Cars in Equestriaby DudofallChaptersChapter One: The AccidentChapter Two: The IdeaChapter Three: Build and Test the BestChapter Five: For Science!Chapter Six: AgainChapter Seven: Need Never Go HomeChapter Eight: Hastened GratificationChapter Nine: An Important TestChapter Ten: Survey the WreckChapter Eleven: Take a BreakChapter Four: kind of distractionChapter One: The AccidentG Minor re-lit the lamp before picking up his pickaxe again and giving the wall in front of him a heavy blow. He heard something rustle behind him, and turned to see his brother, F Minor, pulling a cart. "Stand back, G," he said. "What's in the cart?" G wondered. F pulled the tarp away to reveal a huge supply of TNT. "Is there going to be any coal left down here after we blow that up?" G Minor questioned. "All I know is it's not my idea so let's light this up and get out of here!" F waved his hoof towards the entrance as he said this, knocking the lamp onto the fuse hanging off the back of the cart. The two brothers looked at each other, at the fuse, then at each other again. Then they ran out of the mine as quickly as possible. The bros dived behind some rocks outside and covered their ears. A small explosion came from the mine. Inside, the cart was propelled into an extensive network of tunnels. *** The sun was shining and birds sang sweetly as Princess Twilight Sparkle woke up in her castle room. She yawned and looked out the window. From this room she could see the rest of Ponyville waking up below, as well as some of the charming grassy hills on the opposite side of the Everfree forest. "Is there anything more tranquil than a Sunday morning?" she mused to herself. The peace was suddenly interrupted as a crash came from one of the hills. A flaming cart burst out into the sky and fell to the ground, the last few sticks of dynamite exploding and propelling it down the hill and towards Ponyville. It zoomed past houses and businesses, careening towards the castle. Twilight let out a sigh and teleported outside. She clutched the flaming apparition in a telekinesis spell. With a great effort, she stopped it in its tracks. When she let go the poor cart fell apart almost instantly. "Twilight, what happened to your hair?" asked Pinkie as she bounced towards the purple alicorn. "You look like an anthropomorphic hedgehog!" Twilight moaned, "I didn't have time to brush it this morning, I was busy saving my library from that!" She pointed an accusatory hoof at the remains of the cart. Pinkie laughed. "Oh, yeah! It was really fast, wasn't it?" "Yes. Well, I've got to brush my hair, so I'll see you later," Twilight said as she walked towards the door of the castle. "Not before I see you!" Pinkie promised. Twilight paused for a moment before shrugging and entered her new home. The smell of breakfast lured her towards the dining room. "Good morning," she said to Spike as he brought two plates piled high with Abyssinian pastries to the table. "What are those?" Spike shrugged, "Just a new recipe I borrowed from Fluttershy. She said it was the best!" Twilight nodded and picked one up. "Whatsh on da schedule 'oday?" Twilight asked as she ate a pastry. "Just organizing the books from Princess Celestia," Spike smiled. Twilight nodded. She liked arranging things and books, so the day was guaranteed to be a fun one. *** Chapter Two: The IdeaTwilight groaned and tried once more to keep the image of the flaming cart out of her head. It was distracting her from what was supposed to be the fun task of sorting the books she had received from Princess Celestia. The cart had moved so quickly, almost as fast as a train! But it had been so much smaller. She focused on the stack of books she was supposed to be sorting, which was twice as tall her. Levitating the top book, "Theory of Automatic Movement", she was reminded once again of the cart. "This is hopeless," Twilight sighed. She trotted to her desk and picked up a quill. After sketching a rough image of the cart, she set about improving its design. The whole structure would need to be reinforced, the explosions that propelled it would require refinement, and a set of straps to keep a pony on would be necessary. "Spike!" she yelled. The dragon appeared from behind a bookshelf. "Yeah?" "Can you please bring me a stick of dynamite, some rope, and a cart?" "We don't just have dynamite lying around, Twilight." "Fine, just get the rope and the cart for now." There was a thought, where would she get the explosives for her experiments? They were pretty rare, at least in Ponyville. Maybe Rainbow Dash would know. And logically, the best way to find Rainbow would be to fly around looking for her. Twilight grinned and made her way to the castle's golden balcony. Although she was no master flier, her skills had improved; she had come to like the wind in her mane and the ability to look at everything from above. Twilight flapped her wings experimentally, then took off slowly. It was mid-morning in Ponyville. A few ponies were walking around, looking like dolls from up in the sky. In the distance the weather team was preparing a microburst with some heavy rain clouds. Twilight flew closer to the team and the menacing gray clouds. She spotted Rainbow Dash talking to some weather ponies Twilight didn't recognize. "We got this," she was saying as Twilight flew within earshot. The weather ponies nodded. While they both wore hard hats and white lab coats, the stallion hovering to Dash's left was a dark shade of green with a maroon mane and the mare on her right had a purple mane and was yellow. Rainbow greeted her friend, "Hey Twilight, what's up?" Twilight gave Pinkie a questioning look. Twilight excitedly asked her question, "Do you know where I can get a ton of dynamite?" Dash looked nervously to the weather ponies next to her. "No! I hate explosions and would never blow anything up!" she anxiously replied. Well, if Rainbow Dash didn't know about explosions, who would? Twilight sighed. "Thanks anyway." She sank towards the ground and tried to come up with other ideas. Pinkie Pie! Yes that was it! "Tail twitch, eye flutter, ear flap, shaky legs. Someone's thinking about me!" Pinkie said exuberantly. Twilight gave a small yelp of surprise. "Hiya Twilight! Whatcha doin'?" Twilight answered her, "I'm just looking for somepony who has a large stock of dynamite." "I have some fireworks!" Pinkie chirped. Fireworks were pretty close to TNT. They were more controlled, which was necessary. Twilight wouldn't have to devise any sort of system to reinforce the cart if all the force was directed away from it. She smiled, "Could I please have a few?" Pinkie grinned wider than should have been physically possible, "Sure. That's what friends are for!" Then she bounced away. Twilight walked back towards her home, relieved that the most volatile part of the prototype was taken care of. The rest of the materials would be easy! Chapter Three: Build and Test the BestWith all the parts collected, Twilight felt ready to build her prototype fast cart. She was standing in the small backyard of her castle, looking at the blueprint she had sketched up earlier. An aura of magic appeared around one of the fireworks from Pinkie, and it floated to the back of the cart as some of the rope began to levitate. When the rope had affixed the firework to the cart, Twilight bid it to wrap around the cart in an X shape. Activating a dictation spell on the quill and paper next to her was the final step. "Test #1, prototype 1," she stated for the record. With an expectant smile, Twilight sent a match over to the cart and lit the fuse. The firework's first stage went off somewhat quietly. Twilight's smile slowly turned into a frown as the cart inched forward slightly faster than a snail. Then the second stage went off with bright sparks and an ironic celebratory whistle. "The cart barely moved," Twilight sighed. *** Twilight's next nine tests didn't yield the best results. She tried adding more fireworks, which resulted in a faster cart. However, their collective second stages were far too dangerous and destroyed the cart almost beyond magical repair. The next prototype had a similar number of fireworks, with only a few at a time being lit. This resulted in the cart moving too slowly. Twilight next enchanted the fireworks to provide more thrust with a smaller second stage explosion. The cart moved fast enough, but only for a few seconds before the rope burned away and released it. Twilight had run out of fireworks by this stage, so she attempted to enchant the wheels of the cart to move instead. The spell was actually somewhat successful. "How's the cart thing going?" Spike asked as he exited the back door of the castle. "It is better than when I started," she responded. The dragon raised an eyebrow. "How much better?" "Now it doesn't explode!" Spike took a small step backwards. "Anyway, somepony's here to see you." Twilight stared at her prototype as her assistant began to speak again. Making the wheels move magically took a lot of power, and wouldn't work for long trips. Some sort of mechanical system to drive the axles could greatly increase the range of travel. Maybe if explosions drove some pistons-"Twilight!" The princess-turned-inventor jumped. "Yes, Spike?" "Don't you wanna meet the student?" "Uh...yeah! I'll meet her right here!" Spike tilted his head. "It's a him." Twilight gave a slow nod as she realized her mistake. "I'll meet him right here," she corrected. Spike sighed as he left the princess of friendship to her musing. *** Oloy Victorium stood nervously in the main foyer of the Castle of Friendship, wishing there were plants there. The crystal floor was cold and unforgiving and the color palette reminded him of a gaudy carnival stall. The abrupt return of the Savior of the Crystal Empire distracted Oloy from the castle. "Let's go," Princess Twilight's assistant said. As the two walked the halls, the student found the courage within himself to ask a question. "Does the castle have any plants?" "Nah. That would be too much work." "I always heard you had a strong work ethic." The dragon sighed. "I don't water plants. Please don't ask Twilight about it." The pair arrived at a door with an engraving of a chrysanthemum on it. "The princess of friendship will see you now." Oloy walked through the door cautiously, wincing as it slammed behind him. Just a few meters in front of him stood Princess Twilight Sparkle. He took a moment to admire the strange mechanical contrivance she was focused on. It was similar to a wooden cart, but with a large device on the front right corner attached by rope to the axle. "What's my first lesson going to be, princess?" Oloy asked. His question prompted Twilight to jump. "Gah!" she yelped, before coming up with an answer. "You can help me test this cart!" Oloy's eyes widened in confusion. "What does that have to do with friendship?" "A true friend helps a friend test a volatile new prototype!" Twilight proclaimed, stepping closer to Oloy and shaking his hoof. "Hello, my name is Twilight." "Oloy Victorium," he said. Twilight smiled. "So you're the pony who won the contest. Congratulations! Now let's get to work. Please stand on the cart." He did so, taking notice of some straps under him. "These are for safety," the alicorn noted as she wrapped all four straps around his hooves. Oloy started to worry when he saw Twilight's smile grow unnaturally large. Her ear twitched as she enchanted a quill and paper next to her and spoke. "Test #13, prototype 13. It's gotta work this time!" "Wait!" Oloy begged. The alicorn's eyes shrank as she gazed at the cart. "You'll be fine! There's nothing to worry about! The straps will save you!" "but-" the cart's front corner began to vibrate and make lots of noise. The wheels it was attached to spun into the ground a bit before launching it and its reluctant passenger across the yard. The device on the corner suddenly stopped, but the cart kept rolling. As it sped past the Ponyville border, Oloy suddenly realized he was enjoying the ride, and let out a cry of elation. Then the back wheels fell off, bringing his journey to an abrubt end. Chapter Five: For Science!"Spike!" Twilight's call sped through the door to the backyard, ricocheted off the crystal walls, and reached the dragon's ears just as he was about to eat a scoop of delicious rocky road ice cream. He shrugged and ate it anyway. "Coming!" the dragon replied after he finished the dessert. If Rarity could solve her problems with ice cream, so could he. Spike wondered what insane request Twilight would have for him. Yesterday's fiasco of a test was not increasing his confidence in the project. He didn't have to wonder long. Twilight looked up from the motor she'd been working on. "What color should we paint the cart?" she asked. Before Spike could answer, Oloy popped up from the other side of the cart. "Why do you want to paint it anyway?" he asked. She tapped the cart's platform, "We can use a heat resistant paint to keep it from setting itself on fire!" "Paint it red," her dragon assistant said, "and put on some green flames." That would look really cool. Especially the flames, green was just a good color for them. The alicorn smiled. "What a great idea!" she said, as she wrapped Spike in a hug. Oloy grinned. The Princess of Friendship was so friendly! Nopony was this nice to him back at home. "Hey Oloy, wanna pick out the paint with Spike?" "Of course!" he agreed almost immediately. Spike nodded. "It'll be way easier to carry all the paint with Oloy!" The two left through the chrysanthemum door. Twilight smiled as they did. "Those two are gonna be great friends!" *** Oloy and Spike walked silently through the corridors of the castle. The student considered what kind of plant would look nice next to the crystal walls. The princess' assistant focused on navigation. "How much paint can you carry?" he asked. Oloy shrugged. "A couple buckets." "I'll get you some saddlebags." "No thanks, I've got my own." "Whatever." With that delightful exchange concluded, the two left the castle. Spike led the way towards the paint shop. A gray stallion with blue eyes and a blond mane waved at them from behind the counter. He held up a bucket of paint. "Only the finest of paints, for the finest of ponies...and dragons! Get 'em while they're here!" Spike walked up to the counter. "Where's