Gears Within The Soul ~ Memories of Solid Gear

by Solid 6GEAR

Chapter 6: Discoveries and Mysteries of Magic

It was a clear and bright day, perfect for anypony who wanted a picnic to take advantage of the weather. In fact, Little Gear was amused by the fact she'd already thought to head out in the early morning, having accidentally run into Dream Dasher heading to the Hospital.

“Funny how they say you're not supposed to be this far away from the Hospital, Gear. You sure they won't know you're gone?” Dasher asks, mildly amused with the rather sheepish filly.

“...yes, they will not suspect a single thing. It is hard to keep me cooped up for long, as I like to walk alone for hours at a time.” she mutters, still trying to warm up to the Earth colt who to her was a literal jerk a day ago. 'Well, not really all that much of a jerk, but he certainly didn't think anything through at all. That little magical orb inside that lantern has gotta be some potent magic or something. It glows brightly and yet only sheds a soft light when we're around it. There HAS to be some way I can harness that into the prosthetic to get it to move at the speed I'd need it to....though I could just use the original clockworks I'd designed too...maybe wait until some time later in my life to make a magical power source.' she thinks to herself, not noticing that Dasher had been busy talking about something.

“...and that's it, really. I thought it was strange that Lightning even survived those burns from the Nightmares.” Little Gear blinks, as she'd caught what she supposed was the tail end of Dream Dasher griping about their altercation in dealing with the Nightmares. Little Gear stays silent, thinking on this a little bit before grinning brightly. “...what's that look for? You can't seriously be thinking about what I just said...”

“No, but its an amusing story I think you could enjoy listening to.” Little Gear states, coughing just a little to clear her throat before giving a hearty drawl, “Yarrrrr, so this be tha strong Dream Dasher, arr? I bet ye can't even buck a goat in tha eyes while tanglin' with a Sea Serpent, matey!” This prompted Dasher to stare at her for a while, mildly confused for a bit. Little Gear smirks and continues on, deciding to keep up the impromptu act, “C'mon, matey...ya seem a little worse for wear in that saddle o' yours, tell us tha straight an' narrow 'bout yer tale. What was it really like ta fight a monstrosity bigger than yerself? Come now, don't be shy and perhaps I'll only smack ya once with mah sword!”

Little Gear grins lightly, half-standing up on her hind legs and detaching the crutch from the holster to swing it like a sword. This got Dasher to laughing, whereupon Little Gear just kept going on, “Seriously, mate, ya sound like a bawlin' filly with that laughter. Ya gotta put more heart inta it. Like this! Yarrr harr harr harr arrrrrrrrrrr.” Little Gear chuckles, still keeping up the pirate impersonation rather perfectly. This just got Dasher to laugh even more, sinking to his haunches and starting to look a little pained before he gets enough of a break to take a breath.

“Wow...that's pretty good...you got any more?” Dream Dasher grins, looking at Little Gear expectantly. She smirks and lightly closes one eye to act like she's got an eyepatch.

“Yarrr, kiddo, that barely even has me started. Ye think I'm all but done now? Ye'll have another thing comin' for that swindling of meh honor!” She growls out, the practiced accent now flowing so smoothly that it felt normal. Dasher just laughs more, even harder than before and nearly knocking himself to the ground.

“Arrr...perhaps ye be wantin' a taste of meh blade? I can tell ye that I've had this thing dipped in salt water for days just ta get the rust just right. Ye can't rush perfection, I'm told, but I managed to get this so crusty and barnacle'd that it hurts just to look at!” Little Gear states, standing and swinging the crutch around again, “Took me only seventeen days! And that ain't even tha start of it all!”

Dream Dasher was on the ground, rolling in laughter as he gasps out, “Stop, stop, I can't take it!”

Fortunately for Dasher, that was about when Little Gear noticed that Lightning was about to try testing out his wings. She goes silent, quickly replacing her crutch-leg back and standing back on all four hooves, carefully paying attention to Lightning's flight pattern. To her it looked mildly awkward and unsteady, a cautious pegasus regaining his memories. The rest of the day went uneventfully and soon enough Little Gear had proposed an idea to Dream Dasher.

“So...that orb of light you got from the ruins. I know you don't read much into magic, 'cuz frankly who as an Earth pony would care about it...but I wanted to have a chance to get a closer look at it? The one time you showed it before, all I could think about was how wrong it felt to suddenly have a magical artifact being bandied about like a toy...” she states, still sounding disapproving of how Dream Dasher had originally shown off the light source.

“Sure. I've no idea what you'd use it for, but I guess that's what this would be about...” Dasher mutters, mildly worried about the artifact breaking.

“Yeah, so...meet up tomorrow and discuss it in the early morning?” she asks, grinning lightly. Dasher nods, starting to trot off before stopping short in his tracks.

“...well, there is a better idea...I could hide out at your room for the night instead and we can check it out the whole night?” he asks, thinking mainly that because she's so smart, she must have a dozen test to put it through and it'll take a long time regardless of how early he gets up in the morning.

“Hmmm...you sure you'd be okay with that? I'm a filly after all, won't that just unnerve you for the whole time?” she teases, giving an amused grin and wink. Dream Dasher stares at Little Gear for a whole few moments' time, completely lost on just what she's doing. After the pregnant pause, she facehoofs softly enough to not hurt herself, “Okay, okay, I get it...you don't care because I'm part of the family...let's just get going and see if I can't...”

“Ah, Little Gear, there you are. I was hoping you were outside.” a familiar motherly voice states, Little Gear and Dasher swiftly turning to the source and finding Nurse Redheart standing there and smiling.

“Uhm....h-hello.”

“You don't need to be shy around me, Little Gear. I heard what you're planning. Its all right, you're allowed constant visitors while the other half of the room's empty. Just don't make it a habit, okay?” Nurse Redheart smirks, before trotting off. The two younglings just stare after the older mare, blinking as if they'd heard wrong.

“...you heard that right, Dash?”

“Yeah, I did, Gear...”

“....you think we'll get caught doing this?”

“Maybe not. If anypony comes in like a doctor, I can just hide under the bed.” he states, Little Gear nodding and turning around to head back.

“Well then, let's get started.” she starts trotting back, at least for what she can do as a trot. Its still awkward to move fast with the crutch-leg but she's been managing it lately.

~~~~~Some time later in Little Gear's Room~~~~~

“So, this is what you do when you're getting ready to do tough work?” Little Gear huffs and groans, lowering her body as close to the ground as possible before using her legs to push back to stand up. She continues to work on her muscles like this, Dream Dasher nodding lightly.

“Yeah, Lightning always saw it as silly and pointless...but he's a pegasus, so for him its all about the wings. I can tell you really need this workout, so keep at it for as long as you can each day.” There's a soft knock on the door, getting them both to panic for a bit before Dasher opens it to reveal Lightning standing there and looking confused.

“Hey Dasher, Gear...what's up?” Lightning asks, wandering in as Little Gear straightens up, grinning lightly underneath the slight sweat she'd worked up with Dasher's workout suggestion. The two Earth ponies share a knowing glance before addressing the pegasus, smirking lightly as they confirmed that keeping her muscle recovery a secret wouldn't be all that hard to do.

Comments

[Lightning Shaker]

Little Gear x Dream Dasher OTP? Maybe.