My Little Pony: Third Gear

Chapter 1A: Preparations From the Dawn

Waking before dawn was normal for Gearhead, having grown up in a farming family. Only what he did was different, because his abilities were different from those of the rest of his family. Over more than ten years, he had wandered through much of Western Equestria searching for any knowledge that might help him improve his control of his powers. The brown-coated Earth Pony had never once imagined that it could be because of something Discord had done over a thousand years earlier.

Gearhead would have chuckled, wondering if Discord was as entertained as he thought he would be, but he did not wish to risk enough noise to awaken his daughter. She was curled up, nose to tail, in her bed to the left of his own, covered comfortably by a snow blanket of her own creation. Like Gearhead, Snowbelle was another unusual creature, but she was an Arctic Dragon where he was a Pony. When her mother had asked him to take care of her, and made him promise to return her to her ancestral home, he had, of course agreed. But at least until Gearhead could find a way to survive the cold of the frozen north, he had adopted the baby dragon, to whom he was psychically bonded.

Gearhead moved silently as he got out of bed and began to perform his morning ablutions. The third and top floor of his shop was divided in half, with this half dedicated to living space, and the other to medium-sized demonstration items for the shop – things like telescopes and rolling cranes that could not be displayed properly downstairs. Gearhead’s and Snowbelle’s living quarters included the bedroom area with its bookshelves and dressers, a small bathroom, and a kitchenette with an eating area, where Gearhead ate a light breakfast.

After breakfast, Gearhead strapped on his Geargem Dagger and went up to the roof. While he had been hesitant to practice his magic in the open like this, he had also found that he made a better connection in the open air than he did underground in the Laboratory or Hangar. Besides, none of the creatures that made the nearby Everfree Forest their home had ever responded to his rising magical signature, and he was too far away to disturb Twilight Sparkle, or one of the princesses, who would have been able to detect him.

Gearhead sat on the roof and drew his Geargem Dagger with his tail. The curved emerald blade had blue diamond at its heart and edges. The flat, square handle was amber chased with ruby threading. The half-gear crosspiece was what gave the weapon its name, because it would spin and open up to accept and process collected magical energy.

Gearhead closed his eyes and slowed his breathing and heart rate, focusing entirely on the flow of mana around and within him. He slowly drew it all inward, toward him, to collect and refine it so it changed into the quality of power he used when he casted a spell. Unlike when he did cast a spell, however, his sole focus was in manipulating the energy, and seeing how much he could handle.

All ponies had some magic, regardless of their tribe. What Discord had done was to remove the Earth Pony magic from one of Gearhead’s ancestors, and replace it with twisted, inverted, and warped Unicorn and Pegasus magic.

By Herd Law, any member of the Verdant to display this magic was made a Black Sheep. The law protected these family members from exile and ridicule, at least to a certain extent, and it provided the motivation to move beyond one’s limitations by finding an alternate way to be useful on the farm.

Unfortunately, the only way to be rid of the Black Sheep title, which prevented the holder from being named Successor, and thus Herd Patriarch, was to be able to plant and harvest some variety of plant on the farm. Worse than not having any magical ability to grow things, Gearhead’s power had manifested by folding and tearing up the land anywhere he had walked without the special horseshoes he and his father had made to keep the power inside.

Gearhead himself did not have any ambition to become the next Patriarch, however Father was convinced that Firstson Vines would abuse the power that came with it, particularly the ability to alter and add to Herd Law, which would put any future Black Sheep into further peril. Father was also convinced that the way to improve the Verdant’s lifestyle was through innovation, whereas looking into the past, all he saw was stagnation – farm ponies living according to the same standards and practices for thousands upon thousands of years.

Touching a broken plough that Vines had probably set up near Gearhead’s room (although back then he had simply been known as ‘Thirdson),’ Gearhead had discovered his knack for ‘seeing’ how the plough came together, where it was broken, how to fix it, and how to improve upon it. Imagining it, he had discovered that he could make the improvement happen.

Pushing forward from this discovery, Gearhead began to look for clues about similar abilities. He apprenticed to carpenters, blacksmiths, and other metalworkers in the nearby city of Hoofington, and he gained knowledge in magic by studying with the best and brightest the Third Conclave of Flowing Shadows had, at their vaunted Hidden Library.

