“Well,” said Tech Specs, beating a heavy sigh, “that’s my experience with the princess.”
“That makes sense,” reasoned Twilight Sparkle, who trotted alongside the blue unicorn. “No wonder you don’t want to go to Canterlot.”
“Exactly,” replied Tech, “because I can’t.”
Twilight noticed a minor change in the blue unicorn’s tone, and decided to bring it up. “Well,” said she, “you say that like it’s the only reason.” Tech gave Twilight a look of confusion, to which the purple mare replied, “as in, you’d go back if you could.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Tech, looking to the sky in thought. “I mean, I haven’t really got anything against the city, or even the Princess. She hates me; not vice versa.”
“Wait,” began a confused Rainbow Dash, who was flying just above the group of four mares trotting behind Tech and Twilight. “Not that I approve of hating the Princess, but you’re saying that after she kicked you out of your home and home city, you don’t have any problem with her?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” replied Tech Specs in a very matter-of-fact tone.
“Well, why?” asked the blue pegasus.
“Because if she hadn’t exiled me from Canterlot,” explained Tech, “then I’d never have come to Fillydelphia, I’d never have met Uhrwerk, and I’d never have discovered what I love to do.” The blue unicorn looked to Twilight and the others and added, “if I’m honest, being banished is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
After the group trotted along the sidewalk for a short time, they came to Tech’s street, where Twilight Sparkle’s balloon was waiting for her. “Well, here we are,” remarked Tech Specs, “I think you lot had better be going, eh? You’ve probably got things to do, yeah?”
“Not really,” replied Twilight, saying what Tech was hoping not to hear. “It’s the weekend; we have time to stay here for a while.”
“Oh, well, okay then,” said Tech in a disappointed tone. “Well, better come in, then.” The unicorn ran a hoof through her short mane as she approached the doors to her shop and opened them.
Fluttershy picked up on the blue unicorn’s tone, and decided to intervene. “Umm, I’m sorry,” timidly announced she, “but I have to get back to the cottage, or Angel will be so mad at me. You don’t mind, do you, Tech?”
Tech Specs, noticing the yellow mare’s plan, smiled and answered, “why, of course I don’t mind, Fluttershy. Can’t have our friends mad at us, can we?” Fluttershy sheepishly nodded.
“I gotta agree with Fluttershy, Twi,” added Applejack. “Big Macintosh and I have been planning on addin’ onto our barn tomorrow. And with what we’re expectin’ from next Applubuckin’ Season, we’ll need it.”
After Applejack, everypony else added a reason not to stay: Rarity had a big order to fill by the middle of the week, Pinkie Pie needed to help plan for a party for the Cakes’ anniversary, and Rainbow Dash said she had an appointment with the Weather Patrol.
“Oh, well,” replied Twilight, “I guess we’ll be out of your mane then.” She turned to walk toward her balloon and added, “if you like, I could visit sometime this week.”
“Yeah, that’ll be fine,” agreed Tech almost reluctantly before adding, “and I’ll write. My P.O. box is 153.” As Twilight Sparkle nodded and turned away from the group, Tech looked to the five mares before her and nodded, silently thanking them. “And, Rarity,” added she, looking to the white unicorn, “I’ll have that jewelry we discussed ready in a few days.” In response, Rarity smiled brightly and nodded.
The five ponies said their goodbyes to Tech Specs and Blades, and the pair returned the gesture. The groups parted ways, and the six mares and Spike boarded their balloon and took flight, waving to Tech and Blades as they floated slowly out of sight. At that point, the pair decided to retire to their shop.
Once inside, Tech sat down at her desk and produced from a drawer a piece of parchment and a rather odd-looking quill. The tip of the quill was a curved needle-like piece of steel which was split at the centre. Tech shook the strange device and, placing it in her mouth, began taking notes. “Request: jewelry,” wrote she, “material: Auro-Agnious alloy. Customer: Rarity of Ponyville.” As she put her quill on her desk, she thought for a second, then asked her dragon friend, “do you have any idea where I can get gold and silver?”
Blades thought about the question for a second before answering. “Umm,” said he, “I think a jeweler might have some scrap lying around. There’s a jewelry store on 5th Street, yeah?”
