Mecha was in his forge, attempting another experiment with the powdered hydra scales, having acquired new tools to use. So it was with rapt attention that he watched the hydra powder in the smelter, insuring that none of the flames reached it while they heated up. He watched, as the powder slowly liquified, a grin upon his face, when a wave of magic suddenly washed over the forge. Eyes widening, Mecha looked around, before he turned back to the molten hydra scale, bubbling violently after absorbing the magic that had just gone by.
Reacting quickly, Mecha dropped the pot into the furnace, before wrapping himself in a fireproof blanket, reinforcing it with his magic, and not a moment to soon as the liquid scale blew up in an explosion so violent, that the only reason Mecha was in one piece, let alone alive, was due to the sheer amount of magic he'd poured into the blanket. Removing said blanket, Mecha watched, as he got farther and farther from the ground, blinking as his ascent continued at a rapid pace.
“This,” Mecha said to himself, “won't end well.” And it was getting worse by the second, as Mecha continued to fly higher and higher, passing clouds and curious birds. By the time he stopped flying up, it was getting hard to breath, and he doubted that anypony had ever been this high, except for Luna while she was on the moon. Sighing in his momentary halt, he reached for the bag of hydra scales he'd grabbed before the explosion, in hopes of preventing it from catching fire and blowing up as well.
Falling, Mecha worked quickly, knowing he'd need to time this right. Pulling fuse that he'd stored earlier to test if processed hydra scale was just as explosive as powdered hydra scale, he bit off an extremely long length, forcing one end into the bag. Then, he looked down, before angling himself away from Ponyville, so that his attempt to land... not safely, but alive, wouldn't harm anypony around. Then, when he was halfway to the ground, he lit the fuse before spinning as rapidly as he could, before tossing the bag towards the ground.
Spreading his legs out, Mecha pushed as mush magic into his body as he could, thankful that Big Macintosh had shown him how to make his magic act like armor after Mecha had shown him how to strengthen his muscles. Staring at the falling bag, Mecha knew that he was pushing his luck with this. If he'd cut the fuse too short, the concussive force from the explosion wouldn't be strong enough when it got to him to prevent him from dieing upon impact with the ground. Too long, and he'd be killed in the explosion.
So, it was with a rapidly beating heart that Mecha watched as the bag reached the tree line of the Everfree Forest, and the beginning of the 'safe' zone time wise. At this point, he had another second, maybe two, before he'd pass into the 'dead' zone, and...
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Mecha didn't have to contemplate the second half of his last thoughts, as he suddenly stopped in midair, the force of the explosion completely counteracting his fall, although it was quite painful. After his temporary stop, Mecha began to fall once more, his magic drained from his limbs due to the impact with the concussive force, and impacted upon the ground.
Groaning, Mecha tried to get up, only to fail miserably due to the fact that he'd broken his legs. All of them. In one go. That had to be a record or something, especially since he was certain that he'd broken most of his ribs as well.
So, moaning in pain, Mecha waited for somepony to investigate the explosion he'd used to save his life, while staring at the crater caused by said explosion. Judging from his position on the forest floor, it had to be at least a quarter mile long, and just as deep. Attempting to chuckle, Mecha stopped due to the pain, before coughing blood.
He waited another ten minutes before he heard familiar voices, each speculating as to the source of the explosion. Another minute passed before the voices revealed themselves in the form of the bearers of the elements of harmony, all looking in stunned horror at Mecha's prone form. Raising an eyebrow, Mecha glanced at his legs, noting bone jutting out of one of them. Turning to face his rescuers, he said, “It could be worse,” before passing out.
LINEBREAKER
Mecha let out a groan as he woke up, in the now scarily familiar hospital bed. Blinking, Mecha tried to sit up, only to notice that he couldn't move at all, seeing as he was in an almost full body cast. In fact, the only part of him not in a cast was his head, neck, and mechanical leg, which was in mostly working order. Looking around, Mecha spotted Cheerilee talking to his aunt, before they noticed he was awake. Walking up to him, Cheerilee asked, “Are you okay?”
Mecha looked himself over again, before saying, “All things considered, I'd say so. After all, it's not everyday that you fall from the edge of the atmosphere and live.”
