Squeaka.

Squeaka.

Squeaka.

The mass produced Stable-Tec standard bed frame’s squeak echoes off the prefab walls off the reclaimed Stable 68 bedroom as the little unicorn filly bounds up and down on the mattress upon it. The little violet filly rhythmically jumps up into the air, with a giant smile on her face, as she kicks all of her legs simultaneously outward as wide as they’ll go with each cycle before bringing them back down to land on the bed to jump again.

Squeaka.

“See? See? It’s all squeaka squeaka squeaky squeak!”

Squeaka.

“Why’s it squeaky?”

Squeaka.

“It’s so noisy!”

Squeaka. Squeaka. Squeaka.

“Can you fix it?”

Squeaka.

Gearing lays stretched out on the floor next to the bed, with his head under the bed and a small flashlight in his mouth, as he looks the bed frame over and the excitable filly continuously bounces on the mattress above. After a few more seconds of the soft whumphs of the bounding filly being overtaken by the loud squeaking, Gearing pulls the flashlight out of his mouth and calls out to her. “Hey! I think I found where the noise is coming from!”

“Yaay!” The little filly kicks her legs in midair in excitement on the next bounce.

Squeaka.

“What is it? Huh? Huh?”

Squeaka.

“Can ya stop it?”

Squeaka.

“Oh, for sure. And it won’t take me long either,” Gearing replies cheerfully as he stands up next to the bed and watches the bright eyed filly bounce repeatedly.

Squeaka.

“How?” she asks as she bounces again.

“Like this,” Gearing grins as his wings jump out and catches her mid air. She giggles and flails her legs around as he pulls her close to him and holds her aloft. He tilts his head as he looks at her with one eye and gives her a quick wink. “See. No more squeaky squeak.”

She giggles a bit, but lets out a long moan as she’s set down on the floor. “Noooo it’ll still squeaky!” She hops up in the air a few times, kicking her feet repeatedly, before landing again. “All noisy and squeaky. All. The. Time!”

“Even if you’re not jumping on it?” Gearing asks with a smirk as he uses a forehoof and ruffles the little filly’s floofy mane.

“Yeah!” she replies with a grin. “See!” She hops closer to the bed and jumps up into the bed again.

Squeaka.

“See!?”

Gearing smirks. “You just jumped into it though…”

She lets out a huffing sigh of annoyance before she puffs up her cheeks in irritation in response. She throws herself down onto the mattress as she glares at him.

Squeaka.

She rolls over to her other side and the bed lets out another squeak, but far more subdued.

Squeaka.

She rolls over onto her other side.

Squeaka.

She rolls back and forth as she flops around and acts likes she’s getting under the sheets.

Squeaka. Squeaka. Squeaka.

She rolls over onto her back and closes her eyes tightly as she kicks her legs in the air above her, like she’s trying to stampede across the ceiling, and screams, “See! It’s soooooo noisy! Geeaaaariiiiing! Heeellp meeeee! It keeps waking me up! Plleeaassseeee?!”

Gearing leans close to her and smiles as he says, “Well, don’t jump on it-”

“But I’m noooooot!” she cuts him off with a whine as she lets her legs go limp and they sprawl out around her as she looks up at him.

He gently brushes her floofy dark purple mane out of her face as he finishes in the same even tone he’d begun, “- and I’ll see about getting it fixed so it won’t be so noisy.”

“Awwww,” she moans as she flops her head to the side.

“Here, I have an idea to help you get some sleep,” Gearing says as he turns sideways and heads over to the small dresser next to the bed. He clicks on the radio, then slowly turns down the volume until the music coming out of it is pretty negligible and can just barely be heard and understood.

She rolls over onto her side and looks at him as she asks, “Why the radio?”

Gearing steps back by the bed and starts gently rubbing her mane. “It’ll be a bit of background noise. So if you roll over in your sleep, the squeak won’t be as noticeable and you can sleep through it.”

She closes her eyes and lets out a soft moan as he gently rubs her head. “Aww… that won’t work… too noisy…”

“Mmm hmm,” Gearing replies with a smile as he continues to rhythmically rub her mane and back of her head. “Just try it.”

