One Year in Ponyville
Techorse series: #24
By Spirals95
It was hard to accept as fact for him, but it was true. One year had passed since Techorse had first arrived at Equestria onboard the satellite owned by his long-defeated master. Over all the adventures he had shared with his friends, he had learned a lot about life in Equestria, and even more about how to be the best friend he could be. Recently, he had been invited by Pinkie Pie to talk about a new baking invention that she had an idea for. Just a month ago she had thrown a party for his birthday, and had listened to his request of making it a small, quieter event than what she normally would want. Techorse couldn't resist the offer to pay her back for the party by testing his mechanical skills against Pinkie Pie's crazy idea.
In order to be ready for copying the idea down and building it, he had prepared all week for the meeting. While upstairs in his bedroom, he made the last of his preparations on the tile floor in front of his queen-sized bed, covered in a blue comforter. Carefully packing a pad of blueprint paper into the back of his battle saddle, the invention that had carried him through so many dangerous events over the months, the young stallion stuffed the lid shut, showing the steel casing. It wouldn't be very comfortable for someone to sit on the saddle for very long, as the cushion that used to be on the device had been removed a long time ago. He then placed the device on his back, and tightened the black straps which held it in place.
Using his thoughts to control the machine, he moved the machinery around on the inside to move his most helpful gadget, the robotic arms he used to give him an artificial set of hands, to the front of the saddle's small doors on the sides. Each one snaked out of the metal doors gently, with the soft sound of servos and motors, and reached for a nearby desk. The hands wrapped around a brass knob on the open drawer on the wooden desk, and closed it with a soft thud. Then, as if pulled like a tape measure, they retracted into the saddle again, and the doors closed with a sharp click.
Techorse looked back at the gadget and then headed for the door of his bedroom. Leaving it and heading down the closest staircase, he came across the front door of his castle, twin wooden doors that stood nearly 15 feet tall each. PAL was leaning up against the wall to the right of the doorway, his arms and legs crossed.
His master looked at him and smiled, "Ready to go see Pinkie Pie?"
"Of course, master." He answered, standing up, "I've been looking forward to this all week."
The robot calculated that he had successfully used the perfect tone of artificial voice in order to trick his master into not asking any more questions beyond that. He moved over to a nearby control panel, and pressed a red button, one of many, located towards the top. The doors slowly swung open inwards, and the light of day mixed with the electric lights that illuminated the castle. Once the doors were fully opened, Techorse looked out at the side of Ponyville he could see from the front of his home.
The windmill that provided some of the electrical power for the town was easily visible and turning in the summer wind. Many of the colonial homes painted with red or pink lines were also visible, the thatch roofs with a fresh layer of straw to repair them for the fall. Part of the river that flowed through town was also visible to the left, and birds gathered around the water to hunt for insects to feed their young and to participate in daily life. Techorse filled his lungs with the fresh air, and then started his walk into town with his robot companion. As they walked through town, a few faces recognized him and PAL.
"Hey, it's Tech!" said Berry Punch as she waved at from a window.
"Hello!" he called back, walking past her home.
Colgate, who was on her way to work, greeted them as well, "PAL, what's up?"
"On my way to Sugarcube Corner, Miss Colgate, I'll be back to talk to you later!" He answered cheerfully.
It seemed that most of the residents had grown to accept the lumbering machine accompanying the green pony. Just 1 year ago, they were all running away in terror from him, afraid of being captured before being strapped to a medical table and opened up alive for anatomical science. Now there wasn't a single doubt in their minds that he was a good citizen.
They arrived at Sugarcube Corner a little suspicious of the establishment. The lights were on, but there didn't seem to be any customers for the day, which was very strange considering it being at least an hour or two after opening time for the bakery. Techorse looked at the sign on the front of the shop, and it read "open".
"Must be a slow business day, huh PAL?" he asked rhetorically, before opening the wooden door and walking inside.
A massive burst of pink and purple confetti erupted from the front counter of the store from several tiny improvised party horns. Techorse's friends emerged from behind the counter and shouted, "Happy One Year In Equestria, Techorse!"
"Hey, I thought I said I didn't want a party." said Techorse, happy but a little embarrassed.
