//------------------------------// // Pumps And Jacks // Story: Equestria's Outcasts // by TheFullCrumb //------------------------------// Hammer awoke to hammering and the sounds of steel being pounded. Groggily, he stood up. When he opened up his bedroom door, he could see a light on in his workshop. Rubbing his eyes with his hoof, he slowly descended the stairs, his vision slightly blurry from sleep. When he got to the entrance to his workshop, he was greeted with the sight of Pumpjack building something out of smelted Iron. "Pumpjack, WHAT are you doing?" She looked up at him sheepishly, a hammer in her mouth. She spat it out before she decided to talk to Hammer. "I'm building a pump. There has to be some kind of water source nearby, right?" Hammer shook his head. "Pumpjack, what are you even DOING in here this early in the morning?" She stopped, seeming to be deep in thought. "I can't get one thing out of my head; the reason I'm here. The reason I had to run from my hometown before they found out what I accidentally did." Hammer walked up beside her, and tapped her on the back. "Go ahead, you can tell me." She walked out of the workshop when he said that, and trotted over to the kitchen. The sounds of banging pots and chopping could be heard emanating from the kitchen. When Hammer got over to the kitchen area. Pumpjack had already made him, and herself, breakfast. Hammer looked at her quizzically. She shook her head and sighed. "I find it easier to talk when you're eating." As Hammer began eating, Pumpjack began her sad, sad tale of her and her pumps. She had gotten interested in pumps when she was a little filly. She had lived on a frontier town, similar to Appleloosa, and they had always had a problem with irrigation. Her father was a farmer, and he always gave her metal that he found in their field when he was tilling the barely arable soil. She began playing around with it, and in a little while, she began making parts out of it. She was asked a few years later how she did it. She never knew why, she just knew she 'knew' how to build pumps. Each part became a piece, and each piece fit into the pump like a jigsaw puzzle. Her father often watched her during the times she was awake, as she worked with a single minded purpose towards building the pump. About ten or eleven days later, the pump was completed. Her father directed her to a site where they had once drawn water. She planted her pump, and switched it on. The pump rumbled to life, and it began drawing out water. Her father was incredibly proud, and immediately shared the good news with every pony in the town. "My daughter is the greatest filly a father could want! We won't have a drought this year! She made a pump that's drawing out water RIGHT NOW!" Everypony in town galloped to see this 'pump' in action. It was drawing out a continuous supply of fresh water, and everypony celebrated the very first Frontier Pump Day. Now fast forward fourteen years. Pumpjack was a full grown mare, and she was the most sought after pony in the entire town. She wouldn't look at most of the stallions in town, mostly because her work came first. There came a day when her first pump broke down. It had lasted for fourteen years, being used only in droughts, of course. She was asked to fix it. When she got to the pump, it lay in pieces all over, as if somepony had smashed it, and left the pieces there as some kind of testament to their cruelty. She sighed and picked up the pieces of the pump, levitating the pieces back into place. But when she turned on the pump, water wasn't what came out. Raw sewage came flowing out. An investigation later found that sewage had been leaking into the aquifer for some time. One pony came forward, and placed the entire blame on Pumpjack's water pump. The ponies were quick to turn on her, after all she had done for them. They chased her out of town, her crying the entire time. She ran for a long time, and eventually made her way to the Everfree Forest. "That's when I spotted yer workshop, Hammer. I would've hated to sleep outside in the cold." Hammer patted her on the head. "That's just horrible what that one pony did! Why would he do something like that?" She looked at me, and sighed. "She. It was a she, and she was plumb jealous o' me. She too had wanted to do pumps, but it was more because she wanted ta compete with me." Hammer laughed. Whoever that pony had been, she was vindictive, but also not unlike his siblings, before they threw him out of his home, and tried to do inventing themselves. "Somewhat like what my family was like. My brothers were all jealous of me, and got my parents to cast me out, and they tried their hand at inventing. Let's just say that it was night-time, and it turned to day for about four seconds." Pumpjack laughed hard enough that tears began flowing from her eyes. "Yer a far cry from what I pegged ya as, Hammer. Ya had one loony family!" She turned to her pump. "Yer motor doesn't have no fuel pump, Hammer." Hammer walked over, and took a look. He nodded at his motor. "Every time I've built a fuel pump, it's always ended up detonating the motor, and blowing up the entire cart. I kind of gave up on it." Pumpjack stared at him, and silently went to installing her pump on his motor. He watched as she quickly attached and connected hoses, and wiring to the pump, and was in awe when she finally welded the pump onto the motor. She flipped the switch on the cart's control panel. Hammer hid behind the door to his workshop, afraid of it exploding, and taking him out