She mumbles and mutters a few times, but none of it is really understandable. A few times she hums along with the song on the radio, with her tone variances generally matching the flow of a Sweetie Bell song, but not for all of them. And, a few moments later, even that bit of sound from her silences as her breathing slows even further.

The entire time Gearing continues the exact same motions, gently rubbing and caressing her mane and head. After a while of staying still and not doing anything else otherwise, he finally removes his hoof from her head slowly. With there being no reaction whatsoever, he gently uses his wing and lifts the sheets up and over the little violet filly, tucking her in carefully, before turning and slowly walking away.

And, once again, proving his penchant for walking as quietly as possible testifies to its utilitarian ability as he stealthily withdraws from the sleeping filly’s room. As he’s closing the door behind himself he whispers, “Good night, Plum Pie.”

* * *

In Stable 68’s refurbished cafeteria, a group of foals sit around a table chattering among themselves as they sort through a few things scattered across its surface as Apple Armor withdraws more from a cardboard box he’d brought.

“What’d he bring us this time?” Plum Pie asks excitedly as her midnight blue eyes dart from one item removed from the box by Apple Armor to the next.

Apple Armor grins as he holds up a completely intact, full, box of Fancy Buck Cakes. Cherry filled. “I don’t know how. I don’t know where from. But he brought an army’s worth of food!”

The tan colt about Plum Pie’s age sitting next to her looks over the growing cache as a glint of drool appears across his lips. “There’s enough here for all of us for a couple days!”

A light blue filly next to Apple Armor giggles as she says, “We’re gonna be eating good!”

“Children,” a chuckling voice from behind them catches their attention and causes them all to turn and look at its source. “That’s not food for the next couple days.”

The tan colt’s ears fall down as he groans. “Awww man… We gotta stretch it out?”

“We gotta sell it?” asks the light blue filly.

“Knew it was too good to be true,” the tan colt moans sullenly.

Gearing walks by the table, and ruffles the tan colt’s mane, as he chuckles,” No, sillies… Those are just snacks.” He raises his other wing, and extends out a pinion from it for emphasis as he says, “So don’t go filling up on them. Think of them as just the desserts. Share them with your friends, but for your actual meal, we have plenty of chips.” As he’s walking away he adds, “And as soon as I can get this kitchen equipment fixed and cleaned we can do some proper cooking too, so you’ll have a bit of variety besides just green chips.”

The tan colt looks after him and asks, “Sooo, we can really eat what we want?”

Gearing looks over at him and grins as he says, “Yeah. How long have you been here, and you haven’t figured that out yet?”

The tan colt looks down as he mumbles, “I didn’t want to be greedy…”

Gearing turns around, then looks at them one at a time, in the eye, before he asks, “Are you kids hungry?” They simply stare at him so he narrows his eyes and asks, “I want the truth. Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” comes a snap reply from all. All but Apple Armor.

Although his stomach tries to speak up for him.

Gearing turns around and starts towards the back of the cafeteria kitchen as he says, “Okay.”

The others stare at him as he’s walking away, and try to decrypt the short reply.

After he’s been gone for a few moments they go back to looking at and sorting through the box of treats that’d been brought.

Apple Armor grabs the unopened box of Fancy Buck cakes and says, “Well, there’s enough for everyone.” He grins widely as he adds, “Won’t hurt none if we eat our share now, right?”

The others grin and nod enthusiastically, and Apple Armor starts doling out the individually packaged snacks from the box until each pony at the table has one, and he sets the meager remainder back into the delivery box.

The tan colt keeps biting and pulling and tugging at the plastic surrounding his Fancy Buck cake. But it doesn’t yield. He makes no headway. And his treat remains locked behind the impenetrable wall of plastic. He slowly looks over and glares at Plum Pie as she munches happily and takes dainty little bites out of her miniature cake that is floating in front of her muzzle with her levitation field.

The tan colt scowls as he says, “I bet it was a unicorn that made this stuff.” He stares at Plum Pie as she obliviously looks around at the world around her and stays lost in her own thoughts and happiness as she nibbles on the cherry filled goodness. After a few moments of staring at her, and practically turning green with envy, he asks, “Plum… could you like… counter spelly thingy this thingy so I can eat mine? Please?”

