The Wallflower Blush Experience

Chapters

The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine: Always Being Left Aside
The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine: Dungeon Saga
Rookie: Cider
Rookie: Late Night Poofy-Pink Drive-By
Rookie: May I Speak?
Rookie: Bruise
Rookie: Blushin' Badly
"The Wallflower Blush Experience" Official Theme Song (also a prologue)
Volume I

The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine: Always Being Left Aside

Volume 1 - Chapter 1 - The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine - Always Being Left Aside

Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep

6:00 AM - Day I HAVE NO IDEA (X)

God almighty... not again. I wake up on my death bed, one more time, looking at the soul-less grey ceiling of my room. I don't want to move. I don't want to get out of bed. I don't want to do anything.

My dreams are getting much weirder and bizarre over time. Now I dreamt about a guy with a guitar playing a song about me... gosh, what's going on with my mind? bruh... why would I ask myself that, in the first place? I know what is the problem in my mind. I am the problem. Sometimes I wondered if everyone else was the problem, but now I know, while looking at myself in a dull mirror of this bedroom, that I am actually the worst problem in my life. I remember one more time that stone... that thing I had in my hands when I thought everybody else was the enemy and I was a victim. I chuckle while thinking that again, what a joke.

My whole life is a fucking joke. Since I was born. Let me present myself to you... should I? Should I do it?

I get out of the bedroom, wearing the same dirty pyjamas I've used for the last two weeks. They smell really bad... but do I care? Hell no. I go to the bathroom and find out there is still nobody in the kitchen. I brush my teeth.

Yeah, why not? Let me present myself. Fuck this. I've got nothing to lose...

My name is Wallflower Blush. I am now 20 years old.

I have actually no interests or hobbies at all... I loved gardening, I was even in a club before, but something happened a time ago that made me change my mind. Long story. I'll tell you later. The only thing that still makes me a useful human being is that I have a full-time job at Sugarcube Corner... that place... and I only accepted the offer because I couldn't stand Pinkie Pie and her tantrums anymore.

You may wonder what my parents think of all of this, don't you?... Let me tell you something: I have no fucking idea... no, I am not joking, literally, I have no idea... because both of them left me when I was a child. Turns out I am the result of an overly dramatic love affair between some kind of playboy named Fancy Pants and another model, much younger than him, barely on her twenties. She tried to sue him several times but never received any help and never succeeded. Everybody treated her as the crazy lady. Pfff... like mother, like daughter.

My father never recognized me. He left my mother and never looked at me in person. He may not even want to hear my name. My aunt tried to contact him but doesn't even dare to answer. On the other side, she, the stupid young lady named Orchid Petals, my mother, still wanted me because she dreamt about having a child at a young age. Unfortunately, she was only 21 when I was born and quickly found out too early that a child wasn't only something to hold in your arms and breastfeed, so she left me in her older sister's house to not take care of me again.

I don't even know what both of them are doing with their lives right now. I don't even know if my father is married to an accessory wife or where my mother is staying. I just don't want to see them again. I don't care. My aunt wanted me to sue them both a couple of years ago... but I honestly don't want anything from them. Nothing.

Oh, yes, talking about Rome... the only one who dared to raise me and sent me to each stupid academical place was my mom's older sister, my aunt Photo Finish. Do you know that when I was a child, I thought she was literally my mom and dad at the same time? Then I found out the story. She would lie on my face and tell me she was actually my mother and my real mom was just a distant aunt of mine. She apologised. She apologises every day, but I never forgave her and maybe I'll never will... and at least she understands why.

I take my dirty pyjamas off and look at my naked chest in the mirror. No, I don't have boobies, punk. I don't have a booty also... I'm sorry, I'm not a sexualized object for all of you. I'm just a stupid walking stick, and I'm proud of it (I think).

I take a short, cold shower which only reminds me of the hectic routine I've got to do every day. Then, after the attempt of putting shampoo in my horrible dry green hair, I put on another stupid bra and panties and I look at that horrible, vomitive long blue dress I have to wear for the job. Gosh, is so ugly... but I've got to put it on.

"Wallflower?" a woman raises her voice. I know who she is. "Good morning."

I slowly touch the blue dress and its uncomfortable silk which makes my whole skin itch everywhere. I hate it. "I hope so," I only reply from the bedroom. "All of the mornings have been the same."

I hear a sigh from the kitchen. "I've got to say the same, girl," she replies. "Firstly, today I have to organise another photoshoot for this stupid new girl from Manehattan Modelling... gosh, she's so talkative it makes me dizzy." I raise my eyebrows. I agree with her for the first time in... days, maybe, or weeks, I don't know. "And then... you."

I put on that blue dress and my chest it's already feeling uncomfortable. Third time in the week that the chest is the first place which itches instead of my belly. Then I hear the annoying footsteps from those deluxe black shoes she uses. She opens my door for complete and appears with her look: a big black leather trenchcoat, smart black pants and a white shirt, which get along with her short white hair and that fringe which makes me laugh, and her big purple sunglasses. She is holding a box of something that I already know it's completely useless: nicotine patches. "You know those are useless, right?" I tell her.

"I don't care how useless they are... if I don't see you with this over one of your arms, you won't come out of the house."

"Uh, come on!" I stretch my arms. "You are the one who wants me to leave smoking? You?"

She bites her lips because she knows I am right. Don't you get it? Look up her name, Photo Finish, on the Internet... most photos of her have a cigarette and smoke coming out of her mouth. "I know... but it's something horrible. It smells and tastes awful, it rots your teeth and blesses you with cancer. Besides, I only used cigarettes for my photoshoots."

"Only for them?" I cross my arms. "Are you sure?"

"No time for questions," she only replies. She doesn't want to admit it... "Put on that patch, please, and close the door once you get ready for work." Then she gets out of my room and asks the same question once again: "Any news on that gardening course I told you to look up?"

This woman doesn't understand I don't like gardening anymore. It is a passion I have truly wanted to bury since I graduated from Canterlot Hell... I mean, Canterlot High. One of the worst places I've ever been... happiness! joy! friendship! Hell yeah, are you sure about that? Do you know how many students had the intention to speak to me in those years?... I can count all of them with just my fingers... and maybe I don't even get to ten. I even had the stupid idea of being the president of that stupid gardening club for almost two years... why? Why? "I told you I'm not interested."

"In gardening? Why not?" Other questions that she has already asked. "You were interested in it while you were at scho--"

"But I'm not interested in it anymore." I get out of the bedroom and we confront each other in a small hall where is the exit. "I just... don't want to do it... or keep doing it... it's just---"

"Wallflower," she interrupts me, putting her hands over my shoulders after taking off her sunglasses, showing her barely-known dark purple eye colour. "Sweetheart... I've already told you about this. The fact that the Gardening Club you founded in your school..." she squints her eyes, about to say something that I know it's going to make me mad. "... didn't take you into account again, doesn't mean you can blame it on--"

I fastly take her arms out of my shoulders and open the entrance door of the apartment, without saying anything. "See you later!" I shout aloud. She snorts at me, crossing her arms.

"You know I am right, girl! Stop thinking about those foolish students which left you and think about your future, please!"

Shut up. She said it, and I want to get out of there so fastly that somebody (or something) up there in heaven (or hell) listens to me. The elevator is magically in front of me. I enter and don't say anything else.

Walking into the outside world again... thankfully nobody recognizes me as Photo Finish's niece or even worse... the daughter of that guy. I've got to thank my aunt for not even mentioning me on media, at least. I get out of the apartment I live and I start walking.

On my way to Sugarcube Corner, I only thought about what my aunt said. I didn't want to tell you about that because it's a long story but if I have to summarize it... I founded the Canterlot High Gardening Club, you know? It was a long time ago when I was in Freshman but turns out that nobody knew it existed until... three years later when I was in Senior. I was the only member of that club until... that happened with that stone. (I don't want to talk about it, just not). After that... incident, I was happy for a while because people actually recognised the existence of my club. Everybody loved the beautiful garden I made on my own. Alone, you heard me?... with no help at all. Everybody was proud of me, congratulated me for doing such a beautiful thing and offered their help. I was proud of myself, maybe for the first time.

However, once I graduated from school, all of the members of the club who were supporting and helping me with the garden never called me back and never said anything to me. They magically disappeared from my life, so I, being confused, decided to visit the garden, my garden one morning. All of the projects I've been working on while being at school, the plants and flowers I raised and watched grow on my own, with nobody else behind me.... were changed without my permission. Most plants were cut or taken out of their homes of grass, and most of the pots disappeared. I asked one of my friends (if I can call them like that) from the club why did they do such a thing without telling me before... and her answer was...

"Sorry, we forgot to call you."

When I was in high school, I'd think that the main problem in my life and the cause of why my behaviour was like this was because of everybody else, so I decided to live in silence, proving the point that everybody rejected me and, at the same time, hoping for someone who could, at least, ask me what time is it... but it never happened, and that stone only worsened that thought of mine, making me think I was a foolish demi-god or something... no, no, I don't want to talk about that.

... then she came into my life. Sunset Shimmer. Gosh, I hated her so much... I may still hate her a bit, I'm not going to lie to you. She was so mean to everyone and then suddenly... boom! She was the sweetheart of the school. Never in my life I have seen a change like this again... and it made me feel so stupid at that time. I would compare myself to her so many times at that moment, that it made me feel I could never be able to change... or to be like her, and I used that stone for my own advantage and found out the real root of my problem.

The stone made me think about it, and I knew it when my club friends forgot to call me. I am the problem, not the others. I am cursed. I was born with a curse... I'm always being left aside. I'm always in the corner... invisible. That's who I am... and maybe I'll have to live with that... forever.

... Oh, wait. I think I walked further than I had to. I passed by the store. Damnit.

7:00 AM - Day X - Sugarcube Corner

After walking almost a mile from my house (if you want to call it like this), I arrive at my workplace.

I'll be honest with you: I hate this job. I don't like it at all, although I've got to admit my bosses and partners are not that bad (even Pinkie), but oh my god! The clients... thank God we have a Pinkie Pie that can make them insane by talking to them... and you know, there are only two things that can make me wake up and put this blue dress on, grab that horrible white apron in the kitchen and do my work. The first of those two things is the money which I don't even spend, I only keep it in my room for god knows what... but it can be useful, I don't know. The second thing... is now standing behind the cash register, looking at the machine and touching it with her trembling hands, having also her own blue dress and that apron.

I thought, for a while, that I was just a stupid asexual girl who didn't want to meet everybody, something I told myself even after graduating from Canterlot High...

... until I met Coco Pommel at this job, the cause of my mental roulette playing every morning. Due to her having only a part-time job at the store, she doesn't work here every day of the week and always schedules her agenda with the bosses. Every time she is in the store, I hit the jackpot. Every time she is not, I lose.

She is a sweet, kind girl, same age as me... so shy at first but once you get on with her, you find out how gentle and good-hearted she is... besides, she can be easily a model with her shape and her beautiful face which perfectly goes on with her short light-blue hair (she even has a freaking fringe that really gets on well with her, not like... uh-hmm... the photographer) but she always says her dream is to make dresses and clothes for models instead of being in the picture. She doesn't like showbiz and prefers to be far away from cameras. She has a purpose... and may be the only person that, or at least tries to, makes me feel I have a purpose. Which one? I don't know... but every time she speaks to me, she tries to say something to me... she looks at me with caring, kind eyes. Makes me feel OK for a bit... but no. I don't have to see her as a remedy, she's a person... and no, she's not for me. I don't deserve her. Hell no... why would she be with me? She's not even a lesbian, bi or pansexual or whatever... and I know that. I fucking know that.

One morning, her boyfriend appeared in the store and presented himself. It may have been one of the worst things I've ever seen and felt in my life, and I've got ignored by an entire student body... Prince Blueblood, from an upper-class family of United Cavalry! I'd prefer one of those asshole clients that desperately try to get Coco's phone number to be with her rather than a fucking egocentric and elitist son of a bitch! All of his manners, words, phrases and even his reaction to his girlfriend's part-time job sounded... ugh, ugh, I have to calm down. I have to calm down.

"Hi." That's the only thing I say, to find out if I have any response from the ones who are there. Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie hasn't arrived yet... she's always the first one to be here, even before Mr and Mrs Cake. Coco raises her hand and smiles at me. That's the only thing I needed to feel better.

"Hi, Wallflower Blush..." she says, almost whispering. She's been always too shy for speaking. Why does such a sweet soul have to be with a stupid asshole? "How are you doing?"

I smile at her. "Great... how about you, Coco?"

I pass by the register and we bump our fists. I saw nobody, except her boyfriend, kissing her cheek. She hates that kind of contact... just like me. (No, it's not another excuse for finding things where we can match... or it is). "Great too... last night I've been looking with Blue for some offers on what I want to do..."

Gosh. Blue... but I don't care. I only blink. "Graphic design, yes... did you find something? I can help if you want to."

"No, it's OK... it's OK," she keeps smiling. "Thanks anyway... but Blue has already told me he found something related to Upper Crust, who might be looking for an assistant... you know her?"

Blank face. "Not really," I reply, biting a lip. "I don't know who she is."

She chuckles. "Well, it's not important... well, actually it is but it's not so necessary to kno--"

"Yes, yes, I do understand, Coco." I feel bad for interrupting her but if I don't stop her there, she will be correcting herself forever. "She is some kind of designer or...?"

She passionately starts speaking. "Yes, she is a famous designer, one of the biggest in the country along with Suri Polomare and Hoity Toity. She is one of the three... if I get the chance..." she bites her lips and puts her hands over her waist, happily. "It'll be... oh, jeez... it'll be my dream come true..."

"You'll get it, girl," I tell her with a wink. "I know you'll get it."

"Yeah, I think that too." Suddenly, Pinkie Pie is literally in front of us and the cash register. Where did she come from? I didn't even hear the sound of the do... oh, never mind. "Hi, girls! Good morning."

Pinkie Pie. I don't hate her but... sometimes she is too annoying. I don't complain though, she is the one that makes all of the awful clients go insane with her non-stop chatting. She is like a weapon. "Hi, Pinkie," replies Coco, smiling. I only raise a thumb to her.

"Pinkie!" is heard from inside the kitchen, a place I still haven't entered. "Please, I need your help." A tall man comes out of it... Mr Cake. He looks at me, I look at him. I wave my hand and he only raises a thumb. "Hi, Blush... mind if you can help me with the kitchen?"

"Good morning, Blush!" is heard from inside, this time a woman's voice. Mrs Cake is also here and I almost forgot it.

"Good morning, Mrs Cake!" I shout, and go back to where I was... or well, where I am basically the whole day: between the kitchen and the counter. That's my role in this place: Coco is at the counter, hiding from the clients, while Pinkie unexplainably is the waitress for all. I don't know how does she do it, but I saw her once attending 8 different clients at the same time, and there was another time she delivered almost thirty dishes with only her two hands. She is 100% the most important piece in this group. On the other side, Mr and Mrs Cake are imprisoned in the kitchen... and then, me. I have no specific role, and I only await for orders to come, while walking and messing around. Like always... I'm being left aside... with no particular job at all. I could be a waitress but the least I want to do is talk to people after the Gardening Club thing... sometimes I think I'm prepared to do it, but neither Carrot nor Cup Cake wants me to do what Pinkie does perfectly... if I was younger I would have hated Pinkie but... right now, I don't know how to feel about this.

I go back to my spot: no spot at all.

The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine: Dungeon Saga

Volume 1 - Chapter 2 - The Story of Wallflower Thy Heroine - Dungeon Saga

6:00 PM - Day X - Sugar Cube Corner

Done.

I put the white apron inside the kitchen and desperately put my face under that cold waterfall that comes out from the kitchen's sink. I slowly touch my face with my fingers, taking the drops out of my cheeks, and there are no towels or even a clean cloth to pass over my face, so I decide to leave with my frozen forehead and wet stupid hair. I don't even care, though.

Once I open the kitchen door and get out of it, I find out that Coco has already left the store... damnit, I couldn't say goodbye to her this time. She always takes her apron off and leaves faster than me (maybe because I spend more than a minute looking at the kitchen sink while being lost in my thoughts), but every time she doesn't see me, she tells Pinkie Pie to say bye to me, from her. That's what I call special treatment. You understand why I appreciate her so much?

Now that I've finished my daytime, I wave my hand in silence to both Cakes, who do the same with a pretty forced smile, and pass by Pinkie Pie, who says what I was waiting to hear: "Um... before leaving, Coco said bye to you."

I make a small smile that I try to hide: "Appreciate it," I only reply. "Goodbye, Pinkie." She waves her hand with a big smile and even opens the entrance door for me, an action she always does despite telling her not to do it... and there are times when she only does this for me and no one else. I can't complain, though... lots of years blaming others for ignoring me, and now that I have that special treatment for me... ugh, but you know, you know I can do it on my own, right? It's just a door... "Pinkie..." I roll my eyes. "I know how to handle the door..."

"I'm being polite!" she makes a kinder smile which doesn't look so creepy. I pass by the door in silence and only wave my hand to her before I walk out... and I always have the same feeling while getting out of the store. I want to run away. I want to run faster than no one ever could... like a beam breaking the wall of sound. That sudden shot of adrenaline that runs over my body strikes me for a second!!!! Until I realize that I have to come back tomorrow... and I don't even know if I'll hit the jackpot with Coco or not. I stay frozen for a second thinking about this for the eleventh time in the day (I think eleventh), and I slowly start walking again.

A monotonous routine is what has been holding me for so long... so, so long that is also killing me, both on the outside and on the inside. I always beg for something different to happen... and turns out that somebody actually heard me when I turned around and looked at that weird guy sitting in the corner. He seems to be a normal man, just like everybody else, but there is something that weirds me out about him. I observe his face and his clothes and I note:

MYSTERIOUS GUY

Salt-and-pepper short hair
Green bloodshot eyes
A poorly shaved, dirty, ugly three-day beard
Ripped, worn-out black jeans
A dirty white shirt with stains of something (I don't want to find out where those stains came from)
A golden? (Probably not actual gold) bracelet

He's sitting on the sidewalk, holding a tentative cigarette with his lips and laying his back against one of the walls of Sugarcube. I realize he is sitting on a part of the sidewalk where no one behind the cashier can see him... did Pinkie see him today?

Wait, wait... Why am I observing him for too long? Why am I suddenly thinking this guy is weird? Gosh, I read too many detective stories at night... he's not even looking at me.

However, once I keep walking, heading to my house, I slowly think about that cigarette in his mouth... maybe, what if he has another one? No, wait... I have the patch. I've been holding that stupid patch on my arm for over twelve hours... oh, come on! Do I have to care about what my wealthy aunt gives me? A part of me suddenly turns around to look at him again, just for curiosity... and I find out he's gone... What?

I stay frozen for a second, trying to come up with something that can explain that... am I going crazy right now? (Well, I am already but...) How long did that guy sit in there? And why did he suddenly disappear? I look at the other sidewalk and there are no signs of him. Who was him? Well, at first... I can't see him... maybe it was just a homeless dude.

I start walking again, trying to leave this aside... do I need to worry about him, in the first place? Maybe he was just a random guy who got tired of something and came across my stupid self thinking these things... yes. Yeah, maybe I am still the problem after all... I turn around one more time... and he's still not there, at that corner. There is only a cigarette butt on the sidewalk.

I've got to clean my mind.

My home (actually an apartment in a big white building) is in Canterlot Plaza, maybe the wealthiest building apartment in the city. I hate Coco's boyfriend, Blueblood, for being such an elitist that has no idea about how living in an actual city with middle-class people and homeless wanderers feels... but at the same time, I live, eat and sleep on wealthy ground every single day. I can't say too many things about it. Once I enter the building, I walk through a stretchy, narrow white hall that heads to the elevators. Two of the four have been out of service for weeks (something strange for a wealthy building), so the waiting time is a little bit longer than usual.

I'm still thinking about that weird man in the corner... but do I care about him right now? Honestly... no. Maybe, as I told myself before, he was a random guy... and I started making stories. I also have to seriously stop making those lists about somebody's appearance when I look at random people. My brain does it automatically after reading so many chapters of Daring Do the Knightess. I am not in that world, I know. I... know.

One of the two elevators that are actually working gets opened in front of me, just in time when I arrive at them. However, there is somebody inside: an old man with green shorts, an orange t-shirt, and a brown cane. Sand Trap, the retired golfer. Once he looks at me, he forcibly smiles and slowly heads out of the elevator. "You..." he's about to say something, and I mentally roll my eyes. "You are Photo Finish's babysitter... right?"

Oops. I've still got to keep the lie up, and that depends on me. "Yes, I am..." I sigh... It was the best excuse that came to my mind when I thought about it. "I am her dog's babysitter."

He chuckles. "Photo Finish... gosh..." he says, in a low tone. "Firstly, those photos of her naked models over tomato sauce... and now a babysitter for her dog? That woman has been crazy since... I don't know, honestly."

That made me laugh a bit because I agree with him. "Since forever," I say, getting in the elevator. "That's why she does what she's doing." He laughs while the doors automatically close and I press the number.

What can I tell you about Sand Trap? He's just a retired golfer and it's just a numb, gentle old guy with a cane. At least he's not a greedy old man... but there's something from him that I desperately want. He has a beautiful vintage car which I instantly fell in love with when I saw it for the first time... A white Dodge 1500 that's been treated as garbage since he stopped driving due to his old age. That car is suffering. It's stuck, trapped in the subterranean garage, covered by several clothes and an ugly mantle, and getting dirtier and dirtier over time, losing its usefulness. It's unfair... that car cannot end like that, the motor's going to die with its lack of use. I tried to convince everyone to give me the car so I can use it: my aunt, the householder, even Sand Trap himself, but everybody said no. Why? There are no whys, all of them just don't want me to touch that car. Goddamnit. Do you know what is the thing I dream about the most? Day and night, every time? Getting out of this place, driving and driving on the highway with that car, looking at a full moon, smoking a cigarette, and listening to that song from my aunt's playlist I actually like.

Oh, I found a dream... a dream I want to fulfill, honestly. That's what I want to do... get out of this shit.

I'm home. I'm surprised (Sarcasm!) that my aunt is nowhere to be seen. She may be still working with her magical camera, so I need to do what I have to do to make everyone else believe I am a stupid pet babysitter and not Photo Finish's actual niece. I do a really bad job at pretending to be that, but no one knows or asks about me at this time. People are used to seeing me... I even remember when a guy on the second floor tried to sue my aunt because he thought I was a prostitute and she was a lesbian having relationships with minors... It was a really disturbing and uncomfortable moment, but looking back at how my aunt reacted to what he thought is music to my ears. Gosh, I will never forget her face.

Now that I finally take off that dress and throw it on a chair to put on my dirty pajama t-shirt and stay in my underwear, I don't even remember what was using the guy in the corner anymore... I just know he was smoking a cigarette and had an ugly, badly-shaved beard... bruh, I don't care about it. I turn on my notebook and I lay in bed. I've got a job to do: yesterday, a new chapter of Daring Do the Knightess was released and I couldn't have time to read it. Now, that I am alone, with no one around (like in the old times), I open the Internet.

Hey, @wlblsux! You have 3 new Hoofbook notifications.

I never use social media. I hate it. When I made my Hoofbook account in High School, no one sent me a friendship request, a message, anything. No one talked to me and I slowly left. Then I had a... phase where I started using it to stalk people in an obsessive, insane way, trying to know everything about them... because I just wanted to. Sometimes I even thought about stalking them to know about their recent events, and then following them to erase their memories using the stone because I felt inferior. I envied each one of them. I wanted revenge... Probably that's the lowest thing I've ever done in my life. And I've got a lot of low ones.

What about those notifications? Uh, nothing.... they are just things about what I want to read now: Daring Do the Knightess. I type in equestrianmangas.com and look for the recent news: The Quest of Daring Do the Knightess: The Return of Ahuizotl - New Chapter Available on EquestrianMangas! Dungeon Saga - Part V. This is what I've been waiting for... Ten chapters waiting for Daring Do to confront the mysterious Caballero and finally one of Ahuizotl's most dangerous acolytes: The mysterious Dragon of the North, Tsarschuk.

I open the link and I see the first pages...

"Enemy Daring Do! I and my hounds have been waiting for your arrival since that battle at Monstrio Crooke... You dare to confront the Dragon of the Wind, the North itself, Tsarschuk, lord of the Ice?"

"Your days of reign are absolutely finished and vanished from the realm! Now dare to fight as the leader you pretend to be!"

"Warriors... foolish skeletons of mild creatures... all of them tried to make the lord shiver... but nobody is an opponent for the cold itself!"

"No, no, wait! Do you know what happens in the third chapter?"

"Nobody was. Nevertheless, that does not mean I will be defeated! Fight, Tsarschuk!"

"Against you? A filthy creature with hooves? I do spit frozen fire! Ice flows in my veins!"

"Everybody wondered about who in the hell was the Dragon of the West... You have Tsarschuk, the Dragon of the North. Ompreheier, the Dragon of the South... and then,"

"Coward!"

"Dare to call me a coward again, you fool! Go, my hounds, go!"

"Dungeon Saga, Part number V. Holy shit... another sign of who may be Caballero this time... Once we get to the sis' house I'm going to read it again!"

Oh my God... who in the hell is talking so loudly at this time of the night? And about this?

I slowly turn around and find out one of the windows of my room is actually open. Now I know why I was feeling a bit cold... maybe that asshole who is talking like that is outside? How can his voice reach my ears when I'm living on the third floor?

I check out my phone with no contacts. Guess what time is it. 8:33 P.M. The Moon is already in the sky, along with the stars. My magical aunt-ie-hero, Photo Finish, hasn't arrived yet, and everything is dark except for the notebook's screen and the moonlight which comes from the window. Once I get up from my bed to close it, I can see who is speaking.

From here I can see a sidewalk from Canterlot Plaza street. There are three dudes (although one of them kind of looks like a young girl, I think) slowly walking in the middle of it. The three of them have completely different appearances from each other.

GUY #1 (HIPPIE)

Very tall! Much taller than the other two and maybe taller than everyone at Sugarcube Corner.
Plump. Not too fat but he isn't thin at all. Buff man? He may be older than the other two and makes me think he actually looks like he could lift big weights... I wouldn't like to mess with him.
Light blue skin. He also has a big brown beard, a white bandana, and... sunglasses at night? (I don't know, he reminds me of a hippie)
He is wearing black pants and... a camo jacket? What?

Ok... I literally cringe every time I do this... but I think it's the best way of trying to describe these guys.

GUY #2 (THE ASSHOLE WHO UNSTOPPABLY SPEAKS VERY LOUDLY!)

Looks like he has the same age as me. Young kid with light green skin which is easily noticeable and visible from here. It sucks when you have that specific pale color.
He also has a too-shiny orange short haircut which looks like it could be even seen in the dark.
He is thin, and he is wearing a black sweater and... jeans, maybe?
Fun fact: He is speaking about Dungeon Saga...

GUY #3

The shortest. Guy #1 is like two number threes in one.
Light blue skin and short blue hair.
Is he wearing a black leather jacket?
Yup, he's wearing all black.

I've been so focused on their appearances that I forgot what were they talking about. "And I seriously can't wait for the next week for Part VI..." still says Guy 2. "I wanna know what happens with, you know, Caballero..."

He's definitely talking about Dungeon Saga. Daring Do, and I'm surprised. I never thought about someone else rather than me speaking about it... and not because I'm special or whatever, just... I felt nobody in my snow bubble actually did it. Now I'm looking at someone that went even further than me. He said he finished Part V.

