//------------------------------//
// Dex and The Automobile 
// Story: Days of our Dex 
// by StapleCactus 
//------------------------------//

Sweat dripped from the man’s forehead as he drug his feet through the soil towards Sweet Apple Acres’ main gate. He held a bar in front of him that reached around him and attached to a peculiar wagon. It was made mostly of wood, with wooden wheels and steel axles. There was no top to the contraption, allowing passersby to see two seats and an odd circular object attached to the front board. Stone, a large grey stallion with red hair, sat in one of the seats and held the wheel. Behind him, a metal engine sat.

“C’mon boy! You’ve still got another two hundred yards before we’re there!” the stallion hollered over the human’s grunts of effort. Dex didn’t respond, dedicating all of his energy to moving the heavy cart. “Be glad we got some lads to help us get it this far!”

The two had commissioned a couple stallions to help them move the machine from Canterlot to Ponyville, and now they were stuck taking turns of their own to get it the rest of the way to their destination. The purpose of their move was the distillery at Applejack’s farm, having not gotten assistance from the breweries around the capital city. A secondary objective was the large, open area around the farm Dex could use to test the vehicle.

With a final grunt of effort, the man brought the wagon to a halt next to the farm’s entrance. He expected it to be safe there, as he did not want to attempt the climb to the house and barn a few acres away. Stone hopped out of the cart and watched Dex as he held himself up with the bar he had used to move the machine, breathing heavily.

“You did it, boy. I knew you could go at least part of the way.”

“Huff. Huff. Yeah. Just. Much less. Than you,” the man said in short bursts of air. The excessive strenuous effort was making him nauseous as well and he was taking deep gulps to alleviate the feeling.

“Well Ah’ll be. Ya made it after all.” The voice of Applejack traveled to their ears from the entrance. They turned their heads to see her trotting down the lane towards them with a pair of saddlebags.

“Miss Applejack, how’ve you been?” Stone said in as cultured a tone he could manage with his gruff voice.

“Now don’t you start that again,” came the reply. The two looked at each other and started chuckling. 




“Just why did you bring me along, again?” Stone asked as he and Dex shuffled in the train car.

“For the last time, Stone, I wanted you to come with so you would take a day off,” the knight responded.

“That doesn’t mean you had to make it sound like an emergency, boy.” The stallion had been tricked into coming along when the man rushed by him during training, telling him to hurry up or they’d be late. Thinking he had forgotten a meeting or drill, Stone had run after Dex, but when they reached the train station, he was shoved inside the locomotive moments before the whistle blew and he was stuck riding it. Stone was irritated at first, but calmed down later in the trip.

Dex scoffed at the stallion’s words. “As if you would have willingly taken the day off. Just relax and meet some friends of mine from when I first arrived.”

“I already know of them. The bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I saw them during the ceremony when they defeated Discord.”

“You know of them, but not they themselves. Anyway, we’re only going to meet with Applejack today for a little side work I’m doing if you really don’t want to see them all.”

The train began to slow for Ponyville Station. As the momentum was coming to a halt, the wheels squealed upon the tracks and the whistle blew. Dex stood and headed for the nearby door with Stone following behind him. After a few seconds of waiting, the train completed its stopping procedure and the doors opened, letting the two step out onto the station’s landing.

The knight drew a few looks as he walked through the streets, but none of them were the frightened glances he’d gotten when he first appeared outside of town months ago. Ponyville was the first stop he and Celestia took in introducing him to the populace and they had grown used to seeing the human around as he would visit occasionally to meet the ‘mane 6’ as he called them.

Wasting no time, Dex headed straight for Sweet Apple Acres, wanting to get his business taken care of before enjoying his time. Stone followed after with a small frown; it was not like him to take a day off and the lack of work bored him.

They reached the farm shortly, with the knight heading right down the path at the entrance to the farmhouse. Granny Smith was sitting in her rocking chair on the porch as they approached and waved them over.

“Well now, here’s two boys Ah haven’t seen before. Name’s Granny Smith. What can Ah do for you two fellers?” she said as they entered conversational distance and continued her rocking.