Plum Pie looks at him as she has a mouth full of cake. She blankly stares at him for a few moments before giggling and saying, with a mouth full of the same cake, “I dunno how ta do that!”

The tan colt narrows his eyes, then trails his glare from her midnight blue eyes to the cake floating in front of her muzzle. “Uh huh… suuuure you don’t.”

Plum Pie shrugs. “I don’t know much magic. Miss Nettlekiss promised to help talk some of us through it, but we’re still trying to find a few of the books in the schools computers first.”

The tan colt turns to stare at his buck cake trapped in it’s plastic prison, and a scowl forms on his muzzle. He goes back at it, chomping and trying to pull the plastic away with his teeth as he fights to hold onto it with his forehooves. “Come outta der!” He tugs and pulls and starts wiggling with his entire body as he tries to get it open.

All in vain.

He starts grumbling and growling and screaming into the unyielding packaging as he seems to start becoming quite feral.

Apple Armor narrows his eyes at him and, while still holding half of his own with a forehoof, lets out a groan. “Oh come on, it ain’t that hard!” He stretches out his neck towards the tan colt as he says, “Yer maken’ the rest of us look bad!” He closes the distance and chomps on the nearest bit of plastic towards himself, and twists and pulls it back and away.

The tan colt's eyes go wide as he jerks backwards. “No! It’s mahn!” He mumbles around the plastic as he jerks backwards away from Apple Armor. But, between the two of them, the end of the plastic stays with Apple Armor’s teeth as the tan colt falls backwards and off of the stool he was sitting on with the rest of it.

The buck cake is finally free of its plastic prison. Just like the young colt had wanted.

However, like a monkey paw’s wish gone awry, instead of getting to feast on the delicious cherry filled goodness, the cake gets flung up and into the air behind the young colt as he tumbles to the ground.

As he’s laying there on the ground, bent unnaturally backwards with his head almost on the ground, and his mouth full of plastic, he stares and watches as the cake soars through the air. Time seems to slow down as the cake continues up and towards the ceiling, and then starts falling back down in an arc, a distance away. As the cake is coming back down, his eyes follow its trajectory, and notices where it’s going to land.

Right into a pile of filth that had been gathered up to be disposed of, but hasn’t quite gotten that far yet.

His eyes start bugging out as he spits the plastic out and starts struggling to turn over and roll away from the table. “Nooo!!! No no no!” He starts flopping around and trying to get himself free as the cake gets ever closer to the pile of trash. The young colt finally gets onto his hooves, and starts kicking and scampering in its direction as he tries his best to get under the treat. He might end up covered in disgust. Filthy beyond measure. He doesn’t care. If it’ll save the cake, he’ll be happy. But, to his horror, he watches as the cake gets even closer and he realizes the sad, cold, merciless truth of it all.

He’s not going to make it in time.

With tears forming in his eyes he kicks with all his might, with his forehooves out stretched in a plea to the universe not to take this from him.

But, just before he crashes into the pile of filth, a bit of gold slams down in front of him, keeping him from going any further, as he’s caught and flicked up into the air by something. He lands, on his haunches, sitting on an oversized metallic cylinder as he tries to figure out what just happened.

Then the cake of his desires is brought up to his face, sitting on a gold and emerald green platter.

“Nice catch, ya wanker,” Apple Armor says with a smirk before casually going back to munching on his own little cakey treat.

The tan colt looks around then up at his rescuer as the cake is held aloft for him. “I’ve heard of playing with your food, but don’t you think this is taking it a bit too far?” Gearing asks with a smirk.

The tan colt’s eyes jump over to the cake, as it’s brought even closer for him, and he squeals with joy as he says, “You saved it!” And, before the universe can do anything else to try and ruin his day, he crams the entire thing into his mouth in one go. Chomping and chewing on it excessively as he snorts and has to breathe through his nose since his mouth is so full.

