Chapter 61

“Mr. Ross, I thought I told you to take it easy,” chided Dr. Stable, a disapproving frown on his face as he looked over Allen’s latest test results.

“I did doc,” replied Allen defensively from his spot on the exam table.

Looking at Allen over the top of his glasses, Dr. Stable cocked an eyebrow and said, “Then why are your test results telling me otherwise? You’ve been using magic, which I told you not to do.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about doc, I haven’t used any magic since the incident, hell I don’t even know how I used it then!” exclaimed Allen in frustration.

Dr. Stable shook his head as he showed Allen the test results. “Well, your results don’t lie, you’ve been using magic since you were discharged, granted it hasn’t been a lot, but considering your condition and the circumstances leading up to said condition, even this small amount could have led to some serious complications.”

Allen shook his head, pushing the results away with a hand. “Look doc, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but I have not used any magic!”

Closing Allen’s medical file, Dr. Stable set it aside and said, “Alright, you say that you have not used your magic, however, your test results say otherwise. Therefore, I can only come to one of two conclusions. Option one, you are lying to me,” when Allen opened his mouth to hotly retort, Dr. Stable held up a hoof to forestall his angry outburst, “option two, your body is subconsciously using magic. As far as I can tell, it is not using it to repair any obvious damage, though barring a more comprehensive medical evaluation, I cannot say whether that is or is not the case.”

“Please don’t poke me anymore today,” groaned Allen.

Dr. Stable huffed, annoyance evident on his face. “I have not poked you that much, stop being such a foal,” pausing, he cleared his throat and continued, “That being said, I would feel better if we ran a few more tests, and did a couple of scans, just to be on the safe side. The last thing I want is for you to drop dead of a brain hemorrhage in the middle of the night.”

Sighing, Allen quietly muttered, “If I could only be so lucky.”

“What was that?” asked, Dr. Stable sharply.

Waving him away, Allen said, “Nothing, I’m just... tired, is all. Continue, please.”

Giving Allen a suspicious look, Dr. Stable continued, “Right, well in any case, if the magic is not being used by your body to heal an injury, it must be from something you are doing at home.” Pulling out a clipboard, pen, and paper, Dr. Stable said, “Tell me what you have been doing since you were discharged last week.”

“Seriously doc?” replied Allen, his shoulders slumping despondently at the thought of yet more medical poking and prodding.

“Seriously,” replied Dr. Stable calmly, his pen hovering patiently above the clipboard, ready to put words to paper.

Shaking his head, Allen groaned and said, “Alright fine, other than my normal chores, I’ve been working on one of my tractors. It hasn’t wanted to start since I used it to run over a pair of timberwolves a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure if it was damaged or what, but the battery won’t hold a charge and I’ve been trying to get it running ever since. I also took a trip into town on Saturday to visit Penny after checking my hay field.”

“Anything else?” asked Dr. Stable. Allen shook his head.

Dr. Stable hummed to himself as he thought. “Tell me,” he began, “about your repair work on your tractor. Have you noticed being tired after working on it?”

“Well yeah, repair work isn’t exactly easy doc,” replied Allen with a shrug.

Dr. Stable shook his head. “No, that is not what I’m asking. I mean, do you feel more tired than you should be for the work that you are doing?”

Allen thought about Dr. Stable’s question as he idly rubbed his cheek. After a few moments, he slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Frowning, Dr. Stable pondered Allen’s reply. “Hmm, how long have you been working on this tractor of yours?”

“Several days,” replied Allen.

“I mean, how many hours do you think you’ve spent working on it, and it alone,” clarified Dr. Stable.

Allen shrugged. “I don’t know, probably more than ten but less than twenty, why?”

“I’m not sure, but it could be that your body is using magic much like an earth pony’s would. Unconsciously pushing mana into something that it thinks needs it.”

“I thought their magic worked only on plants?” asked Allen confused.

