Gizmo and Tinkerby LaeviGChaptersMaking PlansThe Begining of OrthusA Flight of FaithWings of ChangeMaking PlansAuthors note: This chapter is really far from the intended path but I'm hoping that in the next chapter I get back on track. As always be brutal in the comments with the criticism. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. Gizmo awoke to Celestia's bright shining sun and a knock at his workshops door. He attempted to get up from his bed but found himself helplessly tangled in his sheets. "Hold on," he yelled, "I'll be there in a moment." He struggled for a moment more before managing to free a hoof from the tangled mess. "How the hay did you get all tangled up like that?" Asked his new guest. "No idea... Wait a second. Rainbow Dash? How did you get in my house?" Gizmo craned his neck to see the intruder in his home. Oh, your door was unlocked and I heard you struggling so I came in to see if I could help." Replied Dash "Well thanks for your concern, but may I suggest that next time you just wait outside. It's not that I'm mad at you, I'm just worried about your safety is all." "My safety?" Asked Dash with a worried look on her face. "Yes and I'll show you why. Before that though, could you pull that red lever at the console in the corner?" "Which one," replied Dash, "there's like six different levers here." "Oh, just pull the one on the far left." "OK, what's it do anyways?" Dash asked. "Where would be the fun in spoiling the surprise, just give it a go and you'll see" replied Gizmo with a disarming smile. Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders and trotted over to the console. She took the lever in her mouth and gave it a swift tug downwards. She let go of the lever and turned around just in time to see Gizmo's bed spring up like a catapult. Gizmo was sent hurtling across the room and collided with the wall. Just to the left of a conviniently misplaced cushioned target. "Figures..." Sputtered Gizmo as he slid slowly down the wall. Dash rushed over to where Gizmo was helped him back onto his hooves. "Gizmo! What the hay was that?!" Cried Dash. "I find... Ugh, hold on." Gizmo fell back onto his Haunches as he lost his balance from light-headedness. He stayed that way with his head between his hooves to steady himself for a moment before shakily getting up right again. "As I was saying, I find that waking up like that is much more fun than conventional methods. It's also quite a show for any home intruders." Gizmo added a little bit of emphasis on the last bit. Dash just looked away a little sheepishly. Gizmo trotted over to the console and took the second lever in his mouth and gave it a pull. He quickly jumped to the third and forth repeating the action. "What do those ones do?" Dash asked Nervously. "Oh these," he replied, "They make the bed for me. It saves a lot of time in my mornings." Gizmo directed Dash's attention back to the barren mattress with one hoof and leaned against the console with another. He promptly fell to the floor accidentally pulling the one of the last two levers in the set. "Uh oh, did I just pull the fifth or the sixth one?" Gizmo asked himself. "Why does it matter?" asked Dash. "Oh no reason, no reason at all" Gizmo replied nervously An entirely new set of sheets fell onto the bed followed by some pillows and a big red comforter with a heart on it. The record player in the corner turned onto some mood music and a pail with ice and a bottle of champagne dropped onto the nightstand next to the bed. And to top it all off, a disco ball that reflected red hearts dropped out of the ceiling and began spinning. Rainbow Dash was starring blankly at the bed and remained this way for several moments, Gizmo took this opportunity to pull the last lever and smack his face into the console several times. His mattress fell into a hole in the floor which spouted a stream of fire before the hole closed and a new fully set mattress fell in its place. It only took a few moments more for Dash to fully absorb everything. She let out the loudest laugh Gizmo had ever heard and started chortling while gasping for air. "That 'gasp' was Hilarious... BWAHAHAHA" "Ya, ya laugh it up. It's there for a reason though and its not like it never gets used." Countered Gizmo "Wait, what?" Dash stopped laughing instantaneously and looked at Gizmo quizzically. "Nothing, let me check one more thing before i manage to make an even bigger mule out of myself and then i'll show you that thing we were talking about earlier." Gizmo walked over to another console covered in buttons and switches and started to fiddle around with them while checking some monitors. "What are you doing now?" Dash asked Rainbow Dash was getting the feeling she was asking a few to many questions. "Just checking the weather, the status of my shops reactor core, and all the time flux containment fields." "Time what now?" "Just a little something an old friend designed for me. Something about timey-wimey stuff. I'm not to sure about it myself to be honest but he said i should keep it running in case of an emergency." "Timey-wimey stuff?" Dash was asking a lot of questions Gizmo thought to himself. "Again, no idea. Now follow me back into the shop so i can introduce you to Orthus." Dash was about to ask another question before she was cut off by a hoof to the mouth. "No more questions, they get annoying. Now follow me and keep quiet. Dash gave Gizmo an annoyed and hurt look. Gizmo simply ignored it and started walking out into the shop yelling on the way. "Orthus, come meet our guest." Rainbow Dash had expected a pony or some mechanical thing to answer the call but was sadly mistaken. The call was heeded by a beast of a dog, German Shepherd in appearance and about as tall as Gizmo himself. The dog bolted straight for Gizmo and collided with him at top speed. "Sweet Celestia What is that thing?" Cried Dash. Orthus had Gizmo pinned on his back and was coating his face in a thorough layer of slobber. "Ok girl... I get it... You can get off now." Gizmo managed to say between strikes of the tongue. "Is that thing a dog or a bear" Orthus stopped her facial assault on Gizmo and began circling Dash and sniffing at her every few steps. "Friend?" asked a strangely mechanical voice. Dash jumped and screamed when she heard it. "What the buck, did the bear just talk?!" yelled Dash. Orthus took up a defensive stance and began to growl deeply at Dash. "Enemy?" asked the voice. No Orthus," replied Gizmo, "She's a friend. so behave yourself please." Dash was still a little bit shocked that the dog could talk. "How is that 'Thing' able to talk, normal dogs don't talk?" questioned Dash. "Artificial voice box, that one is Tinkers idea. I wanted to give her a set of steel claws and and a flamethrower but Tinker thought that was a stupid idea. Something about accidental disembowelment and property damage. Now i pay for it in headaches when she won't stop talking." "I think Tinker had the right idea. That thing-" Gizmo cut Dash off. "Dash, Please don't call her 'Thing', it hurts her feelings." Right on cue Orthus dipped her head between her paws and gave a sad whimper. "Sorry... Orthus, still surprised from the fact that you can talk, and that you are the size of a bear." Dash walked over to the dog and help up her hoof "Friends?" Orthus took the hoof in her paw and shook it violently, "Friends." "Now, the question that i should have asked much earlier. What brings you to my humble shop?" "Well," replied Dash, "I was hoping i could get a tour of the shop and then later you could go for a fly with me." "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash but this will all have to wait till later today. I need to finish the paperwork to get the patent for the wings. Then I have to have a copy of the blueprints sent to some distributors. I have to pay the bills somehow, right?" "Right, well i guess I'll just come back later and let you finish your work. I need to do a few things today anyways and what better time than now." Rainbow dash didn't really have anything to do but felt she needed to at least sound busy. "Alright Dash, I'll see ya later. Say Goodbye Orthus" "Bye Rainbow Dash" Dash stepped outside the shop and into the warming sun. She spread her wings basking in the golden glow for only a moment before taking off for the library. She was hoping to get a little reading done and perhaps kill enough time to let Gizmo finish his work. "So Gizmo, you gonna tell her about me?" "Only if it comes up Orthus, only if it comes up." "Let's put it this way, if she doesn't ask, you don't tell her anything. The last thing i want is some mares Sympathy" "I know, trust me okay, i know how to handle it if it comes up." Gizmo trotted off into his office to finish his work for the day. needless to say he was looking forward to that afternoon. PS: This story seems to be going better than i thought and should only get better from here on out. Swag. The Begining of OrthusAuthors Note: This is a flashback chapter so expect to see some stuff you won't understand till later, and you all know the drill. I apologize in advance for the rushed feel of this but Things kept coming up and drawing me away from finishing this. I will no doubt attempt to make it up to you all by making the next chapter a little less rushed and more entertaining. Standard Disclaimer: I only own the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Manehatten in winter can be a brutal place for the lost, downtroden, and undesireables of society. Needless to say that the homeless were always miserable this time of year. The rich however, could not be happier as they go about their lives oblivious to the suffering around them. The weather had recently taken a turn for the worse and it was on nights like this you would find ponies clutching to whatever brought them happyness in their final quiet hours. It was also nights like this that brought out the worst in the best of ponies. A young scruffy looking orange coated colt was walking down the road with a small bag of bits in his saddlebags. His mother told him it was for food and nothing else. The little one didn't know why his mom was always so insistent on him not spending it. He really didn't want anything, he