Pre- reading note: If you skipped chapter 4 for whatever reason, go back and read it, THEN start reading this. I find it odd that this chapter somehow has more views than the previous one...
“Wait, what time is it?” Alex looked at the time on the bottom corner of the computer screen. “Ah, almost time for that picnic. I should probably get ready for that…”
He leaned back in his chair, briefly glancing at the partially complete power-core on the workbench. It was spherical in shape, a little larger than a basketball, though a large part of it was clearly missing. He had designed other power-cores, ones that could provide a much greater energy output, but they were impossible to make without another core to sustain construction and jump start them. The one he was currently building was similar to the very first he ever made, since it was not only the easiest one to build by hand, but the only one that could potentially be made without an existing core.
“Hmm…” Alex toyed with a few thoughts about what he could give the ponies as presents for their efforts to make his stay pleasurable. He sat up and looked back at the image of himself on the computer screen. “You know, I think I’ve already got an idea or two for what to design, I’m thinking–”
His thought was cut off by a small flicker of movement he saw on the screen, namely something that seemed to move just out of sight over his shoulder.
He sat as still as possible and listened intently. At the same time, a small window appeared in the corner of the computer’s screen. It showed what Alex assumed to be a top-down view of Twilight’s basement, with a green arrow pointing away from three red dots.
He suddenly heard a barely audible tap from directly behind him.
“Rose, stop recording.” The AI silently obliged and the recording indicator disappeared.
Feeling his heart rate increase ever so slightly, Alex carefully stood up and leaned over the workbench, listening for even the slightest sound from behind him. He carefully grabbed the Link Gun on the other side of his work area and brought it closer to himself, careful not to turn around. He opened the weapon’s chamber, picked up a nearby plasma cell, and gently loaded it. With a small click, the weapon accepted the new cartridge and hummed to life.
Alex held the plasma rifle in his hand with a firm grip and took a deep breath. Without warning, he spun around and aimed at the trio of intruders. “Freeze!”
Any worries he had about what could have been behind him instantly vanished when he saw what it was.
Standing before him were three small fillies he couldn’t immediately identify. The first was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and lighter red bow adorning it. The second was an orange pegasus with surprisingly small wings and a purple mane. The last was a white unicorn with a curly light pink and purple mane.
All three had followed Alex’s instructions to the letter. They stood on the spot, not moving a single muscle, their eyes locked with his. They clearly weren’t expecting him to turn around when he did.
“What the…” Alex said as he lowered the gun. “Who are you, and what the hell are you doing down here?”
The yellow one pawed at the ground and spoke nervously. “Umm… mah name’s Apple Bloom. These here are Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Ya see, mah sister was talkin’ about somepony new in town who was stayin’ with Twilight, and–”
“Wait a second,” Alex interrupted, holding his left hand up and letting the Link Gun hang in his right. “Lemme guess, you’re Applejack’s sister, right?”
“Ah am!” the little filly said excitedly, feeling more relaxed now that he clearly wasn’t threatening them.
“And I’m Rarity’s sister!” announced the small unicorn that Alex now understood to be Sweetie Belle.
“Oh no…” Rose groaned.
Alex turned towards the AI on the workbench, also taking the time to remove the clip from his gun. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve heard about these three,” she replied before turning her voice up and addressing the fillies. “I'm going to have to request that you all leave. Now.”
“What! But we haven’t even done anything!” complained Scootaloo.
“That doesn’t mean you won’t do something. From what I understand, Murphy’s Law hounds you three like flies to a carcass and you shouldn’t be trusted around delicate equipment.” Rose placed heavy emphasis on the last two works and her virtual face looked directly at Alex as she said them. He got the hint.
“Yeah, I think it’s time to clean up and head to that picnic now…” he said as he picked up the power-core and stored it in a bin with a number lock.
“Ooo, what’s that?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Nothing that concerns you,” Rose said, the venom in her voice showing that she most certainly did not appreciate their presence.
Alex, however, wasn’t as harsh on them.
“It’s something Twilight’s helping me build,” he said as he continued to place tools and other parts in their proper place. “It’s very difficult to make and very expensive, and since I'm the only one who can build it, I’m the only one allowed to touch it.”
“Can we help?” asked Apple Bloom, grinning widely. The other two followed her example.
Alex’s heart almost stopped and his breath caught in his throat. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “Look… I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t need your help. Now then, why don’t you tell me why exactly you came down here, hm?”
Their grins vanished and Sweetie Belle twirled her hoof on the ground nervously. “Well, you see… We heard Applejack and Rarity talking about somepony who was really good at building things…”
“So we were wondering if you could give us some advice!” Scootaloo finished for her.
Alex stopped cleaning up the work area and perked up. It wasn’t very often someone came to him for advice on something, and the prospect certainly caught his attention. He turned to face the fillies and leaned back against the table. “Really? What sort of advice?”
“We wanted to know what you did to get yer cutie mark!” piped Apple Bloom.
Alex face blanked. “Mycutiewhatnow?”
“A cutie mark,” said Rose. “It’s a sort of coming of age these ponies go through that involves finding the one thing they’re actually good at. It’s those tattoos they have on their rears.”
Alex slowly turned to look at her. He didn’t speak, but everything about his face said “how the fuck did you know that?” Rose simply smirked back at him.
“Yeah, that!” said Scootaloo, cutting into their silent conversation. “We want to know how you found yours!”
Alex rolled his eyes and went back to putting things away. “Sorry, but I can’t help you there. Never got one, never will.” And here I was thinking they’d need advice on something interesting.
