//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Off Duty 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

"Celestia! I need to get a few things from the hardware shop, do you want to come?" Rawsthorne had paused in the hallway and poked his head into the kitchen, where the pony was washing their breakfast dishes and enjoying some relaxing music.

She smoothly turned the volume down. "Hardware shop - that's Maggie's store, right?"

"Yes. She promised to change the blade on the lawn mower, so we can get started on the grass."

The thought of visiting with her new Skype friend was very appealing. True, Celestia had added all members of the pony meet group, but they were very rarely on. Glitter Dust was the most active one, with Celestia a close second. It helped that she had what was essentially her own iPad. The other ponies had to borrow their owners' computers. Except for Silent Brook - neither he nor his human had a use for such a thing.

Luckily, the stallion lived near the store where Glitter Dust helped her owner, so he kept in touch through the pegasus.

Something Rawsthorne had said made Celestia think. "By 'we can get started on the grass', you really mean 'I can get started on the grass'?"

The human grinned at her. "Smart girl!" he complimented. In truth, the mare recalled, her owner had asked her opinion on gardening and she said yes. Also, she was quite interested in this 'lawn mower'. Perhaps it could be useful for the gardeners at the Canterlot Castle.

"Sure, I'd like to come with!"

"Alright, come on, then!" Rawsthorne said and walked to the garage. Celestia put the mug she was wiping down on the table, turned off her iPad and hurried after. Both the chore and the music would wait for her. Soon they were on the road, the car's engine humming away. The sun was still up, but the alicorn saw some thick, black clouds rolling in over the city. It made her sigh miserably.

"What's wrong?" her owner asked with a touch of concern. It was heartwarming, really.

"The weather. I was hoping we could go for a walk tomorrow - a proper one - but it looks like it will rain."

Rawsthorne followed her gaze. "Shame. Maybe next week?"

Celestia opened her mouth to ask when winter was scheduled, but remembered in time that humans didn't control their seasons like ponies. "It might snow by then." She had poked her snout out through the door when her owner left the previous day. It had been downright chilly. Definitely smelling of winter.

The mare had her ears down - a sure sign of misery which the human was learning to recognize. A new thought brightened her up. Yes, a walk would be out of the question if it started to snow, but there were other fun activities. How many years had she spent the first day of snow cooped up in her room staring out the window, or watching from the balcony? Looking at her ponies, frolicking and laughing?

Each year she had been envious of their innocent fun. If she went out, it quickly turned into a media event. A political function, when all she had really wanted was a good snowball fight.

"Not that snow is bad. I'd just like to climb that hill before winter. And no, flying there isn't the same!"

The human blinked and woke up from whatever reverie had claimed him. "I'll check the weather forecast. Maybe next week will be your day."

"My day?"

"Let me guess. I'm coming with?" Rawsthorne asked.

Celestia gave him as innocent a look as she could. "Well, there are leash laws," she reminded him.

She laughed a little, then raised another point. "This lawn mower machine..."

Rawsthorne glanced at her, then at his rear mirror. The handle was just visible. They'd had to somehow fold the thing up in order to fit it into the car.

"Yes?" her owner asked.

"Does it always stink like that?"

Rawsthorne audibly sniffed. "Well, that's the gas. Is it bothering you? You should have said." He fiddled with the buttons in the car and fresh air began blowing more strongly in her face.

"Gas? What kind of gas? I've never smelled anything like it. It's not really bad, just... potent."

"Gasoline," the human explained. "It's a liquid fuel. Like..." he stopped for a moment and looked absentmindedly at the pony. "Do you have oil lamps. Back home?"

"Yes."

"It's like that," he continued. "A very flammable liquid. It's also used for cars."

The pony was impressed, despite herself. Running machines on liquid. She knew oil burned and so it could conceivably be used to drive steam machines. But this was something else entirely. It was quite an amazing concept. It also prodded at another memory.

"Wait- does the- uh, the central heating also run on gas?"

Rawsthorne looked impressed. "Nice catch! Similar liquid, yes. But not gasoline exactly."

The Princess felt a little smug. Until her owner asked: "What did you think 'gas' meant?"

She looked away, but it was too late. The traitorous blush had been instant.

"Come on, out with it! I promise I won't laugh."

She let out a breath and admitted her original thought. "Steam. I thought it ran on steam, okay?"

True to his word, Rawsthorne didn't laugh, but he wanted to. She could tell. In some ways, it was worse!

"Well, in my world we might not have fancy machines, but we can move the sun and the moon around, and control the weather!"

Before she knew it, her tongue was poking out defiantly at the human and he reached out and prodded it back in. At first all she could think about was how pleasantly salty his finger was. Then they both blushed deeply. Celestia saw this, because she had been watching the man from the corner of her eye.

