Where Night Meets Day

by _Medicshy

Dreams

The war between nations was a long and brutal slog unlike any seen for centuries in Equestria. On a daily basis, many ponies fell to battle, and long before even the first year had finished, it was clear that medics would be in high demand. Whatever skill level they had, anypony with the ability was urged to join the war effort and save their nation's fighters. None felt that pressure more than Fluttershy after seeing her friends becoming major players on both sides of the war. Despite the strain it would leave on her woodland friends, Fluttershy, accompanied by her faithful companion Angel, signed up with the Royal Army's Medical Corps.

Initially, many worried about the capabilities of the timid pegasus, who often stayed near the back lines and fled from just the sounds of battle. However, when it came down to the wire and lives were on the line, there was nopony better to have on your side. Her tireless efforts to save what ponies she possibly could, coupled with the kindness she showed everypony she met and cared for, soon brought her recognition among the troops. Though her medical skills had all been basic or veterinary before, she quickly rose to the task of learning what she needed to become a full fledged field surgeon, and one of the best the RAMC had.

Quite often the yellow pegasus would bolt into dangerous positions during raging battles, knowing she could rescue ponies trapped or wounded beyond the reach of her peers. A large number of the medical ponies were unicorns, their magic talents, and quite often destinies, tied to the careful work of surgery and healing. And while she never questioned their ability away from the fighting, on the battlefield her mobility was sometimes the only difference between life and death for those stranded out there. When there was no difference, it was only the influence of her Angel that kept her in check, the little white fluff ball being a guiding force when emotion threatened to get the better of her.

It wasn't the same Angel Bunny she'd first rescued all those years ago, but in fact his great granddaughter that helped her in the fields now. She was much kinder than the original bunny, but that didn't mean she was any less protective, or any less calculating when the chips were down. Though the bunnies vowed not to tell their caretaker, Angel and his descendants had dedicated themselves to being by her side, as helpers, guides, and friends, and even a war didn't stop their duty.

Angel's presence made all the difference out in the cold, cruel world. Fluttershy had dealt with many injuries in her time, sometimes finding critters deep in the Everfree barely clinging to life after a timber wolf or some other predator got a hold of them. A surprising amount she had been able to nurse back to health, but even she knew when there was nothing more she could do, and she had cried over the graves of more creatures than she wished to remember. That trial by blood helped her immensely in the transition from bunnies and bears to ponies, but it didn't make the failures any easier, or quell the pain in her heart at every injury she saw.

But, even with her amazing resolve, everypony has a limit, and hers arrived at the Battle Beneath Cloudsdale. The injuries she saw, the charred, twisted bodies that barely passed for ponies, or worse, those still clinging to life, crawling on their one good limb as their skin cracked and split from the strain... they would never leave her. She flew among these horrors, finding those who could be moved and saved and doing what she could to comfort those who couldn't. Sometimes, the greatest kindness was release... Seeing their gasping, painful passing, she wished she was strong enough to give it to them.

They had begun the search as soon as possible, some out even before the sun had risen, moving through the early morning mists and under the midday sun. Finally, hours after their efforts had begun, they called it off, sure they had found all survivors. It was then, as she made her way back through the blackened, ruined landscape, that Angel tapped Fluttershy's shoulder, pointing to a crater nearby. Despite the calls to return to the mobile hospital and having seen a lifetime of gruesome images already, she followed her bunny's intuition, detouring to search the crater. What she found made her gasp in horror, wondering how he could still be alive. At the same time, she could tell it was somepony she could still save, and instinct and heart kicked in. Immediately she called for help and transport, and within minutes the final patient was being carried from the battlefield, mercifully losing consciousness on the way back to the surgical tent.

Through the long hours of surgery, through all of the blood and the horrible smell of cooked flesh, as she cut away dead skin and unsalvageable stumps of bone, continuing on even when other doctors had moved to higher priority patients or wrote him off as a lost cause, Fluttershy was haunted by the image in the crater. The grounded beige pegasus, crawling through the scorched mud, rocks embedded in him from his crash landing, while dirt clung to him more thickly than his own fur. He looked straight at her, reaching out with a pleading look in his right eye. The left, like that whole side of his face, was melted away, the charred bone only matched by the blackened stumps where there were once a wing and a hind leg. The missing limbs flailing futilely as he made every effort to get to the vision he saw on the ridge. In her eyes he was already a spectre, more dead than many bodies she had passed on the battlefield, and yet he still somehow clung to life.