Pinkie Pie jumped up to him, wearing a light blue party hat, and said to him, "Nopony gets away with not having a huge party with me around! You almost skipped your birthday, Techie, so I had to make it up with this one."
"So there's no invention you want me to make for you?" he asked.
"Of course not, silly!" she answered, "I got PAL to tell you that so you'd show up."
He turned his head back and shot the robot a nasty look, who gave him a huge metallic grin.
Rarity decided that Pinkie Pie's turn to talk to Techorse was now over, and she stepped forward to say,
"Oh, an entire year here in Ponyville. I can't believe that much time has passed already."
"I can't believe how many adventures he's had so far with us." Added Rainbow Dash, "Of course, a lot can happen in a year here in Ponyville."
"Like that time we stopped Captain Arbiter from pollutin' all of Equestria!" stated Applejack, "Might not have liked that rope around me, but we still got a couple of kicks out of sockin' it to the Captain!"
"Yeah, or that time you made me as big as a dragon so I could blow Don Poisonback away!" remembered Rainbow, "Now that was cool!"
Continuing with the favorite fond memories, Fluttershy said softly, "I've always known you've been afraid of being called violent, Techorse. But after I've gotten to know you over this year, I can tell you that isn't true."
Lastly, Twilight Sparkle stepped forward, "I can't believe it's been a whole year since we met each other, and I rescued you from that terrible Wizard. I've really enjoyed all the time we've spent together, and I know next year's going to bring some surprises of its own!"
Pinkie Pie ran over to a nearby plate of chocolate cupcakes iced with yellow frosting in a rose shape, and lifted one over her head with her right front hoof.
"This is to Techie, for a year in Ponyville, and many more fun filled ones to come!" she said, toasting him.
Techorse was speechless, with his friends cheering. He had never thought that one day he might escape his cruel master and have anything nice in life, including friends. But here he was, with friends who appreciated him, a great life, and everything he could ever want. If only there was a way that he could give back, besides the rather faceless donations he made to try to fill that emotional void.
"Hey, come on Techorse," said Spike, interrupting his thoughts, "We got you some presents for your belated birthday, come open them!"
He complied with the dragon's request and moved over to the carefully wrapped presents, each one's paper was the color of its givers coat, and there was one gift bag from Spike and PAL that sat off by itself. It was a silver color, and was stuffed with blue tissue paper to hide its contents from view.
Techorse reached for the gift with his leg, and opened the bag by removing the tissue paper with his teeth. Inside the large bag at the bottom was a folded umbrella, red in color, with an odd metal attachment at the bottom. It seemed to be a multi-pin wire ribbon that would attach to an electronic device of some kind.
"Thanks, what kind of an umbrella is this?" he asked, staring at the contraption.
Spike explained, "PAL and I went into your lab and made an umbrella that can pop out of the top of your saddle. Now you have something that looks like the umbrella saddles other ponies use!"
"I made sure the connector wires on the umbrella are compatible with your battle saddle, master." Added PAL, "Hopefully when it looks like rain you'll equip it."
"Of course!" he said, "Thanks for such a great gift."
"Will you open mine next?" requested Rarity, her hair curls bobbing as she moved her head up, "I'm sure you'll find it quite lovely."
Techorse agreed to open the present next, and unwrapped it to reveal a white cardboard box. After removing the lid, he found a nice suit made from black and white material, and a bowtie to go with it. The bowtie and cufflinks of the suit featured Rarity's specialty, a sewn ruby in the center of each of them.
"Wow!" was all he could say, the suit had to have taken a good amount of time to make.
"I had to get some help to make it, but it was worth it!" explained Rarity, "You simply have to own a suit that keeps up with the modern styles, Techorse, it's a must for fancy parties and meetings. I hope you like the traditional black and white, it's very stylish for an average-sized colt like you…"
"Ok, enough of that," barged in Applejack, "let Techorse open his other presents, Rarity."
"I was almost finished!" huffed Rarity, "He needs to know what colognes go with it!"
"I promise I'll talk to you later about it!" assured Techorse, trying to avoid the argument, "You spent so much time making this special, Rarity, that I want to know everything."
Applejack frowned, Techorse was likely to keep his promise, and she didn't like it when she lost an argument to Rarity.