Back at Verdant Fields, the more other ponies saw of Gearhead’s modified equipment, the more they wanted some of their own. He obliged them, and following a notion, went into town to see what other needs his little innovations could fill. That was the start of Gearhead’s Gadgets, the shop he now owned and ran from Ponyville.

It had not been an easy road. Right from the start, it had taken a considerable amount of convincing for Gearhead to get Father and Mother to allow him to strike out on his own, especially since he was not of a mature age. But they had seen how unhappy he was, living on a farm without being able to help with his own four hooves. And although he tried to be circumspect about it, they still knew that Vines was bullying Gearhead. So they decided to let him go.

Truthfully, Gearhead could remember feeling hurt whenever Vines had called him a ‘walking disaster’ or ‘useless’ or a ‘waste of space.’ It hurt because Gearhead realized that his oldest sibling had been correct: there was not a thing that Gearhead could do to help out his family, not by trying to farm. His few attempts to do so had always ended in disaster. Gearhead absolutely hated the feeling of being useless most of all. He could even stand being powerless, but not that he could not do anything to help.

The journey, unfolding over more than a decade, had been eye-opening: Gearhead discovered that there were other ponies who had less than him, or were worse off than he was. Seeing them struggle, and seeing them succeed made him feel like if he did any less he would be placing a great shame on the name of his Herd.

Gearhead’s Gadgets grew from a small, two-wheel cart from which he sold items directly, to a four-wheel cart, to a wagon, to a small hut through Gearhead’s efforts. Before long he was setting up a solid structure whenever he stopped to sell his wares in a town or city. When he was not making and selling a gadget, Gearhead was at a library doing research. And when the townsponies had bought all it seemed they were going to, and Gearhead’s leads dried up, he would pack up and move on, leaving the store’s structure for whoever could use it.

This method had not given Gearhead much opportunity to make friends, and after the third town he had actually stopped trying. That did not mean he did not have any friends before coming to Ponyville, but he had been focusing on earning a decent amount of money to sustain a living, and on sending enough back home to support his family. In that plan, Gearhead had not put much importance on making friends with ponies he would be leaving behind.

Ironically, it had been Discord who had blown the lid off of the mystery, revealing Gearhead’s mixed and incomplete magical roots. The revelation allowed Gearhead to see himself and his capabilities differently, and so he had sought ways to complete what was incomplete.

With help from the princesses, Celestia and Luna, who were interested to see what form Gearhead’s power would take, Gearhead found how he could use magical energies. Then the biggest revelation came when Discord inverted him into a magic-wielding pony, and Gearhead realized he could use spells in their full form – as long as he used an activation key, an incantation, and a medium like his dagger. He was highly vulnerable while doing so, but it was a fantastic revelation given that he had thought of himself as a simple Earth Pony before.

To help with his vulnerability while casting, Shining Armour, former-Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and now a prince through his marriage to Cadence, taught Gearhead some martial arts that included the same type of physical training the Royal Guard received, along with some techniques most of them had missed. This was the second part of Gearhead’s daily training regimen. He divided it further into two parts: half in his natural pony form, and the other half in his dexterous, bipedal Agile Form.

It was far harder to manipulate physical objects as a normal pony than it was in Agile Form, but then the vast majority of ponies had never experienced the benefits of having hands.

Although Gearhead could change form with a few quick words, he knew that he needed to be able to handle any situation in both forms. One reason was that it took time to complete the transformation, and while that was underway he was the only one being protected by the spell’s cocoon. A smart adversary would stop trying to attack Gearhead, and try to take his friends or a passerby as a hostage. Gearhead had therefore decided to only use the transformation when he could ensure no other beings would be put in danger by his sudden loss of mobility, temporary as it was.

To compliment the training Shining Armour gave Gearhead in pony-to-pony combat, Stalwart Shield also joined in. The former-King of the Pony Goblins had gratefully accepted Princess Celestia’s offer of the post of Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guards whenever Armour would vacate it. As the Goblin King, he had seemed grotesque with his hairless, bulging, giant form. Gearhead theorized that getting caught in the massive wave of Armour’s and Cadence’s Repel the Darkness spell had restored some of King’s ponyhood. Princess Celestia giving him his old name back seemed to have brought the process into full swing. So while he was smaller, with fewer strange boils and his coat and mane growing back in, Shield retained his bipedal structure, as well as his hands. This meant that he and Gearhead could train together as ambidextrous bipeds.