I stop thinking about that and turns out two of the three of them stop walking and look at each other. Guy #1 keeps walking until he finds out #2 and #3 are actually discussing. "Could you lower your voice a little bit?" shouts Guy #3 in a tough feminine voice. Maybe I was right? One of them is a girl after all? "I know that what I've read of that saga is awesome, but I don't understand how can you get so emotional with that scene, Thorax..."

Thorax? The guy's name is Thorax...? "What do you mean, Ember?" he says, raising his shoulders and stretching his arms. "That scene of the Fire Sword against Tsarschuk it's awesome!"

My back freezes and I gasp when I find out... wait, what? The Fire Sword? How could that happen? He actually spoiled me! Son of a bitch... I'm done. I spoiled myself because of this!

"Yup, but tell me... how could the Fire Sword appear in that right moment against Tsarschuk?"

"It happened... you know the Fire Sword appears at the right moment in the right place. It's an ancient weapon..."

"But..." I'm still listening to the tough girl. Why in the hell am I doing this? Why am I not closing the window? "That doesn't make any sense. There has to be a logical explanation for the weapon to appear at that exact moment, or else there is a lazy plothole out there..."

Well... I've got to admit she does have a point but... as the guy Thorax said, the Fire Sword has no explanation at all.

"Maybe they will explain why did the sword appear right there... in later chapters." Basic response.

"And what if they don't?" she lifts her shoulders. "What if the manga does not explain that? What are you going to do?"

The big man finally speaks. "Lower your voices, damn it." His voice sounds like a car engine and a glass of cold beer. Unironically. "You're literally having a discussion over a fictional story with magicians and whatever. A story that has never happened and will never happen." Unlike the other two, he is not speaking aloud. I can barely hear what he's saying but I feel how his deep voice is rumbling over my wall. I don't know if I should consider myself lucky for actually being able to listen to him... or not. I'm not closing the window because of how surprised I am. "Besides, I want to finish this stupid argument by saying I agree with Ember... I have read dozens of realistic books and tales, and the sudden apparition of a weapon at the right moment, in the right place for the protagonist is a cheap kind of deus ex machina in literature."

I squint my eyes after hearing that. Why would you think the fact that you read dozens of ✨woww! realistic books and tales!!!✨ has any value in this? You are not talking about realism, but a fantasy manga! Gosh... and then he gets in with that deus ex machina thing...

"No!" The guy named Thorax raises a finger and shakes his head, looking like an animated emoji. "You are wrong, Thunderhooves!" The big guy's name is Thunderhooves. Well, that makes sense. "There is no deus ex..." he stutters. "...that at all, and let me tell you why... Right now we are talking about Chapter Five, Dungeon Saga Part V, but then... you have Dungeon Saga ZER0.5 which I read along with Ember and my big sis, where Zecora the Zebra Wizard explained that the Fire Sword would only appear in the right place, the right moment..."

... ZER0.5. Damn, he even read that boring short chapter I almost forgot...

"Don't you see, dude? That's just lazy writing." Now I change my sight to the girl, Ember. She chuckles. "I prefer a little bit of background to this, for the sword itself, I mean... A.K. Yearling loves writing stupid backstories of secondary characters everybody does not care about except for you! Why wouldn't she, at least, tell us why the sword behaves like this?" She starts shaking her arms. "Tell me, do you care about Doctor Whooves' cousin's extra chapter? I think it's the worst thing you've ever given to me to read."

Hey! I feel a bit affected right now... that chapter of Whooves' cousin isn't that bad. It's just... unnecessary, but it's good. "Hey!"

She shouts one more time and I see that Thorax hasn't answered her yet. I look at him standing in the middle of the sidewalk, under the numb moonlight, and I think I... he... I'm realizing something. He's there, in silence, and I suddenly imagine and I don't know why... that his eyes have a certain spark or light that's making me feel nervous... I feel like... I'm being blinded by a spotlight.

... Is he looking at me?

"PUNCH OF FIRE!" somebody shouts. It's she. Ember punches him. Maybe unintentionally. That hurt... punched him straight in his face and she gets shocked at that moment. "OH!"

But, wait... oh no... oh no... was he? was he looking at me this whole time? Shit, fuck, oh no... I've gotta close the window. I had to close the window before, goddamnit. I fastly get out of the window frame and disappear into the darkness. My arms start shaking as if I was some kind of marionette.

Then, I begin to wonder why did I have such a brief reaction. I felt like a match on fire for two seconds, all because some guy I have no idea about was (or maybe not, probably not) looking at me? Was he really looking at me?

Gosh, I never thought I would feel this again. The feeling of... being observed. Even I, Wallflower Blush, the cafeteria employee which has lots of clients every day, don't feel like this while working. This is... kind of strange. What the hell is going on? I tell myself, like a psychiatrist to somebody else, that if he looked at me, this means... I had a spot. I wasn't left aside this time? That's... what I wanted to say after all?

"I'm so sorry!" I still hear voices from outside. It's she again, Ember. "I thought you were going to catch the fist like you always do, you stupid!"

Then I hear his voice. He's still speaking loudly but his voice feels hurt, logically. "You're a dumbass, Ember."

And another voice starts rumbling all over the wall I am laying against. It's the big poppa. "You deserved it, though. Stop talking so loudly, as if you were on a baseball field."

I slowly approach the window, but I don't want to show my face to the world this time (duh, Captain Obvious). I can't see them while crouching under it but I feel the voices nearer. Are they going to get in... call me? No! Don't panic! DON'T PANIC!

"What happened?" she asks. I think they're still on the sidewalk. "You looked like you went offline. A mental fart?"

"No, no..." A pause. "I saw someone in..." I'm feeling goosebumps. "that window."

... my window? Are they talking about my window? My arms start shaking again. Gosh, I love myself. "That open window?" the big Thunderhooves appears one more time, to the rescue. "There's no one there."

"Of course, you dude," replies Thorax. "There's no one there right now because she's gone. Ember must have scared her with that stupid punch."

He said she. I move my neck asking myself how many shes may be still awake and looking at them from their open window at this time. Maybe no one? Or maybe another lady I don't know from the fourth floor... or just me?

"She?" asks Thunderhooves.

"I'm telling you, man," he replies. "It was definitely a she."

I chuckle... well, at least, if it was me, I was not mistaken for a guy.

"Gosh, Thorax, you are a creep." Ember sighs after saying that. "Don't say you looked at her because she was in bra."

That thing she said felt like a thunderstrike of lava hitting me on my whole body. I may be exaggerating, but I felt so many things in that one second that I almost lost my mind... and thank god I was wearing my dirty pajama t-shirt while playing live from the window frame. "NO!" that shout was almost deafening. "No, no, I'm not that kind of creepy dude, Ember."

"Then," Thunderhooves speaks again. I'm hearing while driving myself mad with my own thoughts. "Why were you looking at her?"

Thorax doesn't answer for... how long? Two, or three seconds? I'm telling you those were the longest seconds of my life, and I repeat... I repeat! And I spent three years of my life waiting for someone in High School to speak to me.

"Well..." he pauses. "If you want me to be honest, Thunderhooves... she was kinda cute."

...

(pretends to calm down) Gosh, this has to be a fucking joke. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?

"You and your dream girls..." I hear while putting my hands over my face. I don't even know who did say that last thing because right now I want to rip my skin off.

Calm down, Wallflower Blush, and stop laughing in your inside like a maniac. I slowly move my head to look at the sidewalk while I imagine I'm almost invisible right now... pretend I didn't say invisible.

"... Let's go," it's the only thing I can barely hear right now. They have turned around... they are walking to the other side. I can see the three of them walking, and going far, far away...

... Then, the mysterious Thorax turns his back one more time and I hide under the window again. "Come on, Thorax!" I can hear. Ember, I think it was Ember. This has to be a dream. This... has to be a dream... shall I repeat it again?

I wait ten seconds (maybe ten) and I fastly move my head again to look outside. No one is there... I stand up and I observe the empty sidewalk like a statue looking at the roof.

... What happened? What the hell has just happened?

Suddenly I forgot about the Fire Sword.

Rookie: Cider

Volume 1 - Chapter 3 - Rookie - Cider

5:00 AM - Day X + 1

I slept, but not for too long. I woke up at half past three in the morning and I can't get out of my head the feeling of my eyes burning as if they were two flames. I couldn't even finish reading Daring Do's new chapter because of how dizzy I have been feeling since that moment.

I had that stupid phrase spinning around my head for almost three hours. It vanishes and then comes back, ten minutes later.

"If you want me to be honest, Thunderhooves... she was kinda cute."

I don't even know if he was talking about me but... if he was, then I think it would be the first time someone that is not my aunt forcing herself to be nice says that I'm... I can't even say that word. The c-word... c-u-t-e. Gosh, when I was in High School people wouldn't even look at me, I was just a ghost passing by... I wouldn't have ever imagined someone calling me cute. I've got to be honest, I never thought I would get this far on the road (you can laugh, I'm doing it).

I've been moving my back all over the untidy bed for over an hour. It's time to get up, I think. I can't sleep and there's no other thing to do, I'm tired of thinking the same thing over and over... even if it has the c-word involved in it. I may have an hour left until the alarm goes on and my new day as a Sugarcube Corner assistant begins, and I expect to have my pathetic breakfast alone while hanging out with the few sunbeams that come out from the window that is covered by the blinds that I won't open... but no. None of that is possible, neither the lonely breakfast nor the closed blinds, because once I open the door to see if there are any monkeys or ninjas out there, I find out one of the blinds has been already opened. Guess who is up tonight? Ta-da!

I look at the one who did that: my beloved aunt appears once more in the hall using his avant-garde, revolutionary new attire: disheveled hair, then her face with no sunglasses but eye boogers!! and a light-blue dressing gown that has a pastel tone which makes me... sick. Nowadays I don't get on too well with those pastel things. I try to hide from her but it's too late. "Mmh?" is the first thing she says, touching her eyes. The system is still booting. "G'morning..."

I want to pretend that I'm about to fall asleep, acting like a patient on a hospital bed but my brain is working like an industrial machine, you know why... and I can't do my play very well right now. "Hi," I say, heading to the bathroom and covering my eyes from the open blind.

"Why're you awake? It's not even 6 o'clock." I barely hear her attenuated voice while looking at my face in the mirror. I expected myself to have bigger eye bags and much more pale skin. I'm honestly surprised, is it because I told myself that someone actually said something about me?

The only thing that comes to my mind to say is: "I can't sleep." That may be the most stupid excuse I could have given to her, but what else can I say? I don't want to tell her what happened last night, just not. What if she laughs at me? Or begins to mock me with that? "Oh, hey... if you don't put the patch in yer arms I'm gonna call yer boy! Hehehe!" and I would be like "No! No! I don't like that boy!"... The thing she would probably do the most is telling me that he wasn't talking about me. He didn't say anything about a weird girl with long green hair standing on the third floor. It may be the truth but... I don't want to hear the truth from her. How can I still remember their names? Thorax, Ember, Thunderhooves.

She has finished taking that crust off her eyes. She's approaching the full process of waking up. "Well, from what I saw when I arrived home..." I look at her while she is yawning and my back is getting cold. "It was almost 12 AM and you were sleeping with the notebook on the edge of your bed... it was still on."

Whoops, I forgot to turn it off... maybe she saw the drawing of a fire dragon fighting against a woman dressed like a safari. Did I fall asleep without knowing? That's a plot twist. "Oh, I don't remember... where is the notebook right now?"

She covers her mouth again, about to yawn, and I focus on the silence in the house at this right moment. I'm not hearing anything from outside the bathroom and the hall except for her, something different in comparison to last night. "I left it on the kitchen table... make sure to turn it off next time, would you?"

I nod once again. "Yes." I don't even want to say something else, and my aunt is still asleep so she doesn't have the strength to discuss it. I know her.

"I'll make coffee and a toast," she turns around. "Tell me if you want."

I don't want to have breakfast with somebody else this morning. It's still not the day! "I'll later catch something else." Then I look at the bath. "I'll take the shower now."

Her neck moves like she is being filmed in slow motion. "OK," is the only thing she responds, "but you're going to have breakfast, girl. I don't..." Here we go again. She yawns while I head out of the bathroom. "I don't want you to leave home without eating a cookie or drinking a glass of something."

"Of course not..." I say, rolling my eyes and turning on the lights in my room. I almost lose my eyes... how many times I do turn on those lights per day? One? Two? Jeez, my bed actually looks like a painting because of how depressing it feels.

"You need to clean that room."

Not another commentary of my room, please! "I'll do it. Soon."

She shakes her head. "I mean now."

"I'll do it, I'll do it... but first," gosh, the lights are blinding me. "Let me take the bath."

6:15 AM - Day X + 1

My aunt and I hardly have fluid conversations in the morning. She speaks and I listen... sometimes I share my opinion divided into small, monotonous sentences and then I shut my mouth. I appear again in the kitchen and this time I'm acting differently, especially because my right arm has also another nicotine patch that feels like a parasite, and the silk of this blue dress is annoying me again. My whole back is itching and the only thing I'm doing is standing like an asshole while clenching my fists. Now she has her normal bowl haircut and sunglasses while buttoning a big black coat. Fashion nowadays is something special. "I expect you tidied your bed, at least."

Uh... I did it, but honestly, the bedsheets may have more tales to tell than both of us. I have to swap them for newer ones. "I did."

"You also need to change your bedsheets." Damn! She found my hidden trick. "And please, we need to check out those wardrobes you have. Not today, not this week but... ASAP."

... No. I can't even think about my breakfast after what she has said. "What did you just say?" I turn my back and look at her, standing with her coat, sunglasses, and some ripped dark jeans. She only raises her shoulders.

"You've heard me. We have to take a look at those wardr---"

"No, no. Did you really say ASAP?" Last time I heard that slang if I can call it like that... I didn't even have 16 at that time. Come on.

"A model of mine couldn't stop saying that during yesterday's photoshoot..." she sits on a chair and touches her forehead. "I can't stop saying that right now... goddamn, it's like glue."

Uh, influences... I open the fridge and look at my menu. There is orange juice... I can drink a glass of it and then eat a fruit or something else. I don't see any leftovers. "I don't wanna be in your position during those new fashion photoshoots," I tell her, and it's true. "Most of those models are just annoying, selfish bimbos."

She chuckles... oh, I made my aunt laugh, this is part of history. "I don't like the word bimbo, girl, but... yeah, a small part of them are annoying... but they are not unbearable!" she shakes her head. "You can calm every model down easily by just turning on a camera and asking for a pose." I grab the orange juice bottle while she softly taps the floor with her shiny black high-heels that look like two minivans. "There are people which are more unbearable... do you know who I can stand the less?"

For a second my skin freezes, fearing she may say some kind of thing that will make my hips break in half... but then I remember my aunt is not that kind of classist. At least she is not like that boyfriend Blue, you know who I'm referring to... "Who?" I say while grabbing a glass. "Skinheads?" is the first thing that comes into my mind. It's a disgusting word for her and I know why. He-he-he.

She covers her mouth. "Oh, lord, Wallflower, don't remind me of those... firstly, we are not in the 70s, girl, and secondly, I know you told me that to remind me I dated a skinhead in my 20s." I laugh while grabbing my prize, a glass of orange juice. "However, girl... those guys I'm talking about actually look like skinheads... I think they might be."

I raise my eyebrows while hearing that, expecting her to explain further. I'm drinking my juice with enthusiasm, I cannot believe it. Is she referring to a new generation of bald men with leather jackets and rotten teeth?

... or is she talking about someone else? Some guys who walk at night, wear all black... and speak aloud... No, wait, wait. I'm mixing things. It's like sticks and stones. I'm putting chocolate over vanilla... wait, what's that phrase?

"Which guys?" I ask while covering my mouth. My arm is actually shaking, this is incredible.

"You may have heard them once, or twice..." she says, touching her coat. "Those assholes are always shouting aloud at night on the sidewalk. Our sidewalk. I don't know why they hang out there. Do they want to piss us off?"

She must be talking about them... or, maybe, about other guys who are doing the same exact thing as them? She also hasn't mentioned any girl, and yesterday I saw Ember with my own eyes... wow, I'm still actually surprised that I remember her name. "Really?" I say. "I haven't heard any shouts."

"Well, it does not surprise me from you," she says. I mentally roll my eyes while holding my glass. "You're always with your headphones and your notebook in the darkness, but you know that last night I came across Gilda and she spat me her rant about those stupid boys wandering around the corner again, and she told me they talked about some kind of stupid magical story and I don't know..."

Stupid magical story. Wait a second... Not only Daring Do the Knightess is anything but a stupid magical story but also... Am I actually getting nearer to what I'm thinking? Is she talking about them? "I haven't heard anything... I..." Just smile. "I closed my eyes and then I..." I scratch my back and look at how my legs are trying to stay straight with this unbearable dress. "...I fell asleep, that's it. I've got to go."

"Wait, you haven't eaten anything yet... get something. Orange juice is not---"

I know, miss, but I need to go right now... I need to think, aunt. "I'll get something at work. I can have it."

Nope. "I could have given you some toasts, Wallflower..."

"It's OK. I told you I didn't want to."

She stands up and moves the chair while I grab my keys. "I'm trying to give you a proper breakfast, Wallflower. You can't go out without eating something, at least." I don't know what to do while holding the keys in my hand. Shall I go out in silence? She washes her hands on the sink and I'm still thinking about what she said. "Besides, I want to tell you something else."

No. I don't want to discuss something at this time. I'm about to fall asleep again. "If it's about the breakfast, I promise you I will--"

"It's not about the breakfast," she turns off the tap. "It's something I wanted to tell you last night but you were asleep."

My empty hand gets into a fist and hides behind my waist while I clench my teeth... what is she talking about? Something that she has been chewing since last night? Why didn't she tell me before? Will she talk about what I was reading in my notebook, maybe? I'll just say it's only a stupid magical story, as she says. "What?" I'm about to put the key into the lock.

She takes a long breath while slowly taking her sunglasses off. "The chat we had about those boys delayed my small speech. I want to say something about the discussion we had yesterday, you know? When I told you that you didn't have to care about what your former partners of the club---"

Argh, it's like spreading salt over the wound. "Yes, I remember." I try not to look at her the whole time. I just... do it for a second and then look at the door.

"I recognize I sounded a bit tactless by saying that because I know that still hurts you. I just want to say that I didn't want to make you mad like that."

... There's this feeling of guilt I cannot swallow. Yes, I can't forgive my aunt for what she did along with my mother when I was a child... but she is the only one that wakes me up every day, and I just want to get out. I only want that. I only want, as I said yesterday, to get out of this shit... not without saying something before. "It's OK." I put the key on the lock. "I shouldn't have raised the roof like that. I went mad but..." I open the door. "... I know you didn't want to hurt me." I take a step into the hall. If somebody actually heard me saying that while opening the door, the horrifying prostitution theories will probably come back, unfortunately, but at least I'll have another fancy time looking at my aunt trying to beat her accuser up with a frying pan. "I've got to go to work. See you later."

She puts her sunglasses on again. She can't leave the house without them... right now, her sight does not look so bright. "See you, Wallflower."

I close the door and head to the elevator. I don't know what to say, I don't know what to feel, I don't know if I have to swallow my spit. I'm not thinking about my aunt or the three guys that were on the sidewalk last night. I'm not even thinking about the c-word. The only thing I have in my mind is what I told myself yesterday. Turns out I have a dream: get out of this shit.

The elevator appears. I enter. I get out.

The morning's colder than yesterday this time. I don't even know if we are in winter, autumn, or spring... I'm completely lost at that (it's concerning, I admit). I even feel steam coming out of my mouth while breathing, despite not freezing myself in this stupid blue dress. Sometimes I feel someone will say something to me, catcall me, while using this... but no one actually did. No one ever sees me walking around and I still don't know if I should consider myself lucky or not. The only thing I can say is that if somebody catcalls me, I will try my best to... jump kick at his head, maybe?

My mind's gears stop spinning when I hear something, a voice, coming out from a store. I look at its window and I find out there is a switched-on TV in front of me. I see a yellow sign over one of its corners that reads TVs ON SALE!!! HALF-PRICE! but what actually called my attention comes out from a TV ad I'm looking at right now. I've heard the word trip.

It's half past six in the morning and I'm looking at a guy in an ad, dressed as an airforce pilot holding two tickets. He's smiling and starts speaking like a robot: "This is the ultimate message for all of the consumers of Sweet Apple Acres..."

Sweet Apple Acres? The company that sells cider and apples? Something that I will never see in Ms. Photo Finish's home. It's not the first time I hear from her mouth that she hates cider.

"Listen. All of the cider bottles you will be buying this week now have a mysterious five-digit number under their caps." He grabs a cider bottle which looks gross but interesting, opens it, and shows the bottom of the plastic cap. It has a black, five-digit number. 14268. "This is the thing, my apple eater..." he chuckles. "If you find the correct number, the one winner, you will have your reward, traveler!" He shows the tickets. "You and your partner can have the opportunity to visit the core of the apple! You can win these two tickets to Appleloosa City! Ha-ha-ha!" He throws the tickets away. "The journey has begun!"

The video cuts and a white screen appears. Then a black text says: We do like playing games... Sweet Apple Acres.

That may have been the worst TV ad I've ever seen. I have to clean my eyes now after seeing this... horrifying project. However, swallowing that whole advertisement left me with something else that is not disgust or plastic-flavored cider. I ask myself, how far is Appleloosa from Canterlot? I know it's not the most beautiful city in the country but... I think it's far away from this town.

What if I try? Shall I try this, at least? I don't spend my salary so I can afford a couple of cider bottles and I can tell myself to drink them behind my aunt's nose, then I grab the caps and keep them for myself until I have the winner. If I do win, I can use the ticket to finally get out and go to Appleloosa, or well, maybe I can stop during the middle of the trip and look for something in Manehattan or somewhere else, there have to be too many small towns around the capital... I can also give the other ticket to... I don't know honestly, the first option I have in my mind is my aunt but what if I tell Coco about this and she says yes? Maybe she also wants to try another town--- wait, wait, wait...

I feel like I woke up again as if I were a diver coming out of the water. I look at my face in a puddle that goes to the sewers, located on a street corner. The traffic lights are red. I almost crossed the street with the cars still running. My mind was working like a machine again.

I look at the traffic lights, waiting for them to turn green, and I realize the cider idea is actually stupid as hell. I see that plastic bottle of cider the man in the ad was holding in my mind and I think of a toxic chemical all over my mouth, killing me. I can't drink a single glass of that... how could I drink bottles of it? Besides, what about the other ticket? The only thing I can do with it is shove it up right my ass because neither my aunt nor Coco would want to go with me. My aunt will tell me to go fuck myself, and Coco... why would I even tell her this? No, the more I think about it, the more I realize this is not the dream I want. I need Sand Trap's Dodge, and I need to drive it in the night, getting out of Canterlot, leaving all of my problems aside. I wish that was possible.

That's what I need.

6:50 AM - Day X + 1 - Sugarcube Corner

Luckily I can open the door on my own this time because right now Pinkie Pie is cleaning all of the tables at an impressive speed. I repeat again, I don't know what could we do or how could we even survive without her. "Good morning, Wallflower!" she shouts while holding a big table in the air with just one arm. I seriously don't understand how does she do this.

"Blush!" Mrs. Cake is standing behind the cashier. "Thank Star Swirl you are here, girl. You'll have to take over this little box by now... Coco will not be here today."

Oh... goddamn. Zero points. I didn't hit on the spot. I turn my neck back to the entrance door and think about getting off the ship. "Wait!" suddenly I hear from inside the kitchen. Mr. Cake with a dirty apron and sweat all over his face comes out and waves his hand to salute me. He looks at his wife. "Did you tell her about... tonight?"

Mmm... I don't like that tone of his. They are hiding something I don't want to hear. Mrs. Cake sighs and puts her arms over the cashier, looking at me with concern. "We've already told Pinkie Pie, and I promise this will be only for this day, no more."

My pupils shrink as I slowly approach them. Don't tell me I have to dress as a cupcake and hold a sign on the street corner. "Something happened?" Are they about to fire me? Would that be... good or bad for me?

Mrs. Cake only smiles while her husband is combing his hair with his hands. "No, no... there's nothing wrong. We just... had a problem with our kids." She shakes her head. "The babysitter called us an hour ago and told us that she couldn't look after Pound and Pumpkin after 6 PM." Goosebumps. Are they... no, no, it's just a thought of mine. Why would they tell me to babysit two little kids? "I know that you always leave at 6, but this time, now that Coco is not here, we seriously need your help. We can't leave Pinkie alone until 9 despite everything she does. Of course, we will pay you for those extra hours, so don't worry about that. It's just for one day... could you do it for us?"

I have a big lump in my throat right now. I don't know what to say, and I wonder why my response to every situation where I'm in is to run away. Despite Coco is not here, and I desperately want to get out of the store, I'm feeling guilty for not looking at Mrs. Cake in her eyes. If I run away and leave, not only I may get fired (maybe not, but who knows), but I'll worsen their problem. They are right, Pinkie can't be alone, no matter how good she is at her job. I have to be here... at least I'm not being left aside, isn't it? Maybe if I go back home at 6 my aunt will probably not be there and I will be alone in the darkness of my room, surfing the web. Maybe the three, Thorax, Ember, and... and... Thunderhooves! I remembered his name... may come back and stay on the sidewalk but what can I do? Shall I talk to them or?... wait. "So... what do you say, girl?" suddenly says Mr. Cake, bringing me back into reality. "The other option is..." he chuckles while looking at her wife. "The other option we have is taking her home and making her the new babysitter..."

I raise my hand with a finger at the same time Mrs. Cake touches her husband's shoulder. "I prefer her to be here," she says. That's actually a blessing for me... being a babysitter is the last thing I dreamt to be, honestly. "Besides, she has Pinkie."

I look at her now, waving her hand and smiling like a hyena while cleaning another table. Oh, lord, this night will be awesome.

I will go for my apron in the kitchen.

4:10 PM - Day X + 1 - Sugarcube Corner

I expected a worse afternoon but turns out I had a little bit of luck left in my purse. I had a pretty peaceful lunch break where I rested, even with Pinkie by my side. I had the opportunity to get out during my 2-hour break but I don't do it often, the fact that I have to come back at the right time bores me and I just don't know what to do. Besides, not too many clients passed through the magical cashier and all of them didn't even interact with me. I shared with everyone ten seconds of my time to make a simple deal: They give me the money, and I give them their change. It's simple and I don't complain about it, but in fact, I should have to be the one that has to welcome the clients and ask for their orders instead of the one person who is always standing next to the door and scanning each one of the customers with her robotic eyes while playing with her pink poofy hair.

I've already said what I think about Pinkie Pie. I'm glad she exists because I don't do most of the things I should do thanks to her... but at the same time, I feel useless when I look at her. She looks just like a marionette, perfectly designed to work as a waitress. She has been always like that since I met her... charismatic, extroverted, delightful, annoyingly funny but also unbearably supportive, and I don't forget the fact she always opens the door for me when I come out... Pinkie, I thank you for doing this for me, showing me the support I never had in High School, but I know how to open a door. You don't have to do this for me all the time.

