Augmented Love
Chapter 1
Meet the Flyer
Crank Shaft, a seventeen year old man with fair skin and a grey horn growing out of his forehead that seemed to have some control over his messy brown hair woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He hit the snooze button and drifted back to sleep only to be awoken again by a hard knock on his door.
“It’s time to wake up Crank. Breakfast is ready.” A sweet sounding voice said.
“Yeah, yeah.” He said with a groan. The man rose from his bed. He let out another yawn as he stretched his back and cracked his knuckles. He got to his feet and threw on a pair of black jeans, a red shirt and his digital watch. Crank made his way into the bathroom and stared into his reflection.
His left eye was hazel while the right was an electric green. The man made his way downstairs into the kitchen to see a small pile of pancakes stacked on a plate and a woman with a red horn sticking out of her forehead with brown hair in an apron.
“How’d you sleep dear?” She asked with a smile.
“Can’t complain.” He said with a shrug. He eagerly dug into the food in front of him. “Where’s dad?”
“Getting the last of his things together.” She said as she poured another batch. “You sure you’re okay with staying home alone? We’ll be gone for at least three weeks and with school staring-” The man rolled his eyes and held up his hand.
“I’ll be fine mom. You and dad deserve some time off.” He said with a smile. Crank then saw a man with a white horn sticking out of his forehead that was partially covered by his combed red hair. He was donning a tropical island shirt holding a few bags at his side.
“Hi honey.” The stallion said as he gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek. “You alright Crank?” He asked as he looked at his son.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said with a smile.
“We’ll be at the Palm Tree Hotel. Their number is on the fridge. Call us if anything comes up.” He said as he grabbed an apple. “Oh and son.”
“Yeah?” Crank asked as he stopped eating.
“Don’t spend the whole month in the work shop. Go out have some fun have a party for Celestia’s sake. There’s some alcohol in the downstairs fridge, just don’t overdo it.” The man said with a smile. “Go out, have some fun, make some friends, hell get a girlfriend.”
“Dad! You know I’m not into the whole dating scene.” He said with a grumble.
“That’s why I’m saying it. You’re in the prime of your life and you shouldn’t be cooped up in your basement.”
“It’s the best place to be for someone like me.” The two adults looked at one another and let out a heavy sigh. The woman gave him one last kiss on his cheek. Crank waved goodbye as the two got in their Mercedes and drove off towards the air port. The man let out a sigh as he closed the door.
“I’ll be in the workshop D.” He said as he finished cleaning the dishes. A toy sized blue figure appeared on the glass coffee table. The image was definitely a woman with strands of green code running up and down her form.
“Didn’t your parents tell you not to spend the whole month in there?” The image asked in an elegant voice.
“I won’t spend the whole month. Just a good portion of it.”
“No offense, but you’re an asshole.” The image said as it appeared on his right shoulder.
“You just love that sass back feature don’t you?” He said in a snide tone.
“Bingo.” The image said as the stallion walked up to a door with a key pad and pressed a series of buttons. The door clicked open to reveal a large room with machine parts strewn about. The man made his way over to his work bench and pulled out a small silver rod with a blue light at the end of it. “I still don’t see why you carry that probe around with you.” The image said as it appeared on the work bench.
“That’s screwdriver. Probe sounds too.....uncomfortable.” He said as he sat down and pressed the button causing a low buzzing sound. The blue image suddenly turned red.
“Warning! Perimeter breach!”
“Probably just a bird.”
“Negative. I’m picking up an unknown outline in the yard. It weighs one hundred and nine pounds.” Crank got to his feet and grabbed a nearby bat. He walked into the backyard and saw an unconscious woman with cyan wings sprouting from her back and a flowing rainbow mane. She was donning a cyan hoodie and a pair of athletic shorts with a rainbow stripe going down each leg.
He cautiously walked over to the girl and noticed a small burn mark on her left leg. The rainbow haired girl stirred and her eyes fluttered open to see the man looking at her with a confused expression on his face and a bat in his hand.