the red and green?" The paint pony paused. "You'll buy purple paint and like it, you scaly buffoon." "What?" "Pinkie's painting the town again, so I'm all out of red and green. I'm terribly sorry, sir," the salespony sighed. "What about pink?" Oloy butted in. The shopkeeper smiled. "I've got all kinds of pink! Petunia Pink, Peony Pink, Pinkalicious...Not that you'd know this difference, you dolt!" Spike frowned. "Peony Pink, please," Oloy requested obliviously. "Wait! It has to be heat resistant!" Spike reminded him. The paint pony grinned. "Why didn't you say so, my good friend? I'll get it from the back." As he left, the dragon shot the student a confused look. "What?" asked Oloy. "He has such weird manners!" "That's just how paint sellers are!" "And butchers," Spike grumbled. The student shot the dragon a confused look. "Here's your stinking paint, troglodyte!" The shopkeeper said as he returned, tossing the paint can on the counter haphazardly. Oloy grabbed the paint. "Thank you very much!" "Come back soon! And thank you for your business!" Chapter Six: Again"Are you absolutely certain this is necessary?" Oloy asked. He was currently strapped to the cart as Spike insistently tied pillows to him with rope. Twilight shrugged, "I did get just a little carried away during your first test." She laughed nervously. "Yeah, this is necessary." She floated a hoofball helmet to her assistant, who placed it firmly on Oloy's head. The dragon gave a thumbs-up, which Twilight tried to return, before realizing she didn't have hands. Their guest shook his head, befuddled. "Anyway!" the princess said, "Let's start test #14 off right!" She pulled a lever on the left side of the cart, and the engine in the front clicked to a start. "Remember, pull it the other way to stop!" she yelled over the din. Oloy nodded. Spike jumped off as the pink cart began to roll across the backyard. The motor was a two-piston model, but it didn't matter to the student turned adrenaline junkie. His smile widened as the prototype began to speed up. Soon he was enjoying the wind in his mane and the massive fallen trees in his path. "Wait! No! No! No!" Oloy said eloquently as he frantically pulled the lever next to him. The motor cut out and there was a loud thud below the cart, followed by a scraping sound. The student closed his eyes and winced as he closed in on one of the trees. *** Twilight flew somewhat slowly over Ponyville. "Can't you go any faster?" Spike asked from his perch on her back. "Sorry, Spike," she said, "I've gotta be careful." The two watched as the cart sped across town. Spike gulped. "Um, Twilight?" "Yes?" "Is Oloy going to crash into those trees?" "Of course not! There's a lever so he can stop," Twilight assured her assistant. Nevertheless, she began to descend quickly. A loud thud came from the prototype ahead. "It's falling apart!" Spike yelled. "Don't be ridiculous," she assuaged his worries, "that's to help it stop!" The large piece of metal dragged behind the cart, slowing it down a bit. A magical aura brought it to a halt inches away from the tree. Oloy opened his eyes. "Woohoo! I'm okay!" he cheered. Twilight frowned as she landed next to him. "You are, but that's only because I stopped the cart." "So?" the student failed to see the problem with that. After all, if the princess of friendship could stop the cart, it stood to reason that she could simply stop it again. "We were trying to get the cart to stop on its own!" Twilight exclaimed. "Ohhh..." Oloy said sheepishly, before getting an idea. "Why not just put the brakes on the wheels?" At this, Twilight looked thoughtfully into the distance, before making some calculations in the dirt. "I mean, that's how trains work, right?" Twilight looked up from her math. "Actually, train brakes wouldn't work here. They're too big!" Spike, meanwhile, walked over to the side of the road to sit down. It was one of those rare cloudy days in Ponyville. The treetops were placid, and the air felt heavy with humidity. He picked up a small rock, then looked at the cart's wheels as Twilight and Oloy hit a bit of a dead end in their brakes discussion. "That's it!" he shouted exuberantly. The two looked at him expectantly. "What's it?" Oloy asked. Spike rushed over to the cart, then put the rock against a wheel. Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Even if we could use rocks to stop the wheels, they would wear each other out with heavy use. Unless we had some kind of disk..." Oloy glared at Spike, who had obviously stolen his brake idea like a fanfiction writer steals writing ideas. Spike stuck out his tongue. The two engaged in an intense staring contest. "Thanks! This is a great idea!" Twilight said somewhat obliviously. Oloy grinned. "I'm glad you liked it! I worked so hard on this project, I deserve top marks and a train ride back home!" The princess of friendship smiled back. "Don't worry, I'll send you back as soon as we're done testing these brakes!" Chapter Seven: Need Never Go HomeOloy sighed dramatically as he brought the last brake to Twilight. It was a bulky machine, and heavily enchanted, judging by the purple glow emanating from it. "What's the magic on this thing do again?" he asked. "I already told you several times, the spell converts heat into energy for a light spell!" she exclaimed. Oloy rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He glanced over to Spike, who was attaching the second-to-last brake to the prototype, which had also gained a cushion in the front. He'd been gone in the morning for an errand. When asked who the errand was for, he'd deadpanned "She likes rocks." Now, the dragon gave him a thumbs-up, and he waved a hoof back. Twilight shook the brake around to check if it was fully attached. It didn't move too much, and she smiled. "Ready for another test?" she asked. Oloy hopped into the prototype. "You bet!" He couldn't wait to finish this last test and never be forced to talk to Spike ever again. The two had reached a truce at a secret overnight meeting. Twilight prepared the new safety measure, a magical mixture that would help his hooves stick to the floor of the cart. "Test #15 starts now!" she shouted, pulling the lever. The engine failed to start. "Or...maybe in just a minute," she said, befuddled. Half an hour later, Oloy was getting really sick of being stuck to the cart floor. "Could I take a look?" he asked. Twilight looked up from the engine. "Sure! Come on down and see! You are here to learn, after all." Oloy tugged his hooves weakly. "Oh, right!" She cast the necessary spell, and the goop floated back into the mixing bowl. The student stretched out his legs and jumped down. He looked at the engine. Everything seemed to be in place. Except..."Where's the coal?" he asked. "What do you mean, coal? This prototype runs on something far better than coal!" Twilight said defensively. "Well, if you're out of that something, I bet it won't work. Besides, what could be better than coal anyway?" Twilight's horn glowed, summoning a chalkboard. She began to write complicated formulas on it. "To synthesize the best fuel, I first asked myself these basic questions. What makes trains go? How can I make something that's smaller than a train go? What kind of fuel do I need? Next, it was a fairly simple process to look over the available materials and devise the best solution to my problem." Oloy Victorium tapped her on the shoulder. "Could you just skip to what's making this go? I couldn't care less about how you got there." "Well," Twilight stiffened, "basically, it's got some of Princess Celestia's shampoo and a rare mineral I got from one of my generous friends. The ratio is about 3:14, if you must know." "Thanks! I'll be right back with those!" Oloy started to run off, before returning slowly. "Um...where did you say your generous friend was?" She smiled. "I think Spike knows exactly where to find her. Want to help Oloy out a little?" Spike grinned. It was a grin that showed off a few too many of his dragon teeth. "I would love to!" "Great! I'll see you two later!" Twilight waved as Oloy and Spike walked away. After a moment, she eyed a jittery set of bushes nearby. "I wonder if Pinkie is close by?" she said loudly. Said pony's head popped out of the greenery immediately. "If you want to talk to me, just say hello! That's what everypony else does!" Pinkie pointed out. Twilight nodded sagely. "Hello Pinkie!" "Hi Twilight! Did you like the fireworks?" "They were pretty good, but I've reworked my design a lot since then. Now this thing runs on Princess Celestia's shampoo and pectolite." "How are other ponies going to get such rare stuff?" "Other ponies?" "Well, yeah! I mean, it wouldn't be much of an invention if you're the only one getting to my parties faster!" *** Oloy banged on the door a couple of times. "Hello?" Spike glared at him. "You're supposed to knock gently on a lady's door. Like this!" He tapped a single claw on the door with the strength of an inchworm. "Coming!" Rarity sang from inside. She opened the door gracefully, careful not to let it slam. "Good afternoon, Spike! Who's your friend?" Spike winced at the word 'friend'. "Just a student who's working with Twilight. He should be leaving soon." "Well, I hope you take some time to enjoy Ponyville! It's a quiet town, but bristling with rustic charm!" Oloy smiled. "I sure will. I'm Oloy Victorium! Nice to meet you!" "Nice to meet you too! Are you taking a tour, then?" Spike shook his head. "We need some more of that rare gemstone you gave Twilight for the experiment." "How official!" Rarity scratched her head. "But I don't recall giving her any gemstone. Unless you count the faux-amethyst on a dress I made for her, and even that was weeks and weeks ago!" Spike frowned. Oloy thought for a moment. "Didn't you say you visited somepony earlier today who likes rocks?" "Of course," the dragon replied flatly. "Let's go visit Maude again." Rarity smiled. "I'm glad you know who can help you! Stop by anytime!" She closed the door behind them, and Oloy followed Spike. "It'll be nice to see more of Ponyville!" he said, looking around and finding plenty of rustic charm. "We're technically going to Ponyville Adjacent," Spike corrected. Oloy shrugged. As long as it wasn't more crystal, he was excited to see more of the town. *** The cave was brimming with crystals. Oloy squinted a bit, trying to find something nice about the place. "I live in the crystal empire, but I've never seen this many crystals in one place before!" Spike sighed. "Don't worry, this is just the entrance." The two soon found themselves in a less crystalline locale. Oloy didn't have any trouble complimenting this room. "I love the water feature! It really gives this place a lovely ambiance! And the decorations are simply stunning! Oh, what I wouldn't give to be staying here instead of in that sterile castle." A gray pony in a frock stepped forward to greet him. "Hi. My name is Maude. Nice to meet you." "Hi Maude! I'm Oloy Victorium! Well, I guess we're not here to talk about your living conditions all day!" He paused to laugh. Maude blinked. "We?" she asked. Spike stepped out from behind Oloy. "Oh. Hi Spike." The dragon gave the slightest of smiles. "Hi Maude. We need some more of that rock for Twilight's experiment." Maude widened her eyes a fraction. "You already used up what I gave you?" "Yes." "Okay, I'll get some more." She turned around and walked over to a curtain, which covered a hole in the wall. Stone shelves were lined neatly with gems and rocks of varying shades. A moment later, Maude picked up a sea blue gemstone and brought it to Oloy. "I'm out of paper," she explained. Spike gave a tiny shrug. "It's alright." Maude glanced at Oloy. "I see. Goodbye." And with that, she grabbed a large sack, carried it behind the curtain, and closed it. Spike guided Oloy away. As soon as they had left the crystal entrance, the student was able to levy his numerous questions. "Why did she act so weird? Why did you act so weird?" "Hey, you didn't think the paint shop pony was weird!" "That's completely different!" "How?" Spike asked pointedly. Oloy raised a hoof, then slowly lowered it as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. "She likes rocks. Surely you of all ponies can understand that!" "That's blatant prejudice! Not all crystal ponies like crystals!" "You still build houses out of them, just like Maude!" "Maude didn't build that!" "You didn't build that!" Oloy moaned. "That doesn't mean anything! I can believe her contracting a bunch of experienced ponies to make that cave for her, I can even believe that she helped plan the place out and fix their mistakes. But nopony could build that whole cave from scratch." "I saw her make that closet earlier today." "What?" "Yeah! I said, 'Hey Maude, you shouldn't leave all these delicious gems on the ground!' Then, buddabuddabuddabuddaBOOM! She hammered away the rock until there were shelves and everything!" "You're pulling my leg." "Nope! My sister really is super strong!" said the bushes. Oloy flew into the air. "Gah!" Pinkie popped out of the bushes. "Gah! Yourself silly!" "Maude is your sister?!" Oloy cried. Pinkie grinned. "Yup! She's the best older sister ever!" Oloy ran a hoof through his mane. "If she's your relative, I'll believe anything..." Chapter Eight: Hastened GratificationOloy cheered genuinely. Despite (or more accurately because of) the varying thrills of the other tests he'd been involved in, this was the best one yet. Twilight had been working on speed upgrades for the engine when they'd returned with the required stone. The prototype was positively zipping past the outskirts of Ponyville. Now all he had to do was try the brakes! "Here goes," he yelled over the din. With a strong yank of a lever, the brakes deployed, and Oloy immediately closed his eyes. The harsh purple light was accompanied by the magical equivalent of the sound of a train slowing down. The cart-like vehicle smoothly glided to the crest of a green hill, finally stopping as the light dimmed. Oloy took a peak at the world around him. "I'm not blind!" he crowed. "That's good to hear," Twilight called as she climbed the green hill that the prototype had stopped on. Spike jogged along not far behind. As she drew closer, the princess turned inventor inspected the brakes. "Everything seems to be in working