The Transporter: Second Gear

by Unit_ZER0

Part 02: Brake

“When do we start?”

As soon as those words left the human’s mouth, Princess Luna found herself at a loss. Surely the prospect of leavings one’s home, no, universe for several weeks, and traveling to an unfamiliar place, to interact with beings very different from oneself would give a normal creature pause…

“Thou art sure? We do not ask this lightly, nor do We expect an answer made in jest.”

“You said it yourself, your highness.” Cole replied. “You need to transport items quickly and effectively, and you intend to use human technology to assist you in that effort. I would guess that I made an impression with my performance on the last assignment I was commissioned for, or we would not be conversing right now.”

Here, the lunar diarch had to agree, and with a nod, she bade him to continue.

“And finally, you came yourself to make this request. That’s not something that happens too often in my line of work. The usual procedure when a client needs a job done is for them to send a negotiator or facilitator, not to come themselves. That is a clear sign you need this done soon, am I right?”

“You are indeed correct, Morris Cole. It is Our wish that these royal Couriers be brought up to measure as soon as is reasonable.”

“I understand, your highness, and I will do my best to ensure that these persons will be the best transporters they can be.”

“Very well, Morris Cole. We will leave you to finish your work here, and arrange for your passage to the Royal Training Stables forthwith. One of the Royal Magicians will be along to set up a portal in two days time. Until then, We bid thee good day.”

And just like that, the interview was over. The princess placed her mostly empty mug on the workbench, stood, and inclined her head. Cole did the same, and bowed. After a beat, the princess turned to the open garage entrance, and strode briskly out of sight.

Cole took a moment to process what had just happened, and felt his insides give a brief lurch. True, the prospect of travel was exciting, in a novel sort of way. But there were a whole series of logistical concerns to account for. Clearly, time moved at about the same rate over there as it did here, so that meant he’d need to lock his house down, shut off the utilities he wouldn’t be using, and pay any outstanding bills in advance.

Fortunately, Cole bought his electricity, internet, and other utilities in month-long blocks, and could suspend them easily. That left the issue of any upcoming jobs, the mail, and other considerations. He figured on at least three to four months of training before the recruits would be able to adapt what they learned into their own unique driving styles, but that hinged on whether or not ponies were fast/good learners…

Then there was the whole physiology difference to consider… Cole didn’t know what the princess had meant by “They will be given forms to suit”, but he could safely assume that it meant exactly what she said it meant. The only real thing to be concerned about was whether or not the trainee’s “new forms” would be able to fit in a five-point-harness…

With a brief mental shake, Cole picked up the bearing assembly, and returned to the Elantra.

---

TWO DAYS LATER

After a couple of day of packing, cleaning, and other prep work, Cole stood outside his front door, and locked it. Descending to the curb, he took one last look at his house. Things looked well-secured, and he had set up automatic timers on some of the lights, as well as paid Jake a few bucks to swing by and take a look at the place every few days.

At the curb, the Elantra gleamed, freshly washed, and the attached custom trailer shone as well, with its matching cobalt blue paint, and red pinstripe. The trailer contained all the supplies Cole figured he’d need, from some basic repair materials, to a full toolkit, including laptop, batteries, miniature hydroelectric/solar plant, and several other esoteric pieces of equipment. The addition of MRE’s had been a last-minute choice, but Cole figured that although he probably wouldn’t need them, it still didn’t hurt to be prepared.

As he opened the door, and sat in the driver’s seat, Cole once again mentally took stock of the enormity of his decision. He’d basically decided to leave his entire world, save for what he brought with him, behind. Even if it was only on a temporary basis, it was nothing to take lightly. Unbidden, the whole mad sequence of events from his previous adventure replayed in his mind. Cole took a deep breath, and started the engine.

The smooth rumble of the Elantra helped Cole to keep his thoughts focused, as he drove slowly across town to the spot where his last adventure had also begun. As he drove, the human began a mental inventory of the supplies he’d packed, and the potential uses of the equipment he was bringing along.

One Hydroelectric/Solar Power plant
One APS unit
One VR/Driving simulator
One video projection kit
Seven laptops, plus his own rig
One full automotive toolkit, including basic spares.
Nine quarts of motor oil, and filters
Seventy Five MRE’s
Assorted equipment/supplies
One Towel

Finally, Cole arrived at the arch in the park at the edge of the city, just as the sun was dipping below the horizon. The warm tones of the sunset washed over the gray concrete, turning it a golden hue. Standing off to one side, was a unicorn. Cole took in the sight of the creature with his ususal aplomb, and rolled down his window.

“Are you my escort?” the human asked calmly.

“You must be Mr. Cole.” The powder-blue equine replied, revealing that she had been waiting for him.

“Just a moment,” the unicorn continued, “I’ll let the other side know you’re here.”

With that, she turned, and walked through the arch, seeming to vanish into empty space as she did so.

