It’s safe to say that Quick Fix was overjoyed last time we saw her and Galsthan.
Really, who wouldn’t be super excited to learn that the love of your life was safe, and then have them ask you to marry them?
I know I sure would, and I know for a fact that Quick Fix and Galsthan were about to be very happy… or at least, they planned that they would be happy.
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First thing’s always first: Quick Fix and Galsthan needed to plan their wedding. Details such as the time and date, the catering, entertainment, someone to legally wed them, the attire, and so much more needed planning!
There was so much scheduling to do, and then there was the cost! With some of the things they were planning to do, it would cost every bit and penny they had and then some, which meant a lot of extra work hours, but it was all worth it to them to have their dream day come true.
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While Galsthan got to work on hiring someone for their special day, Quick Fix headed down to Sweet Apple Acres to visit an orange mare and talk about food. Not just any food, of course, but an entire buffet that would be served on their special day.
It would be costly, of course, but Quick Fix had a special reserved fund. Sure, it wasn’t meant for this situation… in fact, it was meant to fund her Grandmother’s hip replacement surgery, but that’d gotten paid for a long time ago by an unnamed donor, which left the fund unused. Now that there was a purpose for it, Quick Fix couldn’t be happier.
Quick Fix was the kind of pony to find a use for a part, regardless if it was a spare part or just simply leftovers from something. If it went unused, she would find a way to make it useful. That’s exactly what she did with the emergency fund.
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On her way to the farm, Quick Fix noticed that everything just seemed… brighter. Things smelled better, the sun seemed to shine brighter, and everypony seemed happier. Maybe everypony already heard about the wedding? Quick Fix thought briefly, before continuing on her merry way.
As she walked, she pulled a list from her saddlebags and looked it over. It was a list of the items she was going to order from the Apple family. The list included Apple Cobbler, Apple Pie, some Apples themselves, Apple Juice, and Jam. They sure like their Apples, Quick Fix thought. She looked further down the list, remembering that she also wrote down what else she needed to buy. The list went on for a bit, including things from Sugar Cube Corner, a few stalls in the market, and a couple of hand-picked items.
“Today’s gonna be a long day… but it’ll be worth it.” she said with a short sigh, continuing onwards.
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Galsthan was just as busy as Quick Fix. First, he needed to arrange the date and make invitations. He wasn’t completely sure ALL of whom he would send them to, but it would be nice to make them and get them out of the way.
Being a blacksmith, of course, gave him fun ways to make and send the invitations in the first place.
It was only minutes of walking until his eyes locked onto his old blacksmithing shop. It’d been awhile since he’d been in there last, but it hadn’t been nearly long enough for him to forget anything about it.
He trotted inside and immediately located his goggles, which were on the floor, in the exact place he’d left them last time. He picked them up with one hoof and strapped them over his eyes, stating, “Let’s get down to business.”
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Clank! reverberated the hammer, violently pressing metal into shape.
Fssss! hissed the press, molding sheets of iron into something more.
Kzzzzt! shrieked the saw, cutting steel, reshaping it into what it would soon be.
Heh, thought Galsthan, feels good to be back.
Fwoom! asserted the furnace, molding into shape what would soon be a finished product.
Zhht! expressed the sand paper, finalizing the newly created project.
Galsthan wiped the sweat from his brow with a hoof, before taking a short step back from his work table to see the fruits of his labor.
What he had created was several small, thin metal sheets with invitations printed on the surface. The invitations, 40 in all, stated when and where the wedding was going to take place, who was getting married, and what attire should be worn at the wedding. It wasn’t too formal a wedding, but it was at least formal enough to be considered a bit fancy.
Galsthan stared in admiration for a moment at what these would soon represent, which was the joining of him and his beloved Quick Fix. After staring at the metal invites for a few moments longer, he started to gather them and place them in a pair of saddlebags on a desk to his left. He stopped for a moment, reaching for another, when something came to mind. He still had his horn, so… why not try to use it? After all, if you leave something unused for a long time, it may eventually become unusable.
