Friday

Indigo Zap took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. There was nothing quite like the smell of cut wood and sawdust. It managed to drown out the other smells of the Shop class.

Crystal Prep’s Shop class was in one large room that could’ve been a warehouse, separated by material in use. One half of the room was dedicated to Wood Shop, the other half was dedicated to Metal Shop. Indigo was quite fluent in both—aside from her athletic prowess, she liked building things with her hands.

As she strolled over to get materials for her latest assignment—a birdhouse she planned on gifting to Fluttershy—she was surprised to see a new face in the Wood Shop.

Moondancer was seated at one of the tables, busily sanding away at a piece of wood. She wore a denim smock over her usual uniform, along with work gloves and a pair of large safety goggles. To Indigo’s surprise, her thick-rimmed glasses sat on the table beside her.

“Hey, uh Moondancer,” Indigo called, walking over. “You alright?”

Moondancer looked in her general direction, squinting so hard her eyes were barely open. “I’m fine, thanks. I’m nearsighted.”

“Alright. Just maybe don’t go near the bigger machines,” Indigo said. “I’m Indigo Zap, by the way.”

Moondancer nodded and resumed focusing on her wooden project. Indigo squinted at it. The shape was small and crude, but it almost looked like some sort of small horse.

“Wow, that looks really neat,” Indigo remarked. “Do you make stuff like this often?”

Moondancer jumped, as if not expecting Indigo to still be there. “I sometimes fiddle with models and figurines in my spare time,” she admitted, her cheeks darkening.

Indigo nodded, her eyes falling on Moondancer’s glasses.

“Hey, uh, how’d your glasses get broken?” she asked.

Moondancer huffed. “They’ve been broken for a year now. I just taped them up—never had a problem with them,” she said.

Indigo rubbed her chin, glancing towards the Metal Shop, then back to the glasses. Her birdhouse could wait, a different sort of project was coming to mind.

“Hey, do you mind if I borrow your glasses for something really quick?” she asked. “I promise I won’t break them… more.”

Moondancer blinked up at her. “Well… I guess. I’ve got a spare pair in my backpack anyway,” she said. “Just be careful with them.”

Indigo nodded and plucked up the glasses and walked over to the Metal Shop half of the classroom. She set the glasses down on one of the tables and carefully went about measuring the taped bridge.

Next she went to the material bin and selected the thinnest metal sheet she could find. She measured out a tiny square in the material and went to work cutting it out with a cutting torch. After letting it cool, she took pliers and wrapped it around the taped bridge several times before adding a light solder to seal it.

After letting it cool again and cleaning off the lenses, she returned to Moondancer.

“Here, try them on,” Indigo said, grinning as she offered her glasses back.

Moondancer frowned, removing her safety goggles before taking the glasses. She raised a bushy eyebrow at the metal wrapped around the bridge before trying them on. She blinked a few times as the metal settled on her nose.

“So, whatcha think?” Indigo asked, hands on her hips with pride.

“It’s fine, I guess,” Moondancer said, adjusting the glasses. “Might take some getting used to… or I could just use my spare.”

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Moondancer huffed, throwing off her smock and pulling off her gloves. She pocketed the horse she had been working on and power walked to the door. Indigo watched her quickly snatch up her backpack and leave.

Indigo’s shoulders slumped as she lifted her signature goggles. She thought she had been doing Moondancer a favor, but had she just made her mad?

Author's Note

Aside from being athletic, I figured Indigo had a knack for woodworking and building things with her hands.

-The Legendary Bill Cipher