The three fillies gasped in unison. “You don’t have a cutie mark?!”
“Nope,” he said while cleaning a soldering iron, completely ignoring how shocked they seemed to be.
“But then how do you know what your special talent is?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Alex stopped wiping the iron for a brief moment to process what he just heard. To him, the answer was so completely obvious, to even think about the question was ridiculous in and of itself. “I know exactly what my ‘special talent’ is. I don’t need a cutie mark to tell me that. In fact…” Alex put the soldering iron down and turned to look at them. “That’s your advice from me. Find something you’re good at and that you like to do, and do it. Cutie mark be damned.”
“We already got that advice…” groaned Scootaloo.
Alex rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning up. “Honestly, I’d be surprised if you didn’t. There’s a reason you got the same stuff from me like you did from everyone else: because it’s good advice.” He quickly shot them a glance when he said the last two words. “Now then, I’m closing up shop, so I’m afraid you three need to get going.”
All three of them flattened their ears. “Are you sure there ain’t nothin’ else you could tell us?” asked Apple Bloom.
Alex finished cleaning up and turned to lean back against the table, crossing his arms. “Look, I’m a human. Humans don’t get cutie marks. Simple fact is, you’re talking to the wrong species here. I wish I could help you - I really do - but beyond what I told you, sorry, you’re fresh out of luck. Now shoo. I gotta go someplace and I can’t leave you here.
The fillies lowered their heads in disappointment and spoke in unison. “Okay…”
Alex watched as they ascended the stairs, starting to feel bad that they left so disappointed. He never really believed that he was great with children, although he felt that he at least gave them sound advice, especially if they had already gotten it from other ponies who knew more on the subject. He had a feeling, though, that it probably wouldn’t be the last he saw of them.
Once the trio was out of sight, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Rose. “How the hell did you know all that stuff, anyway? About who they were and what a cutie mark was?”
“I’ve had more than a few conversations with some of our other ‘friends’ while you and Twilight went out for groceries and pointless sightseeing. It seems there is some useful information to gain from idle chatter.”
Alex smiled. “I’m happy to hear that, Rose.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
“It means you’re growing as a person!”
Rose frowned. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
Alex chuckled as he folded the computer under his arm. “Personal development, Rose. It can only be a good thing.”
After double checking to make sure everything was locked away properly, Alex made his way up the stairs and locked the door to the basement behind him. It was a lock Twilight installed at Rose’s request. Only she and Alex had a key for it.
Upon leaving the basement, Alex saw Spike just about to walk out the door to the library with a plain blue box in his claw.
“Hey, Spike!” he said. “You heading to the picnic?”
The young dragon turned to face Alex, worry subtly present in his features. “Oh hey, Alex. Nah, I’ve got other things to do. I was just on my way to find Twilight to give her the cupcakes for it. Say, you haven’t seen her lately, have you?”
Alex shook his head. “Not since this morning. Why?”
“She’s been running all over Ponyville looking for a problem to solve so she could write about it in a letter to the princess. I’m not exactly sure where she is right now…”
Alex quirked a brow. He had to admit that he was a little curious as to why she would be trying to do something so silly so urgently, but he figured it would probably be best to hear the explanation straight from the horse’s mouth, so to say.
“Huh… Right, well, I gotta get to the picnic now,” he said as they both walked out of the library, “but hey, if I see her, I’ll tell her you’re looking for her, okay?”
Spike waved at Alex as he walked off in his own direction. “Thanks, Alex! See ya later!”
Alex waved back and proceeded to make his way to where they had agreed to have the picnic. While he wasn’t very familiar with the town yet, he still knew just where to go.
As Alex walked with Rose tucked under his arm, he basked in the beautiful afternoon weather. The temperature was great and the sun didn’t feel too intense. He could even feel a small breeze blowing over him, which only complemented the already good feeling he was getting from everything else. Indeed, today was a perfect day for a picnic.
Ever since he started working on the core three weeks ago, Alex spent most of his time in Twilight’s basement. He would spend most days down there for hours on end, coming up only for food and sleep, although Twilight would occasionally drag him out of the darkness to spend some time outside and to get to know the town a little more. As much as he wanted to keep working around the clock, Alex couldn’t deny that their little outings were more than a little relaxing, and he very much appreciated them.
Ponies were currently going about their business as Alex strolled to the park area just outside of the small town, yet the streets didn’t feel terribly crowded. A few ponies here and there would occasionally wave at him as he passed. He didn’t know them, but he could tell they meant well enough and responded with a simple nod and smile in their direction. Despite the knowledge, though, it didn’t help when some ponies would just stare at him. He never thought it could ever feel weird to be human before coming to Ponyville, and he wasn’t exactly used to it all yet.
After a short fifteen minute walk, Alex found himself approaching the park area where he spotted five of the six ponies he had gotten to know better since his arrival. Twilight, however, was still nowhere to be seen.
“Hello, everyone,” he greeted. “Lovely day for a picnic, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, it is!” said Fluttershy as Applejack splayed out the blanket.
Alex’s attention was suddenly caught by Pinkie Pie who removed a cloth from a basket to reveal a trio of balloons. They each floated up and started tugging at the bottom of the basket with strings, bringing the entire thing upwards and out of reach. He looked after the basket with a confused expression.
Well what the hell was the point of that? he thought.
He glanced at Pinkie expecting some sort of explanation. She only looked back at him with a massive grin, and he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Evidently, the point was that there was no point.
Alex took sat down on the blanket and placed the laptop next to him in the corner, opening the screen to give Rose a view of everyone else.
