//------------------------------// // XIV: Finality // Story: Tinkermane // by Razorbeam //------------------------------// Gearrick sighed to himself as he sat on the edge of the street, gazing down the alleyway where ponies were still removing the wreckage of the Nomad and his warehouse. The sunset coming off the river behind him painted everything orange and pink, low enough to dip under the Veil. The great cloud overhead looked like it had caught fire and its beauty far outshone the dreary wreckage of his home, even when it was what drew his attention most. It wasn't so bad, he supposed, considering that he hadn't really owned the place to begin with. He allowed himself a small smile as he imagined how much worse the loss of the riverside property would be for the old printing company owner who still had the lease in his name and payments to make. "Are you going to be alright?" Twilight asked, watching the crew clean up the explosion site with her front hooves resting lightly on his shoulders. It was hard to imagine that the two small explosives had done this much damage; then again, Mick had been a genius when it came to things destructive or shady. "I'll be fine," Gearrick said, letting out an only half-convincing chuckle. "It wasn't much of a home anyways. Still isn't much of one, I guess," he said with a small smile, encouraging Twilight's gentle, comforting hug around his neck as she sat behind and above him on the riverside bench. He felt better sitting on the street this way, with her draped over him comfortably like a living blanket. He hadn't lost everything. Her scent, and the feel of her coat brushing through his own, put his heart at ease. It reminded him that everything was worth it, even the loss of his thousands of bits and years of tireless work on the Nomad. Even that. He stroked one of her back legs as it draped down at his side to ward those thoughts away. It felt so good to touch her; to feel her. It was just comfortable, almost casual. It felt real, and right, and he had wanted nothing more than this for the last three days. He could still hardly believe he had this chance to be with her again, but he had ceased questioning it. The Princess had often mentioned 'fate' during his so-called trial, that mythical and fearsome force rumored to guide all lives in some strange way. He didn't know if he believed in fate, but just this one he had accepted that maybe that's all there was to it. He didn't want to dwell on anything anymore. He had Twilight, and that was enough. She smiled, leaning out over him and propping herself up on his head as she looked at him upside down. He tilted his head slightly to the left and upward, his horn carefully out of the way as they shared an unorthodox kiss. She returned to her seat shortly after, the angle of the kiss not comfortable for either of them, and rested her chin in his mane, hugging him tight. He could tell she felt the same: like nothing else mattered so long as they were together again. She was worried though. Gearrick could feel it; sense it almost. The look in her eyes that wasn't completely happy, that wasn't satisfied on his behalf. The slight tension in her otherwise warm embrace and the subtle sighs every so many breaths spoke volumes to him. He reached up and behind him, wrapping one of his forelegs around her own as it hugged him tight, and sighed once himself. "I'm alright..." he whispered, as much to himself as to her, his tone serious and somehow final. He didn't laugh it away, didn't smile through it this time, just admitted it how it was: unpleasant and not what he had been hoping for, but what he had been dealt. "What are you going to do?" Twilight asked, seeming to relax slightly at his determined declaration. Her question didn't waver and didn't seem concerned. She was simply curious, wondering how he would begin again. "I don't know," he said with a small laugh, but it lacked any feeling of sorrow anymore. "What I've always done, I guess. I'll figure my way through all of this somehow. When I came here I was homeless and bitless. I did it once, and I can do it again," he said confidently. "But last time you won the contest," she pointed out, her tone slightly hesitant, as if she didn't want to broach that topic just yet. "That's true," he admitted, but his smile didn't fade. "And I was the underdog then, too." "You don't have the Nomad anymore, though," Twilight went on, growing more comfortable as she noticed that his confidence wasn't shaken. "I won't need it for the final stage," he said, stretching his back with a grunt before settling into her grip more comfortably. "It doesn't focus as much on the invention as everyone's been made to think. It's called 'The Pitch'," Gearrick explained. "The final four contestants, or five in this case, are supposed to try and sell their inventions in this stage. They don't really sell them, but that's not the point," he continued. "The idea is that the tinker should be able to show why someone would want their invention. To try and prove that it's useful for anyone, and that it could improve daily life somehow. It's up to the crowd, the people who depend on the technology we design every day. Ponies who think that they would like to have one fill out a mock purchase order for the invention of their choice. I have to admit, it's a very clever voting mechanism for the final stage. Ponies can put in orders for all of the final entries if they really want to, though most only vote for one thing. The judges themselves can vote too, though they don't have to." "I