After Gearhead dismissed the collected mana back to its natural state, he took up his metal dagger in his tail and the Geargem Dagger in his mouth, and went through the motions of a practice routine, spinning and swinging faster as he went. The whole idea was not to finish quickly, but to move in perfect control and coordination. A warrior could overcome the instinctive movements of one’s tail and exert perfect control to produce strong, precise swings. Because of this, Gearhead was practising so he could use the appendage to cover his flank, literally, while he covered his forward arc with the Geargem Dagger.

The other part of the practice was hoofwork, again perfectly controlled and precise to minimize energy expenditure. Gearhead had to be able to move in a way that would be quick enough that his opponents would have a hard time reading his intent, so before he moved a leg he would shift his weight to another leg. This also made it so he could easily move back to that leg if his opponent did read the movement correctly. But if Gearhead’s opponent did not read the move ahead of time, he could lift his hoof off of the ground and stab it quickly at its new position.

By the time Gearhead got up to his full physical speed, he was dancing in circles, his daggers describing wide arcs, deceptive S-curves, and straight slashes, all in turn, and all less than half a second apart. He might swing with his head, and then with his tail as he recovered the first weapon to a ready position, all the while making calculated but fast movements.

Finally, panting in the early-morning air, Gearhead stretched and sat down to rest a bit. He took small sips from a waterskin he had brought up. For a few minutes, he just sat there enjoying the pre-dawn atmosphere. His breath recovered, Gearhead put his daggers away and got up.

“Quattuor Magnae Spiritus, da me Forma Agilis.” True, these days he just needed to say ‘Forma Agilis,’ but occasionally Gearhead liked to use the full incantation, and even his activation key – especially when he had the time, as he did now. A large four-petalled flower grew out of the roof and enveloped him. As his magic twisted his bones and muscles, changed his head, face, eyes, and removed most of his hair, Gearhead sensed the power in the four petals, each of one of the four main elements. This was a power representing the might of the Four Great Spirits: Demeter, Jove, Neptune, and Hephaestus.

When the petals fell away, Gearhead was clad in pants and a longcoat over a simple-looking tunic, all black. Even his horseshoes had changed shape to accommodate his new feet, and the ones on his forehooves had become a pair of gloves. These had zippers running through the backs of them so he could still use his Geomancy when he needed it.

Gearhead bent and picked up a long staff that he had stashed on the roof for his training. He tested its weight, and decided that it needed to be a little heavier, so he took out a small ingot of iron from one of his pouches. Holding the staff out horizontally in front of him, he tossed the ingot up into the air. With his temporarily-free hand, he unzipped his other glove and pulled it so it was wrapped, inverted, around his wrist. With the contact of skin against staff, Gearhead would complete the circuit necessary to use his magic – and that was why it had been so disastrous with his unshod hooves all those years ago. He snatched the stone out of the air and pressed it to the staff next to his bare hand. A soft turquoise light illuminated a small area around him, and the iron melted, flowing into the staff from end to end. Gearhead zipped his glove back up.

Now that the staff was a little heavier, Gearhead draw the Geargem Dagger and expanded it to full length again. This time when he started the exercise, he had to account for the staff’s longer reach as he spun and swung it through the air. At first this had seemed impossible, but he soon learned how to wield the weapon so it would not clash against his sword. Faster and faster Gearhead spun, swinging and slashing both weapons. He slid his hand to different grips on his staff to vary its length, which altered its balance in his hand.

His footwork was also different when compared to his previous hoofwork, because although he still could shift his weight and wait before he took a step, he could now spring off of the balls and toes of his feet. Gearhead learned that striking with his heel used more energy than using the cushioning from the balls of his feet, and so he always leaped and landed on that part of his foot.

