Where Night Meets Day

by _Medicshy


Racing the Clock

Even when hit with the most important news of her life, Scootaloo and her friends kept going on like nothing happened. She told Featherweight, because she figured the father should probably know, but she kept it a secret from Cheerilee and anypony from school. Apple Bloom tried to convince her to tell Cheerilee, saying that they couldn’t exactly hide a foal, or even a pregnancy, from everypony in town, but Sweetie Belle was key to deflecting most of that. She was much too excited with the news and doting on Scootaloo to ruin it with guardian interference, and since it didn’t slow down Scootaloo’s crusading, it quickly became a nonissue.

What was an issue was preparing for the big contest. Sapphire Shores herself was touring Equestria looking for the next pony of pop, and, even though the rules demanded everypony perform as a solo act, this was right up the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ alley. However, Sweetie Belle had reservations, remembering the dreadful talent show a couple years back, and even though she didn’t have stage fright at the Equestria Games, that wasn’t singing. There was no way she would sing in front of other ponies, let alone a panel of judges! She maintained that right up until she was dragged to the Town Hall by her best friends, who only managed to get her on the list by promising to go first and cheer loudly for her.

Once inside, the excitement of the prospective ponies was palpable, buzzing in the air and making Scootaloo and Apple Bloom energetic, while Sweetie Belle simply grew more nervous. The judges, however, seemed unaffected and unenthused, keeping a straight, bored face though Twist lisping her way through a lullaby, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both singing Sapphire Shores' own songs and whining that they couldn't do a duet, and even Pipsqueak trying to lead the hall in a fairly flat shanty. The closest they got to looking even partly alert was when they clamped their hooves to their ears and shouted for Scootaloo to get off the stage, which she thought was complete overreacting. Apple Bloom got a far less active dismissal, but with her failure, it was finally time for the last number of the night to be sung by a horrified Sweetie Belle.

With trembling hooves and much trepidation she made her way center stage, in front of all of the previous contestants and the tired faces of the judges. They hadn't liked anything so far, why would they like what she had to offer? When the spotlight hit her, her pupils shrank, her throat dried up and fear told her to run and never look back. Just as she was about to give in, though, she heard her friends cheering from the audience.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were right behind the judges, causing all kinds of a ruckus and refusing to go silent no matter how much they were shushed. “You can do it Sweetie Belle!” “Knock 'em dead, Sweetie!” “You've got this!” She focused on them. On Scootaloo, who had gone up and sung despite a bout of morning sickness just before they got here, and Apple Bloom, whose calls were loud enough to resonate through the otherwise silent hall. Just hearing their support sent warmth spreading through her heart as one thing became clear. Whatever happened, they were there for her, and she would sing her to them her thanks.

She stepped up to the microphone, cleared her throat, and announced that she was singing an original composition. And then, without waiting for her friends' cheers to die down,she closed her eyes and let the melody flow.

As the song spilled forth, she swore the entire hall disappeared, the only sound to be heard the resonance of her dulcet tones as they lilted through the melody. Nothing mattered except the light on her face and her friends in the audience, drawn to silence in awe of her performance.

Every pony in the building was held in rapt attention for her performance, and when Sweetie Belle hit her final note of the evening, it hung over the whole room like an enchantment, keeping them captive in its beauty. Confused by the silence, she opened her eyes, blushing and shying away from the attention on her. And then, one voice rang out. “That was Seeeeeeeensational~!” Sapphire Shores herself stood up, stomping her hooves in applause, which immediately broke the charm the music had placed over everypony else. The whole Town Hall erupted in cheers and applause, even Scootaloo and Apple Bloom drowned out by the cheering running through the rest of the crowd.

Sweetie Belle felt a warmth flowing through her entire body, the adoration of the crowd and the thunderous applause rolling through her, filling her to the brim with joy until it overflowed in tears of happiness. She stepped into the center of the spotlight, bowing deeply to the ponies before her. In front of all of them, in what was already the happiest moment of her young life, there was a flash of light. On her flank appeared a pink heart, wrapped in music notes, gleaming once at its arrival before settling like it had always been there.

When Sweetie Belle came up from the bow, it was only to be caught in a flying hug from Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, congratulating her. “You did it, Sweetie Belle! That was amazing!” shouted Scootaloo over the still thunderous applause. “You got your cutie mark!”

