//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - Navigating // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// Arc awakens on the couch early the next morning, even before the sun has risen. He looks down at Scootaloo lying there on the other end of the couch. Sitting up, he leans over and gently shakes her. “Scootaloo? It’s time to get up.” Opening her eyes, she looks around with a dazed look on her face. “Where… are we?” “Downstairs on the sofa.” “Shouldn’t we get to bed?” “It’s actually morning.” “But the sun isn’t even up yet.” Arc nods. “And it won’t be for another hour.” “Can’t we go back to bed then?” Arc shakes his head as he stands up. “Nope. We have quite a bit of work to do today. So let’s get it started with a good breakfast.” “Big Brother?” “Yes?” Scootaloo nervously looks to him. “Can we please keep what was said last night to ourselves?” “Sure. You’ve got enough to deal with already.” “Thanks.” Heading to the kitchen, Arc washes his hands at the sink before turning to the refrigerator. Scootaloo looks confused as he pulls out a sealed plastic container. “What are you doing with that, Big Brother?” Arc chuckles. “Just trying to make today memorable for everyone. Bring me two skillets, please.” “Okay. What should I be doing?” “There’s a bottle of peanut oil in the cupboard. Get it out and pour it into that machine on the counter.” Scootaloo grins. “Yes sir.” A short time later Dinky sits up and sniffs the air. Turning, she nudges her mother. “Mom?” “Huh?” “Do you smell that?” Derpy nods as she sits up. “What… is it?” “I don’t really know. But it smells familiar.” Getting out of bed she walks over to the door. Opening it Dinky spies Shelly and Lily just stepping out of the master bedroom. “Do you and Miss Shelly smell that, Miss Lily?” Lily nods. “Yes we do.” Derpy appears confused. “What is it?” Shelly smiles at the little girl as she hobbles out the door. “I think I know. But we’ll have to go downstairs to see for ourselves.” Derpy and Lily help Shelly down the flight of steps to the main level and into the kitchen as Dinky leads the way. She immediately spies her father at the stove hovering happily over two skillets. He looks up at them as they enter the kitchen. “Happy Christmas Eve, everyone!” Derpy looks to the stove. “What’s all this, Arc?” Shelly giggles. “I thought I smelled beef.” Lily raises an eyebrow. “Hamburgers for breakfast, Arc?” Scootaloo calls out from the deep fryer nearby. “Big Brother said he wanted to make today memorable for all of us.” Hammer walks up from the basement and looks at the food cooking. Squinting, she turns her gaze to the wall clock. “Uh… did I really sleep all the way through to supper?” Dinky laughs. “No, Miss Hammer! My dad’s just making supper for breakfast!” Arc nods. “Shelly Burgers for everyone! Or at the very least my version of them.” Scootaloo nods as she pulls the strainer out of the deep fryer. “And french fries on demand!” Shelly smiles. “Can we help?” “I do need someone to slice some lettuce and tomatoes for toppings.” Lily walks toward the refrigerator. “I’ll fetch them.” Shelly giggles. “And I’ll chop them up.” Derpy looks to Arc. “Daisy and I will get the table set for you.” Hammer grins. “What about me?” “Can you grab the soda from the fridge and set it out with a few ice trays?” Scootaloo frowns. “For breakfast?” Arc chuckles as he pulls the patties off and lays them in a pan in the oven to keep warm. “Yes, Scarlet. We’re all going to eat like I do for breakfast.” Lily sets the lettuce and tomatoes in front of Shelly as she sits down with a cutting board. Taking a sharp kitchen knife, she makes short work of the vegetables. Hammer gasps as she puts the bottles on the table. “Woah! That was FAST!” Shelly smiles. “I do my best to run the kitchen in my restaurant. Before we had help I had to get as much done as possible before Lily returned to help me.” Dinky appears confused. “Why’s that, Miss Shelly?” “Because she had enough work to do without me adding to it.” “You’re still the fastest between us with a knife, Shelly.” Dinky giggles. “My mom’s pretty good with one too.” Derpy smiles happily. “Practice makes perfect.” Lily sighs. “I was never too good with it.” Shelly puts a hand on her friend’s arm. “To be fair, I’m not very good at bussing tables. Everyone’s orders get all jumbled up in my head.” Scootaloo nods. “We all do what we can.” Arc chuckles as he flips the burgers. “Right.” “Uh… Big Brother?” “Yes?” “This thing isn’t working right.” “Huh?” He looks over to see the deep fryer has stopped working. Shelly grimaces. “That isn’t good.” Lily sighs. “Right. A burger without french fries is like a day without sun.” “I can finish cooking them on the stove.” Hammer grins. “Don’t worry. I can fix it.” Derpy appears surprised. “You can?” “It’s probably just a loose connection. You got a screwdriver