His last act before he'd lost consciousness had been a smile, barely recognizable as the burnt skull beside it grinned without, and yet it had been there. He had put his faith into his savior, looking into her eyes and knowing she would do her job... She would not let that be in vain. Fluttershy worked tirelessly into the night, only the surgical light and Angel keeping her company in this dark time. It was past midnight when finally she could do no more, leaving him bandaged, clean, and stabilized, his fate in his own hooves. Tired, she moved to the cot Angel had convinced somepony to drag to the tent, falling into a light, restless sleep, ready to spring into action at the slightest sign of trouble from her patient.

It took him three days to awaken, continued treatments from other doctors astounded by his survival doing nothing to rouse him from his coma. He slept as the pegasi attacked Canterlot, hundreds of furious Cloudsdale citizens, angry that their home city had been destroyed, leveling a twister of retribution on the mountain city. Fluttershy had not been there to see Cloudsdale burn, but the puddled remnants of the fallen clouds and the rubble of the once glorious buildings were everywhere in the valley below. It hadn't even registered that the city where she'd been born had fallen until she heard about the counter attack, and she didn't know how to feel. She had been so focused on the wounded that she hadn't paid attention to the battlefield, but the pictures in her mind... Much more was lost that night than lives.

The fallout from the attack was amazingly swift, the few pegasi wounded ostracized into their own tent, the pegasi doctors and staff left to tend to them with no word from the others, just armed guards surrounding them... likely not for their protection. Fluttershy just wished she knew whether this was paranoia or orders from higher up, neither thought giving her much solace.

Under these horrid conditions, the patient opened his eye, groaning painfully and dryly and getting Fluttershy's attention immediately. She was over to him in an instant, trying to make sure he didn't attempt to get up. “Don't move too much, please. Your body is healing, and there were a lot of internal injuries that even magic couldn't fully close.” She offered him a canteen, which he reached for clumsily. Bandages covered the whole left side of his face, but he was, in some ways, lucky. Healing magic had very strange priorities, being able to heal the skin and close up cuts, but able to do little for the bones or deep internal injuries. He had no left ear or eye, and the limbs he lost would never come back, meaning he might never fly again or walk with any ease, but under the bandages on his head, one would never guess that his healthy, charming face and pristine beige fur had once been burned clean off.

The pegasus' hazel eye focused on the canteen, depth perception working against him as he almost bashed it out of Fluttershy's grasp. Gently she placed it in his hoof, smiling understandingly at him, and he smiled weakly back, thanking her. It was the same one he'd given her three days before, but so much more grateful... that alone was why she did her job, her heart warming as she watched him drink the water slowly, savoring the feeling like it was the last he'd ever have. She already knew that wasn't the case, but a little extra care to make it certain never hurt..

After he finished with the canteen, he put it down, laying in the bed and smirking to himself. In a tired voice, he spoke. “I wasn't dreaming... I really was saved by Kindness herself.”

Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her hair, as she always did when she was recognized. It was rarer now, even though she looked the same as when she had modeled over twenty years prior, but she still wasn't used to being any sort of social butterfly, or even recognized by anypony but her closest friends. At least she'd gotten better at responding in her time as a medic. “You know who I am, but I don't know you. Could you tell me your name?”

“Angel.” The bunny's ears perked up from her place on the floor, causing her to hop up and wonder why she was called.

Fluttershy looked surprised. “What was that?”

The pegasus coughed, wincing as he did so, then tried again. “Dented Angel.”

“O-oh.” Fluttershy smiled to herself at the coincidence. When she saw a touch of confusion of Dented's face, she finished her thought. “It's just that my bunny here is named Angel, and both of us were confused when you called her name.”

“Huh... I guess you can call me Dented then.” Dented yawned after that, his eye starting to droop again with the real sleep his healing body needed.

Before he could actually doze off, Fluttershy stopped him. “Could you tell me your rank and platoon? I need to report that you're accounted for.”

Dented nodded, but his response was almost completely yawned out, causing Fluttershy to signal for a repeat. He tried again, slower. “I'm a courier... platoon....” he was out before he finished his thought, but it was enough for his caretaker to go off of. Almost all of the other wounded had identification tags, and what few didn't were able to give a name and platoon that checked out. The list of missing, presumed dead, was staggering, but his name would remove at least one pony from it, and make for one happy family back home.

She exited the recovery tent and walked up to one of the guards, slightly nervous. She outranked him, but she knew it would be a bother to trouble him. Still, the information needed to be given. “Um... excuse me, would it possibly be alright for me to talk to the C.O? I need to check a name off of the list of ponies accounted for.”

The guard was stern, but he'd been at the camp well enough to know she wasn't going to be a threat. “I can't let you pass the perimeter, miss, but I can make sure that she gets the information. What's the name?”