get it," Twilight said with a small smile. "It's about gauging the demand." "Exactly, and it's a pretty clever trick. At the end the finalists have the option to auction their inventions. The guild almost always buys the initial inventions for a pretty high price, and shortly after they purchase the patent, giving them exclusive rights to the devices from previous contests. Mick wasn't any kind of idiot," Gearrick said with a chuckle. "By making the fourth stage this way, everyone feels like they've won, but in reality it was the guild who really came out on top. Mick could hoof-pick which patents the guild purchased based on the voting in this stage. The device with the most 'purchase orders' wins." "That's brilliant," Twilight admitted, though she said it casually as if she had come to expect that from more or less everyone lately. "The ponies who come to see the festival get to vote and feel like they decide the winner, and the final four all get a decent profit for their designs. Everypony wins." "Exactly," Gearrick said, no longer surprised himself by Twilight's quick-thinking. "And normally the finalists present their device when they deliver their pitch for added effect, but I won't have mine. I'm in a unique position, Twilight. I don't have any blueprints or designs, and I wasn't going anywhere with a patent on the Nomad. I had no intention of ever selling it to the guild, or giving them enough time to study it and build one themselves. So, basically, I have to try and sell it on concept alone," he said with a huffing sigh. "And it means I won't see a bit unless I win, because there is no Nomad or blueprint for anypony to buy," he finished. "You don't seem too worried, though," Twilight pointed out, giving him a slight squeeze to help fix his mood. "Yeah, because I don't have anything to lose," he said with a smile, patting her leg to prove he was fine. "Mayor Malter worked hard to find that loophole for me, and I'm getting a free pass to try and salvage what I can from the Nomad: the dream, the idea. For me it's all or nothing now. I just have to hope that what everyone saw of the Nomad, and what I have to say, will be enough to convince them." "You could convince anypony of anything," she said warmly, kissing the top of his head. "After all, you convinced me to love you, convinced the Mayor to give you a second chance... Even convinced Mick to help you," she pointed out. Gearrick chuckled and wriggled about, turning and standing in front of her with a warm smile on his face. "Thanks, Twilight. Think you'd buy one?" he asked jokingly, offering a hoof to help her off the bench. "I could really, really use the money." She laughed, taking his hoof and falling into him as he pulled her harder than she had been expecting. "I don't know if I can afford something like that," she said teasingly, but had no time to say anything else as he kissed her gently. "Well that's reassuring," he joked back as they broke off their embrace. "Enough about that, though... I have bigger problems." "Like what?" Twilight asked, thoroughly perplexed by that thought. "Like where I'm going to sleep tonight," he chuckled, pointing to the wreckage of his home, growing dimmer by the second as the sun sank lower and lower over the river. "In a bar somewhere, probably," Twilight said, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Ouch, harsh," Gearrick said, wincing as if he'd been stung, though it faded into a smile almost instantly. "Still, it wouldn't be the first time," he chuckled. "Or you could sleep with me," Twilight said, but she trailed off and turned red almost instantaneously, her cheeks burning up and her eyes going wide as she realized the possible context of what she had just said. Gearrick took on a shocked look at first, too, until he grinned mischievously. Normally he was the one who would have said something awkward or easily misinterpreted, but now the shoe was on the other hoof. He narrowed his eyes and gave her a slightly twisted smirk, trying his hardest to go for a lewd look and strike while the iron, and her ruby-red face, was still hot. "We-heh-hell, if you insist," he chuckled, inching closer and moving to put a foreleg around her. It had the desired effect and she went stiff as a board, seeming more likely to tip over than to get her legs back under her as Gearrick pulled her into a tight hug. Her eyes were still wide, looking as far away from him as possible, and Gearrick wasn't even sure if she was still breathing. "Twilight... Twilight, I'm kidding," he chuckled, giving her a gentle shake. "I know you didn't mean it that way." She seemed to snap out of it at that, and though she was still red in the face her wide eyes dropped into a lethal scowl as she pegged Gearrick solidly in the ribs with her elbow, drawing an 'oof' out of him while she continued her relentless glare. "Don't do that!" she grumbled, her look turning into something more of a sulk than a threatening stare as she again looked away from him. "But I appreciate the offer," he gasped, desperately continuing his joke and clutching his suddenly aching ribs with his free hoof, his other still looped over her neck. "Ugh!" Twilight growled, giving him a hard push and upending him, causing him to fall to the ground where he laughed uncontrollably for a while. By the time he had finished laughing, Twilight had more or less gotten over it, and was unable to deny the small smile playing at her lips while she watched him wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. "It's about time this happened to you