At last it was time to go on the trip! Well, it will be tomorrow. We were still preparing. Dad told me the ‘to-do’s’ and the ‘what-not-to-do’s’ while on a mission. I was so excited yet nervous at the same time. Dad and I went around collecting many supplies(okay, I was watching). We got a bunch of food from our apartment and the camp.
“Won’t this food bad?” I asked.
“Yeah. Some of this will go bad after a couple of days. We have to wrap it up really well. Stuff that doesn’t go bad is dried stuff. Dried apples, potato crisps, raisins… I do hope we have enough that doesn’t go bad so we don’t have to get food from Haythorn.”
After dinner Dad got out saddlebags out. He decided between what was for him and for me. He demonstrated how to roll up a blanket to but in a bag for over the back. The bag has clips that kept in on the saddlebags. I saw all of the wrapped food and water bottles.
“Do we really need this many bottles?”
“Definitely!” Dad exclaimed. “We’re not going to find clean water between here and Haythorn. We have water bottles with filters on the lid. HyperBlitz and I will both have one. They can’t get rid of all the crap is some water, so we have to be careful. It’s better than boiling water because that takes forever and we really don't want warm water.”
A knock sounded from the door. When Dad said “come in”, it slide open. Light flooding on BlazingFlair’s orange coat made him stand out against the darkening outside.
“Hello!” He mumbled behind some papers. He dropped the papers on the floor. “I go you some maps.”
“Awesome.” Dad levitated them over.
“There’s one of south-west Equestria, and one of the Haythorn area. The both show the train tracks, but they are outdated so any of those tracks could be out,” The Earth-pony explained.
“This is per-”
Blazing interrupted Dad. “Oh yeah! ElectricTone says he has this special compass. It tells you your longitude and latitude. I’ll get that too you, but he says he needs to find it.”
“That sounds great. We can plot our coordinates so we can find the train again.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
I studied everything. “Are we going to be ready by tomorrow? Do we just get up and leave?”
“Probably not. We’ll do some final-final preparation. And I doubt HyperBlitz and JumpingJolt are going to be ready.”
“Are you ready, lil’ stal’?” BlazingFlair inquire to me. “Are you excited?!”
“Yeah,” I beamed, “But I’m a bit nervous.”
Blazing came over and hugged me, practically lifting me off the ground. “Ah, you’re nervouscited! You don’t have to be nervous, you got your dad. He’ll make sure everything's goes right. Right?”
Dad gave one quick nod.
“Yeah. Your dad is smart and perfect.”
“I don’t know about perfect,” Dad said, abashed.
“CharmingRhythm, you’ve always been the best of us.”
Dad rolled his eyes and shook his head.
I brought up another question. “Do wee need extra energy crystals?”
“Nah. I think we have enough with our EPD and limbs.” For a second I was confused why he made ‘limb’ plural but I quickly remembered HyperBlitz has a mechanical wing.
“I’m gonna come with you to the station to help you carry stuff,” Blazing told us. “And so we can have a train back here.”
“Sounds good,” Dad affirmed.
A dark ceiling was above me as I restlessly layed on my back waiting for my body to fall asleep. I was anxious. I was thinking about the next day, and the next week. Although truthfully I was most anxious when I was not thinking about it, or not thinking at all. My mind raced with ambiguous words and thoughts. Nothing brought a clear image. My mind was blank with static.
Frustrated with my lack of sleep, I threw my back up vertically. After using the bathroom I flicked on the light and tossed a sketchpad on my bed. I began to sketch. And what did I draw? I created the envisioning of myself adventuring…
I imagined myself alongside my comrades trekking to help the word. We would go help ponies, they would love us. We would continue and have fun with one another all at the same time. We stood in the wasteland looking for our next mission.
But I knew this could never be true. I was romanticizing this trip. WAY too much. I looked into the future and knew we would be down on our luck. We’d be exhausted, moody. I’d be so uncomfortable, afraid of the world and every unknowing corner that lied ahead.
I was so caught up in my thoughts I almost did not notice the door opening. I heard Dad say my name. I looked to him. His bedhead hair looked a bit silly and his eyes expressed sleeplessness.
“What are you doing up?” He asked.
I shot the question back,“What are you doing up?”
“I can’t sleep. You?”
I shook my head.
“I heard you moving around and saw your light on. I decided to see what you were up to.” He glanced at my sketchpad. I flipped it over and pulled it to my side. Dad sat down on the bed which creaked when he did. “Thinking about the trip?”
I nodded. “Mm-hmm. I’m anxious.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“You too?”
“Yep. I’m worried that things aren’t gonna go right.”
“But you said you’d make sure things would go right.”
Dad swayed his head. “I can try my best. No promises. I… earlier I was so sure about this, that it would be a good experience for all of us, meet some new ponies, maybe fight some Hybrids… but now… when I should be sleeping… I’m freaking out. I keep thinking something wrong is going to happen. Sometimes that happens.” He took his hoof and stroked back his mane, a couple strands of hair popping back forward. “What if… we do run out of food. What if the rogues are hostile. I really want to help ponies.”