Gearing sets the colt back onto the ground on his own hooves as he asks with a chuckle, “If you’re that hungry, you should have said something, really.” He walks over to the table and sets down a large stainless steel bowl in the center as he adds, “I told you that was just dessert… here’s lunch.” As he’s walking away from them he says, “If you're hungry, just say something. If nothing else Nettlekiss can have one of the bots bring you something to eat.” As he’s walking back behind the counter and towards the kitchen he adds, “Now I just gotta figure out why these heating elements aren’t working… if you want anything else, just let me know.” Then he disappears behind the swinging door to the back kitchen.

The light blue filly lets out a gasp as she stretches up and looks into the large metal bowl. “There’s so much food here!”

They all look in and see the mounding pile of piping hot algae chips that apparently have some kind of seasonings scattered among them.

Apple Armor is the first to grab some out, and he quickly shoves a few of the flakes in his mouth to munch on.

As Apple Armor is sampling it, the tan colt finally clears his own muzzle and asks, “Well, how is it?”

Apple Armor shrugs as he says, “It’s not bad, really. And if it’ll get rid of the rumbles, that’s good enough for me.” And he grabs another scoopful out using a tin can nearby and starts munching on the chips one at a time. The others quickly dig in as soon as his hooves are out of the way enough to do so.

The light blue filly looks around at the others as she mechanically munches one chip after another. “So, like, Gearing can cook too?”

“Apparently,” Plum Pie and Apple Armor reply in unison as they all start focusing more on the green chips than anything else going on in the rest of the stable, or the world for that matter.

* * *

As Plum Pie and Apple Armor are walking down the corridor in the residential block of Stable 68, Plum grumbles regularly about some injustice in the world.

“They makiiiing suuuuuch a meeeeess…” Plum groans.

“It can’t be that bad,” Apple Armor replies.

Plum puffs up her cheeks as she looks at Apple Armor and delivers a devastating rebuttal, “Is too!”

Apple Armor chuckles and shakes his head. “Well, I’m sure they aren’t doing it to be mean…”

Plum’s horn glows as she opens the door to her left and leads the way into her room. “Well mean or not, they still making a mess, and I don’t even know why.”

Apple Armor stops following Plum Pie as she gets closer to her bed and asks, “Well, did Swift say anything?”

Plum Pie nods as she says, “Yeah… she said they’re making something for Handy…. Uhg!” She hops over and throws herself up in the air, onto the bed, with her legs thrown out to the side limply. A soft whumph later signals her heavy landing on her bed before she lets out a long groaning moan, “And, it’s another mess I’m gonna have to clean.”

Apple Armor shakes his head. “I doubt it. When her kids make messes, she normally makes them clean it up afterwards. Or she does it.”

“I hope so,” Plum Pie moans as she pulls herself up into a seated position on the bed. “I just don’t get the big deal. What’s Handy done to deserve whatever they’re putting all that time into?”

Apple Armor sits on his haunches as he rubs his chin. “Well… I remember my mom helping me get a gift together for my dad one time… it wasn’t Hearth’s Warming, or his birthday or nuthin like that.”

Plum Pie starts bouncing up and down on the bed as she asks, “Well, what was that about?” Each bounding leap in the air is accompanied by a soft whumph from the mattress.

Whumph.

“Huh?”

Whumph.

Apple Armor shrugs before he replies quietly, as if he’s trying to actually think about it while simultaneously speaking about it, “Well… My mom had said Father’s Day was for the stallion in our life. To thank them for being there and for… like… everything they do for us.” He shrugs again as he shakes his head. “It’s just a way to thank them… and give them something so they know we like having them around.”

“Ah, ok,” Plum Pie nods as she bounces.

Whumph.

“Didn’ know. I don’t remember anything like that.”

Whumph.

“But, what’s Handy doin?”

Whumph. Whumph. Whumph.

“All he seems to do is be grumpy,” Plum Pie says with a giggle.

Apple Armor chuckles as he nods. “Well, I’m sure his kids would know more about it than us. So if they getting him something, he must be doing something for them, right?”

“I guess.”

Whumph.

“What about Gearing?”

Whumph.

“What’re they doing for him?”

Apple Armor shakes his head. “I doubt anything. They aren’t his kids.” He shrugs as he replies softly, “Gearing doesn’t have any kids. So I doubt he’s getting anything.”