The other thing that surprised me during my afternoon is that I didn't even think too much about the triad. Yeah, now I call them the triad. I'm still shocked about the mysterious Thorax using the c-word, better known as cute, but the more I think about it, the less I look at myself being pictured in his mind. What if he looked at Gilda, the woman from the second floor? I mean, she may be ten years older than me and has the temper of a grenade but she is still attractive after all. Something else that I remembered while looking at the tables is that weird man sitting in the corner of the store that I observed for five or ten seconds. It was something magical, I couldn't remember what was he wearing when I was at home and then I easily figured that out while lying over the cashier, and no, I didn't see him in all day. I would have recognized him, maybe. I even told Pinkie to check the corner out at 12 PM during our break to see if it had people sitting on it, just in case... but she said there was nobody sitting over there. Yeah, I recognize that I asked her to do that six hours before the time I saw him the previous day, but I didn't have another opportunity to ask her again. The Cakes and Pinkie are too busy right now.

Maybe he was just a guy sitting in the corner.

"Hey, Blush." Mrs. Cake comes out of the kitchen and looks at me. "Would you like to swap our roles until 6?"

That would be glorious for me. My legs hurt from standing like a statue and touching the cashier since we came back from our break at 1. "I go to the kitchen?" I ask her, curiously.

"Yes... only if you want to," she tells me. "You can still be on the cash. I'm asking you because I wouldn't like to be in front of that cashier until 9 if I were you," she squints her eyes and smiles. "It gets really boring."

And she's right, I'm about to fall asleep again. "You're right. Let's do it."

She smiles at me and nudges me on the back while I am getting into the kitchen... I don't like that kind of touch but I'll let her pass this time... I can also hear a whisper of hers before getting in: "Goddamn, we really need more employees." I agree with you, Mrs. Cake. I agree with you.

"Hey, Blush," I look at Mr. Cake doing the dishes. I open my eyes to the show but I don't get impressed, I'm used to looking at this kitchen broken in half. Looks like an earthquake passed by minutes ago: dishes, saucers, cups, glasses... even the walls are covered by cream, chocolate, and caramel. "Mind if you help me with the dishes?"

"Sure," I whisper. I bet he didn't even hear it. I pass by him and get a look at what I have to do. I will have to clean so many things... come on.

He passes by me and turns around, fixing his apron and looking at one of the ovens. The fan next to me doesn't help so much at lowering the temperature of the pretty small kitchen. He observes what's inside and shakes his head. "It's not ready yet..." he sighs. "We seriously need another cook, or an assistant, at least."

Hell yeah, I know I'm not the best but... haven't you ever wondered about that girl who spins between the cashier and the sink when Coco is not working? They never want me to help them with the pastry, they just don't want me to make, at least, whipped cream for the cakes and the food. Yes, I am not an expert in doing that but... aren't we supposed to practice these things? "I can help you with the oven." I see there are a lot of apples cut in half on another table in the kitchen. "What about that apple pie in the works?"

Then he raises the finger and shakes his head. "No, those apples are something else. I'll stay in the oven while moving the food."

"What if the crust of that pie in the oven gets burned while you are moving that?" I ask him, I'm trying to put a piece in this. "I can--"

He chuckles. "It's OK, Blush, you don't have to. I won't take too long while doing this... besides, I just saw it and it still needs a little bit of time." He raises his thumb while I'm trying to maintain my face. "I appreciate the intention, though."

He turns around again to look at the oven while my bones feel like they are turning to ice. I just... want to check the pie out and see if it is ready, I don't want to pour salt all over it. It's a simple action, I won't ruin the process, I... I have to stop complaining... it's not the first time he or his wife says something like that to me. Shall I accept for once that I won't do it?

I look at the sink filled with dirty dishes and slowly take a look around. There's cream and syrup everywhere... and then I find a strange needle in the haystack. Right behind a used bowl, I can see a plastic bottle on the horizon with an apple sticker on its top. I open the tap to wash my hands and I fastly grab it, reading another sticker on it that says: "THE OFFICIAL CIDER OF SWEET APPLE ACRES". I feel like my hand is grabbing a piece of crap because of how gross this looks, but then I think... what if this bottle has a number on its plastic cap? "Why is there a bottle of this cider on the table?" I ask. Mr. Cake, now standing in front of the fridge, turns his head to look at me and raises an eyebrow.

"Oh," he nods. "I had to finish it in the morning. I bought it two days ago and I forgot that I kept it in this fridge." He laughs while I touch the cap. "You know? They shouldn't sell cider inside those plastic bottles because it makes it taste like some old medication... they should sell them in cans, aluminum!" he shouts. "I think it's the best way to preserve its flavor."

"Or maybe glass bottles," I unconsciously respond. I slowly open the bottle and leave the plastic aside. I'm holding the cap in my closed hand. Shall I try? I ask myself. Is there any possibility that this can give me the chance to win two tickets to Appleloosa? To get out of this shit?

"Mmh... glass? It's a pretty big inversion. Too much to afford. Besides, glass is fragile." I open my hand and look at the bottom of the white cap. It has a number. 01227.

"Zero, one, two... two..."

"Oh! Do you want the cap?" He is checking out the pie in the oven again and shakes his head. "I saw that horrible ad with the Appleloosa trip..." at least I'm not the only one who has a clear opinion about that. "You can keep it, I don't care about the tickets." he closes the fridge after cleaning its freezer. "Do you believe in those things? The plastic cap lottery?" he chuckles. "I call it like that. It's just a game but... people tend to imagine their dreams being granted while looking at that."

I imagined a whole situation since the moment I heard the voice from the ad. I imagined my dream being granted for a second, and those words that came from Mr. Cake's mouth actually hurt me a bit. Is he criticizing that behavior? Or just... recognizing it's senseless? Stupid? I want to be sincere. "No, I don't believe in them. It's just..." Now I think about the ad it's not only something horrible to watch but also stupid to listen to. "It's just something that calls my attention."

He smiles while cleaning the table. "I understand. It's curious, isn't it? It's like a game with a prize, and you play with the plastic caps." I nod my head while slowly putting the cap inside the apron's pocket. I never thought I would get surprised by something that no one else than Mr. Cake said.

8:50 PM - Day X + 1 - Sugarcube Corner

8:50. Ten minutes left. I cannot stop looking at the clock hanging in a corner, waiting for the last customer, an old man, to leave. Pinkie gives me his money. The check said $8, so I grab his money and count it: $8. No extra pennies, no change, no conversation. She helps him to get up, an old man with a cane, and leads him to the exit. She's always helping everyone. Every single one, and doesn't ask anything back, doesn't want anything else. It shouldn't surprise me because that's how should we act but... it does, especially when I think about myself.

Once the old man leaves, she is holding the door while I'm looking at the clock one more time. I think it's 8:51 already. I want to leave now. I have to admit the extra hours were better than I expected, though (I didn't do anything, not too many clients around, some kind of pseudo-break, and Pinkie did almost all of the job). She takes a long breath while taking the OPEN sign off the door and throws it at me. I catch it on time and she lets a laugh come out. Then she snaps her fingers and points at me. "That was a great catch!"

Even I don't believe that I caught it on the first try. "Do the Cakes throw the sign to each other while closing?" I jokingly ask.

She raises her shoulders while taking off her apron. I begin to do the same, not before taking my keys, the cellphone I hardly use, and the plastic cap from its pocket. "I hope they do," she says. "It's funny." I enter the kitchen and leave the apron before hearing the sound of someone grabbing a keychain. No, nobody took them from me... I have mine in my closed right hand.

I turn around and I see Pinkie Pie at the kitchen door, holding her keys. She is making an unfunny grin on her face while tapping one of her fingers over a car key on the chain. "I'm taking my car," she says. I raise an eyebrow, not knowing what to expect. "The Pinkiemobile... come on." She starts shaking the keys again. "Let me pick you up and I'll take you to your home. You will be a witness of the first generation of Pinkie Pie...lot!" ...Did she really Pie-lot? "You understand? Pinkie Pie-lot!"

"Yes, I do." Wow. That was a really brutal pun. Besides, no. I don't want her to pick me up. I don't want anybody to know that I'm Photo Finish's niece... and I won't tell anyone, especially Pinkie, that I live in Canterlot Plaza. If she finds out, she'll get so surprised that she would be a time bomb and the Cakes would quickly find out too through her. It would be a massive chain reaction. "Um... I appreciate it, Pinkie, but I'll go home on foot."

At the moment I finished speaking her eyes almost come out of their eyelids. She is also not smiling. "Wait, what?" She puts her hand behind her waist. "Wallflower, don't you know that... between 9 PM and 3 AM, Canterlot's crime rate has a sharp increase of 32%? It goes up and up and up in the scale," she says while raising and raising one of her arms to represent that. "You'll get exposed at a bigger risk while walking on foot." She kneels on the kitchen floor so fastly that it scares me for a second. I can't believe she's actually begging me to accept it. "Let me pick you up and take you home." I... I don't know what to say... but right now I don't want Pinkie Pie to find out that I live in one of the wealthiest buildings in the city. I crouch so we can see our faces, front at front. She's still kneeling to me.

"Pinkie," I tell her, with the best smile I can make on my face. "It's OK. I really appreciate that you want to pick me up, but I prefer to go on foot."

Her eyes start shining. "Why?" she asks. Looks like her hair is getting smoother. "What if somebody tries to attack you and steal your money?"

I remember that nobody talks to me while I'm on the street. It doesn't matter if it's in the morning, afternoon, evening, or midnight. Nobody looks at me, or ever says something to me. I've been the witness to several robberies and stupid street fights but I was always aside. Is it because I'm always left apart? I know that nothing will happen to me this night. Nothing. I feel it. "Nothing will happen to me this night, Pinkie," I shake my head. "No one will see me."

Oops... that last sentence. I didn't want to say it... my bad. Now I can see that I did wrong when Pinkie stands up and looks at me. She covers her mouth. "Is it..." she whispers. "Are you feeling like a ghost again?" Ugh... now we are going back to High School. "Are you feeling bad? You know that you can talk to me if you feel bad! I can help you and I can support you." She pauses. "Come on, let's take a ride in the Pinkiemobile."

Both of us stand up and I can see that her look is genuine. She wants to help me and I don't know what to do. I'm feeling guilty again for not doing anything. For not accepting her offer. "I know you can support me, Pinkie. You're literally helping me all of the time but... but I'm feeling right." Well, I'm not so sure but... I pretend to. "You see?" Why did I say you see? What would she see? Asshole.

She looks at the floor and her eyes shine again. "I see it and I don't know. Sometimes at work, I see you and I really feel you are under the weather." She shakes her head. "I wonder what's the matter, and I want to help you and make you happy but I don't always know what to do." She turns around and looks at the entrance door. Outside, everything it's dark, barely illuminated by the streetlights. "I try to open the door for you every time I can because... I want to let you know that I'm there for you! You know you can talk to me!"

Pinkie's words are actually stabbing me. I never expected her to make me feel this... guilty. I don't want her to look at me right now and I'm getting tired of her opening the door every time for me... but now I see her intention. She does not want to trouble me, to make me mad. She does not want me to be apart from everybody else. I have another lump in my throat and I'm pressing my teeth against each other. "Um... Pink--"

I stopped. Suddenly my guilt and pain disappear when I look at someone standing at the entrance door. He doesn't look like a client I could frequently see in the corner... but it seems to be strangely familiar. Seconds later, Pinkie does the same, turning around and looking at the man crossing the door. He's now in the store.

...Oh. My. God.

Once I see him near the cashier, I instantly recognize him. He has salt-and-pepper short hair. His green eyes are still bloodshot. He still has that ugly, poorly-shaved beard. He's still wearing that weird bracelet... I know. It's not an illusion. If Pinkie saw him, it means he's real. He may be.

That is the man I saw yesterday, sitting in the corner. He is still wearing ripped jeans but he doesn't have that dirty white shirt anymore. He's wearing a black one. However, there is something that I don't like about him at all. His sight. He doesn't look like he came here to buy something. Buy pastry.

I try to grab Pinkie by her arm but she's faster than me. She quickly gets out of the kitchen and looks at the clock. The weird man doesn't say anything. I try to shout at something, at her, but I can only cover my mouth and think about running away... why, why... why is running away my reaction to everything?

I have to calm myself down, seriously. It's just a coincidence. This guy is weird, this guy is now really suspicious for me but... he hasn't done anything questionable or wrong... yet.

... I don't like how he is looking at the store. He's frowning. He's serious. "We are about to close, sir," says Pinkie. "I'm sorry... we don't have anything left to offer you."

"It's OK." His voice is deep. Sounds like a tough man. I slowly get nearer to Pinkie. "I didn't come here to buy pastry..." he pauses for a second while slowly scratching his jaw. "... although I've heard you make some of the best cupcakes in the town."

I knew it. He is not here to buy pastry... what is he doing? I fastly move my legs and get out of the kitchen but don't say anything. He does not even look at me. He is not looking at Pinkie, either. His eyes slowly spin around the store. She looks at me while slowly closing her hands. She forcibly smiles at him: "Yes, right now we offer some of the best cupcakes in Canterlot. Every day!"

He smiles back and nods his head. "I came here to see your boss... I think he's your boss." He puts his hands in his jeans pockets. "Mr. Cake, isn't he?"

Does he know Mr. Cake? From where? I've got to speak. Pinkie does not have to be alone against him. I can't be left aside! "I'm afraid he is not here right now..." I stutter. Now he is looking at me. "... sir. Are you a friend of his?"

He looks at me, then at Pinkie, at the door. He tries to take a quick look at the kitchen but gives up and moves his head. "We could say yes," he replies and then nods. "Yes, yes. I finally found him... after two weeks."

Rookie: Late Night Poofy-Pink Drive-By

Volume 1 - Chapter 4 - Rookie - Late Night Poofy-Pink Drive-By

9:05 PM - Day X + 1 - Sugarcube Corner

I don't know what to do. I look at Pinkie and she is as confused and shocked as me.

Once we told this man that Mr. Cake was not present, he asked for a glass of water. I tried not to give him one but Pinkie decided to do it anyways... and I didn't do anything to stop it though. My bad.

He is now holding the glass while sitting in a chair he grabbed from one of our tables. I look at Pinkie's face and I know that she wants to do something quickly but doesn't know what or where to start. The man has been also observing the entrance for almost five minutes. He is not looking at anything else. Me, on the other side, I look at the clock. The nerves... I can't even describe the tension I'm feeling right now.

Who is this guy? What is he hiding? Why does he want to see Mr. Cake?

And most importantly, does Mr. Cake actually know him?

I'm afraid I won't get out of this store at 9... and I expect not to end up as a hostage in West Seaddle with this. My aunt will get really mad at me for not being at home while I'm here, trying to figure out, along with Pinkie Pie, how to get rid of this guy. Was he waiting for Mr. Cake yesterday? Somebody has to break the ice. I will not let the nerves kill me. I look at Pinkie's hair and part of it it's poofy, the other one is smooth. I don't know how that haircut works. I'm getting dizzy and thirsty.

I also grab a glass cup from under the cashier and desperately want to look for the dispenser. "Do you want water?" I suddenly hear. It's him.

He's talking to me, and I look at his green bloodshot eyes. Looks like he hasn't slept for weeks. I try to say yes, but my fully-working brain lets another thing go out of my mouth: "I saw you yesterday..." I'm about to choke on my own words. Pinkie fastly turns her head to look at me and I open my mouth again while he raises an eyebrow. "I saw you when I came out of the store. You were waiting on that corner." I point at the left side of the store. "Were you waiting for Mr. Cake to come out?"

He raises a hand while forcing a smile. "Firstly, I'm sorry if I'm being... intimidating. Don't be afraid." He drinks the water. "I'm still here because I'm thirsty... and so, you observed me yesterday? In my..." he chuckles. "... natural habitat?"

"Why were you waiting right there?" Pinkie now looks at him in silence while I point at him with a finger. I don't know how I'm doing this, I have no idea... maybe I'm talking to him because I have nothing to lose? "Do you know that the place where you sat yesterday can't be seen from where this cashier stands? From where we, me and my friend, are? Were you hiding from us?"

He gets surprised at what I say. "Woah... I didn't expect a private detective to come in." Pinkie smiles at that but I don't.

"Will you answer them?" Pinkie is surprised by me. Even I didn't expect this part of me to come out. Is this my behaviour after reading too many detective stories, after all?

His smile disappears and he leaves the glass on the table, crossing his arms and frowning. "I'm unlucky, you know?" He shakes his head. "I planned everything and waited for the right moment to catch that man alone, red-handed, in the middle of the night, but turns out the only moment I thought that was perfect for doing what I had to do... it's the one where he isn't in the cage." I didn't understand a single word of what he said, but once I open my mouth to ask him what he meant, he stands up. "Let me tell you a story." He takes a breath. "The only thing I knew about your boss before getting here is that he lived in Canterlot and had a store with Corner on its name. I watched every single place that used that word in Canterlot until I found the good one. Then, I began to watch, to hear, to sit on the corners of this store to learn about your routine. The store's general working schedule."

He has been spying on us. "Why?" asks Pinkie Pie, putting a hand over her jaw. "You were spying on us? Why... why would you do something like that?"

He clenches his fists and smiles. "I asked myself the same thing. I'm not interested in you, your schedule, this guy's wife, your clients, I don't care about you, about them... but there is a problem." He lies next to the entrance door, looking at us. "Your boss Cake thinks I am an idiot, a dork, a fool... when I'm actually the opposite of that."

His cold sight stops in me. I, trying to be stable, ask: "Why would Mr. Cake think that about you?" It's strange.

The man claps his hands once and laughs for a second. Then, while doing that, he points at himself. "Firstly, let me present myself. I think you're not getting what I'm telling you because you really don't know your boss... and his second face." Pinkie and I look at each other... a second face? A dark side? "A pretty stupid facet." He kisses his bracelet. "My name is Caballeron. You don't have to tell me your names, I don't care about them. What I need you to do is to listen to me."

"Which Mr. Cake's dark side are you talking about?" suddenly asks Pinkie before touching her mouth. She trembles while blinking non-stop until she whispers: "Please, don't tell us he has an affair." Is she taking this seriously? Or am I the only one? I look at her. An affair? Cheating on Mrs. Cake? That may be possible but... why would he? Would he, at first?

Caballeron laughs while hiding his smile with his hands. "I don't even know how he is married to a woman. It's one of the most foolish cowards I've ever seen in my game. He makes me sick."

There's a word he said that called my attention. "Your game?"

He nods and starts walking around the entrance. He's hiding the door from us. "That's what I wanted to tell you before your cupcake friend interrupted me. I like so many stupid things about life but there's one I enjoy, where I spend every minute of my life without looking at the exit... gambling." No... Oh no. "I'm a gambler. I live, eat and sleep in casinos. Nobody beats me at anything."

So, that's why he looks like he hasn't slept for years. This guy may be an alcoholic gambler 24/7... and that doesn't make me happy. I'm afraid I'll have to extend my arrival time at home to 2 or 3 AM. "So you gamble," I reply. If he mentioned that... it may mean something else which surprises me a lot. "And what does Mr. Cake have to do with that? Does he also gamble?"

"MR. CAKE WHAT?" Both me and Caballeron jumped in shock after hearing that shout. Pinkie is now astonished and open-mouthed while putting her hands inside her poofy hair. "He really..." she looks at a surprised Caballeron. He didn't expect her to be so shocked. I'm used to her reactions. "He really goes to the roulette and sits on those slot machines and does things like that?"

"Relax," I tell her. I try to find out the truth. "Does he really gamble? Is that the dark side of his you were talking about?"

He sighs and looks at me while touching the door handle. "He doesn't gamble, he tries to... and fails." He smiles as if he remembered something. "That guy doesn't even know how slot machines work. He is just a washed-up necktie that sees himself as an expert by playing pathetic rounds of poker."

"MR. CAKE PLAYS POKER?"

"PIN--!" Oh no. I almost said Pinkie Pie. I don't want to say her name in front of this guy, just in case... luckily, once she heard my voice she understands me and shuts up by covering her mouth.

"Your friend is quite awake, detective," he jokingly says. He has a tag for me now but I don't care. "As I said... your boss tries to gamble, tries to play poker like a normal man, but he can't do it... He sees himself as the king of the world because of one single jack in his hands, it's painfully pathetic... and do you know what is worse than that? What is more grievous than he looking at himself in a mirror?"

He's being pretty rude to Mr. Cake. It's almost insulting him with slurs. "What? Mr. Cake playing blackjack?" curiously asks Pinkie Pie, calmed down.

Caballeron laughs and leaves the door. He is approaching us. "He confronted me. He thought it was a good idea to play against an actual poker player, a gambler." He stops right in front of the cashier. Pinkie Pie takes her hands out of the box and I get nearer the kitchen door. I never liked where this was going but right now this conversation is turning into something more confusing. "Unfortunately, your boss has something else in the gallery, an extremely bad combination: an ego that puts him in a place where he is not, thinking of himself as the best poker player in Equestria, and a really sad sense of competitiveness, trying to be the toughest around. He began to tell me that the winner of our match would get out with a big number in his hands."

Huh... so that's the problem with this. Money... and Mr. Cake is a talkative man. "How much did he bet?" I ask him and say the first big number that came out of my head. "$500?"

He shakes his head while touching the cashier. "He went further," replies while smiling. "He told me a story. He said what I know about him... that he lived in Canterlot and had a store with Corner on its name." Oh, so that's how he knows that... Pinkie grabs my arm. Tell me Mr. Cake did not do what I'm thinking. I haven't eaten almost anything in all day and my stomach wants to eject everything it has inside now. "He also said he had a pretty nice number on its profits per month." Both Pinkie Pie and I are extremely uncomfortable right now. I don't even want to know what Mr. Cake told him. "I still remember the number, it was a nice one... and then he said," Caballeron can't even say that while holding a straight face. Looks like he is about to burst into laughter. "He said the winner would have the store's income in its pockets for a whole year... and just for the winner."

... No. This can't be true.

This has to be a freaking joke, a really bad one. The profits? That means... my salary? Pinkie's salary? The money Mrs. Cake needs to buy flour and all of her ingredients? I put my hands over my face and sit on the floor, against the kitchen door. I honestly can't believe that Mr. Cake told him that. Pinkie, logically affected by this, almost passes out but holds herself after putting her hands over the cashier. She is also covering her throat. Caballeron is now far from us and grabs his glass of water. "I won the game and he ran away. It was one of the easiest poker rounds I have ever played in my life... and once, I played against an old friend's 8-year-old niece. She was a better poker player than your boss." I still haven't taken my hands over my face. I don't want to laugh and cry... maybe I'll do both at the same time. "I'm really sorry, but right now I don't have too many pennies in my pockets, and if there's something I take seriously in my rockstar life is gambling... especially betting. I want Mr. Cornflake to give me my reward."

Seconds of silence where I can't hear anything. I slowly take a hand off me and I can barely see Pinkie looking at the roof while lying on the cashier stand. Her voice is trembling. "That's shocking," she says. "I never expected him to do... that," I see that her legs are shaking. "But I wanna ask you a question, sir. You won't... harm Mr. Cake because of this, don't you?"

That question gave me goosebumps and I fastly stand up to look at the man. Is he really going to do it? He's standing in front of the door and giving us his back. We cannot see his face. He takes the last sip of his glass of water and turns around, shaking his head. "I don't want to be rude or cruel to anybody, I'm not a mobster. I didn't come out of a gangster movie. I truly want my reward but I won't cross the limits to earn it." He leaves the glass on a table. "You know something, girl? I waited the perfect night to have him here alone because I thought about his wife, and I know she wouldn't like to hear what he said." He laughs. "I don't want to be the main cause of a divorce, I want to talk to your boss. One night, the two of us alone right here, standing between the cashier, talking." His response leaves us shocked. Pinkie slowly gets far from the cashier to grab the empty glass but stops when Caballeron raises a finger. "However, if your boss dares to attack me..." now he looks at me. "I'll talk in peace, I will be calm... but if he is not relaxed and tries to attack me or provoke me, I'll defend myself... and I know how to do it."

That was a warning, but Pinkie still has a confused spark on her face. "Provoke?" she asks, about to hold the glass. Caballeron looks at her. "You mean... provoke you with what?"

I close my eyes trying to guess what Pinkie Pie was thinking about when she asked that. What is that question? I get afraid when Caballeron squints his eyes at her. "I mean, provocation. What can provoke me and make me angry, girl? Well..." he nods his head, thinking. "Mistreatment, unbearable behavior... Stupid questions, for instance."

Stupid questions. Was that a warning for her? Pinkie closes her fist and grabs the glass with the other hand. "Yes. I... I understood," she says while looking at me. I don't look at her back, I'm observing the man.

He waves his hand at me and doesn't look at Pinkie. He is heading to the exit. "Good night."

Once he touches the handle to come out of the store, we hear a shout: "Hey!" I look at Pinkie to see if she shouted, but then I understand that it actually came from outside. Just a second later, I look at two figures crossing the street, coming out of the dark, and approaching the door.

They are familiar.

The taller one is a man. He has light green skin and orange short hair. He's wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket while having sunglasses hiding his eyes and a toothpick in his mouth. Everything is getting connected, this is like a mixture. Are all of my thoughts coming across each other? He looks exactly like Thorax and the other, shorter one is just like his friend Ember, wearing the exact same clothes as him, but with no sunglasses and toothpick but a small black beret on her head. Caballeron looks at Pinkie and me and opens the door. Thorax enters first, snorting and closing his fists. He scratches one of his shoulders while Ember blinds us two with her intimidating sight. She has dark red eyes that look like two suns. Then, the tall man points at Caballeron. "What are you doing here, man?" he rudely asks while taking his toothpick out of his mouth. Pinkie looks at me, confused. I don't understand what's going on and, from what I see, Caballeron either.

The gambler squints his eyes one more time and raises his shoulders. "Who in the hell are you?" he asks. The look-alike Ember (she may be the one but I'm not sure) sits down in the chair that Caballeron grabbed from a table and looks around.

The look-alike Thorax palms his chest twice and puts the toothpick again in his mouth. "I'm a guy that wanders, messes around Canterlot's cold, dirty streets..." he nods his head, looking at us. Pinkie is about to get in the kitchen. "... I've been observing you for a long time, mister. We, my partner sitting on that chair..." he points at Ember, who is still not saying anything. "... and I, have heard your unique plan to obtain what you desire the most."

Caballeron slowly puts his hips against a table while looking at the mysterious man (who looks like Thorax... he may be Thorax). He's angry and I'm... I don't know what to say. Is this really a dream? Shall I pinch myself to wake up? "Which plan are you talking about?" his voice is getting ruder.

The man points at Ember and then at himself while doing some kind of grin that reminds me of a rockabilly star. Is he trying to act like a movie star? I turn around to look at Pinkie who can't stop observing him. "I agree with what you tried to do with the boss... we've heard it all, amigo. My friend and I agree with your plan, talking to the man in private, a solas, trying to look for a deal that can help both of you but..." he slowly turns his head again to look at both Pinkie and me. I felt observed by him, and I suddenly remember the same feeling I had that night when Thorax looked at me. One of my arms starts shaking again... come on, not now. "Was it necessary to intimidate these two innocent women that had nothing to do with your problem?" Pinkie raises an eyebrow while putting a hand over her jaw while I'm trying to cover my ears. This is getting... uncomfortable again. "That is not something we liked. That is stupid and disrespectful... besides," he shakes his head while crossing his arms. "Gambling is bad for your health, friend." His voice changed into a softer tone. "You know it's a dangerous game to play."

Caballeron suddenly raises one of his hands. "And do you know what is also stupid and disrespectful, friend? Your acting, your wanna-be rebellious teenager attitude which is making me want to vomit and then laugh at your face." Ember lets a laugh out of her mouth, something that Thorax doesn't like. He looks at her with anger. "Besides, you want to look tough with those sunglasses, your leather jacket, and that foolish toothpick in your mouth but you look like a freshman in a prom dance. Who are you two to tell me what I have to do with my life?"