Eyes widening, Cheerilee asked, “What happened?”
Chuckling, Mecha told her, “Found a way to melt hydra scales, and learned that as explosive as powdered scales are when exposed to fire, it's nothing compared to how explosive molten scales are when exposed to magic. However, I don't think I'll be making a grenade version of that though.
“Probably a good idea,” Mayor Mare replied, before adding, “especially since you broke near every bone in your body.”
Blinking, Mecha turned to face her, replying, “Really? I figured it was just legs and ribs, nothing else. Any clue how long I'll be here?”
Shaking her head, his aunt replied, “Close to a month from what the doctor said, maybe less depending on how well your body takes to the healing magic.”
Sighing, Mecha faced Cheerilee, before saying, “Looks like date night is canceled then.”
Frowning, Cheerilee replied, “Dang, I was looking forward to that picnic.”
Chuckling, Mayor Mare asked, “Why don't you just have it here?” before walking out of the room.
Looking between the door and each other, the couple spoke at the same time, “That could work.”
LINEBREAKER
Three weeks later, Mecha was out and about, stretching his legs after a near month on non-use. Trotting through Everfree Forest, he quickly came across the location of his impact, and looked over the crater he'd made with his explosion. After all, it's not everyday that you create an explosion that large, and he needed to know just how large it was for bragging rights come poker night. Walking around the edge of the crater, Mecha stopped when he heard the bushes behind him rustling. Turning slowly, Mecha pulled them aside, only to stop dead in motion.
Standing before him was a small peachy-orange Earth Pony filly, with light red, borderline pink mane, and big, watery green eyes, staring straight into his soul. Blinking, Mecha stared at the filly for a minute, before asking, “Are you okay?”
He got his answer when she collapsed, causing Mecha to panic and pick her up, rushing to the hospital.
LINEBREAKER
Mecha waited outside the room of the filly he'd found, waiting for Doctor Stable to let him know how she was doing. The door opened, causing Mecha to jump up and face Doctor Stable, asking, “Is she going to be okay?”
Looking up from his clipboard, Doctor Stable nodded his head, saying, “She'll be fine. She was just exhausted and hungry from wondering around for so long, nothing more.”
Sighing, Mecha replied, “That's a relief. But what was she doing in the Everfree Forest?”
Letting out a depressed sigh of his own, Doctor Stable told Mecha, “She was trying to find her way to town. Apparently, her parents were merchants on their way here, when they were attacked by a manticore. She managed to escape when her dad distracted the beast, but the last thing she heard was them screaming...”
Mecha looked down at the floor, upset at the though of anypony, let alone a young foal, losing their parents like that. Looking back up, Mecha asked, “Is it okay to see her?”
Nodding his head, Doctor Stable replied, “She doesn't seem to be too tired, and seeing the face of her rescuer might help her. Just be careful not to bring up her parents, and you should be fine.”
Giving a nod of his head, Mecha walked into the room, causing the filly to look up, a small smile gracing her face upon seeing Mecha. “Hi there,” Mecha started, being as quiet as Fluttershy in order to keep from startling her. “My name's Mecha, what's yours?”
Small smile still on her face, the filly softly replied, “It's Sugary Spice, sir. And I'd like to say thanks for helping me.”
Smiling at her, Mecha nodded his head, saying, “It wasn't a problem, although I wasn't expecting to run into such a cute filly while I was out walking.”
Giggling, Sugary Spice asked, “Am I really cute?”
Chuckling, Mecha said, “Darn right! Cutest thing I've ever seen, and I've meet both princesses!”
Laughing, Sugary Spice hugged Mecha from her bed, saying, “Thank you sir!”
Shaking his head, Mecha told her, “None of this sir stuff! I got enough of it from the few lower ranking soldiers during my time in the military! Just call me Mecha.”
Nodding her head, Sugary Spice let go, laying back in bad. A sad look slowly came over her, before asking, “Mommy and daddy are gone, aren't they?”
Sighing, Mecha looked her straight and the eyes, and nodded his head. Tears slowly filled her eyes, as she looked into her lap. After a minute or two, she let the tears fall, saying, “Mommy... Daddy...”
