It was a warm, partly cloudy day in Ponyville, the weather Pegasi had scheduled rain the night before and there were still puddles on the ground. Just as Fixit had predicted the town had officially finished all its repairs and was now getting ready for a ceremony to celebrate it. Fixit himself was apparently supposed to get an award at said ceremony, despite his protests, saying he really didn’t deserve all the praise and that it wasn’t a big deal, and who else was to present it but Twilight and Mayor Mare together. Twilight even insisted he write a speech. Which he didn’t by the way. But then the ceremony was about four days away so he was told he had plenty of time. To be honest Fixit didn’t like these kinds of events and did everything he could to avoid them. Now don’t get it wrong, he didn’t try to ruin the fun of ponies attending these events they just weren’t his cup of tea, especially if he had to be involved in something other than maintenance and building things. Heck he even refused to celebrate his birthday these days since to him it wasn’t a big deal. Sure if he got a few presents great, and if everyone forgot? Well that sucked but he got over it. Fixit didn’t like being honored because he felt like he didn’t do anything special. After all he was just completing a task his Master and Princess Celestia asked him to do, nothing more nothing less. Sure he helped rebuild the town but so did everypony else so if he deserved a reward so did ever citizen in Ponyville that helped. Not that he didn’t like Ponyville. In fact Fixit loved Ponyville. It was quiet, most of the time, the scenery was beautiful, and nopony here judged you, well some did but most were really nice. Here you could be whoever you wanted to be, you could be yourself and more often than not you were given the benefit of the doubt. In all honesty he wanted to stay, but couldn’t think of a reason to. After all there was nothing keeping him there, sure he had made friends with Fluttershy and somehow became squinted with all the elements of harmony where they were able to joke around and even enjoy activities together but was that enough of a reason? Not only that but even if he did stay where would he live? Sure there were many ponies in Ponyville with platonic, and maybe not so platonic, house mates but he didn’t know if he could do that. He was a bit OCD about how he kept his things and he was sure his work would ware on the nerves of anyone foolish enough to want to live with him. Not only that, he couldn’t ask any of the elements. One because they didn’t know eachother that well, and two he was sure rumors would start and they were all way too nice to put through that kind of circus.
Speaking of the elements, they were all gathered in Twilight’s castle as they watched her set up a magic fireworks machine for the upcoming ceremony. With Fixit’s help of course. But while Twilight explained how the machine worked to Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, Fixit was being barraged by questions from Rarity and Rainbow Dash while he worked on some of the more complicated mechanisms.
“Actually Skittles, I’d say magical residue accumulating while sleeping is very common in unicorns, in fact I’d say about as common as wing boners while sleeping for Pegasi. But why not ask Rarity or Twilight?” He asked her.
“Because Geekwad, whenever I ask them they turn red and change the subject.” Rainbow Dash said while floating behind him to his left while folding her hooves and giving a glare to Rarity.
“That’s because talking about such subjects are unbecoming of a lady.” The white and purple unicorn said with a bit of a blush from embarrassment as she turned up her nose and moved a hoof through her mane, Rainbow Dash Rolling her eyes at the display.
“And to answer your question Rarity I’ve been all over the place. Trottingham, Manehattan, Fillydalphia, Baltimare, which doesn’t get nearly the credit it should,-” Fixit said as he started to answer Rarity’s question about the places he had been before the fashion pony herself interrupted him.
“What about Canterlot?” She asked him, sounding a bit excited about the place which made sense to Fixit given her personality.
“Oh yea, I’ve spent a lot of time in Canterlot.” Fixit said as he rolled his eyes. Rarity was about to talk again before Twilight called her friends over. Fixit couldn’t help but sigh with relief. It wasn’t that he didn’t like attention, ok fine he didn’t like attention, but he hated being in the spotlight even more which was why he was planning to duck out of the ceremony in the first place. Now that he thought about it, if he was going to leave town that would be the best time to do so. That being said he was wondering why he needed to make a machine to produce magical ire works in the first place since he figured it was already a spell. “Hey Twinkle, why do we need a machine to make magical fireworks when I’m pretty sure a spell for it already exists?” Fixit called over to the Mane 6.
Twilight then groaned and stepped forward. “The machine doesn’t produce the magic, it harnesses it, concentrates it, focuses it, and then fires it off.” She explained. “And I told you, don’t call me Twinkle.” She added.
“What? I think it’s a great nickname.” He said with a smirk. He called her that because he combined the first part of her first name with the past part of her second name and put an ‘N’ in the middle, also the twinkle in her eye when she was reading or doing something nerdy. “I don’t know, that explanation seems kind of weak. Like a bad fanfiction who’s chapters are way too short, and has way too many spelling errors.” Fixit said.
“Come on Fixit, if this was a fanfiction I’m sure the author is doing his best, after all its not his fault he doesn’t have Microsoft word.” Pinkie responded.
“What?” Asked Fixit a bit confused.
“What?” Pinkie Pie also said tilting her head slightly with her eyes darting around.
“In any case are you almost done over there Fixit?” Twilight asked calling over to him.
Fixit waved a wrench at her but didn’t look. “Almost done, just got to make a few more tweaks.” He reported. They all waited for a few more moments while Fixit worked before finally he replaced the panel to the part of the machine he was working on. “All set.” He said wiping his hooves with a cloth.
“Good!” Twilight said excitedly with a smile going over to a part of the machine with a hose. “Ok, the magic goes in through here, gets stored and concentrated inside, then comes out the top as fireworks.” She explained.
“Ooh!” The rest of the mane 6 marveled as Fixit just shook his head with an amused look on his face.
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s fire this puppy up and give it a test run!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly.
“Uh if we’re gonna do that shouldn’t we move this thing outside so we don’t set the castle on fire?” Applejack the voice of reason suggested. They all agreed that was a good idea and dragged the machine outside on a trolley. Once they were outside, and a safe distance away from the castle, Twilight fired up the machine and began feeding her magic into it. All the ponies, including fixit, watched as the magic flowed into the machine and became a rainbow of colors through a glass window. But then just as the machine was reaching full capacity it began to whir and make unnatural nouses. “What the Hay!?” Twilight asked as magic began to seep through the corners of the machine and parts that began to crack.
“Uh oh.” Fixit said as fear began to enter him and gulped. Just then fireworks began to fire from the top of the machine and started blowing things up.
“Uh oh? What uh oh what’s happening?” Fluttershy began asking in a panic as she and the others including Fixit avoided fireballs unto Twilight put a magical barrier over them.
“The machine became over pressurized, it would seem that Twinkle’s Alicorn magic is too strong and the machine can’t handle it.” Fixit both explained and speculated.
“Ok, so how do we Fixit, uh, Fixit?” Rainbow dash asked him right as they ducked their heads as a fireball landed particularly close to them.
“Yes! What do we do?” Asked a panicking Rarity.
“Fixit thought for a moment and remembered that he had installed a pressure release valve just in case. “I know what to do! Twilight you have to let me out.” He told the Princess.
“What? Are you crazy? You’ll die out there!” Twilight Protested to him not wanting him to get hit with one of the flaming balls of death.
“There’s a pressure release valve on the machine, if I can get to it, it might stop all this.” He told her putting his hoof down.
“It’s still too dangerous.” Twilight retorted, putting her hoof down.
“Twilight’s right, you could get yourself hurt.” Fluttershy said not wanting to lose her new friend.
“Or worse.” Added Rarity agreeing with Fluttershy and moving closer to him.
“Not to mention its totally stupid.” Added applejack, putting in some common sense.
“I’ll be fine.” Fixit tried to tell them. “Plus we have to do something.” He pointed out.
“You should let me go!” I’m the fastest and have the most maneuverability.” Rainbow ash suggested.
“She has a point.” Twilight said as Fixit tried to protest. “Ok, here we go, one, two, three!” Twilight said opening a hole in the shield for a split second for ash to get through but before she could Fixit jumped through and made a mad dash for the machine. He had to fix this, he helped build the machine. Besides it was his idea to use the metal they did so it was his fault the metal couldn’t handle it. And so Fixit made a mad dash for the machine doing his best to dodge the fireballs and parts being thrown at him. Somehow he managed to get to it and went to its back to find the release valve. When he did he tried to turn it but it wouldn’t budge and so he pulled out his trusty monkey wrench and lodged it into the wheel and began to try and turn it. Next thing he knew he was flying through the air being blasted with every color in the spectrum, and then, everything went black
….
Fixit groaned as he opened his eyes and saw a ceiling. A ceiling? Wasn’t he just outside? Now that he thought about it was he in a bed? He groaned again as he tried to sit up but his whole body ached. He looked around and saw that he was in a hospital room. Wait how did he get there? He then remembered the magic fireworks machine blowing up in his face and was suddenly freaking out? What did it do? Was he hurt? Were the others hurt? Were they dead? Fixit then began to look around. And saw that he was in a hospital bed, but he already knew that, he seemed to be completely fine other then the aches. He rolled his neck and heard it crack. He then stretched his upper body and rubbed his eyes. He then swung his hind hooves over the side of the bed and placed them on the cold floor of the hospital room before placing a little weight on them and tested their mobility. Ok, they weren’t broken either, nothing was broken. Good, since nothing was broken and he was only aching and didn’t have anything wrong with his vision he could go check on the others. He got down on all four hooves and moved his body around more and did a few karate movements to test out his boy and it felt fine. ”Well atleast there’s nothing physically wrong with me.” He said. Wait, was there something wrong with his magic? He hadn’t tested that. He was just about to when the door flew open.