The gift-giving continued, with Techorse receiving a fresh set of icing piping tubes from Pinkie Pie, a book on the history of electricity in Equestria from Twilight, a special apple cinnamon scented candle Applejack had obtained from a relative, and a book of paper coupons from Rainbow Dash, each good for a sunny day, any day, even if all she could do without getting in trouble was remove the clouds around just his home.
After the gifts and the inevitable binge on high-calorie treats, the party was over, and the friends had mostly dispersed for the day. Even PAL had left back for the castle before his master, citing needing to get some more coolant, and taking the presents home with him. The last one to leave the bakery was Techorse, as Twilight had offered to help Pinkie Pie clean up after the celebration.
The colt, happy to have spent a good time with his closest friends, walked out of the bakery and shut the door behind him.
After he had closed the door, he heard a voice to the side, "Ah, yes, Mr. Techorse, isn't it?"
He turned to face the unknown pony. It was Dr. Caltrops, standing before him with his black mane combed to the right of his head.
"I hope Pinkie Pie has told you about me," he said, introducing himself, "I'm Dr. Caltrops, P.H.D. I'm the head medical researcher at Fillydelphia's top clinic."
"Yeah, she's told me about you, you're a friend of hers." Answered the green stallion, walking up to him, "Is there something you needed to tell me about?"
"It's just that it's so great to meet such a distinguished inventor such as yourself!" said Caltrops, laughing in a somewhat prideful way under his breath, "In fact, I'd go so far as to say that you're the best inventor Equestria has ever seen."
"Right…" said Techorse sarcastically, "Whoever invented electrical systems in Equestria is chopped oats now."
"So maybe not the best of all time, but you're the best for right now, at least in this doctor's humble opinion," he continued, making it all too obvious he was flattering Techorse.
Of course, Techorse tended to give others the benefit of the doubt until they did something wrong, so he didn't suspect a thing.
"So why did you want to talk to me again?" asked Techorse, hoping Caltrops wasn't going to keep him forever.
Dr. Caltrops pushed his glasses up his muzzle and said, "Ah yes, you see, I was hoping that you might consider taking me up on a special offer! I just founded the Society of Aspiring Ponies, or SOAP for short."
"Don't you think…" tried to say Techorse, his head tilting in confusion.
"Yes, I know, the name's terrible but I can change it if I want to," admitted Caltrops, "the point is that I wish for you to be a part of it. You'll be able to help many earth ponies who want to go to medical school get there, and help inventors get their ideas out on the market! Imagine being a part of somepony else's success story."
"You want me to be on the board?" asked Techorse.
Dr. Caltrops laughed heartily, "Be on the board? Techorse, you're going to be the president of this entire establishment! I haven't met an earth pony who not only has such a good business, but also such an honest one. You repair your appliances for free and don't charge as much as I'd expect up front for such good cookware. I want you to lead my new organization to help other ponies achieve great things!"
Techorse seriously thought over the doctor's offer. Here was the way to help other ponies live successfully that he had wanted. His way of giving back!
However, like many good things that sounded far too good to be true, Techorse was aware that it probably was, and asked, "Well, that sounds nice, but what will I have to do?"
"You'll need to leave your business to the robot of yours Pinkie Pie talks about, and have him run it for you while you live in Fillydelphia. We might not have any fortresses for you to live in, but we have some great large houses out by the waterside! I can even have a laboratory built for you in my hospital's basement so you can keep inventing just for fun!" he answered, "You'll finally be able to get out of this small town and live someplace important!"
That last statement had been rather offensive to Techorse, as he found Ponyville to be plenty important to his life. But if he said no to the doctor's offer, he'd essentially be saying that he had no desire to help other ponies succeed!
"Anything else?"
Caltrops cleared his throat and said, "You'll need to devote all your time and energy to this, so you'll probably need to stop trying to be a servant of princess Celestia's. I heard that you possess an element artifact at her castle. You'll probably need to have that decommissioned so you're not sent off to fight some creature."
"Are you mad?" asked Techorse angrily, "Caltrops, if I have the Element of Justice destroyed, the best we'll be able to do is turn a monster to stone. What do you think will happen if something that we have no hope of stopping over and over again attacks?"
