The sun rose over the horizon and the light poured into Sprocket’s room from the window. He found this annoying and murmured in his snoozing as he tried to shield his eyes from the obtrusive rays by shielding them with his pillow, but a few minutes later, Applejack barged in and shouted, "Git on up! The sun's in the sky!"
Sprocket let out a yelp of fear and fell off his bed into an unceremonious heap on the floor. He stood up slowly and gave a small glare to Applejack, who was trying to hold in her giggles.
"Well, now that we have scaring me half to death done for the day, let's get this over with. What's first on the agenda?"
"Breakfast. Now, git on up an’ come on down fer some grub." Applejack left Sprocket as he slowly got off the floor, stretching out some cramps, before heading to the stairs for breakfast.
When he got down, he stopped and stared once he laid his eyes on a mountain of pancakes nearly thrice his height. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he managed to choke out, "What's with that stack of pancakes?!"
Applejack looked at it with a sigh and replied, "We were runnin' low on pancake mix." Sprocket's jaw nearly dropped through the floor. "Stack's 'bout three quarters the normal size."
"How do you eat that many pancakes!?"
"It's an Apple family thing."
Sprocket shook himself out of his self-induced trance once the rest of Applejack’s immediate kin began to come in from the early morning work.
No sooner than when they had seated themselves did they proceed to devour the stack like manticores on a fresh kill. It was a fearsome sight to behold as syrup and specks of vittle splattered around their mouths as they mercilessly attacked their fluffy prey. Despite his fear and awe at this sight, Sprocket did manage to break out of his stupor enough to eat a few pancakes himself. While he didn't eat very many compared to the others, he had to admit, they were some of the best pancakes he ever had.
After they finished and everyone else had already headed out of the room, Applejack handed Sprocket a note. "This here is a list a things we need ya ta fix. On the back is a list a materials we need ya ta git from town. Some is whatcha need fer fixin’ that we don’t have on hoof here on the farm an’ some is fer resupplyin’ what we need more of."
Sprocket read all of the items on both sides of the note. He nodded. "Alright. Quick question, though.”
“Shoot.”
“If I find that I need something else to get something fixed up, is it okay if I add it to the list on the back."
“Sure. Just… make sure you don’t go overboard. Bits are kinda tight ‘round here. Hay, they’re always tight, just that recently, they’ve gotten a bit tighter than usual, ya know?”
“I hear ya.” Sprocket folded up the piece of paper and stuck it behind his ear. He grabbed a pencil and stuck it with the list. "I'll start by taking a look at that cart you mentioned yesterday."
Applejack nodded and said, “A’right. It’s over by the barn.”
Applejack then headed into the fields while Sprocket headed towards the barn.
later
At about ten in the morning, Sprocket was running towards Applejack, who was in the middle of apple-bucking.
"Applejack!"
After giving a kick to the tree she had been working on for the past five minutes, Applejack turned to Sprocket, wiped some sweat from her forehead, and asked, "Whatcha need, partner?"
He came to a stop in front of her and paused as he heaved. When he had caught his breath, he replied, "I was wondering where you kept paper. Your grannie is sleeping, Applebloom is off playing with her friends, and I have no idea where Big Mac is."
Applejack raised her eyebrow and asked, "Why do ya need more paper?"
"I ran out of room to write more things that needed to be picked up." He showed her the piece of paper, revealing he had indeed used up all the room he could.
She read some of the items that he had written down and gave him a questioning look. "Are ya sure ya need all this stuff? Some of it can only be gotten through orderin' it."
Sprocket nodded. "Yeah. I'm positive. Some of it can be held off on getting till later, as I can give a temporary fix on some of the things with what I'm given, but everything I added is as necessary as breathing is for a long lasting life."
Applejack considered this as she placed a hoof to her chin and kept it there before saying, "Tell ya what: if ya’ll can convince me that it would be in the best interest of the farm to get all this stuff, Ah'll give ya my blessin’s."
Sprocket smirked. "Of course. I love when somepony gives me that sort of challenge." The two headed back to the barn, where most of the stuff (that is, that stuff that didn’t need to be ordered) was.
He headed first to the cart, which was turned upside down. When Applejack came up, he began the presentation. "Now, I'd like to first point out the wheels."
"They're hoofmade by mah pa."
