//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Appreciating Family // Story: Repair and Deliver // by SleeplessScribe //------------------------------// Repair and Deliver Story 6 Chapter 19: Appreciating Family By: SleeplessScribe There were a lot of ponies in the town square today. Had I not been on my way to school, I might have stopped to see what was going on. However, I was already scared of running late, seeing as how Big Tucker did his best to keep me from leaving by rolling around in front of me all the way to the door. He’s such a silly puppy! It turns out I made it in the nick of time, as all the other colts and fillies were already there, and Miss Cheerilee was just starting to call everyone to their seats. We didn’t stay in our seats long, though. Our teacher greeted us all with a bright smile as she opened a nearby window. “Wonderful news, my little ponies. I’ve got a lovely field trip planned for us today!” Everyone started chattering now and I felt a nudge on my shoulder. I turned to see Scootaloo grinning and pointing out the window. “Where do you think we’re going?” I just shrugged. “No idea.” We didn’t have to wonder for very long, though. Miss Cheerilee started passing out little notepads to all of us, then opened the door and let us out in a single file line. “We’re all going to Whitetail Woods, and I’d like you all to name and describe each of the animals you see!” If my swishing tail wasn’t enough of an indicator, my wide, sparkling eyes certainly were. I was probably the most excited filly in class to be taking this trip. Sprint came up behind me and tapped my shoulder with the biggest grin on her face ever. “So, you happy to hear that? I see someone got her cutie maaaark.” I started nodding faster than I thought possible. “Yes! Yes! Yes! This is gonna be the best field trip ever! Say, now that I’m thinking about it, how did your chores at the farm go?” Before Sprint could speak, Apple Bloom popped up in front of her with a smile to match her… what was Sprint exactly? Her brother hadn’t married Apple Bloom’s sister, so they weren’t related… would that make her a house guest? Anyway, I’m getting off topic, let me try again. Before Sprint could speak, Apple Bloom popped up in front of her with a smile to match the one Sprint was wearing. “We got everything done! The barn’s all fixed up, our flooding problem’s been taken care of, and we even found Jet’s missing hat! Oh boy, he’s got a scruffy mane under that cap.” Sweetie Belle came up behind us and poked my horn. “I call Dinky’s group! We’re sure to get lots of stuff written down with your help!” I felt my cheeks heat up from the compliment. “No, you give me too much credit. I don’t know that much about animals. There’s actually a whole lot more I want to learn! Maybe one day I could be an animal doctor like Miss Fluttershy!” “Okay, class! Find your buddy and follow me. We’ll be here until lunch time, and then we’re going back to class so I can see all of your work.” Unfortunately, Miss Cheerilee’s buddy system only allowed for teams of two, and that left Scootaloo without a buddy in the Cutie Mark Crusaders. However, Sweetie and I giggled quietly when she seemed more than happy to team up with Featherweight. We said our temporary goodbyes to Sprint and Apple Bloom and found our places in the line our teacher had put together. Whitetail Woods wasn’t too far away from Ponyville, but it was actually a very big forest that stretched all the way from here to the west coast of Equestria. Miss Cheerilee had us all split up, but of course, we weren’t allowed to stray very far. Whenever she couldn’t see someone, Miss Cheerilee would call out to them and they had to come right back to her; only after a stern lecture and a loving pat were they allowed to go out again. Sweetie and I found a lot of critters, but every time I turned to her, she had her head turned away from me or pretended to busy herself with writing. It wasn’t really a big thing until I tried to say something, at which point she still pretended not to notice me. “Sweetie? Are you ignoring me?” Her ears perked up as she was finally forced to acknowledge me. “Huh? Oh, no… I just….” My friend’s ears felt flat as she shut her eyes. “Oh, I can’t take it! Rarity told me not to tell you, so I’m trying not to talk at all, but I just can’t hold it in!” “Hold what in?” Sweetie grabbed a hold of me and started twirling around. “Torque! You won’t believe it, but he asked your mom to marry him today!” I gasped so loudly that I think the whole class probably heard me. “Are you serious? Do you know what she said? Huh? Oh, I can’t