//------------------------------//
// Hearts and minds 
// Story: The Technician 
// by Pyrus_uk 
//------------------------------//

Charlie sat at his desk, with various drone parts scattered across it. It had been a few days since it just up and died. He was tinkering with the now disassembled drone with a screwdriver. Twilight had been by earlier to drop off what remained of the broken drone. She expressed her thanks for his help in finding Scootaloo and she briefly explained everyone’s plan for her. It was agreed that she would be taken back to the orphanage for the time being and everyone would pay her daily visits whilst they searched for someone to adopt her. Charlie figured it would be best to stay out of it and let the ponies deal handle it. He thought it might be a good idea to pay her a visit of his own sometime. For now though, he had a drone to fix.

“Friggin’...god....damn....mmpf” he grumbled as he had his screwdriver wedged inside the drone in an attempt to dislodge a small component.

The screwdriver slipped causing him to scrape the head of the screwdriver across the drone’s insides.

“Ah, fuck this!” He cursed, throwing his screwdriver across the desk. He folded his arms and leant back in his chair.

“Bloody Peter and his super shit. Can’t make head or tail of it.”

Charlie wasn’t really cocky, but he was proud of his skills. So he wasn’t happy about failing at something he felt he should be good at. But even he had to admit his weaknesses. Although, a part of him did find it funny that he found himself actually wishing for a manual.

“It's only a drone, I should be able to fix this easily" he grumbled as the eyed the broken device. "He's secured all the components into metal containers which are welded into the frame. How can I fix it if I can't even get to the parts that are broke?" 

He sat in silence glaring at the drone. He sighed as he finally came to a conclusion.

"Looks like there’s no way outta this, gonna have to send it back. That means facing the music.” he grumbled to himself. "Probably don't have the parts to fix it anyway."

Standing up, he made his way over to the window. He couldn’t complain about the view. From this height, he could see almost all of Ponyville and the surrounding areas. Lifting his gaze upwards, he noticed the beaming sunshine.

“Hmm, I think a bit of fresh air will be nice. Been indoors a lot lately.” he said to himself.

Grabbing his coat and putting on his boots, he made his way out the front door and over to the storage unit. If he was having a day out, he sure as hell wasn’t going to spend all of it walking.





Charlie reached the bottom of the mountain. Driving along the river side, he could see the bridge where he met up with Rainbow before. A smile formed on his face under his helmet as he recalled her smug face.

He slowed down as he rolled up to the bridge. He didn’t really enjoy riding his quadbike through town as much as he did going up and down the mountain path, so he figured he’d walk from here. He’d also see more of the town that way. Switching off the engine and taking off his helmet, he got off the quadbike. He placed his helmet over the handlebar and turned toward the town centre. 

“Let’s go see what we can find” he said as he began walking across the bridge.

He barely made it over the bridge before he spotted a pony approaching from the town. Squinting his eyes, he recognised the face.

“Hi Fluttershy!” He called as she trotted up to him.

“Hi Charlie! I didn’t expect to see you here. How have you been?” she asked as she stopped in front of him with a smile.

“Just having a walk into town. I’ve been cooped up on the mountainside doing some repairs, and I just had to get some fresh air.” He replied before looking down and noticing the many bags she was carrying. “Doing some shopping?”

Fluttershy noticed his gaze. “Oh, I don’t usually get this much, but Angel has been asking for a new salad for dinner. So I needed some extra things.”

“Oh, well we best not keep him waiting. Seems like he might get grumpy.” Charlie said jokingly.

“Yes, I’m working on that.” Fluttershy replied in a slightly embarrassed tone. “Have a nice day, Charlie.”

“You too.” He replied as he began to continue down the road.

“Oh, Charlie! I think Twilight said she wanted to talk to you!” Fluttershy quickly called back.

Charlie waved back. “OK, thanks!”

With that, Fluttershy headed home and Charlie continued on into town.





“Something is different.” Charlie thought to himself as he walked down the pony filled street. “Something is very different.”

Charlie looked around as he walked. Ponies filled the street, doing business at the market stalls and wandering in and out of various shops. Charlie stuck to the very middle of the street. He wasn’t planning on doing any shopping anyway. 

“Is it busier today?”

Ponies looked over to him as he made his way down the street. He expected it. As he watched the many ponies glancing over at him, he realised what was different.

