47 - Watcha Doin'?
In the hole of their digging, the three seaponies worked together to slowly disassemble the mighty water pump. After a near catastrophe before they managed to get the water tank detached without an explosion or burst, they were practically buried in a pile of pipes as Cherry and Berry went over what went to what.
“Watcha doing?” a young, male inquisitive voice called down into the hole from the edge. A pair of coltish heads looked down at them curiously, eyes wide even by foal standards. Blue mane topped the brownish-orangish furred head of the young unicorn.
Indigo looked up to meet the fellow st-- er, colt's eyes. "Oh, um, hi there." He stood up amidst the pipes, carefully avoiding stepping on any of them. "Nothing bad…" Maybe what they shouldn't be doing, but nothing bad!
The second colt, a pudgy blue unicorn with brown mane nodded to Indigo. “Great! Snails an’ I are always up for nothing bad. Can we join you?”
Indigo tilted his head at the two. "Oh uh." He didn't know the infamous duo, least of all so far removed as Appleloosa. "S-sure, but be careful. We can't break anything." He actually made to climb out of the hole.
Cherry gave a sudden cry of celebration. "Look, right here!" She pointed to some point of the massively complex machine.
Berry nodded in grave agreement. "Very astute, just as I would expect from a rival of mine, now, I see how I would fix it. How would you go about it, hmm?"
“A very good question, eh?” the taller unicorn said slowly as he slid his way down toward the bottom of the hole to join them, looking over the machinery thoughtfully.
Bonk, Indigo collided with a hoof on the way up and was sent skidding down into the pile of pipes, his escape ruined. "Oh, uh…" That was a popular saying for him just then. "Well I guess that works. Do you know anything about machine?"
“Machines? Do we ever!” the stouter unicorn asked. “But uh, what are you three up to with this one?” His cutie mark displayed a machine, a pair of handled blades attached together. His friend’s image of a snail was less encouraging.
Cherry pointed at the machine. "This is a water machine, for making water spray over the dry coral so apples can grow big and wet." She licked over her lips with obvious appreciation for the art of apples. "But I think the regulator is clogged, and the way it's made up, it'll clog itself not long after it's turned on each time… It'll never flow strong enough."
Indigo noticed the machine mark and smiled brightly. "Oh, Cherry, Berry, look! He's a machine pony too!"
“Yep, yep, I can see that,” Snips confirmed. “So what we need is a bigger one so more water can go through, right?”
Berry tilted her head. "I considered that very solution." She sounded impressed.
Cherry thrust a hoof up. "But what if it's that big on purpose? We can't rule that out. The clog isn't right, for sure, but the size?"
“I’m sure they just didn’t have a bigger one handy at the time,” Snails backed up his buddy with a small grin.
“Can you make a new one?” Snips asked, looking at the seaponies curiously, particularly eyeing their shiny legs.
Berry nodded at Snips. "He's full of good ideas. Hey, you two know if they have a, hm, what was it.. A smithy? We'll get a new one made."
Cherry's snout wrinkled with worry. "That'll take too long." Not like they didn't ask permission to do what they were doing or anything…
“Oh? Is this a rush job, wink wink?” Snips inquired, making the gesture as he spoke it aloud. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“We can work fast,” Snails claimed slowly.
Indigo glanced between the two new ponies. What luck that they happened by! "That's really nice of you."
Cherry was more utilitarian, gently working off the trouble piece and hoofing it right over to Snips. "Here you are. If you can make one that doesn't clog up so easily, that'd be good."
Berry held up her hooves together. "A liiiitle bigger won't hurt."
A more savvy pony might find the two colts’ giggling a bit ominous as they trotted away with the piece to work on it out of sight.
Indigo watched them go, even helping them out of the hole before he slid down to rejoin his friends. "We are blessed by the waves today."
Cherry nodded. "Now we just have to wait." She crossed her hooves and soon all three of them were waiting impatiently for the fixed or replacement piece.
True to their word, the unicorns returned in under an hour, amazing by smithing standards. Their new and improved regulator seemed remarkably like the old one but a bit bigger and lacking anything non-metal. “Here you go, this should do the trick just fine,” Snips assured as he floated it down to the sea ponies.