had all he wanted back home. A loving family and a warm home. What more could he want? This trip to the store in particular was a very cold and quiet one. He had on his warmest coat and still managed to feel the cold bite of winter on his muzzle. He liked this coat in particular so he had his name stitched on the collar. "Psst, hey kid come here" heard the little colt. He peared around to see where the sound had come from. After a moment of silence passed he continued on his path until he passed the nearby alley. A set of hooves reached out of the darkness and grabbed a hold of the colts coat. His coat was promptly ripped off and his saddle bags removed. "Gizmo aye, what a fitting name for a colt living around in this town" "What do you want with me?" Asked Gizmo. "Oh I already got what I wanted, you can go now." "But without my coat I'll never make it home" cried Gizmo. "Not my problem kid, now scram" the thief gave Gizmo a swift kick and sent him tumbling back out into the street. Gizmo sat in place until an oncoming carriage forced up onto the sidewalk again. He turned back towards home and began the long trek ahead of him. He only made it a quarter of the way back home before he became to cold to continue and was forced to seek shelter under a bush. Gizmo layed down under his bush and began to whimper out in dispair. Not for himself you see, he was more worried about how hurt his family would be when they finally found out what happened to him. He huddled up against the clear side of the bush and accepted his fate. Even he knew there was nothing to be done to help him. As his eyelids began to droop he thought he saw a little brown and black furball climb under the bush with him. The fur all began making a yipping noise and continued doing so as Gizmo faded in and out of conciesnes. Gizmo came to momentarily and saw a very large dog stareing him in the face. Great, now I become puppy chow for these adorable furballs Gizmo thought to himself right before he blacked out again. The weather took a turn for the worse and a blizzard played into Manehatten with it's icy grip. It was amid the gusting winds that Gizmo began to stir. He realized that he was completely surrounded by fuzzy warmth and total darkness. So this is what its like being dead, I could get used to this Gizmo thought to himself. Gizmo rolled over and cuddeled into the warm fur. It wasn't until the mass of fur cuddeled back that he realized he wasn't alone and there for probably not dead. He squirmed his way out of the fur and took a look at his surroundings. He was in some kind of cave and he could see the blizzard raging outside of the enterance. He then looked back to his fluffy cocoon and realized that it was made of two large beasts. He leaned over the edge of one of the creatures to get a look at what it actually was and realized it was the same dog from earlier. He looked down towards its neck to see if it had a collar but found none. He repeated this withthe other dog and found that it too had no collar. He climbed the rest of the way out of the fur and lost his balance. Much to his dismay he tumbled right over the head of the closest one waking it from its slumber. The beast stood and began to stretch allowing Gizmo to notice two things, It had a brand on it's side with the name "Echidna" and that it was actually female. Echidna yawned loudly causing her partner to wake up. The other beast decided to join the other and stretch allowing Gizmo to also see this ones name and gender(unfortunately). It was a he and his name was "Typhon". The two lightly howled in unison and summoned two little pups. Neither of which, to Gizmo's relief, had names branded on their sides. They were however very aggressively playful. Gizmo was still in fear of becoming lunch for the pups so he was very cautious with the way he handled them. He never did become lunch and was instead fed lunch by Echidna. She left a boxed snack cake at his hooves and sat back as it was quickly destroyed and devoured by the hungry little colt in front of her. She also took the liberty to feed her pups by laying in a corner and allowing them to suckle. Gizmo sat at the cave entrance and enjoyed his temporary respite from the pups attacks. He was joined by Typhon who sat next to him and pawed at the snow in front of himself. Gizmo watched in awe as the dog began drawing runes in the snow. Gizmo couldn't read them but he knew they were meant for him. "I'm sorry but i can't read what it says, I don't even know if you can understand me" Typhon nodded his head and wiped away the runes. Gizmo was surprised by the beast's intelligence as it began too draw his family and Gizmo inside the cave. He then circled the two pups and Gizmo and drew a line leading out of the cave. Typhon sat silent for a moment and stared at gizmo awaiting some kind of reply. "I still don't get it" Typhon face-pawed and wiped away the drawing. he then just drew the two pups and Gizmo and between them he drew a sword and shield. "So, what? Am I supposed to guard them outside the cave or something?" Typhon pointed at the pups, the shield and sword, and then Gizmo. He drew a house and pointed to it last. "Ok, so they are gonna help me get home, that makes sense" Typhon held up a paw and then erased the house. He replaced it with an infinity sign. "And you lost me again, are they supposed to follow me around forever or something?" Typhon nodded once more and directed his attention to the two pups now sleeping next to their mother. Echidna, knowing the outcome of the conversation already, nodded just as Typhon had. Gizmo sat in silence and allowed himself to absorb the final pieces of information thrown at him. 'There is no way my mother will let me keep A dog, let alone two' Gizmo thought to himself. The blizzard ragged on into the night and lifted before Gizmo awoke the next morning. Typhon was already awake and standing once more at the mouth of the cave. Gizmo attempted to pretend like he was still asleep but had already rolled around to see what time it was. This woke up Echidna and the two pups and they started lightly whimpering to their mother for breakfast. She lay down on her side and allowed her pups to feed. Gizmo's stomach growled as he saw the pups get their fill and was hoping he could leave soon to get home to his family. Gizmo decided to take a place at the mouth of the cave again with Typhon. Typhon waited there patiently for the pups to finish and join them. It only took another five minutes before they were full and waddled over to their father. Typhon scrawled some more runes into the snow and directed the pups to stand next to them. The runes started to glow a deep golden hue and a small patch of fur on the sides of both pups began to do the same. The glow subsided and a barren patch of skin could be seen in its place. Typhon then scrawled more runes and these began to glow an ominous red. the bald spot on the pups did the same and they both howled out as there was a searing sound and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. The glows again subsided and both pups began to chew at the patches. Gizmo was surprised when neither Echidna nor Typhon did anything about the pups chewing the spots raw. Typhon scrawled yet another line of runes into the snow and walked into the cave. A pink glow surrounded the wounds and the pups immediately stopped chewing as the wounds were healed to the point that only the burnt marks were seen. Gizmo got a look at the marks and noticed that they were names just like the other two had. To the little male pup went the name Cerberus and to the female pup went Orthus. Echidna nuzzled her two pups and pushed them out of the cave. She bent down to look Gizmo in the eyes and stood that way for a moment. Gizmo became very uncomfortable and backed away a few steps out of the cave. When he was sure that she would not break her gaze he backed the rest of the way out of the cave. The two pups were waiting for him out in the snow and began jumping through the snow in a seemingly random direction. Gizmo followed them and was surprised when they had directed him back to the bush that he had taken shelter under. He stood for only a moment and pondered how lucky he was that they had taken him and not eaten him. He shook the thought away and started towards home with his two new guardians in tow. Gizmo began to whistle a tune to himself and realized that this was the happiest he had been in a long time. He was excited and had every right to be, these two new friends would change his life in a way he could not even fathom. PS: I know I wrote sand instead of snow at least once and missed it so if anyone noticed it just throw it into the comments or a message and I'll fix it right away. A Flight of FaithAuthors Note: This chapter is far to late in the making and all i can say is "Buck it, I did my best all things considered" Gizmo had been filling out the paperwork as he had planned and was having a good bit of trouble with his signature, he had already broken two quills and was getting ready to use his steel Stamper on it. Thankfully, just as he went to stamp the paper into oblivion, Tinker came trotting into the shop with a very dark pair of sunglasses on and a wobble to her step. "Good morning you little alcoholic you" "Not so loud, I have a splitting headache" replied Tinker. Gizmo chuckled to himself for a moment, then stopped as a devious idea came to his mind. He slowly reached for the lever that activated the Stamper. "Oh no you don't, pull that lever and you're dead." Gizmo ignored her and continued slowly reaching for the lever. "Please don't pull it" Tinker was getting desperate now. "Fine," Gizmo grabbed the papers from the machine and took them back into the office to sign them the old fashioned way. Just as he got into the office he chucked a stapler out the door and hit the lever, activating the machine. Gizmo quickly slammed his door shut as he heard an onslaught of obsenities ring forth. The Stamper only managed a few rounds before Tinker forced it off. "She is so going to kill me" Gizmo wittily remarked to himself. Gizmo's door busted open as Tinker kicked it in and threw the stapler back at his head. "You do that again and a