The adventures of Tinkerton and the friends he meets on them.
Tinkerton is an Earth Pony who loves creating mechanical wonders and can repair almost anything mechanical in nature. While he is a natural at craftsponyship and tinkering, he knows he can never know everything and wants to traverse all of the world to not only enhance his knowledge, but also help those in need near and far. He is joined by his closest friend Avis.
There was a time in my life that I would have been happy to live the rest of my life in the small town that I have called my home. It’s still a nice place to live, a small close knit town that would do anything for each other. It has pretty much remained unchanged since I first left. That’s the problem though. It has not changed, but I have. I have experienced more things in a year than most of the townsfolk have experienced in their entire life, and there is still so much to do, so many places to discover, and many more ponies to help. While I still call Hillsdale my home, it is a home that I keep in my heart, not beneath my hooves.
Speaking of Hillsdale it is a small town with few citizens, located to the west of Fillydelphia. It was far enough to keep the city ponies out of our hair most of the year, but close enough to allow us to go and buy supplies when we need to without feeling cut off. I think that at any one time there were roughly 30 to 35 ponies, children included. The town had most of the necessities, a central square for markets and gathering, a library owned by an older pair of Unicorns who traveled here to get away from the city life, and a large farm that while it grew many varieties of crops, specialized mainly with asparagus. This farm was the prize of our town, without it, Hillsdale wouldn’t be thriving as it is today. And it was all thanks to the Lilystalk family.
The Lilystalks came here from the west to find better soil for their asparagus. The family was composed of four Earth Ponies, Mr. and Mrs. Lilystalk and their boys. They also had a fifth member of their family but she was not an Earth Pony. Avis was her name and she was an orphaned Pegasus who the Lilystalks took in when she was very young. She was a good flier and was very loyal to her family, not knowing much about her real parents who had died while she was young. There was two things that I remember about Avis when I first met her. First was her bright jade colored fur, and her Cutie Mark, a single silhouetted wing. The strange thing about her Cutie Mark is not about what it looks like, but the fact that she got it when she was very young, before most get it, yet she nor her parents knew what special talent was attached to it.
Besides her bright colored fur, I remember her Cutie Mark very well because at the time, I still did not have mine. I was a blank flank, and well past the age that most ponies received their mark. Part of me was jealous of her, not that she had it, or even had gotten it at such a young age, it was because she had a Cutie Mark that didn’t seem to reveal her talent. Since I was old enough to hold a hammer I knew I was destined to be a craft pony. After only a short amount of practice and learning I was able to build and repair things almost as good as my father who spent years perfecting his craft. I knew my Cutie Mark had to involve that, it was what I felt I was destined for.
I should probably introduce myself. My name is Tinkerton Gusset. I live with my father Truss gusset and my mother Truffles Gusset, along with my older sister Tippy who is very nice and outgoing, but extremely clumsy. While my sister was outgoing and social, I was more quiet and shy, mainly keeping to my father’s shop that was both his workshop and store. While I was shy around other ponies, especially ones my age, when it came to my father’s customer I was open and straightforward. My mother always told me that I was very mature for my age, and it was probably the shop that helped with that.
Like I said, I was a blank flank and while it occasionally saddened me when I looked into a mirror, I knew that building and repairing was my destiny and I figured eventually the mark would give up and show itself. Until then I did everything I could to improve my skills, often taking on more work than I could handle. At those times my father usually had to step in to help and gave me the same lecture that overwhelming oneself brings about exhaustion before skill.
Much of my work was not simply trying to improve my skills, but also create new ones through the miracle of invention. Sure I built the usual things, furniture, tools, and other odd assortments of items, but I also tried to invent new things too. My first real invention was a simple one at best, a small cuff I could wear around my front legs that held tools so I could perform precise tool work while having my mouth free (and vision unobstructed from the tool itself). Most of my inventions were created out of necessity, something that could improve a pony’s life, even if only in the simplest of ways.
At the time I didn't think anything would change. I knew eventually I would get my Cutie Mark and that would be cause for celebration, but when it was over I would just go back to being a carpenters son, and maybe one day take over my father’s business. Until then I would simply go about doing what I loved, building and repairing things, and trying to create new inventions. How I viewed my life past, present, and future would change when I became friends with one jade colored Pegasus.
It was the beginning of the market season and the town’s center became transformed. Market stalls went up, visitors from the nearby towns came to sell their wares, and even a few of the city folk from nearby Fillydelphia came to sell odds and ends in our town. Hillsdale had always been big during market season, mainly because it was the closest town to Fillydelphia that had a large enough area to hold all these stalls, that and Mayor Polly Tichian always welcomed the outside sellers to town because it helped to drive more business and keep the townsfolk happy.
One of the largest stalls the past few years has belonged to the Lilystalks. It was their asparagus that helped to put Hillsdale on the map bringing ponies from all over to taste not only the fresh asparagus, but the unique foods that Fern Lilystalk was prized for creating with it. There were even a few Pegasus from Cloudsdale that visited every market who loved Fern’s cooking so much they made sure that the weather would be perfect for the entire time.
