Orionby WisherChaptersOrionAntaresBellaNaosGlieseConvergence Point (Sundown)Orion~ ~ ~ Orion ~ ~ ~ “No. Forget it. I won’t do it.” Antares shot him an incredulous look. “Dude,” he said. “... Dude.” “Forget it! I can’t, and I won’t!” “Well, why not?” “It’s… It’s not right.” “Not right?!” said Antares. “Are you sure you got a good look at it?” Taking a short breath, Orion slowly raised his head above the large boulder that he and his friend were hiding behind, one of few places of shelter in the barren desert they were in. He stopped when he could see the black shape of the enemy, standing out against the brick red earth. A rather large Changeling was silently scanning the area with a menacing glare. Suddenly it turned around in their direction. Orion withdrew his head and swore. “What? Did it see you?” asked Antares. The earth pony looked back at him. Even fully clad in combat armor, there was a visibly serious look in his bright blue eyes. “If he had, we’d be running like hell right now.” “We can do that later,” replied Antares. He pumped his shotgun. “I’m going in.” “No!” replied Orion. “Let’s think about this!” But he knew it was too late. Even in the shadow of the helmet’s brim, he could see that familiar glint of malice in Antares’s eyes. It was a spark that echoed the cheeky grin that the colt flashed him every time he was about to get into some sort of mischief, and nothing could hold him back now. “I’d say we’ve thunked long enough,” he said. Before his friend could protest, Antares leapt over the boulder and made a dash towards the Changeling. “Hey! Come get some, you scaly prick!” said Antares, his words followed by a loud and angry hiss. “This is a bad idea,” muttered Orion before running towards the battlefield himself. He galloped headlong towards his friend, who was busy taunting the Changeling as it buzzed around him like an angry wasp. Once he was close to them, Orion stopped in his tracks and pointed his own gun at the large creature. The beast was now easily in his line of view. “C’mon!” yelled Antares. “Do it!” Orion focused himself. The trigger suddenly felt heavy under his hoof. He trembled, and a bead of sweat ran shakily down one of his temples. Alarmed by the sound of its prey, the Changeling spun round to find another pony aiming at it. With another hiss it dashed towards him. “Shoot it!” But Orion didn’t shoot, and his heart skipped a beat as the Changeling grew fast in his field of vision, the cold darkness of its maw revealing two sharp and glinting fangs. Then everything went dark. Game Over His head swimming as he was brought back to reality, Orion took off the visor from his face. On the large screen of the booth in front of him, the two words shone blood red in the middle of a black background, above a series of high scores that his own paled in comparison to. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a migraine coming on from the various neon lights filling the arcade, its bright colors and electronic beeps and sounds, mingled with the agitated whispering of a crowd of foals that had gathered to watch them play Ponies v. Changelings. “Celestia damn it!” yelled Antares to his left as he furiously snatched off his own visor and threw it against the screen of his own booth. From behind the booths that were on the opposite side of their own, three little colts emerged, proudly cackling and mocking the older ponies they had just beaten. “Yeah, yeah, keep on laughing you little shits!” spat an irritated Antares. “You just wait until we get a little more training on this one, we’ll see who’s laughing then!” “C’mon, nevermind them,” Orion told him, feeling amused as the foals blew them raspberries. “They’re just kids.” “Yeah, well at least we don’t have the nerve to play as the enemy... Somebody’s gotta teach these brats a lesson about respect!” grumbled Antares. “D’you really wanna get thrown out for damaging property and assaulting other customers?” Antares looked back at his friend. A smirk was slowly tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Oh no you don’t,” said Orion. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” The two colts left the arcade and stepped outside, exiting into one of Canterlot’s busiest streets. It was a gorgeous summer day; the sky was of a crisp blue, tinted with the everlasting hue of orange. The sun glowed warmly, and there was not a cloud to dull its shine, only the smooth crescent of the moon’s outline floating like a clear bubble of soap above the ground. All around them the hustle and bustle of Equestria’s heart roared, the great mass of ponies going hurriedly about their business, drifting in and out the various newly built office towers, restaurants, shops and other businesses that seemed to have been crammed in every available inch of space of the city’s streets and alleyways. For a small moment, Orion felt as though he was suspended in time and space, his friend and him the only ones that weren’t running around or shouting with the mass before them. He raised his face towards the sky, closing his eyes for a few seconds. It felt nice to feel the hot sunshine warm his lavender coat after having been holed up in the arcade. “Please tell me I was never like that,” said Antares next to him. Orion looked at his friend, a crimson earth pony whose constantly ruffled brown mane gave him an impression of always being on the run. “I’m not even gonna pretend you and I weren't like that,” chuckled Orion. “Although in hindsight, you were probably worse.” “Hahaha,” replied Antares dryly. “So what are you gonna do now, funny boy?” “I’m going home,” said Orion. “Gonna spend the day with my mom. What about you?” He turned to his friend, only to find a wide grin spread on his face, as was usual for the hot-headed earth pony. The glint in his eye had returned, and it was much stronger. “I got... stuff to do,” said Antares. The cheeky tone and slight hesitation in his voice were not lost on Orion. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, amused. “Eh, nothing much,” replied Antares, though Orion knew that couldn’t be true. “We can meet up later, if you want.” “Sounds good,” said Orion. “See ya later.” The two ponies went their separate ways, blending with the crowd. “And oh, dude!” called out Antares. Orion turned around to find his friend waving at him. “Happy birthday!” Orion grinned his thanks, and resumed his journey home. As he turned around the corner of Crystal Avenue and Saint-Foal Street, Orion saw that he had arrived at his destination. It was on his way home, but he was going to take a little detour. He was troubled. He walked down the street until he arrived at a large stone church, out of which two or three ponies were quietly coming and going. Taking care not to make too much noise himself, he stepped inside through the great wooden door left ajar. He found himself in the great hall of the church. It was a much cooler place, radiating a quiet and solemn aura that had a soothing effect on the young pony. There were a lot of these churches all around Canterlot, and had been ever since before he was born. They had all been built at around the same time, at the beginning of the Long Day. At that time, Canterlot itself was greatly in need of repair, and much of what it may have been in the past was now lost. Every now and again, Orion would spend some time in this church, when he felt his mind overflowing with too many troubling thoughts. He wouldn’t go about telling this to his friends, as he preferred to keep it a personal secret that the outside world would not be able to touch. Dipping his hoof in a basin of holy water, which he dabbed on his forehead while bowing to the decorated window at the end of the hall, he quietly made his way to one of the benches that were lined up in the room. He sat down and looked up at the large round window that shone like a beacon in the middle of dark walls of the church. The sun dazzled through the tinted glass, making colourful streaks of light in which specks of dust hung listlessly above the stone ground below. Orion looked for a few seconds at the great white mare that was painted there, giving him a soothing smile while her luscious mane flowed behind her. Next to her, on the bottom hand corners of the window, two other ponies were depicted. One was a mare of deep blue, shown half-shrouded in the night sky while the moon and stars danced above her, and the other a smiling purple mare, spreading her wings against the evening colours of twilight. Every time Orion saw that familiar window, he thought to himself that he would very much have liked to meet these three regal ponies. But he knew one of them was no longer part of this world, and that the other two were rumored never to leave the great castle that was perched atop the city, the only ponies mysteriously hidden from view in a place where no one ever went in or about. Life went on in Canterlot. But behind the happy faces and amidst the ups and downs of everyday life, there was a lingering fear that somewhere, the enemy might still be hiding behind pony traits… waiting for the princesses to show themselves once more. Orion dispelled these unsettling thoughts and focused on kneeling and putting his forehooves together. Closing his eyes, he began to pray. Dear Princess Celestia... Today I was at the arcade with my friend Antares. We were playing a virtual reality game where a team of combat ponies have to take out a group of Changelings. Not that you don’t know all of this of course… I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. I know I should have, but I couldn’t. I tried to tell myself that it was just a game… but I couldn’t shoot a Changeling in the back. I know they are bad; but they have feelings too. Somewhere far away, they have lives. Some are foals and young ponies, like me. Some lost parents and friends like we did, and I’m sure some of them didn’t want any of this to happen either. I couldn’t distance myself from that when I held one of them at gunpoint. Does that make me a bad pony? I was taught to be respectful of all living things. But I was also taught that the Changelings are the enemy, and that life here was much more peaceful before they ruined it. I don’t know what to do, or what I would do if it happened for real. I hope you are not upset with me. I miss you, dad... He was drawn out of his trance when he felt sunlight hitting his eyelid, and looked up. The sun had continued its course through the sky, and was now beaming onto him through the glass. Orion got up quietly and headed towards the exit, feeling somewhat appeased. He took another bow towards the tinted glass before stepping back outside. Much later that day, as the sky took on deeper hues, Orion was laying on his bed. His previous worries had vanished the moment he was greeted at home by his mother and showered with birthday gifts. He had spent a great afternoon with her, and was now reading a fascinating book on different habitable worlds as well as the theory of parallel dimensions and alternate realities, a subject he was particularly fond of. Suddenly he heard the doorbell ring. After a few seconds of hesitation and being tempted by pretending he didn’t hear it, Orion got up and headed towards the stairs. He stopped when he heard his mother get to the door first, and returned to his room. Oh well, guess it wasn’t that important… “Oh hello, Bella! What a nice surprise!” Orion froze. If there was one pony he both wanted to see at all times and wished would be anywhere else than on his doorstep, it was her. “Good evening, miss Andromeda,” chimed the delicate voice of the mare from downstairs. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but I was wondering if Orion was around?” “Of course you’re not bothering me! And yes, Orion is--” “Right here!” said Orion, dashing downstairs before his mother could finish her sentence. She blinked. “Well, that was fast.” Orion looked at her with a sheepish smile; secretly he had been eavesdropping on their conversation from the top of the staircase. “Hello, Orion,” said Bella, which caused Orion to almost start. “Oh! Hey! Hey, Bella! What’s up?” he asked awkwardly. His mother giggled. “Well, I’ll let you two be. Have fun!” she said before retreating back into the living room. “Thanks! Good evening!” said Bella. Orion secretly wished his mother would have said she needed him at home right now, for any reason at all, as the shy colt found himself in a terribly awkward spot. He could hardly look at Bella; she was a mare with a pearly white coat and a mane of soft, natural blond with a single vivid yellow streak that echoed that of her eyes. It was uncomfortable for him to look at her for more than a second at a time, not only because she was the most beautiful pony Orion could think of -- She was also his best friend’s sister. “Where’s Antares?” he asked. He regretted asking the question immediately as she gave him a confused look. “He’s not here…” she said. “I came alone, I thought we could hang out together.” “Oh! Uh, sure! Absolutely!” said Orion, feeling as though he’d just been struck by lightning. Seeing as her confusion only grew, he mentally slapped himself before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “I mean… Yeah. I’d like that,” he said. “Great!” said Bella. “Let’s go to that big bakery downtown!” “Cake & Cake’s? Why there?” asked Orion “Uh… I dunno,” said Bella with a shrug. “Just thought… uh… y’know?” It was Orion’s turn to be confused. Bella seemed surprisingly nervous all of a sudden. But he decided to brush it off; any place was a good place as long as she wanted to spend time there with him. “Ok!” he said. “Sure, let’s go!” Together they stepped out into the street and made their way to the bakery. Antares~ ~ ~ Antares ~ ~ ~ “I got… stuff to do.” Oh yeah. Stuff to do indeed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked me. ‘Course I couldn’t let him know… not yet. Tsk tsk, Orion, curiosity is a nasty habit of yours. “Eh, nothing much. We can meet up later, if you want.” “Sounds good. See ya later.” Yes. Bullet dodged. He turned around and left, leaving me to contemplate things, when I realized I’d almost forgot to wish the guy a happy birthday. “And oh, dude! Happy birthday!” I saw him grin back at me before I lost him to the crowd. Yes, happy birthday, Orion. Celestia knows you’re in for a treat… Yes siree, it was a beautiful day. On top of that, it was my best friend’s birthday. Could a pony ask for more? Well, maybe a free pass to ditch school for a year and do whatever I want wouldn’t hurt. But right now, things were pretty sweet. And they were about to get a lot sweeter. As I walked down Crystal Avenue, I looked around at the people around me. Usually there were too many to really pay attention to -- you know how it is. Big city, people don’t like socializing, all that. But today, I was looking at each and every one of them, like I had something to show them all. And in a way, I did. This big city always ignored me… always treated me like an average joe out of millions of others… Well, this sucker was about to show them what’s what! Even though they wouldn’t all be there to see it, I was gonna rock this city off its hinges! And then there would be no more losing at the arcade to a bunch of snotty brats. Although technically, I didn’t lose, it was Orion. He was the one who got cold hooves. Wonder what’s up with that... But hey, no need to dwell on that stuff. There was a lot to do… and no time to lose. I went down to Crystal Park, as I was supposed to. There was somepony I had to meet there. As expected, she was late. Don’t you hate it when you put effort into something and people just blatantly show you that it’s not that important to them? ‘Cause that’s what being late means. Frankly, it’s fucking annoying, and it would have annoyed me on any day except today. And on my own birthday. And on Hearth’s Warming. And on Hearts and Hooves Day -- wait, no. Especially on Hearts and Hooves Day. But today it didn’t matter. The sun was shining and nothing could foreseeably go wrong. So I sat down on a bench and waited. It was an easy wait, I mean, the view was fantastic. Crystal Park was no doubt the best place to be on a sunny day. I wonder if they thought of that when they built it? Bah, who knows. It’s just the coolest thing when the sun hits those crystal trees just right, and the trees seem to pass on light to each other in their reflections. Especially in the middle of the park, where a big crystal pony statue stands to the memory of those that died in battle at the start of the Long Day. No wonder so many of them live in this part of town… Word is their home up north was completely destroyed. Also, it didn’t hurt that two lovely crystal mares walked past and giggled while I waited. Sitting on the park bench, eyeing little fillies with bad intent… Hehe. I was about to check out another one that I saw arriving, but on second thought I held back. It was my sister, Bella. I don’t know if she saw through me just then, but she had a look told me she probably did. “You’re late,” I told her. I know I said it didn’t matter all that much, but a guy’s gotta have principles. “Good day to you too,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Time to cut to the chase. “So, ya got anything good for me?” I saw my sister tense up. For a moment I thought she had forgot it and that I was gonna have to smack a filly. But she rummaged through her satchel and my heart skipped a beat when I saw her take out a small white stone with a purple crystal in the middle. “Is this it?” she asked. I took it from her hoof -- actually, more like snatched it -- and watched the magnificent little jewel. Oh. my. Celestia. Yes! “Yeah… Yeah, that’s the one! Great job, sis!” I beamed at her to show my thanks, but she still looked worried. “Do you have any idea what we’re gonna be able to do with this?” “Yeah, I do. But I’d really rather not.” Crap. I thought this might happen. Ugh, some ponies… You put your genius to their use and all they do is pout. “It was a rhetorical question, Bel.” “Yeah, thanks!” she said, visibly annoyed although I couldn’t imagine why. “But this isn’t one of your stupid little pranks, Antares!” “Okay first off, my pranks are not stupid, they are the quintessence of raditude,” I told her. She scoffed, unable to appreciate my humour, but she couldn’t escape the truth. “And it’s not like we’re breaking into the royal castle or anything!” “Did you ever stop to think about the ponies we’re gonna hurt because of this?” “See, you think it’s a big deal because you make it sound like a big deal. We’re not ‘hurting’ anypony, it’s not like it’s gonna ruin lives or anything!” It looked like she wanted to find another preachy comeback, but all she could do was fidget and bite her lip. That’s Bella, alright; always trying to act like my big sister although we were born the same year. “I thought you said you were ok with this?” I asked her. “I did!” she said. I waited for her to explain her weird attitude, but she didn’t. “So what is it?” She gave me a strange look, kinda between fear and anger. “The lady who… from whom this came from…” she said. “I dunno, it just doesn’t feel right.” “What do you mean?” “It’s none of your business.” “Why d’you bring it up, then?” “It doesn’t matter!” she snapped. Mares, I swear… “Just, tell me…” “What is it?” “Promise this whole thing isn’t going to cause any trouble.” I could feel a headache approaching. I thought we’d gone over and over this already. But rather than to aggravate things and bring unto myself the familiar shitstorm of my sister’s wrath, I decided to reconfirm with her what had been true all along. “It’s just a birthday surprise for Orion.” She seemed skeptical. “Honest!” I said. She groaned her approval -- or not. “D’you know where you need to be?” I asked her. “Yeah.” “And at what time?” “Yeah.” “And what you need to d--” “Yes! I’m ready, alright?” “Alright, alright, just checking. Okay, I better hit it, there’s somepony I gotta see for tonight.” “Alright,” said Bella before suddenly taking off. Well, that went much better when we talked about it the first time. Jeez, why is everypony acting so weird on such a fine day? Next stop: New Ponyville. It’s a residential area a little ways further from the city centre. It looks real nice with its little suburban dollhouses and its pavements lined with perfectly trimmed hedges. Nice ponies live here, too; nice middle-class folk with no trouble done or done to. It’s good-looking. It’s quiet. Nothing bad ever happens here, that’s for sure. Live around here, and your brains will melt out of your head like ice-cream from the hot summer’s sun, and the buzz of eternal boredom. If I had to live here, I’d probably be just as permanently pissed off as the pony I had to meet. ‘Course that’s why this was gonna be so fun. He would never agree to do it, but he was gonna end up doing it anyway. How? Well shit, I don’t know how, that’s the best part! I was about to find out! I walked up to a house that pretty much looked like all the others: a big white box with a front door, two windows on the upper story, a bright blue roof to make sure the architect wasn’t completely color blind, a neatly kept front yard with a mini fountain (nice touch) and a garage for storage to the right. I grabbed a bunch of little stones that were laying on the curb, and I threw one to the upper window on the left. I threw just hard enough so that it would only hit the window and not break it of course. Although if it did, it would probably inject a little excitement in their lives... I didn’t have time to formulate an escape plan for that possibility however, as I saw a face approach the window. Blue coat, black mane, obviously not happy to see me… Yep, this was the place. I signaled him to come down, hearing him groan in exasperation from where I was. While I waited, I looked at his house. It was kinda fascinating. I mean, Celestia knows I wouldn’t want to live in this shithole. But at least it’s a nice, clean house. We don’t have houses like that in New Cloudsdale. We don’t have a lot there, really. Not many kids, too, ‘cause their parents don’t wanna bring them up in that neighborhood if they can help it. Suffice to say that when your only playmates are older colts, you get a knack for trouble. It’s fun and all… but it’s not like having a nice house. I heard a loud metal noise as the garage door rolled up. It revealed a messy garage, in the middle of which was an equally messy-looking colt, who always looked as though he’d just been woken up for nothing. I walked up to him and put on my best smile. “Naos, my brother! What’s up?” “What do you want?” he asked moodily. I didn’t expect any other kind of greeting. “Beautiful day, ain’t it?” He looked at me, then at the sky, then back to me. “Uh… Yeah?” “C’mon,” I teased. “D’you really wanna mope around on a day like this? Where’s the love? Turn that frown upside do--” “What’s this about?” he said in his usual deadpan voice. “It’s Orion’s birthday today.” He put a hoof to his face. He probably had a headache. Again. “Oh… Is it? Uh… I didn’t know. I guess I’ll buy him something.” “No, no! No need for that! We’re throwing a little sumthin’ with Bella, and you can help us organize!” He looked at me in curiosity. “What kind of something?” “You know that bakery downtown? Cake & Cake’s?” “Yeah, what about it?” Alright, here goes. Moment of truth. “I wanna rob it.” Finally, it was time. The sun was coming down, and the moon was taking a more defined shape. It was that time of the day where everypony stopped running, for the most part, and felt it was finally time to retreat back to their private lives. Only a few adventurous ponies would be going downtown now, either to work those nighttime jobs that were arguably cooler than those of the day, or to live it up like animals in a concrete jungle. Living it up? Was that what we would be doing? I like to think that it was indeed. But I’d have to make sure of it, because it looked like some ponies hadn’t caught on yet. “This is a terrible idea,” said Naos next to me. See what I mean? “Relax. I’ve