Author's Note

Just as a quick note, this is once again a different Twilight/Gadget pairing compared to some of the previous ones that have been featured here in Project Emphenom. Something, something, "this world's different", something.

Make of it what you will. This here is very much an experiment aimed at fitting neatly into a fuller story when the time comes.

Twilight and Gadget stole Trixie's wagon? (PE#18)

"Gadget, keep up," Twilight paused, glancing over her shoulder. "If we wanna beat the storm, we'll need to hurry."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Gadget scampered up being her. "I saw something interesting buried in the dirt back there. You think it's worth inspecting? It was like this--" she fell to her haunches, vaguely outlining the object's shape. "--this lumpy thing made out of metal. We passed over some rails earlier, so maybe it was part of a boiler or something."

Twilight stared past the filly for a moment before returning her gaze. She briefly shook her head.

Gadget kept pace as she continued walking. "'Sure? We could make a neat pot out of it if we slice it the right way!"

Twilight stopped again, letting the little cart she dragged behind her rattle to a halt. "Gadget, we can't keep scavenging like this. It's getting cold out, and soon enough everything's gonna be blanketed in snow. We need somewhere safe and warm to stay for now. Any additional things we pick up will only slow us down."

Her eyes shifted to the little heap of scrap they'd amassed. There were some genuinely useful things they'd picked up here and there already--wooden kitchenware, discarded razor blades, probably more string than they'd need for a long, long time... and of course, the metallic bits and bobs that little rascal loved to pick out of the scrapheaps they always seemed to find themselves wandering through. In other circumstances, she would've loved to sit down with Gadget to do nothing but tinker all day with them. It'd probably be the most normal thing they could do since they arrived here, relatively speaking.

She wrinkled her brow, squinting at the shapes in the distance.

Just as they were told by that old stallion, there it was.

Ponyville.

In truth, given the name of the place, she'd honestly expected some sprawling suburbia of maximum boredom. Maybe it'd have a golf course. Or two. Or three. It was like calling a city "Humantown". Though... granted, there were certainly some stranger city names she knew of no thanks to her friends. It wasn't like she was in much of a position to criticize whoever named the place, anyway. Both her own and Zoey's aliases in this world came purely by chance, after all. Something about her own resemblance to some well-known figure that lived around here at some point, and Zoey... well, she sorta picked her own name when asked on the train.

Anything was better than 'smurf horse', that's for sure.

The shapes in the distance were far more visible now than before. At the very least, it seemed that Ponyville was intact. It was a whole lot more than what she could say about the ravaged settlement they'd come across in the forest. Regardless, no matter what state Ponyville was in, it'd have to be their respite for the time being. Survival came first and foremost, and only after that was achieved could they finally start figuring out what the heck happened to this world. Not to mention what dragged them into this place to begin with.

"Twilight, look over there!" Gadget ran ahead of her, veering off toward a visibly-abandoned wagon. "It's like a whole camper! You think we could use it?"

Even through the filly's excitement, a part of Twilight... er, Lisa, died inside with the utterance of that name. Sure, with Gadget it was different--Zoey was the one that picked that name, after all. But to be reduced to a name gained purely by a passing resemblance.

She told Zoey to call her that from now on.

Twilight.

If only for the sake of having an identity. To take advantage of the charity of the locals when they find a disheveled filly followed by a mare that looks like some long-lost ruler of the land.

She brought it on herself.

Twilight shook her head. Her identity was a small price to pay for their safety. Even if it meant she had to be this Twilight figure for the rest of her life.

She stopped in front of the ditched wagon. The faded purple paint was peeling in some parts, but structurally it seemed alright.

Gadget popped out from behind a corner. "Look, it's even got a harness!"

Twilight paced around to the side the filly emerged from. Sure enough, a... horse harness, for lack of a better term, lay amongst the snow below the wooden poles they once hung from.

"We can work with this," she stooped down, picking up the tattered harness. It took some getting used to at first to use her mouth for so many things, but like, no hands. What else was she supposed to do?

A heavy thunk stole her attention back to reality as Gadget threw open a chest.

"Look, there's even stuff in here still! Here's a cape, and a funny hat... and..."

"Gadget?" Twilight climbed into the wagon. "Is so--"

Her eyes fell to the photo in front of Gadget.

"Lemme guess, the previous owner?" Twilight sat down beside Gadget.

"Yeah."

"She looks... uh, wizardy. To put it lightly."

Gadget pointed a hoof at the hat and folded cape on the floor next to the chest. "Which makes those her wizard's hat and cloak."

The chill winds outside thumped against the wagon's siding.

"You stay here. I'm bringing the cart in."

Twilight pushed open the door, grunting against the wind's resistance. Of course, the door slammed shut the moment she exited.

She approached the cart she'd already been hauling for the past who-knows-how-long. For all the fuss she gave Gadget about picking up junk along the way, it still really wasn't much in the end. A few cans of whatever scavenged from the wreckage of the house they got pulled through with still made up the bulk of the weight.

She glanced back at the wagon's door. Of which was raised off the ground. Because it's a wagon.

She sighed, doing her best to scoop up the wagon in her forelegs, fumbling more than enough times to drop several cans and even more trinkets as she fell backward. Curse this quadrupedal body of hers.

"Twilight?" Gadget struggled against the door behind her. "I heard a crash. You good?"

"Yeah, I just..." Twilight picked up a can from the accumulating snow. "Tripped, that's all. Wanna help me move this stuff in?"

"Okay!"