Chapter 13: Things We Do
Repair and Deliver
Story 6
Chapter 13: Things We Do
By: SleeplessScribe
Today was already shaping up to be a pretty great day, but things only got better as it went on. Mr. and Mrs. Cake apparently found out about what happened to Pinkie, but they had come to thank us for our hard work on both their own water problems and hers. To show their appreciation, they more or less forced us to accept their gift: they volunteered to bake us a big cake and bring it in on Friday.
We didn’t really want them to, but they didn’t give us a choice. Once everything with them was settled, a mail pony came by and gave me a letter from Violet. Since the business with Pinkie was really the only thing we had done that day, we assumed it’d be a slow day, and I was given some privacy to read it.
“Dear Torque,
I’m a little upset at you for waiting so long to write to me, but it’s great to finally hear from you! Everything’s going pretty well here in college, I’ve even managed to make a few friends! Don’t worry, they’re not the kind that like to party on the weekends and stuff, I know you were always afraid of me hanging out with the wrong crowd.
The best thing was hearing about your new marefriend. It’s nice to know you’ve finally tried to find somepony. Though, I don’t have much room to talk, I guess. Still single, boo hoo. Anyway, I’d like to take a look at that thing you told me about. We have a short break coming up, so I can come visit you around next Monday, if that’s alright with you!
Love you, little brother
Violet Night”
I had the best sister ever. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how much she’d be able to help with my goggles idea, but at least I’d get to see her again. To top it all off, we had enough doughnuts to last us all day, and man, were they good.
Finally, it was time to close up shop, and I only went home long enough to drop off my radio and wash up. It was kind of unfortunate that school got out much sooner than I got off, but my showing up would still make a difference.
In fact, I half trotted half sprinted towards Ditzy’s house just to cut down on time, and I was once again treated to the sight of little Dinky on a stool when I knocked on the door.
“Mister Torque!” With a massive smile on her face, she jumped up and hugged me.
I couldn’t help but smile as I hugged her back, carrying her inside. Ditzy was on the couch again, but she managed to get up and wobble over to me for a quick kiss. “Hey, Torque. Thanks for coming, Dinky was all too pleased when I told her you were going to be here again.”
After a small chuckle I wrapped my forelegs around the mare. “What can I say? Ditzy, your daughter is adorable, really. If I were anypony else, I’d be jealous of me for having such a cute filly like me so much! She gets it from her mom, you know.”
Her cheeks slowly became more and more red. “Oh stop! I’m not cute….”
“Pfft! Ditzy, you have no idea how cute you are!”
As soon as I said this, Dinky began to bounce around the both of us. “I get my cutes from Momma! We look just alike, except I’m a unicorn and she’s a pegasus! But I still get my cutes from her!”
My marefriend smiled and tried to pick her daughter up. However, I had to catch her as she nearly fell. “Ditzy… have you really been getting rest like Nurse… Redheart, I think, said? I mean, I’m not trying to be mean, but I would think you’d have gotten your strength back by now.”
Her cute, crooked gaze slowly drifted towards the floor. “Well, I tried, but I just couldn’t get to sleep. So instead, I spent most of the day baking things for this weekend’s bake sale. Of course, I could’ve done that Friday, but I wanted to ask you something about that.”
The sudden filly hopping on my back delayed my response, but I did manage to say something after a moment. “Go right ahead.”
Her eyes came up to meet mine again; even with them being crooked, they were still so pretty. “I know we have a… date planned for Sunday, but I’d like to make you dinner Friday. I mean, you went and bought all these groceries for me, it seems almost rude not to make good use of them.”
I gently shook my head even as I accepted the offer. “That sounds wonderful. However, I want you to get some rest now. Dinky’s in good hooves, you know that.”
Before the pegasus could say anything, her daughter began to climb up onto my head. She squirmed under my hat and popped up with the oversized garment nearly covering her entire face.
“Mister Torque! Do you like to play?”
Looking at her proved to be quite a task. In the end, I just stopped trying before I gave myself a headache. “I sure do! What would you like to play?”
She hopped off my head, taking my hat with her, and grabbed my hoof. “Come see what I made!”
I watched with a giggle as my daughter tugged my coltfriend down the hall. He managed to pick his hat up, but didn’t seem to have enough time to put it back on. I made my way back to the couch and tried to get comfortable, but my eyes were opened not five minutes after they had closed.
“Rawr!”
