It was just one of those days that told me to not bring any expensive equipment out with me wherever I went, and I’m amazingly glad I listened to myself. The train ride to Ponyville was incredibly bumpy and half the passengers were complaining about how something in their luggage was broken by the time we arrived. I wasn’t planning on staying very long, since the next time the train would be in about three hours, so I hadn’t brought any luggage besides some snacks for myself and some sunglasses. I snickered a little when I saw somepony’s folding chair had popped a rod out which the annoyed owner was waving threateningly at the conductor, yelling that he should have slowed down through the bends. I looked up as I trotted along at the blue sky. No clouds except for some stray cirrus clouds. Rainbow Dash must have it really posh job here as weather manager that pays well for her to work that hard. Just thinking about it made me stretch my wings.
As I did so, there was a lot of mechanical clicking and hisses, as the hydraulic system whirred to life, causing several ponies who seemed to have nothing to do to look over at me as I walked. I made eye contact with one of them and raised an eyebrow. She gave me a slightly nervous smile and continued walking.
“Oh yeah,” I remembered. “Ponyville has never seen someone with steamwing tech before. Or at least we’re very rare. There has to be someone who’s visited before.” I didn’t let it bother me too much. One filly actually stopped playing with his ball just to marvel at them.
“Cool!” he said, eyes getting wide. “Did you make those?”
I shook my head. “No, little guy, they were given to me.”
“Why?” he asked. “Do some Earth Ponies get them if we ask?”
“No, I was born a pegasus, but I was sick when I was little which messed up my wings, so they helped me get new ones,” I said.
“Oh…” he replied quietly, looking at his ball.
I must have crushed his dreams pretty badly. “Ch-cheer up, filly, if you learn enough in school and you try hard, maybe you can make your own set.”
He brightened up considerably and went off to who I assumed was his mom and told her that he was going to do his homework. I did a double take and moved on. There’s no way I just made a filly want to do his homework.
* * * * *
I was getting a little hungry. I had two and a half hours before the train arrived and I still hadn’t run into any of the Mane Six. In Ponyville. They are just normal ponies. Humans just assumed they were famous simply because they have the Elements of Harmony. No, people like Photo Finish and Hoity Toity are famous, the members of the gyro ball team in Cloudsdale are famous. Rarity isn’t famous, or she’d own a line of boutiques.
Someone promptly crashed into me, running my train of thought off the track. Lucky for me I folded my wings, because they can take one heck of a beating, but if a switch is hit, who knows what deadly weapon would shoot out. “Ow!” I yelled.
“Oops, sorry!” I looked up to see a grey pony with a yellow mane wearing mail bags sitting on me.
“Um, it’s okay,” I replied. “Please get off me.”
She hovered off me, and I noticed she had kind of a lazy eye: whenever her right eye looked up, the left one kind of just stayed. Reminded me of myself on Saturday mornings. “I’m Ditzy Doo, but everyone just calls me Derpy.” She extended her hoof.
I shook it and put my sunglasses (thankfully not cracked) on. “I’m Seismic Riff.”
“Welcome to Ponyville, if you haven’t been here before!” she greeted me. “Wow, steamwings!” she said, prodding them. Abruptly a spike shot out of the wing joint about an inch from her face.
“Whoa, careful, Derpy, these wings are dangerous,” I said, retracting the spike. “Sorry about that, they can’t be rubbed the wrong way.”
She grinned. “It’s okay. Well, I gotta go deliver some mail, so see you around!” she flew off in a lazy spiral, scattering mail as she went.
I picked up all the mail dropped and stuffed them in the nearest mailbox. She probably smacked into me too hard which disoriented her. Stupid me, not watching where I’m going.
Lucky for me though the Carousel Boutique was right across from the mail building, so I decided to walk in to see if Rarity was even there. I opened the door that greeted me to a merry jingle. Dresses galore, and pony mannequins dressed in fancy clothes.
“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique!” I heard a slightly haughty voice say. Yup, there she was, the gem herself. “How can I-oh, dear, you need my assistance right away!” she gasped midsentence after looking at me.
“Hey, excuse me..!” I started but never finished. She was already hauling me over to the mirror. Using her magic she began to manipulate scissors and fabric to make me some new threads.
“Darling, we must do something about that unkempt mane, too!” she said. “And that vest, well, it’s not something you should wear in public.”
“I washed it and brushed it this morning!” I replied indignantly. “And this jacket was for when I was in the militia.”
She stopped what she was doing to give me another once over and gasped. “You are a military pony?” She asked. Her cheeks started to get a little red. “I love a colt in uniform! So tough and brave! And masculine…” she started giggling to herself.
I slowly backed away, but she caught me before I got out the door, with a mad gleam in her eyes. “You must let me make you a uniform! I was just inspired by your vest. But of course you must take it off for me so I can measure you, so come closer, darling!”
I reluctantly took the vest off, folded it neatly, and put my sunglasses on top. I trotted over to her, and that’s when I noticed how much taller I was than her, and she did too.
“Oh, goodness, darling, you’re very tall,” she said, looking up at me. “What did you say your name was?”
