• Published 8th Oct 2013
  • 3,463 Views, 170 Comments

Repair and Deliver - SleeplessScribe



If there are two things Torque loves more than anything, they're helping people and mechanical work. When a worker shortage forces him to move to Ponyville, he meets a young filly with a struggling mother that allows him to do both.

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Chapter 14: Warmth

Repair and Deliver
Story 6
Chapter 14: Warmth
By: SleeplessScribe

He raised his brows, though he didn’t actually seem that surprised. “Well now, my boy, mind if I ask why? You’re declining a huge opportunity here.”

“I know what I’m turning down. I just,” I turned to all the faces behind me, sighing heavily before turning back to Haynry, “have too much here for me to just drop it all and leave. Honestly, I have an opportunity here that far outweighs the one you’re presenting me with. I mean no disrespect, but it’s not in my best interest to leave.”

The stallion just nodded. “I can understand that. I’m disappointed, but not angry. If you have something keeping you here, I’ll not pressure you into working with me.”

I drew back a bit and raised my brows. “R-Really? It’s that easy?”

Haynry chuckled, leaning against his car. “Well of course! Trying to make you do something you don’t think will be good is both rude and selfish. What surprises me is how easily you made the decision.”

My friends’ silence was really starting to get to me. I waited for a few moments in the hopes that one of them would say something, but none of them did. “It wasn’t easy, I just went with what I thought was right and didn’t give myself enough time to reconsider.”

Finally Sprocket decided to remind everyone that Haynry and I weren’t the only ones in the room. “It’s Ditzy, isn’t it? She’s keeping you here, right?”

Well, at least she was half right. “Well, there’s her, Dinky, Rarity, all of you, Pinkie Pie, Cheerilee, and others. Besides, I need to perfect my design for Ditzy’s goggles.”

They all donned forlorn expressions, but I should have guessed Fuse would be the one to say something. “No offense, man, but I really think you should give up on that. I’m just trying to be realistic, and there’s no way you can help her without paying out the nose for something that could go wrong and mess up her vision even more.”

Before I could even open my mouth, I caught Drill Bit shaking his head. “I gotta say, I’m with Fuse on this one. I really think you’ll save a lot of time and effort if you just try and help her deal with it.”

I didn’t realize it right then, but I’m pretty sure I was shaking. “No, no, no! Look, I helped us fix a car in twenty-two minutes. I got Fuse and Sprocket, to work out their problems and even get back together! Need I remind you that my first design almost did succeed? Quit telling me I can’t do something! If something is impossible, then I’ll find a way to make it possible!”

By now, I was panting. Almost everyone opened their mouths, but shut them immediately as we heard the clapping behind us.

“Son, let me tell you something. I may not know exactly what the fuss is about, but I do know that I haven’t seen passion or optimism like that in ages! Good on you, gotta love that ‘can’t isn’t a word’ attitude!”

I gave him a courteous bow, though I was absolutely blown away that he didn’t even flinch at my outburst. “Th-thank you, sir.”

Mr. Fjord gave me a wink. “Nothing doing, my boy. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

Considering that his car sparked my goggles idea in the first place, it wasn’t actually a pointless offer. In fact, I took a gamble and hoped that fortune would be in my favor. “Well… do you mind if I look at your car again?”

He tilted his head a little. “Sure. Is something on your mind?”

“I’m hoping I’ll get an idea again.” Everyone followed me to the hood when I popped it up. I scrutinized every nook and cranny I could. A few things popped into my head, but I shot them down relatively quickly when I found problems with them. Finally, I came to a conclusion, but something told me it wouldn’t be met with much enthusiasm.

“I feel like I could think of something if I had my own one of these to take apart. There’s got to be some kind of alignment part or balance component that can spark a realistic idea.”

My cousin peeked over my shoulder and scanned the hardware as well. “No offense, Torque, but remember we’re talking about a pony’s crooked eye, not a defective machine. I know you really want to help her see normally, but I don’t think car parts are going to help.”

I slowly closed the hood and addressed everyone in the room. “I know that. It’s just… anything dealing with alignment or balance is bound to spark something in this brain of mine. Besides, this is revolutionary technology. There’s no telling what we could do, even if we just use this as inspiration.”

Haynry began to rub his chin. Either he was deep in thought or there was something really interesting up and to his right. “Well, I’m sorry to say that a full car won’t be too easy to just give away, but I can give you sketches, blueprints, and schematics of different components. Maybe there’s something in those plans that could help you out.”
“Thank you very much. I appreciate that quite a bit.”