Cherry spun it around on her hoof, it looked… alright. So in it went. She screwed it in tight and got right to placing the other parts where they belonged. "They'll be so happy when it works the way it should, all tuned up and ready to go!"
Berry gave a hoof in the reassembly project, grabbing pipes and turning them against the others as she put them together. "And they never have to even know we were here." Oops! "Not that we're not, um, allowed… here…"
“Oh, gotcha, none of us was ever here,” Snips confirmed. “See you around!” With that he and his companion took their leave, enjoying the head start of being at the top of the hole.
It took some time before the others emerged. With the tank re-attached and all the pipes in place, the machine was as ready as ever it would be for the moment. They didn't flee right away but got to burying the hole they had made in hurried shoves. When their work had been reduced to a mild pile of loose earth, they let out a communal sigh.
They hadn't been caught. Surely nothing but good things had been accomplished that day.
Applejack sat up in bed and pressed a hoof to her skull. Despite the quiet in the room, it felt like her brain wanted to escape her body. She took slow breaths, controlling her nausea and getting her hooves to the ground before she started looking around. The pitcher of room-temperature water was soon dealt with. "Thanks 'Cous.."
Her voice was cracked and broken and she winced on hearing it. What was she thinking overdoing it on alcohol like that? On an empty stomach? On a warm day? It's like she was trying to get herself drunk.
Well… drunk she managed. At least she remembered the events leading up to it. She had kept the bottle away from all of them. All… "Where are they?" She looked around and peeked under the bed as if they might be there. They were nowhere to be seen. "That can't be good…" She didn't see Braeburn either, so maybe they were with him? That wouldn't be so bad… Except… She grimaced a little bit, remembering the last time he was trusted to look after somepony.
"Brae?" Calling for him did no favors for her headache. She gave up on it and approached the door. She counted to three before allowing the full bearing of the sun to gaze upon her. It was like Celestia herself disapproved of her shoddy behavior and was pounding it into her head. "Sorry…"
Not that the sunbeams cared, but she felt a tiny bit better for saying it. She closed the door behind herself and squinted around the town. Where would Braeburn be… She had a good idea where to ask and she mosied towards the sheriff's office at a sedate pace.
Applejack perked up as a voice called to her across the street. A female family member came trotting towards her. "Landsake girl, you look like you rode alon' the underside of the train to get here. You alright?"
She smiled a little. "Been better, but ah'll be alright. Have ya seen Braeburn or a trio of sea ponies?"
"You mean the critters with fishes for back ends?"
"That's the one." Applejack was in no mood to argue specifics. "You seen 'em?"
"They were playin' some kinda game earlier." She pointed across the street. "Half the town saw them skulkin' along, gigglin' and pretendin' to be all sneaky like."
Applejack applied her hoof to her forehead before realizing that the motion was an orchestra of discomfort. "Ugh, which way'd they git to?"
She pointed the way. "That way, towards the orchard. Why?"
"Hopefully nuthin', but ah'm just playin' it safe. Ah'd best get moseying on. You take care, alright?"
She tipped a hat she wasn't wearing. "Sure thing, cousin. You best take care of yourself better than you have been or Ah'll tell granny about it."
That was no idle threat, and Applejack quirked a smile. "Ah promise it won't happen again." She trotted away from her kin, as much as to get some more quiet as she was eager to put her eyes on the missing sea ponies and be sure nothing bad had happened while she was passed out.
As she staggered down the road, a face that brought hope to her came into view. There was Braeburn! She aimed for him with a tired smile. "Hey, cous'! Where are the sea ponies?"
He perked an ear at her before turning a bit red. "Ah left them with you."
Applejack blinked softly. "When? While ah was asleep?"
"W-well, yeah kin--"
"And you thought that was a good idea?" Applejack felt her headache growing more intense and held her skull as if to compress it against the bulging it felt like it was trying to do. "Look, fine, where are they now?" She silently made a note that Braeburn was about the worst foalsitter Equestria would know, only to realize it was her fault he had the choice at all. "And don't let me touch a drop of cider." Ugh, she was normally much better with alcohol. One time! Why'd it have to be while she was in charge of a bunch of young ponies?
