//------------------------------//
// Made in Manehattan 
// Story: A Dream 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight was bored.  That was apparently why she called a meeting in the back room of The Half Pint.
“But dear, what about the army of cutie markless ponies gathering in the Crystal Empire?” asked Rarity.
“Well, they aren’t currently there,” said Twilight.  “I agree that it’s a concern, but if they come back, Shining and Cadance seem capable of handling it.  They’ve been practicing.”
“Practicing what?” asked Applejack.
“Some really high level magic,” Twilight said.  “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
“Fluttershy was just telling me about something like that,” said Pinkie.  “Granted, she’s new to the whole race swapping thing so most magic is nothing she’s ever seen before, but she was practicing a few spells and I wanted to see if they could be used for sex.”
Twilight hastily changed the subject.  “Speaking of Fluttershy changing races, we, uh, should probably get Rainbow out of jail to fill out our ranks with another pegasus.  Just in case.”
I strolled in a few minutes late for the meeting’s start.  Well, technically I wasn’t late since I had never been invited, but I figured that when I showed up the meeting would probably revolve around me anyway.
I’d been late because I was working on a new 30mm gatling cannon design that would probably require significant changes to Tin Mare’s chassis to incorporate.
Well, that, and there’d inexplicably been a lot of lamb blood spread all over the inside of my workshop.  After frowning at it for a while, I’d called Sir Win.
“Yep, it’s Satanic,” he’d confirmed.  “Who’d you piss off?”
I’d shrugged.  “This time?  Your guess is as good as mine.  So what are we looking at here?”
“Well, this is definitely a pentagram on the floor.  See these wiggles?  Translated from Hellish, it’s basically a death curse that would have struck you had you touched anything.”
“Good to know.”  I’d poured my drink out on the floor, smudging the lines.  I’d then lit the tequila on fire.  “Good enough?”
“Yes, that should do it.  Let me know if you feel dead.”
He’d left and I’d refilled my drink.  Curious.  I wonder who wanted to take a shot at me this time.  I’d pulled the security tapes, but it was all static and the screams of the damned.
But getting back to the meeting I walked into, Twilight asked, “Valiant, what are you doing here?  We were just talking about how we need to get Rainbow out of jail.”
“We still haven’t come up with a good reason why she should be released,” I reminded her.  “If, if, she’s innocent, we don’t know who the real culprit is.”
“It was a mare who bought the cake to distract the guards and then stole the Wonderbolts memorabilia from the treasure room,” Twilight said.  “It sounds like something you’d have Sunset do.”
“Sunset was with me that night, working on Tin Mare.”
“Trixie, then.”
“Trixie was with Daring tomb raiding Yakyakistan.  I’m sure they would show you the loot if you asked.  But why would I have anyone do the theft?  Why would I want Wonderbolts stuff?”
“You want Rainbow in jail.”
“Well yes, but if I was the one framing her, I would have made sure she looked a lot more guilty.”
“He has a point,” said Applejack.
“I still think we should go to Canterlot and figure out how to help Rainbow,” said Twilight.
“She was moved to the national prison in Manehattan,” I said.
Twilight gasped.  “Why did they do that?”
“Probably because breaking into the castle is a federal offense.”  I shrugged.  “Then again, since they didn’t think anyone was dumb enough to break into the castle there isn’t a law against it and they charged Rainbow with public nuisance.  That’s only a weekend sentence.  She’ll be out practically by the time we get there.”
“Well then, let’s go!”  The girls all agreed and left the room.  I shrugged and got up, heading after them.
On the way down the street, I encountered Trixie.  Her usual hat had been replaced by a helmet with horns and she seemed to be in good spirts.
“Back from your trip I see.”
“Yep.  Daring and I had a good time.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
Trixie shrugged.  “She said she had a few things to do.”
“As it happens, so do I.  I should probably go to Manehattan and prevent any shenanigans caused by a Free Rainbow campaign.”
“The Sisterhooves Social is today,” Trixie pointed out.
