The mass exodus of the festival to a more riverside setting had been all the more cover Mick Magnet needed to go in search of Phyla. She had assured him that the lifting machine had been taken care of.
Mistakes. Mick hated mistakes, hated everything about them. Especially mistakes he had already paid for. He edged his way down yet another alley along 12th Avenue, certain that wherever Phyla had gone, it wouldn't have been far. As calculating as she was, she would know that Mick would be looking for her.
And she would expect him to be angry.
Around the latest bend he finally spotted his target, and Mick's twitching nerves and barely-contained anger nearly erupted in a vicious shout, before he realized that it wasn't Phyla at all... but he wasn't far off.
Mick growled angrily, noting as he approached that this mare's coat was not silver with black spots, but the other way around. Her cutie mark was likewise contrary to Phyla's. Where Phyla's showed a locked padlock and lonely key, this pony sported an unlocked padlock instead, the key inserted in the keyhole.
Hearing his hoofsteps she whirled on him, her eyes magenta in hue, not the deep blue that Phyla's eyes held. Just like Mick, she seemed to be on the verge of rage, lip quivering as she barely contained it.
"Myla..." Mick growled, displeased to have found her instead of her sister. She was by far the more difficult of the two. In the end though, no matter which of the sisters he stumbled upon, business was business, and a broken promise was bad business for both her and her sister. His position on the matter became increasingly clear as he glared at her, his approach threatening.
"It's not fair!" she hissed, backing away from Mick a step.
"We had a deal, Myla," Mick said coldly, poking a hoof in her face, a hoof that shook with anger.
"You had a deal with Phyla!" she retaliated, finally stopping her backpedaling as Mick inched ever closer in the alleyway off of 12th Avenue. "Not with me! If you have something to say, say it to her."
"It's obvious she's the smart one, how stupid do you think I am?" Mick shouted, his tall frame towering menacingly over her. "I know she uses you for her business, so I know that you know exactly what happened. We had a deal," Mick said, enunciating each word with clear ire through gritted teeth.
Myla's face twitched, her magenta eyes flaring with anger. "I did exactly what she told me to! It was your stupid plan, I did everything to the letter. I always do everything to the letter."
"Except when you're having your games," Mick growled, giving the smaller female pony an angry shove. "Phyla's told me all about how you like to risk my business with your 'fun'. My work isn't for you to screw around with!" he roared, breathing heavily as his normally dapper mane fell to pieces in his ire.
Myla huffed as she recovered her balance, her angry look still in place. "I told you, I did everything she told me to. It didn't work, alright? The agreement was that we keep our fees, regardless if the results work or not."
"An investment I'm starting to regret agreeing to. It never 'not worked' before, right? What's different, hmm?" He asked, his voice rising in volume. "What in the hell happened?"
"I don't know!" she roared back, even going so far as to leap at Mick, driving him back a step. "I'm not any happier about this than you are. But we did everything you asked. I didn't see anything wrong, and neither did Phyla. We did exactly what you said, like we always do. If you don't believe me, you can hear it from her," Myla said, shaking her mane to put it back into place and taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
That seemed to calm Mick down as well. Phyla, being the logical one, didn't care enough about anything to lie, and certainly not Mick's reaction. And she would have cautioned Myla against lying too if she thought it would only backfire on her later. Myla was the actor, but Phyla was the brains of the operation, and she kept a tight leash on her sister.
"Well you tell Phyla that for our arrangement with Tinkermane, I don't want any bullshit. I don't care about what happened to the out-of-towner, but I want Tinkermane handled right. If this happens again... Well, it had better not happen again," Mick finished slowly, straightening his shoulders and sweeping his mane back into place.
Myla chuckled to herself, a playful smile coming to her lips. "Trust me, Mr. Magnet, you're not the only one who wants Mr. Tinkermane 'handled right'."
"No games!" Mick growled. "We don't have room for your stupid little games with Tinkermane, do you hear me?" His chest heaved as he did his best to control his anger, his mane once more out of place from the outburst.
Myla sighed in disappointment, pawing at her hair with a hoof and doing her best not to make eye contact with Mick. "Alright, alright. You're no fun at all," she pouted.
"Fun isn't the point. I want it done right!" Mick hissed over his shoulder, making his way out of the alley.
Myla smiled to herself once he was gone, the same smile he had reprimanded her for. "Oh don't worry... It will be."
Gearrick smiled as he stood atop the six-foot stone drop separating the city from the river of its namesake. Everypony from the previous grounds had come along, not a single one of them taking the opportunity to head home. Nearby stood Twilight and his number one fan, Fixxit, along with his mother. Gearrick had brought the young colt along personally, ensuring that he had the seat of a king for the show to come, right up against the bank of the Manehattan river.
Right next to his point of launch.
