Chapter 10: Momentum

The morning awoke and so did Ampere.  He eagerly raised himself from his bed and made for the bathroom.  He brushed his teeth vigorously.  He quickly changed to his work clothes - a white dress shirt and black tie - and went downstairs to make breakfast.  His pantry was low on frivolous addendums such as jam or butter, but he decided to make toast either way.  He was rushing to work and toast could be consumed on the move.  He gathered his things:  a jacket, satchel, keys, wallet, and rushed out of the door.

He was early to his favourite sunrise spot.  He began munching on his toast in full, anxiously awaiting the glorious orb to embrace Equestria with its warm arms.  He grew a tad impatient so he began to reflect on himself.  A form of meditation, one could say.  Realization had hit when he discovered how quickly he prepared himself for work.  I was surprised at this pace.  It was much quicker than before.  He thought about what was to come.  Volta, Resistance, the orphans, etc...  When it dawned on him that he actually enjoyed the mornings, for each day held new opportunities and progress, a beam of light glinted at his eye.  Ampere then rushed for work.

At the lowest sense, it was a productive day.  It only mattered to Ampere to finish work and to head over to Volta’s apartment.  The urge to help Volta made him a slight jittery.  Wasting time was unproductive.  At the latter end of his shift, Ampere manufactured an idea.  He prepped a single sheet of paper and titled it “Dear President Ganache,”.  Hungry for work, he proposed the idea taking over the responsibilities of other branches’ treasurers.  There would be less ponies to hire - he catered to Grant’s greed - and Ampere has more than proven his worth by being ahead of deadlines.  He signed the letter and placed it into an envelope.  Before leaving work, he asked Sodia to place the envelope in his outbox.  He proceeded to Volta’s apartment.

In tandem, they had decided that food and water were top priorities.  They went out that late afternoon to purchase food and water.  Water in Dusk-at-Dawn was generally imported as the nearby geography contained no reservoirs and very little rivers.  Water was transported by the barrel.  Mass consumption of water was primarily through mugs.  One would open the lid of the water barrel, scoop water into a mug with a ladle, and then consume.  Groceries were sold by stall venders.  In the same situation as water, food was often imported.  The land surrounding Dusk-at-Dawn was stagnant and infertile.  Food from other cities such as Appleloosa or Ponyvile was imported.  Ampere went home to fetch his cart and met Volta at the market.  Potatoes, carrots, lettuce, hay, salt, pepper, sugar - it didn’t matter; Ampere was buying.  They were also lugging two barrels of water.  Volta asked if Ampere was all right but he shook it off.  The question was redundant but Volta’s innate sympathy was played.  When they decided they had enough they carried on home.  The foals were glad to see their new food stores but Volta scolded them for trying to pig out.  Ampere’s urge to help more was nullified by Volta’s insistence that they had done enough.  She insisted that he rest and she invited him to stay for dinner.  The foals helped Ampere move the groceries to the pantry and once it became full they resorted to placing them in the cupboards.  Ampere took the brunt of the load.  Volta kept a watchful on the occasion that one of the little foals may hook a snack or two.  Given the cornucopia of food, Volta could not decide on what to make.  She resorted to a simple yet filling meal - macaroni and cheese.  Finally having the luxury of these ingredients, she wanted to treat the foals out to a delicious meal.  She was saving the last sprigs of mint for herself but she valued Ampere over herself.  The spirit of selflessness took over her and she wanted to loosen the foals’ taste buds.  They had been used to eating stale, tasteless meals but now a turning point was reached.  She poured water into a pot and began to boil it.  She memorized these recipes from her mother.  She had taught her many a recipes and the knowledge thereof was the greatest gift she had parted with her.  Needless to say, the dinner was a terrific.  The stifling air was replaced with “mmm’s” and “ahhh’s”. Ampere thanked Volta for the meal and decided to leave.  Before he left Volta commanded him to stop.  He stood puzzled.

“Everyone, say ‘Thank you Mr. Current!” she cheered.

“THANK YOU MR. CURRENT!”

Struck with awe, words escaped his mouth.

“Th-thank you.”  The mumbled words masked the soul but the soul was let out.

The days that followed were marked with trial, travails, and tenacity.  Through this time of fire, Ampere had learnt each of the foals’ name.  As an exchange, the foals began to understand Ampere better.  Little Normin, who scraped his knee, came to Ampere eyes flushed with tears.  Ampere knew the methodology:  find the bandages and apply them.  Normin proved to be an inconsistency during the application as his constant kicking and wailing parried Ampere.  Ampere, recalling Volta’s method when dealing with Normin, held Normin’s hoof.  He told him calmly but assuredly that “it’s going to be all right”.  Just like Volta, Normin thought.  Ampere stroked Normin’s short mane.  Just like Volta, Normin thought.  Ampere used his handkerchief to wipe Normin’s tears.  As he gently blew on his scrape, Normin clenched his hoof with Ampere’s.

