//------------------------------// // Chapter 1. Setting the Gears in Motion // Story: BPT: A Friendship Built to Last // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// The airship landed in an airfield in Fillydelphia, and before long ponies were disembarking, among them a tall stallion garbed in a shadowy hooded cloak with a hole in the brim through which a horn stuck out, holding the hood in place, and a pair of saddlebags strapped to his barrel. He gazed up at the city before him. Fillydelphia was one of the larger cities in Equestria, metropolitan like Manehatten, but it was also known for its residents including dragons, who had a large district where most of them lived famously known as Dragon Town, and historically known as one of the places where real efforts were and are made to better relations between ponies and dragons. It was also famous for having been the home of Stormy Kite, an earth pony polymath who discovered the harnessing of electricity, with the help of his pegasus son, during the mid-seventh century into the Celestial Era. “Been a while since I was last here,” the hooded pony said to himself before throwing his head back, the hood falling down to reveal the face of Midnight Blaze, one of the alicorn monarchs of Equestria. “But this time I’ll actually get a chance to maybe sightsee or relax. Still, first things first.” Midnight’s horn lit up, and the cloak he wore seemed to turn to smoke as it was sucked into his left saddlebag, and his form briefly shimmered as his appearance changed. He now appeared a more average-looking unicorn, with a coat grayish-blue like a cloudy overcast, a bronze-colored mane with a gold highlight, his eyes remained turquoise blue while his cutie-mark looked like a simple pentagram star. His wings were no longer visible and his tail looked more regular than its normal lion-like appearance. The disguised prince gave the area a brief look-over and was satisfied to see nopony had apparently noticed his “transformation”. Everyone was going about their business, ponies arriving and meeting with friends or family, ponies getting ready to board airships bound for destinations across Equestria, and so on. It was just as well. Midnight was in no mood for any flank-kissing. Midnight began to walk through the city, unsure of what to do but sure of his purpose of being here in Fillydelphia. It had only been a few weeks since the incident where he and Twilight had been experimenting with small-scale time-travel, nothing that could lead to conflicting temporal paradoxes or have a negative impact on the timeline. But rather the intention had been to use this small-scale time-travel to step a few minutes or even an hour into the past to assist one’s prior self in research and other such endeavors, temporarily creating another self who wholly understands one’s theories and goals. To this day, Midnight and Twilight still hadn’t figured out what went wrong, but instead of being sent through time, Midnight found himself in an alternate Equestria! Of course, he didn’t realize that until after he and a pony he met there fought each other with magic and technology, raised such a ruckus, accidentally turned themselves into stone statues frozen over in ice… that Twilight Sparkle, his own and the Twilight of that Equestria found each other and freed Midnight and the pony he fought from their petrified predicament. They got such a scolding for fighting like foals and were given an explanation of how Midnight and his Twilight had come to an alternate Equestria, not to another time past, present, or future. Midnight and the pony he fought both apologized to their respective Twilights and to each other, complimented the other, and were a little sad that they were now to part and likely never see each other again until the Twilights pointed out their respective Equestrias likely had an alternate version of Midnight and his new friend in each other’s own Equestria. Now, two weeks later since that wild adventure, here Midnight was, looking for the version of that pony he met in the alternate Equestria here in his own. Not knowing where to find him, he guessed, May as well ask around. He approached an earth pony stallion wearing a coat and tie, carrying a briefcase, and asked, “Uh, excuse me, sir, sorry to bother…” The pony regarded him with a slight look of annoyance, “Do you mind? I’m running late for the office.” “Sorry, sir, I just got into town and I’m looking for somepony,” Midnight was honestly glad he wasn’t being recognized as Prince Midnight Blaze, but rather an unknown unicorn. Still, would it kill the guy to be socially polite? Swallowing his own annoyance, he