instead of me," he huffed, still trying to catch his breath. "At least I was nicer to you when that happened," she muttered, giving him one last scowl before sighing and shaking her head. "I didn't mean it that way," she confirmed at last, despite there not being a need. "But I did mean it," she went on, giving him a small smile. "That room in the hotel was still open after I left, so I'm staying there until tomorrow night," she trailed off, her smile shrinking. "When you take the train home," Gearrick finished, his tone strong and unafraid. "I know. You've already been here a lot longer than you planned." His heart sank when she mentioned it, if he was being honest with himself, but she didn't need to know that. She needed to feel like it was okay, like it was normal. "A lot of things happened that I didn't plan," Twilight said with a sigh, and the smile that came out as a result reassured Gearrick somewhat, until it vanished almost instantly. "Gearrick... Why not come back with me?" Twilight asked quietly, hesitantly. "To Ponyville. You can stay with me at the library until you're back on your hooves again, and there are plenty of nice houses you could buy there," she went on, channeling her inner Applejack as she looked at the very uninteresting stone walkway while working a hoof in slow, nervous circles along the ground. Gearrick was speechless for a moment. It was no secret that Twilight's heart was bigger than most, but the offer still took him by surprise... because it was more than an offer. Her blushing face, her nervousness, and her pleading tone showed it for what it really was: a wish, a request. He'd be lying to himself if he said he hadn't considered it when he thought of her during his nights in the holding cell, wondering if he'd even get to see her again. One of the many questions he had asked himself on those nights, when sleep seemed far away, was what he was going to do if she left. With everything else missing in Manehattan, what did he have left? He sighed to himself, knowing the answer that would come out of his mouth. "I'd love to, Twilight... but I can't," he said quietly, sadly. It wasn't at all what he wanted to say, but he knew that it was the truth. She stopped moving completely for a moment and then her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, which only made the hurt starting to pool in Gearrick's chest grow deeper. "Why not?" she asked sadly. Though there were no tears in her eyes, her tone was pinched, strained for the level of control she was showing. "There's nothing left here, right?" she asked, her whole expression looking like it was going to fall apart. "After the contest tomorrow you won't have a home here. After what happened with the guild that dream's gone, too," she continued, and she was starting to sound exasperated as she listed the many reasons that no longer held him there. "The one dream you have left, rebuilding the Nomad... you can do that anywhere. Even in Ponyville," she said pleadingly, her eyes starting to well up now as she hit the end of her logic and began to run on emotion. "You're right... I don't have anything left here," he said quietly, and though it hurt him to look into her teary eyes he held firm. "Nothing's going to keep me here anymore. But I can't come with you yet," he finished simply. "Why not?" she asked again, sniffing slightly and trying to be angry instead of sad about his answer. "If nothing's keeping you here, then what's keeping you away?" "Time," Gearrick said quietly. "What?" she asked, clearly confused. "I need some time," he said quietly. "Time to do a few things, go a few places. To grow what's between us right now," he explained. "What would people say if you left for a week, and came home with a stallion who started living with you out of the blue? You and I both know our relationship is right, but it's still early for that," he said sadly. "But I lived with you while I was here! You offered!" she shouted, poking a hoof at him. "You're being a hypocrite!" "And if anypony ever has anything bad to say about that, they'll say it about me," Gearrick said with a small smile that begged her to understand. "They'd just talk about how I took advantage of some poor girl from out of town at the worst. Those rumors wouldn't bother me here... I was never going to be here much longer anyways," he said with a sigh. "But what about you, at home? You live there, and you probably always will. What would people say about you?" "I don't care!" Twilight hiccuped, shaking her head. "I don't care what they'd think about it! Or about you, or anything else!" she cried, now closing her eyes and looking away from him. The silence grew between them, Gearrick not knowing what to say and Twilight trying to control her nerves again. At last she broke the stillness, her tone much steadier but still sad. "I know you're just trying to look out for me," she said, glancing back at him and keeping her gaze there again, the tears fading. "But for three days all I could think was how badly I wanted to see you again, wondering when the next time would be that I would get the chance. I don't want to do that again," she said, shuddering slightly at the memory. "I never want to wonder when the next day I'll get to see you is going to be. I want it to be like it was just a few days ago... Waking up, and having you there. Ever since Spike moved out, I've been so alone. And it hurts," she said with a shaky sigh, closing her eyes and biting her lip, before she again regained her control. "I'm not going to leave you Twilight," Gearrick