done this before, just follow my lead and we’ll be fine,” I told him. We were hidden from sight in a narrow alleyway flooded in the shadows of dusk, that Naos was looking at like they were gonna jump out and arrest him. “You’re out of your mind!” he said. “Yeah, well, you’re out of Boringsville, doesn’t that feel nice?” He grunted, which was fine but it wasn’t a counter-argument. So while my friend was busy overreacting -- like I thought he would, to be honest -- I was busy trying to get the lock to this steel door open. It was the back door to the bakery, which led directly to storage. I pressed the stone Bella gave me earlier that day against the lock. It was supposed to work… but nothing was happening, and I could sense that Naos would end up running around like a headless chicken if it didn’t work soon. But just then, as if on purpose, the stone started glowing against the metal of the door. With a spark, the lock was busted and the door swung just a bit open. “Yes! Hell yeah!” I said. I wanted to shout it out loud, but of course that wouldn’t have been very smart. I didn’t actually doubt this would work, but in a way it still surprised me that it was actually real, that I had called it right. “Shut up, we’re gonna get busted!” whispered Naos so strongly that I felt a tiny droplet of spit hit my coat. “Don’t worry, that was the hardest part.” “Okay, what now?” “Now we go in…” Naos stepped inside the room, which was dark and cool, with a little hesitation. I gotta admit I was a little surprised that he was the first to go in instead of me. Maybe, secretly, he was more eager to do this thing than he let on? That would be so awesome. I followed him inside, and turned around to close the door on us as much as possible. “Remind me why I agreed to do this already…?” I heard Naos whisper to himself. I grinned. Oh, Antares. Oh, baby. You are just too good. Bella~ ~ ~ Bella ~ ~ ~ If Blue Garnet had an extra hoof he didn’t need for walking, he would be nibbling on it nervously. In the early hours of morning, the well-groomed crystal pony was pacing around the living room table, his thick mustache trembling in anxiety. The large house he was in belonged to his mother, who was peacefully snoozing in a comfortable armchair in a corner of the room. For a house in the middle of Canterlot, it was a handsome place, not far from the Crystal gardens. Inside were several vast and cozy rooms, not the least of which was the one they were in right now. The walls were lined with old pictures, many objects that were mostly relics of the past, and several cupboards filled with luxurious items and jewels. In the midst of all this modest luxury, one could easily assume they were in the home of a well-off retired pony. Of course none of this occurred to Blue Garnet, who was used to the place and much too busy fueling his anxiety and thinking nopony should have to worry so much at such an early hour. When she cracked an eye open, Lady Gemmaline saw that her son was still pacing around like he had been doing for the past thirty minutes. “Why don’t you stop buzzing around like a housefly and take a seat next to me?” she teased. “Mother, please!” he replied. “I have to be at work in an hour and she still hasn’t shown up!” Gemmaline chuckled. “I don’t guarantee you’ll live to be as old as me with that kind of attitude,” she mumbled as she nestled herself further in the comfortable leather chair. Just as he was about to stop pacing and retort, a ring on the doorbell was heard that nearly made Blue Garnet jump out of his skin. He made a dash to the front door and swung it open to face a young white mare looking up in surprise at being greeted so fast. “Ah, there you are!” was his greeting. “Erm, I mean… You must be the new social worker?” “Bella, yes,” replied the mare, extending a polite hoof. “Pleased to meet you!” “Pleasure,” replied Blue Garnet as she shook her hoof a little briskly. “Alright listen, I don’t really have time to lose, so I trust you’re up to speed with how to take care of her?” Bella nodded. “Don’t worry, I have excellent credentials and feedback,” she replied with a smile. Blue Garnet looked at her skeptically, one eyebrow raised almost comically high. “Lunch at noon, sharp, tea with a dash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, medication is in the upstairs cabinet in the bedroom, third shelf, on the left next to--” “Alright, alright, you’re good to go,” said Blue Garnet with a wave of his hoof. He turned around towards the inside of the house. “Mother, I’m off to work now! Take care!” There was a moment of silence while he waited for her to reply. “Mother?” he asked worryingly. “You’re going to be late!” sounded a cackling voice from the living room. Blue Garnet grumbled, annoyed that his mother was still playing jokes on him at his age. “I’ll be back at one,” he mumbled as he trudged past Bella without a moment for her to reply. Bella blinked for a second before going into the house and closing the door. She took a while to admire the entry corridor. It was shrouded in a quiet cleanliness that seemed to isolate the entire house from the world outside. She spotted a dresser near the front door, and suddenly remembered why she had come to this house in the first place. Without a sound she scanned the dresser to see if she could spot anything interesting. But the only items resting upon it were a framed picture and several trinkets of little significance to Bella. Ignoring the dresser with a disappointed sigh, she slowly walked into the living room, where she spotted the old pony she was supposed to be taking care of. “Good morning, madam,” she said in a soft and pleasant voice. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Bella,” she said with a little bow. Lady Gemmaline looked back at her with a soft smile and waved a hoof. “Please, dear, call me Gemmaline. I’m sorry about my son, he has a tendency to sweat the small stuff.” Bella looked back at the old mare and couldn’t help but smile. While Gemmaline’s mane seemed to have lost its colour long ago, her coat shone softly with a translucent pink. She had a round and plump face, in which were buried almond-shaped eyes that twinkled playfully. Bella could tell this was a pony who radiated genuine kindness. “Well at least he cares for you,” said Bella. Gemmaline laughed. “Yes, yes he does. Now, how would you like to share a morning cup of tea with me?” “I’ll get to that right away!” chimed Bella, glad she could be of service already. A few minutes later the two of them were enjoying a cup of tea in the living room. For a moment Neither of them said anything. Bella watched in curiosity as Lady Gemmaline took a sip of her tea, closing her eyes and sighing softly as steam from the cup slowly wisped up to her face. Bella wondered if it was just a thing, or if little things like that got better with old age. “Now, this tea is something else,” said Gemmaline, to Bella’s delight. “Wherever did you learn to make it like this?” “Oh, I just… picked it up somewhere. In an old recipe book.” The old mare nodded thoughtfully. “Good books like those are so often lost, it’s a shame. Good to see some young’uns still care about them.” Bella smiled, and took another sip of her tea. “So, tell me about yourself, Bella,” said Gemmaline. For a second, Bella was caught off guard by the sudden question. She hadn’t thought about how exactly she was going to have to introduce herself. She’d been too busy worrying about what she had promised him to do. “Oh! Um, well… What can I say?” she chuckled clumsily. “Well, for starters, where do you live?” Bella swallowed. “... New Ponyville.” “Oh, that’s nice! A good place to live in, surely,” said Gemmaline. “I was supposed to live over there, you know. But my son managed to find me this place this house within Canterlot proper, and I have to say it’s quite convenient.” Bella glanced around the room she was in. “You do have a beautiful home,” she said. “Isn’t it? Thank you for saying so,” replied Gemmaline. There was a short moment of awkward silence. Bella did her best to hide her nervousness behind a smile while Gemmaline scanned her with a wily gaze. “So… Tell me more, dear! Tell me about your family, for instance. I suppose you live with your parents… Do you have any brothers and sisters?” Brothers. Antares. Bella bit her lip. She didn’t like this, not at all. But she knew she would have to do it sooner or later. For him. Bella took a deep breath and set her cup down. There was definitely no escaping this moment now. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” Gemmaline looked at her curiously. “Pardon?” “I lied to you. I’m from New Cloudsdale, not New Ponyville.” Gemmaline looked at her with round eyes. Bella could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest as she waited for the moment the old mare would tell her to leave and never show her face around here again. After a few seconds of nerve-wracking silence, Gemmaline burst into a cheery laugh that made Bella start. “Oh my, dear! Don’t make this old body of mine laugh so hard, you’ll give me a heart attack!” “You’re not upset?” “Well of course not!” said Gemmaline. “Frankly I’m surprised, more than anything. Why would you lie about being from New Cloudsdale?” “I… I wanted to make a good impression,” replied Bella, still a little anxious. “I was afraid that a nice pony like yourself wouldn’t want anything to do with me if they knew I was from over there. It’s… not a very nice place.” Gemmaline chuckled and set down her cup. “Listen, sweetheart, your origin is nothing to be ashamed of. I should know, I’m a minority!” Gemmaline looked at her in empathy. “Don’t let anypony tell you that you’re a certain way just because you’re from a certain place. You understand? Only you can decide what kind of pony you are. Besides, there’s hardship everywhere, not just in New Cloudsdale. People want to turn a blind eye to those places because these are troubled times… But that should never stop you from accepting who you are and being proud of it.” Bella listened to Gemmaline’s words with held breath. When old mare leaned in with a smile and stroked the young pony’s cheek, a single tear ran down its side. “Thank you,” she whispered. Those words were some she had waited a long time to hear, and she felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders almost out of nowhere. She gulped, trying not to cry some more. “Have some more tea, it’ll do you good,” said Gemmaline. Bella gave a shaky laugh, and drank some tea before wiping her wet cheek with a hoof. “I do have a brother. His name is Antares. But… we don’t know who our parents are.” Gemmaline’s eyes flickered for a second. “Oh… I’m so sorry.” “That’s alright,” replied Bella with a weak smile. “We were raised in an orphanage. It was a bit gloomy, but we had the support of a lot of other foals who had lost their parents too on the day of the attack.” Bella looked down into her cup for a moment. “I remember, one day, when I was just a small filly… We were in this center, you know, one of those they built at the start of the Long Day that give out financial help for families in need. My brother and I went there to pick up some supplies and money for ourselves and for the orphanage. It was horrible… Not the cheeriest place in the world, as you can imagine. And so we were sitting on this bench… We’d been there all morning, trying to get in line. At the time, I didn’t understand what was going on; but looking back, I realize they had told us to wait there to allow other ponies to get in front of us. Two orphan foals from New Cloudsdale… we weren’t exactly high priority on their list. Everypony was in distress, and people were pushing each other angrily to make sure they got their supplies before anypony else. I didn’t understand what was going on, I waited for hours for somepony to tell us to step forward, but everypony seemed to pretend we weren’t there. Then my brother started acting up… We were tired, and we hadn’t eaten in a while. I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t listen, he started yelling at me that he was hungry and that he wanted to get out of there. He was still young of course… but everypony was looking down onto us, because they could tell we were from the wrong part of town.” “That’s terrible,” said Gemmaline. She seemed genuinely concerned. Bella nodded, still staring down melancholically into her teacup. “It was. I was so worried, I didn’t know what to do, and I felt it was all my fault. Then suddenly, this colt who was about our age came up to us, despite his mother was telling him not to. He looked at me in curiosity, as if he’d never seen foals like us. I was terrified, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’ll never forget what he told us then.” She looked up at Gemmaline, the tears welling up at the base of her eyes once more. “I’ll let you take my place if you need it.” Gemmaline looked back at her in utter astonishment. “Yeah. That’s the face that pretty much everypony pulled. At first I didn’t know what to do. Then I got up, and I got our share of food and money for my brother and I, and we made a dash for it outside. Looking back it wasn’t the most polite or thankful thing to do, but we didn’t want to have to spend one more second in that place.” “That was tremendously good of that colt to help you out.” “Yes, he’s a really good pony. My brother and I went to sit down just outside the center to eat, and he joined us when he got his food. We’ve been friends ever since, especially my brother and him, they’re always getting into some kind of boy mischief together,” she said with a shaky laugh that Gemmaline shared. “His name is Orion… I’m quite fond of him.” Gemmaline nodded knowingly. “Ah, yes, I dare say I know that feeling quite well.” Bella smiled. “It’s his birthday today, actually.” “Oh, that’s so nice!” chimed Gemmaline. “Congratulations to him, and the both of you!” Bella nodded her thanks, and allowed herself another helping of tea. She took a sip, and looked at Gemmaline. She realized the old pony had been looking at her with a curious look. “It’s… so strange,” she said almost dreamily. “Is something wrong, madam?” asked Bella. Gemmaline shook her head absently. “No, nothing’s wrong dear. It’s just…” She gestured, struggling to find the words. “We’ve never met before… We’re generations apart, and yet... You seem so familiar to me.” Bella listened, silently wondering what Gemmaline meant by that. “I guess you just remind me of my mother.” Bella couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. “Your mother?” Gemmaline nodded. “Yes. My mother was a unicorn; in fact, she wasn’t a crystal pony herself! She married one, my father, and the genes did the rest. My late husband was also a crystal pony, so it’s practically embedded in the family now. My mother was a loving, joyous pony; I suppose your story of generosity just brings me back to her… Here, I want to show you something.” Gemmaline pushed her shaking hooves against the arms of her chair as she struggled to get up. Bella stood up and helped the old pony, who led her to a picture resting on top of the fireplace. It was a very colourful picture, although faded by time. In the middle was a unicorn with a dazzling white coat and luscious purple mane, smiling broadly at Bella. On her back was a small crystal earth filly whom Bella could only assume was Gemmaline herself. Standing to her left was a proud looking crystal stallion, and to her left Bella saw a pony that was only too familiar, and made her gasp in surprise. “Oh my Celestia, is that--” “Princess Twilight, yes. My mother and her were good friends.” Gemmaline took a second before adding, “Right to the very end, too...” Bella looked at her. “I’m so sorry…” “That’s alright, love. She had a good life.” Bella looked at the picture some more. She wondered in fascination what it must have been like to live in times of peace. It was something she would never know, and that often led her to wonder just how much better it would have been… She was pulled out of her daydreaming at the sight of an object resting at the far right of the fireplace. It was a beautiful white stone, with a single purple gem shining in the middle. Bella’s stomach gave a lurch as soon as she saw it. “Oh my,” she said. “That’s a gorgeous jewel.” “Ah, yes,” said Gemmaline. “It belonged to my husband, and he prized it above all his other findings in the Crystal Mines. It’s a rare specimen of Marblegem, known for its beauty, as well as its magical properties.” “Really?” asked Bella. She knew from her brother’s description what it looked like, but he had never told her about any magical properties. “What does it do?” “Well, it’s imbued in natural magic. If used correctly, it can allow earth ponies and pegasi to use unicorn magic.” Bella gulped. She understood now why he wanted to get his hooves on it. Oh, Antares… what are you up to now? After her previous moment of emotional therapy, Bella was suddenly overtaken with her prior nervousness. She was torn; on the one hand she absolutely did not want to steal from this kind old mare who had allowed her to cope with her troubled life for a few blissful minutes. It just wouldn’t be right. But on the other hand, she had always stuck by Antares’s side. While he was more of a troublemaker than she was, he was also the only family she had. She more than often assisted in his schemes, because they weren’t truly harmful. He was a prankster, but a good-hearted pony, and because most of the time they served to help the two of them get by, if not other ponies. She was highly sensitive to help, as was her brother, and she had never let him down before. She started biting her lip again -- how was she supposed to pull this off? Gemmaline would be watching her at all times, with those kind twinkling eyes of hers… “You can have it if you want.” Bella turned to face her so fast she might as well have been caught in the act. “W-What? No, I couldn’t possibly--” “Please, it’s alright,” said Gemmaline with a reassuring nod. “It’s just sitting there uselessly here all day… I’m sure you can put it to better use.” Bella was awestruck. “Are you sure?” “Of course! You can give it as a birthday present to that nice coltfriend of yours.” Bella blushed slightly. “In that case… I’ll cherish it. Thank you so much.” Gemmaline smiled at her, and put a hoof to Bella’s cheek. “Don’t forget to smile, now, you hear?” Bella did smile indeed, and would be looking forward to their next meeting. A few minutes later she was walking down Lady Gemmaline’s street towards the Crystal Gardens, passing many other crystal ponies on her way. She was still shook up from the time she spent in the old mare’s company, not only because of the personal nature of their talk, but also because of the gift she had been given. It was a gift. That was what she kept telling herself, to justify it all and force herself to forget about it. It was gift, she hadn’t stolen it, so why linger on it any longer? What was done was done, and once she gave it to Antares, it would stay in the flat they both shared and it would stay there. Still, it felt wrong. Bella knew that if Gemmaline had known about her intentions, she would’ve never given her the Marblegem. She would’ve also kicked Bella out for sure this time, for abusing her trust like that. Bella felt tormented, as if she was breaking her new friend’s trust already as it was. She continued to mull things over uncomfortably as she strolled through the beautifully lit Crystal Gardens. It wasn’t long before she spotted Antares, sitting on a bench by himself next to the central statue of the park. “You’re late,” he said. In a moment where the basic education she had received growing up in New Cloudsdale suddenly came back to her, she was tempted to tell him quite plainly to fuck off and go back to Gemmaline’s house to return the stone that was causing her so much heartache. But she would still keep a cool head. “Good day to you too,” she said curtly. “So, ya got anything good for me?” Much later that day, she was walking downtown next to Orion towards the bakery. Dammit, she thought. Here she was, supposedly out on a nice walk through town at sunset next to her special somepony. But her enjoyment of it all was marred by the stressful thoughts of the day, which still hung around her like the shadows on the street. She was growing less and less sure about all of this, even though she technically had nothing to do with Antares’s operation anymore. “Hey, are you okay?” Bella was so lost in her musings that she just barely noticed Orion talking to her. “Huh?” “You haven’t said anything since we left,” said Orion in concern. “Is there something wrong?” “N-no, I’m fine. Really,” she said with an unconvincing smile. “If you say so. In any case, we’re here.” She wished he hadn’t said that, but they had indeed arrived as the lit entrance of the large bakery came into view just a few feet ahead of them. Bella’s apprehension only grew as they neared the door, as if she expected the building to explode at any moment. Suddenly, Orion stopped in his tracks. “Hey! Is that…?” Bella gulped as she tried to spot whatever sign of bad news Orion was referring to. Said sign took the shape of a small blue pegasus foal dashing out of the bakery, zipping through the air straight towards them. Bella recognized him, and found herself just as surprised as Orion was. “Orion! We got a big problem!” squeaked the foal as he stopped before the pair. “Gliese…? What are you doing h--” “There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” said Gliese as he looked up to the colt who was easily twice his size with an air of panic. “Why? Bella, what’s he talking about?” asked Orion, who was utterly confused. Bella would have answered, but she herself didn’t know what was going on. The only thing she could think about was that what she had dreaded had happened. