~ ~ ~ Gliese ~ ~ ~
Oh boy! I immediately thought when I woke up. I sat up, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
Today was finally the day. It was really sunny, too, so that had to mean it was gonna be the greatest day ever, right? Oh, doesn’t matter, ‘cause today was gonna be even better than great, it was gonna be the most super-duper awesome day ever!
I threw the covers away and got up outta bed and jumped to the ground. Even if I couldn’t really sleep last night ‘cause I was so excited about today, I wasn’t tired at all! I wanted to run down for breakfast just when my hooves touched the floor, but I couldn’t mess this up. Everything had to be perfect. So I ran to the bathroom instead, and checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked like a perfect pony on a perfect day. Shiny blue coat? Check. Superawesome wings? Check. Combed mane…? Bah, who cares! Gotta get to it!
I felt this weird tingling feeling all of a sudden, like in sports class when I’m about to woosh from one side of the hoofball field to the other -- I think coach calls it adribbelin. I love that feeling coz when I do it, all the other kids who don’t have wings like mine always go “whooooa!” and think I’m super great. Whatever it’s called it’s awesome, so with a giggle I ran downstairs as fast as I could, where I found mom and Naos already there.
“Gooooood morning, everypony!” I said. I do that a lot, coz I always feel like you should start your morning feeling happy. Today though I was extra happy, so I had to say it extra loud! Had to make sure everypony was gonna have a special day like me!
My mom saw that, and when she said hi to me she rubbed my cheeks the way I like it. Looks like she was having a great day too! Then again, she’s always happy when I see her, even more when she’s talking about me and my wings to the other moms!
I love my mom of course, but there was one pony that I knew today was gonna be extra special for too. And that’s my brother Naos! I ran to him because I knew I had to give him special attention. But I didn’t have time to ask him if he had a good night like mom did, because I hit the table and spilled his bowl of cereal.
That’s when the awesome feeling stopped. I felt really, really bad… How was I supposed to make this day awesome for Naos if I did something super not-awesome so early? I wanted to say sorry a million times and clean up the mess I did, but mom told me she’d take care of it.
I looked at Naos, and I could see that he was mad again. I told him I was sorry, because I really didn’t mean to spoil his breakfast like that.
“That’s ok,” he said. It was only two words, but they made me really happy again! I was ok! I still had a chance to make this the best day ever, and suddenly I thought of a joke that was just as awesome.
“No use crying over spilt milk, right?” I said. I was proud, because it was something my dad that taught me to say when something bad happened and I had to make up for it, and it was even better now because it was real milk! Mom laughed, but she laughs a lot at my jokes. But when I saw Naos smile, I felt super cool because I’d made a joke that he found funny!
Today was gonna be so. Super. Awesomesauce.
After breakfast, I went straight to my room, and opened my toy trunk. That’s where I stashed the drawing I’d made just for Naos.
I’ve been working on that thing a little bit every day for the past week. I could have made one of my usual drawings, coz mom and dad say that I’m really gifted at drawing, but I wanted this one to be especially good. I used every single color crayon I have, I drew the shapes slowly to make sure they looked right, and I coloured super slowly to make sure the lines didn’t go outside of the shapes. They kinda did, just a bit, but it was still the best drawing ever, because it was for Naos.
I didn’t really tell you about Naos, did I? He’s my big brother. He’s also the coolest pony in Equestria. If I had to tell you about all the things that make him super cool, it would take a really long time. But I think what makes him the best big brother in the world is that he always knows what to do. Even though he gets mad a lot… Mom says it’s because he’s growing up and he gets mad a lot for no reason, but I know that I also do a lot of no-no’s. I think that’s why Naos gets mad at me, because he knows what to do and when I’m doing something I shouldn’t. I’m so lucky to have a brother who knows everything like he does! He’s the best and I love him more than the whole wide world, and I know he loves me back just as much!
