Weekend
Days came and went as the brothers continued to live an outwardly normal life now that they had a date set for them. There was a strong ‘live for the moment’ undercurrent to their outlook, with mixed responses from those around.
Proud’s Mark Mitzvah had passed with a great time being had by all involved, especially Proud himself when he unwrapped the Joyboy Aunt Rain got for him.
Aunt Rain signed Flare up with the West Ponyville Foal Hoofball Team so he would have something to focus his energies on. She had grown increasingly frustrated with Flare taking every opportunity to leap off any and every piece of furniture more than four hooves off the ground.
Silver had found his own activities to do as well, and hung out with Snips and Snails, the trio somehow building a reputation as Triple ‘S’s. Still behind the Diamond Silver duo and far behind the Crusaders in notoriety though. Far behind. It was hard to top the fall out of ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Prank Masters’, though that was partially Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie’s fault for challenging them.
Admittedly; the spectacular ending of Rainbow, Pinkie and Gilda trapped in a Pine Needle Sap cloud was impressive. Even if no one was quite sure how they managed it.
That last one was also a large part of the reason Proud was at the library that evening instead of at the arcade celebrating the end of the week’s lessons. That and Button had gotten grounded for a particularly bad grade on an assignment and his involvement in the last hijinks their class had gotten into, so his regular gaming buddy was unavailable. Spike, who was maring the library on his own again since Twilight off doing some other task, eyed him with a less than thrilled expression as they stood in the front room.
“Why does it feel like you aren’t here for a book?” Spike asked as he rapped his claws on the cart of books he was leaning against.
“Because I’m not?” Proud grinned cheerfully.
“You want to send a letter to the princess, don’t you?” Spike sighed, shaking his head as he got back to his reshelving.
“It’s not a big one,” Proud insisted as he followed, pulling a scroll from his saddlebags to show Spike.
“You know Silver asked me not to let you send anything unless he, Flare or your Aunt are with you, right?” Spike continued, clearly not impressed.
“So what? I’m the older brother. I don’t need his permission,” Proud huffed. “If anything he would need my permission!”
“Don’t get mad at me. He’s the one who thinks you aren’t responsible enough,” Spike said, climbing up the shelf to put a book in its spot near the top. Spike looked down at Proud with a curious expression. “Where is he anyway? Normally he’d be in by now. Did he get on Score Keeper’s bad side again?”
Proud laughed. Score Keeper, despite what most ponies thought when they heard her name, didn’t work in sports, but rather in the town’s Records Office. Back when Aunt Rain changed their grounding to a written assignment, Silver decided he was ‘bored’ and went overboard on it, giving her a four and a half page risk assessment document, not including charts and diagrams. He had… terrified wasn’t quite the right word, but he certainly left Score Keeper unsettled when he trotted in to find out the casualty and fatality numbers for the past half century. It had taken a visit from their Aunt to convince her Silver wasn’t in need of counselling.
“No, he has track practice now and is going to watch an O&O game later,” Proud reported as Spike leapt down. With Silver off doing track, and Flare practicing with Rumble, it meant an evening free from their prying eyes. A bit confused, Proud pointed to the upper shelves. “How is anypony supposed to get those anyway? You had to scale the wall.”
“It’s mostly advanced stuff up there,” Spike shrugged in a dismissive fashion. “Those and books that rarely get borrowed, and some pegasi stuff. Plus there are rolling ladders.” He pointed to tall and narrow nook half hidden in the corner before staring at Proud. “But forget that! Silver? In track? Silver? You sure we’re talking about the same colt? Oubliettes & Ogres I get. Twilight used to play that with Shining and his friends, but track?”
“You think you’re the only one surprised? But he says it’s good for him,” Proud shook his head slowly. “He got a book on it and everything. Twilight apparently recommended it to him. By the by, thanks for the comic set you got me!”
“No problem. I figured you’d like Captain Equestria. Strong earth pony who’s pretty good looking too,” Spike said. “And she uses a shield. Your cutie mark made me think of her.”
“Still, thanks,” Proud said. He figured that his cutie mark met ‘strength to protect others’, and that’s just what she did. It was like Captain America, but with an experimental potion made back in the Nightmare Moon Rebellion. Proud grinned at part of what Spike said. “So you think Captain Equestria is good looking?”
