//------------------------------// // Grandma's Gift // Story: The Telescope // by PieDisliker //------------------------------// My grandmother was unique, probably more unique than any other woman of her age. What made her so unique was that she never lost that child inside of her. Maybe it was because she always wanted a granddaughter. She never had a granddaughter, nor did she even have a daughter to call her own. She was the grandmother on my father’s side. Along with my father, her only other child was my Uncle Steve. I was an only child, and my Uncle Steve and Aunt Jen never had children. It’s not that they didn’t want to… they just couldn’t. Aunt Jen has ovarian cancer, preventing her from having children. Bless her, I hope she lives happily for the rest of her life, whenever it may end. So I’m actually her only grandchild. Funny how that works. I always got extra money for my birthday, and even more when I got ready for college. She was a very generous and thoughtful woman. I remember those car rides we’d go on to visit my grandparents. They were long, but I always looked forward to seeing them again. My grandmother had a hobby that wasn’t so common. She was a doll collector. She especially loved Cabbage Patch Kids. Being a typical young boy, I wasn’t interested. I flew model helicopters and launched rockets with my grandfather, instead. They sure were fun, but I do bet that my grandmother got lonely having nobody to talk to about her expanding collection. My mother would try to relate when she could, and it did make her smile a bit, but grandma would always go off on a tangent. She would go through each specific detail on where they were from and how she collected each doll. She’d also try to explain the smallest details on each of the dolls, like what box they came with, and how they looked better surrounding other specific dolls. I feel bad for my mom; she was never able to keep up with her. Back in the eighties when the My Little Pony cartoon came out, she would collect tons of the figurines. I wonder if she watched the show at all. She probably did, since she memorized their names so fluently. I was hardly alive in the eighties, there’s no way I could relate to that stuff. She never stopped collecting them, each new generation of My Little Pony going by. When you spoke with her on the subject, sometimes you would question whether or not she was a ten-year-old girl. It’s not like this was a bad thing, though. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t lost the kid inside of me so easily, either. Being an adult really sucks sometimes. I miss the times where I would watch cartoons on a Saturday morning on the couch while eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Those were good times. One day, she did lose that kid inside of her, as well as the old woman outside of her. She’s gone, now. She wanted to give this to me. It wasn’t a Cabbage Patch doll or something alike… it was a telescope. I didn’t even know that she owned one! Maybe she bought it for me, thinking that I was keen on astronomy. Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at the stars and all, but I was never into studying the constellations. Today is the day that I’m going to set up the telescope. I would have done it earlier, but I was too exhausted from work. It’s also Saturday, and I don’t have to do anything aside from feeding myself and using the bathroom, so I’ll have plenty of time to set this thing up. I’m still wondering, though… why a telescope? The box is unmarked, so I have no idea what brand this telescope is. I cut through the packaging and unravel the bubble wrap to reveal a few basic parts. It seems pretty simple to set up, and moderately lightweight, too. I’m thankful for that, as I do not cope with complicated instructions, especially those of other languages with no English. Yeah, that gets frustrating. I think I’ll just bring it to the guest room, it has the best view of the sky and I’ll be able to check out the stars there. I don’t expect to end up getting much use from it, though. I carry the partially-opened box up there with the parts of the telescope, then set the box down in the guest room. I take out what seems to be the base of the piece. It seems to be set up similar to your typical tripod. I set in the middle piece, and then finish off with the viewing section at the top. It was actually really simple. Are most telescopes like this? I might as well test it out, I might have to adjust one of the knobs to get a clear view. I’ll head back when it’s nighttime afterwards. Let’s see… right eye to the small glass, close the left and I’ll get a view of- that’s not my town. Okay, so this is a fake telescope. I knew it was too simple for its own good! I’m seeing colorful and decorative buildings and… horses. Colorful small horses with tattoos on their… oh wait, now it makes sense! This is a My Little Pony telescope. I don’t really have many positive things to say about My Little Pony, though this is pretty detailed for a kid’s toy. I can see why my grandmother would want to give it to me. Whoever made this has some real amazing craftsmanship. It’s like I’m watching the cartoon from here. My hand slips and I move the telescope… and the scenery moves as well. I see ponies now walking in and out of a bakery instead of just some typical town’s streets. There’s this pink unicorn with blue hair that’s levitating a box above her head. Her horn’s glowing, too. I don’t remember ponies being enchanted in the series before, but then again, I never really paid attention to it. That’s not what should be on my mind though. I think that whenever I move the telescope, the scenery changes! That would be amazing, but just to be sure… I move it again and squeal a little with excitement. This thing is amazing. It uses motion sensing to move across the town. With technology improving these days you don’t know what they’ll come up with next. I’m impressed. Who made this? I check for a label but I don’t see anything on it. That’s a shame. Regardless, I’m very impressed by this creation ahead of me. I bring my eye straight back to viewing the town. This’ll keep me entertained for a little while. Let’s see here… There’s two ponies arguing. Over what? I don’t know. What would ponies argue about? I thought they would be too peaceful for that. I move the telescope again to see a pony with wings kicking some of the clouds in the sky. Apparently not only are they able to fly, but they can control the weather, too. I hate to admit it to myself but that’s actually pretty cool. I wonder if they control other parts like rain and wind… maybe even lightning… nah, they wouldn’t do that in a little girl’s show. I pull the top of the scope downwards and I- I burst out in laughter. That just made my day. I’m seeing a flying grey pony with crossed eyes. Are you serious? Is this a glitch in the system or- Nope. They just moved. The right eye moved up, the other moved downwards. This was intentional! I can’t tell if it’s cruelty or simply a good joke. I hold my hand over my mouth trying my best to keep myself from cracking up even further, but it won’t do. The eyes were plenty enough, but now she accidentally just crashed into a yellowish pony, sending the two of them toppling straight to the ground. Oh god, I think I need to watch this show now. I’m not one for little girl’s shows, but this was too much for me. How could you not laugh at that? Thank you, grandma, for giving me possibly the most amazing gift ever. Now if only I could stop laughing and think straight for a moment. -------------------------- A/N: This fic's pretty much something for me to work on when I'm not working on my other fic, Sour Dreams. I'm not quite sure where to take this one yet. Do you guys want him to explain more about his life, or simply explain more that happens with the telescope? Maybe a little bit of both? I feel more confident after hearing suggestions, so if you guys would provide me some I'd really appreciate it.