“Hey, Granny, it’s Dex. You know where Applejack is?” the knight answered back, knowing his presence wasn’t strange to the old mare in the least.

“Dex? Ahh, the feller Applejack keeps talkin’ about. She’s aroun’ back, in the barn Ah reckon.”

“Thanks Granny, we’ll talk more in a moment.” The two walked over to the barn as Granny Smith waved them on and relaxed into an afternoon nap. As they reached it, they found the doors open and Applejack tossing some apple buckets onto a two-wheeled cart. They let her finish loading before interrupting her.

“Hey, Applejack!” Dex said. Her body tensed, surprised at the call, before relaxing and turning around.

“Howdy, Dex.” She turned her head to the side a bit to see the stallion next to the man. “Who’s yer friend?”

“This is Stone,” he said simply, allowing Stone to introduce himself.

“Good evening, ma’am. My name is Stone, lieutenant of the Solar Guard. Miss Applejack, was it?” the stallion said stiffly, unsure of how to act in front of one of the Elements, and extended a hoof to her.

Applejack put up an amused smile and trotted over to him. “Aw, shucks. No need to be fancy with me. Just call me Applejack,” she said as she took his hoof in both of her own and shook him vigorously. The combination of the forceful hoofshake and her demeanor loosened him up. From then on, if Stone acted stiff in front of her, she’d shake him out of it.

“So what’re ya here for?” Applejack asked to Dex when introductions were over.

“Alcohol,” the man responded.




When the two calmed down from their chuckling, Applejack spoke up again. “Ah’ve been fine. Farm’s doin’ well, too.”

Dex managed to catch his breath a moment later. “So, you have the fuel?” he said as he climbed up into the wagon.

Applejack pulled a small flask out of her saddlebags and placed it on the side step of the cart. “Sure do, here’s some of it, but the rest you’ll have ta come up to the farm ta get,” she said and walked to the back of the vehicle. Dex was inspecting the motor while she looked the whole contraption over for a few moments. “What is this supposed ta do again?”

“You’ll see,” was all the response she got as he finished his inspection and reached over for the fuel. “Stand back.”

Dex poured some of the transparent yellow fluid into a small dish on top of the motor before grabbing a handle on the side and yanking. Pops, and the whirr of internal parts sliding against their shell, sounded from the machine as the man let the handle, and cord attached to it, retract. He pulled a second and third time, getting the same results before adding more fuel. Two more pulls, and the engine’s pops got louder, eventually reaching a hum that echoed in the empty air. Black smoke puffed out of a different pipe at regular intervals.

“YES!” Dex exclaimed as the machine died down into silence once more. “Yesyesyesyesyesyes!” He hopped off the vehicle and started strutting around it. “Haha! Take that! I did it, I did it, I did it!” he yelled joyously into the air. As he rounded the machine again, he stopped at the two confused ponies. “C’mon! Let’s get the rest of the gas and get this puppy moving!”




It took time. A lot of time. A lot of effort too, but time was the largest part of the project.

One day, Dex woke up with the wild idea to make a car. He sketched plans, researched materials, and asked around for information until he finally had some semblance of a design.

The chassis was easy enough for him to acquire. All he did was run over to the nearby cart maker and asked him to make a wagon with four wheels, a strong frame, and steering ability on the front axle. When it was complete, he modified the way it turned to be controlled from in the cart instead of by being pulled in the direction it should go.

Dex’s second challenge was the transmission. He managed to find a gear manufacturer in Manehattan, but had no idea how to make a gearbox to fit his purposes. Working with his limited knowledge, he made a horrible gear transition design that would wear on the teeth with each use, but all he wanted to do is make the vehicle move and not move, so it was good enough for a test run or two.

The engine was a marvel of innovation on the knight’s part. He wanted an internal combustion engine, not a steam powered one, so he thought he had to work from scratch. As luck would have it, he had a chance to look at, and later purchase, a used steam engine some stallions had used for their mobile cider maker. He used most of the components from it, namely the block and valve system, and made a monstrosity. He reinforced the piston and connecting rod, changed the port positions, and drilled a new hole for a spark plug to fit in.