“Why did you hit me?” She said as she rubbed her head.
“I didn’t hit you. You crashed in my yard. Probably triggered the defense system, which explains the burn.” He said as he pointed to her leg. As she tried to get up she felt a small wave of pain wash over her. Crank put the bat down and offered his hand. The girl grabbed it and pulled herself up. Crank pulled her arm over his shoulder and put his left hand around her waist. “Can you fly?” He asked. The girl felt another wave of pain course through her body as she tried to flap her wings.
“No, I think my wing-” She felt her eyes become heavy and slipped into unconsciousness. Crank walked over to the door and pressed the lettered key pad. He walked inside and put the woman on the couch. Crank walked over to the medicine cabinet. He pulled out a few bandages and wrapped the mare’s wing. The blue image appeared on the coffee table with a confused look on her face.
“Run a scan. Find out who she is.” The man said as he examined her leg. The image blinked once and a series of photographs appeared on the glass.
“Medical files retrieved. Her name is Rainbow Dash, seventeen years old. Weather manager for Ponyville.” The image said as Lightning scanned through the information. He heard a small ringing coming from the girl’s jacket. He pulled out a cracked and barely functioning cell phone. The screen read T-Sparkle before the screen turned black. Crank walked over to a drawer and pulled out a cable and a new phone.
He connected the two devises and watched as the new devise was filled with the old information. He picked it up and found the T-Sparkle contact. He dialed the number and heard it ring a few times before a woman’s voice answered it.
“Hello?” A female voice said over the phone.
“Yeah, do you know a girl named Rainbow Dash?”
“Yes, why?”
“She just crashed in my backyard.”
“Oh Celestia! Is she okay?” The voice asked in a concerned tone.
“She’s fine. Just knocked out, can you come and get her?”
“Of course! Where do you live?”
“Just on the outskirts of town. Big tan house, you can’t miss it.”
“Okay I’ll be there soon. Thank you.” Crank hung up the phone and left the new piece of tech on the coffee table. He then saw the mare starting to stir. He grabbed an odd device that was shooting out a blue line across the mares body. The line moved over her body twice and a diagram of the mares body showed on the screen. Rainbow’s eyes snapped open to see the man pointing odd machine at her.
“Gah!” She yelled as she held up her hands in a defensive position.
“Easy, you have a bruised leg muscle and sprained wing.” He said in a calm tone.
“What is that thing?” She yelled as she pointed at the devise.
“Diagnostic scanner. Think of it as a portable X-ray machine.” He said as he put the machine down on the table. The girl then noticed her bandaged leg and wing.
“Thanks.” She said as she sat up.
“No problem. By the way, one of your friends are coming to pick you up.” He said in a flat tone.
“Who?”
“I called T-Sparkle that was on your phone, which is broken.” He said as he handed her the cracked phone. The girl face palmed and let out a groan.
“Ugh, my folks are going to kill me.”
“Relax, I transferred the info into this new one.” He said as he handed her the brand new device. The girl’s eyes boggled at the phone.
“This is an I-Pony seven! It’s not supposed to be released for another six months.” She exclaimed. “How’d you get this?”
“I have my ways.” He said with a shrug. He then heard a loud knock at the door. Crank got up and opened it to reveal a unicorn girl with a lavender colored horn, indigo hair and a pink stripe running through it. She had a worried look on her face. The girl was wearing a white blouse with a brown skirt that stopped at her knees “Are you T-Sparkle?”
“My name is Twilight and yes.” She said as she stepped inside. “Where’s Rainbow?”
“Over there on the couch.” Crank said as he pointed to the living room. The girl walked over to see her winged friend rubbing her head. “Her wing is sprained and her left leg has a minor burn.” He said as he pointed to the small burn mark.
“Why the hell did you taser me?” Dash yelled.
“I didn’t. The ADS did.”
“What’s the ADS?”
“Automatic Defense System. You probably tripped the proximity alert.” He said with a shrug. Twilight looked at her friends burn and her horn glowed. The burn began to disappear and her wing started to shift. A small purple aura wrapped around the appendage and seemed to heal it. “Healing spell?”