Whumph. Plum Pie pauses bouncing as she tilts her head. “That doesn’t seem fair…”

Apple Armor shrugs and replies flatly, “What is?”

Plum Pie bounces again, but her eyes go wide as the noise catches her notice for once. Whumph. She pauses and looks around at her hooves before her eyes jump open to their max. “Oh! Lookie!” She starts bouncing repeatedly as she says, “He fixed it, he fixed it, he fixed it!”

Whumph. Whumph. Whumph.

She jumps one last time, and flops down on her belly excitedly. Laughing even more as she impacts with another soft whumph from the mattress. She rolls side to side on her bed with a massive grin across her muzzle as she giggles. “No more squeaka squeaka squeak!” She grabs her pillow and nuzzles into it as she says with wonder in her voice, “When he do this?”

Apple Armor smirks as he looks the bed over. “No telling… the sneaky wanker always seems to be doing one thing or another to make sure we have what we need or that things get fixed for us…” Apple Armor looks over at the small dresser nearby where Plum Pie has a few toys on display. Toys and possessions that she’s only accrued while living here, given that she came in with nothing but her coat to her name. Most of which have been made or acquired by Gearing himself. He lets out a sigh as he says, “At first I thought they were going to try something. Just being sneaky or whatever. But, nothing’s off. They haven’t tried anything… and he expects far less from us than I would have figured he would to let us stay here and be fair trade…” He shrugs as he looks up at the ceiling and continues, “He’s crazy to be doing all of this for this long…we’re not even his…”

Plum Pie peeks over the edge of her pillow at him for a moment before she asks softly, “Why’s that matter?”

* * *

As Gearing walks down the corridor towards Stable 68’s classroom, he double checks the message that was sent to him by Sable. It’s rather short, and vague, and, again, he can’t help but wonder what could need his attention in the classroom. He runs a few things through his head, trying to figure out what could have broken down or which system needs tweaking, as he’s walking there. There isn’t really much in there that could go wrong. Maybe a light went out. Or a computer locking up. Or, maybe, the projector is on the fritz. Maybe there’s funny noises from the ventilation again, and it’s weirding out the kids. He’s not sure, and he decides he’ll figure out the problem once he gets there.

But the thought of the foals takes him off on another tangent.

“Come to think of it I haven’t really seen them much the last couple days. I wonder what they’ve all been doing?” He starts chuckling before he says with a sigh, “I’m glad they’re keeping themselves occupied at least… They must be happy with whatever they’ve been doing… Haven’t heard any complaints, and no news is good news right?” Gearing talks quietly to himself as he keeps looking over his PipBuck.

He stops a couple paces short of the classroom door, and looks behind himself, back down the corridor, as he says, “Speaking of oddities… Handy’s been in a rather good mood too. I wonder what managed to put a smile on that sourpuss’s muzzle.” Gearing shrugs as he chuckles and starts walking the rest of the way to the classroom. “Eh, whatever floats his boat. If he’s happy, that should mean less complaining and less headaches for me. So, good for him!”

Gearing trots into the classroom looking at his PipBuck, but something catches his eye in the peripheral of his vision causing him to look up once inside. There in the middle of the classroom, is the thing that’d drawn his attention. A pallet of colors as all sixteen of the foals that are part of Apple Armor’s group stand with their back to the door as they chatter among themselves in a semicircle lineup.

All sixteen of them have done amazingly well since they’d been taken in by the Stable 68 residents. Each and every one of them has grown. And not simply a case of getting older. Their health is plain to see in the shine of their hair. In their muscle tone. In their rampant growth. The kids standing in the classroom are, unmistakably, physically and mentally far better off than the day they were rescued from the group of mercenaries. A fact that is no accident, as it’s been the designs of several ponies to see them grow up healthy and happy. Notably Gearing and Nettlekiss.

Gearing looks at them and arcs his brow in worry as he wonders what could have happened to cause them all to give their undivided attention to whatever is in the center of the room. He starts trotting towards them as he asks, “Hey kids, what’s going on? Are you all alright? No one’s hurt are they?”

The quiet chattering among the group picks up quickly in hushed tones. A couple look back at him, and a colt shakes their head quickly as they reply, “Nopony’s hurt.”