With all three major components collected, he assembled them into the vehicle he called ‘Model D’. He added one of the generators he made to the end of the engine and connected it to the spark plug. Pouring a dense food oil into the back half of the motor would help keep it cool enough for his later tests, he hoped. Finally, he added a rip cord to the generator’s large wheel with teeth so it wouldn’t get caught while the engine ran.

His intended fuel did not exist, so he was left hoping alcohol would work. Dex went to the local distillery, but had no luck getting the ponies there to help him create what he needed. It was for the best, however, because if he had gotten the fuel then, he would have had no room to drive the machine. That was when Applejack entered his mind.




“Alright, what in tarnation is this thing supposed ta do already?” Applejack said as the trio reached the vehicle with a keg. They heaved it into the contraption and Dex set about transferring the fluids to a tank, where it would be pressurized to reach the tube he poured the fuel into originally.

“You remember when the Flim Flam brothers came by in their machine to take your farm?” Dex asked as he sat down and stared at his creation with a smile on his face.

“How could Ah forget?” The farmer had learned not to ask how the knight knew of certain events, as he would continuously dodge the question or give some weak excuse for his knowledge, much to her chagrin.

“That machine of theirs ran on steam, a very difficult thing to do for a free moving vehicle. This one runs on the fuel you made and will be easier to use. If I can perfect the design, you could use one of these to plow your fields or carry all your apples back the farm.”

“Now hold on a minute. We don’t need some machine to do our work for us!”

“It will make it easier,” Dex insisted as made a few turns with his screwdriver against some bolts in the intake.

“We Apples pride ourselves in doing all our work by hoof. Ain’t no way Ah’d replace a hard working pony with some machine!”

“You don’t have to use it.” He quickly relented when he remembered the mare’s stubbornness. Besides, I’m pretty sure this technology is way too primitive to use well and you ponies are far away from improving on this.” He grabbed the pull cord. “Hop on if you wanna ride, or don’t.” He looked up for a moment before turning to the ponies. “It’d probably be safer if you don’t.”

“I helped you haul this thing here, boy. I want to see what it can do,” Stone said as he hopped on. Applejack merely stepped back and watched indignantly. 

With a quick pull of the cord, the generator turned, creating energy and turning the piston and valve into place. The ethanol fuel pumped into the chamber as the valve closed behind it, letting the electricity travel to the spark plug and igniting the fuel. The massive expansion of energy forced the piston down, leaving enough momentum to return to expend the exhaust and start the process all over again.

The engine howled as Dex tested the throttle for more gas. A satisfied smirk played on his lips as he hopped into the seat where the steering wheel was in reach. A pedal on the floor of the cart was attached to the throttle by a cord and a lever sat to his right, used to change the gear in the box attached to the back of the engine and rear axle.

Revving the engine slightly, the man tensed his arm and slammed the lever forward. A grinding noise was followed by a ‘clank’ as the gears were forced to engage, making the engine bog down from the sudden increase in load. Sure enough, the vehicle started to move forward and Dex tested the steering as it crawled along at a snails pace.

“Watch the engine for me, Stone! If you see smoke or smell something burning, let me know!” the man yelled over the exhaust and motor noises. He pressed his foot down and opened the throttle more, allowing the engine to work faster and, consequently, the vehicle to move faster.

The vehicle ran down the dirt road outside of the farm at, what the man estimated as, five miles per hour. He dared not go faster, as he had neglected to add brakes and didn’t want to overwork the engine. Dex steered the machine back to Applejack and pulled the lever into its neutral position, letting the beast roll to a stop. He got up and pinched the fuel line, starving the engine of its precious energy source, until the noise stopped.

Dex hopped out of the vehicle and smiled widely. “I... am awesome.” Sir Dex, Knight of the Solar Guard, had just ‘invented’ the internal combustion engine for Equestria. He didn’t even care that oil was leaking out of some of the seams and it had used nearly half of the fuel for that small run, or that the transmission was nearly destroyed and smoke was rising out of the valve chamber.