He cleared his throat, nodding as he checked his watch. “Least I can do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find someone to give your position to. I tell ya, I’ll be hard pressed to find somepony like you, but I’m sure I’ll manage.”

The colt hopped into his car and gave it a jolt of magic. Turning around, he slowly made his way out of the garage and waved to us. “I’ll have those papers mailed to this shop! Good luck to you all!”

We all waved back, shouting our thanks and praises to him. Despite the upbeat atmosphere, all gazes turned to glares as everyone turned to me. “Uh… did I say something wrong?”

Sparkplug got up in my face and almost growled. “You embarrassed us in front of Haynry Fjord! Haynry freaking Fjord, Torque! What is wrong with you?”

“Sparks, we all just got one thousand bits, I was offered a job working right under Fjord, and he praised my attitude. Never mind that I declined the offer, you’ve no reason to feel embarrassed.”

She drew back, rolling her eyes. “Yeah… I… fine. I guess I can’t be too upset. However, that outburst was still uncalled for. You’re entitled to your opinion, but don’t fly off the handle when you hear something you don’t like.”

I let out a long sigh. “Right, I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s clear to you all how much I love her and, to be honest, it makes me a little angry how you all expect me to just give up and tell her to deal with it. I know I can fix this somehow, I just need time to figure out how.”

Sprocket opened her mouth, but my cousin tapped her shoulder and shook her head. We all agreed not to talk about it for the rest of the day, either. That actually proved more difficult than you would think, because today was a really slow day. I think we had… one call the entire day.

Eventually, the fact that none of my friends knew what was really going on in my head became too much to bare. Knocking on the door, I poked my head through once I had my cousin’s permission to enter.

“Hey Torque, what’s up?” Her brows turned up when she saw my expression, prompting her ears to flatten as well. “Rather, what’s wrong?”

After a sigh and a few moments to gather my thoughts, I looked back up at her. “Can you keep a secret? I mean it, it’s hard for me to keep to myself, but you can’t tell anypony else. At all. If you really need to tell someone for whatever reason, tell Rarity, because she already knows.”

Sparks tilted her head a little. “You can trust me… what’s on your mind?”

The mare drew back and covered her mouth once I told her what I was planning. “Really? Torque… are you sure? That’s a pretty big thing you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re just planning. Nothing’s going to be final until I truly make up my mind. It could be tomorrow, it could be a year from now, but Rarity and all of her friends I’m upset at her for not introducing me to are all going to help with the planning.”

Now she just shrugged. Apparently that one screwdriver was her go to whenever she didn’t want to look somepony in the eye. “Are you sure how much it will cost? I mean, is it worth it? You talked about this already, and you’d end up spending a lot of money in vain if things don’t work out.”

I nodded and watched her play with the tool. “I know there are risks, and I know I said I was really wary on even doing that. Thing is… fortune has been in my favor for a while. Besides, like I said, we’re just planning, so if I lose my nerve and don’t think she can go through it or I don’t want her to anymore, we won’t be spending a single bit.”

“Ugh, you know, Torque, some days I want to hit you while I’m hugging you. You’re frustratingly good. It’s like… a ‘why are you so good and make everyone else look so bad?’ kind of deal. Stop being so nice or I’ll pretend to fire you!”

With a chuckle, I grabbed my head and began to shake it. “Oh no! Not my job! That’s how I make a living!”

We both started laughing, and I could hear the door crack open. Either whoever was watching thought we were plain crazy or we were having a really good time. However, it wasn’t any of my coworkers that came through it. My favorite filly was bouncing like Pinkie Pie all the way over to me, a wide, bright grin stretching across her muzzle.

“Hi Mister Torque! Hi Miss Sparkplug!”

My cousin’s grin soon grew to match Dinky’s as the filly hopped on my back. “Dinky! How did you get in here?”

She giggled and climbed up onto my head. “Momma said to come here after school! She told me that Mister Torque wanted to live with us and help Momma do money stuff, and she said it was my choice. I said ‘yes!’ so Mister Torque can live with me and Momma now!”

Were she not actually on my head, I would have tried to look at her. “Really? Aw, thank you Dinky!”

Dinky tried to look at me and nearly fell off my head, prompting her to climb down onto my back again. “I like playing with you, Mister Torque! Of course I’d want you to be around more!”