Fluttershy frowned, not realizing they were actually prisoners here. That was going to worry the others... hopefully an understanding could be reached quickly. “His name is Dented Angel. He's a courier, but he didn't give me a platoon number and he had no id tags. If he tells me any more I'll make sure to pass it along.” The guard just nodded, and with her awkward deal done, Fluttershy returned to the tent. She had seen the list once before, staggered by the amount of names on it... and one she recalled well. Newsprint, the son of her friends... Stuck as she was in the tent, she got a piece of paper and a pen, writing her condolences to calm her mind as she waited for the other horseshoe to drop.

Tensions flared over the night, pegasi, not well known for appreciating being caged in, complaining loudly that their treatment was an outrage. They fought under their city, fought as hard as any other pony in the camp on countless other battlefields, why were they held in such suspicion? And yet, each of them knew why, especially after three tried to overpower a guard and break free. They were all arrested, taken away to be dealt with, and that silenced the protests. It did nothing for the mood, but the pegasi were at least quiet.

News arrived the next morning, spreading through the camp like wildfire and causing deep murmurings within the ranks. A unicorn hit squad had attacked Princess Luna of the NLR, presumably in retaliation for the attack on Canterlot. Speculation held that at least some of the pegasi involved were from the Republic, and somepony high up must have taken it to heart.

For most, the failure was met neutrally, the continued war the price to pay for their Princess's safety, even if she was leading the other side. For some, primarily the captured pegasi, the news bred dissent. Their nation, in what was being called a friendly fire accident, brought their ancestral home crashing to the ground, then imprisoned them when the precious home of the unicorns is attacked, more than willing to send out a hit squad in retaliation! Where was the hit squad against the one who launched the fireballs? Where was even the inquiry? The logic was faulty, Fluttershy knew, but... she did feel much the same, though she would never say it.

For one pony in particular, the news of the attack on Princess Luna brought deep sorrow. As soon as Dented heard about it, he asked if she was hurt, then went completely silent, fear and worry visible even though he refused to say it. Fluttershy tried to coax it out of him, but she didn't actually learn the reason for his panic until later, when she was called to the guarded perimeter.

Her commanding officer, Steel Battalion, was waiting for her, a stern glare on her face. “Fluttershy, tell me again the name of the pony that you saved.”

Fluttershy saluted, worried by the harsh tone of Steel's voice. “Dented Angel, ma'am. He said he was a courier.”

“I know what he said!” Fluttershy recoiled like she'd been hit, something that had always, and continued to, bring a sneer to Steel's face. “But what he said isn't right. We have no pony by that name in our records anywhere, nor do we have a cutie mark matching his. Do you have any idea what you've done?”

“Saved a civilian who fell from the city?” Fluttershy offered with a worried squeak.

“You saved a member of the New Lunar Republic! You healed our enemy!”

Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror, her heart pounding and her breathing speeding up as the realization hit her.“I-I didn't know he was from the Republic! Without proper medical care, he was going to die.”

“Good. That's what we hope happens to our enemies, Fluttershy. We don't commit treason for them.” The cold, callous, sarcastic words stung, but not as much as her own thoughts. She had just saved a pony's life... She had just saved an NLR pony's life...

That didn't change anything. “I joined this army to save lives, commander, and that is what I did.” She had risked her life to bring in ponies, pulling them from fierce combat and not once thinking about the ponies falling on the other side... How many had she failed to save?... how many fallen had she helped create? “When I found him in the crater, he wasn't anypony's enemy... just an injured pony, like anypony else we saved that day.”

Steel's stern gaze fell heavily on Fluttershy, barely contained rage behind those eyes. “He was helping our enemy. He, directly or indirectly, caused those other ponies you saved to need saving. We are called here to save our wounded from the enemy. You may be one of our best medics, but if you can't tell the two apart, maybe you don't belong in the field.”

Instead of buckling under Steel's gaze, Fluttershy stood tall, glaring right back, wings flared out firmly in defiance. “What is the point of all of this fighting if nopony is left alive to return from it? We are fighting to reunite this country, and every single citizen should be allowed to see that day, no matter who they swore allegiance to!”

Steel snorted at the defiant pegasus before her, remaining cool, though the anger behind her eyes flared. “Typical pegasus stubbornness. If I had my way, you would be tried and locked away for this, or executed on the spot.” She turned away sharply, talking over her back. “Luckily for you, I'm not making that call. You and all your ilk have twenty four hours, by order of Princess Celestia herself, to either prove yourself loyal to your country, or scurry across the border with that Lunar scum you so adore.”