"Pinkie Pie talked with me about this, and as far as I know, somepony else can simply take on the Element, you just have to give it up!" answered Caltrops, trying to defend himself, "If you don't believe me she said Twilight Sparkle had told her this, and I know how much you trust her."
Now he felt really stuck. Techorse knew that Caltrops was most likely telling the truth, but also was keeping something from him. It was likely that he would choose to make him look bad in front of many other ponies by saying publicly that Techorse of Ponyville, once thought to be a kind being, was now selfish enough to refuse an offer to become the president of an establishment meant to help other ponies!
"I need to think about it, Caltrops." Answered Techorse as he turned away, "Can I get back to you on this later today?"
"Of course, take all the time you need, so long as you're ready by tomorrow. If you choose not to accept my offer, I'm sure there's more helpful stallions out there who'd be willing to take me up on my offer."
That made Techorse nearly grind his teeth. Now he knew the doctor was going to slander him at his next meeting if he refused! Trying to figure out what to do, he took an alternate route home that gave him more time to think.
"What does Pinkie Pie SEE in that guy as a friend?" he thought to himself, "He's mad!"
When he got back to his castle, Techorse noticed that the doors had been left open. He was fortunate enough to live in a world where if you left your doors open, it was relatively unlikely that you were going to be robbed while away. Once he had entered the now warm hallways from the outside air getting in, he noticed a scrap of paper lying on the small table he used to place loose change or other objects from his most recent trip out.
Looking over the note, it read:
"Master, I've left your presents on your bed. I need to head back out to find a spare hose for the garden, ours is broken. – PAL"
Techorse wondered why PAL had forgotten to close the doors behind him, but figured that it was simply a result of the machine's tendency to focus on one task at a time without devoting much processing power to any others.
Moving over to the living room on the first floor, the tired pony decided to lie down on the light green fabric sofa in front of the fireplace. He looked up at the stone ceiling, and stared at the individual tiles, very tempted to count them. His thoughts were racing about what he should do, and if he made a bad choice, his life could be ruined. In Techorse's mind, the only right thing to do would be to take Caltrops up on his offer. If he didn't, not only would he be embarrassed, he'd also be missing out on the best opportunity to help out other ponies personally, and give back for all the great things he'd received in his life in Equestria. On the other hand, perhaps declining the offer and coming up with his own way of helping others was a better choice. Both of them would take up way too much time for him to be a responsible Element holder, however. Perhaps it was time to retire from being a hero and switch to a more supportive role.
"I guess the only thing to do is to write princess Celestia and tell her to get rid of my artifact. We probably don't need it anymore anyways, considering Wizard is gone for good."
He said to himself, "I'm sure Twilight and the others can handle anyone else who comes along."
Finalizing his plan in his mind, he got up from the sofa and walked out of the room to go find a scroll to write on. As he went to find a pen, however, a thought occurred to him.
"I should probably go check the garden to see what PAL was talking about the hose."
Techorse crossed the length of his home and exited through a small back door, entering into the sunlight of his garden. A simple place, with a few decorative trees, shrubs, and a few stones surrounding a fountain, was a sunny spot for birds to relax. It didn't look like the place where Twilight had hit him with a rock when they first met.
The garden hose lay torn to pieces in the yard, a sad piece of blue plastic that had seen much better days. Something had probably chewed it up the night before and left it lying in the dew-covered grass. Techorse moved over to the destroyed water hose, and shook his head in disgust at the vandalism.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light occurred in front of the stallion, who shielded his eyes with this left leg. A force of some kind was slowly pushing him back, and he dug his rear legs into the ground to avoid falling over backwards.
"What's happening?" he asked aloud, a bit terrified.
When the flash had ceased, Techorse looked forward again, and to his great surprise an elderly stallion had appeared. He was a large solid green earth pony, with a well cut white beard and facial hair that covered his mustache, sideburns, and part of his neck area. His mane had faded to gray, but his eyes were still as bright of blue as the day he had come to be. What shocked Techorse the most however, was that the adult in front of him was wearing some sort of battle saddle. It was a larger and bulkier device than his, made mostly of brass parts, copper, and had a small exhaust pipe sticking out of the back left which spat white smoke.