As the last of her silver white tail flicked out of existence, Cole ran a hand down his face. “Never going to get used to that.” He muttered.

After a few minutes, the unicorn re-emerged from the portal, and trotted over to the passenger side of the Elantra. As she arrived, Cole reached across, and unlatched the door. As he pushed it open, he saw the unicorn step back a pace, taking in the interior of the vehicle. After a moment, she climbed in, and, after looking at where the human’s right arm was positioned, correctly intuited how to close the door, which she shut with a solid ‘thunk’.

“So, you’re the human that will be teaching us how to “transport” I think it’s called?” She began.

After a beat, where Cole found himself by turns put off by her direct demeanor, and impressed that she had gotten the terminology correct, he replied. “Yes, I’ll be trying to do just that, Miss?”

“Lulamoon. But just call me Trixie.”

With a raised eyebrow at the mare’s name, Cole reached down, and threw the Elantra into gear. As the machine rolled through the arch, Cole was ready for the twisting sensation of a trans-dimensional shift. It was sunset on the other side as well, and that helped ease the transition somewhat. Traking a look around, Cole noted that the area they had arrived in resembled a courtyard of some sort, complete with a fountain in the middle. To his left and right, walls extended, with the left one turning to parallel their current direction, and being interrupted by a gate, while the right did the same, just with no gate. Across the courtyard were several stalls, which, had he been anywhere else, Cole would have mistaken for garages. With that thought in mind, the human drove around the fountain, and into the first “garage”.

After doing so, it was immediately apparent that this had been a stable at one point, but had been converted recently. The interior was completely empty, and the cobblestone floor had only a few traces of straw still visible. In fact, the interior of the building resembled a small hangar, with one wall being comprised of the openings, which now were revealed to have doors which opened inwards.

After a few moments of looking around, Cole drove the Elantra forward until he was near the farthest entryway, and closest to the exit gate, where he then proceeded to pull the vehicle forward, and then back it up so that it was lined up with that “bay”. Throwing the car into park, and shutting down, he looked across at his equine companion.

“Where to from here?”

“Well, the others are waiting in the offices in another part of this building. We’re actually in the old coach stables attached to the Ministry of Transportation. They’ve long since moved to another building, since this one was too small.”

“I take it this is all one facility?”

“Yes,” the unicorn responded, as she concentrated on the door latch on her side, and sprung it without difficulty.

Cole exited his side of the Elantra as well, and the two continued to converse as they left the vehicle, and headed for a door in the rear wall of the stable.

“Originally, this was a warehouse, and stable, where palace workers could place orders for goods from elsewhere in Equestria, or receive packages from abroad, but as the staff for the princesses grew, there was a need for a bigger place to keep all the things that would come in on a daily basis, and store all the packages that went out each day.”

“So I take it that this building is going to be our classroom, and training ground?”

“That’s the plan, yes. I‘m surprised that the princesses chose a human to teach, though. You have no magic, and the controls of your machine seemed simple enough to learn… We could have simply bought our own.”

Here Cole was almost insulted by the mare’s matter-of-fact questioning, but instead of taking offense, he decided to reason on the point. “I’m sure you could have, but that’s not really why I’m here. Are you familiar with the concept of learning by doing?”

“Of course. I learned all of the original spells for my act by watching my teacher, and doing them my – Oh…”

“Exactly,” the human continued. “I’m sure you could, as you said, learn to operate my vehicle on your own. But that’s only half the problem. What about maintenance? And these vehicles require fuel, air, and other consumables you have no way of manufacturing here. And there’s the matter of learning to operate a car well. Not “good enough” but well enough to evade or outrun pursuers, get to a destination without using up all your fuel, avoiding things that could damage or destroy not just your vehicle, but also whatever cargo you’re carrying, and so on. That’s what I’m here to teach you.”

“I see, so it’s like learning not just to ride a train, but control it too?”

While Cole hadn’t actually seen any trains the last time he’d been in Equestria, the fact that he and his companions had traveled on tracks for almost a third of that high-speed run hadn’t escaped him.

“Something like that,” he replied, as the two of them walked through the large warehouse space (also empty) on the other side of the stable door, and came to a set of offices set into one wall.

Here, there were signs of recent remodeling, with one office being set apart as what was clearly intended to be living space, and the others joined together into what could only be a sort of classroom.

“Well, here we are,” Trixie said, as she knocked on the wooden door with a forehoof.

“Enter.” A familiar voice called from inside.

As the door swung open, one thought crossed the human's mind:

"Here we go."

Comments

[Malesur Darkhoof]

Woot! It is alive!

Nice progress. Gonna be interesting to see who he has to teach.

[Unit_ZER0]

6154613 Thanks!

I'll do my best not to disappoint.

You'll probably see about two chapters a month, since I want to do this right, versus quickly.

[Lord Legion]

This aught to become quite interesting. I will keep an eye on this one.

[AppleTank]

Trixie seems calmer than normal.