Piston

by dax388

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad
Length: 12409

A pony moves from cantor lot to pony vill what stories and rumors surround this pony?

Everypony has problems. If you're lucky and have friends who can help you push past them, those problems will not effect your life. In the case of Piston Allen Shmooze, his problems had driven him to become one of the most horrible ponies in Equestria. Can he change?

In this story, I'll be giving you a brief look into the mind of a dyslexic person. I'm going to try and keep each chapter about two-thousand words.

Note: The "Sad" tag may be removed, but I don't know yet.

Thank you for reading.
And a big thanks to my editor Saekwaka who must have superhuman patience for managing to cleave through the mess that is the dribble I call writing.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-09 05:07:19 UTC

A New Pony

The day was like any other; the skies were clear, the sun was bright, the birds were chirping, and every pony was busy with his or her daily routines. A small purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle was at a small bakery known as Sugar Cube Corner. At this bakery, a happy, pink cotton-candy maned pony bounced all around the kitchen to fill the order. Even though Twilight Sparkle was ordering, she knew who the treats were destined to be eaten by, seeing as many ponies did not like the taste of gemstone.

"Here you go, Twilight; one big order of cupcakes! Can I ask what the occasion is?"  Pinkie Pie said, handing Twilight her order.

Twilight seemed embarrassed to answer, but she mustered up the courage and replied with, "Um… I accidentally did something to Spike and I’m making up for it.  You know all the crazy adventures we get into? Well, this time it was Spike's turn."

Pinkie Pie tilted her head, curiousity swimming in her eyes. "Really?" What happened? And where is Spike, anyway? That little dragon should be following you everywhere considering that you've agreed to give him these!"

Twilight Sparkle awkwardly kicked the ground. "Um... Promise you won’t tell any pony?"

"Of course, Twilight! After all, I invented the Pinkie Promise." With those reassuring words, Twilight called out to a friend standing nearby.

"Come on in, Rarity; it’s just the three of us and we can trust Pinkie." Rarity, who is normally white, stepped hesitantly through the door and was now pink with embarrassment. "I can’t believe this could’ve happened!" She exclaimed. "Don’t worry Spike; we'll make it up to you."

This confused Pinkie Pie even more, and she was now losing her patience. Spike's not even in the room, so why are they talking out loud as if he IS? Pinkie wondered, then said, "You ponies are silly! Where is Spike?" Rarity’s face changed from pink to bright red.

"Umm... He’s inside me," She mumbled, covering her eyes with her hooves.

Pinkie Pie's mouth just about dropped to the floor. "What did you just say?"

Twilight, seeing that Rarity was too embarrassed to talk, intervened and explained everything to Pinkie Pie. "I was practicing a new shrinking spell, and Spike somehow got hit by it. At the time, neither of us knew Spike was hit. While I continued practicing on a lamp, Spike left unnoticed to go give some chocolates to Rarity. When he knocked on Rarity's door, the spell took effect and shrank him. Then he fell into the box of chocolates something which would not have happened if he wasn’t sneaking a few for himself."

She heaved a sigh, then continued.

"Unfortunately for him, Rarity answered the door and figured Spike had just left them there for her. While Spike was stuffing his face with giant chocolates, Rarity decided to try a few. One of the few she sampled just so happened to have the hungry Spike attached to it.  Lucky rarity was under a lot of stress which prompted her not to chew her food."

Pinkie Pie, still shocked, gasped. "Is Spike okay?!"

As Pinkie Pie ducked her head down towards Rarity’s stomach, Twilight began explaining again.

"Yes, he’s fine. Dragons are used to lava pools and Sulfur, so Rarity's acidic stomach fluids are no problem for Spike." Rarity tilted her head down, then asked,  "How are you holding up, Spikey?"

Much to Pinkie Pie's surprise, Spike could manage a muffled response. "I’m fine; and for the millionth time, I’m not mad at you Rarity! You didn’t know, and if I had to be eaten by any pony, it'd be you."

At the end of the sentence, Pinkie Pie gave a loud "aaaaawwwwww!  ...  gross."

"So how are you going to let him out?"

  When Pinkie Pie asked this, both Twilight and Rarity flushed a light shade of magenta. This time, Rarity worked up the courage to speak. "We’ve tried everything. Our next plan is to remove him using magic which can undo the spell in place if not done right, but if that doesn’t work, we will have to…" Her voice trailed off for a moment. She cleared her throat, then finished. "Wait until he comes out on his own."

Spike's tiny voice sounded from inside Rarity's stomach. "Twilight, you better find a solution to this! I’d sooner stay in her stomach for the rest of my life than go out the back door!"

Twilight, sympathetic towards her assistant, said, "Don’t worry, Spike; I’ll fix this. Until then, preoccupy yourself with a cupcake." Before heading out the door, Twilight gave the box of cupcakes to Rarity.

Rarity grimaced as she picked up one of the cupcakes. "Okay, here goes nothing..." Shoving the cupcake in her mouth, she gulped the cupcake down without chewing, then cringed. "How revolting!" She cried.

Pinkie Pie cocked up an eyebrow. "Rarity, aren’t you worried the spell will wear off while he's still inside you?" Rarity’s glanced up for half a second at Pinkie Pie, then stared distractedly out the window. "Don’t worry, darling; Twilight said that the affect of the spell will only wear off if the unicorn that cast it makes it do so." She paused for a moment to smile at Pinkie. "Oh, and Pinkie Pie, I cannot thank you enough for being so modest about the issue. Unlike you, Rainbow Dash was astonishingly rude to us when we told her. For some reason, she seemed to find the matter humorous!"

Before Pinkie could respond, Spike called out to them from inside Rarity's stomach. "Rarity, I'm gonna need some milk down here! By the way, great cupcakes, Pinkie!" For a second, the two  mares only stared at eachother; but after a while, they burst into laughter. Spike didn't seem nearly as amused. "No, seriously; I'm thirsty. Get some milk down here."

As Pinkie stood there giggling, Rarity tilted her head uncomfortably. When Pinkie noticed this, she turned to Rarity and saw what was the matter. A tiny bulge in Rarity's neck was slowly making its way upwards. "Spike?" Pinkie tilted her head. A loud belch erupted from Rarity's mouth along with a plume of fire and a white envelope addressed to Spike and Twilight.

"A letter from the princess!" She exclaimed excitedly, picking up the letter. Pinkie Pie shoved her face against Rarity's stomach, and asked, "Hey, Spike, can we read it? Please?!"

"Go for it. It’s not like I can read it." Though the two ponies did not see this, Spike shrugged. Pinkie Pie gleefully opened the letter and began to read;

"Dear Twilight Sparkle and Spike,

I have a new assignment for both you and Spike. Recently, news of an aquaintance of yours has reached my ears. He will be moving to Ponyville. I understand there are some unpleasant rumors going around about this pony (which is causing some difficulties in his social life). Unfortunately, I know little about this pony since I have only seen him once as a very young foal. If you've heard the rumors, (which I'm sure you have) find out if they are true. He will need assistance adjusting to his new home. The pony in question goes by the name of "Piston." If any problems arise, let me know.

Your loving princess,

Celestia.  "

"Oh no." They heard Spike moan from inside Rarity. "Quick- you guys have to find Twilight and give her the letter!"

