The Search For Spanners: Part II
Techorse Series: #48
By Spirals95
As described by the Buildsbetter parents, Lacey Maid's cafe was a popular hot drink shop located within downtown Canterlot. Formerly a bookstore, the shop was built into the rows of ornate buildings that dominated the city, a large sign of a mare dressed in a fancy pink dress and a white laced hat marking the hangout. Techorse and Midnight Blaze entered the coffee store in hopes of finding out some information as to where Spanners might be hiding, and the door set off a casual, friendly trilling as a set of bells rang.
The inside of the shop was cramped together towards the front, with a large counter to the immediate right, various coffee machines made of pewter and steel boiling and steaming with hot coffee, tea, and flavor syrups. A chalkboard hung overhead, with a grand list of the specialty drinks served at the establishment listed in big letters. The walls of the shop were made of vertical wood panels, with electric lights sporadically placed on the walls. In the back was a much more open area with a billiards table, and many red felt chairs arranged in a circle where customers could chat. Four ponies were occupying the chairs, three earth pony stallions and a pegasus mare. The stallions were orange, tan, and red in color, their manes of various cuts and sizes, and they casually watched over their shoulders as Techorse and Midnight Blaze took a seat at the counter, climbing up onto the wooden stools.
Fairly shortly, Lacey Maid herself sprung out from an open doorway, balancing an insulated pot of coffee on her head. She was a pegasus with a dark pink coat, yellow eyes, and a friendly smile. Her tail and mane were hidden underneath her outfit like the one on the sign outside, and she set the pot down on the counter before addressing her new customers.
“Hey, what can I do for you gentlecolts?” she asked very cheerfully.
Techorse went first, “I'd like a cup of decaf if you have any please, with plenty of cream.”
“Me too!” copied Midnight Blaze, as he had very little experience with coffee.
“What, no lattes?” asked Lacey Maid, tilting her head in confusion.
Techorse had no clue what she was going on about, and confirmed with a smile, “No thanks!”
The ponies sitting in the chairs were listening and knew they had found their target. Spanners had described a green coated stallion with a saddle and heavy social obliviousness, and Techorse's boring drink order in a famous Canterlot latte shop had pretty much confirmed their suspicions. Nopony ever ordered a regular cup of coffee in Lacey Maid's shop! Now all they had to do was wait for them to leave.
“All right then, I guess...” said Maid awkwardly, raising an eyebrow, “two decaf cups of coffee coming up, with cream.”
She served them their hot drinks and collected their payment, dropping the few bits into her register, a bit offended they didn't want to try even one of the fifty different types of latte drinks listed on the chalkboard menu over her head, the result of her special talents.
“So I guess this is your first time here!” she said, closing the drawer and trying to make conversation.
“Yeah, it is!” answered Techorse, sipping from the mug with his front hooves.
“Wow this is good,” whistled Midnight, enjoying the taste of the dark roast.
“Aw thanks,” giggled Maid, swishing her tail underneath her dress, “as I was saying, don't get too many customers interested in plain coffee, so I'm glad it's good. Anything else I can get for you?”
“Have you seen one of your customers lately? His name is Spanners Buildsbetter,” asked Techorse.
The four ponies in the chair were fidgeting, trying their hardest not to leap up out of their seats. Lacey Maid knew the correct answer was “yes”, and realized from the question Techorse was the pony her other customers were after. Although she didn't like the idea of helping lay a trap, the way her more loyal customers had described what the pony in front of her intended to do made her want to help out of fear.
“Can't say I've seen him lately,” lied the pegasus, “why do you ask?”
“We're looking for him, I have some stuff I need to settle with him,” said Techorse, smiling, “do you know where he is?”
Lacey Maid seemed to be more nervous, but neither of the two stallions noticed, and she told them while pointing towards the kitchen door,
“I don't know, but he's such a good customer he often leaves some of his stuff out back! You might be able to figure out from that, if you want to look.”
Midnight drained the rest of his coffee and said, “Really? Thanks! Come on Tech, let's go check it out.”
The unicorn pony jumped off of his stool and headed through the doorway behind the counter, Techorse soon following behind. As soon as they were well out of the room, the four ponies on the chairs got up and followed them out. Before he exited the shop, the leader of the four, the largest earth pony went to thank Lacey Maid. He was the orange-coated one, with slick black hair parted to the sides, his ruffle-cut hooves poking out from underneath a set of jeans and a gray hoodie he wore over his head to hide how awful his hair was.
“Thank you very much Lacey,” he said, a sinister chuckle coming from his throat, “now don't worry about this, we're just going to handle the situation and let you get back to things.”
“Please be as gentle as you can,” begged the store owner, “I'm taking a huge risk here.”
“Well I hope things won't have to be too rough,” answered the stallion, “just a minute Lacey. It'll be all we need with those guys.”
Techorse and Midnight exited the coffee shop into the back alley, a long area with a tall gray brick wall, the back to another shop on the opposite side of the city square. There didn't actually seem to be anything left outside except for the shop's dumpster, and they looked around in a confused manner.
“I don't see any stuff out here,” complained Midnight, scanning around with his light blue eyes, “how about you?”