“Oh, right.”  I touched my earpiece.  “Tin Mare, go to Manehattan and pretend to be me.”
“I presume you mean function in your absence, not literally pretend to be you.”
“Well, that would be pretty funny, but you’re right, they probably wouldn’t listen to you if you did.”
I spotted the extended CMC coming our way, including such members as Rumble, Pipsqueak, Cordoba, Strawberry Glaze, Inkspot, and Paperwork.  The fillies of the group seemed to be in especially good spirits, probably due to the Sisterhooves Social.  I wondered if Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had yet found out their sisters weren’t going to be there.
I spotted Braeburn walking sullenly along behind.  He was the kind of guy who retracted into himself when depressed.  Better than some alternatives, I supposed.
“Did you get stuck watching the kids?” I asked.
“You’d think so, considering the Crusaders are known for robots and that most ponies think I’m a robot,” he said.  “But no.  That’s one small mercy.”
“If you’re looking for something to do, I’m sure the girls wouldn’t mind if you tagged along with them.  They’re going to Manehattan.”
“Cherry was too classy for the west,” he said.  “She probably belonged in a place like that.  I guess…maybe I’ll go.”
“Everyone already took the train,” I told him.  “Tin Mare hasn’t left, though.  She could give you a ride.”
Braeburn stared at me, or at least I thought he was.  It was sometimes hard to tell behind his electronic visor.  “You won’t be there?”
“No.”
“All right.  Sounds good.”  He walked away.
Sunset was the next to come down the street.  She hugged me and showed me a bag she carried.  “Snacks.  Today should be a great show.”
“Is it just me or have you changed lately?” I asked as we walked towards the Sisterhooves Social.
She smiled.  “I would still slaughter anything that tried to hurt you or yours.”
“Good to know.”
Meanwhile, Braeburn had found Tin Mare and gotten a ride.
“You may find it more comfortable to lie down,” she said.  “I understand your cyborg exoskeleton comes with certain magnetic components.  Much of my structure is nonferrous, but there are some steel spars in the leading edges of my wings.”
Braeburn figured out how to get his hooves to stick to her fuselage.  “I guess that works.”
After verifying he was secure, she gently lifted off and headed for Manehattan.
“It’s a lot of buffeting,” he commented as she accelerated.  At least his eyes didn’t water behind the visor.
“I will adjust my alpha vector,” replied Tin Mare, tipping her nose up and reducing speed slightly.  “We will still arrive much sooner than the train.”
A few minutes passed.  Braeburn got up enough courage to glance over the side.  Tin Mare, mindful of his need for oxygen, was not flying too high.
“This is nice,” he said after a moment.  “I don’t have much experience flying.”
“This is what I was built to do,” Tin Mare replied.
“But weren’t you a pegasus before?  So it’s even more than that?”
“This is no ‘before.’  I am a separate entity from the pony that contributed some of my components.”
Tin Mare processed for a moment.  “To answer your second question, I am unaware how much pegasus flight instincts factor into my programming.  I do know that I have a sophisticated sensor package that allows me to make decisions on all aspects of flight.”
Braeburn frowned, uncomfortable with the conversation of identity.  He felt that Tin Mare was denying the obvious – if she had a brain, she was a pony, not a computer.  He wasn’t sure what she would do if he kept pressing, though.  Do not make the airplane angry when you are a passenger.
Searching for something to fill the awkward pause, he glanced down, spotting the intricate hinges and actuators of her leading edge flaps.  “Could you tell me a little about this machinery?”
“There are limited details that Valiant has not classified.  My structure incorporates lightweight metals, composites, and more exotic materials.”
“Exotic is right,” Braeburn said.  Granted, he was a farm pony, but he doubted many ponies had any idea what she was made from.  “Compared to an airship, this technology is off the charts.”
“As I understand, I am similar to 1990’s technology from Valiant’s home world,” explained Tin Mare.  “He did not give a conversion to Equestrian years, but seemed to indicate that it was about twenty years old.  Two decades is far from cutting edge.”
