Blood, Sweat and Tears

Saturday:

It was a foggy morning in the junkyard, the dew was still fresh in what little grass was growing in the soil. The songs of birds could be heard if you listened close enough. Sitting on a lift in the first bay of the garage, was Christine, her rims and tires removed and sitting by the bead breaker. Her rust filled chrome sitting in an organized pile by the sand blasting area, and Sunset was working tirelessly to remove the stubborn drum brakes that had rusted to the axle on the driver's side front. Cursing loudly to herself and the garage, stepping back Sunset inhaled deeply and slowly let out her breath, walking to the back wall of the garage Sunset grabbed the greatest communicators a mechanic could ever have...the acetylene and oxygen torch along with the five pound sledge hammer and crowbar.

"Sorry Christine, but I need to upgrade your breaks" Sunset said out loud as she flipped the welding helmet she grabbed down so the flames wouldn't blind her. She turned the valves to the tanks until a slow hissing of gas could be heard, grabbing the striker and flicking it, the two gasses combusted into a small blue flame. Adjusting the valves until she had a nice six inch flame of red she set to work heating the rusted metal housing of the drum breaks until it glowed a soft red, shutting off the valves and taking of the helmet she grabbed the sledge and the sounds of metal striking metal rang through the air and the birds that had been perched nearby flew from there spots.

After seven swings Sunset set down the hammer and picked up the crowbar, wedging the curved end point into the small crease she had managed to create. Making sure the heated metal wouldn't land on her feet, she applied pressure, until *shriek* the metal housing ground from its resting place and right to the edge of the wheel studs and fell to the ground with a loud clang. Sighing to herself Sunset whipped her forehead of the sweat that had started accumulating on her forehead off and set to work removing the guts of the drum break she had finally managed to free, setting the old parts into a barrel outside the shop, Sunset set to work removing the other three drum brake systems from Christine.

Three hours had passed since Sunset had begun her arduous task of removing the old brakes and she had finally finished, smiling to herself for completing the task she set out into the junkyard to see if she could find disc brake systems or at the very least replacement drum brakes. Walking through the yard, the wind whistled through the metal and sparse trees, bringing with it the chill of the fall air letting all know winter was around the corner, armed with a small tool box, hammer and crowbar Sunset started searching the newer cars that had been brought into the junkyard.

As the wind turned from nippy to breezy it whistled through the rust holes of junkers and shattered windows, and as a girl with fiery red hair was walking back through the yard to the garage with a box of parts. Sunset smiled to herself because what she thought was going to be at least an all day adventure had only turned out to be two hours of time, and a couple bloody knuckles. Walking back into the garage Sunset set the box of drum brake parts down on the cement floor of the garage, she smiled to herself as she began the task of putting the parts back where the old used to be.

As Sunsets finished fitting the last drum brake cover, she wiped the sweat from her brow and walked over to the bead breaker, gripping the first tire she hefted it into place so the wheel stud holes were lined up. Sliding the rim and tire into place she started screwing on the three lug nuts that would hold the sheet to the machine, flipping the power switch on the air compressor in the back left corner of the garage kicked on. Moving the arm into place she pressed the pedal to get the tire to move, depressing the pedal that moved the arm in, it moved slowly as the bead around the tire was broken, as the rubber was moved back slowly until it had made a full rotation. Pressing the pedal to stop the tire from moving and moving the arm out of her way, she removed the lug nuts and once more grabbed the tire and removing it from its place, put it on top of the machine to remove the rubber from the rim.

Fifteen minutes later Sunset had four clean rims and four horribly weather cracked white walls, grabbing a bite pad and a piece of paper Sunset started checking the tires for their size so she could look through the tire pile to see if there were at least four good tires as she found the numbers she wrote them down.

