It was yet another beautiful morning in Equestria; with the sun shining brightly in the cloudless sky. The weather Pegasi had been hard at work as usual, that much was clear to Rainbow Dash as she flew at a steady pace down to Ponyville. Usually she'd speed down there at full throttle, but for some reason today she felt like taking her time and enjoying the stunning scenery the world had to offer. It happened to be one of her days off work, so she hoped to spend it with her friends. Of course, this decision had been spontaneous, there was no guarantee that any of her friends would be available. Just because she wasn't busy today didn't mean that everypony else was so lucky.
The cerulean Pegasus gracefully leveled herself out once she entered the bustling hub of Ponyville's center, her entrance immediately drawing attention to her. It didn't surprise her at all, not when she had appeared so abruptly. She received a few greetings from some ponies and she gave a laid-back reply, trying her best to practically ooze chilled out and cool. It made her public image after all and she was adamant to keep it up, not that she had any reason to have to fake it today. If she was in a bad mood then she would force it, but that wasn't an issue since she was content right now.
Rainbow began to glance around at her surroundings as she tried to decide who to visit first, there were quite a few ponies for her to check on. If she was going by distance closest to her current position then it would rule out Applejack and Fluttershy, but she could easily make it to either of them in a short amount of time so it didn't matter. She held all her friends in high regard, so deciding to drop in on one of them unannounced wasn't easy. Thankfully, an outside factor helped make up her mind in an instance.
"Daaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssshhhhhhhiiiiiiieeeeee!~" A familiar voice caught the mare's ears, causing her to look around for the source. Finally her magenta eyes fell on the culprit; a pink pony whom was galloping toward her at an alarming pace. Pinkie Pie. Rainbow only had enough time to widen her eyes in surprise as the hyperactive pony practically tackled her, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.
"It's terrible Dashie! The end of the world as we know it!" Pinkie exclaimed with an exaggerated look of horror on her face as she stared down at Rainbow, whom she was currently standing over.
"What? What's going on, Pinkie?" The Pegasus asked as pulled herself out from under the over-excited pony, a quizzical look apparent on her face. Knowing her friend; the whole situation was blown out of proportion and it wasn't that big of a deal, but it would make for a fun distraction so she decided to go along with it. It saved her having to decide who to visit first as well. A happy coincidence.
"It's my party cannon! It won't fire! And I have 3 parties to do today too!" The pink pony slammed down the cannon in front of Rainbow, pulling it out as if from nowhere. If you wanted to keep your sanity, it was best not to question how Pinkie did some of the things she did. Rainbow had learned that a long time ago. It certainly sounded like a serious problem though.
The rainbow-maned mare stroked her chin thoughtfully as she glanced over the cannon. It didn't look any different from normal; but she was no engineer, so of course she couldn't know what was wrong with it. But her face lit up at the realization that she knew somepony who would be able to find out.
"Pinkie, don't you worry. I know just the pony for the job." Rainbow Dash reassured her friend as she wrapped an arm around the pink pony's shoulder, a confident grin on her face. Of course, just because she knew he could help didn't immediately mean that he would... Couldn't hurt to try though.
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It was abnormally early in the morning when Steele Bolt rose from his bed. He really wasn't a morning pony; noon was usually when he would stir from his rest, so it felt strange to be awake earlier. The blame for this phenomenon was obvious, the events of yesterday still fresh in his mind. It was a mystery to him why it was always so exhausting for him when dealing with other ponies, blissful ignorance leaving him unaware of his anti-social issues.
The stallion made his way down to the living room from his bedroom, passing through on his way to his laboratory. Since he was never usually awake at this time; it was unusual for him to ever eat breakfast, not that he ate very often anyway. His lifestyle could easily be considered unhealthy, but his work was far more important to him than his health. His parents would be furious if they knew of his habits, but that didn't matter. He wasn't living with them anymore, and rarely made time to see them anyway.