believe it! Momma’s gonna be so happy! Oh yes, yes, yes, yes!” I couldn’t help but start dancing around, which attracted the attention of not only some of our classmates, but some of the less timid animals as well. When I saw all the staring faces, I kind of sunk down low and waited for them all to go back to whatever they were doing. One I was in the clear, I grabbed Sweetie and pulled her into a big hug. “Oh, this is the best day ever! I can’t wait to go home and see them!” By lunch time, Sweetie and I had managed to find and document at least eight different mammals, five birds, and even two fish! All of us were back together at one lunch table while Miss Cheerilee was going through the papers. When lunch was over, we all got our papers back with stickers that varied depending on how well we did. Sweetie and I got gold, so we were both happy. With the school day almost over, I almost forgot about the switch we made. It took Snips’ dad, Shears, coming into the classroom to remind me that Miss Cheerilee had switched out Family Appreciation Day with Show and Tell to compensate for the Apple Family having to harvest Zap Apples when the former normally occurred. Wow, that was a mouthful. I have to admit, listening to Mister Shears talk for ten minutes about his job as a barber was just a little less than exciting, so I resorted to scribbling on a piece of paper. Of course, I was still listening, but as he talked, I drew the best picture I could of Momma and Papa Torque holding hooves to take home to them. When Mister Shears was done, everypony started clapping for him, but I was just a little late. He gave a bow and went on his way, leaving Miss Cheerilee to her list. “Thank you, Sharp Shears. Now then, let’s see who will be bringing in a family member tomorrow.” I watched her eyes slowly glide from side to side briefly before they rested on me. “Dinky Doo! I assume you’re going to be bringing your ‘papa’ like you said last week?” With a huge smile on my face, I started nodding. “Yep! He’ll be here!” “Okay then! I’m sure we’re all looking forward to meeting him.” I bolted home the minute school let out. Granted, we didn’t have much time left, anyway, but it still felt like forever. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I couldn’t help making a detour to Papa Torque’s work place. The door was big, but I managed to get it open and squeeze in. Papa Torque was talking to Miss Sparkplug, but they both turned to me when I came in. He smiled at me and lowered himself, reaching one hoof out as he did so. “Hey there, Dinky! You look very excited; did something happen?” It might not have been a great idea, but I leaped into him and wrapped my forelegs around his neck. “Papa Torque! What did Momma say, huh? Did she say yes? She said yes, didn’t she?” His eyes widened as he started patting my head. “Why, whatever are you talking about? Did who say yes to what?” I rolled my eyes and hugged him tighter. “Momma! I know you asked her to marry you! What did she say?” Papa Torque raised one hoof to his mouth and turned to Miss Sparkplug. “Uh oh, someone gave away the secret! Don’t worry, Dinky, she said yes.” I nearly screamed right in his face when he said that, but instead I opted for jumping off of him and bouncing around like my legs were pogo sticks. “Woohoo! Yay! Momma’s getting married! Momma’s getting married! Momma’s getting married!” “You know what else that means, don’t you Dinky?” Apparently Miss Sparkplug had just finished cleaning up her desk or something, because I saw her put a screwdriver in her drawer. I slowly shook my head and let her explain. “That also means you have a new daddy.” It took a moment for her words to sink in, but once they did I actually screamed so loud that both grown-ups winced and covered their ears. I jumped at Papa Torque again and found myself in a big, warm hug as we both began to laugh. “Actually, now that you mention it, would you be able to come to school tomorrow for Family Appreciation Day, Papa?” He turned to Miss Sparkplug, and her nod was soon followed by his own. “Yay! Yay! Yay!” I nuzzled myself against him and heard Papa Torque chuckle. “You’re too cute for your own good, you know that? Say, Sparks, today’s been pretty slow. You mind if I walk home with her?” Miss Sparkplug shook her head. “Go on ahead. You’ve got a wedding to help with, so I won’t be too upset if I don’t see you for the rest of the day.” “Thanks, Sparks. You’re the best cousin ever.” He lowered himself and allowed me onto his back. I happily hopped on, and once I was situated we were off. When we got home, the kitchen was full of