Thinking about how cool Naos was gonna find my drawing, I ran to his room to finally show him. But he wasn’t there. So I went to ask mom, and she told me she heard him go to the garage, so I went straight there. When I got there, I heard him talking with somepony.
Shoot! I thought. I wanted to surprise him with the drawing, but he wasn’t gonna be surprised if there was somepony else! Everytime I try to talk to Naos when his friends are around, he tells me to ‘get lost’, which is really weird ‘cause I don’t think you can get lost on purpose right? Sometimes he even pretends he doesn’t know me, but that’s okay, ‘cause I guess big ponies have to talk about big pony things. So I turned to go away, thinking I’d come back later… But if I did that, maybe Naos would go outside and I wouldn’t see him for the rest of the day! And I really wanted to show him my drawing… So I hid behind a wall, where he wouldn’t see me, and waited for their talk to be over.
The sun outside was making his blue coat shine, but he still looked really mad like it was raining. I saw somepony else too, talking to him. He had a red coat and a scruffy brown mane. I didn’t know who he was, but he looked like he was the same age as Naos, and also he looked really happy to see him. That made sense, since Naos is so awesome everypony would be happy to see him, so I got a little curious and listened to what they were saying.
“Trust me. I went over it a dozen times or so. It’s foalproof,” said the red colt.
I peeked over the corner of the wall I was hiding behind to see what he looked like, but just then, Naos turned around.
“You’re insane,” I heard him say. I didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t matter at the moment because I was really scared because Naos was walking towards where I was! What would I do if he saw me listening to his conversation? He’d be really, really mad…
“That’s cool, I’ll get Gliese to help out.”
Suddenly I stopped thinking about Naos. The red colt had just said that, and I was super surprised.
How did he know my name? Did he know I was here? And what did he want me to help with? I thought that maybe he was also gonna make a drawing and wanted me to help him with my awesome drawing skills. I almost showed myself, but Naos was still just on the other side of the corner behind which I was, so I didn’t want to scare him. I heard him turn around and walk to his friend.
“I don’t think so,” said Naos. But why not? I didn’t even know what they were talking about!
Naos kept talking, and he sounded really angry, more than usual. “You are not dragging him into your stupid little games!” he said. So the red colt wanted me to play a game? I love games! Why didn’t Naos want me to do this?
“Why not? I’m great with kids. Think he can’t handle it?”
You bet I can handle it! Is it racing? I’m the best racer in my class, I can do it! I can fly as fast as--
“He’s just a kid! He can’t handle anything!”
Suddenly they stopped talking.
That… kinda hurt. They started talking again, but I wasn’t listening anymore.
After a while I turned my head towards the garage door. Naos was gone. I kinda wanted to run after him, but part of me told me maybe it wasn’t such a good idea afterwards.
My eyes started getting wet. Why did Naos say that? I knew he was grumpy, but… why?
The red colt just watched him go, and then he said something without turning around.
“You can come out now.”
I wasn’t expecting that. First I did nothing… I didn’t know if I should run away or not. He knew I was here anyway, so I decided to come out of hiding.
I walked up to him and tried to wipe my tears. I didn’t want to see him crying like this. But he turned around and looked at me with a smile.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re Gliese, right?”
“Yeah…”
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I didn’t want to say anything to this big colt I didn’t know.
“Nothing,” I said, but he knew there was something wrong anyway.
“It’s because of what your brother said, right?”
The red colt sat down to my level.
“What’s that you got there?” he said. He was talking about my drawing, still under my hoof. What drawing? I wanted to say. It was useless now, right? I don’t know why, but I still gave it to him. He looked at it and smiled some more.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “I can tell you put a lot of work into this. I remember I could never color inside the shapes, either.”
I laughed a little. He was a nice colt. “I wanted to give it to Naos, but…”
That was it. I started crying again, and I couldn’t hide it now. The red colt put a hoof on my shoulder, and pulled me into a hug.
“Shh… Hey, it’s okay…”
I tried to talk through my crying. “I don’t get it… I’m always nice to him… Why does he hate me?”