Mecha watch her cry, wanting to cheer her up. Leaning forward, he wrapped his forelegs around her, patting her back, saying, “I'm here for you little one. I may have just met you, but I'm here.”
Wrapping her legs around Mecha, Sugary Spice cried into his chest, letting all her sorrow out. Finally, after twenty minutes, she finally stopped, letting go of Mecha. Laying back on her bed, she turned to Mecha, and asked, “What do I do now?”
Sighing, Mecha let go of her, and sat down on a nearby stool, thinking. There wasn't an orphanage in Ponyville, as there was never a need for one. In fact, the only town that had one was Manehatten, and even then it wasn't that large, filled to the brim with the four foals they had already. Looking back at her, Mecha thought long and hard about what he was about to suggest, as he knew it would be a bit awkward to suggest it so soon after meeting her. Giving her another glance, Mecha sighed once more, having no choice. “As weird as it is to suggest this after meeting you so soon, you could stay with me,” he told her.
Hope filled her face, as she looked into his eyes with her soul piercing gaze, saying, “Really?”
Nodding his head, Mecha told her, “So long as you don't mind my pet timberwolf cub Wolfgang, my odd sleeping habits, and the occasional explosion from my forging experiments.”
Nodding her head rapidly, Sugary Spice asked, “Can we go now?”
Shaking his head, Mecha told her, “You need to stay here a little longer so Doctor Stable can make sure you didn't catch something while you were in the forest, and I need to clear the paper work with my aunt... I mean the mayor.”
Frowning, Sugary Sweet replied, “Alright...”
Chuckling, Mecha said, “Don't worry, it shouldn't take longer than two or three hours. In fact, why don't you take a nap while I take care of everything?”
Thinking for a moment, she nodded her head, saying, “Okay!” before snuggling into her bed, closing her eyes.
Chuckling once more, Mecha walked out of the room, heading to his aunt's house to get everything he need to get done done.
LINEBREAKER
Mecha was walking towards Ponyville's school, with Sugary Sweet riding on his back, looking at everything they passed as they went to sign her up for class. Smiling at Sugary Sweet's enthusiasm, Mecha asked her, “How do you like Ponyville so far?”
Sugary Sweet gave a large smile, not that Mecha could see it, and replied, “It's great! Everypony is so friendly, and everything looks so pretty!”
Chuckling, Mecha walked up next to the school door, stopping when the bell rang to let everypony know that school was over. Stepping to the side, Mecha waited as all the fillies and colts ran past him, not a single one noticing his presence. After a minute of waiting, the rush was over, allowing Mecha to walk into the building.
Seeing that Cheerilee hadn't noticed him yet, Mecha turned to face Sugary Spice, putting a hoof up to his lips, telling her to stay silent. Giggling, she gave him the okay sign, before he slowly walked up next to Cheerilee. Leaning forward, Mecha whispered into her ear, “Boo.”
Cheerilee screamed, jumping high in her excitement. Turning, she saw Mecha and Sugary Spice rolling around on the floor, laughing. “Priceless!” Mecha hollered in between laughs.
“She almost jumped through the roof!” Sugary Spice added, holding onto her sides.
Seeing that she had just been pranked, and wasn't in danger, Cheerilee merely chuckled, and said, “Okay, you got me. So what are you doing here Mecha? And who is this adorable little filly with you?”
Finished laughing, Mecha slowly got up, saying, “This is Sugary Spice, and she is currently my charge. And the reason we're her is to get her registered for class.”
Blinking, Cheerilee replied, “Okay... well, I've got the paperwork right here.” Turning to face Sugary Sweet, Cheerilee asked her, “Why don't you go out and see if you can make any friends?”
Nodding her head, Sugary Spice glanced Mecha, who gave a nod of approval, before she squealed in joy and ran outside. Turning to face his marefriend, Mecha saw her questioning look. Sighing, he told her, “I found her out in the Everfree Forest. Apparently, she'd been wondering for two or three days after her parents died in a manticore attack.”
Blinking, Cheerilee asked, “Isn't that similar to how you found Wolfgang?”
Eyes widening, Mecha replied, “Yeah it is, isn't it?” Getting a nod from Cheerilee, Mecha continued, “I hope this doesn't become a pattern, there's only so much room in my house!”