"205 R 15's, shouldn't be too hard to find" Sunset said out loud. Smiling she looked at Christine, "don't worry Christine I'll find you some new tire *yawn* but more than likely I'll have to do it tomorrow" walking up to Christine Sunset patted her roof "good night Christine I'll see you tomorrow." As Sunset walked away from Christine and into the fading light, she didn't see Christine's lights glow softly or hear the small buzzing of a radio station cutting in and out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sunday~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sun rose over the junkyard the sky was cast in hues of pink and yellow, as the clouds came into sight from the gray of the fading moon. Not very many people were up at this hour, and none ever came to the junkyard on days like today, but today was an exception to the rule. Because strolling through the entrance wearing a black jacket was Sunset, her fiery red hair looking like a blaze and shimmering in the morning suns rays, as she passed the garage she stopped but once to admire the beauty of Christine as the rays from the sun reflected off the worn red paint that was somehow more vibrant. With her note book in hand Sunset rounded the corner of the garage where tires were lined up in neat stacked rows, Grogar only kept good tires and sent the old ones to be recycled.

As Sunset walked along the small rows of tires, she had thoughts of failing to find the right tires in the junkyard, she didn't have enough money to go out and buy brand new white walls. Smiling to herself and with a pep in her step she refused to give up before even beginning, after all Christine was counting on her. As Sunset came to the last row behind the garage her high spirits left her, as none of the tires she had seen were the right size but as she was about to turn around and walk back to the garage her eyes caught sight of a sun bleached blue tarp, walking up to the tarp Sunset carefully removed the rocks holding it in place and slowly removed it from whatever it was hiding from the world.

A gasp was heard from Sunset as the sun's rays peaked out from behind the clouds and hit what was hidden beneath the tarp in a halo of golden light. Running her hand on the outer wall of the tire, Sunset couldn't believe her luck, "205 R 15's, and they're white walls" she said. As her hand made a full rotation around the tire, smiling once more and her spirit lifted Sunset grabbed the first tire and hefted it onto her shoulder, she gripped the second tire and trekked back to the bead breaker in the garage. As she walked into the garage with the new set of white wall tires, she looked at the rusted rims whose chrome had long since faded, frowning to herself for overlooking such a large detail Sunset set down the last two tires on the other two she had brought in earlier.

Deciding to rectify her mistake Sunset brought the rims over to the sandblasting area two at a time so she could better manage her time. Suiting up in the protective cover suit and putting on the respiratory mask and safety goggles for sandblasting Sunset turned on the air compressor in the blasting area and set to methodically sandblasting the rims and old chrome clean of rust. Like a magician with a wand Sunset passed the sandblasting gun back and forth over each rim, the bumpers and small rusted chrome pieces she had pulled from Christine the day before. With the soft buzzing of the air compressor in the background Sunset lost herself in the melodic movements and satisfying removal of rust that before she knew it two hours had passed and she was finished.

Shutting off the air compressor and disconnecting the sand blasting gun Sunset removed the safety goggles and respirator to admire her work. Double checking she had removed all the paint and rust from the surface of each item she had sandblasted. She set to work smoothing any and all rough edges that remained before repainting the rims and bumpers satisfied with the finished results she went to work setting up the paint gun.

As Sunset set to work to repaint the rims, bumpers and small items in chrome Christine was repairing herself. Since she had been alone for two hours she had repaired her exhaust and realigned her steering, as the cracks in her windshield started to disappear, sunset walked back into the garage through the doors to the paint bay.

"Don't worry Christine, your rims and tires should be back on before nightfall" Sunset started as she walked over to the controls for the lift, lowering Christine so she could check her engine Sunset continued, "now I believe I'll need to change your oil, antifreeze and also check your spark plugs to make sure they're all firing correctly alright." And as Sunset finished talking she walked away from Christine to grab what tools she would need to check everything, but as her back turned she barely saw the windshield wipers go up and then back down to anyone else it would seem the wiper motors were on the fritz, but to Sunset she knew Christine had winked in her own way.

Returning to Christine with a ratchet, a few sockets and a drain pan, Sunset carefully removed the spark plug caps from their resting place on the tops of spark plugs. Testing each socket she had grabbed to make sure one of them had a snug fit, finding the right one and attaching it to the ratchet she began the task of removing all eight spark plugs. As the last spark plug she began checking each one of them and each one had the same result, carbon build up on the bottom of them, shaking her head Sunset walked over to where the new spark plugs where kept and grabbed eight of them an began to reinstall them into the empty holes the old had come from.