“Like you always do.”
“Hmm, yeah.” He glanced at me. “I… I don’t want to freak you out.. I promise I’ll do my best. To make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“Is that what you are most afraid of?” I stared at the floor. “Me being hurt?”
“No parent wants anything to happen to their child. But Sketch, that doesn’t mean I’m going to spend every second trying to protect you. I’ll let you stand up for yourself. I’ll let you make your own decisions.”
I leaned on his shoulder. “I don’t mind if you protect me.”
Dad wrapped his foreleg around to slowly pet my arm. “You should try to get some sleep. ‘Kay?”
“Okay. You too.”
In the morning I was awoken by Mom. I stepped into the kitchen and gave a big yawn.
“Looks like somepony is still tired,” Mom pointed out the obvious.
Dad chuckled. “Him and I didn’t get as much sleep last night as we wanted to.” He played with my bangs. I pulled away and rattled my head. “Ah, you can sleep on the train.”
“Or maybe make some coffee?” I invoked.
“We only have coffee on special occasions.”
“You had some the other week. Was that a special occasion?”
“Yeeeeah.”
“Really? What?” I quizzed.
Dad hesitated.“Uh… Hanukkah?”
“No it wasn't! Hanukkah isn’t until the end of the year!”
“Haha, I know!” He covered my head with his forelegs.
“FeatherTune would hit you for saying that!” I poked his chest.
“He wouldn’t hit that hard!”
Dad swung his body around as he pushed my head down with his chin. I slapped him playfully with my hooves.
“Looks like you two are bonding already,” Mom observed with a smirk.
Dad responded, “Ha, yep. We got all that anticipation in us!”
“Oh GentleSketch,” Mom said, “I know you may be on the train a while, so I was wondering if you would like to bring a book.” She roamed into the living room, while Dad prepared breakfast.
“Could I read your book?” I asked.
The mare delayed. “Um… well. I think maybe it’s a bit mature for you,” She acknowledged. “I’m sure you could handle it, but there are some topics that you may not understand.”
I frowned. “What wouldn’t I understand in it. I’m smart.”
“I’m not doubting that,” She rubbed my head.
“Are there dirty things?”
“No,not much, just… things about crime. You don’t know about a lot of those thing yet.” Mom sighed,“I’m sorry. Maybe another time.”
Maybe after this trip I would be more experienced. I heard rogues are full of crime.
“I have some of these other books you may like,” She indicated to the table.
We gathered at the end of the camp when HyperBlitz and JumpingJolt said they were ready. Mom, SweetHooves and BlazingFlair followed behind up. BlazingFlair carried many of our bags, he definitely was stronger than he looked. The luggage on my back already felt abnormal.
The stallion popped up next to Dad. “Oh yeah! Here!” He pulled a watch-like object off his wrist with his mouth. He showed it to Dad, who then levitated it. “It’s the compass!” Blazing informed. “It somehow tells you your coordinates. It’s solar powered, so that’s pretty neat.”
“Nice.” Dad slipped it on is non-mechanical leg. There already was a watch on that leg. He glanced at it.
“Well, it looks like we better get moving.”
SweetHooves came up to HyperBlitz and nuzzled her nose under his chin. “Please be safe.”
“You’re telling that to me? I’m never safe.”
The tan mare breathed. “At least keep the kids safe.” She looked at Dad. “You too.”
He nodded with a slight tilt.
My mother came up to Dad to talk and give him a hug but I was more interested in SweetHooves and HyperBlitz for some reason.
“Please try not to be gone too long,” SweetHooves prayed.
“I promise we’ll only be gone for five or six days at most.”
Dad objected, “Eh, make it six or seven to be safe.”
Hyper spoke again, “Okay…six to seven days, tops!”
“You promise?” SweetHooves inquired.
“Promise.”
I thought I heard Dad say “He shouldn’t be making promises.”
When SweetHooves and HyperBlitz were about to caress and make out, Mom obscured my vision and hugged me. After cherishing me for a few seconds, she placed a kiss below my horn.
“Have fun and learn some things,” The mint green mare told me.
“Mm-hmm. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, GentleSketch.”
SweetHooves was holding JumpingJolt and after a moment passed, Dad said, “Okay, I think.”
“Wait!” SweetHooves cut him off.
She hopped over to me and scooped me up. She embraced me for maybe one second less than Mom. The Earth-pony traveled to my father. She placed a hoof behind his shoulder and gave him a quick one-armed hug.
“I couldn’t let you guys go without a hug,” SweetHooves said.
“No hugs for me?” BlazingFlair whined.
“You’re not going to be gone for a week,” Dad sneered, but was playful about it.
“Haha, I know.”
“Well, good luck to you adventures!” SweetHooves cheered.
“Thanks, we’re gonna need it.” Dad responded.
We all waved and said our final goodbyes before heading out.