"Soo," Rawsthorne said after an uncomfortable silence. "Will you change before we get there?"

Celestia was only too glad of the new topic. "Yes, of course. Glitter Dust said she helps out in the shop, and I also don't want Maggie to know I'm an alicorn."

Rawsthorne still seemed uneasy about the duplicity. "Is it really such a big deal?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes! I know how it sounds, but please trust me, Gregory. This is for the best."

He sighed and let it go. "Fine, fine," he agreed, but it didn't seem easy for him. She'd have to find a better explanation, and soon! For now, Celestia cast the spell and became Supple Branch again.


The store itself reminded the alicorn of the garden center. Except instead of green, growing things, the shelves held a multitude of machines, tools and what the mare guessed were parts. She did her best to help Rawsthorne unload his contraption, but without her magic and unused as she was to manual labor, the human was pretty much on his own.

Luckily the thing had wheels and wasn't too hard to push into the store. She did that while her owner locked the car. Once inside, she tried to find either Maggie or Glitter Dust. It wasn't difficult - the pegasus spotted them and came over.

Celestia nearly burst out laughing when she saw her getup. Blue overalls, hastily and crudely adapted for a pony. She spotted a name tag and couldn't hold back a small chuckle as she imagined what Rarity's reaction would be.

The pegasus took it well. She grinned back and pointed out: "Some of us have to work for a living, you know?"

Her friend turned a little to show off the clothes. There were a few dark stains, Celestia noted.

"Beats getting oil in fur and feathers," Glitter Dust explained when she caught the alicorn's stare.

The two embraced, carefully so that the Princess wouldn't get the aforementioned stains in her coat, then the pegasus smiled up at Rawsthorne.

"Maggie said you were coming. She's with a customer and it will probably take a while. I'll change your blade for you!" She cast a critical eye over the red lawn mower. "What is that, Honda something, right? Twin blades, electric start..." the pony mused, mainly to herself. "Nice machine. Must've cost a bundle."

Rawsthorne shrugged, like he did every time anyone mentioned money. "I got it on my gardener's recommendation. I'm guessing he didn't clean it properly or something, one of the blades is rusted and I don't want to risk it snapping off."

Celestia was staring at her friend with both pride and admiration. It was a familiar sensation whenever she thought about her more distinguished and accomplished subjects, but she still cherished it every time. "Where did you learn all that?!" she asked.

Glitter Dust just shrugged it off. "You know how it is. You help your human in the shop, pick up a few things. Anyway, we have the blades - Maggie checked when you called. I'll see if I know how to change them. Come this way!" She led them to a door which clearly said: 'Employees only'. Both Celestia and Rawsthorne stopped simultaneously and looked at each other uneasily.

Glitter Dust noticed she was alone and turned. "Come on, Maggie said it's okay!"

They followed and Celestia was willing to bet her owner had the same nagging feeling that they ought not to. She certainly had it. It was a workshop. Disorganized, dirty, greasy and full of tools and machine parts. Very few of them Celestia could guess the function of. The pegasus, however, seemed quite at home.

"Up here," Glitter Dust said and deftly helped Rawsthorne lift his contraption to an empty table.  It was human-height, which would have been too high for a pony, but the pegasus pushed over a wheeled chair and hopped on. "Okay, let's see here," she murmured and brought her hooves together in anticipation.

"You are sure you can do this?" Rawsthorne asked a little uncertainly.

The mare grinned confidently. "Oh sure, I've taken apart a few of these. Not this exact model, but... a few."

"And how many have you put back together?" It was Maggie's voice from the door and it made Glitter Dust jump in surprise. The poor mare didn't know how to answer, so her mouth just opened and shut a few times, comically.

It made Celestia laugh, even though she didn't want to hurt Glitter Dust's feelings. The pegasus was blushing quite heavily while the woman came forward to shake Rawsthorne's hand and pet Celestia.

"How are you two?" the woman asked. She was looking at the man, so the alicorn let him answer first.

"Nothing to complain. You work Saturdays?"

Maggie shrugged. "On and off. We take turns. I thought I'd let Glitter take a shift or two alone every now and then, but she has a tendency to dismantle everything the customers bring in for repair. And then I have to fix it."

The alicorn saw the pegasus poke her tongue out. She caught her eye and grinned.

"Come on, Maggie! How many times has that really happened?!" the mare demanded.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the lady had a good memory. She began counting on her fingers. "Let's see, there was that gentleman with his chainsaw. Then that other guy with his weed whacker. There was that vacuum cleaner - brand new, might I add," Maggie listed. With each item, Glitter Dust's face fell a little more. "Oh, and just last week? Remember that woman who brought in that toy car with her son? He had to walk home, didn't he? It took me the whole night to put it back together!"