politely asked, “Perhaps you know him, do you know where I could find a pony named Techorse?” “Techorse?!” the earth pony echoed and snorted, “I don’t associate with crazy and irresponsible children like him! Good day, sir!” The earth pony shouldered Midnight out of his way and carried on, Midnight glaring after him thinking, Well pardon me for living! Trying again, Midnight asked around town more about Techorse, and frankly he got… mixed results. “Why would you wanna meet some wannabe inventor?” asked a mail-carrier. “Such a good boy, and quite the imagination!” praised an old mare. “He’s a crackpot and I want nuthin’ t’ do with him,” snapped a cab pony. “Have you tried his products? This solar-powered fruit & vegetable peeler he made is amazing!” said a deli-chef. Finally, after asking the umpteenth pony, Midnight got an address and soon found himself outside a shop a little out of the ways, almost at the fringe of Fillydelphia. The sign read ‘Techorse Repairs and Specialized Products: Designed with Hooves in Mind’. “Designed with hooves in mind…” Midnight said to himself and chuckled, “Catchy!” But now that he was here, for some reason Midnight found himself hesitant. When he’d med Techorse in the alternate Equestria, they wound up fighting over Twilight and her friends under the mistaken beliefs that one was trying to replace the other. Midnight had thought Techorse had somehow messed with time to usurp his own place in history and take his Twilight away from him while Techorse had thought Midnight was literally trying to get rid of him and take his friends and loved ones for himself. Those mistaken impressions were dashed once they saw their respective Twilights, Techorse’s Twilight was still a unicorn and Midnight’s who had become an alicorn like him. The Techorse of that Equestria had been a technological genius! His gadgets, his weapons, all of his technology practically sci-fi level! With all the misunderstandings cleared up, they’d parted on friendly terms, but thinking back Midnight realized how badly that could have turned out, and felt guilt for his behavior then. “But now…” Midnight said to himself as he gazed up at the shop, “a chance to start over. Heh, literally!” He was about to make for the shop’s front door when- *KABOOM* Midnight’s automatic shielding ward protected him from debris and broken glass that exploded out from the shop, but he was still rattled. Shaking it off, he looked and saw smoke seeping out of the shop, worrying him. He quickly ran inside, coughing a bit before waving the smoke away with his hoof and calling, “Hello?! Is anyone hurt?!” “Sorry! Sorry about that!” answered a voice and then came the sound of a rushing fan and the smoke was soon cleared away to reveal where the voice had come from. Midnight looked in awe, It really is him! Techorse was a young earth pony stallion, with a green coat and brown mane, his cutie-mark a stack of yellow chevrons, but right now his coat and mane were a little blackened and ashy, and he wore what appeared to be welding goggles over his eyes. Once the place was relatively smoke-free, he reached up to a switch on the wall, turning off the ceiling fan. “Whoo! That was wild…” he muttered to himself as he removed his welding goggles, revealing his bright blue eyes and the ash-free areas of his face around them. “So! Welcome to Techorse Repairs and Specialized Products! I’m Techorse, so how can I help you?” Midnight paused for a moment as he stared at the soot-covered inventor, shocked he'd actually managed to find him. After a few seconds of silence and a patient stare from Techorse, the alicorn remembered that this copy of the pony didn't know a thing about him! Starting over was going to be a much harder mental exercise than what he'd thought. “Oh, uh... well I'd hate to take your time, but I'm not exactly looking for service.” Thankfully Techorse responded, “Hey, there's no customers around. If you need to just talk I'm fine with that.” “So what was that thing that exploded anyways?” asked Midnight, “You aren't building weapons are you?” The green stallion scolded, “Who told you I was making weapons? Have my neighbors been spreading rumors about me again?” Recalling the mixed bag of responses to his questions about Techorse, Midnight Blaze embarrassingly looked around a bit before answering, “Well... not all of them. I was just curious. If you like making weapons, that's pretty cool.” “I don't like making weapons that much, I've only ever built a couple,” sighed Techorse, “and they never leave this shop. But it's not really the weapons that make me unpopular with half the ponies around here.” “Oh?” “Yeah,” continued