//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine: An Important Test // Story: Cars in Equestria // by Dudofall //------------------------------// Oloy wiped sweat from his brow as he inspected the platform. "I have to admit, I'm a little nervous..." he told Spike. The dragon sighed. "Don't worry about it, you'll do fine..." he mumbled. "What was that?" "I said you'll do fine, okay? Gosh darn it!" Oloy was taken aback by the outburst. "Hey, you're right! Thank you." Spike shrugged. "Whatever. Hurry up, we don't want to keep Mr. Rich waiting," he pointed out. Oloy nodded. "You're right." And with that, he hopped atop the prototype. Twilight had worked on it all morning to get the new enchantment just right, and thus it was already late afternoon by the time she was confident everything else was working properly, including the new restraint system. Oloy sat on the red velvet cushion. Spike poured the newly created adhesive on his hooves. It was green and viscous, and glittered with purple magic. "What's that stuff?" Mr. Rich asked. "It keeps him from falling off," Twilight responded, "but if he wants to get off it'll let him." He took out a notepad and wrote something. "How much of this contraption is made with magic?" "I made almost everything myself using magic," she said, looking concerned, "is that gonna make it harder to mass produce?" "Kinda. Ya see, we can carry out the manufacturing process in any town with a station. As long as we build some train cars that can transport them, we'll just need to find somewhere that also has a lot of smart unicorns. Ah bet as a princess you can work out the permits 'n such!" "Of course," Twilight laughed nervously. "Okay, I'm ready for this test!" Oloy called from the cart. "Please start it before I lose my nerve," he muttered. Mr. Rich chuckled. "Alright! Can't wait to see this!" Twilight took a deep breath and pulled the lever into its newly created first gear. The cart rattled as the wheels slowly started to turn. "Is that as fast as it goes?" Mr. Rich asked. Oloy grinned, shook his head, and pulled the lever into 'speed mode'. The cart tore off into town. Twilight tore after it. "So, do we just wait fer them to come back, or what?" Mr. Rich questioned Spike. The dragon shrugged and began to walk slowly after the cart. The business pony followed suit. "Woo!" Oloy yelled over the din of the engine. Then he looked in front of him and saw the young fillies and colts crossing the street single file. "No woo! No woo!" he screamed. "Get out of the way!" The young ponies screamed, and several jumped out of the way of the cart. One of them jumped a bit too high and ended up on the platform next to Oloy. "Hi I'm Featherweight," he introduced himself without pausing for punctuation as they were moving very quickly. Oloy shook his hoof. "Nice to meet you." They watched as the cart began to slow down. It was climbing the tallest hill in Ponyville, where many a cart had needed to be rescued by a caped crusader or prismatic dynamo. Sadly, neither was presently available. "I had better put on the brakes," Oloy reminded himself. "What are brakes?" *** There was, believe it or not, another magical prodigy living in Ponyville. Her name was Fateful Coincidence. She specialized in knowing just the right spell for various occasions, which naturally meant that her catalogue included both the ability to turn apples into oranges and a method of containing smell black holes. The latter would become very important when her friend Tumbler tripped in such a spectacular fashion that he accidentally unbalanced the delicately balanced enchantment on a passing cart. "Whoops!" he chuckled. Fateful sighed. "I'll be right back," she told Tumbler. She ran down the hill after the troublesome prototype. "Bye for now," Tumbler mumbled. "Hey, it's the princess!" A bolt of sentient purple lightning flew past him without a word. Well, without a word Tumbler could hear, anyway. "Please be okay, please!" Twilight muttered as she followed Oloy's vehicle down the tallest hill. She sensed that something was wrong with the cart. From looking at how fast it was going, she guessed that the brakes had something to do with-"Who is that?" "Can't talk," Fateful managed between breaths, "gotta save 'em!" Twilight picked up the unicorn with her magic. "Need a lift?" "Thanks, Princess Twilight!" "Don't mention it!" the Princess grinned. The two soared closer and closer to the cart, which got closer and closer to the cliff at the end of the hill. It really ought to have been fixed, but the city budget was always in use for a festival, or a carnival, or fixing the results of yet another monster attack. Or Pinkie Pie party, for that matter. Ever since Cheese Sandwich left town, her celebrations had taken on some of the raucous characteristics of that pony's shindigs. The two wrote letters to each other. It was very sweet. ... Oh right, the cliff was fast approaching! "Hang on!" Oloy urged his young travel partner. Featherweight wrapped himself tightly around one of the student's forelegs. They both closed their eyes. The jaws of death opened. The two ponies opened their eyes to find they'd left the cart, and were standing next to their rescuer under the old ponies home's balcony as though nothing had happened. She lifted the brim of her pointed purple hat. "What can I say except you're welcome?" Pinkie spouted with a grin. "Thank you!" the two chorused. *** Meanwhile, in the sky, Twilight was too busy to breathe a sigh of relief. She and Fateful Coincidence were finally closing in on the cart. A smell black hole was beginning to form. They should've been able to smell the tasty aroma of Bulk Biceps' nut cart, or the inventory of a flower pony returning to her stand. Instead, there was nothing. "I don't know how I'm gonna fix this," Twilight confided. "I'll contain it," Fateful promised, "just get me close enough!" With a flash of magic, Twilight slowed the cart down just as it was about to fall off the cliff. It rolled right up to the edge. "No!" Twilight yelled. The cart fell. Fateful cast her spell. Everypony regained their sense of smell.