The noise was soon followed by a little squeal. My little Dinky tumbled out of the hallway sporting a little paper hat and a rolled up newspaper in her hoof. She turned around and squealed again as Torque hopped in front of her and made that same noise.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the play fight. Dinky would continually pat the colt’s head with her weapon to no avail, and Torque would swipe at her only to be blocked. Eventually he rose up, and Dinky poked his stomach with the paper, causing him to fall on his back with one hoof in the air.
“No! Curse you, brave knight!”
She giggled and hopped on him, holding up her paper sword. “Victory!”
I had to cover my mouth as the tables were turned. My coltfriend now had the little unicorn in his embrace and was mercilessly tickling her. “Aha! I have you now!”
Through her giggling, she managed to pick up her paper again. Lifting it up, she knocked off his hat and he immediately froze and fell silent. Dinky wiggled out from under him and brought the hat to me.
“Queen Doo, I bring you the head of the scary dragon!”
Had I been feeling better, I would have picked her up. However, I settled for taking the hat and patting her head. “Well done, my little knight. I think you deserve a reward.”
Again I had to force myself to stay silent as my daughter was scooped up onto Torque’s back. “As kind of this land, I declare that we hold a feast to honor the bravery of this fair knight!”
Dinky was giggling all the way into the kitchen and even as they disappeared behind the wall. Words couldn’t express the warmth and joy seeing those two play had given me. It was as if the dying embers of a campfire were given so much fuel that they sprang back up into a massive blaze. I heard rustling coming from the kitchen, but my eyelids started to get heavy and I found myself dozing off.
There was no telling how long I had slept, but when I woke up all was silent. As my vision adjusted, I saw Torque and Dinky sitting on the floor with little coloring books in front of them. My little girl lifted hers up, sporting the biggest smile I had ever seen. The colors were all outside of the lines, and she had used things like pink and blue, colors I’d never seen on a dog before.
“Look, Mister Torque! Isn’t it pretty?”
He smiled and patted her head. “It’s beautiful, Dinky. You could be an artist when you grow up!”
She giggled some and set her book down, looking at Torque’s. “Ooh, that’s pretty too, Mister Torque!”
I couldn’t really see what he was coloring, but I doubted it being anything too different from what my daughter was doing. A small part of me wanted to say something, but the rest of my chose to stay quiet and let the scene play out.
Dinky flipped through her pages, but her ears fell flat when she reached the end. “Aw, I already colored all my doggies.”
Torque looked down at his own book and began to flip through it. With a smile, he swapped out her book with his own and even gave her some of his crayons. “Don’t worry, sweetie, my book has lots of dogs you can color.”
The little filly smiled and wrapped her forelegs around him. “You’re the best Mister Torque! Mr. Wags even told me you make super good tea!”
He let out a small chuckle. “He did? Well, he told me you have the best tea parties.”
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. Hopping up, she started clapping and bouncing around him. “You can understand Mr. Wags too?”
“I can kind of understand him. When he was being fixed up, he talked all about how much he loved you and how special of a filly you were.”
The honey eyes lit up, sparkling with joy. “I’m special? Like, different in a really good way special?”
He tilted his head, patting the filly’s gently. “What do you mean by that, Dinky?”
She slowly lowered her head. “Well, some ponies say my momma is special, but I can tell they don’t mean it in a good way. They say it like they mean she needs help… and they say the same thing about me too.”
A small smile formed on Torque’s muzzle as he lifted the girl up. She was more or less forced to look at him as his smile grew. “Don’t you ever believe anything mean someone says to you. You and your mother both are very special in a very, very good way. There’s nothing wrong with your mom or you. In fact, I think you’re going to do great things when you grow up.”
Her eyes regained the light they had been showing, and that sweet, little smile once again found its way onto her face. “Do you really think so?”
“No, I said that wrong. I know going to do great things.”
“Do you think,” she looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then down at her coloring books, “that I could be a vet and take care of animals?”
The colt chuckled again and set Dinky down. “Well sure! If that’s what you want to do, then go for it! Who knows, you may even get your cutie mark.”
I’m sure if she had wings instead of a horn they’d be fluttering right now. “Really? You think I could even get my cutie mark as a vet? That would be the best thing ever!”
After a chuckle, Torque looked up at the clock and gently rubbed my daughter’s head. “I know so. It’s going to have to wait, though. Sorry, Dinky, but it’s time for bed.”
“Aw, okay. Can you read me a story?”
He lowered himself and allowed Dinky to hop on his back. Once she was on, he rose again and headed down the hall. “Of course I can. Do you like being tucked in?”
“Yes please!”