Even though it was bright and sunny outside, Bolt had to turn on the lights for his lab. It was in the basement of his house, so there were no windows to let natural light in. He wouldn't be able to work if he couldn't see a thing. He wasted no time and approached the table that the remains of his Jetpack lay upon. It was disheartening to see his invention in such a pitiful state, but it was nothing new either. He had repaired and rebuilt the device so many times that he couldn't quite recall the exact number. The stallion set to work sorting through the wreckage so he could identify the different parts and hopefully learn what went wrong with the test flight yesterday. It was an arduous process, but for his passion the stallion had limitless patience.
As the hours passed by, Bolt slowly but surely made progress in his task. The different parts were moved around the table as he put them into suitable piles so there was some semblance of order. This way of working seemed a little out of place for the stallion; since the rest of his lab was a mess, but that was the case only because he was always working on something and never had spare time to clean up.
As he was nearing the completion of his task, there was a knock on his front door, barely audible from his current location. So engrossed in his work, Bolt didn't notice it at all. After roughly a minute the knock could be heard again, much louder this time. But just like last time, it fell on deaf ears. It wasn't until the front door was practically being punched that Bolt finally took notice, turning his head upward to the ceiling. The sound of the banging on his door made it seem like someone was trying to break in, which instantly put him on edge.
He made sure to grab a wrench that was laying idly with his mouth before cautiously making his way up the stairs, peeking round the corner to make sure there was no pony waiting for him there. All the while, the banging on the door continued. He was sure he could hear voices on the other side of the front door, but the thumping was obscuring them.
The stallion took in a deep breathe, steeling himself as he made his way across the living room. Since the door wasn't already broken down, he realized that the noise wasn't caused by robbers. But his next assumption didn't make him any happier. He had received angry complaints from residents of Ponyville before, but never this aggressive. He gently put down the wrench on his sofa before finally making his way over to the front door, putting his hoof on the handle.
The stallion hastily opened the door; eager to get this over and done with, only to be met with a cerulean hoof to his nose. The blow made him fall back onto his flank as he clutched his nose with both hooves, looking up to identify his aggressor. His green eyes fell upon a shocked Rainbow Dash, still holding her hoof out as she stared down at him in surprise. She had obviously gone to bash on his door again, only for his face to replace the door. She hastily retracted her hoof, a sheepish grin spreading on her face as her ears pinned backward. Since she was here to request his help, that wasn't the greatest start...
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Rainbow Dash had hurried inside Bolt's house with Pinkie Pie after the incident, immediately beginning to hunt for something like an ice pack to put on his nose. Pinkie stayed by the stallion's side while her friend searched, trying her best to cheer him up. It was safe to say that he was a challenge.
"Hey, hey! Tell me if you've heard this one before! What's the similarities between 2+2=8 and a left hoof?" Pinkie asked with an energetic grin on her face, leaning a little too close to the stallion for his comfort. He not so subtly shifted away from the pink pony, silently wishing she would stop talking for just a minute.
"Neither of them are right!" Pinkie announced the punchline, bursting into a fit of giggles at her own joke shortly afterwards. Bolt turned back to look at her, a displeased expression on his face as he held a tissue to his bleeding nose with his hoof. That had been her fifth joke now and while he could appreciate what she was trying to do, he was not in a laughing mood. He couldn't find it in himself to tell her to stop though either; since he could see her honest intentions, so he offered a simple sigh in response to her comedy routine.
"Hmm... Tough crowd!" Pinkie reacted to the stallion's sigh with a mock pout, her brain already at work selecting the next joke to try on her company. Just as she settled on one, Rainbow Dash returned with a soaked towel. There was an apologetic look on her face as she approached the stallion. She held out the towel for him and he wordlessly accepted it from her, setting down the bloodied tissue next to him so he could replace it with the towel.
"Really sorry about that, Bolt." Rainbow spoke with an embarrassed smile. She felt guilty about what had happened even if it was an accident. She had apologized twice now, but the stallion hadn't verbally accepted her apology yet. This left her unsure where she stood with him, and she couldn't let what happened go either. How could she ask for his help with Pinkie's cannon after hitting him square in the nose? It was reasonable to assume her chances of him agreeing had diminished significantly.
