it doesn’t work out, then I guess, well-
The time was seven o’clock in the morning. Standing in front of a full body mirror outside his bedroom door, Aaron looked over his uniform. From his white polo to his red tie, he checked for any deformities or stains. After he pinned on his rectangular name tag, Aaron brushed off the dust from his black pleated pants, belt, and shoes before he proceeded into the living room.
Luna sat on the couch and waited for Aaron to finish getting ready for work. As soon as he stepped into the room and looked at her, Luna sat up on the couch and smiled. With her tail flicking around, she was eager to see how he dressed for work everyday. Luna was happy to see him appear sharp and somewhat ready to take on the day, despite his grogginess from staying up for most of the night.
“Ok, Luna.” Aaron yawned, “I need you to repeat the rules I said back to me.”
“Alright,” she replied, holding up a hoof. “Don’t go near the window at all.”
“Right.” Aaron nodded, walking over to the mantle to pick up his keys.
“Don’t play rough in the house or touch anything.” Luna softly sighed.
“Go on,” Aaron stated as he picked up his keys and tucked it into his pant’s pocket.
“If I get hungry,” Luna licked her lips. “... I should go into the kitchen and find the cookie jar.”
“Correct!” While Aaron gazed at her, he took a leather jacket off a metal hook near the mantelpiece. “...And what was the last thing I told you?”
“Umm, Umm…” Luna struggled for a moment as she tried to collect her thoughts. “Oh! If anyone comes in the house, I will hide in the closet!”
“Yes!” Aaron put on his jacket. “Good job!”
“Alright.” Aaron walked over the front door and turned around to look back at Luna. “I will be back in a little while… You behave now, you hear?”
“Yes, Aaron!” She exclaimed. Suddenly, she curled her lip. “Can I get a hug before you go?”
Aaron grinned with a chuckle, “Of course, sweetie.”
Luna hopped off the couch and ran over towards Aaron. He had knelt down to her level and with a single giant scoop, he had used his arms to pick up Luna and hug her within his grasp. Feeling her fur rub up against his clothing, Aaron’s thoughts about his grouchiness seemed to fade away as he realized why he was up for most of the night.
I’m doing this to keep you here with me, Luna, he said to himself. You seem to give me this strength that I just can’t seem to explain. But, heck, if the world wants to fight against me, then I shall rise and show them what they don’t wish to mess with.
After he left his apartment, Aaron began to walk over the management office. It was located across the compound of brick buildings he called home. The distance of walk wasn’t a problem, but the chill of winter’s wind made the stroll a bit unbearable for Aaron. Tucking his hands into his jacket, he shivered his way over to the apartment’s authorities.
Reaching their front door within a small amount of time, Aaron pulled it open and stepped into the marble entryway. A doorbell had rung above him, which alerted the female attendant that sat behind a wood desk surrounding the center of the room. Aaron had smiled at her when she said her apathetic, “Hello” to him with her Midwest accent. It seemed to Aaron that she was as happy as he was to be there.
“How may I help you?” she asked, looking at him with her azure eyes.
“Um, yes,” he replied, pulling out the notice from his coat pocket. “I was unfortunate to receive this note from you guys just the other day.”
He handed the piece of paper to the desk clerk. Aaron continued, “...and I was wondering if I could be able to speak to the community manager in regards towards what it says.”
The attendant scanned over the document before she handed it back to Aaron. “Sure thing, just let me go notify her and I will get back to you shortly. Ok?”
“Thank you, ma'am.” Aaron replied, tucking the notice back into his pocket.
The clerk got up from her seat and walked off into an open hallway beside the desk. She took a turn and was soon out of Aaron’s view. As he stood inside the entryway and waited for her to return, Aaron shuffled his pockets around before he gazed at the television hung behind the desk. It showed the latest commercial for a workshop where you can build your own cotton stuffed bear.
Another moment had passed by and the assistant emerged from the corner of the hallway and signaled for Aaron to come over. As he stepped towards her, she smiled once more and showed Aaron where the Community Manager's office was. After Aaron said, “Thank you,” he walked towards the last door on the left at the end of the amber colored corridor.
Aaron peered his head into the room and saw a lady with glasses sitting at her desk. On the front of it was a small plaque labeled “Mrs. Cruella Trunchbull - Community Manager.” The entire office was decked out to resemble the style of a 1950s film noir. Posters for The Big Heat, Casablanca, and Touch of Evil were hung on the wall. A statue of a falcon, a fedora, and a deck of playing cards were placed above the countertops of her L-shaped desk. At the it’s bend, a replica gas mantle lamp post stood and illuminated the room in an amber colored glow.
“Oh, please my dear,” she said in her soft British accent. “Please, please come in and have a seat!”
Aaron stepped into the room and sat down on one of the wingback chairs situated in front of the desk. “Thank you.”
“So,” Mrs. Trunchbull pulled away from her computer and turned her attention towards Aaron. “My assistant told me about the problem you seem to have.”
“Yes.” Aaron gulped, “...and that is why I came to talk to you about it.”
“Uh-hm, yeah.” The manager rolled her eyes, “So tell me the story then.”
“I’m sorry.” Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. He was confused by her demand. “The story?”
“The story of why you have a pet in your apartment,” she clarified, crossing her arms.
