//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Quickwrench Who? // by Biker //------------------------------// "Don't worry, I'll catch ya!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she came streaking down from Cloudsdale. Below her, a blue-gray unicorn was screaming hysterically as he plummeted to the ground. He was so panicked it almost sounded like maniacal laughter. He was bigger than most ponies, but that wasn't a problem for the best flier in all of Equestria. Besides, she didn't need to actually fly him back up to Cloudsdale, just keep him from hitting the ground far harder than any unicorn was built to. Unfortunately, the combination saddle bags and tool belt he was wearing was constantly shedding tools; approaching him was a risky proposal. Putting on a burst of speed, she pulled even with him and shouted over the air rushing past. "Calm down! I'm here to save you!" Abruptly, he stopped screaming and looked over at her. "Save?!" he yelled in a surprisingly calm voice. "No, that's alright, I don't need saving yet!" "What do you mean you don't need saving?! You just fell off of Cloudsdale and you're not a pegasus!" she said, so taken aback by his reply that she almost forgot to yell loud enough to be heard over the wind. "Well first off, I didn't fall off of Cloudsdale, I walked off it! Though the falling part is quite exciting! I can see why you pegasi like living up there, it'd be a blast to do this every day! Wheeeeeee!!" he shouted, angling his body toward the ground just as Rainbow would while trying to pick up more speed in a dive. "What are you, nuts?" she asked, realizing that his screams had sounded like laughter because they had been laughter. "Some ponies seem to think so, but that's beside the point!" he replied. "Now if you'll just give me some room please." 'Rarity was right', Rainbow thought to herself, remembering back to last week. 'This pony is completely off his rocker.....' "...and I tell you, he's a lunatic. A genius with machines perhaps, but absolutely, one hundred percent, completely mad." Rarity finished saying as she, Rainbow Dash and Twilight walked through the doors to Sugar Cube Corner. "Who's mad? A perpetually cheery voice lofted from the kitchen. "You should get him a cake, that always cheers me up!" Pinkie Pie finished as she walked through the door with a tray of pastries for her friends. "No dear, I don't mean that he's angry, he's just lost his marbles." Rarity replied, knowing exactly what would come next as soon as she said it. "Well I'd be pretty mad too if I lost my marbles. But I don't have any marbles, so I guess I couldn't get mad about that." came the bubbly reply. "Twilight, a little help please." Rarity looked over to her unicorn friend. She could usually get the point through to Pinkie Pie. "What Rarity means," Twilight said, using the brief couple of seconds it took for the three of them to gather around a table to collect her thoughts," is that the new pony in tow---" "New pony?!" came the sudden exclamation, accompanied by a wince from Twilight as she realized what she had just said. "There's a new somepony in town and no one told me? Well quick, I need to get my welcome wagon and party cannon and confetti and some cake and some punch and get over to wherever they moved to and meet them and throw them a welcome party!" Pinkie said as she rushed toward the stairs. "Anyway," Rarity sighed as she watched her pink friend go bounding off. "He's absolutely crazy. I mean, he didn't even charge me for fixing my sewing machine after I told him I would do some work for him and keep it secret. Honestly, I don't see why it was such a big concern to him, he just wanted me to ma-urf!" Suddenly the world went dark and raspberry flavored. "You Pinkie Pie swore you wouldn't tell!" the bubblegum colored mare shouted from behind the counter. "You know you can't tell a secret if you Pinkie Pie swear!" "You're right of course, Pinkie Pie." Rarity said as she tried to wipe the now defunct raspberry cake from her face and mane. "Can you ever forgive me?" "Oh, it's OK now. You didn't say anything, so you didn't break your promise." Pinkie replied, instantly cheery again. "Pinkie Pie, how do you even do that?" Twilight asked, not entirely sure she wanted an answer. "Do what?" "How do you know when someone Pinkie Pie swears and if they're about to break it? Since you weren't there when Rarity made her promise, there's no possible way you could have know about it. It's kind of creepy actually." "I dunno." "What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know?" "Well..... I used to know. But then I made myself Pinkie Pie swear that I'd never ever ever ever tell anyone how I know when someone Pinkie Pie swears, even myself, and then I forgot how I do it. So I dunno." Pinkie shrugged and turned to the kitchen. "Mrs. Cake, we need some more Raspberry Splash Surprise Cake." "Need more, but I just put out a batch of...." She trailed off as she walked through the door and saw the mess surrounding Rarity. "I'm ever so sorry Mrs. Cake," Rarity began. "I made a Pinkie Pie swear yesterday and-" "Oh, I understand dear," Mrs. Cake replied, taking in the carnage surrounding Rarity. And don't worry about the cake, when something like that happens, it's on the house. And the table, and chairs, and..." "Don't worry Mrs. Cake, I'll take care of it!" Pinkie Pie pronounced, just before taking a massive bite of the pile of raspberry flavored pastry remains on the table, hardly leaving a crumb behind. "Super duper de-licious!" "I know dearie. Just be a little more careful next time, please." Mrs. Cake said as she walked back to the kitchen, shaking her head slightly but finding herself unable to keep from smiling a little as she walked through the door. As the friends walked out of the Cakes' shop, Twilight asked, "So why do you think this new pony is crazy?" "Well you see, " Rarity began, and then glanced over at Pinkie Pie. Despite the pink mare not having any obvious sources of pastries, she decided that she had said enough on the subject. "Actually, why don't you tell her Applejack. You were the one to tell me about his services after he was out at Sweet Apple Acres." "I guess there is that." Applejack replied. "Well, you see Twilight, that there new pony-" "New pony! Oh, I almost forgot!" Pinkie Pie turned and ran back into Sugar Cube Corner. Just as the door was closing, there was a crash, followed by Pinkie Pie saying "Well, I guess we need more Raspberry Splash Surprise Cake again." Applejack sighed and continued. "As I was sayin' that new pony what just moved into town, he likes to fix things." "That doesn't seem so unusual," Twilight said. "It's not just that. He is a fix-it man after all, so I reckon he ought to enjoy his job. It's just that when he fixes things, he gets to conversin' to 'em. Like Fluttershy would do when she's doctorin' critters." "Well that doesn't seem so bad, talking to them keeps them calm while I'm nursing them back to health" Fluttershy mentioned, instantly blushing when she realized that she had interrupted Applejack. "Oh I'm so sorry, go ahead." "That's alright, sugar. But it's different when you're workin' with yer animals, seein' as they're alive and have ears to hear you with and all. He was out there by the barn workin' on the plows to fix 'em up from the last Winter Wrap Up, and he was carryin' on like they was talkin' right back at him. It wern't natural." "Oh I know precisely what you mean" Rarity said, her nervousness gone now that Pinkie Pie was out of earshot. "Why when I went over to his shop a few days ago..."