“Plants are one potential target, however, earth ponies are more than just farmers, Mr. Ross. They can make music, jewelry, furniture, books, tools and more. Items made by earth ponies tend to be sturdier and last longer than those made by pegasi or unicorns, and studies have shown an actual difference between those items. Magic doesn’t need to be flashy or obvious to be used, often it is subtle and not easily noticed. I think what might be happening is that while you are working on your tractor, your body is pushing mana into it in an attempt to repair it.”

“Really?” replied Allen, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

Dr. Stable nodded. “It is not beyond the realm of possibility.”

Allen shook his head with an amused smirk on his face. “So what, you think I’m some sort of mechanical wizard or something? That would be pretty handy,” he suddenly mimed holding something in his hand and making a sweeping motion with it before loudly saying, “Reparo!” before bursting into laughter.

Rolling his eyes, Dr. Stable calmly replied, “While there are repair spells out there Mr. Ross, at this point, I am not sure if you will be able to cast them. Especially since you lack the proper focal point needed to cast said spells.”

“You mean like a horn?”

Nodding, Dr. Stable lit his own horn in emphasis. “Precisely, as I mentioned earlier, your body seems to mirror that of an earth pony, more than a unicorn. Though, due to your world’s lack of ambient mana and your underdeveloped thaumatic pathways, we can’t be sure yet.”

“So, what does this mean for me doc?” pressed Allen.

Dr. Stable sighed, shook his head, and pulled off his glasses. Polishing them with a white kerchief, he idly commented, “Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t know what a normal baseline is for a healthy human with a properly developed and functioning mana network, Mr. Ross. I’m casting blind here with only a few hints and ideas of what should and should not be happening to your body. It seems as though every time I see you, I make a new discovery on how your body works and I have to discard my previous theories and start over again.”

“That... doesn’t exactly fill me with warm fuzzy feelings,” replied Allen hesitantly.

“How do you think I feel?” retorted Dr. Stable as he returned his kerchief to his labcoat pocket, and his glasses to his muzzle. “This whole experience has been both exciting and terrifying, and for many of the same reasons. You, by your presence here, have overturned several conventionally held beliefs about the medical field and caused quite a stir. However, that is not important right now, what is important is figuring out if you are in any kind of danger.”

“Well, I feel fine,” said Allen slowly.

Dr. Stable nodded. “Which is a good sign, but we should not assume that just because you feel fine, that you are fine. I have had many patients leave feeling fine, only to return shortly after that with life-threatening ailments that had been unknowingly simmering away inside of them.”

“Okay, so what do you want to do then?” asked Allen.

“There are more tests that I want to run, however, we will only be able to do two of them here and with the equipment I have on hoof. After that, we will be done for today, and no further needles will be involved,” replied Dr. Stable. “However, depending on what these results come back as, will determine if additional tests will be needed.”

“What kind of tests are you going to do?”

“Nothing invasive, just a few medical scans while you do a few things. Nothing more,” replied Dr. Stable as he opened the door and ushered Allen out of the exam room and into the hallway.

The trip through the hospital was short and soon, Allen found himself in another exam room, except this one had several large pieces of equipment of unknown purpose along the wall. All of them were covered in dials, gauges, and flashing lights. Several tables and chairs were scattered about the room. On each table was a collection of items, one contained random plants, another had various rocks and minerals, and another had various raw materials, such as wood planks, and metal bars, along with some hand tools. On the final table, was a collection of broken objects, ranging from torn clothing to broken machines. It was this table that Dr. Stable directed Allen to sit down at.

Sitting awkwardly on the very short stool, Allen tried to make himself comfortable as best as he could. While he was doing that, Dr. Stable began attaching various leads and wires to him.

“Okay, Mr. Ross,” said Dr. Stable as he attached the last lead to Allen’s wrist, “I want you to try and repair these items.”

Looking down at the table in front of him and its contents, Allen cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Why?”

Trotting over to one of the machines along the wall, Dr. Stable replied, “Because I want to see if your body will push your mana into these items that you will work on. Don’t try and think about it or force it, just do what comes naturally and your body should do the rest.”

