Revelations and broken Legs
Fluttershy was many things. Kind, caring, and afraid of her own shadow amongst them. But the one thing she was not, was willing to leave a friend in distress.
It was for this reason that the normally timid mare was flying with a purpose towards Rainbow Dash's cloud-house, conveniently floating over her own home on the edge of the Everfree at the moment. The look of calm, disappointed determination as she drifted was frighteningly out of place on the usually sweet and easily spooked pegasus. Enough so that, as she entered Market Square, the noisiest and most crowded part of Ponyville due to the big lunch rush, all went silent as she passed. Every mare, stallion, and foal parted before her as she floated by, unaware of the effect she was having on the ponies around her, or that there were even other ponies nearby.
Soon, the pastel pony was just outside Rainbow's door. With one final calming breath, Fluttershy trotted through the entryway to her oldest friend's home.
Even with the lights off and the curtains drawn, Fluttershy knew where to find her sister in all but blood. Making sure to step on the one squeaky cloud Dash had installed after Fluttershy scared her the day she moved in, the yellow mare made her way to the bedroom. She knew exactly what she would find when she opened the door; her adopted sister sprawled across the nimbus twin mattress, eyes glazed with thought and conflicting emotions, smoke gently drifting from her ears as a little used part of her mind worked overtime.
Not to say the polychromatic pegasus was dumb (her three degrees would say otherwise if they could), just that she wasn't used to contemplating emotions. ESPECIALLY when they were as mixed as hers.
Fluttershy reshaped a bit of cloud near Rainbow Dash's bed into a makeshift chair and waited quietly for her troubled friend to speak. For once, it didn't take more than a minute for the multi-hued mare to break the silence.
“Some Element of Loyalty I am,” she muttered. “Just when Twilight needed us the most, what did I do? I ran. I thought I left that problem behind me when I went back home to save Scoots from Her.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, “I guess... I guess I’ll always be pathetic little Princess Ir-”
“RAINBOW DANGER PROFESSIONALISM DASH! DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Fluttershy bellowed, scaring the color off Dash for a moment and putting the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame. “YOU ARE FAR FROM PATHETIC! PATHETIC MARES WOULD NOT HAVE GONE ANYWHERE NEAR HER, EVEN IF IT WERE TO SAVE SOMEPONY ELSE, AFTER WHAT SHE DID TO YOU! PATHETIC MARES WOULDN'T HAVE STOOD UP FOR ME BACK IN SUMMER FLIGHT CAMP! PATHETIC MARES WOULDN'T HAVE STOOD UP TO NIGHTMARE MOON OR BUCKED A DRAGON IN THE FACE!”
With a sigh, the usually timid mare finished at a more reasonable volume. “Auntie Rainbow, you are not pathetic.”
Dash snorted, “I may be your aunt, but you're still a year older than me, it just doesn't feel right. I just don't get why Scoots gets so giggly when you call her 'Auntie Scootaloo'.”
“I think Daddy had something to do with it,” Fluttershy giggled, “I think he said something about how awkward it was to adopt his sisters, even if it was to help protect the two of you from Her.”
“Pops was always trying his best to protect us,” the rainbow maned pegasus chuckled.
The pastel pegasus smiled kindly as she asked, “So, what now?”
Rainbow sighed, knowing that she couldn't avoid the topic further. “We need to discuss this with the squirt, but we can't tell her why. ARG! Why does this have to be so hard!”
“Maybe we could just tell Twilight about the two of us?”
The prismatic mare shook her head, “She knows just how close we are to Scootaloo. She'd start asking too many questions. At least, she will if...” she trailed off.
“If she doesn't figure it out on her own,” Fluttershy finished with a sigh.
“This is gonna take awhile...”
---Magi-Tech---
Trixie was worried. Over the month she had spent with the artificial librarian and her draconic mechanic she had learned a few of their more noticeable quirks, like like Twilight's late nights studying or Spike's taste for Fire Rubies. What had her worried was the knowledge that the two were never late.
So, when she woke up at noon, which hadn't happened since she moved in, and found the library still closed, she started to worry... more than she already was at any rate.
Just as she decided to check on her teachers in the techno-arcane arts, she heard knocking at the door. Realizing it was most likely somepony looking for a book, she opened the door only to flinch as a rather large off-white hoof stopped an inch from her muzzle.
“Er, sorry 'bout that, ma'am,” the huge red stallion attached to said hoof sheepishly apologized, “It's just that Miss Rarity here broke her artificial leg back at our farm, and she insists that the best repair-pony in Ponyville lives here.”
The silver-maned unicorn blinked the hearts out of her eyes and looked past the (quite attractive) mountain of of a pony to see a familiar white mare, with a rather knowing look in her eye, in an applecart.
Suddenly the mechanic-in-training was all business. “Bring her in here and I'll give her a once over to see what we need to do.”
As the large pony placed Rarity onto a couch, Trixie helped her remove the prosthetic leg, taking note of the details.
'Type V Universal Interface Connector, that's good if we need to outright replace the leg. Distinct hoof-shaped dent split by the break about halfway between the elbow and knee, not a SparkleTek product. I've seen what it takes to dent one of those. Kind of scary, now that I think about it. Maybe Twilight can help me get a new stage wagon made of the stuff.' Trixie mentally kicked herself at that thought, 'Now is not the time to daydream about that, somepony is counting on you to fix this. Your first customer as a Prosthetic Maintainer! Got to get this righ... Hello, what do we have here? Gears, and stamped “Sparkle Tech, Inc.” to boot. That means this is a counterfeit leg... Who the hay counterfeits these things?'