Fluttershy faltered at the new news. “'Pegasus stubbornness'? An order from the Princess? Just because some ponies grew angry, the whole race is to be kicked out? Are you afraid of every cat too, just because one scratched you? I--”

“Silence!” Steel turned around, the earth pony's glare angry enough to shoot daggers. “There are casualties in war, and loyalties you have pledged. I don't care how many of you pegasi forget that, or follow that traitor who once claimed Loyalty to the other side. Equestria will be made whole again, with or without you.” She turned around, composing herself from her outburst. “You have one day. Start running.” With that she marched away, leaving a furious Fluttershy surrounded by guards, all of which uneasy at the prospect of attacking her. She wouldn't force them to, however, turning sharply and storming back into the tent. She could hear through the thin fabric walls the news spreading to the other pegasi, their own reactions rising in an indignant din at the demonizing being thrust upon them.

With the tent closed, she slumped to the ground, tears ringing her vision. “Oh, Angel... how could they have done this to us?” Angel bunny, who had been listening from just inside the tent, hopped over to Fluttershy's side, trying to comfort the overwhelmed mare. Before she could barely begin, however, there was an interruption in the form of Dented's solemn voice.

“This is precisely why I left... It started at the Weather Factory, it's been reignited by our ancestral home ablaze, and now all us feathered ponies are the sacrifice for war.” He hobbled over awkwardly on his three legs, nearly stumbling three times in the short distance between his bed and the sitting mare when he tried to balance with his missing wing or leg. “I don't know how I can help you, but...” He painfully lowered himself to the ground, sitting next to Fluttershy and suddenly wrapping her in a comforting hug. She jumped, pulling away at first, and he let go, but the feeling had still been there. “You saved my life. I'll do everything I can to salvage yours.”

Fluttershy cried, looking at the ground, able to see the stump of Dented's leg in the corner of her eye, and the sorrowful look on Angel Bunny's face. It was all too much, four days undoing so many years of hard fought work for the good of her nation... And what was she supposed to do? Run to the other side? Ignore her revelation and keep working like nothing was wrong?

She would have to be strong soon, for she only had a single day to decide, and time was already ticking as she began the long process to pull herself back from tears. But, even in the turmoil rushing in her mind, one thing remained in perfect focus. She had become a medic to save ponies’ lives, and that was what she was going to do.

Somehow...

Wind Key walked through the streets of Timbucktu, nervously holding her bags tightly to her side beneath her wings. She was a pony who would calmly walk through the woods at night during a thunderstorm, and had trekked all over the city at lunchtime with no real issue, but even the warm glow in the window of the 5 Wings was little comfort as the sun descended behind the mountains. Luckily the sky was still a bright red, one of the few days without a cloud in the sky, so hopefully she could find the address scribbled on the napkin quickly and stop feeling so tense.

She really didn't know what it was... the atmosphere, the way other ponies hurried past, heads down and focused on where they were going, the hungry looks of the few ponies lurking around on doorsteps and in alleys... for the first time, she truly didn't feel safe in her own city. And, judging from the mystery puddles along the gutters of the cracked streets, the graffiti present on nearly every wall, and the distinct lack of ponies in uniform, she felt the city itself didn't feel safe here either.

She looked at her directions again, realizing she was one street off from where she should be, and looked down an alley, thinking momentarily about cutting across. Garbage piled against the building walls, moving with a life of its own, while the whole thing was steeped in shadow. There was no guessing what could be hiding in the dark, and between the rustling of rats in the garbage and the horrible smell that suffused the whole district, she'd never know what was coming. She trotted nervously in place, looking up and stretching her wings to see if maybe she could fly over, but something about the blood red smog cloud rolling slowly above in the last dregs of twilight killed that idea.

Wind clamped her wings to her side, trotting briskly to the end of the block, panicking slightly as the streetlight blinked on and night truly set in. The light buzzed loudly, flickering unsteadily, but somehow it stayed lit, letting Wind catch her breath and pull away from the grimy wall she had backed up against. The fact that she could feel something sticky clinging to her feathers really didn't help matters in the slightest.

The sound of hooves on the street behind her, moving with just a little more purpose than they should have been, was enough to get her moving as well, keeping up her brisk trot and trying hard not to peek behind her. Eventually she couldn't help it, trying to hide her peek with a glance at the particularly lewd graffiti she was passing, but when she saw a figure following her, his dark form seemingly focused on his pursuit, she lost all pretense of calm, galloping to the next corner, then back down the street she had missed, frantically looking for the right building.

She nearly ran past it, backpedaling and ducking into the doorway of the tall apartment building crammed in between two others, the bars on the bottom windows and the cracks running through them anyway doing a dismal job of making her feel welcome in the space. She tried the handle, but it was locked, and no amount of forcing it seemed to be helping. With her heart pounding in her chest, she peeked out, seeing the pursuing figure reach the corner and look her direction.