“Good day,” Rose said neutrally. Alex knew she wanted him to keep working on the core, but she saw the occasional outing with them as good for keeping a positive reputation, which was helpful when one needed assistance. Although Alex saw it as a chance to unwind more than anything else, which was never really a bad thing.
“Howdy there, Rose!” said Applejack, taking her own spot on the blanket. “How’re ya feelin’ today?”
“The same as any other day. Aside from sight and sound, I can’t feel much of anything. This form is rather numb.”
Before Applejack could say that that wasn’t quite what she meant, their conversation was interrupted by an abnormally loud Rarity.
“Please tell me I did not forget the plates!” – She gasped – “I did! I totally forgot them! Of all the worst things that could happen this is the worst. Possible. Thing!”
Rarity suddenly levitated a couch seemingly from out of nowhere and dramatically fell on it, crying “Why!” repeatedly before noticing that everyone else was staring at her.
“What?” she asked. “You didn’t expect me to lay on the grass, did you?”
While everyone else tried to comprehend her, Rainbow Dash decided it simply wasn’t worth it and lied down with sunglasses over her eyes.
“As a side note,” said Rose, “I could name plenty of worse things that could happen.”
Alex rolled his eyes and lied down as well with his hands over his stomach. “I’m sure you could, Rose. I’m sure you could…”
Alex closed his eyes and simply reveled in the feeling of the sun’s rays softly washing over him. For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to relax. Alex could feel a cool breeze blowing over him, and he took note of every imperfection of the ground through the blanket. It felt hard, yet the grass made it feel so much more comfortable. For once, he felt that he could let all his worries go and that he was at peace with everything.
It was short lived, however, when Alex heard something suddenly hit the ground just above his head. Out of simple curiosity, he opened his eyes to see what it was. He found himself face to face a certain Twilight Sparkle, her mane completely frazzled, a crazed look in her eyes, and a broken smile to accentuate the terrifying look.
“HOHGODDAMMIT!” he yelled in a panic as he tried to roll, crawl, and stumble away from the demon that tore him from his heaven.
Alex found himself sitting on the other side of the blanket with the other ponies, clutching at his chest and breathing heavily, his heart beating in his ears. They were all looking at Twilight who was still staring at them with the same mortifying look, and Alex found it extremely difficult to calm down as long as she was still staring at them like that.
“You alright, hon?” asked Applejack.
“No!” shouted Twilight, he expression suddenly becoming very sad. “I am not alright!”
The other five ponies began expressing their concern for their friend all at the same time. Alex couldn’t quite distinguish who was saying what, but they quickly stopped to let their distressed friend speak.
Twilight lowered her head. “It’s just terrible…”
“Yes?” the ponies said collectively.
“Simply awful!”
“Yes?” they repeated with more intensity.
“It’s the most horrific trouble I’ve ever been in and I really really really need your help!”
“Twilight,” Rose cut in, “I mean no offense, but do get on with it.”
Alex, who was more relaxed now that Twilight didn’t look like she was about to murder him in his sleep and harvest his organs under the pretext of science, shot the computer a quick glare before looking back at the distressed unicorn.
“My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven’t learned anything about friendship!”
They all breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness! I thought something really awful had happened,” said Fluttershy.
Alex watched as the others went back to their business. He noticed that Twilight looked utterly shocked at their reaction. For his part, he simply felt confused.
She’s panicking about a letter about friendship? he thought. Why the fuck would she make such a big fuss about that? What in the hell is going on with her?
Twilight suddenly teleported to the middle of the blanket with a bright purple flash, causing Alex to jump in surprise. “Something awful has happened!” Twilight teleported again, this time appearing next to Rarity and causing her to spit out some tea she was drinking. “If I don’t turn in the letter on time, I’ll be tardy!” She teleported a third time, appearing in front of Alex and somehow gripping him tightly by the shoulders with her hooves. “TARDY!”
Alex’s near constant state of surprise was causing his thoughts to lag. He simply stared at the poor mare when the others started giggling at her behavior. Twilight looked at the others with an angry frown as her frustration quickly grew.
“Twilight, might I ask you something?”
She immediately turned her attention to Rose with pleading eyes, as if she expected the AI to come to her rescue and get the others to see reason. “Yes?”
“From my current understanding, your relationship with the princess is that of a teacher and student, correct?”
“Yes…”
“Then from what I can see, this is simply a case of ‘overdue homework,’ is it not?”
Twilight let go of Alex and gave her full attention to Rose. “No! It isn’t just a simple case of overdue homework!” she pleaded. “I have to send her a report every. Single. Week!”
“Why don’t ya write about Alex?” asked Applejack. “After all, you’ve been helpin’ him build that thing in yer basement and been givin’ him food and shelter the entire time since he’s been here. Now if that ain’t dedication and friendship to a complete stranger, I don’t know what is!”
Alex and Twilight looked at her. Getting roped into this was the last thing Alex wanted to do, and Applejack throwing his name up like that certainly didn’t make him feel more comfortable in that regard.
“But… but… I… I…” Twilight stammered. She looked like she was almost on the verge of tears. She closed her eyes, hung her head low and spoke barely loud enough for everyone to hear. “I can’t…”
Alex could practically smell the tough questions about to come his way.
“Why not?” asked Pinkie Pie with a tilted head. “That sounds like a great idea to me!”
“It’s because she swore herself to secrecy,” answered Rose. All eyes were suddenly on the computer. While Alex was starting to feel sweat accumulate on his forehead, Rose stayed completely serious and focused. “Tell me, do any of you have any idea just what it is we’re making?”
