//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Family Apprciation Day: A Charles Hoofwin Story // by Spades_of_Ace //------------------------------// After eating breakfast; Charles, Esbin, and Margret went out the front door of the house and began to walk down the street. But before they could get far, Charles suddenly stopped in place “You two go on ahead, I just remembered something.” “What, what is it,” Esbin asked as he turned around to see his dad. “It’s something I need to get for the class, that’s all. Just keep going I shouldn’t be too long,” Charles said as he made his way back home to retrieve what he needed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “What do you think dad’s getting mom,” Esbin asked his mother with a smile. “I don’t know sweetheart, but let’s keep going; I don’t want you to be late for school,” Margret answered as she walked beside Esbin down the path. Meanwhile, back inside the house; Charles went upstairs to pull out the foot locker from his closet once more to pull out an old wool shirt and jacket from it. “I sure hope this old thing still fits me,” Charles said to himself as he stared at the wool uniform. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Esbin and Margret walked along the path the Ponyville School to see the several colts and fillies playing outside the school house while they waited for class to start. Just then Esbin spotted three familiar fillies waiting for him around the swing set. “Mornin’ Esbin,” Applebloom called out. “Morning girls,” Esbin waved to his friends who were walking up to him, “Mom, you know my friends, right?” “Of course I do;the sweet little Cutie Mark Crusaders. How goes your cutie mark crusading?” Margret asked with a pleasant smile. “Not so good, Ms. Hoofwin,” Scootaloo said with a morose expression on her face as she looked to the ground. “Oh I’m sorry to hear that girls; but don’t you worry, I’m certain that you will all get you cutie marks someday,” Margret said. The little ponies smiled at the light blue mare. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I thought you said you were going to bring your dad to Family Appreciation Day,” Sweetie Belle whispered to Esbin. “He said he needed to get something back home, he’ll be here soon enough,” Esbin whispered back to the young unicorn. Just then the bell rang out to let all the young ponies know that class was about to begin. Everyone made their way to the door of the school and into the classroom. Esbin took his seat behind Apple Bloom with his mom standing beside him; all the while he couldn’t keep his eyes off the classroom door to see his dad walking in. “Well, well, well; look who brought his mommy,” mocked Silver Spoon, over to her friend Diamond Tiara. “The blank flank crusader,” Diamond Tiara asked in a sarcastic tone. Esbin glared at the two fillies that snickered at each other’s comment. “Esbin,” Margret tapped Esbin on the shoulder, “Aren’t those the two fillies that made fun of you since your first day at school?” Esbin nodded quietly with a slight glare at the two earth ponies. “It’s alright Esbin,” Margret said as she closed her eyes with distaste from the two fillies, “Anypony that makes fun of others only do it for their own personal gain. And you’re better than that.” Esbin smiled at his mother until a cerise colored mare walking through the door and closed it behind her. “Good morning class,” Miss Cheerilee said her usual perky voice. “Good morning Miss Cheerilee,” the whole class said in unison. “Today we have a special guest that will be here for Family Appreciation Day and uh…” Miss Cheerilee stopped giving her introduction to the class as she noticed that Charles Hoofwin wasn’t around the class. She then saw Esbin with her mother, “Excuse me Esbin, but didn’t you say that you were planning to bring your father for Family Appreciation Day? I mean there’s nothing wrong about bringing you mother to class, but you said that you would bring Charles.” “Um… well uh…” Esbin stuttered as he felt everypony in the class looking at him for an answer. “I’m sorry Miss Cheerilee; it’s just that Charles said he needed to get something back home, so he should here at any moment,” Margret explained to the teacher. “Oh well that’s quite alright, but perhaps you could fill in for your husband if he doesn’t show up,” Miss Cheerilee offered. “Well…” Margret was about to give an answer until there was a knock on the door. Everypony in the room turned to face the door where the knock came from. “That’s probably Charles right now.” Cheerilee walked over to the door and opened it to see a full grown stallion standing outside the school. She stepped out of the way so that she could let the stallion onto the classroom, and everypony in the room could see that it was indeed Charles Hoofwin. “DAD… w-what are you wearing?” Esbin asked the moment. His dad walked into the room she reveal that he was wearing a brown colored wool shirt with a olive green color tie under a OD green color jacket that had several patches on the sleeves, a hoofful of decorative medals on the right side of the upper chest area of the jacket, and an equipment belt around his waist. There was even a garrison cap on his head that seemed to be made of the same material as the shirt, the color was the brown same as the main jacket, and there was a very distinguished pin on the font right side of the cap. Some of the young ponies looked with awe at the sight. Some were in confusion to what he was wearing, while others muttered to one another about Charles. “Welcome Mr. Hoofwin for joining us on Family Appreciation Day,” Miss Cheerilee thanked happily as she lead Charles to the center of the classroom in front of the class, “I’m sure that your son appreciates you very much for coming to school today.” Charles could see that his son Esbin had a surprised look on his face. He smiled and said, “I’m sure, Madame.” He took a deep breath as he prepared himself to explain his life story to the class in front of him; he put on a relaxed face and said, “Ahem, good morning everypony; my name is Charles Hoofwin. For those of you who don’t know me I am Esbin Hoofwin’s father and right beside him over there is my beautiful wife Margret.” Margret couldn’t help but blush with a giggle by Charles comment as he pointed a hoof over to her and Esbin. “Now then, how many of you think I was from Canterlot just like my wife before we moved to Ponyville,” Charles asked the students, most of the little ponies in the classroom raised their hooves. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought. Well, believe it or not I was born on a small maize farm outside of Ponyville. My parents always sold a good harvest of corn to all the folks into town whenever we needed the money to get us by or if we had a little bit too much corn on the field. I was about Esbins’ age when I got my Cutie Mark, I saved up my money to buy myself a brand new saddlebag to help around the farm when I had enough I managed to barter down the price and out of the blue, there it was.” Charles turned to side to show his cutie mark to the class so that everypony could see it, most of the ponies let out signs of interest as they whispered to one another, except of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who propped their heads with a hoof. Diamond Tiara merely sighed and said, “Boring.” “SHUSH,” Esbin hissed irritably at the pink filly after hearing her, he returned his attention over to his dad. “When I was about twenty five years old, I decided to leave the farm and start my own life somewhere,” Charles explained as he paced back and forth at the front of the classroom, “Before I left, I said goodbye to my family, and to my only farmer friend I ever knew; Clyde Pie. He had this really odd-ball idea for starting a rock farm with his newly-wed wife for some reason, not really sure if it took off that well though. Anywho, I wished him the best of luck and that’s where my journey began…”