He looked up and saw Nurse Red heart and the Elements of Harmony standing in the doorway. “Oh my Celestia! You’re all alright- oof!” Fixit started to say rejoicing over the fact the girls were all ok until Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all tackled him in happiness while calling his name.
“Fixit!” All the girls all said as the three jumped on him and the rest ran into the room. “You’re alright!” They all said still talking in unison.
“Well I was before, but not so sure now.” Fixit said. After all he had been tackled and was now laying under three ponies. Not that any of them were fat but yea three horses on top of you still wasn’t light. “Like seriously get off me.” He told them. The mares then realized what they were doing, turned red, with the two pegasi sporting wing boners, before they scrambled off him. Well Rainbow and Fluttershy did, Pinkie Pie continued to hold onto him, her hooves around his neck as if scared something would happen if she let go.
“Are you alright?” “Pinkie asked as she held onto him her face super close to his.
“Yes, you’re not hurt are you?” Asked Rarity with a concerned face as nurse Red Heart came over to him and freed him from Pinkie’s clutches much to her duress as she tried to grab onto him again while she was being dragged away.
“I’m fine, just a few aches and pains.” Fixit said as the nurse looked him over. “I’m much more worried about you all.” He added.
“Oh we’re completely fine.” Applejack assured. “Twi’s barrier protected us real nice.”
“Yea, but how are you not hurt dude?”” Rainbow ash asked flying over and looking him in the face.
“What do you mean?” He asked her in a confused tone.
“Hello!” She said knocking him on the head lightly earning a glare from the nurse. “Dude don’t you remember? You took a magical explosion to the face!” She exclaimed.
“What?” Fixit asked in shock and disbelief. It was then that the girls told him what happened.
…..
The mane 6 watched in horror as Fixit ran towards the machine and disappeared behind it. They yelled for him to come back but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Then all of a sudden, boom it exploded with a blast of magic and metal parts so powerful it destroyed Twilight’s barrier and sent all six of them flying, kicking up a huge smoke cloud. Twilight was the first one up. She went to check on all her friends one by one. First Rainbow Dash, who was the closest, then Pinkie Pie, then the others. After it turned out that they were all ok they went to find Fixit. But they couldn’t. They were just about to go find others to help when they heard a groan from under a large piece of metal. It had to be Fixit! They all ran over to him and Twilight lifted the debris with her magic. And there they found him, his jumpsuit all singed and in tatters with burn marks all over it and his fur. The weird part was that there were rainbow colored crackles of energy surging around his body every few seconds, and when this happened he would groan again. Rainbow Dash went to go get an ambulance while the others tried to get Fixit to wake up but to no avail. Some ponies showed up not too long after that and Fixit was taken to the hospital.
….
“And that was two days ago.” Twilight said as she finished explaining things and Nurse Red Heart finished her examination.
“Really it’s nothing short of a miracle, all that and all you get were a few scrapes and bruises, it really shouldn’t make any sense. “ Commented the nurse. “Still better that then the alternative.”
“Yea, unlike your tools.” Rainbow said chuckling but then got an elbow to the ribs from Applejack.
“What? Why? What happened to my tools?” Fixit asked suddenly slightly panicked. The mane 6 then sot of averted their gazes and looked at eachother, looking rater uncomfortable.
“We uh don’t know how it happened. I mean I’ve never seen anything like it but…” Twilight started to say as she produced a bag of dust and floated it over to him.
“Wait, where are my tools?” He asked her looking in the bag before it hit him and he felt something in him sink.
“Uh… those are your t- uh fixit?” Twilight started to say but then saw Fixit’s chest start to heave and his horn crackle with blue energy. His breathing got heavier and louder and louder before Fixit let out a blood curdling scream and the room shook. This made everyone wonder what was going on before they looked at Fixit as the energy around his horn grew more intense and his eyes began to glow white. Twilight then gasped. She knew what this was, it was lie the day she hatched Spike and got her cutie mark. He was have a magical overload! “Fixit!” she said as a wind in the room picked up and things began to be blown around. “Fixit! Listen to me you have to calm down!” She told him.
“No no no no no no no no no no no no! This can’t be happening! This cannot be happening! No no no no!” He said as he ran his hooves through the dust and tried to reform them with magic but to no avail. “How!?” He asked looking at twilight the wind picking up as magical sparks began to launch from his horn and transform things and plain destroy others.
“Fixit you have to listen to me.” Twilight pleaded. You have to relax.” She told him moving closer to him slowly. “We don’t know how it happened. We tried to collect them for you and they just kind of… disintegrated.” She confessed. Although this did little to calm Fixit down.
“I don’t get what the big deal is. They were just tools right? He can just go buy some more right, heck maybe even better ones since those looked kind of old.” Commented Rainbow dash.
That was when everything stopped. Fixit’s magic disappeared and his eyes went back to normal as he looked over at Rainbow Dash.
“The big deal Rainbow Dash is that not only were these tools pasted down to me by Master Inventous himself but they were made of Faustnium!” He exclaimed inches from her face, walking over to her as he explained things.
“Faustnium!?” Exclaimed a shocked Twilight.
“Faustnium.” Fixit confirmed while looking back at her.
“Faustnium?” The others asked while looking at eachother then at him with Rarity rubbing the back of her neck.
“What’s Faustnium? Ooh ooh! Is it edible? Can you eat it?” Asked Pinkie Pie asked excitedly jumping up and down. This earned her a glare from Fixit as well and she instantly stopped and hid behind Rarity.
“Faustnium,” Fixit stated as he emphasized the name and started to calm down. “Is a mineral that was named after Queen Faust who disappeared during the first great Pony war. It’s the only mineral in all of Equestria that is naturally imbued with magic and forged its super strong, light weight, never bends, or breaks, never dulls, and can withstand even the harshest conditions.” Fixit explained.
“Wait, if this stone is so great how did your tools turn into dust?” Applejack asked.
Fixit then sighed. “Because they were hit by an explosion of concentrated magic, and as you may or may not know only magic can effect magic.” He explained more.
“But you were hit by the same explosion and while you weren’t all that healthy before you look fine now so why aren’t you severely hurt, Celestia forbid?” Rarity asked.
Fixit didn’t have an answer for that. He did have an idea though. “I don’t know maybe I healed faster because of the magic. In any case I have to get out of this hospital and find some more faustnium so I can reforge my tools. And that means going on a trip.” He said.
“A trip? What kind of trip?” Fluttershy asked nervously looking around then at Fixit.
It was then that it dawned on Twilight. “Wait you’re going looking for faustnium? Fixit you can’t do that! You’re supposed to be in the hospital not to mention it’s too dangerous!” Twilight told him knowing exactly what he was about to do.
“Now what are you two going on about?” Applejack asked. “Mind enlightening the rest of us?” She asked.
Fixit sighed again tired of all the questions. He was wasting time. “There is only one place in Equestria to find faustium.” He said. “Mount Everfree.”
“Mount Everfree!” They all shouted obviously afraid and in shock.
“Are you bucking crazy Fixit? That Place is dangerous! Maybe even as dangerous as the actual forest! Please don’t tell me you’re dumb enough to go anywhere near there!” Applejack said getting in his face obviously upset.
“Fine, then I won’t tell you.” Fixit said not effected by Applejack’s sternness. Mount Everfree was probably the biggest mountain in all of equestrian. Although Fixit had always wondered why it was called Mount Everfree since the mountain was actually nowhere near the actual forest. Maybe it was because weird stiff there also happened on the mountain and it also had a lot of the same fauna. But the difference was that the mountain had snow on the top and some things lived there that didn’t live in the forest.
“Applejack is right. You can’t go there. The animals there are dangerous and ferocious. You can’t go there all by yourself.” Fluttershy said scared and worried for her new friend.
Fixit thought it was weird that the pony who was the best at dealing was animals was scared of animals. True there were other things to worry about, but even so. “Well its not like I have much of a choice. It’s the only way to get the mineral.” Fixit said trying to reason with them.
“You do have a choice. You could stay here in the hospital and get your rest.” Applejack said getting back in his face.
“I’m fine, Sure, I ache a little but I’m perfectly fine, nothing is wrong with me. Nothing in my body is broken, and obviously my magic is working fine so stop treating me like an invalid.” Fixit said getting in her face as well.
“Invo-what?” Rainbow Dash asked tilting her head and in a confused tone, not knowing what that word meant.
Fixit sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. “Invalid to suffer from a disease or disability, sickly.” He would have told her to read a book but he knew he was still upset and he didn’t want to vet anymore on the girls then he already had. After all they went through all the trouble of bringing him there and checking on him and stuff.