stapler won't be the only thing flying at your head" Tinker yelled as she stormed out of the shop. Gizmo could hear her moaning in pain as she greeted someone at the door. "Oh hello Rainbow Dash, the jackass is inside" "Um... Thanks I guess. See you around Tinker." Rainbow Dash followed the sound of laughter back to Gizmo's office and stepped in as he was putting away the paperwork. "At long last I am finally done, and look who's here right on cue" cried Gizmo. "Great so can we go flying now? Reading is fun and all but after so long it starts to get boring." "Of course, let me refill the tank and we shall be on our way." Gizmo trotted over to a metal cabinet and grabbed two gas masks. He threw one to Dash and missed his mark entirely. It smacked her right in the face and made her fall back on her haunches while blurting out a few choice words. "Watch where you throw things buddy. Whats this for anyways?" asked Dash. "The stuff I use for fuel is not the best smelling stuff in Equestria. Besides I thought you might like a quick tour of the facility." replied Gizmo with a grin on his face. "Ugh, No more learning. I just wanna get out there and fly. Please?" Dash was practically begging by this point. She'd had her fill of learning from Twilight's rambling while she read every book on flight mechanics she could find. "Alright, fine the tour can come later. Put on your mask please." Gizmo walked over to the bench his suit was on and grabbed a set of tubes protruding from the bench's top. He attached each tube to a separate port and worked a series of levers with his hooves. Different colored fluids began to run through the tubes as they poured into the pack. "Whats with you and over complicating simple things?" asked Dash. "Whats with you and all the questions?" asked Gizmo. Dash opened her mouth to make a witty remark when Gizmo jumped back from his work. The tube pumping the actual fuel began to bulge far beyond it's normal size. "Get down!" Gizmo yelled. Dash ducked her head down as the bulge continued to grow in size until... *POP* The bulging tube ruptured and sprayed a jet of Golden fluid straight at Dash. Luckily for her Gizmo jumped in the path of the spray and got soaked while Dash only got a small splash. Within moment Gizmo was Covered in a very uncomfortable burning sensation and dash was feeling very itchy. "Dash, this stuff was never meant for contact exposure to living things. we need to get to a shower before this stuff makes our hair fall out or something like that. I'm just glad we are wearing these masks or our eyes would be burning horribly right now from the fumes." "Okay, where's your shower?" asked Dash. "There's a full set of chemical showers somewhere around here, let's just look around and see if we can find em." replied Gizmo. Gizmo and Dash started searching around by opening random doors to see if they could find the showers. It soon became apparent that they weren't gonna be that easy to find seeing as how they were in the basement. The search quickly led them there and they managed to find the two high pressure shower heads tucked into a little corner. "Wait, they're adjoining showers? Shouldn't there at least be a divider or something?" asked Dash "These are only meant to be used in the event of an emergency, that should be the last thing on your mind right now. Get in before your mane turns white or catches on fire." The two stepped under their separate shower heads and turned the water on. They were immediately doused in water mixed with a chemical to remove all contaminants. Gizmo showered quietly and kept to his own but Dash couldn't help from feeling a little bit weird being in a shower next to some random stallion she only just started hanging out with. Gizmo turned off his shower when he was sufficiently cleaned and noticed Dash just standing there lost in thought. "Are you alright over there!" Gizmo yelled above the sound of the water. Dash quickly perked up and backed into the shower wall. Gizmo wasn't sure what had her so spooked but decided that being there must be making her very uncomfortable and left the showers to go grab some towels. Gizmo made his way towards his bathroom to grab the towels and ran into Tinker on the way back. "I thought you took the day off?" asked Gizmo. "I only walked out cause you pissed me off , but I'm back now and i'm ready for work. Hangover free this time." said Tinker. "At least you even came in at all. While you are here could you take this towel down to Rainbow Dash in the chemical showers?" asked Gizmo. "Yah, sure. Why is she in the shower?" "There was a mishap with the fuel pump and it ruptured the line, spraying both of us." Tinker rolled her eyes and then suddenly contorted her face into one of absolute horror. "Did you tell her whats gonna happen to her?" asked Tinker in a hushed tone. "No, and don't. there is no sense in making her panic when it has never been confirmed in more than one subject. Now take the towel down and get her back up here as quick as you can." Tinker trotted over to the basement door and gave a good irritated look back at Gizmo. Then her gaze softened and she stepped through the door. She made her way down the stairs and what she saw made her drop the towel from her mouth. Rainbow Dash was laying on the ground under the shower head with the water still running, she wasn't moving and her breathing was very shallow. Tinker began to panic and scream. "Oh Buck, Oh Buck, Oh Buck. GIZMO!" Tinker screamed as loud as she could. Gizmo came bolting down the stairs and stopped next to Tinker and took in all to be seen. He didn't waste a second as soon as he realized what was happening. Rainbow Dash was being poisoned by the chemicals in the fuel. He rushed forward and slung her over his back and ran back up the stairs. "Celestia curse the day I didn't get proper medical equipment. Tinker, I'm gonna have to rush her over to the hospital. I'll probably not be back so just do what you can to stay out of trouble." Gizmo threw on his flight suit and rushed out the door with a semi-conscious Rainbow Dash strapped on top of him. He got into a speedy gallop and quickly unfolded the wings allowing him to get about a foot off the ground. After he was sure that there were no obstacles in his path he activated the thruster and took off towards the hospital. Thankfully it was only a short flight, unfortunately there wasn't any time to properly fold the wings. He would do the one thing he knew he would regret almost instantly. He pulled Dash from off his back and held her around the waist. The hospital doors were made of wood so they would break easily enough. Gizmo set into a dive and tucked into a ball at the last second to protect Rainbow Dash from the impact and any dangerous debris. *SMASH* The front door to the lobby of the hospital was blasted off it's hinges and flung across the room. Along with them was a blur of pony shaped objects and a screech of grinding metal. The blur came to a halt after it impacted the far wall and rolled onto the ground. It became apparent that it was indeed two ponies. One unconscious and the other writhing in pain. Security and some nurses came into the room and and went to work clearing the rubble and getting the two cared for. Gizmo had only one chance to tell them what Dash needed and he had to make it count. While he was being carted away he grabbed the head of one of the nurses and used the last of his energy to say one thing. "She's been poisoned." He fell unconscious shortly after these words left his mouth. Okay to clarify things a little bit as to why this is so late, and so poorly written. I have had a literal ten minute window over the last few weeks to even add anything to it. This would explain the rushed feel and the spelling/grammar errors that I'm sure populate this thing. I just got sick of my lack of output lately and decided to shut away the world this afternoon so I could hurry this up and get it out. As i always say but rarely am able to abide by, I intend on doing better in the next chapter and will do my best to bring some clarity as to the whole back story and all that fun stuff. I sincerely apologize as to the lack of skill in this but I have had a particularly hard week this week. Lets see just how bad the reaction to this whole thing is. Praying that things get better, LaeviG Wings of ChangeAuthors Note: This is my second story, and i feel like this one is very different from my usual writing style. And as always, Be Brutal, i don't just wanna hear what was good about it. I want to hear what you all hated about it. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Are you sure this thing will work Gizmo? Your math looks pretty off to me, and is that just a hoofful of squiggly lines instead of numbers?” The white mare’s nervousness was very evident as Gizmo strapped himself into his latest innovation. “I’m am roughly eighty percent sure that I won’t die. The other twenty, this thing is gonna blow up killing me and everypony in proximity.” Gizmo couldn’t help but laugh at his own grim joke. “Besides Tinker, this is for science and nothing will get in my way so long as I am this close to finishing this stupid thing” “My goodness, just look at yourself, you look absolutely awful,” said Tinker, “Your coat and mane are coated in grease and what I can only hope is paint and not burns. I can’t even see your cutie mark under all that gunk. Not to mention the bags under your eyes, when did you last sleep?” Gizmo walked into the bathroom adjacent his workshop and looked at himself in the mirror. His orange coat was a mess of grease stains and what turned out to be burn. His usually long brown mane was in shambles and much shorter thanks to a recent incident with a blowtorch, and his eyes looked as they usually did so at least that was normal. “Tinker, you know I don’t sleep, and I’ll get cleaned up right after I test the latest design. I promise.” “Well, just do be careful. I’ll be watching from the safety of the blast shield.” Gizmo could help but think to himself about the outcome of this test of his. 