“Not that she has anything on Rarity,” Spike said, hugging the book he was supposed to be reshelving, a dreamy look in his eyes. He snapped out of it when Proud started laughing. “Hey! What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, nothing,” Proud said, struggling to suppress his giggles. He held out the scroll and waved it at the dragon. “And I won’t tell anyone you think she’s good looking, for a price.”
Spike scowled, but snagged it anyway, sending it off with a tongue of fire. “There? Happy now?”
“Yep! Thanks Spike!” Proud said, giving his favourite dragon a hug that almost knocked him off his feet
“Hey, easy!” Spike said, pushing him back. “You know, you could always borrow a book too.”
“Maybe next time,” Proud said. Admittedly, the library did have a decent selection of comic books. And there was that old book of legends hidden somewhere in the library. He just wasn’t into reading like Silver was. There were too many other things to try while in Equestria. Maybe next time. “I’m thinking of going down to Ace Condition.”
Ace Condition was run by the earth pony Ace Edition and the unicorn Mint Condition, and was pretty much the stereotypical one stop gaming and nerd stop crossed with a newspaper and magazine store. Board games, table tops, comics, even the slowly developing video game scene had a place there alongside magazines on all sorts of topics, and admittedly dated copies of newspapers from the nearby larger cities. In the morning, it was largely one of the town’s gossip stops, come afternoon, the crowd started turning over to the younger side.
“Hey, you mind waiting a minute so I can finish this up?” Spike asked. “They are supposed to be getting the new edition of Power Ponies today.”
“Sure, I can even lend you a hoof,” Proud offered.
----------
They left the library in a good condition; books put away, the place mostly in order, and a ‘closed’ sign hanging in the window, cheerfully chatting about comics, even speculating about what they thought would happen next. On the surface; it was one precocious child relating to another. No matter how one looked at it, atypical draconic development or not; Spike was at most a teen. But he was raised around Twilight, and his maturity and intellect was far from standard.
In other words; he and Proud, and the other two colts, for that matter, were good matches for one another. All four were far more mature and mentally developed than their apparent age would suggest. The young dragon’s sheltered upbringing, in regards to ponies more fitting with his age, worked in their favour as well. He didn’t see anything all that out of place in their behaviors.
Proud was pretty thrilled to have somepony to ‘talk comics’ with. One thing that both Flare and Silver had suspected, and was actually right, was that Proud wasn’t wasting effort on worrying about their situation. In his mind, he was somewhere between the two, in terms of the reaction. Flare worried, but he tried to bury it in the little things being in Equestria had since he couldn’t do anything about it. Things such as the new found joy of flying. Silver wasn’t so much ‘worried’ as he was concerned and fell into patterns of over-thinking things like he always did, resulting in him over compensated in trying to figure out everything around him. Proud was fearful he would snap if didn’t take the little breaks to just roll with things.
Proud just focused on being Proud. Best Princess Luna said she would work on it, so in his mind, everything was being handled, and he took her advice to heart. Aside from keeping track of where in the timeline they were, he just enjoyed the high points of this second childhood, like video games and comics, and tolerated the downsides, like school and a curfew, all while doing his best not to get too caught up in the human memories.
Ace Condition’s store wasn’t far from the library, but it was still a fair walk. It was early enough in the day that the majority of ponies weren’t packing up yet, but late enough that everything a starting to wind down, and the atmosphere was slipping towards the more casual feel of evening.
“Proud! There you are!” somepony called out. The beating of hooves on the ground followed the call as Silver charged up to them, Flare close on his heels.
“Oh, hey Silver. Hi Flare. How was practice?” Proud greeted them with a wave. His grin faltered as he realized Silver was half soaked, his mane and tail still dripping, and his eyes slightly red. “Um… what happened to you?”
“Since we found Proud, I’d love that explanation you promised,” Flare wheezed at the same time.
“The crusaders got me with a water balloon. A couple water balloons. I was planning to shower anyway. But not important!” Silver said, shaking his head, water splashing a bit. “Remember all those extra pipes in the basement? The one that she said is just left over and she doesn’t have anything using for?”
“She being Aunt Rain? What about them?” Proud asked, not seeing where Silver was going with… whatever he was talking about.
“Water balloons?” Spike echoed.