All the way on the other side of Ponyville on the edge of town, the new pony made his way to his new home. His appearance wasn't as nearly flattering nor even close to as colorful compared to the other ponies. His fur was crisp white and smeared with dirty, black oil in addition to the occasional burn mark. His hair had been haphazardly cut and then combed into a slipped-down cow lick.  As he walked along, an unpleasant plume of nasty, black smoke billowed out from his nostrils and his large cigar tip burned bright red with every deep inhale. There were not very many ponies in Equestria known to smoke. This was an awful habit that instantly labeled Piston in a detrimental way. He stank horribly from the constant smoke billowing from his breaths.

You know those ponies who seem to just have their own theme music as they walk by? Well, in Piston's case, this was actually true. A while back, a spell was placed upon him as a joke. This "joke spell" gave him his theme song; a song that was heard by every pony that he happened to cross. When Piston discovered the mysterious prank placed on him, he made no efforts to remove the spell as he quite enjoyed the distance it created between him and others.

As he walked into town, a few nearby ponies heard the song play within their minds.

When a cold wind blows it chills you,

Chills you to the bone.

But there’s nothing in nature that freezes your heart like years of being alone.

It pins you with indifference

like a lady pins with Roush.

And the worst of the worst,

the most hated and cursed

is the one that we call Shmooze.

Unkind as any

in the wrath of many;

This is Piston Allen Shmooze.

Hooooo, there goes Mr. Humbug…

there goes Mr. Graham.

If they gave the prize for being mean

the winner would be him.

Old Shmooze hates all ponies because he never learned to read.

He has no fear of changelings because upon what would they feed?

There goes Mr. Black sludge,

there goes Mr. Tar…

He feels his lungs so full of smoke

I bet the hospital’s not far.

He sits alone just working in the darkest of the houses.

No one dares disturbed him;

not even all the mouses.

He must be so lonely,

he must be so sad.

Then he goes to extremes to convince you he’s bad.

He’s really a victim of fear and of pride.

Look close, and you will see a kind Piston inside.

…Nope…

There goes Mr. Outrage,

there goes Mr. Sneer.

He has no time for friends or fun;

his anger makes that clear.

Don’t ask them for a favor because his nastiness increases.

Not in way, word, glance, or a friendly deed.

He’ll never say two pleases.

There goes Mr. Heartless,

there goes Mr. Cruel.

He never gives; he only takes.

He lets his hunger rule.

If being mean's a way of life you practice and rehearse,

then all that work is paying off;

because Shmooze is getting worse.

Each and everyday in every way

Shmooze is getting worse!

As Piston walked through town, Pinkie, Rarity and Spike manage to find Twilight in the library.  "Twilight!" Spike called out from Rarity. "Don’t worry, Spike. I’m still working as hard as I can;  but it looks like you’ll be in there for a while longer," Twilight said, closing a book then proceeding to open up another.

"No, Twilight; it’s not that," Spike began.

"It’s this," Rarity finished. Rarity held up the letter from the Princess to Twilight. Twilight opened the letter, then quickly scanned the content. "Oh, Piston's here in Ponyville now, is he? Well, we dealt with him once before, and  we'll do so again. You know the drill, Spike. Actually, I think I’m going to go see Piston right now. I think I’d like to own one of his clocks again. It would certainly improve the library's appearance."

Rarity and Pinkie Pie both were hopelessly lost. "Who is this 'Piston?'" Asked Rarity. "Why was Spike so freaked out by him before?"  Pinkie Pie added, tilting her head. Spike flatly answered the question before Twilight could respond.  "He’s a big, nasty, mean pony. He smells awful and hates everyone. I don’t think there’s a single pony in Canterlot who hasn’t heard of Piston.  And he’s absolutely impossible to deal with- even off duty guards don’t like messing with him."

"Spike!" Twilight scolded. "We don’t even know Piston that well! Maybe he’s come to Ponyville to, you know, start fresh. We should give him the benefit of the doubt." Though Spike could not be seen due to his condition, his disagreement was clearly visible.

"Benefit of the doubt? He doesn’t have his own background music for no reason, you know."

Finally, Rarity lost her patience with them. "Would somepony please just tell me who this Piston pony is?" Much to Twilight's disgust, Spike jumped the opportunity. "I’ll tell you who this 'Piston pony' is! He's-" however, before he could continue, he was interrupted by Twilight once more. "No, Spike. Why don't you all come with me while I buy a clock from Piston? It'll be a good opportunity for you to meet Piston. You two ponies should meet him for yourself and decide what you think about him.  Our feeling towards him shouldn’t affect the way you think about him."

As you can tell, Twilight is quite the forgive and forget pony.

"As soon as we get back, I'll tell you two the entire story; I promise. But for now, let’s just go meet the pony."

End of chapter one.

Let's Meet Piston.

Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were walking through Ponyville to find Piston. Spike was not walking (as he was still stuck inside Rarity). Twilight Sparkle now had a saddle bag attached to her side.

"Okay everypony," Twilight began. "We will go buy a clock from Piston, you two ponies will say hello, then we can decide what you think of Piston."

"Don’t get your hopes up," Spike interjected. "Piston is not a pony to change. But I suppose it’s worth a shot." He said, with an unconvinced tone. Pinkie (being Pinkie) hopped straight onto Twilight and began riding her. Twilight, of course, did not even notice as it is a common belief that Pinkie Pie is not a creature of mass and energy, and therefore must not obey physical laws.

"I’m excited!" Pinkie Pie said. "I’m going to make a new friend today." She then hopped off of Twilight and began crawling beneath Rarity in order to talk to Spike.  "So Spike, how do you and Twilight know Piston?"

"Piston lived close to where Twilight and I lived. Twilight also knew him from school before she went to be the princess’s pupil." "Ooooh, neat!" Pinkie Pie said, finally returning to her carefree hop down the road.

As they continued their walk, Rarity began giggling. Twilight, interested by the outburst, decided to question the marshmallow-colored pony. "Um, Rarity, is something funny?"  Rarity managed to fight down the giggles long enough to reply. "Ho, no. It’s just that Spike is tickling me. A little bit more to the left there, Spike; no, your other left. Oh yes, that’s the spot."

The four friends, being amused by the antics, shared a laugh and continued their silly conversation as they walked. The conversation ended, however, when they reached their destination. They made their way towards his house; but when making their final left turn, quickly halted into an awkward silence. There, before them, stood Piston's home and workshop. A large sign was stabbed into the ground out front.  It said, "Fire hizard. Keep all flamable objecks away."

The sign was misspelled and two of the letters in "objects" were backwards.

The home was rather misplaced.  Not misplaced as it wasn’t where was supposed to be, but misplaced as in it did not fit the typical building design usually seen in Equestria. It had no straw roof and was primarily made of stone with three tall chimneys sticking out from the top which billowed puffy, gray smoke. In addition to this, it had two large bellows which occasionally pumped up and down. The building emanated heat and was, frankly, not comfortable to be around. Upon further inspection of the grass growing near the building, Twilight saw that the grass was dying and, within a few more days, would probably be nothing but lifeless dirt.

Then, Twilight boldly walked up to the door (one wouldn’t describe Pinkie Pie as being "brave" since fear doesn't seem to be an emotion she possesses). Rarity quietly walked behind both ponies with her head down. Spike, of course, was oblivious to the situation.

Once, then twice, on the big metal door Twilight knocked. The door itself inspired fear as the ponies gazed upon its alien features.

Do allow me to explain why this is. In Ponyville, the doors are mainly made of wood and their locking mechanism is usually just a latch that can be easily undone from either side. However; Piston's front door was solid metal and had both a handle and keyhole. This made the ponies feel unwelcome (as was its intended purpose).

