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It was Monday, and Monday didn't mean having to force yourself to school, not for Mortimer Morrison and the others at the magical animal shop; for them, Mondays meant game night.
There was also something new. Henry got LED stripes for his room, these things that you'd glue into the corners of your ceiling. He ended up with a lot of leftovers, so Eddie suggested he'd bring it over to the magical animal shop. Mortimer was skeptical at first as he glued the stripes on the ceilings this afternoon, but now he found it to be a good idea. It made this place seem like a club.
"Alright everyone, what do we want to play today?" The owner asked as he was hunched over a huge toy box that had multiple board games in it. The problem was, they had played pretty much everything already, because they established this tradition months ago and there weren't that many games to play.
The twelve meerkats didn't listen, and the lugworms started singing in this moment. They sang Jingle Bells when Christmas was five months ago...
"Guys, stop that." Mortimer sighed, even though he knew it didn't work. "It's May!"
"Oh, really?" The worms actually paused for a moment before starting to sing Last Christmas.
Murphy scooted a little closer to the man. "Let's just wait for Mary to arrive and play something without them." He briefly glanced over to Pinky, who was currently busy looking out of the window. "Just the four of us!"
"Don't forget me!" Joschi yelled.
"Right, sorry!" The polar bear excused himself. "Yeah, Joschi and us." He hushed over to the fridge and opened it, looking for something.
Mortimer watched him for a while, starting to wonder. And then to worry. "What are you looking for?"
Murphy pulled out a bottle of vodka, holding it up like a trophy. "We should play a drinking game!"
Joschi gasped. "No! Boss, where do you even have the alcohol from?"
"Fitzgeraldo stole it back when he lived here." The owner shrugged. "Anyway, sure, I'm in."
"I'm in, too!" Pinkie chirped, hopping over to the others.
However, Murphy gave it a second thought and shook his head solemnly. "No, Pinkie, I don't think you should."
"I don't want to play, either." The beaver announced. "Or I'll just drink water instead."
"Same goes for me, then!" The magpie hopped on his head so they could get all the stuff they needed.
And in that moment, the door opened. It was Mary! "Hey, everyone." She greeted. The animals all greeted back. She didn't understand them, though. When she walked over to her brother, she got suspicious. "What's going on?"
"Oh, hi, Mary!" Mortimer grinned. "Murphy suggested we'd play a different game today."
The teacher didn't seem to be that impressed. She let Agent Y crawl on her hand (the rest forgot he was even here). "I don't think animals should drink alcohol..."
"Don't worry about it, only Mortimer and I are actually going to drink vodka. And you, if you want to. Joschi and Pinkie go with water!" Murphy explained, though Mary did not understand a word, so her brother translated it for her.
She was still unsure. "I mean, it's school tomorrow—"
"Hey, it's been two years since we started handing out animals to your class, we should celebrate that!" Mortimer suggested, already taking the shot glasses that Joschi and Pinkie brought them. Even though the anniversary was in September...
Almost two years already? Every child had an animal now. Miriam too, who wasn't even in this class. Well, actually, one child was left. Leonie. She's been dying to have a pony ever since Ida, the first child to receive one, got Rabbat.
The poor girl's catchphrase, "I want a pony NOW!" went through the teacher's head. Poor Leonie... And the worst thing was, she had no one to talk about it with anymore. Matteo, whom she complained about it with, back when he didn't have an animal, either, had Klitschko now. Being all alone was a reason to receive an animal, right?
No, wait, it was Monday evening; Mary really should calm down a little. She didn't get to relax that much lately, with the end of the school year approaching and all. And she knew her limits, too. "You know what, sure, count me in! But what kind of drinking game are we playing?"
"Let's just take a shot whenever..." As Murphy was thinking, one of the meerkats threw a ball across the room, almost hitting an old vase. "I know! Whenever the meerkats or worms make a mess."
"And when the worms start singing again." Mortimer added, pouring some water into Pinkie's glass. "I guess instead of taking a shot, you'll just take a sip, eh, Pinkie? I'd have no idea how else you could do it."
"Yup!" The magpie dipped her beak into the water as a test. It looked like those wooden birds that'd periodically dip their beak into water, too. No idea what they were good for, though.
Murphy poured vodka into his, Mortimer's, and Mary's shot glasses (for her only halfway). They didn't even have to wait; a meerkat grabbed another by its legs and twirled it around, accidentally losing the grip and making it fall down. "Are you okay?" Mortimer yelled, and both of them nodded and hopped somewhere else. "Well then! This is the first shot of many, hopefully! Or not, I hope not. I'm always scared they'll break something."