replied, his heart torn to just give in and grant her request. "I'm not trying to run away from you. I know exactly how you feel," he admitted quietly. "I've been in this city with nobody but Jack I could really turn to for two years. That's why I need some time," he said with a sad smile. "Time to go home, see my family again and tell them what happened. Time to sit with Tacks, clear the water some more... revisit the shop in Cloudsdale. Time to sort myself out, and really think about what it is I want to do now that everything's fallen apart." "I brought myself to this place and worked so hard to settle myself into it that I had forgotten I could even leave," he said with a sad chuckle. "Two years is a long time to be alone. You can send all the letters in the world, and it's still not the same," he said, but despite his words his sad smile started to grow in strength. "I won't ask you to wait that long to see me again," he said firmly, his tone carrying the note of a promise. "Two weeks. Wait two weeks, and I'll never make you wait again." Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steadying herself before she nodded. "Alright," she said quietly, recognizing that vow for what it was. She hugged him tightly then, and didn't show any signs of letting him go. "Then at least stay with me tonight." Gearrick rubbed her back comfortingly, smiling as he looked past her, to the horizon beyond the river. "It won't be the last time I do," he said warmly. Twilight was quiet as she lay in the queen-sized bed of her hotel room, wrapped in Gearrick's forelegs and facing away from him. The hazy moonlight streamed in through the half-closed curtains, painting one silvery streak across the bed, casting hers and Gearrick's intertwined shadows across the bed where they seemed to drop over the edge, like a waterfall of darkness in the stream of light. She let her eyes focus on those shadows for a short while, mindlessly becoming absorbed in them and thinking of nothing for a few moments, just listening to the rhythmic breathing of her companion. She had tried to go to sleep, but it simply wouldn't come. There were still things on her mind. Despite sleeping together, and the tense knowledge of her departure the next night, nothing had happened that shouldn't have happened. Neither of them had approached that topic, for Twilight feared what she might say after her slip-up earlier by the river. Gearrick had left it alone after that, for which she was grateful. She didn't want this night to be awkward, and for her those thoughts were still very much so. They would be for some time, but just laying next to him and being with him felt right. Gearrick respected her too much to ask for anything more, or turn it into something it shouldn't be so soon in their relationship. They'd stayed up for a time, sometimes talking, sometimes saying nothing and just holding each other, sharing a kiss now and then when the timing felt right. Gearrick was asleep behind her now, and, despite the fact that she herself couldn't sleep, she didn't want to wake him. He was going to have a big day tomorrow, a day that might decide his future much more than he was letting on. Besides that, this was the first time in three nights that he had slept on anything remotely comfortable, so she didn't want to disturb him. She was nervous about tomorrow, though not because of the contest. Even though he had promised, she didn't want to leave. After everything that had happened in Manehattan, her time with Gearrick felt like months, not just days. She knew he was right, that a week wasn't enough time for him to move in with her in Ponyville, even if it was only temporary until he found his own place there. She hadn't meant for it to be temporary, she knew. She had been hoping he would say yes, that he would stay in the library with her and never get his own house. She knew how impractical that idea was, knew how wrong it should have seemed, but that didn't make her want it any less. The days living with him in his home and waking up with him there were some of the best moments of her life. She wanted them all over again, wanted to feel that every day. She had wanted it so badly that she had even caught herself hoping he wouldn't win the contest, now that he was back in it. Hoping he wouldn't have enough bits to buy a house and would have to live with her. Then she could have explained it to anypony, and gotten what she wanted... She knew that was wrong, though. No matter how badly she wanted it, it wasn't time yet. She knew that now, after sitting awake quietly and thinking about it for so long. Hardly anything else was on her mind besides the fact that she would have to leave tomorrow morning. He had promised, though. Two weeks would seem like a very long time while he was away from her, but she understood that he needed time to see his friends and family that he hadn't seen face to face in years and straighten some things in his life out. It wasn't fair for her to try and cage him so soon again after he was finally free of the grip Manehattan had held on his dreams and aspirations. She rolled over carefully, the blankets turning with her slightly as she maneuvered herself to face him. He didn't stir, his forelegs still wrapped loosely around her shoulders. She smiled to herself, a bittersweet thing, as she looked over him. Eyes closed, breathing slowly, every breath out twitching her coat with warm air. Two weeks would seem like a very long time. She placed her front hooves on his chest between them and kissed him lightly