with it. Instead, it roared to life, as it should have when he first tried making it. Pumpjack laughed. "Well, that pump's one beauty. No two pumps I build are ever the same. Roarin' like a dog, purrin' like a kitten. I tell ya, sounds like success ta me." As Hammer was about to prepare the cart for a test drive, a grey Pegasus, wearing black-framed glasses, with hair as black as night, zoomed through the window. He stood up, brushed himself off, and looked at the cart. "I wanna CATCH A RIDE!" He began circling the cart, while Hammer and Pumpjack stared at him in disbelief. "I mean LOOK AT IT! You can paint it all kinds of pretty colours ta boot!" He began hopping around the cart, laughing away as if he'd found a long-lost toy. "It's a motorized vehicle! IT'S A MOTORIZED VEHICLE! WHEE!" Hammer had to buck the Pegasus into the wall before he even acknowledged that Pumpjack and Hammer were even there. Hammer got right up in his face. It was obvious he wasn't happy. "What in the high heavens do you think you're doing?! You can't just barge into other pony's workshops and expect to test drive a motorized vehicle as soon as you see it!" The Pegasus seemed to be upset by that sentence. He stared at Hammer. "You all get along now." Hammer stood between the Pegasus and the cart. "You're not taking my cart, and that's final." The Pegasus backed up. "WHOA! Didn't mean no harm by asking, sir. I mean, I heard it from pretty far up in the sky. I can't help myself when I get near motorized vehicles; I was a test driver for a while; my Cutie Mark proves it!" And it indeed proved the Pegasus' claims. His Cutie Mark was a wheel with wings on it, signifying a talent with motorized vehicles. "Well, I guess so. You're cleared then. I have a hard time trusting other ponies, especially Pegasi, since my workshop two years ago was destroyed by one. Don't ask the particulars; he got away scot-free." The Pegasus stared at Hammer, then smiled. "You seem like a good pony. My name's Scooter, and I'm a test driver!" Scooter began laughing his head off as he sat on the cart, waiting for the workshop's large front door to open. Hammer stood by the switch to open it, reluctant to let the Pegasus test drive his motorized cart. "Don't worry! She'll be back in one piece!" Hammer opened the door, and Scooter gunned the cart, blasting through the open doors. He was long gone before Hammer closed the workshop doors. Pumpjack looked at him in shock. "How could ya trust that Pegasus? He barged right in, and plumb begged ta use yer motorized thing. Plumb rude, I tells ya. Plumb rude!" No sooner had she finished saying that when Hammer heard the motor roaring right outside the workshop door. Opening the large door, he backed up quickly to get out of Scooter's way before he would accidentally trash something. "HOO-WHEE! That's some ride! By the way, I don't think I caught your name, sir." Hammer smiled. As he began speaking, his smiled literally melted off his face. "I'm Hammer, this is Pumpjack. Welcome to the Wheelworks." Scooter began laughing in giddiness. "WHEELWORKS! WHEELWORKS! YEAH!" He began bouncing around again. Hammer stopped him, and asked him a very important question. "Why are you even out HERE, Scooter? No Pegasus I've met EVER comes near the Everfree Forest. They think it's haunted or something like that." Scooter laughed, but then a worried, and depressed look came over his face. "I got kicked out of Cloudsdale. They said they got no use for a Pegasus who preferred to be on the ground, driving. Didn't really care, either way." He perked up, the thought of an idea playing out across his face. "Hey, could I stay here? I mean, I don't got no place to go. It would be nice to stay in such a nice place, too." Hammer shook his head and sighed. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret this, but fine. You can stay here, Scooter." Scooter started bouncing around, YET AGAIN, and bounced all the way to the kitchen, where falling pots, and some insults were overheard. Hammer laughed and rubbed his forehead. "That Scooter's going to be a trouble maker. Still, he SEEMS honest enough." Hammer began writing down the plans for the cart motor. For him, with Pumpjack's fuel pump, it had been a momentous achievement. Pumpjack cantered into the kitchen, and witnessed a fairly embarrassed Scooter, covered in pots, and trying to get them off of him. She chuckled under her breath, and began pulling pots off of Scooter. "Ya clumsy foal! Ya kin hurt yaself pretty terrible if'n you do that again." Scooter stood up and laughed. "I'm nigh indestructible! Nothing can hurt-" He didn't even finish his sentence before Pumpjack lifted him up with her magic, and threw him against the nearest wall, causing him to cry out in pain. "Indestructible? I doubt that." Hammer walked into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. He arrived to see Scooter and Pumpjack playing a strange game with pots and jar lids. He shook his head and sighed. "You're both going to end up driving me insane! Pumpjack, you're better, but SCOOTER! Why do you have to be such a troublemaker?" Scooter shrugged. He stared at Pumpjack's pot, and tried to toss a lid in. It bounced off, and hit Hammer in the eye. Scooter looked up. "It's just my nature. I can't help it that I'm so rambunctious!" Hammer laughed. He then proceeded to pick up a lid, and throw it at Scooter. "Just don't do that again, okay, Scooter?" Scooter stood up, but ended up falling over laughing. He got up again, and put a pot on Hammer's head. "Yes SIR, General