The joy flowing through all three of them only increased from there, and even when the hall emptied and Sweetie and her friends were left to chat with the Pony of Pop, none of them could get over Sweetie's wondrous moment. Even when asked to go outside, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom couldn't stop talking about what had just happened as they waited for Sweetie's exit.

But the other Crusaders weren't the only ones waiting. When finally Sweetie Belle came out, joining her friends in an animated squeal of delight, it was time for the hidden to make themselves known. A flash of red sailed through the air, landing on the tip of Sweetie Belle's horn before descending down it and exploding in a horrible red paste.

The first throw was followed immediately by a barrage of rotten tomatoes, pelting the trio from two sides and covering all three of them in the foul remains. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tried their best to protect their friend on her big night, but by the time the onslaught ended, not an inch of any of them was spared from the mess, their outline even plastered on the wall of Town Hall.

From the shadows stepped Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, snide smiles on their faces as they appraised their attack. “Well, if it isn't the Cutie Mark Crybabies here to ruin everything again? I would've thought you'd have given up after destroying our chances at the Equestria Games.” Diamond Tiara circled to the front, tossing and catching a tomato casually with one hoof while taking glee from the tears she could see on Sweetie Belle's face. “Who cares if one of the blank flank brigade finally got herself a cutie mark? You might think you're all that, but you're still a loser and a nopony.”

“I'm not a nopony...” Sweetie Belle mumbled, trying to wipe away a tear, but only getting more tomato goop everywhere.

Silver Spoon scoffed. “Like you could ever be cool. You were always a loser, clinging on to Princess Twilight and hiding with your lame-o friends. So what if Sapphire Shores thinks you're hot stuff? She's yesterday's news.”

Scootaloo stomped forward, glaring at the terrible twosome. “You're both just jealous that you lost! Attacking Sweetie Belle after that performance? What kind of monsters are you?”

Diamond Tiara faked surprise, tossing away the incriminating tomato as if she'd never touched it. “Ooh, look at that! Being called a monster by the flightless freak. No cutie mark, can't even fly, and can't take a joke. Isn't it sad, Spoon?”

Silver nodded, her eyes full of false empathy. “It's sad, Di.”

The pink bully snickered, walking past Silver Spoon and in the direction of their homes. “Oh well. I guess we'd better go. Wouldn't want to see her getting angry and making a mess of things.” On cue, a large lump of tomato plopped off of Scootaloo's flank, causing her to be slightly embarrassed and the duo to giggle in glee. They turned to each other, doing their ritual of self indulgence in perfect unison. “Bump! Bump! Sugar lump! Rump!” With another evil giggle, the two walked through the moonlit streets on their way home.

And, on any other night, the trio would have been aggravated, but let it be, figuring out some way to get back at them eventually. But tonight, with Sweetie Belle crying on the best night of her life, those two were going to pay.

Scootaloo took Sweetie Belle to Cheerilee's house, letting her wash off the rotten goo while Apple Bloom followed the terrible twosome home. When Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle returned, fresh, clean, and reporting that Cheerilee hadn't seen them enter or exit, it was time to enact Apple Bloom's plan. It was rather simple: Scootaloo needed to rush to her farm and get her potion supplies and Applejack's lasso, while Sweetie Belle kept an eye on Diamond Tiara's mansion, where Apple Bloom had tracked them and discovered both of the horrible fillies were having a sleep over. Apple Bloom, meanwhile, was working up the formulas she needed on the dirt, the tomato paste clinging to her hoof acting as a perfect writing tool.

When Scootaloo arrived with the ingredients, Apple Bloom went to work, mixing together a potion, then finding a nearby tree with the right springiness to turn into a catapult. With her potion mixed and spread into four separate vials, she and her friends used AJ's lasso to pull down and tie back the tree. With a few modifications and some carefully woven branches, they had their siege weapon. Apple Bloom loaded her vials into her catapult, pulled the rope, and let the counterattack fly.

All four vials crashed on different parts of the lawn, the liquid inside soaking into the soil instantly. Moments later there was a rumbling of the earth, followed in a flash by a wild growth all around the house. Grass towered up to the second story window, amazing flowers bloomed out of nothingness, while roots twisted and wormed beneath the ground. There was a screaming coming from within the house, but it was nothing compared to the happiness and high-hoofing outside as Apple Bloom's prank worked.