on the lips, finally closing her eyes as she laid back down, safe in his embrace. "This is worth the wait," she whispered, before yawning and finally drifting into slumber. Gearrick sat in his chair on the stage, in front of countless ponies, just as he had done the previous year. In this last portion of the contest the four finalists arranged their machines in front of the stage and sat with the judges atop it. From here they would deliver their sales pitches one by one, until at last the voting commenced and the judges tallied all of the submitted 'purchase orders'. An honorary place had been left for Gearrick's device directly in front of the podium, and he couldn't help but feel as if it was less 'honorary' than the Mayor and his fellow judges had intended. If anything it only outlined the truth even more to all in attendance: the Nomad really had been destroyed. Gearrick sighed out the corner of his mouth as if to say 'oh well', and let it go. A lot of things were stacked against him, but he did have one lucky star in the sky. Because he had won the previous year, the rules required that he go last for his pitch. That would help to keep him from being overwhelmingly overshadowed by the other contestants' speeches, and for that much he was grateful. He and Twilight had arrived early to the square, ensuring a good seat for her in this last leg of the festival. As the day had gone on and the time approached for the opening that day, he had been amazed to note that hardly any of the ponies who should have gone home because of the festival's extension had done so. In fact, it seemed as if there were actually more of them. He wondered if news had gotten out about the guild fiasco and attracted extra viewers. If so, he would probably be unable to sell the Nomad on premise alone to those who had come after everything had gone wrong. They never would have seen it, and so he would have to hope that his pitch, a speech he had not prepared in the slightest, would be enough to do the job. His surprise had been unparalleled when, before the ceremonies began, the crowd had parted, giving some very unexpected ponies the chance to take the front row: Celestia, Mick Magnet, and Myla Trellon. Those three ponies had taken up seats next to a smugly smiling Twilight Sparkle, Mick still in hoof-cuffs and an orange inmate's jacket, though he seemed not to pay these things any mind. The old guild-master had given nothing but a smirk in response to Gearrick's slackjawed, shocked face. As eleven o'clock neared, the fourth finalist was wrapping up his pitch, to plenty of applause from the crowd. Gearrick had to admit that their speeches had been quite convincing, and some various actions run by their machines in the process had certainly helped their image. It was impossible for him to pick up much of anything from the crowd's mutterings during speeches, or to pick anything out of the raucous applause when they concluded. However, if he had to venture a guess on his own, he would have begrudgingly admitted that his chances did not seem grand. He noticed something strange for the fourth time that day: as the stallion who had built the cloud-powered generator left the stand he fixed Gearrick with a small smile, the same as each of the other finalists had done. Gearrick was shocked out of his repeated confusion when the spokesmare amplified her voice in preparation for announcing his turn. "Ladies and gentlecolts, it's time for our final pitch! Please listen carefully until the end of it before applauding, so that you don't miss anything," she said, her tone level as always while she delivered the same warning about premature applause that she had already given four times prior. Without anything else said, she left the stand and gave Gearrick a warm smile, standing by to amplify his voice. With one final preparatory sigh he rose out of his seat and headed for the podium. He had never felt so nervous in his entire life, had never had so much riding on so little. He steeled his nerves step by step until, at last, he was standing in front of the podium. He closed his eyes and took one deep breath, before opening them and seeking out Twilight in the front row. She gave him a wide, encouraging smile, and he felt as if his nerves were as steady as they would ever be. He opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off by a shout in the crowd, somewhere in the second or third row. "We'll take two!" came the unmistakable, six-year-old shout of Fixxit, drawing a massive wave of laughter from the crowd and scattered applause. "Sorry, bud, but you have to be at least eighteen to put in a purchase order," Gearrick chuckled, honestly thankful for the incredibly unorthodox start to his speech. The crowd erupted into laughter once more, easing his worries before he continued into the bulk of his pitch at last. "Ladies and gents, I'm sorry to say that there won't be any demonstration to go along with this pitch... As you've probably all heard, the Nomad is no longer operational." He said it all without any hint of remorse whatsoever, carefully noting various nods in the crowd that seemed to be coupled with curious expressions in most every case. People had obviously been expecting that delivery with a much more sorrowful note, but Gearrick didn't want to play on their pity. "Anything worth buying is worth building," Gearrick said loudly, nodding his head just once as he spoke this classic tinker's motto, one most people in the crowd had heard at least once. "What does that say about something that's worth building