Pot!" He fell over laughing again. Hammer looked pleadingly at Pumpjack. "This pony doesn't make ANY sense." Pumpjack used her magic and picked Scooter up off the floor. She walked away, still holding him suspended in the air. He quickly learned it wasn't smart to tick off a unicorn, and began trying to get free. Pumpjack knocked his head into the door frame to get him to cut it out. "You ain't gettin' out o' my grip, ya blasted varmint. If'n ya please, don't get around destroying the workshop. Hammer worked hard on it, ya see?" Scooter sat still. His head was still pounding from her smashing him into the wall. He didn't want to risk any kind of permanent damage. "Okay, I'll behave; just put me down!" Pumpjack set him down quite roughly. "Fun killers." Hammer just sighed and shook his head. "And he says they don't want him around because he prefers to drive." Hammer showed Scooter a room he could have. Scooter bounced into the room, flopping down on the bed, and promptly falling to sleep. "Must have been dead tired, or he's just being an annoyance." Hammer left the room, Scooter still snoring away. He walked to Pumpjack, and began planning out the motorized cart's shape with her. "There'd have to be enough room for at least four ponies, especially a Pegasus. The Summer Solstice Festival is in three days. Imagine their faces when we arrive in town DRIVING. They'd die of jealousy! Ha!" Hammer and Pumpjack shook hooves, and began work on the exterior of the motorized cart, which they decided to call the Phoenix. They worked throughout the day, and most of the following night. When they completed the framework and detailing, it was a beauty to behold. The paneling worked perfectly with the shape of the vehicle, and there was enough room for a few extra motors to make the cart move faster. "That's one great vehicle right there, Pumpjack. I doubt I'd have finished it so quickly without your help." Pumpjack smiled, and got inside. It seemed very roomy. "Try it out, Hammer! Yer gonna love it!" Hammer hopped in the driver's seat. It WAS really comfortable. "They'll EXPLODE with jealousy when they see this! Ha ha! Well, I should hide the keys, so you-know-who won't try to take it and test drive it before we get a chance to use it. I tell you, Pumpjack, Scooter's a troublemaker, but I think he's got good intentions in his heart." Pumpjack laughed at him quite vigorously. "The road to an early grave is paved with good intentions." They opened up the door, to see a curious pony sitting outside, watering a small plant in a pot using a small bottle of water. She seemed quite fragile, that filly with a green olive coat, and bright green hair. When they opened the door, she stood up quickly, and bowed her head as if to apologize. She mumbled what sounded like an apology, and raised her head, revealing smiling green eyes, and one doozy of a nervous smile. Hammer walked up to her slowly, and tried starting a conversation with her. "Hi, my name's Hammer. I was just wondering, what are you doing all the way here, in the Everfree Forest?" She looked up at him, the nervousness slightly disappearing from her face. She sat down, and spoke in a quiet and timid voice. "Hi. I'm Beanstalk. Ponies were mad at me, and tried to be meanies by destroying my bean plants. I had only one left, and this was the only place where I could grow it in peace." Hammer patted her on the head, a gesture which seemed to alarm her. Hammer backed up, sat down, and held up his front hooves apologetically. "I'm sorry. Those of us here at the Wheelworks, we're kind of in the same situation. We're all here because ponies were mad at us. You're welcome to grow your plants out here, as many as you want." When Hammer had said this, Beanstalk leaped at him, and squeezed him in an incredibly tight hug. Her voice was positively BUBBLING with happiness. Her voice was significantly higher in pitch when she spoke. "I'm so happy! You're the first pony to be nice to me ever, so I'll call you my big brother!" She squeezed him again, that time much harder. Hammer was having a hard time breathing. "That's... all.... fine..... and.... dandy. Could.... you..... STOP..... squeezing.... me?" She stopped, realizing she was hurting her 'big brother'. "I'm sorry, big brother. I didn't mean to. Please don't be mad." Hammer was breathing deeply, and turned back to Beanstalk. "Just never do that again. That REALLY hurts. You're definitely a farmer, Beanstalk; you've certainly got the strength." She smiled sweetly at Hammer, like a little sister would. He walked her inside, and gave her a choice of rooms. She kept insisting on the room next to his, and wouldn't take any other rooms; in the end, he gave in, and let her have the one to the left of his. Pumpjack was smiling smugly as Beanstalk jabbered away at Hammer about beans and all their healthy uses. He looked like he was about to fall asleep. She walked in, and interjected in the middle of Beanstalk's monologue. "I know yer oh so happy, Beanstalk, but ya gotta know when ta quit silliness, and be serious. Hammer's plumb about to fall asleep on ya, and yer still jabberin' on like he wasn't! Please, let Hammer be." Beanstalk pouted as she trotted out of the room, content to sleep in the room to the left of Hammer's. Hammer looked at Pumpjack. "Thanks for saving me, yet again. I don't think I could take anymore of that. It's tiring enough to deal with Scooter, but now I have a filly calling me 'big brother'. Of all the things, my life had to end up like this. Well, it's not ALL bad, I guess."