“Yeah, basic but effective.” She said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“You two want anything? Water? Soda?”
“I’m fine.” Twilight said.
“Same.” Rainbow said as the two got to their feet. Crank held the door open for them as they left. As the man closed the door he was stopped by the rainbow haired girl putting her foot between the door and the doorway. “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Crank Shaft.” He said in a flat tone.
“Well, thanks for helping me out. I’ll see you around?”
“Maybe.” He said as he closed the door and the two girls walked away from the house. Crank made his way back down into the workshop and started to work on the computer in front of him. He pulled out a chip and inserted it into the console. He spent the next few hours calibrating the codes and setting up software patches.
“Sir, incoming call from your mother.” The small blue image said.
“Put her on speaker.” The blue figure nodded and snapped it’s fingers. “Yeah mom?”
“Hello honey. How are things?”
“Good. Finishing up this software patch.”
“Ugh, what part of ‘don’t spend all your time in the workshop’ didn’t you understand?”
“I just wanted to get this done. Did you need something?”
“Yes, I just got a call from Carousel Boutique, my dress is in. Could you go and get it for me?”
“Sure. I’ll get it in five minutes.”
“Thanks hun, and remember to make some friends.”
“Sorry mom, you’re breaking up.” He said as he started to make some static sounding noises with his mouth. “I.....you....” He said before hanging up. Crank let out a sigh. “D, think you can finish this software patch?”
“Do you even need to ask?” The blue woman said with a nod. Crank got to his feet and threw on his green hooded sweat shirt. The man locked his door and teleported into the middle of the small town. Crank hadn’t been in town since Pinkie had thrown him and his parents a surprise party when they arrived three weeks ago when they first came from Manehattan.
Crank pulled out his phone and followed the markers as they him to a posh shop that had mannequins in the window. He made his way inside and instantly smelled the perfume fill his nose.
“Hello? Anyone here?” He called out.
“Just a minute.” An elegant voice said. Crank sat on a nearby couch and scrolled through his phone. He heard foot steps and looked up to see a stunning Unicorn girl with a vibrant white sleeveless blouse with a purple skirt and three blue diamond design embroidered on the skirt. The girl was also sporting a pair of white high heels and her hair was purple with a curl that was pushed on the right side of her horn. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique. I am Rarity, how can I help you today?”
“My name is Crank Shaft. I’m here to pick up a dress under the name Nova Dust.” The woman’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Oh! You’re Nova’s son. She said you’d be coming by.”
“Well, played mom. Well, played.” He said to himself.
“I wasn’t sure whether I got it right.” She said as she pulled out a sleek purple dress that stretched to the floor.
“We can ask her.”
“How?” She was cut off as Crank flicked through his phone and selected his mothers contact. His phone illuminated and a video image of a woman in a blue collard shirt and pants appeared before them.
“What is it hun?”
“I’m at the boutique and Rarity wants to make sure she got it right.” The man turned the screen around and faced the dress.
“Oh Rarity I love it! You did an excellent job!” The image said with a smile. “I need to get back before your father buys something stupid. You know how he gets.”
“Yup. Talk to you later.” He said as the image vanished. Crank picked up the small device and slipped it back into his pocket. He looked up to see Rarity with a relieved smile on her face.
“That’s a load off my shoulders.” She said as the door opened to reveal the unicorn from before.
“Hey Rarity I was wondering if.....Oh it’s you!” She said as she saw the grey horned man.
“You know him Twilight?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, this is the guy that saved Rainbow Dash this morning.” Rarity looked at him in surprise.
“You were the man that she told us about?”
“I didn’t save her. I just brought her inside and tried to treat her wounds.” He said with a shrug. Crank walked over to the attire and put the dress on a hanger. The man then walked past the two and out the door with the dress slung over his shoulder. “See ya.” Crank said as he walked out of the boutique and teleported back outside his home. He hastily made his way up to the door and walked inside.