Gearing looks over the group again as he asks, “Well… what’s up?”

The group dips down, almost simultaneously, before they spin around and invert their little semicircle, so that now Gearing’s in the middle of it as something hovers up from behind them with the collective focus of the unicorns among the group.

Gearing’s eyes go wide, and he flops down onto his haunches as he takes in the sight.

Above the group is a banner made out of paper and cardboard taped and glued together that’s been decorated with various art supplies to be covered with sparkly glitter and paint. Stars, smiley faces, hoof prints, hearts, and letters decorate the large banner hovering over them that declares their intentions quite clearly.

Happy Father’s Day, Gearing!

Most of the fillies and colts sit around staring at him with massive grins on their face as they hold up one sign or another. They seem to have organized themselves by height, with the shortest ones closest to Gearing. And, of those, a few of the smaller ones holding up their signs are doing so by adorably holding them with their mouths.

Gearing’s eyes dart over them quickly and take in the various messages. Some simply state “Thanks”. Others saying “Thanks for being here”. One filly with a particularly glittery piece of paper in her mouth has a sign that declares, “#1 Repar Pony!”

Plum Pie, with her horn glowing and helping hold up the banner above everyone else, walks up to Gearing with a piece of paper in her mouth. “Fer yew.”

Gearing gently takes it from her, which just causes her to sit down and look up at him with a beaming smile as he looks it over.

The paper is covered, like the other signs and banner, with various paints, inks, and glittery material. In the center of the page is a stylized golden yellow pegasus, with bright green wings, standing like a statute. He knows the pose well. It’s practically his trademark. And all around the yellow pegasus is beams of light shining off of it with more yellow crayon that he thought even existed inside the stable. And all around it stars twinkle in various colors of glitter. A smile crosses his muzzle as he notices a beam of light coming from above, but that they had switched to green and blue beams once they got to his wings to do a pretty good job of illustrating his penchant for colored light bending.

Gearing brings his eyes up from the paper to look at Plum Pie as he says, “Well, thank you… but what’s this?”

Plum Pie reaches up and taps the paper with a forehoof as she says, “It’s the day you rescued us from those baddies…” She runs her hoof over the paper as she says, “See… remember? You were all shiny and stuff after we cleaned you up.”

Gearing reaches over with his own forehoof and rustles her floofy mane as he smiles widely. “Yeah, munchkin, I remember.”

“Actually…” Apple Armor starts, as he looks off to the side and draw’s Gearings attention. Apple Armor swallows before he says, “It’s more than that… They wanted…” He stops and looks around at all of his friends before he looks over at Gearing and frowns lightly. “Okay, we… We wanted to let you know- We wanted to thank you for taking us in. For being there when no one else was. For being there when ya didn’t have to.”

“Uh huh, and for taking care of us!” Plum Pie chimes in.

“And for the food!” a tan colt with a massive grin on his muzzle adds.

“And a warm place to sleep,” a little light blue filly adds.

“And keeping us safe from the baddies,” a little gray colt adds.

“So, yeah… thanks for everything, Gearing” Apple Armor says as he looks off to the side. He keeps daring sideways glances at Gearing. And the wider Gearing’s smile gets, the bigger the scowl on Apple Armor’s face gets. Until he eventually flushes and yells, “Alright, ya wanker, no need ta get all mushy ‘n’ stuff! So ya can ditch the goofy grin!”

Gearing holds the piece of paper with the drawing from Plum Pie to his chest as he smiles. “Well, thank you guys.” He looks them over and smiles even wider as he says, “You guys didn’t have to do this.”

Plum Pie tilts her head as she says flatly, “Well, you didn’t have to take care of us, but you did anyway too… fair’s fair right?”

Gearing reaches out and ruffles her mane gently as he nods. “Yeah, got me there, munchkin.”

A quick chatter rises up among the foals as they try to sort something out with their back to him again, but Gearing can’t make out most of what’s said nor comprehend the context.

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know, he had it.”

“Did not.”

“Here it is!”

“Well give it to him!”

“You give it to him!”