The rest of the viewers were panned out in a thin line along the bank, all of them hoping for a clear view of the river, no matter how far away they would have to be up or down shore. The wall along the bank wasn't exactly helping anypony's viewership, but it was just something they would have to cope with, the tinker silently mused.
The judges were nearby, guarding their hats and manes from the wind coming across the open expanse of the water. They were required to sit within adequate viewing distance, or so they said, and so without a stage riverside seating was required.
Gearrick silently believed they just wanted to see it work, and allowed himself a small chuckle at that.
"Well, Mr. Tinkermane?" The mayor asked.
"Could you amplify my voice please?" Gearrick asked, not personally familiar with such a spell. The spokespony nodded, lighting her horn for a brief moment. Gearrick could feel his throat tingling, and fought the urge to cough until the feeling subsided.
"There you are," she said cheerfully.
Gearrick cleared his throat as quietly as he could manage to relieve the feeling of still needing to cough. "Thank you," he replied, his words echoing back to him off the buildings as he turned to face the crowd, or as much of it as he could with them so spaced out.
"Ladies and gents, I probably won't able to hear your questions for those of you far away. I apologize for the limited viewing room, but there's not much to be done about it. For this demonstration, as I mentioned, I will show that the Nomad is quite capable of traversing water. Once I have shown that it is sea worthy, or river-worthy, rather, I will explain how it is able to do what it does. But for now, I imagine you are all just eager to see how mad I really am!" he called, smiling as a wave of laughter rolled in from all points along the wall of pony.
The spokespony deactivated the voice spell, smiling. "Good luck, Mr. Tinkermane," she said politely as he climbed into the Nomad.
"Thanks, but hopefully I won't need any," he chuckled.
"Hopefully?" she inquired, as the Nomad's first engine roared to life.
"Well yeah," he replied, smirking in his usual fashion. "What's the point of an experiment if you know the outcome?"
Realizing no further words were coming from the judge's stunned, slack-jawed mouth, Gearrick allowed himself one final laugh before turning over his shoulder and shouting at the crowd. "Alright, clear some space! I need some running room so that the Nomad doesn't just tumble over the wall!"
As the ponies did as he asked and Gearrick backed the Nomad further down 12th Avenue, Fixxit watched excitedly. "It's really gonna work!" he said loudly, thinking with his voice as children often do.
Twilight couldn't help but smile at his declaration. "It really will," she seconded, smiling confidently as he looked her way, surprised to find anypony listening.
"Are you one of Mr. Tinkermane's fans too?" he asked, his eyes going wide as that question began to carry more and more weight in his young mind.
Twilight took on a puzzled expression at that question, thoughts of the crazy tinker running freely through her head. "You know what?" she asked after a moment, bending low to whisper in the young boy's ear.
"What?" he asked hurriedly, excited to hear.
"I definitely am," she whispered, a small, tender smile painted on her face. A smile that only widened as the sound of pistons hammering grew louder and closer.
Gearrick grinned as looks of shock whipped past him, the accelerator to the floor as he raced down an alleyway of ponies, leading into the dead end of the riverside.
At this speed it was too late to try and stop; the Nomad would go over the edge no matter what. He wasn't positive that his invention would work, wasn't even positive that it would float for any span of time at all.
But he was sure as hell going to prove it, one way or the other.
His hoof hovered over the buttons for engines two and three, and right before he went over the edge, he hit them. It would take hardly any time at all for the small tanks to heat up and start adding pressure to the system, but it would take time. Time the Nomad would spend airborne, he mentally calculated. Factoring his speed and the six-foot drop in elevation, he should even have enough time to complete the Nomad's transformation.
With the engines heating up and only a few more feet of road, Gearrick smiled wider, and let out a wild yell of excitement.
The crowd watched in awe as his metal masterpiece soared over the edge, its speed keeping it level as it launched out over the water.
With no time to lose, Gearrick threw a lever that disengaged the axles, stopping their rotation. One more button press later, and the Nomad began to change in mid-air, to the bewilderment of all those watching. The tires, all six of them, folded underneath the Nomad starting from front to back, until their outer flat sides were facing down, the part attached to the axle facing upward. A great deal of whirring and clicking accompanied the change, and it completed itself right before the Nomad impacted the water.
It hit with a massive splash, the tires directing the water out and away from the interior of the vehicle. The crowd waited anxiously for the spray to clear, to better view the result.
A loud cheer started up as the mist finally cleared off, revealing the Nomad floating in the river, steadily bobbing on the waves as Gearrick continued to push buttons and throw levers.
He chuckled to himself as the axles reengaged at last, but instead of rotating end-over-end, the tires were now rotating lengthwise. He silently congratulated himself as the wheels began to spin, both keeping the Nomad afloat and propelling it forward, paddling the water between them at a high enough speed to rival any modern steam boat, once momentum had been achieved.