Although he was not going to do it here on the roof, Gearhead could also move more quickly by directing mana or ki into his feet in the moment before he sprung into a step. Shining Armour called this type of technique ‘Instant Movement,’ and while it looked like teleportation to the untrained eye, it was far from it, and it required that there not be any obstacles between the entrance and exit points. A simple stone could throw the whole thing off. But the major reason Gearhead did not use it now was because he did not want to make enough noise to wake up Snowbelle.

Again at the pinnacle of his speed, Gearhead threw both of his weapons into the air and spun himself one hundred and eighty degrees. Now he caught the staff in his right hand instead of his left, and his sword went to his left hand. He repeated the movements he had made up until now, but in reverse, and even became slower and slower. The point there was to ensure both of his arms received the same workout, and he remained just as proficient with both hands, and both weapons.

Once again at rest, Gearhead took a deep breath. He put the staff away, and then started to practice flipping and spinning his sword with each hand in turn. Other than just rotating his wrist to adjust the blade’s angle, he also could spin or flip the whole thing over or under his hand. He did not know whether such skills would ever become practical, but it did not hurt to explore this form’s full range.

As the sun rose, Snowbelle joined Gearhead up on the roof, perhaps alerted of the event through their link. Luna had taught Gearhead how to compartmentalize and protect those thoughts he did not want others to see, including his own daughter, but surface thoughts were always the strongest – not that he particularly minded it when Snowbelle joined him up there, under Princess Celestia’s rising sun.

Other than enjoying the sunrise, Snowbelle would rarely miss her favourite part of her father’s dexterity practice. This was when he took out a set of small, rubber balls and juggled them. At first he had experimented with only two balls, but as he grew more skilled, he added another one. At the moment he was up to six balls using both hands. Snowbelle was not about to make this easy for him, however, occasionally swooping in to gently deflect a ball with her tail or a wing so Gearhead would have to scramble to keep going. Finally Gearhead would catch all the balls when the sun made it hard to see them arcing through the air. He took out a bit instead, and flipped the coin between his fingers. Snowbelle loved seeing the gold glint in the sun as it seemed to dance between her father’s hands.

This was the time during which Rainbow Dash would be leading the rest of Ponyville’s weather team in setting everything up for the morning. Sometimes Gearhead and Snowbelle got some flight practice in with the athlete, and by this time Gearhead was glad he ate lightly before practice, so he did not ‘bonk.’ This morning Dash seemed to be busy, so Gearhead summoned his Wind Wings and led Snowbelle through the routine himself.

Other than using his magic, Gearhead could also use an invention of his to fly. The Alicorn Engine was a harness-mounted core system that generated extremely potent particle-type energy. Originally Gearhead had only intended to use it as a form of transport, since it could even let him fly at speed, and perhaps to augment his spellcasting. In the end, the Alicorn Engine had turned into an extremely useful asset in battle – as long as he could avoid overloading the system, as he had when he had used it against Discord.

The heart of the Alicorn Engine was a system of gemstone rings, stacked to form a stepped cone inside the conical housing. By etching little channels into the rings in specific ways, Gearhead had created topological defects that increased the Engine’s effectiveness. He could also make the Engine run hotter by having the rings turn in the opposite direction to that of its neighbour.

Even that had seemed insufficient, so Gearhead went from a single large core mounted at an angle to his back to a twin-core system, where the cones were a third the size of the original. Mounted on shoulder actuators, the cones could be aimed at nearly any angle around Gearhead for increased effectiveness, and when they were aimed in the same direction, the energy tended to resonate, making it even more powerful.

Flying with the Twin Core was fun, but for a morning outing with Snowbelle, Gearhead preferred to stretch his legs and use his magic when he could afford it. Besides, whereas the Engines did not create any backlash, wings made of magical wind did, and Snowbelle loved to play in the turbulence. She might have much of Gearhead’s knowledge, but the Dragon was still a child, and he loved to see her that way. Especially when she still had moments when her grief over her mother’s passing still hit her hard.

As Gearhead and Snowbelle turned and flipped in the air, the stallion thought about Fluttershy, and how glad he was that she was willing to help him raise Snowbelle. The yellow-coated Pegasus was not trying to replace Snowbelle’s mother, and reminded the little Dragon of that nearly every time she looked after her in a way that only a mother would do for her child. Snowbelle never gave any indication of minding, since she and Gearhead both knew that Fluttershy sometimes felt the need to reassure herself.