Ember is still chuckling in silence because of what Caballeron said and she is observing us. Thorax also looks at us, then at Ember, while still chewing his toothpick and preparing himself to say something... however, Pinkie appears: "Actually gambling is pretty bad for your mental health." She raises a finger. "Isn't it an addicti--?"

Shut up, not now. I put my hand over one of her shoulders and she looks at me. I give her a nervous smile. "Don't say anything." She covers her mouth again.

The mysterious Thorax raises his thumb and nods his head. "I agree with the cute lady."

... What?

No, no. No.

My pupils shrink and then I am the one that covers my forehead while Pinkie gets her hand off her face, showing a big bright smile of surprise. Her jaw drops. Ember is in shock, looking at her friend, and Caballeron starts laughing. The man that called me cute is the only one that didn't react to what he said. He is still looking at the gambler with a straight face and a serious tone... something that makes the player laugh. "What the fuck did you just say?" he says.

"Me and my friend have the authority, the power to tell you anything." The funny side of Caballeron disappears when he hears that. He stops laughing. I'm still in shock from what I've just heard and Pinkie, despite hiding her reaction, is chuckling on her inside because of that.

The gambler shakes his head. "And why in the hell do you suddenly feel superior to me, you brat?"

The toothpick man doesn't say anything and approaches his ear. I hear a whisper. Everybody hears that little soft voice getting in Caballeron's ear but no one knows what he's actually saying except for the gambler, whose face drastically changes. Ember squints her eyes and stands up, surprised. Thorax gets far from Caballeron, smiling at him.

The player is not laughing anymore, and shakes his head, heading to the door. "You little orange-haired fuck," I hear from his mouth, then he turns his head to look at Pinkie. "I'll come back tomorrow for your boss."

He opens the door and leaves the store, crossing the street and getting lost in the night. Thorax has a big smile, but Ember does not have the same face. She's serious and actually annoyed by something. "What did you tell him, Thorax?" she rudely says.

She said the name... it is confirmed. What I thought is actually confirmed. They are definitely Thorax and Ember. The boys I saw yesterday. That means... I am the cute lady he was talking about yesterday night? Is it me? Is it... actually me?

Thorax doesn't say anything while Ember crosses her arms. He slowly takes off his sunglasses and the toothpick out of his mouth, and turns around, playing with his hair and revealing his purple eyes. I think he winks an eye at Pinkie. "Hey, uh..." his smile is big and he's chuckling. "Did you like my acting?" Ember facepalms. "I'm telling you... I watched many gangster movies to inspire myself and make this excellent character, facet... persona of mine." He's literally shaking. "I never give an opinion about my chores, but I think that was beautiful. When I said a solas, that sounded so juicy, comprehensive..."

Pinkie starts clapping with a smile. "I think that was great! I absolutely got into your acting," Thorax's face is now shining after hearing those words. "I believed everything you did... you are really talented! And I really thank you for your help!"

She is still clapping while smiling. I don't do anything. I just look at the cashier. Ember is looking at him, angrily. "Thorax," she says.

"Who are you?" Pinkie suddenly asks. "I never heard of you, you really have a talent for this! I think Canterlot Drama would die to get an actor like you with such charisma."

Ember and I get surprised at what she said. The red-eyed girl even raises her eyebrows. Thorax blushes, I can see it. "I really appreciate what you said, it..." his eyes shine. "... totally fulfills me. I'm more than a who or a what, girl, I consider myself... an artist." Both of them are now sharing the same creepy smile while Ember and I look at each other for a second. Her red eyes are really intimidating.

Um, well... what did he just say? He considers himself as an... I look that his friend is not happy. I can notice that. She turns her back and Pinkie points at Thorax... she's going back to her normal behavior again. "Wait, wait!" she says. "I wanted to ask you something else! Did you really say my friend right here was--?" NO, PINKIE, NO.

"THO-RAX!" Ember's shout shuts Pinkie up... and thank the lord she did because she was about to ask something related to me. Please, no. No. I don't want to hear that phrase in my head again... no...

"I agree with the cute lady."

Argh! Thorax looks at his friend who is not OK and raises a hand to her. "Wait a minute, Ember," he puts a hand in one of his pockets... and then he looks at me. "I want to tell you something first... she is the lady I saw yesterday in the window."

... Shit.

My face feels like burning flames right now and Pinkie's shocked look at me only embarrasses me even more. I don't have any words to say... this means I can confirm the theory where I affirm that I was the cute lady right now? "Thorax, you stupid asshole," she says while pointing at me. "Firstly, I don't care. Secondly, you're neither a superhero nor a secret agent. You're making her uncomfortable."

Thorax's smile vanishes. "Wa-wait..." I need to say something. Two words, at least. "Uh..."

"Please, don't get into this." Her red eyes shut me up and her face seems to be relaxed now. "You wanna hear my quick opinion? Yes, you are a pretty girl! Don't say anything else." Then she points at Pinkie. "You neither," and catches Thorax by grabbing him from his white t-shirt. "And you're going to tell me what did you tell that guy to make him walk away so quickly."

Thorax rolls his eyes with that childish look of I know I screwed it. I had it when I was a child. "Well, that may be complicated to explain, Ember."

She snorts at him. "You didn't say what I'm thinking, did you?"

"Wait," interrupts Pinkie. "You're gonna tear up his t-shi---"

"I'm afraid we'll have to talk about my characters on another day!" he says while smiling at us. Ember sighs and now he is looking at me, but can barely make eye contact. I can't believe I am now taking the role of the damsel. This is unbelievable. "Um... uh, and I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, it's just, uh..." he fastly shakes his head. "I'll promise I---"

Ember covers his mouth with one of her hands and scares us with her blazing sight. "Listen," she says. "You never saw us walking in here, you closed this store at the right time, the precise moment and you won't tell anybody what happened, alright?"

I get between Pinkie and her. She doesn't change her face. Thorax is still smiling from behind her hand and I can see that he has now an orange card under one of his hands. "Who are you two?" I fastly ask. "Where is the other guy? The big guy?" I almost forgot about him... and now that I think about it, it surprises me that he is not here!

She raises a finger and taps my nose with it. "You will forget about us." She fastly walks away, carrying Thorax with her other arm and opening the door to leave while Thorax waves a hand to us both. I want to stop them but I can barely move due to how confused I am right now... Pinkie has also her arm attached to mine.

They leave the store and walk away. Both of us look at how they get lost in the dark and pass by the windows.

I look at the clock.

9:25 PM - Day X + 1 - Sugarcube Corner

We stay frozen for a whole minute, looking at nothing.

I have too many things to think about right now, note them one by one.

WHAT THE HELL HAS JUST HAPPENED?

Mysterious guy on the corner appeared. His name is Caballeron and wants money from Mr. Cake (Our freaking salaries!)
Mr. Cake sucks at gambling, playing poker, betting, and being a responsible boss.
Thorax and Ember appeared and confirmed to me that I was, in fact, the lady of the window.
Thorax may like me (may? I think I've seen enough). I don't know what to think, I don't even want to think about it.
I was a damsel in distress for five minutes.
Ember also said I was pretty... what do they see in me?
Where in the hell was the big guy Thunderhooves in all of this?
What did Thorax tell Caballeron to make him go away from the store?

"What was that thing of the window he was talking about?" Pinkie is looking at me. I only shake my head.

I don't want to talk about it. "I have no idea. I have... no idea, Pinkie."

I can hear her snorting while scratching her poofy hair. "Um, OK, uh... well, I-I honestly can't believe that Mr. Cake plays poker. Did you expect that?" Pinkie shakes his head. "I'm flabbergasted."

I finally move when I get out of the cashier stand and I approach the door. I look at the clock again. My eyes are now itching because I think I haven't blinked for two minutes.

What the fuck has just happened? And what in the hell did I do for two people to tell me I am pretty? "I also think the same, Wallflower," she is observing me again while I'm standing in the middle. "You are pretty!"

... Fuck me. I facepalm. "Seriously?"

"I mean, that guy Thorax likes you or at least likes the concept of you. I can imagine the story..." she begins to mumble. "Extroverted guy with an introverted girl."

"PINKIE!" I shout. I'm about to explode and my body starts shaking as if I were frozen. "Pinkie... don't you realize what we have just experienced?"

She nods her head in silence. "Wild night, isn't it?" she is still nodding. "Well, if we take out the Caballeron and Mr. Cake thing, we had a great time! We met two new friends, an artist and a short angry lady with red eyes, and people told you that you are cute!"

"But I..." I'm about to vomit. "Don't you understand she told us to forget about them?" I raise my shoulders. "Why? Why would we have to forget about them both? What are they? Ghosts?"

"Maybe it's a new avant-garde way of socializing."

"Come on, Pinkie Pie!" I pathetically stomp the floor with one of my dirty shoes. "They are hiding something! Why would they run away? Why would she get mad at him because of something he said? What did he tell Caballeron, in the first place? Did you hear him?"

"No," she denies by shaking her head. "I didn't hear him but..."

"What did he tell him? He literally called him orange-haired fuck and walked away. What would make him react in that---" I stop talking when I look that there is something on the floor, right next to the stand. I almost stepped on it.

It's an orange card. I slowly grab it and find out it has green text on it:

COOL TICKET!
STUNTMAN
96-33622-XX

96, Canterlot district. It's the town's phone prefix... It's a phone number. "Did he indirectly give you his credit card?" Pinkie takes a look at it. "What is it?"

Shall I call this number? I left my phone, the keys, and the plastic cap under the cashier. "Nothing," I just say. I don't want to talk about it. "A pathetic game card."

"Game card?" Pinkie raises an eyebrow. "For video games?"

"I don't know, it's just a card..." I need to breathe. I'm tired, dizzy and I'm feeling terribly nauseatic. I think about calling that phone number but my imagination and my thoughts about me handling the phone are making me nervous. I want to rest, to relax. I can't go home walking on foot, I will pass out while stopping on the first corner. "Pinkie... I'm feeling like shit. I'm afraid I'll have to take the ride on the Pinkiemobile."

Pinkie's smile is back, although it's not so big this time. She sighs and nods: "Sure."

9:40 PM - Day X + 1

I look at the clock for the last time and I get out. It's almost 10.

The night is cold and that calms me down a bit, the chill makes me feel less nervous and doesn't let me imagine I am an atomic bomb. I can easily identify the Pinkiemobile: a small purple vintage car on the opposite sidewalk. What a surprise, I never focused on the car but now that I see it, there can't exist any other person who can drive that vehicle that is not Pinkie Pie.

She turned off the lights and is now locking the doors. She's the only employee that has the entrance keys. "Isn't it beautiful? It's my boy. I found it at a very reasonable price." She is smiling at me, illuminated by a yellow streetlight. The street is empty, we are the only ones there.

My hands are filled with objects: the cap, my keys, my cellphone, and the orange card. I have to admit my aunt was right: I need a pocket where I can keep all of these things. What a lazy attitude from me. "It is Pinkie. I like it." I cross the street, and she's following me from behind. "I want to tell you only one thing."

"What is it?"

"I don't want to talk too much about what... has just happened. I need to relax, seriously."

She fastly opens the car with her key and we both get in. "I understand, Wallflower... but I'm really shocked about Mr. Cake," she says, shaking her head and lying on the wheel. I close the door, the seat is cozy. Nice car. "I knew he was competitive, he really likes to be challenging while playing board games, I know that side of him since I was a freshman but..." it hurts a bit to see Pinkie like that because... yeah, I also never thought Mr. Cake doing something like this, but I hardly think about him while being out of my job... Pinkie does not think the same. She even dared to say once that the Cakes were definitely their fatherly figures and I will never forget that. What about her parents?... Well, I can't say too much about fatherly figures, myself. "I never expected him to play with the income like that. If Mrs. Cake finds out..." Her eyes are shining like she is about to cry.

"That would be a slaughter." I shake my head. "She has to know, though. She also controls the store."

"I know," she nods. "I'm afraid I'll have to tell her, this is really serious. This is..." I can see a tear about to come out of her eye. "I..."

"I told you, Pinkie... we can't talk about this right now." I take a breath while lying in the car seat and I'm feeling in heaven. "We have to wait until tomorrow morning. Mrs. Cake must know this... he put Sugarcube Corner and our salaries in a card game." She cleans her eyes with her hands. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" She stays blank for a second until she nudges my arm with her fist. "Oh, I know. Do you have any news about Coco?"

... Oh. Coco Pommel. I completely forgot about her. I almost erased her from my memory due to these recent events. Mrs. Cake said she wouldn't work today and thank God she didn't, I would never want her to be part of this circus. "No," I tell her. "Mrs. Cake told us she wouldn't be here today... she may come back tomorrow."

Pinkie stays frozen for two or three seconds until she fastly nods her head: "Yeah, you're right. You're right..." she turns on the car and she asks the question I didn't want to hear: "So... where are we going?"

It's the price I have to pay. I can't walk on foot, I'm feeling like a statue and she will help with that... but I need to tell her where I live. "If I tell you," I say. "Would you promise me to not tell anybody?"

She raises an eyebrow while holding the wheel. "Sure, why?"

I close my eyes, getting ready. "I live in Canterlot Plaza."

"What?" she drops her jaw. "Isn't Canterlot Plaza that big building where rich people with plastic surgeries live?"

I laugh. I honestly didn't expect that, but it's true. "Yes. I live with my aunt... well, my wealthy aunt."

"Holy molly," she steps on the clutch. "What does your aunt do for a living?" ... I can't tell her she's Photo Finish. Her mind would explode... she has many things to process. "You never told me about your family." It's a hard story, Pinkie.

"Uh, she's an accountant... um, a pretty good one." Not bad. That lie was nice. "And I... you know, don't like to talk about my family so much. I just... don't. Sorry."

She turns to the left and I expect from her something like "Oh, but your family this, your family that..." but she doesn't say anything, and that is confusing me. "It's OK," she says. "I also don't like to talk about my family."

I thought that was a lie at first but then I realized she had a point. I know nothing about her family because she never mentioned anything about them, and I've already said she actually considered the Cakes as her actual parents. "Wow," I say. "That... surprises me. I thought you were going to disagree with me."

She chuckles. "No, everybody has their families and all of them... are different." She is driving slower. "I don't talk too much about my parents because they are a bit... hard-headed."

"You mean conservative?"

"We could say that but... they were pretty isolated from everything." She has a serious face while looking at the street. "My parents are miners, you know? They work with rocks, their whole lives are about rocks... and I don't like rocks. They are colorless, hard, monotonous, petrous... you understand?" I only nod my head in silence. "My parents wanted me to continue their legacy... but I didn't want to end up working as something I didn't like to do. I loved colors, pastry, fun... I didn't want to do that, I wanted to get out of there. That was my dream."

She's talking about dreams. I'm feeling emotional again. "Your dream?"

"Yes, one day I told them that I didn't want to do that... I didn't want to waste my time with rocks, and their reaction was pretty quick, I still remember it." She makes a small smile and looks at me for a second, she is driving a little bit faster, turning on the same corners over and over. I don't care about that... I just want to listen to her. "They dumped me, left me alone... and I moved to Canterlot where I met Mr. and Mrs. Cake, they helped me with lots of things... and you know the story."

I cover my mouth with my hands in silence. I imagined her being left behind by her parents and I almost had a heart attack... and sometimes I say I'm not sympathetic at all. What a joke, I'm discovering myself. "And do you still have any kind of contact with them?"

She shakes her head while turning on that corner again. "No, but I usually talk to my sister Maud, who moved to another town far from them a while ago. I go to her house every summer to give her the best rocks I can find around here in Canterlot. She really likes rocks."

"Woah..." I stutter and she gets out of the loop, getting on the road again. "I never expected that story from you, Pinkie. You are always happy and funny and you try to make everybody laugh."

"Yeah, because I like to do it. I enjoy that." She smiles at me. "And you know what?" she puts a finger over her mouth. "I asked you about Coco because I thought you had known something about her today... I told myself Well, if Wallflower likes Coco a lot, then she may have news about her so I---"

"What in the world are you talking about?" That escalated quickly. We went from crying to pure embarrassment. She didn't say that. She did not say that. I feel my face burning again and I look at my face in the rearview mirror. I'm blushing.

She chuckles. "Quick response means hidden truth."

"I... I-I don't like Coco."

"Well," she is still smiling. Come on. "The blush on your cheeks doesn't say the same for me."

We have to maintain the ship, captain! "That doesn't mean I like her... I do like her as a friend, but not in the way you believe."

"You're literally exposing yourself, Wallflower Blushie Blush!" she shouts while laughing. My face feels even hotter. "I never saw you speaking to someone in the way you do with Coco. You may not see it but when I look at you two talking, having a normal conversation... you feel so passionate about it, Wallflower Blush."

"But I'm not passionate while talking about her because I'm in love, Pinkie..." I have to be honest here. "... I'm passionate because... Do you know why? Because every time I see her, I see hope. I see a calm, easy-going, kind person who's always trying to help others, and has dreams, and a purpose. I feel that and I..." I repeat myself that I have to be honest here. Brutally honest. "... and I feel this is unfair Pinkie. Not for me, but for her... she is engaged to that guy who does not deserve her at all. He's greedy, she's a flower, a rainbow! He's a classist, selfish guy! Tell me if I'm wrong, Pinkie Pie!"

She is not smiling but shakes her head. "I recognize that guy is... special, not in a good way, but not in a bad way either, Wallflower. We don't know him at all, the only thing we know about him is what we saw that day at the Corner, and he may be a different guy apart from that. Coco is in love with him, Coco likes him... why wouldn't he be a good man?"

I calm myself down while breathing. She may be right but I still feel things about that guy, Blue, that I despise. "Maybe," I only say and she turns to a corner I know. It's the sidewalk where Thorax, Ember, and Thunderhooves were discussing last night. Where he saw me... and no one is there today. It's empty. "Maybe he is."

"You see? We don't know." The car stops right at the entrance door. The big white building still has some lights on, but I can see my aunt's apartment does not have any... that might be good news, I may still have arrived on time. I didn't tell her anything... and she didn't call me so, that means she hasn't arrived yet? "So this is it?"

I nod my head and I open the door with my pinky finger. "Damn," I whisper. I have too many things on my hands.

"Don't you want a bag or something for your phone and your keys? I think I--"

"I do have one, Pinkie, thanks." I get out of the car. "I simply forgot it at home." I look around... there's no one else, no triad, just the car and me. "Thank you, Pinkie. Thank you."

"Wait," she says while holding the wheel. "Do you have my phone number? I... I think I don't have yours."

I don't. "Yes, I think I do have it, um..." I'm about to faint on the ground... I just want to get into my bed. "If you don't, I'll give it to you next morning... right now I'm feeling really bad, Pinkie, you know... OK?"

She nods with her normal smile and waves her hand. "Bye, Wallflower."

"Bye." I close the door and she leaves with the horn roaring once. I look at the car fading out in the distance, turning to the left in a corner far from me.

I look at the entrance door and focus on the apartment again. It doesn't have any lights on.

Listening to Pinkie talking about dreams made me drain my brain and refill it with just one thought. A phrase that I've been repeating myself since I got out of the car.

"I need to get out of this shit."

Rookie: May I Speak?

Volume 1 - Chapter 5 - Rookie - May I Speak?

10:00 PM - Day X + 1

I enter the building and walk through the narrow white hall.

It's empty but its silence is choking me, I'm feeling in purgatory, somewhere else. The sounds of my steps rumble all over the hall and they are only making me feel worse.

I need to sleep but I'm not sure if I will, actually, because tomorrow may be a lot worse than this night. If Pinkie tells Mrs. Cake what did her husband do, Sugarcube Corner will fall apart and break in two, it will be literal hell. Pinkie would always tell me that Cup Cake has... a special mood when getting angry. I'm not prepared for what I will witness the next morning.

I don't have to wait for the elevator, it's already there. I am alone, there's nobody waiting... does this temporary peace I'm feeling here also mean that my aunt has not arrived? I get in, press the button, and look at myself. The walls are covered with reflective glass, so getting in these it's like traveling inside a mirror. I can see my shape, alone, standing back against the metallic moving wall. My face can be easily a painting: I can name myself as the Lady who went through it all... or the supposedly cute lady that everybody talks about. I may have to make a decision.

However, once the elevator stops and the doors get opened for me, I can see that I'm the unluckiest, most stupid girl in all of this town. I sigh and close my eyes when I see that figure standing next to our door.

Why in all of the places of the world... why does she have to be right there at this precise moment? "Listen, I'm at my door," she says, talking to someone over her big cell phone. "I need to sleep, Sapphire, because tomorrow will be a hectic journey for me and the crew." She still hasn't found out that I'm literally getting out of the lift. Her big purple sunglasses don't let her see me... thankfully. "If we have to be on Saddle Lake at 12 PM I need to get into my bed right now. We can talk about this model later, I know she--"

We look at each other in the middle of the hall. She's still wearing that big black coat and her auto-pilot high-heels, almost wearing the look I saw in her this morning. She is also covering her hair with a horrible white beret. Ember's one was more stylish and beautiful. "Hi," it's the only thing I can say. She notices my eyebags and I know she also has behind her sunglasses.

I can hear a voice from her phone, and she is slowly taking off her glasses, showing surprise. "I'll call you later, Sapphire." She takes that out from her ear and ends the call before blinking and raising her shoulders. "I thought you were already at home... with your headphones and your..." she starts shaking her head. "Are you still with that dress, weren't you supposed to finish at 6? It's almost 10 PM, Wallflower."

A smile is the first reaction I make. Then I shake my head. "If I told you what happened at work... you wouldn't believe it."

She looks at my hands while taking her keys out. "What wouldn't I believe in? What did you do now?" she points at my arms. I still have the nicotine patch I completely forgot about. "Don't you have a purse or a bag to put all of those things in?"

She's right. I can't discuss that, she has a point, and I just nod my head. "My mistake. You were right on that."

She opens the door. "I told you." The apartment is pure darkness. I enter and she turns the kitchen lights on while I close the door. I move to the table and leave all of the objects I had in my hands on it while sitting on a chair.

I count them one by one while my aunt is locking the door.

My cellphone.
My keys.
The cider bottle's plastic cap (That stupid idea I had on my mind but... I'll try it, at least. It's a stupid game).
The orange card.

I grab the orange card and hide it in my hand. I don't want Photo Finish to look at it. "What happened?" my aunt asks while heading to the fridge. "Why wouldn't I believe you now?"

I think while looking at the plastic cap. Shall I tell her the truth? Or would that just worsen things? "Well, it's not so hard to believe... I had a delay at work."

She grabs the bottle of orange juice. "Four hours." She nods her head. "Yeah, I can definitely see that. What happened?"

I'm yawning. Surprising. "Basically, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had a problem with their kids' babysitter and left me along with another partner on charge until 9."

"Which partner?" She barely knows about them with the few things I often tell her about them... but she remembers. "That old couple is good at making cakes but they really need more employees helping them." I agree with her... again. "You are talking about the crazy pink one? Or the other girl, the designer?"

She often asks me about the designer. I told her about Coco, just to let her know she had a potential graphic designer near her niece, next to me, but she told me that fashion is a hard world to get in and she didn't have too many things to say about her with the big designers. I don't even remember their names right now... one of them was... Upper something, I don't know. "The pink one... but it was better than I expected. She stayed calm."

"Good for you," she is now holding a glass of juice, just like me this morning. "You will get paid for those hours you weren't supposed to cover, won't you?"

Now that she mentioned the pennies of my salary, I can't stop thinking about Mr. Cake and Caballeron. "Yeah, they will..." I stand up and grab my stuff. "Tomorrow will be a long day," I say while imagining Mrs. Cake with a grenade in her hand and eyes bloodshot because of her anger.

"Mine too," my aunt replies. "I'll go to bed right now. I have to be on Saddle Lake at 12 PM for a special session with the crew." She shakes her head. "My girls want to pose with the lake behind them."

I don't even turn my bedroom lights and I leave everything I had on my hands on the floor, even the plastic cap and the orange card, almost hiding them under a small dirty carpet. I take off my dress and go to bed just like this, in my underwear. "Tell them they don't have to breathe underwater," I jokingly say while still looking at the kitchen's lights on.

Oh, gosh. I forgot to brush my teeth, and I may drink a glass of water before. I'm feeling tired but I already know I won't sleep too much tonight. "I told you they are not dumb, Wallflower," she's taking off her coat. "They are just... a bit annoying. Besides, do you know what that means? That I have to be on Saddle at 12?"

No, I don't know. I only raise my shoulders. "What?"

"I won't be here when you wake up. I may have to leave at 5. Saddle Lake is a bit far away, you know that, right?"

I almost forgot about it. "Yes, how couldn't I know that..." I put my head over the pillow. "So, that means I will have my breakfast alone?"

Yes!

She only nods her head while getting into her bedroom. "Yes... please, eat something when you wake up. I'm going to take a shower and I'll go quickly to bed."

"Sure." I've been telling myself that I may not sleep tonight since I came out of that store but... right now the mattress feels like laying all over a cloud. She turns off the kitchen's lights and I only can barely see the things I left on the floor thanks to the bathroom's switched-on light. My aunt is getting prepared to have her shower.

I don't want to know what is going to happen next morning at the Sugarcube Corner but I have to be there. Pinkie will be there, I know, it's logical... and not only I can leave her alone at that right moment after all we've gone through together hours ago but also... I must be present to stop Mrs. Cake from committing murder.

I try to close my eyes, calmly breathe and think about the thing that confuses the most...

Cute? No. That's something we don't talk about around here... I want to know, I want to imagine what this guy Thorax told Caballeron. That guy looked like he wanted to live right there in the Corner, waiting for Mr. Cake to show up... but then he fastly turns his back and walks away, insulting the boy. What are Thorax and Ember hiding behind?

I still have the orange card. I saw he had it in his hand, he may have dropped it when Ember caught his neck and carried him out of the store... did he do it unintentionally, or maybe on purpose? That's also drilling my mind right now. Shall I call that number? Shall I? It says Stuntman. Who is the Stuntman? Does he call himself like that?

Wait, wait a second, wait, wait... I'm actually relaxing... I'm feeling calm, I...

6:00 AM - Day X + 2

Well, that was surprising. I fell asleep when I previously thought that I wouldn't even close my eyes.

It worked, but I still woke up at 4 and stayed like a rock in my bed until 5, the moment when my aunt left. I brushed my teeth, which I forgot last night (my bad), at 5:30, took a shower at 5:35, dressed up at 5:50, and now I'm having breakfast alone, eating two slices of bread I found on the fridge along with a glass of juice. I'm actually impressed with myself... and I'm only awake and productive because I want to know what the hell is going to happen in the Corner today. Somebody has to calm both Cakes down, and despite I think Pinkie can be able to do it alone, she may need a bit of help if Mrs. Cake gets out of control. Besides, if you want me to be honest... I would hate myself even more if I wasn't present looking at that spectacle of shouts and insults, my evil part lets a laugh come out. I won't run away this time... I wonder if Coco would be present today, I hope not but if she does, I may have to explain to her what happened while Pinkie Pie tries to calm things down. Pinkie can't do both things at the same time... if Mrs. Cake really has a bad mood when getting mad, we shouldn't take our eyes off her.

I decide to turn on the TV to see if there's anything interesting to watch for five minutes and magically the first thing I come across on the screen is that disgusting Sweet Apple Acres ad again. I'm freaking doomed until I find out there's something different. The man is still dressed as an airforce pilot, like the previous ad I saw in that store... but this time his black tie is now red. Is this ad a different one? Did they actually make another ad? Who was the genius mind that thought this would be a good idea?

