Spring and Spanner

by CodenameOne

3 - The First Day

Chapter Three

The First Day

The week had passed in a blur, much like every week did for Spanner Wrench. He would wake, shower, go to work, come home, busy himself until bedtime, and then repeat. As much as he had assured Socket Driver that he wasn't a robot, there was some small part of Spanner that told himself he certainly lived like an automaton.

Spanner was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, when the doorbell was rung. He set down the cup he'd been washing, dried off his hooves with a towel, and headed for the door. As expected, Ginger Snap and Spring Blossom stood on the other side, smiles on their faces. Spanner responded with a smile of his own, though more of a courtesy than anything else.

"Hi mister Wrench! Miss Ginger said I was gonna stay at your house for the weekend!" Spring said, and Spanner nodded. He stepped aside, and the two of them trotted in. There had been some concern earlier in the week when Ginger had come by to inspect Spanner's home and found it completely devoid of décor, but thankfully she still decided to let Spring come by for the weekend. Spanner was sure that if he lived in another town, and his home there was in such a state, that she would've declined.

"I'll leave you two be now. Bye, Spring, have fun with Mr. Wrench, and be a good filly, OK?" Ginger said, and Spring nodded.

"I will, Miss Ginger! Bye, see you Sunday!"

Ginger smiled, waved, and left, leaving Spanner alone with Spring. For once in his life, Spanner was presented with a situation that he wasn't particularly prepared to deal with. He'd planned for the weekend all week, had ideas in mind, but now that it was time to implement these plans he didn't know where to start.

Spring did, though. Or at least seemed to. She began trotting and looking around the house, taking it in. "You don't have any decorations, mister Wrench?" Spring asked, and Spanner shook his head.

"Just call me Spanner, please, and no. I've never been one for decorating" Spanner said. He wondered if that would change if he did end up adopting Spring. She seemed confused that there were no decorations anywhere.

"There's decorations everywhere at the home. Miss Ginger and the other adults put up most of them, but there's also drawings and stuff from us all" Spring said.

"Do you enjoy drawing, Spring?" Spanner asked.

"Nah. I'm not very good at it. I like taking care of my flowers!" the young filly exclaimed, and Spanner nodded.

"Well, is there anything you'd like to do? There's not much to do here in the house, besides read, but there's also not much for us to do outside" Spanner said, and sat down on his haunches. He wondered if the house would feel smaller with Spring's presence.

"Books are cool! My friend Morning Glisten in Ponyville likes to read all the time, but... I was reading all day at school today, so could we play outside?" Spring asked, and Spanner nodded.

"Let's go out the back door" Spanner said, and led her along. The backdoor was plainly visible as soon as somepony walked in the front, as the backdoor was directly opposite the front, just thirty feet across the hall in the kitchen. Spanner held it open for Spring, who thanked him, and together they trotted out into the backyard.

"Uhm, mister-- Spanner, do you live by yourself?" Spring asked, and Spanner nodded.

"I've lived here in Hollow Shades for many years. I work in town, as a repairpony. Ponies come to us with broken machines and it's my job to fix them all" Spanner explained, and Spring smiled.

"That's so cool! Could you show me?" Spring asked.

Spanner shook his head. "I'm afraid not. There's nothing broken here, and the repair shop is closed for the day. Another time, perhaps."

"OK. Uhm, did you live somewhere else before you lived here?" Spring asked, and Spanner froze. That wasn't something he could tell her. It'd be too complicated, and she didn't need to know. It was something that he himself would like to forget.

"Somewhere else."

Spring tilted her head to the side. "What was it called? Why did you move?"

"Let's talk about something else, alright? It can be rude to ask questions that somepony doesn't want to answer, alright?" Spanner said.

"I'm sorry, Spanner! Uhm, when you're not fixing stuff, do you just read books all day?" Spring asked.

"Yes. Reading has always been a passion of mine, although I do own a projector. Have you ever seen one? Thanks to Princess Sunset, they've really become true marvels of technology" Spanner said.

"I've never seen one! Can I see it?"

"Of course. It's back inside, though. I keep it in my room" Spanner said, and pulled the door open again. Spring ran inside, and Spanner followed her close behind. Spanner's bedroom was on the left as one exited the kitchen and entered the hallway, and he opened the door for Spring.

"I'm afraid I don't own any films, but maybe one day I will. Most projectors are still used for official matters, like newsreels" Spanner explained, and pulled the case the projector and its tripod was in out from under his bed. He popped the case open and held it open for Spring to marvel at it. It looked exactly as Spring expected: a metal box with two pegs on it, for mounting the film reel to, and a lens sticking out from the front. Its legs were a smooth wood and the metal a bright silver. On its side was a golden emblem, gleaming as brilliantly as the rest of the projector. An eagle perched upon a rod, wings spread.

"It looks cool!"

"I thought you might like it. Truth be told I'm not sure why I own it. It's just...something I've owned for a long time. Projectors used to be something of an oddity, but Princess Sunset really made them mainstream. Uh, mainstream means popular" Spanner explained, and Spring nodded. "I received it as a gift and at the time I was quite fascinated by it. Even though I've never used it I just...never thought to get rid of it."

"Well, I hope you get to use it one day! Can we go back outside to play now, Spanner?" Spring asked.

Spanner nodded. "Of course. Lead the way, please."

---

The target was out there, somewhere. It was a wide forest, filled with the chirping of birds, but thankfully there was very little undergrowth. The way was clear for him to sneak along, trying to keep as much of him concealed as possible.

He found himself wishing that he had taken the time to put on camouflage, for his colors weren't exactly inconspicuous in the forest, but he told himself he could make do. He was safe for now, he knew, and he had plenty of time to plan out his moves.