"W-well, Ah..." He saw two colts happening past and took a chance. "Say, have ya seen any of three sea ponies 'round here? Kinda hard ta miss."
"Nope," both replied with eerie synchronicity.
"We sure haven't seen them."
"Uhh, nope. They didn't do a thing near that funny stick in the ground."
Applejack raised a brow at the two, then looked at Braeburn. "Kindly tell me this 'stick in the ground' ain't nothing important ah should be worried fer?"
Too late. Braeburn was galloping away towards the orchard to see what had been done to his precious new machine.
That he saw nothing obvious as he got closer did nothing to ease his worries even a little. He wasn't blind, and could see someone had been... digging? "Shoot... Ah done told them t' leave it alone..."
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The Regulator. Typical, it was a few years ago at me mums where she has an electric on demand pump on a surface well. It started to run slowly and eventually we were getting no water, which isnt good for the size of garden but more important, sanitation and drinking.
Turns out the feed pipe to the house has a T junction on it, on which is the pressure sensor for the on demand supply. Minerals and maybe lifeforms in the water had passed through the tiny sense hole and deposited in the mechanism behind, maybe like a tide pool. Because it was a heavy cement block enclosure, and for safety cutting of all power at the three points available, it was dark and so we had to do the work by torchlight.
By the sound of it, if theyre lucky, Snips and Snails just covered the old regulator in gunk, and likely filled it as well. If theyre unlucky, its a paper mache or similar fake copy thats going to blow like a Drill Seargent faced with Blueblood.
Well, crap. Cherry and Co. dun goofed. Wonder what Brae and 'Jack will do to them. X)))
7300207 knowing those two dumdums? papermache is if theyre lucky...unlucky is its made of mud...
They're going to set off a geyser in the middle of the orchard, aren't they?
Why are Snips and Snails in Appleloosa? Vacation?
7300564 The world may never know.
Getting the popcorn ready. This should be a good show.
This is why we can't have nice things!
Keep going! ;)
And there are indeed things to blame!
"disassemble"
Did you mean "apples"?
7301019 Fix'd!
7300564 They're Snips and Snails. They probably got lost on the way to the bathroom.
7301925
Wandering around near Ponyville Train Station
Snips: There must be a bathroom around here somewhere.
Snails: Oh, there's a bathroom sign!
He is looking at a sign inside a train which is visible through the window.
Snips: Let's go!
They run on board the train, past the conductor who is distracted helping direct ponies to their seats, and run into the train car's bathroom.
Conductor: All aboard!
The train begins to move off. Snips and Snails emerge from the bathroom.
Snails: That was that smallest bathroom I've ever been in.
Snips: Hey, we're moving!
Snails: Should we tell them to stop the train so we can get off?
Snips: Um, probab-
A mare comes along the aisle, pushing a refreshment cart.
Snips & Snails: Cookies!
Ten minutes later
Snails: What were we doing again?
Cherry span it - Cherry spun it
herself drunk, - herself drunk.
did not favors to - did no favors for
*****
Sorry for the delay, at least there were a few typos left to nibble on.
The plot is thickening, and nothing good can come from this... except one solid friendship lesson and possibly bedtime without supper for a certain trio and duo.
So, it's not really a regulator anymore, just a higher capacity fitting.
Seriously, all they really had to do to solve the clogging problem, if it /was/a problem, would have been to install an in-line filter to keep dirt and debris out of the line. Preferably one that is easily accessible for routine cleaning. But we learn from out failures. I just hope there is an orchard left after this is over... and water left in the standpipe.
On the matter of the 'regulator', I wonder if S&S actually made one somehow or if they didn't just swipe it or swap it from something else that's going to break now.
7303302 Fix'd!
Well it didn't [censored] so they must have [spoilers]. Shoot, I can't say yet...
Damn those two idiots.
Them must be a changeling to do two ponies at ounce.