around here, Arc?” Arc points to a drawer. “In there.” Dinky runs over and pulls out the tools. She hurries over to Hammer and hands them over. “This should do just fine. Let’s just unplug this and see for ourselves.” Scootaloo pulls the plug as Hammer removes the screws holding on the back panel. Looking the electronics over for a few moments she reaches inside and makes a few quick movements before replacing the cover and looking to Scootaloo. “Try that.” Plugging the machine back in, she flicks the power switch. The light comes back on and bubbles begin forming in the oil again. Hammer grins triumphantly as she looks to the others. “Nothing to it.” Derpy nods happily. “That was very impressive!” Dinky giggles. “Yeah! We always have to call someone when something around here breaks!” “You don’t know how to fix things, Arc?” “Sadly, no. When it comes to repairs I have to admit that I’m all thumbs.” Lily looks to Shelly. “We could use that expertise once in a while back at the restaurant.” “Agreed. It seems to take forever to get a technician out when something in the kitchen breaks.” “Well, if you two gals ever need a hand getting something to work, I’m the one for the job!” Lily smiles. “Thanks. We can pay the going rate too.” “Aw, you don’t have to…” Shelly interrupts her. “Oh, yes we do. After all, your skills are very valuable and must be paid for.” “I’m used to working on much bigger pieces of equipment for the military. Little stuff like this is nothing.” Scootaloo appears genuinely curious. “What’s the biggest job you ever did, Miss Hammer?” “Other than working on The Charger, that would be re-piping the gas lines in the kitchen back at the base.” Arc chuckles. “That sounds like a big job!” “Oh it was, mind you. But I had all the stuff to do it along with the know-how. So it wasn’t too hard, just time consuming. That’s half the job, don’t ya know. Having the right tools for the work I mean.” “What’s the other half?” Hammer grins as she watches Scootaloo pull out the finished golden fries. “Patience.” A short time later they sit down together to their early breakfast. Hammer grins hugely as she eats. “These are great! What did you call them again, Arc?!” “Cheeseburgers and french fries.” Lily frowns. “You’ve never had this before?” Hammer shakes her head. “Nope.” Shelly gasps. “Not even growing up?” “I don’t think so, no. But if they were as good as these are I’m sure I would have remembered it! And these potato sticks go really well with it!” Dinky giggles. “French fries?” “Yeah! After a meal like this I’ll be able to accomplish anything!” Derpy turns to Arc. “What’s the plan for today?” “We need to get all those presents for the orphans wrapped.” Shelly appears hopeful. “Can we all help?” Arc nods. “I’ll need it to get everything ready by tonight.” Lily turns to Arc. “What else needs to be done?” “We’ll need to go to the store to get ice cream, chocolate syrup, ground nuts, whipped cream, and cherries.” “What are you going to make with all that, dad?” “Another specialty of Shelly’s Kitchen. Sundaes.” Hammer raises an eyebrow, confused. “Like the day of the week?” Arc shakes his head. “No, Hammer. Sundaes are something to eat.” Hammer grins. “I’m noticing a trend with you. Everything has to do with food.” Lily laughs. “Well, good food does make life a lot more enjoyable.” Shelly nods. “And people to eat it with.” Arc shrugs. “Well, this food is for the orphans.” Scootaloo frowns. “Does that mean we can’t have any?” Arc chuckles. “I didn’t say that.” Derpy smiles. “Knowing Arc like I do, he’ll buy more than enough for everyone.” “That I will.” Hammer appears hopeful. “Can I come to this thing tonight, Arc?” “I don’t see why not. Just as long as you understand that Frank’s going to be there at some point.” “Oh, um… maybe I should just…” Dinky gasps. “Come on, Miss Hammer! I’m sure my dad will talk to Mister Frank before things get started!” “I can, yes.” Lily smiles. “Shelly and I will too.” “Of course. He’ll listen to us.” “Well, in that case… I suppose it’d be okay.” They finish their meal and stack the dishes on the counter. Shelly hobbles over to the sink with Derpy and Lily’s help. “We’ll get the breakfast dishes done.” Lily nods. “It won’t take long.” Derpy smiles. “I’ll lend a hand too.” Dinky grins. “Scarlet and I will help dry and put away.” “We will? I mean, right!” Hammer turns to her friend. “Should we get going to the store then, Arc?” Arc shakes his head. “I don’t have a big enough freezer to hold all the ice cream. Frank and I would usually just buy it from a local convenience store in Farburg on the way there. But with all this snow we’ll have to leave early to make it there before noon.” “So what do we do now then?” “Get the presents wrapped and out to the Jeep. That’s going to take a couple hours at least.” Shelly looks over from the sink. “We’ll be up to help in