She ducked her head in, considering the merits of screaming when she saw the list of apartment numbers beside the door, with buzzer buttons beneath them. She fumbled to pull out the napkin, finally understanding what the other numbers scribbled next to the address were, and hit the appropriate button. It felt like forever as she waited by the door, and she dared not peek out in case the dark follower saw her. Eventually, though, she heard hooves on stairs, followed by the inner door swinging open, revealing the face of Steam Cloud. “Oh, hey, you actually came! Let me get this open an-ACK!” the rest of Steam's words were lost as Wind ran inside, cowering by the stairwell and signaling for Steam to close the door.

Confused, Steam walked outside, looking both directions before shrugging and closing the door. Wind gawked at her when she came back. “You had no clue what could have been out there! How are you so calm?”

Steam frowned. “I live here, I know all sorts of things that could have been out there. One pony walking home was the least worrisome I've seen in a while. Now follow me.” She started up the staircase, waiting at the next landing for Wind to start moving.

It took her a moment, mostly as her face flushed and she realized how paranoid she sounded, but Wind started up the staircase, always one landing behind Steam as she walked all the way to the top floor. At the top, Steam unlocked her apartment, going inside quickly and closing the door behind Wind, locking and bolting it behind them both.

Wind walked into the one room apartment, immediately struck by how barren it was. The walls were white, and probably had once been cracked, but there was some paint and spackle piled in the far corner of the room. There was an, admittedly nice, mattress on the floor, the sheets on it neatly made, then the rest of the room was a window looking out into the brick wall on the other side of the alley, an oven, a sink, a tiny counter, a toilet that really should have been placed much further from the counter, preferably in another room, and, nestled in the corner were a couple of posters and a magazine sitting on a crate that was serving as a desk. The posters were of trains, including one that split off into a diagram of the engine. The magazine was an issue of Tinker's Craft, the latest one. She wasn't sure where the rest were hidden, but Wind had a feeling there was more than one issue.

She turned to say something, but stopped herself when she saw Steam concentrating, a golden glow coming from somewhere in her mane. A few seconds later, a beam of magic came out, parting the mane and lining the walls, ceiling, and floor in a magical sheen. When all surfaces were covered, it melded into them, disappearing as it did. As soon as that was done, Steam sat down, breathing slightly heavily. Wind watched it all, a few questions in her head, but one was bugging her more than the others. “Why do you hide your horn in your mane? You do it at the restaurant too.”

Steam looked at her like she'd just asked her how to walk. “You're kidding right? Or are you really that naive?” After another moment she got up, walking to the center of the room. “It's a good thing I put up the sound barrier before you said anything. It really doesn't pay to be a known unicorn here... Anyway, welcome to my humble apartment, and congratulations on being the first pony to come up to visit. The bathroom, bedroom, study, kitchen, and workroom can be found here,” she said, gesturing generally to the space around her. “Now that you've had the tour, you wanted my help on the kinetic engine for your flying rig, right?”

Wind wanted to feel offended at the response, but her excitement to get going and her embarrassment from earlier were enough to cancel that as she set down her bags. One had a full set of spare tools, minus a few specialty ones that really couldn't be transferred without somepony noticing, and the other contained the object in question: the kinetic engine. Or, rather, the broken one lovingly removed from the heart of the clockwork pegasus. She offered it over to Steam, smiling as she did. “I can take it apart and put it back together until the cows come home, it's not making it work any better.”

The engine hovered into the air thanks to Steam's magic, floating over to rest in front of her wide eyes. “You... you actually took it out of the machine? And you brought it out here?” She glanced at Wind, smiling a little. “You are naive, but you're also lucky. I happen to be a very trustworthy pony.” She moved over to her bed, sitting on the mattress while examining the floating machinery.

Wind frowned at Steam's comments. “Why do you keep saying that? You're the one that invited me up to your apartment the second time we met, even though you keep acting like I'm going to suddenly stab you.”

Steam let the engine fall into her hoof, frowning back at Wind. “And you invited me into your home the first time we met. A tinker's workshop and your place of work, and you just let me in the front door. You even offered me cocoa.”

“You'd just saved my life!”

Steam smirked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you said you weren't going to mention that?” She giggled as Wind threw out her wings in frustration and walked angrily to the corner with the crate. “I'm only teasing you. You seem to have a rather... charmed vision of what life is like. I sort of wish I still thought like that.”

Wind hoofed at the lid of the crate, accidentally knocking it askew, though finding the other issues of Tinker's Craft in the process. “Yeah, well... the world isn't all sunshine and lollipops, but that doesn't mean I have to act like it's out to get me.” She looked up at the poster, tapping idly on the wooden box.

“That's because it's not. But you aren't the one living in this dump.” Steam's horn glowed once again, wrapping around the device, but nothing seemed to happen. She closed her eyes, really focusing and channeling energy, but still there was little to show for it. After a moment, she frowned. “You said you can take this apart, right? Could you? I need to see the interior and I'm afraid I'll break it.”