Town square was only a short walk from my home and it was always a big event for my family. While we never had our own stall there, our shop was close enough that my father was usually able to attract some new customers, while my mother set up a small stand outside our home and sold her mushroom foods to any passerby’s trying to free themselves from the crowd. That morning my mother had told me that she placed an order for some asparagus for that morning, knowing that the Lilystalks would have their best for sale during market. She had asked if I would go there and pick it up for her since she had to tend her stand.
I grabbed my saddlebags and headed out to the center of town. The crowd seemed bigger than normal, with many unfamiliar faces. It made me slightly nervous. I had never been a very social pony, mainly keeping to my work or helping with the shop. While I was pushing my way through the crowd I heard something flapping above me. Looking up I could see a jade colored Pegasus flying through the air dragging a banner behind her that read: ‘Visit the Lilystalk Stall for An Amazing Assortment of Asparagus and Assorted Asparagus Morsels!’ She had been flying pretty low, not low enough to hit anypony, but low enough so that the entirety of the banner was readable.
I turned my attention away from the sky and back towards my destination, the Lilystalk stall. Like always it was packed so there would be a large line. I wanted to get there quick enough so that I was not wasting my whole day in line. As I neared closer to the stall I heard a small scream. I looked up I saw that same jade Pegasus with the banner behind her, but instead of flying through the air, she was hurdling down into the crowd, more specifically towards me. I didn’t know what to do or where to go and before I could collect a coherent thought I felt the weight of another pony knocking me off my hooves.
When I came too, the first thing that I saw was a crowd of ponies surrounding me and the jade Pegasus hovering over me babbling sorry over and over. When she saw me start to move she stopped saying sorry, gasped, and then went to hug me. I didn’t know what to think about, my spinning head, my sore flank, or this pony hugging me.
“I’m so, so, so, so sorry!” the Pegasus said to me, in a very apologetic tone.
I started to get up, wincing at a small pain in one of my front legs. “It’s ok. I’m fine, a little sore, but I’m fine, although I am not sure why you decided to use me as a landing strip.”
“I didn’t mean it, I swear. I was flying overhead, pulling my banner, when a gust of wind caught the banner and caused me to lose control. I tried to avoid the crowd, but that did not work out.”
“I noticed, but are you ok?”
“Oh I’m fine, I have never been the most agile of fliers, but I still enjoy it. My names Avis by the way, Avis Featherfall-Lilystalk.”
I knew who she was, that jade coat was hard to miss. And I also knew about how a Pegasus came to call a family of Earth ponies her own. The whole town did actually, but no pony ever mentioned it, not knowing how she takes being an orphan. I introduced myself and told her that I was on my way to pick up an order for my mom at her parent’s stall.
“Oh! I can help you with that. I might even be able to let you skip the line. I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind, seeing how kind of crashed into you. You wait her, I’ll be right back.”
“Well I don’t mind waiting in line” I said to her as she started off in the direction of her parents stall.
Avis turned her head back to me and shouted back to me that it was fine and to just wait where I was. My flank was so sore that I didn’t object a second time. Sitting was feeling pretty good compared to trying to stand. Things were happening so quick that my head was still trying to process everything. A simple errand turned out to be one of the biggest events in my life, although I did not know it at the time.
A few minutes later Avis came back. She had a small bag in her mouth, but it didn’t look like my mother’s order. I had a feeling that I was still going to have to stand in line. That didn’t bother me much, I never felt special enough to be able to skip ahead of anything.
Avis put down the bag she was carrying and turned to me, “Well my mother is too busy at the moment, but my brother Blanc will be taking over for her in a few hours, so I decided to grab my lunch and come and see if you wanted to wait? Oh and don’t worry, I grabbed a little extra for you, I’m sure you’re hungry and it is the least I can do.”
“Oh you didn’t have too. And really, I don’t mind waiting.” I said, not letting her know that I was actually starving. I had forgot to grab anything to eat before heading out to town square. I had a little extra bits and planned to buy something at the food stalls.
“Oh I insist. But not here, too crowded. Let’s go over to the pond, I always enjoy eating next to the water, it’s very calming, and I think calming is what we both need right now” she said as she headed over to the pond, looking back to make sure that I was following.
The pond sat on the outskirts of town, only a ten minute trot from town square. Despite being a Pegasus, Avis walked the entire time. I wondered if she felt bad for the accident, or if she simply wanted to make sure we were next to each other the entire walk. I have never talked to many other ponies, usually the ones I do talk to were for business and I kept that short and simple too.
Avis on the other hoof seemed to be delighted to have someone to talk to. She was talking fast and about anything she could think about. She talked of her family and the farm, of how she spent all her free time practicing aerobatics, even about her love of traveling, or at least how much she would love it if she ever had the opportunity. We soon arrived at the pond and set up a small picnic on the shore.
We sat there for a few hours it seemed just talking. The food she brought was wonderful. Fresh asparagus from her family’s farm, apples and apple cider from Ponyville, even delicious cupcakes from a bakery in nearby Fillydelphia. I had actually started to warm up to her. We went from her carrying all the conversation to us talking evenly. The day had turned out to be much more exciting than I thought a simple trip to the Market would be.