“Seriously, what’s with you?” Flare sighed. “You aren’t being clear.”
“Spike!” Silver realized. He grinned at the baby dragon. “You know there’s still a spot for you in… no, not important! Pipes! We can make a potato cannon!”
All three stared at him blankly for a moment. Spike spoke first. “A what?”
“I’ve never made one before! But it’s simple, right? Tube, bang, load,” Silver made vague gestures in the air with his hoof.
“Um… isn’t that kinda dangerous? It sounds like it could be dangerous,” Spike said hesitantly.
“Okay…?” Flare said, tilting his head to one side.
“Why do you want to build a potato cannon?” Proud asked once his momentary stunned silence passed. “Actually; scratch that. Where’s the hairspray?”
“The crusaders made this sling and they loaded it up with balloons and… look, I said it wasn’t important,” Silver insisted. “But the crusaders, well, Apple Bloom really, dared me to make something better, and I always wanted to make one but I never had anyone to make it with, but I’ve got brothers now, so why not? And then the fillies in the class above ours got into it since they were still sore about Rumble and Liza getting them with the water bottles...
“Anyway, Aunt Rain has some manespray she never uses, and it’s pretty flammable,” Silver said as if it wasn’t that important a point. “I thought about it on the way over. I could try and compress air with a modified telekinesis spell, but I’m pretty sure I’m not good enough to pull it off. Yet. Maybe later. Oh! Did you know that Sparkler’s talent is enchanting gemstones and crystals? We can use one of those charges for you joyboy and some stuff from Time Turner’s place for the trigger and-”
“Hold up!” Proud said, covering Silver’s mouth with a hoof as he hit Pinkie Levels of rambling. “Aunt Rain’s manespray is flammable? You know this how?”
“I was bored,” Silver said after he managed to move Proud’s hoof. The last time Silver was bored he took apart the lamp in their bedroom to see how the actual inner working operated based off a book he got from the library. Proud raised both eyebrows and Silver wilted slightly, looking off to the side nervously. “I only tested it once. I’m not about to burn down the house.”
Flare suddenly shuddered. “Oh, now I’m picturing Silver burning down the house…”
Spike laughed, but got it under control so he could ask the burning question. “Okay, really, what are we talking about?”
Silver opened his mouth but Proud cut him off. “In simple, direct words. Explaining everything.”
“They set up a free for all for Sunday, and I want to show up the crusaders’ giant slingshot with a projectile launcher,” Silver said after taking a moment to organize his thoughts. “So… are you in?”
Flare groaned, shuffling his wings indecisively. Spike exchanged a look with Proud. Proud smiled. They had the weekend to work on it anyway. And the arcade would be less fun without Button. “Sure, why not? Sounds fun, actually.”
“It’s not like I have anything else to do, really.” Spike shrugged. “I’m in too.”
“Oh great, just jump on in,” Flare muttered with a roll of his eyes. The other three were looking at him, Spike smirking, Proud grinning broadly, Silver tentatively hopeful. “Well that’s just not fair…” He sighed with a trace of frustration. “Fine, I’m in.”
Silver let out a whoop, rearing up slightly and ran off again, though not as fast as he was going before. “Okay, you have your bit bag, right Proud? We can hit Time Turner’s place to see if he has anything I can use to rig a sparker!”
Proud was about to ask about tools, but remembered who Aunt Rain was. She was the type to both do a lot of stuff herself, and to take her work home with her. The pipes in the basement were a bit of both. And she also had a work room with a wide range of tools they she probably wouldn’t be too upset about them using. She might even have pipe sealant too. Actually, she most definitely had pipe sealant. She did most of the plumbing and electrical work in the house herself.
“Hey, don’t leave the rest of us behind!” Spike complained, running after him.
“Great… more running,” Flare said, chasing after them with long leaps; jumping and spreading his wings, flapping a little to try and get a bit of altitude before gliding until he hit the ground for his next leap.
“I’m coming too,” Proud laughed, trotting after them, only to increase it to a run when something occurred to him. “Hold up! You’d better not be thinking about using my charges in that sparker trigger! I need those from my games!”
They huddled around the table; three colts, one freshly showered, and a dragon, each one decked out in a set of winter goggles for protection, Spike borrowing Aunt Rain’s, and rain coats standing in for lab coats to set the proper atmosphere.
