//------------------------------// // Intermission: Problems From The Past // Story: Making Adjustments // by DerpyStarlet //------------------------------// "Tempest Soar," the teacher calls out. "Here," I reply, bored out of my mind. I hate my classes, I think they're stupid. I already know enough, and they're irrelevant to what I want to do in life. I want to be a in weather production. I can do the heavy lifting and physical stuff, what's so hard about doing that. I haven't gotten my cutie mark yet, oddly enough. I know what I want to do, but it just won't come. I've deduced that I just need to have a moment of clarity to be sure of it, I just don't know how to get it. Thankfully, my roommate doesn't mind. We both have our quirks, we both accept that. I know for a fact that he's gay, and that's fine. As long as he doesn't do anything with his coltfriends while I'm there, anything more than kissing. I'm fine with kissing, I just don't want to think of the other stuff. We're pretty good friends though, I've known him for as long as I've been in the academy. He's a part of the tennis team, he keeps fit. I don't do any sports though, even if I might be pretty good at soccer. He keeps on urging me to join, but I'm having a hard enough time focusing on classes. It's not that I'm not smart, I'm actually a pretty big nerd. It's just that I learn the stuff so fast that I can hardly stand to listen to a lecture on it for an hour, I'd much rather just read about it real quick. I usually finish the assignments in class if I can, then I spend my off time weight lifting. Though, that's only about half the time. The other half is spent doing a multitude of other things. Recently, I've found mystery stories pretty good, though a little predictable. Sometimes I'll go out pranking, I'm good enough to not get caught. Sometimes I drag along my friends, but usually they just drag me down. I try to think up more complex pranks, to up the antè. I know not to cross the line though, I don't wanna get the authorities involved. I've even looked into magic. Not unicorn magic, I'm a pegasus. But stage magic, things involving trickery and illusions. I'm decent, but my skills are swamped by that of the school magician, Trixie Lulamoon. I asked her to teach me once, she just told me that a magician never reveals their tricks. I pretty much gave up on that, though I'll do a trick every now and then. Really, I need to pay more attention in class though. My grade in my engineering class is dropping to a C, I try to maintain a B average at least. It's because I totally didn't realize we had a big project in that class till the day before it was due, I had to throw something together quickly to salvage my grade. I almost dropped to a D that day, but I barely managed to keep it up. Thus, I reckon, I'm pretty terrible at engineering. I try to spend less time launching paper projectiles at unsuspecting classmates and more time listening, but it's so boring. The class lets out and I sigh in defeat, all I managed to learn is what our homework is. I perk up a little as I remember the look on that last ponies face when the paper wad landed in their ear. I wish I had some binoculars or something, because they were across the room. I was proud that I managed to hit my mark, considering I had used a plastic spoon between two textbooks to gain more speed. The pony sitting next to me had been impressed at the shot, and we both chuckled about it quietly. I head back to my dorm room, that was my last class for the day. I didn't have much homework to do, but it was a considerate amount. I unlock the door to the room with my keycard and look in, there I see my roommate staring back at me wide eyed. He has a frilly blue and white dress that compliments his blue and white mane, and he's wearing a touch of make-up. He looks like a mare, but I can tell he's my roommate. We stand there for a while in shock before he uses his magic to slam the door closed behind me, it snaps me out of my shock. "Sonic Net? Are you in a dress?" I ask, even though it's obvious that he is. "N-no?" He tries. "Are you sure? Cause that's what it looks like," I say. "It's not what it looks like," he says. "Then what is it?" I ask, he pauses. "Okay, it's exactly what it looks like... but don't kick me out!" He pleads. "Why would I kick you out?" I ask in confusion. "Because I'm wearing a dress?" he answers, not quite sure of it himself. "Whatever, I don't give flying feather what you wear. I got homework to do though, so I'm gonna use the desk." He looks at me in shock and confusion as I move to the desk. "Oh, okay." He replies, still sounding a little flustered. I simply roll my eyes at his antics and pull out my textbooks from my saddlebags and get to my homework. ~~~~~~~ It's been a while since I first learned about my friends crossdressing, it's just another quirk of his. I don't think anyone else knows, but I don't care. I've come home to him in drag more than a couple times, but I just brush it off. I've been getting better at engineering, but I don't think I'm all that good at it. Though, my friend has taken to a new project. He's trying to create something to accurately launch water balloons from a distance, he hasn't gotten much done on it. He's looking at some plans for it, he wants it to be the ultimate pranking tool. I didn't think much of it at the time, thinking he wanted