He tested the steering, well pleased to find that it did in fact turn the Nomad, a point he had been unsure about during the design process. Despite the fact that he was satisfied just to find it working, he knew that the ponies on the bank were expecting an explanation as much as a demonstration. Working the Nomad in a tight turn through the waves, he headed back toward the waiting crowd.
He pulled up along the shore before the judges, remaining in water deep enough to truly float as the cheers died down, the spokespony calling for order.
"Well done, Mr. Tinkermane, well done!" the Mayor called, practically belly-laughing the words from his amazement. "Simply amazing! With only wheels it sails like a ship!"
"Not 'sails', sir," Gearrick said with a smile. "Swimming might be the more accurate term."
"Well then, enlighten us!" he said eagerly, clearly as interested as anypony. He harrumphed as he nudged the spokespony, who reacted like she had been startled out of a daydream.
"O-oh, right," she muttered, her horn lighting again as Gearrick's throat tingled.
"Thank you, your honor," Gearrick said, smiling warmly at the old mayor of Manehattan. "Ladies and gents, I hope you enjoyed the show?" he inquired, smiling as shouts of the positive washed back all along the range of viewers.
"I'm glad I didn't disappoint. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous after I went over the ledge," he chuckled, the crowd sharing his laugh. "But you didn't all come here for me to joke, so I imagine you want to hear how it works," he said evenly.
Murmurs of the affirmative flowed in, so he continued.
"Firstly is how it floats. I'm am sure you've all seen a rubber ball, or a even a glass bottle float. Though the glass might be heavier than water, the air inside is lighter, forcing it to the surface. In the case of the Nomad, it is primarily bronze, and so it is incredibly heavy. So, more air is needed for buoyancy, to keep it above water. This air is stored in the tires, much like the tires of a bike, but on a much larger scale. Since the rear houses the engines, it is by far the heaviest part, and so having four larger tires is a necessity to keep the aft end afloat," he explained, standing and tapping one of the tires, which was only three fourths of its width underwater.
"But the air inside is only half of the secret; surface area also keeps it aloft. Had I driven straight into the water, the Nomad would have sunk, most likely. But with the tires facing flat against the water, surface tension helps as well," he finished, sitting back down heavily. The Nomad didn't rock much at all, clearly stable due to its weight and width.
"How does it move?" the Mayor inquired, eying the tires suspiciously.
"If you've ever paddled a boat, you've probably noticed little swirls coming behind the oar, called the wake," Gearrick said with a smile. "These swirls are caused by the water on the edges of the oar pouring in to replace the water the oar moves. Even after the water has finished moving, the swirls will remain for a time as the water maintains its momentum. In that case, the whirlpools are the result of the force applied; cause and effect. But if the whirlpools came first, then the opposite would occur. Two whirlpools spinning against one another would cause the water between them to flow with increased force."
"The tires, now that they are on their sides, emulate this. Spinning in opposing directions pulls water from the sides of the Nomad underneath it, and the currents combine as they pass between the tires, creating a sort of jet of water, pushing it forward. The same is possible in reverse. However, in order to work properly, each set of wheels, three in all, must be running on its own engine. Water resistance slows the rotation, so a single engine would not be enough to provide the electricity," he finished, smiling widely.
The Mayor was nodding to himself, clearly doing his best to take it all in. "Extraordinary. And for the turning?"
"Simple, really. Torque still applies in water, and so attempting to rotate the Nomad at one of its ends is most effective. Since the aft end is heaviest, turning the front is the easier solution. The four tires in the back provide all of the forward motion, but the two in the front are what turn the Nomad, just as they do on land. By turning only one wheel or the other it is possible to cause the Nomad to begin to spin toward that side," he explained, demonstrating as only the front right wheel spun at a high speed, turning the Nomad in a rightward circle as well.
"Simple nothin'!" the Mayor guffawed, and private conversations all along the bank were stating much the same. It was clear from the murmuring that, though concise, his explanation had been quite astounding. "It is certainly something. Now, how do you propose to get it out of the river?" he asked with a sly smile.
One which Gearrick returned. "Stand back," Gearrick advised, and the Mayor and all those along the bank in front of the Nomad cleared out hastily, in no hurry to get caught between such a mad genius and his next 'test'. Floating into the shallower water where he was in no real danger of sinking, Gearrick threw another set of levers. The front end of the Nomad popped open, a little cannon angling up out of the hood, and causing quite a few ponies to panic.
Gearrick scowled, not seeing the cause for alarm. "Relax, it's a grappling hook. Sheesh..." he grumbled, continuing to use a set of buttons to angle the end of the cannon, which was indeed loaded with the mentioned hook. Using his best guess and the top of a lamp-post he could see for reference, Gearrick finally fired, a puff of steam throwing the hook high over the wall, where it landed with a clang on the street above.