“Excuse me girls.” Said Nurse Red Heart finally speaking up. “But I think my patient needs to get back in bed and have some rest.” She told them. Which was her nice way of telling them to leave.
“Aww, come on, I feel fi-.” Fixit started to say but then received a death glare from the mare prompting him to shut up and get in bed. The girls then took their leave and leaving Nurse Red Heart to run some tests on Fixit before she left too. So now Fixit was laying in his hospital bed, his forehooves resting behind his head. He was feeling very depressed and angry. Not at any of the girls or Nurse Red Heart, but himself. How could he let this happen? How could he let his master’s tools get destroyed? Why wasn’t he faster in his movements? Or in turning the release valve? Or stronger for that matter. He was starting to think that all his training with Master Inventous was all for nothing.
…
It was a sunny day, the birds were chirping, a breeze was going by carrying the scent of flowers A sound of a kick could be heard through all this as a young stallion was sent flying back into a bush groaning as he laid on his back. A shadow then loomed over the stallion as he got to his hooves to reveal a younger looking Fixit with a shorter mane and bruises all over his body.
“I don’t get it Master, what does learning how to fight have to do with fixing things?” He asked the shadow that loomed over him.
“Fixit, you have a strong mind, but a strong mind is nothing without a strong body. Sometimes you’re going to find something that takes a little more force which means you must be strong enough to overcome that force. And I’m not just talking about repair work. Besides, there’s more than one way to fix things, and more than one kind of thing that you need to fix. Sometimes the tools you have to use aren’t a screwdriver or a hammer, sometimes to fix a problem your body and mind are what is needed. Now, come at me again, and let us continue.” His master told him. Fixit then huffed through his nose and got to his hooves, readying himself before he charged at his master again.
…
That was how his training with Master Inventous started, with his master training his body and mind by having him read all sorts of different books and learning how to fight. Fixit was frustrated and impatient, much like kids are, and wanted to learn how to fix things right away. That was why he was there after all. But now Fixit knew what he was supposed to learn back then. His master was teaching him to use his head, problem solve, don’t just go in whacking things with a hammer because sometimes that didn’t work. And the training his body with fighting and even obstacle courses, that was supposed to help as well, it taught him mental agility, and how to tackle things from different angles think outside the box. And most recently Fixit realized the fighting was also teaching him how to be tough. Because sometimes the problem that needed to be fixed wasn’t a broken floor board or a squeaky wheel, sometimes the problem was more of a pony nature. Sometimes the problem was that he needed to keep things from needing fixing at all, to keep them safe. Like other ponies, like his family and other ponies he cared about. Yes, those were the lessons he didn’t fully understand at that point in time, the beginning of his training, but he learned to understand as time went on, and definitely understood now.
Fixit then got out of bed again and looked out the window. He was on the second floor and there was a tree right outside. He could do this. Fixit then removed the hospital gown he was wearing and opened the window. He then jumped out onto the tree and climbed down to the street below.
….
Nurse Red heart entered Fixit’s room with a smile. “Well then Mr. Rhythm, I hope you’re feeling a bit better from earlier. I know you want to get out of here as soon as possible but-“ She started to say but then she noticed that his bed was empty and his window was open and she gasped before running over to the window to see if he was still within eyeshot.
Fixit was now walking down a road now clad in his jumpsuit again but this time he was carrying his overstuffed saddle bags again. He knew that if anypony knew what he was doing they would totally freak out and probably drag him by his cutie mark back to the hospital. But he had to do this, he had to get that faustnium and reforge his master’s tools. Because if his master found out what happened he would probably dismiss him as his student. He would be completely disappointed in him. But then if his master did do that he would completely understood he had destroyed his master’s precious tools the tools his master forged himself when he was starting out and passed onto Fixit because he thought he was worthy of having them, because he thought Fixit was a capable and reliable repair pony, because he had earned them. But Inventouse was wrong, Fixit wasn’t any of those things he had proven that by letting them get destroyed. Now he had no choice but to do this, if for nothing else so his master wouldn’t completely hate him and denounce him as his student. But he couldn’t ask Twilight or any of the elements for help, after all this wasn’t their problem it was his so he had to deal with it on his own. Who was he to drag others into his problems? He couldn’t do that. So here he was on his own and starting a journey. He took one last look at Ponyville in the distance and continued walking. He had a lot of ground to cover.
….
It had been two days since Fixit had been put in the hospital, unfortunately he wasn’t still there, as Nurse Red heart reported to Twilight the day before. Apparently he had snuck out the window of his hospital room not too long after she and her friends left. And while part of her was angry at him for it and asking what was he thinking, the other part of her was worried. Sure he said he was physically fine but that hadn’t been proven in the slightest. After all, even of you escape an explosion like that unscathed it was rarely ever that simple. Plus now that she thought about it he said he was still having aches before they all left so that could be a factor too. Something else that worried her was that when they went to look for him at his tent outside of town his saddle bags were gone which meant he probably had left Ponyville and since she now knew this she and the others were going out to look for him but they couldn’t find him. But then the search kept being interrupted by the setting up of the ceremony which, while postponed because of Fixit’s hospitalization, was still going on. And so until it was all done all she and her friends could do was hope that Fixit was ok.
…
Fixit was not ok. He was currently sitting in a cave wrapping a bandage around his upper forehoof and grumbling about stupid mountains. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but it was a lot harder then he imagined. Every single part of climbing this mountain had been a challenge. Not only was there no clear path up it, but it was quite steep and very narrow. So a lot of the time Fixit found himself hugging a wall or rather the side of the mountain while he nudged his way along a ledge. And if that wasn’t bad enough the flora and fauna of the mountain didn’t make it any easier. He had reached the mountain about a day and a half ago and so far he had been attacked by a giant bore that seemed more into wrecking and crushing his things rather then him, and a giant lizard that came out of a cave and tried to eat him. There were also the bears, birds, and those were just the animals. Heck he had been attacked by an antelope, for no reason! It just came out of the blue and just bucked him in the face, which was rude in itself, but then it proceeded to chase fixit until he reached the cave he was in now. Then there were the giant plants that could eat birds, or shoot barbs, which Fixit was pretty sure were poisonous. But for now, Fixit was safe, and contemplating whether on not he should just quit, go home back to the hospital because not only was the mountain kicking his plot, he was starting to learn the difference between feeling fine, and being one hundred percent recovered. You see, at the hospital he felt fine, sure he ached a little but he figured those would go away But now he was started to realize just how messed up his body was. Not only did he still ache, but his movements were slower and he felt weaker than normal. Plus he found himself getting fatigued more easily as well. Fixit sighed. He was really ready to give up but then he wondered what his master would do in this situation.
..
Fixit let out a grown and threw down the tools he was holding in is hooves onto the work bench he was sitting at. “I don’t get thiiiiiiiiiiiis!” He yelled as he held his head and frazzled his mane with his hooves. He had finally finished the first phase of his tutelage under Master Inventous, and he was now ready to start to learn the true art of fixing things. And his first test was to fix a mechanism that Master Inventous had given him. The problem was that Fixit not only didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t in any of the books he read so not only did he not know how it worked he couldn’t even begin to know how to fix it. “I give up.” Fixit said as he banged his head on the work bench in front of him.
“What was that I heard? Giving up so Soon? Funny, you didn’t strike me as a quitter Fixit.” Came a voice from behind him. Fixit then shot up and turned around to see Master Inventous behind him with a small smile.
Fixit’s eyes then went wide and he gulped while turning red from embarrassment. “Well uh um, I uh that is to say uh…” He babbled as he tried to form coherent sentences but couldn’t. He then sighed. “I don’t’ know Master, no matter how hard I try I just can’t get this, maybe I’m not good enough to be your student after all. I mean I don’t even know what this thing is, and it’s not in any of my books.” He told his master and hung his head in shame.
Inventous then chuckled. “Well my boy I’ll tell you this the reason it’s not in any of your precious books is because I created it myself so there’s no information on it in them to begin with” He said picking it up.
Fixit then looked at his Master in confusion. “But wait, master why would you-“Fixit started to say but then trailed off thinking it was some sort of test.
“To teach you my boy that while your determination to push forward no matter what is impressive and to go and go and go even without sleeping and eating is admirable it isn’t healthy. Sometimes. Also there’s nothing wrong with failing, it happens, nopony bats a thousand. Inventous told him then moved closer and sat down next to his student. There is also nothing wrong with giving up. But don’t ever do so without exhausting all your options and going as far as you can.” The teacher advised his student.
“All my options?” Fixit asked before taping his chin. He then looked over at Inventors. Master, how do I fix this thing?” He asked the older stallion.
“Well my boy I’m glad you asked.” Inventous said and they began to work on it together.
…
Fixit’s eyes then opened filled with a new determination. It was too early to quit now! Sure things were tough but he expected that and he was far from exhausting all of his options. He could keep going, if only a little bit further. And so filled with a new resolve Fixit made a plan to rest and continue his trek in the morning.