Sparkplug’s eyes widened and she flashed more of a sly grin at me. “Oh, I see how it is.” She reached over and started to run Dinky’s head, causing both of them to start giggling. “You just want all this cute to yourself.”

I just rolled my eyes. “I don’t think that’s possible, Sparks. There’s so much cute here that I can’t even hold it all. I’ll be there shortly, Dinky, hop on home and tell mom, okay?”

She gave some kind of cute salute, hopping off of me and trotting towards the door. “Bye Mister Torque, by Miss Sparkplug! Have a good day!”

We both waved at her until she was out of sight, but I was met with a rather stern glare upon turning around. “Torque… I just have one thing to say: Don’t screw up. For somepony who apparently doesn’t like making hasty decisions, it didn’t take you long to find a mare you liked and move in with her. You’re in pretty deep, and if I were you, I’d follow through to the very end, and you know what that means.”

“Of course I do. There’s no need to throw those looks at me.”

She sighed and looked to the clock right next to her desk. “It’s a little early, but today hasn’t been slow, it’s been at a standstill. Let’s start closing up and go home for some rest.


Closing up shop didn’t take very long at all, and the trip to Ditzy’s house was fairly quick as well. For the first time in a while, it was actually the pegasus that answered the door instead of her daughter, and immediately I found myself in her warm, tight embrace.

“I take it you heard the news already?” I really wished I could have seen her face, but that would’ve required her to break up the hug.

“She actually came to the shop to tell me.”

Finally my friend released me and allowed me inside. “I’ve been doing some thinking as well. I’m more than happy to have you here, but I’d like to at least get some required things out of the way. Right now Dinky is at Sweet Apple Acres, so I figured it’d be best to take care of this as to avoid cutting into play time.”

I was lead into the kitchen, taking a seat beside the mare. “What exactly did you want to talk about?”

She looked out the window for a moment before turning to me. “Nothing major, I just wanted to discuss the sleeping situation and possessions. I hate to do this… but we don’t have a lot of room in the house, so I’m afraid you may need to leave some things behind if you really, really want to stay here.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I patted the hoof on the table. “Don’t worry about that, Ditzy. I really don’t have a lot to bring in. The only thing I’d really be losing is my workshop, and I can keep going back there to work on things until the place gets a new owner. If you’re worried about finding a place for me to sleep, I have no problems with sleeping on the couch.”

Ditzy covered her mouth with a hoof, her gaze slowly falling to the floor. “I just… I wish we had another bed for you. Mine has plenty of room, but….”

Her statement brought a blush from me as I rubbed the back of my head. “Yeah… I think I’d feel just a little awkward sleeping with somepony else right now. Not really sure either of us are ready for that.”

My marefriend let out a small giggle, her own cheeks sporting a light pink tint. “Neither am I….”

I started rubbing my chin. My memory of Ditzy’s room was fuzzy at best. After all, I had only been in there one time. “I may have an idea. If you really feel so bad about me not having somewhere to sleep, I could get some of my friends to help move my bed into your room, if there’s room for it and it’s not too personalized. Would you be alright with that?”

Now Ditzy began to mimic my gesture. “Um, I’m not completely sure. I don’t have much in my room aside from the basics, but having a colt in the house is already awkward enough. I mean, I’d be more than willing to try it and see how I feel, but I’ll need a little more time to think.”

Scooting my chair a little closer, I nosed her cheek gently. “Too bad we can’t ask Dinky to decide this one for us too.”

She smiled and turned her head, gently pressing her lips against my own. “Yeah, too bad it’s not that easy. Still, I can’t thank you enough for doing this, there’s no doubt in my mind that having a second paycheck here will give us a bit more leisure room.”

With a small smile, I took her hooves in my own and held them tightly. “Getting your old position back will give us more leisure room as well. I don’t know how, Ditzy, but I’m going to find a way to straighten out your eyes so you can fly again. Many have told me it’s a lost cause, but I swear I’m going to.”

I half expected an argument from her, but instead she just closed her eyes and sighed. “You know, Torque, I would tell you ‘never make a girl a promise if you know you can’t keep it’, but I believe you. I feel that, somehow, you’ll find a way to do what you say you’re going to.”

“Love makes us do crazy things.” It was such a corny line it made me wish I had brought some butter, but that was all I could think of to say.