“Okay… if we punch a hole through to the main chamber, no, two holes. One to run the wire through and the other to put the feed for the manespray in,” Silver said pointing to two points on the sketch Spike made. It was a refined version of the sketch Silver made. Spike had taken one look at it and facepalmed before taking over the scribing duties. Silver had tried to protest, but Proud was on Spike’s side of the issue. It wasn’t that Silver was a bad writer, Spike was just much better, and faster too.
Flare rummaged through the supplies they had gathered and sorted roughly by shape and potential purpose. Aunt Rain had a lot of junk in the basement, most of the useful kind, and they only needed to run to Nails and Things to pick up some nails, which Aunt Rain was short on for some reason.
They had already roughly assembled a prototype. Two, actually. One made somewhat faithfully to the design they remembered, and another one they assembled when they realized hooves would most likely be unable to seal it swiftly enough. None of the pieces had been sealed up yet; as they were trying to perfect the ignition portion. Time Turner really did have the most interesting things, though he flatly refused to sell them what was obviously the pony version of a BBQ lighter. They compromised with a simple circuit you would find in any high school project.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just use the cap? You just want to have it filled with the spray so the spark set it off, right?” Spike asked. “Why use the one with the small threaded cap instead of making another little hole we have to make sure is sealed up properly?”
“We can’t close it fast enough,” Proud responded.
“So, you’re only using the big one so you can reach in and fix anything if you need to,” Spike mused, scratching at a fin. He thumbed the initial prototype. “So what’s the deal with that one then? Why’d you half make one you can’t work with hooves?”
“We can still make that one. We have enough parts for it,” Silver commented, looking at their assembled supplies again. Flare finally found the thin copper tube they planned on connecting the manespray to and set it aside, glaring at Proud. Proud grinned sheepishly. He had been the one to misplace it in the first place. Silver shrugged. “We can make that one for you, Spike.”
“You’d make one just for me?” Spike asked.
“You’ve got the hands, er, claws for it, sure,” Silver said dismissively, putting the chamber for the pony version of the cannon into the clamps so they could get started on the hole boring. “Plus, it’s proof of concept.”
“You’re helping us out, why wouldn’t we make one for you?” Proud said around the hammer he held clenched in his teeth. The plan for making the actual holes was simple enough. Since the proper tools were locked away, they gave Proud a hammer to swing, and Silver held a thin nail in his magic. Proud swung the hammer a few times to test it before looking at Silver. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Silver said, his horn glowing slightly, a matching glow around the nail. Proud didn’t hesitate, tapping on it solidly, though not at full strength, a few times. Silver tentatively let his magic lapse, and grinned when the nail remained in place. “Perfect! Let’s set up the trigger hole and then you can whack them both in!”
----------
“Is it ready?” Proud asked.
“Not yet,” Silver grumbled, trying to angle their creation enough to see the wires he was messing with.
It took them maybe an hour more to set everything up. They had done the pony friendly version, which Silver dubbed the Duke Popper mark II, then decided to get the task of fully assembling the mark I done since they had the time. They had to let the seals set in the mark II before they could properly test it anyway. Aside from that, the barrel and chamber seemed sound, the spray can was clamped in place with a few spare brackets and the holes they made were plugged.
The only thing left to do was get the trigger fully fitted. Proud hung over Silver’s shoulder as he worked on the final fittings of the trigger. His magic let him fiddle with the wires more accurately than hooves could, and he was the only one who had enough knowledge on how to set up the mechanism, on top of that. Another benefit of him spending all that time in the library.
Proud was still fuming inwardly that they were using his charges for it. The small crystals primed with a bit of magic were Equestria’s version of batteries. Unfortunately, they were also more expensive and not many unicorns, and even less pegasi, knew how to recharge them. There were dedicated refreshing units that ran off the power grid, but those were expensive. He found a bit solace in the fact that he could at least use Button’s to refresh them. Only a bit. Of the unicorns he know, only Sparkler and Twilight might know how to charge them.
“You’ve been at this for a while. How long does it take to put two wires close together so they spark?” Proud grumbled. Behind the pair, Spike and Flare were looking for something to use as the test projectile. They were having their own debate, but Proud hadn’t been following. Something about a hook and a strap?