again? Ladies and gents, the Nomad is gone but not dead. It's more than a machine," he said quietly. "I don't have any blueprints. I don't have a degree. I don't have any tools, or bits, or a shop," he said sternly, making it clear that he understood those marks against him. "I may never be able to build it the same way again, but that won't stop me. Because what I have is a dream, and you can't unbolt that from my mind, or burn it out of my heart. My invention could be destroyed a hundred times, and I would make a hundred more, each one better than the last, because I will not give up!" he shouted, slamming a hoof down on the podium. He paused and then sighed, trying to level his tone back out and get back into it, but he could tell that he had their attention because of the way he was letting his emotions drive his words; just like he let his emotions drive his tinkering. "They say a machine is like its maker," he went on, his tone more controlled now. "I know it's true, because looking back I see why I built the Nomad. I had been denied dreams, been through some hard times. I thought, at first, that I had built it for revenge. To rub it in someone's face," Gearrick continued, giving Mick Magnet a small smile, which the old criminal was mirroring. "I understand so much better now. It couldn't have been built for revenge, because revenge is a fragile thing and the Nomad was sturdy," he said surely, and he was glad to hear some murmurs of assent in the crowd. "I built the Nomad for a much better reason: I had someplace I wanted to be in life. Somewhere I was going, but I wasn't sure I could make it there. That's what the Nomad was built for, what it reflected. That machine could take you anywhere and overcome any obstacle, and I wanted that more than anything. That was my dream... to have something that would make me free to go where I wanted," he said warmly, his voice full of passion as he looked out over the sea of faces. "Sometimes life is an adventure that you can't just walk through. Sometimes you have to sail, or climb, or go faster than your legs can carry you," he paused for effect, chuckling before he continued, "and sometimes you have to fly, to get where you're going." The crowd laughed a little at this, understanding the reference to the wings he had daringly tested a year ago. "It can take you new places, this dream of mine. You can see the world, every inch of it, behind the wheel of a Nomad. It can take you everywhere from the store down the street... to your girl's doorstep, whole cities away," he added quietly, sparing a warm smile and a glance for Twilight, pleased to see tears starting to well in her eyes when he mentioned her, though few in the crowd would know who his words were for. "I'm not here to sell you a machine," Gearrick continued. "I'm here to tell you about a dream I had once... and to tell you that you can all have it, too." He took his hooves off the podium and settled on all fours again, stepping back to signal his speech was completed. "All you have to do is want it, and I'll make it real again." There was a moment of absolute silence at first as Gearrick looked out over the crowd. It was like looking into a thunderstorm, and waiting for the rumble you knew was in there to come rushing out. Their cheers exploded all at once, overwhelming anything else he could have hoped to say, but their enthusiasm had rendered him speechless anyways. The stage was shaking under his hooves, and he could feel the roars of the crowd in his chest. It was a constant symphony of astonishment and enjoyment, playing just for him and his shattered invention. Nobody in the entire crowd was cheering quite like Twilight as he looked at her, letting out a few small laughs that he couldn't even hear because of what he saw. Her eyes were closed to maximize her shouting capacity, but that didn't stop him from seeing the tears perched in their corners. He closed his own eyes and sighed in satisfaction; whatever came of the contest, even if he didn't win, he could at least know that this was what people though of his dream. It faded at last, slowly, as the Mayor took the stand rather than the spokesmare. "Ladies and gentlecolts," Mayor Malter warbled, his fat cheeks bouncing with each word. "It is that time of the year once again, at long last! Time for you to place your orders, and decide which of these wondrous tinkers, with their magnificent inventions, will be declared the winner!" Several ponies on the edge of the square began pushing out small carts with what appeared to be typewriters on them. However, upon closer inspection it was clear that the machines each had only four buttons, with a paper tag above each listing the names of the finalists. On the table next to each machine was a small, wooden box, out of which popped a fifth button and two wires: a hasty modification to the voting devices that allowed for anypony who felt the drive to vote for Gearrick to do so. "Form lines and begin the voting! We will reconvene here at three o'clock to announce the results!" the Mayor announced loudly, and immediately the crowd began to move towards the many voting machines, forming lines in front of them that grew so long they eventually all converged back into one great mass of ponies in the center of the square. Gearrick made his way down from the stage and over to Twilight, who was already launching into a flying hug. "Your pitch was great!" she congratulated, kissing him on the cheek. "A bit unorthodox," Mick Magnet put in, standing nearby. "But very effective. Nothing in