“It’s okay...”  Ampere said as he quickly applied the bandage but firmly solidified the bond with a glazing stroke.  Normin jolted and clenched tightly but once the vanguard pain dissipated he realized that his worries were for naught.  He looked at Ampere, twinkly eyes and all.  Eternally grateful eyes.  He leapt from the seat and hugged him.  Ampere was speechless.

“Thank you Mr. Current!” Normin sniffed.  He closed his eyes in the embrace and let out shards of tears.

Just like Volta.  No, perhaps better.

It was on another day that Ampere tried his hoof at cooking or rather his continual vain attempt thereof.  Volta was slowly teaching Ampere the art of cooking yet this was something he could not master.  His soups were deathly boiled.

“No no!  You overcooked the vegetables again!”

Volta turned off the stove.

“S-sorry.”  Ampere rubbed his neck and looked to his left.

“It’s fine.  I’ll cook another batch...”

Yet another day and Ampere proposed the idea that he make muffins.  It was a Sunday noon and he decided the foals could use a treat.  In the aftermath, it was needless to say the kitchen was a mess.  The foals insisted that they help out; Resistance was covered in batter; a thin mask of smoke filled the air; the countertops were messy with bowls of batter, burnt muffins, flour, and crumbs; Ampere was whisking batter vigorously but halted as Volta entered with a gasp.

“Uh...” Ampere stood dumbfounded as he stared at the mare.

“IT WAS MR. CURRENT’S FAULT!”

Volta sighed.

One day, Demeter experienced a bad spell.  She was coughing much harder than before and her temperature was reaching extreme highs.  On that day - it was a Monday - Ampere was checking in the morning as per usual.  Volta had left for work at around 7 A.M.  Demeter moaned from her room upstairs and Ampere quickly sought out the filly.  He felt her forehead, moist from sweat, and quickly fetched a towel from the bathroom.  The dampened towel allowed Demeter a sigh of relief.  Ampere hurried himself downstairs to fetch a mug of water for the sick filly.  When he went back upstairs, he realized that she was too ill to hold the mug.  Demeter started to breathe heavily yet hoarsely.  She let out two quick coughs and resumed her laboured breathing.  He went downstairs yet again to fetch a spoon.

“Demeter, I’ll spoon feed you the water.”

Demeter coughed and then let out an “okay”.

“Just open wide...”

Demeter gladly sucked the spoonfuls of water.

On the second spoonful, Demeter coughed gently yet with enough force to wet her mouth.  Ampere wiped her mouth clean let off a gentle sigh.  He looked at the time and realized it was nearing 8 A.M.  It was a short panic for Ampere but he quickly made a decisive decision.  He wrote a short letter apologizing to his manager that he would not be able to make it.  Resistance was asked to deliver the letter to the post office and he left posthaste.  His gratitude for Ampere would not go unseen and the debt had yet to be repaid.  There was a tear drop that formed at the corner of Demeter’s eye and it fell across the side of her head.  When Ampere saw this, he quickly moved to wipe the streak.

“Mr. Current, thank you,” she let out a weak squeak.

“Demeter, you don’t have to thank me.”

“Mr. Current... could, could you please come closer...?”

Ampere walked over to the side of the bed.

“Closer...”

Ampere was astonished yet the filly’s voice was soothingly calm.  He went in deeper.  His muzzle now hovered in front of hers.  She kissed him gently on the cheek.

“Thank you...”  It was a soft, trailing thank you.

He softened his eyes at her and lightly kissed the sweet filly on the forehead.  This position wasn’t new to him.  It was just like his mother kissing him before bedtime.  Fears would melt away.  And so he wished this upon her.  He sat beside her in his chair and watched her body rise and fall for each breath.  Time passed and it was nearing lunchtime.  Ampere decided to try his hoof at soup again.  The emboldened pony, after scoring a successful victory, believed in himself.  Ampere gathered his ingredients but took care in preparing the timer.  Volta recommended to him to use the timer to aid him - overboiling the vegetables was curse.  He poured his heart and soul in to making the perfect soup.  While waiting for the soup to cook he was deep in thought.

“‘Thank you’?  Why does everypony keep telling me this?”

His mind trailed off and so he began to think about the kiss he gave Demeter.  This in turn made him ponder about his mother.  How he missed her sweet scent, how he longed for her familiar smile...

Riiiiiinnnnggg.  Ampere’s trance broke as he regained his consciousness.  Realizing that he was about to overcook the vegetables, he quickly shut off the gas to the stove.  A quick whiff later and he deemed it was sufficient.  We carefully brought the soup upstairs to still a heavily breathing Demeter.