“You’re still the most advanced thing in the world,” argued Braeburn.  He paused.  “Wait, I didn’t mean to call you a thing-”
“Though I am told I am female, I have no concept nor interest in gender.  I have no emotional attachment either, so do not worry about insulting me.”
“I just…well, it’s weird, having a conversation with an intelligent personality and yet you just don’t act normal.”
“I act perfectly normally for an advanced AI.”
“I meant normal like a pony.”
“I am not a pony.”
Braeburn decided to quit while he was ahead.
Tin Mare descended into Manehattan.  The locals were not thrilled, but they were gradually getting used to it.  Equestria did not have an FAA.  Suck it.
When the girls stepped off the train, Braeburn was there to meet them.  They were all surprised.
“How in tarnation did you get here?” Applejack asked.
Braeburn explained.  “Valiant wanted Tin Mare to come in his place and I caught a ride.”
They all looked at the jet parked outside the train station.
“What are we supposed to do with her?” Twilight asked.
“She could be useful for persuading the cops to let Rainbow go,” offered Pinkie.  “Way more threatening than a party cannon.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to threaten the police,” said Rarity.
“Well, we could at least go to the jail and see if they would let us talk to Rainbow,” proposed Applejack.  “She’d like to know we’re out here waiting on her.”
So they went to prison.  Sure enough, Rainbow was pleased to see them.  However, “Why is that thing parked outside my window?”
“There was not room for me to fit inside the building,” replied Tin Mare.
“Just no funny business,” said the guard who had let in the girls.  He looked at Guinness, who had been there since hearing Rainbow had been locked up.  “And continue to be no funny business from you.”
“No sir,” Guinness muttered tiredly.  Skyla was sleeping against him.
The guard sat down at a nearby desk and shuffled through a box marked Rainbow Dash v. Equestria – Evidence.
“Would you mind if we took a look at that?” Rarity said.  She dropped a few compliments and managed to get the guard to grant them a peek.
Twilight looked into the box, lifting out the sample of mane that had been found at the scene.  “This was definitely not left randomly.  I’m sure anypony, even a notoriously distracted mare like Rainbow, would notice losing this much mane.  Plus, as Rarity noted the other day, it looks cut.”
“It is also fake,” contributed Tin Mare.
A collective “Huh?” went around the room.
“My camera is multispectral.  In the visible light spectrum, the colors are similar to Rainbow’s.  However, the sample found in the treasure room does not carry the same characteristics that Rainbow’s mane does.”
Twilight was the only one who understood.  She simplified for the others, “Light is composed of many different wavelengths and they combine to make the colors that we see.  While the colors in the sample appear the same as Rainbow’s mane to our eyes, the components that create them are different.”
It still wasn’t very simple.  To confuse them further, Tin Mare added, “I also find it strange that Rainbow’s mane seems to carry every wavelength.  It truly is a rainbow.”
“Every wavelength?  Are you saying even radio waves?” Twilight asked.
“You cannot see it all with your eyes, but Rainbow Dash has much more mane than anyone realizes.  You may also want to keep your distance.  Some of them are gamma.”
“So does that prove I’m innocent?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“We’d have to ask for a retrial,” Twilight said.  “But I seriously doubt they would be able to overturn your conviction before it’s time for you to get out anyway.”
Rainbow sulked on her bunk.  “Great.  If only I’d known that I also had colors ponies couldn’t even see.”
That would teach her to act like she was only a rainbow of the visible spectrum.
“We’ll be here for you tomorrow,” Applejack promised.  “It’s just one more night.”
Guinness confirmed that he was staying until Rainbow was released.  The girls said their goodbyes for the day.  On the way out, however, Pinkie muttered, “We could so pop this joint if we wanted to.”
“While I agree that we probably have the raw power to overcome lowly prison guards,” said Rarity, “and while Rainbow is looking more and more innocent, breaking her out would make her guilty.”