order," she observed. Oloy pulled weakly at one of his hooves. "The sticky stuff is working too." With a jolt, Twilight rushed to his side and zapped the magical glue away. "Sorry about that," she said. "It's fine!" he reassured. A little bit of glue was nothing compared to the thrills of automatic travel! The princess frowned. "Still," she sighed, "I'll have to refine this spell. That light was really distracting, and ponies could get hurt if they stared at it for extended periods of time." "Maybe you could have it make a smell!" Oloy suggested. Her frown deepened. "Scent magic has a really high power requirement. Why would I ever want to-" She stopped and thought for a second. "That's ingenious!" Without another word, Twilight teleported herself and the prototype back to the backyard. Oloy swayed a bit. "Glad you're happy. I guess I'll walk back," he grumbled. Spike hesitantly patted him on the back as they headed towards the castle once more. *** When they returned, the princess was in the library studying. "That's a lot of books!" Oloy exclaimed. She looked up briefly. "It takes a lot of precision to enchant something with smell, but factor in variable power and you have a recipe for disaster if anything goes wrong." "Disaster?" Oloy gulped. Twilight nodded solemnly. "An unstable enchantment can lead to a smell black hole." "A what?!" he yelped. Spike shrugged. "It's just what it sounds like. A rift that pulls in all the smells in the world." "Exactly," she nodded, "which is why I have to get this enchantment just right. It could take a while, why don't you go ask Pinkie about her friend who's offering to mass-produce these?" "Fine," Oloy grumbled. He and Spike headed for the door of the castle. One of the crystals dotting the walls giggled. "Hello?" Pinkie burst out of the crystal. "Hi! I'm so excited you're going to meet my friend! You're going to have so much fun!" Oloy smiled nervously. "I wouldn't call mass production of an automotive vehicle fun, but I'm excited to meet her!" "Nice!" Pinkie giggled again, then bounced out the door. Oloy and Spike followed. The three made good time across town, and found themselves walking towards a large building with a purple sign, located in the shopping district. Inside there were a few ponies browsing the wares and a well-dressed brown stallion with a triple cash bag cutiemark. "Pinkie Pie!" he said, "It's great to see you! And you even brought a new friend!" Pinkie grinned. "Yup yup yup! He's here to talk about the new invention!" Oloy shook the stallion's hoof. "I'm Oloy Victorium." "Filthy Rich, but you can call me Mr. Rich!" With an easy laugh, Mr. Rich led them to his office. "I'm glad not every building in this town is made out of crystals!" Oloy exclaimed. Mr. Rich chuckled. "You been living in the castle?" The student nodded. "Crystal's all fine and dandy for fancy gatherings, but sometimes it's way too much!" "Yeah," Oloy sighed. Pinkie bounced. "Come on come on! Tell him about the invention!" Spike nodded vigorously. "Hurry up." Oloy flicked his ear in annoyance. "Okay, geez! Mr. Rich, do you know the pony who wants to help mass produce our vehicular prototype?" "You could say that! The pony who wants to mass produce your veehicyoolar prototype...is me!" "Really?" "Yes! So tell me about this machine. How does it go without steam?" "Well, there's a highly specific fuel source." "Expensive?" "Yes, very." "What about efficiency? Do you use a lot of fuel?" "Absolutely." "What about safety? This thing doesn't blow up, right? "Yes, very?" "What?" "I mean, no, it doesn't blow up!" "I think I've heard all I need," Mr. Rich proclaimed. "Now get out of my office!" *** "That could've gone better," Oloy moaned as he poked the ground. "Cheer up Oloy!" Pinkie urged, "We don't know for sure he didn't like it!" Spike scoffed. "We don't know he did like it either." "Oh, I hope I didn't rush you," Pinkie sniffled, "I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!" The student shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Twilight's the one who sent us in the first place, so-" The dragon waved a hand in front of Oloy's face. "Hello, Oloy? Dr. Oloy, you're needed in the operating theater. Paging Dr. Oloy?" "What did you just say?" Oloy asked. Spike fidgeted a bit. "Just something to get your attention." "Not you," he frowned, "Pinkie Pie." The party pony flipped backwards in a small book. "I said, 'I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!' The student shrugged-" She stopped herself. "Oops, I didn't say that!" Oloy ignored the oddity, it was Pinkie Pie after all. "You called it a car. Why is that?" "Well it's like a train car, right?" "Not really, a train car has walls and can't go on its own," Spike pointed out. "They both go somewhere, though, right?" Oloy nodded. "I guess so." There was a moment of quiet, and the door to Mr. Rich's office sprang open. He smiled good-naturedly. "I'll help y'all out! There's just something too exciting about such a risky business proposition!" As Spike and Oloy were both gaping in shock, the duty of speaking naturally fell to Pinkie Pie. "Thank you thank you thank you Mr. Rich! I'll make sure to have your favorite kind of cake at the launch party!" "Sounds good! You take care now!" And with that, the three left the shop to tell Twilight the good news. *** "That's awesome!" the princess of friendship said, clapping her hooves a bit. "I even have some good news too. I got the scent magic enchantment on the prototype with no problems at all!" In celebration, everypony (and dragon) participated in a group hug. Chapter Nine: An Important TestOloy wiped sweat from his brow as he inspected the platform. "I have to admit, I'm a little nervous..." he told Spike. The dragon sighed. "Don't worry about it, you'll do fine..." he mumbled. "What was that?" "I said you'll do fine, okay? Gosh darn it!" Oloy was taken aback by the outburst. "Hey, you're right! Thank you." Spike shrugged. "Whatever. Hurry up, we don't want to keep Mr. Rich waiting," he pointed out. Oloy nodded. "You're right." And with that, he hopped atop the prototype. Twilight had worked on it all morning to get the new enchantment just right, and thus it was already late afternoon by the time she was confident everything else was working properly, including the new restraint system. Oloy sat on the red velvet cushion. Spike poured the newly created adhesive on his hooves. It was green and viscous, and glittered with purple magic. "What's that stuff?" Mr. Rich asked. "It keeps him from falling off," Twilight responded, "but if he wants to get off it'll let him." He took out a notepad and wrote something. "How much of this contraption is made with magic?" "I made almost everything myself using magic," she said, looking concerned, "is that gonna make it harder to mass produce?" "Kinda. Ya see, we can carry out the manufacturing process in any town with a station. As long as we build some train cars that can transport them, we'll just need to find somewhere that also has a lot of smart unicorns. Ah bet as a princess you can work out the permits 'n such!" "Of course," Twilight laughed nervously. "Okay, I'm ready for this test!" Oloy called from the cart. "Please start it before I lose my nerve," he muttered. Mr. Rich chuckled. "Alright! Can't wait to see this!" Twilight took a deep breath and pulled the lever into its newly created first gear. The cart rattled as the wheels slowly started to turn. "Is that as fast as it goes?" Mr. Rich asked. Oloy grinned, shook his head, and pulled the lever into 'speed mode'. The cart tore off into town. Twilight tore after it. "So, do we just wait fer them to come back, or what?" Mr. Rich questioned Spike. The dragon shrugged and began to walk slowly after the cart. The business pony followed suit. "Woo!" Oloy yelled over the din of the engine. Then he looked in front of him and saw the young fillies and colts crossing the street single file. "No woo! No woo!" he screamed. "Get out of the way!" The young ponies screamed, and several jumped out of the way of the cart. One of them jumped a bit too high and ended up on the platform next to Oloy. "Hi I'm Featherweight," he introduced himself without pausing for punctuation as they were moving very quickly. Oloy shook his hoof. "Nice to meet you." They watched as the cart began to slow down. It was climbing the tallest hill in Ponyville, where many a cart had needed to be rescued by a caped crusader or prismatic dynamo. Sadly, neither was presently available. "I had better put on the brakes," Oloy reminded himself. "What are brakes?" *** There was, believe it or not, another magical prodigy living in Ponyville. Her name was Fateful Coincidence. She specialized in knowing just the right spell for various occasions, which naturally meant that her catalogue included both the ability to turn apples into oranges and a method of containing smell black holes. The latter would become very important when her friend Tumbler tripped in such a spectacular fashion that he accidentally unbalanced the delicately balanced enchantment on a passing cart. "Whoops!" he chuckled. Fateful sighed. "I'll be right back," she told Tumbler. She ran down the hill after the troublesome prototype. "Bye for now," Tumbler mumbled. "Hey, it's the princess!" A bolt of sentient purple lightning flew past him without a word. Well, without a word Tumbler could hear, anyway. "Please be okay, please!" Twilight muttered as she followed Oloy's vehicle down the tallest hill. She sensed that something was wrong with the cart. From looking at how fast it was going, she guessed that the brakes had something to do with-"Who is that?" "Can't talk," Fateful managed between breaths, "gotta save 'em!" Twilight picked up the unicorn with her magic. "Need a lift?" "Thanks, Princess Twilight!" "Don't mention it!" the Princess grinned. The two soared closer and closer to the cart, which got closer and closer to the cliff at the end of the hill. It really ought to have been fixed, but the city budget was always in use for a festival, or a carnival, or fixing the results of yet another monster attack. Or Pinkie Pie party, for that matter. Ever since Cheese Sandwich left town, her celebrations had taken on some of the raucous characteristics of that pony's shindigs. The two wrote letters to each other. It was very sweet. ... Oh right, the cliff was fast approaching! "Hang on!" Oloy urged his young travel partner. Featherweight wrapped himself tightly around one of the student's forelegs. They both closed their eyes. The jaws of death opened. The two ponies opened their eyes to find they'd left the cart, and were standing next to their rescuer under the old ponies home's balcony as though nothing had happened. She lifted the brim of her pointed purple hat. "What can I say except you're welcome?" Pinkie spouted with a grin. "Thank you!" the two chorused. *** Meanwhile, in the sky, Twilight was too busy to breathe a sigh of relief. She and Fateful Coincidence were finally closing in on the cart. A smell black hole was beginning to form. They should've been able to smell the tasty aroma of Bulk Biceps' nut cart, or the inventory of a flower pony returning to her stand. Instead, there was nothing. "I don't know how I'm gonna fix this," Twilight confided. "I'll contain it," Fateful promised, "just get me close enough!" With a flash of magic, Twilight slowed the cart down just as it was about to fall off the cliff. It rolled right up to the edge. "No!" Twilight yelled. The cart fell. Fateful cast her spell. Everypony regained their sense of smell. Author's Note A possible alternative to "What are brakes" was "but there's no stopping this train we're on!" I took a step back. I took several steps back, and decided to relegate the reference to this author's note. Chapter Ten: Survey the Wreck"Destroyed?!" Mr. Rich exclaimed. "I'm afraid so," Twilight confirmed. "Now what are we going to do?" Oloy lamented. "Ice cream?" Spike offered. The others looked to him in unison. He held out a cone of rocky road. Oloy took it. "Might as well." He had his first lick of ice cream and looked off the cliff again. Mr. Rich took a cone as well. "Once we finish this, we'll have to salvage what we can," he said. "I can multitask," Twilight noted, taking her own cone. The business pony nodded. In a flash, the princess was gone. They watched a speck of purple move towards the dot of wreckage. Pieces of the prototype began to part. "Sorry it turned out like this," Spike offered. "It's not your fault," said Oloy, "it was just an accident." Fateful Coincidence dragged Tumbler over by the ear. "Ow ow ow! Fine!" the pegasus yelped, "I was going to do it anyway!" "Good evening, stranger," Mr. Rich greeted, "what's your name?" "Hi Mr. Rich! I'm Tumbler! I'm great at cartwheels and somersaults!" He beamed. Fateful cleared her throat. "Um...and I'm here to apologize for unbalancing...the enchantment?" "So you're the reason our prototype went to tartarus in a hand basket?" "Afraid so," He replied. "Ah well. Nopony was hurt, so I'll just send ya a survey in a couple days," Mr. Rich said. "Now, who's your friend?" "Fateful Coincidence, at your service." "Now then, Miss Coincidence," he pivoted, "how did you know that Tumbler here unbalanced...the enchantment?" "My special talent is knowing the right spell at the right time," she replied, "not after. I remember needing a spell to contain a smell black hole, and casting it, but I couldn't tell you how it worked, or how the enchantment was...unbalanced." "Oh." Oloy wiped his face clean. "That was some good ice cream!" "Thanks," said Spike. "Let's go down and help Twilight!" he responded. With that, they headed towards the spiral staircase to the bottom of the cliff. The rickety metal steps creaked loudly, and the wind blew consistently if not dangerously as they made their way down. Spike, who was in the lead, started shivering about halfway down. "It's cold," he told Oloy, "you might have to carry me to the bottom." "What? Why?" "I get really tired if it's too cold," the dragon explained. "You can make it to the bottom," Oloy said encouragingly. Spike shrugged shakily. "If you say so. Just promise you'll catch me if I fall asleep." The crystal pony nodded. "Sure thing." The business pony grinned. "Maybe this accident was a good thing after all! If