a bit, Arc.” Lily giggles. “Save some fun for us.” Arc chuckles. “No problem.” Arc and Hammer head upstairs to the master bedroom. Pulling the toys out of the bags Arc turns to her. “We need to separate the toys for boys versus girls first.” “That’s all good here. But how will we know which is which once they’re wrapped? You take a corner too hard and they’ll all get mixed up.” “I have two colors of wrapping paper. The toys for boys are wrapped in green while the girl’s toys are wrapped in red.” “Very festive. But what if a kid doesn’t want a doll, or something?” “They can always trade it with someone else. That’s half the fun of giving the gifts each year. Watching them swap amongst themselves to get exactly what they want.” “I don’t get why.” “You’ll see.” Sometime later Lily and Hammer help Shelly into the back seat as Derpy and Arc finish loading the gifts in the back of the Jeep. Dinky calls out from the front porch. “Doors locked, dad!” “Thank you, Daisy. Hop in the front and buckle up.” “Okay!” Bounding over to the driver’s side, she gets in and slides into the center seat. Hammer steps back and turns to Arc. “Shelly’s all buckled in.” Lily nods. “And I double checked to make sure we have enough gifts.” Derpy smiles as Arc shuts the back hatch. “Good! We should get moving if we want to beat the snow.” Scootaloo frowns. “Then we’d better hurry.” Arc nods as he looks up at the darkening sky. “Right. Let’s…” Hammer interrupts him. “Hey, Arc?” “Yeah?” “The weather’s only going to get worse as we near Farburg. Apparently they’ve already been hit hard by a big snowstorm.” “That’s why we’re leaving extra early. “ Dinky nods soberly. “Better safe than sorry!” “Well, you might want to leave the driving to me then.” “Oh?” “I’ve been through every hazardous driving training with every vehicle the military has. Cars, trucks, semis, tanks, planes, etcetera. You name it, I can drive it.” “Alright. Catch!” Arc tosses her his keys and heads for the back seat with Scootaloo as Derpy hops into the front passenger side. Lily steps aside and lets them slide in next to Shelly before getting in next to him. Closing the door behind her she looks to Arc as Scootaloo sits down in his lap. (Disclaimer: Not safe, I know). Lily giggles as she looks past Arc to Shelly. “This is going to be a blast!” Shelly nods sleepily. “Yes, indeed. I too am looking forward to a fun night back at the orphanage.” Hammer looks behind her. “We ready?” Arc nods. “Yeah. Let’s get moving.” Hammer backs out of the driveway and starts their journey down the snowy streets. Arc looks to Shelly. “Why don’t you get some rest?” Lily nods. “Yes, it’s going to be quite a late night for all of us.” Shelly yawns. “I think I’ll do that.” Lily sighs. “I’m sorry, Shelly. We should have brought you a pillow.” Arc chuckles. “You can always use me.” “Oh, I wouldn’t want to do that. After all, I’m pretty boney.” “It’s fine, Shelly. Come here.” Putting his arm around his friend, Arc pulls her close. She smiles and snuggles up to him. “Thank you, Arc. You always know just how to take care of us.” Arc turns to Lily. “You want to take a nap too?” “That might not be a bad idea. After all, we’re not getting home until the wee hours of the morning anyways.” Arc chuckles. “Leave it to me, your friendly neighborhood pillow.” Derpy looks to Dinky. “We should probably follow their example, dear.” “But I’m not even tired, mom!” “Then you can just rest.” Arc smiles. “Do as your mother says, Daisy.” “Okay.” Scootaloo snuggles up to him as well as Dinky and Derpy doze in their seats together. Hammer chuckles as she deftly navigates the treacherous roads. “Glad to see everyone’s getting into the holiday spirit.” “Something like that.” Hammer looks at him in the rear view mirror. “Why don’t you get some rest too, Arc? Like you said, it’s going to be a long night.” “I think I will, thanks.” They drive on in silence for three hours. Eventually they come to the Farburg town limits. Hammer frowns and pulls into a parking lot. Turning to look at Arc she gently pokes him. Arc slowly opens his eyes and looks around. “Huh…?” “We’re here in Farburg.” Arc rubs his eyes sleepily. “Did you find the store?” Hammer nods. “I did. But we have a bit of a problem.” She points to a sign in the window that reads ‘closed’. Arc frowns. “What the…? It’s supposed to be open on Christmas Eve. Hammer sighs. “Well, the sign on the front door says they changed their hours because of the snowstorm.” Arc looks out the window. “I guess that makes sense. After all, it is coming down pretty hard out there.” “Should we see if something else is open?” Arc shakes his head. “I chose this place because it was the only thing open in town on Christmas Eve. Literally every other store is closed today.” “So, what should we do?” Arc thinks for a moment before responding. “Not to worry. I have a plan.”