“Rainbow gets out of prison tomorrow morning,” remarked Fluttershy.  “I think we should all just do nothing and let the time run out.  That seems safest.”
“If we’ve got some time to kill, Braeburn and I could go visit Aunt and Uncle Orange,” said Applejack.
Braeburn agreed and they left.  The others hadn’t taken two steps before Rarity spotted a flyer on a message board.  “Look at this.  ‘Please help us restore our long-lost but beloved tradition, the Midsummer Theater Revival.’  It looks like a callout for volunteers for a theater performance to bring the community together.  And oh, the contact on the flyer is Coco Pommel!”
“Didn’t you meet her at a fashion show a while back?” Twilight asked.
Rarity nodded.  “Seemed like a nice pony, though a bit under the hoof of her overbearing boss.”
“It sounds like she needs help,” said Fluttershy.
“Well, we weren’t doing anything else,” Twilight said.  “Let’s go.”
Downtown, they found the party.  Or at least, where it was supposed to be.  There was an overgrown lot with a ramshackle bandstand.
Coco greeted them, excited to see familiar faces but at her wit’s end.  “I can't believe you found my flyer.  Quite a coincidence, don't you think?  This may sound hard to believe, but you’re the first ponies to actually come help.  I put those flyers all over town!”
“It may be due to your overuse of words,” suggested Tin Mare.  “Your flyer had three complex sentences totaling more than sixty words.  Bullet points would have been hella more eye-catching.”
Coco glanced up nervously and whispered, “What’s that thing hovering overhead and how is it talking?”
“It’s…complicated,” said Twilight.  “Do you remember Valiant?  He did that.”
Coco nodded.  “Yes, I remember him.  He was the one who gave me the idea for my current employment.”
“I was meaning to ask,” said Rarity.  “Do you still work with Suri Polomare?”
“No, but related to that, I patented the idea to use pony hair in garments,” said Coco.  “After Valiant mutilated Suri, she closed down her business and went to live with her sister.  Needing a job, I filed a patent and suddenly everypony was paying me royalties.”  She shrugged.  “It’s an income.  Unfortunately, all it got me was this nice apartment in one of the most expensive cities in Equestria and a lot of beautiful things to put in it.  I don’t have quite enough to pay a crew to completely renovate the park across the street.”
“Sounds like a job for us,” said Twilight.  “Er, what are we doing?”
Coco guided them through the process.  The Midsummer Theater Revival was an outdoor play held at the community park that had brought the community together to prepare the venue, costumes, and food.  But now, nobody cared.
However, the girls were going to change the place.  Between Twilight and Rarity’s magic, a small army of animals led by Fluttershy, and Pinkie’s Pinkie, the lawn was well groomed by the time Braeburn and Applejack returned.
The stage was in terrible condition.  Applejack took a look at it and shook her head.  “Might as well just tear it down and start over.”
With Applejack’s meat puppets, Braeburn’s bionic strength, and Tin Mare agreeing to function as a sky crane, the work went rapidly, eventually resulting in a much better venue than had originally been there.  Ponies from around the neighborhood began to stop and stare.
Applejack was not paying attention and accidentally let one or two of her duplicates get torched by Tin Mare’s hot exhaust.  A few griffons showed up looking for the smell of cooking meat.
Rarity and Pinkie worked on the decorations for the place, but something was still missing.  Spotting the eroded stone statue that had stood in the park, Rarity had an idea.  Stepping up onto the pedestal, and striking a pose, she took on her salt crystal form.
“I suppose it’s good for something,” she remarked, before solidifying her position as a statue.  While classing the place up, her viewpoint of the show was also the best around.
The troupe arrived and totally disgraced themselves by overacting like it was their job.  However, the audience hadn’t come for a group nobody had ever heard of.  They’d come because somebody had finally fixed the park and done it better than it had been.  Well, that, and the free food Pinkie was dishing.
The crowd had started to edge into the street, blocking it for others, who then stopped and added to the crowd.  So when a pink and purple mare wearing a mask appeared with a group of thugs, there were a lot of innocent bystanders.