“That’s electricity. This is… well, also electricity, but magic electricity,” Silver explained. He paused, his horn dimming for a moment as he looked at the wall thoughtfully. “Well, not exactly magic electricity. More like electrically natured magic energy…”
“Hey, magic technobabble later,” Proud said, prodding his brother in the side. “Are you done yet?”
Silver glared, but half grinned. He flipped the switch and a small white spark danced from one wire to the next. “Done. Ready for testing.”
“It’s ready already?” Spike asked.
“It’s not really that complex,” Flare pointed out. “Tube, chamber, combustible gas.”
“The hard part was making it hoof friendly,” Silver muttered. “You guys got the rags?”
“Um, yeah,” Spike said, holding out the small cloth he and Flare had loosely bundled into a ball. “This is starting to sound dangerous again… How do you even know how to make this?”
“It isn’t!” Proud said, ignoring the last question and snagging the ball, quickly slipping it into the barrel. He used a broom handle to push it all the way down. “Totally safe! Time to test it!”
“I dunno…” Spike said, still uncertain.
Flare rolled his eyes and pushed him back. “Look, just go along with it for now. Silver’s ideas normally work. If they don’t, Proud’s good at keeping it from going too far. Most of the time.”
“It’s the most of the time that worries me,” Spike grumbled.
“Momentai,” Silver said happily as he checked the cannon over. Satisfied, he giggled. “This is gonna be awesome! Proud! Help me point this at the target!”
In the corner of the basement, as far from the windows as they could get, was mismatched pyramid of cans sitting on an old chair Aunt Rain apparently hadn’t gotten around to repainting. It would do nicely as the Duke’s first victim and its gallows. They made sure the Duke was securely clamped in place before ducking under the table. A cracked hall mirror served as the observation screen as Silver used his magic to prime the cannon, counting Proud down, who drew the straw and got first dibs on the trigger.
Duke was a bit loud. A hollow ‘whump’ and the wadded up cloth was launched across the room, clipping the pyramid rather than hitting it head on, still managing to knock the chair over with a clatter of metal and wood.
“Ha! Told you it would work!” Silver declared, pumping a hoof in the air.
“Sweet!” Spike grinned, his eyes wide with wonder.
“So awesome!” Proud cheered.
“One of your ideas actually worked!” Flare said, tackling Silver playfully.
“Hey! What do you mean ‘actually’?” Silver demanded. “And ‘one of them’? They all work!”
"Including the one to manipulate everypony into meeting up even though that happened without you?" Proud deadpanned.
The banter and teasing picked up a bit, even between checking the cannon over to make sure it was still in one piece and distracting Spike from Proud’s comment. The Duke was mostly unphased by his first firing, aside from the barrel getting knocked slightly out of place, and one of the brackets getting loose when the cannon bucked in the clamp. It wasn’t hard for them to fix it, working together.
Getting the Mark I set up was even quicker. Silver knew what he was doing now, and Spike was more helpful this time around. They didn’t even realize the time passing until Aunt Rain’s Voice floated down.
“Boys? Are you three down there?” she called. She quickly followed on the tail of her call. “Are you- Ah, you are, and Spike is with you.” She looked over her shoulder and spoke to someone at the top of the stairs. “He’s here with them, Twilight.”
“Spike?” Another mare came down, this time half running in contrast to Aunt Rain’s walk. Twilight looked a bit stressed but relieved as she hugged Spike. “Oh Spike, I was worried sick!”
“Twilight! What’s wrong?” Spike asked, suddenly worried. “Did something happen? Was it the library? Something happened to the library because I wasn’t there, didn’t it! Augh! I knew I shouldn’t have…”
“What?” Twilight exclaimed. Proud muffled a laugh at how alike the two were; both freaking out over nothing. “No, I was… okay, maybe I over reacted a little bit.” She giggled nervously. “I just didn’t know where you were and I heard you were with Pure Rain’s nephews so I was looking for you.”
“So… nothing bad happened?” Spike asked carefully. Behind them, Aunt Rain examined the two cannons they made.
“No Spike, nothing bad happened,” Twilight reassured him. She looked around, taking in the mess and their creations. “So what have you been up to?”
“We made awesome potato cannons!” Spike said enthusiastically. “They even made one for me.”
“A potato cannon?” Aunt Rain asked, with a raised eyebrow. She tapped her hoof on the floor, waiting for the explanation.