I tried to get to sleep again as they finally left my view, but it proved to be a lost cause. Tossing and turning got me nowhere, and even closing my eyes did no good. In the end, I just waited. However, I never heard the door close, even as I heard Torque coming closer. Shutting my eyes quickly, I waited until I heard him stop, but I heard some kind of a swoosh when he did. After a moment I felt something fall over me; he had obviously brought me a blanket again.
My face began to get hot as I felt a pressure against my forehead. When I opened my eyes, his back was to me, but I reached out and tapped him before he made a move forward. “Thank you, Torque. I… I think I know how I’m going to make my decision on whether or not I’m ready to have a colt living with us.”
He turned and knelt down, looking me right in the centered eye. “Really? What did you have in mind?”
I gently touched his cheek, closing my eyes. “I think it only fair that we ask Dinky.”
The colt set his hoof on mine, bringing it down in front of him as he leaned forward to get me even more flustered with a kiss on the lips. “I think so, too.”
Even as embarrassed and bashful as I was feeling right now, looking into his eyes proved a much easier task than I thought it would be. “You don’t have to do this, though… you know that, right?”
“I know I don’t have to. The things is… I want to.”
My mind was semi made up once we exchanged goodbyes. I still wasn’t totally sure about what to do, but I knew I wanted an insurance policy. A part of me was genuinely curious as to how Rarity would react if I visited her this late. Something told me she wouldn’t be too happy, but once she heard why I was there, she’d be whistling a new tune.
There were still some lights on in the boutique, and it didn’t take nearly as long for her to answer the door as I thought it would. “Oh! Good evening, Torque! How is Ditzy? I heard about the accident yesterday, and I’ve been just a tad worried.”
“She’s doing much better now. She took a day off, and she seems to be doing well, but that’s not why I’m here, sorry to say. I’d like to ask you a favor.”
She opened the door a bit more and ushered me in. “By all means, dear. I’d be happy to help you as much as I can.”
After a moment of looking around, I turned back and addressed the unicorn. “Do you think you could make something for me?” I motioned for her to come closer and whispered my intentions into her ear. Call me paranoid, but I really did not want this to get out.
Rarity jumped back with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. “Really? So soon? Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I know how you feel, but don’t you think you should wait a bit longer?”
I just shrugged and looked out the nearby window. It was strange; I could almost see Luna’s profile against the glowing full moon. “Oh, I plan on waiting it out some more. I just want this ready to go if my final decision ends up being ‘yes’. I know it’s a lot of work for a ‘what if’ situation, but do you think you could do this for me?”
She tapped her chin for a moment before nodding. “I don’t have all the materials for such a project right now, but they shouldn’t be too difficult to get a hold of. I’ll do my best, it’s the least I can do to repay your kindness. In fact… I’ll see what I can do about getting the entire thing planned and ready! She won’t even have to do any of the work, though of course she’ll be given a chance to approve of everything.”
“Rarity, you don’t have to do that, all I need is the ne—”
“Ah, ah, ah! I’ll not listen to your objections. This will be all or nothing, and that’s final. I’m positive my friends won’t mind helping out, either, so we’ll have it ready before you know it. Also, don’t worry, I am absolutely certain that our efforts won’t be in vain.”
My gaze once again turned to the moon. “I don’t think they will be either.”
She looked around for a moment before circling her hoof in front of herself. “Torque, would you mind staying for a bit? There’s something I want to talk to you about. I have some tea that’s almost finished brewing, if you’d like some.”
“Sure, that sounds nice.”
I was led into her kitchen again as she took the pot off her stove. “Well, isn’t that just wonderful timing? Please, have a seat and I’ll set us up.”
She set the pot on her table and brought two cups over. Again I saw that silhouette of the princess in the moon when I looked out of the window two my left, and I thought for a moment that I saw it wink at me.
I turned my head once I heard the sound of my drink being poured. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Rarity sat down across from me and poured her own drink, taking a sip before focusing on me. “Well, it’s just a matter of curiosity, really. While friendliness isn’t an uncommon thing, you’ve only been here for, what’s it been, about a week and a half now, right? Already you’ve managed to befriend many ponies in the town, and even stolen a heart. In fact, I think you’ve stolen two. You’ve put so much of your own time and effort and gone miles upon miles out of your way to help Ditzy, and you haven’t stayed to close to your own way to help out others, either. Why?”
My gaze drifted down to the cup before me and I took a sip, just to buy myself some time to think of an honest response. “Well… that’s kind of how I was brought up. My mom and dad both taught my sister and me that life was about being nice to others. Sure, you can get somewhere walking over those in your way, but you get a lot farther a lot faster when you befriend those others instead.”