As the giant door clattered and clinked, they could hear it releasing its latches. As the door swung open, it gave a loud, angry squeak as if demanding oil as some form of hefty ransom.  Piston, with his cigar burning brightly and smoke puffing from his nostrils, walked out.

"Twilight Sparkle. I thought you lived in Canterlot; what are you doing here?" Piston asked, with absolutely no acknowledgement of the other two ponies. Twilight tilted her head to the side.

"Piston, I’ve lived here for quite some time. Didn’t you notice my absense at all?"

"No," Piston replied hastily.  "Now what do you want?"

"I’d like to buy a clock," Twilight said with a smile. "One of the big ones that tells time, season, and weather. Oh, and is it possible to make it self-winding?"

"Fine," Piston replied. "You pay me now, they’ll bring the clock tomorrow. It will take me some time preparing it for travel." Twilight then levitated some money out of her saddle bag and into Piston's possession. Afterwards, Piston began retreating back into is home.

"Wait!" Twilight insisted. "These are my friends; Rarity, and Pinkie Pie." Pinkie Pie grinned at him, while Rarity peeked out from behind her. Piston, then glanced back to face Twilight and gave her a calm, curt response.

"Good for you," he moaned, disgruntled. He then grasped the door handle and began to close it; however, just when the door was halfway shut, Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"I plan parties and bake sweet treats! And Rarity here is a fancy clothing designer!"

"I hate that fancy garbage. There's no need to get something just for looks." He said, snorting smoke from his nose. "As for you, little pink nightmare; I hate parties and I don’t eat junk food. If you don't need anything made from metal or glass, then we have no reason to interact." Piston grasped the door and slammed it shut.

"Why, I never!"Rarity exlaimed indignantly.

"I told you so!" Spike shouted.  Twilight sighed. "Yes, well, I was kind of hoping he would be different."

She was just about to walk away, but stopped immediately when she realized that Pinkie Pie had vanished.

"Rarity, where's Pinkie Pie?" She asked.

The two mares looked around confused before hearing racket inside the house. They quickly pressed their ears against the door to listen. Inside, they could hear Pinkie Pie’s voice.

"You’re JUST like cranky!" She yelled to Piston. "But don’t worry; I have everypony in Ponyville as my friend, and I will not sleep until I keep it that way!"

They then heard Piston's voice: "HOW THE BUCK DID YOU GET IN MY HOUSE?!" Thinking quickly, Twilight and Rarity backed up away from the door. The door's locks and other mechanisms rattled, then swung open. A very unhappy Piston carrying the pink pony walked out and dropped her to the ground. "Bad pony!" He scolded before attempting to walk back inside.

"Wait!" Pinkie insisted. "You’re not my friend yet; I can’t leave until you’re my friend."

Piston began a grinding his teeth and accidentally bit through his own cigar; which dropped to the ground.

"So," Piston began, "you're every ponies' friend?"

"Yes," Pinkie Pie replied.

"Okay then, friend" he said with emphasis. "Wait right here." Piston ran back inside his house and then immediately returned, holding the small basket of tomatoes that were slightly past their prime.

"Can you please hold these for me?" He requested. Pinkie Pie, thinking that this was an act of friendship, gladly complied. As soon as Pinkie Pie grabbed the basket, Piston grasped the two of the tomatoes and with cannon-like strength launched it over the mares' heads. The three ponies, puzzled by the action, tracked the tomatoes' trajectory until finally saw it land on the face of a big, white pony with a set of barbells as his cutie mark.

At first, the pony was angry; demanding to know who threw the fruit. However, when his eyes met the gaze of Pinkie Pie (who was still holding the basket), tears quickly welled up in them.

"Pinkie Pie’s not my friend anymore," he said sadly as he flew away. Pinkie Pie gasped at the realization of Piston's trick, and she quickly dropped the basket containing the tomatoes. "No, Roid Rage!" She screamed. She then stood on her back hind legs, tucked her from hooves into her armpits, and began slapping her front legs up and down. After giving a small cluck like a chicken, she quickly flew after him.

Piston was somewhat taken aback from the situation. "I didn’t believe it was possible for either of those two ponies to fly."  He stated flatly.

Rarity was not at all happy; "That was a horrible trick. You should feel ashamed!" Piston only rolled his eyes, and let out a grunt. "I don’t. And I believe that is the end of our business transaction," he said, finally retreating into his home and slamming the door.

"Well, I never! You’re right, Spike!" Rarity said. Twilight sighed with frustration. "Come on everypony- let’s get Pinkie Pie and go back to the library. Maybe I can find a way to get Spike out of you, Rarity."

After a quick search for Pinkie Pie, they found her trying to convince Roid Range that the thrown tomato was a misunderstanding. When she was finished and all was well, the three ponies made it to the library.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbowdash were waiting outside. Apparently, Rainbowdash had the spilled the beans about Rarity's condition, and the other two ponies came to support their friend.

The six ponies all converged in sharing the events of the day inside the library. Rainbow Dash was very displeased with the actions taken by Piston. "Why, if I see that pony, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind! Twilight, how could you possibly stand to live next to him in Canterlot?"

Twilight sighed. "Well, I’ve known him longer than most ponies, so sometimes he goes easier on me.  Usually, everypony just avoids him. But you must understand it wasn’t always like that. In fact, there was a time when Piston's kindness and outgoing nature made him friends with everypony. Believe it or not, he could have made Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy look like monsters."

The five ponies looked at Twilight in disbelief.

"Here," she said. "Now, it’s time to you the story. Let me just write a letter to the princess about what happened. I’m also requesting special permission to look at the personal records of the Canterlot schools I attended with Piston. I’d prefer to keep my facts straight; you know how I am."

The five ponies looked at each other and began whispering as Twilight scribbled down in to the letter. "Rarity," she asked. "Can you please send this to the princess?" Rarity looked puzzled. "How could I possibly do that? I am no dragon!" Twilight, holding the letter, looked around. "Well, I guess you just do the same thing did when you received a letter." At that moment, Spike shouted, "I’m on it, Twilight."

Rarity, realizing what Spike meant, quickly objected. "No, Spike! Don’t you dare! A lady should never-" However, her sentence was cut short by a massive burp that shot out fire and burned up the letter.

After a few minutes (which Twilight used to do little bit more research into spells that could pull Spike out safely), Rarity perked again; casting (instead of a letter) the giant book. The book contained many pockets and young foals' names. Two of which being Twilight and Piston.

"Here we go," Twilight said. "We can only look at Piston's record; that’s what I promised in the letter." Twilight then pulled out the stack of papers and other items from the pocket and laid them onto the table. The ponies gasped (even Twilight, seeing as she only heard rumors and had not seen for her eyes what might be contained inside the book). Now, on the table, were many pages of writing and several pictures and drawings. The drawings, being things Piston drew in school, had the dates in which he drew them.  There was a photograph of a small, white filly recovering in a hospital bed and bandages covering his flank.

"Twilight," Applejack interjected. "What is all of this?" She asked, pointing her hoof to some of the pictures. The pictures were arranged chronologically; they started out colorful and happy, but then gradually changed to black and white. The black and white ones had finer and finer detail to them, and possessed disturbing imagery.

"Okay, everypony," Twilight began. "It all started on the first day of school…"

End of chapter two.