Ditzy adorably rolled her eyes and pulled me in a tight hug. “The crazy things you’ve done for me can’t even be counted, and I’m grateful for each and every one of them. I love you, Torque.”

“I love you too, Ditzy. So, when are you expecting Dinky to come home?”

The pegasus looked up at the clock for a moment. “Oh, in about another hour or two. Speaking of which, that was something else I’d like to talk to you about.”

My ear twitched a little. I always found it odd that it was only my right ear that ever did that, and to this day I still can’t pin down what kinds of things cause it. “Sure, go ahead.”

This time she made no attempt to break eye contact with me. At the very least, that meant what she was about to say wasn’t a very negative thing. “Well, Dinky’s friends are going to be staying with Fluttershy tomorrow night. She really wants to go, so… I was wondering if we could go out tomorrow night as well. I know we had that trip to the park planned for Sunday morning, but to be quite honest… I couldn’t wait to go out with you again.”

She began to tap at the floor, though still managed to keep her eyes on me. After a few chin taps, I smiled and nuzzled her. “I have no problem with that at all. However, I think there’s still a way we can do both. Why don’t we just stay here in Ponyville tomorrow, and all three of us go to Vanhoover Sunday morning for a trip to the zoo and a picnic?”

Those adorable, crooked eyes lit up as she squealed. “Oh, that sounds great! I’m sure Dinky would love that!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “So it’s settled! Now all we have to do is get through tomorrow!”

A small silence followed our laughter, and then we made a plan for dinner. I had never had tofu before, but Ditzy assured me it was delicious. By the time Dinky came home, we had three full plates of eggs, tofu ham, and broccoli. It was an odd combination, but the girls dove right in. I soon found myself diving in as well; it was much better than I thought.

The little filly was all too excited about telling me all the fun things she and her friends did, but Ditzy refused to let her do anything until she had had a bath. I couldn’t blame her, either, seeing as how she was covered in dirt. While she took Dinky to bathe, I went ahead and washed the dishes for her.

I finished before my marefriend, but it wasn’t very long until I was on the ground with a small, slightly damp unicorn on my back. “Hello again, Papa Torque!”

Again, I started chuckling. “Papa? Where did that come from?” I rolled onto my back, causing Dinky to tumble off and roll around on the floor until she was beside me.

“Well, you’re gonna be living with us now! We’re super good friends, so I need something different to call you, but it feels weird calling grown-ups just by their names.”

“’Mister’ is fine, sweetie. Others might get the wrong idea if you go around calling me that.”

“Aw.” those big, honey yellow eyes stared up into my own. They were even more adorable than puppy eyes. “Please?”

Biting my lip, I looked up at her mother. Sadly, all I got was a wink and a teasing view of the mare’s tongue poking out from between her lips. “Aw, how can I say no to this?” I picked the filly up with one foreleg and began to trot around. “How can I resist Super Dinky?”

She caught on quickly and began to giggle, stretching out all four of her legs. “Wee! Momma look, I’m Super Dinky!”

Ditzy began to laugh as she watched me carry around her daughter. “Yes, I see! You’re very super indeed!” Her laughter only got louder as I carried “Super Dinky” right into Ditzy, smiling as the filly wrapped her mother in a big hug. “My little superhero.” I saw her turn her head to look up at me, a soft smile across her muzzle. “And my big hero.”

“Aw.” Pretty soon, all three of us were joined together in a massive group hug.

“Oh Dinky, I think Torque has something he wants to ask you.”

The unicorn looked up at me with a big, bright smile. “Yes, Papa Torque?”

I softly patted her head. “Would you like to come with us to the zoo on Sunday? I’m also taking you all out for a picnic in the park. The zoo does have a petting section where you can play with the animals.”

Immediately, she hopped on the floor and began to bounce around in her cute, usual way. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I wanna go! I wanna go! Oh can I momma, please?”

Now she patted the filly’s head and began to giggle. “Of course, Dinky, that’s why I mentioned it! The trip will be for all three of us. Not to mention you getting to spend the night with Fluttershy tomorrow.”

Again, she jumped up and did some kind of midair summersault. “You’re letting me go? Oh, thank you Momma! Thank you! Thank you! I just can’t wait till tomorrow!”

Both Ditzy and I exchanged glances and soft smiles, speaking almost in unison. “Neither can I.”