“D, I’m back. Software patch done?” He asked as he walked up to his parent’s room and hung the dress up in their closet.
“I finished it three minutes after you left.”
“Good. I want to run a system check.”
“Of course.” Crank walked downstairs into the workshop and stepped on the red circle. The man took his shirt off and pressed a button on his watch. The man’s right arm began to shift and the flesh started to rip revealing a metallic frame covering a series of intricate wires and gears. The metal stopped as it wrapped around his right shoulder blade. “How is the Mark V holding up?”
“Better than Mark IV.” He said as he examined the robotic arm with the small silver rod. “I think I jogged something loose. Easy to fix.” He said as he walked over to his tool chest and withdrew a pair of needle nose pliers. He stuck the tool into the mechanism and pulled a small screw out of the palm. “There you are.” He said as he looked at the screw. He looked down at his right arm and let out a heavy sigh. He flexed his fingers and watched as the gears turned.
“Should I run a full check?” The green image said.
“Sure.” He said as he pressed another series of buttons on his watch. Two large robotic arms with a scanner in each side moved around the man and emanated a low hum as the light moved over his skin and metal appendages.
“Your right arm is still at 95% integrity.” The image said as it appeared beside Lightning.
“Viewfinder?”
“Running smoothly.” The blue image suddenly blinked three times. “There’s someone at the front door.” The image said as it’s head perked up.
“Give me a visual.” The image snapped it’s figures and a small video screen appeared on the mirror’s surface. Crank raised an eyebrow at the image of the rainbow haired girl from before waiting on the front steps as she knocked on the door. Crank walked over to a speaker and pressed a button. “Hello?” He said.
“What the hey? Who said that?” The girl said as she started to look around.
“Look at the hawk.” He said. Rainbow looked at the metal hawk head on the door in confusion. “In the eye.” The girl looked closer and saw a small camera inside the head.
“You’re spying on me?”
“Says the girl who’s at my house. Nice to see you used the front door this time.” He said with a grin.
“Hey! Watch it!”
“Sorry, what do you want?”
“Can I at least talk to the real you? I feel kinda weird talking to a metal bird.”
“Give me a second.” He said as he got up and stuck his arm into an odd machine. The machine closed around his arm with a hydraulic hiss. When the machine re-opened his metallic arm was covered in flesh like materiel. The man quickly threw his shirt on over his body and made his way upstairs. The unicorn opened the door to see the girl standing there with an impatient look on her face.
“Took you long enough.” She spat out.
“Cut me some slack, I was working.” He said with a sigh. “So what did you want?”
“I was just bored and I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out.” Crank looked at her in confusion.
“Well-” He was cut off as the door behind him closed and locked.
Damn you D, damn you to hell. He turned back to the woman who had a confused look on her face. “Sure, got nothing better to do.” He lied.
“Great follow me.” She said as she took off towards the road. Crank followed her as the two walked down the street and back into the busy town. “So what do you do? I never see you around.”
“I work for my dad.” He said with a shrug.
“What does he do?”
“He’s a business man. I help test his products.”
“That’s it?” She asked in an unimpressed tone.
“Yep.” He said as Rainbow led him into a bakery. The air smelled rich with caramel, sugar and chocolate. The woman scanned the area and sat down next to Twilight along with four other girls. Rarity smiled as the two approached. Crank noticed a girl who had a brown leather vest over an orange plaid shirt, blue denim shorts that cut off just above her knees. Her brown leather cowboy boots went up half her shin and a brown leather Stetson hat that rested on top of her golden blond hair that was being held in a ponytail by a red ribbon.
One of the other girls was had bright pink curly hair, was wearing an equally bright pink shirt that was mostly hidden behind a white apron. The girl was also wearing a pair of faded skin tight pink jeans that went past her knees and stopped by her ankles. Crank looked at the back corner of the booth and saw a girl with long light pink hair that draped over her yellow wings and was donning a yellow tank top with a brown skirt that stopped at her knees.