Time In School

"Well," Twilight Sparkle began, "it all started on my first day of school…"

"Twilight, are you excited?" Twilight’s mother asked. The happy little filly only bounced up and down. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" she said. "Now I want you to remember, Twilight: this may only be temporary. The advanced magic exams are coming up soon and if you pass them, you won't be going to this school any more. Try to have fun and learn, but don’t get too comfortable." She said, patting her daughter’s head. The happy little pony then jumped forward towards the door of her house.

"Good-bye, mother! I'll see you in the afternoon."

"Good-bye, sweetie!" She called out  after Twilight left.

Twilight was excited - this would be her first day of school, and she intended to make the most of it. Every book, every lesson was now hers to learn. Up ahead, she saw a large group of ponies gathered around a white pony with black hair.

The little white pony had collected quite the audience, and for good reason. He was sitting in the sand box, making not sand castles, but instead sand sculptures! He seemed to be scuplting all of the new faces he was seeing. The tiny, little sand sculptures stood only about knee high, but despite their small size, they were very clearly an exact replica of all the ponies standing in the crowd. For every pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony, there was now a small sculpture depicting them perfectly.

"Wow," Twilight said, as she gazed down at a small pegasus with its real life counterpart looming right overhead. "That’s amazing!" she finished. The white pony quickly locked on to the unfamiliar voice.

"I’m glad you think so," Piston said as he quickly bounced over to Twilight. He hurriedly bent down and molded her figure with quick timing. The end result was an exact sculpture of Twilight beneath her.

Twilight looked at it with astonishment. The replica buried her exact image; even down to the small details of her hair.

"Wow! What's your name?" Twilight asked. The white pony smiled.

"My name is Piston. And yours?"

"Twilight Sparkle," she replied.  "Um… You only told me your first name. What's your full name?"

The white pony blushed. "My full name is Piston Allen Shmooze."

Twilight’s eyes widened. "Does that have anything to do with... You know?"

"No," Piston quickly replied. "It has nothing to do with the Shmooze." Piston then shook the conversation topic from his head and added, "Would you like to come play with us?"

Twilight shook her head no. "I have a very interesting book I’d like to read. The princess herself wrote it; it’s about how the sun works. Goodbye, Piston! I'll see you in class!" Twilight then walked away.

School wouldn't start for little bit longer, she thought. And I could get really into the book before then.

As soon as she found a nice secluded location, she open up the book for the first time. Normally, most ponies never read the useless information at the beginning of the book. You know what I’m talking about: those first pages with author's notes and stuff.

But Twilight was not a normal pony. She liked to read a book cover to cover - that means everything. As she began reading the princess’s thoughts on the first two pages, she felt a strange sensation; like something was watching her.

Upon looking up, she saw Piston staring her intently.

"Did you say that book was about the sun?"

"Yes," Twilight Sparkle replied. "If you like, I'll let you borrow it later when I'm finished reading it."

A frown then appeared on Piston's face. "I can’t read. Would… Would you read it to me?"

Twilight could see that Piston was uncomfortable discussing the topic, so she simply said, "Have a seat here next to me." Piston quickly walked over and sat down as Twilight Sparkle began reading.  Twilight never glanced up from the book. Keeping her eyes focused entirely on the pages, she continued to read aloud until the end. She thought she would only get halfway through the book by the time school started, but much to her surprise, the book was not that long, and quickly finished due to fast reading. Page by page, she read until she was eventually forced to close the book and look up again. Smiling, Piston sat next to her. Then, he spoke.

"Hey, Twilight? You know, you're kind of pretty."

Twilight blushed, thanked him, then added, "You actually listened to me the entire time?"

"Yes," Piston replied. "Say, I bet if a pony can make a very small sun it, would be great for making power!  Maybe I should think about that some more." The two ponies then heard the bell ring.  "Well, it's time for class. Say, Twilight, if you find any more books about stuff like that would you mind, um…"

"Okay!" Twilight replied. The two ponies then made their separate ways to class. Once in class, they were met with the basic things anypony would see in a school house. The books placed neatly on the shelves, the numbers and letters in colorful posters up pn the walls; the usual thing any student would expect.

"Okay, class," the teacher shouted. "Find your seats; your name should be printed on them." Everypony looked around and soon found the seat with his or her name printed on them. Soon, there were only five desks left and one pony, white with black hair, still standing. The teacher looked down at him. "Having trouble, are we? Your desk is over there." She said, pointing to one in the middle of the class. Piston quickly took a seat as class began.

There was a long discussion about rules and times. Basically, just when stuff would be happening, and what was expected of each student. It felt like the conversation lasted forever. But eventually, the board gave way to a small bit of interaction.

"Class, building social skills is just as important to our brains as billing is to the adult ponies. So, you’re all going to stand up one at a time, come up here, and write your name on the board. Afterward, you can tell us a little bit about yourself, and then sit back down."

Everypony stood up one at a time, said his or her name, and sat back down. Twilight, having the most impressive writing, did not seem very interested in talking, so she merely repeated her name before sitting back down. Then, pony after pony went by, until finally, Piston was up next. He nervously walked up to the board and picked up the piece of chalk.

P… I…

"Let me think," he said to himself.  "What was next?" T… S…  A…N. Piston then turned towards the class, and told them again, "My name is Piston."

"Is that supposed to be funny?" The teacher asked.

"What do you mean?" Piston replied.

"That your name is spelled wrong; can’t you spell your own name?"

She spoke with anger in her voice.

"Um, no," Piston said, looking down at his hooves. The teacher gave a sigh of frustration.

"You see class, Piston is a perfect example of a laziness. He is too lazy to even try to learn to read!" She scoffed, then continued. "Ponies like Piston won’t make it far in school, I guarantee it." The teacher then picked up an eraser and erased Piston's name off the board. "No, Piston. Just go sit down; I have no time to deal with ponies like you."

Piston quietly went back to his seat. After more discussion on how the school would work, the class was told to get up and line up. They then were told to go with a different teacher for a walk around the school so they wouldn’t get lost when it was time for them to move around. After the short walk around the school, everypony came back to class. The names on each desk had been changed. "Class," the teacher announced. "The desks have been rearranged for the most efficient learning pattern. Please find your desk."

Piston looked all around, but he could not find his name. "Piston!" The teacher snapped. "Your desk is back there." She said, pointing to back the room. When Piston finally found his desk, he saw it was very far back, and there was an entire row of empty desks separating him from all other ponies. He could barely hear anything, and he did not understand why his desk was so far away.

The majority of the year went very much the same. Piston would excel at some things - such as math, art, or other things like that - but in reading, there was still the same problem. When one of the other students would answer question wrong, the teacher would smile and ask them to answer again. No student ever failed on the second try. However, whenever Piston answered a question incorrectly, the teacher would be sure to stand right behind him and use her long ruler to pry Piston's tail out from his seat. Once the long appendage was on the ground, she would wait for his answer to the question.

"Wrong." She flatly stated, and then made short to stand firmly upon his tail. She would often wait until another student had answered his question before finally walking away. Piston fought back tears in his eyes every time she did it, and eventually it was as if he didn’t feel it at all.

Whenever Piston's work was not fully completed or was not answered to the degree in which the teacher felt was appropriate, Piston was forced to stay inside while the other children went out and played. "Do it again!" The teacher ordered, stomping her hoof. The teacher was quite larger than most ponies; making her physically frightening, and eventually, foreboding.

It was not long before the teacher began wearing beads in her tail.  The tiny, plastic beads were colorful, and while they filled other children with hope and delight, they filled Piston with fear. The beads were many shapes and sizes. Not a single one was round with a smooth surface, but instead, they were jagged and hard. Piston feared that those beads appointed every passageway through the door of the class. Each time he walked out the door, the teacher would quickly with her tail, being sure to land it on Piston's flank.