"And don't forget!" says the man in the ad. He is neither holding a plastic cap nor tickets, but an hourglass. "Don't lose your patience, cider lover! You will know who is the winner of the two tickets on Sunday night! This Sunday you will find out who gets a free pass for Appleloosa City!"

... Sunday?

I also work on Sundays from 11 to 5. Which day is it? I have no idea. I have to check my cellphone. Today is not Sunday but... what if today is Friday? Or Thursday?

I go to my bedroom and look at my bed, I'll tidy my room later. I grab everything I have on the floor and leave it on the table... I really need to put all of this inside a purse or something.

I find an old grey fanny pack in my wardrobe... my aunt was right about this, we have to take a serious look at that wardrobe and check out which stuff I'll keep from it. I open the waist bag and I put everything inside: The cap, my keys, the orange card... I turn on my cell phone, waiting for an answer. The ad is no longer on TV, now there's someone on air promoting... Crystal Prep Extra-Scholar Courses? Goddamnit, I have to turn this trash off. I look for the remote, press the button, and go back to where I was...

6:04 AM Friday, MM/DD/YYYY

I don't care about the month. The year. I just wanna know where I am right now, it's Friday (Play that song for me!). The tale of the plastic cap has two days left and I already know I'm not going to be the winner. I should get the cap out of here. Why would I have it in the bag all the time? Where can I leave this? I have to keep it somewhere my aunt would never break in... maybe in the wardrobe for now and think of a slightly better place when I come back. I won't put this in a safe... it's a cap.

What about the orange card? That's complicated. What should I do? I look at my cellphone and the idea comes instantly to my mind...

"Yes," I tell myself while holding the phone in one hand and the card in the other. "I should... I should write it."

The first thing I do, just in case, is to grab a tiny sheet of paper and write it there. 96-33622-XX. I look up my phone number and I realize it's almost the same: 96-33817-XX. 96, the same prefix. I can assure myself the number is from Canterlot. I put the paper inside my bag and I grab the phone to add this to my contacts... I name it Stuntman, just in case. I'm not even sure if this phone number is from Thorax or someone else.

MY CONTACTS:

PHOTO FINISH
STRIPES
STUNTMAN (new contact!)

I still don't understand why I do have Stripes... the building caretaker's phone number. My aunt wanted me to have it, I added it to my list, and there it is. I never called him, never texted him... what if my aunt is not home, I don't have my keys and I need to enter? Should I call him?

For what?

I just turn off the screen and put it in the bag.

I think I have it all. Phone, keys, the dress, I had breakfast. I leave the cap and also the orange card, just in case, in my bedroom wardrobe, over a pile of clothes that I don't even remember I owned.

I'm ready to leave.

I'm ready for this morning... I think.

6:15 AM - Day X + 2

I'm approaching the door to leave the apartment. Nobody is there again, not even Stripes, the caretaker... lucky me. There is not much sunlight (duh, it's 6 AM) but the sky already seems to be cloudy for today. Grey. The perfect color for what I will experience today. I hope it doesn't get worse.

The street feels cold by now. A probable meaning for a sad day. Now I have to use the key to open the door of the entrance gate and finally leave Canterlot Plaza.

I open my brand-new (actually pretty old and worn-out) bag around my waist, grab the keychain and look for the one. I'm feeling nervous because I don't have an idea of what I'm going to see at first sight in the Corner. I put the key inside the gate's lock and I do what I have to do: slowly open the door and leave for once.

...

... There's someone on the sidewalk.

Right at the corner.

I can easily see him because of how tall he is. He looks like a wall.

I think I know him. I think he knows me. My legs start shaking. My breath becomes heavier. I start moving my neck everywhere around.

I turn back. There's no one else on the sidewalk. He's approaching me, the wall is becoming bigger... what should I do?

I turn my back and think about running away... No. Not again. I can't run away all of the time... he is approaching me. I want to know what's going on. I want to know what happened last night. "I know you," I instantly say, almost whispering, pathetically pointing at him, standing like a cowboy in the middle of the sidewalk. He doesn't do anything and menacingly stares at me while walking slower. "I saw you once. I was wondering where were you the night where your friends came into my workplace."

He looks tougher and scarier in person. He's now wearing a red bandana instead of a white one, but he's still using the same sunglasses and has the big black beard that makes him look like... well, I said he looked like a hippie when I observed him from a window on the third floor, but now that I'm observing him from a pretty short distance... he looks like Big Foot. Thunderhooves appears again in my life. "That does not matter." His voice actually sounds deeper when near. He smells like a really burnt steak and is wearing brown boots, black pants, and a white tank top... and I think he is also wearing the exact same camouflaged jacket he had that night. "We need to talk. I'm a friend of the boys you, unfortunately, saw yesterday night along with your coworker. I found out you lived here and had a job at the Sugarcube Corner because the boy told me." He sighs like a car engine. "You are the window girl... I have just arrived, honestly, and I was about to spend my morning waiting for you while smoking a cigarette," and raises an eyebrow, surprised.

He knows those things about me... he said Thorax told them, the boy. Is he trying to play with me? "What are you hiding? Who are you? Who are Thorax and Ember?"

He shakes his head. "I didn't come here to answer your questions. We need to have a chat where you will have to answer mine. We need to clarify certain things together about what happened last night..." he looks around. "Don't be afraid, nobody will get harmed. I may look like a yeti, but I'm softer and kinder than a kitty." He makes a really forced smile at me. "Does your friend live near the Plaza?"

I shake my head, trying not to pass out. "No, she does not, and I already know your name is Thunderhooves. Which questions do you want to ask me?" I don't know if confronting a guy who literally looks like a one-man army and whose height may be 6'2'' is a great idea but who cares. "Do you want me to tell you if I know something about you? If I know something about your boys? Is that it?" I raise my hands as if I dropped a mic. "I already know your names."

Thunderhooves has same reaction as my aunt: he takes his sunglasses off, showing his dark eyes, and touches his big beard with one of his hands. "I want to tell you something before," he says while looking at the cloudy sky. "Firstly, you go to your job on foot, don't you?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

He raises his shoulders. "I honestly don't want to mess with your time... your schedule sucks, I'm sorry if it sounds cruel." He turns around and starts walking. "I'll go with you... once we finish, I take another road." Wait, what? This guy wants to... escort me? Join me on my walk? It's something... distressing, but he has a point. I don't want, don't have to be late today. My presence may be important for Pinkie and the wrestlers. "You don't want to be late, do you? Don't be afraid, we'll just have a cha--"

"I'll go," I only say and both of us start walking. He's doing it slowly but each step he makes feels like somebody jumping nezt to me. I have to walk faster than him to be on the same line.

"Firstly, I apologize for Thorax," he says while putting his sunglasses on again. "I know he is right now for you a pain in the ass." Well... I don't want to sound cruel but he's not so wrong about that. "He's a good stupid boy but... he's a little bit amorous and also horribly platonic. If you break the extroverted artista glass he has on the outside, you will find the most innocent baby child you can interact with." He nods his head. "Just ignore him."

He shuts up and looks at me... he doesn't say anything else and I raise my shoulders. Is that all? "Is that what you wanted to say? Something about Thorax?" I try to approach his yeti face while walking, trying to intimidate him... and I find out that his camouflaged jacket has an embroidered symbol on his shoulder. Right next to me.

We cross the street and I observe it. A red star with a white bayonet on its inside. I recognize that from those school nights, when I used to surf the web alone, curiously reading about equestrian history. It's a symbol that reminds me of Mr. Cake (who may be getting his ass beaten up while I'm walking with this guy) having a discussion with a client who used a t-shirt with the same star... a bayonet on its inside.

That is the Red Star of Yakkoslavia. The mark of the Yakkoslavic army. I suddenly remember the whole story of The War of Equestria-Yakkoslavia. I barely open my mouth and he instantly finds out, covering the star with one of his hands, chuckling. "I can see that you are not a yakko."

"I don't care about it," I say, focusing myself on the sidewalk, "but do you know old people here in Equestria hate that star, right? We had a war against Yakkoslavia 50 years ago."

"That is not your business. We are not talking about Yakkoslavia right now."

"Then what?" I begin to spit out some of my conspiracy theories. "That's why you want us to forget about you? Is it because you are yakkos and don't want equestrians to find that out?"

Traffic light is red. We stop and he looks at me. "Yakkoslavia doesn't have anything to do with this." He points at my face, frowning. "That red star is something from me, not from the boys. I was about to tell you before you observed my needlework, that I thought you needed a brief clarification of our situation, to let you know we are not people who want to harm others." I'm trying to dig into what he's saying but I'm not so confident about him. "Don't make me change my mind and leave you right here, walking alone."

"You tell me this brief clarification you have..." I raise a finger at him. "... and then I answer your questions?"

"You will answer my questions first, and then I'll explain to you what---"

"I can't trust you if you don't tell me first." I approach him and the smell of smoke coming out from him is stronger. I whisper to him while crossing the street. "Do you know that my partner and I haven't called the police yet? We could have done it, but we didn't. Nobody is looking for you and you were literally waiting for me to come out of my house. You were standing on that corner... and you want me to answer questions and clarify things when I don't know anything about you?"

That felt like fire coming out of my throat and I can see that affected him in a way. I had to get it out of my chest, though. He closes his eyes and facepalms while looking at the street. "We are not criminals," he says. "If you think we are drug dealers or some kind of group or gang that harms people, we are not." He shakes his head. "We will never be that, the least we want to do is to interact with people."

"Then what are you?" I don't understand. The least they want to do is interact with people... then why did they interact with Pinkie and me yesterday? "A sect?"

He laughs. "No, absolutely not."

Uh? "So... what?"

"We are people who share a dream."

Dreams. The word, the topic comes back. I, surprised, raise an eyebrow while thinking about my dream. "Which dream?"

He turns his head around for a second, watching for the traffic lights. "In basic terms... leaving the town."

... Oh. I cross my arms while feeling goosebumps. "You want to leave the town? You mean... Canterlot?"

He only nods his head. "That's it. Now you will answer my questions."

"Wait, wait... if you want to leave the town, that means--?"

He stops walking. "I said that's it." He snorts at my face and then takes a step far from me, walking again. "I need you to tell me what you and your partner saw that night." I slowly follow him. "Ember said that there was also another man in the store who was trying to threaten you."

Shall I tell him the story? He told me his dream, their dream... leaving the town? Getting out of this shit? Like me? "It was a gambler, actually," I automatically say. I didn't even think twice. "He was looking for my boss." I won't say anything else. "Then they came in."

"The boys... they told you their names?"

I remember, of course. "They said their names. Thorax, Ember... they called each other like that."

"How do you know mine, then?"

"Thorax said your name when I observed you from my window."

His face shows disappointment after that. "What happened to the other guy?"

... and that's where I stay blank. He walked away after Thorax whispered something to his ear. He literally walked away and left the store... Did Caballeron run away? From what? "He... he walked away."

"Why?"

I'm walking slower, trying to think what Thorax told him. What would make Caballeron walk away? "You don't know why?"

"I do," he says, nodding, "but I want to know what did you see at that moment."

So he knows, you son of a... "What did Thorax tell him to walk away?" I definitely stop right there. I don't walk anymore, he also stops three steps further than me. "I don't forget it. I won't... Caballeron literally told him he was an orange-haired fuck and walked away after hearing what Thorax whispered to him."

"Did you hear anything of what he whispered?"

Silence. Both of us are looking at each other without blinking. I can see his pupils trembling behind his sunglasses. "What are you hiding?"

"Did you hear anything of what he said?"

"I didn't... he whispered to him! How could I hear him if he freaking whispered to his ear?" I begin to raise my voice. The few passersby on the street are now looking at us while walking. What would they be thinking of us? "That gambler was laughing at him, he saw him as a little clown... why did he suddenly walk away?"

"That is not your business." He raises a finger, conscious of the wanderers around. "If you said you haven't heard anything about him, then the question ends here. Tell your pink-haired partner that this is done and I may later ask her some questions. It's finished."

"No, it's not." Holy shit, I'm literally doing it. "What happened right there? What did Thorax whisper to him?"

He turns around and doesn't say anything. "Your quest has finished, girl," he only manages to say. "You don't have anything else to know. Walk away or you'll get late for your role as the cashier."

... I don't know what to do. I want to follow him, grab him from behind, and order him to tell me what did he say... but I have to arrive on time at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie has to be waiting for me, and what about the Cakes? What about Coco? Are they trying to prevent the couple to fight each other? For Mrs. Cake to get mad?

Furthermore, that guy is a freaking wall. I can't attack him either from behind or from the front. My fists don't harm anybody... he will laugh at them. My anger is choking me on the inside and I quickly raise my two middle fingers and show them to the world.

He doesn't even react to that, he just walks away and disappears after turning the corner. I can see that a few passersby are still looking at me, but I ignore them. I don't want to see them, hear them. I want to run away, again... but I won't. I won't this time... I won't always run away.

I still have his phrase stuck in my head: leaving the town. His dream was that, isn't it? I don't think he was lying, I think that is his real dream, their dream. I also want to leave the town. To get out of here.

He said they were a group of people who shared a dream.

My dream?

Minutes Later

I arrive and I hear no shouts. There are no police cars on the street.

I would say I'm surprised but I'm not... I'm still feeling angry because of what happened minutes ago. I should have followed Thunderhooves, that big guy, anyways but... what could I have done after that? And what would Pinkie do without me here?

I open the entrance door. Pinkie Pie is inside, cleaning the table where Caballeron took a chair from yesterday night. Mrs. Cake is at the cashier's stand. I can't find Mr. Cake... I hope he's not dead. Once they hear the door being opened, both of them look at me. One of them is smiling but the other does not. Guess who. "Blush!" says Mrs. Cake, with a small smile. "Good morning, sweetheart... I've got to thank you for what you did for us tonight... Pinkie told us Carrot and me those three hours where we left you in charge were calm, nothing happened, and you managed to take over the job."

... Calm?

Pinkie waves her hand but does not smile, and points with her eyes to a door in a corner: the women's bathroom. What did she tell Mrs. Cake? I wave my hand to both of them and nod my head: "It's OK, Mrs. Cake. You needed to take care of your children and I had to do my part..." I nod twice again with a forced smile. She does the same but seems confused while looking at me. "I'll go to the bathroom, excuse me."

"It's OK, dear," she is smiling. She doesn't seem to be mad or angry.

Pinkie Pie raises her hand. "I'm afraid I also need to go to the bathroom, Mrs. Cake."

She chuckles. "You don't have to tell me, Pinkie," she says. "Just go. I won't say anything to you."

I pass by her and nudge her shoulder. She nervously waves her hand and follows me from behind. Once we enter the small bathroom, she fastly grabs my arm and gets me inside one of the two cubicles without telling me anything. She sits on the toilet and closes the door while I'm standing right in front of her. "What did you tell her?" I ask.

She puts her hands over her face and shakes her head. "I... I was waiting for you," I can barely hear her.

My whole body starts shaking again. The anger I had while talking to Thunderhooves comes back. "You haven't told her anything yet? Anything?

She is now covering her nose and eyes, like a monkey. "I couldn't do it alone... when Mrs. Cake gets mad, she behaves like an animal. I needed help. I, I..."

"She has to know, Pinkie." I grab her shoulders and make her stand up. She fastly hugs me.

... her body is touching mine. How long... when was the last time I actually felt this? I haven't given a hug to my aunt for... I don't know. I may have not hugged any other person. Never. I'm now getting out of control. "I know," she fastly replies. "I just can't do it alone."

"Will..." I'm trying to breathe. Calm down. "Will Coco be here today?"

"I... I don't know, Wallflower."

I fastly want to get out of her arms, so I softly push her while opening the cubicle's door. "We have to tell her. Mr. Cake put our salaries in a poker game. The money Mrs. Cake spends on flour, oil, taxes... he put that on a game, he didn't take it seriously. She deserves to know." I point at the door. "Now, we'll get out of here, then we'll get in the kitchen and call her."

Pinkie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "What if the guy arrives in the middle of our... thing?"

I shake my head. "At 6 AM? An alcoholic gambler that doesn't even sleep? Hell no. He may be still playing blackjack while choking over his own vomit."

She squints her eyes at me, confused. "That's... isn't that a normal cause of death in alcoholic people?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes but... you don't think about that. With that guy being alive or not, Mrs. Cake has to know what happened, OK?" I fastly get out of the bathroom, slowly opening the door, while Pinkie is still nodding her head. She follows me from behind.

The store hasn't changed anything at all yet. It's still empty and Mrs. Cake is now cleaning a chair, not looking at us. "Go to the cashier, Blush," she tells me. "Coco hasn't called me yet, but I think she'll come today. I've heard she was studying for an exam or something..." she moves her head while leaving the chair. That's the exact moment when Pinkie and I look at Mr. Cake coming out of the kitchen, cleaning his forehead with a tissue. He looks at us standing like frozen statues and raises a thumb.

Pinkie smiles at him, I only wave my hand.

"Don't you have any idea about the exams Coco has to take, Pinkie? I wonder about that," asks Mrs. Cake, heading to a table, still holding the cloth. She is trembling and the boss finds out. "You feel alright, Pinkie?"

She starts sweating. Her eyes shine. "Well, um... uh..." I look at Mr. Cake approaching us.

"I have something to say," I say by raising my hand and holding Pinkie with the other one. Both Cakes look at me, surprised, closing my eyes and looking at the floor. I don't have the guts to say this... but I have to. "Something happened last night... while you were at home taking care of your children."

Husband and wife look at each other, and Mr. Cake fastly turns around and heads to the cashier. He opens it and shakes his head. "No, no," he says. "The cashier is not broken. Did anybody... steal something? Claimed for something?"

I'm not looking at him, I'm staring at Mrs. Cake who is now sitting on a chair, holding the cloth. "Yes, somebody came here to claim something." That's when Pinkie and I look at him. "Money."

Mrs. Cake slowly turns his head to look at her husband. All of us are looking at him and he knows that. He puts his hands over the cashier and looks at the floor. "Money?" he says. "Just money? Cash?"

"Why?" suddenly says Mrs. Cake to her husband. Then she looks at us. "We are not a bank. We are a bakery, a restaurant. Why did he want money?" She fastly stands up, clenching one of her fists and shaking her head. She looks at her husband. "They can't be."

"Loaners?" says Mr. Cake, worried. "No," he shakes his head. "Loaners are something old nowadays. When was the last time somebody like that entered this place?"

"Don't believe that, those sons of a gun get off the ground like worms." She turns around to look at us. "Why didn't you tell me, how many were them? Did they harm you, hurt you, anything?" she touches Pinkie's shoulders. "Did they threaten you?"

"They didn't harm us." Oops. I am wrong about that. "I mean... he."

Mrs. Cake raises an eyebrow at me. "He? It was only one man? What did he look like? Do you remember anything about him?"

"Well, um..." Pinkie is stuttering while looking at Mrs. Cake. She puts a hand over her shoulder and I look at Mr. Cake still observing us while holding himself with the cashier. "He told us his name."

"Which..." Mr. Cake raises his voice, getting out of there. He slowly heads to us, putting his hands in his white pants' pockets. "Which guy are you referring to, Pinkie?"

Mrs. Cake turns around to look at her husband. I'm sweating, just like Pinkie. This is about to explode. "What guy are you talking about? Do you know a guy?"

"Cup, you see," he's not looking at her. He can't make eye contact with any of us and looks at the ceiling. "I've heard of a guy who tries to scam people. He may have tried to perform a trick on them to give him money and he failed. He ran away or something."

"A trick?" she says. Mrs. Cake does not have a smile on her face right now. She's frowning. "We are not talking about magicians, Carrot." She now looks at Pinkie. "What was his name, Pinkie?"

"Caballeron," I instantly answer. The three of them look at me and blind me with their sight. "His name was Caballeron." Once I finish talking, I cross my arms and Mr. Cake instantly turns around, putting his hands behind his head. Mrs. Cake already knows something is wrong.

"What is going on?" Pinkie covers her mouth while the wife is looking at her husband. Mr. Cake hasn't said anything yet, he is just shaking his head while having his hands on his back. "Do you know this Caballeron guy?" she spends two seconds swapping her sight between Pinkie and him. "Why didn't you tell me this last night, Pinkie? What were you waiting for?"

"I..." she covers her eyes. "I couldn't do it, I just..."

"Pinkie, you have to tell us if something like this happens!" She looks at me. "You too, Blush! Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you call Carrot?"

I have an answer for that. "I don't have your phone numbers."

Her jaw drops. "You don't, girl? Why? Why don't you have our numbers?"

"I have to go," suddenly says Mr. Cake, heading to the kitchen. "I made a mistake. I made a horrible mistake."

Pinkie hides behind me while I look at Mrs. Cake's face getting white. "What are you talking about?" she fastly moves like a missile, heading to the kitchen, and stands at the door with her arms crossed. "What did you do? Which horrible mistake did you make?"

Mr. Cake's voice can be heard from inside the kitchen. "I made a bad choice that night. I'll be honest, Cup. I'm a piece of crap."

"What?" she shouts, spreading her arms. "Why? What? What? What the hell are you talking about?" Pinkie and I fastly approach her, trying to calm her down. Mr. Cake tries to pass by the door but she doesn't let him come out. "Why don't you tell me what happened? What did you do?"

Mr. Cake is now emotionally destroyed. His skin is now paler and shining because of its sweat. He has already taken his apron off and almost unbuttoned his cyan shirt, showing a part of his bare orange chest. He looks at Pinkie and puts a hand over his face. "Did he tell you what happened between me and him?"

And that's it, my emotions, which I've been trying to swallow since yesterday night, don't let me calm down and I put a fist on the cashier stand. "You put our salaries and the whole bakery's income for a whole year in a card game!" Pinkie hides her face again and turns back. Mrs. Cake's pupils shrink and turn into something invisible. She's turning into a demon. "And you couldn't even beat him in a poker round? Why?" I'm letting all of my anger get out of me. I grab my head. "Was that childish attitude necessary? Why did you bet something where you put all of your hard efforts? The place where you work every day?"

Mrs. Cake suddenly slaps his husband's face with the cloth she was holding and gets inside the kitchen, closing the door. Mr. Cake gets out of the stand and sits on the floor. He did the exact same thing I did when I found out the truth. I can hear Pinkie walking away in silence and sitting on the chair Mrs. Cake was cleaning.

I am the only one standing. Ten seconds later, Mrs. Cake gets out of the kitchen and changes the door sign from OPEN to CLOSED. She looks at her husband on the floor and throws the cloth at him. "Get up." Her face looks like hell itself. I'm a bit scared. "I know you always want to act like the wise, clever guy in these stupid games... but I never thought you were capable of something like this. You lied to me and you put these two girls in danger."

He shakes his head on the floor, defeated. "I thought that was my round. I thought that--"

"You always think but you never manage to do it! I can't believe this!" She takes off her apron. "I could understand this if you were a stupid teenager... but you are a father of two baby children! I will never support you if the store gets involved in these problems!"

"My foolish mind tricked me, and I really thought that was the definitive one, but I couldn't..."

"You tricked us!" she shouts. Her eyes start shining. "Why did you have to involve Sugarcube Corner in this?"

Mrs. Cake is still shouting, but I lost focus when a figure appears outside the store. I can see him. I am the only one that can see him. He's wearing dark green pants and a black shirt. He's hiding his face with a black cap and sunglasses and drinking a small bottle of something. I think it's whisky.

Is he looking at me?

No. Why do I think now that everyone is looking at me?... Well, I know the answer.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake also find him right at the entrance. The defeated man sitting on the floor slowly stands up and Pinkie gets his hands off her face.

Come on... please, don't tell me I was wrong. Don't tell me this stupid guy is actually awake. Mrs. Cake fastly opens the door for him and he steps into the store.

He is wearing a golden bracelet on his arm. Pinkie and I instantly look at each other. This can't be true. "How are you awake at this time?" Mr. Cake is sitting on the floor again. "Were you waiting for me last night?"

Mrs. Cake gets in the stand. The man with the bracelet points at me... I can't fucking believe he is awake at 6 AM. "She carried the whole sketch..." his voice sounds deeper and slower. He may be drunk... will he say something about Thorax and Ember? "... but I walked away." Will he?

Mr. Cake shakes his head while her wife doesn't say anything. Pinkie and I are just in the middle. "Were you playing?"

Caballeron nods while drinking his bottle of... something. "I gambled until 2 AM, then I thought about you getting to this at 6 and I fell asleep over a slot machine." he stops to keep drinking and swallows its content. "... I sadly overslept. I intended to be here at 4 AM, at least, waiting for you... but I woke up forty minutes ago in a dumpster behind the casino."

"Are you Caballeron?" asks Mrs. Cake with pure anger in her voice. Caballeron closes his eyes and suddenly throws the bottle inside one of the store's trashcans.

He shakes his head. "I'm sorry you found out before I arrived. I had no intention of making such a disorder... I only wanted to talk to your husband in private and peacefully to make a deal, miss."

"My husband does not exist anymore in this discussion." She opens the kitchen door. "If you want to have a chat, get in our kitchen. You will have your deal and you'll quickly get out of there with some pennies."

Caballeron gets surprised at this. Pinkie and I just don't know what to say... Mr. Cake is still lying in the same position. "Look, I... I don't want to involve you in this, miss Cake, I just want to have a chat with your--"

"Get inside the kitchen, you alcoholic stupid cunt." That sentence felt like a gunshot. Caballeron almost trips over, due to his shock, and passes by the stand, ignoring Mr. Cake and me. He smells horrible... whisky, sweat, and smoke. He stops to point at Mrs. Cake.

"I was being respectful all this time, I won't forget this." He shakes his head while stuttering. Looks like nausea in person. "If you were a man, I would have already beat you up."

"Shut your mouth up and get in the kitchen." Caballeron doesn't say anything else and gets inside, snorting. Then she points at Pinkie Pie. "Check the door out, Pinkie. Don't forget we still have customers and we don't know Coco is going to be here, and you..." now she is pointing to her husband. "You will get in the cashier for the whole day, I don't wanna see you around for today, and I don't even want you to take a look at the kitchen while I'm there. You disappoint me... I won't say anything else."

She opens the door with Caballeron inside but suddenly takes a look at me and grabs my hand. Her arm feels like a machine catching me. "You're coming with me, Blush."

"Huh?" I gasp. "What?"

"We'll get in the kitchen."

Rookie: Bruise

Volume 1 - Chapter 6 - Rookie - Bruise

Mrs. Cake is with me, alone against the man in the kitchen, who is now washing his hands in the sink. He took off his sunglasses and cap and is now trying to seem like a sane person, with his wet short hair and empty eyes. He slowly touches his nose with a finger and grins. "Nice smell."

The lady boss does not even have a smile, however. She's crossing her arms, looking at him. "What do you want?"

He's still holding a smaller mysterious bottle in his hands. "I tried to talk to your husband... but I'll summarize my situation for you, miss. For the past few days, my pockets have been trembling. I can't make ends meet and I don't have anything else." His eyes look like they're breaking apart. "I have been trying to swallow your husband for a whole month after he ran away and disrespected me at a poker game in the casino, but right now he is the only one that can..." he stops to look at me. "...offer me help."

Mrs. Cake puts her arms over a table and looks at the fridge. "You're literally dreaming, sir." Her fake smile is gross, then she looks at me. "Do you really think something my husband told you in a poker game has to be taken seriously?"

"I told your waitresses what am I last night, miss..." he stretches his hands, trying to justify himself. "I am a gambler, and I take my game seriously."

