The floor of Techorse's shop was littered with scrunched up balls of paper, as the inventor and the prince wearily wracked their brains in an effort to come up with a good idea for a useful invention. They'd been brainstorming for hours, unable to come up with such an idea nor what sort of use or purpose this invention could be used for. They'd decided to sleep on it, Tech offering Midnight his bed but the prince wouldn't hear it, instead conjuring a comfortable sleeping bag and slept on the floor of Tech's living room.
The next morning, Tech had awoken to the delicious smells of flapjacks, cheese omelets, hay bacon, toast, along with ice cold orange juice or apple juice, prepared by Midnight, who'd reasoned full bellies might fuel their imaginations to crank out a good idea.
Unfortunately, nothing doing.
"Ugh, why did I have to make that stupid bet...?" Lounging on the couch in Tech's living room, Midnight felt awful for putting Techorse on the spot and his work on the line.
"Don't beat yourself up, Midnight," Tech was weary too, going over notes for an idea on his easy chair, but he assured his new friend, "Something like this was bound to happen eventually. Redtape's been itching to kick my plot to the curb for some time, and I guess this was the excuse he was looking for. And hey, if you hadn't been there, he might very well have done so..."
Techorse walked over to his front door, preparing to leave and grab his daily mail for what he believed would be the last time. There just wasn't an idea strong enough to win the bet and let him stay in his cluttered yet comfortable abode. Midnight saw his buddy open the front door, and quickly realized what his words had meant to him.
“Wait... you're going to give up?” asked the concerned prince, bolting from the couch, “I said I regretted the bet, not that you should quit!”
“Let's face the facts, Midnight, there's nothing I can come up with that's going to gain the publicity it needs to win the bet,” the inventor said glumly, “I'm going to go get the rest of my mail and go contact the moving company. It's best I get out of here before Redtape forces me to leave.”
Midnight followed him outside, into the fresh air of Fillydelphia's suburban neighborhoods, where for the first time since he had arrived, noticed that something seemed a little bit off about the local décor. Although the homes seemed to be in great condition, save for the blast holes torn in Techorse's garage, the lawns had clear patches of dead grass, brown and wilted for a lack of water. Ponies and dragons alike were coming out of their houses and sighing miserably at the state of what used to be their gardens and patches of grass, even the other earth ponies, long known for their plant healing passive magic, seemed unable to really do much good without enough water. With a little bit of clairvoyance magic, Midnight could also feel the hostility starting to build up against the pegasus ponies, who were likely starting to be blamed for the lack of rainy weather to keep the lawns fresh.
Techorse had already reached his mailbox, an apparently thoroughly customized one with a stem made from interlocked brass gears and the box itself made from a metal milk canister. He frowned at the profound lack of mail, wondering if perhaps nopony in town truly cared about him anymore save for his brand new friend in the prince.
“Anything?” he asked from behind him, hopeful.
“Not even a bill,” sighed Tech, shutting the door to the interesting choice of mailbox, “you know, I'm really starting to think...”
“Hey boys!” cried a cheerful, elderly voice from the house over.
Midnight and Techorse turned to face the voice, the owner of the house next to Techorse's shop. He was an elderly and wise drake, his silver scales had lost some of their luster in his old age, but his bright blue eyes remained bright with the energy of his youth... however long ago that might have been. The drake held a bright blue garden hose in his left claw, spraying water all over his front lawn, green and fresh from the extra effort he was making. Techorse knew that his neighbor was sacrificing quite a bit of his water ration to do so, and always felt bad that the retried reptile felt compelled to have to make such a choice. Yet, his neighbor's smile never left his face, and he had always known him as a happy and carefree dragon, just him and his wife in their cozy one floor house with fresh side paneling, a tile roof, and a white picket fence.
“Oh, hey Mr. Coaldust,” answered Techorse glumly, his eyes barely making contact with the elder, “good to see you.”
“Well I wish I could say the same, Tech!” chuckled the dragon, a scratchy voice carrying the words out to the two stallions, “You look like garbage, kiddo.”
The alicorn of the two brought his friend forward with an encouraging wing, “Techorse was just given a week to figure out an invention to help out the citizens of Fillydelphia.”
It was then that his bad eyes finally picked up on the pair of wings attached to what he previously thought was just a blue unicorn, “My stars, is that the crowned prince Midnight Blaze?! What brings you here?”
He rolled his eyes in response to the query, knowing he was going to give his half untrue explanation once more, “Oh boy here we go again... yes, it's me. Techorse is my friend, so I'm here visiting with him.”
Surprisingly, the dragon simply aimed his hose towards another patch of thirsty grass and answered, “Well, I'm glad that the younger royalty are getting out of Canterlot and spending time with their friends. It must be a very heavy set of responsibilities for a pony your age.”
Midnight felt relieved to find another individual not trying to flatter him, and breathed a deep sigh, “You have no idea, sir.”