“I believe so,” replied Tech. The unicorn trotted into her workshop for a few seconds, and re-emerged wearing her saddlebags and smiling brightly. “Only one way to find out, Blades,” beamed she. The orange dragon nodded. Tech then opened her desk drawer containing the bags of bits and took one, putting it in her bag. “It’s only 1612 Hours; we’ve got time to pay the jeweler a visit.” Tech happily trotted out the door to her shop, with Blades closely following suit.
The pair walked down the sidewalk for a few blocks until they came to a street sign labeled “5th Street,” at which they turned and proceeded. 5th Street was a large street which bore factories, mills, and a few small shops in between the larger buildings, as well as a restaurant which was housed in an old factory building.
After a few more minutes of searching, Tech and Blades finally came across the shop they were looking for. The storefront was simple, like that of Tech’s shop, except this store had iron bars over the windows. A sign above the door was labeled, “Ruby and Jade’s.” Tech knocked on the door, and heard a female voice call from behind the door. “Yes, please, come in,” said the voice quickly, a noticeable accent present. The unicorn complied and opened the door, leading Blades in with her.
As Tech Specs entered the room, the smell of incense filled her nostrils. The room was lit by various candles and paper lanterns about the room, and the walls bore intricate designs of gold and black. Various cultural items adorned the walls as well, such as scrolls and a few small statues on shelves. In glass floor shelves lay various necklaces, earrings, and fob watches, all very intricately crafted. Tech looked about the room for a few more seconds before the same voice caught her attention. “Can we help you?” The source of the voice was an aged, dark gold-coloured Winged Ibex. She was noticeably smaller than Tech Specs, and very slender. Her eyes were a brilliant scarlet, but they were as slender as she, and a trio of hexagonal rubies adorned her flank.
“Umm, yes,” replied Tech, “are you the jeweler?”
The small Ibex nodded. “Yeah. My daughter and I are jewelers.” She then turned to a door at the back of the room and said, rather shouted a few words in what Tech could infer as a foreign language. Another female voice responded with similar words, and its source became visible as the door opened.
The ibex in the doorway had wings as well, a coat of rich silver, and stood taller than the gold Ibex. She was slender, as were her deep green eyes, and her flank was decorated with three octagonal jade stones. The ibex smiled brightly as she introduced herself to Tech Specs. “Hello, Miss. I am Jade, and this is my mother, Ruby," said she, pointing a hoof to the other ibex. “How may we help you?”
Blades’ jaw dropped at the sight of the silver ibex. Jade looked at the baby dragon, and simply giggled lightly at him. “Tech,” whispered the dragon to his friend, “she’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“Blades, behave,” whispered Tech to the dragon, nudging him with the side of her head. Tech then explained Rarity’s order to the ibex pair and told them that she needed some scrap gold and silver to use, and that she would pay.
The two ibex looked at each other, before Jade answered, “we no have scrap gold. What we can’t use, we melt down and send back home to be remade.”
“Oh, well, okay then,” replied Tech, a bit disappointed. She then thought for a second and optimistically asked, “would you pair happen to know where I could find some, then?”
Ruby looked into space for a few seconds and then suggested, “your best bet would be go to pawn shop and buy cheap gold jewelry, then melt it down yourself.”
“I see,” responded the blue mare. “Well, thank you for your troubles, Madames.” Tech bowed her head respectfully to the two ibex, who returned the gesture. Then, Tech exited the shop.
The pair walked another block down 5th Street until they noticed a strange sign protruding from a building on the other side of the road. The sign was of one gold ball hanging from a pole, with another ball on either side, connected by an arch. “I know what that is,” said Blades, looking at the sign, “It’s the universal symbol for pawn shops.”
“You’re right, Blades," Tech Specs looked rather impressed as she confirmed her dragon counterpart’s statement.
Inside, Tech Specs found exactly what she was looking for: some pieces of pure gold jewelry, and some of pure silver, all of which confirmed by a few tests Tech had run on them. Altogether, after slight haggling, she payed slightly more than 150 bits for the lot, including two silver bracelets, a gold bracelet, a set of gold beads, and a cheaply made gold necklace. With their newly acquired materials, Tech and Blades headed for home.