“Oh for pete’s sake! I’ll give it to him!” Apple Armor finally yells with an annoyed groan.

After turning around from the group, he walks up to Gearing and holds out a manila folder tied with twine with a forehoof as he doesn’t even look at Gearing. “Here… this is for you, ya wanker…”

Gearing smirks, but accepts the awkwardly offered gift. “Thanks.” He quickly unties the bow and lets it fall away before he flips it open to look inside. Gearing’s smirk falls off his face as he drops the manila folder, removing its contents with the same motion, and stares at the treasure that was inside. He holds it up with a wing as he closely examines it, and the excitement starts growing plainly on his face. For this is the most well preserved comic book he’s seen this side of the apocalypse.

“I think it’s missing a couple pages…” Plum Pie says with a crooked smile. “But… it’s still good… right?”

Gearing nods rapidly as he turns the comic book over repeatedly and carefully flips through it with a pinion. “Yeah… it’s great…Thank you for this!” He closes it and looks the children over as he says, “I remember it pretty well.”

Plum Pie’s ears flop down as she asks sullenly, “Oh… you already read it?”

Gearing nods again as he ruffles her mane. “Well, yeah, but it’s a good story and worth another read!” He sweeps his gaze over the group and asks, “Do you guys wanna read it with me?” He looks them over again as he says, “I can fill in the missing parts, no problem.”

“Yeah!” Plum Pie squeals with delight as she bounds up in the air and kicks her legs excitedly before jumping towards him. As she’s bounding over, to claim a spot between Gearing’s forehooves, the others run over as well as they bunch up around him and watch as he sets the comic on the floor and carefully opens it up. The banner slowly flops down to the ground as the unicorns that had been holding it up with their magic get too distracted by the possibility of missing a story time with Gearing to maintain the hold. Even Apple Armor scampers over, and nuzzles in with the other kids as they all get cozy and Gearing starts slowly reading the comic aloud to them. But, unlike simply reading the comic as is, Gearing fills in various information and background references that the story brings up along the way. And, as promised, he uses the images on the pages that are there, and explains not only what all had happened on the couple missing pages, but quotes, nearly verbatim, what the missing dialog on those missing pages was as well. The entire time the kids lean in, hanging onto every word, as Gearing enthusiastically recounts it all to them.

Outside of the classroom, in the hallway, Nahlah and Sable peek in around the door frame and watch how things progress inside. Nahlah smirks as she asks, “I wonder where they got the comic book from…”

“I got it while we were out, I was saving it for a special occasion to give it to him,” Sable replies, but, Nahlah notes, the voice sounds a bit flatter than normal. Nahlah looks over at Sable and her eyes bug out as she actually gets a good look at her metallic friend. Sable stands there at the door, with one forehoof holding onto the door frame, heavily panting and breathing hard as she leers at Gearing sitting with the kids.

Nahlah half laughs as she says, “No! Down girl!” She grabs Sable around her chest and neck with her paws and starts pulling her away from the classroom door frame as she seals the door again. “You’re drooling!”

“But… But… But…” Sable moans in reply.

“Yes, I know you want some of that stallion booty, but the kids worked hard, let them have this!”

“Foals! I want foals! I want his foals!” Sable flails her forelegs in Gearing’s direction as she seems to try to grab him from a distance and through the door. “See! See! He can handle sixteen! That’s a good starting point!” She flails again as she’s held back by her neck while she’s reared up on her hindlegs. “That’s doable! That’s doable! We needa get started! Time’s wasting!”

Nahlah drags her away from the classroom as she giggles, “I’ve heard of baby fever, but this is ridiculous!”

Footnote: For all of the fathers out there. The REAL fathers. The ones who were always there, as much as they could, whether anyone else expected them to be or not. Biological, adoptive, and especially those that didn’t create the position, but stepped up and filled the empty shoes anyway.

Thank you for who you are and all you do.

Happy Father’s Day.

Author's Note

For all of the fathers out there. The REAL fathers. The ones who were always there, as much as they could, whether anyone else expected them to be or not. Biological, adoptive, and especially those that didn’t create the position, but stepped up and filled the empty shoes anyway.

Thank you for who you are and all you do.

Happy Father’s Day.