“There's nothing out here at all,” sighed Techorse, “Lacey Maid kicked us out I guess. What did we do wrong?”
“I'll tell ya what you did wrong!” answered the big earth pony, laughing.
Techorse and Midnight turned around slowly from the stone wall. The four ponies from inside the shop had formed a semicircle around them, trapping them against the brick wall with only six or seven feet between the hapless inventors and their foes.
“Uh oh, don't tell me, this is your turf?” asked Midnight, rolling his eyes.
“Eh it's a favorite prancing ground, sure, but that's not why we're here,” answered the leader, “my name's Mixer, my pop's the owner of the Mixer Clan Cement Company.”
“Oh yeah!” marveled Techorse, not understanding they were being threatened, “You made the cement used in the Ponyville dam.”
Mixer groaned and removed the hood, revealing his slick and unkempt hair, “Let's cut to the chase, these are my friends Staircases, Satchel Craft, and Chipper.”
Satchel Craft, the pegasus mare, tried to give a menacing look, but it turned into an awkward smile that revealed a few dark bags under her eyes. Her soft white coat and pink eyes were offset by her wild orange hair and cutie mark of three purses in a pyramid. Techorse took note of the fatigue and wondered why she looked so unnerved when they clearly had them outnumbered and surrounded. In fact, Chipper and Staircases also looked a bit reluctant despite everything. Chipper was the red colored pony, with a white mane that was cut to look like the Equestrian guard, and a short tail, his cutie mark bearing a carving knife taking a chunk out of a block of wood. Staircases in contrast, had a long light blue tail to complement his tan coat, and had a cutie mark depicting a flight of stairs being put in place with a small hammer.
“I'm Techorse, and this is Midnight Blaze!” Techorse answered, starting to get worried as the other ponies took a step forward.
“So it is you!” growled Chipper nervously, one of the other earth pony stallions, “We were told about you by our best friend, Spanners. He says you two are out to hurt him, and we're going to make sure that doesn't happen.”
“Oh no...” said Techorse, his ears drooping.
“We're not trying to hurt Spanners! We're just trying to give him back his hammer, we've got it right here!” explained Midnight, hoping to avoid a fight.
Midnight opened Techorse's saddle with his magic and removed the object, dropping it in front of the ponies, who recognized it right away.
“This is all a trick,” said Staircases, shaking his head, “you took this from him and you're trying to use it to get past us. That's not going to happen.”
Mixer took a deep breath and inhaled sharply, “I guess... we're doing this! Let's teach this guy not to mess with Spanners!”
Techorse looked at the four ponies, who started to step forward. They looked so nervous the four ponies unsure about this despite how hard they were trying to be threatening. They said mean words, but their faces showed fear and anxiety. The doors on his saddle opened up, but nothing emerged from the inside yet. This caused the ponies to stop, and the entire group of six began to sweat and look around nervously.
“Don't do this!” pleaded Techorse, “We don't have to fight this out.”
“Techorse, we'd win pretty easily!” mentioned Midnight, “Just use your laser cannons.”
The tension had reached its maximum point amongst the ponies, and they all stared at each other, legs shaking. Staircases and Satchel almost looked like they were about to cry over the situation, having obviously lost a lot of sleep waiting for this moment. In fact, all of the ponies looked like they didn't want to be there, but they were there for a good reason, and Techorse knew what he had to do to end the tension.
He needed to do what Twilight would do!
Techorse took and deep breath and said defiantly, “You guys are the best friends Spanners could ever ask for.”
“Are you for real?” asked Satchel, a whine in her voice, “What's that got to do with this?”
“You're willing to attack me despite how dangerous Spanners told you I am,” he said, “and the fact that I do have a pair of laser cannons on me. You're willing to get hurt to keep me from finding him, and it's hard to find better friends than that.”
The doors on the battle saddle closed, and Techorse continued, “If you're willing to do this much to stop me, then I quit. Take the hammer back to Spanners for me and let him know I wanted to return it.”
The four ponies backed up a step, and stood there for a moment, relief beginning to wash over their faces.
“Oh, all right,” answered Mixer, “I guess we could do that. So you're giving up on finding Spanners then?”
“I guess we are,” answered Midnight, relaxing.
“Yeah, all I wanted was to return the hammer and tell Spanners everything was ok between us,” continued Techorse, “sorry for the trouble.”
The four stood around for a few moment contemplating the situation, before Mixer smiled, “You know, I'm starting to think my best friend Spanners might have told us wrong about you. We were seriously expecting worse.”
“Heh, yeah,” whimpered Chipper, “I gotta wonder why Spanners told us you were after him anyways?”
Techorse and Midnight explained the situation, about how Spanners had called him names and tried to humiliate him in front of Ponyville. While the four weren't entirely convinced their best friend was such a big jerk, they did know how often he bragged about his next big publicity stunt, and concluded something had definitely been misunderstood. The six went back inside, and Lacey Maid was highly relieved to see that nopony had been hurt at all and the matter had been resolved most peacefully. She rewarded each of them with a free mug of hot chocolate with a nice swirl of whipped cream on top. They sat at the counter in a line, talking about the next steps to take.
“This has all been such a bad moment for us,” sighed Mixer, “we're sorry guys. Spanners was telling us before he came to us in a panic that he was going to Ponyville, and we should have thought maybe he made somepony from there mad.”