….
Well the preparations for the ceremony were complete so now Twilight and her friends could focus on finding the missing fixit. And so they all sat in Twilights thrown room in their respective chairs trying to come up with a plan.
“Oh I hope he’s alright, I know he said he was fine at the hospital t still…” Said a worried Fluttershy from her seat holding her forehooves in front of her mouth.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He survived getting blown up without a scratch after all.” Said Rainbow Dash. “But I do wonder where he went.”
“I personally don’t get why he would do something as reckless as leave the hospital so soon in the first place.” Said Rarity with slight dramatics in her voice.
“Its because he’s a boy and boys do stupid stuff like this all the time. Always being overly macho when they should be taking it easy.” Applejack explained with a roll of her eyes. “Foolpony stubbornness if you ask me.” She added.
“Says the work horse.” Commented Rainbow who received a glare from the earth pony.
“I still don’t get where he would have gone.” Said twilight. I sent some guards out to find him since we couldn’t go looking ourselves but so far they haven’t had any luck either.” She said sounding a bit worried and a tad defeated.
Pinkie Pie however had been quiet through all this. Well as quiet as somepony could bee while humming. But then a thought popped into her head. “Mount Everfree.” He said quietly.
“What? Was that Pinkie?” Twilight asked giving the pink mare her attention.
“Fixit, he went Mount Everfree, he had to.” Pinkie Pie told her friends.
“Oh and what makes you so sure?” Asked Rainbow Dash suspiciously and raising an eyebrow wondering if Pinkie was being stupid again.
“Well he said he needed to go there to get the foalnium to remake his tools right, and he also said it was the only place to get it, so if it was me that’s what I’d do.” She explained to her friends.
They all then looked at eachother and collectively groaned. You could practically see them all mentally kicking themselves for not thinking of that earlier. Especially Twilight, who was supposed to be the smart one.
“What’s wrong? Did I mess up was I wrong?” Pinkie asked putting her hooves in front of her mouth now also getting worried thinking she had messed up and they all thought she was joking even though this was a serious moment and she was trying to be serious.
“No Pinkie Pie, you didn’t mess up. We’re all just kicking ourselves for not thinking of that sooner.” Applejack said and patted her on the head which Pinkie seemed to enjoy. And so they all left the castle, boarded a pegasi drawn royal carriage, and went on their way to Mount Everfree.
….
Fixit trudged his way up the mountain, his suit was covered in holes, he was tired, hungry, and cold, but the good news was that he was almost to the peak. Bad news was, he was in the middle of a snow storm and even though his goggles kept the show out of his eyes and he was illuminating his path with his horn he still couldn’t see two feet in front of his face. Not only that but the snow was getting to him he was shivering and freezing but he couldn’t give up now, not when he was so close and still had a little left in the tank. So with that Fixit continued on until he reached the peak of the mountain. When he did he couldn’t help but let a celebratory whoop and cheer as he fell back into the snow. He was completely exhausted physically. So he decided to rest here, build a shelter out of the snow, and wait until the storm passed. But then he heard a rumble and sat up thinking maybe it was his imagination. But he soon found it wasn’t as he heard the rumbling again. Fixit then got to his hooves and levitated the pickaxe he had brought with him and readied himself for a fight. No way was he running away this time. He looked around trying to find whatever was coming towards him as the rumbles got louder until suddenly he saw a large form through the blizzard. He couldn‘t tell what it was but it had glowing yellow eyes. It then roared and Fixit was suddenly hit with a blast of snow and Ice which threw him off balance. Next thing he knew he was being tossed across the mountain top by something big and physical hitting him. Fixit let out a scream as he almost fell off the mountain, the thing that saved him was his pickaxe which caught on a ledge.
Fixit the growled and pulled himself up. No it wouldn’t end like this, he had come too far, and he was too close! ”Fine then, you want a piece of me? Bring it on I’ll take on every last one of you!” Fixit wasn’t actually sure if there was more than one but the statement had already been said. Plus who knew maybe more would turn up. The monster roared again and then once again disappeared into the snow. Fixit saw this and figured it could blend with the environment maybe even turn invisible, but it did have one tell, its glowing eyes. If he could watch for those he would be alright.
Fixit readied himself and put all his senses on alert, focusing on the training with his master. He looked and listened for any signs of the monster, for any rumbles but it was quiet except for the storm. Fixit then heard a roar from behind him and turned as a shadow loomed over and began to fall on top of him. Luckily he saw it coming and jumped back out of the way. He then swung his pick axe at it but whatever it was disappeared again. They continued this dance of it appearing, attacking, and running away before Fixit could hurt it for quite some time. The bad part was Fixit was getting fatigued while the monster, whatever it was, since Fixit still couldn’t get a good look at it since the storm seemed to grow more and more intense over time, was still going strong.
It was during one of the breaks in the fighting that Fixit realized his tactics weren’t working. He had to change his plans up. Problem was, how, he couldn’t tell where the monster was and it was controlling not only the battle but its pace. He could run into the storm swinging his axe like an idiot but that definitely wouldn’t help. Maybe if he could keep the monster around long enough… “What’s wrong? What you scared of a lone little pony? Yea I bet you are you stupid whatever you are, let’s finish this! I’m tired of these games! Come and get me!” He told the monster yelling at it. Fixit then heard the biggest yell yet and suddenly found himself being lifted up. The monster had wrapped its claws around Fixit’s body and even though it was bringing Fixit closer to it he still couldn’t see anything but its eyes. It then roared in Fixit’s face and Fixit smirked. “Gotcha!” He said and hit the thing with his pick axe. Knew Fluttershy wouldn’t approve of him hurting an animal but it attacked him first and he didn’t think it would be in the mood to talk. Also what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
The monster wailed in pain before it growled in rage and began to slam Fixit into the ground a few times knocking him unconscious. After a few moments of Fixit not moving and the monster checking itself over. It growled at Fixit, its eyes angry and wanting revenge for being hurt. And so it lumbered over to Fixit and was prepared to finish him but then it stopped.
It stared at Fixit and watched as rainbow energy began to envelope his horn. The sparks then slowly began to spread to the rest of his body until they completely covered him and grew more intense. Then suddenly he began to glow and his eyes opened. And they too were glowing with a strange white light. The energy then began to spread and the monster stumbled back afraid a bit but not backing down. It growled at this new development trying to scare it away but it didn’t work. Fixit’s body then began to float into the air slowly in front of the monster which backed up again as rainbow colored light covered fixit completely. The monster had then had enough, it was time to go on the attack. And so it attacked the thing in front of it but the thing looked up, scrunched up its body then stretched releasing an incredible amount of energy, so much so that it not only sent the monster flying but destroyed the snow storm and shot into the sky.
….
Twilight an the gang impatiently made their way to Mount Everfree As they went they looked around on the ground just in case they saw Fixit.
“Oh no, what if something happened to him? What if he’s hurt or he really did have a broken bone or- Fluttershy started to speculate.
“Calm down Fluttershy, he’s not one of your animals he can take care of himself.” Rainbow Dash said reassuring her.
“That being said we should stay ever vigilant. After all, it’s not like a sign is just going to fall out of the sky.” Rarity reminded them from her cushioned seat. It was then that they all heard an explosion and looked to a torrent of rainbow colors shooting into the sky from atop a mountain.
“Ooh! Pretty!” Said Pinkie Pie as she watched. But twilight thought something was odd about it, it almost like like…
“Guards! Head for that Mountain top!” She ordered. The guards gave a nod and flew towards the mountain picking up speed.
“What’s going on Twi?” Applejack asked before it hit her. “Wait, do you think Fixit’s mixed up in all that?” She asked in shock.
“I know he is.” Twilight stated. “I don’t know how I know, but that is mount Everfree if I’m not mistaken and something is telling me that he’s there!” She told her friends before they both looked back at the mountain, the rainbow magic having already disappeared.
‘Well so much for not getting a sign,” Rainbow Dash commented.
Not too long after that the mares reached the mountain and found what seemed to be a warzone, part of the mountain was gone, there were half destroyed rocks and boulders everywhere but what really got them was the crater and the lone unicorn stallion unconscious at the bottom of it. Rainbow Dash was the first to reach him and make sure he was alight. Then the other joined her. They all then got Fixit onto the carriage and took him back to Ponyville.
….
It was early, really early. So early in fact that Princess Celestia hadn’t even raised the sun yet. Fixit yawned as he stood at attention, wondering why his Master had gotten him up ad this forsaken hour. “Uh Master, what exactly is going on I mean I know you like to get me up early but never this early. Is something wrong?” Fixit asked still pretty much half asleep.
Inventous himself had been polishing his tool through all this and then he finally stood up and faced Fixit with a big broad smile. “Ys, this’ll work nicely.” He said he then wrapped the tools around Fixit’s waist. “Yup, perfect fit.” He said with a chuckle.
Fixit blinked a few times before he started to get an idea of what was happening. His eyes shot open, he looked at Inventous, then at the tools, then at Inventous, then at the tools, and di this a few more times before he could speak. “What!?” He asked in disbelief.