ponies. I saw Miss Rarity, Miss Applejack, Miss Pinkie, Miss Fluttershy, and Momma all flipping through this big book. As soon as we came in, Big Tucker started barking and ran over to me for belly rubs. Of course, I couldn’t stay there very long, as I really wanted to see Momma. After just a few rubs, I hopped up and bounced into the kitchen. “Momma! Momma! You said yes! You said yes!” Pretty much everypony started to chuckle as I wrapped her in a hug just as I had Papa Torque. “That’s so great, Momma!” She patted me on the head and gave me a kiss. “There’s more, too, sweetie. Thanks to these glasses, Air Mail decided to give me my old position back, so I’m doing deliveries again.” Everyone threw at least one hoof into the air and shouted out together. “Yay!” I looked back down at Momma and started snuggling into her. “So what are you doing now?” Miss Rarity tapped my shoulder and pointed to her book. “Right now we’re looking at themes that your mother might like to have for the wedding.” Trying to angle myself around to look at the book proved to be quite a task, but somehow I managed. Right now the book was open to a page showing off a whole lot of pretty flowers hanging from strings up in the air and hedges trimmed in all kinds of different shapes. “Actually,” Momma set her hoof on the page, “I don’t think we’re looking anymore. I really like this garden theme. Is there anywhere nearby that matches that?” Miss Fluttershy tapped my Momma’s wing a few times until she turned. “Um, maybe we could ask Roseluck if she’d be alright with us using the floating garden behind her house.” Miss Pinkie jumped up and clapped her front hooves together. “Ooh! I could make a big cake with all kinds of flowers on it, too!” Before Momma could speak, Miss Rarity clapped as well. “That would mean I’d need to redesign your dress a little to give it a more floral theme. Oh, I’ve not had a chance to play around with floral styles in ages! Oh, that reminds me, do you know who your bridesmaids are going to be? I’d like to get their measurements as soon as possible.” Momma rubbed her chin a little. “I have some ideas, but I’d need to talk to Torque about it first.” I think Papa Torque had taken Big Tucker for a walk, because I heard the door close behind me as he and the yellow lab came in. “Torque! We’ve got something to talk about later.” His ears twitched at the sudden statement. “Oh, alrighty then. Oh!” Those very ears perked up as he spotted Miss Applejack, and he trotted over to her. “Ditzy, do you need me or Applejack for anything right now?” She started rubbing her chin again. “I guess not. At least not right now.” “Great! Applejack, do you have a moment to talk?” Miss Applejack tilted her head. “Uh, I guess so. Whatcha need?” He put his hooves on her back and gave her a gentle push. “In the other room, if you don’t mind.” Papa leaned forward and whispered into her ear, and she nodded after he drew back. I stayed with everypony else and watched as they went through all the decision making. Now that the theme had been chosen, the focus was put on the dresses. Miss Rarity presented Momma with a bunch of sketches she had done for each of the themes in her book. It must have taken her all day to get them done! After that, Miss Pinkie laid out all her plans for the reception. She really was a silly pony, but nopony seemed to have a problem with pin the tail on the pony or bobbing for apples as reception games. The next step was music. I heard Miss Rarity mention something about asking Mister Beat if he could help, but in case he couldn’t, Miss Fluttershy gave us a sample of her bird chorus. It was really beautiful, the way all the different birds could sing in perfect harmony like that. Everypony loved it, and so that was one aspect of the wedding that was made concrete. Miss Applejack came back just in time to talk about her role in the wedding: the catering. She and Miss Pinkie were actually going to be working together on some things, but for the most part, Miss Applejack was handling the small snacks and refreshments. I have to admit, I was starting to get tired, and I didn’t even realize how late it was until Momma mentioned dinner and made yummy sandwiches for everyone there. To top everything off, a big list was made of all the things needed, including the materials for the dresses, the ingredients for the food, and things like that. By the time all was said and done, I was super tired, and Momma helped me get ready for bed. I really could not wait until tomorrow; I was sure Papa Torque was gonna have something big ready for Family Appreciation Day. * * * The