Twilight can design a vehicle that's easier to mass produce, maybe cut down on all the magic, and take it as a learning opportunity, everything'll be much easier." "Having some kind of mechanical brake system would be helpful," Oloy posited. Spike shrugged. "I think if we just store the magic somehow instead of trying to use it all up it will be easier." They reached the bottom of the staircase. Twilight glanced over. "Hey guys," she said, "I think I have an idea!" "What is it?" Mr. Rich asked. "A hybrid!" *** Spike carried the pile of books outside, where Twilight and Mr. Rich were talking in a newly erected garage. The new prototype was covered with a large woolen blanket, but it seemed much curvier than the last one. "Here's everything I could find on mana storage," the dragon announced. "Thanks Spike!" Twilight took the pile from him and floated the books in the air, inspecting the titles. "We'll start out with Starswirl's mana matrix, then build it up with some other spells." "Why can't the machine be entirely mechanical?" Mr. Rich wanted to know. "Miniaturizing a mechanical engine in and of itself is ambitious enough for our first project," the princess explained, "magical engines are usually much easier to work with." "Yes, but it's much easier to add more fuel to something if it ain't magical," Mr. Rich countered. Spike interjected. "Wait, you guys are gonna make the prototype more complicated? Why?" Twilight sighed. "Mr. Rich and I are making a compromise. We both want to put a lot of these vehicles on the roads, but in order to do that I can't make every magical component myself. I'd never be fast enough. Instead, I'll make sure the spells I use are easy enough that more unicorns will be able to perform them, and we'll have a mechanical engine side by side with the magical one." "Mechanical engines will be easier for anypony to assemble," Mr. Rich added. "I want to make sure plenty of ponies can get good paying jobs at our factory. Naturally my store will provide for all their service and fuel needs. I'll probably have to build an expansion!" "We don't want anypony to have to get out and push either," Twilight stated, "so they'll always have one engine working if the other one fails." Spike nodded. "Okay. When is Oloy going to drive that?" He pointed at the prototype. "Not for some time," Twilight said. "I want to add a whole new control system and a user interface, on top of dramatically rethinking my old designs to increase comfort and reliability. Why don't you two find something to do in town? I bet Rainbow Dash isn't busy with the weather anymore." The dragon nodded and headed back into the castle. The afternoon sun warmed his scales through the windows, and he found the crystal pony hanging out in the main foyer. Oloy perked up. "What did she say?" "She said we should see what Rainbow's up to," Spike sighed dejectedly. "Who's Rainbow?" "I'll introduce you. Ever see a cloud house before?" "No, but it sounds amazing!" Oloy exclaimed exuberantly. "It's at least 20% cooler than a normal house. It has cloud doors, a cloud ceiling, and a cloud floor," Spike enumerated. He headed out the front door, Oloy falling in step next to him. "We don't have many clouds in the Crystal Empire," Oloy Victorium noted, "unless the barrier goes down. I know here in Equestria you have pegasi teams to control the weather, so I'm not too worried." Spike grinned. "Rainbow Dash is on the weather team! When we first met she cleared a bunch of clouds super fast." "Sounds amazing!" Oloy replied. "I can't wait to meet this pony!" He changed speeds from walk to power walk. Spike matched his pace. Then Oloy broke into a gallop. Spike couldn't keep up. "Wait! I'm the one who knows where she lives!" Author's Note So yes, this story is in fact not dead. I just wanted to have a big chapter ready for the triumphant return. Chapter Eleven: Take a Break"Oh you should've seen me! I went down so fast, I made a sonic rainboom! Then I grabbed Rarity and the Wonderbolts, and whoosh! I pulled right out of that dive!" "Sounds amazing!" "Of course it was! I'm awesome!" "Yeah, yeah. We know," Spike said. They were meeting in the shadow of Rainbow's house, and it was quite a sunny day in Ponyville. "So whatcha doing here in Ponyville?" "Oh, I won a contest, so now I get to learn lessons directly from the Princess of Friendship." "Hey, did you know she needed lessons from me? How do you think she got so good at flying?" "Oloy is cool too. You know what that contest was in? Archeology!" "You're an archeologist like Daring Do?" Oloy shook his head. "Actually, I was competing in Arcology. It's about combining Architecture with Ecology." "So you put plants on buildings?" Rainbow asked. "It's not a bad idea. I guess. It's just not as awesome as Daring Do." "We just started getting Daring Do books in the Crystal Empire. My brother likes them, but I don't see the appeal," Oloy said. Rainbow gasped. "You don't like Daring Do?" "Hey, you didn't like it at first either," Spike said, "maybe he just needs to reread the first book." "Your eye okay?" she asked. Oloy got the message. "Right, I'll give it another try!" he said. "Awesome! You can borrow my spare copy. Let me go get it!" With that, Rainbow flew up to her house. "The last time she got worked up about Daring Do, she stalked the author!" Spike whispered. "I have to reread the whole series? Do you know how long those books are?" "Shorter than a trip across Equestria." Oloy gave Spike a dubious look. "Shorter than a trip across dimensions, at least." Just then, there was a flash of light, and three ponies fell out of the sky, pinning Oloy to the ground. "Pinkie Dianemena Apple Pie, why did you say that to Discord?" Applejack was on her hooves at once, shaking one at the aforementioned party planning pony. "Um, sorry we kind of fell on you," Fluttershy said from the air. "Not me, I mean. But-" "Pinkie! It's so good to see a familiar face!" Oloy exclaimed. "Are you here to tell us more good news from Mr. Rich?" Pinkie popped off of him and landed next to the path. She glanced between her angry friend and the happy stranger. "Do I know you? Not the me whose body this is, I mean another me from this dimension, because you seem really nice but I don't have a clue what you're talking about! Applejack I'm sorry! I just thought it would be fun to see a third dimension because all we did in yours was have that tea party don't get me wrong it was fun and all but Discord was really dragging things out." She smiled. "Um..." Oloy stared. Applejack facehoofed. Spike and Fluttershy moved towards Pinkie at the same, noticed that, and kept walking to give her a hug. "You seem stressed about something Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "Is Discord making you keep a secret?" Spike asked. The pink pony broke out into sobs. "He told me I could" *hic* "go on an adventuuuuuuuuuuure!" Oloy walked over and hesitantly patted her on the shoulder, then looked at Applejack. "You really upset your friend," he said. Applejack's face softened. "Ah'm sorry Pinkie Pie, this adventure has me more stressed than a squirrel in a beehive. Then Discord did something to ya and it feels like you're a completely different pony, and..." She sighed. "You're still my friend, Pinkie. Can ya forgive me?" The pink pony sniffed, then nodded slowly. She pulled the farmer into the group hug. "What the-Pinkie? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash said, dropping her book in shock. "Didn't you just tell me you were running to the patent office all the way in Canterlot?" Pinkie wiped her tears. "Rainbow, can't you see she's been crying?" Fluttershy asked. "Well-yeah-" "Give her some space and time to explain herself." She paused. "Please." The hug fell apart over time, and Rainbow brought down a picnic blanket and some hay sandwiches. After snarfing down hers, the party planner stood up and began to explain. "Okay so I may not have all the details right, but here's what I know." She took a deep breath. "You're from universe 1, your soul was swapped with a counterpart from universe 2, and Discord just sent you and your friends here to universe 3?" Oloy said. Everypony looked at him. "What? She explained everything, all I needed to do was listen fast enough to keep up." Pinkie let out the breath. "It feels different when somepony does it to me," she said. "But...um..." Fluttershy raised her hoof. "Oh yeah, Oloy is totally right!" "Woah woah woah, you're from another dimension? Like in Power Ponies issue 326 when aliens crash land on a farm and have to build their ship before the planets align?" Spike asked. "As a matter of fact I am," Pinkie said, crossing her front legs to look cool. "I even met an alien called Lapis Lazuli, she's blue and has hands and wings!" "How fast can she fly?" Rainbow asked. "Idunno, Twilight raced her but I don't know who won." "Can she do a sonic rainboom?" Pinkie shrugged. "Maaaaybeeee?" "Ugh Pinkie you never ask the important questions!" Rainbow huffed. Then a lightbulb appeared above her head. "Saaaay, I need to get out of dodge for a while-I mean, I need to race this Lapis Lazuli lady to prove that I'm the fastest. Could you send me to her dimension?" Before Pinkie could reply, Applejack stuffed a hoof in her mouth. "Don't call him," she said. "Oh, Discord!" Rainbow said from the air. "Rainbow Dash, that's cheatin' with yer wings. Get down here!" "Discord, discord!" "Yes there's no need to shout, I'm right here," the chaos lord said, lifting a corner of the picnic blanket and walking up the stairs under it, "what do you want now, Rainbow Dash? Shall I perform another Sonic Chaosboom for your amusement?" "Nope! One was...too many," the pegasus shuddered. "Just send me to that other dimension so I can race Lapis Lassie." "Lapis Lazuli," he drily corrected. "Right, right." Discord sat on the blanket and stroked his goatee. "You're sure you can handle the consequences? The tone is a bit different over there, sort of...dramatic." "Wait let me grab my bags!" She flew off. Oloy hid behind Applejack, who was looking about ready to throttle Discord with her lasso. Fluttershy and Spike approached the chaos lord. "Hi Discord," the dragon said, "how's it going?" "It's going fine," he said, "I'm just a little busy. You let it get out that you can dimension-hop, and suddenly everypony wants a taxi service." "You shouldn't work too hard," Fluttershy said, patting him on the back gently. "Even you have limits." He nodded, and the bags under his eyes loaded onto a small plane and flew away. "Please, get some rest." "Alright Fluttershy, I'll get some rest. For you." He gave her a hug, Spike a fist bump, and Oloy a thumbs-up. Then Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. "Okay Discord, I packed snacks and the first Daring Do book, I'm ready for an adventure!" Rainbow said as she flew down from her cloud house. "Aaaaand he's gone." Author's Note Edit 11/3/2024: Wow there were some embarrassing typos in there! Looks like I may have rushed out this chapter faster than Tesla rushed...well, any of their cars really. Chapter Four: kind of distractionSpike set down the broom and dustbin, taking a break to look out the window. Twilight's back was to the castle and there was no sign of Oloy or the prototype cart. Spike rushed out. "Where's the new student?" he asked. "I sent him out on the cart. It works, Spike! I'm a genius!" Twilight exclaimed, wrapping up her assistant in a big hug. The dragon's eyes widened, "Is he okay?" "Oh, Spike! He has to be okay! There are straps for safety!" "Where's the cart?" At this question, Twilight shrugged and pointed. "It went that way." "Shouldn't you be watching it to make sure he's okay?" Spike said as he edged towards the direction she had pointed to. "You're right, I should be monitoring how well the cart is functioning!" Twilight smiled. The two rushed off towards the open green hills outside Ponyville. For some reason, there was a hay bale with two excited blue eyes, a trench coat, a pair of glasses with a fake nose, and a baseball cap standing at the edge of town. Just as Spike was about to reach the lush fields of grass, the hay bale jumped out in front of him. Then it spoke. "Hiya Spike! Why are you running? It's not Saturday yet!" "Pinkie?!" "Spike!" The bale exclaimed. The dragon ran in place, "There's no time to explain! I have to go now!" He sidestepped Pinkie Pie's hay bale and rushed away. The bale bounced after him, eager to see what he was so incensed about. There was a thin line of smoke in the air outside Ponyville. It floated over the hills, leading Spike and Pinkie to a cart with two wheels still attached and one dazed passenger. Twilight stood on a hill overlooking the scene, inspecting the wreckage. "I can reuse most of this," she mumbled to herself. Pinkie hopped next to her. "Hey Twilight, did you have fun with the fireworks?" "I conducted a scientific experiment with them." As the two talked, they watched Spike pulling Oloy out of the straps. The student stood somewhat shakily. "Is science fun?" "Does water have covalent bonds?" "Ummm...I think so," Pinkie responded, thinking back to her chemistry class. Chemistry was like cooking, but you couldn't eat stuff when you were done with it. Spike reached the top of the hill, supporting Oloy on one shoulder, and glared at Twilight. "What were you thinking?! He could have been hurt!" "I want to do it again," Oloy said shakily, a manic spark appearing in his eye. Twilight grinned, "I'm glad you share my enthusiasm for scientific research! But you can't do it again right away, I'll need some time to put it back together." Her dragon assistant looked around frantically for somepony who wasn't crazy and somehow ended up staring at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, help me out here!" he begged. "Sure thing! How can I help you today?" she smiled. Spike groaned, "Tell Twilight this cart thing is a bad idea!" "But then everything will be boring again," Pinkie explained, "and being boring is no fun." At this, Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. The pink pony patted him politely. "Don't worry about danger too much." "Why not?" "I can't tell you, it's a secret that starts with the letter E!" she whispered. Author's Note Does anyone want to guess what the secret is? I'll tell you if you get it right.