'If this thing actually manages to work, I swear to Celestia I will actually get a full night sleep as soon as I land' Gizmo walked out of his shop to see the sun high in the sky and the weather cool and calm. Tinker was in close pursuit. He chose this location in Ponyville for, not only its seclusion, but also its quick access to the local library and the purple unicorn that resides in it. She never failed to be of help with her extensive knowledge of flight dynamics and her skill with numbers. Gizmo had never been able to remember her name, then again, he’d forget his own if it wasn’t right on his shirt. The item to be tested today was by all means a brilliant masterpiece of precision metalwork and engineered brilliance. It was a set of wings that allowed anypony, whether it be unicorn or earth pony, to fly in the sky like a Pegasus. It was made of a rocket that was located in the center of the device with a false set of wings designed to mimic a pegasi’s to a T. It wasn’t the most visually beautiful piece of equipment but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to Gizmo it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Months of work Tinker, and to think it all boils down to this, one final showdown. Just a Stallion, and his creation. I find poetic justice that this thing should do me in; just to spite all my work.” “You’ll be fine, besides if it doesn’t kill you, I surely will for being so silly as not to test it on a dummy first.” Tinker proceeded to step behind the impromptu blast shield set up earlier in the day for just this occasion. “Let’s just hope this goes better than last time, I’m still getting grief from the damages to town hall.” Gizmo couldn’t help but reminisce to that fateful day when he ejected from his machine to save his own flank. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Gizmo, there is no way this thing is gonna work without the wings, besides look how offset the thruster is. This thing is just gonna send you up and around into the air.” “Silence Tinker, I’m sciencing so hard right now that this couldn’t possibly end badly.” Gizmo strapped on his makeshift jetpack and proceeded to do the preflight checklist provided by the nice mare from the library. “Goggles? Check. Fuel? Check. Helmet? Check. Wings? Uncheck. Everything seems to be in order-” “but you just said-“ “Tinker, what’d I say? This will work, I mean really, how could this go wrong?” Tinker couldn’t help but roll her eye’s at her roommate’s lack of foresight. It’s not like she really expected anything less from him, but she wasn’t really expecting this level of recklessness. She resigned her complaints though because it was obvious he wasn’t going to listen. “Tinker, could you please do the countdown.” “Sure, why not.” “5” “4” “3” Gizmo could feel the tension in the air as he flipped on all the switches and started up the engine. “2” “1” Gizmo’s ascension was all but graceful; it was as though he was writing nonsense in the sky. Tinker could swear she heard Gizmo scream something along the lines of “Do a Barrel Roll” as he careened through the sky in the general direction of the center of town. His journey took him close to the ground and flying right down the main road. Ponies jumping left and right to avoid an abrupt collision with an orange blur. Gizmo was only 50 meters from a fiery crash into town hall when he decided he should bail and let the rocket crash on its own. “INCOMING!!!!!” he yelled as he pulled the eject lever. Never before had a pony seen such a graceless landing as he proceeded to slide forward with his flank up in the air as he got a good taste of the ground underhoof. He started counting the seconds until the explosion and only managed to get to about 5 before he heard it. He stared open muzzled at the destruction wrought by his seemingly small device. The entire wall that the rocket impacted had collapsed in on itself and took half the roof with it. In all honesty this wasn’t the first building he had destroyed with his silly inventions, and it will likely not be the last. So they went over all the necessary paperwork and Gizmo handed over a bag with a hefty amount of bits in it and returned to his shop. The mayor never really got over that one and had a system installed that alerted the town when he was testing something. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Ok Gizmo, let’s go over our new checklist and be sure we got everything, ok?” “Fine, Goggles? Check. Fuel? Check. Helmet? Check. Wings? Check. Go ahead and activate the new alarm system.” Tinker walked over to a lever on the wall and flipped it on. A loud wail could be heard from deeper within town and Gizmo could see the local ponies preparing for something to get destroyed. Gizmo began to test the new wings when he realized that the left wing was a little slow to respond. “Hold on, Tinker, could you grab me my tools, I need to adjust the left wing a little.” Tinker stepped back into the shop for a moment and returned with the needed tools. She grabbed the tools out with her mouth and began hoofing over what Gizmo needed. The adjustments were simple, only a slight tweak in some mechanical actuators and the wing was responding just as well as it should. “Alright let’s get this show on the road, Tinker; would you do me the honor of counting down till the blast?” Tinker really didn’t get his dark and grim sense of humor sometimes. “I would…Um…love to.” She was obviously offset by Gizmo’s joke. “5” “4” “3,2,1 GO!” Interrupted Gizmo as he took off. This flight was definitely much more stable than the last one. He even managed to do a barrel roll, on purpose. Although he didn’t get his hopes to high since he could explode at any moment. To his surprise the wings held, the thruster maintained a steady speed, and he wasn’t eating dirt so things were going swimmingly. A few curious Pegasi even flew up to escort him on his journey across the sky, He could swear he saw one with a… a rainbow mane and tail? They flew with him for a few moments before he increased the thrust and left them all in the dust. All except for the Rainbow one, she could really fly. She even started doing tricks around Gizmo to try to figure out what he was capable of. ‘Fantastic, I felt like putting these things under extreme stress. Now’s my chance’ Gizmo thought to himself He began to mimic the Rainbow Pegasus as she began with a few simple tricks. Things got progressively harder as time flew by and after a while he had to call it quits before… As if on cue, the thruster began to sputter and cough as it exhausted its fuel supply. “Oh just bucking great, out of gas.” Gizmo yelled out for the Rainbow Pegasus to help him but she was in the middle of some aerial display and hadn’t noticed him. So he did the one thing he could, he locked the wings and started gliding towards a nearby clearing. I didn’t take long before he realized he didn’t have the speed to hit the clearing and was going to have to land in a somewhat closer pond. The rainbow Pegasus had finished her trick just in time to see the pony with the strange wings crash into a pond. She dashed over to see if he was alright only to be beaten there by a white mare wearing a shirt much like the winged one had on and already had him out of the water. “Hey, you are a pretty good flyer, have you ever thought of trying out for the Wonderbolts? I’m Rainbow dash by the way.” “Oh, hello Rainbow dash I’m Gizmo and this is my assistant Tinker. It was a pleasure meeting and flying with you but I gotta get these home before the water makes em rust.” Rainbow just stared on in awe as Gizmo removed his wings and began folding them back into the pack “What is that thing; I’ve never seen anything like it.” Asked Rainbow All Tinker could do was facehoof since she knew what was about to come. “Oh, these are a pair of artificial wings that allow non-Pegasi to experience the joys of flight. I designed and built em myself. So what do you think, pretty neat eh?” Gizmo seemed to enjoy bragging about the cool gadgets and inventions he made. “They are amazing, but is the rocket really needed? I mean, couldn’t you just flap the wings for the lift?” “Well no and no, no I couldn’t use them for the lift needed to sustain flight, and they do not supply the lift to take off; thus the brilliant idea to add a dangerous rocket. That and the rocket makes it look cooler.” Gizmo laughed after he said all this, his sense of humor again. “Yah, about twenty percent cooler, what made you want to build these things anyways?” “Well,” Gizmo put a hoof to his chin in thought, “seeing as how I am an earth pony, I always wondered what it would be like to fly like a Pegasus. So I built wings, added a rocket to said wings, and flew like a Pegasus for the first time.” “And? What’d you think about your first flight?” “To put it bluntly,” Gizmo put on a big grin, “IT WAS ABSOLUTLY FANTASTIC!!!” Tinker had had enough of Gizmo’s shenanigans for one day and didn’t need to see him flirting with some strange rainbow mare. She trotted up next to Gizmo and nudged him in his side. “Can I help you Tinker?” Tinker cleared her throat “The wings…Rust…” The light bulb popped on “Ah of course. It’s been wonderful meeting you Rainbow Dash, just drop on by the workshop if you ever wanna fly again.” Tinkers mouth dropped open a little bit ‘Did he just remember her name’ she thought to herself. “I’ll be sure to do that Gizmo, see you around Tinker.” Rainbow dash took off towards her cloud home at the outskirts of Ponyville. “You were so flirting with her” “That may be true,” Gizmo admitted, “At least she was fun. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get these wings back to the shop. You can take the rest of the day off if you’d like.” “I’d like that very much, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the pub down the street. See ya.” Gizmo worked his way back to the shop and turned off the alarm system. He strung the wings up in the shop and opened a few windows to allow a cross breeze and just as he promised Tinker he hopped into the shower and got cleaned up. Then just as he vowed to Celestia he went to bed and managed to get a full night’s sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PS: Leave a comment about something you want to see him build next. I've got a few different options lined up but I wanna see if anypony else has any brilliant Ideas.
