//------------------------------// // Admiration and Adoration // Story: Three Kings // by MorseCode //------------------------------// Danny awoke one morning at noon, thankful that it was a Saturday. He went downstairs to find Mike watching television with their mother, while Gary was in the kitchen making a sandwich. Danny noticed Mike was holding a new football and there was a gold trophy of a bull on the shelf in the living room. Danny took a seat in the kitchen, and Gary quickly approached, sandwich in hand. Gary used his free hand to search through his pockets for a moment. Gary was always giving Mike and Danny various gifts, usually cash from his poker winnings. Neither Mike nor Danny knew exactly why he did it unless he just didn't want them to expose his illegal gambling, or maybe he was just a giving person. Danny was expecting Gary to pull cash out of his pocket but was surprised to see him pull out a long black box. "Normally, I'd just hand you cash, but since I leave today and all, I decided to get you and Mike something special," Gary said as he smiled at his brother's confused expression. Gary handed Danny the black box and he opened it to reveal a silver sword with a white chain. Danny looked at the necklace in disbelief. Danny gave his brother a quick hug and put the necklace around his neck Danny then walked into the living room and showed the necklace to his mother and Mike, who both gave shocked looks. Gary sat in the kitchen with a smile as Mike showed Danny his new ball and the trophy on the shelf. Danny didn't shut up about his gift for the rest of the day. The only time Danny had taken the necklace off was to shower. Until his mother's funeral, it didn't feel right to wear it that day. After giving the necklace to Danny, Gary left. After that, the only person in their family to see Gary was their father and even that was only for a weekend. Danny became severely disheartened when Gary didn't come to his graduation, though he was happy that Mike had shown up. When Danny asked Mike why Gary hadn't been seen for so long and wouldn't even come to Danny's high school graduation, Mike shrugged and said 'You know Gary. He's always off doin' his own thing.' Danny knew his brother was right, Gary was a free bird, but it didn't make him feel any better. Danny admired both of his brothers and always strives to be like them, but he wished they could have spent more time together Danny let out a long sigh as he continued down the road to his new home. Home, it was strange to him that he was already considering this place his home. Whether it was the shock of the whole situation or because he wasn't alone it was probably good he was adapting so quickly. He opened the door and quickly sped up the stairs to his brother's room. After a quick search, he found Gary's duffle bag and began to rummage through it. After pushing Gary's newly refurbished clothes out of the way, Danny found the books his brother had brought. He also found a few extra papers, and despite knowing it wasn't right, he couldn't hold back his curiosity. He examined the papers, Two letters and a photo, one of the letters was already opened, but oddly both were addressed to their father, Leonard. The photo was Gary standing with a sickly looking middle-aged woman with eyes almost identical to Gary's. Regretting his breach of his brother's privacy, Dan placed everything back and began to leave their house with the books. He found himself enjoying his walk greatly, he found the town gorgeous, and despite its small size, the town was quite lively and active. Dan couldn't help but smile at the stroke of luck he's had following the strange accident that brought him and his brothers here. They had a nice house, plenty to live on, friends, and most importantly, each other. He could tell that ponies were starting to adjust to the presence of humans as most would simply smile or nod as he passed, which was a pleasant change from the stares and whispers he'd seen before. As he began to find his grip waning from the weight of the books, he saw the large hollowed out tree just a block away. Just as he neared the building he was stopped by a flash in front of him. He stumbled nearly dropping the books in the process. "Woah, sorry about that," the blur returned, revealing itself to be Rainbow Dash. "I was trying for a new race record, and I didn't see you around the corner," Dash landed and started helping Danny collect his books. "No worries, I wasn't watching where I was going anyway." The human replied with a grin. "Thanks," He added after she handed him the books. "I'm heading to the library to loan these to Twilight, care to join?" He asked as he sorted himself. "Sorry, I gotta hurry up and sort the clouds for the night, weather control." The pegasus replied with a sigh. "Oh, speaking of work, do you know anywhere I could apply?" "Sorry, all I know is weather work, and you wouldn't fit the part" She stated, "Unless you can fly and move clouds." She snickered, "Don't worry, you'll find something kid." Danny sighed as she finished. "Yea, thanks though, I'll see ya around." He headed back down the street with a wave. Rainbow simply waved back and bolted off. After a few more uninterrupted moments, Danny found himself at the library door. He felt weird walking in without a knock but continued in. Twilight was in the open room, sorting shelves with Spike. She looked over at the sound of the door, smiling when she saw the youngest human. "Danny? What brings you by so late?" She asked as she walked to greet him at the door. "Hey, I, well, my brothers and I, wanted to pay you back for saving us. Gary thought it would help to give you his books for the library." He coughed a bit awkwardly but smiled all the same. Twilight's eyes lit up as she gasped, "Oh, you didn't have to do that, we didn't save you for a reward." She beamed, "But thank you so much. I'm gonna set up a new section, just for human books." She squeed in excitement before pausing with a sigh. "I'm not sure how though. Even with Spike, there's always so much work to do here as is." Danny held up a hand, "If you don't mind, I could help. I picked up a lot of handy skills after my bros moved out." Twilight smiled in response, "Aww, that would be great. Actually, I could pay you to help around here some. Spike's my number one assistant, but I could use a second. If you don't mind." Danny laughed, "That's perfect actually. Don't worry though, I'm the youngest of three, I'm ok being second." He smiled. Twilight chuckled, "Don't talk like that, you and your brothers seem to get along great. Like me and Shining." Danny simply nodded and smiled back. "I didn't mean anything bad. I love my bros. I'm just used to being the younger is all." The two would have a long conversation from there, sharing stories and laughs about their shared experience as the younger sibling. After nearly an hour, Twilight would ask, "So how much younger are you? Shining is almost seven years older than me, but what about you and your brothers?" Danny paused a moment to think before answering "Gary is the oldest, and he's about just shy of six years older. Mike is a few months closer." He replied. Twilight took her turn to pause. "That's a bit odd. Their so close in age, but a large gap before you. Any reason?" The question hung in the air as Danny bit his lip and thought. "It's... personal." He replied, shifting the tone in the air. Twilight frowned. "I'm sorry, I won't bring it up." She hung her head. Danny sighed again, "No, it's fine. Ask Gary instead, better if he's the one to tell you." Danny stood and turned to the door, "I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks, this was nice. I'll be back tomorrow to help more." He smiled softly. Twilight smiled back, "Of course, I look forward to it. Goodnight Danny." She said with a wave. "Goodnight." the human replied as he waved back and headed home.