Chapter One: The AccidentG Minor re-lit the lamp before picking up his pickaxe again and giving the wall in front of him a heavy blow. He heard something rustle behind him, and turned to see his brother, F Minor, pulling a cart. "Stand back, G," he said. "What's in the cart?" G wondered. F pulled the tarp away to reveal a huge supply of TNT. "Is there going to be any coal left down here after we blow that up?" G Minor questioned. "All I know is it's not my idea so let's light this up and get out of here!" F waved his hoof towards the entrance as he said this, knocking the lamp onto the fuse hanging off the back of the cart. The two brothers looked at each other, at the fuse, then at each other again. Then they ran out of the mine as quickly as possible. The bros dived behind some rocks outside and covered their ears. A small explosion came from the mine. Inside, the cart was propelled into an extensive network of tunnels. *** The sun was shining and birds sang sweetly as Princess Twilight Sparkle woke up in her castle room. She yawned and looked out the window. From this room she could see the rest of Ponyville waking up below, as well as some of the charming grassy hills on the opposite side of the Everfree forest. "Is there anything more tranquil than a Sunday morning?" she mused to herself. The peace was suddenly interrupted as a crash came from one of the hills. A flaming cart burst out into the sky and fell to the ground, the last few sticks of dynamite exploding and propelling it down the hill and towards Ponyville. It zoomed past houses and businesses, careening towards the castle. Twilight let out a sigh and teleported outside. She clutched the flaming apparition in a telekinesis spell. With a great effort, she stopped it in its tracks. When she let go the poor cart fell apart almost instantly. "Twilight, what happened to your hair?" asked Pinkie as she bounced towards the purple alicorn. "You look like an anthropomorphic hedgehog!" Twilight moaned, "I didn't have time to brush it this morning, I was busy saving my library from that!" She pointed an accusatory hoof at the remains of the cart. Pinkie laughed. "Oh, yeah! It was really fast, wasn't it?" "Yes. Well, I've got to brush my hair, so I'll see you later," Twilight said as she walked towards the door of the castle. "Not before I see you!" Pinkie promised. Twilight paused for a moment before shrugging and entered her new home. The smell of breakfast lured her towards the dining room. "Good morning," she said to Spike as he brought two plates piled high with Abyssinian pastries to the table. "What are those?" Spike shrugged, "Just a new recipe I borrowed from Fluttershy. She said it was the best!" Twilight nodded and picked one up. "Whatsh on da schedule 'oday?" Twilight asked as she ate a pastry. "Just organizing the books from Princess Celestia," Spike smiled. Twilight nodded. She liked arranging things and books, so the day was guaranteed to be a fun one. ***
Chapter Two: The IdeaTwilight groaned and tried once more to keep the image of the flaming cart out of her head. It was distracting her from what was supposed to be the fun task of sorting the books she had received from Princess Celestia. The cart had moved so quickly, almost as fast as a train! But it had been so much smaller. She focused on the stack of books she was supposed to be sorting, which was twice as tall her. Levitating the top book, "Theory of Automatic Movement", she was reminded once again of the cart. "This is hopeless," Twilight sighed. She trotted to her desk and picked up a quill. After sketching a rough image of the cart, she set about improving its design. The whole structure would need to be reinforced, the explosions that propelled it would require refinement, and a set of straps to keep a pony on would be necessary. "Spike!" she yelled. The dragon appeared from behind a bookshelf. "Yeah?" "Can you please bring me a stick of dynamite, some rope, and a cart?" "We don't just have dynamite lying around, Twilight." "Fine, just get the rope and the cart for now." There was a thought, where would she get the explosives for her experiments? They were pretty rare, at least in Ponyville. Maybe Rainbow Dash would know. And logically, the best way to find Rainbow would be to fly around looking for her. Twilight grinned and made her way to the castle's golden balcony. Although she was no master flier, her skills had improved; she had come to like the wind in her mane and the ability to look at everything from above. Twilight flapped her wings experimentally, then took off slowly. It was mid-morning in Ponyville. A few ponies were walking around, looking like dolls from up in the sky. In the distance the weather team was preparing a microburst with some heavy rain clouds. Twilight flew closer to the team and the menacing gray clouds. She spotted Rainbow Dash talking to some weather ponies Twilight didn't recognize. "We got this," she was saying as Twilight flew within earshot. The weather ponies nodded. While they both wore hard hats and white lab coats, the stallion hovering to Dash's left was a dark shade of green with a maroon mane and the mare on her right had a purple mane and was yellow. Rainbow greeted her friend, "Hey Twilight, what's up?" Twilight gave Pinkie a questioning look. Twilight excitedly asked her question, "Do you know where I can get a ton of dynamite?" Dash looked nervously to the weather ponies next to her. "No! I hate explosions and would never blow anything up!" she anxiously replied. Well, if Rainbow Dash didn't know about explosions, who would? Twilight sighed. "Thanks anyway." She sank towards the ground and tried to come up with other ideas. Pinkie Pie! Yes that was it! "Tail twitch, eye flutter, ear flap, shaky legs. Someone's thinking about me!" Pinkie said exuberantly. Twilight gave a small yelp of surprise. "Hiya Twilight! Whatcha doin'?" Twilight answered her, "I'm just looking for somepony who has a large stock of dynamite." "I have some fireworks!" Pinkie chirped. Fireworks were pretty close to TNT. They were more controlled, which was necessary. Twilight wouldn't have to devise any sort of system to reinforce the cart if all the force was directed away from it. She smiled, "Could I please have a few?" Pinkie grinned wider than should have been physically possible, "Sure. That's what friends are for!" Then she bounced away. Twilight walked back towards her home, relieved that the most volatile part of the prototype was taken care of. The rest of the materials would be easy!
Chapter Three: Build and Test the BestWith all the parts collected, Twilight felt ready to build her prototype fast cart. She was standing in the small backyard of her castle, looking at the blueprint she had sketched up earlier. An aura of magic appeared around one of the fireworks from Pinkie, and it floated to the back of the cart as some of the rope began to levitate. When the rope had affixed the firework to the cart, Twilight bid it to wrap around the cart in an X shape. Activating a dictation spell on the quill and paper next to her was the final step. "Test #1, prototype 1," she stated for the record. With an expectant smile, Twilight sent a match over to the cart and lit the fuse. The firework's first stage went off somewhat quietly. Twilight's smile slowly turned into a frown as the cart inched forward slightly faster than a snail. Then the second stage went off with bright sparks and an ironic celebratory whistle. "The cart barely moved," Twilight sighed. *** Twilight's next nine tests didn't yield the best results. She tried adding more fireworks, which resulted in a faster cart. However, their collective second stages were far too dangerous and destroyed the cart almost beyond magical repair. The next prototype had a similar number of fireworks, with only a few at a time being lit. This resulted in the cart moving too slowly. Twilight next enchanted the fireworks to provide more thrust with a smaller second stage explosion. The cart moved fast enough, but only for a few seconds before the rope burned away and released it. Twilight had run out of fireworks by this stage, so she attempted to enchant the wheels of the cart to move instead. The spell was actually somewhat successful. "How's the cart thing going?" Spike asked as he exited the back door of the castle. "It is better than when I started," she responded. The dragon raised an eyebrow. "How much better?" "Now it doesn't explode!" Spike took a small step backwards. "Anyway, somepony's here to see you." Twilight stared at her prototype as her assistant began to speak again. Making the wheels move magically took a lot of power, and wouldn't work for long trips. Some sort of mechanical system to drive the axles could greatly increase the range of travel. Maybe if explosions drove some pistons-"Twilight!" The princess-turned-inventor jumped. "Yes, Spike?" "Don't you wanna meet the student?" "Uh...yeah! I'll meet her right here!" Spike tilted his head. "It's a him." Twilight gave a slow nod as she realized her mistake. "I'll meet him right here," she corrected. Spike sighed as he left the princess of friendship to her musing. *** Oloy Victorium stood nervously in the main foyer of the Castle of Friendship, wishing there were plants there. The crystal floor was cold and unforgiving and the color palette reminded him of a gaudy carnival stall. The abrupt return of the Savior of the Crystal Empire distracted Oloy from the castle. "Let's go," Princess Twilight's assistant said. As the two walked the halls, the student found the courage within himself to ask a question. "Does the castle have any plants?" "Nah. That would be too much work." "I always heard you had a strong work ethic." The dragon sighed. "I don't water plants. Please don't ask Twilight about it." The pair arrived at a door with an engraving of a chrysanthemum on it. "The princess of friendship will see you now." Oloy walked through the door cautiously, wincing as it slammed behind him. Just a few meters in front of him stood Princess Twilight Sparkle. He took a moment to admire the strange mechanical contrivance she was focused on. It was similar to a wooden cart, but with a large device on the front right corner attached by rope to the axle. "What's my first lesson going to be, princess?" Oloy asked. His question prompted Twilight to jump. "Gah!" she yelped, before coming up with an answer. "You can help me test this cart!" Oloy's eyes widened in confusion. "What does that have to do with friendship?" "A true friend helps a friend test a volatile new prototype!" Twilight proclaimed, stepping closer to Oloy and shaking his hoof. "Hello, my name is Twilight." "Oloy Victorium," he said. Twilight smiled. "So you're the pony who won the contest. Congratulations! Now let's get to work. Please stand on the cart." He did so, taking notice of some straps under him. "These are for safety," the alicorn noted as she wrapped all four straps around his hooves. Oloy started to worry when he saw Twilight's smile grow unnaturally large. Her ear twitched as she enchanted a quill and paper next to her and spoke. "Test #13, prototype 13. It's gotta work this time!" "Wait!" Oloy begged. The alicorn's eyes shrank as she gazed at the cart. "You'll be fine! There's nothing to worry about! The straps will save you!" "but-" the cart's front corner began to vibrate and make lots of noise. The wheels it was attached to spun into the ground a bit before launching it and its reluctant passenger across the yard. The device on the corner suddenly stopped, but the cart kept rolling. As it sped past the Ponyville border, Oloy suddenly realized he was enjoying the ride, and let out a cry of elation. Then the back wheels fell off, bringing his journey to an abrubt end.
Chapter Five: For Science!"Spike!" Twilight's call sped through the door to the backyard, ricocheted off the crystal walls, and reached the dragon's ears just as he was about to eat a scoop of delicious rocky road ice cream. He shrugged and ate it anyway. "Coming!" the dragon replied after he finished the dessert. If Rarity could solve her problems with ice cream, so could he. Spike wondered what insane request Twilight would have for him. Yesterday's fiasco of a test was not increasing his confidence in the project. He didn't have to wonder long. Twilight looked up from the motor she'd been working on. "What color should we paint the cart?" she asked. Before Spike could answer, Oloy popped up from the other side of the cart. "Why do you want to paint it anyway?" he asked. She tapped the cart's platform, "We can use a heat resistant paint to keep it from setting itself on fire!" "Paint it red," her dragon assistant said, "and put on some green flames." That would look really cool. Especially the flames, green was just a good color for them. The alicorn smiled. "What a great idea!" she said, as she wrapped Spike in a hug. Oloy grinned. The Princess of Friendship was so friendly! Nopony was this nice to him back at home. "Hey Oloy, wanna pick out the paint with Spike?" "Of course!" he agreed almost immediately. Spike nodded. "It'll be way easier to carry all the paint with Oloy!" The two left through the chrysanthemum door. Twilight smiled as they did. "Those two are gonna be great friends!" *** Oloy and Spike walked silently through the corridors of the castle. The student considered what kind of plant would look nice next to the crystal walls. The princess' assistant focused on navigation. "How much paint can you carry?" he asked. Oloy shrugged. "A couple buckets." "I'll get you some saddlebags." "No thanks, I've got my own." "Whatever." With that delightful exchange concluded, the two left the castle. Spike led the way towards the paint shop. A gray stallion with blue eyes and a blond mane waved at them from behind the counter. He held up a bucket of paint. "Only the finest of paints, for the finest of ponies...and dragons! Get 'em while they're here!" Spike walked up to the counter. "Where's the red and green?" The paint pony paused. "You'll buy purple paint and like it, you scaly buffoon." "What?" "Pinkie's painting the town again, so I'm all out of red and green. I'm terribly sorry, sir," the salespony sighed. "What about pink?" Oloy butted in. The shopkeeper smiled. "I've got all kinds of pink! Petunia Pink, Peony Pink, Pinkalicious...Not that you'd know this difference, you dolt!" Spike frowned. "Peony Pink, please," Oloy requested obliviously. "Wait! It has to be heat resistant!" Spike reminded him. The paint pony grinned. "Why didn't you say so, my good friend? I'll get it from the back." As he left, the dragon shot the student a confused look. "What?" asked Oloy. "He has such weird manners!" "That's just how paint sellers are!" "And butchers," Spike grumbled. The student shot the dragon a confused look. "Here's your stinking paint, troglodyte!" The shopkeeper said as he returned, tossing the paint can on the counter haphazardly. Oloy grabbed the paint. "Thank you very much!" "Come back soon! And thank you for your business!"