“Nah, little dude, he doesn’t hate you. Naos is a bit of a grump… But he doesn’t hate you.”
I broke away from him. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Antares, I’m a friend of your brother’s. I came by to ask him to help me out with something. Or maybe you already knew that?”
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to spy on you.”
“That’s okay. He agreed to do the job anyway, so it’s cool.”
When Antares stopped talking he just looked at me and smiled. I didn’t know what to say.
“You like your big brother, don’t you, Gliese?”
“Yeah… He’s the best. I just wish he wasn’t mad all the time.”
“Well, would you like to make him happy?”
“Yeah, but how? He left before I could give him my drawing.”
Antares nodded. “You can always give it to him later. But you know, he thinks you can’t do anything because you’re a little kid. I bet you could prove him wrong, and then he’d be really stoked.”
I was a bit surprised. Was he talking about that job he was talking to Naos about?
“But... he said he didn’t want me around. I think you promised, too.”
“You’re right. You should never break a promise, and I promised I wouldn’t talk to you,” he said. He put his head a little closer to me, like he wanted to whisper. “But… he doesn’t know that you know that, right?”
I was confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s just say I gave Naos a job. What if I had one for you, too? Something that if Naos saw… he’d be really proud. Would you do it?”
“Yes!” I said. I didn’t even have to think about it. Antares laughed.
“Alright, I’ll tell you about it. But remember… It’s a secret to everypony. This stays between you and me, got it?”
“Got it!”
I was really excited. Maybe I could finally make Naos happy again!
“Alright… Now listen…”
He put a hoof in the air, and looked at me straight in the eye.
“Rule number one: don’t be late.”
It was sunset when I got to the place I was supposed to go.
I told mom I was going to play with some neighborhood kids and that I’d probably stay the night at one of their houses. She said it was alright, like she always does. Other moms don’t really let their kids sleep at my house, but mom always lets me hang around with my friends until late. That’s pretty cool! So now I was downtown, facing that big bakery where Antares told me to go. I kinda wanted to stay outside for a bit, because the sky was gorgeous. It was all orangey. I mean, it was like every day, the big red sun setting down next to the moon and making it grow brighter… but tonight was really cool. Just like today, really, I knew it would happen like that!
But then I remembered rule number one. Antares told me not to be late. So I didn’t lose any time and I went inside the bakery.
There was a bell that made a little ringing sound when I pushed the door open. It was a cool bakery filled with bright light that made all the colours really stick out. There were two or three ponies already there sitting at the round tables around me, and at the back of the room there was a big pink counter decorated with fake frosting like on a birthday cake, with a big glass window and several treats that looked really yummy. Now that I was there I kinda wanted one, but I remembered I didn’t have any money and that I’d already gotten my weekly 30 bits which were still at home. But Antares told me I wouldn’t need any money, so it was ok.
I went to the counter where the baker was. She was a big pony who looked like she ate a lot of cake herself, but that only made her all round and cheery. When she saw me she gave me a big warm smile.
“Well, hello there, little one!” she said. “What can I get you?”
“Hello miss baker!” I said with a big smile. Antares told me I’d have to be extra polite when I spoke to her. “I’d like to buy some cake, please.”
“Well, I should think so!” said the baker lady with a giggle. “Tell me, what looks sweet to you?”
I looked at all the big and little cakes behind the window. Gee, they looked really tasty… I’d have to remember to come here again soon.
Another thing Antares told me was to take as long as possible. He told me to “buy some time”, and laughed when I told him I didn’t know they actually sold it. So he explained that I just had to pretend that I couldn’t decide on what to pick.
“Well?” said the baker. “Anything pick your fancy?”
“Uh… um… I think I need a little time to chose, if that’s ok.”
“Of course!” said the baker. “Take as much time as you need, dear. If you need me, I’ll just be back here.”
Oh no! She was going towards the storage! That was rule number two! Antares said that no matter what happened, I had to stop the baker from going in there!
“Oh! Um…”
The baker turned around and walked back to the counter. “Yes? What is it?”