"Are you… me?" asked Techorse, mortified.
The elder nodded his head, "I am. I knew I'd find you here at this exact moment in time, in this place."
Techorse acted fast, "Ok, Twilight told me about the possibility of time travel and I'm prepared. What do I need to know before you go back?"
Techorse senior answered gruffly, "There's no rush. My saddle is my time machine. This was a one-way trip, Tech."
The younger Techorse was amazed that he had invented a time machine in the future, but was also rather scared that his older self might end up living out his life with him, "A one way trip?"
"I'm hoping that by the time I'm done explaining what I have to, I'll cease to exist and you can keep living on as me." Explained the elder, walking forward.
"Am I really going to age this poorly?" young Techorse asked worriedly, "I'll start eating a better diet tomorrow if I can avoid this!"
"Relax, you'll be in better health if you can undo what you've caused." Said old Techorse, "Now let's get into your castle here and I'll explain everything. Gosh I missed this place so much."
Despite having grave difficulty with the stairs, the older Techorse had led his past self to the roof of the castle, and asked his copy to sit with him overlooking the edge. He complied, hoping to hear the message from the future that was so important.
"So what happened that made you want to come back in time to tell yourself something?" asked the young adult.
After spitting over the edge of the castle, he answered, "When you decided to ask princess Celestia to destroy the Element of Justice, a terrible thing happened. Instead of finding a new owner, it simply vanished entirely and was unable to be re-constructed from magical stone no matter how many justice-oriented ponies we could find. We never did get attacked by someone like our old master, but it did have some very dire unintended consequences nonetheless."
Techorse shook his head and said in response, “My Element is just an extra one, auxiliary. I figured now that Wizard's gone, we really don't need it anymore.”
After clearing his throat he continued with sadness in his faded voice, "That's where you're wrong, Techorse. Twilight, as you know, is the holder of the Element of Magic, which itself has an interesting backstory. When the princesses discovered the Elements and decided to implement them as artifacts in aid of Equestria, this decision made a certain unicorn mad.”
The older Techorse gave a pause before continuing, “His powers were so great that we believed the correct course of action was to, well, use the might of magic to save Equestria instead. So he sabotaged the Elements by overloading the capacity of the original Magic artifact.”
“Continue,” pleaded younger Techorse.
The elder finished, “Unfortunately, it didn't work. The Elements continued to function, but at a price. Starswirl's intervention still has effects to this day."
"Starswirl!?" asked the shocked youthful Techorse, "I thought he was part of a force for good!"
"Well, yes he was, but he saw things differently from the royal family. It's likely he believed in peace through superior magic. Instead of his plan, the Elements were implemented, and because of the actual, real harmony that they brought. They were a symbol of what our society should strive for, a peaceful existence with meaning."
Young Techorse was still very much confused, but he got the idea that the Elements of Harmony might be the hope that Equestria's ponies would strive to get along in all situations. He asked another question, "I understand what you're saying, but what about Twilight?"
"Oh, poor Twilight," answered his elder self, tapping his cane once on the floor, "You see, Techorse, your Element of Justice helps to offset the instability caused by Starswirl's meddling. Remember your model of how magic works? Well, each Element is powered by the hopes and thoughts of all ponies, and as you'd guess that's a very large amount of power.”
“But my Element isn't even necessary, it's an auxiliary one. The main Elements work without it, just with a different effect,” countered present Techorse.
“Maybe so,” answered his older self, “but having Justice present takes the overload on the Magic element away, acting as a sort of balancing agent. The auxiliary Elements actually prevent a buildup of transformational magic that's very hard to describe. If this buildup were to continue, eventually the Magic element will become overloaded, and transform Twilight into an alicorn."
"That breaks how DNA works in so many ways!" Moaned Techorse, missing one point but getting another.
"Besides the fact that her body really can't take the magically-spliced DNA," continued ancient Techorse on the point of discussion, "It also meant that she began to use the happiness of her subjects to gain immortality."
The young Techorse's ears drooped, "Oh no…"
"I knew you'd figure it out," coughed grandpa Techorse, "Twilight started to live forever, but her friends did not. Twilight is pretty much as she is now in the future, only she cries herself to sleep every night. Her brother, her family, and her best friends aren't there for her anymore. The only reason I'm still here is because I was told to build an immortality machine, and I succeeded. The battle saddle is permanently built into my body, and keeps me alive."