“Oh! I think we should head back to my farm, my mother should be done by now. Let’s go Tinkerton follow me” she said jumping up and doing a quick clean up while talking and then we both headed out to her parents farm, continuing the talking along the way.
I had only been to the Lilystalks farm a couple times, usually with my mother getting some food for a special occasion, and always waiting outside. This time I was with Avis we went straight into her home.
“Momma! I’m home, sorry for the wait!” Avis shouted as she entered her home.
“Avis, sweetie, I’m in the kitchen!”
“Let’s go, its ok, my mother enjoys visitors” Avis said as she lead me to the kitchen area.
The house opened directly into the kitchen, probably since they get so many deliveries to and from their house involving food grown on their farm, and from other farms in the nearby communities coming to trade with them. The Lilystalks really did put our little town on the map. We rarely had visitors, and never tourists. While we were close to Fillydelphia, the town wasn’t on any major roads leading in or out of the city, instead tucked safely in the nearby hills. When the Lilystalks moved here, they took it on themselves to open trading with the nearby towns, starting with setting up a small shop in Fillydelphia. Since then we have had many visitors from all walks of life. The kitchen alone showed it, with all sorts of gifts and trinkets from ponies who traded them for what is felt to be the best asparagus in all of Equestria.
I was so distracted by the different trinkets all over the kitchen, that I didn’t even notice Mrs. Lilystalk with a bowl of steamed asparagus and butter that she had placed before me.
“Oh, hello. I’m sorry, I was just admiring all these things you have decorating your kitchen. They are wonderful.”
“Why thank you. We’ve collected these for a very long time” Mrs. Lilystalk started to say as she placed some napkins next to the bowl of asparagus. “Here you go, eat up. It’s the least I can do for my daughters, inconvenience.”
“That is ok, she had apologized, numerous times actually, and I am fine, a little sore but I’ll be better come the morning.” Even though I had just eaten, my stomach growled at the sight of the asparagus, so I started eating a little here and there. It was delicious.
“I can see by the look on your face that you’re enjoying it. I’m glad. Oh and Avis tells me that you were there to pick something up for your mother. Well I have it right here, and even put a little extra in there at no charge for your troubles.”
“Momma, you’re making it seem like I intentionally crashed into him!” Avis blurted out.
“You say it was an accident, but was it a coincidence that you just so happen to ‘crash’ into such a nice young colt”
“Momma!”
I started to blush, not knowing how to take this, discussion between Avis and her mother. I honestly think they forgot I was even there for a second. I cleared my throat. “That asparagus was wonderful, but I should be heading home. My mother will be getting ready to make dinner soon, and she is probably wondering where I am with the asparagus. Thank you for your generosity Mrs. Lilystalk.”
As I was leaving the farm, I could see the sun slowly setting in the horizon, making way for the moon. It was getting later then I thought and started to hurry home. Before I could make it past the farm’s gate, I heard the door to the house open and Avis called after me. I stopped and turned back to see her running towards me, trying to catch me before I got too far.
“Wait Tinkerton, I wanted to, well my mother suggested that I ask you,” Avis was stuttering, as if not sure of exactly what to say, “If you wanted to, you’re welcome to have dinner with us tomorrow night. It’s the last night of the Market and we always have a big family dinner to celebrate this seasons earnings. And your family is also welcomed” Avis seemed to have added that last part suddenly, as if she didn’t want me to think it was just me that was being invited.
“Well I would like that. Honestly, despite how we meet, I’m glad we did” I wanted to say more, but was not sure what else to say. I know we had just met, but it feels like this chance meeting might be what I needed.
“Me too. Good night Tinkerton” Avis said, making a motion as if not sure what to do. Then she lifted up into the air, gave a small wave, and flew back to the door where her mother was waiting.
That night during dinner I told my mom, dad, and sister everything that happened. They seemed happy that I had made a new friend and were more than glad to join the Lilystalks for dinner the next evening. I felt very happy. After dinner I went to my room and relaxed before bed. It was usually an early night for me since I had to be up early to help my father with his shop. Normally while I was lying in bed waiting to drift off to sleep I thought about the next day’s projects to work on, or what else I can do to finally discover my cutie mark, but that was the furthest thing in my head. It was a new feeling, but I was very happy to have meet a friend, but was a little worried too. I never had a close friend, so was also anxious that I would do something to ruin it. But there is no time to fret about that. As my father always told me, ‘never push yourself to succeed, just let it flow and it will come naturally’.
The day went by fast, all of my chores were done as usual but the entire time I was awaiting the dinner, to see how things would unfold. My mother was busy in the kitchen preparing some of her best mushroom stew to bring, and my father was working on a small trinket for the Lilystalks. When I told him about the various trinkets in the kitchen that were given or traded for their goods, he had an idea to make one as a gift to say thanks for their generosity.