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. It wasn’t by any stretch the first time this had happened during one of Antares’s little excursions, but she knew she would still end up regretting having had anything to do with it in the first place. As if she needed any confirmation or concrete proof of it all, she found it when she looked up at the bakery and saw her brother and another familiar pony galloping towards them from an alleyway next to the building. Behind them, a fat purple cloud of magic containing various cakes and pastries of different sizes was trailing behind them as they ran, which attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Bella felt mixed feelings of deja vu and anxiety, and against her better judgement, made her thoughts on the situation at hand known despite being in the presence of a foal. “Shit.” Naos~ ~ ~ Naos ~ ~ ~ The alarm buzzed just once at 8 AM before it was silenced by a hoof slamming down on it. Celestia damn it. Silence reigned once more. The colt whom had angrily struck the alarm for trying to cut his precious sleep time short remained buried under his sheets, while the summer morning’s sun streaked in through the blinds of his window in warm orange beams that spread across every surface they could reach. The world in the small, messy bedroom lay still in time as the colt continued to snooze. It remained so, only the sun minutely gliding on the walls, until a voice was heard from downstairs. “Naos! Get up or you’ll be late for school!” From the depths of his bed, Naos growled in sleepy frustration. He could’ve stayed in bed as long as he wanted, but his mother’s was the only call to arms that had any effect on him, because it was the one he could not silence and that would grow only louder and more painful with every attempt to avoid it. He rose slowly, pushing away the covers. His eyes remained closed to avoid getting any unwanted sunlight. For a moment he just sat upright, his blue coat and jet-black mane ruffled and a grimace etched onto his morning face as if he’d just eaten an entire lemon. “Naos!” He took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly. Damn it. Damn it all to Tartarus. Today was going to be a Long Day indeed. After having lazily made his way downstairs, Naos walked into the kitchen, where his mother was doing the dishes. “Good morning, Naos,” she said after a brief glance his way. “Your lunch for today is on the table.” Naos opened the brown paper bag his mother was talking about and peeked inside. At the bottom lay a solitary sandwich, his mother’s usual minimal assemblage of hay in between two slices of bread. “I don’t have school today,” he said. “It’s Saturday… remember?” His mother turned around in surprise. “Oh… Well keep it for later, then,” she said before returning to her dishes. Naos glared at her for a couple of seconds in disbelief before sitting down heavily at the kitchen table, where he started pouring himself a bowl of Cheerilee-o’s. As he did so, he heard frantic hoofsteps coming from the above floor. He sighed loudly. It was time for his daily routine to really begin. The hoofsteps pounded across the ceiling, before making their way to the staircase and excitedly trampling down the steps and rushing to the kitchen. “Gooooood morning, everypony!” loudly chimed Gliese. He stood on his hind legs, stretching out his limbs and tiny wings and beaming at Naos -- who was wincing in pain from the shrill sound of his little brother’s voice, which reached a decibel level that he found intolerable before noon. Their mother put down the dish she was cleaning and walked over to him. “Gooooood morning my little angel!” she cooed, rubbing his cheeks affectionately with her hooves. “Sleep well?” “Sure did! Good morning, Nao--” In his rushing towards his older brother, Gliese bumped into the kitchen table, which caused Naos to spill his bowl of cereal and milk all over it. A moment of awkward silence ensued, during which Gliese stared at the floor with an astonished look. “I’ll get that,” said their mother. “You just sit down, Gliese, and I’ll make you some breakfast.” Gliese did as he was told and looked at his brother. “Sorry, Naos,” he said with the telltale voice of a guilty child. Naos, who was on the verge of flipping the table over, saw his mother stare at him from underneath it as she cleaned up the mess. Her eyes, wide open and fixed on his, were commanding him not to overreact. He looked at Gliese, who looked back at him like a lost puppy. “That’s ok,” he muttered through gritted teeth, trying not to betray any emotion at all. Gliese’s expression immediately changed back to its previous glee. “No use crying over spilt milk, right?” he said, feeling proud of his clever pun that made his mother giggle. Naos looked at his little brother. The corner of his mouth twitched in an effort to force a grin, which only added to the discomfort he was feeling from the cold milk trickling down his legs. Naos burst into his room and slammed the door violently behind him. He then went up to his bed and bucked it once with a furious grunt, making the bed sway on its feet before setting itself down with a loud noise. The colt then sat on his bed, punched his pillow, and cradled his head in his hooves. He wished in that moment, as he so often did, that somepony else, somepony from the outside could just stand there and see what exactly was going behind the curtain of his life. He knew exactly how it looked from the outside. New Ponyville, a shiny bright suburb outside of Canterlot, and the nicest place to live away from the big city! So young and yet so perfect, who wouldn’t want to live here? The streets are clean, the people are always smiling, it’s always a brilliant day in New Fucking Ponyville! It was all just a big, cruel joke. He wanted to go out, to scream at the top of his lungs and make everypony see that he knew what all the billboards didn’t tell, he knew how it really was. In this day and age, nopony here wanted anything to do with anything that could be even the slightest kind of trouble. They chose to do away with their broken lives rather than rebuild them. They shrouded themselves in a polished little enclave of artificial happiness. They tried to salvage what peace and innocence was now gone instead of making it anew, and that was where the real trauma was. For all the dirt that didn’t show on the walls of rows upon rows of pristine model houses was on the inside. And he had grown up here. Here, in the smack middle of this cesspool of suburban lies and secrets. He’d never wanted any of it, he had never chosen this life like his cowardly parents had, but it had been slapped onto him like another generic poster boy next to the words Welcome to New Ponyville, have a nice day! He knew about it. He saw it all so clearly around him, as if he was a stranger stranded in this town. How? Stupid fucking little shit. The truth was that despite loathing the model of life that had imposed itself in New Ponyville, Naos wasn’t the only one who knew about it. In fact, every pony but the children living here knew what was afoot. Everypony wanted to show their neighbors that they were the ones who had bounced back best from the horror that had spawned the Long Day. It was why everything was so perfect on the outside; make sure you’re the cleanest sucker in the trash can, and that there’s always more jealous than you around. It was an everyday cold war, the collective result of individual façades of happiness coming together. It was poisonous air to breathe, but breathe it they did. And Naos could’ve breathed it too. He, like all the others, could have made his peace with it and accept that that was how life was meant to be from here on out. But that wasn’t considering one small detail. On the day the Changelings attacked Canterlot, they had come with a plan. Their prime targets were the unicorns and the pegasi, who had obvious combat advantage over their earth pony siblings. They hit fast and they hit hard, and as a result, unicorns and pegasi who were once commonplace became exceptionally rare. Time went on, and as family lines grew with it, unicorn and pegasus genes became so rare they became dangerously close to becoming a thing of the past. So in New Ponyville, national temple of envy and greed, what better way than to prove the superiority of your own life than being close to such a rare breed of ponies -- or better yet, being one of them? That was where Naos’s family hit gold. With the unexpected birth, six years ago, of a pegasus foal named Gliese. The kid was a living trophy. From the moment they had him, his parents had dedicated their lives to pampering him and making sure he could never be happier at any given moment. That was their sole motivation; to showcase the fact that their earth pony family had managed to create a fucking pegasus, the only one for many miles to be found! And that together, they were a happy family, the closest thing left to life before the Long Day! And then there was their older son, Naos. Just another earth pony. There was no longer any need for a dull bronze cup like him. That’s how his life was written out. He woke up, went to school in Canterlot, and came back home. All the while making sure he wasn’t in the way of Gliese being the star of the show. And unless he somehow stopped being an earth pony, there was no escape from this. He shook some more, as he felt fresh tears wet the tip of his forehooves. Dammit, not this again. Why… Why can’t I just be better than this? Suddenly, Naos heard a sharp noise in his room. He raised his head with a jolt, afraid that somepony might have seen him crying. He waited for a few seconds, to see if the sound would repeat itself. It didn’t, and Naos figured he had just imagined it. Nopony had seen him, but deep inside, he wished somepony actually had and that they would be coming to pull him out of this house. Snap. The noise repeated itself, and this time Naos was sure he hadn’t imagined it. He looked around in surprise, and then it happened again. Snap. It was then that Naos realized that the sounds he was hearing were coming from his window. Somepony was throwing pebbles at it. His heart racing, Naos leapt from his bead and to his window. Who could be calling him outside? Would he finally be introduced to somepony who would not just see him as a background pony? Oh, fuck me. Naos felt his heart sink as he recognized the pony throwing pebbles at his window. That crimson coat was unmistakably that of Antares. He knew that he’d wished somepony would come to see him, but it should have been anypony but him. But it was too late to back away now. Antares had seen him, and was flashing him his stupid grin as he signaled Naos to come down. Naos swore, and made his way down to the garage. He knew Antares after a fashion, as he was friends with Orion, a colt who was one of the rare ponies at school that Naos held in high esteem because he had actually bothered to talk to him. Naos considered Orion to be a good pony, so it was unfortunate that he would hang out with Antares, who just annoyed Naos. He was an arrogant joker, always bragging shamelessly about his recent run-ins with the authorities and how he’d managed to escape from the skin of his teeth. As far as Naos knew, the colt had no idea what true hardship was. Once he was behind the garage door, he pressed a button to a side to open it. The metal door slowly slided upwards and folded itself back into the garage roof, revealing a blindingly bright day outside, and Antares, who slowly made his way towards the garage. “Naos, my brother! What’s up?” The nerve of that guy, brooded Naos as he recalled that Antares never spoke to him unless he was butting in on a conversation between him and Orion. Still, he wanted to prove he was above ignoring him back, and that he would listen to what he had to say. There was a moment of silence during which Naos regretted not having pretended to be unavailable when he had the chance. “You want to what?” he asked. What he had just heard seemed so unreal, he wanted to make sure he hadn’t misheard. “I want to rob it,” Antares repeated. Naos looked at him quizzically. “You want to rob Cake & Cake’s. That’s what you want to do for your best friend’s birthday,” he said, his words dripping with sarcasm that he was sure even Antares wouldn’t be dumb enough to ignore. “Yup!” replied the beaming colt. “So whaddaya say?” Naos stared at him blankly for a few seconds before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh,” he said, raising his head with a jerk as if he’d realized something. “Oh, I just remembered. You’re a dick.” Antares burst into laughter. “Well, I guess that from a certain point of view… Yeah,” he said with a wink. “Are you suffering from brain damage, Antares? Is that it? Did you run into a street pole while running from the cops again?” “No, not this time. But seriously, I think it would be a blast. We get together as friends, rob Cake & Cake’s, and get the heck outta there to celebrate our good chum Orion’s birthday! It’ll be a great surprise, he’ll never see it coming!” “You’re right! Not on his birthday, especially not with his best friend and prank buddy spending the day away from him!” Antares grinned, but threw back his head with a groan. “Naos, did you ever stop to think that maybe it was precisely because you do that kind of stuff that no one wants to talk to you?” “Yeah well at least I’m not an aspiring criminal!” Naos retorted, a little hurt. “Times are rough but there’s always a better way to make money than stealing!” Antares didn’t reply, and looked at Naos in astonishment before speaking again. “Oh, no, no, no! No, you got it all wrong! I don’t want to steal money! I just wanna get my hooves on, let’s say, several birthday cakes of all sizes for tonight’s birthday bash!” It was Naos’s turn to look surprised. “Wait… That’s what this is all about? You wanna steal cake?” “Yeah!” “Well why didn’t ya just say so?” said Naos, beaming at him. Antares returned the smile with double enthusiasm. “Well there you go, that’s the spirit! So you’ll help me out?” “Uh, no,” scoffed Naos. “This is bullshit. How are you even gonna go about looting an entire bakery?” Antares ignored his friend’s cynicism, glad that the question had been brought up. “It’s simple, really. You and I show up at the back of the bakery at 7 PM sharp. We break in through the back door, that goes straight into storage. Meanwhile Bella and Orion will already be in the place, stalling the baker at the front while we raid the place, and then we all get the heck outta there!” Naos listened to Antares’s plan with unconcealed skepticism. “And in your mind, this is a good plan?” he asked after a moment. Antares nodded. “Trust me. I went over it a dozen times or so. It’s foalproof.” They stared at each other for a moment before Naos turned his back on Antares. “You’re insane,” he said as he made his way back inside. “Don’t wanna do it? That’s fine,” said Antares. “I’ll just tell Orion you didn’t think he was worth the trouble.” “I’m sure he’ll see it as me being reasonable more than anything else.” “That’s cool, I’ll just get Gliese to help out.” Naos was practically back inside when he stopped in his tracks. He didn’t turn around for a few seconds, and when he did his expression was no longer one of smug skepticism but of seriousness. He shot a hard glare at Antares, who gave him a warm, victorious smile. “I don’t think so,” said Naos. “I’m sure he’d love it, though.” “You are not dragging him into your stupid little games!” spat Naos, advancing menacingly towards Antares. “Why not? I’m great with kids. Think he can’t handle it?” “He’s just a kid! He can’t handle anything!” The two ponies were now inches away from each other. Naos was practically smoking at the nostrils, but Antares didn’t budge. He just stared calmly into Naos’s eyes for several seconds. “Oh… I see,” he said calmly. “I see what’s going on here. It’s not that you don’t want your little brother to get into trouble… You just don’t want him around anywhere, right?” “Don’t fuck with me, Antares,” said Naos in a low voice. “Look dude, I know how it is. This place sucks, I get it. I been around sucky places too.” “As if.” Antares raised his eyebrows. “You know I grew up in a New Cloudsdale orphanage, right? I’ve seen so many roaches crawl on my bed at night I started giving them names.” He paused, expecting another snide reply, but Naos just kept boring holes into his eyes, so he kept talking. “You know, back at the orphanage, there was this one dude. Unicorn. Big guy, too, bigger than all the other colts. And since he was a rare breed ‘n all, everypony looked up to him as their leader right off the bat. But me, I hated the guy. He acted like a pig who didn’t know he was rolling around in shit. Of course he was, I mean we were in a crummy orphanage, but he still had everything handed to him on a silver platter. And I didn’t even have a reason to hate him, I was just jealous ‘cause I wanted to be the big shot around. But I couldn’t be that guy. I was just another earth pony kid that nopony gave a shit about.” It was rare for Antares to say anything seriously, but when he did, he was absolutely sincere. In that moment, though he would never admit it, Naos felt a connection with Antares that he never would have expected. “We don’t talk a lot,” Antares continued, “but we do have a lot in common. I know what it’s like to want to break out of the mould and be somepony special. That’s why I act out… kinda. And I wanna help you break out of that mould too.” He inched even closer towards Naos. “But if you don’t let me… Well, Gliese will just be getting a lot more spotlight when I tell everypony who doesn’t know him just how special he is.” A tense moment followed as Naos mulled things over carefully. He couldn’t tell whether the colt was reaching out to him or threatening him. Nonetheless, one detail stuck out to him more than anything. One he could not fight. He lowered his head, giving a defeated sigh. “What time?” he mumbled. “7 PM, sharp!” replied Antares with his usual cheeriness. Naos shook his head, and looked back at him. “If I do this, you promise Gliese stays away?” he asked seriously. Antares nodded. With a grunt, Naos stepped out of the garage into the sunlight, walking slowly and keeping his scowling face low. “Where you going?” asked Antares. “Need some air,” muttered Naos. “Close the garage, if you would.” He was about to ask Antares not to steal anything, thinking that it might be a possibility with him, but on second thought realized that he really didn’t care for this place enough to say so. It didn’t take long after the two of them had stepped inside the bakery’s storage room for Naos to get claustrophobic. Indeed, when they had arrived, the two colts found the door that connected the storage room and the baker’s counter slightly ajar. A single beam of light cut through the pitch-black room, running across the floor in a line that crossing too often would prove unwise, should an unsuspecting eye happen to look inside the room. Although this unforeseen and dangerous element considerably limited their roaming space in the storage room, Antares had insisted they follow through with their plan. Naos’s job was to hold the Marblegem and shed some light on Antares in the darkness of the room, while the crimson pony moved the supplies around and made a pile of those various pastries he wanted to take with him. Naos couldn’t help but cringe, as he guided the soft purple glow of the jewel along with him, making sure it wouldn’t be seen from anywhere else in the bakery. He stood unmoving, his partner in crime carrying out the operation in the shadows of a soft lilac light. “I think that’ll do, let’s just get out of here,” he whispered as Antares added yet another batch of cupcakes to his treasure trove, which was getting much too tall to Naos’s taste. “You’ve been saying that every 15 seconds now,” Antares whispered back. “Live a little. Besides, I can’t remember if it’s vanilla or cinnamon that Orion doesn’t like.” Naos muttered a curse under his breath, and turned his head anxiously to the door, as he had done several times already to see if the baker wouldn’t make a surprise appearance. In the narrow space, he could just make out the back of the baker’s head, as well as the next customer that had just entered the shop. “Well, hello there, little one! What can I get you?” he heard the baker say in her jolly tones. He kept staring at the counter. As he did, he managed to get a glimpse at the pony who had just entered the store. For a few seconds, Naos forgot where he was and what he was doing. He was momentarily too surprised to remember that looking in that direction could expose him. He slowly turned to Antares, who was discreetly sampling a cupcake to see if it would make the pile or not. “You motherbucker,” Naos said in a low voice, just above a whisper. Antares looked back at Naos, and saw the face of a silently fuming pony whose expression was only dramatized by the shadows cast onto his face by the purple shadow under his chin. He could only imagine his own expression, somewhere between confusion and amusement, under the lighting. “Dude, keep it to a whisper, and tell me why I’m a--” “I just happened to glance over at the counter.” Antares squinted his eyes, trying to understand what Naos meant. Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows in understanding, and gave a long sigh, bracing himself for the explanation he would have to give. “Naos…” “You promised me this wouldn’t. Fucking. Happen.” “Look, I didn’t think it would! But it just… kinda… happened.” “We’re leaving. Now.” “Naos, we are this close to getting all the cake in the--” “I don’t give a shit about cake!” Naos hissed angrily. Antares was about to reply when he heard the baker and her client stop talking. The two ponies watched in held breath as her shadow grew in the short line of light that streamed into their hiding place. She stopped at the door, pushing it ajar a few inches more and stepping inside... “Ooh!” said a voice from inside the bakery. The baker stopped in her tracks for a tense moment before returning to the counter. Antares didn’t move for a second, his heartbeat echoing in his head like an ominous drum before turning to Naos. He couldn’t tell if the other colt’s eyes were bloodshot or if it was just from the way the light from the Marblegem hit them. “Okay,” he whispered. “Let’s get out of here.” “I could’ve unraveled your foalproof plan just by blowing on it!” spat Naos. “Let it go, we can talk about that when--” Just then the door to the storage room flew open. The two colts froze, staring wide-eyed at the baker’s silhouette standing against the brightly lit room behind her. She looked back at them in utter disbelief. Antares grabbed the Marblegem from Naos, who was too busy contemplating his impending doom to care. The jewel flashed a stronger light, casting a pale violet bubble around the pile of pastries he’d been putting together and making it levitate. He turned to Naos. “Run!” Gliese~ ~ ~ Gliese ~ ~ ~ Oh boy! I immediately thought when I woke up. I sat up, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Today was finally the day. It was really sunny, too, so that had to mean it was gonna be the greatest day ever, right? Oh, doesn’t matter, ‘cause today was gonna be even better than great, it was gonna be the most super-duper awesome day ever! I threw the covers away and got up outta bed and jumped to the ground. Even if I couldn’t really sleep last night ‘cause I was so excited about today, I wasn’t tired at all! I wanted to run down for breakfast just when my hooves touched the floor, but I couldn’t mess this up. Everything had to be perfect. So I ran to the bathroom instead, and checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked like a perfect pony on a perfect day. Shiny blue coat? Check. Superawesome wings? Check. Combed mane…? Bah, who cares! Gotta get to it! I felt this weird tingling feeling all of a sudden, like in sports class when I’m about to woosh from one side of the hoofball field to the other -- I think coach calls it adribbelin. I love that feeling coz when I do it, all the other kids who don’t have wings like mine always go “whooooa!” and think I’m super great. Whatever it’s called it’s awesome, so with a giggle I ran downstairs as fast as I could, where I found mom and Naos already there. “Gooooood morning, everypony!” I said. I do that a lot, coz I always feel like you should start your morning feeling happy. Today though I was extra happy, so I had to say it extra loud! Had to make sure everypony was gonna have a special day like me! My mom saw that, and when she said hi to me she rubbed my cheeks the way I like it. Looks like she was having a great day too! Then again, she’s always happy when I see her, even more when she’s talking about me and my wings to the other moms! I love my mom of course, but there was one pony that I knew today was gonna be extra special for too. And that’s my brother Naos! I ran to him because I knew I had to give him special attention. But I didn’t have time to ask him if he had a good night like mom did, because I hit the table and spilled his bowl of cereal. That’s when the awesome feeling stopped. I felt really, really bad… How was I supposed to make this day awesome for Naos if I did something super not-awesome so early? I wanted to say sorry a million times and clean up the mess I did, but mom told me she’d take care of it. I looked at Naos, and I could see that he was mad again. I told him I was sorry, because I really didn’t mean to spoil his breakfast like that. “That’s ok,” he said. It was only two words, but they made me really happy again! I was ok! I still had a chance to make this the best day ever, and suddenly I thought of a joke that was just as awesome. “No use crying over spilt milk, right?” I said. I was proud, because it was something my dad that taught me to say when something bad happened and I had to make up for it, and it was even better now because it was real milk! Mom laughed, but she laughs a lot at my jokes. But when I saw Naos smile, I felt super cool because I’d made a joke that he found funny! Today was gonna be so. Super. Awesomesauce. After breakfast, I went straight to