Engine two slowly reeled the hook back in, until suddenly it caught at the base of the lamp-post. When placed that low on the sturdy, steel rod, even the weight of the Nomad wasn't enough to do any damage to it as the cable attached to the hook grew taught, eventually pulling the Nomad's front end against the wall, the tires folding back upright and wheeling up the ledge.
The engine continued to wind the hook in, pulling the Nomad up the wall. Though the vehicle itself was longer than the mere six feet it had fallen, its front end rolled against gravity with relative ease, albeit slowly, until the nose of the vehicle cleared the lip. After that, the rear tires finally came flush with the wall, and they too began their ascent. The tires kept the belly from scraping as it inched over the top of the ledge, its front end finally meeting level ground once more, the rear quickly following suit, all without damaging the solid stonework of the river wall.
Gearrick hopped out of the car and fetched the grappling hook, watching as it reeled itself the rest of the way in, not yet noticing the gaping mouths and wide eyes that followed him silently as he went about his business. Once he had finally powered down the Nomad, he glanced around, noticing the dumbfounded looks all around him.
"What?" he asked indignantly, scowling. "It's just a six-foot wall... I said it climbs cliffs. Doesn't anypony listen to me?"
Twilight smiled as Gearrick rubbed his hoof atop Fixxit's head, the sunset painting long shadows behind the pair that mimicked their actions.
"But mom," he whined, even as Gearrick rubbed his head, drawing the 'o' out as long as his little lungs could take it.
"No 'buts'," she shushed, smiling as Gearrick finished tousling her son's mane. "Now say goodbye to Mr. Tinkermane."
"Gearrick is fine," he replied to the mother, but he quickly returned his attention to Fixxit when the child spoke up again.
"It's not fair," the young colt pouted, kicking at the cobblestones and scowling at his front hooves.
Gearrick just chuckled. "Don't worry, little buddy, this isn't the last you'll see of me. Besides, I'll always have time for my number one fan," he finished with a warm smile, holding a hoof out to him.
Beaming ear to ear, Fixxit bumped his tiny hoof to Gearrick's much larger one, causing the older stallion to laugh warmly. "Alright, now listen to your mother, alright? I know it doesn't seem like it, but she knows best," he said seriously, giving the mother a wink.
"Oh, alright," the little pony grumbled, his mood easily swayed once more as his stubby little legs plodded him slowly past his mother.
"Thank you, for everything. He had the time of his life today," she said, looking over her shoulder at Fixxit, who was stumbling more often than not. "He'll never admit it, but he's worn out from all the fun. You're a good stallion, and you've certainly got a way with kids. You'd make a good father one day," she said, though her tone made it clear that it was just her woman's intuition talking, not something presumptuous.
Gearrick smiled as he also watched Fixxit make very little headway. "Maybe," he admitted. "But that's a ways off yet. Thank you for letting me spend some time with him. I've always liked kids, so he's not the only one who had a good time. Anyways, you'd better get him to bed, before he tips over," he chuckled.
She simply nodded, allowing herself a small giggle as he almost did just that. "Have a good night, and good luck in the finals!" she congratulated, trotting over and picking her son up before heading home, calls of "But I'm not tired!" echoing back to him and Twilight. Gearrick just shook his head and laughed, then let out a lengthy sigh.
Now that he wasn't occupied, Twilight trotted over, still smiling to herself about the exchange Gearrick had just had with the boy. His mother had said precisely what Twilight had been thinking the whole time, that Gearrick had a way with children. Perhaps because, like a child, he lived a life of imagination. What adults saw in him as craziness, children saw as daring. He would certainly make a good father, she mused, unable to prevent herself from thinking it.
"What a day," he groaned, stretching and snapping Twilight out of her awkward thoughts about him, and bringing an all-too-common embarrassed flush to her cheeks, which he couldn't see in the pinkish-orange tint of dusk.
"It was definitely amazing," she admitted once she'd gotten over the return from her reverie. "Everything with the Nomad... It was exactly like you said it would be," she said casually, as if she had expected so all along.
"Well why wouldn't it be? I mean, I'm-" he began, but she picked it up square in the middle.
"The best tinker I know," she finished surely, bringing a smirk to his face. "So, what are your plans? Jack's again?" she asked.
Gearrick smiled mischievously. "Nope. After everything that happened today, I feel like celebrating," he said with a chuckle. "None of that casual-drunk business. This day has been wild; the drinking should be too. Care to join?"
Twilight screwed up her nose, remembering all too well her hangover from that morning. "Suit yourself, but I'll pass," she said, making it clear that it was more the idea of alcohol than anything.
"Aww, what?" he asked in exasperation. "You don't have to get drunk, I just prefer the company. You know, this might sound hard to believe after what you've seen of me, but before contest week I didn't drink a drop for about a month," he said with a small smile.