“Hey guys.” Rainbow said as she sat down next to Twilight.
“Hey a new person in town!” The baker yelled.
“I’m not new. You threw my family a party a few weeks ago.” He said in a flat tone.
“Right now I remember! I’m Pinkie Pie by the way.” She said as she violently shook his hand.
“Crank Shaft.” He said as he gave her a nod.
“This is the guy that saved me today.” Dash said as the other girls perked up. Crank rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.
“I didn’t save you. You just crash landed in my backyard and I tried to patch you up the best I could. My mom would have done a better job.” He said as he sat down across from the rainbow haired girl.
“Who’s your mom?” Twilight asked.
“She’s Chief of Surgery at Ponyville General.” He said as he sat back.
“Oh Dr.Nova! She’s really nice.” Dash said with a smile. Applejack gave a small cough of annoyance. “Crank, this is Applejack and Fluttershy.”
“H-hello.” The pink haired girl said in a barely audible tone.
“Howdy partner.” She said as she shook his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Man, you got some grip.” She said in a thick southern accent.
“Sorry, I guess I don’t know my own strength.” He said as he withdrew his right hand.
“So Crank, what do you do?” Twilight asked as she sipped her drink.
“Not much, read, play video games, workout. Stuff like that. What about you guys, what do you do?” He asked as he looked at the girls.
“As you know, I’m a dress maker.” Rarity said as she flipped her hair.
“Ah run Sweet AppleAcres.” Applejack said with a smile.
“I work here at the bakery!” Pinkie said with a smile.
“I’m on weather duty most of the time.” Rainbow said with a smile. Crank noticed that Fluttershy remained silent. Rainbow looked at her friend who was hiding behind her bangs. “Fluttershy takes care of animals.”
“I run the library.” Twilight said as Pinkie handed Crank a glass of water.
“Thanks Pinkie.” He said with a nod.
“C’mon Twi, we all know that’s not all you do.” Rainbow said with a smile.
“What’s she talking about?” Crank asked as she looked at the Unicorn.
“I’m also Princess Celestia’s pupil.” Crank almost choked on his water as he heard the information.
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s common knowledge around here.” Pinkie added.
“Guess I need to catch up on recent events.” He said with a sigh.
“Yeah, how come we haven’t seen you around before?” Applejack asked.
“Never really need to go into town all that much. I’m usually too busy working.” He said as he sipped his drink.
“What do you do?”
“I work for my dad.” He said in a flat tone.
“What does he do?” Rarity asked.
“He helps test-” Dash was cut off as Crank gently kicked her in the shin.
“Dash! On'tday elltay emthay aboutway myay objay” He said as the girls looked at him in confusion.
“What?”
“He said, ‘Don’t tell them about my job.’” The group looked at Twilight in confusion. “I speak Pig Latin.” She said as she sipped her drink.
“Eallyray?” Crank said in surprise.
“Esyay.” She said in a flat tone.
“Could you two please speak normally?” Rarity said as she let out a groan.
“Sorry, I don’t really like to talk about my job all that much. It attracts all sorts of attention.” He said with a groan.
“What do you do?” Pinkie asked.
“Let me see your phone.” He said as he outstretched his hand. The Pink girl pulled out her unsurprisingly pink covered phone and handed it to the man. Crank removed the back and pulled out a small chip with a hawk head imprinted on it. “This is my dad’s company.” He said as he showed them the chip. The girl’s jaws dropped as they connected the dot’s.
“Your dad owns-” Pinkie was silenced as Crank put a hand over her mouth.
“Shhh! Last thing I need is the paparazzi getting wind of this. They’ll swarm me like a pack of vultures.” He said as he removed his hand. The girls nodded and huddled up as Crank put the chip back into the phone.
“So your father owns THE Black Hawk Technologies?” Rarity said in a hushed tone.
“Yeah, I help make new equipment.” Crank answered.
“Like what?” Twilight asked.
“The new I-Pony seven.” Rainbow perked up and showed the girls the sleek new device. The girls all crowded around the new piece of tech and gazed at it. “Her phone broke, so I gave her a replacement.”
