Author's Note

Character Tags: Doctor Whooves, Derpy, OC
Tags: Slice-of-life, Sci-fi

Set: 1517 AD; five years since the end of The Broken and The Damned.

Like a Foal in a Candy Store

Doctor Whooves adjusted his tie again, asking, "Derpy, dear. Is it straight?"

"You've straightened it like a hundred times", she said. "I don't get why you're so nervous about this."

The Doctor simply gulped, telling her, "I know, I know. It's just... well, it's different."

"How?", Derpy asked.

He shot her a half-lidded glare, before pointing to his left. In front of them, in the direction he pointed, was a massive stone building. Several stories tall, with several small statues lining the window-stills of the upper floors. A Pryhan flag whipped in the light breeze above the building on top of a massive dome. Creatures of all kinds milled about, heading into various doors or smaller buildings dwarfed by the main complex. Directly in front of them was a steel fence topped with spikes, an open gate allowing them access to the courtyard. Above the entrance was a large sign, black wood with freshly polished bronze lettering:

Tambelon Imperial University of
Sciences, Engineering, and Technologies

"Oh", Derpy said simply.

Beneath Derpy, another voice asked, "Do we have to go in?"

The Doctor looked under Derpy to the young foal that was hiding under her mother. She was a dark grey earth pony filly, her toast-brown mane pulled in a pair of pigtails. She seemed to be hiding even further behind her thick-framed glasses, nervously shuffling her hindleg.

"Is something wrong, my little electrode?", The Doctor asked.

She said, "The statues are scary."

Derpy followed her daughter's gaze, locking her eyes as best she could on one of the statues on the upper floors. "Oh, don't worry, Muffin. Those can't hurt you!"

"Indeed. They're nothing but stone and... well, nothing but stone", Doctor Whooves said. "Although, if you don't want to come with me, then that's fine. You can go back to the hotel room; maybe rent one of those Audio-dramas you saw in the record store."

She shook her head lightly. "N-no. Like you said, daddy, it... it sounds interesting." She looked back at the sign above the gate, before asking in a slightly panicked tone, "B-but what if I mess up? What if I knock something important over? What if I light something on fire, and we get kicked out!? What if-?"

"Relax, dear", Derpy said. "Remember what I said about being clumsy?"

"'Keep your eyes open and hooves alined'", she said. "'And you won't have to worry about being blamed.'"

"Right", Doctor Whooves said. "Now, we should be going. Onwards!"

The three of them passed the gate, passing by some of the outer shrubbery and fields. Directly in front of the main entrance was a large statue. It was a demigryph sitting on his haunches, a scroll held above his head in his bronze paw. Behind it, they were greeted by an earth pony in a white and green toga and a pair of security officers in white gambesons and field caps.

The earth pony smiled, walking up to shake the Doctors hoof. "Salve, Doctor", he said. "I am Headmaster Adipiscing. A pleasure to meet you. And, you brought your family, yes?"

"Indeed", the Doctor said. "This is my wife, Ditzy Doo, and my daughter, Kaleidoscope."

Adipiscing brought his hand to his shoulder in salute, saying, "Salve, Miss Doo. And you too, young one. Can I ask, doctor, why you brought them? I was under the impression that this was a private tour, with just yourself."

"Well, it was supposed to be", he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "However, my wife talked to me about it and I agreed to bring my daughter with me. She's looking for her cutie mark, and is interested in this subject, so I thought I'd bring her along. Is, is that ok?"

"It's fine", Adipiscing said. "Although I would like to ask that you don't touch anything unless you have permission."

"Understood!", Derpy said. "Right, muffin?"

"Y-yeah. I get it."

"Splendid", Adipiscing said. "In that case, right this way. We'll start with the main workshop in the technology section."

"Very well", Doctor Whooves said. He tried to sound calm, but Derpy and even Kalidoscope knew he was trying to hide his excitement.

Adipiscing led them into the main lobby, which was made of seemingly freshly polished grey stone. A large staircase led up to the upper three floors, while several doors lead off into other areas of the buildings. A pair of large Pryhan banners hung next to the side of the stairs, and several signs in Pryhan pointed in various directions. Adipiscing turned to the left, leading them down the hall and toward a door with machinery sounds behind it.