After another sip, I saw that Rarity wasn’t getting ready to speak, and took that as a sign that I could continue. “I believe I have the things that Ditzy needs. I’ll be honest: I could be considered ‘rich’. I mean, my father does own his own business. However, I’ve never been too stingy with money. Ditzy’s obviously in a financial vice right now, and I have more than enough money both from just savings and from having a good job to give her some support.”
I didn’t even notice she had downed her whole cup already until she set it down. “Well, I’m more curious about your personal investments. Like I said, your time and effort on that little sound box and those goggles that I’m sure you’re still working on. Why go through all that trouble?”
This time, I looked to the moon again for a little inspiration. “The same reason you helped me. You know what I mean? If you have the knowledge, the materials, the whatever, to help somepony, what not do it? Especially if it’s no real inconvenience. I have made a few friends here, but you and Ditzy are the only ones I’ve spent any considerable amount of time with, leaving me with a lot of free time to do what I want. I have the time, I have the equipment, and I have the know-how, so why not use it?”
Her smile was almost as sweet a sight as seeing Dinky in the little cardboard tiara she wore when we played tea party. “One of these days, something mind-blowingly good is going to happen to you. You are simply too kind of a pony not to be rewarded somehow.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment. “Oh believe me, I think I already have been.”
“So I take it that means you really think this is love?”
I finished my tea before nodding. “I’d still like to wait this out some more and spend more time with her, but yes I think I’m in love.”
She began to fill her cup again, though she didn’t seem to pay it any mind. “That’s wonderful, darling. I really hope everything works out for you.”
“Thank you, Rarity.” I wanted to say more, but the fatigue from the past two days took a hold of me. There wasn’t even a lot of time for me to cover my mouth before the echo of my tiredness filled the room.
“Goodness, Torque. You should really get home and get some sleep. Believe me, you’ll be more of a hindrance than a help to those around you if you don’t get rest.”
I tried to smile but was kept from doing so by another yawn. “I think you’re right. I’ll see you later Rar—”
Immediately after my third yawn, she began to shoo me towards the door. “Yes, yes, goodnight dear. Now go get some sleep before I make you. Good night, Torque!”
“Good night, Rarity.”
My trek home was filled with more musings than a last century philosopher. I was still dead set on finding some way to get Ditzy back in the air, of course, but now there was Rarity wanting to have the entirety of my plan done for me as well as the possibility of a new living situation. Granted, I should have thought about what I was going to do with my belongings and workshop before I made the offer, but I didn’t.
There was no way I could hope to make it home before I yawned again, either. In fact, I think I yawned at least three more times. By the time I was inside, my eyelids were already heavy, so I just tossed my hat onto my bedside table and kind of just fell on the bed.
Waking up that morning also proved to be quite the task. My internal clock managed to wake me up at my normal time, but I stayed in bed just long enough to doze off again and get woken up by my radio.
“Rise and shine, Torque! Figured from now on I’d shoot you a little wakeup call a few minutes before work. It’s not really time to start yet, but the shop is open, so get your tail down here.”
Reaching over, I grabbed it and fumbled around for the button to respond. “Sorry, Sparks. I’ll be there soon, I guess I slept in.”
“Well, I’ve got a task for you. Just for the hell of it, I made an order to Sunrise Snacks and got all of us breakfast. It’s right across from Barnyard Bargains, so head there and pick up the order. We’ll all pay our share once you get here.”
After a sigh that I didn’t let her hear, I turned the device back on. “Alright, I’ll get to it.”
It took another yawn and a fierce eye rubbing before I could get up again. A shower was out of the question right now, but seeing as how breakfast was already taken care of, I had very few qualms about leaving without any preparation. I grabbed my hat and radio and took off. I considered stopping off to see Ditzy, but when I passed by her house, no lights were on. I mean, it was morning, but you’d think there would be something lit up in there regardless.
Honestly, I had never even noticed the little shop until now. It was much smaller than most of the buildings around it, and honestly looked more like a trailer or a really fancy stall than an actual shop. The food my cousin had ordered was already waiting, and luckily it wasn’t that expensive either. Unfortunately, I had to wait before I could pick it up because of another radio call.
“Torque! Get over here! Get over here! Get over here! Get your ass over here as soon as you possibly can!”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Just get over here!”