Making PlansAuthors note: This chapter is really far from the intended path but I'm hoping that in the next chapter I get back on track. As always be brutal in the comments with the criticism. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. Gizmo awoke to Celestia's bright shining sun and a knock at his workshops door. He attempted to get up from his bed but found himself helplessly tangled in his sheets. "Hold on," he yelled, "I'll be there in a moment." He struggled for a moment more before managing to free a hoof from the tangled mess. "How the hay did you get all tangled up like that?" Asked his new guest. "No idea... Wait a second. Rainbow Dash? How did you get in my house?" Gizmo craned his neck to see the intruder in his home. Oh, your door was unlocked and I heard you struggling so I came in to see if I could help." Replied Dash "Well thanks for your concern, but may I suggest that next time you just wait outside. It's not that I'm mad at you, I'm just worried about your safety is all." "My safety?" Asked Dash with a worried look on her face. "Yes and I'll show you why. Before that though, could you pull that red lever at the console in the corner?" "Which one," replied Dash, "there's like six different levers here." "Oh, just pull the one on the far left." "OK, what's it do anyways?" Dash asked. "Where would be the fun in spoiling the surprise, just give it a go and you'll see" replied Gizmo with a disarming smile. Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders and trotted over to the console. She took the lever in her mouth and gave it a swift tug downwards. She let go of the lever and turned around just in time to see Gizmo's bed spring up like a catapult. Gizmo was sent hurtling across the room and collided with the wall. Just to the left of a conviniently misplaced cushioned target. "Figures..." Sputtered Gizmo as he slid slowly down the wall. Dash rushed over to where Gizmo was helped him back onto his hooves. "Gizmo! What the hay was that?!" Cried Dash. "I find... Ugh, hold on." Gizmo fell back onto his Haunches as he lost his balance from light-headedness. He stayed that way with his head between his hooves to steady himself for a moment before shakily getting up right again. "As I was saying, I find that waking up like that is much more fun than conventional methods. It's also quite a show for any home intruders." Gizmo added a little bit of emphasis on the last bit. Dash just looked away a little sheepishly. Gizmo trotted over to the console and took the second lever in his mouth and gave it a pull. He quickly jumped to the third and forth repeating the action. "What do those ones do?" Dash asked Nervously. "Oh these," he replied, "They make the bed for me. It saves a lot of time in my mornings." Gizmo directed Dash's attention back to the barren mattress with one hoof and leaned against the console with another. He promptly fell to the floor accidentally pulling the one of the last two levers in the set. "Uh oh, did I just pull the fifth or the sixth one?" Gizmo asked himself. "Why does it matter?" asked Dash. "Oh no reason, no reason at all" Gizmo replied nervously An entirely new set of sheets fell onto the bed followed by some pillows and a big red comforter with a heart on it. The record player in the corner turned onto some mood music and a pail with ice and a bottle of champagne dropped onto the nightstand next to the bed. And to top it all off, a disco ball that reflected red hearts dropped out of the ceiling and began spinning. Rainbow Dash was starring blankly at the bed and remained this way for several moments, Gizmo took this opportunity to pull the last lever and smack his face into the console several times. His mattress fell into a hole in the floor which spouted a stream of fire before the hole closed and a new fully set mattress fell in its place. It only took a few moments more for Dash to fully absorb everything. She let out the loudest laugh Gizmo had ever heard and started chortling while gasping for air. "That 'gasp' was Hilarious... BWAHAHAHA" "Ya, ya laugh it up. It's there for a reason though and its not like it never gets used." Countered Gizmo "Wait, what?" Dash stopped laughing instantaneously and looked at Gizmo quizzically. "Nothing, let me check one more thing before i manage to make an even bigger mule out of myself and then i'll show you that thing we were talking about earlier." Gizmo walked over to another console covered in buttons and switches and started to fiddle around with them while checking some monitors. "What are you doing now?" Dash asked Rainbow Dash was getting the feeling she was asking a few to many questions. "Just checking the weather, the status of my shops reactor core, and all the time flux containment fields." "Time what now?" "Just a little something an old friend designed for me. Something about timey-wimey stuff. I'm not to sure about it myself to be honest but he said i should keep it running in case of an emergency." "Timey-wimey stuff?" Dash was asking a lot of questions Gizmo thought to himself. "Again, no idea. Now follow me back into the shop so i can introduce you to Orthus." Dash was about to ask another question before she was cut off by a hoof to the mouth. "No more questions, they get annoying. Now follow me and keep quiet. Dash gave Gizmo an annoyed and hurt look. Gizmo simply ignored it and started walking out into the shop yelling on the way. "Orthus, come meet our guest." Rainbow Dash had expected a pony or some mechanical thing to answer the call but was sadly mistaken. The call was heeded by a beast of a dog, German Shepherd in appearance and about as tall as Gizmo himself. The dog bolted straight for Gizmo and collided with him at top speed. "Sweet Celestia What is that thing?" Cried Dash. Orthus had Gizmo pinned on his back and was coating his face in a thorough layer of slobber. "Ok girl... I get it... You can get off now." Gizmo managed to say between strikes of the tongue. "Is that thing a dog or a bear" Orthus stopped her facial assault on Gizmo and began circling Dash and sniffing at her every few steps. "Friend?" asked a strangely mechanical voice. Dash jumped and screamed when she heard it. "What the buck, did the bear just talk?!" yelled Dash. Orthus took up a defensive stance and began to growl deeply at Dash. "Enemy?" asked the voice. No Orthus," replied Gizmo, "She's a friend. so behave yourself please." Dash was still a little bit shocked that the dog could talk. "How is that 'Thing' able to talk, normal dogs don't talk?" questioned Dash. "Artificial voice box, that one is Tinkers idea. I wanted to give her a set of steel claws and and a flamethrower but Tinker thought that was a stupid idea. Something about accidental disembowelment and property damage. Now i pay for it in headaches when she won't stop talking." "I think Tinker had the right idea. That thing-" Gizmo cut Dash off. "Dash, Please don't call her 'Thing', it hurts her feelings." Right on cue Orthus dipped her head between her paws and gave a sad whimper. "Sorry... Orthus, still surprised from the fact that you can talk, and that you are the size of a bear." Dash walked over to the dog and help up her hoof "Friends?" Orthus took the hoof in her paw and shook it violently, "Friends." "Now, the question that i should have asked much earlier. What brings you to my humble shop?" "Well," replied Dash, "I was hoping i could get a tour of the shop and then later you could go for a fly with me." "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash but this will all have to wait till later today. I need to finish the paperwork to get the patent for the wings. Then I have to have a copy of the blueprints sent to some distributors. I have to pay the bills somehow, right?" "Right, well i guess I'll just come back later and let you finish your work. I need to do a few things today anyways and what better time than now." Rainbow dash didn't really have anything to do but felt she needed to at least sound busy. "Alright Dash, I'll see ya later. Say Goodbye Orthus" "Bye Rainbow Dash" Dash stepped outside the shop and into the warming sun. She spread her wings basking in the golden glow for only a moment before taking off for the library. She was hoping to get a little reading done and perhaps kill enough time to let Gizmo finish his work. "So Gizmo, you gonna tell her about me?" "Only if it comes up Orthus, only if it comes up." "Let's put it this way, if she doesn't ask, you don't tell her anything. The last thing i want is some mares Sympathy" "I know, trust me okay, i know how to handle it if it comes up." Gizmo trotted off into his office to finish his work for the day. needless to say he was looking forward to that afternoon. PS: This story seems to be going better than i thought and should only get better from here on out. Swag.
