Trixie was not enjoying her time in this forest. It was bad enough that Twilight Sparkle had embarrassed her in front of the entire town of Ponyville, but now she had to live in her trailer in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Not that she had any other choice: it was the only place where she could study about magic in peace. The showmare was determined to show that Twilight just what she could do!
At least, that was her plan. In practice, it added up to her having to scavenge out for food half the time, and hiding in her trailer while various creatures skulked outside (But she wasn't scared. Only... conservative about her interactions with the animal populations). There was hardly any time to learn new spells, but she stayed anyway, determined to be successful. After all, there was little else to do out here; she knew she was completely isolated.
So imagine her surprise when, after a rather lengthy trip for some food, she happened to see a badly injured stallion limping nearby. He spotted Trixie, and hobbled over.
Despite his injuries, he spoke rather calmly. "Hey, y- you're that Trixie pony, right? I'm a big fan."
Trixie was caught off guard by this stallion's sudden appearance, and his apparent ignorance for his injuries, yet the mention of him being a fan of hers filled her with pride. "Yes, that is me. What are you doing out here?"
"Th- That's not important." The unknown stallion winced and took a few deep breaths. "What I mean to say, is, would you kindly help me out with this?"
This was... unusual. A random stallion just happened to wander up to her home in the forest, and was asking for medical attention. True, it seemed like he needed it, but she couldn't help but feel that something was... off about him. Ignoring her suspicions, she answered. "Yes, anything for a fan of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She led him inside her trailer, where she immediately began searching through her assorted spell books for something that would help. She didn't have any first-aid supplies, due to her short-sighted mindset that she wouldn't need any, so she hoped to find a spell that would prove useful.
Eventually, she flipped to what she hoped would work in the situation. "Alright, now stand still, and let Trixie try this," she instructed the stallion. He obliged as her horn lit up with magic. After taking time to concentrate her energy into the spell, a blue beam shot out of her horn, going into the injured stallion. At first, he was confused, but confusion gave way to relief as his multiple bruises and cuts began to disappear, as if they never existed in the first place. Once he was fully healed, the beam separated from the stallion and retracted back into Trixie's horn. Once it had completely dissipated, she collapsed slightly from exhaustion.
"Thank you so much, Trixie!" the stallion proclaims while shaking his fore legs around, as if to make sure they still worked. Before the showmare could respond, he bounded out the door.
"H- Hey! Wait!" She started to give chase, but stopped to put her spell book back in its rightful place. Once that was done, she ran outside. She expected to find the stallion galloping away, but instead she found him balanced on his hind legs, leaning back on her trailer. A cigarette was in his mouth, somehow lit despite the lack of ways to ignite it.
"...What are you still doing here?" a flabbergasted Trixie asked.
The stallion took the cigarette into his hoof before answering. "There was just one more thing I wanted to say to you, Trixie." Placing the cigarette back to his mouth, he inhaled a long drag before he let the smoke out in one smooth breath. At the same time, a cloud of reddish smoke enveloped him, shocking Trixie into silence. When the smoke clears, a bipedal, suited, masked figure wearing a white fedora stood in the stallion's place, still holding the cigarette. In a new, heavily-accented voice, he speaks:
"Thank you for being such a dear friend."
With that, the mysterious figure flicks his cigarette away and walked away. As Trixie watches, paralyzed from shock, he walks a few feet away before disappearing from sight completely. She stands there in silence for another minute, before she went back into her trailer, muttering, "That's the last time I eat those mushrooms..."
"Alright, hard-hat, whaddya got that's so damn important, and why did Pyro need to come in?"
"Simple. A machine that can translate what Pyro says."
"Mmph?"
"Yeah, Pyro. Now we can finally understand what the hell you're sayin'."
"Okay, I gotta admit, that's pretty cool, if it works."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure it will. Now just stand here, Pyro, let me plug this in... put this here... insert these wires into the port... There we go! Now, Pyro: say something."
"Mphmph."
"Hello."
"It works! Holy crap, we can understand that mumbling freak now! Err, no offense."
"Mmph mmphmph."
"None taken."
"How'd ya do that anyway, hard-hat?"
"Oh, I just took the voice boxes out of some of them robots, and worked some of my magic on them all, and threw this together. It's not entirely finished, though; I still have to make a version that is portable, and all."
"Still, I guess it's as good a place t' start as any. Now, Pyro?"
"Mphmph?"
"Yes?"
"I've been dyin' to ask you, and sorry if I offend, but... are you a chick? Ohgodpleasedon'tsetmeonfire."
"...Mmph, mmph mph mrmph mph mmmphmmmph mmmph, mph mrph mmphmph mph mmmph mph!"
"No."
"...oh."
"Well, that was... anticlimactic."