Techorse felt extremely sad and overwhelmed by this news, and realized that he had made a mistake. He started to shed tears, and the drops hit the rooftop hard.
"Now don't cry, I know this is a lot for you to take in, but the good news is that you can prevent this! You won't all have to spend that long without each other if you listen to what I have to say," said the elder, wondering if this counted as feeling sorry for himself.
"I've got to avoid writing that letter," said Techorse, shaping up, "the future depends on me sticking to my Element, even if I am just an extra!"
"You're a bit more than an extra, don't forget that!" sighed the elder, standing up, "Anyways, looks like I've convinced myself not to have my Element destroyed."
"Anything else you wanted to tell me?" asked the young Techorse, standing up with him.
He nodded, "Remember, eventually you're going to have to tell Twilight about this. If you keep it a secret from her, it will only make you feel bad about yourself. You'll eventually convince her being a princess isn't so great when you have to put up with the loss of your friends. Just be as gentle as possible, ok?"
"Hey, you can trust yourself, right?" joked Techorse, swishing his tail.
The elder laughed, perhaps for the first time in a long while, "Indeed I can."
The older pony stared forward blankly, as particles of golden dust began to leak off of his body, taking a tiny piece of himself with it. Techorse watched in awe as his bad future was removed from the space time continuum, a consequence of him avoiding that path. The older Techorse vanished with a smile on his face, knowing he'd still be there in the same amount of time, but a much happier life would be his. When it was over, the gold dust had all disappeared, and Techorse was left alone on the roof of his castle. He realized that he had spent just ten minutes with himself, only to discover that the future could be ruined if he didn't make a key choice.
He also realized he had forgotten to ask something else about Twilight that he would have really wanted to know if possible! Either way, now that he was certain not to cause the terrible future that he was warned about, Techorse figured that he needed to enjoy the life he had. The inventor left the roof to go look over some photographs.
Walking downstairs, he went to his living room again, and found a framed picture of himself with his six best friends in the world, as well as Spike and PAL, all arranged in a picture together. He noticed how happy they all looked, including himself, in the photograph, and knew this is what he really wanted for the rest of his life. There'd be other places, other times, other ways to help ponies, and he'd get his chance to do what he wanted to do eventually. Now was simply not the time for it.
The large wooden doors creaked open as PAL returned from his shopping trip, a fresh rubber hose wrapped around his left arm. Entering the castle, he saw Techorse staring at the picture, and approached his master, wondering why he was starting to tear up at the sight of it.
"What's wrong, master?" he asked, dropping the hose on the floor.
Techorse stopped staring at the picture, and looked up at his best creation, a robot who had managed to gain sapience.
He said to his machine and friend, "PAL, I'm just looking at this picture and thinking how great my life is. I used to believe I was never going to be anything but a slave to Wizard and a lonely person. But now look where I am. I have great friends, a good job, a friendly town that likes me living there, and you. You, PAL, are a miracle. I gave you the ability to code yourself based on emotional experiences that you took in, and you managed to go from something heartless to the best friend a guy could ask for."
"Oh now, look," said PAL with false annoyance, knowing his master's tendency to become overly dramatic, "I will admit I've become quite the ghost in the machine over this year. But, that's not the real problem here. Something has gotten you this upset, and I believe it may have to do with your new life."
"I just don't want to lose it!" said Techorse, pointing at the picture, "I wish I could also use my life to be helpful, but I can't!"
The robot knelt down on one leg, and gave the pony a big hug. He was surprisingly warm despite his metal exterior, and said, "You won't lose it, I'm sure. Also, I wouldn't worry just yet about devoting your life to anything just yet. You're very helpful right now, father."
Techorse had never been called that by PAL. Chances are the now-sapient robot had figured out his creation by Techorse, and had seen him as his father rather than simply his boss. The robot stood back up, and tapped his metal fingers together.
"Of course, you will still let me use the term 'master' around the others, right? I don't think they'd understand how I feel," he said, nervously.
Techorse winked, "It'll be our secret!"