Chapter Six: Again"Are you absolutely certain this is necessary?" Oloy asked. He was currently strapped to the cart as Spike insistently tied pillows to him with rope. Twilight shrugged, "I did get just a little carried away during your first test." She laughed nervously. "Yeah, this is necessary." She floated a hoofball helmet to her assistant, who placed it firmly on Oloy's head. The dragon gave a thumbs-up, which Twilight tried to return, before realizing she didn't have hands. Their guest shook his head, befuddled. "Anyway!" the princess said, "Let's start test #14 off right!" She pulled a lever on the left side of the cart, and the engine in the front clicked to a start. "Remember, pull it the other way to stop!" she yelled over the din. Oloy nodded. Spike jumped off as the pink cart began to roll across the backyard. The motor was a two-piston model, but it didn't matter to the student turned adrenaline junkie. His smile widened as the prototype began to speed up. Soon he was enjoying the wind in his mane and the massive fallen trees in his path. "Wait! No! No! No!" Oloy said eloquently as he frantically pulled the lever next to him. The motor cut out and there was a loud thud below the cart, followed by a scraping sound. The student closed his eyes and winced as he closed in on one of the trees. *** Twilight flew somewhat slowly over Ponyville. "Can't you go any faster?" Spike asked from his perch on her back. "Sorry, Spike," she said, "I've gotta be careful." The two watched as the cart sped across town. Spike gulped. "Um, Twilight?" "Yes?" "Is Oloy going to crash into those trees?" "Of course not! There's a lever so he can stop," Twilight assured her assistant. Nevertheless, she began to descend quickly. A loud thud came from the prototype ahead. "It's falling apart!" Spike yelled. "Don't be ridiculous," she assuaged his worries, "that's to help it stop!" The large piece of metal dragged behind the cart, slowing it down a bit. A magical aura brought it to a halt inches away from the tree. Oloy opened his eyes. "Woohoo! I'm okay!" he cheered. Twilight frowned as she landed next to him. "You are, but that's only because I stopped the cart." "So?" the student failed to see the problem with that. After all, if the princess of friendship could stop the cart, it stood to reason that she could simply stop it again. "We were trying to get the cart to stop on its own!" Twilight exclaimed. "Ohhh..." Oloy said sheepishly, before getting an idea. "Why not just put the brakes on the wheels?" At this, Twilight looked thoughtfully into the distance, before making some calculations in the dirt. "I mean, that's how trains work, right?" Twilight looked up from her math. "Actually, train brakes wouldn't work here. They're too big!" Spike, meanwhile, walked over to the side of the road to sit down. It was one of those rare cloudy days in Ponyville. The treetops were placid, and the air felt heavy with humidity. He picked up a small rock, then looked at the cart's wheels as Twilight and Oloy hit a bit of a dead end in their brakes discussion. "That's it!" he shouted exuberantly. The two looked at him expectantly. "What's it?" Oloy asked. Spike rushed over to the cart, then put the rock against a wheel. Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Even if we could use rocks to stop the wheels, they would wear each other out with heavy use. Unless we had some kind of disk..." Oloy glared at Spike, who had obviously stolen his brake idea like a fanfiction writer steals writing ideas. Spike stuck out his tongue. The two engaged in an intense staring contest. "Thanks! This is a great idea!" Twilight said somewhat obliviously. Oloy grinned. "I'm glad you liked it! I worked so hard on this project, I deserve top marks and a train ride back home!" The princess of friendship smiled back. "Don't worry, I'll send you back as soon as we're done testing these brakes!"
Chapter Seven: Need Never Go HomeOloy sighed dramatically as he brought the last brake to Twilight. It was a bulky machine, and heavily enchanted, judging by the purple glow emanating from it. "What's the magic on this thing do again?" he asked. "I already told you several times, the spell converts heat into energy for a light spell!" she exclaimed. Oloy rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He glanced over to Spike, who was attaching the second-to-last brake to the prototype, which had also gained a cushion in the front. He'd been gone in the morning for an errand. When asked who the errand was for, he'd deadpanned "She likes rocks." Now, the dragon gave him a thumbs-up, and he waved a hoof back. Twilight shook the brake around to check if it was fully attached. It didn't move too much, and she smiled. "Ready for another test?" she asked. Oloy hopped into the prototype. "You bet!" He couldn't wait to finish this last test and never be forced to talk to Spike ever again. The two had reached a truce at a secret overnight meeting. Twilight prepared the new safety measure, a magical mixture that would help his hooves stick to the floor of the cart. "Test #15 starts now!" she shouted, pulling the lever. The engine failed to start. "Or...maybe in just a minute," she said, befuddled. Half an hour later, Oloy was getting really sick of being stuck to the cart floor. "Could I take a look?" he asked. Twilight looked up from the engine. "Sure! Come on down and see! You are here to learn, after all." Oloy tugged his hooves weakly. "Oh, right!" She cast the necessary spell, and the goop floated back into the mixing bowl. The student stretched out his legs and jumped down. He looked at the engine. Everything seemed to be in place. Except..."Where's the coal?" he asked. "What do you mean, coal? This prototype runs on something far better than coal!" Twilight said defensively. "Well, if you're out of that something, I bet it won't work. Besides, what could be better than coal anyway?" Twilight's horn glowed, summoning a chalkboard. She began to write complicated formulas on it. "To synthesize the best fuel, I first asked myself these basic questions. What makes trains go? How can I make something that's smaller than a train go? What kind of fuel do I need? Next, it was a fairly simple process to look over the available materials and devise the best solution to my problem." Oloy Victorium tapped her on the shoulder. "Could you just skip to what's making this go? I couldn't care less about how you got there." "Well," Twilight stiffened, "basically, it's got some of Princess Celestia's shampoo and a rare mineral I got from one of my generous friends. The ratio is about 3:14, if you must know." "Thanks! I'll be right back with those!" Oloy started to run off, before returning slowly. "Um...where did you say your generous friend was?" She smiled. "I think Spike knows exactly where to find her. Want to help Oloy out a little?" Spike grinned. It was a grin that showed off a few too many of his dragon teeth. "I would love to!" "Great! I'll see you two later!" Twilight waved as Oloy and Spike walked away. After a moment, she eyed a jittery set of bushes nearby. "I wonder if Pinkie is close by?" she said loudly. Said pony's head popped out of the greenery immediately. "If you want to talk to me, just say hello! That's what everypony else does!" Pinkie pointed out. Twilight nodded sagely. "Hello Pinkie!" "Hi Twilight! Did you like the fireworks?" "They were pretty good, but I've reworked my design a lot since then. Now this thing runs on Princess Celestia's shampoo and pectolite." "How are other ponies going to get such rare stuff?" "Other ponies?" "Well, yeah! I mean, it wouldn't be much of an invention if you're the only one getting to my parties faster!" *** Oloy banged on the door a couple of times. "Hello?" Spike glared at him. "You're supposed to knock gently on a lady's door. Like this!" He tapped a single claw on the door with the strength of an inchworm. "Coming!" Rarity sang from inside. She opened the door gracefully, careful not to let it slam. "Good afternoon, Spike! Who's your friend?" Spike winced at the word 'friend'. "Just a student who's working with Twilight. He should be leaving soon." "Well, I hope you take some time to enjoy Ponyville! It's a quiet town, but bristling with rustic charm!" Oloy smiled. "I sure will. I'm Oloy Victorium! Nice to meet you!" "Nice to meet you too! Are you taking a tour, then?" Spike shook his head. "We need some more of that rare gemstone you gave Twilight for the experiment." "How official!" Rarity scratched her head. "But I don't recall giving her any gemstone. Unless you count the faux-amethyst on a dress I made for her, and even that was weeks and weeks ago!" Spike frowned. Oloy thought for a moment. "Didn't you say you visited somepony earlier today who likes rocks?" "Of course," the dragon replied flatly. "Let's go visit Maude again." Rarity smiled. "I'm glad you know who can help you! Stop by anytime!" She closed the door behind them, and Oloy followed Spike. "It'll be nice to see more of Ponyville!" he said, looking around and finding plenty of rustic charm. "We're technically going to Ponyville Adjacent," Spike corrected. Oloy shrugged. As long as it wasn't more crystal, he was excited to see more of the town. *** The cave was brimming with crystals. Oloy squinted a bit, trying to find something nice about the place. "I live in the crystal empire, but I've never seen this many crystals in one place before!" Spike sighed. "Don't worry, this is just the entrance." The two soon found themselves in a less crystalline locale. Oloy didn't have any trouble complimenting this room. "I love the water feature! It really gives this place a lovely ambiance! And the decorations are simply stunning! Oh, what I wouldn't give to be staying here instead of in that sterile castle." A gray pony in a frock stepped forward to greet him. "Hi. My name is Maude. Nice to meet you." "Hi Maude! I'm Oloy Victorium! Well, I guess we're not here to talk about your living conditions all day!" He paused to laugh. Maude blinked. "We?" she asked. Spike stepped out from behind Oloy. "Oh. Hi Spike." The dragon gave the slightest of smiles. "Hi Maude. We need some more of that rock for Twilight's experiment." Maude widened her eyes a fraction. "You already used up what I gave you?" "Yes." "Okay, I'll get some more." She turned around and walked over to a curtain, which covered a hole in the wall. Stone shelves were lined neatly with gems and rocks of varying shades. A moment later, Maude picked up a sea blue gemstone and brought it to Oloy. "I'm out of paper," she explained. Spike gave a tiny shrug. "It's alright." Maude glanced at Oloy. "I see. Goodbye." And with that, she grabbed a large sack, carried it behind the curtain, and closed it. Spike guided Oloy away. As soon as they had left the crystal entrance, the student was able to levy his numerous questions. "Why did she act so weird? Why did you act so weird?" "Hey, you didn't think the paint shop pony was weird!" "That's completely different!" "How?" Spike asked pointedly. Oloy raised a hoof, then slowly lowered it as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. "She likes rocks. Surely you of all ponies can understand that!" "That's blatant prejudice! Not all crystal ponies like crystals!" "You still build houses out of them, just like Maude!" "Maude didn't build that!" "You didn't build that!" Oloy moaned. "That doesn't mean anything! I can believe her contracting a bunch of experienced ponies to make that cave for her, I can even believe that she helped plan the place out and fix their mistakes. But nopony could build that whole cave from scratch." "I saw her make that closet earlier today." "What?" "Yeah! I said, 'Hey Maude, you shouldn't leave all these delicious gems on the ground!' Then, buddabuddabuddabuddaBOOM! She hammered away the rock until there were shelves and everything!" "You're pulling my leg." "Nope! My sister really is super strong!" said the bushes. Oloy flew into the air. "Gah!" Pinkie popped out of the bushes. "Gah! Yourself silly!" "Maude is your sister?!" Oloy cried. Pinkie grinned. "Yup! She's the best older sister ever!" Oloy ran a hoof through his mane. "If she's your relative, I'll believe anything..."