The flash hadn't just sparked the plant growth, however, but also a change on the pony that caused it. On her flank appeared the picture of a blueprint, with calculations and trajectories scrawled around an alchemist's beaker, an apple blossom suspended in the liquid within. Scootaloo was the first to point it out. Another squeal of delight went up between the friends as, in one night, two of them had gotten their cutie marks.

There wasn't long to celebrate, though, as the screams in the house didn't stop. Unknown to the pranksters, Diamond Tiara's house was built with old money in the very small window of time between Ponyville becoming a town and the dam being built to give that town electricity. Most of the lights in the house still ran on natural gas, with pipes of the stuff running throughout and under it. With the sudden movement of the roots, not all of the pipes were still intact.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon screamed for help from the second story window, lights filtering through the grass suggesting the butler and Tiara's father were dealing with things downstairs. The direction of the breeze brought the sweet smell of success to the trio. But, a moment later, it brought only the smell of sulfur to Scootaloo. She looked at the house, smelling the gas and seeing the warm glow of the burning lamps, and knew immediately that something had to be done.

She charged off from the other two Crusaders, diving headlong through the hedge that blocked the outside hill from the jungle that used to be the mansion lawn. She beat, trampled, and chewed a tunnel through the grass, finding the front door and, in a burst of strength, kicking it in. Inside the house the gas burned her eyes, though she could only hear the complaints of the butler and Filthy Rich at her intrusion. She ignored their words, looking them both in the eye and letting out a command. “Get out of here, now!”

Whether the danger of the situation finally hit them or it was something in the filly's tone, neither of them hesitated to rush for the door. As Filthy reached it, though, Scootaloo stopped him. “Is anypony else in the building besides the girls?” He shook his head, and she pushed him out the door, turning and speeding towards the stairs. The smell faded as she reached the second floor, indicating the gas had only built up so much, but there was no telling how long she actually had.

She followed the terrified screams to the bedroom at the end of the hall, kicking the door in with another burst of strength. She almost seemed to glow with her own aura as she stepped into the room, only to see the terrified twosome skittering towards the window and away from her. She took a step forward, causing them to scream, but she barked out an order to silence them. “We don't have time for this! There's gas in the house, and any moment it could-”

It wasn't anything more than a change in pressure and heat, but in that instant everything slowed down for Scootaloo. She could hear the inferno rising from below, igniting from one little innocent flame, only to billow down the hall in what seemed to be agonizingly slow motion. She could hear the screaming fillies and watch their pupils shrink as they saw the flames she couldn't even yet feel. Her hooves pounded the floorboards, shaking them as she charged across the room, leaping for the two girls, extending her tiny wings as wide as they'd go to shield them from what was coming.

Glass shattered and flew from the windows as a fiery explosion rocked the house, sending all three fillies inside it rocketing out like a burning meteor. And, like a meteor, they smashed hard into the ground outside, smoke curling from the mass where all three of them lay. The two Crusaders and the two old stallions rushed over to it, wondering if anything could survive after an explosion like that. The house was barely standing, flames billowing from every opening they could find or make and torching the wild growth outside. If it had done that to the house, the onlookers could only imagine what it had done to the fillies.

And yet, what they found wasn't a pile of corpses, but two trembling earth ponies, covered in soot, but otherwise unhurt as they lay in Scootaloo's arms and singed wings. She did not move, smoke curling up from under her charred back. On her flank, bright against the singed fur around it, a winged shield gleamed in the night.

Filthy Rich grabbed his daughter, holding her close as their house burned down behind them. His butler took care of the young Silver Spoon, hugging her gently and reassuring the uninjured filly that everything would be okay. None of the four paid any attention to the three outsider fillies, not even the one that had saved their lives.

But even if they did not care, the Crusaders did. Sweetie Belle stayed by Scootaloo's side, grabbing hold of her warm hoof and talking to the pegasus as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her breathing was ragged, her entire body ached, and she wanted nothing more to sleep. But, as she lay there dazed, she heard Sweetie Belle's voice, wavering with worry despite a hint of happiness beneath. “You're amazing Scootaloo. You saved them, you got your cutie mark... now just hold on. You've got to hold on!” A drop of wetness dripped onto Scootaloo's cheek, and then the world was dark.

Apple Bloom ran as quickly as she could, the hospital never seeming further away.