the rules says you can't pitch a concept to sell your invention. Well played, Mr. Tinkermane," he said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Myla glanced between Twilight and Gearrick as the purple unicorn kissed him on the cheek, looking very badly as if she wanted to say something about it. However, she managed to refrain, and finally smiled instead. "I always knew you had a way with words," she gushed, giving him a wink which caused him to blush nervously until he realized that he was in the clear, and that Twilight hadn't seen it. "After hearing the other pitches, it's not hard for me to guess who will win," Princess Celestia said, giving Gearrick a sly look. "I've stood in front of my fair share of cheering crowds, so I can tell when the people like something." "And who would the winner be, then?" Gearrick asked, giving her a cautious look. "I can't tell you that, that would be cheating," the Princess chuckled, bringing a smile to Gearrick's face. "Not bad, my boy," Mayor Malter huffed, making his way down the stage steps. "You could sell water to fish, I should think," he chuckled. "I've been at this long enough to say I have a good feeling about your odds." "Thank you, sir," Gearrick said, turning back to face him and Brass Tacks as they made their way down to square level. "Yeah, not bad... for a two bit tinker," Tacks chuckled, grabbing Gearrick in a headlock and rubbing the top of his head roughly. "Hey, I'm worth at least six bits," Gearrick grumbled, pushing against her foreleg until he popped free at last. It turned into an unexpected hug, though, as his mentor threw her forelegs back around him. "I'm proud of you," she said quietly, giving him a gentle squeeze. "Thanks, Tacks," Gearrick said, hugging her back. "You know, the voting lines are only getting longer..." Mick said idly, pretending not to pay attention to the remainder of the congratulation party. "That's alright, I think I can get us to the front of a line somewhere," Celestia said with a sly smile, already heading for one of the voting stands. "We'll be done and out in time for lunch." "Isn't that abuse of power?" Gearrick asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow. Celestia just smiled and continued on her way. "If you want to wait in a line for two hours, that's your choice," she half sang. Unable to deny her logic, Gearrick and the rest of the ragtag band followed close behind. It was three o'clock at last, and the square was again filled to bursting with ponies. The voting had been finished by two, and the judges had worked furiously to tally the totals from each of the many voting machines around the square. Twilight sat in her place directly in front of the stage, the Princess next to her. As the Mayor took the stand and prepared to announce the results, Twilight looked to Celestia for reassurance. It was in those next moment's that Gearrick's livelihood, and his hopes of resurrecting the Nomad, would be decided. The Princess only offered her a warm smile in return, and that had to be enough. "Ladies and gentlecolts... the results of the Twelfth Annual Steamtech Festival!" Mayor Malter bellowed, drawing a pall of silence over the entire crowd. However, the Mayor stepped away from the podium and gave the spot to Brass Tacks, who was holding a small envelop. She popped it open and cleared her throat, standing on the tips of her back hooves to be able to see the crowd over the podium. "Fifth place this year goes to Silver Bolt and his Cloud-powered Generator, with a total of six-thousand seven-hundred and eighty two votes," she concluded, waiting as the mentioned engineer stood and took a bow, to loud whistles and applause from the crowd. "Fourth place goes to Green Gear and his Water Detection and Drilling Device, with a total of six-thousand nine-hundred and forty seven votes." Again the crowd erupted into applause while the indicated stallion took his bow. Twilight waited in suspense as the third tinker was announced, and let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes darted between the remaining tinker and Gearrick. Neither one of them seemed nervous, though Twilight made up for both of them in the next few moments until, before Brass Tacks had even begun to speak, the remaining tinker sitting next to Gearrick rose from his seat. Brass Tacks, who hadn't noticed his rise behind her on the stage, confirmed his self-proclaimed placement while everyone listened in silence, staring at the calmly-smiling, second-place engineer. The crowd applauded him more loudly than anyone so far... the stallion who had built the lifting machine. The same tinker who had not so long ago called Gearrick a worthless engineer moved to stand in front of him. Just stood there, smiling, as Gearrick stared at him dumbfounded. His eyes widened as the stallion said something Twilight couldn't hear, and offered him a hoof to help him from his seat. Brass Tacks, who had turned back to watch the exchange, was smiling as Gearrick stood and the other tinker seated himself. She turned back to the crowd, who was barely waiting respectfully to hear her announcement. "And in first place, with a total of nine-thousand four-hundred and ninety-one votes... Gearrick Tinkermane, and the Nomad!" she declared loudly, and her words were like the trigger being pulled on the loaded gun that was the crowd. Twilight practically flew off the ground as she pumped a hoof in the air and shouted just like everyone else. On stage, assaulted with riotous cheers for the second time that day, Gearrick didn't have