Looking up from the table, Allen replied, “That’s it? You just want me to try and fix this stuff?”

Dr. Stable nodded. “Yep, just fix as much of it as you can.”

Looking back down at the table and the items in front of him, Allen shrugged and set to work.

Time passed by at a steady pace as he worked. Most of the stuff before him was simple, a broken picture frame, easily fixed with some glue and a clamp, a mechanical egg beater that was rusted, a quick disassembly, some sandpaper to take the rust off, a little oil and it was as good as new. However, there were some more complex repair jobs, such as a broken clock that Allen initially ignored but eventually took a peak inside before quickly setting it back down as beyond his ability to repair.

Eventually, he’d repaired everything he could, and setting the last item down on the table, he looked over to Dr. Stable and asked, “Okay, so now what?”

Dr. Stable glanced up from the readout that he was studying and replied, “I think that’ll do for now, Mr. Ross. If you’ll give me a moment, I’ll get you unhooked from the machine.”

“So what did you find?” pressed Allen as he waited patiently for Dr. Stable to get him unhooked.

“It is as I thought, your body is acting like an earth pony’s and pushing mana into objects while you work with them,” replied the doctor as he removed the last wire.

“Really?” asked Allen as he looked down at his hands in silent amazement. “But I don’t feel any different, and it doesn’t feel like I was using magic earlier. Though to be fair, I’m not sure what magic would actually feel like.”

Dr. Stable nodded and motioned for Allen to stand next to him by the printer. Pointing at the readings on the chart, he explained, “The readout doesn’t lie, you see here?” he pointed at a peak in the lines, “This is where you picked up that broken clock. Your body pushed some mana into it while you were looking at it, and this is where you put it back down,” he continued, pointing at the section of the graph where the line dipped back down to its original position.

“But like I said, I didn’t feel any different,” said Allen in confusion.

Dr. Stable nodded and replied, “Of course, your body has gotten used to using small quantities of mana again. Do you feel your blood flowing through your veins all the time or the electrical discharges along your nerves and in your brain when you move?”

Allen shook his head. “No, not really.”

“The same thing applies here, under normal conditions, you will not notice the small amounts of mana flowing through your body. However, much like when your heart rate and blood pressure go up and you feel the blood flowing in certain parts of your body, the same thing will apply to your mana. If you only use a small amount, you shouldn’t feel any different from normal, as your body has learned to ignore those feelings. However, if you suddenly use a large amount of mana, then you will feel it, as your body is not used to that. Does that make sense?”

Allen nodded slowly as he looked down at his hands. “I suppose so, but it’s still weird to think I’ve been using magic this whole time and not realize it.”

Dr. Stable smiled. “Life can be strange at times,” he admitted, “however, our bodies are very flexible and resilient. It should not be surprising that your body’s instincts can spring back into action when called for, no matter how little they may have been used in the past. It is quite possible, Mr. Ross, that in your world you were using magic and just didn’t know it.”

Allen gave Dr. Stable a skeptical look. “Magic doesn’t exist in my world doc, I told you that, and you saw how small my appendix and mana network were.”

“True,” he conceded, “however, the fact that they did exist is a testament to the fact that your world most likely does, even if it is just a trace amount, have some mana left in it.”

Crossing his arms, Allen still didn’t look convinced.

Seeing this, Dr. Stable said, “Let me ask you this. Were there people in your world who seemed to possess abilities that went beyond the normal? Perhaps someone who could paint a picture that could cause a person to become entranced by their work or a composer whose music could enrapture an audience. Maybe an inventor who could create wonders the likes of which no one had ever seen before? A leader who could inspire a nation and push them in a certain direction?”

Allen blinked and then uncrossed his arms as he pondered Dr. Stable’s words. Eventually, he slowly nodded. “Are you saying that they used magic?”

“Possibly. Though, I doubt they knew that they were doing so. Magic is just as likely to be cast subconsciously as it is consciously. At this point, I’m just theorizing, but from what I have observed with you over these past few months, it is highly likely that there is still mana in your world and that some people can use it. Even if the amount and what they do with it are smaller than what we can do here in Equestria.”