“Where’s all the nervous looks?”

Everypony who glanced over at him showed some genuine interest. Some even gave him a smile. Some even a wave. Charlie looked around, trying to suppress his surprise at all this sudden positivity coming at him from the townsfolk. He continued to make his way down the street before absent-mindedly arriving outside Rarity’s boutique.

“Meh, why not?”

He knocked on the door and waited for a response. As he waited, he glanced back at some of the ponies who were still smiling over to him. He gave them a questioning look in return.

The front door opened, revealing Rarity.

“Charlie! What a lovely surprise.” she greeted. 

“Hi Rarity. How have you been?” Charlie asked.

“Oh just fine, darling. We can’t have you just standing on the doorstep. Come come.” She said before moving to one side. Charlie stepped inside.

“It’s good to see you. How have you been?” she asked as they both took a seat on one of the sofas.

“Feeling a little cooped up at home. Figured I’d take a walk and clear my head. Other than that, pretty good.” he replied.

“Ah, I can imagine. I sometimes feel like that, especially when I’m working on a large project.” Rarity nodded. “Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks for your help in the forest. Who knows how long we might have been in there if you weren’t watching over us.”

“Heh, no problem. Is everything alright on that front? Scootaloo doing okay?” he asked.

“Things are improving, but slowly. We should expect as much. We visit her everyday and we’re working with the orphanage to find someone to take care of her.” she replied.

“Any luck?”

Rarity shook her head. “The ponies here in Ponyville are nice enough, but adopting a filly is a considerable responsibility. But now that everypony knows how upset she is, I’m hoping ponies will make more of an effort around her.”

“It certainly sounded like a surprise. I haven’t really been here long enough to tell first hand though.” Charlie said.

“I’m a little ashamed to not have noticed sooner, especially since she’s Sweetie Belle’s friend.” Rarity said looking down at the floor.

“Well it’s not too late to help and it sounds like you all have the ball rolling. I’m sure it will all work out.” Charlie said reassuringly. 

Rarity let out a sigh. “Yes, I guess this will take some time.”

Charlie didn’t say anything, bringing a slight pause to the conversation. Rarity decided to change the topic.

“So, how has work been up there? Things progressing?” she asked.

“Yes and no. I’m still waiting for Twilight’s go ahead before I can make the next move forward. I’m heading over to see her now actually. Fluttershy said Twilight wanted to talk to me.” he replied.

“Oh! Yes she did. She was quite excited about it actually.” Rarity said in realisation.

“Something important?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I think it is actually, she was quite excited. Well, if you’re heading over to find out, I better not keep you.” she said standing back up.

“Right. I bet I interrupted your important work anyway by coming over.” Charlie chuckled as he began making his way over to the door.

Rarity rolled her eyes as she followed. “You should know by now that you shouldn’t worry about that.”

“Take care of yourself, Rarity.” Charlie said as he stepped outside.

“You too, Charlie. Give Twilight my regards!” Rarity replied from the doorway.

With that, Charlie began walking toward the town Library.





“Still the same looks.” Charlie thought as he made his way down the street.

Everypony had been giving him the same looks as before he went inside the boutique. Everywhere he looked, everypony had a warm and welcoming expression toward him. The complete opposite to his first few visits to Ponyville.

“What happened?”

Still, he stayed in the middle of the street. He was thankful nopony approached him during his walk. He wanted to get the low down from Twilight first before anything progressed. It wasn’t long before he spied the Library down the street he was walking.

“Oh yeah, didn’t get lost. Nailed it.”

He quickened his pace toward his destination. He made it about 20 feet or so down the street, when he was suddenly stopped.

“Hi!”

Charlie looked over to his right to see a young mare trotting up to him. She had a dark blue coat and a pale yellow mane and tail. She stopped in front of him and gazed up with a bright smile on her face. Charlie blinked a few times as he looked down at her.

“Uhh...hi...” he replied nervously.

“My name’s Nova!" she said enthusiastically. "What's yours?"

"Charlie." he said as looked down at the mare beaming up at him. He can't say he'd seen her before, but she was acting like he was some kind of treat to meet.

"That's a strange name. Although, I suppose that shouldn't be much of a surprise coming from you!" she said with a giggle.