to work on it alone, but it looks like he's really struggling with it. He's been staring at those plans for thirty minutes without moving once, I'm starting to think he's come to an impasse. I put down my latest mystery novel and move to help him, he barely glances at me before looking back to his blueprints. I look at his blueprints for the first time, they're pretty simple. "Hey, you need some help?" I ask. "Yeah, I can't seem to figure this out... I need to find a way to make it go more straight, and less up..." he sighs. "Well, then you need to add more speed." I tell him. "Yeah, but how is the question. I've thought about that leveraging trick you showed me with the pencil, but there's only so far any material can bend before it either breaks or stays bent." He replies. "Well, then don't bend it. Spin it," I tell him. "What, like a wheel? You want me to put it on an axis?" He asks, I nod. He looks it over and then turns back to me. "How does it gain up enough speed?" He asks. "Use a see-saw like effect, weigh down the other side. If the projectile is light enough and the object heavy enough, the weight will move one side down and the other up. Effectively accelerating the projectile." I tell him. "How do we stop it from accelerating to actually launch the projectile?" He questions. "I imagine putting a bar up to stop it will do just fine," I shrug and he looks over the plans. "That's much better than what I had! Will you help me build it?" He asks earnestly, I look at him indecisively. It is a pranking tool, and I do love pranks. "Okay, sure. But, I think I have some things to add to make it even better." I can already picture the machine, it's going to be perfect! ~~~~~~~ I look out at the park before us, it's getting filled quickly. Some sort of business function, full of snobby business ponies. The perfect time to test our machine. I look back at the contraption to make sure that everything is running smoothly. I brought some oil to put on the axis so it moves smoother, and quieter. Sonic and I have hidden the machine behind some cover, so the machine is pretty much hidden. It's painted black for extra stealth. We also brought boxes upon boxes of balloons filled with water, all of it ammunition for our device. Off to the side is a wider scoop for launching more balloons at once. I even put an aiming tool on the device, for more precision. I wait for more ponies to arrive and for the party to get under way, then I prepare the first balloon. I allign the machine with my target and signal for Sonic to activate it with his magic. The machine launches the balloon right into a guest I don't particularly like, I had the misfortune of meeting him at one point. He was a total jerk. The balloon hits him in the behind and he falls over in confusion, he's completely flustered and guests are looking at him. I load on one more balloon and aim quickly, then the balloon is off. It hits a different pony, this one just as confused as the last. I launch off several more individual attacks before ponies start to realize what's going on. Thankfully, the balloons are moving too fast to be traceable. I aim one directly at a unicorns horn and it hits its mark. Sonic and I are trying so hard to keep from bursting out into laughter, even though were certain hat were too far for them to hear us. The ponies start to move away from the outer ring and are struggling to make it away from there, I take this chance to put on the wider scoop. I dump an entire box into it and tilt the machine up more, I signal Sonic. The balloons launch out and cover the sky, but nopony notices until they've hit. I quickly load up another and Sonic launches them, we run out of balloons fast. All the party goers leave, even though the attacks have stopped. I'm rolling on the ground laughing by now, Sonic is as well wiping tears of joy from his eyes. I get up from the floor and attempt to calm down, my sides are hurting. That was great! I need to make more machines to do stuff with, the possibilities are endless! I look over at Sonic, who's stopped laughing and is looking at me with a smile. I smile back and he seems to go into a frenzy, before finally focusing on something. "Look!" He points at my flank. I look back at my flank to find two silver cogs and one gold cog. I turn back to Sonic, he looks just as excited as I am. "You're special talent is engineering!" Sonic says excitedly. "What, no, it's making things..." I say in confusion. "That's what an engineer does! Solves problems, makes things, they work with their hooves!" Sonic explains. "Really? If it's my special talent is engineering, why am I doing terrible in that class?" I ask. "Probably because your not paying attention," Sonic rolls his eyes. "Oh... yeah, that makes sense..." I say, thinking back on the project I missed. I look at the machine and a smile plants itself on my face, I turn around to find Sonic eyeing me. "So, I think this calls for a celebration. Let's go out tonight!" I say, Sonic's eyes widen. I know it's rare for us to eat anywhere other than the dorm, but I didn't think it was that rare. "Go out?" Sonic repeats questioningly, almost hopefully. "Yeah, we always eat in the dorm. Let's go out to eat!" I cheer, Sonic looks a little let down. "Right, to eat," he sighs. "Dude, you okay? We don't have to eat somewhere else, you could just hang back if you want," I tell him. "No, I'll