Wind walked across the room, picking up a few tools on the way and kneeling on the ground. It wasn't as comfortable as using a workbench, but she had no clue how she was going to get that across town, so this was going to have to do. She got to work, unscrewing screws, removing bolts, and taking off small metal plates in an almost memorized pattern. As she did, she glanced at Steam, who watched her intently. “You were doing alright a month ago in the shop. Why couldn't you be doing this?”

Steam leaned back against the wall, still watching the pegasus work. “It's not that I couldn't, I'm just out of practice. Working at your shop was the first time I've gotten anywhere near tinker's tools in... it's got to be over four years now.”

Wind nodded, impressed, though she couldn't show it through her focus. “You were doing pretty good for taking that long off. I start feeling out of practice if I go for more than a couple days.”

“Yeah, but look at what you're doing.”

Wind stopped at that statement, placing down the tiny gear she carefully held between two feathers. The interior of the engine was littered with them, infinitely complex once you got past the outer shell. “What do you mean?”

Steam gestured at all of the tiny components carefully laid out. “That! The kind of magical control needed to manipulate things that small without damaging them is immense, and forget about doing it with hooves. It would take a lot of training, a pair of tweezers, and even then it would take hours. All this clockwork stuff you're doing? It's impressive.”

Wind looked completely confused by that statement, looking her work over. “Is it? Huh... I guess I could see that.” She started back to work, removing gears and springs and tiny pistons with ease. “I got my cutie mark fixing my brother's wind up toy, so I guess it never struck me as difficult. Mom's boilers in her perfumery were way more vexing. It was really hard for me to do the metalwork on my whirligigs...”

Steam nodded. “See, that's where I'm really good. My dad used to make these big machines he'd get to run on steam and magic, so boilers and big moving parts? I'm all over those. Though I would really like to see the inside of one of those Crystal Empire trains. I hear it's all done in crystal and magic, and I would love to see how they tick.”

Wind looked up, seeing Steam looking across the room at one of the train posters. “If you're all over boilers and trains, where did you get the idea of the kinetic engine from? I tried looking them up, and there isn't really much to go on.”

Steam's gaze fell from the poster, and some of the happiness came away with it. “Oh, that was my dad too. It was sort of an idea floating around before that, but he really pioneered it when he built this big driving machine on wheels. Kind of like a carriage, but run on an engine. Anyway, his brother wanted to try to fuse that with a cider brewery, which they did, but trying to get it to roll used up all of both of their magic.

That's when dad tested out the kinetic engine. All he had to do was charge the batteries in it, which he could do whenever he wanted, and it could get rolling off of that power. Then, once the boiler and the steam engine were able to keep it rolling, the kinetic engine created energy from the movements of the machine, normally filling up its battery by the time they stopped and letting the riders roll in style.” She was smiling at the end of her speech, a hint of pride in her voice.

“Who was your father?” asked Wind as she took apart the inner shell of the engine. “His name should be all over the history books if he really did pioneer this thing.”

Steam looked a little startled, backpedaling the moment the question was asked. “He wasn't really anypony... just a salespony that got pulled into a few too many get rich quick schemes by his brother. And the steam carriage never really caught on, so even though he was the one to get the engine idea working, there's not much record past the conceptual stage.”

Wind Key paused for a moment, frowning. “Well that's not fair. You'd think there'd be some sort of fame for making something like this.”

“Dad didn't much want the attention anyway. He always said he was lucky he'd convinced mom to marry him after all the trouble he'd caused Equestria beforehoof.” She shrugged, looking at the progress made so far on the engine. “Wait! There, we've got access to the batteries. Let me just...” Steam floated a small crystal orb from its fitting in the engine, taking a fair bit of the rest of the engine with it, as there was a wire coming from inside the crystal. “Huh... that's different, whoever did this got around power conversion... No wonder something this small could power that pegasus. But this is... way ahead of anything we have now...”

She lowered herself down to where the crystal hovered, careful not to move it and potentially cause damage. “Okay... seeing this, there are three possible problems, and two of them scuttle this engine for use. Either there is a problem with the conversion, which is integrated with the crystal and doing something I've never seen before, there's a problem with the crystal, which is carefully cut and highly specialized to the converter it’s integrated with, or there is a problem with something else, which we could totally fix. Let me just test one thing.” She closed her eyes, focusing intently as her horn began to glow brightly. As she did, the crystal began to glow as well, turning from its pale blue to a glowing gold that matched her magic perfectly. After a few seconds, though, the gentle glow seemed to snag on something, rushing out of the crystal and causing a bit of electricity to arc from the wire to Steam's nose. She jumped back, yelping in pain, before she rubbed her nose and made her diagnosis. “The crystal holds a charge alright, but it's cracked in there deep, and that's shorting the rest of it. We're going to have to start from scratch.”