The Begining of OrthusAuthors Note: This is a flashback chapter so expect to see some stuff you won't understand till later, and you all know the drill. I apologize in advance for the rushed feel of this but Things kept coming up and drawing me away from finishing this. I will no doubt attempt to make it up to you all by making the next chapter a little less rushed and more entertaining. Standard Disclaimer: I only own the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Manehatten in winter can be a brutal place for the lost, downtroden, and undesireables of society. Needless to say that the homeless were always miserable this time of year. The rich however, could not be happier as they go about their lives oblivious to the suffering around them. The weather had recently taken a turn for the worse and it was on nights like this you would find ponies clutching to whatever brought them happyness in their final quiet hours. It was also nights like this that brought out the worst in the best of ponies. A young scruffy looking orange coated colt was walking down the road with a small bag of bits in his saddlebags. His mother told him it was for food and nothing else. The little one didn't know why his mom was always so insistent on him not spending it. He really didn't want anything, he had all he wanted back home. A loving family and a warm home. What more could he want? This trip to the store in particular was a very cold and quiet one. He had on his warmest coat and still managed to feel the cold bite of winter on his muzzle. He liked this coat in particular so he had his name stitched on the collar. "Psst, hey kid come here" heard the little colt. He peared around to see where the sound had come from. After a moment of silence passed he continued on his path until he passed the nearby alley. A set of hooves reached out of the darkness and grabbed a hold of the colts coat. His coat was promptly ripped off and his saddle bags removed. "Gizmo aye, what a fitting name for a colt living around in this town" "What do you want with me?" Asked Gizmo. "Oh I already got what I wanted, you can go now." "But without my coat I'll never make it home" cried Gizmo. "Not my problem kid, now scram" the thief gave Gizmo a swift kick and sent him tumbling back out into the street. Gizmo sat in place until an oncoming carriage forced up onto the sidewalk again. He turned back towards home and began the long trek ahead of him. He only made it a quarter of the way back home before he became to cold to continue and was forced to seek shelter under a bush. Gizmo layed down under his bush and began to whimper out in dispair. Not for himself you see, he was more worried about how hurt his family would be when they finally found out what happened to him. He huddled up against the clear side of the bush and accepted his fate. Even he knew there was nothing to be done to help him. As his eyelids began to droop he thought he saw a little brown and black furball climb under the bush with him. The fur all began making a yipping noise and continued doing so as Gizmo faded in and out of conciesnes. Gizmo came to momentarily and saw a very large dog stareing him in the face. Great, now I become puppy chow for these adorable furballs Gizmo thought to himself right before he blacked out again. The weather took a turn for the worse and a blizzard played into Manehatten with it's icy grip. It was amid the gusting winds that Gizmo began to stir. He realized that he was completely surrounded by fuzzy warmth and total darkness. So this is what its like being dead, I could get used to this Gizmo thought to himself. Gizmo rolled over and cuddeled into the warm fur. It wasn't until the mass of fur cuddeled back that he realized he wasn't alone and there for probably not dead. He squirmed his way out of the fur and took a look at his surroundings. He was in some kind of cave and he could see the blizzard raging outside of the enterance. He then looked back to his fluffy cocoon and realized that it was made of two large beasts. He leaned over the edge of one of the creatures to get a look at what it actually was and realized it was the same dog from earlier. He looked down towards its neck to see if it had a collar but found none. He repeated this withthe other dog and found that it too had no collar. He climbed the rest of the way out of the fur and lost his balance. Much to his dismay he tumbled right over the head of the closest one waking it from its slumber. The beast stood and began to stretch allowing Gizmo to notice two things, It had a brand on it's side with the name "Echidna" and that it was actually female. Echidna yawned loudly causing her partner to wake up. The other beast decided to join the other and stretch allowing Gizmo to also see this ones name and gender(unfortunately). It was a he and his name was "Typhon". The two lightly howled in unison and summoned two little pups. Neither of which, to Gizmo's relief, had names branded on their sides. They were however very aggressively playful. Gizmo was still in fear of becoming lunch for the pups so he was very cautious with the way he handled them. He never did become lunch and was instead fed lunch by Echidna. She left a boxed snack cake at his hooves and sat back as it was quickly destroyed and devoured by the hungry little colt in front of her. She also took the liberty to feed her pups by laying in a corner and allowing them to suckle. Gizmo sat at the cave entrance and enjoyed his temporary respite from the pups attacks. He was joined by Typhon who sat next to him and pawed at the snow in front of himself. Gizmo watched in awe as the dog began drawing runes in the snow. Gizmo couldn't read them but he knew they were meant for him. "I'm sorry but i can't read what it says, I don't even know if you can understand me" Typhon nodded his head and wiped away the runes. Gizmo was surprised by the beast's intelligence as it began too draw his family and Gizmo inside the cave. He then circled the two pups and Gizmo and drew a line leading out of the cave. Typhon sat silent for a moment and stared at gizmo awaiting some kind of reply. "I still don't get it" Typhon face-pawed and wiped away the drawing. he then just drew the two pups and Gizmo and between them he drew a sword and shield. "So, what? Am I supposed to guard them outside the cave or something?" Typhon pointed at the pups, the shield and sword, and then Gizmo. He drew a house and pointed to it last. "Ok, so they are gonna help me get home, that makes sense" Typhon held up a paw and then erased the house. He replaced it with an infinity sign. "And you lost me again, are they supposed to follow me around forever or something?" Typhon nodded once more and directed his attention to the two pups now sleeping next to their mother. Echidna, knowing the outcome of the conversation already, nodded just as Typhon had. Gizmo sat in silence and allowed himself to absorb the final pieces of information thrown at him. 'There is no way my mother will let me keep A dog, let alone two' Gizmo thought to himself. The blizzard ragged on into the night and lifted before Gizmo awoke the next morning. Typhon was already awake and standing once more at the mouth of the cave. Gizmo attempted to pretend like he was still asleep but had already rolled around to see what time it was. This woke up Echidna and the two pups and they started lightly whimpering to their mother for breakfast. She lay down on her side and allowed her pups to feed. Gizmo's stomach growled as he saw the pups get their fill and was hoping he could leave soon to get home to his family. Gizmo decided to take a place at the mouth of the cave again with Typhon. Typhon waited there patiently for the pups to finish and join them. It only took another five minutes before they were full and waddled over to their father. Typhon scrawled some more runes into the snow and directed the pups to stand next to them. The runes started to glow a deep golden hue and a small patch of fur on the sides of both pups began to do the same. The glow subsided and a barren patch of skin could be seen in its place. Typhon then scrawled more runes and these began to glow an ominous red. the bald spot on the pups did the same and they both howled out as there was a searing sound and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. The glows again subsided and both pups began to chew at the patches. Gizmo was surprised when neither Echidna nor Typhon did anything about the pups chewing the spots raw. Typhon scrawled yet another line of runes into the snow and walked into the cave. A pink glow surrounded the wounds and the pups immediately stopped chewing as the wounds were healed to the point that only the burnt marks were seen. Gizmo got a look at the marks and noticed that they were names just like the other two had. To the little male pup went the name Cerberus and to the female pup went Orthus. Echidna nuzzled her two pups and pushed them out of the cave. She bent down to look Gizmo in the eyes and stood that way for a moment. Gizmo became very uncomfortable and backed away a few steps out of the cave. When he was sure that she would not break her gaze he backed the rest of the way out of the cave. The two pups were waiting for him out in the snow and began jumping through the snow in a seemingly random direction. Gizmo followed them and was surprised when they had directed him back to the bush that he had taken shelter under. He stood for only a moment and pondered how lucky he was that they had taken him and not eaten him. He shook the thought away and started towards home with his two new guardians in tow. Gizmo began to whistle a tune to himself and realized that this was the happiest he had been in a long time. He was excited and had every right to be, these two new friends would change his life in a way he could not even fathom. PS: I know I wrote sand instead of snow at least once and missed it so if anyone noticed it just throw it into the comments or a message and I'll fix it right away.
A Flight of FaithAuthors Note: This chapter is far to late in the making and all i can say is "Buck it, I did my best all things considered" Gizmo had been filling out the paperwork as he had planned and was having a good bit of trouble with his signature, he had already broken two quills and was getting ready to use his steel Stamper on it. Thankfully, just as he went to stamp the paper into oblivion, Tinker came trotting into the shop with a very dark pair of sunglasses on and a wobble to her step. "Good morning you little alcoholic you" "Not so loud, I have a splitting headache" replied Tinker. Gizmo chuckled to himself for a moment, then stopped as a devious idea came to his mind. He slowly reached for the lever that activated the Stamper. "Oh no you don't, pull that lever and you're dead." Gizmo ignored her and continued slowly reaching for the lever. "Please don't pull it" Tinker was getting desperate now. "Fine," Gizmo grabbed the papers from the machine and took them back into the office to sign them the old fashioned way. Just as he got into the office he chucked a stapler out the door and hit the lever, activating the machine. Gizmo quickly slammed his door shut as he heard an onslaught of obsenities ring forth. The Stamper only managed a few rounds before Tinker forced it off. "She is so going to kill me" Gizmo wittily remarked to himself. Gizmo's door busted open as Tinker kicked it in and threw the stapler back at his head. "You do that again and a stapler won't be the only thing flying at your head" Tinker yelled as she stormed out of the