"You're right, I don't believe it," she replied evenly, shooting him a skeptical look.
"The first night you were at the booth was the night I finished touching up the Nomad. That was a special occasion," he clarified, smiling sheepishly. "But drinking alone isn't any good. Until you showed up, I never had company. Now I'm not trying to guilt you, or say that your company is an excuse to drink," he chuckled, "just that your company makes it fun."
Twilight's heart double-stepped to the tune of that compliment, denying her words for a short while. "W-well, I don't have anything else to do until the festival tomorrow, so-" she started, trying to play it off like she didn't want to spend time with him, but he cut her off unexpectedly.
"Oh, there's no festival tomorrow," he said suddenly.
"What? Why not?" she asked, confused that the week-long event wasn't week-long.
"There's a mid-week break before stage three, the technical review. A board of engineers from around Equestria examine every nut and bolt of each invention that made it past the second stage, so the middle of the week is reserved to give the contestants a day to check everything out and make sure it's up to snuff," he explained, starting teardown on his booth and throwing it all senselessly into the back of the Nomad, as usual.
"I see. So that's why..." she said, unsure how to broach the topic.
"Yes, that's why I don't mind drinking way too much tonight, or having a hangover tomorrow," he chuckled, finishing up. "Anyways, you coming or not?"
Twilight sighed, thinking that through. She did want to spend time with him, but how much was too much? Or not enough? In the end, though, her desire won out, so she nodded.
"Great, hop in," he said with a smile, getting into the driver's seat. "We'll probably hit one of the bars close to my warehouse, just so it will be easier on you," he chuckled, starting the engine as she climbed in.
"Easier on me?" she asked, clueless as to what he could possibly mean.
"Well yeah," Gearrick said, putting it into gear and driving off. "After all, I'm going to be drunk. Who do you think is going to drive the Nomad?"
Twilight shook her head as Gearrick held the door for her, noise from within filtering out to the tune of laughter and clinking glasses. Drive the Nomad? Her? Even if it was only a short ways away, she hadn't the first clue how to start the thing, much less move it.
She sighed as her conversation with Gearrick on the way over played through her head once more.
"Don't worry about it. Even if I've had too much to drink, I can guide you through it. It's really easy, I promise," he had said.
"Still sweating it?" he asked, smirking as she walked past.
"Yes," she grumbled. "Why couldn't we have just parked at the warehouse and walked?" she asked on her way through the door.
"Because that's still five minutes away, even at the Nomad's speed. Look, it's going to be fine, alright? Just have a good time. I know I will," he said leaning close so that she could hear him better over the music and the raucous laughter and loud talk of the other patrons in the bar.
Twilight flushed as he moved closer, personal space ignored for the sake of verbal convenience. "Well why not one of the bars closer to the warehouse?" she asked, not intending to let the matter drop.
"Because this is the only one I like along the river!" he called to her, making his way further inside, leaving her to follow. "You worry too much."
Twilight sighed, finally surrendering the point. As Jack had said, he wasn't a pony worth arguing with. It was increasingly apparent that her reluctance to drive the Nomad didn't concern him in the slightest, and it was her only real counter-point.
She hopped up onto a bar stool as Gearrick inched his own closer to the bar, smirking happily. She couldn't really remain stressed watching him smile like that, and so one of her own tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Well, well, well," the bartender chuckled, sliding their way and polishing a glass with a dishrag. "Gearrick Tinkermane, our local celebrity. That was quite a show ya put on today, or so I hear."
Gearrick smiled widely in return. "Well, I don't want to brag or anything..."
"You'd rather celebrate, right?" the bartender asked with a laugh. "Well then, what can I get ya for?"
"Well, dinner's first on the list," Gearrick replied. "Kitchen still open?"
"'Course," the owner replied, smiling and happy to take the extra bits.
Twilight found herself surprised as Gearrick turned to her unexpectedly. "Well, what are you hungry for?" he asked casually, pulling a menu out of a nearby rack of them and passing it to her. "At this point I'd eat about anything," he chuckled.
"She drinkin'?" the bartender asked, drawing Gearrick's attention away from Twilight as she fiddled with the menu.
"Nope, just me. She's still recovering from last night," he said with a laugh.
Twilight blushed as the context of what she had just heard ran through her head, her eyes shooting wide. Gearrick seemed to notice it at roughly the same time, for his expression perfectly mirrored her own.
"Is that so?" the bartender asked, smirking mischievously.
"Oh come on, not like that," Gearrick said hastily, clearly put off-balance by the unintended reception of his words.
"Alright, alright. Just a joke," the large pony said, holding the rag and the glass before him in a pantomime of surrender.