“Ah that's the spirit, youngster,” chuckled the old reptile, “taking the time to balance work and play. Why, I wish the other dragons back in my day knew how to do that. We'd have been so much happier, yeeees sir.”
Techorse told his friend, “Coaldust has always been someone I can trust, Midnight. Not sure why he likes me though when all my other neighbors don't. It's probably the explosions.”
“Well the explosions remind me of home!” Coaldust admitted cheerfully, pointing a clawed finger at the inventor, “Also, I know you've been making some pretty neat gizmos in that house of yours, son. Gotta keep moving forward, that's what I say.”
Midnight could tell the elderly dragon was a bit scattered, but friendly and dependable. With that in mind, he couldn't help but notice how much time he was spending watering his lawn, and pointed at the tube with his hoof, “So, what's with the garden hose?”
“Oh well, this is my little secret for keeping my lawn so nice,” he said, eyes twinkling, “my wife and I may not have much, but we've always appreciated the lawn and garden. So every few days I'm out here spraying the grass down to keep it alive.”
“I've noticed all the dead lawns,” the prince muttered, “what's been going on around here, Techorse? There should be plenty of water to keep the yards green if the pegasus ponies are doing their jobs.”
Techorse explained with concern in his tone, “Apparently there's been a long term drought in the city, the pegasus ponies haven't been able to bring in rainclouds for months now, and we're all getting our water supply from an underground reservoir controlled by a company downtown. Apparently Cloudsdale hasn't been able to divert enough of a cloud supply.”
Right away that seemed wrong to Midnight, knowing full well from his other friends that the weather factory was not failing to deliver rain to the city. Something was definitely up with the drought, which had gone unreported in Canterlot, but he would need time to collect evidence and develop a solid case to fix what, or more accurately who he suspected the problem was. Given that he had all week to investigate though, he was more than happy to focus on saving Techorse's hide.
“I see,” he finally answered plainly, “I'm sorry you have to stand out here in the open with a hose. Are you sure there's no other water around?”
“Well there is the community lake behind our houses which never seems to run dry,” he answered, “but that's not going to do me much good, I'd have to use a bucket. Might as well keep using the hose here.”
Midnight tilted his head curiously, “So there's a drought but the lakes aren't drying up? The water level isn't changing at all? Doesn't that seem a little weird?”
“There's some rain water coming it, but it's mostly to refresh those lakes,” Techorse continued, his eyes wandering over to the body of water visible behind the suburban sprawl, “it's not really that useful there to us, though.”
A short pause overtook them, before Tech's bright blue eyes sparked with energy, and a broad smile came across his face. The robotic arms shot out of his saddle just to permit him the ability to snap together the fingers in delight.
“That's it! We'll build a water sprayer that can pump water from the lakes! The residents of Fillydelphia can use it to keep their lawns and gardens alive until the drought ends,” he cheered.
“Heh, ain't that something? Glad you figured out something to build,” Coaldust said, proud of his neighbor, “might be a nice way to get some more money.”
“Well, this one's not about the money,” Techorse explained, “Redtape threatened to kick me out earlier.”
“I saw,” said the dragon, finally frowning at that name, “don't see what this has to do with it.”
“He was going to kick me out of town,” explained Techorse, “but Midnight vouched for me, and we took a bet with Redtape. If I can impress everypony with an invention within a week, I can stay.”
Coaldust wagged his finger and said sternly, “I hope you know what you boys are getting into. That Redtape is serious trouble, I tell ya.”
“Tell me about it,” muttered Midnight, shaking his head, “we'll show him, Coaldust.”
“I'm glad to hear,” the dragon hummed, smiling and moving to turn off the hose, “I just know you two will win that bet and show that hot bag of air what for. But for now, how about you both come inside, my wife's been making sugar gems!”
Techorse thanked him, “I appreciate it, but we've got to get back to work. I've got a machine to build!”
“Ah well, we'll send some over,” he answered, “it was very nice to meet you, Midnight Blaze!”
“And you as well!” responded the alicorn, already running off with Techorse to start work on the device.
As they left, he said to himself with hope in his voice, "I know you two will pull it off! That Redtape has it comin'!"
The Office of Affairs in downtown Filidelphia was empty for once, and Stencil Guide hadn't seen her employer all morning, luckily for her. It was kind of bizarre, yet relaxing to be able to work alone on her tasks for the morning, and there was a lot to do. So many ponies were being affected by the water shortages in the metropolis and suburban districts that the complaints and forms requesting additional water be pumped from Redtape's friend's facility that the studious unicorn was barrel deep in assignments. Her stapler click-click-clicked over stacks of forms, binding them together for “processing”, which meant her boss's best buddies sending out another bill to rob the residents of their hard earned bits so they could have enough water to bathe more than once a week. For “a magical reason”, Stencil Guide had gone unaffected by this drought, and her apartment complex managed to get lots of water piped in at no extra cost just a few weeks after she had moved in and started working at the office. The lengths that beefy politician was going to get her would be flattering, if she wasn't so creeped out by his unwanted advances.