Wind looked at the many pieces of the engine before her and sighed. “And I was so close too... oh well. I guess it's time to start studying up on getting the engine together.” She got up, starting for the door, when Steam stopped her with a gentle magic tug.

“Hold it. Where do you think you're going?” Wind turned around, about to explain herself when Steam held up a hoof. “Nope, you're trying to do this alone. I get that, really, but you've got me interested, and I think I can speed up the process for you.”

Wind perked up a little. “You can?”

Steam nodded. “Yep. Have you started any work on the main body of your flying rig yet?” Wind shook her head, causing a grin to spread across Steam's face. “Good, you'd be throwing out a lot of work. Next time you come over, bring the blueprints we worked on last time, some spare planning paper, and... no, no, we'll hold off on lugging metal across town until it's a little more finalized.”

Wind perked up, walking back over to Steam, a slight spring in her step despite the bad news with the engine. “Next time? You mean you'll keep working with me?”

Steam smirked. “Until that thing flies or we run out of ideas.” She was prepared to shake hooves, maybe hoof bump and cheer, but that was it. She wasn't ready for the flying hug that tackled her to her bed.

“Oh, thank you! I am so close to my dream, if you can help me reach it, you have no idea what it'll mean to me!” Wind squeezed tighter, getting only a tap on the shoulder in response to her words. When she pulled away to investigate, she heard Steam gasp for breath.

After Wind awkwardly got off of the bed and let Steam get some air, she finally responded. “I can guess. After all, I walk with my head in the clouds sometimes too.” She chuckled at her joke, which Wind didn't actually think was too funny, and then looked at all of the pieces on the floor. “If you want to put this back together and put it back in your pegasus, it might be a better idea than leaving it here. Though that does depend on if you can fly with that. It's getting about as late as you should be out at night.”

Wind looked at the mess and thought for a moment. “Ah, well... yeah, I should be able to make it if I leave the tools here... just gonna have to hope that it's light enough to get your position in my head for the next meeting.” She went back to the pieces of the engine, carefully reorganizing them and putting them back into place. The process was almost as fast as taking it apart, but there was still time to talk a little and let both mares get a better feel for the pony they were working with.

When the engine was completed, Wind slipped it into her bag, a little sad to be leaving, even if the apartment wasn't precisely comfortable.

As she went to the door, Steam got up as well. “I'll walk you out. How's a week from today sound for the next meeting?”

Wind fluttered in the air in excitement, having almost forgot she would be coming back so soon. “Works for me!”

“Great!” The unicorn walked over to the sink, pulling up a small mirror with her hoof and using the other one to smooth her mane over her horn. When that was done, she went to the door and unlocked it, opening it for Wind. “After you.” She walked her guest down the stairs and outside, waving her off as she spiraled up into the dark night sky and disappeared over the buildings.

Climbing back up to her room, she looked at the pile of tools left sitting in the middle of her room. She moved them over to the crate, sticking them underneath just in case her landlord took an interest, a massive grin on her face.. The next week couldn't go by quick enough.

Wind Key and Steam Cloud had three meetings in the following month, and, considering each one was only about two hours of time, incredible strides were made towards the next iteration of what Steam had taken to calling the Ready Wings, much to Wind's chagrin. It sounded like something off of a diner menu, but she had to admit it had a certain ring to it, so until it really grated on her she was letting Steam have her fun there. It had only taken them one meeting to figure out the ideal power ratios of the newest design, with variations for how much weight could be placed within the mechanics themselves, and then another two to design an engine that they could actually fit and work within that system. By the end of the final meeting, the plan was set, and the materials needed were listed down for work to begin.

However, that plan immediately hit a snag. Wind was going to have issues transporting too many materials across town, her wings just not up for lugging a bunch of metal, and even if they were, too much in one go would bring strange looks from Clockwork. Wind was fond of her boss, but she had a feeling the threats made when Steam got kicked out weren't idle. On top of that, certain tools just couldn't leave the shop, meaning certain jobs wouldn't be able to be done at Steam's apartment. To further complicate matters, there were a few materials on the list that would be very tricky to get a hold of, primarily the battery crystals for the engine. They were rare and expensive agents, and worse, they were something only ever used by unicorns. Getting any this deep into the Republic was going to prove difficult, cut correctly or not. The bits that would be sunk into that alone could probably fund the rest of the venture twice over, and Wind was sure she wouldn't be able to get an advance like that from her employer.