One day, Piston had managed to get outside. He promptly cheated, hiding the answers within his desk and looking upon them when he needed them. He finally could relax outside. Just then, Twilight Sparkle remembered Piston's request to be read books. So, she walked up next to him. "Piston, you’re outside!" She said, with excitement. "Would you like me read my book to you?" She asked with a smile.

"No." Piston snapped. "I hate reading. I hate school. I hate you, and I hate me. Leave me alone!!!" He yelled at Twilight, before running away.

"Twilight, is all of this true?" Applejack asked. "I can’t… I can’t believe it."

"Well," Twilight explained, "We were all foals at that time. I couldn’t see what was happening to Piston then, even though it’s so clear now. There’s a lot not written in these books. Either somepony forgot to mention quite a bit, or this book was tampered with; but anyway, yes: this is one of the things that turned Piston into what he is today."

Fluttershy wiped tears from her eyes. "No wonder that pony's so sad! But how can we reach out to a pony that’s so convinced the world's a bad place?"

"I don’t know." Twilight confessed. Applejack looked at a picture of a recovering Piston in the hospital. "What happened here? Was this the teacher's doing?"

"No," Twilight replied. "That one, Piston did to himself." Everypony gasped. "It was the day Piston got his cutie mark. He was the first in the class to get his, so as you can guess, it caused a bit of an uproar. He claimed he had invented a clock that never needed to be wound and would run forever. The class, having been turned against him, told him he was stupid. Even the teacher accused him of stealing the idea for the clock and thought maybe that was his cutie mark theft; even though that's impossible. In the end, Piston ran away crying. Later on, he was found in the boiler room next to smashed a clock and with a giant burn mark on his cutie mark. They think he tried to burn off his own cutie mark to try to change it to something else. I never saw him after that, as we all got our cutie marks right afterwards, and I became the princess’s pupil."

"Rainbow Dash, what are you looking at?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking up at Rainbow. Hearing that, she her head pulled out from the window. "I’m looking at Piston; he’s coming right over here carrying something big. I thought you said that the clock wasn’t supposed to be delivered until tomorrow."

"I thought that, too," Twilight replied. "Quickly, Rarity! Send the book back to the princess before Piston sees us looking at his records, or he'll freak out!!!"

Spike quickly complied, forcing Rarity to burp and sending the book back to where it came from. Soon after, they heard a knock on the door.

End of chapter three

Get Out!

A knock could be heard on the door. Twilight quickly scanned the room to make sure nothing had been left behind from Piston's records. After she confirmed that everything had been sent back, she walked to the door and opened it. Outside was Piston, smoking as usual, and carrying a heavy clock. Before Twilight could say anything, he walked straight into the room.

"Okay, Twilight; where'd you want this thing?" Twilight quickly circled around to face Piston. "I thought you said you were going to bring it tomorrow," she said. Piston set down the clock and sighed as if the action of talking to another pony disgusted him. "Tomorrow, I’m taking a personal day for myself; which means you get your clock today. I tried to give it to the mail carriers, but all they wanted to do was say 'hi' to me, and offer me muffins." At the end of his statement, Piston began opening various compartments of the clock and removing packing material that had prevented the clock from being damaged. "Now; where was it you wanted this thing?" He asked.

"Right over there, please." Twilight replied. Piston quickly put the clock where Twilight asked him to and made his way to the door. "Wait right there!" Shouted Rainbow Dash from above. "Who do you think you are, doing something so awful to my friends, and then acting like it didn’t happen?" Piston snorted some smoke through his nose, and then replied, "Last time I checked, I was Piston. And as for your friends, maybe they'll get over it, or maybe they won’t. I really don’t care." He then continued to make his way to the door. However, he was soon stopped by Applejack.  "Hold up, now! Maybe you have a good reason for being so heartless, but I think now, you should apologize." She said sternly.

"Here’s an idea." Piston began. "How about you move your apple-picking flank out of my path, and I won’t put your name on the list of ponies I want to buck up today?" Now Applejack was mad; Piston had gone too far. "That’s it!" She said. "You get out of this library before I give you a mouthful of my hoof!" Rainbow Dash swooped down and pressed her face uncomfortably close to Piston's. "But first, you’re going to apologize to Pinkie Pie, Rarity, AND Twilight!" Piston was unmoved by the threat. "Get out my face, you rainbow-haired vulture," he said, pushing his nose against hers in defiance.

"Um, please stop." Fluttershy squeaked, unable to be heard by anypony. "How about this," Piston repeated. "You can have your apology when you suck my di-"

WHAM!

Before Piston could finish his sentence, Applejack turned around and kicked him right on the mouth; however, the attack was less effective than she'd hoped. Applejack's two front hooves were firmly placed on the ground, but her two back hooves were now smashed against Piston's head. Applejack quickly turned back around to see if it her attacks had injured Piston as much as she'd anticipated they would. They hadn't. "But... I just kicked you as hard as I could!"

Fluttershy squealed again, "Please, no fighting."

"Let me explain something to you," Piston said. "I live in Canterlot as a blacksmith, and it was my job to fix the broken armor of royal guards. If I can throw them out of my workshop and endure several severe burns, I guarantee you I can take on you." In defiance to Piston's warning, Rainbow Dash charged at him, only to be swiftly deflected by Piston's hoof.

"Hey!" Pinky Pie interjected.

"You simply cannot bully our friends like that!" Rarity glared at him. Each and every pony shoved their faces in Piston's. "And what exactly do you plan to do about it?" His sudden outburst sent the two ponies reeling backwards. Spike could feel the disturbance, and spoke up. "Don’t you dare harm Miss Rarity!" Piston, caught off guard by the sound, looked down to only see the empty floor and Rarity. "What? Oh, that must be Twilight’s pet dragon." Spike, offended by his phrase, corrected him. "I’m not a pet!" Piston's eyes widened with shock as the he realized where Spike's voice was coming from.

Disturbed, he faced her. "Did you...?" He trailed off for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess. Personally, I’m not a fan of the whole 'dominating-hooker' thing." This time, Rarity’s eyes shot wide open. "EXCUSE ME?! I refuse to be adressed to like some sort of common hussie!" Rarity said with quite a large amount of anger in her voice. When she attempted to lunge for him, only Pinkie Pie held her back. Piston only laughed at her anger.

"Um... Please, no more fighting." Fluttershy said. Hearing this, Piston finally turned his attention to the yellow mare sitting awkwardly next to the purple one. As Piston began thinking up an insult, Twilight stopped him. "That's enough, Piston. You can leave now." Before he opened the door, she spoke quietly to him. "What happened to you? The Piston I knew so long ago was never like this, and he wouldn’t want to be." Piston frowned. "That Piston never existed." Twilight was adamant. "But Piston," Twilight insisted, "You can't just live your whole life like this. Don’t you ever want friends?" Piston laughed as he stormed smoke through his nose. "I learned a long time ago there is no such thing as friendship."

"Um, please stop." Fluttershy squeaked again, but still was not heard by anypony. "You can take your books, and your friendship, and anything else you have, and you can shove." Fluttershy squeaked again. "Them." Piston continued. "Up. Your. ASS!"

As soon as Piston uttered the last word, Fluttershy eyes opened. "YOU BIG, DUMB, MEANIE!"

Piston's flailing body was then thrown out the front door, landing on top of a vegetable stand.  "Okay, I’m hurt now." He said, as he stood up and began walking away.