"Why don't you get a job and shut your mouth up for once?" Finally, someone asked him that... his face screams unemployed. She shakes her head and Caballeron's face breaks like glass. "You are making me, someone who works every day, every night, mad because of a stupid card game I don't care about."

He shakes his head, trying to be sad. "I've been unemployed for a year, you've got to understand."

"From what I see, I can notice that you are not looking for a job. Are you interested in doing it, at least? Because what I'm looking at right now is someone that makes me want to cry because of how dirty and gross he looks."

Caballeron does the same as her and puts his arms over the table. "What you said actually hurt me." He feels weaker. I'm not looking at him with the same eyes. He tried to be tough at first, but now he is falling and revealing his true, weaker, face. "I've been fired from my old job and I'm right now unemployed. I haven't looked for somewhere to work for months. My lucky side is on this, you know? I've lost many times but mostly I win... and I paid all of my debts, solved my bets to be a good man walking."

"You want my husband to give you this bakery's profits for a year because you are a good man who lost some other bets and paid them?"

He stretches out his arms, letting himself out of the guilt. "He said it. I didn't order him to do it for me. He brought that topic to the table by himself."

"I recognize that," she nods. "He was an idiot for telling you that, but that doesn't mean I'll actually give you what you want." Now she heads to the sink. "If I give you a number, will you get out of here and never come back?"

She opens the tap. I haven't even moved from my position and I don't even hear anything from outside. I also haven't heard Coco's voice yet, is she here or not?

The only good thing I could say about this is that most clients that come in the morning enter here at 7 or 7:30. We could get rid of Caballeron on time and not let them see... this. "Depends on how much." He is putting his head over the table... actually trying to sleep?

Mrs. Cake is washing her hands on the sink. "How much do you think I'll give you?"

He's now kneeling on the floor, resting, with his head laying against the table and playing with the bottle. "Well, I'll be honest..." he nods while I'm trying to understand what he's doing. "If I can't have the trophy I was supposed to receive... I would like to have, um... a grand."

My legs begin to move like an earthquake. Did he actually say he wanted a grand? To come out of Sugarcube Corner with $1000? Our thousand bucks? Mrs. Cake doesn't blink while I fastly take a look at the kitchen door. It's barely opened, but I can see that both Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie are listening to our music in silence. The husband is playing with his hair while trying not to see anything. Pinkie, on the other side, is trying her best to take a look at the kitchen... but she is not saying anything to me. I think she is looking at me. I think.

I can see no signs of Coco, though. Wasn't she supposed to come to work today?

"Wait," suddenly says Mrs. Cake and she opens a big white cupboard that is next to the ovens. "You said a grand?"

Is Mrs. Cake actually going to give him $1000? "Wait," I say. "Are you actually going to give him a thous--?"

She raises a finger at me, silently telling me to shut up. I do it so quickly that I even cover my mouth. "I want a thousand," suddenly says Caballeron, still kneeling on the floor.

"I'm not going to give you a single penny if you don't stand up." Caballeron slowly does this with his back and ankles trembling. He has to be drunk, waiting for his money like a child waiting for his favorite toy. I can't believe this is happening... Mrs. Cake takes out something from the cupboard and there's something I don't understand. Caballeron also looks at me confused.

She is now holding a long and narrow black box and crouches to leave it on the floor. That box looks more like a baseball bat... Why would she store money there? Wait, does she actually have money in it, in the first place?

The gambler, confused, takes a sip of his elixir. "That's a pretty weird place to store money. It actually looks like something else."

Mrs. Cake stands up and crosses her arms again. "Like what?"

Caballeron stays silent and dares to take another sip. "I don't wanna say it."

She slowly crouches again to grab the weird box. "Well... I'll give them to you." The object is put on the table, and Caballeron only raises his shoulders while she opens the box. Both he and I find something covered by a big dirty white cloth.

I don't know what that is, but it is definitely not money. That must not be money. "You alcoholic fool." Mrs. Cake grabs that mysterious thing and takes the cloth off it.

... she's now holding a shotgun.

My eyes are about to come out and I cover my mouth just in case. I feel how the orange juice I drank this morning is getting nearer my throat. "Woah..." I fastly raise my hands and my body begins to fight against me. "My god, Mrs. Cake! Put that down!"

"You think all of us are stupid, you fool." Mr. Cake fastly enters the kitchen but stops when she looks at her holding that. I fastly head to the kitchen's trashcan and open it, getting prepared for the ejection. I barely look at Pinkie standing behind Mr. Cake. "Do you actually think that I'm going to give you a thousand bucks because my husband said something to you? You don't even have a job, you can't order me to give you money if you look like a homeless cockroach!"

"Cup!" Mr. Cake shouts while I put my face in the trashcan. "Wait!"

"What did I tell you minutes ago?" she is flying off the handle. I can easily imagine smoke coming out of her ears while holding the gun. "Get out of here right now. This is private." I'm praying for the clients to not appear at this moment.

"And that shotgun is fake," instantly says Caballeron, shaking his head. What? I get my face out of the trashcan and I look at his now sober face looking cleaner than before. He left his bottle on the table and is wetting his hair again with the sink. He felt dead for a second, being threatened by a lady with a shotgun... maybe that's why he's looking normal again. "I may be unemployed but I'm not a freaking idiot... I can easily see the grip is made of second-hand plastic." I look at the gun's grip, which I admit it looks like a toy. "It pretends to be the wood of those old shotguns my farmer uncle used to have, but it's actually a pretty bad knock-off of that." Mrs. Cake pulls down the gun and everybody looks at her. The opened kitchen door reveals to me that no clients have arrived yet, thankfully... but where is Coco? "Most importantly..." he grabs the shotgun's barrels with a hand and slowly lifts it with no effort, shaking his head. "This doesn't have any weight at all, it's not even metal... it's pure plastic."

Now we know, she knows, she screwed it up. This only delayed and worsened everything else, so she throws the fake shotgun away which hits the floor, sounding like a little toy falling... and then looks at her husband with hellish eyes that make him fastly get out of there, also grabbing Pinkie by her shoulders. The three of us are alone again.

Her face is darker and eye bags begin to raise in her cheeks. "For God's sake..." she sighs, thinking about what she has just done. "What are you even freaking drinking?" she asks. "Whisky?"

Caballeron looks at the bottle of what he is drinking. It doesn't have any tags that can tell him what is it. I think it's whisky because of its dark color but... I don't even want to know if it's actually that, it looks horrible. "I think it is." He raises his shoulders.

Both Cup Cake and I look at each other. "You don't know what are you drinking?" I ask him.

"It was the first thing I took from the bar."

She facepalms on the table. "Look, if you want me to be honest, I feel pity when I look at you. I can't take you seriously with your gambling addiction and your pathetic hobo look..." She puts the fake gun inside the box with the cloth. "I'll give you $100 if you get out of here right now."

He keeps drinking that. "$300 and I don't come back ever again."

She forces a smile that's hiding pure anger. "A hundred."

"Three hundred."

My eyes look at them as if they were playing a tennis match.

"$100 and that's it."

Both of them stay in silence for a second and start again. Caballeron first. "Maybe we can--"

"A hundred and that's it, I say... I could give you more if you actually had the will to get a freaking job."

"We can end up in $250 and I swear I'll try my best."

"You don't have to promise anything to me. I'm not your mother."

"What about two hundred?" he raises a hand. "Not your price... but it is also not mine. I won't come back ever again, not even walk around the sidewalk if you hand me two hundred bucks."

Her sight stays blank for four of five seconds and then she navigates around the kitchen. Caballeron and I don't say anything until she, several seconds later, points at me. "This guy did something to you? Or to Pinkie?"

He didn't try to attack us, at least. He didn't even put a finger on us... but sounded menacing while talking... I shake my head in silence. "He only talked to us... and left." I try to say nothing about those boys who appeared later. That would be worse and it doesn't have anything to do with this problem. However, what calls my attention is that Caballeron neither said anything about them.

"You see?" he points at himself, trying to be kind. "I'm a good ma--"

"Shut up." Mrs. Cake shushes him and opens the kitchen door. There's a client already being attended to by Pinkie and that calms her down. She puts her apron back, takes a breath, and calls for Pinkie Pie with her fingers, ignoring her husband.

Pinkie Pie points at herself and Mrs. Cake nods her head, then she turns back to look at the gambler. "I haven't said yes yet, so don't do anything. I'll go to the client and talk to my husband about this." She is now looking at me. "I want Pinkie and you to keep an eye on him."

Come on, not again. "Us?" suddenly Pinkie says, pointing at herself again. The sequel of the night.

"You," she opens the door. Mr. Cake is already talking to the lonely client, despite his blue mood. "If something happens, shout at me and I swear he's gonna cry. Now, I'll talk to my husband about what happened... I swear I'll come back in minutes."

She fastly closes the door, and Pinkie and I are standing in the corner while having Caballeron at the opposite. She is trying to hide behind me but I don't let her. I'm shocked, not because of Mrs. Cake holding a fake shotgun, but because there's something I don't understand. Nobody of us mentioned the not-so-small detail of two boys actually being the cause of Caballeron leaving this store at night... and there's only one here that knows what that boy said. "You didn't say anything about those two boys that almost threw you away from the store yesterday." He stops drinking his weird bottle, leaving it aside again. Pinkie is now looking at me, surprised. "Why?"

Caballeron only shakes his head. "Those picky noses have not anything to do with what I want. It's unnecessary for your bosses to know and learn about them. They won't care." He looks at the small bottle one more time. "Besides, I already know they are not even employees or classmates of yours. I understood where they were from when that boy..."

"When that boy whispered you?" I say. "What did he tell you?"

Caballeron only looks at me in silence and raises his eyebrows. "Why do you care about that?"

I cross my arms and confront him, approaching his face. "Because I want to know."

"Why?" he is now raising his shoulders. "Why would you want to know that?" and chuckles. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why wouldn't I?" I put my hands on the table. "What would make a guy like you walk away from the store like that? You clearly didn't like that boy, what did he tell you to run away from him?"

What I said makes him angry, and frowns. "I didn't run away," he points at me, madly. "I didn't."

"You literally walked away," interrupts Pinkie Pie. "You turned your back on us and you walked out of--"

"I did what I had to do at that moment."

I am now smelling his essence of alcohol and sweat while getting nearer to him. "What you had to do?" Now I am the one who squints its eyes. "Walk away was the best thing you could have ever done?"

"Don't even try to interrogate me." He gets further from me, approaching the door. "You are a freaking waitress, not a cop. Besides, what could I have done at that moment? Your boss, the man I wanted to see, was not there, and I couldn't stand any of you... what could I do?"

"I don't forget you called him orange-haired fuck after he whispered to you."

He chuckles while standing against the wall. "Fine... do you want to know what he told me? You two want to know?"

Pinkie raises an eyebrow. "I... I don't know if I want to--"

No time to lose. "Pinkie also wants to know."

"Wait," she crosses her arms. "I haven't made my decision!"

Gosh, this girl will make me sick one day. "I want to hear this, Pinkie!" I shout. "What did he tell you?"

The gambler sighs while touching his forehead. "Let me tell you something, detective." He is pointing at me and using his nickname again. "You don't have to know everything, girl... not only it's unnecessary to do that, but also it can affect you in several ways."

"Tell me." I'm tired. I want to know.

"Sure..." he nods his head and prepares himself for what he has to say. "He told me he was a friend of a woman I know."

... Is that it? Just that?

Why would he walk away? Who's that woman? "A woman?" says Pinkie Pie, now standing next to me. She's getting interested.

"A woman." He nods his head. "One of the best gamblers I've ever seen. I spotted her lots of times at the casino and played poker, blackjack, and every kind of game with money with her..." His face looks like he is talking about a goddess. "Excellent technique, an indescribable charm, and a great talent for lying, cheating, and playing. I can easily consider her an artist."

"You like her?" asks Pinkie Pie, sitting over the table, way more interested than me.

He laughs. "She's way out of my league."

So... Thorax told Caballeron he had a friend. A friend who is a woman and also an excellent gambler. He said that he considers her as an artist... just the exact way Thorax talked about himself that night. "Do you know the name of this woman?"

"Of course," he replies. "Everybody who spends most of the week inside the casino of Canterlot knows about her. She's like a myth."

"Who is she?"

Caballeron sighs and rolls his eyes. "That's what I'm talking about, girl..." he stretches his hands, laughing. "Why do you care about that? Why? Have you ever stepped into a casino?"

"I want to know what's going on!" I raise my hands to him. I'm getting tired of mystery. What is this? A noir novel? "I want to know who are those boys!"

"Why? Personally, I don't know and I don't care about them," he replies. "Sometimes you don't have to know everything about others, right? You don't have to care about what they do... think about yourself."

That... is actually hurting me. I'm feeling bad. I didn't expect this.

Sometimes you don't have to know everything about others. I suddenly remember my younger self stalking people to know things about them... I remember erasing their memories using the Stone. I was so mad at everybody that I... I learned about all of them.

Think about yourself. That's what I do every single day. I tried my best to appear in a group picture in High School, and I failed every single time. It just doesn't work. My function was not able to succeed. I thought about myself when I was younger... what did I have? Nothing.

My hands start shaking and intrusive thoughts of me holding the Memory Stone invade my mind for a second. I calm down when I look at the one man who told me that. "You are telling me..." I'm stuttering. He knows I'm not OK. "You are telling me to think about myself?" I'm gaining fresh air again. "Look at you. Mrs. Cake is absolutely right with you. Look at yourself in a mirror, I don't think that's an appropriate image of self-care, I..."

I want to keep talking to him but somebody else opens the door. "What is going on here?" asks Mrs. Cake.

He looks at us for a second. "They were talking about how gross I look," he replies while observing me with disappointment.

She smiles. "They are not wrong," says, putting two $100 bills on the table, making Caballeron's head to turn into a baby face. "$200 from our income. I'm only giving you this because I seriously pity you and I don't want you to come back here ever again. I'm doing my part of the deal, I expect you to do yours." She points her finger, almost touching his eyes like a bullet. "You are permanently banned from this place. If I see you walking around my sidewalk, I'll call the police."

"You may also come out with a fake shotgun." He smiles at her, but none of us reacts to what he said. Mrs. Cake looks at the bills on the table.

"You said that again and you'll get out of here with your ass kicked and zero pennies." She taps the table and Caballeron grabs the two bills. Then, surprisingly, Mrs. Cake puts her hand inside her apron's pocket. "Take this. Buy a deodorant and soap for your own good."

She takes out six pennies and throws them over Caballeron's hands. He counts them, one by one, but shakes his head. "$6, no. I don't want your money. These six pennies are yours, not from the income, miss."

She snorts at him and replies back. "Where do you think those six pennies came from, dumbass? Take your bottle and get out of here now."

I get out of the sink and he takes his bottle without looking at us. He didn't say the woman's name, and I beg him to say it... but I can't ask him that now.

I'm losing my opportunity to know it and Pinkie sees that. He hides his bottle, putting it inside his pants and covering it with his t-shirt, and he puts his sunglasses and his black cap on again. My mouth is trembling. He's not saying anything else, he's walking out of here with $206 in his pockets.

I approach him, trying not to call Mrs. Cake's attention, but he fastly walks out of the kitchen. I observe him putting his hand over Mr. Cake's shoulder for a second and then waving it. I still don't know that name. I can't say anything and I look at Pinkie.

She only shakes her head at me before I observe how Caballeron opens the door to leave while Mrs. Cake is watching him, not taking her eyes off the figure.

I should have stopped him, told him something, asked him the name... I shouldn't have cared about Mrs. Cake.

Sometimes you don't have to know everything about others.

Think about yourself.

I don't know. I don't know. We've got rid of one man but the heat in the kitchen is the same... and I'm more confused than before. This morning is already ten times worse than last night.

And Coco hasn't arrived yet.

Who in the hell is this woman he talked about?

18:45 PM - Day X + 2

I have just arrived home. My aunt, logically, is not here.

Nothing else happened after he left the store. I stayed in the kitchen doing what Mrs. Cake told me to do, and the only thing that confused me after the previous events was the fact that Coco was not present. Didn't she tell Mrs. Cake she would come to work today or not? Where was she? I try to worry about her but I can't. My mind is busy doing something else.

I've been processing what Caballeron told me.

A woman.

Thorax is the friend of a woman who perfectly gambles and is considered a legend in casinos. Anyways, I can't understand why is that a justification to run away. The only hypothesis that comes to my mind to answer that is that this woman is something else that Caballeron didn't tell me. Why would he walk away? Is he a friend of hers?

... or is he an enemy?

I have taken off the blue dress and now I am in my untidy bed, in my underwear once more, looking at the orange card in my hands. I read it again and again.

COOL TICKET!
STUNTMAN
96-33622-XX

Shall I call this number? Would Thorax answer me? I don't even know if this number is from him... it does not say his name. It just says Stuntman.

He considers himself an artist, what if Stuntman is actually a pseudonym of Thorax? Maybe he calls himself a stuntman too. I'm holding the card with the phone next to me. The only thing I need to do to find out who is the Stuntman is getting into my contacts list to call that number and wait for an answer.

Wait, something else stops me... what if this Stuntman is not actually Thorax, but someone else?

... What if Stuntman is actually this woman Caballeron talked me about? What would I do? What can I do if she answers the call?

Maybe Caballeron is right... I don't have to care about this. I'm literally drooling a bit. I think about that at the same time Thunderhooves' phrase strikes my mind.

"We are people who share a dream."

"Leaving the town."

Am I sharing the same dream with them? Do they also want to get out of this shit?

... What can I do to join them in that? I'm holding the phone, looking at its screen right now. The number is right there for me to call.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

I heard it.

I leave the phone and the card on my bed. Tell me she's not here.

KNOCK.

It's here. Somebody's knocking on the door... my aunt arrived this early? She didn't say anything to me... besides, she was on Saddle Lake...

"Hello?" No. That's not my aunt. I can recognize that voice. I don't hear it often but I know who he is. I can't forget that specific accent of his.

Stripes, the caretaker.

What is he doing here? I can't open the door in my underwear, so I dress up with the first clean clothes I see. I grab some old grey shoes (I think they are actually called espadrilles), long blue pants, and a striped brown sweater. Classical.

"Photo Finish, are you there?"

He wants to see my aunt. Shall I answer the door or wait for him to leave? What can I say to pretend I am her dog's babysitter when there is not even a dog in here?

Shall I say the dog is sleeping, just in case? I don't want to hear his voice again.

"Photo Finish, are you there? I need to talk to you immediately, please."

Immediately.

What's going on? Did something happen?

Is something happening in the building?

KNOCK. KNOCK.

No, wait. He's still knocking.

KNOCK.

Uh, come on!

KNO---

I reveal my face... I haven't seen him for a long time. I almost forgot about his height (as tall as Thunderhooves), his purple mustache, and those sports clothes he always uses. In this episode, he's wearing all blue with black shoes. He looks at me and a smile appears on his face.

I don't like that smile of his.

"Ha, ha," he jokingly says. "I was looking for you."

"Me?" Well, it was about time for him to ask me what I'm doing here all time, I admit it, but... why now?

His voice rises when he enters the apartment. "Somebody at the entrance called me and asked for Wallflower Blush." What? Who? "And I didn't have any idea of who that was until... she, the visitor who wants to see you, described to me what Wallflower Blush looked like. Once she said you had long green hair, I remembered about you."

A she? It's not a he who is visiting me.

... Is she the woman? No, it can't be. "Who is at the entrance right now? Who wants to see me?"

Stripes, however, is getting along with something else. He looks around the apartment. "I can see no dog here." He shakes his head while looking at the kitchen. "Weren't you supposed to look after a dog?"

I have a white lie in my mouth but I don't know what to say. I'm speechless. "Who told you my name?"

"No, no, no, firstly..." he sits on a chair. "I want this to be quick, I have a question. This is Photo Finish's apartment and I never ask her about you because she always tells me you are her dog's babysitter and blah, blah, blah..." he moves his hands and calms down. "... but you actually seem something else that I don't know. You are here every day, I can see you. People can see you... you always come out of here at 6 AM, the same time Photo Finish leaves and... I don't know, if Photo Finish's dog is mute or does have a problem with sleeping, I apologize for not knowing that but... I never heard any bark or dog sound from here."

My throat is getting closed. "What do you mean?"

"The second floor has a chihuahua that makes me sick. I hate chihuahuas, you know that? Don't you hate them? They are always barking..." he nods his head. "... but if you ask me if I ever heard a single bark of a dog in this apartment... never. And now, this lady is asking for you immediately because she did have neither your phone nor your apartment number."

"What?" I say. My legs start trembling again... no, I won't run away. I won't.

"Who are you?" Mr. Stripes is really serious right now. He is frowning. "I can't hear no dog now... and if you take care of the dog while she's not here... why do you leave at the exact time she does the same?" What can I say? What can I say? "Are you stealing something from here?"

NO. I am not a thief. "I am her niece." Fuck. I told him the truth, unconsciously.

Mr. Stripes instantly raises his eyebrows. "What?" he says, pointing at his ear. "What did you say?"

"I am her niece. You can call my aunt Photo Finish and check it out..." I fastly nod my head. "You'll find out it's true." He slowly stands up and I raise a finger. "Wait a minute." I fastly go to my aunt's room and turn on the lights. I can see that next to her bed and in the middle of all of her clean white furniture filled with pictures and journals, there's a small drawer that I head to and open.

"Don't take too long," he says, getting in the bedroom. "Your friend is waiting for you... and she didn't have a nice face."

I stop. I look at a small sketchbook filled with pictures of my aunt when she was younger. She didn't have a nice face, he said. "Who is waiting for me?" I ask while grabbing it.

"A young girl with pink hair," he said. "She presented herself as Pinkie Pie and told me you had to talk to her right now at the entrance."

Pinkie?

I suddenly remember what Thunderhooves told me. Did he also talk to Pinkie Pie? That's why she's at the entrance waiting for me. What does she want to tell me?

Luckily I find that picture on time. It's me, as a child. A picture from a photo booth I took with my aunt when I was seven or eight years old, I don't remember. I can see myself, forcing my smile. That was... just months after I found out the truth. I was uncomfortable. I look at the sight I had at that moment. It was blank, I feel it like that. My aunt is behind me, smiling and putting a hand over one of my shoulders. She's still wearing those sunglasses. Such a weird picture. "This, look at this." I give the picture to Stripes. "That's a picture my aunt and me took on a photo booth... more than ten years ago."

He looks at them and I calm down when I see that he believes in what I'm saying. He observes the picture for two more seconds and shakes his head, looking at me with confusion. "This doesn't make any sense. Why didn't your aunt tell me you were her niece and that's it?"

I've got to be real on this. "I told her not to say it... because I don't want anybody to know I'm Photo Finish's niece."

He chuckles. "You are stupid, I'm sorry... do you know that pretending to be something that you are not, leaves you as a stranger? Nobody is going to criticize you because you are Photo Finish's niece. Your aunt almost killed a man because of what he said to her... because of you acting as a stranger... do you remember?" He is now looking at me as if I was his daughter. "Do you remember what that man told your aunt? It was something really horrible."

I nod my head because I know what is he talking about. The prostitute thing. I remember my aunt beating that man up with a frying pan she actually broke into pieces and I try not to laugh. "Yes, I do."

He sighs, leaving that picture on her bed. "Your friend is waiting for you, but this is not over." He points at me. "I'll call your aunt later and we'll have a chat about this. This is serious... and remember that nobody will tell you anything because you are somebody's niece."

"I hope not," I tell him and I get out of the bedroom. "Thanks, Stripes!"

"Wait!" he turns the lights off. "Are you really going to come out wearing that?" he shouts. "You look like a senile grandmother!"

"I don't care!" I only shout while opening the door. Right under me, Pinkie Pie is waiting to tell me something... the question is, what?

I try to close the door but Stripes passes by me, shaking his head. "I promise you and your aunt that we'll talk later," it's the only thing he says before he disappears, getting on the staircase and walking downstairs.

Goddamn, why did he say that aloud? Now everybody knows I'm Photo Finish's niece.

19:00 PM - Day X + 2

I get out and I can see her while the sun is setting down. The night is getting prepared to appear once more. She's standing at the entrance gate with her car, turned on, behind her. Her face does not show happiness at all, but concern. Her hair is still poofy, though. "Pinkie?" I say. "What's going on?"

"I tried to call you but... I don't have your phone number, so I came here and called for the caretaker and he told me..."

"It's a long story, Pinkie," I told her when I open the entrance gate. "I barely speak with the caretaker, he doesn't know my name. What happened?" I close the gate and she touches my shoulders and I look at the sidewalk. I imagine Thunderhooves walking next to me in the morning. "Did someone try to talk to you about what we saw yesterday?

She shakes her head. "No, no, nobody." She opens the car door for me while heading to the other side. "Nobody came to me. It doesn't have anything to do with what we saw last night."

I get in the car and close the door... looks like we are about to take another ride in the Pinkiemobile. "Then what is it? What happened?"

She gets in the car and fastens her seatbelt, pointing at mine. "Fasten your seatbelt."

I roll my eyes. "Come on, Pinkie. Where do you want to take me?"

"Fasten your seatbelt, Wallflower."

I do it and I ask again: "What is going on?"

"Coco called me..." After two whole days, I have news about her. We finally have news... "She didn't sound happy at all."

... "Why?"

"I don't know. She told me to pick her up at the bus stop on Meadowbrook Street, and I want you here with me because..."

She doesn't say anything else. "Why, Pinkie? She called you, not me."

"But I want you to see her too... don't you like her?"

Uh, come on. "Pinkie..." She steps on the clutch and the car begins to move. She's driving faster. "I told you I don't like her. I like her as a friend."

"We haven't seen her for two days and she suddenly called me... and she wasn't happy. I also want you to know what's going on with her."

"And why didn't she sound happy?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know! I also don't know what to expect."

Thoughts of her boyfriend begin to attack my brain once again. "Come on... these two last freaking days have been..."

I look out the window and we are already next to Meadowbrook Street's bus stop... I haven't even blinked twice. How fast did Pinkie Pie drive? The streets are now darker because of the night and not all of the lights have been turned on yet, but we can see a black figure rising from one of the dark bus stop's seats to get nearer the car.

The nearer it is, the better we can see her. It's Coco, but she's absolutely unrecognizable. She always uses clear-colored clothes, mostly white and yellow, but this time she's wearing a big black fur trenchcoat that is covering all of her body. She is suspiciously covering her face with a scarf, big round sunglasses, and a small hat, also black, over her beautiful light blue hair. Then, I observe the last thing about her that makes me feel goosebumps: she's barefoot. Why isn't she using any shoes or trainers? Why is she barefoot? I instantly get out of my seat and open the door. "Coco!" I shout, almost panicking. "Why are you barefoot?"

"Oh!" she shouts and hugs me. "Wallflower Blush! What a surprise!" I always felt her body as something warm, a cozy feeling... but this time she was really cold. Not only because the street right now is getting chill without the sun, but also because there's something different in her and I don't know what. This hug from Coco Pommel felt different, but I hug her back. Despite I hate fashion, I've got to say her fur trenchcoat is really nice. "I thought you wouldn't come here for me," she says. "I'm sorry... I'm such a mess."

"No, you are not," I say while Pinkie Pie gets off the car. "What happened?"

She leaves me to hug her friend Pinkie, and every time I see her bare feet touching the sidewalk and the street... something inside makes me want to vomit... but I resist.

"Girl, Coco..." Pinkie says, surprised, pointing at her feet. "Where are your shoes?"