"I wonder if they'll ever find someone." Mary thought out loud, emptying her cup. "Would they all have their individual children?"
"I guess." Her brother replied. "It would be a hassle if all of them were assigned to the same child. Oh, man, I already feel sorry..."
"Them staying here for a while would be good, too." Murphy said. "Even though they break stuff all the time and make a mess, I like them."
"We kind of are like a big, happy family, right?" Mortimer tapped Pinkie's head softly.
Joschi wanted to say something, but it was time for the next shot. The worms convinced a meerkat to sing karaoke, so now loud schlager music filled the room. Most people in this house liked it, though. And then the next shot was due. And the next one. And so on.
"That's enough for now." Mary decided after her seventh (half) shot. "Are you guys alright?"
Murphy gave a thumbs up. As a polar bear, he had a lot of mass and thus also a big alcohol tolerance. Mortimer only giggled.
The teacher started to worry. "Then that's enough for you, too." She got up to collect everyone's glasses and put them into the sink. "Their music is starting to hurt my ears..." And if that wasn't enough, someone found the remote of the LED strips and made them switch colors constantly.
"Shot number eigh—" Joschi slapped Mortimer's hand with his tail. "What was that for?!"
"Mary just said that's enough!"
"Oh, you guys are no fun." The owner got up, stretching. Despite the loud music (he'd usually mind a lot), he still heard someone ring the bell. "Who could it be?"
"I'll go look." Murphy was the last one to get up and opened the door. It was Ida! Rabbat behind her. "Hello!" He waved.
The girl did not understand him, but she waved back. "What is going on here?"
The bear didn't hear what she was saying, so he leaned closer.
"What's going on here?"
Still nothing. He leaned even closer.
"I SAID, WHAT—"
"Ida? Is everything okay?" Mary pulled Murphy away and worriedly looked at her student. It was really loud, so she stepped outside and closed the door slightly.
The girl nodded. "We were just going home from Benni's. I helped him study for the math test on Thursday!" If she was going home now, it was 8PM maximum... Weird. Back in Scotland, evenings similar to these were way later. Was Mary getting old...?
"I see! Very good." Now she realized that it was her student she was talking to. Mary wasn't tipsy or anything (she had a higher tolerance than her brother, too), but it was still a bit embarrassing for her to be seen at something like a "party" when she was a teacher.
Ida looked at her fox for a moment. "And we passed the magical animal shop, so we were wondering what's going on."
She has always been nosy, but being nosy was a good thing, too. "It's Monday! Mort-- Mister Morrison organizes game nights on Mondays, you see? Some animals are doing karaoke, and Henry brought some LED strips over, so it's a bit more than usual."
"Hey, who are you talking to, Mary?" Mortimer tried pushing himself through the door.
Rabbat smelled something. "I think I know what's going on." He whispered to Ida, but to his dismay, Mortimer heard him.
"Hello, you two! Yes, the best game night ever is going on!" He announced. "Do you want to join us?"
"No, Saturday was two days ago." Ida replied politely, a little shocked that someone like Mister Morrison would get drunk. Well, he was an adult and surely had a life outside of handing out animals to her class, too.
"Aww, what a shame! You know, when everyone in your class has an animal, then we will have a huge party here, even bigger than this one!"
Ida didn't really mind that idea. As long as she could dance with Jo again! "Leonie's the only one without an animal."
"I was also thinking about that today." Mary added.
Mortimer's face fell slightly. "I feel so bad for her... Magical animals are the best; she must feel really left out! I tried looking for someone, but nothing! You know what?" The man grabbed his hat from the coat hook on his wall, grinning smugly. "I'll look again! PINKIE!"
She flew to him straightaway. "What's up, boss?"
"We're going to find a pony for Leonie!"
Everyone stared at him. "Now?!"
"YES, now!" Mortimer got through the door, glancing over at the van. "I can't drive right now, so let's walk!"
"Mortimer, no!" Mary tried grabbing his arm, but he ran away from her. For a drunk man, he ran surprisingly fast. Only Pinkie could catch up.
"I hope she'll settle this..." She looked back at Ida. "Ida, I know you can't keep secrets, but please don't tell anyone about that, okay? I'll even give you an A."
"I already get A's."
"Well then I'll give Jo an A! Just... Go home, okay? Rabbat, take care of her. See you tomorrow!" And she closed the door so the redhead couldn't talk back.
Mary would drive after her brother if she could, but she drank, too, even if not that much. Better safe than sorry. "They'll be fine... I'll look for them if they don't come back until sunrise."