Inventous just chuckled. “Yes.” He said.
“No.” Fixit said
“Yes.”Inventous said.
“No….”
“Yes….
“No no no no no no no no!”
“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes !”
“Noooooooooooo!”
“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees!”
“Master Inventous no! I can’t accept these, these are your personal tools!” Fixit protested as he took them off and he tried to give them back but Inventous stopped him.
Yes, they were my personal tools and now I’m giving them to you. They’re yours now Fixit my boy, use them wisely.” His Mentor said,
“But why?” Fixit asked. “Why would you give me these?”
“Inventous just smiled and put a hoof on Fixit’s shoulder. Because you’ve earned them my boy.” He said. He then turned away from Fixit taking his hoof off the younger stallions shoulder and looked out at the horizon. “Also, at some point in time we old folk have to pass the torch, and let the kids handle things.” He told him. “I have taught you everything I know Fixit, all my tools of the trade. Now its time for you to go out and find your own.” He added with a serious but kind tone.
Fixit then stare at his master for a long moment and was about to say something but then everything faded to white.
….
Fixit opened his eyes again and found himself looking at a familiar ceiling. Somehow he was back in Ponyville hospital. He looked down at his body and saw that he was covered In a lot more bandages then last time and it hurt even more when he tried to move. He then heard small squeaks and sobs coming from his left and saw Fluttershy there sobbing quietly while the other mares tried to comfort her. He raised an eyebrow at this and narrowed his eyes. Why was she crying? What did she think he was dead? “Yo, what’s with the tears? I ain’t dead yet.” He announced to them, his voice sounding more tired then he would have liked.
That was when the heads of all the mane 6 shot up and they all raced over to him barraging him with questions.
“Whoa whoa whoa there ladies, one at a time.” He said with a chuckle trying to calm them down.
Are you alright?” Came Rarity’s voice.
“I’m fine.” He told her.
“How do you feel?” Asked Twilight.
“Hungry.” Fixit responded.
“Anything broken?” Applejack asked
“Just my pride I think.” He said looking at himself.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Rarity asked again.
“Yes I’m sure.” Fixit confirmed.
“Was it scary?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not particularly.” Fixit said with a shrug.
“How’d you end up in that crater?” Pinkie Pie asked,
“Wait what?” Fixit asked looking at her along with the rest of the elements. “I ended up in a what?” Fixit asked.
“Well you see.” Twilight started as their attention turned back to Fixit. “When we found you, you were lying unconscious in a pretty large crater. And right before we got there we saw this huge pillars of magic shooting up into the sky that kind of looked like the rainbow colored magic from the elements of Harmony.” She explained. “Do you remember what happened to you?” She asked.
“Uh…” Fixit started as he tried to remember. “Not really, it’s all pretty much a blur. I mean I remember being attacked by some huge monster but that’s about it.” He told them. “But enough about that, how’d the ceremony go?” He asked.
“Mayor Mare decided to postpone it when you got injured.” Twilight told him.
“And then snuck out of the hospital.” Applejack added. “Which was completely stupid by the way.”
Fixit sighed. “I know I know, sorry.” Fixit said and hung his head. But this only lasted for a moment. “So what made you all come after me anyway?” He asked them.
“Well wouldn’t we darling?” Rarity asked him as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. “After all, its what friends do.”
Fixit heard this and his eyes went the size of dinner plates. “Wait, we’re friends? You all consider me a friend?” He asked them all in disbelief.
“Why of course we do silly, you don’t think were friends?” Twilight asked him with a smile and a giggle.
Fixit’s face then began to blush a deep red. “What? No! I mean yes! I mean I knew Flitter considered me a friend but I wasn’t sure about the rest of you.” He admitted.
“Flitter? Who’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Fluttershy, that’s the nickname I gave her. I give nicknames to everypony I consider a friend, or atleast want to be friends with.” HE explained to the blue Pegasus. “Why do you think I call you skittles?” He asked earning snickers from both pinkie Pie and Applejack.
“Wait does that mean you have names for all of us?” Rarity asked him curiously.
“Well uh yea.” He said rubbing his neck with a sheepish smile.
“Then what’s mine? The white mare asked.
“Oh, you’re Glamour.” He told her.
“Humph!” Rarity said adjusting her mane. “Fitting.” She said with her nose up in the air earning an eye roll from a few of the others.
“Ok, what about the rest of us?” Applejack asked.
“Oh, you’re southern belle.” Fixit told the mare who didn’t seem all that fond of t. “Pinkie Pie is P Squared.” He continued.
“Word.” Pinkie Pie said crossing her forehooves and striking a pose.
“And Princes sparkle is Twinkle” Fixit finished. Some of the girls liked their names and some didn’t but they all were stuck with them in Fixit’s opinion. Then after that the girls explained that the ceremony would be happening the next day and that the doctor said that Fixit would be released by then since somehow again, nothing on or in his body was broken. After visiting hours were over Fixit was left with his thoughts. So they considered him friends, real true friends, so much so that they were willing to risk their lives to find him even though him getting into trouble was his own fault. And now that he thought about it wasn’t Twilight the Princess of friendship? At first when he heard that he thought it was a joke or a really stupid title. But maybe there was actually something to it. Maybe this warranted some investigation. “Well if nothing else, I’ve finally found my reason to stay.” He said to himself with a smile.
….
The next day the whole town was buzzing, even more so then it usually was. Everypony was excited about the ceremony to celebrate the restoration of Ponyville Mayor Mare was getting ready to go to the podium while Fixit, clad in an all-new, shinier, jumpsuit courtesy if Rarity poked his head from behind the curtain.
“I can’t do this.” He said as his face pale in fear. He wasn’t goo with crowds or being the center of attention.
“Now where have I heard that before, don’t tell me you really did turn into a quitter. Came a voice from behind him. Fixit then froze and turned around to see a tall older looking unicorn. He was wearing a top hat and had a monocle and a thick gray mustache. He was also clad in a long sleeve button down shirt with a black vest and matching tie. His coat was rust colored and his eyes were a yellowish brown and had a soft expression. This was his former master, this was Inventous Steampunk.
“Master!” Fixit said with surprise and jumped up into the air. “What are you doing here?” He asked.
“What? Do you think I would really miss my former pupil’s first crowning achievement?” The unicorn asked. Besides, I wanted to come check on the town myself since you neglected to send me a letter on how things were going.” The older unicorn added.
Fixit just chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh yea, sorry about that.” Fixit said he then remembered what happened the tools and wen quiet and hung his head. “M-Master Inventous I have something I need to tell you.” He said as his eyes started to well up. “Your tools, the ones that you passed down to me…” He started to say but Inventous put a hoof on Fixit’s shoulder.
“If this is about them being destroyed in an explosion I already know, Princes Twilight told me.” He told his student.
“I’m sorry Master, it was all my fault you left them to me and I… I let them…” Fixit started to continue but was once again stopped by Inventous
“Fixit those tools were just that, tools, things, material possessions. Trust me I was much more worried about your safety then I was those things.” Inventous told him.
“But even so, I let them get destroyed. Not only that but I didn’t even get any faustnium to remake them.” Fixit said mentally kicking and hating himself.
“You mean this faustnium?” Inventous said pulling a tool belt from nowhere with tools made from faustnium.
Fixit’s jaw hit the ground as he looked at them. “But how?” Fixit said in awe at their shininess.
“It would seem that when your friends found you on Mount Everfree, they grabbed just enough faustnium for me to remake them for you.” He said and held them out to Fixit. Fixit looked them over then and shook his head and passed them back to Inventous.
“Thank you Master but I don’t deserve them. By letting them get destroyed the first time because of my own stupidity I sullied their and your greatness I don’t deserve them. I’m not worthy.” Fixit said. That was how he felt, how could he just accept them like that. By letting them get destroyed not only did he destroy something precious to his Master, the pony he looked up to more than anyone else, the pony he aspired to not only catch up to but surpass, the pony who taught him everything he knew and believe in him when nopony else did, but he also destroyed something precious o himself as well.
Inventous sighed and shook his head. “It has seemed you have forgotten what I have taught you my boy.” He told Fixit.
Fixit froze with fright, this was it, he was going to call Fixit a failure and denounce him as his student, he could feel it.
“What did I tell you about nopony batting a thousand?” Inventous asked.
Fixit then looked up at his master in shock. “What?” He asked completely confused.
“No one bats a thousand Fixit, Mistakes Happen whether we want them too or not. Besides how can I blame you for something that was out of your control? After all there was no way of knowing that the machine you and Princess Twilight built wouldn’t be able to handle her magic. Heck I’m pretty sure you didn’t think it was so different from unicorn magic.” Fixit said. And I know you, so you’re gonna say but you should have known you should have come up with a backup plan, but you did, after all that was why you installed the pressure release valve right? Inventous asked with a smile and a chuckle.
Fixit opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.
“I assure you Fixit, I couldn’t be any prouder of you, not only have you amazed me but you took our craft farther then I could have dreamed.” He said and moved in closer, don’t think I don’t know about those projects you started while learning from me.” He whispered to the younger stallion and winked.