“It's fine Mixer,” assured Midnight Blaze.
“Thanks for the forgiveness,” said Satchel, her lips slightly covered in whipped cream, “it's a shame Spanners ran off, he has no idea you're just trying to put stuff behind you.”
“Is there any chance you can tell us where he went? You can come with us if you want,” offered Techorse.
“I think we trust you enough now after explaining what really happened,” answered Staircases, “Spanners is kind of a bit of a showoff, and you do have that hammer of his, so everything checks out.”
“Agreed,” nodded Mixer, “that being said, Spanners is hiding out at his cabin in the Featherstone national park. It's pretty out there, and he bought it using his parents' graduation gift money when he left school. Nopony else but us knows about it though, so it's pretty hard to find. Ask for cabin twenty from the park rangers and you should be good to go!”
“Great! Hey, who knows, maybe we can go camping after this,” suggested Midnight, “always wanted to!”
Techorse smiled, “Maybe some other time Midnight. You've got a shop to get back to.”
“Yeah, I know!” he answered, “Just a suggestion for later.”
“Hey thanks again guys,” said Techorse, changing track, “Midnight and I ought to head out.”
“Good luck, and please don't let Spanners know we squealed!” snickered Satchel, “He might not like us for that!”
“We'll be good, promise!” teased Techorse, “Ready, buddy?”
Midnight tilted the mug back and swallowed the rest of the hot chocolate, nearly scorching his throat before slamming the mug down, “Now I'm ready! Let's give back that tool.”
Featherstone National Park was a vast stretch of woods and mountains located in the southwest of Equestria. Being so far away from most of the major cities, it was a good hiding spot for Spanners who seemed desperate to avoid being hunted down for his incident at Ponyville. The gigantic Blue River ran through the forested park, much like Everfree it was left mostly to its own devices, with pony intervention only being fighting forest fires, the occasional rain shower in times of drought, and providing healthcare to sick animals found by the park rangers. Tourists were expected to live in cabins rented or bought far away from the deepest areas of the woods and the most dangerous cliffs, but rowdy pegasus pony guests often flew up as high as they could go to take in the awe-inspiring view of the green and blue wonder. For the other guests, a hot spring basin near the foot of the mountains provided warm baths in alkaline water, and the river was the perfect place to catch a pet fish or go rafting when the water was calmer.
The two adventuring ponies found themselves at the Rangers' office near the entrance to the park. It was a large wooden cabin with a massive brick fireplace extending into the air, and a stone trail leading up to it amongst the multitude of tall trees. Inside, they found two park rangers much older than them relaxing in front of the fireplace, playing with a jigsaw puzzle on a nice throw rug left in front of the roaring fire. One was an earth pony mare with a small pair of black spectacles on the end of her muzzle, and the other was a pegasus stallion. Both were wearing green pants, thick brown boots, and white button up shirts.
“Excuse me,” said Techorse, not wanting to be rude, “do you know where we can find cabin number 20?”
The two park rangers looked up startled at Techorse and Midnight, quickly standing up from the puzzle and straightening out their tan colored shirts.
“Oh, whoops, sorry!” said the mare, “We weren't expecting any new tourists today! You two are looking for cabin number 20?”
“Yes, there's somepony we need to go visit,” explained Midnight Blaze.
The rangers knew that was Spanner's cabin, and had been told beforehand not to allow any guests, but it would be difficult to enforce that now that there were actual visitors asking specifically about it.
The pegasus told them the truth, “To be honest, we were told by the owner not to allow any guests if possible. Why do you need to visit?”
Techorse opened up his battle saddle to their intrigue with the machine, and showed them the hammer.
“I'm just trying to return this piece of hardware, we kind of had a falling out and I want to apologize,” he said, hoping they'd cooperate.
“What do you say, Leaflet?” asked the pegasus of his companion, “Should we help them?”
Leaflet responded, “I guess we can, Recon, “It's not like we can shoo away other guests to the park, it's an open-gate policy.”
Recon walked over to the nearest wall in the cabin, and pointed to a huge map spanning the length of the cabin that showed an overview of the park. Red dots on the map indicated where various buildings were, and the pegasus pony had to poke his wings from under his shirt and fly up to where one particular red dot was. He pointed at it with his hoof and made sure Techorse and Midnight could see it, and then began to fly in a pattern along a yellow line near the dot.
“All right gentlecolts,” said Recon, smiling, “cabin 20 is out in the northeast quarter of the map here. These yellow lines are the trails, you can take this one to get right to the cabin.”
“Whatever you do,” cautioned Leaflet sternly, “do NOT go off the trails, they're there for a reason, to keep you inside the park, and outside of the park's wildlife. Don't end up like Mirror Stickers.”
“What happened to Mirror Stickers?” gulped Midnight, his ears falling back.
Recon took out a hoof, and drew it across his neck, making a loud gurgling sound in his throat and sticking out his tongue while sending his eyes in different directions. Techorse and Midnight winced, their pupils dilating as they grated their teeth. Once the two ponies were shaking in terror, Leaflet rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.
“Recon, stop it, I think they get the idea, and you know that Mirror Stickers' story is an urban myth!”