"Mortimer, where the hell are you going?! Everyone's worried!" Pinkie yelled, flying beside him.
He rolled his eyes. "They'll pick me up if they start worrying. I'm on a mission!"
The magpie had no other option than to watch for the poor guy. He was going to be so embarrassed when he was sober again. "Hmm... Look, Leonie would be super happy that you'd go search for her pony, but she wouldn't want you to do it drunk and at a time like this, you know!" Then again, she'd let him do anything to get her pony. Leonie was strange... "Also... Where the hell are we?"
"I don't know. On a meadow, I guess." They came pretty far... The thing was, Mortimer and Pinkie were in a lot of parts of the world, they knew a lot of places by heart, but not the town they were currently living in, even though they lived here for a long time.
Mortimer bent down to look for something, anything. He found bugs. "Hello! Stop walking if you understand what I'm saying..." The bugs didn't stop, so he tried getting up but fell on the ground instead.
"Mortimer! Oh man, get up!" As a magpie, Pinkie couldn't do a lot, obviously.
"Hey, you know..." Mortimer turned to look at her. "This is a good place for taking naps..."
"Are you for real? You're never drinking alcohol again!"
"Shhh... G'night." The man turned away from her.
What was she going to do now? Collect leaves to keep him warm? At least it was May and he wore warm clothes, still...
"MORTIMER MORRISON, YOU GET UP RIGHT NOW!" He seemed to sleep like a rock, and Pinkie genuinely had no idea what to do anymore. Maybe screaming for help would do something...?
A herd of horses passed by in that moment. No way. Wild horses? Here? Well, there were some in other parts of Germany, but not here... Must've been a miracle.
"Hey! You guys!" Pinkie shouted. She couldn't see much in the dark, it looked like some horses looked at her briefly, but they kept walking. "I need help! Please! I am a tiny magpie and don't have anyone else to help me right now!"
She kept squinting at the horses, and a dark spot moved closer and closer until..."
"I'm guessing this guy died?"
"No?!" Pinkie flinched. "He passed out. Alcohol."
The horse moved down slightly to smell Mortimer, gently pulling its head back. Just in that moment, Pinkie realized they actually found a talking pony. Or horse. Whatever. Was there a difference?
Pinkie didn't really know what to do right now. "Hey, um, so, we were looking for you, actually. This is Mister Morrison, the—"
"The owner of the magical animal shop? Ugh."
"Hey!"
"What?" The horse let its mane wave through the wind. "I know you guys. Every magical animal around here does. I just don't know what's so appealing about your shop and getting a schoolboy or girl assigned to you."
Mortimer slowly regained his consciousness and looked up. As he saw and heard Pinkie talk to a horse, he panicked a little. "Am I dead?!"
"No?" Both replied at the same time.
"Anyway, get up. I'll bring you home." The horse then added.
He was so shocked he got up in no time. "I—I finally found you!"
"No, I did!" Pinkie corrected him.
The horse snorted. "Get off your high horse, Morrison. I'm only bringing you home!"
"What? But Leonie needs you!"
"Leonie? You mean this weird girl who almost fainted when she saw us?"
Now it hit Pinkie, they weren't out in the wild, they were near this pony farm that brought horses for that one school festival around two months ago.
"So you were nearby but said nothing?!"
"Like I said, I wasn't interested. And I can't just leave like that! Now get over here before I change my mind."
Mortimer obliged; he tried climbing on the horse, with Pinkie helping him. The horse was warm and soft. He could easily fall asleep again. "What's your name? Do you know where our house is?"
"I'm Liberty." Liberty introduced herself. "And yes, I know."
Neither of the three said anything the entire way back home. Liberty seemed to be as careful and quiet as possible so that nobody would spot them.
She stopped around a mile before the shop. "I won't go further. You know where you are now, right?"
"Yes, thank you." Mortimer got off easily, bowing as well. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Liberty!"
The horse mumbled something about the last time and then turned her back on them. "Goodbye." She simply said, slowly disappearing into the night.
Pinkie and Mortimer watched her leave, when they didn't see her anymore, the magpie spoke up. "Well... at least we know that magic ponies exist now. The question is... Are Leonie and she even a match? She clearly doesn't feel the need to leave."
Karajan was similar to her. He couldn't stand Helene at first. But he warmed up to her later. The difference between him and Liberty was that they weren't even sure if Liberty and Leonie were destined for each other.
"Pinkie, we have a mission!" Mortimer simply announced, seeming to regain composure again.
"Can we go home first?"