my room, and opened my toy trunk. That’s where I stashed the drawing I’d made just for Naos. I’ve been working on that thing a little bit every day for the past week. I could have made one of my usual drawings, coz mom and dad say that I’m really gifted at drawing, but I wanted this one to be especially good. I used every single color crayon I have, I drew the shapes slowly to make sure they looked right, and I coloured super slowly to make sure the lines didn’t go outside of the shapes. They kinda did, just a bit, but it was still the best drawing ever, because it was for Naos. I didn’t really tell you about Naos, did I? He’s my big brother. He’s also the coolest pony in Equestria. If I had to tell you about all the things that make him super cool, it would take a really long time. But I think what makes him the best big brother in the world is that he always knows what to do. Even though he gets mad a lot… Mom says it’s because he’s growing up and he gets mad a lot for no reason, but I know that I also do a lot of no-no’s. I think that’s why Naos gets mad at me, because he knows what to do and when I’m doing something I shouldn’t. I’m so lucky to have a brother who knows everything like he does! He’s the best and I love him more than the whole wide world, and I know he loves me back just as much! Thinking about how cool Naos was gonna find my drawing, I ran to his room to finally show him. But he wasn’t there. So I went to ask mom, and she told me she heard him go to the garage, so I went straight there. When I got there, I heard him talking with somepony. Shoot! I thought. I wanted to surprise him with the drawing, but he wasn’t gonna be surprised if there was somepony else! Everytime I try to talk to Naos when his friends are around, he tells me to ‘get lost’, which is really weird ‘cause I don’t think you can get lost on purpose right? Sometimes he even pretends he doesn’t know me, but that’s okay, ‘cause I guess big ponies have to talk about big pony things. So I turned to go away, thinking I’d come back later… But if I did that, maybe Naos would go outside and I wouldn’t see him for the rest of the day! And I really wanted to show him my drawing… So I hid behind a wall, where he wouldn’t see me, and waited for their talk to be over. The sun outside was making his blue coat shine, but he still looked really mad like it was raining. I saw somepony else too, talking to him. He had a red coat and a scruffy brown mane. I didn’t know who he was, but he looked like he was the same age as Naos, and also he looked really happy to see him. That made sense, since Naos is so awesome everypony would be happy to see him, so I got a little curious and listened to what they were saying. “Trust me. I went over it a dozen times or so. It’s foalproof,” said the red colt. I peeked over the corner of the wall I was hiding behind to see what he looked like, but just then, Naos turned around. “You’re insane,” I heard him say. I didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t matter at the moment because I was really scared because Naos was walking towards where I was! What would I do if he saw me listening to his conversation? He’d be really, really mad… “That’s cool, I’ll get Gliese to help out.” Suddenly I stopped thinking about Naos. The red colt had just said that, and I was super surprised. How did he know my name? Did he know I was here? And what did he want me to help with? I thought that maybe he was also gonna make a drawing and wanted me to help him with my awesome drawing skills. I almost showed myself, but Naos was still just on the other side of the corner behind which I was, so I didn’t want to scare him. I heard him turn around and walk to his friend. “I don’t think so,” said Naos. But why not? I didn’t even know what they were talking about! Naos kept talking, and he sounded really angry, more than usual. “You are not dragging him into your stupid little games!” he said. So the red colt wanted me to play a game? I love games! Why didn’t Naos want me to do this? “Why not? I’m great with kids. Think he can’t handle it?” You bet I can handle it! Is it racing? I’m the best racer in my class, I can do it! I can fly as fast as-- “He’s just a kid! He can’t handle anything!” Suddenly they stopped talking. That… kinda hurt. They started talking again, but I wasn’t listening anymore. After a while I turned my head towards the garage door. Naos was gone. I kinda wanted to run after him, but part of me told me maybe it wasn’t such a good idea afterwards. My eyes started getting wet. Why did Naos say that? I knew he was grumpy, but… why? The red colt just watched him go, and then he said something without turning around. “You can come out now.” I wasn’t expecting that. First I did nothing… I didn’t know if I should run away or not. He knew I was here anyway, so I decided to come out of hiding. I walked up to him and tried to wipe my tears. I didn’t want to see him crying like this. But he turned around and looked at me with a smile. “Hey,” he said. “You’re Gliese, right?” “Yeah…” “What’s wrong?” he asked. I didn’t want to say anything to this big colt I didn’t know. “Nothing,” I said, but he knew there was something wrong anyway. “It’s because of what your brother said, right?” The red colt sat down to my level. “What’s that you got there?” he said. He was talking about my drawing, still under my hoof. What drawing? I wanted to say. It was useless now, right? I don’t know why, but I still gave it to him. He looked at it and smiled some more. “It’s really cool,” he said. “I can tell you put a lot of work into this. I remember I could never color inside the shapes, either.” I laughed a little. He was a nice colt. “I wanted to give it to Naos, but…” That was it. I started crying again, and I couldn’t hide it now. The red colt put a hoof on my shoulder, and pulled me into a hug. “Shh… Hey, it’s okay…” I tried to talk through my crying. “I don’t get it… I’m always nice to him… Why does he hate me?” “Nah, little dude, he doesn’t hate you. Naos is a bit of a grump… But he doesn’t hate you.” I broke away from him. “Who are you?” “My name’s Antares, I’m a friend of your brother’s. I came by to ask him to help me out with something. Or maybe you already knew that?” “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to spy on you.” “That’s okay. He agreed to do the job anyway, so it’s cool.” When Antares stopped talking he just looked at me and smiled. I didn’t know what to say. “You like your big brother, don’t you, Gliese?” “Yeah… He’s the best. I just wish he wasn’t mad all the time.” “Well, would you like to make him happy?” “Yeah, but how? He left before I could give him my drawing.” Antares nodded. “You can always give it to him later. But you know, he thinks you can’t do anything because you’re a little kid. I bet you could prove him wrong, and then he’d be really stoked.” I was a bit surprised. Was he talking about that job he was talking to Naos about? “But... he said he didn’t want me around. I think you promised, too.” “You’re right. You should never break a promise, and I promised I wouldn’t talk to you,” he said. He put his head a little closer to me, like he wanted to whisper. “But… he doesn’t know that you know that, right?” I was confused. “What do you mean?” “Well, let’s just say I gave Naos a job. What if I had one for you, too? Something that if Naos saw… he’d be really proud. Would you do it?” “Yes!” I said. I didn’t even have to think about it. Antares laughed. “Alright, I’ll tell you about it. But remember… It’s a secret to everypony. This stays between you and me, got it?” “Got it!” I was really excited. Maybe I could finally make Naos happy again! “Alright… Now listen…” He put a hoof in the air, and looked at me straight in the eye. “Rule number one: don’t be late.” It was sunset when I got to the place I was supposed to go. I told mom I was going to play with some neighborhood kids and that I’d probably stay the night at one of their houses. She said it was alright, like she always does. Other moms don’t really let their kids sleep at my house, but mom always lets me hang around with my friends until late. That’s pretty cool! So now I was downtown, facing that big bakery where Antares told me to go. I kinda wanted to stay outside for a bit, because the sky was gorgeous. It was all orangey. I mean, it was like every day, the big red sun setting down next to the moon and making it grow brighter… but tonight was really cool. Just like today, really, I knew it would happen like that! But then I remembered rule number one. Antares told me not to be late. So I didn’t lose any time and I went inside the bakery. There was a bell that made a little ringing sound when I pushed the door open. It was a cool bakery filled with bright light that made all the colours really stick out. There were two or three ponies already there sitting at the round tables around me, and at the back of the room there was a big pink counter decorated with fake frosting like on a birthday cake, with a big glass window and several treats that looked really yummy. Now that I was there I kinda wanted one, but I remembered I didn’t have any money and that I’d already gotten my weekly 30 bits which were still at home. But Antares told me I wouldn’t need any money, so it was ok. I went to the counter where the baker was. She was a big pony who looked like she ate a lot of cake herself, but that only made her all round and cheery. When she saw me she gave me a big warm smile. “Well, hello there, little one!” she said. “What can I get you?” “Hello miss baker!” I said with a big smile. Antares told me I’d have to be extra polite when I spoke to her. “I’d like to buy some cake, please.” “Well, I should think so!” said the baker lady with a giggle. “Tell me, what looks sweet to you?” I looked at all the big and little cakes behind the window. Gee, they looked really tasty… I’d have to remember to come here again soon. Another thing Antares told me was to take as long as possible. He told me to “buy some time”, and laughed when I told him I didn’t know they actually sold it. So he explained that I just had to pretend that I couldn’t decide on what to pick. “Well?” said the baker. “Anything pick your fancy?” “Uh… um… I think I need a little time to chose, if that’s ok.” “Of course!” said the baker. “Take as much time as you need, dear. If you need me, I’ll just be back here.” Oh no! She was going towards the storage! That was rule number two! Antares said that no matter what happened, I had to stop the baker from going in there! “Oh! Um…” The baker turned around and walked back to the counter. “Yes? What is it?” Quick! “Well I’d love to know what each cake tastes like, but I can’t read the labels,” I said. Actually I could read them, but Antares said it’d be a good idea if I pretended I didn’t. “I see!” said the baker. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough. Which label would you like me to read out for you?” I looked at all the cakes. I hadn’t picked a label yet, but I knew I had to choose fast before she decided to go back to storage. “Um… that one,” I said, pointing at a small blue cupcake that was right in front of me. “Ah, good choice! That’s our special Crystal Cupcake, with real bits of sapphire in the frosting!” Suddenly, I saw something behind the baker that really surprised me. In the dark room behind her, Naos was looking at me through an opening in the door. “You can take ‘em out and keep them as jewels! It’s got Everfree forest blueberries, vanilla icing, sponge cake…” Now, I was really scared. He was gonna get more mad than ever before! He said he didn’t want Antares to bring me here, and now he knew that I knew that he knew that Antares had broken his promise! I could only see one of his eyes, but it looked straight at me with both anger and surprise. “Something wrong?” said the baker. I kept looking at the door for a second, because I completely forgot she was talking to me. I looked at her, but just then she turned to the storage door I was looking at. I almost panicked, but it was ok, Naos was gone. “Oh, no, nothing wrong, sorry,” I said. The baker looked back at me with a funny look. “Um… That sounds really nice, but… do you have anything with chocolate?” I knew that was a really dumb question to ask in a bakery, but I couldn’t think of anything else. I was starting to get a little spooked now. “Sure we do!” said the baker. “Take this for example,” she said, pointing towards a little bigger and darker cake with a lightning bolt on it. “This is a really popular one, the Wonderbolts’ éclair! That lightning bolt on top is lemon frosting, and--” “I don’t give a shit about cake!” The baker stopped talking and looked back to the storage door. Inside I felt like I just got struck by lightning like that cake. That was Naos’s voice. I knew it was him because he used that no-no word a lot. “Did you hear something?” asked the baker as she turned back to the storage door. I didn’t have time to answer before she walked to the door and put a hoof to the handle, opening it slowly. In front of the counter I was biting my lip and I could hear my heart beating really fast in my head. I had to stop her! “Ooh!” I said so loud that a couple of ponies sitting in the bakery looked at me. The baker turned around and looked at me too, looking really surprised. “What is it?” she asked. I didn’t really have anything to say. “Uh, nothing, it’s just… I-I remembered I don’t actually like chocolate,” I said. The baker walked back to the counter, and I tried hard to smile but it was really hard because all I wanted to do was run away. But I couldn’t run away, because Antares told me I could only leave when I saw him arrive at the bakery himself. I turned around really quickly, wishing that Antares would be waiting outside the bakery. Suddenly, I saw a pony I knew, but it wasn’t Antares. It was Orion! He’s a friend of Naos! I didn’t know how, but if he was a friend, he’d know what to do. “Sweetie, are you going to buy anything?” asked the baker. “I don’t want to be pushy but--” “Nevermindbye!” I said, turning to her with a big smile before flying straight out of the front door again. I think I might have torn the doorbell off with me. I flew towards Orion and a mare I didn’t know. I was afraid, and I was also really sad. Something went wrong, Naos wouldn’t be as happy as Antares said he’d be. And I wanted to cry again. I stopped in front of Orion and talked as fast as I could. “Orion! We got a big problem!” “Gliese…? What are you doing h--” “There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” I said. After all, Antares and Naos were still in the bakery! If the baker went into the storage room, I didn’t know what would happen, but it would be really bad! Just then, I heard the sound of a trash can being knocked over behind me, and I looked behind me. I saw Antares and Naos, and what looked like a big pink cloud of candy running straight towards us! “Shit,” said the mare. I don’t get it; if it’s a no-no word, why do grown-ups use it all the time? Convergence Point (Sundown)Epilogue Orion, Bella and Gliese watched in disarray as Antares and Naos ran towards them. Orion looked even more confused than the other two, his whole evening having been turned upside down in the span of a few seconds. As the two colts approached them, Bella shouted to her brother. “What the heck is going on?!” “‘o ‘ie! ‘eks go!” replied Antares, clenching the Marblegem tightly in his mouth as he galloped right past them, followed by his impressive pile of looted goods and Naos, who was sweating and huffing like an overweight marathon runner, repeating to himself frantically that he should’ve just stayed in bed from the start. The two colts ran a little ahead of them without being followed by their three friends, who looked to them first, then to the bakery where a figure had emerged from the front door. “Thieves! You damn thieves! Don’t ever show your faces here again!” bellowed the baker standing in the doorway and waving her hoof angrily in the air. “‘eks go!” yelled Antares, and the three other ponies ran along with him and without question, away from town and into the dusk. After a good 10 minutes of running, they had travelled through the many small alleys of Canterlot, cutting through crowds and eliciting a few surprised grunts of disapproval, before exiting the city through a back passage that Antares knew, which led out of the city through a breach in the great outer wall. They found themselves running through the country outside, stretching out in great grassy hills and slopes. Eventually Antares stopped running, the others following suit, atop one such hill not far from Canterlot river. Antares took the Marblegem in his hoof and used it to slowly lower all the cake he had taken to the ground. The four other ponies with him were content to simply fall to the ground and huff loudly to catch their breath, except Bella, who stood in front of Antares and glowered at him. “We got a great view over the river here, Sis. You’re kinda blocking mine.” “What the hell happened in there, Antares?!” fumed Bella. “We hit a little snag is all,” he replied casually. “A snag?” “Yeah, but it’s all good now, we pulled it off! Hope y’all got a sweet tooth back there!” he said to the others in a chuckle. “No, Antares, it’s not ‘all good’!” replied Bella. “The baker saw us! We’re criminals now!” Gliese looked over to them with fear. “We are…?” “Oh come on! You’re scaring the little one, Bel, it was just a--” “And just what the buck were you doing there?!” shouted Naos to Gliese, having seemingly regained all his strength in an instant upon remembering the foal was there and now towering over his mortified little brother. “I… I just…” “You were spying on us, weren’t you?” growled Naos. “You gonna tell mom, huh? You’re gonna go snivelling to her and make me look like a bastard again?!” “I brought him here,” said Antares. Naos looked over to him with a piercing glare, but Antares remained unflinching. He looked as serious as he did earlier that day. Naos was at a loss for words and looked as though he was blow a fuse. “Why?” was the only thing he managed to say. Antares shrugged. “Thought he’d like a sweetie or two, I dunno.” “What the hell is wrong with you?! Dammit Antares you promised that--” “Your brother went though a lot of trouble to do this,” cut in Antares. “He was the only one who stuck his neck out to the baker directly, and he did it all just for you. I’d say some congratulations are in order.” Naos looked back at Gliese. The foal looked back at him in apprehension. “I thought you’d be happy,” he said in a small voice. “I thought… if I did this, you wouldn’t think I was useless.” Naos looked down at his little brother with a new look. He seemed less furious and more intrigued. “I… I don’t think you’re useless,” he said softly. “But that was dangerous! What were you thinking?” “You’re just always so mad all the time. I don’t wanna see you mad, because you’re my big brother. I just wanna make you smile.” Inside, Naos was feeling something unknown tugging at his heart. “Would somepony please explain to me what’s going on?” asked Orion, still out of breath. “You are, that’s what!” replied Antares with a broad smile. “The stallion of the hour! Happy birthday Orion!” Orion wanted to thank him, but instead stared at his beaming friend as though he’d just announced he was pregnant. Bella watched the two of them in apprehension. “Did you just… rob a bakery?” asked Orion after a few seconds. Antares looked at his stash, then back to him. “I suppose I did,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. Orion nodded slowly. “You’re insane,” he said. He then cracked a small, sly smile. “You’re absolutely nuts.” “Which is why you can’t get enough of me,” replied Antares. Orion looked around at the other ponies. “So wait, you all helped with this?” “It was Antares’s idea,” said Bella, stepping towards him. “I guess it was his twisted idea of something fun to do for a friend’s birthday.” “Yeah well there’s that,” said Antares. “And also… you’ve been acting kinda strange lately. I thought you might have had something on your mind, so i thought I’d pull you out of your own big head.” Bella stepped in closer to Orion, who felt a bit awkward being at such an almost intimate distance from her. “Is this true?” she asked with concern. Orion looked at them both in discomfort before sighing. “It’s just this place, I guess. I mean, thinking of the world in which I was born. Just makes me think about my dad, and what it would have been like if things had been just a little… just a little different -- you guys know how it is.” He sat down on the hill and began to look down at the river below, catching its flow in his mind. “Makes you think… I could have been born and lived at any other point in time, even in the distant past or future. But out of all the odds, it was here, and now. I can dream all I want, and yet I can’t begin to imagine just how different life can truly be. We come and go, and everyone we meet has also just arrived or is leaving forever. Pony… Changeling… Every path converges in one central point we can’t put on a map. I mean, for us that point is war, but when you think that this world has seen it all… It’s crazy.” Bella and Antares looked at each other. There was something in both their looks that could not be put into words, but could be understood from one to the other. Her brother’s grin was still there, although smaller now. She had a small tear in her eye. She sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Yeah,” she said. “We know.” Orion smiled softly. “Thanks for caring, but I’m alright, really. I go to church for this sort of thing.” Bella raised her head and looked at him in surprise. “You go to church?” “Yeah, sometimes I’ll go there and pray to forget about things.” “Bro, that’s gay as hell,” said Antares. Bella shot him a furious glance, but both he and Orion chuckled. “I like to think that it’s beautiful, really… I mean, here we are, all at more or less the same level, going through life together. If you guys weren’t here, neither would I. And my dad would probably still be alive. That’s just how the universe rolls.” The three of them were silent for a while. Night had fallen on the hills. Bella watched the stream downhill silently, wondering about those that had come and gone. She thought of Lady Gemmaline and how she had compared her to her mother. She wondered if the old mare had had the same thoughts as Orion, at that time. Antares sat down next to his friend and his sister and looked at the river, wondering if he was staring at the same point as Orion. “You know I’m not brainy enough to think all that stuff,” he said. “But... I get it. I guess as long as we have each other… It’s all good.” Behind them, Naos and his brother were listening at them intently. They then turned turned to each other. “I won’t tell mom,” said Gliese. “I promise.” Naos looked back at him in confusion. He felt terribly ashamed of himself. For a moment Gliese was afraid he might just turn around and leave without a word. “Tell her what you want,” said Naos. “I don’t care. I’m who I am, and she has me whether she likes it or not. And I got you.” He put a hoof on his little brother’s head and ruffled his mane. “And I like that,” he added. The young colt beamed at his now smiling brother. “Want a cupcake?” “Sure,” said Naos. “They got this one, it’s got Everfree forest blueberries! They’re your favorite!” Naos looked at him in surprise. “How d’you know that?” “I dunno, I just know,” he said shrugging. Naos grinned and had to admit Orion did make a lot of sense. They each got a cake from the pile and went to sit down next to their three friends. “You guys want some?” asked Gliese. “Sure, I’ll have one," said Antares. He then turned to face Orion, having suddenly thought of something. “Oh hey, I wanted to ask you--” “It’s cinnamon,” said Orion. “I hate cinnamon.” Antares winced and turned to back to the river. “Damn. I thought I knew you just now, but turns out I don’t know shit.” Orion smiled. It had been a good birthday. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Orion~ ~ ~ Orion ~ ~ ~ “No. Forget it. I won’t do it.” Antares shot him an incredulous look. “Dude,” he said. “... Dude.” “Forget it! I can’t, and I won’t!” “Well, why not?” “It’s… It’s not right.” “Not right?!” said Antares. “Are you sure you got a good look at it?” Taking a short breath, Orion slowly raised his head above the large boulder that he and his friend were hiding behind, one of few places of shelter in the barren desert they were in. He stopped when he could see the black shape of the enemy, standing out against the brick red earth. A rather large Changeling was silently scanning the area with a menacing glare. Suddenly it turned around in their direction. Orion withdrew his head and swore. “What? Did it see you?” asked Antares. The earth pony looked back at him. Even fully clad in combat armor, there was a visibly serious look in his bright blue eyes. “If he had, we’d be running like hell right now.” “We can do that later,” replied Antares. He pumped his shotgun. “I’m going in.” “No!” replied Orion. “Let’s think about this!” But he knew it was too late. Even in the shadow of the helmet’s brim, he could see that familiar glint of malice in Antares’s eyes. It was a spark that echoed the cheeky grin that the colt flashed him every time he was about to get into some sort of mischief, and nothing could hold him back now. “I’d say we’ve thunked long enough,” he said. Before his friend could protest, Antares leapt over the boulder and made a dash towards the Changeling. “Hey! Come get some, you scaly prick!” said Antares, his words followed by a loud and angry hiss. “This is a bad idea,” muttered Orion before running towards the battlefield himself. He galloped headlong towards his friend, who was busy taunting the Changeling as it buzzed around him like an angry wasp. Once he was close to them, Orion stopped in his tracks and pointed his own gun at the large creature. The beast was now easily in his line of view. “C’mon!” yelled Antares. “Do it!” Orion focused himself. The trigger suddenly felt heavy under his hoof. He trembled, and a bead of sweat ran shakily down one of his temples. Alarmed by the sound of its prey, the Changeling spun round to find another pony aiming at it. With another hiss it dashed towards him. “Shoot it!” But Orion didn’t shoot, and his heart skipped a beat as the Changeling grew fast in his field of vision, the cold darkness of its maw revealing two sharp and glinting fangs. Then everything went dark. Game Over His head swimming as he was brought back to reality, Orion took off the visor from his face. On the large screen of the booth in front of him, the two words shone blood red in the middle of a black background, above a series of high scores that his own paled in comparison to. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a migraine coming on from the various neon lights filling the arcade, its bright colors and electronic beeps and sounds, mingled with the agitated whispering of a crowd of foals that had gathered to watch them play Ponies v. Changelings. “Celestia damn it!” yelled Antares to his left as he furiously snatched off his own visor and threw it against the screen of his own booth. From behind the booths that were on the opposite side of their own, three little colts emerged, proudly cackling and mocking the older ponies they had just beaten. “Yeah, yeah, keep on laughing you little shits!” spat an irritated Antares. “You just wait until we get a little more training on this one, we’ll see who’s laughing then!” “C’mon, nevermind them,” Orion told him, feeling amused as the foals blew them raspberries. “They’re just kids.” “Yeah, well at least we don’t have the nerve to play as the enemy... Somebody’s gotta teach these brats a lesson about respect!” grumbled Antares. “D’you really wanna get thrown out for damaging property and assaulting other customers?” Antares looked back at his friend. A smirk was slowly tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Oh no you don’t,” said Orion. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” The two colts left the arcade and stepped outside, exiting into one of Canterlot’s busiest streets. It was a gorgeous summer day; the sky was of a crisp blue, tinted with the everlasting hue of orange. The sun glowed warmly, and there was not a cloud to dull its shine, only the smooth crescent of the moon’s outline floating like a clear bubble of soap above the ground. All around them the hustle and bustle of Equestria’s heart roared, the great mass of ponies going hurriedly about their business, drifting in and out the various newly built office towers, restaurants, shops and other businesses that seemed to have been crammed in every available inch of space of the city’s streets and alleyways. For a small moment, Orion felt as though he was suspended in time and space, his friend and him the only ones that weren’t running around or shouting with the mass before them. He raised his face towards the sky, closing his eyes for a few seconds. It felt nice to feel the hot sunshine warm his lavender coat after having been holed up in the arcade. “Please tell me I was never like that,” said Antares next to him. Orion looked at his friend, a crimson earth pony whose constantly ruffled brown mane gave him an impression of always being on the run. “I’m not even gonna pretend you and I weren't like that,” chuckled Orion. “Although in hindsight, you were probably worse.” “Hahaha,” replied Antares dryly. “So what are you gonna do now, funny boy?” “I’m going home,” said Orion. “Gonna spend the day with my mom. What about you?” He turned to his friend, only to find a wide grin spread on his face, as was usual for the hot-headed earth pony. The glint in his eye had returned, and it was much stronger. “I got... stuff to do,” said Antares. The cheeky tone and slight hesitation in his voice were not lost on Orion. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, amused. “Eh, nothing much,” replied Antares, though Orion knew that couldn’t be true. “We can meet up later, if you want.” “Sounds good,” said Orion. “See ya later.” The two ponies went their separate ways, blending with the crowd. “And oh, dude!” called out Antares. Orion turned around to find his friend waving at him. “Happy birthday!” Orion grinned his thanks, and resumed his journey home. As he turned around the corner of Crystal Avenue and Saint-Foal Street, Orion saw that he had arrived at his destination. It was on his way home, but he was going to take a little detour. He was troubled. He walked down the street until he arrived at a large stone church, out of which two or three ponies were quietly coming and going. Taking care not to make too much noise himself, he stepped inside through the great wooden door left ajar. He found himself in the great hall of the church. It was a much cooler place, radiating a quiet and solemn aura that had a soothing effect on the young pony. There were a lot of these churches all around Canterlot, and had been ever since before he was born. They had all been built at around the same time, at the beginning of the Long Day. At that time, Canterlot itself was greatly in need of repair, and much of what it may have been in the past was now lost. Every now and again, Orion would spend some time in this church, when he felt his mind overflowing with too many troubling thoughts. He wouldn’t go about telling this to his friends, as he preferred to keep it a personal secret that the outside world would not be able to touch. Dipping his hoof in a basin of holy water, which he dabbed on his forehead while bowing to the decorated window at the end of the hall, he quietly made his way to one of the benches that were lined up in the room. He sat down and looked up at the large round window that shone like a beacon in the middle of dark walls of the church. The sun dazzled through the tinted glass, making colourful streaks of light in which specks of dust hung listlessly above the stone ground below. Orion looked for a few seconds at the great white mare that was painted there, giving him a soothing smile while her luscious mane flowed behind her. Next to her, on the bottom hand corners of the window, two other ponies were depicted. One was a mare of deep blue, shown half-shrouded in the night sky while the moon and stars danced above her, and the other a smiling purple mare, spreading her wings against the evening colours of twilight. Every time Orion saw that familiar window, he thought to himself that he would very much have liked to meet these three regal ponies. But he knew one of them was no longer part of this world, and that the other two were rumored never to leave the great castle that was perched atop the city, the only ponies mysteriously hidden from view in a place where no one ever went in or about. Life went on in Canterlot. But behind the happy faces and amidst the ups and downs of everyday life, there was a lingering fear that somewhere, the enemy might still be hiding behind pony traits… waiting for the princesses to show themselves once more. Orion dispelled these unsettling thoughts and focused on kneeling and putting his forehooves together. Closing his eyes, he began to pray. Dear Princess Celestia... Today I was at the arcade with my friend Antares. We were playing a virtual reality game where a team of combat ponies have to take out a group of Changelings. Not that you don’t know all of this of course… I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. I know I should have, but I couldn’t. I tried to tell myself that it was just a game… but I couldn’t shoot a Changeling in the back. I know they are bad; but they have feelings too. Somewhere far away, they have lives. Some are foals and young ponies, like me. Some lost parents and friends like we did, and I’m sure some of them didn’t want any of this to happen either. I couldn’t distance myself from that when I held one of them at gunpoint. Does that make me a bad pony? I was taught to be respectful of all living things. But I was also taught that the Changelings are the enemy, and that life here was much more peaceful before they ruined it. I don’t know what to do, or what I would do if it happened for real. I hope you are not upset with me. I miss you, dad... He was drawn out of his trance when he felt sunlight hitting his eyelid, and looked up. The sun had continued its course through the sky, and was now beaming onto him through the glass. Orion got up quietly and headed towards the exit, feeling somewhat appeased. He took another bow towards the tinted glass before stepping back outside. Much later that day, as the sky took on deeper hues, Orion was laying on his bed. His previous worries had vanished the moment he was greeted at home by his mother and showered with birthday gifts. He had spent a great afternoon with her, and was now reading a fascinating book on different habitable worlds as well as the theory of parallel dimensions and alternate realities, a subject he was particularly fond of. Suddenly he heard the doorbell ring. After a few seconds of hesitation and being tempted by pretending he didn’t hear it, Orion got up and headed towards the stairs. He stopped when he heard his mother get to the door first, and returned to his room. Oh well, guess it wasn’t that important… “Oh hello, Bella! What a nice surprise!” Orion froze. If there was one pony he both wanted to see at all times and wished would be anywhere else than on his doorstep, it was her. “Good evening, miss Andromeda,” chimed the delicate voice of the mare from downstairs. “I hope I’m not bothering you, but I was wondering if Orion was around?” “Of course you’re not bothering me! And yes, Orion is--” “Right here!” said Orion, dashing downstairs before his mother could finish her sentence. She blinked. “Well, that was fast.” Orion looked at her with a sheepish smile; secretly he had been eavesdropping on their conversation from the top of the staircase. “Hello, Orion,” said Bella, which caused Orion to almost start. “Oh! Hey! Hey, Bella! What’s up?” he asked awkwardly. His mother giggled. “Well, I’ll let you two be. Have fun!” she said before retreating back into the living room. “Thanks! Good evening!” said Bella. Orion secretly wished his mother would have said she needed him at home right now, for any reason at all, as the shy colt found himself in a terribly awkward spot. He could hardly look at Bella; she was a mare with a pearly white coat and a mane of soft, natural blond with a single vivid yellow streak that echoed that of her eyes. It was uncomfortable for him to look at her for more than a second at a time, not only because she was the most beautiful pony Orion could think of -- She was also his best friend’s sister. “Where’s Antares?” he asked. He regretted asking the question immediately as she gave him a confused look. “He’s not here…” she said. “I came alone, I thought we could hang out together.” “Oh! Uh, sure! Absolutely!” said Orion, feeling as though he’d just been struck by lightning. Seeing as her confusion only grew, he mentally slapped himself before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “I mean… Yeah. I’d like that,” he said. “Great!” said Bella. “Let’s go to that big bakery downtown!” “Cake & Cake’s? Why there?” asked Orion “Uh… I dunno,” said Bella with a shrug. “Just thought… uh… y’know?” It was Orion’s turn to be confused. Bella seemed surprisingly nervous all of a sudden. But he decided to brush it off; any place was a good place as long as she wanted to spend time there with him. “Ok!” he said. “Sure, let’s go!” Together they stepped out into the street and made their way to the bakery.
Antares~ ~ ~ Antares ~ ~ ~ “I got… stuff to do.” Oh yeah. Stuff to do indeed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked me. ‘Course I couldn’t let him know… not yet. Tsk tsk, Orion, curiosity is a nasty habit of yours. “Eh, nothing much. We can meet up later, if you want.” “Sounds good. See ya later.” Yes. Bullet dodged. He turned around and left, leaving me to contemplate things, when I realized I’d almost forgot to wish the guy a happy birthday. “And oh, dude! Happy birthday!” I saw him grin back at me before I lost him to the crowd. Yes, happy birthday, Orion. Celestia knows you’re in for a treat… Yes siree, it was a beautiful day. On top of that, it was my best friend’s birthday. Could a pony ask for more? Well, maybe a free pass to ditch school for a year and do whatever I want wouldn’t hurt. But right now, things were pretty sweet. And they were about to get a lot sweeter. As I walked down Crystal Avenue, I looked around at the people around me. Usually there were too many to really pay attention to -- you know how it is. Big city, people don’t like socializing, all that. But today, I was looking at each and every one of them, like I had something to show them all. And in a way, I did. This big city always ignored me… always treated me like an average joe out of millions of others… Well, this sucker was about to show them what’s what! Even though they wouldn’t all be there to see it, I was gonna rock this city off its hinges! And then there would be no more losing at the arcade to a bunch of snotty brats. Although technically, I didn’t lose, it was Orion. He was the one who got cold hooves. Wonder what’s up with that... But hey, no need to dwell on that stuff. There was a lot to do… and no time to lose. I went down to Crystal Park, as I was supposed to. There was somepony I had to meet there. As expected, she was late. Don’t you hate it when you put effort into something and people just blatantly show you that it’s not that important to them? ‘Cause that’s what being late means. Frankly, it’s fucking annoying, and it would have annoyed me on any day except today. And on my own birthday. And on Hearth’s Warming. And on Hearts and Hooves Day -- wait, no. Especially on Hearts and Hooves Day. But today it didn’t matter. The sun was shining and nothing could foreseeably go wrong. So I sat down on a bench and waited. It was an easy wait, I mean, the view was fantastic. Crystal Park was no doubt the best place to be on a sunny day. I wonder if they thought of that when they built it? Bah, who knows. It’s just the coolest thing when the sun hits those crystal trees just right, and the trees seem to pass on light to each other in their reflections. Especially in the middle of the park, where a big crystal pony statue stands to the memory of those that died in battle at the start of the Long Day. No wonder so many of them live in this part of town… Word is their home up north was completely destroyed. Also, it didn’t hurt that two lovely crystal mares walked past and giggled while I waited. Sitting on the park bench, eyeing little fillies with bad intent… Hehe. I was about to check out another one that I saw arriving, but on second thought I held back. It was my sister, Bella. I don’t know if she saw through me just then, but she had a look told me she probably did. “You’re late,” I told her. I know I said it didn’t matter all that much, but a guy’s gotta have principles. “Good day to you too,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Time to cut to the chase. “So, ya got anything good for me?” I saw my sister tense up. For a moment I thought she had forgot it and that I was gonna have to smack a filly. But she rummaged through her satchel and my heart skipped a beat when I saw her take out a small white stone with a purple crystal in the middle. “Is this it?” she asked. I took it from her hoof -- actually, more like snatched it -- and watched the magnificent little jewel. Oh. my. Celestia. Yes! “Yeah… Yeah, that’s the one! Great job, sis!” I beamed at her to show my thanks, but she still looked worried. “Do you have any idea what we’re gonna be able to do with this?” “Yeah, I do. But I’d really rather not.” Crap. I thought this might happen. Ugh, some ponies… You put your genius to their use and all they do is pout. “It was a rhetorical question, Bel.” “Yeah, thanks!” she said, visibly annoyed although I couldn’t imagine why. “But this isn’t one of your stupid little pranks, Antares!” “Okay first off, my pranks are not stupid, they are the quintessence of raditude,” I told her. She scoffed, unable to appreciate my humour, but she couldn’t escape the truth. “And it’s not like we’re breaking into the royal castle or anything!” “Did you ever stop to think about the ponies we’re gonna hurt because of this?” “See, you think it’s a big deal because you make it sound like a big deal. We’re not ‘hurting’ anypony, it’s not like it’s gonna ruin lives or anything!” It looked like she wanted to find another preachy comeback, but all she could do was fidget and bite her lip. That’s Bella, alright; always trying to act like my big sister although we were born the same year. “I thought you said you were ok with this?” I asked her. “I did!” she said. I waited for her to explain her weird attitude, but she didn’t. “So what is it?” She gave me a strange look, kinda between fear and anger. “The lady who… from whom this came from…” she said. “I dunno, it just doesn’t feel right.” “What do you mean?” “It’s none of your business.” “Why d’you bring it up, then?” “It doesn’t matter!” she snapped. Mares, I swear… “Just, tell me…” “What is it?” “Promise this whole thing isn’t going to cause any trouble.” I could feel a headache approaching. I thought we’d gone over and over this already. But rather than to aggravate things and bring unto myself the familiar shitstorm of my sister’s wrath, I decided to reconfirm with her what had been true all along. “It’s just a birthday surprise for Orion.” She seemed skeptical. “Honest!” I said. She groaned her approval -- or not. “D’you know where you need to be?” I asked her. “Yeah.” “And at what time?” “Yeah.” “And what you need to d--” “Yes! I’m ready, alright?” “Alright, alright, just checking. Okay, I better hit it, there’s somepony I gotta see for tonight.” “Alright,” said Bella before suddenly taking off. Well, that went much better when we talked about it the first time. Jeez, why is everypony acting so weird on such a fine day? Next stop: New Ponyville. It’s a residential area a little ways further from the city centre. It looks real nice with its little suburban dollhouses and its pavements lined with perfectly trimmed hedges. Nice ponies live here, too; nice middle-class folk with no trouble done or done to. It’s good-looking. It’s quiet. Nothing bad ever happens here, that’s for sure. Live around here, and your brains will melt out of your head like ice-cream from the hot summer’s sun, and the buzz of eternal boredom. If I had to live here, I’d probably be just as permanently pissed off as the pony I had to meet. ‘Course that’s why this was gonna be so fun. He would never agree to do it, but he was gonna end up doing it anyway. How? Well shit, I don’t know how, that’s the best part! I was about to find out! I walked up to a house that pretty much looked like all the others: a big white box with a front door, two windows on the upper story, a bright blue roof to make sure the architect wasn’t completely color blind, a neatly kept front yard with a mini fountain (nice touch) and a garage for storage to the right. I grabbed a bunch of little stones that were laying on the curb, and I threw one to the upper window on the left. I threw just hard enough so that it would only hit the window and not break it of course. Although if it did, it would probably inject a little excitement in their lives... I didn’t have time to formulate an escape plan for that possibility however, as I saw a face approach the window. Blue coat, black mane, obviously not happy to see me… Yep, this was the place. I signaled him to come down, hearing him groan in exasperation from where I was. While I waited, I looked at his house. It was kinda fascinating. I mean, Celestia knows I wouldn’t want to live in this shithole. But at least it’s a nice, clean house. We don’t have houses like that in New Cloudsdale. We don’t have a lot there, really. Not many kids, too, ‘cause their parents don’t wanna bring them up in that neighborhood if they can help it. Suffice to say that when your only playmates are older colts, you get a knack for trouble. It’s fun and all… but it’s not like having a nice house. I heard a loud metal noise as the garage door rolled up. It revealed a messy garage, in the middle of which was an equally messy-looking colt, who always looked as though he’d just been woken up for nothing. I walked up to him and put on my best smile. “Naos, my brother! What’s up?” “What do you want?” he asked moodily. I didn’t expect any other kind of greeting. “Beautiful day, ain’t it?” He looked at me, then at the sky, then back to me. “Uh… Yeah?” “C’mon,” I teased. “D’you really wanna mope around on a day like this? Where’s the love? Turn that frown upside do--” “What’s this about?” he said in his usual deadpan voice. “It’s Orion’s birthday today.” He put a hoof to his face. He probably had a headache. Again. “Oh… Is it? Uh… I didn’t know. I guess I’ll buy him something.” “No, no! No need for that! We’re throwing a little sumthin’ with Bella, and you can help us organize!” He looked at me in curiosity. “What kind of something?” “You know that bakery downtown? Cake & Cake’s?” “Yeah, what about it?” Alright, here goes. Moment of truth. “I wanna rob it.” Finally, it was time. The sun was coming down, and the moon was taking a more defined shape. It was that time of the day where everypony stopped running, for the most part, and felt it was finally time to retreat back to their private lives. Only a few adventurous ponies would be going downtown now, either to work those nighttime jobs that were arguably cooler than those of the day, or to live it up like animals in a concrete jungle. Living it up? Was that what we would be doing? I like to think that it was indeed. But I’d have to make sure of it, because it looked like some ponies hadn’t caught on yet. “This is a terrible idea,” said Naos next to me. See what I mean? “Relax. I’ve done this before, just follow my lead and we’ll be fine,” I told him. We were hidden from sight in a narrow alleyway flooded in the shadows of dusk, that Naos was looking at like they were gonna jump out and arrest him. “You’re out of your mind!” he said. “Yeah, well, you’re out of Boringsville, doesn’t that feel nice?” He grunted, which was fine but it wasn’t a counter-argument. So while my friend was busy overreacting -- like I thought he would, to be honest -- I was busy trying to get the lock to this steel door open. It was the back door to the bakery, which led directly to storage. I pressed the stone Bella gave me earlier that day against the lock. It was supposed to work… but nothing was happening, and I could sense that Naos would end up running around like a headless chicken if it didn’t work soon. But just then, as if on purpose, the stone started glowing against the metal of the door. With a spark, the lock was busted and the door swung just a bit open. “Yes! Hell yeah!” I said. I wanted to shout it out loud, but of course that wouldn’t have been very smart. I didn’t actually doubt this would work, but in a way it still surprised me that it was actually real, that I had called it right. “Shut up, we’re gonna get busted!” whispered Naos so strongly that I felt a tiny droplet of spit hit my coat. “Don’t worry, that was the hardest part.” “Okay, what now?” “Now we go in…” Naos stepped inside the room, which was dark and cool, with a little hesitation. I gotta admit I was a little surprised that he was the first to go in instead of me. Maybe, secretly, he was more eager to do this thing than he let on? That would be so awesome. I followed him inside, and turned around to close the door on us as much as possible. “Remind me why I agreed to do this already…?” I heard Naos whisper to himself. I grinned. Oh, Antares. Oh, baby. You are just too good.