“So, what happens next?” asked Allen.

“I would like to run one more test. However, I’ll need to make some arrangements before I can do it, as it will involve your tractor,” replied Dr. Stable as he jotted down some notes on a clipboard.

“My tractor?” asked Allen.

Dr. Stable nodded. “Yes, the tests that I have run today show that your body is pushing mana into broken items while you fix them. As such, I believe that since your tractor is broken, your body is subconsciously pushing mana into it while you are working on it. However, I am unsure how much is going into it, so I’ll need to measure the amount while you work with it to ensure you are not in danger.”

“Well, can’t you figure that out with these things?” asked Allen as he waved a hand over the table full of items.

“Not really no,” replied Dr. Stable with a shake of his head. Picking up the still-broken clock and explained, “Mana is an energy, much like electricity, it can flow through certain materials much easier than others, and in some cases be stopped entirely. The size, complexity, material composition, and if any magic was used in creating the item can affect how much, how easy, and in what quantities mana may flow into it. Does that make sense?”

“Sort of,” replied Allen with a shrug.

Shaking his head, Dr. Stable sighed and said, “Well I suppose the details don’t matter that much, all you need to know is that these,” he pointed at the table with a hoof, “only give me part of the picture when it comes to how your body is dealing with its mana. Since you work with large pieces of equipment, your mana will react to it differently than this clock here. Therefore, it would be like trying to compare apples to oranges. Sure there are some similarities, but not enough to give me an accurate understanding of how your body is working.”

“Okay, so now what?”

“Now we head to the front desk, get you released, and set up a time for me to come out to your farm and run that test. I’ll need to send a few letters and request forms out, so I doubt I’ll be ready until next Monday at the earliest. I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I can when I’d like to run this test,” replied Dr. Stable as the two of them left the testing room and headed for the entrance.

“Do you think I still need to take it easy?” asked Allen, half-expecting the pony doctor to say ‘yes’.

Dr. Stable chewed his bottom lip for a few moments as he thought. Eventually, he replied, “I would recommend not pushing yourself, Mr. Ross, however, none of the results I’ve gotten today indicate that you are in immediate medical danger. As such, I believe you should be fine, but I want you to come right here if you start feeling dizzy, tired, or nauseous out of nowhere, understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it doc,” replied Allen with a nod as the two of them reached the front entrance and Dr. Stable passed Allen over to the nurse behind the front desk.

“Alright, I’m going to hold you to that,” he said seriously, “Nurse Redheart will get you taken care of, and as I said, I’ll let you know when I’ll be ready for that final test.”

“Does that mean I can’t work on my tractor?” asked Allen while he filled out paperwork.

“Ideally yes, but I will understand if you fix it before I’m ready.”

Allen handed the completed form back to Redheart and replied, “I really need that tractor back up and running as soon as possible, so it’s good to hear you won’t be too upset with me if I fix it before you’re ready,” he paused, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head, “of course that’s assuming that I can fix it.” Shaking his head, he smiled and waved goodbye to the two ponies. “Alright, well let me know doc, and I’ll see you later.”

Returning Allen’s wave with one of his own, Dr. Stable replied, “I will. Have a safe walk home, Mr. Ross.”

Giving a final wave, Allen stepped outside and headed home.

Walking past the Golden Oaks Library, Allen glanced at his watch and saw it was almost noon.

I better hustle, he thought as he picked up the pace, Penny said that Lock Box would be at my place around one o’clock.

Picking up the pace, he made good time and soon he was walking down his driveway.

Climbing the front steps of his house, Allen opened the door and stepped inside. Shutting the door behind him, he made for the kitchen to get some lunch. A couple of sandwiches later, and Allen’s hunger was sated.

Leaning back in his chair, he looked up at the clock.

Almost one, thought Allen as he stood up and put his dishes in the sink. As he set the last dish inside, he heard a knock on the front door. Quickly drying his hands, he trotted over and opened the door.

