• Published 12th Jun 2012
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A Cog in the Machine - Zoom zoom



A 2nd person story where you are a child being raised by Pinkie Pie.

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Repairs and Scares (Part 1)

A Few Weeks Later:

You were ecstatic. Helping out a friend was one thing but what you had just done for Sweetie Belle and Featherweight? That would be something neither of them could get around not telling others even if, and at this point you considered that was a big if, they didn’t end up married when they were older. Nothing could bring down your high, or so you thought.

In your wide smile you had forgotten only momentarily that you were still not on speaking terms with the other two members of the cutie mark crusaders. Applebloom especially couldn’t be made up with at all since she had gone to Manhatten for the spring break to see her cousin before you had a chance to make good on your end of the bargain with Sweetie Belle. Not that you were not relieved at that thought and equally worried for Applebloom’s return as you had no idea what to say to her now to even make up for what you did. That got you to flash on her face and the hurt in it and your chest hurt again. “No,” you told yourself trying to keep up your running, “stop it right now. You have to stay happy. You can consider what to do with Applebloom when she comes back, besides there is somepony else to handle first.”

Right, Scootaloo was still not talking to you. And what’s more, she encouraged Applebloom not to say a word to you long enough for her to go away before you apologized in the first place. If you were ever going to make up with Applebloom, the first thing you needed to do now was make up with Scootaloo. Something you could only do now because she would see how well you helped out Sweetie Belle. Without delay you decided to go to Scootaloo’s house to at least gadge what exactly was needed to get back on her good side. Just like with helping out Featherweight the first part to any good plan is to know your target, and that meant the old detective play only minus Featherweight’s more useful ability to see a pony’s feelings in a lesser but still useable capability of you seeing the workings of things. Still workable though.

The first thing that struck you about the place was how low to the ground it was. This was not a home a Pegasus pony would normally like at all. Heck with all the light that was blocked out by this half bunker like place you were not sure any Pony could actually enjoy living in such a dark house. But this was the address alright. You could tell because Scootaloo’s trademark scooter lay spralled in front of what you calculated must be the garage. Meaning one of Scootaloo’s parents either owned a cart business or a repair shop. Taking the sawdust, a few broken wooden planks and various bolts around the place, it was fairly obvious to you that if one of her parents wasn’t a carpenter that they were at least skilled enough to constantly repair Scootaloo’s death trap.

It took you some time to work up the courage to finally alert the home dwellers of your presence. You listened, there was a small reaction to the fact somepony was knocking on the chamber door. A chair shifted, but no one said anything. Not even an “I’ll get it.” Meaning whoever answered the door was either there alone right now or always answers. Considering Scootaloo isn’t very rich the former is likely the case.

The door does finally give the click of the lock and creek of the opening when you spot who you expected. Scootaloo sees you and immediately shuts the door in your face, understandable. So you allowed yourself to gaze curiously at Scootaloo’s scooter now. You had ignored that notion at first since it was more important to have Scootaloo know you were here. But now that it was done, your honest curiosity could only help you at this point.

From afar the thing looked pretty simple, and up close it still was. But only up close could you see the story behind it that the scooter told. A few knicks in the wood from various bumps, the obvious attempt to repair a large crack that would have snapped the thing in half if it wasn’t for replacing the main piece in the wood, and a Wheel slightly lose with bush leaves in the workings told you how despite how well you had seen Scootaloo do on the thing that she not only was using the same scooter since she learned to use it, but that she in fact still continued to test herself constantly even without knowing her talent involved it. The fact she, out of all three members of the CMC, wasn’t the first to get her mark astounded you.

With no response from the house yet you decided to attempt fixing the wobbly wheel on the scooter. Perhaps one of Scootaloo’s parents was a mechanic. The wheels and axels showed a very skilled hoof, something that seemed beyond Scootaloo’s level even if she was supposed to have made the engine of a float before. That you still had to see to believe when it came to Sweetie Belle’s bragging. More so than the stupid thought that Applebloom’s body was actually skilled enough to not break a bone from a disease long thought dead that caused one to perform actions only skilled ponies could do without that effect.