"Yeah." Charlie said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

Nova kept gazing up at him. She tilted her head to the side before continuing. "Hey, listen. I wanted to ask you i-"

She was interuppted by a stallion calling her from over the street.

"Nova! You're order's ready!" the stallion called as he walked out the store. "Would you like me-" he paused as he noticed Nova's new companion.

"Be right over!" Nova called back over her shoulder. She looked back up to Charlie. "Sorry, gotta go. Talk later, mkay?"

Charlie didn't get a chance to respond as Nova quickly darted back across to the store. He could barely hear the stallion asking her some questions as he led her back inside.

Charlie let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Well, that was new." he thought to himself. "A pony that actually came over to me."

He looked back down the street toward his destination and decided to not keep Twilight waiting any longer. With his hands in his pockets, he headed to the library.

----------------

Inside the library, things were predictably normal. Twilight sat at her desk, engrossed in a book. Spike was pattering about, taking care of his chores. 

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Spike, can you get the door please? I just want to finish this chapter." Twilight softly called over to the small dragon.

Spike put down the duster in his hand and made his way over to the door. Opening it revealed the human.

"Oh, hey Charlie. Didn't expect to see you today." Spike said slightly surprised. "I don't remember any of the girls saying they were going to get you."

Charlie scoffed at that. "Well, Spike! I'll have you know that I don't need someone to escort me into town every time." 

He clasped his hands together in front of him before continuing. 

"I made it down here all by myself!" he said sarcastically, swaying side to side.

Spike rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

Spike turned around to let Charlie inside. The dragon made his way back over to where he left his duster as Charlie closed the door behind himself.

"Geez, who peed in your cereal this morning?" Charlie asked, noticing Spike's rather blunt behavior.  

"Oh, he's just a little cranky because he has some extra chores to do before he's allowed to visit Rarity." Twilight said, closing her book before looking over to the human. "Heya Charlie, nice to see you again! How's the drone?"

"Heya, Twilight. Ah, it's properly busted. I'm going to send it back when my next supply shipment comes in." Charlie replied just as he could barely hear some grumbles coming from the now cleaning dragon.

"Oh, that's a shame. We would have liked to have seen it working again. Especially Rainbow Dash." Twilight said.

"Rainbow?" Charlie asked raising an eyebrow.

Twilight smiled before replying. "Oh yes, what was it she said now?" She held a hoof up to her chin in thought. "Oh I remember! It was something along the lines of: Tell that doofus to fix his toy quickly."

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "It's not a toy."

Twilight snickered at his irritated expression before deciding to switch the subject.  "This is great timing, actually. I was just about to schedule my next trip up the mountain to see you. I've got some news." she said enthusiastically.

"I heard. That's why I came over. What's the scoop?"

Twilight gave a slight pause. She sat there for a brief moment with a smile on her face. Charlie opened up his upturned palms and tilted his head, gesturing for her to continue.

"We finally have to go ahead to go to Canterlot!" she said with a small squeal. "I got a letter back from my parents!"

"Ooooh! That's great news." Charlie said with a neutral expression. He wasn't against the idea. After all, he was eager to continue developing the communications system. But he wasn't too fond having to leave, even if it was only for a couple of days. He had just gotten used to Ponyville.

Twilight didn't seem to notice Charlie's lack of enthusiasm. "It's going to be great! I'll introduce you to my parents. My mother will cook us one of her famous dinners. My father will tell us what he's been working on. I can tell them of all of my adventures with my friends. Eeeee!"

Charlie just stood there. He figured he'd let her get all of the excitement out of her system. Although, looking at how she was bouncing up and down around in a circle, he was concerned it might be a while. He crossed his arms and waited for the mare to stop bouncing. Twilight eventually noticed.

"Oh, uh, sorry." she said sheepishly. "Umm, they said we can visit them whenever."

"Got a date in mind?" Charlie asked.

"Well, as you can tell, I'm pretty excited. So the sooner the better for me." she replied.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "So I'm guessing you want to leave tomorrow."

"YES!"

"Well, you sure are excited. Why didn't you leave to visit your folks sooner?" he asked.

"I've always been busy. Being one of the elements as well as Celestia's student doesn't leave me enough time. The only trips I make nowadays are for business." she replied. "But now the visit will be for business! As soon as tomorrow too!"

Charlie expected as much. That didn't leave much time to sort out any of his formailities. He figured he would just have to wing it.