As to romantic possibilities, that was complicated. Fluttershy and Gearhead had dated for a time, originally as a cover to ensure the Cutie Mark Crusaders listened when Gearhead told them how to safely use the equipment he lent them in their endeavours to earn their cutie marks. The previous Hearts and Hooves Day marked the first time Gearhead had taken Fluttershy on an actual date. It was the first time he took her to a clearing that was filled with flowers, insects, and smaller creatures. They called it the Butterfly Glade, and it was Fluttershy’s favourite place to visit that was outside of Ponyville. Unfortunately, since it was in the Everfree Forest, she was too timid to go alone, and she probably felt awkward asking anypony else to take her once she and Gearhead broke up.

Fluttershy and Gearhead had reconciled once they helped to repel the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, however they had decided to compromise, and settled on a more platonic relationship. This let them be alone together without feeling the pressure to prove themselves as romantic partners, and it let Fluttershy nurture Snowbelle, whom she loved. In a way, not having to prove anything brought the mare and stallion closer together than they had been when they had been dating, and certain that others were watching and judging them. Gearhead was certainly more relaxed, and he enjoyed Fluttershy’s company more than before. And he still flew with her to the Butterfly Glade.

Father had advised Gearhead to consider romantic possibilities for the case when he finally got rid of his Black Sheep title and become one of the most eligible bachelors in Equestria, due to his powers and the small fortune he had built up with his shop. Gearhead had given it some thought, but since the only way he could be rid of his title was to grow something, he felt he would have plenty of warning first.

One mare with whom Gearhead had been close, other than Fluttershy, was Prism Azure, heir apparent to the Azure Wing. The Pegasus family was one of the Verdant’s oldest allies, but even avoiding a marriage would not put any stress on their friendship. This was good, since Gearhead did not know whether Prism’s feelings for him were closer to a schoolfilly’s crush than to true love. Besides, she was in a place in her life where her training would be her main focus, and she had two other stallions to whom she was close: her Flightmates, Rook Sapphire and Contrail Blue.

The third and final mare with whom Gearhead considered to be a close friend and romantic possibility (again, only if he got rid of that title) was Dawn Shadow. The second-born of the Third Conclave of Flowing Shadows was about as powerful a Unicorn as her older brother, Dusk, but with Light Magic instead of Dark. She also had a bright personality, which had quite literally made an impression on Gearhead when they met as foals. Maturity had transformed Dawn’s high energy into something far more demure and ladylike, however she was an extremely reliable ally in battle: Dawn put everything she had into protecting those she loved, possibly because she had been surrounded by unconditional love and tough support all her life. Both Dusk and Dawn had straightforward personalities, however only Dusk was expected to take on the mantle of leadership for the Conclave. That left Dawn free to follow her heart’s desire, as long as it also allowed her to continued expanding the Conclave’s understanding of magic, something that was natural for a Light Mage among Dark Mages anyway.

If Gearhead had to choose between Fluttershy and Dawn, he knew he would be placed into a very tough spot, especially since he rarely saw Dawn. Recently he had been seeing her only at special occasions, and that was to be expected since she was all the way in Western Equestria and he was in Central Equestria. The distance made it impossible for them to see each other every day, and yet Gearhead considered her to be an absolutely lovely pony, inside and out. She even loved Snowbelle, mind most of the mares in Gearhead’s life seemed to enjoy at least playing with her. Gearhead also saw Fluttershy’s beauty, and he knew her strengths. Both mares were incredible impressive, and Gearhead could not make a choice between them just based on the moment. But, as Father had pointed out, it bore careful consideration, because Gearhead did not want to end up hurting either of his dear friends.

As to why Gearhead did not consider his other Ponyville friends as romantic possibilities, there were those like Pinkie Pie and Dash who were simply not interested, and those like Twilight Sparkle whom Gearhead respected greatly. And then there was Rarity, who seemed to have made teasing Gearhead into a favourite hobby of hers. If Gearhead ever found a reason to choose her, he knew he would never hear the end of it.