"Sorry about that, Twilight." Fluttershy said, closing the door. "It’s okay, Fluttershy; anypony would lose their temper with Piston."

Applejack snorted. "Why the heck does the princess even care about this pony? I mean, if he’s bitter, that’s on him, isn’t it?" Twilight put a hoof to her mouth.

"Hmmmmm… Actually, Applejack, I’ve been thinking the same thing. The princess usually does care about all ponies, but she seems to have taken a sudden interest in Piston. She’s a very busy mare, so why would she concern herself with a personal life of one pony?"

"I’m writing a letter to her right now," Twilight decided. "I need to tell her what just happened and what I think of Piston living in Ponyville. Maybe I should ask about what happened when she first met Piston..." Twilight grabbed a piece of paper and an ink well, then hastily began to scribble down all that she had wanted to tell Celestia.

"I could care less about what happened to Piston," Rainbow Dash said from above. "If he’s mean, he should live with the consequences. Isn’t that right, Rarity?" Rarity distracted by a conversation with Spike, looked up. "Oh, um, what? Sorry, Rainbow Dash; I was just talking to Spike. Oh, and Twilight, can you please ask the princess for a solution to this problem? I think he’s working his way further down, and we don’t exactly have a lot of time left." Spike shouted from Rarity stomach, "For the love of all things sacred, please ask the princess to fix this!"

"Okay, Spike; relax," Twilight said as calmly as she could. "I have the letter right here; send it to the princess, and maybe some answers will come out of it." Rarity braced herself for what she knew was about to happen. Once the plume of fire erupted, the letter was sent. The six ponies gathered around Rarity. "So, how long do you think will take for her to-"

Just then a letter burst forth from Rarity's mouth. "Well, that was fast." Rarity said as she wiped her mouth free of any residue. Twilight quickly grabbed the letter and prepared to read it…

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Now that your character assessment of this new pony is complete, I can tell you exactly why I’ve been having you observe him. The pony's name in question is Piston Allen Shmooze. I’m afraid "Shmooze" is the important part in that sentence.

As you probably know from your history studies, the Shmooze is a horrible creature said to have been created by the first Shmooze, John Bakst Shmooze. After he died, control of the monster was handed down to his two sons. I thought I’d have to destroy the two in order to keep Equestria safe, a desperate and horrible measure I know but likely I found that the Shmooze would not rise unless both blood descendants agreed on the action the Shmooze would take.  The brothers could never decide on how to use the Shmooze and it was not a problem.  Time passed and the bloodline fanned out into so many Shmooze I thought it not a problem.

Now, I’m sorry to say that Piston is the last pure bloodied Shmooze capable of controlling the horrible monster. I’d like you to continue surveillance of piston. You all are the elements of harmony and friendship and hopefully you can make piston see the light. If you can’t I will have no choice but to take drastic measures to ensure he will never use his powers.

Included in the attachment below is a spell that will allow you to spy on piston please understand the spell is highly immoral and is only to be used with my permission.  The as for rarities little problem I’m afraid the safest course of action is to let nature take its course I’m sorry to both spike and rarity for their dilemma that the safest thing to do is nothing I’m afraid.

Your loving princess.

Rarity was now blushing a shade of red that was in fact so red it could only be described as purple.  After only a brief moment of this she fainted back on to a couch of which seem to appear from nowhere.

"So, let me get this straight," Rainbow Dash began. "This pony has control of one of the most horrible monsters in Equestrian history, and unless we make him a good guy, we're all done for?"

Twilight only lowered her head in response. "I can’t believe it. I’ve read all about the Shmooze; it’s the entire reason Canterlot is built on the side of a mountain."

Fluttershy quietly moved up to Twilight and asked, Twilight what is the Shmooze?"

Twilight grew even more depressed as she began to describe the horror that was the Shmooze. "The Shmooze is said to be an unstoppable, never-ending flood. It destroys everything within its path. No magic can shield you from it, no ditch is deep enough to stop it and no wall is high enough to keep it out."

Applejack stepped up. "You don’t think Piston would actually use the Shmooze against anypony, do you? I mean, he may be a bad pony, but he’s not that bad, right?

Twilight sighed again. "I honestly don’t know, Applejack. When I was with Piston a long time ago in school, he was always so nice to me. I wish I’d had the experience back then to understand how much was changing over the time we were together. Now he's so bitter and angry.  Maybe all of this is my fault if only I put down my books, stop studying so hard and paid attention to piston he would have friends now and maybe we wouldn’t even know about his powers.

Don’t beat yourself up apple jack insisted.  You were just a child besides usually when someone’s hurting on the inside even when their small child they hide it especially from the people they care most about that would be you if I heard the stories correctly.

Pinky Pie bounced up to no pony in particular; she was merely being Pinkie Pie. "Why is he so angry, anyway? I didn’t understand the song lyrics that came with him."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "there been plenty of ponies that have had bad childhoods, and still turn out okay. Why is he still in this funk now a days?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chairman and tried to think. "Well, it’s no secret that Piston has huge problems reading, and maybe that’s one of the reasons. I know!" Twilight declared with some excitement. "The princess is right! We are the Elements of Harmony; each one of us represents something from the elements of harmony basically friendship itself and with all the books I’ve read about therapy over the years we should be able to figure out exactly what’s wrong with Piston and help him through it."

"With this spell, and our knowledge of friendship, there’s nothing that can stop us from turning Piston into Ponyville best model citizen."

She gained even more enthusiasm as she jumped up onto a table and held up the spell included in the letter, which was written down on a small piece of paper.

Come on every pony twilight declared go home and get some shut eye for tomorrow we have an entire world to save she said triumphantly as she struck a heroic pose.

I Spy

The morning was bright and sunny, as most mornings in Ponyville are.  Most ponies in Ponyville greeted the morning with a smile. Maybe a pony wished to not see the morning so soon, but were happy nonetheless. In all ways the morning was a new day. One pony however, growled as the sun came in through an open window.  His bed lacked a frame and was simply a mattress on the floor.  As the pony struggled to remove his covers he haphazardly managed to climb out.

Piston (the pony in question) did not typically hate the mornings. However, he did not foresee a day with new possibilities, and more or less anticipated a large number of events that would grind on his nerves.  The first of which was a window that should be closed.  As he walked closer to the window he could see outside to the dead tree in his yard.  This was not exactly Piston's doing as the tree had been lifeless for a very long time.  Typically the work of a blacksmith or a glass blower involves very hot fires furnaces and oils.  These things tend to disagree with nearby plant life as they often output harmful chemicals and gases.

Today however a gift of life blessed Piston's morning as there was a single bird sitting on the limb of the tree.  It was small and red. It seemed quite content with chirping a happy little tune.  Piston however, was quite content in snorting and sharply closing the window.  However, as Piston started to walk away his gaze was caught by a large blue feather.  It rested loosely in the window frame, only its meager weight holding it in place on the rough un-sanded wood.  Interested, Piston picked up the feather. It was much too large to be from any bird and was lightly scented as if it was sprayed with cologne or perfume. As he reopened the window to throw it outside he found the scent  that was on the feather was also emanating from himself, heavy and thick as if he was vigorously doused with the stuff.