The pegasus sighed. "Okay, you've made your point. I'm sorry. I just wanna see how stuff works!"

There was no real anger there. The woman reached over and patted her pony on her head. "That's why I let you watch, okay?"

Celestia and Rawsthorne watched the two. It looked like a very intimate, pleasant moment. Then the lady remembered herself and made a demand: "Now apologize to Mr. Rawsthorne for nearly breaking his lawn mower!"

Glitter Dust faced them with a very sorry expression. Celestia made a mental note to ask her later how to do that! Even her lip trembled in misery.

"Sorry, Mr. Rawsthorne!" she almost sobbed!

The alicorn nearly applauded the act. She couldn't believe how the humans didn't guess!

"This will be thirty minutes. Why don't you two go and get a pie from the shop across the street?" the lady suggested.

Celestia felt her eyes go large and pleading as she wordlessly and imploringly looked at her owner. The pegasus might have cornered the market of 'sad pony', but no one could do 'begging, starving mare' like the Princess with her eye on the pastry!

Of course he couldn't resist. "Okay, sounds fine. Be back soon!"

The alicorn looked back to her friend just before the door closed. Glitter Dust didn't seem to be in trouble. The mare had a slightly guilty grin on her muzzle, but the woman was already reaching over to ruffle her mane. This pony, at least, wasn't being molested, the alicorn decided.


By the time they made it back, Celestia industriously licking crumbs from one leg and awkwardly hopping on the other three, Rawsthorne's machine was ready. Glitter Dust was polishing it with a rag out in the shop and smiled at them as they entered.

"All done! Piece of cake!" the pegasus exclaimed. "I could've done it, easy!"

Rawsthorne looked around for the woman, but Glitter Dust explained without him having to ask: "Maggie is in the back. Smoke break. Here's the bill for parts. She says no charge for changing it." She waved a hoof for emphasis, but Rawsthorne wouldn't hear of it. He pulled some bills from his wallet and put them down on the counter. "Then tell her to consider it a tip. Thanks!"

He was about to grab the repaired lawn mower and leave, but Glitter Dust began pushing it. "I'll help you get it loaded," she offered helpfully. It also gave her a few more minutes to talk with Celestia.

"So, a couple of us are gonna have a video chat tonight, you in?"

The alicorn didn't quite understand. "What's that?"

"It's a thing on Skype where you can see each other's faces and talk with words - out loud. It's not quite like meeting in person, but better than text. Faster, too. What do you say?"

Celestia had a sudden, small fright. She hadn't changed into Silent Brook while she chatted on the iPad! Could they see her?! Nopony had remarked upon it.

"You can see me over Skype?!"

Luckily, Glitter Dust mistook it for enthusiasm. "Well, not just like that," she explained to Celestia's immense relief. "You gotta turn it on, first. I'll tell you how before we start."

Celestia had to work hard to keep her face neutral and not sigh in relief. "Okay. Thanks. Why today?"

Glitter Dust didn't answer immediately, because she was helping Rawsthorne load the lawn mower into the back of his car. When she was done, she wiped her hooves on her overalls. "Some of the others won't be able to make it on Wednesday, so we're doing this instead," she explained.

It made sense and the alicorn found herself looking forward to it. Good thing Glitter Dust had given her a warning, even if it was inadvertently.

She promised she would attend, hugged her pegasus friend goodbye, and stepped around the car to get in the passenger seat. Rawsthorne said something to Glitter dust, but the Princess didn't catch it from inside. She just heard the muffled reply: "Oh! Wow! Thanks!"

The human got in behind the wheel and started his car.

"What was that?"

"Oh, I just gave Glitter Dust a small tip for helping me load the mower."

Celestia smiled at him. She found she liked it when Rawsthorne was nice to her friends. "That was sweet of you, but didn't you already leave a tip inside? For Maggie's work?"

"Well, yes, but this was just for Glitter Dust. She's nice," Rawsthorne explained. Celestia found herself nodding in agreement. Then the smell of gas caught her nose again. She glanced back at the machine. "So, now it will work? You'll show me how to use it?"

He nodded, but didn't look away from the road. "Yep. When we get home. You mow and I'll make us sandwiches, deal?"

"No lunch?!" Her plaintive tone finally made him look over, and her lowered ears made him both 'aww' and chuckle, one after the other. "We just had pie, remember?"

"That didn't count!"

"Sorry."

Celestia realized her owner was teasing her. And, by the look of it, he was having a lot of fun! She poked her tongue out and decided to pout the rest of the way home. If he was serious about skipping lunch, she would make him such a dinner! The mare began to plot.