He laughed and dropped to the floor, folding his wings, “You two stay safe out there, ok?”
“Yes sir!” answered Midnight, “We're not leaving the paths, trust us!”
Spanners Buildsbetter had decided to leave his cabin for a while to try and take a break from his self-imposed exile. He needed the fresh air and had a bad case of cabin fever since he had been living alone for a few weeks, and was walking along a steep cliff side, a gorge cut out between two slopes to provide a path. A depressed look dominated his face, his eyes on the ground, and only the sound of his tool belt shuffling around kept his mind calm as he shuffled forward. He missed his parents and his home very much, but was terrified of the consequences now that everyone knew the truth about him.
“I can't go back,” he thought sadly, “the second I go back to Canterlot the Royal Guard will be waiting there for me. They all know I'm a fraud!”
They came to an area in the path flanked by two steep cliff sides, cairns of stones piled up at the top, and layers of stone exposed throughout the scenery.
“But at least I'm safe here,” he sighed, before he heard hooves on the gravel below.
The architect turned his attention down below, and he hid behind a nearby cairn of small stones, peering over them to take a look. He spotted Techorse and Midnight Blaze coming up the trail, their eyes locked forward so that they could not see the hidden pony above.
Spanners' blood ran cold, “Techorse is here?! But the only ponies I told about my hideout were my friends, and they said they'd stop him.”
Fearing the worst, the builder nearly burst into tears, “Oh my goodness... Techorse must have taken my friends down, and now he's here to get me, too!”
He toughened up, straightening his legs, “Time to block the path like I planned just in case. They can't get to me through the woods!”
Spanners galloped ahead of the two ponies, his back hooves hitting the rock pile as he fled. The pile shifted, and a small stone fell from the side of the cliff, bopping Midnight Blaze on the head.
“Ouch!” he grunted, rubbing his head with a hoof, “They really need a falling rocks sign around here.”
“Let's just stick to the center of the path,” said Techorse, “and pick up the pace, we've still got a few miles to go.”
A large set of boulders stacked neatly laid ahead on the side of the cliff Spanners was standing on, dynamite carefully wedged between each one. He found what he was looking for, a set of pine branches, and removed them, revealing a red plunger box to detonate the explosives. Putting his hooves on the box, Spanner counted to three in his head, and then pushed the lever down hard.
BOOM
Techorse and Midnight jumped back at the explosion, gasping as the large stones dislodged and fell down, sealing up the path ahead. The stones crashed into place, filling the entire gorge completely and making passage impossible.
“What was that?!” cried Midnight, his horn glowing in preparedness as he scanned the area.
“It must have been a rock slide,” thought Techorse aloud as he stepped forward and inspected the stones, “they really should think about putting up a warning sign.”
Spanners, listening from above, smiled confidently that he was safe now, and abandoned the area to return to his cabin.
“I guess we're going to have to go another way, unless you can teleport us over the stones,” said Techorse, “I didn't bring my flight gear.”
“Heh, I could teleport us, but it's not my strongest spell. Between your weight and mine I wouldn't have any energy left to walk,” his friend responded sheepishly.
“In that case, let's just quickly bypass this by going off the path for a short bit,” suggested Techorse.
“But what about what the rangers said?!” demanded his companion, his face lighting up in terror, “We can't leave the path!”
“Midnight, I hate breaking the rules too, but if we don't go into the deep woods, we'll be ok,” assured Techorse, “the path is meant to keep us from going into a darker, enclosed area. Now let's backtrack a bit, get up the cliffs, and go around.”
Midnight felt a little uneasy about the plan, but agreed to the short bypass, and followed Techorse back around the path until they came to a shallow incline. Going off the trail, the two ponies walked back up and started to navigate in the direction of the path again. But with the cliff obscuring the path slightly and giving them nervous thoughts of falling off, they ponies strayed a little too far, and started to follow the treeline instead of the path. They passed the boulder pile without knowing it, and shortly thereafter, a very important turn to the left in the path they would have seen if they had been able to stay on.
“We should probably think about finding the path again,” said Midnight, noticing the darkness and increasing thickness of trees, “I'm starting to think we're lost.”
“You might be right about that,” concurred the green pony, “let's just head back the way we came.”
A rustle in a nearby pile of leaves caught the two ponies' attention, making them stop walking.
“What was that?” asked Midnight, slight fear in his voice.
The pile of leaves, several meters long and deep, suddenly burst into a flurry of flying orange and red as a massive serpent, nine feet long and nearly eight inches across, broke out from its cover. The snake was bright yellow in color, with orange diamonds down its back, and steely gray eyes with yellow pupils that gazed down at the ponies. It was only as big as each of them, but its fangs dripped with some kind of venom.
“AAAAAH!” screamed a terrified Midnight as the snake lunged at them.
Techorse acted quickly, and his saddle opened up, drawing out the laser cannons. Metal barrels backed up with gray beam emitter housings came forth, and Techorse braced down on his four legs before letting off a volley of energy, alternating beams shooting out. The yellow colored bolts impacted the reptile's underbelly, exploding all over the shrieking monster as they exploded and tore away scales. Five dark holes in the snake's body was all it took, and the beast recoiled back, hissing at the ponies one final time before it crawled away angrily to go recover from the blasts.