"Oh, and while we're on the topic of feelings, your squirrel has sensed your sadness and has climbed onto your head," said PAL, pointing out the brown squirrel on Techorse's head.
"Hi Wingnut!" laughed Techorse, looking up into the upside-down eyes of the tree rodent, "Haven't seen you in a while. Don't you ever leave the kitchen anymore, or has all that peanut butter made it too sad to leave?"
The squirrel's answer was a chattering noise before jumping off his owner's head and scampering down the hallway.
"Well, anything else you need to get done for the day before sundown?" asked PAL, folding his hands together, "We can always go and get something done together if you want."
Techorse's ears came to full attention.
"Now that you say that, there is something that I have to take care of. Watch the castle for me, and I'll be back later!" he said, galloping for the front door.
He didn't even bother to explain to PAL what exactly it was that he had to take care of. Techorse simply disappeared in a blur of green out the front door to go confront somepony about the issue of leaving Ponyville forever.
It had taken going to Sugarcube Corner and asking where he was, but Techorse had found out that Dr. Caltrops was enjoying the evening by the lakeside just outside of town. Once he had spotted the medical professional, who was sitting on a park bench and watching the waterfowl swim in the water, he approached him quickly. Dr. Caltrops spotted Techorse and assumed that his rapid pace meant that he was eager to sign up for his society. He stood up from the park bench and confronted the stressed colt.
"Oh hello Techorse! Have you made up your mind?" he asked, hopeful.
Techorse shouted at the doctor, "If you think that I'm leaving Ponyville to join your organization, you're crazy! I like my life here in Ponyville, and don't need to be the president of anything to feel loved or special. So go ahead, make me look bad in front of everypony in Fillydelphia, I don't care. Just don't expect me to abandon my friends!"
Caltrops's ears drooped at the yelling, and he answered shamefully, "Make you look bad? Did I really sound that passive-aggressive?"
"Yeah, it sounded like you were trying to shame me into leaving my home here," answered Techorse, still angry.
"Oh Techorse, I'm sorry," said Caltrops, very sad as he slumped back onto the park bench, "it's just, I tried asking a bunch of other ponies with success stories first, and they all said no to me. I figured you, knowing Pinkie Pie, might have been a bit more willing to be the leader I need for my organization. All I wanted to do was help other earth ponies like you rise to the greatness they deserve!"
Techorse relaxed, and started to take a bit of pity on the doctor, who might very well cry if nobody was looking. All of this scheming had simply taken place out of raw frustration with other successful earth ponies having no time to help others.
"Aw come on, doc, it's not that terrible. I don't hate you for suggesting I leave, in fact, I think it's pretty neat you want to help other ponies out," said Techorse, sitting down on the bench with him, "but I do think I know why nopony wanted to join."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because in order to be the president of your society, they'd have to uproot their own lives. I bet many of the others you've asked already have wives and foals and home, they can't abandon them for something no matter how noble it is," explained Techorse, "Pinkie Pie did tell me you can be a little narrow-minded about other ponies' points of view, and I understand that you probably didn't think about that."
"It's true, I suppose it's unfair to expect a pony to give up their current happy lives just for a shot at leadership," Caltrops said, sniffing to clear his sinuses, "but I guess this means I'll just have to close down the board."
Techorse shook his head, "You don't have to do that, even. All you have to do is hire someone who's good at communicating and wants to help others. I think you've been looking for a pony with a big success story. But what you really need is a pony whose job of being the president of your organization would be their success story."
Dr. Caltrops stopped burying his face in his hooves slowly, and looked up at Techorse with a hint of epiphany on his face.
"You're absolutely right. I've been going about this search wrong," he said, "I was so eager to make up for things, that I didn't even realize I could simply hire an effective leader!"
"There might even be a pony out there with a cutie mark for just this sort of thing," said Techorse confidently, "But you know, from time to time I'll probably have a day or two I could visit Fillydelphia. I should be able to give a few lectures if you'd think that'd help."
"That'd be great, Techorse," said Caltrops, "I'll make sure to write you and let you know! I've even thought of a better name for the society."
"Tell me!" Techorse said, smiling.
"I think I'll call it the Foundational Research Initiative Elective Navigation Direction, or FRIEND,"
said Caltrops, "If it works, it'll be a friend to those hopeful young ponies who want to make history!"