Techorse, sighing, “see my dad Workhorse and my mother Serendipity...” “Wait...” interrupted Midnight Blaze as he looked at Techorse in wide-eyed awe, “Workhorse is your dad? As in... the founder of the Iron Horse Locomotive company?” “That's him,” answered Techorse, nodding proudly, “so now you know why so many ponies hate me. They'd prefer I'd be sitting at a desk getting rich pushing trains around than doing what I'm good at, inventing appliances that work well with hooves.” “Wow, you could have been wealthy and you choose to live like this? What motivated you?” Techorse smirked and raised an eyebrow, “Ever see an earth pony try to work a can opener?” “Good point,” laughed Midnight Blaze, “I just hope your father is okay with you running off to be an inventor. My dad had a lot of expectations for me when I was younger.” “Yeah, it seems like dads are okay with your dreams as long as you’ll eventually give up on them for their dreams,” Techorse replied with understanding. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s kinda nice to know I’m not the only guy with a problem with his dad.” “That’s a little on the nose,” Midnight chuckled, spurring one from Techorse as well, before it went quiet. After a moment, the inventor's eyes went to the floor, “I guess one day I'll have to give up and go take his place in the company. I don't really have any inventions that have impressed him yet, and I'm barely making it out here by fixing broken equipment and appliances.” Midnight noticed his hopefully soon to be friend's back had a device strapped to it, just like the Techorse he had met before. But this one was different, it was a saddle, clearly, but it seemed to have more brass components, some tubing running around on the top, and had a sort of steampunk appeal to it. It could have been powered by steam, but it could also be some sort of magical conduit Midnight wasn't familiar with. “I don't know, your battle saddle's always been a pretty cool gadget, can't you show him that?” he blurted out without thinking. “How did you know that's what this is?” asked a startled Techorse, hoping nopony was spying on him. Midnight realized he had just blown it, and stammered for a few seconds before finally deciding to say, “It's a long story but, well, you're kind of famous to me. That saddle is mighty impressive, Techorse.” “Thanks,” he answered, a little bit of mistrust lingering in his voice, “it's my best creation, sure... honestly though, when I first debuted it, I was told I was creating a hazard for public safety. So I don't really use it much outside my shop.” “Techorse, do you think maybe you hear that you're a mad scientist or a danger to Equestria so often that you start to believe the bullying?” asked the disguised alicorn, “I heard many good things about you, and there are so many good things I know about you already. None of the insults tossed your way are true.” The earth pony tried to ignore Midnight's comment, frowning and returning to the destroyed machine on the table. Both of the small doors on the sides of the saddle opened up with a hiss of steam, and a pair of articulated robotic claws on the end of two extendable “arms” made of criss-crossed metal came out. Techorse grabbed a wrench off of the workbench and started to tightening a nut on the device, but it was clear he was working on a lost cause. He sighed and dropped the wrench before sweeping the destroyed components off the table and retracting the arms back into the device on his back. “You know something, you're right,” he said, looking at Midnight again with a soft smile, “I am an inventor, whether or not those guys like me.” Techorse looked a lot better than how Midnight had first seen him, and the stallion grabbed a nearby rag with his front hoof and wiped his face clean of the dirt blown on him by the destroyed device. “So, enough about me. Since you say you know me, how did we meet before?” he asked, dropping the filthy rag into a nearby laundry basket. Midnight didn't want to blow his cover any further, so he shuffled a bit on his hooves and said, “Well, it's a really long story, but basically we met one time on accident and we kind of got into a stupid argument. It didn't go too well for us, but now I feel like maybe we could do a little better this time around.” “I can't remember a thing, I guess I've traded fire with enough ponies around here though that anything's possible,” muttered the inventor, who then looked up and improved his tone quickly, “but hey, apology accepted. We seem to get along a lot better now.” “I agree,” concurred the unicorn, “I'm glad I finally found you, Techorse.” Techorse laughed, “Hey, I