Twilight felt her heart gradually slowing down. He hadn't meant it the way it sounded, but she really wished that for the sake of her blood pressure he would have been more careful with his wording. It was bad enough as it was that she secretly liked him, then he had to go and say things like that.
She drifted back to the present, glad to see Gearrick and the bartender deep in conversation about his demonstration for the day, and off the previous topic. After a short time the bartender got called away for business at the other end of the bar, leaving the two of them just sitting after the awkward moment.
Twilight was still fighting the remains of her blush when Gearrick looked at her out the corners of his eyes. He cleared his throat, a redness of his own coming to his cheeks.
"H-hey, sorry about that," he said sheepishly, facing her more directly while he apologized. "I definitely didn't mean for it to sound like that," he said, a shaky laugh helping to cut some of the tension that his embarrassment had brought on.
"I-it's alright," Twilight said hurriedly. "Don't worry about it."
Gearrick just smiled, his relief clear. "Good. I just don't want ponies getting the wrong idea, you know?" he asked, turning back around as the bartender came back, taking his drink order.
Twilight felt a twinge of some very uncomfortable emotion run through her heart. The wrong idea? Did he not think that ponies should think they were together? Did he not like her, like she liked him? Her ears drooped slightly as the feeling of rejection only ate at her more, her own thoughts driving her further into it.
"Hey, are you alright?" Gearrick asked, face close as he leaned in to examine her. With her ears flat like that, she looked like she was in pain.
Twilight's ears perked back up as she was drawn out of her deep personal thoughts, a symptom more and more common since she had met him. "I'm fine, just the start of another headache," she lied quickly, her pulse quickening due to his nearness.
"Ah, I'm sorry," he said with a frown, backing off. "If the noise is too bad, we can go," he added, and it was clear from the way he positioned himself that he was ready to get off the stool that very minute.
"No, it's fine," she said hastily, watching with relief as he settled back into his chair. She decided quietly that she would have to find out what he had meant. But for now, even if he didn't think like she thought, she just wanted to be around him. For right now, it didn't change anything.
"One on the house," the bartender said with a smile, sliding Gearrick a shot from down the bar. "But after that you're payin'!"
"On the house? When did you get so generous?" Gearrick asked with a laugh, lifting the shot and eying the bartender.
"When you got famous!" he shouted back, tossing the dishrag over his shoulder and helping another customer.
Twilight smiled as she watched her companion grin and down the shot, sighing happily to himself afterward. For now, it didn't change anything.
There were too many Twilights...
Gearrick chuckled to himself as she lead him out of the bar, leaning on her heavily. Oh yeah, he was drunk. Way drunk, just as drunk as he had imagined being. Or maybe he wasn't... he couldn't remember.
"You're hopeless," he heard her mutter, the two of them making their way to the Nomad.
"I am not!" he said indignantly, though truth be told he wasn't offended in the slightest. But even in his drunk mind, certain things still made sense. If she was going to all this trouble to help his drunk ass out, she at least deserved a few laughs. "See, I got this," he said, taking a deep breath and squinting to better control his wavy vision.
He took a sudden step away from her, and then another not even close to his destination. He quickly lost his balance though, stumbling back into her, where she made a gasping noise as she was unexpectedly forced to catch him again.
He sighed mockingly to himself, ending it all with a smirk. "Okay, you win. I'm hopeless," he admitted.
He was graced with exactly what he had been hoping for; her laughter, pure and simple.
"Alright, Mr. Hopeless, get in," she grumbled good-naturedly, helping him crawl into the passenger seat, where he simply rolled around until he thought he was sitting upright, which took him a few tries.
She laughed again as she made her way back to her side of the car, climbing into the driver's seat, bringing a smile to Gearrick's content, drunken face. He poked at the door blindly until he finally hit the button, closing it and laughing to himself.
"What?" she asked, closing her own door and obviously confused about his random laughter.
"I am really... really drunk..." he chuckled, leaning his head against the dashboard.
She just giggled, watching him quietly for a time. At last she poked him on the shoulder. "Hey, you okay? You still have to help me drive this thing, remember?" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said after a moment, peeling himself off the dashboard. "Don't worry, you'll be an expert in no-time. See that lever by the steering column?" he asked, leaning over and pointing to it.
Easily inferring that she was meant to throw it, Twilight did so, smiling as the headlights came on.
"Alright," Gearrick began, inching closer and pointing to one on the other side of her. "That one next. Oh wait, wait, push this first," he said, tapping at the button for engine one to draw her attention to it. "Then throw that lever, sorry," he chuckled.
"Are you sure you can do this?" she asked skeptically, blushing as he reached across her to point at the starting lever, which she threw, the engine rumbling to life.
"Well yeah, I mean, I'm the best tinker you know," he huffed, sitting back up. "Okay, so, the pedals on the floor... the one on the right is the accelerator, and the other one is the brake. Now that it's running, we're in park, so you have to put the Nomad in 'drive'," he said, pointing at a lever with various marked notches, all of them letters.