“Silver wanted to make them,” Proud said with a chipper smile.
“They certainly look interesting…” Twilight commented. “Is that a can of manespray?”
“One of mine, by the looks of it,” Aunt Rain added blandly.
Proud ducked his head as he adopted a sheepish expression once again. “You don’t really use them…”
“It is…” Silver said hesitantly, watching Aunt Rain’s expression. Twilight’s horn glowed as she studied their work. “It’s a pressure based projectile launcher.”
“But how can a simple can of manespray launch a- oh, is that a charged crystal?” Twilight and Silver got into the scientist/researcher headspace, and most of the others in the room tuned them out.
“So why was Twilight freaking out like that?” Proud asked his aunt.
“In most likelihood, it would be because of the storm the pegasi scheduled,” Aunt Rain responded. She picked up one of her tools and looked at it, then at the two colts and one dragon, sighing and setting it aside as she explained. “The earth ponies who monitor the land around the town have been reporting that the water table levels have been falling below optimal and the weather ponies got approval for a large storm.”
“Oh, I guess I can understand…” Spike sighed. He turned and frowned at Proud and Flare. “Guess I have to head home.”
“It’s not dangerous!” Silver’s sudden raise in volume started them all. He winced apologetically. “Sorry, like I was saying; it’s not dangerous. No more so than a tensile strap snapping and lashing out-”
They tuned them out again.
“Aunt Rain, can Spike spend the night?” Flare asked as Silver and Twilight got back into it. Spike blinked in surprise.
“Yeah! Can he?” Proud asked eagerly. He could already see plans falling into place.
“Spend the night?” Aunt Rain lifted her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I see nothing wrong with it if he does.”
“You mean it?” Spike asked, eyes glittering.
“If Twilight has no issues with it, I should be fine,” Aunt Rain nodded.
“Twilight!” Spike yelled immediately, running over.
“It’s amazing how simple yet profound this idea is,” Twilight was saying. “I’m surprised I’ve- Um, yes Spike?”
“Is it okay if I spend the night here tonight? Miss Rain already said it’s fine if I do, but you’d have to say yes,” Spike rambled.
Twilight took a step back. She looked up from Spike across to where Flare and Proud were standing, grinning hopefully, beside Aunt Rain. “I… suppose that would be fine, if you really have no issues with it, that is, Pure Rain.”
“None pressing or concerning,” Aunt Rain confirmed. “I am aware it’s a bit short noticed…”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Twilight said. She hugged Spike, despite his protest. “He’s my little brother and all, but he needs to make a few more friends his own age.”
“This from the mare that had to have a royal order to make friends,” Spike deadpanned.
“Oh hush,” Twilight laughed. Aunt Rain smiled slightly while Proud and his brothers snickered. “But I think it’s a wonderful idea for Spike to have a chance like this. But then again, we didn’t prepare… I do have a book with the supplies you would need to spend… but it’s so short notice. Maybe we should reschedule? I didn’t have anything planned for tonight, but Spike doesn’t have his toothbrush, or wash cloth, or his special blanket-”
“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed in horror. “I’ll be fine for one night!”
“I have enough extra necessities to provide for him,” Aunt Rain said with a slight chuckle. “Everything will be fine, Twilight. Let him stay the night and we will drop him back home tomorrow.”
Silver swapped a malicious look with Proud and mouthed ‘security blanket.’
“But-” Twilight swallowed and forced a smile. “You’re right. I’m worrying over nothing. I can spend the night catching up on some research. This project of your nephews has given me a few ideas to think about.”
Spike and Twilight might have gotten a bit emotion about it after that, Spike almost having cold feet about the whole thing, until Aunt Rain proposed a compromise; letting Spike head back to the library to pick up a few things before coming back. Silver volunteered to go with them, citing his need for a new reference book anyway.
After they left, Aunt Rain turned her attentions on her remaining relatives. “A potato cannon?”
“The crusaders made a... well... it’s a long story,” Flare admitted. Silver had calmed down enough after his shower to fully outline the budding preteen/teen drama that had come to a head earlier in the evening.