just thought of this, but I haven't even gotten your name yet. If we're going to be hanging out like this, I probably need to know, right?” Midnight didn't quite want to reveal himself yet, but it was getting fairly close to that time. “Well, see...” To answer his wish for a way out of uncloaking just yet, the door to the repair shop slammed open, and the earth pony in the business suit Midnight had run into earlier barged into the room, his face burning with anger and his tie loosened. He had a white coat, pale blue mane, but his cutie-mark was concealed by a pair of pants he wore. “Techorse, that's the final straw you incompetent rat,” he growled, pushing past Midnight. The unicorn rolled his eyes, “Oh no, it's you...” “Damn straight it's me,” snapped the stallion back, who then turned back to Techorse, “that last explosion sent several ponies to city hall demanding action. Well, I'm here to kick your flank out of Fillydelphia. Pack up, ya little-!” “Easy Redtape,” sighed Techorse, rolling his eyes, “I'm pretty sure you're overreacting.” “I have put up with your insane contraptions for long enough,” retorted the bureaucrat as he shoved a hoof into Techorse's middle, “it's my job as an official to make sure peace and quiet is maintained around here, and you've ruined it for two years straight!” “Are you really going to kick me out, Redtape? You're going to look like a stooge when the mayor finds out you made me homeless,” countered Techorse calmly. “Who said anything about you ending up on my streets?” laughed Redtape, a bead of sweat escaping from underneath his hair, “I'm going to send you back home so you can take that desk job your senile daddy wanted you to take.” “Get off of my property Redtape,” answered Techorse sternly, “or you'll regret it.” “Don't you try anything funny, I've got the cops right outside!” Midnight Blaze took a look at the two stallions, Techorse's known sense of justice was about to kick in, and who knew what Redtape would do in response? The bureaucrat certainly had the power to kick out his new friend, and it would be wrong to simply stand by and let things play out. Even though he had hoped to stay hidden for a just a little while longer to avoid bias from Techorse, Midnight decided he had no choice but to drop his cover and help him stop Redtape. He stepped up, saying, “I don’t know what kind of problem you have with Techorse, and frankly I don’t care. Regardless, I think you should leave.” Redtape threw Midnight a sneering look, “And who are you telling my how to do my job? I am Tweed Redtape, City Manager of Fillydelphia! I could have you arrested for-” *FLASH* The blinding flash of magic stopped Redtape’s mouth as he and Techorse both covered their eyes with their hooves, the light going out, but they heard the unfurling of wings and a stamp of a hoof. Lowering their own hooves, they gasped to see… “Wait, are you... Midnight Blaze?! What the...” Techorse was in awe to see the sapphire blue alicorn in his shop as Midnight gave Redtape a glare. “Who am I to tell you to do anything?” Midnight responded, “I am Midnight Blaze, Prince of Equestria, Element of Faith, Guardian of Harmony, and Arbiter of Canterlot!” “...I see,” Redtape narrowed his eyes, hesitating as he considered his next words carefully. “Be that as it may, Your Highness…” Midnight narrowed at the sarcastic emphasis Redtape made on ‘Your Highness’ as the bureaucrat opened his briefcase and brought out some paperwork. Holding the forms up, he continued to growl at the prince, “I am well within my rights and possess the necessary forms to have Techorse evicted from this premises and shut down his place of business.” Midnight raised a challenging brow, “So?” “Soooo, even though your outmoded 'royal authority' gives you the right to complain to me, you're still just a figure of authority. In today's world, you must not only abide by the laws passed down by our democracy, but enforce them. Therefore, you will be taking my side.” Midnight took the forms in his aura and read the first one carefully, and Midnight felt his heart sink to see Redtape wasn’t bluffing. But no way was he gonna allow some paper-pusher with an over-inflated ego dictate terms to him! “All right, Redtape, since you managed to bully the prince, I'll take a look at your personal assault... I mean, eviction notice,” teased Techorse, walking up next to him, “done with that first page?” “Yeah, here,” answered Midnight, giving the page to him. Techorse's robotic arms came out of his saddle again, and he grabbed the paper, starting to read. “Everything's in order gentlecolts, but please, take as much time as you need,” snickered