Later that evening we headed to the Lilystalks, both nervous and excited at the same time. You could say that I was feeling a bit, nervouscited. Well you could but that would just be silly. But it seems that I had nothing to be nervous about. The dinner went well. The Lilystalks loved the gift my father made them, a small carved totem like statue representing the founders of the town. My mother’s stew was also a hit. Mrs. Lilystalk and my mother were already trading recipes and coming up with new ways to integrate each other’s specialty cooking with each other’s.
Everyone hit it off. My sister, albeit much younger than me, and thus much, much younger then Avis’s two older brothers, Blanc and Vert, even seemed to catch both of their attentions. She was an earth pony at heart, more so then even my parents, and always was trying to seek out her roots as a field pony, but we had nothing like that, and besides, because of her being a bit, accident prone, my parents were afraid she would get hurt. But that did not stop Tippy from talking the brother’s ears off and asking all sorts of farming questions.
After dinner, we all said our good byes and thanked the Lilystalks for a wonderful dinner. While my parents and her parents were wrapping things up, Avis dragged me over to the side.
“Tinkerton, I am glad you came. It seems our parents hit it off pretty well. Did you have a nice time?”
“Yeah I did actually. A shame it has to end but it’s getting late. You’re always welcome to come visit the shop.”
“And your always welcome on the farm” Avis said, looking as if she was not done talking, even though she had stopped.
I waited around for a few seconds, neither of us seemed to break the silence. Seeing my parents starting towards the gate, I bid Avis farewell. After I turned around and started towards the gate I felt something touching my shoulder. I turned around and it was Avis.
“Oh before you go Tinkerton, would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow, at the pond? That is if you weren’t busy.” “I would love that.”
We both turned back to our parents and headed to our homes. I was as happy, if not more so that night then I was the previous night. But there was something different that night. I usually dream of getting my cutie mark, or about a book I recently read, but that night’s dream was different. It was so vivid. It was of what I thought was a Pegasus, flying through the air, but not on wings of a feather, but something else, something natural, yet not like a normal wing. I woke unsure of what I dreamed about, but often my dreams did not make sense so I shrugged it off. I didn’t know that it was the start of something new.
For a few months Avis and I had spent a lot of time together. She came to visit me at my father’s shop when I was working, I went and visited her on the farm, often helping to repair their equipment. The time we spent together was always enjoyable. She watched me build stuff and I watched her aerobatics. We were both amazed by each other’s talents, but every time I saw her looking towards my blank flank I often wondered what was going through her head. I had all the talent I needed for my cutie mark, at least I thought I did, but I was still blank.
Avis on the other hand did have her cutie mark. It was very simple, and she really didn’t know what it meant. It was a Pegasus wing, but silhouetted. It was a strange paring her and I. She had a cutie mark that she didn’t know what it meant, and I had the talent but no cutie mark to show for it. We never really talked much about our flanks, so while there was the occasional glance towards that area, there was no verbal exchange.
We always had lunch at the pond when the weather was good. It was almost like clockwork to see us together there at lunchtime. Many thought we were a couple, but we were really just very close friends. Or at least that was what we felt on the surface.
The beginning of the week was no different except for one thing, I had not seen Avis all weekend. Her and her parents went to Fillydelphia to sell some of the season’s wares and to try to gain more customers. It was the first time we had been apart for more than a day, and while I had plenty to keep me busy at the shop, it felt lonely without her company, so when she came back I was the first one at the farm to welcome her.
I think she had saw me before I saw her because out of nowhere a jade colored blur came rushing at me, knocking me to the ground. When I looked at what hit me, there was Avis with the biggest hug I have ever felt.
“Oh Tinkerton I missed you, but I have great news!” Avis was unable to contain herself as she spoke, “while we were at Fillydelphia we were with the mayor, apparently he is also in charge of setting up their harvest fair, and asked us to attend it! But that’s not all! This year Fillydelphia is also hosting the tornado to bring the water to Cloudsdale, and the mayor asked ME if I wanted to contribute!”
When Avis seemed to have spent her breath trying to say as much as possible in a little of time, I was able to respond, “That’s great news Avis! When is it?”
“It is in a couple days. But that means I’ll have to leave again tomorrow, the mayor wanted to have all attending Pegasus to attend a meeting explaining what is needed of them.”
The news suddenly became more exciting for her then me, she was going to be leaving again just after she got here. I never really knew what it was like to have a friend until I met Avis. She must have saw this in my face and said something that erased all the encroaching sadness.
“And I want you to come with me Tinkerton. I need someone to cheer me on and my parents have been away from the farm too long, so they cannot come back with me. Plus they don’t want me to go the city by myself. So I asked if you could come with me!”
“I would love too, but tomorrow is very sudden. Let me go run it by my parents. I’ll come visit later with their response.”
We both left to our homes, her to rest after a long trip (and to rest for another long trip) and I headed home to tell my parents the news. I had always wondered what was outside our town. Sure I have visited other towns and the city with my father, but never did much except just be there. Since I met Avis my curiosity of the outside has been even greater than before.
When I got home I saw my father was in the shop so went straight in to ask him first if it was ok if I went to Fillydelphia with Avis. When I entered the shop, I noticed something out of place, a small griffon statue sitting on the counter.