They all looked at each other briefly before collectively shaking their heads.
“Exactly my point. Twilight is the only one who knows what we’re building, and we’d like to keep it that way. It’s on a strictly need to know basis, and frankly, Twilight is the only one who needs to know. Any such report on us will gather too much attention for our liking, no matter how vague it is.”
Applejack squinted her eyes. “Just what exactly are y’all tryin’ to make that needs so much secrecy?”
“It’s just something to help get us set up in this world,” Alex answered quickly. He appreciated Rose’s effort to explain things, but her ‘blunt force logic to the head’ strategy clearly wasn’t earning anyone’s trust.
Applejack turned her scrutinizing look towards Alex and stared at him in silence for a moment before speaking. “Y’all are buildin’ that special thing you mentioned a while back, ain’t ya? That thing you said could be really dangerous?”
Alex felt his heart skip a beat and raised his hands defensively. “It’s only dangerous under a very specific set of circumstances, and even then, you have to be really finicky with it!” he said quickly, finishing with a nervous smile.
Alex was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable as the farmer continued to stare at him as if doing so would somehow uncover the truth. It was Twilight who ultimately came to his rescue. “It’s ok, Applejack, you can trust them. I can assure you it’s nothing to worry about. But they’re right, I promised them I would keep it a secret, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”
Pinkie nodded. “She has a point, Applejack! She made a promise to keep a secret, and we have to respect that!”
“Thank you for understanding, Pinkie,” said Twilight, her voice increasing in urgency as she was building up to different point. “But that still doesn’t help me with my letter to the princess! I need to find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!”
Applejack sighed, but quickly put a smile back on her face. “Twi, even if y’all don’t wanna write about Alex, I’m sure this report of yers ain’t nothin’ to worry about. Come on now, just have a seat and stop sweatin’ small stuff.”
Twilight turned to Alex with a pleading look. “Alex, please, you understand what’s at stake here, right? You can help me, can’t you?”
Alex only offered her a nervous look and a light shrug. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I have no idea how I could help you. Plus, I’m kind with them on this one…” He indicated towards the others. “I think you’re overreacting to this just a little too much.”
Twilight's face immediately shifted to a look of betrayal, then quickly turned to sadness, then pure frustration. She let out a short but loud groan and began to trot away. As she walked away from the group, she groaned one more time at them to hammer home that she was completely fed up before speeding up to a gallop and teleporting out of sight.
“Wow, I’ve never seen Twilight so upset before,” said Fluttershy.
“Ugh, what a drama queen!” said Rarity, lying down on the couch in what could only be a ‘draw me like one of your French girls’ pose. Noticing everyone was now looking at her, and right through to her own hypocrisy, she cleared her throat. “Relatively speaking…”
Alex, deciding that what just happened was just a little too much drama to deal with, fell back limply on the blanket and stared at the sky in an attempt to regain his relaxation. His view was soon obstructed by a sunglasses clad cyan pegasus looking down at him.
“So, why exactly do you want to keep that thing a secret again?” asked Rainbow Dash with a skeptical look.
Alex sighed and propped himself up on his elbows. “If you’ll recall from a while ago, I said that the device in question is really valuable. Where I’m from, wars would have been fought over it. Naturally, it’s best that as few people know about it as possible.”
“But why?” she questioned. “What makes this thing so important that ponies would fight over it? Why do you need to make it so badly?”
Alex sat up straight and looked at Rose, who simply stared back at him sternly. He knew that Rose didn’t want him to tell them anything, but even if he saw her as an equal, Alex ultimately had the final say on virtually everything. He noticed the other ponies were looking at him as well, just as curious to know the answer to the question that was plaguing them. Alex closed his eyes and allowed himself a deep breath before looking at Rainbow Dash seriously.
“If want to get back to doing my work, I’m going to need a very special power source, which Twilight is ever so kindly helping me build. That’s all it is, just something to power other machines. Once I get myself set up, I’ll be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me…” His features softened and he looked at the others with a humble smile. “And you five… I honestly can’t thank you enough for the welcome you’ve given me since I came here. I was… a little reluctant about having regular friends, at first, since I can’t say I’ve ever really had positive experiences with such things, but you’ve done so much more than I could have ever expected from any of you, and I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s our pleasure, Alex, there’s no need to thank us,” said Rarity, still lying down on her couch. “I just hope that device of yours is coming along well.”
Alex sat up and held his hand out. “Thanks, Rarity, it is, but I don’t think you get what I’m trying to say here. You’ve all done so much for me, and frankly, I don’t feel like I deserve it.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” said Fluttershy. “You were chased from your own home by a bunch of mean monsters! Making you feel welcome is the least we could do to help.”
The ponies all expressed their agreement with Fluttershy’s words. Alex nodded sagely. “All the same, I feel like you all deserve something special for everything you’ve done. With that said, I’ve decided that when I get my new workshop up and running, I’m going to design and make something for each of you as a thank you.”
Applejack held her Stetson humbly over her chest. “Aw, shucks, Alex, you don’t need to do that for us!”
“Honestly, I’d feel guilty if I didn’t,” he replied. “Plus, I enjoy a challenge.”
“Boy am I ever familiar with that feeling,” said Rarity, brushing her hoof through her mane.
“Besides,” Alex continued, “Once I have everything set up, I’ll have nothing but free time! Granted, I'll spend pretty much all of my time researching and working on things, but you get the idea.”