“Day before yesterday Gree- um, somepony was hitting ponies with paper gliders, then it turned into a few throwing paper balls at recess, and a couple of ponies in class got into a spitwad war after class, then somepony brought out rubberbands yesterday...” Proud said, vaguely outlying the slowly escalating tension that had overtaken first their class, then a portion of the schoolhouse’s population. “The crusaders apparently made a cart mounted slingshot and we made potato cannons. There’s going to be a big beanbag, water balloon and other stuff fight this Sunday.”
“Well... basically that,” Flare shrugged.
“I don’t believe I should be supporting you three in this venture,” Aunt Rain mused contemplatively. “It sounds like the sort of event that a parent, or guardian, would dissuade their wards from participating in.”
“Aw! Please Aunt Rain?” Proud pleaded. It was about more than just having built the cannon now. It was about honour. The crusader’s struck at one of their own. Such a travesty could not be left un-avenged. “It was Silver said there are going to be chaperones and referees and stuff so it doesn’t get too out of hoof. Sweetie Belle’s dad is one of them.”
Aunt Rain still looked unimpressed. She took in the two cannons again. “Am I correct in assuming you made these based on your alternate set of memories?”
Flare and Proud looked everywhere but at their Aunt. “.... maybe.”
Aunt Rain sighed in an exasperated fashion, shaking her head in mild marvel. “Honestly. I suppose if Mr Flanks is going to be there, it should be fine. But try to remember what Princess Luna warned you about.”
She raised her eyebrows when they didn’t respond. Flare smiled weakly. “Sure, Auntie.”
“I suppose that will have to do,” she murmured vaguely, heading back upstairs. “I’ll be in the kitchen working on dinner if you need me.”
“Thanks, Auntie!” Proud chirped.
“And be sure to clean up,” she added.
“Yes, Aunt Rain,” Flare responded.
“And make sure your homework is done if you before you plan to spend the entire weekend playing!” she called down.
“Okay, auntie! We will!” Proud reassured her. When no more orders or advice came back, Proud grinned at Flare.
“Remind me again why we decided this was a good idea,” Flare muttered as he started on the task of putting everything back were they found it.
“Because it was an awesome idea,” Proud grinned, going to the table and grabbing for the pencil and paper they were using earlier. He started making a sketch of his own. He paused and frowned. “And Silver was crying. I’m worried about him.”
“He’s worried about us,” Flare said, taking a moment to bump Proud’s shoulder affectionately. “And I’m pretty sure he’s up to something. I don’t know what, but he’s looking for something in the library.”
“I thought it was just casual research,” Proud said, looking up with confusion. ‘Casual Research’ was Silver’s catch all phrase for, well, knowing a lot of random things. In his words, the earlier you started, the better it was for you.
“It’s that too, but he’s looking for something else on top of it,” Flare said. He shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He stresses himself out, then does something crazy to cool down and starts it over again. Like the O&O book he’s thinking of buying.”
“I’ll admit, I really want to see what pony D&D is like,” Proud laughed. He sobered after a moment. “So Silver’s planning something? He hasn't been talking to me much lately.”
Flare’s response was slow in coming, the young pegasus pushing the tool box back unto its position on the shelf. That done, he trotted back over to Proud. “Probably. Maybe? I don't know, to be honest. He likes making plans, but he likes making stuff up as he goes too. I don’t think he blames himself anymore, at least, but he’s still worried and a bit confused. He’ll let us know when he thinks he’s found out enough information.”
“Like with this potato cannon idea?” Proud laughed again. “Okay, I’ll just make sure he doesn’t burn himself out too much. But I’ve got one more very important question for you…”
Flare tilted his head curiously. Proud grinned. “Think we can make this to fit on some saddlebags?”
Flare blinked, taking a moment to understand what Proud was getting at, and grinned as well. By the time Silver and Spike got back, with the book the former wanted and a backpack of stuff for the latter, including a bunch of gems for snacking on, Flare and Proud had a proposal for Duke Mark III.
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Potato-side beats water-balloon-side!
NOBODY CAN STOP THE TOMATOS!
You mean potatoes... right?
YEAH! WHATEVER SOLAR JUST SAID!
Ah, ok. Just wondering.
NIce to see this again.
As a stray observation, Flare really isn't standing out. Perhaps it's because he was the most de-aged, but I struggle to remember anything he's done on his own initiative. Then again, screen time can be expensive real estate.