“Hello, Allen!” said Penny with a smile.

“Hey Penny,” replied Allen with his own smile, “and hello Perfect, how are you?”

Perfect Time nodded in greeting. “I am well, how was your doctor's appointment?”

“It went,” replied Allen with a noncommittal shrug, “I’ll tell you guys about it later. Speaking of which, where is he?”

“He should be right behind us,” replied Penny, pointing up the driveway to a distant figure slowly making their way closer, a small wooden cart trailing along behind them.

“Ah, there he is,” she said upon seeing the aforementioned unicorn. “We passed him on the way over.”

“I offered to help lighten the load on his cart, but he declined my help, said ‘he could get it,’” remarked Perfect.

“Probably didn’t want to risk any of his tools being damaged or lost in the transfer,” said Allen as he shut the door behind him and stepped down off the porch to greet Lock Box.

“Afternoon, Mr. Box,” called out Allen in greeting.

Returning Allen’s greeting with a nod. Lock Box stopped just in front of Allen’s garage and after extracting himself from his harness he said, “Hello, Mr. Ross, how are you? I heard you were in the hospital recently?”

Allen nodded. “Yeah, timberwolf attack, but nobody was killed, though poor Penny broke her leg.”

Casting Penny a sideways glance, Lock Box nodded and replied, “I was wondering what had happened, will you be okay?”

“The doctor said I should fully recover, minus some scarring,” said Penny.

“Well that is good to hear,” replied Lock Box as he removed a toolbelt from his cart. Cinching it around his barrel, he said, “Well since we’re all here, why don’t we get started?”

“Works for me,” replied Allen.

“Any place you want me to start?” asked Lock Box as he adjusted his tool belt.

Pointing to the machine sheds Allen said, “Why don’t we start over there and finish up at the house.”

Nodding, Lock Box started trotting over. “Alright, that will work.”

Several hours later, the group sat around Allen’s dining room table. Lock Box was busily scribbling away on his notepad while Allen served everyone water.

“So, what do you think so far?” asked Penny.

Not looking up from his notepad, Lock Box replied, “If this were south Filly, this place would have been picked clean months ago.”

Allen snorted in amusement at Lock’s blunt reply. Penny meanwhile flushed red in embarrassment.

“However, Rune Chisel did a pretty good job on your main barn,” continued Lock Box as he flipped a page in his notebook and resumed writing.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Allen asked, “How did you know that Rune Chisel worked on my barn? I don’t remember telling you about that.”

Still not looking up from his notebook, Lock Box replied, “Every runic artificer’s work has a unique ‘signature’ if you will, and since I’ve worked with him before, I recognized his work.”

“And what did you think of it?” asked Penny curiously.

Lock Box shrugged. “His security runes are fairly basic, which is to be expected of him. Security wards and spells weren’t something he was particularly good with. However, thankfully he knows he’s not very good and left room for somepony else to add to his basic wards and such. The other stuff, is per usual, top-notch, no complaints there. Here,” he said, passing Penny his notebook.

Taking the notebook in her magic, Penny started reading, while Allen leaned over and read over her shoulder.

“That’s a lot of zeros,” commented Allen with a low whistle.

Lock Box leaned back in his seat and replied, “It is, but is it worth more to leave your home and barns unprotected?”

Allen glanced at Penny and the two shared a look for a moment before Allen asked, “Can we have a minute to discuss this?”

“Sure,” replied Lock Box as he stood up and headed for the door. Looking back over his withers he added, “But remember, you get what you pay for,” and with his piece said, he stepped outside, leaving Penny, Perfect, and Allen alone.

Slumping down in a chair, Allen asked, “Well, what do you think?”

Passing the notebook over to Perfect to read, Penny replied, “His work speaks for itself. To the best of my knowledge, any place that has had him put in security systems has never had a successful break-in.”

“I mean, I get that, but do you think we need this kind of security? I mean, for fuck’s sake, the guy’s asking for almost as much as we paid for the damn barn!” grumped Allen as he shook his head.