Bella~ ~ ~ Bella ~ ~ ~ If Blue Garnet had an extra hoof he didn’t need for walking, he would be nibbling on it nervously. In the early hours of morning, the well-groomed crystal pony was pacing around the living room table, his thick mustache trembling in anxiety. The large house he was in belonged to his mother, who was peacefully snoozing in a comfortable armchair in a corner of the room. For a house in the middle of Canterlot, it was a handsome place, not far from the Crystal gardens. Inside were several vast and cozy rooms, not the least of which was the one they were in right now. The walls were lined with old pictures, many objects that were mostly relics of the past, and several cupboards filled with luxurious items and jewels. In the midst of all this modest luxury, one could easily assume they were in the home of a well-off retired pony. Of course none of this occurred to Blue Garnet, who was used to the place and much too busy fueling his anxiety and thinking nopony should have to worry so much at such an early hour. When she cracked an eye open, Lady Gemmaline saw that her son was still pacing around like he had been doing for the past thirty minutes. “Why don’t you stop buzzing around like a housefly and take a seat next to me?” she teased. “Mother, please!” he replied. “I have to be at work in an hour and she still hasn’t shown up!” Gemmaline chuckled. “I don’t guarantee you’ll live to be as old as me with that kind of attitude,” she mumbled as she nestled herself further in the comfortable leather chair. Just as he was about to stop pacing and retort, a ring on the doorbell was heard that nearly made Blue Garnet jump out of his skin. He made a dash to the front door and swung it open to face a young white mare looking up in surprise at being greeted so fast. “Ah, there you are!” was his greeting. “Erm, I mean… You must be the new social worker?” “Bella, yes,” replied the mare, extending a polite hoof. “Pleased to meet you!” “Pleasure,” replied Blue Garnet as she shook her hoof a little briskly. “Alright listen, I don’t really have time to lose, so I trust you’re up to speed with how to take care of her?” Bella nodded. “Don’t worry, I have excellent credentials and feedback,” she replied with a smile. Blue Garnet looked at her skeptically, one eyebrow raised almost comically high. “Lunch at noon, sharp, tea with a dash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, medication is in the upstairs cabinet in the bedroom, third shelf, on the left next to--” “Alright, alright, you’re good to go,” said Blue Garnet with a wave of his hoof. He turned around towards the inside of the house. “Mother, I’m off to work now! Take care!” There was a moment of silence while he waited for her to reply. “Mother?” he asked worryingly. “You’re going to be late!” sounded a cackling voice from the living room. Blue Garnet grumbled, annoyed that his mother was still playing jokes on him at his age. “I’ll be back at one,” he mumbled as he trudged past Bella without a moment for her to reply. Bella blinked for a second before going into the house and closing the door. She took a while to admire the entry corridor. It was shrouded in a quiet cleanliness that seemed to isolate the entire house from the world outside. She spotted a dresser near the front door, and suddenly remembered why she had come to this house in the first place. Without a sound she scanned the dresser to see if she could spot anything interesting. But the only items resting upon it were a framed picture and several trinkets of little significance to Bella. Ignoring the dresser with a disappointed sigh, she slowly walked into the living room, where she spotted the old pony she was supposed to be taking care of. “Good morning, madam,” she said in a soft and pleasant voice. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Bella,” she said with a little bow. Lady Gemmaline looked back at her with a soft smile and waved a hoof. “Please, dear, call me Gemmaline. I’m sorry about my son, he has a tendency to sweat the small stuff.” Bella looked back at the old mare and couldn’t help but smile. While Gemmaline’s mane seemed to have lost its colour long ago, her coat shone softly with a translucent pink. She had a round and plump face, in which were buried almond-shaped eyes that twinkled playfully. Bella could tell this was a pony who radiated genuine kindness. “Well at least he cares for you,” said Bella. Gemmaline laughed. “Yes, yes he does. Now, how would you like to share a morning cup of tea with me?” “I’ll get to that right away!” chimed Bella, glad she could be of service already. A few minutes later the two of them were enjoying a cup of tea in the living room. For a moment Neither of them said anything. Bella watched in curiosity as Lady Gemmaline took a sip of her tea, closing her eyes and sighing softly as steam from the cup slowly wisped up to her face. Bella wondered if it was just a thing, or if little things like that got better with old age. “Now, this tea is something else,” said Gemmaline, to Bella’s delight. “Wherever did you learn to make it like this?” “Oh, I just… picked it up somewhere. In an old recipe book.” The old mare nodded thoughtfully. “Good books like those are so often lost, it’s a shame. Good to see some young’uns still care about them.” Bella smiled, and took another sip of her tea. “So, tell me about yourself, Bella,” said Gemmaline. For a second, Bella was caught off guard by the sudden question. She hadn’t thought about how exactly she was going to have to introduce herself. She’d been too busy worrying about what she had promised him to do. “Oh! Um, well… What can I say?” she chuckled clumsily. “Well, for starters, where do you live?” Bella swallowed. “... New Ponyville.” “Oh, that’s nice! A good place to live in, surely,” said Gemmaline. “I was supposed to live over there, you know. But my son managed to find me this place this house within Canterlot proper, and I have to say it’s quite convenient.” Bella glanced around the room she was in. “You do have a beautiful home,” she said. “Isn’t it? Thank you for saying so,” replied Gemmaline. There was a short moment of awkward silence. Bella did her best to hide her nervousness behind a smile while Gemmaline scanned her with a wily gaze. “So… Tell me more, dear! Tell me about your family, for instance. I suppose you live with your parents… Do you have any brothers and sisters?” Brothers. Antares. Bella bit her lip. She didn’t like this, not at all. But she knew she would have to do it sooner or later. For him. Bella took a deep breath and set her cup down. There was definitely no escaping this moment now. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” Gemmaline looked at her curiously. “Pardon?” “I lied to you. I’m from New Cloudsdale, not New Ponyville.” Gemmaline looked at her with round eyes. Bella could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest as she waited for the moment the old mare would tell her to leave and never show her face around here again. After a few seconds of nerve-wracking silence, Gemmaline burst into a cheery laugh that made Bella start. “Oh my, dear! Don’t make this old body of mine laugh so hard, you’ll give me a heart attack!” “You’re not upset?” “Well of course not!” said Gemmaline. “Frankly I’m surprised, more than anything. Why would you lie about being from New Cloudsdale?” “I… I wanted to make a good impression,” replied Bella, still a little anxious. “I was afraid that a nice pony like yourself wouldn’t want anything to do with me if they knew I was from over there. It’s… not a very nice place.” Gemmaline chuckled and set down her cup. “Listen, sweetheart, your origin is nothing to be ashamed of. I should know, I’m a minority!” Gemmaline looked at her in empathy. “Don’t let anypony tell you that you’re a certain way just because you’re from a certain place. You understand? Only you can decide what kind of pony you are. Besides, there’s hardship everywhere, not just in New Cloudsdale. People want to turn a blind eye to those places because these are troubled times… But that should never stop you from accepting who you are and being proud of it.” Bella listened to Gemmaline’s words with held breath. When old mare leaned in with a smile and stroked the young pony’s cheek, a single tear ran down its side. “Thank you,” she whispered. Those words were some she had waited a long time to hear, and she felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders almost out of nowhere. She gulped, trying not to cry some more. “Have some more tea, it’ll do you good,” said Gemmaline. Bella gave a shaky laugh, and drank some tea before wiping her wet cheek with a hoof. “I do have a brother. His name is Antares. But… we don’t know who our parents are.” Gemmaline’s eyes flickered for a second. “Oh… I’m so sorry.” “That’s alright,” replied Bella with a weak smile. “We were raised in an orphanage. It was a bit gloomy, but we had the support of a lot of other foals who had lost their parents too on the day of the attack.” Bella looked down into her cup for a moment. “I remember, one day, when I was just a small filly… We were in this center, you know, one of those they built at the start of the Long Day that give out financial help for families in need. My brother and I went there to pick up some supplies and money for ourselves and for the orphanage. It was horrible… Not the cheeriest place in the world, as you can imagine. And so we were sitting on this bench… We’d been there all morning, trying to get in line. At the time, I didn’t understand what was going on; but looking back, I realize they had told us to wait there to allow other ponies to get in front of us. Two orphan foals from New Cloudsdale… we weren’t exactly high priority on their list. Everypony was in distress, and people were pushing each other angrily to make sure they got their supplies before anypony else. I didn’t understand what was going on, I waited for hours for somepony to tell us to step forward, but everypony seemed to pretend we weren’t there. Then my brother started acting up… We were tired, and we hadn’t eaten in a while. I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn’t listen, he started yelling at me that he was hungry and that he wanted to get out of there. He was still young of course… but everypony was looking down onto us, because they could tell we were from the wrong part of town.” “That’s terrible,” said Gemmaline. She seemed genuinely concerned. Bella nodded, still staring down melancholically into her teacup. “It was. I was so worried, I didn’t know what to do, and I felt it was all my fault. Then suddenly, this colt who was about our age came up to us, despite his mother was telling him not to. He looked at me in curiosity, as if he’d never seen foals like us. I was terrified, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’ll never forget what he told us then.” She looked up at Gemmaline, the tears welling up at the base of her eyes once more. “I’ll let you take my place if you need it.” Gemmaline looked back at her in utter astonishment. “Yeah. That’s the face that pretty much everypony pulled. At first I didn’t know what to do. Then I got up, and I got our share of food and money for my brother and I, and we made a dash for it outside. Looking back it wasn’t the most polite or thankful thing to do, but we didn’t want to have to spend one more second in that place.” “That was tremendously good of that colt to help you out.” “Yes, he’s a really good pony. My brother and I went to sit down just outside the center to eat, and he joined us when he got his food. We’ve been friends ever since, especially my brother and him, they’re always getting into some kind of boy mischief together,” she said with a shaky laugh that Gemmaline shared. “His name is Orion… I’m quite fond of him.” Gemmaline nodded knowingly. “Ah, yes, I dare say I know that feeling quite well.” Bella smiled. “It’s his birthday today, actually.” “Oh, that’s so nice!” chimed Gemmaline. “Congratulations to him, and the both of you!” Bella nodded her thanks, and allowed herself another helping of tea. She took a sip, and looked at Gemmaline. She realized the old pony had been looking at her with a curious look. “It’s… so strange,” she said almost dreamily. “Is something wrong, madam?” asked Bella. Gemmaline shook her head absently. “No, nothing’s wrong dear. It’s just…” She gestured, struggling to find the words. “We’ve never met before… We’re generations apart, and yet... You seem so familiar to me.” Bella listened, silently wondering what Gemmaline meant by that. “I guess you just remind me of my mother.” Bella couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. “Your mother?” Gemmaline nodded. “Yes. My mother was a unicorn; in fact, she wasn’t a crystal pony herself! She married one, my father, and the genes did the rest. My late husband was also a crystal pony, so it’s practically embedded in the family now. My mother was a loving, joyous pony; I suppose your story of generosity just brings me back to her… Here, I want to show you something.” Gemmaline pushed her shaking hooves against the arms of her chair as she struggled to get up. Bella stood up and helped the old pony, who led her to a picture resting on top of the fireplace. It was a very colourful picture, although faded by time. In the middle was a unicorn with a dazzling white coat and luscious purple mane, smiling broadly at Bella. On her back was a small crystal earth filly whom Bella could only assume was Gemmaline herself. Standing to her left was a proud looking crystal stallion, and to her left Bella saw a pony that was only too familiar, and made her gasp in surprise. “Oh my Celestia, is that--” “Princess Twilight, yes. My mother and her were good friends.” Gemmaline took a second before adding, “Right to the very end, too...” Bella looked at her. “I’m so sorry…” “That’s alright, love. She had a good life.” Bella looked at the picture some more. She wondered in fascination what it must have been like to live in times of peace. It was something she would never know, and that often led her to wonder just how much better it would have been… She was pulled out of her daydreaming at the sight of an object resting at the far right of the fireplace. It was a beautiful white stone, with a single purple gem shining in the middle. Bella’s stomach gave a lurch as soon as she saw it. “Oh my,” she said. “That’s a gorgeous jewel.” “Ah, yes,” said Gemmaline. “It belonged to my husband, and he prized it above all his other findings in the Crystal Mines. It’s a rare specimen of Marblegem, known for its beauty, as well as its magical properties.” “Really?” asked Bella. She knew from her brother’s description what it looked like, but he had never told her about any magical properties. “What does it do?” “Well, it’s imbued in natural magic. If used correctly, it can allow earth ponies and pegasi to use unicorn magic.” Bella gulped. She understood now why he wanted to get his hooves on it. Oh, Antares… what are you up to now? After her previous moment of emotional therapy, Bella was suddenly overtaken with her prior nervousness. She was torn; on the one hand she absolutely did not want to steal from this kind old mare who had allowed her to cope with her troubled life for a few blissful minutes. It just wouldn’t be right. But on the other hand, she had always stuck by Antares’s side. While he was more of a troublemaker than she was, he was also the only family she had. She more than often assisted in his schemes, because they weren’t truly harmful. He was a prankster, but a good-hearted pony, and because most of the time they served to help the two of them get by, if not other ponies. She was highly sensitive to help, as was her brother, and she had never let him down before. She started biting her lip again -- how was she supposed to pull this off? Gemmaline would be watching her at all times, with those kind twinkling eyes of hers… “You can have it if you want.” Bella turned to face her so fast she might as well have been caught in the act. “W-What? No, I couldn’t possibly--” “Please, it’s alright,” said Gemmaline with a reassuring nod. “It’s just sitting there uselessly here all day… I’m sure you can put it to better use.” Bella was awestruck. “Are you sure?” “Of course! You can give it as a birthday present to that nice coltfriend of yours.” Bella blushed slightly. “In that case… I’ll cherish it. Thank you so much.” Gemmaline smiled at her, and put a hoof to Bella’s cheek. “Don’t forget to smile, now, you hear?” Bella did smile indeed, and would be looking forward to their next meeting. A few minutes later she was walking down Lady Gemmaline’s street towards the Crystal Gardens, passing many other crystal ponies on her way. She was still shook up from the time she spent in the old mare’s company, not only because of the personal nature of their talk, but also because of the gift she had been given. It was a gift. That was what she kept telling herself, to justify it all and force herself to forget about it. It was gift, she hadn’t stolen it, so why linger on it any longer? What was done was done, and once she gave it to Antares, it would stay in the flat they both shared and it would stay there. Still, it felt wrong. Bella knew that if Gemmaline had known about her intentions, she would’ve never given her the Marblegem. She would’ve also kicked Bella out for sure this time, for abusing her trust like that. Bella felt tormented, as if she was breaking her new friend’s trust already as it was. She continued to mull things over uncomfortably as she strolled through the beautifully lit Crystal Gardens. It wasn’t long before she spotted Antares, sitting on a bench by himself next to the central statue of the park. “You’re late,” he said. In a moment where the basic education she had received growing up in New Cloudsdale suddenly came back to her, she was tempted to tell him quite plainly to fuck off and go back to Gemmaline’s house to return the stone that was causing her so much heartache. But she would still keep a cool head. “Good day to you too,” she said curtly. “So, ya got anything good for me?” Much later that day, she was walking downtown next to Orion towards the bakery. Dammit, she thought. Here she was, supposedly out on a nice walk through town at sunset next to her special somepony. But her enjoyment of it all was marred by the stressful thoughts of the day, which still hung around her like the shadows on the street. She was growing less and less sure about all of this, even though she technically had nothing to do with Antares’s operation anymore. “Hey, are you okay?” Bella was so lost in her musings that she just barely noticed Orion talking to her. “Huh?” “You haven’t said anything since we left,” said Orion in concern. “Is there something wrong?” “N-no, I’m fine. Really,” she said with an unconvincing smile. “If you say so. In any case, we’re here.” She wished he hadn’t said that, but they had indeed arrived as the lit entrance of the large bakery came into view just a few feet ahead of them. Bella’s apprehension only grew as they neared the door, as if she expected the building to explode at any moment. Suddenly, Orion stopped in his tracks. “Hey! Is that…?” Bella gulped as she tried to spot whatever sign of bad news Orion was referring to. Said sign took the shape of a small blue pegasus foal dashing out of the bakery, zipping through the air straight towards them. Bella recognized him, and found herself just as surprised as Orion was. “Orion! We got a big problem!” squeaked the foal as he stopped before the pair. “Gliese…? What are you doing h--” “There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” said Gliese as he looked up to the colt who was easily twice his size with an air of panic. “Why? Bella, what’s he talking about?” asked Orion, who was utterly confused. Bella would have answered, but she herself didn’t know what was going on. The only thing she could think about was that what she had dreaded had happened. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. It wasn’t by any stretch the first time this had happened during one of Antares’s little excursions, but she knew she would still end up regretting having had anything to do with it in the first place. As if she needed any confirmation or concrete proof of it all, she found it when she looked up at the bakery and saw her brother and another familiar pony galloping towards them from an alleyway next to the building. Behind them, a fat purple cloud of magic containing various cakes and pastries of different sizes was trailing behind them as they ran, which attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Bella felt mixed feelings of deja vu and anxiety, and against her better judgement, made her thoughts on the situation at hand known despite being in the presence of a foal. “Shit.”