“Hey Gearhead,” Dash called as she flew in his direction. Snowbelle looped back to rejoin them.

“Good morning, Dash.”

“No time for the usual – sorry. Twilight wants everypony at the library ASAP!”

“Another summons from Princess Celestia?”

“We’re about to find out, so pick up Fluttershy on your way, would ya? I’m gonna go get AJ and Pinkie.”

“On it,” Are they still trying to set us back up? Gearhead wondered as he and Snowbelle wheeled around. He had built his shop in sight of Fluttershy’s cottage, which was the primary reason the others had chosen her to help Gearhead look after the Crusaders. Gearhead and Snowbelle sent the air rippling as they pushed up to full speed.

* * *

“Quills! I should bring extra quills,” Twilight Sparkle said. She leaped toward the drawer containing the writing instruments, and grabbed a whole clutch of them in her telekinetic grip before sending them flying across the room. Spike jumped into the air, catching the objects with practised ease in a bag.

Spike had not even landed before Twilight was off, grabbing books for Spike to catch. “I’m going to need The Magical Compendium Volume 38,” she said. “Ah!”

Even Gearhead had to gape at the size of the volume as Twilight pulled it off of the shelf. “Spike, I do not think—“ But down came the tome, and indeed it was so large it pressed the poor Dragon to the floor.

“Twilight, relax. It’s just a test.”

“Just a test? The pony who holds my fate in her hooves calls me in any it’s just a test?!”

Spike reached for some pillows and a pot leaning against a nearby wall. He tied the pillows to his body and put the pot on as a helmet. “Yes?”

“ARGH!” Twilight’s frustration was so powerful it blasted everypony else from their hooves (or claws). Snowbelle flew back to rest across Gearhead’s shoulders even as he helped Fluttershy back up. Fortunately when the pair had arrived at the cottage, the Pegasus had already been awake, so they had avoided any potential embarrassment. The same could not have been said if Dash had suggested that Gearhead pick up Pinkie or Rarity, apparently.

Gearhead got an idea, and he was not completely sure Snowbelle had not just waved it in front of his mind’s eye, since that happened sometimes. He turned and whispered a few short sentences and a question into Fluttershy’s ear. After a moment’s hesitation, she agreed with the plan.

“What’re you two conspirators whispering about over there?” Twilight asked archly.

“We have a deal to propose to you, Twilight,” Gearhead said. He and Fluttershy stood up so they were directly beside each other, facing the Unicorn, Gearhead on the right.

“Oh?”

“Yes. On behalf of the entire group, I will admit that this test is of world-ending proportions—“

“Which it is,”

Gearhead leaned across the Pegasus from behind, so he was balancing on her other side with a hoof on her shoulder. “—if, and only if, you can look into her face for a full ten seconds and still feel stressed and frustrated afterwards.”

“Should Twilight not also be putting up some sort of stake?” Rarity asked.

“I do not think that will be necessary,” Gearhead said.

“I don’t want to ask her for anything either,” Fluttershy said, blushing.

“Oh, she should definitely wager something,” Dash grinned.

“The question is what,” Rarity said.

“Let us simplify,” Gearhead said. “If Twilight loses she will have to fulfill one request from Fluttershy, no questions asked.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I could do that to her!”

“I know. That is why I am suggesting it.”

“Oh,”

“I’ll agree, as long as there’s no funny business from you.”

“I would not know how to go about that,”

“Don’t go stealing my thing,” Pinkie said.

“I would not dream of it. So, deal?”

“Deal,” Twilight went to stand directly across from Fluttershy, and Gearhead walked over with the others behind Twilight. Only Snowbelle and Spike remained on the other side of the room, watching from a respectful distance.

“This should be good,” the drake said to his counterpart, who cocked her head in acknowledgement: she only spoke when she had something really important to say, and even then usually only to Fluttershy or Gearhead. Normally, given sufficient time, she would use the link to tell Gearhead what she wanted to say so he could share it with the others. In this case, she thought it was impossible to look into Fluttershy’s eyes and still be angry or stressed out.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Start!” Applejack said. Twilight and Fluttershy both opened their eyes and proceeded to stare at each other. Fluttershy kept her expression carefully neutral for three seconds, while the scowl Twilight had pasted on her face slowly began to melt away. Fluttershy coyly lowered her ears, but was otherwise neutral. Twilight winced. Seven seconds and Twilight was barely holding it together.