“What?” Fixit asked in shock. “How did he know about that stuff?” He asked himself.
“In any case I’m proud of you Fixit. The student has surpassed the master. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d batter go find a seat, less all the ones in the front row are gone by the time I get there.” He said and passed Fixit the tool belt again. “Excuse me.” He said then left the backstage area leaving fixit to stare after him.
“Hey Fixit!” Someone called to Fixit pulling him from his stupor. He turned to see that it was Twilight poking her head out of the curtain at him from the stage. “Ready to go?” She asked with a smile.
“Huh? Oh yea.” He said looking at his new tools and putting them on before smirking at Twilight. “Ready as I’ll ever be Twinkle.” He said with a smile and took a deep breath before walking onstage which caused an explosion of applause. Fixit then blushed from the attention and chuckled a bit. Mayor Mare then introduced him and asked him to say a few words. Fixit chuckled. “A few words?” This got him a few laughs from the audience and from Pinkie Pie who pretty much wailed with laughter.
Mayor Mare also laughed at Fixit little joke. “Yes well along with the key to the city and this honorary certificate,” She then passed to him. Please tell us if there is anything the town of Ponyville can do for you.” She said with a big smile.
“Well there is one thing.” Fixit said as a smirk grew on his face. “Well actually two things.” He said.
“Oh and what are they?” The mayor asked.
“Well actually, I was wondering if I could become an honorary citizen of Ponyville.” He said earning him gasps from the audience and a loud “Yes!” of glee from Pinkie Pie. “I’ve become quite fond of this little town and from what I hear, it needs as many skilled repair ponies as it can get.” He said with a smile.
The Mayor was taken aback by this just as everyone else but she soon regained her composure and cleared her throat. “Of course! We would be most honored!” The mayor exclaimed. “But what is your second request?” She asked.
“Well actually it’s more for Princess Twilight?” He said causing everypony to look at her and for her to point at herself.
“Me? What could you possibly want from me?” She asked him just as curious as every pony else.
“Actually I was wondering if I could become your student.” Fixit told her with a smile.
“What?” She asked tilting her head a bit in confusion.
“I want to because your student, I want to study friendship and the magic it holds.” He told her with a smile causing the crowd to gasp again and earning a “Double Yes!” from Pinkie Pie.
Everypony in town was shocked some whispering about a new element of harmony and some wondered if this would add to the craziness that the town often went through. Either way, whatever happened, it was sure not to be boring.
Perplexing Pegasi...or Working Hard, Hardly Working
It had been three weeks since Fixit had come to Ponyville and if nothing else he was learning, or had learned, that it was no ordinary small town in the sticks. And it wasn’t just because a Princess lived there. He was actually starting to think that the town itself had some sort of spell on it because it had odd happenings almost on a daily basis. From the town coming together to stop a parasprite invasion with the power of music, two days after he got there, to the, what he called, “The Great Muffin vs Cupcake War” a week after that, to the whole town having to stop what they were doing to find a lost cat and bunny rabbit who had to be saved from a hydra a couple days ago, Fixit couldn’t help but think things in Ponyville were much more exciting than they should be for a town of its size. Not that he minded since, if nothing else, it kept things from getting boring. Luckily despite all the craziness the town was pretty much completely repaired. There were still a few buildings that needed work but those should be finished by the end of the week.
As he walked into town from his tent on its outskirts Fixit looked around at everyone still working their hardest and he couldn’t help but be proud and happy. He had always been a fan of hard work and he was happy to find that these ponies didn’t mind either. But then again in his experience ponies in small towns were rarely lazy. He sidestepped a couple earth ponies carrying some wood and ducked under some potted plants being lifted onto a windowsill via a crate on a rope and watched for a moment. “Careful with those! Last thing we need is them falling on somepony’s head!” He called up to the Pegasus pulling the rope. “And don’t forget to reinforce the walls and floors, less something crashes into one of the aforementioned walls or falls through the floor. Oh and double pane the windows too.” He told the Pegasus who was joined by other ponies of the various races all of whom gave Fixit salutes.
“Yes sir boss!” They all said in unison before going back to work. Fixit then sighed and shook his head.
“You do not have to “sir” me. And I’m not your boss.” He told them before he started walking again. He had been getting a lot of that since he came to town and started helping rebuild it. At first the townsponies didn’t really trust him which was understandable. After all he was new to town and they didn’t know him and they were suddenly supposed to take orders from him? If he was in their shoes he would have reacted the same way. Luckily thanks to his work, and help from the princess and her friends he was able to gain their trust which made things a lot easier. As he continued to walk some ponies waved to him like the Cakes, and he waved back.
Ah the Cakes, they were some of the first ponies to welcome him with open arms since their shop had been completely demolished. Sure they could be sporadic, but that came with the territory of owning your own business which was in high demand. He was both surprised, and not really surprised, to learn that Pinkie Pie, who had spent Fixit’s time there telling him every story of every crazy thing that had ever happened in Ponyville from Nightmare Moon, too Tirek himself, to how the town was founded and the Flame of Friendship, worked for the lovely couple in their shop. He had learned this when Pinkie showed up as the General of the Cupcakes army on the MVC war. Which was actually a lot scarier then you might think. Fun fact, muffins and cupcakes fired from cannons and catapults although delicious, hurt. At first when he found out the Cakes had twins, a boy and a girl one a pegasus and one a unicorn, he originally thought Pinkie was their daughter too. But Fixit then found out that the pink party pony grew up on a rock farm and had a mom and dad, and three sisters. Like others Fixit asked the Cakes how two earth ponies could give birth to a unicorn and a pegasus, as twins no less and he actually understood Mr. Cake’s explanation, as crazy and convoluted as it sounded.
Fixit then cracked his neck and decided to focus on the task at hand. After all he had rounds to make. That was what he decided he would do that day, make rounds and give advice to any of the hard working ponies that needed it. He was tired of being cooped up in City Hall, where his base of operations, as it were, was being housed. Every day he went there and just gave out jobs and looked at building plans and such and it was starting to get majorly boring. He missed being in the field, getting his hooves dirty, and since the town’s repairs were in the home stretch he decided now would be the perfect time to get from behind his desk. But then as he was walking he spotted a particularly worried Fluttershy flying around lifting things as if looking for something.
“Oh where are you? Please come out. I’m sorry if I upset you, I won’t do it again.” The yellow winged mare said as she continued to search.
“Something wrong Miss Fluttershy?” Fixit asked as he walked over to her, noticing her distress.
“Oh!” She said noticing him and flying over. “Mr. Fixit you just have to help me! Can’t find Angel Bunny anywhere!” She said desperately, her big blue eyes on the verge of tears.
Fixit then sighed. “He ran off again?” He asked her earning him a nod from the yellow mare
“I don’t know what happened, I was just trying to get him to eat healthy so he would grow up to be a big strong bunny but then he just pushed the food away and ran off! Please you have to help me find him.” She cried desperately. “You know, if you um want to.” She added quietly.
Fixit sighed. Angel Bunny. In his opinion that little bunny was nothing but a trouble maker. He was always getting into trouble from what Fixit heard and Fluttershy gave the thing way too much power over her. Now don’t get it twisted, Fixit didn’t dislike animals, they disliked him. He didn’t know what it was but the second he tried to pet one or just get close they either growled at him, attacked him, or both. Heck just in Ponyville He had been bitten, I.e. Pinkie’s gator, thank Celestia it didn’t have teeth. Had his face mauled, i.e. Rarity’s cat, and had his face jumped on, i.e. Fluttershy’s rabbit who proceeded to use Fixit’s face as a spring board to jump out a window forcing Fixit and Fluttershy to spend three hours searching for it. Where they found it on Fluttershy’s roof relaxing of all things.
Fixit looked at Fluttershy and saw her big doe eyes pleading for help, filled with tears and he couldn’t resist. “Aye, I’ll help ma’am, please just don’t cry. You look much prettier when you smile.” He told her with a bit of a smile. This caused Fluttershy’s face to turn completely red and for her to cover her face with her hooves to hide it. So, any idea which way he went?” Fixit asked walking past her a little and looking back at her.
“Oh uh um I-I think h-h-he we-went th-that way.” Fluttershy said pointing north while still coving her face with her other hoof still obviously flustered.
Fixit then smiled and gave her a nod before heading in that direction. “Alright then, let’s go” He encouraged the mare who followed him slowly. They made their way north and all around town calling out to Angel Bunny hoping he would come out of hiding but no such luck. And of course the longer they looked the more frantic and worried Fluttershy got.
“Oh I hope he’s ok and haven’t gotten into any trouble.” Fluttershy said as she floated behind Fixit as he walked. “What if he was bunny-napped? Or fell down a well? Or that mean old Hydra came back? Ohhhhh, Angel Bunny where are you!?” Fluttershy screamed out.
“Don’t worry Miss Fluttershy, if I’ve learned anything about that Rabbit since I’ve come to town it’s that he can clearly take care of himself.” Fixit told her as he looked behind a bush.