Quick!
“Well I’d love to know what each cake tastes like, but I can’t read the labels,” I said. Actually I could read them, but Antares said it’d be a good idea if I pretended I didn’t.
“I see!” said the baker. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn soon enough. Which label would you like me to read out for you?”
I looked at all the cakes. I hadn’t picked a label yet, but I knew I had to choose fast before she decided to go back to storage. “Um… that one,” I said, pointing at a small blue cupcake that was right in front of me.
“Ah, good choice! That’s our special Crystal Cupcake, with real bits of sapphire in the frosting!”
Suddenly, I saw something behind the baker that really surprised me. In the dark room behind her, Naos was looking at me through an opening in the door.
“You can take ‘em out and keep them as jewels! It’s got Everfree forest blueberries, vanilla icing, sponge cake…”
Now, I was really scared. He was gonna get more mad than ever before! He said he didn’t want Antares to bring me here, and now he knew that I knew that he knew that Antares had broken his promise! I could only see one of his eyes, but it looked straight at me with both anger and surprise.
“Something wrong?” said the baker. I kept looking at the door for a second, because I completely forgot she was talking to me. I looked at her, but just then she turned to the storage door I was looking at. I almost panicked, but it was ok, Naos was gone.
“Oh, no, nothing wrong, sorry,” I said. The baker looked back at me with a funny look. “Um… That sounds really nice, but… do you have anything with chocolate?”
I knew that was a really dumb question to ask in a bakery, but I couldn’t think of anything else. I was starting to get a little spooked now.
“Sure we do!” said the baker. “Take this for example,” she said, pointing towards a little bigger and darker cake with a lightning bolt on it. “This is a really popular one, the Wonderbolts’ éclair! That lightning bolt on top is lemon frosting, and--”
“I don’t give a shit about cake!”
The baker stopped talking and looked back to the storage door. Inside I felt like I just got struck by lightning like that cake. That was Naos’s voice. I knew it was him because he used that no-no word a lot.
“Did you hear something?” asked the baker as she turned back to the storage door. I didn’t have time to answer before she walked to the door and put a hoof to the handle, opening it slowly. In front of the counter I was biting my lip and I could hear my heart beating really fast in my head. I had to stop her!
“Ooh!” I said so loud that a couple of ponies sitting in the bakery looked at me. The baker turned around and looked at me too, looking really surprised.
“What is it?” she asked. I didn’t really have anything to say.
“Uh, nothing, it’s just… I-I remembered I don’t actually like chocolate,” I said.
The baker walked back to the counter, and I tried hard to smile but it was really hard because all I wanted to do was run away. But I couldn’t run away, because Antares told me I could only leave when I saw him arrive at the bakery himself.
I turned around really quickly, wishing that Antares would be waiting outside the bakery. Suddenly, I saw a pony I knew, but it wasn’t Antares. It was Orion! He’s a friend of Naos!
I didn’t know how, but if he was a friend, he’d know what to do.
“Sweetie, are you going to buy anything?” asked the baker. “I don’t want to be pushy but--”
“Nevermindbye!” I said, turning to her with a big smile before flying straight out of the front door again. I think I might have torn the doorbell off with me.
I flew towards Orion and a mare I didn’t know. I was afraid, and I was also really sad. Something went wrong, Naos wouldn’t be as happy as Antares said he’d be. And I wanted to cry again.
I stopped in front of Orion and talked as fast as I could.
“Orion! We got a big problem!”
“Gliese…? What are you doing h--”
“There’s no time to explain! We’re in big trouble!” I said. After all, Antares and Naos were still in the bakery! If the baker went into the storage room, I didn’t know what would happen, but it would be really bad!
Just then, I heard the sound of a trash can being knocked over behind me, and I looked behind me. I saw Antares and Naos, and what looked like a big pink cloud of candy running straight towards us!
“Shit,” said the mare. I don’t get it; if it’s a no-no word, why do grown-ups use it all the time?