I had a feeling I knew why she was so worked up, but I didn’t assume anything until I was at the shop. Once there, I set my trays of food down and opened the door into the garage to confirm my suspicions. Indeed, Mr. Fjord was here, standing in the midst of my coworkers with a huge grin on his face.
Sparks grabbed a hold of me and nearly squealed. “He’s here Torque! You know what that must mean, right?”
The old guy chuckled a bit. “Not to rain on your parade, but you know I could be here to tell you that you unfortunately did not win my little competition, right?”
My cousin’s ears fell flat as she turned back to him. “Oh… I guess that’s true.”
There was a long pause. Haynry simply stood there, looking at Sparks for what seemed like forever before finally speaking. “So, here’s the news. Remember the big deal about my little challenge being you guys fixing up my car in thirty minutes? Well… you didn’t fix it up in half an hour.”
All heads rose up, though none of the faces looked too please. Oddly enough, Mr. Fjord was still sporting a grin, and we soon learned why. “You blew everyone else out of the water by completing the repairs in only twenty-two minutes! Congratulations, you all, you have won my challenge, and the reward of one hundred crops each!”
As soon as he was done, the entire room erupted with loud cheers and screams. At least two pairs of hooves wrapped themselves around me, but I think the entire ordeal ended in a dog pile… with me at the bottom.
We all rolled off of one another and got ourselves calmed down, and he waited patiently for us to do so. He handed us each a stack of green paper strips kept together with a metal clip. I’d never seen paper money before, let alone possessed it. It was amazing to think that these slips of paper were worth one thousand bits. However, what really knocked the wind out of me was what came next.
Fjord grinned at me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. “This isn’t all I came here to do. Son, I like not only how you managed to spot every problem in my car in the span of a minute or two, but also how you took charge and guided your whole crew through an amazingly fast and successful repair. Torque, I want you to come to Las Pegasus and manage the auto body shop I have set up there!”
All jaws dropped, though I think mine actually hit the floor. “Wait. You… I… are you serious?”
He just nodded. “I am. Big things, son, big things. A massive paycheck, a nice house in grand ol’ Las Pegasus, your own professional workshop with a considerable inventory of raw materials, and of course, a Model T of your own! So, what do you say?”
I bit my lip and scanned the faces around me. My mind was racing right now, and keeping my eyes on Haynry proved near impossible. Of course, there were a few reasons to stay here, but if things worked out, so many problems would be solved.
Finally, I took a deep breath and prepared myself. “I can’t.”
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One minor nitpick I have.
Other than that, good chapter.
3489689 Thank you for pointing this out.
Loyal to friends, like it and lover too.
Happy Dinky is Happy. If Mr Fyord is as good as he sounds to be, then there is something else he can consider. Ponyville has powerful protection, quiet, fircely loyal and relatively secluded.
He could give Torque the Skunkworks.
Good job torque! Glad you said no.
Also, am I the only one that noticed Rarity say:
Two? Who is the other mare? I must know!
...... I Wonder if it's Rarity....
3490410 I really want to tell you what she meant, as the phrase could indeed mean Rarity, but I want to make you suffer and wait it out
I'm just kidding, she meant Dinky.
3490113 I don't want to sound mean or nitpicky, but it is indeed Fjord. It's a breed of horse
3490462
Oops, for some reason I was spelling it as Slatibartfasts favourite hangout, but not typing it as such. 8(
Very sorry about that.
I cant even remember the timing of the Model T, verses the Porche electric of 1897 or gasoline assisted range extended hybrid of 1903, or some such. 8}
I really shouldnt try replying when very tired. I make mistakes. 8(
3490459
I'm pretty sure you meant Dinky, she already loves him like a father more or less. Now to see what happens.
3490730 I said I meant Dinky...
3490759
... why didn't I see that...
Please excuse apparently I have a case of the "failed spot check"
3490459
Something told me it was that. Just like to shoot for random outcomes. Oh well still awesome story
3492581 Hm... maybe I'll have a side story exploring RariTorque... mebeh
3492588
That would be rather cute, although the story would be having a complete makeover and such if he is to keep being friends with Derpy
Oops. Said Derpy. Meant Ditzy. I think they are both rather cute tho.
3492859 Well it wouldn't even be the same universe. Kind of like a certain someone who convinced me to write a NovaXSpitfire story
3492588
Yeah. Also I noticed you like putting caps on your characters. :)
3493042 Nah, just Jet and Torque
I was supposed to be asleep two hours and five chapters ago... But seriously, this is one of the greatest stories I've read. I'll be checking out more of your works after I finish this one.