“Tinkerton, I’m glad your home. I wanted your input on something. I had a customer earlier who said his statue was broken. I told him that I didn’t fix statues but he insisted that I take a look at it. Before I could ask any more questions he left, saying he would be back in the morning. This statue is, strange though, could you take a look at it?”
“Sure dad, but can I ask something? Avis is going back to Fillydelphia. She has been chosen to help with the tornado for Cloudsdale, isn’t that great! And even better, she asked if I could go with her! So can I? I know its short notice.”
“Well I would have said yes but you know customers come first, and this one said he would pay good bits if I could fix this before tomorrow morning.”
I was suddenly unhappy again at the news, but then I had a thought. “What if I figure it out? The train doesn’t leave until 10am. If I can figure it out by then can I go?”
My father thought about it for a moment. “Yes son, if you can figure this out, then you can go. But remember, this comes first.”
I grabbed the statue and started to work. The statue was more then it appeared on the surface. I noticed that the back of it was loose and slowly pried it off. What I saw under it surprised me. Tiny gears and cogs, dozens of them, all compressed in as small a space as possible. This was the most advanced piece I have ever seen. Could a pony even had made this? A Unicorn perhaps, but defiantly not a Pegasus or an earth pony. I took as much of it apart as I could but it was hard to figure out what was broken, yet alone how it even worked in the first place.
Unknown to me, the hours went on quickly. I didn’t even know it was evening already. It didn’t occur to me until I looked up and saw Avis had just came into the shop.
“There you are Tinkerton, I thought you were going to come back and let me know about tomorrow?”
“Oh, wow it’s late isn’t it. I’m sorry Avis. You see my father had a customer that he couldn’t figure out how to fix what he brought in, and said that if I can figure it out, then I can go with you, so I have been working really hard at it.”
We talked for a few minutes, but seeing me working she understood that it was hard to distract me, and wanted to make sure that I could go with her tomorrow. After she left I continued working late into the night. When I saw how late it was, I decided to call it a night and wake up early. I had not made and progress, but often a good sleep can help clear the mind.
I fell asleep quickly and began to dream even faster. But that night the dream was not the usual dreams, the ones of Avis and me, or me discovering something new out in an ancient ruins, no this was much different. And much, much more vivid. That night I dreamt about the griffon, and while still a statue, in my dream the griffon was very much alive.
The dream felt so real and felt as if I was still awake. Before me was the griffon, larger then I imagined it, but still as broken. But what did it do? How could I fix something that I didn’t even know its function to begin with? Then, as if I was in a blueprint, the griffon exploded, showing every single working mechanism, many I didn’t know were there because I couldn’t reach them. It looked even more complex. This dream didn’t help assure me that I could fix this, because it just made it more complex.
Then as suddenly, somehow, I knew exactly what was wrong. I couldn’t explain it, but it was as if I had built this myself. In my dream world I walked up to a single cog, near the neck of the griffon, and noticed that it had unloosened itself and was off tract in a way that prevented the whole thing from working. I pushed it back into place and the whole thing flew back together, whole again. I noticed a key and placed it into a small whole on the back of the statue. With a couple turns the griffon came alive. It stood up on its hind legs and spread its wings while opening its mouth as if it was roaring. It was beautiful.
As suddenly as the dream started, it ended and I was woken up. Still fresh in my head was the griffon and how I could fix it. Unlike most dreams that faded away shortly after waking, it was still very vivid in my head. I rushed down to the shop and started to take apart the griffon, memorizing where each part went that I took off. And then just like in my dream I saw the loose cog. Luckily it was in a position that I could take my pliers in my mouth and easily get to it and fix it. Usually the great mechanics and makers in Equestria have been Unicorns because their magic allowed them to handle tools in the best was to get into small spots, but I always tried to use my lack of magic for me, and find ways to do anything a unicorn could in my trade.
After I put it together I knew that it would work. I went to where the key was in my dream but it was only a hole. There was no key attached. Maybe my father had it? Or the customer forgot to leave it. Since my father was still asleep I figured it would wait till morning. So I went back to sleep.
That morning after I woke and had my breakfast, I went to the shop and told my father about the dream and that I fixed it. Unfortunately he didn’t have the key so we had to wait until the customer came back. I hoped that it would be before the train leaves at 10am. I knew that I had fixed it so I went and started packing. Half an hour later I heard the shop’s doorbell ring and ran down to the shop. Inside was a pony, wearing a small greyish cloak, covering almost his entire body.
“Ahh, you must be Tinkerton. Your father tells me that you have fixed my statue? But you didn’t have the key to test it. My oh my, how odd of me to forget the key.” The customer took a small golden key out of his satchel. He must have been a unicorn since he was able to grab it without moving his head.
The customer took the key and put it into the keyhole in the back of the griffon. With a few turns the griffon creaked and moaned, but then sprung into its dance. Just like in the dream it got up on its hind legs, spread its wings, and acted as if roaring. My father looked stunned to see such a thing before him, and I was amazed at how exactly like my dream it was. The customer must have been happy because after the griffon’s dance was over, he took it and placed it into his satchel, gave a small sack of bits to my father and started to leave.