“Oh no no no, a sweet bunny like Angel shouldn’t be fighting or getting into trouble. I have to protect him.” Fluttery protested as she looked over Fixit’s shoulder.
“Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.” Fixit said unconvinced of this but kept his mouth shut about it and continued to search. He then looked over at Fluttershy and felt kind of sorry for her. She seemed really upset but then that was obvious. He wanted to help her, and not just with finding Angel Bunny, but because he knew what it was like to be shy, to be so nervous that you couldn’t even speak and all that came out was squeaks, to feel so shy that you want to shrink down and hide. He knew what this was like because he too was shy. You couldn’t tell from looking at him but one of the reasons he was so quiet around new ponies and in social situations, and the reason he drowned himself in work was because he didn’t have very good social skills and had no idea to interact with others. Sure his reasons for being shy were probably different then Fluttershy’s but that didn’t mean the results were different. That’s why he acted so extrovert, to not give his shyness a chance to rear its ugly head. Although sometimes his insecurities go the best of him and this didn’t work. But it was odd, more often than not, he found himself being the assertive one when around Fluttershy especially. He found himself egging her on and trying to force her out of her shell more than other shy ponies he had met or even himself. Maybe it was because subconsciously he knew that if they were both being shy at the same times nothing would get done, he didn’t know, but he did like the prospect of cheering her on and hoped one day to see her be assertive on her own. Preferably when dealing with something other than animals.
Fixit was taken from his thoughts when he heard Fluttershy cry out and point up at a tree. He looked to where she was pointing and saw Angel in a tree just sitting there like it was nothing.
“Angel!” Fluttershy squealed before sweeping up the rabbit in her hooves and hugging it. “Oh thank goodness you’re safe. You had me so worried!” She said as she hugged it more. “Now let’s go home ok, I bet you’re starving!” Fluttershy then turned in the air ready to leave when angel squirmed from her grasp and hopped back into the tree, his twitchy little nose up in the air. “Angel?” Fluttershy asked moving closer to the bunny who just folded its paws and turned away from her.
“What’s going on up there?” Fixit asked curiously moving over to the tree and looking up at Fluttershy.
“I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to want to come down.” Fluttershy explained in a worried tone before going back to trying to convince her pet to come down out of its tree.
Fixit then raised an eyebrow wondering what the little rabbit’s problem was and decided to climb the tree to get a better listen and handle on the situation. When he got there she was trying to bribe the bunny out of the tree with the promise of carrots which didn’t seem to be working. “Come on Angel, you don’t really want to spend the rest of your life in this tree do you?” Fixit asked as he tried to balance himself on a branch which was proving more difficult then he first thought. After all, horses weren’t designed to climb trees. To this Angel just raised his nose higher and turned away again this time away from both ponies. Fixit and Fluttershy then looked at eachother and tried to have one more go at it.
“Fixit’s right, coming home with me would be much better wouldn’t it?” Fluttershy true to convince the critter to no avail.
“Well this isn’t working.” Fixit commented. “And to think, all this because you want it to eat its vegetables, which is ironic since rabbits are herbivores anyway.”
“Oh I don’t know what to do, Angel Bunny is really hard to deal with when he gets this way.” Fluttershy said sounding defeated.
“Ok Miss Fluttershy, I know you’re all about the kindness but I think it’s time for some tough love.” Fixit Advised.
“But…” Fluttershy started. She had never really gotten too touch on Angel. After all he was her personal pet, and as rambunctious as he was he always encouraged her and tried to help her in the end plus she didn’t want her sweet little angel to hate her. But then she was reminded of the incident with the breezie’s where she got her key and learned that too much kindness could be a bad thing. Her eyes were then filled with determination, it looked super cute but it was determination nonetheless. “Right, sometimes you just have to put your hoof down.” She said thrusting her forehooves.
Fixit then smiled and gave a nod. “Exactly.” He encouraged. When he saw next both scare him and confused him. You see, Fluttershy then turned to Angel bunny and gave him a strange stare. It wasn’t angry, it wasn’t hateful. It wasn’t anything bad but it did send a shiver down Fixit’s spine. It was kind of like that look your mother gives you to keep you from doing something you know you aren’t supposed to but a hundred times more intense. Upon getting this look Angel bunny then sat up straight at full attention then jumped into Fluttershy’s waiting hooves. While Fixit wondered what had just happened. He then realized that what he had just seen must’ve been Fluttershy’s legendary stare. He had heard about it from Pinkie Pie but figured she was exaggerating about its power. Fixit now knew that it wasn’t an exaggeration and hoped that Fluttershy never used it on him.
“Come along Angel, it’s time to go home.” She said and started to fly slowly back to her cottage. Fixit, still in awe at the whole thing, couldn’t help but follow her for some reason. Fluttershy’s cottage was a little out of the way, cozy place just outside of Ponyville. It had all manner of facility to handle all manner of animal and oddly enough, didn’t have any sort of strange smell. Which was a bonus in Fixit’s opinion. This was Fixit’s first time being here but he had to admit he liked it. As he passed the holding pens and fences that kept the animals from running amuck he held out a hoof to a few of the animals but was only met with growls and disinterest. Fixit sighed in defeat at this. He was trying to like animals, really he was but their dislike of him was making it hard.
Fluttershy saw this and smiled a bit. She had to admit. When Fixit first came to town she was a bit apprehensive about him. After all she considered him a bit strange, not to mention he arrived under the guise of somepony else, sure it wasn’t really his fault and he didn’t actually mean to but Rainbow said that if he wasn’t trying to be suspicious he should have been up front from the beginning and she trusted Rainbow Dash’s opinion. Plus she had never been very good with Stallions, especially ones as…forward, as him. But as she watched him she learned he was actually quite nice He helped ponies without being asked or asking for a reward, he was good at leading and giving out jobs, plus he was one of the only ponies she had ever met who was able to calm Pinkie Pie down almost instantly. Plus he was also really smart, maybe even almost as smart as Twilight, and she was really, really, really smart. She had to admit, she looked up to him in a way. He always seemed so confident and cool, he reminded her of Rainbow Dash in the sense that he seemed to know what he was good at and exactly how good he was at it. But she also felt bad that her animals didn’t seem to like him at all since he was so nice. They continued walking all the way to her doorstep and Fixit stood and waited as she opened the door. “Thank you so much for helping me find my sweet Angel Mister Fixit. I really appreciate it.” She told him with a smile while still holding angel in her forehooves. Angel then jumped from her hooves and went into the house closing the door behind him. Both ponies looked at the door then at eachother and Fixit just shrugged.
“It’s no problem Miss Fluttershy. You know me, always willing to help. Oh and please no need to call me Mister, it makes me feel old.” He told her with a smile, not wanting things to be too formal.
Fluttershy smiled at this as her wings flapped faster signaling her slight rise in excitement. “Oh um ve-very well then.” She said with a bit of a blush. “Well if that’s the case then you don’t have to call me Miss since we’re friends.” She added with another smile. “You know, o-only if you want.”
Now it was Fixit’s turn to blush. “W-wait, we’re friends?” He asked her purely surprised. He had never really thought of it like that. Well he had hoped they could be friends, he wanted to think of them as friends but he didn’t think she would think of them as friends.
Fluttershy’s ears and wings then drooped causing her to land. “Unless you don’t want to. Oh I should have known you wouldn’t want to be friends with somepony like me.” She said in defeat, a bit dramatically.
“What? No! no no, that’s not it at all Miss, I mean Fluttershy. I would very much like to be your friend.” Fixit corrected waving his hooves in front of his body.
“R-really?” Fluttershy asked with a hopeful look. “You would?”
“I would consider it an honor.” He said with a slight bow causing her to blush again.
Fluttershy’s ears and wings perked up again and she began to float off the ground once more. “Yay!” She said quietly which Fixit somehow for some reason thought was meant to be a yell. “I have a new friend!” She added which he figured was also meant to be a yell. She then realized she was getting a little excited and her face turned red from embarrassment and her wings instantly stopped causing her to fall to the ground and land on her flank.
Fixit then chuckled a bit and looked down at her with a smile. “Yes I suppose you do, and so do I.” He told her then turned on his hind legs. “Well I guess I should be going now. See you later Fluttershy.” He said giving her a wave before walking back towards town.
When he got back to town Fixit let out a heavy sigh and stretched. “Well, that was certainly an adventure.” He said to himself as he went back to his rounds. Just another day in Ponyville he supposed. It was then that he heard a whoosh of air and found himself being tackled to the ground by a blue and rainbow colored blur. “Hello Miss Rainbow Dash, how may I help you?” He asked in a bored tone while on his back with her on top of him. This wasn’t the first time Rainbow Dash had done this, in fact, tackling him to the ground seemed to be her favorite way to get his attention. When he was first introduced to Rainbow Dash there were certain things he noticed immediately, such as her multicolored mane and tail. But there were other things as well such as her ego and tomcoltish- nature. In fact when they first officially met, if not for the natural physical differences between stallions and mares he would have thought Rainbow was a colt.