Having Papa Torque here was great! That night, I would play with alphabet blocks Momma had got me while I listened to them talk. When I got bored of that, though, all three of us played some board games, and Papa Torque even helped Momma and I finish that puzzle we’d been working on.

I had so much fun it felt like my bedtime came much sooner than it was supposed to. However, the clock told me it was indeed time. Momma and Papa Torque tucked me in at the same time, but I was too tired for a story that night. I got all cozy twice as fast, but I could overhear them talking in the hall.

“I’m amazed at how quickly she warmed up to you. Torque, do you realize what you are to her?”

“Yes, I know. It’s pretty obvious I’m like a father to her. Ditzy, I promise I’m going to make everything better. I won’t say what, but I have a plan in the works now, and I really feel like it’s going to work out, and I know by that time your vision will be perfect and you’ll be able to fly again.”

Momma didn’t sound too happy. She raised her voice a little, but it was more of a sad way than it was an angry way. “How do you know that, Torque? How can you guarantee?”

“Because, Ditzy, I just made one thousand bits by winning that contest. I’ve been told it would be expensive, but I’m sure that would at least put a dent in the price. Not only that, but I get my first paycheck tomorrow. Ditzy… I know not to make promises I can’t keep, but this is a promise I know I can: Things will get better. I’m going to find a way to make them get better. I love you, and I love Dinky. I just need some time.”

“Time? What do you need time for? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just, I was always taught to leave a little time for mistakes before making a hasty decision. Like, you wouldn’t just jump into a lake or pond before testing to make sure there was shallow water you could go to. I just want some time to make sure this decision won’t backfire on me.”

I saw Momma’s shadow backing up with her hoof on her muzzle. “Torque… are you talking about paying for me to get optical surgery?”

I really wished I could see Papa Torque, but Mama’s shadow was right next to my door frame as it was. “In time, Ditzy. It’s no fun if I don’t maintain a little mystery. Anyway, why don’t we drop the slightly frightening talk for now?”

Momma nodded and moved forward, making me puff my cheeks out at not being able to see what she did. “May I make an odd request?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think… we could sleep together tonight? I mean… if we don’t feel that awkward, maybe we can get used to it. You wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch or put forth the work to move your own bed. Besides my… blanket isn’t that thick. I could use the extra warmth.”

I was sure my mom’s cheeks were really red, but I heard Papa Torque laugh a little, and I saw his shadow hug Momma’s. “I guess we could try. We’ll need to get used to it at some point, so why not start now?”

They both walked towards Momma’s room, but I let out a small squeak before they went in to get their attention. “Goodnight Momma. Good night Papa Torque.”

Momma smiled at me and came back in to give me a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight sweetie.”

Papa Torque patted my head and rubbed my mane some too. “Sweet dreams, Dinky.”

I closed my eyes and clung tight to Mr. Wags, feeling myself finally doze off. I wish I could remember what I dreamed about, but it seems like I never remember my dreams. Which is sad, because I do know I have a lot of nice ones.

I was woken up by the smell of leftover eggs from last night, and once I pulled myself out of bed, I meandered over to the kitchen. Indeed, Momma and Papa Torque were preparing the eggs we had left over, and there were more than enough for all of us!

“Mmm, that smells delicious!”

She turned to me and skipped my way, picking me up. “Good morning, sweetie!”

Papa Torque also came over, joining our small hug. “Good morning, Dinky. How’d you sleep?”

“I was all warm and cozy! I slept very well.” With a big smile, I climbed into my chair and couldn’t resist licking my lips a little when Papa Torque set my plate down before me. The table had already been set, but I knew better than to eat before everypony else was here.

Once they were, we all quickly downed our food. “Once again, Momma’s cooking saves the day!”

My mom giggled and patted my cheek with a napkin. “Her cleanliness saves the day as well. So Dinky, do you have anything specific you want for lunch?”

It look just a little thought, but I finally came up with something. “Do we still have any strawberry jelly? I really like that with that crunchy peanut butter that has normal peanuts in it!”

She turned and looked through the cabinets, pulling out that peanut butter. Then she turned to the fridge, but Papa Torque had already found it. “Got it, Ditzy. I’m a fan of strawberry myself. Honestly, I like it better than grape.”

His words made me jump. “Me too! I always liked the strawberry jelly better!”

He patted my head gently and grinned. “Of course you do! You’re a smart girl, just like your mother. Say… would it be too much to give Dinky a little treat today?”