“Just free time? But what are you going to do about food and money?” asked Fluttershy.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck as he reflected on it. Because of EMC technology, the facility could sustain him indefinitely, so money wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it wouldn’t even be a necessity. Granted, EMC generated food couldn’t really be called “appealing.” It was nutrient rich and healthy to eat - the very definition of a super food if there ever was one - but then again, a bland, white paste with a shitty aftertaste wasn’t exactly considered fine dining.
If everything else failed, he could just duplicate money if given a template, so long as it was in moderation. He wasn’t an economist, but if there was anything he learned from his father’s ramblings about the economy when he was younger, it was that inflation equals bad, and printing money helps cause it.
“Fluttershy, I managed to survive a long time on my own before all this happened. I’ve got ways to make ends meet without bothering anyone.” He couldn’t help but smirk.
“Oh, okay, if you say so…” she said meekly.
“Now then!” he said as he clapped his hands together, turning his head to make sure everyone was looking. “I would just like to say that as an engineer, you may think of me as another form of artist, SO –!” Alex fell back on the blanket and raised his arms skyward. “– Inspire me!”
His vision was suddenly obscured by Pinkie Pie waving her hoof excitedly. “Ooo! Ooo! I have an idea!”
----------
“So you see, Dash, terminal velocity is achieved when the force of friction is equivalent to the amount of force you’re applying. Although terminal velocity is generally defined with a downward vector, the phenomenon occurs no matter what your vector is. So to go faster, all you really need is to have a greater net force to allow for positive acceleration over a longer period of time, which can be achieved through either greater applied force or more commonly by reducing the force of friction by reducing the amount of surface area exposed to air resistance.”
The pegasus in question looked at Alex, a blank stare on her uncomprehending face. He looked back at her with an eager grin, as if he expected her to say “Oh, I get it now!” but she simply gave him a nervous smile in return.
Alex sighed. “I lost you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, kind of…” she replied, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
“Okay, umm… Do you know what air resistance is?”
“Of course!”
“So you know that too much air resistance makes you slower, right?”
“Duh!”
“Okay, well, there you go! That’s the premise to flying faster! You can decrease air resistance by decreasing your overall surface area which is achieved with a more aerodynamic frame. You could also do it by lowering atmospheric pressure which happens at higher altitudes, but I digress. In the end, you have to manage to have a greater net force for longer before it equalizes and becomes zero, meaning you stop accelerating. But if the net force become negative, then you start decelerating. Also it’s good to keep in mind that forces affect acceleration, which is just change in velocity over time. So if you can hold a greater net force for longer, you accelerate for longer, and by the time the forces equalize, you ultimately have more speed than you did before!”
“Umm…” Rainbow Dash twisted her face in a vain attempt to understand.
“I did it again, didn’t I?”
“Yeah…”
Alex sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I suppose basic Newtonian mechanics just aren’t your thing, I guess…”
The pegasus tilted her head in even greater confusion. “Huh? What do newts have to do with flying faster?”
“What? I… I don’t… they don’t…” Alex sighed a third time at the ever present communication problem. “You know what? Never mind…”
“Ugh, I don’t get how you understand this stuff!” Dash groaned in frustration, deciding it better to not think and just lie down.
“It’s his special talent, Silly!” said Pinkie who was packing up her basket, the same one that had flown up with the balloons. Alex still wasn’t sure when or how she retrieved it. “He’s just good at that mathy physics stuff! Like Twilight!”
“Indeed… my ‘special talent’…” he mulled over Pinkie’s choice of words as he leaned back against a tree next to Applejack, who was lightly napping with her hat over her face. “Special talent” seems like a good description for it, but it doesn’t have quite as good a sound as, say, the word “mastery.”
During the course of the picnic, they group conversed largely about recent events, most of which sounded mundane to Alex and even more so to Rose. He did, however, get the opportunity to know the ponies a bit more and cooked up a few ideas for thank you gifts.
Pinkie Pie’s initial idea that afternoon was… interesting, to say the very least. After expressing his lack of desire to even attempt such a thing, much to everyone else’s relief, Alex asked her if he could examine her party cannon a little more closely at some point. She was initially reluctant, but eventually agreed, so long as it was returned just the way it was by the end of it all.
An idea for a gift for Rainbow Dash was the easiest to come up with, or rather, the purpose of it was. She obviously wanted to be able to fly as fast as possible, making Alex’s target clear. Problem is, he knew it wouldn’t be as simple as slapping a jet engine on her back and flipping the switch. Although he had to admit that the thought of doing that was certainly entertaining.
Rarity was a tad bit tougher. She didn’t have a want for much, which made it that much more difficult to make her “thank you” unique. He toyed with the idea of designing a new synthetic material she could use in dress making, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to go about doing so. Regardless, he filed the idea away for later.
Applejack was even tougher since she wanted even less. She had everything she could ever want – according to her, at any rate – but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use something, though. He thought that, since she worked a farm, she could use some help tending it. Perhaps a machine to make things a little easier…
Fluttershy, however, was the most difficult. Like Applejack, she didn’t want anything and was impossibly humble about it, but she didn’t seem to need anything either. If she doesn’t need anything, then what could I do? Maybe something she’d like that didn’t serve a practical purpose? A new pet, maybe? Oohh, now there’s an idea…
As for Twilight, he was still at a loss. She was certainly interested in humanity and very taken in by Alex’s technology, but that didn’t narrow anything down. He briefly considered giving her the initial power-core once it outlived its usefulness, but quickly dismissed the idea since doing so would be such a massive security breach that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all. Plus, Rose would never allow it in a million years.