“I brought soup.  It’s about lunchtime.”

Demeter looked to her right.  Ampere set down the soup by the bedpost and sat down.  Demeter tried to cringe a grateful smile.  When she was struggling to grin he placed his right hoof on her stomach as if motioning her to stop - reassuring her strength should be spent on recovery and not gratitude.  Having familiarized himself with the spoon feeding method, Ampere scooped from the hot broth and blew on it with tender care.

“Open wide now.”

Demeter opened her mouth and sucked on the spoon lightly.  She chewed for a bit and then gulped.

“It’s... it’s...”

Ampere bit his bottom lip.  “Dammit, did I mess up again?” he said in his mind.

“It’s... the best soup I ever tasted.  Could I please have some more, Mr. Current?”

Ampere’s heart was beating firmly and heavily.  The blood of life was coursing heavily throughout his veins.  He made someone happy.  He won.

At was an occurrence that Resistance had been inconspicuously taking paper from the storage room to his upstairs bedroom.  Ampere disregarded the acts and assumed he was drawing.  Harmless.  At dinner time, he saw Resistance folding a square piece of paper but then as he began to walk by the table to administer the dish Resistance had crumbled the paper up and disposed of it by sitting upon it.  With his smile like an angel, Ampere simply shook off the face and proceeded to service more dishes.  Resistance looked worrisome at his seat - his experiment failed - and gave off a pipsqueak sigh.

The next day, after the supper debacle, Ampere had tasked Resistance to fetch a small barrel of water - admittedly, he did not believe he was strong enough to carry a full measure.  However, in giving this order, he was passing responsibility to the growing colt.  Determined to make a stallion out of himself he gladly accepted the opportunity to shine and delivered a brief salute.

“You have your orders.  Now go.”

“Yes sir!”  It was like a little game to him.

The rest of the foals were put to work.  Dusting, cleaning, and scrubbing.  Volta believed that it was time for a makeover for the gloomy apartment.  While the foals were busy downstairs, Ampere ventured to the upper story.  On a whim, he decided to head into Resistance’s room.  As with the other rooms, it contained a bleak assortment of furniture and the ubiquitous dust and grime.  He opened the door and was greeted with a dark scene.  He closed the door behind him.  He had brought along a dingy feather duster with him and began dusting off the bedstands.  Normin shared the quarter with him so there were two bestands.  He finished dusting one and then walked to the other.  There were some tattered old books, dictionaries perhaps, that lay lifelessly on the stand.  Curious, Ampere sat on the bed and opened one of the grimy books.  Inside the front cover he discovered “Resistance” scribbled onto it.

“Beloved...” he murmured softly.  He turned the page.

“Resolute...”  More page turning.  He noticed the pages were fragile and that he had slightly ripped the top of a page when turning.  This caused him to gently turn to the pages with care.

“Zygote...  Yeah, this is a dictionary.”

Ampere found it odd that a young colt would be reading material like this.  Setting the book aside, he cleared the bestand and proceeded to dust off the top.  Then, he sat the books back down on the bestand as perfectly as they were originally.  His curiosity was piqued.  Volta mentioned that none of the foals received any formal education and could not yet read nor write.  Resistance seemed to be learning these skills on his own time.  Ampere felt that he was trespassing deeply into Resistance’s privacy but his curiosity had led him here.  In lieu of making friends, books worked as a substitute for him.  He wondered if Resistance had been reading any literature alongside textbooks.  Opening the drawer slowly, his eyes soon lit up.  The drawer was nearly full of paper cranes.  Some were worn while others appeared fresh, their creases still sharp.  He squinted his eyes and wore an inquisitive countenance.  He picked up one crane, gently, and held it near his eye.  He set it down on the top of the bedstand.  He lifted another crane and again squinted his eyes.  This one was crisp with fine creases.

“Cranes?”  He quietly inquired.  “What the heck is with all these cranes?”

Ampere, almost in a trance, was carefully examining the detail at the cranes.  He held it gingerly and let off a pensive “hmm”.

The door was opened by a humming Resistance who stood shocked at the door.

“Hey!”

Ampere let out a short gasp.

“Those are my cranes!”  Resistance felt betrayed.  Just when he was starting to warm up to Ampere he had to invade his privacy.  It hurt him.

Ampere began in a low voice, “Resistance... I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to-”

He snatched the crane from his hoof and then placed it with care back into the drawer.  He slip the drawer back in and then glared at Ampere.

“Hmph.  Volta told me that it’s not nice to go through other pony’s belongings.  I mean, aren’t you a grownup?”

“I know that but-”

Still mad over this transgression, Resistance continued on, “You know, if you wanted to see my stuff you could have just asked.  I put it there for a reason.”

Ampere fell silent.  He said enough.  Resistance, now just feeling a certain guilt, decided to hop onto the bed.  There was a moment of silence before Resistance spoke again.