My ears perked up when he said this, but sadly he whispered his intentions into Momma’s ear. “Are there enough for her friends as well? No doubt she’ll want to bring some for them?”

Papa Torque started nodding. “Sure! There’s at least six or seven left.”

Momma once again turned to me, giving me a small wink. “Torque has a nice treat for you! We’ll show you later, but for now I want you to get in the bathroom and brush your teeth. Go on, Dinky, don’t want your teeth to fall out.”

I hopped up and bolted to the bathroom. In all honesty, brushing my teeth felt like a waste of time to me, but Momma told me if I didn’t keep them clean, they’d rot and fall out, and I didn’t want that! Once my teeth were all nice and clean, I came back into the kitchen. Momma had already packed my lunch when I came in, though I didn’t see anything extra in it.

“Momma, where’s that thing that Papa Torque mentioned? In fact, where’s Papa Torque?”

“Oh, he had to go to work to get those treats. Don’t worry, he said he’d bring them by around lunch time. Are you ready for school?”

“Mhm! Today’s game day, I’m super excited!” My tail began to swish as I wondered what we would do today. Even more excited was the fact that I’d be at a sleepover with my friends at Miss Fluttershy’s house, and I was all too hyped up about seeing all her different animals. Maybe she would even let me play with them!

In my daydreaming, I didn’t even realize the door was open until my momma said something. “Come on now, sweetie, you don’t want to be late, do you?”

“Oh yeah! Sorry Momma!” I skipped over to her and gave her leg a tight hug. “I love you, have a good day! Tell Papa Torque I said so too!”

She waved at me as I bounced off. “I will! Love you too, Dinky!”

My trip to school didn’t take very long, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were already there. Before talking to them, though, I made sure to get permission to stash my lunch in Miss Cheerilee’s desk.

“Hi Scootaloo! Hi Sweetie Belle!”

They both smiled when they saw me, shouting at the same time. “Hey Dinky!”

“Where’s Apple Bloom and Sprint?”

The pegasus tilted her head. “Don’t you remember? They said that they needed to catch up on their chores, and since today is a game day they figured they wouldn’t be missing much. I hope they don’t miss the sleepover.”

“Aw…” I was sad for a moment, but her mention of the sleepover splashed another question over me. “Oh, speaking of, have either of you been to Miss Fluttershy’s before? What’s it like?”

They both nodded, but Sweetie Belle was the one that spoke. “Well… she has a lot of animals. It’s also very… natural. Like, Fluttershy doesn’t have a lot of normal house stuff. Most of her cottage is like natural wood and stuff. You have to watch out for that Angel, though, that rabbit is nothing but trouble.”

“Aw, no he’s not! He’s a cute little bunny who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes with a smirk. “Oh, if you only knew.”

“Well if Apple Bloom and Sprint were here they’d agree with me.”

Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head some. “Actually, Apple Bloom has seen his troublemaking, and Sprint hasn’t been here long enough to have even seen Angel. If they finish in time, this will be her first time at Fluttershy’s.”

I did a little hop when I heard this. “Then she’s just like me! That’s so cool!”

Both of them started giggling. Sweetie Belle looked out the window in what I assumed to be the direction of Miss Fluttershy’s cottage. “You know what? I bet if you tried, you could make Angel be good just like you did with Opal! That would be something!”

With another smirk, the pegasus let out a yawn. “That wouldn’t just be something, that’d be downright crazy. Not even Fluttershy can keep a lid on him sometimes.”

Now I was the one rolling my eyes. “Come on, how bad can he—”

“Okay everyone, take your seats! It’s time for class!” The room fell silent when Miss Cheerilee called to us, and it was time for class to start.

Today our teacher decided to revisit the subject of cutie marks, only this time she covered more than basics. As always, I was scribbling notes down as she taught, and this was actually something I could make use of almost immediately. As it turns out, cutie marks are often earned immediately or shortly after the pony’s racial gift is first perfected.

That meant that, like Sweetie Belle, I would get my cutie mark when I finally found what I was meant to do with magic. I was so caught up in the lesson that the end of it struck me by complete surprise. It took me a moment to realize it was lunch time, but once I did I scurried over to Miss Cheerilee’s desk to grab my bag.

Just as I sat down with my friends, a knock on the doorframe drew my attention to Papa Torque. Miss Cheerilee came over to him, though I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Eventually, she pointed at my table and the stallion walked over to us, and that’s when I noticed the box he was holding.

