While Spike, Ironside, and Twilight Sparkle stood in utter shock around the anvil that was now missing the iron rod, which itself was currently resting on the unconscious Celestia’s head, Gallow had realized that she forgot to eat lunch. Realizing that the restaurant would more than likely be crowded with customers due to the lunchtime rush, she decided instead to make a beeline for the Cake’s residence, but not before writing a note to Twilight that she’d be out for a while.
Gallow trotted over to Sugarcube Corner, waving to Applejack as she passed by the latter’s apple cart set up just outside the house. Applejack waved back, happy to see the filly enjoying herself today. The front door to the Corner was open, indicating that the Cakes were in today. Gallow watched with delight upon entering as Pound and Pumpkin frolicked around on the floor beside the counter where Mr. Cake was standing. “Why, hello there, Ms. Drop,” said the friendly father as Gallow approached the counter.
“Hello, Mr. Cake,” she replied, “I actually haven’t eaten lunch, but I didn’t want to wait at the restaurant. So, would it be too much to ask if I ate here?”
“Not at all, dear,” Carrot said, “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, some cupcakes would be nice,” Gallow said.
Carrot sighed and smiled. Pinkie’s cupcakes were always the talk of the town, so it was no surprise that Gallow would come in for some as well. While Carrot went upstairs to fetch Pinkie, Gallow spent some time playing with the babies. Their father returned with a confused look on his face. “I’m sorry Gallow,” he said, “But I can’t find Pinkie. She wasn’t upstairs and she’s not in the kitchen either.” Gallow scratched her head, wondering what Pinkie could be up to. Knowing that crazy little pink pony, she could be hanging around with one of her friends, or causing random mayhem (all in the name of good fun, of course).
“Well, thanks anyway,” Gallow replied.
“Actually, Gallow, I just remembered something,” Carrot started, “She might be by the railyard. She told me she was working on a project that involved some heavy machinery.”
“What would Pinkie need with heavy machinery?” Gallow asked.
“Search me,” responded Carrot, “But you know Pinkie. Whenever a crazy idea pops into her head, she just has to make it come to life.”
“Ha-ha, yeah, I know,” said Gallow with a laugh.
“Well, see if you can get her to come back to the house,” said Carrot, “I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to lay off her project for a few moments to cook up something for you.”
“OK, thanks!” called Gallow as she headed off towards the yard.
Sure enough, there seemed to be some commotion going on in the shops of the yard. Gallow simply assumed Pinkie was running around grabbing whatever materials she needed for her “project,” but that actually wasn’t the case. Ironside, Spike, and Twilight galloped around the anvil screaming and with crazed looks on their faces. Simply put, they were all having panic attacks. Not surprising, seeing as how they KNOCKED PRINCESS CELESTIA UNCONSCIOUS WITH A STEEL ROD! “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” screamed Twilight, “We’ve just knocked out the Princess!” Spike was now lying curled up in the fetal position and sucking his thumb. Ironside stared blankly into space, looking like he had just been given the death sentence.
“Luna’s going to kill me…” he whispered, his voice trailing off.
“You think Luna’s your biggest problem?!” screamed Twilight, “Celestia is going to whip my flank with a wooden board when she wakes up!”
“Which gives me exactly three hours to fire up one of my engines and get us out of here,” Ironside replied.
“I’m still waiting on my new bolt!” called Big Mike from inside the roundhouse.
“Screw that!” Ironside called back.
Realizing that the commotion inside wasn’t Pinkie, Gallow began wandering around the yard, looking for an indication that Pinkie had been in the area. She found some pieces of scrap metal, along with what looked like the remains of an old mining engine. The mining engine was actually pretty intact; Gallow could make out the three compressed-air cylinders and running gear. But it seemed to have been buried under a mountain of various pieces of wood. There was suddenly a sound of hammering, which took Gallow by surprise. Jumping back, she realized the sound was coming from the opposite side of the engine. She slowly trotted around to the right-hand side; hoping whatever was on this side wasn’t belligerent. “Hi there, Gallow!” called the familiar pink pony.
“Hey Pinkie,” said Gallow, “What’re you doing with the mining engine and the wood.”
“I’m building a rail-kiosk,” Pinkie replied.
“Rail-kiosk?” asked Gallow, “What for?”
“It’s to help sell goodies to the ponies working in the railyard,” Pinkie replied.
“How so?” asked Gallow.
“Well, there are plenty of tracks running through the yard here and through the machine shop. I can sell the Cakes’ goods to the workers for a cheap price and get more customers, not to mention more profit for the Cakes. Children are expensive, y’know?” Pinkie explained.
“Well, is there anything I can help you with?” asked Gallow.
“Actually, yes, there is,” Pinkie responded, “I hope it’s not too much to ask if you could help me get this wooden body formed around the engine.”
“Aren’t you just going to attach it to the engine already?” Gallow inquired.
“No, silly,” Pinkie replied, “I gotta paint the engine up before attaching the body. I can’t drive a rusty old mining engine around! It’s gotta look cheerful and happy!” Gallow shrugged; when it came to Pinkie, either it looked like a party or it looked like a funeral parlor.
Gallow found a rotary saw not far from the mining engine and began taking measurements of the engine’s dimensions. She then took pieces of wood and began sketching portions of the engine’s shape in pencil, then cutting the wood along those lines. Pinkie stopped and stared wide-eyed at Gallow as the latter showed wonderful skill at cutting the individual pieces. Once she finished that, she and the still stunned Pinkie took to restoring the engine’s livery. Initial inspection showed that the engine was in good condition cosmetically speaking, but it needed touching up in several places. Gallow asked Pinkie if the latter was content with the current cream color of the engine, which she was. Gallow then galloped into the shops, returning a while later with a can of paint that matched the engine’s livery exactly.
As Gallow began touching up and restoring the engine’s paint, Pinkie couldn’t help but ask, “How’d you know all that carpentry you just did? I’ve never seen a filly work with construction so well.”
Gallow looked at her and smiled. “My father was a carpenter before his death,” she said in a soft voice.
“Wait, your father’s dead?” asked Pinkie in shock. Here Gallow’s smile faded, replaced by a pained look. She took a deep breath and recounted the story of her parents’ death in the train crash that occurred a month ago. She also told Pinkie that that was how she met Ironside. She was about to recount her various suicide attempts, but Pinkie held up her hoof to stop her. “Please, don’t tell me anymore,” she said, nearly sobbing.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gallow relented.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Pinkie replied, “It’s just, you don’t want to see me when I’m depressed. It’s enough to make a pony cry.”
Gallow smiled and nodded her head. “I know. Ironside told me about what happens when you get depressed.”
“He thinks he’s too depressing to be around me,” Pinkie said, “Yet he’s helped me out of it on more than one occasion.” Gallow looked over towards the shops, where Ironside, Twilight, and Spike were now rolling around as their mental integrities continued to fall. “He’s got his funny moments, too,” said Pinkie, looking at them with a smile.
“Yeah, he does,” replied Gallow with a similar smile.
“He’s a really good friend, Gallow,” Pinkie stated, “I don’t know why he doesn’t seem to think that.”
“Maybe he has trouble seeing the good he has in him,” the unicorn replied.
“Well, I hope it doesn’t lead to him doing any self-harm…” said the concerned pink pony.
“Yeah, he was lucky the last time,” Gallow whispered under her breath.
“What was that?” asked Pinkie.
“Nothing,” replied Gallow.