//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Importance of Family // by Crafter //------------------------------// Ponyville was a ghost town; a lone tumbleweed was blown down the roads as the wind lightly whistled across the empty streets. Sure Sundays were lazy in the small town, but not a single pony had left their house. Even the seemingly omnipotent guards that patrolled the town were absent, making Ponyville feel that much emptier. The lack of any activity was most likely caused by the massive party held the night before; everypony was enjoying a much needed rest. The home of the new family was no exception. Crafter and Ditzy were sound asleep in their bed, enjoying a well-deserved rest. The steady rise and fall of their chests indicated a peaceful slumber, recharging their metaphorical batteries. Once the sun started to rise earlier that morning, Crafter rapidly closed the curtains with his magic, not wanting to wake up just yet. But they could not delay the inevitable; only a few hours later, Dinky threw open the door to their bedroom and pounced on the bed of her slumbering parents. “Wake up wake up!” She happily yelled. “It’s time for breakfast, up an at’m!” “Slfexrfl.” Crafter mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head. “Dinky…” Ditzy tiredly said, rubbing her golden, crossed eyes as she propped herself up from her comfortable resting place. “Can’t you make yourself some cereal or something?” Dinky gave a sheepish smile. “I did, but the floor was really thirsty for some milk.” Ditzy groaned as she got out of bed, Crafter mumbled some more and quickly wrapped the now unused blanket around himself into a cocoon, causing Dinky to roll about the bed. Doing her best not to trip over her own hooves, Ditzy slowly made her way towards the kitchen. It was days like this that she was thankful that the kitchen was located on the same floor as the bedroom, in fact, the only thing they needed to go downstairs for was to open up shop on weekdays. She was greeted by the sight of an entire gallon of milk spilled all over the kitchen floor, a bowl of dry cereal on the counter. Ditzy gave an exasperated sigh; Crafter had just bought that gallon two days ago. Stepping over the milk, the grey pegasus made her way to the coffee machine and started a fresh pot of coffee. “What about the milk?” Dinky carefully asked, not wanting to land herself in more trouble than she already was. “You’re going to clean it up.” Ditzy said grumpily. As the coffee began to brew, she made her way to the pantry and pulled out a mop. After picking up the now empty milk carton and handing the mop to Dinky, the tired and cranky mare took a seat at the table to await the holy substance that was coffee. As her daughter slaved over the spilt milk, a noise was heard shuffling across the room. Crafter, still wrapped in the blanket and bi colored mane quite disheveled, dragged himself into the kitchen. His crossed, teal eyes landed on the tiny filly holding the mop with her magic, cleaning the mess she made. “You have failed me for the last time Admiral.” He quoted. Even with his brain barely functioning, he could still quote Hoof Wars without fail. Both Ditzy and Dinky rolled their eyes, neither of them in the mood. “Oh come on you’ve got to give me that one.” He pleaded. “No.” They both replied. “You guys are no fun…” “Until I get my coffee, I’m not in the mood for anything.” Ditzy snapped. Wrapping the blanket tightly around himself for comfort, Crafter took seat next to his wife. “Not even for a good morning kiss?” “…No…” Ditzy hesitantly said. She then gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek. “Ok maybe.” Crafter just smiled, enjoying his first day of marriage quite well. After the effect of the kiss wore off, the green unicorn started gazing about the room, finding everything very interesting and deserving of attention. “Uh oh.” Dinky said to herself, knowing what her father was about to do. He got up from the table, walked over to the couch, grinned widely, proceeded to throw both pillow chairs onto the couch and jumped into the fort he had just haphazardly created. “And there he goes…” Dinky sighed, the sound of Crafter’s giggling already present. It was only this bad when Crafter had a long night and was late getting his coffee, something that both Ditzy and Dinky did their best to prevent from happening. The coffee machine let out a small ding, signaling that the coffee was done brewing. Ditzy stumbled over to the machine and extracted the jug out from