The measuring tape was making me nervous, darting every which way around me. “Um, Seismic Riff.”
“Lovely name, my dear. How is the military? Is it hard?”
“I’m not in the PEM Branch anymore, I’m a musician.”
“Lovely line of work. Like Vinyl, I presume?”
“No, I play guitar actually.”
“Was it hard to learn? Guitar is such a lovely instrument to listen to.”
The questioning went on, and I wouldn’t have minded if I didn’t hate small talk. For me, talking is something you do for deep conversations or digging up somepony’s past or figuring out new lyrics, not for trivia pursuit. There was one thing I learned though, her family was from Hoofington. Something about that rang a bell, but I didn’t know why.
“And…finished!” she turned the mirror towards me.
I thought I looked ridiculous. Seriously, I was dressed in an olive green coat with a beret sloped over my left ear, my long and amazingly awesome mane had been fully pulled back so the beret would fit, the sleeves were lined with cashmere and the buttons went off to the side rather than the middle. I think it’s called a pea coat or something. Nothing I wore in the militia. Not that I could really remember the militia.
“I wouldn't say it’s my most fabulous or flashy work I've ever done, but it’s rugged, simple, yet very stylish, wouldn't you agree?” she looked at me with big eyes, batting her eyelids, expecting me to agree or say yes.
“I, uh, don’t really know anything about fashion, so you tell me,” I replied.
She smiled. “It IS stylish, darling, and very much so! That will be 50 bits!”
That was more than I made in a day usually, and that was about an eighth of this month’s rent cost, what was I supposed to do with that? Not many other ponies were around my height, either, so I doubt she could sell it to someone else. I had to go with another safe answer.
“I have no way to carry it.”
“You can wear it, my dear!”
“…It’s too hot out for coats.”
She looked out the window and she frowned. “I suppose you’re right, Mr. Riff. In that case, would you like me to store it for you for another time?”
“You’d do that for me?” I asked.
“Of course, darling, that’s what I do for most my customers who can’t afford the clothes I make rather spontaneously. But thank you for modeling and come again!”
I waved goodbye to Rarity after putting my vest and glasses back on. Rarity seemed nice enough, I had hoped the others would be the same way too.
* * * * *
“That will be 10 bits for the sandwich and drink, sir.”
“Damn it, you've got to be kidding me!”
Oh, we’re halfway there,
Oh-oh! Livin’ on a prayer!
I took the earbuds out and continued to walk across Ponyville. Checking the time on my watch, I realized that if I didn’t find exactly what I needed in the library I was going to be flying back to my apartment in the middle of the night, and that was a journey even a fast pegasus like me didn’t want to take. Trains: unreliable ground-based transport things. The wheel was a great idea, it just needed some speed behind it.
Looking on my left I saw the library in which the newly crowned Princess Twilight lived.
“Might as well see if she’s in,” I thought. Maybe if I’m extra lucky, she’ll have a book on history which I could look through and see if there is anything on steamwings or automatons. I trotted over there slowly, wondering if there was any special way I’d have to greet her, or if I had to kneel when I got through the door. There weren’t any royal guards, so that was a bit of a relief.
“…oh, Spike, what should I take? Do you think I’ll be able to store all my books?” I heard from the inside.
“Calm down, Twilight, we’re just moving most of your stuff out to Canterlot. Remember? The place we used to live in with the really big library?”
I opened the door and got hit in the face with a book. “Ow,” I said, more surprised than injured. The inside of the library was a complete mess. Books were stacked miles high on the very of collapsing as a purple blur ran between them frantically while a young purple dragon stood on the wooden table’s centerpiece trying to calm her down.
“I know, Spike, but we’ve found so many books since we’ve come here! Maybe there’s a copy spell and-” the blur put the brakes on and slid inches away from my face.
Instinctively I backed up to give her some room. “Uh, excuse me, Your Royal Highness…”
She stood up, gave a quick look around the place, and then gave a pained smile. “Oh, uh, hi there, welcome to the Ponyville library.” A bead of sweat rolled down her brow to her chin. “Sorry about the mess, we were, uh, just reorganizing.”
Spike jumped off the table. “I’m Spike, Chief Royal Assistant to Her Royal Princess!”
“Um, I’m Seismic Riff,” I said, deciding I should kneel for Princess Twilight. It’s only polite. “And don’t worry about the mess, my apartment’s worse.”
She wiped the sweat away from her forehead and gave me a genuine smile. “Oh, okay, good. Anyway, you don’t have to kneel for me, I might be a princess, but I’m still a pony like you.”
It was still unsettling to be in the presence of royalty, and because of that I nervously beat my wings out. I automatically cursed myself for doing that.
“Wow, look at your wings!” Spike marveled, his dragon claws snaking their way to feel the shiny metal. “That’s so cool!”
Even Twilight was looking at them and examining me. “Wow, I’ve never seen such an intricate design for wings! Are you an Earth Pony?”
“No, I’m a pegasus, it’s just my wings were kind of messed up with this sickness…”
Using her magic, she grabbed a notepad, and quill, and myself and began writing notes while looking at my wings.