“There... all the paperwork is finally done,” sighed Stencil Guide deeply as she plopped the massive stack of finished forms onto her desk, the stapled document spreading out all over the surface, “I cannot wait to get home. Just how many ponies are going to file the same complaint about the water problem, anyways?”
“What? Even more complaints about this city's lack of a decent water table?” hummed a very prideful voice from down the hallway.
“Oh horse apples... he's back,” gulped the secretary, shuffling the papers around with a quick spell to try to get them back in place, “y... yeah, Mr. Redtape, we had a ton of requests for more water today.”
The earth pony stepped into the room, a wicked smirk upon his face that made poor Stencil cringe in fear about what he might say next. It was so hard having to go to work with somepony who was constantly asking for inappropriate relations, but she needed the bits, even if it meant putting up with his ludicrous proposals for marriage at her age and level of comfort with him.
“Well, there will be no more paperwork coming your way for a while, miss,” he said, his eyes drilling into her soul.
“Oh no... I'm fired,” she whined in her own head, “he's found some other mare and he wants me gone now.”
Her heart rate went through the roof, pounding in her ribcage and surging anxiety through her mind. She'd have to move back home out in the country again, where she'd have to milk cows or fix irrigators for a living! So much for her dream of managing records for a big firm in the city.
Redtape snickered, knowing exactly what the shivering mare was worried about, “Relax, Stencil. I merely have a different assignment for you this week. You'll just be working away from the office. What do you say?”
Away from the office? Was this too good to be true? Stencil thought about how relaxing it would be to get away from her desk... and Redtape! Things could be much better for her if she decided to take on the mysterious assignment her boss was offering.
“S... sure,” she stuttered, trying to regain her composure, “what did you have in mind?”
“I need you to head down to Techorse's house and gather information about what he's doing, then submit it to me in a daily report,” he answered, “you'll be helping me ensure that I get rid of that crazy grease monkey once and for all!”
“Wait, WHAT?” Stencil shouted in surprise, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh it's nothing to be concerned with, it's just that Techorse has agreed to leave town if he doesn't come up with an invention useful to the city within a week,” explained her boss, rolling his eyes as if she didn't know he was up to something rotten. She hadn't met Techorse before, but she knew Redtape hated him for the wrong reasons, and often found herself feeling bad for the stallion from time to time.
“Did you make a deal with Techorse? Are you asking me to spy on him for you?!” she demanded to know.
Redtape pretended that wasn't the case, “'I just need you to keep track of his progress and report it to me so that I can get a nice head start on the papers for him moving out if he's showing no signs of progress. What do you say sweetie cakes, hmmm?”
'Sweetie Cakes' made her cringe a little both on the inside and out, and that was enough motivation to get her to comply with his orders. Her eyes filled with guilt however, as spying on Techorse and reporting back his progress to Redtape would definitely make her an accomplice to what she understood was a plot to kick out the inventor. To get out from under her boss's lustful eyes meant having to simultaneously work on a way to avoid hurting Techorse.
“Oh... ok,” she answered calmly, dropping her air of fear and dread.
The politician approved with a nod, “Good, I knew you'd agree. I'll be eager to hear your report tomorrow, Stencil.”
The unicorn made a slow, awkward exit from the room, “Y... yes, sir.”
Her long tail dragging across the floor was the last thing to leave, giving Redtape plenty of time to look over her natural beauty again from his favorite angle. Quickly the stunning, 'flattering' view reminded him of why he intended to make her his wife. He shook his head in disbelief, and started to gather up all the paperwork she had left piled on her desk.
“Look at all these requests for more water,” he chuckled, remembering his deal with the water company owner at his bar, “oh I'm going to be raking it in this year, once again. If I remember right, all that extra wealth will go right into my friend's new line of business in accounting. If the residents can handle the drought just a bit longer, they'll be so busy working for my benefactor's new businesses they won't even care and I'll turn the rain back on right under the muzzles while he charges them the same for the use of the pipes!”
Redtape knew his campaign contribution would be extra generous this year indeed, and with all that money, he'd be able to increase the mass of Stencil Guide's diamond wedding ring by a few carats at least. He let his imagination run wild, of him owning a giant estate outside of Canterlot, his little colts and fillies running around the floors of his decorative mansion draped in tapestries and alabaster columns. His wife Stencil helping him learn how to cook so that he'd have another thing to brag about to his buddies, all while swollen with yet another foal planted by him. Her cute baby weight, her cute, bubbly personality that she didn't have just yet... what kind of a mare wouldn't be interested in such an amazing life?
Redtape finished putting away the papers and hummed to himself, “Ohhh Stencil, you will change your mind someday, I swear it.”