“What’s this? I thought there were five of you girls.”

Scootaloo repeated what she had told me as he set the box down. “Well then, I guess you three get all these doughnuts to yourselves, unless you want to share. I brought enough for all five of you to have two, but it looks like Sprint and Apple Bloom are going to miss out.”

The pegasus quickly grabbed a hold of one of the treats, scarfing it down with a satisfied “mm”. “As long as they make it to the sleepover, missing out on this won’t hurt anything! Besides, more for us!”

He laughed a little and gave me a quick hug. “Have fun, Dinky! I’ll see you later tonight before your sleepover.”

I couldn’t help but keep waving until he was gone. “Have a good day!”

Sweetie began to munch on a sweet of her own. “Wow! That sure was nice of him!”

Before I even reached for a doughnut, I started on my sandwich. “He’s a really nice pony! I can’t count all the nice things he’s done for Momma and me.”

Both of them nodded, but my fellow unicorn beat Scootaloo to words. “He is really nice! He’s come to see Rarity a few times, and he’s always really polite. She’s a little worried about them though, since he’s apparently really dirty.”

“Miss Rarity?” I tilted my head and raised my brow. I did remember him walking with Momma and me that one time, but that was the only time I remember seeing those two together.

Sweetie gave a confident nod. “He came by to fix her new dye thingy, he came for tea twice, and she’s working on a necklace he asked for. I can’t imagine why, though, Torque doesn’t seem like someone who would wear jewelry.”

With a mouthful of sandwich keeping me from speaking, all I could do was shrug. Once I was done, I picked up a doughnut and began to munch on that as well. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too long before the obligatory mood-killer reared its ugly head.

Scootaloo was shooting a glare past me, so zoned in that it was like the doughnuts weren’t even there anymore. “Get ready, girls.”

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Looks like you’re back to just three blank flanks, huh?”

I really wanted to call Silver Spoon out for forgetting Sweetie’s cutie mark, but I never got the chance. “Ha! Shows how smart you are, I already got my cutie mark, remember?”

Both bullies rolled their eyes. “Whatever. We’re here to get you back for getting us in so much trouble.”

The looks in all four pairs of eyes were unmistakable. I did the only think I could think to, holding one out for each other them.

Diamond Tiara looked down at it for a moment. “What is this?”

“A doughnut. Papa Torque brought them here for us, but you two should have one too. I mean, it’s only fair, since we have so many, and it makes up for getting you in trouble.”

The two exchanged glances before Silver Spoon raised her brow. “What are you playing at?”

“I’m not playing at anything. Take them! It’s the least I can do!”

After a moment, both of my friends sat back down and watched. It took a little more time, but eventually the two bullies accepted their treats. Silver Spoon began to back away, but Diamond Tiara chose to stick around for a few more words.

“I’m watching you.” Honestly, it was really sad that they just couldn’t accept a nice gift.

My friends kind of just sat there watching the bullies walk off. The silence was maintained for what felt like forever until Scootaloo decided to break it. “So that’s it? We just give them our stuff?”

I just shrugged. “Why not? We have plenty of them, and sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to be nice.”

Sweetie looked like she was about to say something, but Miss Cheerilee rang the little bell on her desk to let us know lunch time was over. The rest of the day was game time, and today’s game was a huge session of hide and seek. Not only that, but we also played four corners to end things off. Finally, to top of the school hours, Featherweight gave us all a nice show and tell by showing us his favorite coat his mom made for him. It was actually really weird to hear him talk so much.

However, that wasn’t actually the end of class. As we all started getting ready to leave, Miss Cheerilee rang that bell again to keep us at our desks. “There’s one more thing I’d like to address. As you all know, Family Appreciation Days are still a ways away, but due to the accidents last year, I think it best for us to prepare ahead of time. I’ve got everyone’s name here on this list, and when I call on you, please tell me who you are going to want to bring so that plans can be made.”

She looked at the list for a second, then looked back to us. “Oh, and please, if anyone sees Apple Bloom or Sprint, ask them who they’re bringing and let me know.” With that, Miss Cheerilee went down the list. As she got closer and closer to me, an idea sprang up into my head that I was all too excited to speak of. “Dinky, I assume you’ll be bringing in your mother again?”

With a big smile, I shook my head. “Nope! I’m gonna bring in my papa this time!”