Eight seconds, and Fluttershy’s smile lit up the room. Twilight collapsed with a sigh. “I give up!”

“Oh my! I don’t know what I could possibly ask for.”

“Then you can save it for later,” Applejack said. “You won fair ‘n’ square, Sugar Cube.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine. Now we’d better get to Canterlot. Gearhead, the princess sent a separate letter for you. Spike?”

“Oh right, here you go!”

Gearhead opened and unrolled the letter. Snowbelle glided over, and Gearhead let her read it over his shoulder.

“You two coming?” Dash asked.

“Just as soon as we finish a couple things up for the Princesses,” Gearhead said.

“Okay. Just don’t take too long,” Twilight said.

Gearhead nodded, but then he had to follow the others outside so Twilight could lock up the library. He turned and headed back for the shop, Snowbelle gliding beside him. How does Princess Celestia always seem to know when a project is nearing completion? He asked of nopony in particular. If he had not been walking, he would have scratched his head. Maybe this was Luna’s doing. After all, she always helped him practice his telepathy once her job as a Night Mare was done for the night.

* * *

Gearhead closed and locked the shop door. He turned back to the interior as Snowbelle took wing, zigging and zagging across the rows of cases displaying the shop’s more standard wares. Each case was made with shatterproof transparent material to discourage potential theft. The service counter was in the rear-right corner as one faced the back of the shop, and beside that stood the entryway to the stairwell. Go up the stairs and you got to Gearhead’s and Snowbelle’s living space and the display area for medium-sized gadgets. Go down the stairs and you entered the Workshop.

The Workshop featured large bins for the resources that Gearhead used in fabricating his gadgets, from woods to metal ingots to gemstones. There was also a forge and a press, which the house’s waterwheel and windmill served. A small terminal sat against the wall furthest from the forge to avoid it getting damaged. Gearhead could use the terminal to look up all of his standard designs, and a few non-standard ones. He had used it to display his early Twin Engine designs when he had asked for Twilight’s help getting past the two cores’ lack of harmonization.

Gearhead strode up to a pair of bins, where Snowbelle joined him, and as the light from his Geomancy shone from an unshod forehoof, the bins slid aside, just enough to allow him to pass. The floor peeled back, revealing a stairwell just steep enough so that Gearhead’s head would not be visible if another pony was looking across the floor. Snowbelle had to perch on his back and shrink herself slightly to fit through the door that opened, leading them into a small elevator car.

While they were called ‘elevator’ cars, only two of the four transported their cargo vertically. Snowbelle nudged the door closed, and there was a slight ‘thunk’ as the stairs and bins slid back into place. Previously Gearhead had had to move the cars manually, unlocking and then securing a clamp to keep the cars from moving at each stop. Now he was able to power the elevators, so he moved them with a push-button system. The first, which he pressed and then let go of, released the clamp. The second one, which Snowbelle held down, moved the car: she knew as well as her father did the amount of time one had to keep moving to line up perfectly with the next car. To do otherwise would be to become lost in a small maze of iron-lined tunnels. This was the first layer of security Gearhead had built when he created the Laboratory.

As with the access door from the Workshop, the one with which the fourth car lined up was unmarked. The Laboratory was a large, steel-lined room. Like the Workshop it was lined with bins. Unlike the Workshop, it had a larger, more sophisticated computer control system with a higher level of access to Gearhead’s databases. The forge was also made of highest-grade dragonfired adamantine simply so it could withstand the heat necessary to produce more of the same. The entire room was suspended within a safety cushion of air springs to insulate against explosions and quakes. Fortunately the only explosions Gearhead had had in here were the smaller variety. The only big explosion he had had (so far) was when he overloaded the Alicorn Engine prototype while fighting Discord. It was the same particle explosion that had given Gearhead his green streak.

When Gearhead had built the Laboratory, he had not believed he would be in need of a larger, more complex facility, but then he had never believed he would be building anything larger than his cyclic wagon – and perhaps if he had never met the Elemental Six or the Princess Sisters, that would have remained true. Except that he had, so he moved to a specific spot on the floor, causing a trap door to open.