“Mayor Mare wants you to come to city hall, something about some pipes needing to be fixed.” She told him their muzzles extremely close.
“Right, I’ll get right on that but I can’t really go with you on top of me.” Fixit pointed out to her.
“Oh right, sorry.” She said and floated into the air.
“Shall we go then?” He asked as he stood up and brushed himself off. He then started making his way to City Hall with Rainbow Dash flying behind him watching him closely.
Honestly she didn’t know what to make of the stallion. Rainbow Dash kind of thought he was an egghead like twilight since he liked using big words and complicated explanations to things like she did. But unlike the recent unicorn turned Alicorn he also dumbed down his explanations for ponies who didn’t understand them Plus, he seemed a lot more laid back then her and less prone to freak outs. He also seemed a little too nice. Sure there was nothing wrong with manners and such but it felt odd coming from him. Like for instance he called her Miss and talked all formally like Rarity, which really didn’t fit his look. It made her wonder where he was from. She wondered what his deal was. Sure Twilight, Rarity, and some of the others seemed to trust him but to her he just seemed really weird. That being said he did have a few moves, like that one time she saw him scale a building, or that other time he somehow dodged a whole barrage of muffins that she launched at him with a catapult, or when he saved Rarity from that piano when he first got there. Which he then fixed a few days later saying music is with everything or something like that.
They finally reached City Hall which had ponies running in and out of it at every turn. Fixit looked around but didn’t actually see Mayor Mare. “Where’s is Madam Mayor anyway?” Fixit asked looking around for the older, but in his opinion, very pretty for her age older mare.
“Don’t know. I think she said something about going to the castle to talk to Twilight.” Rainbow Dash explained as she continued to follow him.
Fixit then stopped for a moment and shrugged. “Oh well I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He said. “So where are these pipes I’m supposed to look at?” He asked the blue Pegasus mare.
“Uh in the basement I think.” Rainbow said tapping her chin before leading him down a long flight of stairs. Well he walked she floated.
The basement was a bit dark but there were offices and other looking rooms there as well. They then came to a small corner and to a door that said “Maintenance” The two ponies looked at eachother before Fixit opened the door and they walked inside. “So what exactly am I looking for?” Fixit asked the mare as they made their way through the maze of plumbing until Fixit spotted some rusted leaking pipes. “Nevermind, I think I found it.” He said walking over and examining them. “Hey Rainbow Dash?” He called out to her.
“Huh? Uh yea?” She asked giving him her attention but surprised he had spoken to her.
“Could you do me a favor and get me some spare pipes? Preferably…” He then paused and measured the pipes. “Of varying sizes while I find out where the shut off valve for the water is?” He asked her.
“Huh? Oh sure, back in a dash!” She announced then took off.
Fixit then went to find where to shut off the water. Or at least he started to, he then decided to tell the people in, and going in and out of the building that the water would be off for a while. And so he went to the front desk and asked if the mare there could let others know. By this time Rainbow ash and a pair of earth ponies had delivered the supplies that Fixit had needed, led there by Rainbow Dash and Fixit used his magic to carry everything down to the maintenance part of the building. Fixit then laid everything down and took a deep breath. “Ok, let’s kick this out.” He said to himself then went to go find the water shut off valve. Once he did, it was actually just on the other side of the room, he returned to see Rainbow Dash sitting on the ground as of waiting for him and looking quite bored. “Lemme guess, nothing else to do today?” He asked her.
“Not right now.” She said while shaking her head. “So I figured I’d just hang out here, see if you’re really all you’re cracked up to be.” She told her.
“I see.” He responded while setting things up. “Well then guess I’d better not disappoint.” He said and started getting to work. As he did some he couldn’t help but hear noises from the mare behind him. He figured Rainbow was the kind of pony that had trouble keeping still and his perceptions were right, she was doing all manner of thing to distract herself. She whistled, she flew around a little and even started banging out beats on pipes, which actually weren’t half bad but nevertheless it was starting to get a bit distracting to him and he was losing focus on his work. He then stopped for a moment and gave a sigh. “Would you like to help me Miss Rainbow Dash?” He asked turning to look at her, who happened to be making faces for some reason.
“Oh uh sure I guess.” She said stopping with the faces and moving over to him. “And don’t call me “miss”, I’m not a miss.” She told him. “So, what do you want me to do?” She finally asked.
“Oh nothing much just pass me things when I ask for them.” He told her and went back to work unscrewing a rusty pipe.
”Uh ok.” Rainbow Dash said giving him a nod. She then sat there for a few minutes staring at him as he worked, waiting for him to give her something to do. “Ugh! This is so not cool! I’m so bored! He said I’m supposed to help but he isn’t even giving me anything to do, this is so lame. Does he even remember that I’m here?” She thought to herself in a bored tone before deciding to find out if he was paying attention. “Hey!” She called out.
“Yes?” He asked her as he continued to work.
Now Rainbow Dash was caught. She honestly didn’t expect him to answer. Atleast not with the first call, so her brain worked for her to find something to say. “Uhhhhh.” She started. That was when she noticed a jet of fire coming out of his horn which he was using to cut through a pipe and thought it was pretty cool since he had never seen it before. “Hey, what kind of spell is that?” She asked pointing at his horn.
“It’s a blow torch spell.” Fixit answered as he finished cutting through the pipe and caught it with his hooves. “Pipe please, 2 feet.” He said to her. He would have grabbed it himself but he noticed the bored look on her face and remembered he asked her to help.
“Oh uh right!” She said looking for it for a second before passing it to him. “So where did you learn that spell I don’t think Twilight knows it, or atleast has never used it.” Rainbow Dash speculated.
“Well Princess Sparkle probably doesn’t have a reason to learn a spell like this.” Fixit said coming up with his own speculation as he sauntered the pipe.
“Yea true, but that doesn’t really answer my question dude.” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “So? Where’d you learn it?” She asked again.
Fixit then began to fidget a bit and shrugged as his face turned red. “I uh well I kinda came up with it myself.” He admitted.
“Wait you did?” Rainbow asked in surprise. “Dude that’s awesome!” She said and flew into the air. “I thought only somepony like Twilight could do something like that!” She said excitedly, maybe this guy wasn’t as lame as she thought he was.
“Pease,” Fixit said finishing with the pipe and grabbing the supplies and tools to move to another area to make sure there were no other problems. “It was a challenge from Master Inventous and its hardly all that amazing.” He told her as the spell dissipated. “Sometimes it doesn’t shut off for hours and sometimes I can’t get it to work at all, sometimes the flame is too strong and sometimes it’s too weak. So as you can see it still has a lot of bugs that need to be worked out.” He told her as they walked. Fixit then spotted a pipe that had some gross goop dripping from it and both ponies made a face. “Mind seeing if you can find a bucket?” He asked Rainbow Dash.
“Right!” Rainbow said but also was still clearly grossed out. Fixit while fixit put on some gloves and started removing the pipe. A really bad smell was coming from it. He then figured it was a “waste” pipe and waited for rainbow to come back with the bucket. When she returned he levitated the bucket but then remembered that he needed a ladder as well so Rainbow wouldn’t have to hold him up in the air. So Rainbow got him a ladder as well. He climbed the ladder with Rainbow floating next to him as he finished removing the pipe. “You might want to cover your nose.” He said to her before he finished and their noses were hit with a disgusting smell. Fixit coughed ad gagged and Rainbow turned green for a second but both ponies pushed forward as fixit began to clean the pipe. It took a little while and neither pony came out of it feeling completely fine. But they were able to get through it and walk out of City Hall not completely scarred for life. Fixit was able to finish his work with the help of Rainbow Dash and now it was time to move on. “Once again, that was certainly an adventure.” Fixit said to himself.
“Once again?” Rainbow dash asked looking at him with a confused raised brow.
“Uh nevermind, don’t worry about it.” He told her with a sheepish smile.
“Oh well ok I guess.” Rainbow said. “You know you’re pretty cool for a total geekwad.” She said bucking him in the shoulder lightly with her forehoof.
Fixit chuckled and decided to take it as a compliment. “Yea whatever you say Skittles.” He told her. He then watched as she smirked and took off into the sky to do something else. He then took a deep calming breath and looked up at the sky. “Its good to help.” He said thinking outloud. He then adjusted his goggles, brushed himself off, and got back to making his rounds. After all, no rest for the wicked, or wickedly amazing.
Author's Note
Whew! Finally done! This chapter took a little longer then I wanted it to since I wanted to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash just right since I’ve always had trouble portraying existing characters so sorry if they seem a bit out of character. If anyone has any ideas on how I can improve please let me know. As I said before criticism is always welcome. That being said I want to explain some things about my MLP world. They do have technology like for instance Vinyl Scratch’s wub washing machine and bass cannon, and indoor plumbing as well as construction vehicles like cranes and such but they don’t use cars or cell phones because things like that are super-duper rare since they are considered cutting age technology. Also skittles, soda and things like that also exist as well. Once again thank you for reading and see you all in chapter 4!