“I would also like to add that he’s only quoted us for security wards and spells. There is nothing here for fire suppression or water-repellent wards,” added Perfect as she looked over the notebook.

“So we’re going to have to contract somepony else to do those then,” said Penny.

“Possibly, though it could be that he didn’t include them to reduce the overall sticker shock,” replied Perfect.

“Regardless, this is a lot of money, and while I would like to have some extra protection, I’m not sure if we need to go this far,” said Allen as he shook his head, and tapped the notebook with a finger.

Penny hummed thoughtfully. “It does seem a bit much, but then again, I’m not very well-versed in these sorts of things. Besides, this price is for every building, not just one, as such, each building will be less expensive to do. So in a worst-case scenario, we can just have him do a few at a time until everything is done.”

“Regardless, we should probably not keep him waiting much longer,” commented Perfect. “Perhaps we should ask him for additional quotes?”

Both Allen and Penny nodded their heads in agreement. “I don’t think that would be too far out of line,” said Penny, while Allen stood up and headed for the front door to let Lock Box back in.

Opening the door, Allen poked his head outside and spotted the unicorn standing off to the side humming to himself.

Clearing his throat, Allen caught Lock’s attention and said, “We’re ready for you to come back in now.”

Nodding, Lock silently followed Allen inside.

Shutting the door behind them, Allen headed back to the kitchen and sat down, while Lock Box resumed his original seat.

After making himself comfortable, the unicorn stallion gazed expectantly at the others, patiently waiting for them to make the first move.

Clearing her throat, Penny broke the silence and said, “Mr. Lock Box, we’d like to ask you a few questions before we go any further. Is that alright?”

Lock Box smiled and said, “Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

“Right, well the first thing we noticed was that you only quoted us for security wards and spells. There isn’t anything in here for fire suppression or water damage mitigation.”

He nodded. “That is correct. I don’t mess with those kinds of wards and spells. It’s a bit outside my wheelhouse, as it were. If you want top-quality elemental protection runes, go ask Rune Chisel. He’s the stallion who can give you the best value for your bit.”

“So you would only do security-related wards then? Nothing else?” asked Perfect.

Again, Lock Box nodded. “It’s what I am good at, and pony’s will pay top bit for my services. If you think my prices are too high, then I can recommend you to somepony else whose prices are cheaper, though the quality won’t be nearly as good as what I can do.”

The three looked between themselves for a moment before Allen asked, “And just who might that pony be?”

Lock Box replied simply, “Rune Chisel.”

“But I thought you said his security wards were very basic?” asked Allen, confused at Lock Box’s recommendation.

“They are, but that doesn’t mean that they are bad. They will do the job, and they’ll do it well, but compared to my work. They can’t hold a candle in comparison. It’s a bit like comparing a part-time weather pony to a Wonderbolt in terms of flying capability. Sure the weather pony can fly, and even fly well. But the Wonderbolt can do things that the poor weather pony could only dream about doing. That is the difference between my wards and his. His wards will keep out the occasional petty thief, but mine will keep out a rampaging dragon.”

Allen slowly nodded his head. Yeah, that makes sense, he thought quietly to himself, but the question is, do I need to worry about keeping out a rampaging dragon?

“But do we need to worry about a dragon breaking into Allen’s home?” asked Penny, beating Allen to the proverbial punch and asking what he’d been thinking aloud first.

Lock Box shrugged. “Probably not, but I’ve never had a complaint from any of my customers from going above and beyond. The only time I had a complaint was because they talked me into a cheaper alternative to save a few bits, and it bit them in the flank later. You live next to the Everfree Forst,” he said, pointing at Allen with a hoof, “and while it is unlikely, it is not impossible that some big nasty critter is going to come stomping out of those woods and decide to mess with your stuff. As you are probably well aware by now.” He motioned with his head to Penny’s cast-covered leg for emphasis.

Allen rubbed his chin as he thought, after a few moments he asked, “So this package you’ve put together here, is this the best you can offer?”