shop. Gizmo could hear her moaning in pain as she greeted someone at the door. "Oh hello Rainbow Dash, the jackass is inside" "Um... Thanks I guess. See you around Tinker." Rainbow Dash followed the sound of laughter back to Gizmo's office and stepped in as he was putting away the paperwork. "At long last I am finally done, and look who's here right on cue" cried Gizmo. "Great so can we go flying now? Reading is fun and all but after so long it starts to get boring." "Of course, let me refill the tank and we shall be on our way." Gizmo trotted over to a metal cabinet and grabbed two gas masks. He threw one to Dash and missed his mark entirely. It smacked her right in the face and made her fall back on her haunches while blurting out a few choice words. "Watch where you throw things buddy. Whats this for anyways?" asked Dash. "The stuff I use for fuel is not the best smelling stuff in Equestria. Besides I thought you might like a quick tour of the facility." replied Gizmo with a grin on his face. "Ugh, No more learning. I just wanna get out there and fly. Please?" Dash was practically begging by this point. She'd had her fill of learning from Twilight's rambling while she read every book on flight mechanics she could find. "Alright, fine the tour can come later. Put on your mask please." Gizmo walked over to the bench his suit was on and grabbed a set of tubes protruding from the bench's top. He attached each tube to a separate port and worked a series of levers with his hooves. Different colored fluids began to run through the tubes as they poured into the pack. "Whats with you and over complicating simple things?" asked Dash. "Whats with you and all the questions?" asked Gizmo. Dash opened her mouth to make a witty remark when Gizmo jumped back from his work. The tube pumping the actual fuel began to bulge far beyond it's normal size. "Get down!" Gizmo yelled. Dash ducked her head down as the bulge continued to grow in size until... *POP* The bulging tube ruptured and sprayed a jet of Golden fluid straight at Dash. Luckily for her Gizmo jumped in the path of the spray and got soaked while Dash only got a small splash. Within moment Gizmo was Covered in a very uncomfortable burning sensation and dash was feeling very itchy. "Dash, this stuff was never meant for contact exposure to living things. we need to get to a shower before this stuff makes our hair fall out or something like that. I'm just glad we are wearing these masks or our eyes would be burning horribly right now from the fumes." "Okay, where's your shower?" asked Dash. "There's a full set of chemical showers somewhere around here, let's just look around and see if we can find em." replied Gizmo. Gizmo and Dash started searching around by opening random doors to see if they could find the showers. It soon became apparent that they weren't gonna be that easy to find seeing as how they were in the basement. The search quickly led them there and they managed to find the two high pressure shower heads tucked into a little corner. "Wait, they're adjoining showers? Shouldn't there at least be a divider or something?" asked Dash "These are only meant to be used in the event of an emergency, that should be the last thing on your mind right now. Get in before your mane turns white or catches on fire." The two stepped under their separate shower heads and turned the water on. They were immediately doused in water mixed with a chemical to remove all contaminants. Gizmo showered quietly and kept to his own but Dash couldn't help from feeling a little bit weird being in a shower next to some random stallion she only just started hanging out with. Gizmo turned off his shower when he was sufficiently cleaned and noticed Dash just standing there lost in thought. "Are you alright over there!" Gizmo yelled above the sound of the water. Dash quickly perked up and backed into the shower wall. Gizmo wasn't sure what had her so spooked but decided that being there must be making her very uncomfortable and left the showers to go grab some towels. Gizmo made his way towards his bathroom to grab the towels and ran into Tinker on the way back. "I thought you took the day off?" asked Gizmo. "I only walked out cause you pissed me off , but I'm back now and i'm ready for work. Hangover free this time." said Tinker. "At least you even came in at all. While you are here could you take this towel down to Rainbow Dash in the chemical showers?" asked Gizmo. "Yah, sure. Why is she in the shower?" "There was a mishap with the fuel pump and it ruptured the line, spraying both of us." Tinker rolled her eyes and then suddenly contorted her face into one of absolute horror. "Did you tell her whats gonna happen to her?" asked Tinker in a hushed tone. "No, and don't. there is no sense in making her panic when it has never been confirmed in more than one subject. Now take the towel down and get her back up here as quick as you can." Tinker trotted over to the basement door and gave a good irritated look back at Gizmo. Then her gaze softened and she stepped through the door. She made her way down the stairs and what she saw made her drop the towel from her mouth. Rainbow Dash was laying on the ground under the shower head with the water still running, she wasn't moving and her breathing was very shallow. Tinker began to panic and scream. "Oh Buck, Oh Buck, Oh Buck. GIZMO!" Tinker screamed as loud as she could. Gizmo came bolting down the stairs and stopped next to Tinker and took in all to be seen. He didn't waste a second as soon as he realized what was happening. Rainbow Dash was being poisoned by the chemicals in the fuel. He rushed forward and slung her over his back and ran back up the stairs. "Celestia curse the day I didn't get proper medical equipment. Tinker, I'm gonna have to rush her over to the hospital. I'll probably not be back so just do what you can to stay out of trouble." Gizmo threw on his flight suit and rushed out the door with a semi-conscious Rainbow Dash strapped on top of him. He got into a speedy gallop and quickly unfolded the wings allowing him to get about a foot off the ground. After he was sure that there were no obstacles in his path he activated the thruster and took off towards the hospital. Thankfully it was only a short flight, unfortunately there wasn't any time to properly fold the wings. He would do the one thing he knew he would regret almost instantly. He pulled Dash from off his back and held her around the waist. The hospital doors were made of wood so they would break easily enough. Gizmo set into a dive and tucked into a ball at the last second to protect Rainbow Dash from the impact and any dangerous debris. *SMASH* The front door to the lobby of the hospital was blasted off it's hinges and flung across the room. Along with them was a blur of pony shaped objects and a screech of grinding metal. The blur came to a halt after it impacted the far wall and rolled onto the ground. It became apparent that it was indeed two ponies. One unconscious and the other writhing in pain. Security and some nurses came into the room and and went to work clearing the rubble and getting the two cared for. Gizmo had only one chance to tell them what Dash needed and he had to make it count. While he was being carted away he grabbed the head of one of the nurses and used the last of his energy to say one thing. "She's been poisoned." He fell unconscious shortly after these words left his mouth. Okay to clarify things a little bit as to why this is so late, and so poorly written. I have had a literal ten minute window over the last few weeks to even add anything to it. This would explain the rushed feel and the spelling/grammar errors that I'm sure populate this thing. I just got sick of my lack of output lately and decided to shut away the world this afternoon so I could hurry this up and get it out. As i always say but rarely am able to abide by, I intend on doing better in the next chapter and will do my best to bring some clarity as to the whole back story and all that fun stuff. I sincerely apologize as to the lack of skill in this but I have had a particularly hard week this week. Lets see just how bad the reaction to this whole thing is. Praying that things get better, LaeviG
Wings of ChangeAuthors Note: This is my second story, and i feel like this one is very different from my usual writing style. And as always, Be Brutal, i don't just wanna hear what was good about it. I want to hear what you all hated about it. Standard disclaimer: I own nothing but the OC's the rest goes to the respective owners. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Are you sure this thing will work Gizmo? Your math looks pretty off to me, and is that just a hoofful of squiggly lines instead of numbers?” The white mare’s nervousness was very evident as Gizmo strapped himself into his latest innovation. “I’m am roughly eighty percent sure that I won’t die. The other twenty, this thing is gonna blow up killing me and everypony in proximity.” Gizmo couldn’t help but laugh at his own grim joke. “Besides Tinker, this is for science and nothing will get in my way so long as I am this close to finishing this stupid thing” “My goodness, just look at yourself, you look absolutely awful,” said Tinker, “Your coat and mane are coated in grease and what I can only hope is paint and not burns. I can’t even see your cutie mark under all that gunk. Not to mention the bags under your eyes, when did you last sleep?” Gizmo walked into the bathroom adjacent his workshop and looked at himself in the mirror. His orange coat was a mess of grease stains and what turned out to be burn. His usually long brown mane was in shambles and much shorter thanks to a recent incident with a blowtorch, and his eyes looked as they usually did so at least that was normal. “Tinker, you know I don’t sleep, and I’ll get cleaned up right after I test the latest design. I promise.” “Well, just do be careful. I’ll be watching from the safety of the blast shield.” Gizmo could help but think to himself about the outcome of this test of his. 