anything at all to say as he clenched his eyes against the happy tears threatening to overwhelm him, and took his bow. Twilight stood on the train platform, looking down the same street she had been so eager to explore only a little more than a week ago. It felt so much longer than that, yet the way the view looked, identical to her first glimpse of the city, took all sense of time away. The lights danced exactly the same way against the Veil and the billions of water drops clinging to everything. The air was warm, humid, and the moon could hardly be seen through the great cloud overhead. Only one thing was different as she took it all in for a second time; right in the middle of it all stood a stallion she loved, smiling as if nothing were wrong. This was the last train out of town, departing at midnight and driving all night to Ponyville. Celestia, Tacks, Mick, and Myla had all taken earlier trains, and Gearrick had bid them all farewell together with Twilight. Now she was the only one left to say goodbye to. She wanted so badly to say something, but her voice was caught in her throat as she looked at him standing there. He would have looked like a normal pony to anyone else, but to her he looked like a hero. Her knight, her jester, her prince... the stallion who had made her laugh and cry, come to her rescue, and treated her like a queen for every second he had known her. Every last second, without wasting a single one... and she was going to say goodbye to that. "You scared?" Gearrick asked quietly, his smile never faltering. Twilight nodded, unable to deny it. The idea of leaving, of going back home and being alone again, no matter for how long, frightened her somewhat. Not the fear of something dangerous, or even something irrational, but the fear of returning to a world less bright than the one she had gotten used to in such a short time. "Don't be," he said warmly, as if he were consoling a child who was afraid of the dark; the tone of someone who wasn't afraid, lending comfort to someone terrified. Twilight liked that analogy, because she felt just that way: a frightened little filly. "You're a strong mare, Twilight. A patient mare, a brilliant one... It might take a little time for me to get there, but there's no way I could keep myself from you." He gave her a loving smile, and offered a hoof to her. She smiled, tears in her eyes as she took it and let him pull her into an embrace. She closed her eyes and nuzzled him close, but opened them again as she felt something drop onto her head. She pulled away from Gearrick, looking up and trying to decipher what was there before she pulled it off and smiled, turning the item over in her hooves. She stopped abruptly, looping Gearrick's welding goggles over her head, and letting them hang around her neck, just like he had always done. "I'll be there soon," he said quietly, and for the first time ever she could hear his mask of strength beginning to fade, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I just wanted you to have a souvenir for your trip." He smiled as he ran a hoof gently down her neck until he reached the goggles. "At least until I can get you a better one." "Well, you know what I like," Twilight replied, trying her best to joke through her wavering voice. "It shouldn't be too hard to come up with something," she finished, putting a hoof over his on her chest. She gasped as Gearrick swept her into a rough embrace, hugging her tightly. She could feel all of the tension in his forelegs that was missing from his expression and his voice. She hugged him back as he let out a sigh behind her. "I won't lose you again," he said quietly, his hug loosening slightly. "I won't leave you. Sometimes I'll ask you to wait, and sometimes I won't be ready... but no matter what, I will always come to find you," he whispered. Twilight couldn't help herself as she pulled away and kissed him deeply. She didn't even realize she was crying as she kissed him then, and wouldn't have cared if she had. The intercom overhead rang out for the last call to board the train, but it was only so much background noise in the echo of his loving words playing over and over in her mind. It was the most important promise anyone had ever made to her. She dropped her head back onto his shoulder when the kiss was through, not wanting to let him go. "You'd better get going," Gearrick finished, clearing his throat afterwards. Twilight could feel him wiping away tears behind her back, and smiled gently. "Otherwise I'll be stuck with you another night," he joked, his voice gaining strength again as he laughed and pulled away from her. "You're right, you'd like that too much," she joked back, her own tone still weakened by the various emotions surging through her. She sighed and closed her eyes, knowing that unless she did she never would have been able to turn around. She headed for the train doors and passed through, standing in the car and already feeling as if she was in the wrong place. She looked over her shoulder and saw all the encouragement she needed in Gearrick's streetlamp-lit smirk. "Goodbye, Twilight. I love you," he said simply. Twilight just smiled at him, as the train doors closed behind her. "I love you, too." She watched his smirk fade through the window, drifting further and further away until he was just a shadow on the lit platform behind her. A shadow making its way back into the city, that beautiful rainbow-clad star that grew small and smaller as the minutes dragged on, before finally vanishing beyond the bend in the railroad tracks.