The barrels on the saddle smoked gently before retracting back into the saddle, and Techorse stood up again, trying to get the look of anger off of his face.
“You saved us!” cheered Midnight, giving his friend a friendly pat on the back, “Those lasers are awesome, Techorse!”
“We need to get back to the path as soon as possible,” he said, breathing heavily.
“I agree, which is why I might have to test out this thing I was working on earlier,” he said, “I didn't really want to use it, but I think we're going to have to or we might run into something worse.”
Techorse caught his breath, and nodded, a small hatch opening up on the back of his machine. Midnight removed the black felt bag, and removed a small clockwork device with a purple crystal embedded in the center.
“This is a pathfinder I invented, a small magical tool that scans for houses and can point lost ponies in the direction of civilization. Since Spanner's house is the only one out here, it'll probably show us the way.”
Midnight placed the small device on the ground, and poked it gently with his horn. A moment later, the crystal glowed, and the device sprang out two ornithoptic wings, hovering high into the air as Techorse watched with amusement. The tiny device spun around in a circle, taking in information magically, before the crystal projected a large purple arrow in the direction they needed to go. Within seconds, however, the device ran out of power, and tumbled to the ground where its owner collected it.
“Man, I need to get the power source down,” sighed Midnight Blaze, “it's not too helpful if it's only going to last a few seconds.”
“That's all we needed, Midnight,” said Techorse, pleased with the machine, “and it's a cool little gadget! Once you get it fully working, I want one!”
Midnight promised, “Sure! But let's get going before we forget where the arrow pointed. I do not want to run into another snake like that!”
After successfully navigating through the forest, they came to Spanner's cabin and immediately were stunned by how heavily modified the basic cabin was. It was a rustic log cabin, just a one-story home with a simple angled roof, but many changes had been made to the place. A nearby stream had a large paddle-wheel attached to it, which was generating electricity. A shed near the home had a large metal funnel constructed over it that was used to catch rainwater, and a pipe system purified the precipitate and brought it into the cabin as drinking and bathing water for Spanners. The front door clearly bore a red number 20, and the lights were on inside despite it being the middle of the day.
“We finally made it!” cheered Midnight.
They walked up to the front door, and Midnight gently knocked with his front hoof. Inside, Spanners heard the knocking, and he began to panic. He wasn't expecting anyone, and he knew that his rock slide plan had failed. In a panic, he grabbed some of this things, shoved them into his tool belt, and prepared to run out of the back door of the cabin.
Midnight noticed the door was unlocked, and gently pushed it open, letting Techorse and himself in. Spanners cursed himself mentally for leaving the door unlocked, and resisted the temptation to scream loudly as the two ponies barged into his home.
“Spanners!” said Techorse a little strongly, “We've been looking for you.”
“Teeeeeech!” laughed Spanners nervously, sweat pouring from underneath his mane, “How'd you know I was here?”
“Your friends told us,” he answered, “it was a pretty crazy day, but I've come here to give you something.”
“Oh, right. Who's your friend?” asked the panicking builder, backing up slowly.
“I'm Midnight Blaze, Techorse and I are inventors, so we become pretty quick buddies!”
Spanners was slowly backing up, and his flank touched the back door of the cabin, which unfortunately seemed to be locked shut, unlike the front door. There was no escape from Techorse now, and he certainly couldn't be happy after how he had been treated.
The struggling pony manged to squeak out, “That's really cool!”
Techorse could see Spanners seemed to be looking for a way to run off, and decided to speed things along.
“Spanners,” he said bluntly, “I'm not going to waste time...”
Spanners' heart was well within his throat now, his pulse off the charts in panic. But he had one trick left up his sleeve, and he noticed a nearby window.
“Sorry Techorse!” he said, laughing off his anxiety, “It'll have to wait!”
He jumped through the window, shattering the glass and galloping off into the forest.
“Come on, we're going after him!” declared Techorse, running up to the door and attempting to kick it down with his front hooves.
The door resisted, and Techorse was sent backwards onto the wooden floor of the cabin.
“If anypony asks, I'll tell them the door opened,” snickered Midnight, trying not to burst out laughing.
“Thanks...”
They chased Spanners down into an abandoned area within the woods, as evident by the discarded camping equipment some previous ponies had not taken with them. Eventually by tracking the hoofprints left in the soft dirt, they found that Spanners had taken a trail upwards into the mountains, and decided to continue pursuit. A cave where mud had been tracked led them through part of the mountain into an open area partially blocked by the mountain, and flanked by tall trees. It was here that the trail of hoofprints ended, and Midnight kicked over a stone in frustration.
“Darn! He got away,” he muttered.
“I'm up here you two!” shouted Spanners, drawing their attention.
The earth pony stood high above them on a ledge, having apparently climbed up a nearby ladder, which he had kicked over to prevent pursuit. A cave behind him provided a way for Spanners to retreat when he needed to.
“Spanners, get down from there!” demanded Techorse, “I'm only here to talk!”
“Yeah, right!” scoffed his opponent, “You're after me for what I did in Ponyville!”
“No I'm not, I promise!” pleaded the inventor, “Just come down and we can talk this over.”