Chapter Eight: Hastened GratificationOloy cheered genuinely. Despite (or more accurately because of) the varying thrills of the other tests he'd been involved in, this was the best one yet. Twilight had been working on speed upgrades for the engine when they'd returned with the required stone. The prototype was positively zipping past the outskirts of Ponyville. Now all he had to do was try the brakes! "Here goes," he yelled over the din. With a strong yank of a lever, the brakes deployed, and Oloy immediately closed his eyes. The harsh purple light was accompanied by the magical equivalent of the sound of a train slowing down. The cart-like vehicle smoothly glided to the crest of a green hill, finally stopping as the light dimmed. Oloy took a peak at the world around him. "I'm not blind!" he crowed. "That's good to hear," Twilight called as she climbed the green hill that the prototype had stopped on. Spike jogged along not far behind. As she drew closer, the princess turned inventor inspected the brakes. "Everything seems to be in working order," she observed. Oloy pulled weakly at one of his hooves. "The sticky stuff is working too." With a jolt, Twilight rushed to his side and zapped the magical glue away. "Sorry about that," she said. "It's fine!" he reassured. A little bit of glue was nothing compared to the thrills of automatic travel! The princess frowned. "Still," she sighed, "I'll have to refine this spell. That light was really distracting, and ponies could get hurt if they stared at it for extended periods of time." "Maybe you could have it make a smell!" Oloy suggested. Her frown deepened. "Scent magic has a really high power requirement. Why would I ever want to-" She stopped and thought for a second. "That's ingenious!" Without another word, Twilight teleported herself and the prototype back to the backyard. Oloy swayed a bit. "Glad you're happy. I guess I'll walk back," he grumbled. Spike hesitantly patted him on the back as they headed towards the castle once more. *** When they returned, the princess was in the library studying. "That's a lot of books!" Oloy exclaimed. She looked up briefly. "It takes a lot of precision to enchant something with smell, but factor in variable power and you have a recipe for disaster if anything goes wrong." "Disaster?" Oloy gulped. Twilight nodded solemnly. "An unstable enchantment can lead to a smell black hole." "A what?!" he yelped. Spike shrugged. "It's just what it sounds like. A rift that pulls in all the smells in the world." "Exactly," she nodded, "which is why I have to get this enchantment just right. It could take a while, why don't you go ask Pinkie about her friend who's offering to mass-produce these?" "Fine," Oloy grumbled. He and Spike headed for the door of the castle. One of the crystals dotting the walls giggled. "Hello?" Pinkie burst out of the crystal. "Hi! I'm so excited you're going to meet my friend! You're going to have so much fun!" Oloy smiled nervously. "I wouldn't call mass production of an automotive vehicle fun, but I'm excited to meet her!" "Nice!" Pinkie giggled again, then bounced out the door. Oloy and Spike followed. The three made good time across town, and found themselves walking towards a large building with a purple sign, located in the shopping district. Inside there were a few ponies browsing the wares and a well-dressed brown stallion with a triple cash bag cutiemark. "Pinkie Pie!" he said, "It's great to see you! And you even brought a new friend!" Pinkie grinned. "Yup yup yup! He's here to talk about the new invention!" Oloy shook the stallion's hoof. "I'm Oloy Victorium." "Filthy Rich, but you can call me Mr. Rich!" With an easy laugh, Mr. Rich led them to his office. "I'm glad not every building in this town is made out of crystals!" Oloy exclaimed. Mr. Rich chuckled. "You been living in the castle?" The student nodded. "Crystal's all fine and dandy for fancy gatherings, but sometimes it's way too much!" "Yeah," Oloy sighed. Pinkie bounced. "Come on come on! Tell him about the invention!" Spike nodded vigorously. "Hurry up." Oloy flicked his ear in annoyance. "Okay, geez! Mr. Rich, do you know the pony who wants to help mass produce our vehicular prototype?" "You could say that! The pony who wants to mass produce your veehicyoolar prototype...is me!" "Really?" "Yes! So tell me about this machine. How does it go without steam?" "Well, there's a highly specific fuel source." "Expensive?" "Yes, very." "What about efficiency? Do you use a lot of fuel?" "Absolutely." "What about safety? This thing doesn't blow up, right? "Yes, very?" "What?" "I mean, no, it doesn't blow up!" "I think I've heard all I need," Mr. Rich proclaimed. "Now get out of my office!" *** "That could've gone better," Oloy moaned as he poked the ground. "Cheer up Oloy!" Pinkie urged, "We don't know for sure he didn't like it!" Spike scoffed. "We don't know he did like it either." "Oh, I hope I didn't rush you," Pinkie sniffled, "I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!" The student shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Twilight's the one who sent us in the first place, so-" The dragon waved a hand in front of Oloy's face. "Hello, Oloy? Dr. Oloy, you're needed in the operating theater. Paging Dr. Oloy?" "What did you just say?" Oloy asked. Spike fidgeted a bit. "Just something to get your attention." "Not you," he frowned, "Pinkie Pie." The party pony flipped backwards in a small book. "I said, 'I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!' The student shrugged-" She stopped herself. "Oops, I didn't say that!" Oloy ignored the oddity, it was Pinkie Pie after all. "You called it a car. Why is that?" "Well it's like a train car, right?" "Not really, a train car has walls and can't go on its own," Spike pointed out. "They both go somewhere, though, right?" Oloy nodded. "I guess so." There was a moment of quiet, and the door to Mr. Rich's office sprang open. He smiled good-naturedly. "I'll help y'all out! There's just something too exciting about such a risky business proposition!" As Spike and Oloy were both gaping in shock, the duty of speaking naturally fell to Pinkie Pie. "Thank you thank you thank you Mr. Rich! I'll make sure to have your favorite kind of cake at the launch party!" "Sounds good! You take care now!" And with that, the three left the shop to tell Twilight the good news. *** "That's awesome!" the princess of friendship said, clapping her hooves a bit. "I even have some good news too. I got the scent magic enchantment on the prototype with no problems at all!" In celebration, everypony (and dragon) participated in a group hug.
Chapter Nine: An Important TestOloy wiped sweat from his brow as he inspected the platform. "I have to admit, I'm a little nervous..." he told Spike. The dragon sighed. "Don't worry about it, you'll do fine..." he mumbled. "What was that?" "I said you'll do fine, okay? Gosh darn it!" Oloy was taken aback by the outburst. "Hey, you're right! Thank you." Spike shrugged. "Whatever. Hurry up, we don't want to keep Mr. Rich waiting," he pointed out. Oloy nodded. "You're right." And with that, he hopped atop the prototype. Twilight had worked on it all morning to get the new enchantment just right, and thus it was already late afternoon by the time she was confident everything else was working properly, including the new restraint system. Oloy sat on the red velvet cushion. Spike poured the newly created adhesive on his hooves. It was green and viscous, and glittered with purple magic. "What's that stuff?" Mr. Rich asked. "It keeps him from falling off," Twilight responded, "but if he wants to get off it'll let him." He took out a notepad and wrote something. "How much of this contraption is made with magic?" "I made almost everything myself using magic," she said, looking concerned, "is that gonna make it harder to mass produce?" "Kinda. Ya see, we can carry out the manufacturing process in any town with a station. As long as we build some train cars that can transport them, we'll just need to find somewhere that also has a lot of smart unicorns. Ah bet as a princess you can work out the permits 'n such!" "Of course," Twilight laughed nervously. "Okay, I'm ready for this test!" Oloy called from the cart. "Please start it before I lose my nerve," he muttered. Mr. Rich chuckled. "Alright! Can't wait to see this!" Twilight took a deep breath and pulled the lever into its newly created first gear. The cart rattled as the wheels slowly started to turn. "Is that as fast as it goes?" Mr. Rich asked. Oloy grinned, shook his head, and pulled the lever into 'speed mode'. The cart tore off into town. Twilight tore after it. "So, do we just wait fer them to come back, or what?" Mr. Rich questioned Spike. The dragon shrugged and began to walk slowly after the cart. The business pony followed suit. "Woo!" Oloy yelled over the din of the engine. Then he looked in front of him and saw the young fillies and colts crossing the street single file. "No woo! No woo!" he screamed. "Get out of the way!" The young ponies screamed, and several jumped out of the way of the cart. One of them jumped a bit too high and ended up on the platform next to Oloy. "Hi I'm Featherweight," he introduced himself without pausing for punctuation as they were moving very quickly. Oloy shook his hoof. "Nice to meet you." They watched as the cart began to slow down. It was climbing the tallest hill in Ponyville, where many a cart had needed to be rescued by a caped crusader or prismatic dynamo. Sadly, neither was presently available. "I had better put on the brakes," Oloy reminded himself. "What are brakes?" *** There was, believe it or not, another magical prodigy living in Ponyville. Her name was Fateful Coincidence. She specialized in knowing just the right spell for various occasions, which naturally meant that her catalogue included both the ability to turn apples into oranges and a method of containing smell black holes. The latter would become very important when her friend Tumbler tripped in such a spectacular fashion that he accidentally unbalanced the delicately balanced enchantment on a passing cart. "Whoops!" he chuckled. Fateful sighed. "I'll be right back," she told Tumbler. She ran down the hill after the troublesome prototype. "Bye for now," Tumbler mumbled. "Hey, it's the princess!" A bolt of sentient purple lightning flew past him without a word. Well, without a word Tumbler could hear, anyway. "Please be okay, please!" Twilight muttered as she followed Oloy's vehicle down the tallest hill. She sensed that something was wrong with the cart. From looking at how fast it was going, she guessed that the brakes had something to do with-"Who is that?" "Can't talk," Fateful managed between breaths, "gotta save 'em!" Twilight picked up the unicorn with her magic. "Need a lift?" "Thanks, Princess Twilight!" "Don't mention it!" the Princess grinned. The two soared closer and closer to the cart, which got closer and closer to the cliff at the end of the hill. It really ought to have been fixed, but the city budget was always in use for a festival, or a carnival, or fixing the results of yet another monster attack. Or Pinkie Pie party, for that matter. Ever since Cheese Sandwich left town, her celebrations had taken on some of the raucous characteristics of that pony's shindigs. The two wrote letters to each other. It was very sweet. ... Oh right, the cliff was fast approaching! "Hang on!" Oloy urged his young travel partner. Featherweight wrapped himself tightly around one of the student's forelegs. They both closed their eyes. The jaws of death opened. The two ponies opened their eyes to find they'd left the cart, and were standing next to their rescuer under the old ponies home's balcony as though nothing had happened. She lifted the brim of her pointed purple hat. "What can I say except you're welcome?" Pinkie spouted with a grin. "Thank you!" the two chorused. *** Meanwhile, in the sky, Twilight was too busy to breathe a sigh of relief. She and Fateful Coincidence were finally closing in on the cart. A smell black hole was beginning to form. They should've been able to smell the tasty aroma of Bulk Biceps' nut cart, or the inventory of a flower pony returning to her stand. Instead, there was nothing. "I don't know how I'm gonna fix this," Twilight confided. "I'll contain it," Fateful promised, "just get me close enough!" With a flash of magic, Twilight slowed the cart down just as it was about to fall off the cliff. It rolled right up to the edge. "No!" Twilight yelled. The cart fell. Fateful cast her spell. Everypony regained their sense of smell. Author's Note A possible alternative to "What are brakes" was "but there's no stopping this train we're on!" I took a step back. I took several steps back, and decided to relegate the reference to this author's note.