"That's a much better name!" approved Techorse reluctantly, hoping his displeasure with another clunky name wouldn't be noticed, "you're going to do really well with it, I'm sure. But as for me, I think I'll just stick with what I have."
Caltrops bade Techorse farewell, and headed out to the train station to go back to his home in the city. While walking home, Twilight found Techorse by himself and decided to catch up with him.
"Hey, I saw you talking to Dr. Caltrops earlier. What did you talk about?" she asked, walking alongside him.
"He offered me a big job in the city, but I turned him down. I told him I'd rather keep the life and friends I have. I did offer to help him in other ways, though," he answered truthfully.
Twilight smiled, knowingly, Techorse wasn't going to trade his friends for anything.
"Sounds like you had to make a big choice today. What made you want to stay after having just a few hours to think about it?" asked the unicorn pony, "It takes me several weeks to make a big choice like that!"
Techorse suddenly stopped in his tracks, and stared off into the distance, hearing his own voice in his head.
"Remember, eventually you're going to have to tell Twilight about this."
Techorse decided it might as well be right now.
He looked her in the eyes, and said, "It's a very heavy story. I know you'll believe me because you've experience something similar, but it'd be a lot to try to handle."
"I think I can take it," said Twilight, no amount of information was too strong for her!
Techorse explained to her what had happened, how his elderly future self had visited and warned him what would happen if the Justice artifact was ever given up. As he told the story, Twilight grew more and more upset, but seemed to be forcing herself not to launch into a fit of anxiety. Once he had finished, Twilight stared at him with shock.
"Everything I just told you is true," said Techorse, "you could have been royalty, if you wanted."
Twilight finished processing all the information in her head, and realized that it was true. There was also a logical flaw with what had occurred, and Twilight wondered what really had been going on. If she became an alicorn, surely there was a fairly simple way to shun immortality, as Luna and Celestia no longer appeared to have parents. Chances were that more than just Techorse's choices had led to that bad future, and the poor stallion was putting all the blame on himself.
Twilight considered her options for a long moment. Even though being royalty would be nice, getting all the glory that would come along with two feathered appendages; what she had right now was also worth it. She could also tell by the look on Techorse's face that he was worried she would be disappointed in him, or bummed that she had lost her "great chance". This was not the case at all, because Twilight knew that only time could tell if remaining a unicorn would be a good choice for her. No matter what the future would hold for her, she was going to find a way for her friends and herself to be happy and together.
She said to him lovingly, "Techorse, I would much rather keep the life I have, too. I don't think I could go one day without any of you, much less the years and years you were talking about."
"Really?" he asked.
"Really. I mean it!" she said, "And even if something does happen to me, I'll figure out a way out of that particular future. But since it won't happen now, maybe we should stop thinking about it and move on to something else!"
"Got any ideas?" he asked, knowing what was coming his way.
Twilight nodded and stepped close to him. They looked each other in the eyes, shut them gently, and with their lips locked together began to kiss underneath a streetlamp.
After they had finished seconds later, they smiled as they looked into each other's eyes. Their moment was suddenly broken by shouting from a nearby bush, from which a pony had sprung out of.
"Hey you two, get a room!" shouted a cat-calling Pinkie Pie before bursting into laughter.
"Ooooh, Pinkie Pie!" shouted Twilight, laughing but a bit annoyed, "Just wait until we catch you!"
Pinkie Pie gave a fake scream of terror and bounced away, giggling as she hopped down the street.
"Well, we have to catch her now!" laughed Twilight, "Let's go!"
Techorse, a confident look on his face, scraped a hoof on the pavement and prepared to charge, "I'm going to be right beside you the whole way, Twilight!"
The two galloped off in hot pursuit of their twirling pink friend, hoping to catch her and "make her pay" for her spying. A year had passed since Techorse had first come to Ponyville, and he was finally at a place where he was happy, and had the friends he needed to make his life special. Techorse had gone from a mistreated person to a joyful pony in such a short amount of time. No matter what happened with Twilight, no matter how many years he would end up spending in Ponyville, he always knew that each moment would be special. He finally had the life that he had been longing for, thanks to the magic of friendship.