"'P' is for park, 'd' for drive, and 'r' for reverse. I forget what the 'n' one is for," he admitted happily. "Anyways, to put it in drive, push the brake down and throw that lever to 'd'," he finished.
Twilight did as he asked, the engine slowing down for a split second before puttering back up to its usual sound.
"Okay, now take your hoof off the brake," Gearrick said, smiling as his drunken mind anticipated her reaction to what was about to occur.
"Um, Gearrick...?" Twilight asked, a slight note of panic in her voice as the Nomad inched forward slowly.
"Relax, relax," he said quietly, coaxing her to remain calm. "We're barely even moving. Now you can turn it with the steering wheel. Right for right, left for left, it's really easy. Just like I said," he explained, smiling as she tested it out, turning the Nomad this way and that.
"Okay, I think I get it," she said, sounding relieved.
"Well, we're not going to get anywhere at this speed," he laughed. "Try the accelerator, but don't push it too hard. I don't want to throw up," he finished, laughing.
"Alright... Here goes," Twilight said, taking a deep breath before stepping down lightly. The Nomad sped up gently, at a perfectly reasonable pace, slowly settling at a manageable speed.
"See? Easy!" Gearrick congratulated, gazing through the windshield as Twilight edged the Nomad to the center of the road, though to be honest with himself he wasn't sure if it was the center or not. Close enough, he'd wager. "Just go however fast is comfortable, okay? I'll let you know when it's time to turn, but just follow this road for now."
"Alright..." she said, her attention clearly focused on the task at hoof.
She was a natural, as near as he could tell. She handled the Nomad just fine, not jerking the steering wheel or juggling the accelerator. She kept going at an even speed, even going a little faster as her confidence built.
Even had he been sober, Gearrick never would have known he was staring. In the lights of passing streetlamps he caught brief, bright glimpses of her. She was so focused, but even when she wasn't looking at him she was pretty. He'd thought she was pretty from the moment he'd first seen her, he knew. After all, he was a stallion, he'd have to be crazy not to have noticed. But thinking like that had always felt inappropriate, so he'd put that to the back of his mind.
Drunk him didn't care if it was appropriate, so he thought it anyways.
The first day of the contest, she had asked so many questions, the two of them had talked about so many things. It hadn't taken him long to realize she was brilliant. Sure she didn't know anything about steamtech, but she had impressed him with her knowledge of various other things, so much so that he had struggled answering some of her questions in depth.
She was clever, funny. Just fun to be around. Gearrick had had the pleasure of drinking with very few ponies, and certainly not mares. But drinking with her had been so easy, the conversation so casual. He'd been a little nervous at first, but that had quickly evaporated when it became clear they were both having a good time.
He had wanted her to have a good time, he knew. Wanted it to the exclusion of his own nervousness, and his first-sight thoughts about her. He had never been particularly good with girls, but it didn't seem to matter with her. Things were easy around her, and only got easier as he spent more time with her.
Just like learning to drive the Nomad, he thought with a chuckle, watching as she studied the road ahead intently, gently turning the steering wheel.
He really wished she wasn't just there for the festival, he realized. Wished that she would stick around, and wished that he had met her sooner. Friends were hard enough to come by as it was, but he could count on one hoof the numbers of girls he had met that he got along with, that he actually liked.
Just this one.
A street sign zipped behind her, the name on it familiar to him, even if it took him a second to recognize it. He shook his head, clearing his drunk, rambling thoughts. He wasn't really embarrassed by them, hadn't even been fully aware what he was thinking about. The memory of his musings quickly faded as he was forced to come back to reality.
"You're going to turn up ahead in two more streets," he said simply, pointing to the right side of the street.
"Alright, is turning hard?" she asked, though she didn't sound worried. She sounded like she was having fun.
Gearrick smiled, a comfortable feeling in his chest as he took in her slight smile. "Not at all."
Twilight sighed as she deposited Gearrick on the couch with her magic. He wasn't half as heavy as some of the things she was used to lifting, so it wasn't a big deal, though he certainly hadn't gotten any less drunk during the drive over. She had been worried he'd fallen asleep in the car, since he'd been so abnormally quiet for so long. But despite his drinking, he didn't seem to be very tired at all.
The only reason she had had to carry him was because stairs were simply out of the question.
"Blah, what a night," he chuckled, rolling around to get more comfortable on the couch.
"I can't imagine the hangover you're going to have tomorrow," she chuckled, taking up the remaining space on the couch.
"Me neither, I'm too drunk," he laughed, and the two of them enjoyed the simple humor together.
"Well, if there's no contest tomorrow, what are your plans?" she asked, not meaning anything by it.