Before he made it through the door, the customer looked back to me and I could see under his hood that he was smiling. “Oh and Tinkerton, I may need your gift again in the future.”
It struck me as odd what he said, but then I heard a train horn blow in the distance, and it struck me, it was almost 9am, the train would be leaving in an hour! I turned to my father and asked if I could go. He gave me his approval and even gave me most of the bits that the pony had given him as payment. I was about to object but he said I earned it, and that I may need spending money in the city. I grabbed my stuff and ran towards Avis’ home, with the good news. I had a feeling today was going to be an eventful day.
The trip to Fillydelphia went by fast. It was only a couple hours away but Avis and I talked the entire way. She was very excited to be helping out with the tornado, and doing what she loves, flying. I was just happy to be with her. It was also exciting to be traveling someplace without it being with my parents on business. I didn’t leave town that much, there was usually no reason to.
This trip was going to be different. I was hoping that this would be the start of something new, and if I was lucky, bring a little more excitement into my life. Don’t get me wrong, I still love building and fixing things, and that will never change, but maybe there was more to life then work, and I think that Avis will be the one to show me.
When we got to Fillydelphia there was a huge crowd at the station. Despite it being limited to Fillydelphia citizens (with Avis being one of the exceptions) it brought many visitors to the city. It was an eventful day for the city. Unbeknownst to me, it would be an eventful day for us as well.
The event was not until the next day, but we were getting tired. Despite it being a short trip, train rides always have a tendency to make ponies sleepy, at least for Avis and I. So we headed towards the hotel that we were going to stay at to relax and to get away from the crowd, large crowds always made me feel nervous.
Avis on the other hoof loved large crowds. Since she was always practicing aerobatics, she liked to have an audience. She wanted badly to just lift up and fly around, but I said that she should probably save her energy for tomorrow, since she will be needing it. Most of the Pegasus of the city must have had the same thought, because there were very few wings flapping along the streets.
After we got to our hotel room, we crashed on the bed. It wasn’t the first time we had been to a hotel, but it was nice not having parents to say what he had to do. The first thing we did was order room service. I had plenty of bits to cover it, so we spoiled ourselves. After dinner we decided to wind down. Tomorrow would be a big day for Avis, and full of surprises.
The next morning we woke up, had some breakfast and headed down to town square where the mayor was gathering all the Pegasus to describe the day’s events. There must have been a hundred or more Pegasus crowded around the pedestal where the mayor was going to be giving a speech before the event. The mayor finally arrived and greeted the crowd.
“Good morning fillies and gentlecolts. I hope everypony is well rested for today. As all of you know today we will be hosting the transport of water up to Cloudsdale. Representatives from the city will be here to help facilitate the process, but it will be up to all of you to complete the job. Just in case there are those unfamiliar with the process, it is quite simple. In order to funnel the water from the cities reservoir up to Cloudsdale, we need to create a tornado that can transport it. To do this all Pegasus attending will need to produce a total wing power of 800 or more. Now this has been done with much fewer ponies, but with this many attending we will get there in no time.”
When the mayor was finished addressing everyone, a horn sounded, marking the start of the event. Since I had no wings, I had to go and watch from the viewing area set up a safe distance from the reservoir. I wished Avis good luck and headed over there. The pegasus were then split into small groups, each group going in order to prevent too many ponies from entering at once and crashing into each other. As the groups entered the flying area a small sign of a tornado began to appear, growing bigger and bigger with every added group. Soon it was Avis and her groups turn. She glanced to find me in the crowd and I waved my hoof to get show I was there. I think she saw me because she smiled then flew off with her group. As she entered the tornado, like with the other groups, it grew significantly larger than before.
One of the Cloudsdale representatives had a device that could detect the wing power and speeds of the tornados that they used during the bad weather seasons. The Pegasus measured the tornado and reported it to the mayor who in turn announced it to the crowd.
“750 Wing Power and rising!” the mayor shouted as loud as she could because even an amplifying spell was not enough to go over the sound the winds within the tornado were making.
“780 Wing Power and rising!”
“800 Wing Power and rising!”
At 800 wing power the funnel made contact with the reservoir and began siphoning it up into the funnel. As the wing power got bigger and bigger, more water was taken and it traveled faster and faster through the funnel. The more water they got to Cloudsdale, the better rain they can provide for all of Equestria’s crops and ponies.
“You are doing very well! We’ve reached the minimum but I want to see it go higher!” the Mayor said using the unicorn’s amplifying spell to increase her own voice.
“840 Wing Power and rising!” the unicorn began to shout again.
“870 Wing Power and rising!”
By the time the mayor announced that the wing power had reached 900, I could make out a few silhouettes of ponies in the funnel wavering, many of them had probably exhausted themselves early on but didn’t want to be the first to abandon the cause so found whatever they could to keep them going. It was impossible to differentiate one pony from another within the winds so seeing Avis was not possible, but she was giving it her all from start to finish.