Though Piston treated the encounter with curiosity, he found it to be irrelevant, so he continued his day.  Half asleep, he stumbled into the bathroom.  For a room of such great importance it was quite alien to Piston a common side effect of just moving into a new home.  Many of his toiletries were still packed away in boxes and it was required for him to liberate a towel from the bottom of a box labeled, "Fragile".  Eventually he was able to make his way into the shower.  As he looked up at the shower head he found it was corroded and slightly clogged with calcium.  Realizing that the pipes had not been used in quite some time he got out of the shower and turned the faucet on.

With a terrible noise the pipes spewed out a gush of rust colored water and corroded bits of metal.  The pieces gathered up in clumps at the bottom of the shower. Slowly they made their way down the drain after a while of running rampant throughout the white surface.  Once the pipes had been cleared Piston was finally able to take a shower.  As Piston bathed he felt an inherent sense of paranoia especially as he washed his more sensitive areas and took care of some needs best done in the bathroom, preferably in a shower.

Finally freed from the dirt oil and grime that is typically so deeply burrowed into Piston's coat he stepped out and dried off.  Despite the hot shower, he did not yet feel fully awake.  He felt as though there was a voice calling him back to bed, but he knew the cure for this.  Rummaging through the kitchen he found most the appliances old and broken but it was no matter, for he knew exactly what he needed to start his morning.

Carrying a package of vegetable noodles he walked into is new workshop.  He had inspected the place and actually did not have that many complaints.  As Piston was well aware glass and metal furnaces once turned on can never be turned off. This is because the components inside them would shrink and crack.  Luckily this set of furnace equipment, bellows and various other implements, seemed to be powered by natural magic. No doubt some form of solar power, feeding off the excess energy the Princess so generously bathed the land in.

Putting the noodle's water and vegetable flavoring into a small iron container he then screwed on its heavy duty lid.  This was not quite in invention of his but more of a way of making do.  He often enjoyed a hot meal and drink to start the day however he did not like to leave his workshop in order to enjoy one.  He quickly realized that by putting a bowl of noodles into a metal cup he could quickly heat them inside one of his hot furnaces.  From that day on, it became a daily ritual of his.  He drank the noodles down fast. Then he looked at his new home.

He was still very bitter about the move. Supposedly his old home was too close to a well-populated area and the princess was happy to pay for him to move to a more suitable location.  What he could not understand is why that location was so far away.  He pondered different possibilities as he left his home and workplace to get to know the lay of the land.  Though Piston was not necessarily a social pony he was above all a business pony.  By inspecting local farms, markets, and businesses, he could guess what types of objects the ponies would buy the most.  In Canterlot he made clocks, jewelry, and armor. He imagined that this would not be the case in Ponyville.

The first place he thought to go was the nearby farms. Though farm equipment is very basic in nature he wanted to make sure he was right in putting money into it.  He poked around the gardens and farms and manage to catch a glimpse of several ponies working.  For the most part many of the plows tools and farm equipment was as old as Celestia.  Seeing the ponies struggled with the outdated equipment was music to Piston's ears. Not only was it guaranteed that they would need to buy a new one, it was guaranteed that they would buy it from Piston as he had a monopoly on the area. Save that of the ponies willing to order from mail order catalogs.

Piston spent a great deal of time observing all the farmlands and remembering the roads along the way but, it was only a matter of time before his stomach began disagreeing with him.  Piston was not exactly a fan of restaurants. For this some explanation is required.  Piston likes professionally cooked food just fine, however, in Canterlot most if not all the menus were written completely in cursive.  A difficult art for most ponies but a completely foreign language to Piston.  He hoped that Ponyville's simple nature would offer a simpler menu however even that did not change the fact that excluding several occasions with family this would be his first time reading a menu.

Against Piston's normal demeanor of being very loud and aggressive at the thought of simply ordering his food he became very shy and passive.  He looked around all the ponies within the restaurant and for the most part they were well distracted by the music playing inside their brains and did not notice him.  He sat at the furthest table from everyone else completely alone.  When the waiter arrived he ordered the hot chocolate.  This drink he both enjoyed and found as the perfect hold up in order to give him more time to read the menu as it takes much longer to pour a cup of hot chocolate than it does to pour water.

Piston was well aware that there was no time limit for ordering. However, he did not like the waiter hovering over him and waiting for him to decide.  Piston's process of reading was that of a child’s.  Using techniques screamed at him by counselor’s teachers and many other authoritative figures’ pretending to care about his well-being he began deciphering the puzzle of this restaurant’s menu.

Piston could remember many of the Special Ed classes he had been in.  The only real thing teachers ever prove to him was how much they didn’t know what they’re doing.  For every student there’s a new challenge and a new set of rules that that student uses to help them learn.  For the student that sat beside Piston, the lines of words were often double spaced in order to keep the words above and the words below from mixing together.  For the student in front of Piston, the words were all lowercase as that student did not understand the difference between upper case and lower case.  Finally, the student behind piston in the special Ed classes often needed help deciphering the difference between numbers and letters.

All of these problems were different. However, the system put in place to treat these problems require them to be very much the same.  The same rules were constantly screamed over and over.  I.  After E.  Except before C.  Or when sounding like A as in neighbor or way.  (with the exception of half the words in the bucking language)  Either way, these rules did not very well help especially when they conflicted with the basic needs of the student, something Piston was forced to accept.

Eventually however his hard work at stalling the waiter and reading the menu before he came allowed him to order a simple meal of grilled cheese and fancy fries.  Piston never liked hay fries. However, the day he learned hay fries could be made with potatoes was one of the best of his life.  He ate his meal quietly and alone being sure to not attract any attention to himself.  Though many ponies avoided him due to the magical curse put upon him there was the occasional pony who wished to speak to him about it.  No matter what the motivation for this encounter, Piston avoided it at all costs.  It always seems like other ponies expect Piston to justify and explain everything he does which makes him paranoid and defensive. So as soon as he was able to finish as meal he paid his bill and slipped out the door.

Once outside, he intended to inspect the center of Ponyville before taking a more leisurely walk towards the lake.  However his intended plans were shattered when he heard a voice from behind him. “Excuse me,” she asked  'Is your name Piston?”  Piston sighed in frustration his attempts at neither being noticed seen or wanted had failed.  Disgruntled he turned around and asked the pony behind him as to what she wanted.   "Can I help you?" Piston groaned, hoping that this encounter would not last long.

The maroon mare caught up to him, tailed by a much larger read stallion with a green apple on his flank.  “Excuse me, my name is Cheerilee. I’m the teacher at Ponyville Elementary School. I couldn't help but notice by both the way you read the menu and the theme song that seems to follow you around that you have some rather severe reading troubles.”

Piston ground his yellow teeth together and pulled out one of his cigars.  He’d smoked many of them while walking through the farms, but it was obvious that by the end of this conversation he would need another.  Striking his tail against the ground, the tip of it quickly caught fire which he used to light his cigar.  With a flick of his tail it went out again.  “What of it?” Piston asked as he began smoking.

Miss Cheerilee was slightly put off by Piston’s abrupt use of nicotine.  However she soldiered forward and asked if he would care to attend weekend classes for adults.  "No." Piston said with an angry frown.  The local teacher tried to insist.  “Please Piston, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, many ponies in Ponyville take these classes.  Life can be hard without basic reading skills, and I’m just trying to help you.”

Piston's face turned red. He began snorting out smoke from his cigar.  He boomed at the teacher. “How would you know?”  He screamed.  “You have been able to read your whole life!  When I deal with this every single day of mine!  So don’t you ever tell me what I do and do not know, you bitch!”