“This design is really old, but the science behind it is amazing! It’s like someone modern designed these.” She prodded my right wing and a spike with a rope shot out, barely missing her crown, and embedding itself into a wall. “Eesh, dangerous too! Can you tell me where you got these, Seismic Riff?”
Levitating upside down was unsettling, and I was too busy flailing my hooves. I finally gave up. “I don’t remember. I have amnesia.”
She put me down and I retracted the spike. “Hmm, well that’s too bad. Those are some really good quality mechanical wings you have. Everything about them is aerodynamically sound, too.”
“That’s what I came to ask you,” I said. “Don’t you have any books on steamwing technology?”
“Is that what it’s called?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, flapping her own wings. She magicked the books across her field of vision, flipping through pages. “Hmm, none of these books I have even mentions the word “steamwing” anywhere. I’m sorry, Seismic Riff, I’m afraid I’ve never even heard of it.”
I hung my head a little. The most knowledgeable source in all of Equestria couldn’t help me out. Kind of disappointing. But then again, I haven’t seen many other ponies around who had wings like mine, so it’s not likely a question like mine would come up.
“However, because these wings might benefit Equestria I will definitely ask Princess Celestia when I get to Canterlot!” she stated.
I brightened up considerably. “Thanks, Princess Twilight.”
“You don’t have to call me princess,” she said, a little exasperated. “But you must do me a favor and let me measure your wingpower."
* * * * *
Fwooooooooooooosh!
“8.2 wingpower!” I shouted. I applauded. “For someone who just got their wings, you’re really good.”
“Thanks, Riff!” she replied. “Spike, get the recorder ready, you’re up, Riff.”
I wondered how I had gotten into this, but I should have known when I saw the mad gleam in her eye that if I refused she would have weaseled her way into me doing it anyway. And that’s how I found myself on the Ponyville track, stretching my wings and putting them into Dogfight mode, which with some whirs, clicks, and hisses, put them in the most fast and agile state possible, I was just about to take off when I heard the sound of rushed wind fly past my face and a rainbow streak.
“Hey, Twi, whatcha doin out here?” a playful voice asked.
A light blue pegasus was hovering above Twilight’s head. She looked calm, collected, but most of all, she had an air of being better than everyone and pretty much everything. That was Rainbow Dash for sure, the girl who believed she would be the captain of the Wonderbolts.
“Rainbow Dash, I’m busy doing scientific research on wings!” Twilight snapped. “Spike, don’t record her!” The young dragon was busy pointing the lenses at Rainbow Dash while she did poses in the air.
“So, who are you?” Rainbow dash finally asked, hovering down to the ground, looking at me.
“Um, I’m Seismic Riff,” I said, extending a hoof. “We went to flight camp together, but uh, we really didn’t talk much.”
“Oh really?” she said, shaking it and grinning. “Well, how about a little competition? Let’s see who’s got the fastest wingpower!”
She revved her wings up after stretching and blew by the anemometer. There was so much wind behind it, it nearly blew me off my feet. Spike actually tumbled away, but didn’t lose the recorder.
“Ho, ho, that was great Rainbow Dash!” he praised her, checking the device. “16.5 wingpower, just like last time!”
“Awww, yeah!” she shouted, pumping her hoof and beating her wings. “Now you go!”
I was kind of nervous, since this was now some sort of competition. I stretched my wings, again causing somepony to panic.
“Hey, no special wings allowed, that’s cheating!” she told Twilight, but the princess shook her head and told her that those were my wings and explained why they were like that.
I rolled my eyes and revved them up. I shot forward at what felt like an impossible speed, the hydraulic pistons pumping and the gears whirring. I blasted by the anemometer, nearly knocking it over from the sheer force of my back draft. I shot straight up to lose speed so I didn’t kill my hooves.
All three had open mouths when I trotted back over. “So, how did I do?”
Twilight stammered for a minute. “S..S..17.9 wingpower…”
I looked at the anemometer, and sure enough there it was. Spike had recorded the whole thing. “Whoa, Seismic Riff, you’re crazy fast! You’re faster than Rainbow Dash!”
The blue pegasus just refused to accept it, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. “B-b-b-but…th-th-that’s just impossible…no way!” she stomped her hooves. “I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria!”
I shrugged. “I’m sorry?” I said.
She snorted. “If I cut my mane, I would have had less drag.”
I rolled my eyes. My mane and tail were way longer and bushier than hers. “Sure.”
Twilight sighed, obviously annoyed that Rainbow Dash was getting in the way of her important research. Just leave, Dashie, I have science to get back to!”
Rainbow Dash looked me in the eye. “We’ll have a race next time and we’ll see who’s the best flyer in all of Equestria!” she zoomed off, leaving a rainbow blur behind.
Twilight looked at me and I shrugged. “I’m from Pegasauria, actually, just to the northwest of Equestria’s borders.”
“Ooh, can you tell me about your land? What’s it like? Is it cold? Who’s the ruler there?” Twilight’s questions rolled over her tongue like cookies off the factory treadmill.
“Um…I don’t remember.”
“Can I please take your steamwings off? Pretty please?”
“What, no, princess!”