Shaking her head at the stupidity of fake prosthetic limbs, she spoke. “The Artificer's Apprentice Trixie has good news and bad news.
“The bad news is that this,” she levitated the two pieces of the leg dramatically, “is a fake.”
Blinking in confusion, the stallion spoke. “Uh, I’m pretty sure that's why we're here instead of over at Ponyville General, miss Trixie.”
“What I mean is I can list three reasons this is not a SparkleTek product.
“First, I’m guessing Applejack did this?” The blue unicorn asked, waving a hoof in the general direction of the floating leg. At their hesitant nods, she continued, “While I believe that she would break a REAL SparkleTek leg if she tried, I seriously doubt she could leave such a clear hoof-print in one without hurting herself.
“Secondly, SparkleTek, Inc. is in the business of keeping ponies on their hooves for as long as equinly possible. Gears wear out rather quickly under the stress Rainbow Dash normally puts on her legs... When she's not racing Applejack, that is. That's why they use hydraulics, they last far longer.
“Finally, look at this gear,” Trixie passed the stamped gear to Rarity. “Notice how it says 'Sparkle Tech, Inc.'? That is not how the company spells it. They spell it 'S-p-a-r-k-l-e-T-e-k.' All one word. Such a poor mistake to make on a fake. Any repair-pony worth their salt would point that out the first time they saw it...” The darker of the two mares taped her chin in thought. “Unless they're only doing it for the money.”
“Dare I ask how you know so much about SparkleTek?” Rarity inquired.
“Twilight.”
“Then what's the good news?” the lone earthpony interrupted with a snarl, indignant that such a con had happened in his town.
“This,” Trixie responded with a tap to the device on Rarity's shoulder where the leg had been that morning, not seeming to notice the rage on the stallion's face, “is a Type V Universal Interface Connector, the current International Standard for attaching prosthetic legs to whoever needs them. Makes it much easier to replace broken or defective models like this one.”
Quirking a perfectly trimmed eyebrow, and keeping an eye on the irate red mountain of muscle standing nearby, Rarity had to ask, “Defective, or broken?”
“Yes.” Clearly, Twilight's snarkiness was rubbing off on Trixie. “I'll go ask Spike if we have any spares we could lend you until we can get you a good replacement.”
The red mountain stood. “I'm gonna go have a word with the doc about hoofin' out fakes.”
“Most doctors aren't licensed to do more that lend a Temp-Limb until you can get to a shop,” Trixie interjected, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. “That means that your doctor most likely couldn't have known. They're not trained to spot the difference. The Great and Benevolent Trixie finds it sad, Twilight says there are many injuries that could be prevented if they were...”
The stallion slumped. “I'll let 'im know.”
With that, he quietly left.
The blue Unicorn turned to her White counterpart, “I'll go talk to Spike about this, would you like anything before I do?”
Upon receiving a response in the negative, the ex-showmare practically waltzed up the stairs to do the stupidest thing she could think of; wake a sleeping dragon.
A shout of “I FORGOT TO GET HIS NAME!” came from halfway up the steps, much to Rarity's amusement.
---Magi-Tech---
Spike had been awake for an hour now. A glance at the clock proved this was unusual, it was noon after all. A quick peek at the pseudo-mare still using him as a teddy bear made it obvious he wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.
“The things I do for love,” he chuckled, quoting one of his favorite comic characters.
When he heard Big Mac's distinctive drawl drift through the door, the young mechanic decided it was time to try to get up.
Ten minutes later he was panting with no progress to show for his effort. Just as he started considering burning his way out of Twilight's grip, a shout of “I FORGOT TO GET HIS NAME!” came from halfway down the stairs, startling the purple pony awake.
Quick as a wink, both pony and dragon were out of the room and falling down the stairs, taking Trixie down with them.
“Are you alright?” Rarity asked, doing her best to hide her giggling (“A lady doesn’t chuckle, darling.”).
Assurances that they were unharmed and a quick recap of the past ten minutes later, spike tossed a spare leg and a can of white paint to Trixie.
“That should work until we can custom build a better one,” he growled, glaring at the broken leg as if it had just insulted his mother.
Trixie silently painted and attached the leg, disturbed by Spike's lack of reaction to the presence of the mare of his dreams.
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “I'm sorry about this. He takes counterfeits rather personally, he sees them as an insult to our parents. Especially the 'Sparkle Tech' ones, those have been a pain in the tail for years.”
“Has the Scared and Terrified Trixie mentioned that Spike is scary when he's serious?”
Said dragon continued to mutter about just what he'd do if he ever got his claws on the ones who constantly made the fakes.
Twilight changed the subject. “So, it wasn't because I lied to everypony about what I am?”
“No, darling, not at all. If anything, Applejack agreed that we all have our secrets. Though, she refused to explain why she seems so angry with you. When I tried to get an answer, well... the results are getting glared at by Spike... Trixie's right, that is rather unnerving...”
The fake unicorn, with her nerves of steel (she insists they're copper), turned to the only fire-breather in the tree, “Spike, you do realize you're frightening Rarity, right? What would Mom say?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Spike shook his head and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I'll just go put this away.” with that, he dashed out of the room... forgetting the broken leg.
“Dragons,” Twilight groaned with a smile.
To Be Continued...