Aaron couldn’t think of an answer off the top of his head. If he told the truth, the story of how Luna got into his apartment would have come off as absurd and unbelievable as a magical, talking pony is. The left him to come up with some kind of a believable lie to cover for Luna. However, he had to come up with something quick or otherwise suffer through the awkward silence he created by the seconds he didn’t talk.
“Well?” Mrs. Trunchbull asked.
“Well, ma’am.” Aaron cleared his throat. “It happened this last Saturday. I was chilling out on my couch, in my living room, when I started to hear this meowing coming from the kitchen.”
Aaron scratched his head. “So I began to wonder why I was hearing this meowing over and over. So, I got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to find out what kept causing the noise.”
“Sure enough!” Aaron enthusiastically exclaimed. “There was this cat in the kitchen. She had on no collar so I assumed she was a stray since the coat was all nappy and unkempt.”
He sighed, rubbing the side of his head. “While I had no idea of how it got into my place, I thought to myself that it would be alright to take care of it for a bit until I am able to get some time away from work to take it to the shelter.”
“Then I got this notice from you guys.” Aaron pulled out the piece of paper from his coat and held it to the manager. “To which, I then knew I needed to come and talk to you about it and maybe see what we might be able to work something out.”
Aaron handed over the notice to Mrs. Trunchbull. “I see,” she replied. “So you took in the stray despite our No Pet Policy, right?”
“Yeah,” Aaron was alarmed by her emphasis on the words “No Pet Policy.” “...and I was wondering if-”
“Well, I am very sorry Mr. Knight, right?” She tilted her head down to allow her eyes to see over her glasses.
“Yes.” was all Aaron could say.
“Well.” The manager didn’t waste her time to tell Aaron the truth. “I cannot help you with this since your contract says that you cannot have a pet living inside the apartment at anytime during your residency.”
“Do you understand?” she asked, looking straight at Aaron.
“Yeah,” Aaron lowered his head. “I understand, thank you.”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” she stated with a bit of sympathy. “...but if the pet isn’t meant for therapy or service obligations then you can not have it inside the apartment at all.”
“I see, I see.” Aaron nodded.
“Well, do you have anymore questions?” Mrs. Trunchbull turned back towards her computer and began to scan through her emails. She still payed attention to Aaron.
“No,” Aaron confirmed. “...besides the fact that I need to have the cat out by tomorrow?”
“According to the notice…” She looked back over the piece of paper. “Yes. You need to have it gone before the inspection that you need to be present for.”
“Wait.” Aaron was surprised. “I need to be present for it?”
“Yes,” she firmly replied. “...or otherwise we will keep checking the place every two days afterwards.”
Aaron couldn’t understand the reasoning towards those multiple checks. “Why?”
“Well.” She turned back over to Aaron and crossed her arms again. “We sometimes have owners who will miss these inspections while taking their cat or dog with them as well.”
“So…” she adjusted her glasses. “Now we ask that the owners be there for their inspections so they can sign off on it.”
“But what if I am at work like I will be tomorrow?” Aaron asked with a concerned tone in his voice.
Mrs. Trunchbull pulled out a notebook and held within her hand a pen. “When do you work?”
“Nine to Five” Aaron answered.
“Ok.” The manager wrote down the hours Aaron claimed to work. “...and so you will be available in the afternoon until around six o’clock, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Aaron replied, clenching his fist.
“Alright then…” Mrs. Trunchbull finished writing her notes down. “I can definitely make that work since I am the one that does the inspection.”
“Oh, really!” Aaron was shocked. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “So six o’clock tomorrow, right?”
“Perfect,” Aaron replied, not enthusiastic with knowing when she was coming to look over his apartment.
After a quick shake of their hands, Aaron left the office and walked back out and down the corridor. Making his path towards the entryway, he passed by the center desk and said, “Have a good day” to the assistant. After she replied, “Whatever,” Aaron walked through the front door and was back outside in the cold temperature. He strolled to his car parked across the compound.
Reaching his car, he opened up the driver’s side door and climbed into the cabin. Inserting the keys into the ignition switch, Aaron turned on his engine and tuned the heat to full blast. As the warm air flowed into through the vents, Aaron warmed up inside his car as he took off his jacket. Once he got comfortable, he fastened his seatbelt and prepared himself to drive to the next location...
His job.
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I'll be watching...
Loving this story, but I think it is a good one to keep short. There are far too many stories with displaced ponies which just drag on and on. I think this would be best if you evolved Luna and Aaron's relationship into a close, pseudo-sibling friendship, yet let Luna get sent home after about a month, at most. If you wanted to continue it past that point, you could write a series of one-shots with Luna visiting at later points in Aaron's life. Right now it is charming, but dragging it out will detract from that charm.
7837953 I agree with you and I don't plan on dragging it out for an excessive amount of time like other stories that could run parallel to this one. *cough cough * Nightshine * cough cough *
As for now, I will say no more. I just invite you to stick around and hope you enjoy it.
Curse you apartment owners and your bias towards maical talking creatures! Can't wait for next chapter. Oh I hope he either finda a nicer place or Luna ends up talking to the owner, freaking him out and letting them stay, course rules will be need to be set cause apartment owners ar hearltess heathens.