"Was there a reason you came to my house? I assume it wasn't to assault me." Bolt inquired as the cerulean mare sat in front of him. There was a dull throbbing pain in his nose, though the cold, wet towel was helping numb that pain. The Pegasus pitiful display was starting to make him feel bad for his attitude, even if he was in a really sour mood. He knew perfectly well that she hadn't meant to hit him from judging her reaction to the event, it had just been an amazing coincidence. He was astounded that he could think that without a hint of sarcasm.
Rainbow audibly gulped as she felt a growing pressure apply from his words. Since he had inquired, she had to answer. She searched her mind for the right words to say, but Pinkie beat her to the punch.
"Actually! We came to ask if you would fix my party cannon!" She announced enthusiastically, a familiar grin spreading across her lips. Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes jumped between the two ponies in front of her. Judging from her brief past encounters with Bolt, she imagined that he'd yell at them for being selfish or rude, then briskly throw them out of his house.
"You... Want my help?" Bolt replied as he turned his head to look at the pink mare sitting next to him. He had expected that they had been passing by and decided to waste some time tormenting him or something, a business visit was the last thing he had envisioned. Pinkie nodded at Bolt's query, her hyperactive nature not slowing down for a second.
"Yeah! Dashie said that you're really good with machines, so you could fix it!" She explained, somehow managing to bounce up and down on the spot even though she was seated. Bolt turned his attention to Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow at her quizzically. She thought so highly of his skills? Even though all she had seen his inventions do was fail? That baffled him.
"Right... And what's wrong with this 'party cannon'?" Steele Bolt asked as he brought the towel away from his nose so he could inspect it. It would appear the bleeding had stopped, much to his relief. As he returned his gaze to his client, he caught what looked to be relief in Rainbow's eyes as well. He made a mental note to let her know there were no hard feelings later. For now he needed to concentrate on what Pinkie was saying.
"It just won't fire! I've tried kicking it! Jumping on it! Rolling it around on the floor! I even took it out to lunch, Boltie!" Pinkie continued to talk even while Bolt was checking on his nose, speaking the same nonsensical things she was well known for. When the stallion returned his gaze to her, there was a look of vague confusion on his face.
"... Boltie?"
"Boltie!"
He decided not to dwell on the new nickname he had abruptly acquired from the pink mare, or her methods of trying to 'fix' the cannon. He'd only been with her for roughly fifteen minutes and he had already learned it's better to just go with her bizarre flow. Trying to fight her logic would be like trying to swim up river rapids.
"Well, I don't mind giving your 'party cannon' a look over." Bolt concluded rather hesitantly, his words causing both mares in his presence to brighten up. He couldn't quite comprehend what a party cannon was, but if it was anything like a standard cannon then he was sure he could manage. Besides, the looks of appreciation he was getting made him feel rather good about himself.
"Great! Here it is!" Pinkie leaped up from where she had been sitting, pulling the large cannon as if from nowhere and dumping it in the middle of Bolt's living room. Both he and Rainbow Dash stared at it in mild surprise, though for completely different reasons. He couldn't even begin to fathom where she had gotten that out from, while Rainbow couldn't believe that Pinkie had just unceremoniously dumped the thing in the middle of the living room.
"Pinkie, you can't put it there! He'll need to work on it in his lab!" The cerulean Pegasus got up as she tried to talk some logic into her pink friend, her eyes flicking between the pony and the cannon. It felt strange that she was being the voice of reason here, but since Twilight was absent she would have to pick up the mantle.
"Oh! Oopsie!" Pinkie giggled awkwardly as she rectified her mistake, the cannon vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Both mares glanced over at the stallion in the room, noticing his silence. He was still rooted to the floor, staring at where the cannon had been with a blank expression on his face. Upon feeling eyes on him; he blinked and came back to his senses, turning his attention to Rainbow and Pinkie.
"Ah. Lets head down to my lab then..." The stallion spoke absentmindedly as he got up from where he had been sitting, following after Rainbow while she led the way downstairs to his laboratory. It would take him a good few minutes before he'd regain his wits.