There was a threat of rain on the horizon, but for now the skies were sunny and clear. Rain would complicate the mission, but it could also be a benefit. In all likelihood the mission would be over before the storm made it over to him, so it wouldn't factor in at all.

He paused, and felt it in his gut that the target wasn't far. There was a building not far from him, maybe forty yards ahead, but he knew the target wasn't inside. There was a trio of large rocks ahead to his right, also about forty yards away, and he figured that was where the target was. He shifted right, intending to catch the target unaware. There was a tree with a thick branch extending out directly over the rocks, and he snuck up towards the tree.

For most ponies, climbing a tree would be a challenge. For him, he was just out of practice. At one time in his life, he'd have scaled the tree and been on the branch in seconds. Today, it took him a few minutes, but once he was in position, he knew the time was right. He crept along the tree branch, keeping himself centered and keeping sure not to rustle the branch too much.

About halfway across the branch he was over the rock trio, and he looked down to find the target in place, just like expected. The target was actually turning in place every few seconds, to keep an eye on all the different approaches to the rocks, but the target never once looked up. The time was right, he had remained hidden, and there would be no escape.

His limbs tense, he leapt off the branch and into the sky, and yelled "SURPRISE!!" as he came down. There was a shriek of terror from below, and he landed directly on top of the target, the two of them rolling together along the dirt until they bumped together against one of the rocks.

"HOLY COW, you came flying out of the sky! I didn't know you'd do that!" Spring Blossom yelled happily, and Spanner smiled as he stood up off of her. They were both a little dirty now, but Spanner had been careful not to harm her as he came down.

Hide and seek wasn't exactly his game, but a game like Tag was a bit of a challenge for a stallion was 31-years-old. Spring hadn't minded at all, thankfully, likely just happy to spend time with someone she was doubtlessly hoping would adopt her. Spanner had pretty much made his mind up already, but he wasn't going to tell her just yet.

"Did you have fun, Spring?" Spanner asked, and the little filly nodded.

"That was so cool how you came out of the sky! How did you do that, you're an earth pony like me!" Spring asked.

Spanner pointed to the tree branch. "I climbed along that. I saw you turning in place, watching the forest. You never saw me coming."

"Oh wow, you can climb trees? Miss Ginger doesn't like us climbing trees, she says it's too dangerous."

"Well, it can be, if you're not good at it. Maybe I'll teach you someday. It's pretty challenging for earth ponies. Unicorns, too, I would imagine."

Spring paid such rapt attention, a smile on her face the entire time. Spanner enjoyed just having someone to talk to who wasn't always prying into his business. Spring just listened to what he had to say, and offered a comment every so often, and Spanner appreciated that. His coworkers were always trying to goad him into being a pony he wasn't, but Spring seemed to accept him as he was.

"Well, Spring, would you like to go back in? I'll show you to your room, and make dinner for the two of us" Spanner said, and Spring nodded.

"OK, Spanner!" Spring said, and took off for the house. She waited patiently by the backdoor, unable to reach the handle herself, and Spanner pulled it open for her. She scurried through the kitchen and into the hallway, and poked her head into one of the open doors. "I found the bathroom!"

Spanner smiled. "Your room is just next to it, Spring." He pulled the door open, and Spring trotted inside. He stood in the doorway, letting her take in the room. It was set up similar to her room at the orphanage, just bigger. Spanner figured she'd appreciate having a familiar layout, and that it would help her adjust better.

"I've left some books for you. Dinner won't take very long, I was just going to make ramen, so I'll let you know when it's done, alright?" Spanner asked, and Spring nodded. He was about to trot away when he noticed that Spring was just looking at him, as if she wanted to say something more. "Spring?"

Spring opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead she rushed forward and hugged Spanner's leg, and Spanner put a hoof on her back. "Thank you for fostering me, Spanner. I... I don't know if you'll end up adopting me, but... I hope you will. If not, though, I'm happy you at least thought about it."

"You're welcome, Spring" Spanner said with a smile. He hadn't been expecting the sudden embrace, and it filled him with a kind of euphoria he never thought he'd experience. "Now, I'm going to go get dinner started, alright?"

Spring looked up at him, nodded, and released his leg. He tousled her mane, and she giggled. Spanner trotted away and headed back into the kitchen, and reached for one of his pots. It was an interesting feeling, having someone else with him in the house. It felt more...whole. Like one of those things one never knew they needed until they had it.

It was a pleasant feeling. One that Spanner decided he liked very much.

Author's Note:

Here's an image of Spanner Wrench's house, to get a better idea of where everything is.

Comments

[Autumn Colors Fall]

One thing that's bothering me a bit is I don't feel like I understand Spanner's motivation to adopt a kid at this point in time, which seems like something that would need to come up during the whole adoption process. I can see that he's lonely and isolated, but it's not particularly clear to me why he thinks jumping into a huge commitment like becoming a father will help him with that. If anything I'm a little worried for him with all of that trauma from whatever events he was involved in before (assuming he was in a war based on the cover art.) This seems like a commitment that could easily backfire on him and on Spring Blossom if he hasn't really thought through why he's doing this.

[CodenameOne]

10854047

An important question, to be sure! Definitely something that will be addressed later on in the story.

[Krickis]

Nice to see the projector making an appearance lol, that's certainly going to be a good bonding thing. Like if
Skyward, I'm eager to learn more about his motivations. He's doing well so far (made it through the first day) but he doesn't exactly come across as the parenting type.

Interesting mirroring between this and the opening chapter. Maybe shows there's a bit more in common between these two than meets the eye, since they have the same sorta mentality when seeking.

[CodenameOne]

10856669

Nice to see the projector making an appearance lol, that's certainly going to be a good bonding thing.

cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/549802628230414356.png?v=1