Oloy cheered genuinely. Despite (or more accurately because of) the varying thrills of the other tests he'd been involved in, this was the best one yet. Twilight had been working on speed upgrades for the engine when they'd returned with the required stone. The prototype was positively zipping past the outskirts of Ponyville. Now all he had to do was try the brakes! "Here goes," he yelled over the din. With a strong yank of a lever, the brakes deployed, and Oloy immediately closed his eyes. The harsh purple light was accompanied by the magical equivalent of the sound of a train slowing down. The cart-like vehicle smoothly glided to the crest of a green hill, finally stopping as the light dimmed. Oloy took a peak at the world around him. "I'm not blind!" he crowed.
"That's good to hear," Twilight called as she climbed the green hill that the prototype had stopped on. Spike jogged along not far behind. As she drew closer, the princess turned inventor inspected the brakes. "Everything seems to be in working order," she observed.
Oloy pulled weakly at one of his hooves. "The sticky stuff is working too." With a jolt, Twilight rushed to his side and zapped the magical glue away.
"Sorry about that," she said.
"It's fine!" he reassured. A little bit of glue was nothing compared to the thrills of automatic travel!
The princess frowned. "Still," she sighed, "I'll have to refine this spell. That light was really distracting, and ponies could get hurt if they stared at it for extended periods of time."
"Maybe you could have it make a smell!" Oloy suggested.
Her frown deepened. "Scent magic has a really high power requirement. Why would I ever want to-" She stopped and thought for a second. "That's ingenious!" Without another word, Twilight teleported herself and the prototype back to the backyard.
Oloy swayed a bit. "Glad you're happy. I guess I'll walk back," he grumbled. Spike hesitantly patted him on the back as they headed towards the castle once more.
***
When they returned, the princess was in the library studying. "That's a lot of books!" Oloy exclaimed.
She looked up briefly. "It takes a lot of precision to enchant something with smell, but factor in variable power and you have a recipe for disaster if anything goes wrong."
"Disaster?" Oloy gulped.
Twilight nodded solemnly. "An unstable enchantment can lead to a smell black hole."
"A what?!" he yelped.
Spike shrugged. "It's just what it sounds like. A rift that pulls in all the smells in the world."
"Exactly," she nodded, "which is why I have to get this enchantment just right. It could take a while, why don't you go ask Pinkie about her friend who's offering to mass-produce these?"
"Fine," Oloy grumbled. He and Spike headed for the door of the castle. One of the crystals dotting the walls giggled. "Hello?"
Pinkie burst out of the crystal. "Hi! I'm so excited you're going to meet my friend! You're going to have so much fun!"
Oloy smiled nervously. "I wouldn't call mass production of an automotive vehicle fun, but I'm excited to meet her!"
"Nice!" Pinkie giggled again, then bounced out the door. Oloy and Spike followed. The three made good time across town, and found themselves walking towards a large building with a purple sign, located in the shopping district. Inside there were a few ponies browsing the wares and a well-dressed brown stallion with a triple cash bag cutiemark.
"Pinkie Pie!" he said, "It's great to see you! And you even brought a new friend!"
Pinkie grinned. "Yup yup yup! He's here to talk about the new invention!"
Oloy shook the stallion's hoof. "I'm Oloy Victorium."
"Filthy Rich, but you can call me Mr. Rich!" With an easy laugh, Mr. Rich led them to his office.
"I'm glad not every building in this town is made out of crystals!" Oloy exclaimed.
Mr. Rich chuckled. "You been living in the castle?" The student nodded. "Crystal's all fine and dandy for fancy gatherings, but sometimes it's way too much!"
"Yeah," Oloy sighed.
Pinkie bounced. "Come on come on! Tell him about the invention!"
Spike nodded vigorously. "Hurry up."
Oloy flicked his ear in annoyance. "Okay, geez! Mr. Rich, do you know the pony who wants to help mass produce our vehicular prototype?"
"You could say that! The pony who wants to mass produce your veehicyoolar prototype...is me!"
"Really?"
"Yes! So tell me about this machine. How does it go without steam?"
"Well, there's a highly specific fuel source."
"Expensive?"
"Yes, very."
"What about efficiency? Do you use a lot of fuel?"
"Absolutely."
"What about safety? This thing doesn't blow up, right?
"Yes, very?"
"What?"
"I mean, no, it doesn't blow up!"
"I think I've heard all I need," Mr. Rich proclaimed. "Now get out of my office!"
***
"That could've gone better," Oloy moaned as he poked the ground.
"Cheer up Oloy!" Pinkie urged, "We don't know for sure he didn't like it!"
Spike scoffed. "We don't know he did like it either."
"Oh, I hope I didn't rush you," Pinkie sniffled, "I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!"
The student shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Twilight's the one who sent us in the first place, so-"
The dragon waved a hand in front of Oloy's face. "Hello, Oloy? Dr. Oloy, you're needed in the operating theater. Paging Dr. Oloy?"
"What did you just say?" Oloy asked.
Spike fidgeted a bit. "Just something to get your attention."
"Not you," he frowned, "Pinkie Pie."
The party pony flipped backwards in a small book. "I said, 'I was just so excited about this new car that I couldn't think straight!' The student shrugged-" She stopped herself. "Oops, I didn't say that!"
Oloy ignored the oddity, it was Pinkie Pie after all. "You called it a car. Why is that?"
"Well it's like a train car, right?"
"Not really, a train car has walls and can't go on its own," Spike pointed out.
"They both go somewhere, though, right?"
Oloy nodded. "I guess so." There was a moment of quiet, and the door to Mr. Rich's office sprang open.
He smiled good-naturedly. "I'll help y'all out! There's just something too exciting about such a risky business proposition!"
As Spike and Oloy were both gaping in shock, the duty of speaking naturally fell to Pinkie Pie. "Thank you thank you thank you Mr. Rich! I'll make sure to have your favorite kind of cake at the launch party!"
"Sounds good! You take care now!" And with that, the three left the shop to tell Twilight the good news.
***
"That's awesome!" the princess of friendship said, clapping her hooves a bit. "I even have some good news too. I got the scent magic enchantment on the prototype with no problems at all!" In celebration, everypony (and dragon) participated in a group hug.