News of Ink Well's return spread widely, not just in the Solar Empire, but deep into the New Lunar Republic. It appeared everywhere, used for everything from news stands cashing in on the latest gossip to grand posters hailing the return of a leader against the Solar Menace. Rumors flew even faster than the news, claiming he was in Manehattan becoming a general, or New Cloudsdale studying intelligence he had gathered, or deep behind enemy lines in Appleloosa or Las Pegasus doing spy work to destroy Celestia's nation from within. Some even claimed he had come all the way out to Timbucktu to start production on some powerful new war machine.

Wind Key didn't believe any of them, and while activity in the search for her father peaked anew with the news, it dwindled as quickly as new outlandish tales arose. “Sure, he's trying to convince the Changeling Queen to side with the Republic...” Wind Key grumbled as she tossed aside the latest newspaper, adding it to the stack in the corner of her room. She had been searching for him for five years now, off and on, and there were two things she'd figured out in that time.

The first was that he was impossible to find if he didn't want to be. For her first year in the Republic, she searched every city, followed every rumor of her father, went high and low, awaited him where he'd be 'scheduled' to show up, and she got nothing. Not a glimpse, not a whisper, and nothing more than the words of random ponies, often untrustworthy braggarts, to say she'd even been in the same section of the world as her elusive father.

The second thing she'd figured out was that he knew precisely where she was. That was done through deduction more than anything else, but the fact that she'd been escorted to Princess Luna, or rather President Luna, upon entering the country tipped a few things off. Every refugee in the New Lunar Republic couldn't possibly have gotten the reception she had, nor a room in her capitol building in Manehattan from which her first year of searching had been done. Eventually, she was asked to leave, but a job was all lined up for her in Timbucktu, conveniently where the most recent Ink Well sighting had been. He wasn't there, but Clockwork was, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Although Wind Key did have another hint that he was keeping tabs on her. There were two distinct models of her flying machine: the early ones, one of which looked rather like a cartoonish whirligig and took up a full corner of her small bed room, and the later models, which hung from the ceilings and walls, iteration after iteration of small, mechanical winged packs. The transition wasn't a slow process, either.

After one of her larger failed attempts landed her in the hospital for a few days, she had returned to Clockwork's shop to find a package waiting for her. There was no return address, no real indication of how it had gotten through the postal service, and the package itself was taller and wider than she was. But Clockwork had signed for it anyway, and so it was sitting in her room, just waiting for her. When she opened it, she was shocked to find it contained something she'd never seen before: a life size clockwork pony.

Her cutie mark had been gained when she fixed a little toy pony of her brother's that she'd accidentally broken. When you wound it up, it walked forward and played little cymbals it had strapped to its front hooves, but Wind had wanted to know what would happen if it walked off the top of the stairs. As it turned out: it fell down them, smashing into a surprising amount of tiny cogs, gears, springs, and screws that scattered all across the floor. Her first reaction was to hide, sure that retribution would be on swift hooves, but her second reaction, and the one she ended up going with, was to rush downstairs, collect the pieces, and put it back together.

She'd always liked watching her mother do maintenance on the stills in her perfumery, and she was the one that figured out how to make a giant slingshot during the great water balloon fight of the CMC clubhouse out of two trees, an old rubber raft, and a paint can, so there was no doubt in her mind that she could fix this. And, while it took hours and more than one sneaking mission to the tool cupboard to get something she didn't know she needed, she eventually had a working wind up pony once more. Of course, in her elation at her accomplishment, she immediately cried out in joy, bringing a few confused ponies looking for her. And then the tools, her beaming face at the walking toy, and her shiny new cutie mark all gave away her secret plot to get away with clockwork murder. She'd still gotten picked on by her brother for a little while after the incident, but otherwise she'd gotten out punishment-free, and with a cutie mark to boot!

Seeing the full sized pony when the box first opened triggered something inside of her, and she spent her entire first day home from the hospital opening it up, trying to see how it worked and maybe get it working again. The massive blow to the clockwork pegasus' head and the completely shattered components and crystals behind the mask plate meant getting it working was impossible, but what had truly intrigued her were the wings... Unlike on the clockwork toys sometimes brought into the shop for repairs, these wings looked designed to fly. All she had to do was figure out how, and the message that had been placed between its wings was only more motivation: “Let your imagination soar.”

Although Wind Key wasn't actually positive that that gift had come from her father, it had always been in the back of her mind. It just felt like the proper assumption, looking at it, but the only pony she'd ever admitted the thought to was Steam Cloud. She didn't even really know why she'd said it that night, but they'd been working together and conversing and it just kind of happened. Even so, in that short span when they had both been working on her flying machine, she had bypassed at least a month of the usual work that went into redesigning and upgrading it for the next iteration.