Redtape. After going through some of the paperwork, Midnight Blaze struck an extremely helpful piece of the third sheet of paper. “Aha!” he cheered, levitating the paper forward while pointing with his hoof, “Right here. Section 24, line 3. If the party to be evicted proves that his violation of the ordinance was related to his work within a period of a week, the party may not legally be evicted.” “I know that part,” grumbled Redtape impatiently, “but that explosion can't possibly be related to his repair job. He has nothing to show for himself!” Techorse seemed to be a bit dejected, the explosion had been from his invention, something he had worked hard on and lost suddenly due to a crossed wire. The still smoldering wreckage of the device was on the table still, however, and Midnight walked over to the destroyed machine. He made sure Redtape was watching as he pointed at it with his left wing. “See this thing right here? This is what's left of Techorse's invention, what he wants to do for a living,” explained the alicorn,”so that explosion was related to his work.” “Yes, but without a functioning machine that claim will never hold up in a court of law,” countered the bureaucrat. Midnight smiled, “Well that's where I'm going with this. I'd like to propose something, a wager.” Redtape was somewhat of a gambler at heart, and his ears perked in interest, “I'm listening...” “If Techorse invents something useful to ponies in one week, to be judged by Fillydelphia, Techorse can stay. If not, he has to leave.” “Hmmm, interesting. I suppose I would have to wait my week anyways,” Redtape mused, “and watching Techorse's invention fail spectacularly in front of everypony before I kick his tail out will be well worth the wait...” The suited pony laughed heartily, angering Techorse, who wished he could sock the odious official. Despite his anger, he waited patiently for Mr. Redtape to finish laughing before commenting on his behavior. “And what happens if I win, Tweed?” Techorse growled. “It’s only fair I have something to win as much as to lose.” His enemy snickered, “Like that'll happen, but sure. If you, by some miracle, can somehow manage to create a successful invention, you'll be awarded a grant to help your research and development. Technically I'm supposed to spend that budget on something every year, but it's always required a worthy cause.“ “So you'll agree to those terms?” asked Midnight Blaze. “Absolutely,” answered Tweed Redtape, “I'll just write up a quick contract and have us all sign it for documentation. It's going to be fun.” They drew up a quick contract with the terms in place, having to be hoofwritten before each pony signed the contract, setting the bet in motion although Midnight magically copied the contract for each party involved. Once it was secured, Redtape put his copy of the documentation back into his briefcase, and headed for the door of the repair shop. “Enjoy your last week here, Techorse,” he said, taking a final shot as he closed the door behind him. “What a jerk,” muttered Midnight Blaze. “Now that he's gone, let me ask a few questions,” said Techorse, “first of all, why didn't you just come here as yourself?” The alicorn stuttered as he tried to find a decent excuse, “I just... well I'm a prince, Techorse. Ponies try to kiss my hooves wherever I go, and it gets awful. I thought if I showed up here as myself, you'd....” “Oh, so you thought I would have treated you differently because you're royalty?” interrupted Techorse with a slight laugh, “I'd probably save that for the older princesses like the Royal Sisters. But you're my age, and you're handling a lot of responsibilities you probably don't like, so I don't see why we can't talk like normal ponies.” “You mean you see eye to eye with me?” “Yeah, of course,” answered the green stallion. “So I could have been myself this whole time?” groaned the alicorn, feeling dumb. Techorse smiled, “I probably would have asked what you were doing here, but... everypony needs friends, and I'd bet it's hard making real friends once you're a celebrity.” “You have no idea,” sighed Midnight in response, his ears drooping a bit. “Well, we're friends now, especially after you bought me a week,” said Techorse, smiling at Midnight, who seemed very happy to hear it, “I need to get started now though. The inventing process takes a lot of small failures before you get a working product.” “I can help you brainstorm a bit!” Techorse bowed gracefully, “Of course, your Majesty!” Midnight frowned and gave Techorse a look of shock, before the earth pony laughed and punched him in the withers with a hoof. “I'm just kidding, Midnight! Let's get to work.”