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Steele Bolt took his time examining the party cannon, his analysis being as thorough as possible. Currently half his body was down the barrel of the cannon so he could inspect the interior more clearly. He had been a little hesitant of this method, but he had settled with it after Pinkie promised that it wouldn't fire in his face. He clutched a flashlight between his teeth as he examined the inner workings of the cannon, though the problem was easily identifiable. There was a large amount of cake within the cannon, clogging up all of it's inner workings. No wonder it wouldn't fire.
He awkwardly shuffled his way out of the cannon, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to the bright light of the room. He glanced around to locate the other ponies in the room so he could update them. Finding Rainbow Dash wasn't difficult. She was standing by his workbench, looking over a certain part of his wrecked Jetpack curiously. Once she noticed he was looking at her, she hastily dropped the part and put her hooves behind her back, grinning at him sheepishly. He raised an eyebrow before shifting his attention elsewhere, trying to find Pinkie. Strangely, she was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Pinkie Pie gone?" Bolt asked aloud as he looked back at Rainbow for aid. When he had turned away, she had gone back to inspecting the parts of his Jetpack. His words had startled her, causing her to almost drop the part she was holding. After a comical juggling act as she attempted to stop the part from hitting the floor, she put it back and looked around. As the stallion had suggested, her friend couldn't be seen anywhere.
"Huh? She was here a moment ago..." Rainbow muttered, baffled by the pink mare's sudden disappearance. A moment of silence surrounded the two ponies as they tried to think of where Pinkie could have gone. Truth be told, the playful pony was hiding in the pile of scrap metal Bolt had tripped over yesterday. She watched them eagerly, waiting for the perfect moment to execute her prank.
As Bolt gave a brief look over the room to see if he could find her, he strayed close to the pile Pinkie was hiding in. Her eyes lit up as she prepared herself, suddenly leaping out of the metal as the stallion passed by. Evident by his facial expression, she had surprised him. So much so that he fell backward onto his flank, his eyes wide and his eyebrows high until what was happening sunk in.
"I got you, Boltie!~" Pinkie yelled with a grin on her face, a look of triumph in her bright blue eyes. The stallion looked none too pleased about being the butt of a joke though. He grumbled as he stood back up, trying to make it look like nothing had happened at all in a desperate attempt to retain some of his pride.
The exchange had Rainbow in hysterics. She was holding her sides with both hooves as she laughed, her eyes shut tight. It was only when she opened them a peek that she noticed Bolt staring at her with a look of distaste, forcing an awkward cough out of her as she quelled her laughter.
"Anyway... I've found the problem with your cannon." Bolt announced, eager to get the conversation moving so he could forget about that little hiccup. This caught the attention of both mares and appeared to have his desired effect, Pinkie bounding out of the metal to land in front of him while Rainbow listened on with interest.
"There's a blockage inside. Cake, to be precise." He explained, gesturing toward the cannon with his hoof as he spoke. Pinkie giggled at his explanation, bouncing over to the cannon with Bolt following after her.
"So that's why the cake didn't fire out at that party I held last week!" She exclaimed, giving some insight into the cake situation. Bolt didn't question it, instead moving onto what he expected she would like to know.
"I'm going to need to give the inside a thorough clean. There might be some parts that need replacing as well. But I can have this done in an hour or two, depending on the condition of it's inner workings." Bolt concluded as he gave the cannon a pat with his hoof. Since the insides were literally covered in cake, it had been difficult for him to judge the condition of them. He would have to find out as he worked.
"Really!? Then I can make it to all the parties today! Great!" Pinkie gave the biggest grin imaginable, almost to the point were it looked uncomfortable to achieve. But she held it none the less, to which Bolt gave a quiet chuckle. The fact that the stallion had laughed for the first time didn't go unnoticed by Pinkie or Rainbow, both mares stared at him with a look of wonder. It made Bolt feel self-conscious, since he was unsure why they were staring at him with such intensity.
"W-What?" He asked, his ears pinning back as he averted his gaze downward, revealing his insecurity.
"You laughed! You finally laughed!" Pinkie beamed as she bounced up and down energetically, clearly ecstatic by the revelation. Bolt's ears shot back up now that the situation was cleared up, any signs of anxiety fading away in an instant.
