Reaching for the Sky

Following my recent triumph of braving the Everfree in search of material wealth, I became a local folk hero to the ponies of Ponyville (that name is still so reduntant to me), and suddenly everypony was bragging about who had been quickest to trust me, boasting about how they had demanded nothing in return for the food they gave. Whatever, I wasn't about to pick faves and their altruism did ring a bit hollow, as they only embraced me under the watchful eye of Twilight Sparkle, who had curiously kept her distance. I assumed she wasn't a fan of the crowding ponies, she seemed more inclined to meeting new people under more intimate circumstances.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders chose this moment to deafen me and everypony else with a cry of, "CUTIE MARK TREASURE HUNTERS! YAY!!!"

Before I could turn and stop them, to my horror they were already gone. So was a skyblue Pegasus. Down the street, just around the corner, somehow all three big sisters had materialized, working together like a well-oiled machine, lecturing the appropriately chastened Cutie Mark Crusaders. Rarity even chose this moment to reveal that I had been mangled by a Manticore on my first trip. Sweetie Belle looked about to faint just then, and so the crisis was averted, for now.

I had to later comfort a tearful Unicorn filly, assuring her again and again that my armor was indeed very sturdy, and even SAM's robotic voice piped up, reminding her that chief among his highest directives was my ensured survival, as he considered me an irreplacable component to power the Pegasus Frame. I almost became misty eyed at this camaraderie.

So Sweetie Belle's fears were asuaged and I seemed to have found a new calling as a huntsman. I spoke with Mayor Mare (still going to enter elections as Mayor Man one of these days), and with but a fraction of the wealth I'd discovered, I bought a plot of land nearby, on the side of town facing the Everfree. The land was cheap as the soil wasn't all that fertile and the proximity to the dreaded woods, coupled with the absense of a sturdy building occupying the land, had all resulted in it going unsold for years, until my arrival.

Contracting the help of AJ and Bic Mac, I had them await my arrival at the newly bought property at around 16:00 (it still made the ponies all bug-eyed when I slipped up and nailed the time down to the last minute with but a glance at my internal monitor). They'd been waiting just a few minutes, wondering where I'd gotten to, having arrived a minute early as was their habbit. They both rose from their haunches, approaching me pensively, Applejack looking floored and Bic Mac looking appropriately stoic as they spotted me emerging from the woods.

I should explain. With the enhanced muscles in the suit's arms alone, I could benchpress a small car. With the support of the artificial spinal collumn and strengthened, hydraulic legs, my back and shoulders could easily support the weight of said car as I walked around. Adding to this was the tail itself and the skeletal wing frames, both slung around in a serpentine grip, holding a bundle of fully grown, freshly chopped and stripped tree trunks. I had another bundle under each arm, and a fourth bundle balanced precariously on top of the one already clutched in my wings and tail.

The sheer weight of the tree trunks meant my hooves sunk several inched deep, even in densely packed soil, and the sheer volume of the four loads of logs meant I must've looked ridiculous as I staggered from the edge of the woods. AJ was ready to rush to my aid, but a single look from her older brother halted her in her tracks, and reluctantly, she settled back on her haunches as I fought my way to the designated plot of land, first lowering the right side load of trunks, then the left quickly thereafter, before the uneven distribution could topple me. Second, I extended my arms over my head, lifting the topmost bundle with a silent whirr of servo engines and the low whine of metalic muscled wires working to give my arms the strength needed to effortlessly sling the bundle of logs to the ground in front of me, and finally, I simply uncoiled my tail and wings, dropping the stack behind me. As the dust settled, I stood encircled in a waist-high fortification of wooden logs.

Don't worry, they weren't any of Bloomberg's cousins. These were all wild oaks from the Everfree and even without Equine Intervention, those woods would survive. I'd spaced out my wood logging so that I didn't strip any one stretch of the forest clean. I just thinned out the ranks, so to speak.

"Ready to start building a house for me?" I panted, grinning under the visor. I can't help that, I am still very expressive underneath my stoic artificial pony face, and you can actually hear a smile in the inflection of a voice, so in that way I manage to convey a lot of emotion.

"Eeeeyup," was the classic reply from the massive red stallion whose back easily stood chest high to me, matching the size of a 'real' pony. He was chewing on a straw as always, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was entirely unimpressed with my borrowed strength. It wouldn't surprise me if he turned out to be even stronger still.

So with the help of two of the most productive workaholics in Equestria, we had the working foundation, walls and roof all raised by nightfall, revealing a rather impressive two-bedroom house with a livingroom/kitchen and a bath. Still, it was just the exterior structure and four inner walls without doors in the frames yet, but the structure was solid and had the classic look of a cottage in the woods.

Three days later and I even had a water tower (filled curtesey of RD), supplying runing water and the house was fully furnished, though now I owed Rarity some modelling work. She was eager to cut into the fashion market for bipeds.

...

Eeeeyup.