Pride, a Princess, and a Post

Well, I did it.

I finally did it. My uncle would be so proud of me. And everyone who thought that what I've accomplished was impossible has been proven horribly wrong.

I check my math one more time. Everything checks out. My invention is ready for the final test! I start laughing out of pure joy, I've put years of work into this machine and here it is!

I stop when I get a little louder than I intended. I didn't mean to sound like a Daring Do villain, and I certainly wouldn't want to become one!

I lower my goggles over my eyes. This is it. For dramatic effect, I dim the lights in my workshop. Deep breath…I flip the switch.

The runes on the stone slate I inserted in a slot at the top of the machine begin to glow yellow. I used my own magic to carve them, but it should work with anyone's. They slowly dim over the course of a few minutes, as my target object below, in this case a sweater from Silver Thread's factory, begins to glow. The machine hums as it gets to work, doing what, to many, shouldn't even be possible. But when it stops, when it quiets down and I take the sweater from its slot, it's warm. Like it should be, like I told the machine to do.

I take off my goggles and step away from the auto-enchanter. Looking at the portrait on the wall makes me feel proud for the first time in so long.

I finally showed them all. I make a copy of my blueprints, fold it and put it in an envelope addressed to the Canterlot Informer.

As promised, here are the blueprints for the auto-enchanter, fully tested and ready for production. And ahead of schedule, even! Thank you for your trust, your investment, and your croissants. I munch on the last one of those while I write the letter. I deserve it.

Sincerely, Steel Gear.

I step out and put it in my mailbox. Tomorrow, everyone will know my name!

After having a self-congratulatory dinner party…I lay down in a sleeping bag and close my eyes. I'm sleeping next to my machine, just in case something happens to it.

As soon as I subdue my excitement and sleep, a familiar face.

“Good evening, my Princess.” I bow down as Luna graces my dream with her presence. It’s been some time since I last saw her, I think I’ve been awake for…three days? More?

“Good evening, Steel Gear.” After the usual greetings, she looks around herself. Tonight, she has taken me to a lake in the middle of a forest. It’s night time, and I hear small animals coming and going. There’s a little fog, as there should be around this time of the year, but I don’t feel cold. “It’s been some time. You seem quite happy today.” That wasn’t a question, but Luna doesn’t ask those very often.

I briefly explain what I did in the days I spent awake. Luna listens attentively. “An auto-enchanter…”

She pauses for a brief moment. Surely she approves of it?

“Brilliant. What are you going to do with it?” That she asked a question means that I’ve got her interest. But when I tell her that I’ve already sent the blueprints to the Informer, she stops me. “You do realize, of course, that your invention, beautiful as it may be, will change the world?”

Change the world? I hadn’t thought about that. Well, it wouldn’t do much harm, right? I guess that you could use it to make factories more efficient, and that a sufficiently miniaturized version could be sold to individual households, but…wait. I look into Luna’s eyes, and the answer hits me. I’m an idiot. Of course this is going to change the world! It’s not like back during the industrial revolution, when everyone thought that they could be replaced with a machine and the entire economy of Equestria had to be completely restructured to both adapt and not fall behind.

This is different. It’s not that unicorns will lose their jobs because the auto-enchanter will replace them, there are plenty of things it can’t do, and plenty of things that it’s altogether better for an actual sapient being to do. Besides, someone has to fix it when it inevitably breaks down.
But Luna nods. The change is going to go a lot deeper than that. The problem with the auto-enchanter isn’t that it’s an enchanter, it’s that it is an automatic enchanter. A machine. I’ve created a machine that can do magic, so it’s not as inherent to sapient life as we’ve all thought. This will be quite a shock for everyone, and it will completely change our understanding of magic, forever. It’s going to be so much worse than unicorns losing their jobs. I’ve made all of Equestria doubt magic!

I fall to the floor, holding my head. I didn’t want this!

I didn’t mean to change the world, I just wanted to make my uncle proud!

Something caresses my side. A wing? She's holding me…she could fix this. "Can't you keep them from publishing?" Once, I heard that all that kept this country going was the benevolence of its rulers. Surely she'll understand? I didn't think this through. "I could. But at the same time, I can't. Forbidding the publication isn't going to work, and we both know it." Right. Forbidding dark magic didn't stop anyone from learning it, she can't just forbid things. We are always a curious bunch.

I very slowly get up. It hurts to know what I must do, but I have to do it. The wheels of progress can't turn too fast. Well, actually, they can, they just did, but they're part of the complex machine that is a society, and overclocking only one part of a machine without checking if the rest of it can actually take it always leads to disaster.

“I did it…I didn’t mean to…” This is going to cause so many problems, for both her and for me. “I just wanted to make him proud…”

“Thunderbolt Turret.” She remembers him? Of course she does. The Princesses remember everyone. “Royal Selenian, 4th Battalion.” I don’t blame her for it. I’ve gotten over that a long time ago, I blame the Changeling artillery shell that killed him. He was always complaining about how he had to go find a unicorn to get his stuff enchanted, so I once joked about building a machine that could do it for him. Except that he really liked the idea, and because of him (Okay. And a few other things.) I became a scientist.

"Hurry up. But know that even if you fail, we will still survive." Luna snaps me back to reality. “And we won’t think any less of you.” It’s always comforting to know that Luna and Celestia always, unconditionally, have your back.

What she says is true. But I must stop the publication. Up!

I snap awake. There's no time to waste, I run out before I've even had time to put my jacket on. The sun blinds me for a few seconds and the wind makes me shiver, but I know where my mailbox is.

Empty! No!

Think…I can’t teleport to the printing presses, not in this state. I’ll just end up teleporting into someone or something, there’s a reason people don’t teleport into crowded buildings in big cities.

The train. Before I know it, I'm speeding for Canterlot. Surely, I can beat the mail. One nail-biting journey later, I step out onto the platform.

I turn to look at a map. Where am I…A newspaper smacks me in the face. Angrily shaking it off me, I can't help but notice…

Steel Gear's Auto-Enchanter a Success! Blueprints Inside!

My jaw drops.

I didn't want to change the world…

But it looks like I already have.