"I didn't think you had it in you." Rainbow piped in with a smirk on her face, clearly trying to tease the stallion. Unlike her last attempt at this, Bolt took it in a much more lighthearted manner. He offered an amused smile and raised an eyebrow as he glanced toward Rainbow.
"Funny. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd best get to work." The stallion spoke in a more relaxed manner as he turned his attention to the cannon, both Rainbow and Pinkie going back to exploring the lab to entertain themselves in the meantime. Not something he had expected, since it couldn't be too exciting in his lab. He had assumed they would leave for now and Pinkie would come back to pick up the cannon in an hour or two. He didn't pay it too much thought though, centering his attention on the task set to him.
He didn't realized it at the time, but he was slowly getting wrapped up in their pace and becoming more comfortable around the two mares.
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Over the next hour, the stallion worked endlessly to clean the interior of the cannon. It was a difficult task since he had to crawl into the barrel, but dismantling the device would take too much time. Since Pinkie needed it done as soon as possible, he had to complete his task this way. He could hear all kinds of commotion and chatter going on around him, but he concentrated on his task and ignored most of it. The only time he'd pay attention was if his name was called.
"Hey Boltie! Do you like parties!?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically as she hopped over to the cannon; standing next to the only part of him that wasn't currently engulfed by the device, which happened to be his flank. His brown tail twitched slightly as if a sign to show he'd heard her, his muffled voice could be heard from inside the cannon a moment later.
"Not really, Pinkie."
"What!? Really!? How can anypony not like parties!?" Pinkie exclaimed, genuinely surprised and even slightly horrified by his answer. Everypony loved her parties, so he clearly hadn't been to one of hers! Bolt wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. He had heard of Pinkie before meeting her, but only that she was hyperactive and a handful, nothing to do with parties. He shrugged as he wiped away from more cake residue from the machine, a splodge of it falling onto his nose in the process.
"I don't really feel comfortable in large groups of ponies." Bolt informed her honestly, figuring there would be no point in lying about it since the fact didn't really bother him all that much. He hadn't been to a lot of parties either, which didn't help much. Pinkie pondered upon this for a moment, determined to think of a way to get the stallion to come to a party. Past experience had shown that the aggressive approach didn't work very well for these kinds of ponies, so she considered working him slowly into that kind of environment. That's when an idea hit her.
"My friends and I are having a picnic at the end of the week! You should come!" Pinkie threw her hooves up in the air as she announced her idea, even though Bolt wouldn't be able to see the gesture. The idea immediately made the stallion's stomach sink. He wasn't fond of social situations to begin with, but events like those were something that made him particularly uncomfortable. It sounded like a pain in the flank to him, especially since he could be working on his Jetpack instead.
"I don't know Pinkie, I'm pretty sure I'm-"
"That sounds like a great idea, Pinkie! You'll definitely come, right Bolt?" Rainbow suddenly cut in after hearing their conversation, thwarting Bolt's attempt at making up an excuse. He cursed under his breathe, not expecting the Pegasus to interfere.
"It's like I was trying to say-"
"You can think of it as a thank you for fixing my cannon!! There will be great food there! I'm bringing cupcakes!" Pinkie interjected with a flurry of quickly spoken words, swiftly cutting Bolt off in a similar fashion to Rainbow Dash. It was obvious that both mares really wanted him to join them, though why they'd go so far to spend time with a stallion like him left him baffled. Begrudgingly, he decided to agree. He couldn't find the energy to argue anymore.
"Fine..."
"Hah! You won't regret it!" Rainbow grinned in triumph; thoughtlessly patting him on the back, though it was more akin to a smack than a pat. The sudden foreign contact made the stallion jump, which in turn made him rear his head backward. The thud that followed echoed around the room, leaving an awkward silence in the aftermath as the mares stared at the cannon. After a moment, Bolt's form slowly slid out from the cannon's barrel and he turned to look at Rainbow, an irritated expression on his face as he rubbed his sore head with his hoof. The cerulean Pegasus could only offer him yet another one of her sheepish grins...