Monster Pups

 -HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLANCK!

A loud thump accompanied Lucy opening the door. Planck was standing in front of his mirror, wondering which white shirt he should be wearing today. The moment the door open he jumped in surprise.

-Have you been introduced to the concept of privacy?

-Haven't you heard what I said? Happy Birthday! Here, I brought you a cake.

Lucy searched through her bag and took out a big chocolate cake, with 15 burning candles spelling "Happy Birthday!!".

-Hurry up and eat it, I made some arrangements and prepared a surprise for you!

-I love chocolate! Thank you Lucy. Please let me put a shirt on first though.

Planck quickly covered himself up while Lucy put the cake on the table while humming "happy birthday to you".

-Remember to think of a wish before you blow them out.

Planck took a decent amount of time thinking before blowing out the candles.

-What did you wish for?!

-I'm not telling you.

-Come on, don't be a meanie.

-It won't come true if I say it out loud!

-Okay, okay. Go wash your hands and I will set it up for you.

Lucy put a fork and a plate on Planck's desk and cut him out a nice piece of the cake. Planck went to a bowl of warm water, picked up a block of soap and started washing his hands while humming a hand washing song he learnt as a child. Inside the cake was alternating shades of brown, dark to light and back to dark. Room was filled with the scent of cocoa as Planck enjoyed every last bite of his birthday cake. After he finished he looked at Lucy with a stare full of suspicion.

-So what's the surprise?

-Haven't you been introduced to the concept of surprise?

-Come on, don't be a meanie.

-Fine, come here, I'll whisper so nobody else hears it.

Lucy leaned in closer and Planck's eyes went from suspicion to surprise to joy in an unexpectedly smooth motion.

-MONSTER PUPS ARE IN THE CAPITAL?!

***

Colosseum in Arithmia's capital, Universel, was full at least once a month. Dog races, concerts, and for the first time in a long time Monster Pups. Calling them 'dogs on roller skates' would undermine the skill required and danger faced for each dog and its rider. For this event the Colosseum was filled with trampolines and ramps of all kinds; verts, pyramids, A-Frames and arguably most fun to watch - 360 degree loops. As it would happen everyone wanted to watch, and being royal advisor comes with benefits. Including the best seats right next to king.

King Charles was an older man going grey, easily in his 50s, of a an average posture, with a thick moustache. His face was stern most of the time, as he took everything very seriously. This was one of the few times he allowed himself to show the ever so small smile on his face and let loose.

Installed throughout the colosseum were tubes, all starting in a single place inside the arena. It was used for announcements. The announcer, a lady with an afro and a teal dress with Penrose pattern, was ready to start.

-Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for a show you will never forget?

Crowd went crazy. First gate opened. A 3-meters big beagle rolled out with his rider on top. To not overshadow their companions, each rider wore a costume not dissimilar to a onesie depicting their dog's breed. To warm up the crowd, beagle rode up a ramp, and performed a T-Stop while landing, placing his back paws one behind the other and his front paws ever so slightly more to the side to imitate the letter 'T'.

Another gate opened and a poodle moonwalked out of there. It did the classic "chasing your tail" trick. Basically rolling in a circle, 'attempting' to catch their tail. Its rider eventually signaled it to stop and gave a command to jump onto the trampoline and do various poses; 'laying down', 'show belly', doggy eyes'.

Two gates on the opposite sides opened and two dachshund rolled out at fully speed, straight to the ramps and performed a pirouette as they passed each other in the air. After the third time they did this, one of the dachshund turn right and started pushing a cart with a big ring.

-Is he going to make the other on jump through it?

-It seems so Your Majesty.

-Goodness gracious, but he's so long!

Dachshund were usually not used for Monster Pup shows, as short legs made many of the tricks impossible.

-They're the best Your Majesty! They aren't just going to jump through them!

Dachshund pushing the cart didn't show any signs of slowing down as he came closer and closer to the ramp. Neither did the other one. As their paths crossed, colosseum became very silent. Everyone was on the edge of their seats thinking a catastrophe was about to happen. They were wrong, the launching dachshund had enough momentum to pass through the ring with his tail barely touching it.

This time around, 3 huskies emerged from a single gate. They rode in the zipper formation, swapping sides as they rode to a rather spacious part of the arena, where they were jumping over bars and launching from ramps. When they finally arrived at their designated spots, they started camel-spinning, their back paws up in the air and their tails pointing into the direction opposite to their spin. They drew closer, and closer until they were almost touching noses and formed a beautiful, flower likes shape before stopping.

***

A message was passed to the announcer and she got excited.

-Are you ready for the special guest?

-Wait...

Planck started connecting the dots.

Two single dogs, then two, three... Tricks taking progressively more space. And if you were to draw a line from where each monster pup stopped, you would get a spiral.

-Are those... Puponaccis and Fibo?

He liked monster pups and Puponaccis were his favorites. He had their miniatures placed in his room. He thought it's the perfect way to enjoy dogs, watching them from a safe distance as to avoid their smell and not getting any dirt on yourself in the process.

-You have no idea how hard it was to get them to come. I owe them a favor now you know?

Announcer pulled a lever and a loud mechanism could be heard working beneath the ground. From one of the open gates, an Airedale Terrier drifted through the entire colosseum using other monster pups as checkpoints to visit. As he did it, he was drawing the golden spiral on the ground. Other dogs started dispersing, as few seconds after Fibo passed them the ground beneath would flipping over, revealing parts of a 360 degree ramp. Stopping at the last checkpoint Fibo did a 180 degree turn and locked his eyes on ramp's entrance. Whole thing covered a good chunk of the colosseum. He charged full speed, crowd held their breaths, king put a hand over his eyes but left enough space between the fingers so one eye could watch.