come with." Sonic assures me. "Alright, now help me get this to storage," I tell him, turning back to the machine. Thankfully, I had enough foresight to put it on wheels. ~~~~~~~ I open the door to the dorm and I find an unusual darkness, usually Sonic is home by now. Then I notice that he is home, he's curled up on the couch. I walk over to him after flipping on the light to hear light sobbing, I look at him in concern. I've seen him distraught before, but he was never this bad. I sit on the couch and lay a hoof on him, he looks up at me. I gasp, I can see that he has a black eye. Upon closer inspection I notice various other bruises along his body. "What happened?" I ask in shock. "I told Sun Charger about my crossdressing, he broke up with me. He didn't leave without a few shots at me," Sonic chokes out. I look at him in shock, and that shock quickly turns into anger. How could Sun be so hateful? He was the one that broke up with Sonic! "You stay here, I'll go set Sun straight," I snarl. "No, Tempest. Don't... I don't want you to do anything to him..." Sonic pleads. "Why did he even do it?" I ask in anger. "Because ponies like me are hated... being gay is kind of okay, but Crossdressers and transgenders are less okay," Sonic answers. "That's stupid!" I fume, Sonic just nods. "It just means I'm a freak..." Sonic says, I look over at him sadly. "No, you're not." I turn his head to me and say firmly. He leans in more and plants a kiss on my cheeks, I freeze up. He pulls away and looks sultrily into my eyes. "So then Mr. Engineer, I hear you're good with your hooves," he croons, I back away quickly. He looks hurt, and he turns away. "I'm sorry, I-" I cut him off before he can say any more. "No, I'm sorry. I must have been sending off the wrong vibes, but I don't like you that way." I tell him. He looks down and I turn away from him. "I want support you, but I just need some time alone now..." I tell him, but to be honest I'm completely disgusted with him. I turn and walk out of the room, ignoring the sobs I hear behind me. ~~~~~~~ I look at my hooves dejectedly as I think on what happened just yesterday. He had confided in me, and I had hurt him. All because I was scared, I had chased him away. I look at my desk and find a picture of the machine that got me my cutie mark, in front of the machine is me and my old friend Sonic Net. I look on the work table in front of me and find my latest project, I have no interest in it right now. When I first found out about Sonic's crossdressing, I just thought it was a personality quirk. I had never thought it could make anypony want to hurt him. Then, when I got back to the dorm I finally realized that ponies like that get hurt. And in my fear that I'd become like him I'd hurt him more, but I never apologised. We grew apart after that. We were still roommates, but we weren't friends. I felt bad and I did want to be his friend, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him. I selfishly protected myself by ignoring him. Now, faced with a similar situation, I paniced. I was mad at life for facing me with a similar situation, I was mad at fate for making me confront those feelings. I was scared for my son, so I tried to abandon my problems. `If he's not your son, you don't have to feel anything for him,` my frantic mind had reasoned. I acted entirely on impulse and instinct. On my feelings at the moment, not my feelings as a whole. I haven't even talked to my wife yet, she made me sleep on the couch. She left a while ago, I don't know where to. But I've been meaning to apologize to her and my son Star for how I acted, explain that I didn't mean what I said. I didn't see my son last night or this morning, so I don't know where he is. I've decided to just wait for my wife to get back and explain it to her first, then she can help me tell Star. I hate how I reacted, that isn't like me at all. I regret every second of it, I wish that I could take it back. But I can't, so now I have to atone for it. The door opens and I look up hopefully, Stable script walks in the door. "Honey, I-" I start, Stable cuts me off with a scathing glare. "Don't start with me, I know what you did. You hit him, you hit our son!" She shouts. "Yes, and I-" I'm cut off by her again. "And you chased him out! How could you?! He expected you to support him! I expected you to support him!" Stable fumes. "I know and I-" I start. "You-" I cut her off this time. "I'm sorry! I paniced, I was afraid for him and me! I couldn't handle it last time and I was even less prepared this time!" I shout. She stops and looks at me curiously. "Last time? What are you talking about?" She asks. She doesn't let down her glare, but she does soften it. "I need you to understand that I am willing to help him, I was just scared. So, I paniced." I say. "You were scared? How do you think he feels?" Stable yells, her anger spiking. "I know, but... I'm afraid for him. I want to be there for him, but I don't know how to do that. Last time, I didn't fix things. I just made them worse..." I say solemnly. "What is this last time you keep talking about?" Stable asks in frustration. I gesture for her to follow me, she follows. I take her to the living room and she sits down, I rush to my work room. I grab my picture of the machine that got me my cutie mark, then I return and tell her the story of how I lost my friend Sonic Net.