Naos~ ~ ~ Naos ~ ~ ~ The alarm buzzed just once at 8 AM before it was silenced by a hoof slamming down on it. Celestia damn it. Silence reigned once more. The colt whom had angrily struck the alarm for trying to cut his precious sleep time short remained buried under his sheets, while the summer morning’s sun streaked in through the blinds of his window in warm orange beams that spread across every surface they could reach. The world in the small, messy bedroom lay still in time as the colt continued to snooze. It remained so, only the sun minutely gliding on the walls, until a voice was heard from downstairs. “Naos! Get up or you’ll be late for school!” From the depths of his bed, Naos growled in sleepy frustration. He could’ve stayed in bed as long as he wanted, but his mother’s was the only call to arms that had any effect on him, because it was the one he could not silence and that would grow only louder and more painful with every attempt to avoid it. He rose slowly, pushing away the covers. His eyes remained closed to avoid getting any unwanted sunlight. For a moment he just sat upright, his blue coat and jet-black mane ruffled and a grimace etched onto his morning face as if he’d just eaten an entire lemon. “Naos!” He took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly. Damn it. Damn it all to Tartarus. Today was going to be a Long Day indeed. After having lazily made his way downstairs, Naos walked into the kitchen, where his mother was doing the dishes. “Good morning, Naos,” she said after a brief glance his way. “Your lunch for today is on the table.” Naos opened the brown paper bag his mother was talking about and peeked inside. At the bottom lay a solitary sandwich, his mother’s usual minimal assemblage of hay in between two slices of bread. “I don’t have school today,” he said. “It’s Saturday… remember?” His mother turned around in surprise. “Oh… Well keep it for later, then,” she said before returning to her dishes. Naos glared at her for a couple of seconds in disbelief before sitting down heavily at the kitchen table, where he started pouring himself a bowl of Cheerilee-o’s. As he did so, he heard frantic hoofsteps coming from the above floor. He sighed loudly. It was time for his daily routine to really begin. The hoofsteps pounded across the ceiling, before making their way to the staircase and excitedly trampling down the steps and rushing to the kitchen. “Gooooood morning, everypony!” loudly chimed Gliese. He stood on his hind legs, stretching out his limbs and tiny wings and beaming at Naos -- who was wincing in pain from the shrill sound of his little brother’s voice, which reached a decibel level that he found intolerable before noon. Their mother put down the dish she was cleaning and walked over to him. “Gooooood morning my little angel!” she cooed, rubbing his cheeks affectionately with her hooves. “Sleep well?” “Sure did! Good morning, Nao--” In his rushing towards his older brother, Gliese bumped into the kitchen table, which caused Naos to spill his bowl of cereal and milk all over it. A moment of awkward silence ensued, during which Gliese stared at the floor with an astonished look. “I’ll get that,” said their mother. “You just sit down, Gliese, and I’ll make you some breakfast.” Gliese did as he was told and looked at his brother. “Sorry, Naos,” he said with the telltale voice of a guilty child. Naos, who was on the verge of flipping the table over, saw his mother stare at him from underneath it as she cleaned up the mess. Her eyes, wide open and fixed on his, were commanding him not to overreact. He looked at Gliese, who looked back at him like a lost puppy. “That’s ok,” he muttered through gritted teeth, trying not to betray any emotion at all. Gliese’s expression immediately changed back to its previous glee. “No use crying over spilt milk, right?” he said, feeling proud of his clever pun that made his mother giggle. Naos looked at his little brother. The corner of his mouth twitched in an effort to force a grin, which only added to the discomfort he was feeling from the cold milk trickling down his legs. Naos burst into his room and slammed the door violently behind him. He then went up to his bed and bucked it once with a furious grunt, making the bed sway on its feet before setting itself down with a loud noise. The colt then sat on his bed, punched his pillow, and cradled his head in his hooves. He wished in that moment, as he so often did, that somepony else, somepony from the outside could just stand there and see what exactly was going behind the curtain of his life. He knew exactly how it looked from the outside. New Ponyville, a shiny bright suburb outside of Canterlot, and the nicest place to live away from the big city! So young and yet so perfect, who wouldn’t want to live here? The streets are clean, the people are always smiling, it’s always a brilliant day in New Fucking Ponyville! It was all just a big, cruel joke. He wanted to go out, to scream at the top of his lungs and make everypony see that he knew what all the billboards didn’t tell, he knew how it really was. In this day and age, nopony here wanted anything to do with anything that could be even the slightest kind of trouble. They chose to do away with their broken lives rather than rebuild them. They shrouded themselves in a polished little enclave of artificial happiness. They tried to salvage what peace and innocence was now gone instead of making it anew, and that was where the real trauma was. For all the dirt that didn’t show on the walls of rows upon rows of pristine model houses was on the inside. And he had grown up here. Here, in the smack middle of this cesspool of suburban lies and secrets. He’d never wanted any of it, he had never chosen this life like his cowardly parents had, but it had been slapped onto him like another generic poster boy next to the words Welcome to New Ponyville, have a nice day! He knew about it. He saw it all so clearly around him, as if he was a stranger stranded in this town. How? Stupid fucking little shit. The truth was that despite loathing the model of life that had imposed itself in New Ponyville, Naos wasn’t the only one who knew about it. In fact, every pony but the children living here knew what was afoot. Everypony wanted to show their neighbors that they were the ones who had bounced back best from the horror that had spawned the Long Day. It was why everything was so perfect on the outside; make sure you’re the cleanest sucker in the trash can, and that there’s always more jealous than you around. It was an everyday cold war, the collective result of individual façades of happiness coming together. It was poisonous air to breathe, but breathe it they did. And Naos could’ve breathed it too. He, like all the others, could have made his peace with it and accept that that was how life was meant to be from here on out. But that wasn’t considering one small detail. On the day the Changelings attacked Canterlot, they had come with a plan. Their prime targets were the unicorns and the pegasi, who had obvious combat advantage over their earth pony siblings. They hit fast and they hit hard, and as a result, unicorns and pegasi who were once commonplace became exceptionally rare. Time went on, and as family lines grew with it, unicorn and pegasus genes became so rare they became dangerously close to becoming a thing of the past. So in New Ponyville, national temple of envy and greed, what better way than to prove the superiority of your own life than being close to such a rare breed of ponies -- or better yet, being one of them? That was where Naos’s family hit gold. With the unexpected birth, six years ago, of a pegasus foal named Gliese. The kid was a living trophy. From the moment they had him, his parents had dedicated their lives to pampering him and making sure he could never be happier at any given moment. That was their sole motivation; to showcase the fact that their earth pony family had managed to create a fucking pegasus, the only one for many miles to be found! And that together, they were a happy family, the closest thing left to life before the Long Day! And then there was their older son, Naos. Just another earth pony. There was no longer any need for a dull bronze cup like him. That’s how his life was written out. He woke up, went to school in Canterlot, and came back home. All the while making sure he wasn’t in the way of Gliese being the star of the show. And unless he somehow stopped being an earth pony, there was no escape from this. He shook some more, as he felt fresh tears wet the tip of his forehooves. Dammit, not this again. Why… Why can’t I just be better than this? Suddenly, Naos heard a sharp noise in his room. He raised his head with a jolt, afraid that somepony might have seen him crying. He waited for a few seconds, to see if the sound would repeat itself. It didn’t, and Naos figured he had just imagined it. Nopony had seen him, but deep inside, he wished somepony actually had and that they would be coming to pull him out of this house. Snap. The noise repeated itself, and this time Naos was sure he hadn’t imagined it. He looked around in surprise, and then it happened again. Snap. It was then that Naos realized that the sounds he was hearing were coming from his window. Somepony was throwing pebbles at it. His heart racing, Naos leapt from his bead and to his window. Who could be calling him outside? Would he finally be introduced to somepony who would not just see him as a background pony? Oh, fuck me. Naos felt his heart sink as he recognized the pony throwing pebbles at his window. That crimson coat was unmistakably that of Antares. He knew that he’d wished somepony would come to see him, but it should have been anypony but him. But it was too late to back away now. Antares had seen him, and was flashing him his stupid grin as he signaled Naos to come down. Naos swore, and made his way down to the garage. He knew Antares after a fashion, as he was friends with Orion, a colt who was one of the rare ponies at school that Naos held in high esteem because he had actually bothered to talk to him. Naos considered Orion to be a good pony, so it was unfortunate that he would hang out with Antares, who just annoyed Naos. He was an arrogant joker, always bragging shamelessly about his recent run-ins with the authorities and how he’d managed to escape from the skin of his teeth. As far as Naos knew, the colt had no idea what true hardship was. Once he was behind the garage door, he pressed a button to a side to open it. The metal door slowly slided upwards and folded itself back into the garage roof, revealing a blindingly bright day outside, and Antares, who slowly made his way towards the garage. “Naos, my brother! What’s up?” The nerve of that guy, brooded Naos as he recalled that Antares never spoke to him unless he was butting in on a conversation between him and Orion. Still, he wanted to prove he was above ignoring him back, and that he would listen to what he had to say. There was a moment of silence during which Naos regretted not having pretended to be unavailable when he had the chance. “You want to what?” he asked. What he had just heard seemed so unreal, he wanted to make sure he hadn’t misheard. “I want to rob it,” Antares repeated. Naos looked at him quizzically. “You want to rob Cake & Cake’s. That’s what you want to do for your best friend’s birthday,” he said, his words dripping with sarcasm that he was sure even Antares wouldn’t be dumb enough to ignore. “Yup!” replied the beaming colt. “So whaddaya say?” Naos stared at him blankly for a few seconds before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh,” he said, raising his head with a jerk as if he’d realized something. “Oh, I just remembered. You’re a dick.” Antares burst into laughter. “Well, I guess that from a certain point of view… Yeah,” he said with a wink. “Are you suffering from brain damage, Antares? Is that it? Did you run into a street pole while running from the cops again?” “No, not this time. But seriously, I think it would be a blast. We get together as friends, rob Cake & Cake’s, and get the heck outta there to celebrate our good chum Orion’s birthday! It’ll be a great surprise, he’ll never see it coming!” “You’re right! Not on his birthday, especially not with his best friend and prank buddy spending the day away from him!” Antares grinned, but threw back his head with a groan. “Naos, did you ever stop to think that maybe it was precisely because you do that kind of stuff that no one wants to talk to you?” “Yeah well at least I’m not an aspiring criminal!” Naos retorted, a little hurt. “Times are rough but there’s always a better way to make money than stealing!” Antares didn’t reply, and looked at Naos in astonishment before speaking again. “Oh, no, no, no! No, you got it all wrong! I don’t want to steal money! I just wanna get my hooves on, let’s say, several birthday cakes of all sizes for tonight’s birthday bash!” It was Naos’s turn to look surprised. “Wait… That’s what this is all about? You wanna steal cake?” “Yeah!” “Well why didn’t ya just say so?” said Naos, beaming at him. Antares returned the smile with double enthusiasm. “Well there you go, that’s the spirit! So you’ll help me out?” “Uh, no,” scoffed Naos. “This is bullshit. How are you even gonna go about looting an entire bakery?” Antares ignored his friend’s cynicism, glad that the question had been brought up. “It’s simple, really. You and I show up at the back of the bakery at 7 PM sharp. We break in through the back door, that goes straight into storage. Meanwhile Bella and Orion will already be in the place, stalling the baker at the front while we raid the place, and then we all get the heck outta there!” Naos listened to Antares’s plan with unconcealed skepticism. “And in your mind, this is a good plan?” he asked after a moment. Antares nodded. “Trust me. I went over it a dozen times or so. It’s foalproof.” They stared at each other for a moment before Naos turned his back on Antares. “You’re insane,” he said as he made his way back inside. “Don’t wanna do it? That’s fine,” said Antares. “I’ll just tell Orion you didn’t think he was worth the trouble.” “I’m sure he’ll see it as me being reasonable more than anything else.” “That’s cool, I’ll just get Gliese to help out.” Naos was practically back inside when he stopped in his tracks. He didn’t turn around for a few seconds, and when he did his expression was no longer one of smug skepticism but of seriousness. He shot a hard glare at Antares, who gave him a warm, victorious smile. “I don’t think so,” said Naos. “I’m sure he’d love it, though.” “You are not dragging him into your stupid little games!” spat Naos, advancing menacingly towards Antares. “Why not? I’m great with kids. Think he can’t handle it?” “He’s just a kid! He can’t handle anything!” The two ponies were now inches away from each other. Naos was practically smoking at the nostrils, but Antares didn’t budge. He just stared calmly into Naos’s eyes for several seconds. “Oh… I see,” he said calmly. “I see what’s going on here. It’s not that you don’t want your little brother to get into trouble… You just don’t want him around anywhere, right?” “Don’t fuck with me, Antares,” said Naos in a low voice. “Look dude, I know how it is. This place sucks, I get it. I been around sucky places too.” “As if.” Antares raised his eyebrows. “You know I grew up in a New Cloudsdale orphanage, right? I’ve seen so many roaches crawl on my bed at night I started giving them names.” He paused, expecting another snide reply, but Naos just kept boring holes into his eyes, so he kept talking. “You know, back at the orphanage, there was this one dude. Unicorn. Big guy, too, bigger than all the other colts. And since he was a rare breed ‘n all, everypony looked up to him as their leader right off the bat. But me, I hated the guy. He acted like a pig who didn’t know he was rolling around in shit. Of course he was, I mean we were in a crummy orphanage, but he still had everything handed to him on a silver platter. And I didn’t even have a reason to hate him, I was just jealous ‘cause I wanted to be the big shot around. But I couldn’t be that guy. I was just another earth pony kid that nopony gave a shit about.” It was rare for Antares to say anything seriously, but when he did, he was absolutely sincere. In that moment, though he would never admit it, Naos felt a connection with Antares that he never would have expected. “We don’t talk a lot,” Antares continued, “but we do have a lot in common. I know what it’s like to want to break out of the mould and be somepony special. That’s why I act out… kinda. And I wanna help you break out of that mould too.” He inched even closer towards Naos. “But if you don’t let me… Well, Gliese will just be getting a lot more spotlight when I tell everypony who doesn’t know him just how special he is.” A tense moment followed as Naos mulled things over carefully. He couldn’t tell whether the colt was reaching out to him or threatening him. Nonetheless, one detail stuck out to him more than anything. One he could not fight. He lowered his head, giving a defeated sigh. “What time?” he mumbled. “7 PM, sharp!” replied Antares with his usual cheeriness. Naos shook his head, and looked back at him. “If I do this, you promise Gliese stays away?” he asked seriously. Antares nodded. With a grunt, Naos stepped out of the garage into the sunlight, walking slowly and keeping his scowling face low. “Where you going?” asked Antares. “Need some air,” muttered Naos. “Close the garage, if you would.” He was about to ask Antares not to steal anything, thinking that it might be a possibility with him, but on second thought realized that he really didn’t care for this place enough to say so. It didn’t take long after the two of them had stepped inside the bakery’s storage room for Naos to get claustrophobic. Indeed, when they had arrived, the two colts found the door that connected the storage room and the baker’s counter slightly ajar. A single beam of light cut through the pitch-black room, running across the floor in a line that crossing too often would prove unwise, should an unsuspecting eye happen to look inside the room. Although this unforeseen and dangerous element considerably limited their roaming space in the storage room, Antares had insisted they follow through with their plan. Naos’s job was to hold the Marblegem and shed some light on Antares in the darkness of the room, while the crimson pony moved the supplies around and made a pile of those various pastries he wanted to take with him. Naos couldn’t help but cringe, as he guided the soft purple glow of the jewel along with him, making sure it wouldn’t be seen from anywhere else in the bakery. He stood unmoving, his partner in crime carrying out the operation in the shadows of a soft lilac light. “I think that’ll do, let’s just get out of here,” he whispered as Antares added yet another batch of cupcakes to his treasure trove, which was getting much too tall to Naos’s taste. “You’ve been saying that every 15 seconds now,” Antares whispered back. “Live a little. Besides, I can’t remember if it’s vanilla or cinnamon that Orion doesn’t like.” Naos muttered a curse under his breath, and turned his head anxiously to the door, as he had done several times already to see if the baker wouldn’t make a surprise appearance. In the narrow space, he could just make out the back of the baker’s head, as well as the next customer that had just entered the shop. “Well, hello there, little one! What can I get you?” he heard the baker say in her jolly tones. He kept staring at the counter. As he did, he managed to get a glimpse at the pony who had just entered the store. For a few seconds, Naos forgot where he was and what he was doing. He was momentarily too surprised to remember that looking in that direction could expose him. He slowly turned to Antares, who was discreetly sampling a cupcake to see if it would make the pile or not. “You motherbucker,” Naos said in a low voice, just above a whisper. Antares looked back at Naos, and saw the face of a silently fuming pony whose expression was only dramatized by the shadows cast onto his face by the purple shadow under his chin. He could only imagine his own expression, somewhere between confusion and amusement, under the lighting. “Dude, keep it to a whisper, and tell me why I’m a--” “I just happened to glance over at the counter.” Antares squinted his eyes, trying to understand what Naos meant. Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows in understanding, and gave a long sigh, bracing himself for the explanation he would have to give. “Naos…” “You promised me this wouldn’t. Fucking. Happen.” “Look, I didn’t think it would! But it just… kinda… happened.” “We’re leaving. Now.” “Naos, we are this close to getting all the cake in the--” “I don’t give a shit about cake!” Naos hissed angrily. Antares was about to reply when he heard the baker and her client stop talking. The two ponies watched in held breath as her shadow grew in the short line of light that streamed into their hiding place. She stopped at the door, pushing it ajar a few inches more and stepping inside... “Ooh!” said a voice from inside the bakery. The baker stopped in her tracks for a tense moment before returning to the counter. Antares didn’t move for a second, his heartbeat echoing in his head like an ominous drum before turning to Naos. He couldn’t tell if the other colt’s eyes were bloodshot or if it was just from the way the light from the Marblegem hit them. “Okay,” he whispered. “Let’s get out of here.” “I could’ve unraveled your foalproof plan just by blowing on it!” spat Naos. “Let it go, we can talk about that when--” Just then the door to the storage room flew open. The two colts froze, staring wide-eyed at the baker’s silhouette standing against the brightly lit room behind her. She looked back at them in utter disbelief. Antares grabbed the Marblegem from Naos, who was too busy contemplating his impending doom to care. The jewel flashed a stronger light, casting a pale violet bubble around the pile of pastries he’d been putting together and making it levitate. He turned to Naos. “Run!”