'If this thing actually manages to work, I swear to Celestia I will actually get a full night sleep as soon as I land' Gizmo walked out of his shop to see the sun high in the sky and the weather cool and calm. Tinker was in close pursuit. He chose this location in Ponyville for, not only its seclusion, but also its quick access to the local library and the purple unicorn that resides in it. She never failed to be of help with her extensive knowledge of flight dynamics and her skill with numbers. Gizmo had never been able to remember her name, then again, he’d forget his own if it wasn’t right on his shirt. The item to be tested today was by all means a brilliant masterpiece of precision metalwork and engineered brilliance. It was a set of wings that allowed anypony, whether it be unicorn or earth pony, to fly in the sky like a Pegasus. It was made of a rocket that was located in the center of the device with a false set of wings designed to mimic a pegasi’s to a T. It wasn’t the most visually beautiful piece of equipment but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to Gizmo it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Months of work Tinker, and to think it all boils down to this, one final showdown. Just a Stallion, and his creation. I find poetic justice that this thing should do me in; just to spite all my work.” “You’ll be fine, besides if it doesn’t kill you, I surely will for being so silly as not to test it on a dummy first.” Tinker proceeded to step behind the impromptu blast shield set up earlier in the day for just this occasion. “Let’s just hope this goes better than last time, I’m still getting grief from the damages to town hall.” Gizmo couldn’t help but reminisce to that fateful day when he ejected from his machine to save his own flank. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Gizmo, there is no way this thing is gonna work without the wings, besides look how offset the thruster is. This thing is just gonna send you up and around into the air.” “Silence Tinker, I’m sciencing so hard right now that this couldn’t possibly end badly.” Gizmo strapped on his makeshift jetpack and proceeded to do the preflight checklist provided by the nice mare from the library. “Goggles? Check. Fuel? Check. Helmet? Check. Wings? Uncheck. Everything seems to be in order-” “but you just said-“ “Tinker, what’d I say? This will work, I mean really, how could this go wrong?” Tinker couldn’t help but roll her eye’s at her roommate’s lack of foresight. It’s not like she really expected anything less from him, but she wasn’t really expecting this level of recklessness. She resigned her complaints though because it was obvious he wasn’t going to listen. “Tinker, could you please do the countdown.” “Sure, why not.” “5” “4” “3” Gizmo could feel the tension in the air as he flipped on all the switches and started up the engine. “2” “1” Gizmo’s ascension was all but graceful; it was as though he was writing nonsense in the sky. Tinker could swear she heard Gizmo scream something along the lines of “Do a Barrel Roll” as he careened through the sky in the general direction of the center of town. His journey took him close to the ground and flying right down the main road. Ponies jumping left and right to avoid an abrupt collision with an orange blur. Gizmo was only 50 meters from a fiery crash into town hall when he decided he should bail and let the rocket crash on its own. “INCOMING!!!!!” he yelled as he pulled the eject lever. Never before had a pony seen such a graceless landing as he proceeded to slide forward with his flank up in the air as he got a good taste of the ground underhoof. He started counting the seconds until the explosion and only managed to get to about 5 before he heard it. He stared open muzzled at the destruction wrought by his seemingly small device. The entire wall that the rocket impacted had collapsed in on itself and took half the roof with it. In all honesty this wasn’t the first building he had destroyed with his silly inventions, and it will likely not be the last. So they went over all the necessary paperwork and Gizmo handed over a bag with a hefty amount of bits in it and returned to his shop. The mayor never really got over that one and had a system installed that alerted the town when he was testing something. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Ok Gizmo, let’s go over our new checklist and be sure we got everything, ok?” “Fine, Goggles? Check. Fuel? Check. Helmet? Check. Wings? Check. Go ahead and activate the new alarm system.” Tinker walked over to a lever on the wall and flipped it on. A loud wail could be heard from deeper within town and Gizmo could see the local ponies preparing for something to get destroyed. Gizmo began to test the new wings when he realized that the left wing was a little slow to respond. “Hold on, Tinker, could you grab me my tools, I need to adjust the left wing a little.” Tinker stepped back into the shop for a moment and returned with the needed tools. She grabbed the tools out with her mouth and began hoofing over what Gizmo needed. The adjustments were simple, only a slight tweak in some mechanical actuators and the wing was responding just as well as it should. “Alright let’s get this show on the road, Tinker; would you do me the honor of counting down till the blast?” Tinker really didn’t get his dark and grim sense of humor sometimes. “I would…Um…love to.” She was obviously offset by Gizmo’s joke. “5” “4” “3,2,1 GO!” Interrupted Gizmo as he took off. This flight was definitely much more stable than the last one. He even managed to do a barrel roll, on purpose. Although he didn’t get his hopes to high since he could explode at any moment. To his surprise the wings held, the thruster maintained a steady speed, and he wasn’t eating dirt so things were going swimmingly. A few curious Pegasi even flew up to escort him on his journey across the sky, He could swear he saw one with a… a rainbow mane and tail? They flew with him for a few moments before he increased the thrust and left them all in the dust. All except for the Rainbow one, she could really fly. She even started doing tricks around Gizmo to try to figure out what he was capable of. ‘Fantastic, I felt like putting these things under extreme stress. Now’s my chance’ Gizmo thought to himself He began to mimic the Rainbow Pegasus as she began with a few simple tricks. Things got progressively harder as time flew by and after a while he had to call it quits before… As if on cue, the thruster began to sputter and cough as it exhausted its fuel supply. “Oh just bucking great, out of gas.” Gizmo yelled out for the Rainbow Pegasus to help him but she was in the middle of some aerial display and hadn’t noticed him. So he did the one thing he could, he locked the wings and started gliding towards a nearby clearing. I didn’t take long before he realized he didn’t have the speed to hit the clearing and was going to have to land in a somewhat closer pond. The rainbow Pegasus had finished her trick just in time to see the pony with the strange wings crash into a pond. She dashed over to see if he was alright only to be beaten there by a white mare wearing a shirt much like the winged one had on and already had him out of the water. “Hey, you are a pretty good flyer, have you ever thought of trying out for the Wonderbolts? I’m Rainbow dash by the way.” “Oh, hello Rainbow dash I’m Gizmo and this is my assistant Tinker. It was a pleasure meeting and flying with you but I gotta get these home before the water makes em rust.” Rainbow just stared on in awe as Gizmo removed his wings and began folding them back into the pack “What is that thing; I’ve never seen anything like it.” Asked Rainbow All Tinker could do was facehoof since she knew what was about to come. “Oh, these are a pair of artificial wings that allow non-Pegasi to experience the joys of flight. I designed and built em myself. So what do you think, pretty neat eh?” Gizmo seemed to enjoy bragging about the cool gadgets and inventions he made. “They are amazing, but is the rocket really needed? I mean, couldn’t you just flap the wings for the lift?” “Well no and no, no I couldn’t use them for the lift needed to sustain flight, and they do not supply the lift to take off; thus the brilliant idea to add a dangerous rocket. That and the rocket makes it look cooler.” Gizmo laughed after he said all this, his sense of humor again. “Yah, about twenty percent cooler, what made you want to build these things anyways?” “Well,” Gizmo put a hoof to his chin in thought, “seeing as how I am an earth pony, I always wondered what it would be like to fly like a Pegasus. So I built wings, added a rocket to said wings, and flew like a Pegasus for the first time.” “And? What’d you think about your first flight?” “To put it bluntly,” Gizmo put on a big grin, “IT WAS ABSOLUTLY FANTASTIC!!!” Tinker had had enough of Gizmo’s shenanigans for one day and didn’t need to see him flirting with some strange rainbow mare. She trotted up next to Gizmo and nudged him in his side. “Can I help you Tinker?” Tinker cleared her throat “The wings…Rust…” The light bulb popped on “Ah of course. It’s been wonderful meeting you Rainbow Dash, just drop on by the workshop if you ever wanna fly again.” Tinkers mouth dropped open a little bit ‘Did he just remember her name’ she thought to herself. “I’ll be sure to do that Gizmo, see you around Tinker.” Rainbow dash took off towards her cloud home at the outskirts of Ponyville. “You were so flirting with her” “That may be true,” Gizmo admitted, “At least she was fun. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get these wings back to the shop. You can take the rest of the day off if you’d like.” “I’d like that very much, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the pub down the street. See ya.” Gizmo worked his way back to the shop and turned off the alarm system. He strung the wings up in the shop and opened a few windows to allow a cross breeze and just as he promised Tinker he hopped into the shower and got cleaned up. Then just as he vowed to Celestia he went to bed and managed to get a full night’s sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PS: Leave a comment about something you want to see him build next. I've got a few different options lined up but I wanna see if anypony else has any brilliant Ideas.