“We’re shutting this down!” shouted the leader.  “Everypony disperse!  We’re here for the ones from Ponyville.”
“Hey, that’s us!” exclaimed Pinkie.  Everyone else glared at her.
There were perhaps two dozen threatening ponies advancing on the group.  The girls had worked hard all day, and their various special abilities were running low.
Granted, if they had survived street fights versus changelings, a mere twenty or so average thugs would not be an insurmountable challenge.
Twilight, of course, tried to talk her way out of it first.  “Stop right there!  Who are you?  What do you want?”
“How does revenge sound?” asked the mare in charge.
“What did we do?” Fluttershy whimpered.
“This time?” added Rarity.
“Tin Mare, do something,” Braeburn pleaded.
“My programming only allows me to attack without orders in self defense. In addition, I have no mare-to-mare missiles nor even any bullets.”  Tin Mare processed for a moment.  “However, the hostiles said they were after ‘the ones from Ponyville.’  That is my base.”
“What’s that thing?” the masked pony demanded, pointing at Tin Mare.
“I am the most advanced weapons system ever constructed.  One that you have just threatened.”
The girls began quietly backing away.
“Oh yeah?  Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”
“Applejack, please make the expression where you raise one eyebrow,” said Tin Mare.
Confused, Applejack did.  Even if she wasn’t feeling it, her eyebrow game was on point as always.
“While I have no face, this is the expression I would use to respond to your question,” said Tin Mare.  “Do I have any idea to whom I am talking?  No, you have not identified yourself and I have not yet collected sufficient intelligence to do it myself.”
She added, “More importantly, however, do you have any idea to whom you’re talking?”
The mare in the mask laughed.  “You look like something Valiant built.  Don’t worry, he’ll get his, too.”
Tin Mare’s engines fired at full afterburner, but only for a fraction of a second.  She launched into the air, coming down just a few feet away, tackling the whole group of hostiles simultaneously.  The unicorns fired spells in all directions.  All of the bad guys screamed.
Tin Mare’s ailerons and tail planes worked back and forth, knocking noggins.  The thug who got it worst, though, was the one that got stuck in her gun.  There were no bullets, but the barrels spinning at almost a thousand RPM sure did a number on him.
Those that could still get their hooves under them ran.  Tin Mare sensed them departing and relaxed her hydraulics.
“I never thought I’d say this, but that was really useful,” said Twilight.  “You managed to think of a non-violent way to resolve the conflict.”
“It was not ideal,” said Tin Mare.  “I am not programed for less-lethal attacks.”
“But clearly you learned,” Twilight pointed out.
“It was not ideal,” Tin Mare repeated.  “Had I been properly equipped, I would not have suffered damage in the exchange.  One unicorn’s spell hit my camera.  I am blind.” 
“I could help you get back to Ponyville,” Braeburn offered.  “I should probably get back anyway.
“Thank you.”
He loaded up.  “You’re clear all around.  I’ll tell you if we get too close to something.”  The two of them slowly flew away.
The girls glanced at the mess in the street and began to walk away, whistling.
Twilight struck up a conversation.  “So, who was that?  I feel like we’ve seen her before.”
Rarity glanced at the sky.  “Valiant, do you know?”
I did, but I was busy at the moment.
“Don’t encourage him,” Twilight scolded.
Applejack changed the subject.  “Earlier, when y’all were talkin’ about spectral whatsists, what does ‘gamma’ mean?”
“It’s extremely high frequency ionizing radiation,” said Twilight.  She frowned.  “If it’s true that Rainbow’s mane is fully multispectral up to that point, it could be a problem.  A big enough dose could cause cancer.”
“Well, it’s a good thing she mostly hangs out in the clouds,” said Applejack.  She frowned.  “Well, that and sleeping in trees at Sweet Apple Acres, which is fortunately far from town.”
Pinkie said, “Didn’t Granny Smith die of cancer?”