"I suppose I can get the logistical end of things done just fine. Just pack up the equipment and some personal belongings. Just like any other trip back home.

He walked over to the window as Twilight looked over to him with slight concern.

"Is everything alright? You don't seem very excited." she asked.

Charlie noticed her concerned tone. "Oh, it's fine. Just running through some stuff in my head. Lot's to sort out and all that."

Twilight realised that she might be throwing him in the deep end with this trip. It was the capital city of Equestria after all. She was well aware of his social reluctance. She made her way over to join him by the window.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be with you the whole time. I kinda have to be. Celestia's orders." she said reassuringly. "You're doing fine in Ponyville so far!"

"Yeah, about that." Charlie began. "Have you noticed anything...different...about the ponies here recently?"

Twilight gave him a quizzical look. "No, not really. Have you?"

Charlie looked out at the ponies passing by the library. "I dunno, they just seem less skittish around me today. One pony even came up to me to say hello."

"Aaaaaand, that's bad?" Twilight asked.

"No!" Charlie replied as he took a step back. "No no no, it's just such a dramatic change in such a small amount of time. Just a few days ago, everyone tried their best to stay at least ten feet away from me. Now, they're smiling and waving at me in the street. C'mon, even you can see that's rather odd."

"Aaah, I think I see what's going on here." Twilight said with a smile.

"What? What's going on? What happened?"

"Well, Ponyville is a pretty small town. Probably one of the smallest in Equestria. So it should be no surprise that news around here travels pretty fast." Twilight explained.

"So?"

Twilight sighed with slight irritation. "So, when we got back from finding Scootaloo in the Everfree Forest, everypony wanted to find out what happened. To stop all of their constant questions, we told them.

Charlie gave her a confused look. "So what? You found her in the woods."

Twilight gave out a huff. "No, Charlie. YOU found her!"

Charlie blinked a few times. "The drone?"

"Yes. You didn't think we would take the credit, did you?"

"I honestly didn't give it much thought." Charlie shrugged. "You six did the hard work. You even got chased out by Timberwolves."

"Yes and everpony appreciates the risks we took. We got our fair share of thank you's but I don't think you're seeing the point: We wouldn't have found her if it wasn't for you, not before the Timberwolves. It was all thanks to you that Scootaloo is safe, and everypony appreciates that." Twilight explained.

Charlie looked back out the window. "So that's why they're being nicer to me?"

"They didn't know what you were like, so they were nervous about you." Twilight said before peering out the window too. " They're not nervous of you anymore, Charlie."

"I don't think I deserve it. All I did was sit on my butt and look at a screen." Charlie said.

Twilight huffed shaking her head. "Honestly, it's like you don't even want to make any friends."

Charlie scoffed. "Yeah, well. I don't think that'll be a problem anymore. Not if there are anymore ponies like that Nova one."

"You've met Nova?"

Charlie gave a small smile. "Yeah, she said hi to me on the street. Seemed nice enough."

"Hmm, I think it's time then." Twilight said, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

"Time for what?"

"Hm? Oh nothing!" Twilight answered quickly.

Charlie narrowed his eyes at her. "Doesn't sound like nothing."

Twilight remained silent with a forced smile on her face. Charlie wasn't in the mood to pry, so he decided to let it go for now. "Alright then, I'll meet you here bright and early tomorrow morning?"

Twilight beamed up at him. "Perfect! See you then."

With that, Charlie made his way to the front door. "See ya, Spike!"

Charlie got a muffled reply from upstairs. He shrugged before stepping outside and closing the door behind him. He peered around at the ponies in the street. Most didn't notice him, but some others still gave him some lingering glances paired with smiles. With his hands in his pockets, he began making his way back to where he left his quadbike. As he walked, he cast his mind back to home.

"I wonder if relations have started improve yet. I haven't heard anything from home since the last re-supply."

He brought his gaze up to the sky as he continued to walk.

"Nah, can't think about that. Just gotta focus on the here and now." he thought before bringing his gaze back down to the ponies around him. "Things seem to be progressing nicely so far."

He continued down the path before reaching the outskirts of town. As he approached the bridge, he looked up at the mountain looming up in front of him. About half way up, he saw his facility standing proud.

"I'm willing to bet things will get bigger soon though. Very soon."