“No way, you're lying!” cried Spanners, beginning to get anxious again.
Midnight and Techorse saw something, and their eyes grew wide, before pointing behind Spanners.
“Oh what now?” demanded the architect, becoming indignant, “Is this a joke?”
“Spanners, get down here!” begged Midnight, his eyes filled with terror.
He growled, “I'd rather...”
The pony stopped when he felt a sharp puff of hot air on his back. Freezing in place, he slowly turned around to see what it was his adversaries were talking about. Just behind him, having emerged from the cave, was a gigantic silver wolf, with blue streaks running down its back. It growled at him as soon as he made eye contact with it, and the beast stepped forward, its jaws just big enough to take his upper body.
Spanners screamed and jumped off the high ledge, prompting the two ponies below to catch him. The wolf jumped down, causing the earth to shake around them. Its long tail and sharp ears twitched in anger, and its stomach nearly scraped on the ground, sagging for some reason.
“What is that thing?” whined Midnight, trying not to flat out shriek.
“I don't know,” answered Techorse, “but we're not going to let it get us!”
Techorse sprouted his laser cannons again to take a shot at the giant beast, but it sensed the attack, and began to shuffle on its paws rapidly. Its fur, made of silk, conducted ions along the length of the blue streaks, and electrical arcs built up along its back. Once it had built up enough energy, the wolf howled and a beam of lightning surged from the end of the blue streaks on its back, zapping the ponies. They yelled in terror and pain as their muscles gave in to the electrons, and down to the ground they went, twitching.
The electricity wore off quickly, and the three ponies got up on their hooves and started to run away, the wolf chasing them. Darting into the trees, the three were able to get a little bit of a head start, but the beast was behind them, shooting more bolts of painful electricity their way.
“Oh man!” cried Midnight, “Techorse, do something!”
“I can't, that thing's partially shorted out my saddle,” he answered, “just keep running!”
Galloping as fast as their legs would carry them, they reached the Blue River with the wolf still pursuing them intently.
Techorse suggested, “Jump in, we've got to swim across!”
“Water conducts electricity, you idiot!” growled Spanners, “We'll be fried!”
The wolf now had them completely trapped between the river and itself, and drew its long, paddle like tongue across its lips in anticipation.
“It's going to eat us alive,” gasped Midnight, “why would anypony come to this park!?”
Spanners looked at the expressions of terror on the other two pony's faces, and then at the approaching monster, and he realized it was his fault all of this was happening. If he hadn't have tried to run away again, he would have simply taken his beating from Techorse and gotten it all over with. Now not only was his secret out that he was a worthless architect and a total loser, but he was also going to get all three of them done in.
His ears drooped, and he shut his eyes, “You two leave. I'm the only one who deserves to get swallowed.”
“Spanners, that's not true!” stammered Techorse, “We're not abandoning you!”
Spanners realized that despite everything he'd done, Techorse was insistent on helping him. Even if he did deserve the terrible fate he was about to meet, he wanted to make sure his 'rival' knew how he felt inside.
“Techorse,” he said, turning around, “I'm sorry I humiliated you in front of Ponyville and said you weren't a real earth pony. I only did it because I knew I wasn't any good at building houses, and I wanted to still be a famous builder for my family, so I decided to tear you down instead of doing the right thing. Can you forgive me, so I can at least know that before... well...”
Techorse smiled, and his ears also dropped, “Spanners... this whole time I was hoping I could just give you your prized hammer and put this thing behind us. But now that I know you're truly sorry, I also forgive you, for everything!”
The battle saddle opened up, and he offered the stallion the tool even as the wolf was nearly on top of them. Spanners wiped a tear from his eye, and accepted the hammer back, placing it into his belt. It was a nice token even though they were about to be snapped up.
“I'm going to go face the wolf, you two get out of here now!” he said, turning around and opening his eyes.
He saw that during the time they were talking, Fluttershy had placed herself in front of the wolf, using her famous stare at the beast, who was now calm and collected. Techorse and Midnight nearly let their mouths fall open at the sight, and wondered how in Equestria Fluttershy had managed to sneak in!
She turned her head around and said, “Oh don't mind me. I'm just having a nice conversation with Miss Wolf! Now that she's calm, everything's much better.”
“Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” said Techorse, happiness rushing to his expression.
“Twilight and Rainbow Dash invited me,” she said, turning around completely, “and once we figured out from Lacey Maid you went to Featherstone Park, I guessed maybe you'd have made up and gone swimming in the river already.”
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Arbiter were standing on the opposite side of the river, and the unicorn mare teleported them over to the other side. Fluttershy smiled and turned back to talk to the wolf, who was now lying on the ground and groaning from pain in her bloated stomach.
“Twilight, thank you so much!” said Techorse, throwing his hooves around her, “why'd you decide to follow us?”
She hugged him back, “It was Arbiter's idea to help track down Spanners. We were one step behind you the whole time.”
“So, didja get your revenge on Spanners?” asked Rainbow Dash, landing nearby, “This creep deserves a pretty nasty day for what he did to you!”
Spanners took a step back and stared at the ground, but Techorse released Twilight and walked up next to his former enemy, patting him on the back with a hoof in hopes of cheering him up.