That was what drove Wind Key's main focus right now. Not finding her father, but finding the young mare who saved her life that night. Sure, Clockwork had ranted at Wind Key for the entire following week, but Wind was back in her good graces after two particularly difficult clock repairs for very generous clients and work was back to normal at the shop. This left Wind Key's spare time to be spent either looking for her father, working on her invention, or on her new goal of finding Steam Cloud.

Ink Well was somewhere in the two nations, his actual location shrouded in rumor and hearsay and nearly impossible to discern, while Steam Cloud lived in Timbucktu, leaving only one city to search in. And, while searching for a pony in a city was significantly harder than searching for a needle in a haystack, Wind Key couldn't seem to focus on the machine anymore. Steam Cloud's idea of the kinetic engine was brilliant, and even with her calculations for a basic one, it was precisely what Wind needed to get her device the air to stay. But, after removing the one from the clockwork pegasus, which Steam had said was quite advanced, Wind Key didn't know what to do. That engine didn't seem to be working, and while she could take the thing apart and put it back together again all she wanted, she couldn't get it going. Partially because she only vaguely understood the concept, which only had surprisingly fuzzy research behind it, and partially because the whole thing hinged on those crystal battery things, which she couldn't hope to do anything with. They were something only a unicorn seemed to be able to create, and Steam Cloud was the only unicorn Wind Key knew of in town.

That had always struck her as a little odd. Timbucktu was a big city, with all sorts of ponies in all walks of life, but 'unicorn' didn't seem to be a popular path to take. Even when she first had arrived, there weren't many unicorns to be found, and that number had been on a steady decline since. In the weeks she'd been looking for Steam, running the magnet through the proverbial haystack, she hadn't come across another unicorn anywhere. It was almost like they were a rare, mythical breed or something.

However, after looking in the 'obvious' spots where one would expect a tech-savvy unicorn to appear, Wind remembered a piece of information she'd filed away as unimportant at the time. Steam said she worked in food service. Whether that was a waiter, a cook, a dish washer, a cart on a street corner, a caterer, or whatever other possibilities the vague term held, she didn't know, but the best way to look around cafes and diners was, obviously, during the lunch rush. They would have the most ponies on staff at that time, and maybe she wouldn't be able to see in the back, but she would definitely be able to see the ponies waiting tables, and that was a start. Plus, it fit with Steam's schedule, since in order for her to be out over the cliffs and able to save Wind Key's life at sunset, Steam must have left work hours before to begin the long trek into the mountains.

Her plan had all seemed so much more simple and made such sense when she'd started her search... That was over a month ago, just a week after the whole Grand Galloping Gala incident swept her into search mode once more, and she was no closer to finding Steam than she had been at the start. She was also going through far more of her pay than she would have liked. She'd started near her shop, where the restaurants were classy and the food was overpriced, since a mare like Steam had to be working somewhere nice, but slowly she'd been working her way down the restaurant star chart and further out into the city. Lately it was taking her nearly half of her lunch breaks just to get across town, down to where the streets were dirtier and ponies stopped looking you in the eye, and she was running out of places to look. There were maybe five 'reputable' eateries to check, then maybe she would check one or two holes in the wall, and then she'd be broke, with only excessively snooty restaurants to search in. She was hoping her journey ended before then... she would need to ask for a bonus just to get a table, let alone eat anything, and far too many holes and variables had appeared in her plan to risk that kind of money on it.

Wind Key shook the debate from her mind, tightening down the bandanna wrapped over her mane as a gust of breeze ran down the street. The air was heavy, bringing with it the scent of incoming rain, a common occurrence in Timbucktu. It was so common that rain was regularly siphoned off to other cities, and still months would go by without a single dry day on the calendar. So far it had held back, letting Wind have a pleasant walk, and later flight when she realized she'd barely make it in time, across town. She'd only landed again two blocks from her destination, and even then she'd managed to place her hoof in a puddle of something foul pooling in the gutter. She'd wanted to stay in the air longer, but she needed the street signs to guide her way.