5606081 5629168 Thank you! I found the dynamic hard to write, so I'm glad it's working. On the downside, I now feel self conscious about it...
The other part I found hard was the copping tactics of the three. If you're worried about him, it means I've done good so far. Huzzah! :lunaemoticonFIMreallyshoudadd:
5629391 Who said a potato cannon can't launch tomatoes? We could make it a full out Salad Launcher!
5629486 I know
Next chapter is from Flare POV, so hopefully I can remedy that. It doesn't help that his personality is the reserved and quiet type more than anything else... Maybe I should give him a hoofball game...
5629509
HUZZAH! Glad someone agrees.
..Will the Mark III be a tri-barreled, side-mounted potato gatling with Spike rotating and firing the barrels while he himself has the Mark I for more accurate fire?
EDIT: If you are going to, but are concerned about technology restraints, the Gatling was made in the mid-Cowboy era of time, so it is feasible with the current tech, even though Equestria's technology level jumps erratically, like a panicked marathon runner's heart-beat on a EKG machine.
You know, I've been trying to imagine a way this story can end. I've a few ideas but one came to me where they actually would go back.
Almost every single HiE story, especially ones where they are transformed, ends with them staying in Equestria. The stories where they return are actually pretty small, and it's no wonder why: In reading the story you get a ton of character development for the Equestrians and almost none for the people back home, so going back seems like it would be a step down into the unknown ordinary and boring lives the main characters would lead. Fewer stories even afterwards would allow for a non-permanent option (like the Equestrian Girls mirror), as instead it's usually portrayed as an all or nothing choice.
The scenario in my head has the main characters not transformed but instead body swapped. That means the three foals are in their human bodies plus their memories while the main characters are in the three foal bodies with the Equestrian memories. In this scenario the memories of the swapped will be equalized; after the swap and after some time to absorb the memories, the two sets of three characters are clones of each other memory wise, and their personalities are a lot closer together with only some small differences as they are altered by the new set of memories.
So, come the end of the story, the characters swap back, and... the foals act almost exactly the same and keep the memories. The three main characters return to their lives (probably greatly upset by the foals, but hey they were leading boring lives and would probably change things anyway) and keep all the memories of not only their time in Equestria, but the memories before they arrived as well.
Probably a bittersweet ending, but one that opens the possibility of a sequel where they swap again for whatever reason. There are a ton of things that could also happen that keeps the two sets of three in touch somehow, it has a lot of potential. Then again the whole setting has a ton of potential, especially if it's handled differently from how I imagined it occurring (like it not being a body swap in the first place, which is my personal theory).
So Griffon The Bush-off, the CMC made it different but since not much was said about it I assume that the same general ending happened?
I just realized that Boast Busters is next in line, with both the CMC and Silver being friends with Snips and Snails, I wonder how much the second half of that story will differ from canon.
Now I start to wonder when will they start to make electronic gatling gun (those with 3000-6000 rpm) and assault rifle...and sniper rifle...
5630377 Uhm...The beginning of this story stated that they are pretty much the same young colts just with the set of memories and a bit of behaviour of the adult human...It...is complicated...But, it is not bodyswap.
5630871
Really? What the heck do they think will happen if the Princesses find a way to 'send them back'? The three colts just disappearing? Their friends and family in Equestria waking up to find them gone?
5630903 I told you it was complicated.
Man this story is soooo good! I mean is UNIQUE and have best PLOT ever!!! go foals of the future!.... okay maybe not! doesnt matter! cant wait for next chapters xD
P.S. ... I see colors... wuuuuuu.... I think I dont sleep enought.... dath destiny and its never ending world.... I need to sleep....
This is going to be a real "blast" of a good time. Oh that was bad of me.
This is the best hie story I've seen in a while. It's creative and unique!
Great story, can't wait for more!
So, it's been awhile since your last chapter. Could we get an ETA on the next chapter?
5821375 I have five hundred words or so captured and properly corralled, but the rest are still being naughty and evading the bounty hunters I sent after them.
In short; I know where I want to go, but I'm also still having some back and forth on what should be included in the next chapter verses what should be put off for the chapter(s) following. I'm hoping to have it done for late next week as I try to readjust my schedules.
Um... don't quote me on that, though.
5822446 Well I hope it's soon. I'm really loving this story. Can't wait to read more.