“Hey!” Big Mac intervened as Miss Cheerilee retreated with eyes full of tears.  “There is no reason to treat someone who’s trying to help you like that, and there’s especially no reason to use that kind of language.” Piston was not moved by Big Macs words. “There’s no reason to be as ugly as you are, but that’s not stopping you is it?”  Big Mac kept his head held high through Piston's insults. “Very well, I see I’ll have to be the bigger pony.”  With no sharp words or rude gestures he began walking away, guiding Cheerilee along with him.

Finally left alone, Piston huffed and puffed smoke as he continued walking.  Each step of his grew heavier and his face contorted into a frown which quite efficiently cleared a path for him to walk through the crowds.  Piston mumbled and growled to himself.  “Stupid teachers even when I’m out of school…  Why can’t they all just leave me alone?” Piston as an individual was very uninterested and bitter to other ponies. However, this description was inaccurate to explain exactly how much he despised any authoritative figure given powers that he felt was undeserving.

As a child he often noted that much of his life was not within the realm of his control. Adults who barely knew him have far more control over what happened in his life. Even his parents have less control than some of these individuals.  Many school counselors would spend much of their time declaring Piston as a danger to other students, a claim he hated. Though in truth he himself admitted to his violent tendencies and wished for more control.  Of course at the wish for more self control he gained it.  One of pistons most prominent quirks, or buttons as you will, was when people with higher authorities refuse to listen to him about things that concerned him.

The art of reading was well known to be Piston's worst subject in school. However, as the genius No Pony Left Behind Act was passed this forced reading to be larger part in all other subjects causing the grades of those other subjects for Piston to be very inaccurate.  He was put into several Special Ed math classes, something Piston did not require as his brain was already very mathematically inclined.  He tried explaining that he required no math tutoring as it was only the abundance of literature based math problems confusing him and that the teacher saying, "Read the book." does not qualify as help.  However they did not listen to him, and he spent what he felt was wasted time in Special Ed math classes which he passed easily.

Piston had finally walked to the lakeside he was hoping that this would be a quiet and enjoyable time as he got to one of Ponyville's more natural sites to see.  Unfortunately he could not block out the raging voices in his mind.  He did not like the way other ponies treated him, and he especially did not like moving to a new area where so many closed to wounds from his past were reopening deep in his subconscious.  All he could think about was the words.  The same words he keeps hearing other ponies say to him.  It’s as if the words were flammable, adding to the fires of his hate for the rest of Ponykind.  Slow, help, lazy, try, special, dumb.  All the words spun around and jumbled inside his head until he heard something to break the silence.

It was an all too familiar sound, it was the sound of crying.  Though Piston was primarily a loner, basic Pony nature still shined through.  He looked around the lakeside, but he couldn't see anypony.  Listening closer, he followed the sound until it led him to a group of bushes.  Peeking his head around, inside he came face to face with a young crying pony.  “Excuse me little one but might I ask as to why you are crying?” the little orange blank flank crawled out of the bushes and stared up that Piston.  “I’m not crying she said” Piston raised an eyebrow at the small pony before pulling a tear off her face and showing it to the filly.  “You were saying?” the little pony bent her head down low and pointed off across the lake.  “Do you see those two girls over there having a picnic?”

Piston gazed over to see a pink and a gray pony sitting down enjoying a picnic.  As he squinted his eyes he noticed there apparel did not seem that a picnic but more of a fancy dinner party.  “One of them?” Piston asked.  The little orange pony pointed to her wings. “They made fun of me because I can’t fly very well.  It’s my wings, they're too small.  You’re probably going to say you know what I’m going through right?  That’s what all adults say. ” Piston stared at the little pony and said something very different than her hypothesis.  “I have no idea what you’re going through nor could I even try to imagine it.” The orange Pegasus looked up. “What?” she asked. “I said I don’t know what you’re going through nor could I even try to imagine it.  For starters I’m an earth pony, therefore I don’t have wings, and I never even expected to learn how to fly.  Even on the ground, I don’t know what kind of difficulties you would face trying to do something like flying, so even if I have problems similar to yours it’s impossible for me to empathize with anyone else because like it or not, my problems were different.  To say otherwise I would just be lying to you.”

The little orange pony was very surprised by Piston’s words as they were not what she was used to hearing from other adults.  “Aren’t you going to try to convince me that anything is worth a try and I can accomplish anything I set my mind to?” the small pony asked.  At this, Piston actually laughed. “No little one, believe it or not there are some things that are impossible.  Can you bring the dead back to life?  No. Can you move a mountain of the blink of an eye?  No so why bother obsessing over when you CAN’T do and why not focus on what you CAN do.”  The little orange pony was even more surprised and more interested in what Piston was saying. “What, you mean I don’t need to learn how to fly?” to her next question, Piston pointed at the lake. “Do I need to learn how to swim?  Do I need to be a carpenter?  Do I need to know how to make a dress?  No to all of those.”  Piston said stomping his hoof on the ground.  “The only thing anypony needs is to make themselves happy and to be good at something that they want to do.  And not because someone tells them to do it, but because you want to do it and you’re good at it. That’s all you need to learn in life, anything else you can work on naturally at your own pace and eventually you get it. Or, maybe you won’t. It’s not going to affect you that much to not be able to fly.  Just as nothing stops a blind pony from making statues.  Now quit this crying and go do something you want to do.”  The little orange pony, excited by Piston’s words stopped and looked back. ”But what about those bullies?”  she asked.  “Are they you? Do they control you in any way?  No. Then then forget about them and leave them behind in the dust. You have no time for ponies like that, you have places to BE and things to DO.  Now run along little one, crying in a bush is no place for you.”

With that the orange filly finally ran away, leaving Piston alone by the lakeside.  It felt good to give that filly advice, but he wished he could give himself the same advice long ago.  He began quietly staring out onto the lake when he noticed the pink and gray fillies bullying another small child from the comfort of their picnic area.  As the child ran away Piston thought to himself about what to do.  "Well," Piston said to himself, "I’m certain I'll feel bad about this eventually, but for now I think it’s time that I taught some ponies a lesson."

Pistons mind quieted as the ground beneath his hooves started to quake and shake.  Then from beneath the lake a bubbling mass of purple slime arose right in front of him.  The small purple mass was actually not very intimidating.  It went only to Piston's knee and seem to be made of the water inside the lake. “What do you need boss?  You haven’t called on us for ages.”  Piston rolled his eyes at the little puddle of slime, and bent his head down to talk to it more intimately. “That’s because I used to live in Canterlot, and last time I checked you’re not very good on large hills.  Now then I need you to do a little something for me.”  Piston then whispered something to the little pile of slime before tilting his head back up and pointing over to the small fillies across the lake.

Without any warning or signs a large wave washed over the little bullies leaving their picnic soggy and their spirits broken.  As they walked away from lakeside, Piston cannot help but laugh.  “Anything else you need boss?  We’ll do anything for you.” The small form of slime asked.  “No, no." Piston said, "That will be all for now, thank you very much.”  Before the puddle of slime retreated back into the water, he looked back at his master and squinted his eyes.  "Wait a minute boss, you got some magic stuck to you. How about I get that off for you?”  Piston thought about it for second and nodded his head in agreement. It was about time he knocked off this accursed music that followed him everywhere. “OK here I come boss.”

As Piston was washed clean of any magic traces left on him Twilight Sparkle was thrown back, along with five of her friends, all of them landing in a circle formation around a small crystal ball.  With a great amount of panic and surprise they all got back to their hooves as Twilight shouted,

“Piston can already control the Shmooze!”

(Edited by G3k0771)