"I dunno. I'll probably wake up late, since I didn't get any sleep last night, and nurse my hangover. Then I'll have to go over the Nomad," he muttered, sighing.
"Sounds like fun...?" Twilight inquired, smiling to herself as he scowled.
"Sounds like work! But it has to be done. Anyways, what are you planning on doing?" he asked, closing his eyes and throwing a foreleg across his face.
"I don't know, to be honest," she admitted, having not thought that far ahead yet this evening.
"Well, you could always hang out with me, 'cept it's probably going to be boring," he grumbled.
Twilight highly doubted that anything concerning him was ever boring, and had to admit that spending another day with him certainly sounded like a plan. Even so, it wouldn't be convenient for him. "You've got work to do, I wouldn't want to have to make you come pick me up or anything like that."
"Well how do you plan on getting home?" he asked after a short delay, that question clearly requiring some processing time to come up with.
"Well, I know a teleportation spell, so I can just jump back to the hotel," she said simply, as if it weren't a big deal.
"Sounds complicated," Gearrick admitted, sounding impressed. "If you want, you can just stay here. I'll take the couch, you can have the bed. Then you don't have to teleport, and I don't have to pick you up. Everypony wins," he said evenly, not opening his eyes.
Twilight blushed, but unlike the time at the bar it didn't seem to click in his own head that he had just offered to let her stay the night at his place.
Remembering the time at the bar only brought back that feeling of rejection. Why would he offer to let her stay so easily, after having said something like that? Did he really just think of her casually, when she thought so deeply about him? It didn't seem fair, or right.
She looked him over. He had a foreleg draped over his eyes, but a slight smile on his lips. He seemed so carefree, spoke so freely. After a moment of debating, she decided that it couldn't hurt to ask. He might not even remember it in the morning anyways.
"Gearrick...?" she asked hesitantly, blushing even though he wasn't looking at her.
He just grunted in reply, a simple affirmative that he was listening.
"At the bar, you said you didn't want to give anypony the wrong idea..." she began slowly, but she realized at length that, having gone this far, she couldn't back down. "What did you mean? You don't like the idea of ponies seeing us together?"
Gearrick lifted his leg and eyed her from underneath it, a curious expression on his face. "No, that's not what I meant at all. It seems like I say a lot of things that get jumbled," he said with an exasperated sigh.
"Then what?" she asked, slightly relieved already to hear that.
"I just meant I don't want anypony getting the wrong idea about you. Girls from out of town have a bad reputation for things like that," he admitted sheepishly. "I don't want anypony thinking of you like that, especially not because of me."
Twilight's blush deepened as she realized the chivalry in that. She had completely misunderstood, in reality he had just been defending her honor. "Why?" she asked, unable to formulate any other thought.
Gearrick smiled at her, a strange smile she didn't recognize. "Because you aren't like other girls from out of town. A lot of them really are that kind of mare, but you're different. Smart, clever, funny. Knowing you like I've come to know you, I can't imagine anyone thinking so badly of you."
Twilight's heart skipped a beat as he looked deep into her eyes, her blush burning from the words of praise, words that only moments ago would have been the last thing she expected to hear. She had been so afraid he didn't like her, but that's not what it sounded like at all!
She stumbled for something to say, trapped by her throbbing heart and his eyes, but in the end it was Gearrick who broke the silence.
"You're just too beautiful to be a mare like that," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Yet his tone carried a tenderness to it, the tone of something he deeply believed, and meant.
Twilight stared at him, wide-eyed and completely shocked, her breath caught and her cheeks burning.
He noted her reaction, his ears drooping. "I said something I shouldn't have again, didn't I?" he asked, sitting up and looking away from her, sighing to himself, his head in his hooves.
He had no way of knowing just how deeply those words reached her heart, how clearly Twilight could see their sincerity. Or how wonderful they felt, after the feelings she had been struggling with over him, no matter how recent they were. She knew he wasn't lying, wasn't just saying them; he was too basic in his drunken state, too open.
Unable to help herself, Twilight inched across the couch until she was in front of him, and turned his face back to her, smiling gently and blushing like mad.
"No... You said exactly what I wanted to hear," she said quietly. She kissed him suddenly, unexpectedly. Unexpected to the both of them, for she was far beyond her own control, her heart at the reins. It was just a light kiss, caught somewhere between a thank you and her heart's true desire, unsure of which side it was on.
She withdrew suddenly with a gasp. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to-," she started, but he pulled her back, kissing her again. It was deeper, more full, yet not given to wild passion. Just gentle, a confirmation of her romantic leap of faith. She placed her hooves on his chest gently, leaning into him and the kiss she so badly wanted.
"Don't be sorry," he whispered, seeming somewhat unsure himself as the two of them came apart slightly. "That just means you heard it exactly like I meant it."