Just peachy, your mind goes right back to Applebloom again, for once though you are not remembering that face that has been haunting you. Her smile that seemed to carry everyone’s spirits up out of even the deepest sadness and made you forget about your own issues for just a little bit. Her determination when it came to doing a task. Even some of the faces you had yet to see her make yet but that Granny Smith had showed you in the family photo album when she kept trying to do the impossible.

You felt a smile slowly crawl up your face as you thought of all of that, and it got even wider as you started messing with the knut that kept the wheel on and finally popped it off. Here was something you could fix, something you didn’t have issues understanding at all. That was when the thought occurred to you. You could use your hoof to bend this back in shape easily for now, just as you could just simply fix the issues you were having with Scootaloo and Applebloom. Sweetie Belle was right, sometimes you do think things through way too much. Sometimes, like that time you saved Applebloom from that fall. Your actions without your thinking were the best things to do.

You replaced the wheel and turned the knut as best you could. You didn’t have any tools so the thing was still pretty loose but outside that was looking pretty good. Slowly the creak of the door opening came into your ears. And with a sudden gasp a orange blur snatched the scooter from your hooves and barreled back into the house. Heck you thought you could see a barrier of wind or sound around Scootaloo as she did this and shut the door again.

You waited, and finally Scootaloo opened the door yet again. She looked confused but finally asked the question that was plaguing her. “What do you want?”

“To apologize,” you said firmly keeping yourself looking like you were sure of yourself. This was mostly true anyway. You had to admit a month ago you were being a pretty big ass about it, you were so desperate not to even consider obvious signs that you were not prepared as usual to deal with Applebloom’s confession. As a result Scootaloo had all the right in the world to want to kick your plot five ways for hurting her friend with your ‘honest’ reaction.

Scootaloo went through what you could see as the signs of considering what you just said. In general most ponies are easy to accept forgiving, and really while you had hurt Applebloom nothing should really keep someone who considered you a friend to hold a grudge that long for a minor betrayal, especially when you were here to apologize for it. “Alright how do you plan on doing that exactly?”

So she needed more than a sorry? Well you had planned for that somewhat, even if it was a bit demanding of her. “I wanted to learn how to use your scooter if you don’t mind. If you show me that I can guarantee you’ll forgive him in no time flat afterward.”

Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow expectantly, “I doubt that. But I can’t right now anyway. My dad will be home soon and he wants me to stay home tonight. He doesn’t get to come back too often so…”

“More than understandable,” you added. “Then I expect you to meet me for said lessons tomorrow at noon.”

“Wait I didn’t agree to give you lessons,” she replied.

“But you didn’t say no either,” you said in your best imitation of your dad you could muster, “and no backing out of it now.” It left a bad taste in your mouth but you couldn’t argue with the results that it wins over fillies way better than how you normally talk. Besides use what Celestia gave you was the family motto. Likely why Pinkie couldn’t stay with her parents after finding her calling wasn’t rock farm related as she had told you a few weeks ago.

Whether it was the logic or the voice, Scootaloo slowly nodded with a slight pink grazing her cheeks and closed the door quickly. You’d have to look into that at some point later. She was your friend and for her that was pretty weird even before she agreed. So with nothing else to do you stretched out and headed for home. There were two more movies tonight with your name on them, you couldn’t wait to see Pone Lee kick some asses, and literally it was supposed to be him verses the champion donkey karate master as the ads in the sleeve told.

Author's Note:

I've been having some issues with the second part of Deals and Reels in order for it to make it seem right and ending up mostly scraping it for a rewrite.

I didn't want to leave everyone hanging though so I decided to just add it in later when my editor can help me with my issues with it. This however came out fine and Part 2 should be out soon enough so long as I don't get distracted again.

Tell me how you like this, oh and for anyone who didn't keep up with the blog I'm also working on Two side stories that happened between the ending the Deals and Reels and this. So yes it is supposed to come off as if you missed like half a season's worth of crap.