In the end, though, he had plenty of ideas to work with and was looking forward to getting started. If there was something Alex loved, it was an engineering challenge, and designing things with a specific end-goal in mind that he had never attempted before was as good as it got. Plus, whatever he ended up developing as a result could be used for later projects, so it was a win-win for everyone.
Alex was simply staring off into the distance with only his thoughts to occupy him as he sat against the tree when Rose caught his attention. “Alex, I’m detecting some seismic activity.”
He looked at the computer next to him quizzically. “Huh? An earthquake?”
She shook her virtual head. “Worse. Quick, pick me up!”
Alex picked up the worried AI and placed her on his lap, her concern starting to spread to him. “Rose, what’s going on?”
Seemingly on cue, he started to hear a low rumbling noise. Applejack suddenly woke up from her nap with an eyebrow raised and ears perked. She leaned into what she thought was the direction of the noise. “Y’all hear that…?”
Almost instantly, a horde of ponies stampeded through the picnic area, yelling all sorts of things Alex couldn’t pick out. He quickly retracted his legs and held himself and Rose as close to the tree as possible. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie, who were originally in the middle of the area, quickly zipped out of the way without a second to spare.
Alex stood up as the stampede roared past the group, keeping the computer open and oriented outward so Rose could see. From what he could tell, they were all fighting amongst each other over something he couldn’t quite make out.
“What in the name of all things oats and apples is going on here?!” Applejack shouted over the tumult.
The group watched the fighting in awe, wondering what could have even caused this to happen to such normally peaceful individuals. Alex suddenly noticed a random object flying overhead and turned to look at it out of pure curiosity.
What the hell was that? What the…? Is that a… a… whoa-
His thoughts were suddenly cleared when his line of sight with the object was torn way by a forceful jerk to the side, almost causing him to drop the computer, and Twilight’s voice yelling at him. “DON’T LOOK AT IT!”
Alex groaned and shook his head as a severe head ache suddenly hit him and just as quickly vanished. His senses started to take in information again and noticed that Twilight had, at some point, rejoined them.
Oh, and a good portion of the entire town was beating the ever-loving shit out of each other right next to them.
“Don’t look at what?” asked Rarity, clearly as confused as she was concerned.
Twilight quickly put a hoof over her friend’s eyes. “My Smarty Pants doll! I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!”
“With all due respect, Twilight,” said Rose, “why in the hell would you do such a thing?!”
Twilight fell to the ground and covered her head with her hooves as if to protect herself from the AI’s scorn. “Well I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn’t find a problem, I’d make a problem! The day is almost over!”
“Not almost,” said Applejack, pointing towards the horizon as the sun set, almost abnormally quickly. Alex couldn’t help but wonder how he had lost track of time so much that he had failed to notice it earlier.
They all watched own as the sun lowered itself below the horizon and the entire area darkened as twilight came upon them. The distressed unicorn, who had raised her head to watch the spectacle, slowly lowered it against the ground in defeat.
Alex flinched as a loud voice boomed overhead. “Twilight Sparkle!”
They all looked up to see a large white pony, larger than any of the others Alex had met thus far. Her mane and tail were a variety of colors and seemed to sway and flow of their own accord, completely disregarding gravity. Aside from her size and hair, the newcomer had another distinctive feature that separated her from everyone else: she had both a horn and wings, not to mention a crown. Alex couldn’t tell exactly how, but she was also emitting a surprising amount of light.
And that must be Princess Celestia… he thought as a chill ran up his spine. Fuck…
“Whoa, nelly…” Applejack said, humbly lowering her hat over her chest.
The princess simply hovered in the air for a moment, flapping her great wings, before raising her horn to emit a powerful light. They all had to duck their heads to keep themselves from becoming blinded by it. At the same time, a loud magical noise beyond description began ringing in their ears. Alex shut his eyes tightly and grit his teeth, enduring the noise since he didn’t want to let the computer go to cover his ears.
After what seemed like far too long to him, the light and noise subsided and Alex was finally able to see and hear clearly again. He looked up to see the princess land firmly on the ground in front of Twilight, the light from her body dissipating to normal levels. He quickly scanned the area, noticing that all the ponies had stopped fighting and were going their separate ways.
The princess looked down at Twilight for a brief moment with a hard look before turning her attention to Alex. Noticing this, his heart jumped a bit, but he kept his posture. Now that the princess was on the ground, he could see that they were roughly the same height, discounting her horn. Alex simply stared back at her like a deer in headlights, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. She kept her gaze focused on him for more time than he felt was comfortable, her eyes darted all over him and scrutinizing every little detail. What was really only a few seconds felt much longer to Alex, but Celestia eventually turned her attention back to her student.
“Meet me in the library,” she said sternly. Immediately after, Celestia leaped into the air with a single thrust of her great wings and flew off in the direction of said library.
The group sat there for a few seconds, their brains trying to process what had just transpired. Eventually Twilight rose to her hooves, trembling, keeping her head low and facing away from them.
“I’m sorry, Alex… Rose…” she said with a shaky voice. “I’m s-so sorry… I failed you…” Twilight turned to face them, tears welling up in her eyes with the saddest expression any of them had ever seen. “Goodbye, girls… If you care to visit, I’ll be in magic kindergarten… back in Canterlot…”
With that, Twilight lowered her head again and began her dead-man’s march towards the library. Alex fell to his knees and tried to gently put Rose down, the computer suddenly feeling much too heavy for him. He ended up being rougher with it than the AI would have liked. Alex felt a knot forming in his stomach, the same feeling he always got when he knew something bad was happening, and simply stared after Twilight.