The pair arrived at their shop and home in half an hour with nothing eventful happening. Inside their workshop, Tech produced a thick iron pot and an iron rod just as thick from a wooden crate, and then took these things to an empty work table, where she removed her saddlebags and took a box of matches, a pair of thick leather hoof guards, and a strange steel device from a drawer at the table. The device looked like a curved steel tube with a handle, a lever, and a long rubber tube going from one end of the thing to a large tank on the floor. The mare then put all of her recently purchased jewelry into the iron pot. Blades, meanwhile, sat on the table’s bench and watched the unicorn turn a lever on the tank, turn the one on the steel tube, then strike a match. She held the match in front of the nozzle, producing an orange flame, which turned blue with a few adjustments Tech made to the lever on the torch. With the torch in one hoof and the iron rod in the other, Tech melted the gold and silver, stirring the now molten materials carefully as it bubbled and boiled.
“It’s just like making stew,” explained Tech to Blades, “you’ve got to mix it just right or else it won’t come out right.” Blades nodded and stood up on the bench to get a better look at the molten metals. “Blades,” began the unicorn again, “could you fetch me four of the bar moulds, please?”
Blades saluted to Tech and ran to another table and opened a drawer on it. From it, the dragon took four large pieces of iron, each one with a deep rectangular indentation in it. Carrying the heavy iron with ease, Blades climbed atop the work bench opposite Tech and slid the moulds onto the table.
Tech Specs turned the levers on the torch and tank again, closing the valves and snuffing the flame. “Stand back, Blades,” ordered she as she picked up the pot and held it above one mould. Blades complied, and Tech began pouring. Sparks began to fly as the molten metal filled one mould. The pair could feel the intense heat emanating from the mixture as Tech finished pouring it into each mould. The metal bubbled lightly, but not enough to pop. “Well,” announced Tech, “that should do it. We’ll have to let it cool overnight, but keep an eye on it also.”
“So,” began Blades, “what do we do now?” He looked about the workshop, not seeing anything particularly interesting to do.
Tech shrugged and replied, “same thing we do every slow day, I guess.” She then trotted up the stairs to the living quarters. After a minute or two, she returned, holding a suitcase. she placed the case on the last empty table and opened it, revealing a steel chessboard with two full sets of pieces, one of ponies, and the other of dragons.
Upon seeing the set, Blades smiled brightly. “Yes!” exclaimed he, “I love chess!”
Tech Specs and Blades proceeded to set up the chessboard and pieces, Tech taking the Ponies, and Blades the Dragons. Tech Specs began the game, sliding with her hoof a Pawn, shaped like an Earth Pony holding a sword, two places ahead. Blades retaliated by moving a Knight, resembling a Wyvern with his wings spread, in place to attack the Pawn should it move once more. The game lasted over two hours, each move by both players precisely calculated. Blades lost six Pawns, a Rook, both Bishops, and both Knights. Tech, on the other hoof, lost seven Pawns, both Bishops, her Queen, and a Knight, before being put into Checkmate by Blades’ Rook and Queen.
“Blast!” exclaimed the blue mare at the defeat. “You win, Blades.” She then knocked over her King with her hoof in defeat.
Blades smiled and threw his arms into the air. “Awesome! I won!” shouted he. “Want to play again, Tech?”
Tech looked to the clock on the other table, which marked a quarter til Nine. “Hmm,” said Tech in thought, “we should have dinner, first.” She then smiled and looked to her dragon companion before adding, “and then we can play as many matches as you like, eh?”
For their dinner, Tech Specs and Blades concocted a Bitish curry, the recipe for which was taught to Tech by Floyd Rose. The mare even added a few emeralds for Blades to enjoy, which he did.
After their meal, they returned to their workshop where they racked up games of chess, victory almost equally divided between the Unicorn and Dragon, but Blades ultimately obtaining the most wins.
“Alright!” shouted the orange dragon as he drew another mark on a piece of parchment, one side labeled, “T,” and the other “B.” “That’s 8 wins to your 5, Tech,” said he, holding the parchment in the air.
“What can I say,” responded Tech, sounding proud of her dragon companion. “You’re quite the little strategist, Blades.” She then looked to her clock, and almost jumped when she saw the clock’s hands marking 6:18 in the morning. “Well,” said she nonchalantly, “not an hour of sleep, and yet I don’t feel tired at all. Shall we play again, Blades?” She looked to the other end of the board to notice the dragon, sleeping face-down on the steel table. Tech thought for a moment and concluded that Blades had been on a rush of adrenaline when playing chess; then, when that wore off, he was overwhelmed by fatigue. “Oh, well,” muttered Tech to herself as she took her friend upstairs to put him to bed, kissing his cheek and nodding to the photo of the stallion in her room, as per usual. She then decided to get to work on Rarity’s jewelry.