Chapter Ten: Survey the Wreck"Destroyed?!" Mr. Rich exclaimed. "I'm afraid so," Twilight confirmed. "Now what are we going to do?" Oloy lamented. "Ice cream?" Spike offered. The others looked to him in unison. He held out a cone of rocky road. Oloy took it. "Might as well." He had his first lick of ice cream and looked off the cliff again. Mr. Rich took a cone as well. "Once we finish this, we'll have to salvage what we can," he said. "I can multitask," Twilight noted, taking her own cone. The business pony nodded. In a flash, the princess was gone. They watched a speck of purple move towards the dot of wreckage. Pieces of the prototype began to part. "Sorry it turned out like this," Spike offered. "It's not your fault," said Oloy, "it was just an accident." Fateful Coincidence dragged Tumbler over by the ear. "Ow ow ow! Fine!" the pegasus yelped, "I was going to do it anyway!" "Good evening, stranger," Mr. Rich greeted, "what's your name?" "Hi Mr. Rich! I'm Tumbler! I'm great at cartwheels and somersaults!" He beamed. Fateful cleared her throat. "Um...and I'm here to apologize for unbalancing...the enchantment?" "So you're the reason our prototype went to tartarus in a hand basket?" "Afraid so," He replied. "Ah well. Nopony was hurt, so I'll just send ya a survey in a couple days," Mr. Rich said. "Now, who's your friend?" "Fateful Coincidence, at your service." "Now then, Miss Coincidence," he pivoted, "how did you know that Tumbler here unbalanced...the enchantment?" "My special talent is knowing the right spell at the right time," she replied, "not after. I remember needing a spell to contain a smell black hole, and casting it, but I couldn't tell you how it worked, or how the enchantment was...unbalanced." "Oh." Oloy wiped his face clean. "That was some good ice cream!" "Thanks," said Spike. "Let's go down and help Twilight!" he responded. With that, they headed towards the spiral staircase to the bottom of the cliff. The rickety metal steps creaked loudly, and the wind blew consistently if not dangerously as they made their way down. Spike, who was in the lead, started shivering about halfway down. "It's cold," he told Oloy, "you might have to carry me to the bottom." "What? Why?" "I get really tired if it's too cold," the dragon explained. "You can make it to the bottom," Oloy said encouragingly. Spike shrugged shakily. "If you say so. Just promise you'll catch me if I fall asleep." The crystal pony nodded. "Sure thing." The business pony grinned. "Maybe this accident was a good thing after all! If Twilight can design a vehicle that's easier to mass produce, maybe cut down on all the magic, and take it as a learning opportunity, everything'll be much easier." "Having some kind of mechanical brake system would be helpful," Oloy posited. Spike shrugged. "I think if we just store the magic somehow instead of trying to use it all up it will be easier." They reached the bottom of the staircase. Twilight glanced over. "Hey guys," she said, "I think I have an idea!" "What is it?" Mr. Rich asked. "A hybrid!" *** Spike carried the pile of books outside, where Twilight and Mr. Rich were talking in a newly erected garage. The new prototype was covered with a large woolen blanket, but it seemed much curvier than the last one. "Here's everything I could find on mana storage," the dragon announced. "Thanks Spike!" Twilight took the pile from him and floated the books in the air, inspecting the titles. "We'll start out with Starswirl's mana matrix, then build it up with some other spells." "Why can't the machine be entirely mechanical?" Mr. Rich wanted to know. "Miniaturizing a mechanical engine in and of itself is ambitious enough for our first project," the princess explained, "magical engines are usually much easier to work with." "Yes, but it's much easier to add more fuel to something if it ain't magical," Mr. Rich countered. Spike interjected. "Wait, you guys are gonna make the prototype more complicated? Why?" Twilight sighed. "Mr. Rich and I are making a compromise. We both want to put a lot of these vehicles on the roads, but in order to do that I can't make every magical component myself. I'd never be fast enough. Instead, I'll make sure the spells I use are easy enough that more unicorns will be able to perform them, and we'll have a mechanical engine side by side with the magical one." "Mechanical engines will be easier for anypony to assemble," Mr. Rich added. "I want to make sure plenty of ponies can get good paying jobs at our factory. Naturally my store will provide for all their service and fuel needs. I'll probably have to build an expansion!" "We don't want anypony to have to get out and push either," Twilight stated, "so they'll always have one engine working if the other one fails." Spike nodded. "Okay. When is Oloy going to drive that?" He pointed at the prototype. "Not for some time," Twilight said. "I want to add a whole new control system and a user interface, on top of dramatically rethinking my old designs to increase comfort and reliability. Why don't you two find something to do in town? I bet Rainbow Dash isn't busy with the weather anymore." The dragon nodded and headed back into the castle. The afternoon sun warmed his scales through the windows, and he found the crystal pony hanging out in the main foyer. Oloy perked up. "What did she say?" "She said we should see what Rainbow's up to," Spike sighed dejectedly. "Who's Rainbow?" "I'll introduce you. Ever see a cloud house before?" "No, but it sounds amazing!" Oloy exclaimed exuberantly. "It's at least 20% cooler than a normal house. It has cloud doors, a cloud ceiling, and a cloud floor," Spike enumerated. He headed out the front door, Oloy falling in step next to him. "We don't have many clouds in the Crystal Empire," Oloy Victorium noted, "unless the barrier goes down. I know here in Equestria you have pegasi teams to control the weather, so I'm not too worried." Spike grinned. "Rainbow Dash is on the weather team! When we first met she cleared a bunch of clouds super fast." "Sounds amazing!" Oloy replied. "I can't wait to meet this pony!" He changed speeds from walk to power walk. Spike matched his pace. Then Oloy broke into a gallop. Spike couldn't keep up. "Wait! I'm the one who knows where she lives!" Author's Note So yes, this story is in fact not dead. I just wanted to have a big chapter ready for the triumphant return.
Chapter Eleven: Take a Break"Oh you should've seen me! I went down so fast, I made a sonic rainboom! Then I grabbed Rarity and the Wonderbolts, and whoosh! I pulled right out of that dive!" "Sounds amazing!" "Of course it was! I'm awesome!" "Yeah, yeah. We know," Spike said. They were meeting in the shadow of Rainbow's house, and it was quite a sunny day in Ponyville. "So whatcha doing here in Ponyville?" "Oh, I won a contest, so now I get to learn lessons directly from the Princess of Friendship." "Hey, did you know she needed lessons from me? How do you think she got so good at flying?" "Oloy is cool too. You know what that contest was in? Archeology!" "You're an archeologist like Daring Do?" Oloy shook his head. "Actually, I was competing in Arcology. It's about combining Architecture with Ecology." "So you put plants on buildings?" Rainbow asked. "It's not a bad idea. I guess. It's just not as awesome as Daring Do." "We just started getting Daring Do books in the Crystal Empire. My brother likes them, but I don't see the appeal," Oloy said. Rainbow gasped. "You don't like Daring Do?" "Hey, you didn't like it at first either," Spike said, "maybe he just needs to reread the first book." "Your eye okay?" she asked. Oloy got the message. "Right, I'll give it another try!" he said. "Awesome! You can borrow my spare copy. Let me go get it!" With that, Rainbow flew up to her house. "The last time she got worked up about Daring Do, she stalked the author!" Spike whispered. "I have to reread the whole series? Do you know how long those books are?" "Shorter than a trip across Equestria." Oloy gave Spike a dubious look. "Shorter than a trip across dimensions, at least." Just then, there was a flash of light, and three ponies fell out of the sky, pinning Oloy to the ground. "Pinkie Dianemena Apple Pie, why did you say that to Discord?" Applejack was on her hooves at once, shaking one at the aforementioned party planning pony. "Um, sorry we kind of fell on you," Fluttershy said from the air. "Not me, I mean. But-" "Pinkie! It's so good to see a familiar face!" Oloy exclaimed. "Are you here to tell us more good news from Mr. Rich?" Pinkie popped off of him and landed next to the path. She glanced between her angry friend and the happy stranger. "Do I know you? Not the me whose body this is, I mean another me from this dimension, because you seem really nice but I don't have a clue what you're talking about! Applejack I'm sorry! I just thought it would be fun to see a third dimension because all we did in yours was have that tea party don't get me wrong it was fun and all but Discord was really dragging things out." She smiled. "Um..." Oloy stared. Applejack facehoofed. Spike and Fluttershy moved towards Pinkie at the same, noticed that, and kept walking to give her a hug. "You seem stressed about something Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "Is Discord making you keep a secret?" Spike asked. The pink pony broke out into sobs. "He told me I could" *hic* "go on an adventuuuuuuuuuuure!" Oloy walked over and hesitantly patted her on the shoulder, then looked at Applejack. "You really upset your friend," he said. Applejack's face softened. "Ah'm sorry Pinkie Pie, this adventure has me more stressed than a squirrel in a beehive. Then Discord did something to ya and it feels like you're a completely different pony, and..." She sighed. "You're still my friend, Pinkie. Can ya forgive me?" The pink pony sniffed, then nodded slowly. She pulled the farmer into the group hug. "What the-Pinkie? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash said, dropping her book in shock. "Didn't you just tell me you were running to the patent office all the way in Canterlot?" Pinkie wiped her tears. "Rainbow, can't you see she's been crying?" Fluttershy asked. "Well-yeah-" "Give her some space and time to explain herself." She paused. "Please." The hug fell apart over time, and Rainbow brought down a picnic blanket and some hay sandwiches. After snarfing down hers, the party planner stood up and began to explain. "Okay so I may not have all the details right, but here's what I know." She took a deep breath. "You're from universe 1, your soul was swapped with a counterpart from universe 2, and Discord just sent you and your friends here to universe 3?" Oloy said. Everypony looked at him. "What? She explained everything, all I needed to do was listen fast enough to keep up." Pinkie let out the breath. "It feels different when somepony does it to me," she said. "But...um..." Fluttershy raised her hoof. "Oh yeah, Oloy is totally right!" "Woah woah woah, you're from another dimension? Like in Power Ponies issue 326 when aliens crash land on a farm and have to build their ship before the planets align?" Spike asked. "As a matter of fact I am," Pinkie said, crossing her front legs to look cool. "I even met an alien called Lapis Lazuli, she's blue and has hands and wings!" "How fast can she fly?" Rainbow asked. "Idunno, Twilight raced her but I don't know who won." "Can she do a sonic rainboom?" Pinkie shrugged. "Maaaaybeeee?" "Ugh Pinkie you never ask the important questions!" Rainbow huffed. Then a lightbulb appeared above her head. "Saaaay, I need to get out of dodge for a while-I mean, I need to race this Lapis Lazuli lady to prove that I'm the fastest. Could you send me to her dimension?" Before Pinkie could reply, Applejack stuffed a hoof in her mouth. "Don't call him," she said. "Oh, Discord!" Rainbow said from the air. "Rainbow Dash, that's cheatin' with yer wings. Get down here!" "Discord, discord!" "Yes there's no need to shout, I'm right here," the chaos lord said, lifting a corner of the picnic blanket and walking up the stairs under it, "what do you want now, Rainbow Dash? Shall I perform another Sonic Chaosboom for your amusement?" "Nope! One was...too many," the pegasus shuddered. "Just send me to that other dimension so I can race Lapis Lassie." "Lapis Lazuli," he drily corrected. "Right, right." Discord sat on the blanket and stroked his goatee. "You're sure you can handle the consequences? The tone is a bit different over there, sort of...dramatic." "Wait let me grab my bags!" She flew off. Oloy hid behind Applejack, who was looking about ready to throttle Discord with her lasso. Fluttershy and Spike approached the chaos lord. "Hi Discord," the dragon said, "how's it going?" "It's going fine," he said, "I'm just a little busy. You let it get out that you can dimension-hop, and suddenly everypony wants a taxi service." "You shouldn't work too hard," Fluttershy said, patting him on the back gently. "Even you have limits." He nodded, and the bags under his eyes loaded onto a small plane and flew away. "Please, get some rest." "Alright Fluttershy, I'll get some rest. For you." He gave her a hug, Spike a fist bump, and Oloy a thumbs-up. Then Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. "Okay Discord, I packed snacks and the first Daring Do book, I'm ready for an adventure!" Rainbow said as she flew down from her cloud house. "Aaaaand he's gone." Author's Note Edit 11/3/2024: Wow there were some embarrassing typos in there! Looks like I may have rushed out this chapter faster than Tesla rushed...well, any of their cars really.
Chapter Four: kind of distractionSpike set down the broom and dustbin, taking a break to look out the window. Twilight's back was to the castle and there was no sign of Oloy or the prototype cart. Spike rushed out. "Where's the new student?" he asked. "I sent him out on the cart. It works, Spike! I'm a genius!" Twilight exclaimed, wrapping up her assistant in a big hug. The dragon's eyes widened, "Is he okay?" "Oh, Spike! He has to be okay! There are straps for safety!" "Where's the cart?" At this question, Twilight shrugged and pointed. "It went that way." "Shouldn't you be watching it to make sure he's okay?" Spike said as he edged towards the direction she had pointed to. "You're right, I should be monitoring how well the cart is functioning!" Twilight smiled. The two rushed off towards the open green hills outside Ponyville. For some reason, there was a hay bale with two excited blue eyes, a trench coat, a pair of glasses with a fake nose, and a baseball cap standing at the edge of town. Just as Spike was about to reach the lush fields of grass, the hay bale jumped out in front of him. Then it spoke. "Hiya Spike! Why are you running? It's not Saturday yet!" "Pinkie?!" "Spike!" The bale exclaimed. The dragon ran in place, "There's no time to explain! I have to go now!" He sidestepped Pinkie Pie's hay bale and rushed away. The bale bounced after him, eager to see what he was so incensed about. There was a thin line of smoke in the air outside Ponyville. It floated over the hills, leading Spike and Pinkie to a cart with two wheels still attached and one dazed passenger. Twilight stood on a hill overlooking the scene, inspecting the wreckage. "I can reuse most of this," she mumbled to herself. Pinkie hopped next to her. "Hey Twilight, did you have fun with the fireworks?" "I conducted a scientific experiment with them." As the two talked, they watched Spike pulling Oloy out of the straps. The student stood somewhat shakily. "Is science fun?" "Does water have covalent bonds?" "Ummm...I think so," Pinkie responded, thinking back to her chemistry class. Chemistry was like cooking, but you couldn't eat stuff when you were done with it. Spike reached the top of the hill, supporting Oloy on one shoulder, and glared at Twilight. "What were you thinking?! He could have been hurt!" "I want to do it again," Oloy said shakily, a manic spark appearing in his eye. Twilight grinned, "I'm glad you share my enthusiasm for scientific research! But you can't do it again right away, I'll need some time to put it back together." Her dragon assistant looked around frantically for somepony who wasn't crazy and somehow ended up staring at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, help me out here!" he begged. "Sure thing! How can I help you today?" she smiled. Spike groaned, "Tell Twilight this cart thing is a bad idea!" "But then everything will be boring again," Pinkie explained, "and being boring is no fun." At this, Spike raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. The pink pony patted him politely. "Don't worry about danger too much." "Why not?" "I can't tell you, it's a secret that starts with the letter E!" she whispered. Author's Note Does anyone want to guess what the secret is? I'll tell you if you get it right.