The smile she had when she hugged the both of us instantly disappears while taking off her hat. I disagreed with her when she said she was a mess, but her short light-blue hair does make me think a bit. It's disheveled. "It's a long story, girls... I want you to take me to Sugarcube Corner. It's still open, right?"

Pinkie and I look at each other for a second. Sugarcube Corner is usually open at this time of the evening (almost pure night), managed only by Mr. Cake and his wife... but I honestly don't know what happened today after 6. Did Mrs. Cake actually close the store because of this problem? Does Coco know something about what we went through? "I think it is," says Pinkie. "Which long story do you need to tell us, Coco?"

The three of us get in the car. I tell Coco to sit where I was before but she denied it. She wanted to take the backseat... I didn't discuss it. We sit, fasten our seatbelts and Pinkie starts driving. Coco, however, begins to touch her forehead while still having her scarf and sunglasses on. "Why don't you take those sunglasses off?" asks Pinkie. "You are inside the car and it's almost night, there's no sun."

She sighs and shakes her head. "I would really like to take them off but I shouldn't do it."

Pinkie and I are in silence. She looks at me, I look at her. I don't like where this is going. "Why don't you take the scarf off, Coco?" I tell her while looking at Pinkie. She also doesn't like this. "Pinkie's car is not so chill after all."

I look at her through the mirror. She touches her black scarf, softly pressing on it. "If I do it... will you promise me not to get mad? I mean, I know it may be something hard to..." she stops for a moment and starts stuttering. "... s-see but I have a-an explanation."

Right now, after hearing what she said, I don't care about the Pinkiemobile's rules. Pinkie suddenly stops the car in the middle of the street and I unfasten my seatbelt to turn around and look at her without using a mirror. "What is going on?"

She is scared. "What?" she stutters. Pinkie fastly parks the car somewhere, near the sidewalk. We don't even know if we can actually park here... but right now we have something to solve. "What do you mean?"

Pinkie also turns around but doesn't unfasten her seatbelt. "You are alone and barefoot at a bus stop, wearing all black, hiding your face from us. What is going on, Coco? Which long story do you have to tell?"

She sighs and touches the scarf again, taking it off her neck. I can easily see a small purple bruise over her beige skin.

... No.

No.

"Take off your sunglasses," I fastly order her. My skin feels like fire right now. "Take them off now."

She bites her lips and begins to sweat. "Wallflower, please--"

"Now, Coco!" I shout. I begin to lose control and Pinkie touches my back. Her hand feels like a knife stabbing me. "Now!"

She fastly takes them off and we can see her. Her right eye is bloodshot, surrounded by purple.

She has a black eye.

No.

Not her, no. No.

This isn't happening.

I grab my head, trying to tear out the skin of my face and I fastly turn around like a missile and smash one of my fists against the glove box in front of me. Coco jumps from her seat for a second and Pinkie doesn't say anything to me. She is as shocked and mad as me. "What the hell happened?" she asks. "Who did this to you?"

"Let me summarize this, uh..." Coco stutters and I can barely hear her. I'm putting my head against the backseat. She was joy, hope, a purpose. I'm looking at her falling apart. This can't be. This can't be fucking true. "Yesterday I had a meeting with a designer, uh... she was one of the best in the country..." I turn around again, trying to hide my face of fury, and she covers her black eye with her hand. "... but she didn't invite me alone, she wanted him and all of his family to be there too."

... This can't be real. "Him?" I instantly say. "You mean..."

She nods her head. It's confirmed. "His family from United Cavalry is pretty well-known in that world."

I sigh and shake my head. "Tell me he didn't do this to you." She's silent. "Coco?"

"What?" she says.

"Please tell me he didn't leave you here with a black eye."

Pinkie's eyes are shining, about to cry and hides behind her seat. Coco shakes her head again: "Everything started because there was one man in that reunion that he admires a lot... he's a playboy, a rich babyface, Fancy Pants."

He is in this too? Fuck me. My whole skin freezes when I hear that name. I'm about to blow up... I didn't hear that name for how long, man? My daddy? "Y-Yes," I stutter. My throat feels like a plane about to crash. "I-I know who... who is he."

"He tried to call his attention every time he could, and he even decided to leave me alone while exposing some of my work to this designer. He left me to go to one of Fancy Pants' country houses and play golf with him all night long."

"And you..." Pinkie appears again. "And you complained about that?"

She nods. "I told him today, hours ago, that I didn't like that at all. It was something disrespectful and horrible of his. He tried to defend himself saying that he had no idea I was there to show my work, when in fact I told him that the previous day." She raises three fingers. "Three times. I told him that three times... and then, the discussion got worse, I shouted, he did the same... and then things went out of control and... we started fighting." A second of silence. "Physically, I mean. Physically."

"I understood, Coco," I say. I can't calm down. I just can't. I feel like a timebomb... and there's not much time left for me to blow up. Why her? Why did she have to go through this?

"You had a fight?" asks Pinkie. "You hit him?"

"He started," she replies while grabbing her sunglasses. "He slapped me, I slapped him back... things got worse. It wasn't until he hit my eye that I realized everything was getting out of control. I couldn't believe what I did, I tried to attack him... then I realized he was trying to hurt me really bad. He..." She begins to stutter again. "He tried to grab me by my neck for a second, but I pushed him back and ran away. I took off my high heels and left his house barefoot. I didn't have time to grab my things so... I basically stole his mother's coat, hat, scarf, and sunglasses and ran away with them in my arms."

...

We don't say anything for a minute.

Pinkie only turns on the car again and leaves that place while we don't say anything.

I find out tears are coming out of my eyes. I'm feeling lots of things right now... and I don't know what to do or say. I just can't even express how angry I am about this using my thoughts. It's... I have no words.

"I can't believe that I..." Coco stops and finishes the sentence. "I can't believe that I slapped him back... I didn't want to harm him. I am not someone that uses violence to solve things."

"He treated you like shit," I instantly reply. "That son of a bitch deserves more than a slap." Then I look at Pinkie only looking at the road, not saying anything.

"I don't know, Wallflower," she replies to me. "He attacked me, yes, but I don't want to fight violence using violence."

I turn around again... I didn't fasten my seatbelt again. She looks at me with eyes of anger and my face of sweat. "Somebody has to bring that asshole back to Planet Earth. Back to Canterlot... somebody has to, Coco." Pinkie turns on a corner and I see a shiny sign attracting my eyes in the dark.

24/7 GROCERY STORE

I need something.

I can't calm down and behave like someone with a conscious mind that thinks clearly if I don't have it in my hands at this right moment.

It's calling me back.

"Stop."

Both Pinkie and Coco look at me. "What?" Pinkie tells me. "Why? Now?"

"Stop right here... I want to get something at the grocery store."

Pinkie blinks. "But... Wallflower..."

"I need that to calm down, OK? Please, Pinkie. Stop here, right at the corner. It won't take me more than two minutes, please. Freakin' please."

At the exact moment Pinkie lowers her speed, I open the door in the middle of the street and run to the store. I even forgot to close the car door.

Everything goes in slow motion around me. My skin, covered in sweat, feels like lava burning. My eyes are two volcanoes in eruption.

I'm done.

I'm fucking done with this town. With its inhabitants. I will never forget what you did to her, to Coco Pommel.

I'm walking slower by the time I get into the store. I find out nobody is there, except for an assistant next to the cashier. She begins to show concern once she looks at me. "You feel alright?"

I fastly turn my head to her while cleaning my face filled with sweat drops. I think I know her... I saw her at School, but I don't remember her name. She obviously doesn't even know who I am. I think she had a friend named Sweetie Drops. I approach her green skin, concerned face and I squint my eyes while my whole back trembles. I only ask her one thing:

"Do you have cigarettes?"

I've got to go back to work.

Rookie: Blushin' Badly

~ ~ Volume 1 - Chapter 7 - Rookie - Blushin' Badly ~ ~

Note for fellow manga readers:

If the name is in yellow, it means this chapter is the end of the volume! -SfS

19:45 PM - Day X + 2 - Sugarcube Corner

When I was about to pay for the smokes, I realized that I didn't have anything in my pockets. I didn't grab my phone when I got out of the apartment, and I also didn't have a single penny. I had to call Pinkie for help, she paid for the cigarettes and didn't say anything to me, but I saw her eyes freezing and shrinking when she looked at what I was buying.

She didn't say anything else.

Nobody in that car said anything until we stopped.

We are now at the Sugarcube Corner. Not too many clients were there by the time we arrived, so Coco could manage to get into the kitchen without attracting too much attention. We took that black trenchcoat off her, and she was only wearing a worn-out white t-shirt and brown shorts. Her arms were invaded by tiny, small bruises. Pinkie gave Coco her own shoes and she's now barefoot in the kitchen, helping Coco, informing Mrs. Cake about the problem and God knows what else. Mr. Cake is the only one working in the bakery.

I should help him but I can't. I am the only one from the staff who is outside, laying my back against one of Pinkie's car doors, smoking a cigarette, and holding the loose change Pinkie gave me. She didn't even want her own money back. Maybe her point of view of me has radically changed. I don't care, though.

I can say this day was my last straw in Canterlot. It's definitely the last one. They messed with Coco Pommel and I will never forgive them. Nobody will ever be forgiven.

The warm feeling Coco had when talking to her was something special. It came out of her hope, dreams, and positivism. When I hugged her today, I felt how all of that lovely essence of hers was gone. Nicotine tries to imitate that feeling but doesn't succeed. It's pathetic. It makes me laugh but I can't actually do it... my body is boiling like hot water. My brown sweater is all wet because of my sweat. My heart is beating like a time bomb. My brain is a match on fire next to a forest.

"I have nothing to lose," I tell myself. Nothing. I can confirm that now.

I have a few days left as a Canterlot citizen. I need to get Canterlot out of my words immediately. I want to talk to my aunt right now... but I don't have my phone here.

I also need to quit my job. I have to, there's no choice. Shall I do it now? Shall I do it in front of Coco? I only have to get into the kitchen and tell Mrs. Cake I quit. That's it. It's the beginning of a farewell.

The smoke tastes gross and amazing at the same time... my aunt will not like this image of me at all.

What should I do?

Is there anything I can do to avenge Coco? To let that Blueblood bastard know what he has done, leave a message to him? A way to let this freaking city know I am tired, I'm done? How can I avenge Coco?

Should I?

Mr. Cake is not even looking at me, I'm getting lost in the dark of 8 PM. He may not even recognize me because of my cigarette. I begin to look around the street and I find something that catches my sight. I never focus on the streets, I didn't care about them, and right now I don't even freaking want to see them... but that thing, far from me, in the middle of the following sidewalk in front of my torso, is something where I can start with what I want to do.

I ask myself what I want to do, actually. I don't know... but I want to do something. Shall I do justice? Fight against the city? I can start in that old phone booth I'm looking at. It has been there for how long? I swear I never saw it before, I thought it was just a random dude waiting for a bus. I don't even know if it has a telephone but right now, as I said, I don't have anything to lose. I throw the lit cigarette away, not even stepping on it to kill its fire and get the smoke out of my mouth as I cross the street. Nobody says anything to me, I don't hear Pinkie or Mr. Cake calling me out. I don't know what are they doing inside.

I'm crossing the street, alone (Alone again, naturally...), but right now I'm not trying to socialize with high school students or do something for them. Now I want to set off something for Coco and me. Turn on the radio.

I arrive at the blue booth and, despite I can clearly see that time has affected it, it still has its phone on the inside. The metal structure is pretty rusty and the inside is completely dirty. The floor is covered with dirt and dust. One of the windows, furthermore, has been vandalized. It has a drawing of a small dick with a text below that simply says: Fuck You. I think the same, unknown artist. I think the same.

The yellow streetlights barely illuminate the phone but I can see it. It's an old telephone with a sheet of paper so old that it's not even white, it's brown. I read it, forcing my eyes to do it in the middle of the dark.

Citizen, insert your coin and then call the number.
If your call is unsuccessful, the booth will give you back your coin.
50 c = 1 min
$1 = 2 min

Think about your time and don't take long. Other citizens are also waiting for the phone.

For how long has this booth been here? I never saw it in my life (I hardly see things around while being here too...). When was the last time somebody used this, actually? Does anybody enter here and call? The booth's floor is covered by dust, broken brown leaves, and dirt... I'm holding Pinkie's loose change in my hands. I have three pennies of 50 cents and two of $1.

Who should I call? ... Why am I here? A phone number instantly gets into my mind: 96-33622-XX. I memorized it. I freaking memorized it. It's the Stuntman... but no. I don't even know if this phone actually works. I've got to give it a try, first. Make a test call.

I have already another number on my mind. I need to do the test call with her, and I will use a 50-cent coin. I think she has to know that I may arrive late (I know this night will be pretty long and I don't want to discuss anything with her right now) but I don't want to tell her much.

I can barely see Pinkie's loose change inside the booth. I put my hand nearer to the window with a dick so I can see them better. The yellow light gives me a not so better response, but I manage to pick a 50-cent coin and put it inside the machine.

I can hear the coin rolling down as I grab the dirty phone which I barely clean with my hand. It's my opportunity to find out if I wasted a 50-cent coin on a non-functional phone or not. I press the buttons. "Ninety."

I can hear a sound from the phone, the tone, when I press the 9 button. I think it's working.

I keep moving. "Ninety-six... four, five, nine, two, eight..." I've heard it all. Every number I pressed responded to me.

Silence. I look outside, there's nobody around me. I'm still hearing the tone playing with my ear... but nobody answers. Will the machine give me back the coin? Or else...

"Hi?"

Oh, I stay. This freaking booth works, feels like magic... turns out I'm not so unlucky after all. It's also her voice... I don't have much time, I only have a minute to vomit what I have to say. I have to be fast. "Aunt?"

Second of silence. "What? Who's speaking?"

I begin to breathe faster. "Listen, it's me. Wallflower Blush, OK?"

"Wait... wait, what?"

"Listen, I don't have much time. I came out of the apartment an hour ago with my pink-haired partner because..." my throat trembles. I don't want to say it. "... a friend of ours, the designer, had an accident. We are now at the Corner. I may arrive late."

I lasted ten or fifteen seconds in saying all of that. A lot of time was wasted and she doesn't say anything. Come on! "Are you OK? What happened with the designer?"

"She had an accident at home and called us... I think she's fine."

"You think?" I can hear. "Where are you calling from? Are you calling me from your phone? Your name didn't appear on my screen."

"I'm calling you from a..." I stop speaking for a second. Suddenly I imagine Stripes looking at me from outside the booth. Shall I tell her about that too? About Stripes? "Wait, uh... I also have to tell you that, uh, how can I explain this? I don't have much time."

I may have five seconds left.

"What? Wait..."

"I told Stripes I am your niece, OK? so... we may have a long chat abo---"

I suddenly hear the telephone tone again. Her voice disappears.

The call has ended. I can barely look at my face reflected in the window with a dick.

The test call was great after all. The booth works. The phone does what I order him to do.

I don't have anything else to lose.

My brain has been repeating the number of Stuntman since I looked at the telephone. I want to know what is it. I have been telling myself to call that number since I grabbed that card. What is the worst thing that can happen to me if I call? I asked myself if the mysterious woman Caballeron mentioned this morning is the actual Stuntman, but what could she do to me right now if I call her? I'm calling her from a phone booth, not from my own cell phone. Would she want to kidnap me? Why? How? She may not even know who I am. Thorax and Ember may have told her about me... but, from what I know, she doesn't know my face.

Wait... I'm actually saying all of this to myself when I don't even know who is the Stuntman in the first place. What if this number actually belongs to Thorax?

...

I have an idea. It's excellent, beautiful. It might make me change myself for complete... I can't believe I'm seeing him as a salvation for what I want to do.

What if I ask Thorax for help? He likes me, he may do lots of things for me... what if I tell him to help me bring down Blueblood from United Cavalry? "Hell yeah." The urge to know and avenge Coco is about to stab me in every part of my body, my arms begin to shake and all of the coins and my box of cigarettes fall to the floor. I fastly grab a $1 coin from the dust that I can barely see and I insert it into the machine with my hand sweating.

6. 3. 3. 6. 2. 2. 0. 0. I fastly put the phone over my ear, I don't even care if it's dirty now, I don't mind. My whole body is shaking. I'm sweating while grabbing my cigarette box. I don't care about the coins.

There's only one way to know who is behind this phone number.

I'm waiting for an answer.

"Hello?"

Somebody answers, but it's not who I was expecting. I feel my whole skin losing its color, getting plain white.

Time has stopped. This is not Thorax's voice... it's from a woman, but it isn't also Ember's. The red-eyed girl's voice is feminine but sounds like what she actually is, a young adult girl. This woman from the phone sounds like a real adult woman in her forties. It's deep, it's intimidating. It also has a weird way to pronounce words... I think her main language is not English. "Who is calling?"

I'm choking myself while talking. "H-Hi..." I say while trying to hold my position by putting my back next to the closed door. "Hello."

I don't have much time. "Who is speaking? How did you get this phone?"

"I want to... I want to talk to... Thorax." A gasp can be heard from the phone. "...Is he there?"

I counted like eight seconds of silence that felt like an eternity until she answered. I could hear a sigh, which may have come out of her mouth before she asked me another question: "May I know who is speaking?"

"A..." What can I say? Shall I lie? "A friend."

"A friend?" her voice feels angrier. "Don't you have a name or something?"

I was about to say my real name but then I began to wonder if saying it would be better or worse for me. Should I lie to her? Shall I tell her I'm Ember or what?

"I see... there's no Thorax in here. Wrong number."

Wait, no. No!

I suddenly hear the telephone tone again and I fastly want to put another coin in the machine, but when I try to crouch and grab one of the pennies on the floor, I slip on the freaking floor and hit my head against the door, accidentally opening it.

I fall to the ground and my back hits the sidewalk. That hurt.

I think of myself as a painting once more. The lady who tripped over dirt inside a telephone booth and came out of it falling to the floor.

Almost all of the cigarettes fell with me. I grab the box and I find I have only three inside the core... damn. How pathetic I am. Nobody is looking at me. Nobody shouted at me because of my show... I think no one actually saw this. I expect that to be true.

My back aches right now but I don't care. Shall I call that number back? I easily found out that was not Thorax... is that the woman Caballeron told me about? She had a weird accent which reminded me of native yakkos trying to speak English.

... Now I remember that dialogue I had with Thunderhooves.

"That is not your business. We are not talking about Yakkoslavia right now."

"Then what? That's why you want us to forget about you? Is it because you are yakkos and don't want equestrians to find that out?"

Was I right at that time? Did I actually say the truth to him? Are they yakkoslavic people trying to get out of here?

What if I tell that woman the truth? My truth? Will she do something to me? I pathetically crawl over the floor, thinking about it while grabing a $1 coin from the dirty booth. Nobody saw me, they may be still talking to Coco while I'm not present. She may be wondering where I am, but trust me, Coco... I'm trying to help you.

I'm afraid I'll have to cross out Thorax from the list of potential helpers who would work with me against Blueblood and Canterlot after my phone call... and I know I'm going to screw everything up for the worse with this other one... but guess what, I want to tie loose ends. I won't repeat again the phrase I have nothing to lose. I don't want to wear out my new catchphrases so quickly.

My back and right leg are still aching and I have a big scratch on my hand, where I'm holding the coin. I don't care. I fastly find out that pain only makes me stronger... I'm a superhero.

Insert coin. Insert number. Insert phone in the ear.

I'm ready for a rematch. Fresh air gets in my lungs. The adrenaline is making me feel like a completely new person. A Goddess on Earth.

Nobody answers.

Time is passing by. I see no one has come out of Sugarcube Corner yet.

"Hi." It's the same voice with a weird accent, but this time she sounds way more serious and scary. I can even hear her breath turning into something heavier and faster.

I'm about to piss in my pants but I say it, almost aloud, while closing my eyes. "You are a yakko, right?"

I can't hear her for a second. "Excuse me?"

I begin to rave while speaking. "I found a card with this number last night. It was orange, had green text---"

"I'm gonna fuck you up." A shot of fear gets inside me. My throat and my lungs get closed and I can't speak. "I think I have an idea of who you may be. Be patient, little rascal."

"You..." I can't even speak. "But you..."

"If you call this number again, you are done."

She ends the call one more time.

I put my head in the guillotine for nothing.

This woman, yakkoslavic or not, might be the head of the table of something, and I called her twice like an asshole. Does she also have a dream? Is she the leader of people who share a dream? My dream?

I can confirm now that I won't ask Thorax for help. Should I do this alone? How? I don't even know where this son of a bitch Blueblood is staying.

I can call her again, but what can I do? Call her a yakko again? Sinking deeper into the guillotine? I realized mid-call that was a bit stupid... she got nervous though, did I tell her the truth?

I get out of the booth and look at something I didn't see before. There's half of a poster (it's ripped off in half) stuck onto the locked door of a lottery store. Woah. I remember the plastic cap. Cider cider!

I approach the poster thinking about someone special.

FRIDAYS OF DECEMBER - DON'T FORGET ABOUT CASINO NIGHTS!

If you are over 18 years old and haven't gone through your experience, it is your opportunity to take a step into Canterlot Platinum Casino!

Intersection between Bates St and Meadowbro--

It should actually say Meadowbrook but the poster only has its upper half.

I know what is this talking about. Canterlot Platinum Casino. I saw it twice in my life but never entered. It is right there, the intersection between Bates St and Meadowbrook Avenue. I don't have an idea about Canterlot's streets, but I can luckily say that one of the few things I actually know is that if I keep walking straight from Sugarcube Corner to the north, I end up somewhere inside Meadowbrook Avenue.

I'm thinking about someone who may have entered that place lots of times and may also be there right now.

I look at my reflection in the windows of this lottery store. I put my scratched hand over my jaw while looking at my gross aspect. I'm wet and my pants are covered with dust.

What if I ask Caballeron for help? How often do I spend my salary? What if I give him a small amount of money and tell him to help me attack this man?

I'm dreaming. I may be dreaming with everything I'm saying but... who else can help me against him? Pinkie? Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake? Coco? I don't think so.

What if I do it alone? Would I succeed? Wait, no... I need to do something with this.

My whole back is dirty. I have dust everywhere. I don't know what the hell I should do... but I need to do something. It may be stupid but I have to let the city know I'm tired. I want my dream to be true for five seconds.

"I'm tired," I repeat again. "I'm tired."

My fists begin to tremble again, and a sudden shot of adrenaline invades my body. Shall I go to the Platinum Casino and look for Caballeron? I can tell him I'll give him... $800 if he helps me. That's a lot, he would eventually say yes if he's unemployed. Helping me to do what? I don't know, but he will. Eight hundred bucks... he can't reject that.

I need to think, I need to go there.

... I hear voices.

I can identify where they come from. Pinkie and Coco are now outside, next to the entrance door of Sugarcube Corner. They may be looking for me... but right now I'm busy. They can't see me now.

Girls, I need to take charge of this. I'm sorry.

I hear Pinkie's voice nearer to me and I can see a hand waving in my direction, but my mind is gone. The night can't stop right here.

I'm sorry, Pinkie. I'm sorry, Coco. I won't run away from what I want to do this time. My legs suddenly stop aching and turn into imaginary rockets. Adrenaline invades my body again. My shoes (which should not be used for running) are about to witness the worst pain they will ever feel in their lives.

My mind automatically starts playing a song in my head. How ironic.

Time to work.

"Wallflower!" I can hear from Pinkie. "We were looking for you, why are you standing he--?"

No.

WALLFLOWER BLUSH RUN MODE: ACTIVATED

I start running. I run away to the right. I can't stop. I run faster.

Faster. My legs feel like a sports car getting closer to its trophy. My feet are already burning.

"WALLFLOWER!" I can hear from behind me. "WAIT!" It's she. Pinkie is chasing me, I know she's a good runner. Way better than me, but I expect things to turn around this time. I never exercise, but my anger and adrenaline are carrying me alone right now like a queen. I'm feeling like a monster, my heart is about to come out of my mouth and my lungs are blowing up inside me.

I think I'm heading to the north, getting closer to the town center. I can see neon lights shining from far away but I can barely focus on them to know what they are. The streets illuminated by yellow lights are now pictures flying around me.

I'm a warrior. I see a car trying to turn the corner but I dodge it in time. I hear the horn behind me and I look back for a second to know what is going on behind me.

Pinkie is not there anymore.

She is not following me. I can't see her.

I am alone now. I'm still running, my legs are still roaring.

Am I on my way? Did I actually get off--? OH! HOLY---

I unintentionally make a misstep (running with these espadrilles was a really bad decision) while looking behind and I fall to the floor again... this time the results are worse. I hit the sidewalk and my body rolls three times until the motion stops.

Ouch.

That hurt. A lot.

And also my box with cigarettes has disappeared. Oh no.

I think one of my knees is bleeding. Double oh no. I try to get up but my whole body hurts right now.

There's a windowed door and I can see my own face. My lower lip is bleeding and I have a big scratch on my right cheek. Suddenly I wonder where is Pinkie Pie. Wouldn't she be already here, catching me in my nest? Why is she not here? I'm concerned. Did she stop running? Why? She's a better runner than me.

I try to stop bleeding but my legs hurt. I may have to make a better effort.

"Oh, miss!" I suddenly hear from behind me. "Let me help you!"

I don't recognize that voice but it weirdly sounds familiar at the same time. Seems like a young man in his twenties, but not so young as... I don't know, Thorax or Ember. I take a look at myself through the windows of that door again while trying to get up. There is a car right behind me, on the opposite sidewalk, and a man running towards my fall. His shape, his voice... they look familiar although I don't know him at all.

He stops next to me and stretches one of his hands to help. His purple eyes remind me of that feeling I had when Thorax observed me for the first time, being exposed, out the window. I wouldn't call myself crazy (although I already am a bit) if I say that both Thorax and this man have the exact same eyes. However, his dark skin and short purple hair make him a different person. Who is he? "What happened?" he says shocked while looking at me. "Were you running away from something?"

I always run away. I ran away from Pinkie, Coco, and Mrs. Cake today to find a way and I fell twice in half an hour. I realize that, despite being in an almost empty street surrounded by few bystanders, I was actually nearer to the neon lights that were blinding me from far away. Maybe I was getting in the right direction.

I can hear music far from me and much more voices. I grab the mysterious man's hand, trying to stand up, and he helps me to get up. He's helping me. My back is covered with dust one more time and there is a red stain on my pants, near my right knee.

I may be bleeding but I don't even want to check it out. I can see the neon lights getting nearer me while people walking around are looking at me, not saying anything. What are they looking at? At me? At my clothes? At my blood?

The man is still holding my hand. I'm trying to stand firmly but my legs and feet still hurt. I may have more than a scratch below my waist. I don't know if I can run now. I look at him while trying to clean my bleeding lip. "Sorry," is the only thing I manage to say while thinking about the casino. "I'm OK." Why would I say that?

"I don't think so," he says, pointing at my legs. "One of your knees is bleeding and you had a pretty bad fall. Were you running away from someone or something?"

I look behind me again, far from the neon lights, and I can't see anybody chasing me from the dark street... where is Pinkie Pie? Where is Coco? I shake my head at him. "I... I had a rush," the nerves strike me again when he lets my hand go. The lights of the stores from the town center get into my mind again. "I was trying to get somewhere into Meadowbrook Avenue."

"Well..." he is still looking at that red stain on my pants. My knee feels cold. "I was also heading to Meadowbrook Avenue." he nods his head with a grin. "I have to go to the casino."

Oh. My pupils shrink and I shiver when I hear that. Is this a coincidence?