The initial phase of any work Tech does is all about blueprints: contemplating, sketching, taking notes, and coming to a decision on paper as to what to do. She decided that with her four bars of gold-silver alloy, she would fashion two bracers for Rarity’s forelegs, a neckpiece, and a tiara laden with jewels corresponding to Rarity’s Cutie Mark, three four-sided diamonds, which Tech obtained from the bag of random gemstones she kept for Blades to eat. With all of her materials and a few necessary tools quite literally on the table, Tech remembered that she had mail to check at the local post office. She decided against waking Blades, figuring that she wouldn’t be gone long. With a saddlebag and a pouch of bits to pay her P.O. Box fee, she headed toward 9th Street, where the Fillydelphia Post Office stood.
The Fillydelphia Post Office was but two or three miles from her shop, and thus Tech Specs got there in little over half an hour. The inside of the office was rather plain: grey walls, almost no windows, and a large, white front counter with three receptionists’ stations, two of which were serving customers. The third receptionist, a dark red-coated Earth Mare with a bright neon-coloured mane, who looked to be at least few years younger than Tech, rested her head on one foreleg, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to not be in that building.
Tech happily trotted to the mare and greeted her. “Good day, Strobe,” said she, still smiling.
The red mare lifted her head up, looking a bit happier to see the blue unicorn. “Hey, Tech,” replied she, “what’s up?”
“I’ve just come for my mail,” replied Tech, “Box 153." In an attempt to make conversation, the unicorn added, “by the way, I didn’t know you got a job here.”
“Oh, yeah,” said the mare, named Strobe, who complained, “can you believe my folks made me get a weekend job?”
“Come, now, it can’t be all bad,” reasoned Tech. “Maybe now you could save up enough to buy that synthesiser you’ve been looking at.”
Strobe nodded at the suggestion. “Yeah,” said she, “yesterday they dropped the price on the thing, too. I’m thinking I should snatch it up before somepony else does.” Feeling quite a bit better than before, Strobe turned to a door behind the counter, saying to Tech, “I almost forgot to grab your mail,” as she trotted through the door.
After less than a minute, Strobe re-emerged from the door, holding in her teeth a stack of envelopes. The mare dropped them on the counter in front of Tech and slid them to her. “By the way,” added she, tapping a hoof on the envelope highest on the stack, “a mailmare from Ponyville brought this letter earlier this morning.”
“Right then. Thank you, Strobe,” thanked Tech, swapping the stack of mail for 10 bits on the counter. “This is for my box fee,” informed the mare. Strobe nodded and crunched the numbers into her station’s register, giving Tech a receipt. “Thank you,” repeated the unicorn as she walked out the door of the post office and headed back home.
Back at the shop, Tech Specs cast her mail onto an empty table in her workshop and was about to get to work on her jewelry project when she thought about something. “It’s kind of quiet in here,” thought Tech, “I can fix that.” She then trotted up the stairs to her storage room. Inside this small room were stacks of wooden crates and cardboard boxes, all labeled to be miscellaneous items. She opened one labeled, “music,” and produced a turntable. “Perfect,” thought she, grabbing that box and another labeled, “ELO,” and carrying them on her back downstairs.
Back in the workshop, she set up the turntable on the side of the room opposite her workspace. She placed the turntable on the table holding her clock, and revealed a few speakers from the same box. Hooking them all to the turntable, she hooked it into the wall, giving the system power. Laying the other box on the table, she produced a record: Equine Light Orchestra’s “The Ultimate Collection.” She placed the vinyl on the turntable and switched it on, causing the record to spin. She then dropped the needle on the record, and “Don’t Bring Me Down,” filled the room. “That’s better,” remarked Tech, “now we’re in business.”
With the music playing, Tech Specs got to work, removing each block of precious metal from its mould and shaping it into its designated piece of jewelry. She pounded each bar into thick sheets, and bending them into the basic shapes of their respective pieces.
After about two hours of work, Tech Specs decided to take a break; she had gained quite a bit of ground in making the jewelry, she reasoned. She sat down at the table with her saddlebags and flipped through her mail. She had a bill from her landlord, a few letters regarding her inventions and how they’ve received patents, and the letter from Ponyville. The return address was labeled, “Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville Library.”
“Curious,” thought Tech, “didn’t expect to hear from her that quickly.” She just shrugged and opened the letter to begin reading.