As fate would have it, she wouldn't need to. On the day of their fifth meeting, when they were actually going to begin work on the project, Wind Key woke up early to get some preliminary welding for the outer structure done. However, just as she put on the heavy goggles and boots and was about to start the welding torch, Clockwork walked into the shop early doing something she didn't do very often: looking happy.

This wasn't to say that Clockwork didn't have her moments of joy, but she tended to be stern and meticulous to a point of irritation from the moment she arrived precisely on time to open up the shop until the moment she left just after closing. She always stuck to a schedule, demanded precision in both her and Wind's work, and generally was a predictable stick in the mud.

Just the fact that she had not only broken routine but was doing so with a smile was more than enough reason for Wind to stop what she was doing and raise her goggles. “Clockwork, are you feeling alright?”

Clockwork's eyes fell on Wind and her grin managed to spread, looking nearly foreign on her muzzle. “Ah! You're up, wonderful! Wind Key, we have been given an incredible opportunity.” She walked over, placing a hoof around Wind's shoulder in camaraderie, something she absolutely never did. “Our shop has been given the single biggest contract I have ever seen. If it is successful... Oh, just think of the upgrades that will happen around here.”

Wind was too busy wondering what had gotten into her boss to think about upgrades. “Well, that's great!” After a few moments of awkward silence trapped in Clockwork's hug, Wind coughed nervously. “So... uh... What's the contract?”

Clockwork snapped out of whatever fantasy world she was imagining. “Oh! Right, well, there are actually two parts. The first is that we have been asked to help repair some of the more technical equipment being used on the front lines by our troops. Of course, I accepted that unconditionally, as I would do anything to support our glorious Republic.” She placed her other hoof to her heart, looking towards a small New Lunar Republic flag pinned to the wall.

“Right...” Wind always hated when Clockwork got political... but a few extra bits in the paycheck wouldn't hurt, and what harm was there in helping make sure a few less ponies got hurt from bad equipment? “What's the second part?”

“That was optional, and at first I thought I would turn it down, but then I remembered that I have living in my shop one of the most talented and clever tinkerers in the whole of Equestria.” Wind blushed a little at the compliment, knowing how much Clockwork tended to exaggerate when she was in a good mood. “What they needed was a pony willing to come up with inventions for the front line, to end this war sooner. Particularly weapons, and I thought about you first.”

Immediately that warm fuzzy feeling drained, replaced by a cold breeze blowing through Wind's whole body. “W-what?”

“You are a wellspring of creativity, Wind, and I saw that from the moment I looked at you. And your inventions? Sure, they haven't worked out quite yet, but they are still brilliant. You are so close! This might be the thing to kick start the mental process for that. After all don't you remember the damage that giant thing in your room did? Lower the blades a little, put some armor on the outside, make it drive forward... you'd have a war machine!” Clockwork's smile grew, as though what she had said wasn't one of the most disgusting things Wind had ever heard.

Wind just stood there dumbfounded as Clockwork prattled on about how her original winged machine could be used as extra blades for pegasus flybys, wondering how her world had come to this. Yes, it was a time of war, and in some ways she should have seen it coming, but... Her search for her father, her brother killed in this senselessness... She was no fighter, and now, even the first part of the contract seemed a step too far. Her father had fled to avoid fighting... she had always been very much her father's child. “No... No, I don't build weapons and I'm not going to help wage this war.”

“Wind... You wouldn't be waging this war, you would be ending it. And, of course, if you told me what you would need, I would be more than happy to get you any supplies you require.” Those words stalled Wind's thoughts, seeing a perfect opportunity to get the parts she needed...

She stood there quietly, contemplating the offer. This was her big chance to get everything she wanted, to finally see her dream fulfilled... but what would it cost her? “Can... can I make my decision tomorrow?”

Clockwork's grin became a warm smile. “Of course, Wind. The first work order comes in tomorrow, and I can send off my answer then.” She walked to the front of the shop then, presumably to open up, leaving Wind to stare at her heavy boots... Her job, and Clockwork's care and tutelage, for the price of her hooves stained with her brother's kinsponies' blood? Or seeing her dream fulfilled, only to watch the rest of her life crumble around her when it was found out...

After a long while, she sighed, putting the goggles over her eyes once more as she started the flame on the welder's torch. This would require careful thought, and Wind always thought better while working.

Comments

[_Medicshy]

4267037 In my head, she looks a little more like Cadance, and neither of them look like Celestia or Luna even after the passing of the years...

I would explain why, but it's a rather long and slightly convoluted reasoning that, at least in my head, makes sense but I don't want to burst anyone else's bubble about how alicorns may or may not work, so I'll just hope this suffices:

Alicorn theory is complicated.

Though I am quite pleased that you are enjoying the story so far! I'm just hoping the finale is worth the hype and the wait.