Scraping her hoof against the curb to get that slimy feeling off of it, Wind Key turned towards the building, having finally made it to the '5 Wings' on Fifth Avenue and Rain Wing Road, her stop of the day. It was a fairly non-descript one-story building, with the main distinguishing feature being the neon sign wrapping around the street corner. The place seemed to have a fairly lively carry-out service, judging by the number of pegasi flying away from the building with bags of food hanging off of them. There was also a fair bit of ground traffic exiting the building, but when she finally managed to get past all of them and get inside, the interior was a slightly different story. The line ordering to-go was immense, but the section with tables to eat-in was merely busy. She'd hopefully be able to get some service quickly, then fly like a madmare across town to the shop before her break time ended. Weaving her way through the line waiting for the harried cashier, Wind found a small booth near the back of the restaurant, picking up the menu and looking it over.

It was fairly standard diner fare, though the place touted the speed of its three brothers, two pegasi and one 'half-pegasus,' that did the cooking in the back. Considering the crowd, they couldn't be too bad, but they'd have to be something very special to get Wind going across town for a repeat visit. The prices were fairly low as well, though that was probably just compared to the sticker shock of some of her early stops.

As she looked through the menu, a sky blue figure stood at the edge of her vision. “Hello, and welcome to the 5 Wings diner, could I interest you in a drink before you order?”

Wind Key looked at the menu for a moment longer, speaking from behind it. “Yes, though I'm going to order now. Can I have the hay burger and the hash browns please?” She flipped the menu closed, looking at her waitress and offering the closed menu. “And a cup of hot cocoa, if you could?”

“Certainly! Hay burger, hash browns, and one cocoa coming right up!” The waitress's white puffy mane bobbed when she nodded, her red uniform hat sitting cutely on her head as she worked the pen over the notepad quickly. Then, in one obviously practiced motion, she flipped the pad closed and slid both the pen and the pad into her red apron. With that done, her smiling face turned to Wind Key, the waitress's gold eyes meeting Wind Key's ivy ones as the menu changed hooves.

There was a moment where both of them went back to their business before things registered, Wind Key's pupils widening in excitement as she turned towards the departing waitress. “Steam? Is that you?”

The waitress, who was a few steps away, stopped, turning back around with a puzzled look on her face. When she saw the parchment-colored pegasus looking at her expectantly, there was another moment, and then it clicked. “Wind Key? What are you doing all the way out here?”

Wind jumped up from the table, walking over to Steam. “Would you believe me if I said looking for you? I was starting to give up hope. 'I'm in food service' isn't a very good hint, you know.” She frowned, then shook her head, getting back on topic. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you, if that's alright?”

Steam took a quick look around. “Give me one moment to put your order in, then I'll see what I can do.”

Wind Key nodded, going back to her booth and smiling stupidly to herself. What were the odds that her plan was actually going to work? It had taken over a month, but now she could finally get talking with Steam, and then she could get working on her machine again, and life could return to whatever passed for normal in this city. She tapped a hoof impatiently on the table, her face turning into a frown after a few moments. She almost hadn't recognized Steam when she'd seen her with that hat on. It covered her horn perfectly, and since she wasn't using her magic, she looked like an earth pony. If Wind had been paying a little less attention, she might've walked right out of here without even realizing! That would have been too cruel for words. A futile search is one thing, she was used to that, but one failing because of something as small as a moment of inattention? That's where true heartbreak lay.

A few moments later, Steam returned with a small mug, sliding it across the table as she took a seat, the smile she wore while working disappearing when she sat down. “I've only got a few minutes before I need to make my rounds again, so make it fast.”

Wind smirked. “You know, I didn't think I'd actually find you or I would have brought it, but I was intrigued by your kinetic engine idea. I was hoping to get your help on the whole flying machine thing.”

Steam rolled her eyes, leaning back a little in the booth. “Oh, gee, thanks. Glad I'm only wanted for my brains. I guess it's a nice change to the usual state here...”

Wind Key looked a little hurt. “It's not just that! You just told me to make it fast, so I jumped to the reason I was looking for you, not the cause.”

An eyebrow rose slowly. “The cause? What are you talking about?”

“The reason why the reason makes sense.” Seeing that her explanation didn't help with anything, Wind Key tried again. “Okay, yes, the reason I was looking for you was because you gave me the kinetic engine idea and I don't have the first idea how to actually implement that, even after making all the corrections to account for its weight in the apparatus. The reason I looked for you and not just anypony who might know something about it was because I greatly enjoyed working with you before Clockwork went all loopy and would like to spend more time doing that, if you're available.”