“I was just, I was just coming home to get my wallet.  I was so excited that you asked me to fetch the water that I left without picking it up.”

Another moment of silence.

“Hey look, it’s not that big of a deal.  I guess I kind of overdid it there.”

Ampere was still silent.

“Hey, Mr. Current?”

“Just Ampere.”

“Okay,” Resistance reluctantly sighed.  “What’s with you?”

“Nothing.”

Ampere was thinking pensively about his childhood.  He always did that when he visited the orphanage.  In the moments of silence, he was recalling a past experience he had with his mother during a time when his father had left them.  She always warned him never to step hoof into his father’s office.  One time he did.  He was digging through his office desk and when his mother found him she had to slap his hoof.  It hurt.  Ampere began to cry and she realized the consequences of her actions.  She lifted him enough for him to stand on his two little hooves and then embraced him.  She kissed his hoof that was stained a tinged red.  He remember the warmth of the kiss - it caused him to stop crying and then he closed his eyes.

“It’s gotta be something.  You won’t even say more than a word.”

“I said ‘just Ampere’ didn’t I?”

“Yeah okay, Mr. Smart Guy.”  Resistance shook his head, still unable to budge Ampere.  Silence reigned for a short while.

“Hmm.”  There was a light tone in Ampere’s voice.

“Huh?”

“Mr. ‘Smart Guy’ huh?”

“Oh, heh, yeah.  That one just came to me.”  Resistance felt open again.  He could have rambled on about how much he loves to trash talk but he didn’t - yet he felt that he could.  He wasn’t mad anymore.  The conversation was making him feel happy.  He was also glad to not be talking to a stone wall anymore.  A moment of silence passed.

“Ampere?  You still listening?  I’m, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  It was my fault.”

“I kinda get mad at times and Volta and the other foals notice it a lot.  I don’t like to get mad.  My chest ends up feeling heavy after and my eyes get watery.”

“I don’t like to get mad either.”

“How do you do it?  You always seem so... cool.”

Ampere thought for a moment.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m ‘cool’, but...  How about thinking of something that makes you happy?”

“Ugh, easier than done.  I thought you were Mr. Smart Guy.”

“Guess not.”

Resistance sighed.  A moment of silence passed.  Resistance, seeing how Ampere was open to him, decided to reciprocate.

“Those cranes... they’re for Demeter.  I read in a book one time that if you fold one thousand cranes as a gift to somepony, then that pony can have one wish.”

“I see,” Ampere respectfully replied.

“Do you, do you believe in that kind of stuff?”

He thought for a second.

“There’s always something to hope for.”

Again Resistance did not found the answer he was looking for but looked back down at the floor.

“I just... just don’t want her to be sick anymore.  You know?”

“I can empathize with you.”

“Empathize... ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another’.”

“You’ve been reading dictionaries I see.”  Ampere looked over his shoulder, his muzzle pointing at the dictionary.

“Yeah.  Volta says she can’t pay for all of us to go to school so I read books and things myself.”

“She told me.”

More silence.

“I don’t like seeing Demeter sick all the time.  I know she gets better in the spring and summer but it’s been the same like that for almost three years.  I want to help her.  I want to do something good for once.”

“Is that why you stole that old stallion’s wallet?”

“We need money right?  He’s going to die soon anyway so-”

“Listen to yourself.”

“I- I know.  I was wrong.”

“As long as you learnt your lesson.  I gave him the wallet back, too.”

“Thanks.  I never really told anyone - not even Volta.  You won’t tell her, right?”

“I promise.”

“Thanks Ampere.  I really... I really appreciate it,” he said as he struggled to pronounce the “pr” cluster in “appreciate”.

Resistance, being an orphan, and never had a supportive figure in his life.  There was Volta but she was busy with other foals.  He wanted to be her favourite, and still tries to, but realized that there were simply too many other foals for her to take care of.  Plus, she was a girl.  Ampere offered something different.  He had called him cool because he believed so.  He felt a personal connection open between him.  It was as if he was a father figure.

Resistance added, “So I never really had, you know, someone to talk to.  I never really had, had...

“Hi kids!  I’m back!  Where’s Mr. Current?” Volta asked, slightly muffled yet audible.

“Um, upstaiws I think?” one little filly replied.

“Oh okay, thanks.  You kids keep cleaning now okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” they sand in unison.

Resistance turned his head to Ampere, “I guess we should get back to working?”

“It would be for the best.”

Resistance got off from the bed and walked to the door.

“Ampere?” Resistance halted him.

Ampere stopped.  He looked down - just briefly - and then turned his neck back.

“This’ll be just between the both of us right?”

“Stallion-to-stallion,” was his stoic reply.

“Stallion-to-stallion...” Resistance murmured.