I can't run to the casino. I can barely walk with my bleeding knee and my hurt feet. What should I do? What if Caballeron is actually there? Will I run away from this casino night too? From someone that lives every day, every night inside a casino? My hands are literally shaking as I pant while looking at him. "Me too." I'm not thinking twice, I'm literally improvising.

His eyes shine and he raises his eyebrows, surprised. "Oh," starts chuckling. "Sometimes you don't have to waste time playing with money, right?" I only nod my head, not even smiling. "Well, if we have to go to the same place, let me help you. Would you? The casino staff will help you with your bleeding knee." Then he looks at my knee again. "Or else, I can take you home or to a hospital if you want..."

"No," I fastly shake my head. "I need to..." I begin to rave again, choking myself with my own thoughts while feeling nervous. "I need to get into the casino. I need to talk to someone immediately--" Fuck! I shouldn't have said that. It came out of my mouth very quickly and I let it go. He is looking at me, curiously.

"Really? Who?"

I shake my head, not trying to admit what I have done. "Um... A man."

The man squints his eyes at me and blinks. "Would you want to tell me which man? I know lots of men who play at those tables."

Mmh... I didn't like that so much. What if I make up a story? Set off an alibi? "I've got to..." I close my eyes while thinking. "I've got to settle things with a man. I have to be there on time or else..." I think about Mr. Cake. "You know, I've got to play a round. There's a bet in the middle..."

"Oh." The man nods and gives me a much more serious gesture. "I understand, I deeply understand." He nudges my shoulder and silently invites me to follow him. "I retired from those stupid games not so long ago, but when I was younger I used to waste all of my pennies in bets, bribes... most of them didn't work and that sucked." He slowly touches my shoulder and helps me to make a step. My legs hurt but I can still walk on my own. "You should leave that, though. It's dangerous."

"I know," I say, trying to end this conversation sooner or later. "This is my last one, I swear. That's why I want to be there... now." That last one phrase actually felt true.

He nods "Let me take you to the casino. I'm here with my car and I think I do have some peroxide in my glove box." I am now slowly walking on my own with him next to me. He takes his hand off my shoulder and gets his keys out of his pocket. "My name is Pharynx, by the way."

Pharynx.

I think about what I'm doing while approaching his car... shall I trust him? I don't know. There's something in him that makes me feelweird. It's like... if you want me to be honest, every time I look at him, I think I'm looking at Thorax in some way. Those purple eyes are almost the same as his.

I can't run, though. I can barely walk too, in fact. I really need someone to take me there before it's too late, just in case. I won't run away tonight.

I think there is no other way but... I think just in case, what if this guy is actually something else? What should I do?

No, wait. What am I doing? I'm literally approaching his car. I shouldn't have accepted that.

He opens the door and I find out there is someone else inside. I look at her and my body stops.

It's a woman. "Is she OK?" she says while looking at him. I calm down a bit when I find out she doesn't have that weird accent, but a younger, sweeter voice. She must not be the woman from the Stuntman's number phone. She may be far away from here.

Her aspect surprises me because she looks like Coco but taller and a bit older. She has long light-blue hair, clear yellow skin, and a black dress covered by a big white coat. She's also holding a bottle of perfume. "Not much," replies Pharynx, talking to her. She is looking at me with concern... and also disgust, I know it. "She has to go to the casino." Then she looks back at him, surprised. "She has a problem to solve."

Pharynx opens the back door for me and I slowly start to get in. Someone interrupts me in the process: "Girl," the lady says. "You won't even make a single step into the casino with that look."

She is right. Not only I dressed myself up randomly, but I have sparks of dust everywhere, even in my hair, and I'm bleeding and sweating. "I know." I only say that before a stupid effort of cleaning my pants with my hands. I accidentally touch my knee and I feel myself on fire.

"She has to cross out a mark." Pharynx gets in the car and waits for me to get in and close the door. The lady next to him looks at me madly. "She's Skystar, my girlfriend," he says, pointing at her with his thumb.

Pharynx and Skystar. A couple. I only wave my hand to her while I put my head over the headrest. "Hi," I say right after. She sticks her light blue eyes on me and doesn't even answer. She's visibly angry. She doesn't want me inside that car.

"Let me open the box," he tells her girlfriend and gets out a plastic bag from it. I'm still wondering something while looking at them.

Who are they?

Why does Pharynx seem familiar to me?

We can't forget that I'm actually inside their car. I may be losing on this.

Skystar takes a cotton ball and hydrogen peroxide out of it. A plastic bag with that inside a glove box? How strange, isn't it?... Wait, it's not so strange after all. My aunt does the same thing. "So what?" she forcibly says, looking at her boyfriend.

Pharynx and Skystar look at me. I look at them back but don't say anything. Things may get salty. "Hey," he says. "Mind if you show us your wounded knee?"

I wonder if I should do it for a second but I eventually say yes. I also want to see what's going on with it, so I slowly roll up my pants, showing my knees to them. The left one has a scratch, but my right one has a pretty bad gash which is still bleeding a bit. My arms begin to shiver again but I try to calm myself down and not call their attention.

I ask myself, are both of them hiding something from me? Or are they just an innocent couple who goes to the casino?

"Let me." Pharynx grabs the cotton ball and pours some peroxide on it and slowly moves it toward my wound. It hurts at first but the pain gets calm after a couple of seconds. "Hold it for a second." He quickly puts everything back in the bag and gives it to Skystar to turn on the car.

I'm holding the cotton ball with my right hand and I'm playing with the car door handle with my left one. They haven't locked the doors yet... why did I accept to get here? I don't like this.

I know... I'm desperate. I'm not thinking straight. I also lost my cigarette box. I won't run away but... will this be worth it? If the two of them try to do something to me the only thing I can do is open the door while Pharynx is still driving and then throw me away, out of the car. That would hurt a lot, much more than my previous show which ended up with a big gash on my knee, but it's the only free exit I have... and it's 100% my fault. I put myself here. Honestly, I... come on, I--

"So... which mark do you have to cross out?" Skystar is looking at me through the car's center mirror and I come back to reality. "You really have things to solve, girl? You look exactly like several guys I've seen in that place but you seem too young to be part of it." She turns her head to look at me. "How old are you?"

Pharynx turns on the car and begins to move. Skystar and I only look at each other in silence. What should I say? "I'm not a minor." I suddenly shake my head.

She raises an eyebrow. "You might be burning your days if you go to the casino like this at 18 years old."

My hands are turning into rocks. "I'm older than 18."

"Then you are 19 or 20, don't you?" She moves her head. "Maybe 21. You don't seem to be over 25 years old, am I wrong?"

"Skystar, please." Pharynx gets in the middle and I look out the window. I'm getting next to the neon lights of small stores and a few traffic jams that don't last long. There's something at three blocks from us that shines the most. White and yellow lights point at something. "She told me this will be the last one. She wants to finish what she started. A bet."

"Betting, gambling?" she now looks at him. "At her age? Not even you did that..."

"Actually yes." He moves his head while chuckling. "Don't you remember when my sister took me to that old casino in Smith to talk trash to people? I was 17. I won twice."

17 years old, wait a second. Pharynx was underage at that moment... how did his sister manage to get him inside a casino? "Gosh, let's forget about this." Skystar sighs after hearing that.

His sister. Casino. We are getting nearer the shining place and I have a question. They may know about her. "I want to ask you something." They have to know.

Skystar looks at me, through the rearview mirror, one more time. "Yes, girl?"

I smash the cotton ball with my fist, taking it out of my knee, and I gasp. "This man told me there was... someone who was considered a legend in that casino." Pharynx is also looking at me through the mirror. I can see it. They are both observing me with cold eyes. "I think she is considered the best gambler in all of the city... do you know her?"

They judge me through the mirror when we stop in front of a big grey building surrounded by white and yellow lights. It has a big red sign on its top: CASINO. Pharynx, however, does not turn off the car engine and turns to the right, getting inside a small tunnel next to the casino, which has an entrance that reads: PARKING LOT.

They go down the tunnel entrance without saying anything to me.

I think I'm dead.

How stupid.

"If you don't give us a name we don't have any idea," suddenly replies Skystar, crossing her arms. "There are lots of women here that are considered legends."

Pharynx looks at Skystar in silence. They didn't like what I asked... I can easily notice it. "I... I don't know her name."

She rolls her eyes and nobody says anything. Not even Pharynx.

I'm about to open the door and get out while running down the tunnel until the car turns to the right and enters the indoor, subterranean grey parking lot surrounded by parked cars, white lights on the ceiling, and... shouts? From where?

We see it. The three of us are spectators of a group of unknown men beating somebody up on the floor at the end of this big and cold place. What is going on?

The hurt man suddenly can find a gap where he can come out and save his own life by pushing one of the attackers and running away, approaching us. Skystar instantly opens the glove box and grabs something that I can't see. The plastic bag is hiding me from everything that is inside.

"Great," whispers Pharynx while Skystar is still looking for something inside the box. The attacked man kisses something on his arm before going back to the fight...

... and I know who is that guy already. Oh no. Oh no. This can't be true, I'm about to laugh. That guy is none other than... "Oh, my God!" I shout when I look at the weird bracelet on his arm. His white t-shirt is now almost dyed red and he is still smiling, no matter what. "It's him! It's him!"

"What?" suddenly asks Pharynx. "Who? This guy is--?"

I'm panicking. Caballeron, the only potential help I find in this, can't get killed by some stupid assholes in front of me. I can't witness this. "This was the guy I..." I gasp again, the urge to do something immediately is killing me. "Come on, help me, please! I need him alive!"

Pharynx now looks at Skystar, who gets out of the box what she was looking for: a handgun which gives me real goosebumps because it does not look like a knock-off plastic toy... this one looks heavy and its good quality metal can be seen. I can look at myself in that barrel. "What are you trying to do with that?" he asks her. "We are in the parking lot, Skystar."

The unknown group of men (six big men, in total) wants to attack Caballeron again, but suddenly she opens the car door while holding the gun. Pharynx does the same a second later, desperately.

I am alone, inside a car, wounded, sitting at the entrance of a parking lot under a casino, witnessing a fight.

"FUCKERS!" she shouts at the same time I open my door. I can barely move my legs now. "Get off him!"

She is holding the gun, aiming at one of their heads, as if she was some femme fatale. Does she actually know how to fire that handgun? She gasps and I throw my body outside, stupidly jumping from my seat. I hit my shoulder and part of my head against the parking lot's floor.

Ouch. I don't want my gash to touch the floor, so I begin to crawl next to the car. Pharynx turns around and looks at me at the same time I hear murmurs around the parking lot, and that's when a real gunshot blasts my ears and scares me... and Pharynx turns around again. I begin to hear louder shouts and footsteps from everywhere fading away.

What happened? Please, tell me I did not witness a murder.

"Skystar!" shouts Pharynx. "What the hell?! Why would you use the gun?"

"Didn't you see I shot at the floor? There was no other way to scare those freaking fat farmers!" she shouts while I slowly crawl at them without using my hurt knee. I feel two arms lifting me up by my shoulders and I want to shout but I can't. I freeze again.

It's Pharynx, who gets me up and points at a hurt Caballeron with his eyes. The guy is now sitting on the floor, lying against the front of a small white van. "He's right there," Pharynx tells me. "Are you sure it's him?"

I just nod. "It's him. I know it's him. I need..." I clean my face when I look at him. His eyes make me dizzy. "Thanks. I need to tie loose ends with that guy." I can't believe I'm going to ask him this. "Would you help me?"

He grabs me by my shoulder again and we start walking together. The six men who were attacking Caballeron disappeared, looks like they ran away. Skystar, on the other side, is now standing next to the hurt player, chuckling while looking at him. "Why in the hell... did you save me?" Caballeron loudly says to her. His voice is almost dead and he's talking in parts, he can't even elaborate a full sentence without gasping and coughing. "I've got involved in a... a weird, shitty game with those bastards and I wanted to cheat... and I--"

Skystar's laugh interrupts his speech. "You asshole, you wanted to cheat in a game with the Hoofields?"

She knew those guys. "The McColts... believed in me for a second. I thought these assholes... were going to fall like flies," Caballeron says. Is it me or does Caballeron actually know her? Is he a friend of theirs? It wouldn't be a surprise, though. Caballeron must know everybody inside this place. I appear in the scenario along with Pharynx and I can see that one of the floor tiles has now a hole in it. "I'm telling you, I--"

He stops talking when he looks at me. We are almost in the same stage of physical pain, but he has a much worse look. His whole t-shirt is covered in blood and his face is completely scratched. He has also a big bruise on his forehead. "She told me she wanted to settle something with you," says Pharynx for me. Skystar immediately gets in the car to keep the gun and park it somewhere. We are three. One versus one, a third wheel observes. "What were you doing with her, Caballeron? Playing blackjack?"

He knows him. Pharynx said his name.

I don't like this.

The attacked gambler only shakes his head angrily and slowly. "What in the hell... is she doing here? You... really brought her? I don't have anything else to settle with her." Then he looks at me. "Don't... you see me right now? I don't look like I came out from the shower, girl... thank God I can still speak... I have already walked out of your place... with two hundred and six bucks, so get out of my sight... besides, what the fuck happened to you?" he points at my knee, then at his own lip, referring to my bleeding face. "Did a car run... over you or what?" He spits on the floor. Its blood.

I softly take Pharynx's hand out of my shoulder and do my best to hold my stance. I point at her with my trembling arm filled with scratches. "I want you to do something for me, Caballeron." I don't believe in myself but I'm trying to do my best.

Skystar parks the car somewhere and gets nearer us. I want to crouch, to confront Caballeron face to face, height by height, but my knees hurt. Pharynx raises his shoulders, surprised. The hurt gambler drops his jaw. "Wait, what?" he says.

"Do you want $800, Caballeron?"

Pharynx and Skystar look at each other, shocked. Did they expect me to be the main voice? "What are you talking about?" Caballeron puts his hand over his head. "I'm dizzy and... and my head hurts, girl. I can't think... of two words at the same time."

"And I can give you free money. I want you to help me with something I want to do, you understand?"

"What are you talking about?" asks Pharynx. "Didn't you want to settle your bets with him? Or this is...?"

"We never played a game together!" Caballeron spits blood again, this time in my direction, but it doesn't even hit my scratched hands. He failed. "This girl is lying to you... she cheated on you," and then he looks at me. "What?"

Pharynx remains silent and touches his hair. Skystar only turns around. They are disappointed, aren't they? "Listen," I say. "I want to... get rid of someone."

"I told you... I'm not a gangster." He shakes his head. "Do you see me and think... I have the face of someone who puts his hands in the mud?"

"You've been doing that every night," now I squint my eyes at him. "Didn't you cheat against six guys in a game minutes ago?"

He closes his eyes and tries to stand up, but he can't. Both Pharynx and Skystar don't say anything, but I can see they are really mad... and I don't think they are angry with Caballeron. "Shall we... lift that number a bit?"

Son of a gun. "I can give you $1000 if you want, a little bit more."

He chuckles. "Why do you... want me to help you?"

"Honestly, I don't know any other person who could help me with this," I say the first thing that comes into my mind. "I need to bring down someone, leave a message."

The couple gets mad at me. "Attack someone?" suddenly says Pharynx. "You want to leave a message? For what? To whom?"

"I told you." Skystar shakes her head behind him. "I knew it, Pharynx. This girl was hiding something."

I raise my voice. "This person did something very wrong against..." I tremble for a second, trying not to remember what I saw there. "... me. I seriously need help."

I look at both Pharynx and Skystar. The woman shakes her head. "You were running away from that person, don't you?"

"No, no." I shake my head. That's not true. "I don't even know this man, but he did something that---"

"Wait," I can hear from behind me.

A deep voice starts kicking my ears and the sound of someone slurping something. All of us turn around. I find Thunderhooves, I can easily recognize him with his sunglasses, big beard, camouflaged jacket with the red star of Yakkoslavia, and his white bandana, now slurping a red smoothie (is that daiquiri?). What is he doing here? Was he behind us all this time? "I know who she is."

"You?" is the first thing I ask him after my spine gets frozen. "What are you doing here?"

"I ask myself the same thing," says Pharynx, angrily. "What in the world are you doing in the parking lot?"

"Well," he says. "Let's pretend I didn't see the Hoofields running away from here because someone thought that it was a pretty good idea to get a gun out here and fire it." He drinks his beverage again. "I came to check out things. They sent me."

They sent him. What? Who?

"I was not going to ruin my new coat while shouting at six dumbasses," Skystar replies. "You understand, Thunderhooves?"

They know each other.

"Wait." Caballeron slowly stretches out a hand. "How do you...?" he points at Thunderhooves right behind me. "How do you know this stupid gir--?"

Thunderhooves interrupts him while slurping that smoothie again. "Shut up, Caballeron." He gets a weird gun out of his jacket's front pocket and fires it. Oh... The projectile flies right under my head and I fastly cover my ears and put my face on the floor. Then I realize what he fired wasn't actually a bullet. There's now a dart over Caballeron's shoulder, who he looks with shock.

"No!" he shouts and tries to stand up but fails. "You son of a... son of a..." He slips on the floor while taking the dart off him and he falls in slow motion, like a tower about to crash onto the ground. He is about to fall over me, but two strong hands which feel like big rocks pull me up like a doll and get me out of there. It felt like being thrown away by a tornado, and one second later, my butt hits the floor one more time.

Ouch, my anus.

I don't know what happened. Caballeron is now on the floor, his eyes are closed and he's not saying anything. God no, don't tell me he's dead. Thunderhooves turns around and looks at me while keeping the gun in his jacket. "Calm down," he says. "I didn't hurt him. It is just a dart gun with tranquilizers... he may wake up with a big hangover in a few hours."

Dart guns? Are they now using dart guns?

Who are they?

Pharynx? Skystar? Thunderhooves? Do they work together? Do they belong to the same circle?

The same dream?

Pharynx points a finger at me. "Did you really lie to us?" he says. He's really angry. "You didn't have any trouble with this guy, did you?" he says while putting a foot on Caballeron's unconscious back. "I brought you here and you lied to me, you lied to my girlfriend. Now you have to tell us what's really going on. Which guy do you need to take charge of?"

I cover my knee gash while looking at the three of them trying to destroy me with their eyes. What should I say? Why do they want me to tell them what I want to do? "Are you interested in doing it for me?"

"Of course not," Pharynx shakes his head. "Who do you think we are? Hitmen?"

"That's what I want to know." I try to stand up but I can't, so I decide to do my best to crawl nearer a car and put my back against its front, just like Caballeron did two minutes ago. "And telling me you are..." I have the images of Thunderhooves talking to me this morning. "... people who share a dream it's not enough, you know?"

"Who told you that?" Skystar asks me, crossing her arms. I easily point at the man who said that to me.

"Him," I say. Pharynx and Skystar look at him while he's still drinking his infamous smoothie.

"Where do you know this girl from, Thunderhooves?" asks Pharynx, Thunderhooves chuckles.

"Didn't your sister tell you about her?" he points at me as if I were a wild animal in a zoo cage and laughs. "It's your brother Thorax's new fairy tale."

... brother? Wait. Wait a second. Brother?

Pharynx and Thorax are actually related? That explains lots of things.

And do they have a sister?

Skystar sighs and Pharynx shakes his head to say "Don't tell me he is now thinking of himself as a white knight at this right moment."

"He is." Thunderhooves takes a sip. "You should apologize to her because of him. It surprises me that you didn't know."

I'm only listening. "We were busy all day with Skystar, we didn't hear anything. We were trying to get the device from---"

"SSSHHH!!" Skystar instantly shushes him while grabbing his shoulders and sticking her head at him.

I'm getting more confused over time. What is the device they were talking about? "That's it," I say, pointing at them. "That's what I am talking about. The device, what is that? What are you hiding? What do you know? What are you? Who are you? Are you yakkos? Yakkos trying to run away from Canterlot? Is that it? Is that what you want? You are planning to get--?"

"Uh, shut up." Thunderhooves takes his dart gun out of his pocket again and I fastly stand up and sit over a car front, ignoring my pain. I don't care... and I unconsciously say something.

"WAIT!" I shout. I'm about to blow this whole place up. "WAIT! 96, 33622!!" Once they hear those numbers, their faces completely change. They went from mad to actually shocked. Thunderhooves puts the dart gun down again, but he's still holding it. "Yes." I am the main voice again. "96-33622-XX. I guess you know that number, right?"

"Where did you take it from?" asks Pharynx, approaching me.

"I got it out from a card your brother had in his hands." Pharynx stops walking and looks down at the floor in disappointment, he may be hating on his brother right now. Skystar makes a grin. "Look," my creative mind starts developing something interesting. "I don't know who you are, I don't know what you do, sometimes I think I don't even care about it but... I seriously need help from you right now. From someone... from someone that can actually help me."

Thunderhooves aims the dart gun at my torso again. "I told you, girl. We are not criminals... and besides, we don't want to do stuff in Canterlot anymore."

"Because you want to leave the town, right?" I point at the three of them. "The three of you? Is that your dream?" Then at myself, I touch my chest several times with my finger and I nod. I'm sweating again, I'm letting myself go. This is my rant. "Mine too. I also want to get out of this fucking city which makes me sick. I'm dying because of this bloody place and I want to get out of here just like you."

"So what?" says Skystar, walking to me and putting two fingers under my jaw. "You think you are just like us because we share the same dreams, baby girl?"

"Let's make a deal..." I nod while she's holding my head. I'm so desperate I'll have these three guys under my knees. "I know about your dream, your phone number, and several things about you that I don't understand, yes, but that doesn't mean I can't snitch on you because of that."

"What?" suddenly says Pharynx. "Do you really want to snitch on us? You don't even know us."

"It's simple," I say, while the organs inside me are shaking because of my fear. I put it on the table, I shall respect myself for once, damnit! This is for Coco! "If you help me, I won't snitch anybody." I nod my head again while playing with my hands. "I will pay you what you want, every single penny... and you will help me with what I want to do against this man."

"And what do you want to do against that man?" Thunderhooves leaves his smoothie on the floor, right between the unconscious Caballeron's feet. "Do you even have a plan? What are you thinking about, in the first place?"

"What did this man do to you?" Pharynx asks me. Skystar slowly takes her two fingers off my jaw. "Did he hurt you? Steal you something? Did he hurt anybody you know?"

The image of Coco's black eye strikes me again. "He did hurt someone I know... but I can't confront him alone. He is..." how can I say this. "He is too..."

"Too powerful for you?" Skystar puts her hands over her hips. "Is that it? Who are we talking about?"

I think about lying again for a second but I decide to say the truth. Why not? "A guy named... Blueblood. Blueblood of United Cavalry."

They are not taking me seriously.

Skystar is the first one who laughs at me, then Thunderhooves, and finally, although he doesn't really wanna do it, Pharynx. The three of them laugh at me while looking at each other. Are they taking this seriously or not? Come on! "I apologize, little girl," Skystar says to me while covering her mouth. "That guy is a pretty big dude... he is on the top of the top of the top!"

"He appears in every single fashion magazine I've ever seen." Pharynx smiles at me. "Why didn't you choose a lower guy to pinch on? You will never get him to kiss your feet. He doesn't even know who you are."

You will never get him to kiss your feet. Who in the hell do you think you are?

He doesn't even know who you are. WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

"It's him!" I shout at them, looking at his purple eyes. My anger is coming out of every single part of my body. "I didn't choose that asshole to be my friend's boyfriend, for God's sake! Don't you understand I need to do something for her? This shit is completely unfair and stupid! Especially for my friend! For her!" I close my fist and put one over my face. "He hit her on her face! He left her with a black eye!"

That last phrase cut everybody's smile.

Now they know I'm being serious. They know this is serious, but Pharynx and Skystar get off me and walk around, giving me their backs. They turned their backs on me. Thunderhooves only shakes his head while still pointing at me with the dart gun. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm sorry, but we can't do anything to stop him."

"You're literally pointing a dart gun against me, Thunderhooves," I shout. "Don't tell me you don't have what you need to help me. Come on, don't you understa--"

A second later, I feel something landing under my shoulder, up my chest. It felt like a toothpick hitting me at a high speed.

I look down and I can see a dart in my body.

Fuck.

My arms and legs begin to shake uncontrollably before falling down, as I open my mouth in shock.

The last thing I can see before hitting the floor again is Pharynx and Skystar looking back at me.

I hit my head on the white ground, just like Caballeron.

My whole body is turning off. I can barely see or hear anything.

I'm feeling like I'm about to die.

My eyes get closed although I don't want them to blind my sight.

"Great, this is great...take her to the..."

END OF VOLUME I

Author's Note

The story will be on hiatus for a few days, and I'm afraid I won't keep publishing new chapters every two or three days.

"The Wallflower Blush Experience" Official Theme Song (also a prologue)

THE TALE OF WALLFLOWER THE KNIGHTESS

Lights off. People clapping. The bar is surrounded by clients eating at tables and candles numbly illuminating their faces. There is only one spotlight, shining above a man with an acoustic guitar. "Goodnight to everyone," he says with a smile holding a toothpick. He is wearing a worn-out black suit, wet because of the guitarist's sweat. His guitar, despite having its years of use and being a bit dirty, still feels like a brand-new instrument. "I've been impatient to share all of my songs with you... you're a great crowd. Thanks... thanks, to all of you."

The crowd gives a short ovation to the player again and he waves his hand to everybody. Then, the guitar man approaches his microphone and says: "This is a very special song I wrote about an infamous legend of this beautiful city, Canterlot, and also the protagonist of one of the most incredible stories of recent times... I started playing it one night and the lyrics..." he pauses for a second, snapping his finger. "The lyrics came up... out of nowhere if I've got to be honest. In my opinion, it's one of the most bizarre compositions I've ever done, but I'm proud of it because... I feel this song represents... this person in an outstanding way."

He slowly puts his fingers on the guitar. A D minor chord.

I saw her standing there

in another science fair

C major chord.

She's quiet, she doesn't care...

D major.

She had that magical stone...

G major.

She's got her own broken world...

A minor.

She's got her own fake ID...

She's none other than my anti-hero girl...

And back again...

Wallflower Blush!

They told me once

She wanted to go away on her own terms...

Wallflower Blush!

She's that type of girl

That would nudge your back

before stabbing you once and once again...

He stops for a moment and says: "According to what the newspapers said..." which makes people laugh.

She's something else

She wants to escape

She wants to hold me back to don't fall... one more time...

She's tired of her job

She's tired of home

She wants to go back to her own world

"And go on, people!"

"Wallflower Blush!" starts singing everyone, together. "They told me once she wanted to go away with her own terms... Wallflower Blush! She's that type of girl" Everybody starts clapping before even finishing the song. "That would nudge your back before stabbing you once and once again..."

The crowd now claps one more time, this time louder and the guitar man can't stop smiling. Everybody's happy.

However, there is someone that isn't clapping at one of those tables. She's pretending to have a smile but wishes not to do it instead. She looks at how everyone is giving another ovation to the guitarist while playing with her pink hair, which is slowly getting smoother instead of her characteristic poofy.

She wonders what she is doing there.

Her name is Pinkie Pie.

Volume I

HEY!

THANKS FOR BUYING THE WALLFLOWER BLUSH EXPERIENCE BRAND-NEW FIRST VOLUME!

Many critics around the world have praised the new sensation in the Equestrian manga community, written by Canterlot mangaka Someone from Somewhere.

We truly hope you enjoy the experience of Wallflower Blush... but not in her way. You may know why after reading the first pages...

Goodbye, fellow reader!

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The Wallflower Blush Experience Volume I