"Yes. They’re some pretty spiffy, well-made, wooden wheels if I do say so myself. Especially since they were made by planks of wood and not round chunks. It's a marvel anypony was ever able to do such a thing. I doubt even I could have done such a good jo--"
Applejack cut him off with a cough and a look to tell him to get on with it.
He blushed slightly. "Sorry. I tend to ramble when I see something as expertly made as these wheels. Anyways, they are showing signs of cracking on this wheel here and there’s also some rotting starting here." He pointed to the two different spots of said wheel. "The rotting would be an easy fix if it wasn't for the crack. If that weren’t there, I would just keep it from rotting and put some stuff to keep the metal bars on it from rusting anymore along with the rust you can see there around some of the nuts. So, yeah, that’s why I put in the thing about getting metal wheels and some coating to protect them from rust. But the coating would actually have more use than that. If you'd look at the axle--" He motioned to it, and Applejack took a close look, seeing it was also rusting slightly. "My guess is that you store it upside down in the barn during winter. That is a good idea, but you still want to throw something over it to keep it from getting all red and flaky like that. Just as extra precaution. Now, the metal used was a decent choice, especially since with how long you’ve said bits have been tight around here, you guys probably couldn’t afford to get a better metal to use or a coating for it. I'd be guessing this has been on here for ten years, at the most."
"Actually, it's been on there ever since my pa was just a little colt. He told me and Mac how he helped to put it on there and about how he put tree sap on it to protect it, but made sure not to put any on around where it's connected ta the wagon."
Sprocket was surprised. "Huh. Now that’s some resourcefulness. It's impressive he was able to get this to last as long as it has. I’d have half expected it to have been fully rusted by now. But, still, that metal I’m talking about would be better for the axle, as it’s less prone to rust, stronger, and creates less friction, making it easier to pull. Same for those that connect it to the wagon."
"A'right, a’right,” Applejack said, sighing and throwing his hooves up into the air. “You've convinced me. What else do ya have in mind?"
"Follow me."
He led her over to the plow.
"Now, how in the wide world a Equestria could ya find a way to help with this?"
"Well, I can help with reducing the wear and tear on the back and neck when this is pulled by making some minor adjustments to it. If this piece here is raised just slightly, it’ll reduce the strain put on the user. Also, these straps are slightly worn and I was planning on getting new straps, though to be fair, they’ll still last for another three to five years. I just wanted to get it done and over with. Next on the lineup, I was planning on adding some smaller blades onto it. I know this kind of runs counterintuitive to whole decreasing wear and tear thing, but it’ll more thoroughly plow the field, creating less work in the long run."
"Alright. I'll letcha git whatcha need fer slashin' the work… but not the straps. Not yet."
"Fair enough. Now, the next thing I want to do is just a side project from the rest to help with collecting the eggs."
"No. That's part a Applebloom's personal chores. That lazy little filly needs something to keep her busy and gettin’ a halfway decent work ethic do at least till she’s able ta help more ‘round the farm."
"Alright. I'll just cross off the stuff for that." He took the pencil and paper and began crossing off said stuff. "Okay. Now onto the gutter."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Well, let's get on up, and I'll show you." The two climbed a stack of crates until they were able to get a good look at the gutter. "You see, the screws are fine for this, but I can tell they haven't been replaced for a while, and it’ll only be a matter of time, sooner rather than later, before they’ll need to be replaced anyways. Also, the gutter is getting some cracks in it, so, why not replace the whole thing while we're at it?"
"Huh. Ah never noticed those cracks before."
"Well, I'd say they’re fairly recent. Almost like it was taken off, unprofessionally, and then put back up by the same ones that took it off, attempting to make it look like nothing happened."
"Hmmm…” Applejack said, before muttering under her breath in what she thought was a voice low enough that she thought Sprocket couldn’t hear but he ended up hearing anyways, “No… it couldn’t be…” Then, in her normal volume of voice, she said, “Alright. Ah'll allow ya the new gutter. Anything else?"
"Only one, and that’s in the barn."
They went into the barn and he led her to a pillar.
"Well, what's wrong?" Sprocket gently touched it, and it had a piece fall off and it swayed slightly. "Oh. That's what."
"I'm guessing I convinced you completely on that one too?"
"Yes, ya did. Alright. Well, off ta town with ya, then." Sprocket nodded before beginning the trek out. "Meanwhile, Ah gotta talk ta mah sister, and maybe her friends too, about a certain gutter..."