“Pretty much. I mean, there are a few options I didn’t add, but that would quintuple the current price and to be honest, I doubt you will need those enchantments and wards. After all, unless you are keeping millions of bits worth of valuables or ancient magical artifacts that every dark sorcerer wannabe wants to get their hooves on, you probably won’t need those,” replied Lock Box with a smile.

“Nope, probably not going to be doing that anytime soon,” replied Allen with a slow shake of his head.

“Then this is all you need,” said Lock Box with a tap of his hoof on the notebook. “If the upfront cost is a sticking point with you, I don’t need to do everything all at once. Obviously, your house should get the full treatment first, but I can put in basic-level wards and enchantments on the other buildings and add on to them at a later date if you want.”

“And how much will that cost?” asked Penny.

“About a third of the original price, though since you are local, there is no travel fee,” replied Lock Box.

Allen nodded and said, “Well that certainly makes it a bit easier to swallow.”

“Still rather expensive though,” muttered Perfect as she absently looked over the notebook.

Lock Box laughed. “You’ll be singing a different tune when those wards stop somepony or something from breaking in.”

“Probably, but it still doesn’t change the fact that they are expensive,” she retorted.

Lock Box stood up and grabbed his notebook, lighting up his horn, he tore the pages from the book. Letting them float in front of himself for a moment, his horn grew brighter, and with a flash, he set them down on the table.

“What was that all about?” asked Allen as he blinked spots from his eyes.

“Copy spell,” replied Lock Box as he pushed the sheaf of recently torn papers over to Allen. “These are your copies. I transcribed mine in my notebook.”

“That’s pretty handy,” commented Allen as he grabbed the papers and passed them over to Penny.

“It sure is,” he said with a pleased grin, “the best two hundred bits I ever spent on magic lessons,” his grin faded slightly as he packed his things away. “Anyways, if you want me to do the job, you know where to find me. Though, if I were you I wouldn’t wait too long. I’ve got several jobs pending in Manehatten and Canterlot, and I do jobs based on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.”

“Well let you know by Friday,” replied Penny.

“Ah, got another contractor coming out to give you a quote, eh?” said Lock with a knowing smile.

“Um well...” began Penny, but Lock Box waved her off.

“Eh, don’t worry about it, if it’s who I think it is, he’ll probably tell you to go with me anyways,” floating his saddlebags in front of him, Lock Box headed for the door, “tell Rune Chisel I said ‘hi’ when you see him,” called out Lock as he shut the front door behind him.

Once he’d left Allen and the others looked at each other.

“So... what do you think?” asked Allen.

Penny sighed. “He’s certainly confident, I’ll give him that much.”

“A bit pompous if you ask me,” huffed Perfect.

“Well when you deal with the upper crust regularly, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a little bit of their attitudes will wear off on you. Besides, he’s got the talent to back up his hubris. Though, I’m not sure if we will really need this level of security here.”

Allen slowly nodded. “Yeah, I mean we can certainly afford to pay this much money, but the question is, do we need to?”

Penny shook her head and sighed. “I’m not sure. We’ll see what Rune Chisel has to say when he does his walkthrough on Friday. We already know we’re going to need him anyways, so we won’t need to feel bad about having him come all the way out here for nothing.”

“Yeah, it’ll be nice to get a second opinion,” agreed Allen.

Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was nearly dinner time and said, “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starting to get hungry. Do you gals want to stay for dinner?”

A sudden pair of growls as Penny and Perfect’s stomachs both let their respective hosts know that they were hungry rang out in the quiet kitchen. Laughing at their sudden embarrassment, Allen stood up and said, “I’ll take that as a yes,” and got to work getting dinner ready.

Author's Note

Man, what a goofy summer this has been. Between the weather not cooperating, and equipment breakdowns, it's been tough making hay. But, we're getting it done one field at a time. Anyway, I figured it was past time you all had an update, so here you go, as always, let me know if you find a spelling or grammar mistake.