Galsthan concentrated on one of the invites in front of him. He strained for a moment, before being unable to lift the invite. He removed the bandage he ordinarily kept around his broken horn and tried again, his horn igniting with a sickly green glow. The aura enveloping his horn stuttered for a moment and a few sparks shot out, but he quickly regained stability. A bead of sweat dripped down his face as the invitation was surrounded by the same green, then it slowly began to lift into the air. Clear strain was displayed on Galsthan’s face, even though it was such a light object to him ordinarily. As he hovered it over to his saddlebags, he realized he’d been holding his breath the entire time, and released it in one loud breath. He lost his grip on the invite and it fell to the floor, clattering for a moment before coming to a rest. Galsthan looked down disappointedly at the invite. Well, looks like I have improvements to work on, he thought to himself as he picked it up with his mouth and placed it in his saddlebags. He put his saddlebags on after placing all of the metal sheets into it, then heard a familiar bell chime at the entrance to his shop.
I wonder who that could be? he wondered to himself, approaching the counter. On the other side was a familiar orange mare in a Stetson. He frowned for a moment, attempting to remember where he had seen this pony before, until he remembered that this was that orange mare from the farm he checked. She spoke up, “Hey there, mah plow broke clean in two earlier, an’ we’re lookin’ fer a replacement. Got anythin’ like that?”
Galsthan thought for a moment, completely forgetting about the invitations, going over in his head how much metal it would take to make a manual plow, weighing the prices, thinking how to make it efficient, before he said, “Okay.” He then turned towards his drawing table and started to walk to it, saying, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll have the price worked out.” He pulled out a blank piece of paper and a pencil, then began drawing schematics for the plow, not even remembering the store was closed.
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When Quick Fix arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, she was surprised to not see Applejack there. Regardless, she found somepony to take her requests. She paid the large red stallion, nearly exhausting her money, but at least the food was ordered. She, of course, let them know when and where it would be happening, and when they should be there to set up.
Upon leaving Sweet Apple Acres, she pulled out a pen and her list, then crossed off ‘Main Dishes’ from the list, before moving on to the next item. She needed to go to Sugar Cube corner and order some sweets, so she placed the list and pen back in her saddlebags and headed off towards Sugar Cube Corner.
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Galsthan had finished up the schematic for the new plow. It was going to be made of a strong galvanized steel which, although expensive, was incredibly durable. It would also have easy pushing handles and a body strap, in case you either wanted to push or pull it. To finalize the design, he curved the actual plow itself, causing it to come to a very sharp point, which would make it cut through the dirt easier.
He looked over the finished plan before turning around and heading to his machines.
Kzzzzt! spun the Saw, cutting the metal into shape.
Thoom! roared the press, bending metal to its liking.
Fwoom! hollered the furnace, tempering the metal.
Wham! hammered the, well, hammer, molding and refining the metal.
Ding! chimed the bell, announcing an arrival.
Every time, thought Galsthan, turning from his work once more, walking back to the counter in the manner he knew all too well. He looked at the pony that had entered with slight annoyance, until he recognized it as Princess Celestia. How had he not known she would show up?
He bowed immediately and said, “Sorry, your highness, I didn’t know you were coming here today.” He righted himself to see that the princess also seemed annoyed. “You’ve been gone too long,” she started, almost seeming to scowl, “and I have a schedule to keep. You’re coming to Canterlot immediately, with or without Quick Fix. Royal duties can only wait so long.”
Galsthan’s mouth was agape. The wedding wasn’t planned to happen for another three days or so, and here was Princess Celestia, telling him he had to leave now! What would he do? What could he do? He could tell Quick Fix, but that would break her heart. So close, yet so far? I don’t think so.
Then it finally hit Galsthan.
Why not just move the wedding to Canterlot?
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Meanwhile, at Sugar Cube Corner…
A pink pony had been assaulting Quick Fix’s ears for the past several minutes. She swore they were bleeding with how much the pink nuisance was rambling on and on about pointless and irrelevant topics. She would ask for her to stop, but that would be very rude, so she merely ordered some sweets for the party, then gave the Cakes instructions on where and when they should bring the desserts. She left as quickly as possible to avoid more run-ins with that pink word-cannon.
Next up on the list w-… Quick Fix stopped for a moment, thinking she heard someone calling her name. She glanced around, looking up and down the streets, until she noticed Galsthan galloping towards her. He came to an abrupt stop just a few hooves away from her and caught his breath for a moment before saying, “Quick Fix! Glad I found you. The Princess wants me back in Canterlot NOW! We’ll need to get everything arranged to be there instead, and fast. I don’t think I can keep her delayed much longer, so just go tell the ponies that you’ve already arranged with to move it to Canterlot, and we’ll sort out the details from there.” Without waiting for a response, Galsthan turned and fled.
Quick Fix sighed heavily. Why does everything have to be so complicated?