When dropped without light or any indication of what was going on, most beings would flail and scream, causing their bodies to rotate out of alignment. Gearhead and Snowbelle streaked silently between two sets of air springs, and through a hole that opened up in a different metal wall. A blast of air slowed their descent, and then when they stopped they were in the Hangar.

If the Laboratory had been considered large, the Hangar was truly cavernous. Yet nearly all the space within it was occupied, either by one of Gearhead’s more sensitive inventions, or by one of the many simple robots that formed the manufacturing line. To avoid any mishaps involving the machines questioning their limits, Gearhead had only given each one the programming necessary to do its job. The robots were not even connected to each other, nor were they gifted with anything beyond the sensors they needed to detect the next piece waiting for them to work on, and whether or not they had created a fault.

At the moment all of the machines designed to process and manufacture parts were silent, having completed their task. The only machines that were running were the ones that were still making the last connections, attaching the last few armour plates, and applying weather-proof sealant. Everything had to be perfect, because the Multipurpose Exploratory Vehicle had to be able to travel anywhere and everywhere.

The Multipurpose Exploratory Vehicle was modelled partly after a fish, and partly after a bird with sleek lines and curves. It was widest near the middle, tapering off slightly at the tail, with four fins projecting diagonally for control and stability. A pair of cones similar in design to Alicorn Engines showed through the very back between the fins, but they were merely emitters and verniers. The wings amidships were partially retracted into the fuselage, the second half articulated upward past the body. These parts of the wings had built in emitters that resembled turbines. Forward, the ship tapered into a blade-like nose, but more gently curved and blunted. The ‘neck’ was long, but not ridiculously so. Still, few would look at it and believe it could fly. The full-sized, true Dual Cores would ensure it had more than enough power to do just that.

Nopony would have believed an Earth Pony could fly either, but he could, whether by Wind Magic or by using his core turbine systems. He had the original single-core Alicorn Engine secured in a case against the wall to his left. Past that he saw its stabilizer, which attached by a ring-like collar to the cone-like core, which projected diagonally from a harness Gearhead would wear on his back.

The Twin Engine used a pair of third-sized cores in place of the single core. In this case, they attached to actuators that could be aimed all around, making the whole thing lighter, but also more potent when the cores could resonate with each other. Another pair of actuators were attached to the harness’s back, where they held a pair of bladecasters secure. These weapons resembled the handle and widest part of a sword that was missing two-thirds its length. But on top and below the flat of the blades they sported emitters. By focusing the Engine’s energy, Gearhead could deploy blades at full length, or fire on his enemies.

The Twin Engine also had its own stabilizers, which would attach directly to both cores using a pylon system, rather than a ring collar. Gearhead could wear the smaller one without changing his dimensions much, however the full-armour version would make him two and a half times as large as normal, because it had enough armour to cover him completely, it was equipped with four railgun-type canons, and it had a small cockpit that Snowbelle could use to ride inside. Like the previous stabilizer, both versions could fly over short distances, if Gearhead needed to summon them in battle.

There were also three large crates neatly filled with crystalline parts for a single turbine. It stood at dimensions that were slightly smaller than Ponyville’s water tower, and it was one of four components necessary for Gearhead’s Allicorn Array to function.

“Computer, please prepare to load the Twin Engine, Stabilizer-02, and the Turbine onto MEV-EP.” Although Gearhead doubted he would build any more of this rather large craft, the ‘EP’ stood for ‘Experimental Prototype.’

“[Acknowledged,]” came the simple reply, and mobile forklifts began to move into position to carry the named equipment up the ship’s cargo ramp in the tail section. There was another ramp in the bottom of the neck, and Gearhead and Snowbelle used that to board. It was time to test all the systems, circuits, and seams to ensure nothing would fail when they needed it most.

“Please initiate final check, stem to stern,” Gearhead said.

Snowbelle chirped in acknowledgement, and the computer gave its own response in kind. Gearhead himself zipped the shoes on his forehooves up, and stamped them against the deck to get a complete read. His soft, turquoise light ran throughout the whole vessel.