"Most of our funding goes to this section. Not that the others don't get a lot of funding, mind you; we get private donations in addition to our student's tuitions and Imperial funding", Adipscing said. "This is the public workshop, where large-scale group projects can be undertaken in relative safety. Now, please be extra careful." He pushed open the door, and Doctor Whooves gasped.

"Is something wrong, daddy?", Kalidoscope asked.

"Derpy, honey?", he said. "I want you to pinch me."

"Why?", his wife asked.

"Because either I am dreaming, I have at some point died and am in heaven, or I have merely stumbled upon the most magnificent place known to ponykind."

In front of them was a massive vaulted room, easily the size of a Friendship Games swimming pool. Inside, dozens of students worked on various contraptions and larger items around the room. The sound of grinding, scraping, and whirring filled the air, while in many places sparks flew all over the place. A few guards stood on a catwalk overlooking the workshop floor, large buckets of water next to them.

One of the students came up to the assembled group. She resembled a dragon, albeit one without wings and much smaller than any Kalidoscope had seen, either personally or in books. She had black scales with a brushed silver underbelly, with a similar color of claws and spines. She wore a leather apron, heavy black gloves, and a strange-looking mask that creeped Kalidoscope out.

"Salve, Headmaster", She said, taking off the gloves and tucking them under her armpit. "Who're these?"

Adipiscing said, "Some visitors from Equestria. Their Princess is interested in setting up her own R-and-D division, and thought it best to send Equestria's best scientific and technological mind her to examine how we do things."

"Makes sense", she said, holding out her talon to Doctor Whooves. "Salve, Domine. Name's Seath. Wanna see what we're working on?"

"Oh, do lead the way", the Doctor said.

Seath did as he requested, weaving past various projects and towards a table near the back. As they did, Kaleidoscope backed up from a series of sparks, almost tripping another student. She yelped, darting forward to hide under her mother's wing. "You ok, muffin?"

"Y-yeah, I'm ok", Kalidoscope said.

"Oi, watch it! This stuff's delicate!", a voice called after them. Kaleidoscope merely gulped at the remark, adjusting her glasses and sticking closer to her mother.

Seath led them to one of the tables, on which a large contraption sat. It resembled a cannon, a massive iron tube connected to a heavy-duty wooden chassis. On the side of the chassis, where on a military gun would be the stored powder and shot, was a second large tube filled with a liquid. A small motor was mounted next to the perpendicular tube, on which a zebra was turning a few bolts.

"Hey! Zeke! You got that thing ready? Headmaster and some foreign guests are here to check it out", Seath said.

"Yeah! I hope. It shouldn't explode this time, at least", the zebra said, climbing off the large cannon.

"What is it?", Kalidoscope asked, awe in her voice.

"Water cannon", Seath said, pride in her voice. At least, that's what it sounded like; it was kinda hard to understand her tone of voice due to the mask. "The motor is powered by a runic battery. The motor projects the water through several tubes and shoots it out. That is, if we can get it properly work."

"How so?", Doctor Whooves asked.

Zeke said, "Well, the trick is a power source to shoot out the water. Olden Equestrian cannons were powered by unicorn magic, and modern cannons use black powder. Can't really reliably use either for projecting water. We're trying to use a similar motor to a land-skiff, but we're having some issues wiring it up properly."

"Well, if you did your job right", Seath said, grabbing several goggles from a small canister. "Then it should work. Now, put these on. Water goes everywhere, and even the bit of spray can hurt. Plus, it'll help even more if the thing explodes or something."

Derpy gulped, "E-explodes!?"

"Why do you think the fire department is right next to this wing of the school?", Adipiscing asked. "In all due seriousness, we take safety very seriously here. Unfortunately, accidents and mishaps are just a hazard of the occupation. Don't worry, we have a cover. Here."

Seath pulled out a large metal shield, sticking two protrusions into slots in the floor and sticking something onto the trigger of the cannon. She joined them behind the shield, hooking up the cord she hooked up to a plunger. She said, "Now, behold the power of Pryhan engineering!", before shoving the plunger down.

A small spurt of water shot out, going barely five feet before it fell to a trickle coming out of the front of the barrel.