Steam Cloud's eyebrow didn't lower as she leaned forward on the table. “Wait... so you actually want to keep working with me? Even after the pony you work for, whose business you live in, basically threatened to call the cops if I came by and probably threatened you just as much?”

Wind Key nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Clockwork is always tightly wound, and she blows up at just about everything. I genuinely had a fantastic time working alongside you, and you seemed like a pony that I would like to have a friend. And that's without factoring in that you saved my life. And before you ask, no, I'm not going to keep bringing that up. Doesn't mean that wasn't an awesome thing you did for me.”

Steam frowned for a long time, her gold eyes appraising Wind's face for any sign of insincerity, but there wasn't one to be found. Wind wasn't kidding about any of it, not even about no longer bringing up the whole life saving thing. And, deep in Steam's heart, she had to admit that she had a lot of fun that night too, even if the walk home in the freezing rain and the lightning storm had been horrible. Eventually, she made up her mind. “Alright, you've got yourself a partner.” Steam extended a hoof, which Wind shook gratefully. “Is there a workshop you can bring the supplies to, or somewhere away from Clockwork you think you can use?”

Wind leaned forward, looking a little embarrassed. “Um... no, not really. I hadn't really thought of that, and anything nearby would only be for rent, and I know I don't have that kind of money... Could we use your place?”

Steam's face went flat. “My place? I have a tiny apartment even further from your house than here. And even if the landmare allows it, I don't have any tools or workbench or anything. Do you really want to haul everything that far?”

Wind didn't even hesitate with the answer. “I would haul them to Manehattan if I could see the thing finished, and all the way to Canterlot if I work with somepony half as fun as you to do it.”

Steam smirked, her eyebrow raising again. “Laying it on a little thick there, aren't you? A mare would almost think this was a trap.”

Wind held up a hoof, placing the other on her heart. “One hundred percent sincere. I'd say 'scout's honor,' but I was never any sort of scout.”

“Me neither, but I'll take your word for it.” She pulled the pen out of her apron, writing down an address on a napkin. “If you're serious about this, I get off of work at four, and will definitely be home by five. When do you want to start? This weekend?”

Wind Key was vibrating in her seat at the excitement that this was all really happening. “I was thinking tonight, if you'd be up for it. I've been itching to get back to tinkering, but I hit a huge snag. You would not believe how hard it is in this town to find a unico-” Wind was silenced by a hoof practically smashing into her face, Steam's pupils shrunk down to pinpricks.

“Are you crazy? Do you know how much trouble I'll get in? Keep it quiet!” Wind didn't, and wanted to say as much, but the hoof over her mouth was making things difficult. Instead, she listened as the napkin was slid over to her. “I don't know why I am agreeing to this, or what you must have slipped in my cocoa that night, but... Sure, we can get started tonight. You'll want to come out right after work, if you can. Staying out too late is not something to make a habit of near my place. Now, I hate to cut it short, but I need to get back to work. I'll see you later.” With that she got up, only removing her hoof from Wind's mouth when she needed it to run over to one of her other tables.

Wind watched her go, confused by the outburst, but more hurt physically where the hoof had impacted her face. She took a sip of her cocoa to soothe the sting with some heat, and she was pleasantly surprised it wasn't a horribly watered down mix. She needed the perkiness from the sweets and the energy from the sugar to make her sprint back to the shop, and doubly so to carry supplies all the way back across town once work was done. She looked at the address and frowned. It was another dozen blocks away... It was going to be a long walk, but oh so worth it.

Before she had even half of her cocoa done, her food was brought out, Steam giving her a passing smile, and the bill when asked, but little more. Wind wrote off any possible rudeness in that reaction. She was bugging Steam at work, after all. She took a bite of the burger, smiling when the flavor hit her tongue. Fast, good food, and the end of a search on top it off... Maybe 5 Wings was worth the panicked flight back after all.

A panicked flight she was going to have to make in record time, if her glance at the clock told her anything. She inhaled the burger and the cooked potatoes with it, washing it down with the warm cocoa before trotting to the cashier to take care of the bill. By serendipity she didn't have to wait. Afterward, she trotted quickly back to her table, throwing a few bits on it as a tip before making her exit.

She shot into the sky, rocketing back to work, as behind her, Steam Cloud looked rather surprised by the money on the table. Twenty percent was far more generous than anything she normally got, but she pocketed the bits anyway, looking forward to the coming night.