under the nozzle. Dinky, trying to make amends for the milk, used her magic to bring out two mugs from one of the higher cupboards. Ditzy poured coffee into both the mugs, being very careful not to spill it. “Try and coax your father out from the couch with this.” Ditzy said after adding the cream and sugar to the drinks. “On it mom.” Dinky took the mug with her magic and walked over to the couch. “Hey dad, coffee’s ready.” He poked the top of his head out from his ‘fort’ with a big grin plastered to his cross-eyed face. “Oh goodie! Time to commence the consumption of wake up juice!” Taking the mug from Dinky with his magic, he took a long sip. Eyes snapping open, he spat the molten liquid out of his mouth; making sure he wasn’t facing Dinky. “GAH IT’S HOT!!” “You don’t say.” Dinky commented sarcastically, going back to get the mop. “Well that’s one way to wake up.” Ditzy said from the kitchen, waiting for her own mug to cool and doing her best not to laugh. Crafter sheepishly made his way out of the makeshift fort he had made. After returning the chairs to their proper positions with his magic and putting the blanket he was using back in the bedroom, Crafter made his way to the kitchen to enjoy his coffee proper. “So what are we doing for breakfast?” “Well I was thinking we could discuss our trip to Prance over a Sugarcube Corner muffin.” “Sounds good, I'm starving.” As they stood up to leave for their favorite breakfast joint, there was a heavy knock on the door. “I’ll get it.” Ditzy sighed; she already knew who it was by the heavy knock. Carefully, Ditzy walked down the stairs to answer the door for the Day Guard who was most likely on the other side. Taking a moment to collect herself, she opened the door and stepped to the side. “Hello sir, come in and take a look around.” “Um, what are y’all talkin ‘bout?” The voice that answered was a deep rumble that was iconic to anypony who lived in Ponyville. “Oh. Sorry Big Mac, I thought you were one of the Day Guard.” Ditzy sheepishly replied. “Anyway, what can I do for you?” “Just a makin a delivery, its weddi’n gift from th’ Apple Family.” “Morning Mac.” Crafter said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “What kind of gift?” Big Mac just smirked, stepping to the side to reveal what his large frame was hiding. In a wagon sat a barrel, but not just any kind of barrel, the gift that Big Mac had delivered was labeled ‘zap apple cider: aged since 852 SSC.’ Zap apples were incredibly rare; most of the harvest was turned into jam, what was left over was turned into various pastries that the Apple Family enjoyed at home. They almost never made cider with it, due to how hard it was to make, and was incredibly expensive. And here was Big Mac, dropping of an entire keg of the rare cider. The two ponies the gift was entitled to just stood there; wide eyed and open jawed. Crafter had witnessed the zap apple harvest this past spring, and that jam was, for a lack of a better word, divine. Big Mac just chucked, lifted up the keg, and brought it inside. “Had a feel’n that’s how y’all would react.” Without another word, he left, closing the door on the way out. Dinky came skipping down the stairs, curious as to why her parents were taking so long. She found them staring at the closed door, paralyzed. Dinky also stared at the door, waiting for it to do whatever it did to make her parents stand there like they were. After a minute of waiting, the filly climbed onto Crafter’s back and waved a hoof in front of his face. No response, same reaction from her mother. “You guys alive?” There was still no reply. Fed up, Dinky poked her father with her small horn. “Hey! Wake up!” Letting out a small yelp, Crafter was snapped out of his trance. “Ow, what the.” This in turn snapped Ditzy out of hers. “Did Big Mac really just give us zap apple cider?” “Wait, zap apple what?” Dinky asked. “Cider and you’re not allowed to have any; it’s for adult ponies only.” Her mother quickly replied before the young filly could get any ideas. “Awww…. Well I guess that means you can’t have any dad.” “Har har, Dinks, har har.” “Ok, let’s get a move on.” Ditzy commanded, she was hungry and the sooner she got fed, the better. Without further delay, the three ponies made their way to get breakfast. Being the only ones out and about, Ponyville still had that eerie aura about it. “It feels like we’re on the set of The Trotting Dead.” Dinky whispered. “Oh that would be cool.” Crafter said. “Now that I think about it, I should probably update my zombie plan.” Being a firm believer of zombies; Crafter was sure to always keep his plan up to date. “Heh, tumbleweed.” He chuckled as the lone bush rolled down the street in front of them. “And here I thought I was distractible.” Ditzy joked. “I never cease to amaze do I?” Ditzy just giggled in response. “Do you think the bakery is even open yet?” “Well, as Dinky proved to us this morning: those with children are up sooner than those without them.” The mare said, giving her daughter a look of mock annoyance. Dinky just smiled innocently, donning the look of ‘who me?’ “Oh yeah that’s right. How old are their kids anyway?” “I would say at least a year old at this point.” Ditzy said after some thought. “That young? Wow.” Crafter responded, holding open the door to Sugarcube Corner to allow the two fillies in first. “Who’s young now?” Mrs. Cake asked from the kitchen, only catching the last part of their conversation. “We were just talking about the twins, nothing to worry about.” Ditzy reassured. “How are they anyway?” Mrs. Cake exited the kitchen, wiping baby food off of her face. “From one mother to another: they're a pain, but that’s why I love them.” “I know exactly what you mean.” Ditzy said sincerely. “Just this morning Dinky spilled a brand new gallon of milk.” “Well it can’t be helped dear; after all we’re only equine.” “And on that note,” Crafter cut in before the mares could start chatting again “we would like to place our order, if you’re ready that is.” Mrs. Cake simply smiled. “Of course, the door was open wasn’t it? What’ll you have dears, the usual?” Ditzy nodded, “But without the coffee, we had some before we left.” “Two Blueberry Supreme Muffins and one mini muffin coming up, feel free to take a seat, I’ll bring it to your table.” Crafter placed the appropriate amount of bits on the counter, and then they all took a seat at one of the booths. “So, when are the hotel reservations?” Ditzy asked once they all sat down. “Well, I reserved the hotel for next week. That would mean we should leave for CAX sometime tomorrow.” “Aren't you afraid of heights daddy?” Dinky asked; a light tone of concern in her voice. There was an audible gulp from the green unicorn. “I’m actually afraid of the airships. I mean come on! Who’s idea was it to tie a giant BAG full of FLAMMABLE gas onto a frigate that was designed for the OCEAN.” The mere thought of the combustible airbag was enough to start thinking about the ship wandering too close to an irritated storm cloud and going up in flames. Needless to say, Crafter hated flying. Putting a comforting hoof around his shoulder, Ditzy tried to calm her husband down. The food was conveniently placed down at that moment, along with some complimentary glasses of ice cold milk. Once Mrs. Cake went back into the kitchen to try and feed her foals breakfast, Ditzy replied for her incredibly stressed husband. “The reason, I'm assuming, is that the train would take too long. We would have had to have our wedding in spring if we were to get there in time for the reservations. Am I right dear?” Shakily, Crafter nodded. “And we all know how dad reacts to bees.” At the mere mention of the object of his crippling phobia, the panicking unicorn dove under the table. “Dinky…” the grey pegasus said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof in annoyance. “Come on out Crafty,” she said tenderly, trying to coax her husband out “there aren't any bees. She was just giving an example.” Slowly but surely, Crafter made his way back into his chair. He was still looking about as stressed as the day Ditzy first met him, if not more so. Even though his mind knew there was no danger, his body refused to lower its guard, causing the unicorn to maintain his high adrenaline levels. “I'm sorry daddy.” The filly said sadly. “It’s… it’s alright Dinks, no… no harm done.” Crafter said, trying to calm himself down as Ditzy held him in her wing. The muffin before him worked wonders on his frayed nerves, the heavenly mixture of blueberries and sugar sent him into a state of bliss. The warmth of Ditzy’s body as she held him added to the pleasure. “Feeling better now?” She asked after finishing her own muffin. Instead of verbally replying, Crafter snuggled closer. “Do you guys really have to do that in public?” Dinky asked in annoyance. “Yes we do.” Crafter replied defiantly, Dinky just groaned. “Let’s get back to the house; we have a lot of packing to do.” With that, the family got up from their booth, said goodbye to the Cakes and left to start getting ready.