“Actually Rainbow Dash, I got an apology out of Spanners, and that's all I really need.”
Rainbow Dash gave a smirk, “That's our Techie!”
Captain Arbiter and Fluttershy walked up from the wolf, and helped to form a ring around Spanners just in case he decided to leave. It seemed Arbiter, who was staring at the earth pony with anger in his eye, still intended to carry out the law against him. Spanners picked up on this, and pushed Techorse away gently.
He approached the captain, whom he recognized from Canterlot, and said to him sadly, “So I guess all that's left is heading off to the slammer for scamming Ponyville. Oh well, at least my secret is safe.”
Arbiter bared his teeth for a second, and watched as Spanners closed his eyes in shame and hung his head, waiting for the pegasus to take him away. But Captain Arbiter looked up at Techorse with his one good eye, and smiled sinisterly.
The green stallion took it as a cue from Arbiter, and declared, “Actually Spanners, I think it's pretty obvious what your punishment should be. I'm going to tell everypony your secret.”
Spanners opened his eyes and gasped, turning around quickly, flicking his tail into Arbiter's face, who backed up and grunted in annoyance.
“Techorse, no! You can't!” he begged, “I thought you forgave me!”
“I did, but I think everypony here deserves to know the truth after all this,” insisted Techorse, stomping his hoof on the ground, “and I think you need to get it off your chest, honestly.”
Techorse sighed before saying, “Spanners, you're not an architect...”
A small eternity passed before Techorse let out the truth.
“You're a plumber!”
The others gasped, save Arbiter. None of them could understand how the son of a famous architect could be a plumber!
Spanners winced, and admitted, “Oh... it's true! But how did you know!?”
Techorse explained, “First, In Ponyville, you might not have been able to build the house, but you built that really amazing fountain! Then, when I went to your parents' estate to start looking for you, your father addressed us using this intercom system made mostly from pipes.”
“And you built a really cool fountain for your folks, too!” added Midnight.
“Hey yeah, that's right!” agreed Rainbow Dash, “We looked there as one of our stops too, that was a sweet piece of art!”
“And lastly, the plumbing and rainwater system you built for your cabin was all I needed to see to know your special talent was with pipes and water,” finished Techorse.
“It's all true,” agreed Spanners, standing up, “I hid from my parents my talent with pipes ever since I got my cutie mark. I was fortunate the wrenches looked like regular mechanical wrenches, but I was scared to start my career knowing I would be expected by the public to build houses. So I came to Ponyville to bash you in hopes of distracting ponies from the fact that I couldn't build houses.”
“But you should have tried to carry on your family's name by building fountains, you're so good at that!” said Twilight, stepping forward, “If it made any sense, I'd want one too!”
“It'd be nice to have a teensy one for my birds as well, as a bath,” agreed Fluttershy.
“Or maybe something cool like a water park!” chipped in Rainbow Dash.
“Well now that we've settled everything, there's the matter of your punishment,” cackled Arbiter, “I do appreciate your help, ladies, but I will take things from here.”
“Arbiter!” growled Twilight, clearly annoyed, “You promised this wasn't a scheme to make an arrest?”
Captain Arbiter laughed, “An arrest? I intend to keep my word Miss Sparkle, but Spanners must still make up for his actions.”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Spanners, willing to take his punishment.
Arbiter raised a hoof and declared, “I am ordering you to build Ponyville a brand new community swimming pool as service. Since that counts as improving the town, it'll make up for your lies, and maybe earn you a legitimate reputation.”
“I'll do it!” he said happily.
“All right, a public pool!” shouted Rainbow Dash, jumping up into the air and hovering, “Sweet!”
The wolf behind the ponies let out a loud howl, and Fluttershy rushed over to see what the matter was.
“So what's wrong with the beast?” asked Techorse.
“She is not a beast,” said Fluttershy somewhat indignantly, “She's a Joltwolf, and she's about to be a mommy!”
“What?” asked Midnight Blaze with horror, “You mean we were just a PREGNANCY CRAVING?”
“Oh um, not exactly,” said Fluttershy, embarrassed, “she was a bit hungry, but she was mostly just trying to keep her den area safe for her cubs and mistook you for intruders! But everything's going to be all right now. We'll have the park rangers take care of her until the wolf pups are born.”
Midnight accepted the answer with a smile and watched as Fluttershy stroked the pregnant wolf behind the ears, prompting the beast to kick her leg behind herself like a domestic dog.
“I hate to be a pain guys,” interjected Spanners after a few moments, “but can we go back to my parents' place? I think they'd like to know their son is still alive.”
“Absolutely!” agreed Techorse.
The Buildsbetter family was thrilled to have finally gotten their son back after his long absence, and Rulers brought out another batch of her Perfect Brownies, much to Midnight's happiness. They sat down at the kitchen table again, to let them know about the crazy events that had taken place.
Twilight poured herself another cup on tea from the kettle, listening in on the conversations of her friends.
“We're so happy you're back and in one piece,” said Hammers, hugging his son, “and that Techorse was able to forgive you for everything. Maybe you should spend some more time perfecting your craft here at the estate so you don't get into so much trouble in the next town you go to.”