She’s going to be taken away…? he thought. If she can’t help me finish the power-core, I’ll be dead in the water. I have to do something… If I don’t, the new workshop will never get built… and Twilight also needs help… She’s a friend if I’ve ever had one, and she at least deserved my help for everything she’s done for me…
Alex closed his eyes forcefully, making every effort to keep them shut and clear his mind. He could vaguely hear the other ponies voicing their opinions on the matter, although to him, they sounded miles away. He could just barely make out Applejack’s desire to know what to do, Rarity’s dramatic cry about it all being terrible, and even Rose’s agreement with her.
With a final breath, Alex snapped his eyes open. It was much too subtle for any of the others to notice, but his normally blue irises were tinted green before quickly reverting back to their original color.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” he said solemnly, his eyes still aimed toward the ground. “We’re going to go straight to the library and put an end to this.” He folded the computer under his arm and rose to his full height. “Now.”
“But-but… I’m supposed to send you a letter about friendship every week,” Twilight said in front of her mentor in the middle of Ponyville’s library, her head bowed low. “I missed the deadline. I’m a bad student! I’m tardy…”
Celestia’s ever neutral expression didn’t change. “You are a wonderful student, Twilight. I don’t have to get a letter every week to know that.”
Twilight was finally able to raise her head and look at her teacher directly. “Really…?”
Before the princess could respond, their conversation was cut short by a loud bash. They both looked towards the source of the noise: the front door of the library. Alex was standing in the doorway, computer under his right arm, Twilight’s friends behind him. He simply glared at Celestia.
“Alex, darling, was it really necessary to kick open the door?” asked Rarity.
He completely ignored her and walked straight towards the princess. “Look, whatever punishment you think you have for Twilight, you can forget it. This pony has done nothing but good.”
“Alex, wait, it’s–” Twilight tried to speak, but he cut her off.
“Ever since I got dumped in this world, she’s been doing everything in her power to help me, and I don’t know where I’d be without her.”
“Wait, you’ve got it all–”
“You want your god damn report on friendship so badly? Well there you have it. After everything she’s done for me, I’m not going to let you just take her away.”
Everyone in the room just stared at him. The silence lasted for a fair while before Celestia spoke up in her usually calm manner. “I wasn’t going to punish her.”
Alex’s frown disappeared as his face suddenly became blank. Everyone stood stock still for several awkward seconds before Alex pursed his lips and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Well damn, now I feel like an idiot.” He said as he turned to place his computer on a nearby table. The ponies also released their own breaths, knowing that their friend was free of trouble and that Alex’s stupidly bold move didn’t have any serious repercussions.
Celestia chuckled lightly. “You must be Alexander.”
Alex had just placed the computer down when she said that and he immediately froze. She knows about me…? He turned to look at her again, skeptically. “Yes, that’s right…”
The princess gave him her usual warming smile. “Twilight told me about you in a letter of hers a few weeks ago,” she said, as if she could read his mind. “She told me she was taking care of a being from another world until he could get on his hooves.”
“Did she now…?” Alex looked at Twilight. She returned his look with a nervous smile.
“Yes, she did. In fact, it was around that time that she had also started asking me for quite a few bits for a certain ‘study venture’ of hers. She didn’t tell me much about what it was. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Alex froze and his heart skipped a beat when someone else answered. “Know anything about it? Pffft, he’s building it!” Alex pursed his lips and rotated his head over his shoulder to glare daggers at Pinkie Pie. Noticing his stare, Pinkie laughed nervously “Oopsies…”
“Really?” he heard Celestia say, her curiosity clearly piqued. “I had a feeling the two were related. Tell me, Alexander, just what is it that you and Twilight are making?”
Alex continued to look in Pinkie’s direction, thinking the last thing he wanted to do was let the princess see his face. His heart rate grew so intense he could practically hear it, feeling it beat in his ears. Shit, what do I do? What do I tell her? Fuck!
It was a voice Celestia was unfamiliar with that ultimately answered her question. “That information is classified.”
Celestia craned her neck and tried to determine where the voice came from, unsuccessfully. “Hm? Who’s there?”
“Down here.”
Celestia brought her attention to the device on the table. On impulse, Alex opened the laptop to reveal Rose’s virtual face. She had a slight frown and was clearly not amused.
Before the princess could say anything, Twilight did the honors of introducing her. “Princess Celestia, this is Rose. She came here with Alex.” Alex took note of the fact that Twilight didn’t mentioned that Rose was an Artificial Intelligence.
Celestia smiled warmly at the AI. “Rose… Such a lovely name. Is it short for Rose Mary?”
It looked as if the princess could tell Rose was irritated, angry even, and tried to disarm her with politeness. While it normally would have worked on just about anyone, Rose didn’t bite. “No.”
Celestia looked slightly taken aback by Rose's tone of voice, but only for a fraction of a second. “My apologies. Please, why is it you don’t want to tell me what you’re making?”
“You don’t have the proper authorization,” Rose responded matter-of-factly.
The ponies’ eyes grew wide. Rose had straight up told the princess that she was not allowed to know. To their knowledge, nopony would ever dare say that to royalty. Alex, seeing that Celestia’s attention was clearly off him, took the opportunity to back away towards the others.
Celestia frowned just a bit. “If my bits are funding this project of yours, I would imagine that I, of all ponies, would be allowed to know.”