“910 Wing Power and holding! I think this is it folks!” the unicorn shouted.
“Congratulations everypony, we have just made a new record!” The mayor added, not just to the crowd but to all the Pegasus in the funnel.
Everyone was cheering and stomping their hooves in excitement. Since the wing power was not increasing, it was a matter of just holding it still until the last of the water had made it past the tornado’s mouth and into Cloudsdale. After the final drops of water left, the mayor announced to the fliers that they can start to safely slow it down so that everypony could rest after a hard day’s work. As the Pegasus were slowing down, one of the ones who had gotten tired earlier began to lose focus and drifted into another pony knocking them both out of their flight path and flying out of the tornado. Unfortunately, the Pegasus that who had gotten slammed into by the tired pony was Avis. The crash must had knocked her out because she went flying, limply out of the tornado and crashed on the ground, the tired pegasus was more lucky and regained enough wing power to perform a safer landing, albeit with some bumps and bruises.
I knew that jade coat anywhere when I saw that Pegasus fly out of the tornado. Avis had crashed onto the ground a few hundred yards away from the well and was not moving. When I saw her hit the ground I ran as fast as I could to her. When I go there, there was already a crowd gathering around her. I shoved them aside yelling that I knew her and went over to her side. She looked very bad, bruised and beaten, with one of her wings flopped limply on her side. She was still alive as I saw her start to regain consciousness.
“What, what happened?” Avis started to say as she tried to move.
She looked bad, and I was trying not tear up as I started to talk. “You, you had an accident. Something happened and you were thrown from the tornado. Don’t worry, help is on the way.”
Almost as if I had summoned them with my words, I could hear the emergency ponies arriving. They brought out a stretcher and one of them used a levitate spell to move her safely onto it. As they started to load her into the ambulance carriage, I told one of them that I was a friend and I wanted to go to the hospital with her. As the carriage left the crowd I could not keep my eyes off of Avis, lying there in pain. The day started off with great excitement but was ending very un-expectantly. After today, things would never be the same again.
While the train ride to Fillydelphia seemed to go fast, the ride to the hospital felt like it took forever. Avis was laying in pain for a while but passed out before we got there. I had never felt so helpless. My best friend in all of Equestria and all I could do was sit there holding her hoof and telling her it was ok, even though I knew it was not going to be ok. Her left wing had been badly injured, and I was told that its recovery didn’t look good.
The doctors at the hospital didn’t have much better news. After they had looked closer at it, they believed that the wing would never fully recover, leaving her unable to ever fly again. This would break her heart, and like that wing, she may never heal from that.
She woke up at once point and saw me, and while still in pain, managed to smile at seeing me. She reached her hoof out and tried to speak. “Tinkerton, I am glad you’re here, please don’t leave.” That was all she could say before she passed out again.
“It’s ok, she is just resting, and she needs a lot of it to recover. You can stay as long as you need too.” The doctor reassured me.
I thanked the doctor as he left the room. I sat there with her the entire time, only leaving for food and to use the restroom. At some point both our parents came after hearing the news. When I told them what had happened I couldn’t help but cry. The mayor had paid for rooms for all of us to stay at the hotel, but I spent most of my time at the hospital with Avis to keep her company.
Avis remained at the hospital for almost a week before she was well enough to leave for home. Just as the doctor had said, while the rest of her healed nicely, her wing was rendered unusable. Everyone was glad that she was ok, and most of the town was there to welcome her back when we reached Hillsdale. She thanked everyone for thinking of her, but I could tell she did not want to talk about it. For the next few days she didn’t leave her home. I visited with her as often as I could, and tried to reassure her that even though she couldn’t fly, things would be ok.
Time seemed to go by painfully slow. While everyone else moved on with their lives, Avis and I seemed to fall behind everyone else. She remained home and while I still helped at the shop my heart was not into it and thus my work was not as good as it normally was. Even though it was Avis who got injured, I felt it too. I had not been sleeping well the past few nights, often seeing the scene of Avis’ injury in my dreams. It got to a point where I just did not want to sleep, but one night that changed.
After not sleeping well for the past few nights, I was so tired that I passed out shortly after laying down for the night. That night I had a dream, but it was different, yet familiar. It was just like the griffon dream, it even started with the griffon. I saw it plain as day. This time it was working just as it did after I fixed it, yet it seemed more alive. Then suddenly the griffon flew away, and in its place was something I would had never seen before. It was a wing, but not one made of flesh and bone, but one of wood and metal. I stared at it in disbelief, it was perfect. Just as in the griffon dream the wing blew apart piece by piece and I could see exactly how it was made. It was complex in design, but used such simple parts. I walked through the blueprint and analyzed every part of it, taking in the details, it was just perfect.
I work up shortly after the dream ended and rushed down to the shop. I couldn’t sleep anymore, I had to build. I was so excited about the dream I forgot about everything bad that had happened. I worked through the night and into the morning not stopping even for food. I was so busy that I didn’t even notice my parents come into the shop.
“Tinkerton, have you been working all night?” My father asked me once he could get my attention away from the work.