Spanners looked at his parents next to him at the table, and back to Techorse, who motioned with his head that he should tell the truth.
He took a deep breath and said, “Mom, Dad, about my craft. There's something you really ought to know about me.”
“Oh?” asked his mother, “What is it?”
“I'm a plumber,” blurted Spanners, “I'm not an architect. I've been running away because I can't continue the family business and keep our fame.”
“We knew where your real talents were all along,” assured Hammers, “and we've been hoping you would realize that instead of trying to be like me and your grandpa. I would love it if you were to do the plumbing for the houses I build, but that doesn't mean you can't make a name for yourself, too, son!”
“I agree,” said Arbiter, wiping a bit of brownie crumbs from his face with a wing, “that's why starting tomorrow Spanners will be beginning work on a new community swimming pool for Ponyville. He owes a bit of a debt to that town.”
The parents seemed a bit horrified the Captain of the Guard was suggesting their son had done anything criminal, but were pleased to hear he was going to be able to use his talents for good.
“This will be a fantastic start into making a name for yourself,” continued Arbiter, “and then when you're finished, perhaps I'll pay you to build a private pool for my own house in the mountains.”
“It'll be a while, it's going to be a few months pouring the concrete, lining the area, and putting the pumps in place for the community pool by myself,” answered Spanners, understanding it was still a punishment.
Techorse offered from the other side of the table, “You know, I have a pretty good concrete mixer robot. Maybe I can help you finish the pool faster.”
“Oh, and I've got this runic lighting system that'll keep the pool lit up at night!” beamed Midnight, eager to use one of his own toys as well.
“You guys would want to work with me?” he asked, perking up.
Twilight Sparkle smiled broadly, and interrupted, “Does this mean that you and Tech are going to be friends?”
“Oh no,” groaned Rainbow Dash, putting a hoof over her face, “please don't be friends, Spanners, or Twilight will never shut up about it!”
“Well,” admitted the plumber, “I did a lot of damage to Techorse with all those horrible things I said and traps I set up out in the forest. I don't think I'd be a very good friend.”
“Nonsense,” assured Fluttershy, “your friends at the coffee shop told us you were a very nice colt at heart, and Techorse found that out from them too.”
“So by the time you're all done with the pool, I think things will be all smoothed over,” concluded Twilight, “My Tech made two friends in one day! I can't wait to tell Princess Celestia about this!”
“I think there's just one thing left to do now,” said Rulers, having a burst of inspiration.
She left the room momentarily while her guests continued to chat, and went to her workbench in the back of the mansion. Taking out a small bar of gold, she magically picked up a knife and shaved a fine leaf off of the brick, placing it down. Her horn glowed as she placed the gold over an object she picked up and pressed it in finely.
Rulers then trotted happily back into the room, and addressed her son.
“Spanners, since you're going to be starting work tomorrow, I decided you needed a new prized possession,” she said softly.
The unicorn drifted magically from behind her back a brand new pipe wrench, red in color with a silver adjustable head, and a gold letter S imprinted into the handle. Spanners accepted the wrench with joy in his eyes, and placed it snugly in his tool belt.
“It's perfect!” he said. “Thank you so much!”
“And please, keep the hammer too,” she continued, “our family's history will still be a part of you, my sweet boy.”
“Sweet?” chuckled Rainbow Dash, who was met with a few angry glances.
“Um, what I mean is, I'm really gonna like seeing you in Ponyville building that pool!” she said, clearly outnumbered by her friends.
Spanners packed himself a suitcase, agreeing to stay at Techorse's castle until he could sign a rental agreement with Upkeep's apartment complex, and was walking to the train station with Midnight and Techorse. Twilight and her friends had decided to stay to discuss the outcome of the situation with Princess Celestia, leaving the three stallions to do their own thing. Midnight and Techorse were having a good conversation, but Spanners felt left out, still feeling guilty, and avoided talking to them as if everything was still his fault. Techorse picked up on his misery, and decided that he should be told the truth about their meeting.
“So, I have a confession to make,” said Techorse to Spanners.
“Oh?”
The inventor admitted, “When we were having our build-off, Discord cheated to help me win. It was his idea that we even have a duel to start with, and I had no idea he was going to cheat.”
“Discord, the Lord of Chaos?” gasped Spanners, “He... was helping you?!”
“Yeah, he's just trying to be friends with us ponies now,” said Techorse.
“Oh wow, no wonder I got stomped,” sighed Spanners, “I guess I really do need this community service if the Lord of Chaos is going to try and punish me.”
Midnight rolled his eyes, “Come on, Spanners, what Techorse is trying to say is, he wants a rematch!”
“Right,” said Techorse, smiling.
He then realized what he had agreed to, and said quickly, “Wait, no! Midnight!!!”
“What's wrong?” teased the unicorn, “We're friends now, right? Can't we have some friendly competition?”
Techorse rolled his eyes, and laughed heartily, lightening the mood. Spanners fell back a bit from the two friends and let them talk while he worked on his own thoughts. It was a relief to know his own talent was just as appreciated as his father's, and that the hatchet between him and Techorse was buried and behind them. Feeling better about his future, Spanners lifted his head up, and put on his pair of sunglasses again, before walking faster to catch up with his new friends.