“You would think so, but no. Perhaps you’ll know after it’s completed. Until then, I don’t care if you built this entire world out of a single grain of sand, you will know only as much as you are authorized to know.” Rose smiled, though something about it didn’t look genuine. “Besides, your favorite student herself is overseeing the project. You trust her, don't you?”
The princess looked like she was about to respond but stopped. Instead, she briefly closed her eyes and smiled. “I understand, and I trust my student with this fully. I will not press further…”
Alex let out a breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding . In-fact, he was even more than surprised that “blunt force logic to the head” actually worked.
“…On one condition,” Celestia continued. “I would like to see this ‘project’ of yours once it’s finished.” She looked at Alex. “Tell me, Alexander, when will it be done?”
He felt the knot in his stomach pull at him again and answered without thinking. “Uh… I-it should be ready to activate in about three weeks…” Fuck, why’d I say that?
She smiled. “Ah, just in time for the Summer Sun Celebration. Perhaps it might be worth holding it in Ponyville again for this year. The last one didn't go quite as planned, and I would most certainly be interested in seeing what it is you intend to activate. Alexander, would you mind if you held a… public activation?”
The knot in his stomach was threatening to turn him inside out. A public activation?! What?! No! Fuck, this is bad, this is–
“He would love to, Princess!” Twilight answered for him.
Both Rose and Alex shot her a glare.
“Excellent,” said Celestia. “When I return to Canterlot, I’ll begin making the proper arrangements.”
“You know what?” Alex suddenly said, a little louder than he wanted to. “It’s getting late. I’m gonna go to bed now. Goodnight, everyone!”
With that, the others watched silently and curiously - except for Pinkie pie, who naturally waved him off with a pleasant "sleep tight!" - as he snatched Rose up and made his way to the guest room. He wanted an excuse to leave that scene, to just get away from having to deal with any more questions he really didn’t want to answer. Going to bed was the first idea that popped into his head and decided it would do just fine. He reached the guest room, promptly closed the door behind him, and leaned his back against it.
God fucking dammit… he thought, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. Fuck… Just… Fuck…
Alex took another deep breath and then slowly made his way towards the bed in the dark, placing Rose on the night stand and turning the light on. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his face in his palms. Alex could hear the others conversing outside. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but guessed they were most likely talking about Twilight’s little escapade with her doll.
“This is just fucking beautiful…” he muttered. “Activating the power-core as a public demonstration, and agreeing to it? What the fuck was she thinking…?”
“I’ll admit, things didn’t go perfectly back there,” said Rose. “But think of it this way. The princess doesn’t know what the core will do and she still won’t after it’s activated. It may be a public activation, but you and I both know there won’t be much for them to see.”
Alex let his hands fall between his knees and looked at the closed computer. He sighed. “Yeah, you’re right… I guess it won’t be all that bad… Heh, in a way, we did just dodge a bullet…” He smiled. It was a weak smile, but a smile none the less. “Nice to see you looking on the bright side of things.”
“I’m just stating the facts.”
“Yeah… you are…”
Alex stared ahead of him, trying to keep his mind focused on the good things about the recent turn of events, or rather, the things that were the least bad. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Twilight gently opened the door. “Alex? Are you still awake?”
He sat up and looked in her direction. “Yeah, I’m still up.”
Twilight slowly made her way to the bed. “Everypony left and Spike’s on his way to bed… I just… I wanted to say I’m sorry for the way things turned out back there…”
Alex let out a long breath. “It’s alright, Twilight… Wasn’t exactly a controlled environment…”
She gently sat down on the bed next to him. “Are you sure? This public activation thing isn’t bothering you?”
He kept looking ahead, elbows on his knees, and nodded once. “It is, but I guess I’m not terribly worried about it… I mean, so long as everything works the way it’s supposed to, it’s not going to be much of a show.”
“That’s good…” Twilight was mirroring him, simply staring ahead at nothing, lost in thought. The two shared the silence for a moment before she finally spoke up again. “I… I also wanted to thank you…”
Alex looked at her curiously. “For what?”
She flashed a small smile but continued staring ahead. “For standing up to Princess Celestia like that for me, even if it was just a false alarm and she never meant anything bad.” She looked at him. “It’s not every day somepony talks to the ruler of all of Equestria like that. I can’t even imagine what was going on in your head to make you do something that crazy.”
He leaned back on his arms, looking at the ceiling. “Yeah… In hindsight, that was kinda stupid on my part…”
Twilight chuckled, but spoke softly. “Unbelievably stupid… But still…” She leaned into him, causing him to jump slightly and look down at her. “Thank you… It meant a lot to me…”
Alex didn’t move at first. He just looked at Twilight as she rested herself against him. He wasn’t exactly sure how to react to that. In the end, Alex smiled and brought his arm around, patting her lightly on the shoulder. “It’s the least I could do.” He let out a light laugh. “Plus, I still need you so I can finish the core, remember?”
Twilight smiled. While Alex couldn’t see it, it seemed almost forced. “Right, the core…” With a small grunt, she sat up and looked at him, though with a more genuine smile. “Will it really be done in three weeks?”
He brought his arm down and smiled at her. “At the current pace, I’d even say two and a half. If I dedicate more time to it, probably even sooner.”
With a nod, Twilight hopped off the bed. “Right. Remember, if you need anything, just let me know. I’m going to bed. Good night, Alex.”
He waved after her. “G’night.”
Once Twilight left the room, Alex sat still for a moment before kicking his shoes off and lying back, staring at the ceiling. He breathed deeply and, with a grunt of effort, turned the lamp next to him off, encasing the room in darkness with only the light of the stars outside to provide anything.
Soon, he thought. Very soon.