“Oh, good morning. Yeah I have. I had the most wonderful dream, I couldn’t wait until morning. Remember the griffon? Well I had another dream, this time it was even more vivid and complex.”
“What is it son?” My mother asked me, not able to make out what I was working on.
“It’s a wing, a mechanical wing. It’s for Avis. The dream, it showed me how to make it. It’s just perfect.”
“A wing?” My father didn’t know what else to say.
As far as any of us knew, there had been nothing like this attempted. Usually if a Pegasus broke a wing, it meant they were grounded for life. Not for Avis. She meant too much to me to say she will never fly again. I felt like I could build anything to solve any problem, and no more so then now. I continued working past breakfast and into the afternoon. After hours of work, I finally finished. I quickly wrapped it up in some cloth and headed straight to the Lilystalks.
When I got to the farm I placed the wing next to the barn and then went to the front door. Avis’s mother answered the door. I asked if Avis was home, although I knew she was since she never left these days. A few moments later Avis came to the door.
“Tinkerton, you look tired. You ok?”
“I’m better then ok, and hopefully you will be too. I have something for you. Follow me.”
Before she could respond, I had already started towards the barn, looking behind me to make sure she was following. I could tell that the curiosity had gotten to her as she followed. When we got to the barn I still had the wing wrapped up on the ground.
“I made this for you. Go ahead and open it.”
Avis hesitated for a moment but then slowly removed the cloth. When she saw what it was, she was not sure what to make of it. “What is it? It looks like a wing.”
“It is, it’s a new wing. It’s for you.”
“I, I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, let’s see if it works. Try it on, here I will help you.”
I took the wing and placed it over her injured wing. She cringed a bit when I touched her wing, not out of pain, more abashedly. It was easy enough to attach it over her injured wing. The body strap wrapped around her body with another strap attaching to the base of her working wing to allow proper synchronization. I tightened it enough to keep it on, yet loose enough not to cause her discomfort.
“There we go, how does it feel?” I asked.
“It feels, weird. It’s a bit heavy. You sure it will work?”
“I think it should, no I KNOW it will, it has to.”
Avis started to move her wings, first her working one to get a feel for it, then slowly tried to move her injured one. While it was too weak for flying, it was still moveable. At first she seemed to struggle, but when she moved both wings at the same time, it seemed to be easier. After a few minutes she was able to get both wings flapping quickly enough to start hovering a few inches from the ground.
“It’s working! It’s working!” Avis exclaimed, with a happiness in her voice that she hadn’t shown since the accident. She started to flap harder and faster and was able to get higher and higher. She couldn’t seem to get any forward propulsion, but could hover a few feet from the ground. She looked over the barn and ran over to the other side. “Avis! Where you going?”
“I think this would work!” She shouted. A moment later I saw Avis on the roof of the barn.
“Avis what are you doing?” I shouted up at her.
Before she could respond she ran and jumped off the roof. She spread out her wings but was falling quickly, but before she could reach the ground, her wings caught the air just right and was able to fly back into the air. It was a bit clumsily, but she was flying, my invention had worked!
Someone in the house must have heard what was going on outside because moments later I saw her parents and brothers come out of the house.
“Tinkerton, what is going on? And where’s Avis?” Mr. Lilystalk asked.
Before I could answer, Mrs. Lilystalk spoke, “Boise look! It’s Avis and she’s, she’s flying!”
Everyone looked up and stared in the air with amazement. Avis was flying, albeit awkwardly, she was still flying. It worked, I knew it could work.
“But how is this possible?” Mr. Lilystalk asked.
“It’s a wing that I built. I had a dream about it and couldn’t stop until I built it. It worked, it worked better then I imagined.”
“You built? I have never seen anything like it.” Mrs. Lilystalk said, still awestruck.
Avis must have seen us all gathered around so she came in for a landing. She landed a bit rough. We all went to make sure she was ok. When she got up she instantly ran over to me and hugged me very tightly. I could tell that she was crying, but tears of joy, not sadness.
“Thank you, thank you Avis!”
“It’s still a rough design, but I will work hard to improving it. I am so glad it worked.”
I could tell that her parents were also happy. Her mother started to cry and even her father’s eyes welled up a little. It would still take some time to get used to the new wing and to make the needed improvements, but from this day on, she would no longer be grounded. As I watched her jumping around with happiness I felt something on my flank. I looked back to it and my eyes widened. I saw my flank, and it was not blank anymore. Instead there was a bright yellow light bulb there. I had gotten my cutie mark!
I cheered out loudly enough that everypony stopped and looked at me. When I realized that I was being watched I turned to my side and showed my flank. “I got my Cutie Mark!”
“Oh wow, that’s great Tinkerton!” Avis came over and hugged me again.
That night we all celebrated, Avis for being able to fly again, and me finally getting my cutie mark. I realized that night that I was right, building and inventing is my destiny, but it was not only that. The reason I never got my cutie mark was not that inventing was my destiny, it was inventing stuff to help others, and it all started with helping my closet friend to become whole again. That day my life felt forever changed, but now for the better.