Gliese~ ~ ~ Gliese ~ ~ ~ Oh boy! I immediately thought when I woke up. I sat up, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Today was finally the day. It was really sunny, too, so that had to mean it was gonna be the greatest day ever, right? Oh, doesn’t matter, ‘cause today was gonna be even better than great, it was gonna be the most super-duper awesome day ever! I threw the covers away and got up outta bed and jumped to the ground. Even if I couldn’t really sleep last night ‘cause I was so excited about today, I wasn’t tired at all! I wanted to run down for breakfast just when my hooves touched the floor, but I couldn’t mess this up. Everything had to be perfect. So I ran to the bathroom instead, and checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked like a perfect pony on a perfect day. Shiny blue coat? Check. Superawesome wings? Check. Combed mane…? Bah, who cares! Gotta get to it! I felt this weird tingling feeling all of a sudden, like in sports class when I’m about to woosh from one side of the hoofball field to the other -- I think coach calls it adribbelin. I love that feeling coz when I do it, all the other kids who don’t have wings like mine always go “whooooa!” and think I’m super great. Whatever it’s called it’s awesome, so with a giggle I ran downstairs as fast as I could, where I found mom and Naos already there. “Gooooood morning, everypony!” I said. I do that a lot, coz I always feel like you should start your morning feeling happy. Today though I was extra happy, so I had to say it extra loud! Had to make sure everypony was gonna have a special day like me! My mom saw that, and when she said hi to me she rubbed my cheeks the way I like it. Looks like she was having a great day too! Then again, she’s always happy when I see her, even more when she’s talking about me and my wings to the other moms! I love my mom of course, but there was one pony that I knew today was gonna be extra special for too. And that’s my brother Naos! I ran to him because I knew I had to give him special attention. But I didn’t have time to ask him if he had a good night like mom did, because I hit the table and spilled his bowl of cereal. That’s when the awesome feeling stopped. I felt really, really bad… How was I supposed to make this day awesome for Naos if I did something super not-awesome so early? I wanted to say sorry a million times and clean up the mess I did, but mom told me she’d take care of it. I looked at Naos, and I could see that he was mad again. I told him I was sorry, because I really didn’t mean to spoil his breakfast like that. “That’s ok,” he said. It was only two words, but they made me really happy again! I was ok! I still had a chance to make this the best day ever, and suddenly I thought of a joke that was just as awesome. “No use crying over spilt milk, right?” I said. I was proud, because it was something my dad that taught me to say when something bad happened and I had to make up for it, and it was even better now because it was real milk! Mom laughed, but she laughs a lot at my jokes. But when I saw Naos smile, I felt super cool because I’d made a joke that he found funny! Today was gonna be so. Super. Awesomesauce. After breakfast, I went straight to my room, and opened my toy trunk. That’s where I stashed the drawing I’d made just for Naos. I’ve been working on that thing a little bit every day for the past week. I could have made one of my usual drawings, coz mom and dad say that I’m really gifted at drawing, but I wanted this one to be especially good. I used every single color crayon I have, I drew the shapes slowly to make sure they looked right, and I coloured super slowly to make sure the lines didn’t go outside of the shapes. They kinda did, just a bit, but it was still the best drawing ever, because it was for Naos. I didn’t really tell you about Naos, did I? He’s my big brother. He’s also the coolest pony in Equestria. If I had to tell you about all the things that make him super cool, it would take a really long time. But I think what makes him the best big brother in the world is that he always knows what to do. Even though he gets mad a lot… Mom says it’s because he’s growing up and he gets mad a lot for no reason, but I know that I also do a lot of no-no’s. I think that’s why Naos gets mad at me, because he knows what to do and when I’m doing something I shouldn’t. I’m so lucky to have a brother who knows everything like he does! He’s the best and I love him more than the whole wide world, and I know he loves me back just as much! Thinking about how cool Naos was gonna find my drawing, I ran to his room to finally show him. But he wasn’t there. So I went to ask mom, and she told me she heard him go to the garage, so I went straight there. When I got there, I heard him talking with somepony. Shoot! I thought. I wanted to surprise him with the drawing, but he wasn’t gonna be surprised if there was somepony else! Everytime I try to talk to Naos when his friends are around, he tells me to ‘get lost’, which is really weird ‘cause I don’t think you can get lost on purpose right? Sometimes he even pretends he doesn’t know me, but that’s okay, ‘cause I guess big ponies have to talk about big pony things. So I turned to go away, thinking I’d come back later… But if I did that, maybe Naos would go outside and I wouldn’t see him for the rest of the day! And I really wanted to show him my drawing… So I hid behind a wall, where he wouldn’t see me, and waited for their talk to be over. The sun outside was making his blue coat shine, but he still looked really mad like it was raining. I saw somepony else too, talking to him. He had a red coat and a scruffy brown mane. I didn’t know who he was, but he looked like he was the same age as Naos, and also he looked really happy to see him. That made sense, since Naos is so awesome everypony would be happy to see him, so I got a little curious and listened to what they were saying. “Trust me. I went over it a dozen times or so. It’s foalproof,” said the red colt. I peeked over the corner of the wall I was hiding behind to see what he looked like, but just then, Naos turned around. “You’re insane,” I heard him say. I didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t matter at the moment because I was really scared because Naos was walking towards where I was! What would I do if he saw me listening to his conversation? He’d be really, really mad… “That’s cool, I’ll get Gliese to help out.” Suddenly I stopped thinking about Naos. The red colt had just said that, and I was super surprised. How did he know my name? Did he know I was here? And what did he want me to help with? I thought that maybe he was also gonna make a drawing and wanted me to help him with my awesome drawing skills. I almost showed myself, but Naos was still just on the other side of the corner behind which I was, so I didn’t want to scare him. I heard him turn around and walk to his friend. “I don’t think so,” said Naos. But why not? I didn’t even know what they were talking about! Naos kept talking, and he sounded really angry, more than usual. “You are not dragging him into your stupid little games!” he said. So the red colt wanted me to play a game? I love games! Why didn’t Naos want me to do this? “Why not? I’m great with kids. Think he can’t handle it?” You bet I can handle it! Is it racing? I’m the best racer in my class, I can do it! I can fly as fast as-- “He’s just a kid! He can’t handle anything!” Suddenly they stopped talking. That… kinda hurt. They started talking again, but I wasn’t listening anymore. After a while I turned my head towards the garage door. Naos was gone. I kinda wanted to run after him, but part of me told me maybe it wasn’t such a good idea afterwards. My eyes started getting wet. Why did Naos say that? I knew he was grumpy, but… why? The red colt just watched him go, and then he said something without turning around. “You can come out now.” I wasn’t expecting that. First I did nothing… I didn’t know if I should run away or not. He knew I was here anyway, so I decided to come out of hiding. I walked up to him and tried to wipe my tears. I didn’t want to see him crying like this. But he turned around and looked at me with a smile. “Hey,” he said. “You’re Gliese, right?” “Yeah…” “What’s wrong?” he asked. I didn’t want to say anything to this big colt I didn’t know. “Nothing,” I said, but he knew there was something wrong anyway. “It’s because of what your brother said, right?” The red colt sat down to my level. “What’s that you got there?” he said. He was talking about my drawing, still under my hoof. What drawing? I wanted to say. It was useless now, right? I don’t know why, but I still gave it to him. He looked at it and smiled some more. “It’s really cool,” he said. “I can tell you put a lot of work into this. I remember I could never color inside the shapes, either.” I laughed a little. He was a nice colt. “I wanted to give it to Naos, but…” That was it. I started crying again, and I couldn’t hide it now. The red colt put a hoof on my shoulder, and pulled me into a hug. “Shh… Hey, it’s okay…” I tried to talk through my crying. “I don’t get it… I’m always nice to him… Why does he hate me?” “Nah, little dude, he doesn’t hate you. Naos is a bit of a grump… But he doesn’t hate you.” I broke away from him. “Who are you?” “My name’s Antares, I’m a friend of your brother’s. I came by to ask him to help me out with something. Or maybe you already knew that?” “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to spy on you.” “That’s okay. He agreed to do the job anyway, so it’s cool.” When Antares stopped talking he just looked at me and smiled. I didn’t know what to say. “You like your big brother, don’t you, Gliese?” “Yeah… He’s the best. I just wish he wasn’t mad all the time.” “Well, would you like to make him happy?” “Yeah, but how? He left before I could give him my drawing.” Antares nodded. “You can always give it to him later. But you know, he thinks you can’t do anything because you’re a little kid. I bet you could prove him wrong, and then he’d be really stoked.” I was a bit surprised. Was he talking about that job he was talking to Naos about? “But... he said he didn’t want me around. I think you promised, too.” “You’re right. You should never break a promise, and I promised I wouldn’t talk to you,” he said. He put his head a little closer to me, like he wanted to whisper. “But… he doesn’t know that you know that, right?” I was confused. “What do you mean?” “Well, let’s just say I gave Naos a job. What if I had one for you, too? Something that if Naos saw… he’d be really proud. Would you do it?” “Yes!” I said. I didn’t even have to think about it. Antares laughed. “Alright, I’ll tell you about it. But remember… It’s a secret to everypony. This stays between you and me, got it?” “Got it!” I was really excited. Maybe I could finally make Naos happy again! “Alright… Now listen…” He put a hoof in the air, and looked at me straight in the eye. “Rule number one: don’t be late.” It was sunset when I got to the place I was supposed to go. I told mom I was going to play with some neighborhood kids and that I’d probably stay the night at one of their houses. She said it was alright, like she always does. Other moms don’t really let their kids sleep at my house, but mom always lets me hang around with my friends until late. That’s pretty cool! So now I was downtown, facing that big bakery where Antares told me to go. I kinda wanted to stay outside for a bit, because the sky was gorgeous. It was all orangey. I mean, it was like every day, the big red sun setting down next to the moon and making it grow brighter… but tonight was really cool. Just like today, really, I knew it would happen like that! But then I remembered rule number one. Antares told me not to be late. So I didn’t lose any time and I went inside the bakery. There was a bell that made a little ringing sound when I pushed the door open. It was a cool bakery filled with bright light that made all the colours really stick out. There were two or three ponies already there sitting at the round tables around me, and at the back of the room there was a big pink counter decorated with fake frosting like on a birthday cake, with a big glass window and several treats that looked really yummy. Now that I was there I kinda wanted one, but I remembered I didn’t have any money and that I’d already gotten my weekly 30 bits which were still at home. But Antares told me I wouldn’t need any money, so it was ok. I went to the counter where the baker was. She was a big pony who looked like she ate a lot of cake herself, but that only made her all round and cheery. When she saw me she gave me a big warm smile. “Well, hello there, little one!” she said. “What can I get you?” “Hello miss baker!” I said with a big smile. Antares told me I’d have to be extra polite when I spoke to her. “I’d like to buy some cake, please.” “Well, I should think so!” said the baker lady with a giggle. “Tell me, what looks sweet to you?” I looked at all the big and little cakes behind the window. Gee, they looked really tasty… I’d have to remember to come here again soon. Another thing Antares told me was to take as long as possible. He told me to “buy some time”, and laughed when I told him I didn’t know they actually sold it. So he explained that I just had to pretend that I couldn’t decide on what to pick. “Well?” said the baker. “Anything pick your fancy?” “Uh… um… I think I need a little time to chose, if that’s ok.” “Of course!” said the baker. “Take as much time as you need, dear. If you need me, I’ll just be back here.” Oh no! She was going towards the storage! That was rule number two! Antares said that no matter what happened, I had to stop the baker from going in there! “Oh! Um…” The baker turned around and walked back to the counter. “Yes? What is it?” Quick! “Well I’d love to know what each cake tastes like, but I can’t read the labels,” I said. Actually I could read them, but Antares said it’d be a good idea if I pretended I didn’t. “I see!” said the baker. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough. Which label would you like me to read out for you?” I looked at all the cakes. I hadn’t picked a label yet, but I knew I had to choose fast before she decided to go back to storage. “Um… that one,” I said, pointing at a small blue cupcake that was right in front of me. “Ah, good choice! That’s our special Crystal Cupcake, with real bits of sapphire in the frosting!” Suddenly, I saw something behind the baker that really surprised me. In the dark room behind her, Naos was looking at me through an opening in the door. “You can take ‘em out and keep them as jewels! It’s got Everfree forest blueberries, vanilla icing, sponge cake…” Now, I was really scared. He was gonna get more mad than ever before! He said he didn’t want Antares to bring me here, and now he knew that I knew that he knew that Antares had broken his promise! I could only see one of his eyes, but it looked straight at me with both anger and surprise. “Something wrong?” said the baker. I kept looking at the door for a second, because I completely forgot she was talking to me. I looked at her, but just then she turned to the storage door I was looking at. I almost panicked, but it was ok, Naos was gone. “Oh, no, nothing wrong, sorry,” I said. The baker looked back at me with a funny look. “Um… That sounds really nice, but… do you have anything with chocolate?” I knew that was a really dumb question to ask in a bakery, but I couldn’t think of anything else. I was starting to get a little spooked now. “Sure we do!” said the baker. “Take this for example,” she said, pointing towards a little bigger and darker cake with a lightning bolt on it. “This is a really popular one, the Wonderbolts’ éclair! That lightning bolt on top is lemon frosting, and--” “I don’t give a shit about cake!” The baker stopped talking and looked back to the storage door. Inside I felt like I just got struck by lightning like that cake. That was Naos’s voice. I knew it was him because he used that no-no word a lot. “Did you hear something?” asked the baker as she turned back to the storage door. I didn’t have time to answer before she walked to the door and put a hoof to the handle, opening it slowly. In front of the counter I was biting my lip and I could hear my heart beating really fast in my head. I had to stop her! “Ooh!” I said so loud that a couple of ponies sitting in the bakery looked at me. The baker turned around and looked at me too, looking really surprised. “What is it?” she asked. I didn’t really have anything to say. “Uh, nothing, it’s just… I-I remembered I don’t actually like chocolate,” I said. The baker walked back to the counter, and I tried hard to smile but it was really hard because all I wanted to do was run away. But I couldn’t run away, because Antares told me I could only leave when I saw him arrive at the bakery himself. I turned around really quickly, wishing that Antares would be waiting outside the bakery. Suddenly, I saw a pony I knew, but it wasn’t Antares. It was Orion! He’s a friend of Naos! I didn’t know how, but if he was a friend, he’d know what to do. “Sweetie, are you going to buy anything?” asked the baker. “I don’t want to be pushy but--” “Nevermindbye!” I said, turning to her with a big smile before flying straight out of the front door again. I think I might have torn the doorbell off with me. I flew towards Orion and a mare I didn’t know. I was afraid, and I was also really sad. Something went wrong, Naos wouldn’t be as happy as Antares said he’d be. And I wanted to cry again. I stopped in front of Orion and talked as fast as I could. “Orion! We got a big problem!” “Gliese…? What are you doing h--” “There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” I said. After all, Antares and Naos were still in the bakery! If the baker went into the storage room, I didn’t know what would happen, but it would be really bad! Just then, I heard the sound of a trash can being knocked over behind me, and I looked behind me. I saw Antares and Naos, and what looked like a big pink cloud of candy running straight towards us! “Shit,” said the mare. I don’t get it; if it’s a no-no word, why do grown-ups use it all the time?
Convergence Point (Sundown)Epilogue Orion, Bella and Gliese watched in disarray as Antares and Naos ran towards them. Orion looked even more confused than the other two, his whole evening having been turned upside down in the span of a few seconds. As the two colts approached them, Bella shouted to her brother. “What the heck is going on?!” “‘o ‘ie! ‘eks go!” replied Antares, clenching the Marblegem tightly in his mouth as he galloped right past them, followed by his impressive pile of looted goods and Naos, who was sweating and huffing like an overweight marathon runner, repeating to himself frantically that he should’ve just stayed in bed from the start. The two colts ran a little ahead of them without being followed by their three friends, who looked to them first, then to the bakery where a figure had emerged from the front door. “Thieves! You damn thieves! Don’t ever show your faces here again!” bellowed the baker standing in the doorway and waving her hoof angrily in the air. “‘eks go!” yelled Antares, and the three other ponies ran along with him and without question, away from town and into the dusk. After a good 10 minutes of running, they had travelled through the many small alleys of Canterlot, cutting through crowds and eliciting a few surprised grunts of disapproval, before exiting the city through a back passage that Antares knew, which led out of the city through a breach in the great outer wall. They found themselves running through the country outside, stretching out in great grassy hills and slopes. Eventually Antares stopped running, the others following suit, atop one such hill not far from Canterlot river. Antares took the Marblegem in his hoof and used it to slowly lower all the cake he had taken to the ground. The four other ponies with him were content to simply fall to the ground and huff loudly to catch their breath, except Bella, who stood in front of Antares and glowered at him. “We got a great view over the river here, Sis. You’re kinda blocking mine.” “What the hell happened in there, Antares?!” fumed Bella. “We hit a little snag is all,” he replied casually. “A snag?” “Yeah, but it’s all good now, we pulled it off! Hope y’all got a sweet tooth back there!” he said to the others in a chuckle. “No, Antares, it’s not ‘all good’!” replied Bella. “The baker saw us! We’re criminals now!” Gliese looked over to them with fear. “We are…?” “Oh come on! You’re scaring the little one, Bel, it was just a--” “And just what the buck were you doing there?!” shouted Naos to Gliese, having seemingly regained all his strength in an instant upon remembering the foal was there and now towering over his mortified little brother. “I… I just…” “You were spying on us, weren’t you?” growled Naos. “You gonna tell mom, huh? You’re gonna go snivelling to her and make me look like a bastard again?!” “I brought him here,” said Antares. Naos looked over to him with a piercing glare, but Antares remained unflinching. He looked as serious as he did earlier that day. Naos was at a loss for words and looked as though he was blow a fuse. “Why?” was the only thing he managed to say. Antares shrugged. “Thought he’d like a sweetie or two, I dunno.” “What the hell is wrong with you?! Dammit Antares you promised that--” “Your brother went though a lot of trouble to do this,” cut in Antares. “He was the only one who stuck his neck out to the baker directly, and he did it all just for you. I’d say some congratulations are in order.” Naos looked back at Gliese. The foal looked back at him in apprehension. “I thought you’d be happy,” he said in a small voice. “I thought… if I did this, you wouldn’t think I was useless.” Naos looked down at his little brother with a new look. He seemed less furious and more intrigued. “I… I don’t think you’re useless,” he said softly. “But that was dangerous! What were you thinking?” “You’re just always so mad all the time. I don’t wanna see you mad, because you’re my big brother. I just wanna make you smile.” Inside, Naos was feeling something unknown tugging at his heart. “Would somepony please explain to me what’s going on?” asked Orion, still out of breath. “You are, that’s what!” replied Antares with a broad smile. “The stallion of the hour! Happy birthday Orion!” Orion wanted to thank him, but instead stared at his beaming friend as though he’d just announced he was pregnant. Bella watched the two of them in apprehension. “Did you just… rob a bakery?” asked Orion after a few seconds. Antares looked at his stash, then back to him. “I suppose I did,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. Orion nodded slowly. “You’re insane,” he said. He then cracked a small, sly smile. “You’re absolutely nuts.” “Which is why you can’t get enough of me,” replied Antares. Orion looked around at the other ponies. “So wait, you all helped with this?” “It was Antares’s idea,” said Bella, stepping towards him. “I guess it was his twisted idea of something fun to do for a friend’s birthday.” “Yeah well there’s that,” said Antares. “And also… you’ve been acting kinda strange lately. I thought you might have had something on your mind, so i thought I’d pull you out of your own big head.” Bella stepped in closer to Orion, who felt a bit awkward being at such an almost intimate distance from her. “Is this true?” she asked with concern. Orion looked at them both in discomfort before sighing. “It’s just this place, I guess. I mean, thinking of the world in which I was born. Just makes me think about my dad, and what it would have been like if things had been just a little… just a little different -- you guys know how it is.” He sat down on the hill and began to look down at the river below, catching its flow in his mind. “Makes you think… I could have been born and lived at any other point in time, even in the distant past or future. But out of all the odds, it was here, and now. I can dream all I want, and yet I can’t begin to imagine just how different life can truly be. We come and go, and everyone we meet has also just arrived or is leaving forever. Pony… Changeling… Every path converges in one central point we can’t put on a map. I mean, for us that point is war, but when you think that this world has seen it all… It’s crazy.” Bella and Antares looked at each other. There was something in both their looks that could not be put into words, but could be understood from one to the other. Her brother’s grin was still there, although smaller now. She had a small tear in her eye. She sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Yeah,” she said. “We know.” Orion smiled softly. “Thanks for caring, but I’m alright, really. I go to church for this sort of thing.” Bella raised her head and looked at him in surprise. “You go to church?” “Yeah, sometimes I’ll go there and pray to forget about things.” “Bro, that’s gay as hell,” said Antares. Bella shot him a furious glance, but both he and Orion chuckled. “I like to think that it’s beautiful, really… I mean, here we are, all at more or less the same level, going through life together. If you guys weren’t here, neither would I. And my dad would probably still be alive. That’s just how the universe rolls.” The three of them were silent for a while. Night had fallen on the hills. Bella watched the stream downhill silently, wondering about those that had come and gone. She thought of Lady Gemmaline and how she had compared her to her mother. She wondered if the old mare had had the same thoughts as Orion, at that time. Antares sat down next to his friend and his sister and looked at the river, wondering if he was staring at the same point as Orion. “You know I’m not brainy enough to think all that stuff,” he said. “But... I get it. I guess as long as we have each other… It’s all good.” Behind them, Naos and his brother were listening at them intently. They then turned turned to each other. “I won’t tell mom,” said Gliese. “I promise.” Naos looked back at him in confusion. He felt terribly ashamed of himself. For a moment Gliese was afraid he might just turn around and leave without a word. “Tell her what you want,” said Naos. “I don’t care. I’m who I am, and she has me whether she likes it or not. And I got you.” He put a hoof on his little brother’s head and ruffled his mane. “And I like that,” he added. The young colt beamed at his now smiling brother. “Want a cupcake?” “Sure,” said Naos. “They got this one, it’s got Everfree forest blueberries! They’re your favorite!” Naos looked at him in surprise. “How d’you know that?” “I dunno, I just know,” he said shrugging. Naos grinned and had to admit Orion did make a lot of sense. They each got a cake from the pile and went to sit down next to their three friends. “You guys want some?” asked Gliese. “Sure, I’ll have one," said Antares. He then turned to face Orion, having suddenly thought of something. “Oh hey, I wanted to ask you--” “It’s cinnamon,” said Orion. “I hate cinnamon.” Antares winced and turned to back to the river. “Damn. I thought I knew you just now, but turns out I don’t know shit.” Orion smiled. It had been a good birthday. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
