//------------------------------// // Rookie: May I Speak? // Story: The Wallflower Blush Experience // by King Genesis //------------------------------// 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."