Reattaching the spark plug caps in the correct order, Sunset once more raised the lift until she was able to walk under Christine. Placing the drain pan underneath the oil pan bolt, she began to once more test each socket until she found the one that fit snuggly. Unattaching the spark plug socket, she attached the socket that would remove the oil pan not and slowly started to loosen it, as it got looser, Sunset set the ratchet aside and started to lessen the bolt by hand. As the bolt left the oil pan thick black oil started to drain into the drain pan at a relative pace, and as thick globs of black gunk started to clog the hole slowing the rate of leaving oil Sunset grabbed a screwdriver to remove the blockages that came and quickly went until all the oil had been removed.

Grabbing the oil pan bolt Sunset reinserted it and tightened it up until it was snug and tightened just a bit more. Grabbing the oil filter wrench she unscrewed the oil filter and let it drop into the drain pan, pulling the drain pan from underneath Christine, Sunset opened the box holding a new oil filter and set it beside the old one to make sure they were the same size. Happy that the new one was a match Sunset reattached the oil filter and once more lowered Christine so she could put the new oil in. Grabbing the glug free six quart box of SAE 5w-30 she removed the oil cap and began refilling Christine's engine with new oil. As the box emptied Sunset reattached the oil cover and pulled the oil dipstick out, she wiped it clean of any oil in it and reinserted it and pulled it out once more, seeing that it was on the full line she again reinserted it and smiled to herself.

"Well Christine let me see if your rims have dried so I can put the new tires on them and then you'll be wearing all new tires" Sunset said happily. As she turned around to go back into the paint bay she heard the buzzing of a radio station that wasn't quite coming in correctly "and maybe I'll fix your antenna as well."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Monday~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Grogar walked into the garage of his junkyard he saw a sight he had never seen in a long time. His high school employee was asleep in one of his rolling chairs with her head set on the hood of the car she had bought and been repairing. Shaking his head he smiled slightly as he walked to his office to grab a blanket he kept there for cases like this, though it hadn't been used in years. As he walked away from Sunset he noticed the sun reflecting off the pristine red paint, and repaired chrome he smiled once more that Sunset had brought what he thought was a clunker back to full glory. As he continued to walk he heard the unmistakable groaning of a teenager who hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and he decided to engage in witty banter he hadn't had in years.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, stay late did ya?" He asked as he turned around to see Sunset stretching out.

"Mmmhmmm" was the only answer sunset could formulate with her half asleep mind.

Laughing slightly Grogar asked "you want some coffee?"

"If you don't mind Grogar, I think Christine will be finished today, but truthfully I'm not sure" Sunset said groggily as she started to stand up.

Laughing slightly Grogar walked to his office to start a pot of coffee for himself and Sunset, placing a filter into the coffee maker he began the task of placing the coffee and filling the reservoir with water. Turning on the machine that would bring life blood to his half dead employee he waited until the empty pot was filled with the nectar of the gods. Out in the garage Sunset was sitting behind the wheel of Christine smiling to herself as she ran her hands over the steering wheel, as her left hand passed eight on the wheel the radio crackled to life.

As Grogar walked back into the garage holding two cups of hot coffee he heard music, walking through the bays, the song got louder he realized it had been a lifetime since he had heard it. Smiling to himself he came to the fury that his employee had restored and found her with her head resting beside the steering wheel on the dash, and as the song came to an end her head came up slightly to see him smiling at her and holding the life blood she so desperately needed.

Stepping out of Christine Sunset grabbed one of the cups and said "thanks Grogar."

"Don't mention it Sunset, so how's the repairs going?" He asked.

"They'll be finished today and tomorrow I'm going to go back to school," Sunset said. As Grogar opened his mouth to retort, Sunset continu "I know you said I should take some time off, but I think I should prove my innocence by working towards it, and proving I'm not a horrible person."

"Alright if you believe that's what you should do I'm not going to stop you" he said with a smile on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in the cafeteria of Canterlot high school five teens were sitting by themselves, each stewing in their own anger. Applejack's fist was clenching and unclenching, Rainbow Dash had a fire in her eyes none had seen before. Rarity was a bit more green than white, Fluttershy was more hidden than usual in her oversized sweatshirt and Pinkie Pie's hair was a little less poofy and a little more straight. More secrets had been posted by Anon-A-Miss, yet Sunset hadn't been seen since Friday, in fact she had completely missed school and with Anon-A-Miss still posting, things were going downhill quickly. Yet the five girls at the table had a plan they had found a book that could contact Twilight and they were waiting for a response.