“That’s very generous of you.” Rarity said with a smile.
“Yeah, but I have no idea how to work it.” Crank held out his hand as Rainbow withdrew the piece of technology.
“Let me see.” The man pulled out the silver rod and made the blue tip glow. “Ah, the lock feature got stuck. It’s still a prototype after all.” The Unicorn said as the screen flickered on.
“What is that thing?” Applejack asked.
“My sonic screwdriver.” He said as he put it back in his pocket.
“So you have access to all of the latest technology?” Rarity asked
“Some and I’d appreciate it if you kept this info to yourselves.” He said in a flat tone. Pinkie then made a series of gestures with her hands and the other girls followed suit. “What was that?”
“That was a Pinkie Promise. Once you make it you can’t break it.” The waitress said with a smile.
“I’ll take your word for it.” He said as he got up. “Nice meeting you all, but I need to get back to work.” He said in a flat tone. The man got up and made his way out of the bakery. As he left their range the girls looked at one another.
“He seems interesting.” Twilight said in a flat tone.
“He seemed kind of.....off.” Rarity said as she raised an eyebrow.
“He’s probably just tired. When I went to his mansion he said he was working.” Rarity’s head shot up at the word.
“Did you say mansion?”
“Yeah he lives in that big tan house at the end of town.” Twilight said with a blank expression on her face.
“Oh I simply must find time to see it!” She said with a giggle.
“Simmer down sally.” AJ said as she nudged her friend. “We don’t know anything about him yet.” The girls all shrugged and changed the conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The man walked through the door to his home and let out a sigh. Crank walked over to the calendar and realized that he started school tomorrow.
“Fuck.” He said discreetly.
“Trouble?” The image said as it ‘hopped’ from his phone onto the kitchen counter.
“School starts tomorrow.” He said with a groan. “Just what I need, more distractions.” He said as he walked upstairs and laid on his bed.
“You always do well in class. What’s the issue?” The image said in confusion.
“I just want to work on the Prototype.” He said with a groan.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself for that, it was an accident.”
“Just shut up.” The small blue image flickered and vanished from the man’s sight. Crank went into the kitchen and opened a can of soda before walking up to his room and lying on his bed. After a good forty-five minutes of trying to fall asleep. Crank groaned and walked over to his X-Box 360 and logged onto his account.
He slid Halo 4 into the console and sat back. As he earned himself an overkill he heard an aggravated, yet familiar voice yell over the mic. The player he had just killed had a rainbow lightning bolt as a call sign and the Spartan’s armor color was cyan.
“Mother bucker!” The voice belonged to a girl. “How did you get that shot off me?” She yelled. The match ended with Crank earning the VIP medal and top of the score board. The next round was team doubles and Crank was paired with ‘Rainboom #1.’ As an enemy came up behind her for an assassination kill, Crank raised his sniper rifle and no scoped the player.
“That’s two you owe me for Dash.” He said with a smug grin.
“What? Who the hay are you?”
“You crash into my yard and you still don’t know?” He said as he threw a sticky grenade onto an incoming jeep.
“Crank?” She said in surprise.
“Took ya long enough.” He said as he finished assassinating another player. The match ended with Dash and the inventor in the number one spot. “Never took you for a gamer.” He said as they exited into the lobby.
“Shows what little you know. I’m awesome at this game.”
“Your KDR says other wise.”
“KDR?”
“Kill Death Ratio. It’s at 1.0.”
“Shut up! I’m rusty.” The voice said in an aggravated tone.
“Sheesh, sorry.” He said as he rolled his eyes. “Wait, you go to the local high school right?”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to be showing this new dweeb around campus tomorrow.” She said with a groan. “From what I hear, they’re supposed to be a total egg head.” Crank deadpanned and let out a sigh. “Sorry dude, I gotta go.” She said before her mic cut out.
*Bleep bloop*
Rainboom #1 sent you a friend request. Crank accepted the invite and logged off before laying down to rest.