The two students immediately stepped around the shield and ran over to the machine, checking it up and down. Adipiscing said, "I am sorry about that. Sometimes, some of the machines just don't work out."

"Trust me, I know that feeling all too well", Doctor Whooves said.

Derpy said, "Well, no harm done! You can just show us another!"

"There, is another one I thought would be worth showing you", Adipiscing said. "However, I think it'd be best if we leave your daughter and your wife here for it."

"Is there any particular reason", Doctor Whooves asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. It's an, *ahem*... a military commission. The PIA High Command has a certain degree of confidentiality when it comes to these types of projects. You are qualified, but I don't think I could get away with bringing them along. It's merely a security risk, nothing more."

"I understand", he said, turning to his wife and pulling out a few Pryhan script. "Here. I saw a stand outside. Go get yourself and Kalidoscope a soda. I heard that they're good."

"Ok", she said, taking the rolled-up paper money in her wing. As they went off, she turned one of her eyes to her daughter. "Wait here, muffin. Like your dad said, I'll go get us a drink."

As her mom left, Seath called out, "Hey! Kid! Can you come give us some help here!"

Kalidoscope looked over, seeing the zebra gesture for her to come over. Both were underneath the chassis, seath using her tail to shove tools up to her. As Kalidoscope nervously came up to them, Zeke said, "We need your help with something real quick. We think that part of one of the pistons is loose. Normally, we have a rune-blood that can animate a tool to tighten it..."

"Unfortunately, the twins are out of town", Seath said, sliding out from under the motor. "So, we could use some small limbs to fit in there and tighten it up."

"Y-you sure you want me?", she asked. "I-I'm not all that co-oordinated."

"You know your left from your right?", Seath asked. When Kalidoscope nodded, she patted the filly on the shoulder. "Then that's all you need to do. Just look for the loose bolt, then turn it to the right. Ok?"

"O-ok", Kalidoscope said.

Zeke grabbed a rolling trolly, gesturing for her to lay on it. After grabbing the tool from Seath, she did so, and was rolled under the motor. She was greeted by a wall of machinery. Her eyes darted around the motor, eventually falling on the bolt that Seath was talking about. She tightened it, before noticing something else.

"You get it?", Seath asked.

"Yeah", Kalidoscope said. "But, what's with the tube next to it?"

"It's an exhaust vent", Zeke explained. "Helps to get rid of some of the pressure. Too much, and the thing'll explode."

"Yeah, but I think that might be a problem", Kalidoscope said.

After a brief pause, Seath said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the extra pressure is shot out and is loosening the bolt. In Land-skiffs, it's directed partially to aid with forward motion, but here it's just affecting the other machinery."

"Let me see", Zeke said, pulling the trolly back and taking Kalidoscopes place on it.

As it went back under the motor, Seath asked, "What makes you think that's the case? You've worked on a Land-skiff before?"

"N-no", she said. "I-I've just read books or watched daddy work. I always thought I'd mess something up if I tried."

"Well, you're onto something", Zeke said, rolling back out. "Little bugger is right. Adjusted the pipes positioning so it'll blow out the bottom. Let's give 'er another go."

A similar process was repeated as before. Zeke and Kalidoscope retreated behind the shield, while Seath set up the firing mechanism. As they waited, Derpy had re-appeared, a pair of bottles held in her wings. "Hey, muffin. Did anything happen?"

"Your daughter may have just fixed our problem with this thing", Seath said, coming back up with the cord.

"Really?", she asked.

Seath said, "Yeah. Well, we fixed it, but she pointed it out. So, kid. You want to do the honors?"

Kalidoscope nodded in excitement, pushing down on the plunger. A jet of water shot out, shooting clean across the room and onto the far wall. After a few seconds of continuous shooting, she let go of the plunger, and the water cannon shut off. Both of the students ran over to the cannon, checking it over.

After a bit, Zeke came back over. "It's in perfect shape. Don't know why we didn't figure it out ourselves, but thanks, kid. You could have yourself a promising future in this."

"I'll say", Derpy said, wrapping her daughter in a big hug. "My little filly, all grown up and with her own cutie mark!"

Kalidoscope turned to her flank, eyes going wide and a smile gracing her lips. She did, in fact, have a cutie mark; a trio of interlocking gears.