next afternoon, my anticipation was at its max. After such a long time of being almost too excited to sit still, class was finally drawing to a close and the time for Papa Torque to come and present was drawing near. Miss Cheerilee just finished cleaning up her desk, which meant class was officially over. “Now then, everyone. For today’s Family Appreciation Day, Dinky Doo’s soon to be stepfather is going to be making a presentation. Everyone, please welcome Torque!” My ears fell flat when Miss Cheerilee held her hoof out towards empty space. “Um, Torque?” She turned to me with a raised brow. “Dinky, you did ask if he could come, right?” I started nodding quickly. “Yes! He said he’d be here, too! I… I don’t know where he—” “Sorry I’m a little late!” Papa Torque hopped through the door sporting a rather wide grin. He turned to the class and waved, shaking the hoof that Miss Cheerilee was still holding out. “Hello everyone! My name is Torque, and as Cheerilee said, I’m going to be Dinky’s stepfather soon. I’m very sorry I’m late, but I had to make this presentation special. For those of you that don’t know, I work for Engage Repairs, but we do all kinds of work at the shop. I’ve got quite the story for you, but I thought I’d make this a day to remember by showing you just how big our work can get.” He turned to the door and started waving his hoof. We all heard a loud rumbling, and he began to walk out the door. “Follow me, everyone!” We did as he said, and the entire class, including myself, gasped when we saw the big machine Papa Torque had gotten into. It was on four wheels, and behind it there was a big trailer on four wheels as well filled with hay. “At the shop, we get to work on things like this! Everypony hop in and I’ll tell you the story while we ride around Ponyville!” Everyone started chattering as they trotted towards the big machine. Even Miss Cheerilee got in, but she got up beside Papa Torque. Once everyone was in, we started moving. “This here, little ones, is what’s called a car. A Model T, to be exact. If any of you have heard of Haynry Fjord, this is something that he started making over in Las Pegasus. We over at Engage were lucky enough to get a chance to participate in a contest Mr. Fjord was holding. He went around different repair shops all across Equestria to see who could fix his broken car the fastest, and we managed to shatter the record! Mr. Fjord took a real liking to us, and he played a part in me helping Dinky’s mother with her eyes, too!” All of my classmates started clapping. I even spotted Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tapping their hooves together a few times. Miss Cheerilee nudged him just as we passed Miss Fluttershy’s cottage. “How exactly did you get this prepared?” “Well, the idea popped into my head relatively soon after Dinky asked me to come present. I sent a letter to Mr. Fjord as soon as I could, asking him if he could let me use one of these cars for the presentation. He came to the shop this morning and told me that he started making the trip here as soon as he read the letter. I asked Applejack if she had a trailer and some hay I could use as well. Since these cars don’t have anything to pull trailers with, I had to do some clever welding, and with the help of everyone at the shop, we managed to get this ready just in time! We plan on using it to move heavy loads from the shop to houses and vice versa.” I heard a few ponies talking about how cool that was, and I couldn’t help but feel a little proud at just being considered Papa Torque’s daughter now. “I’ve actually invented a few things myself, too. Do you all remember Mr. Wags, Dinky’s stuffed dog? I was the one that helped him talk! There’s also that pair of goggles I made for Ditzy, and I think I could turn those into hoof-free binoculars!” Again, everyone started clapping, and by then we were back at the school. The car slowed to a stop, and everyone got out. On our way in, I got a lot of comments about how cool it was to be able to ride around in the car, and how fun it must be to get to hang out with Papa Torque all the time. Miss Cheerilee shook his hoof again before heading inside. “Thank you very much for that lovely presentation, Torque.” Before he could answer, I ran over to him and wrapped both my forelegs around one of his. “That was so cool, Papa! You’re the best!” “No, Dinky, you’re the best, and you deserve nothing less than the best from me.” Since the day ended with Papa’s presentation, I was treated to another short ride in the car when he took it to the shop, and he let me hop on his back again all the way home.