Techorse Short Stories

by Spirals95

#7 - Castle Crusaders

Castle Crusaders

Techorse Series #7

By Spirals95

---

"And so little red riding pony was dragged into the wolf's horrible maw, where she was ripped to shreds! Bits and pieces of her red hood flew everywhere as she was gulped down to the last bite. After that day, she was never seen again. The end!"

Scootaloo finished reading her wicked twist on the classic fairy tale to her class. For homework, the class had been divided up into groups and assigned a story to retell in their own words, changing the plot to make it a bit more interesting. Perhaps Scootaloo and her friends had taken their interpretation of the story a little too far. The look of horror on Cheerilee's face and her classmates certainly indicated this.

"Poor little riding pony!" went up a terrified cry from one of the students.

Another one of the weaker-spirited foals, actually being afraid of wolves, started crying. Cheerilee did her best to comfort the student and remind her that most wolves avoid Ponyville, but to no avail, and the student continued her panic.

"That was, um, a very interesting spin on the tale." said the teacher to the three foals up at the front of the classroom, "While everyone else goes out for recess, stay inside and tell me more about it."

The other students filed out of the small classroom and went out the back door to go play on the equipment out back of the schoolhouse.

After she was sure the others had left the building entirely, Cheerilee shut the door behind them and prepared to chew out her three students. The self-proclaimed "Cutie Mark Crusaders" always caused trouble in the classroom. Perhaps it was simply for that reason, they were the only foals left without having developed their cutie marks, and were doing all sorts of crazy stunts in attempt to earn them. Biologically, the cutie mark is a pigmentation change in the coat hair of an Equestrian on both flanks used to indicate a psychological acknowledgment of discovering what the individual is adept to. In layman's terms, it is the signal of maturity in an Equestrian, and getting it as soon as possible became a goal for foals very early on. Because the development of the pigmentation can only be brought on by mental knowing of one's true talent and calling in life, the Cutie Mark Crusaders truly believed that if they just kept trying different activities, eventually they would preform the task that would cause this acknowledgment. Unfortunately, this meant they took unnecessary risks, including this instance where they made their creative writing assignment way too brutal for their target audience.

The teacher said to them with a cross look on her face, "I told you three to write a story that was slightly different from the original, girls. Instead of doing that, you went and turned it into a horror story!"

The ears of the three friends drooped as their teacher yelled at them. It seemed like they were always getting into trouble with the adults.

---

Outside, the other schoolfoals were frolicking amongst the playground equipment, enjoying the warm and sunny day brought in by the spring breeze. A fenced in area with a slide, tire swing, and climbing set provided the exercise the young ones needed every day. However, the fencing was not in the best repair it could be, and once in a while one of the foals would slip out just for a second to have a look on the other side. They always came back of course before it was time to go inside again and finish school for the day. This time, however, one of them saw something a little less than normal on the other side of the fence.

While the other foals were busy doing something normal on the playground to stay out of trouble, Snips had slipped by them and exited the playground through the hole in the white painted wooden fence. The other ponies assumed he went to look for colorful rocks by the drainage stream, collecting a pile of the rocks seemed to be something he and his friend Snails did to keep themselves entertained during recess. However, Snails had decided to stay behind to talk to a young mare who was trying to explain a math problem to him from earlier in the school day.

"So all you do is think of two groups of four stones, and when you add them, you can see that both four plus four and two times four is eight." she said to him as she moved together two groups of colored rocks.

"Huh, I see. I think" said Snails as he stared at the rocks, attempting to wrap his mind around the basic math concept.

"Ok, let's go back to addition of the same numbers, maybe then you'll get it."

Before she could say anything else, Snips ran through the wooden fence again and across the playground, screaming.

He rushed by the two, shouting, "Run, Snails!"

The mare gave them each a funny look as Snips passed them.

Snails explained, "Well, you know Snips. Always, um, flippin' out!"

Cheerilee opened the door to the playground and stepped out with the now downcast Cutie Mark Crusaders beside her.

"I heard screaming, what's wrong?" she asked as Snips ran up to her and tried to hide behind her.

"There's this huge monster past the fence!" he said.

"Did you go out there again? I thought I told you not too!" yelled Cheerilee.

"Never mind that, we need to get out of here!" he spurted out, opening the door and running inside.

"Away from what?" the older pony asked.

As soon as she said that, the white wooden fence was smashed to splinters as a large four-legged reptile smashed through it. It was a lizard-like beast, 6 feet long counting its tail and 3 feet tall. The monster had several large bony spines sticking out of its back, but the natural armor ceased at the base of the creature's tail. It's dark yellow eyes scanned the playground full of screaming foals running for the door. Hoping to catch a tasty young one, the monster opened its jaws and shot a long sticky tongue at one of the foals. The lengthy muscle grabbed the hind legs of Diamond Tiara, who fell flat on the ground. She screeched and wailed as she was reeled back in towards the beast's maw. Cheerilee had made sure all the others had gotten inside the building, but when she realized Diamond was in trouble, she knew it was far to late. For some reason, Scootaloo and her friends had chosen not to go inside and watched with disturbingly cheerful looks at their classmate's misfortune. Cheerilee wanted to make some sort of effort to save Diamond Tiara, but understood there was nothing she could do.

Diamond looked back at the beast and shouted, "Let me go! This is not cool you stupid reptile!"

The monster ignored her and prepared to snap her up. As the young foal realized this, she let out one last shriek of horror and misery before shutting her eyes.

A loud zapping noise rang throughout the air of the schoolhouse. Following that noise, a pair of yellow elongated bolts of electromagnetic energy impacted the long sticky tongue in the middle, burning it in a flash of light and heat. The beast roared in pain and released its grip on Diamond Tiara, who took of running as fast as she could away from the creature that nearly devoured her. She ran right past Cheerilee and the three girls and promptly threw open the door. She dashed inside and shut it behind her with a loud slam.

"Shoot," whispered Apple Bloom in disappointment, getting awkward looks from her peers in exchange.

The lizard-like enemy stood up again and reeled in the rest of its ruined tongue. It glared at the Cheerilee and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, wanting to make them its meal instead. But the creature had its priorities, it wanted to destroy the one foolish enough to burn its tongue. The monster reared up on its back legs and gave a mighty screech as a challenge to its aggressor.

"Still want to fight?" replied a male voice.

Cheerilee turned around to look up on the roof of the schoolhouse. Perched on the red tile was Techorse, wearing his metallic Battle Saddle. Out of the robotic saddle were his two laser cannons, smoke still coming out of the barrels in a gentle wisp. Techorse jumped down from the roof and landed in front of the orange colored beast.

"I don't get it." said Techorse as he stared at the monster, "What's a magma salamander doing out here in Ponyville?"

"Thank you for coming to help us!" said Cheerilee with joy.

"You're welcome, now get back inside before this thing strikes!"

The four ran back inside at Techorse's command, but watched him and the monster from inside the schoolhouse.

The magma salamander gazed at Techorse, smoke poured from its nostrils as it grunted at the colt who cheated it out of its chance to eat Diamond Tiara.

"All right you reptile, Fluttershy told me I have to give all animals, angry or not, the chance to give up before I have to use force. So what's it going to be?" he told the salamander as it drew closer.

The monster picked up a nearby rock with its tongue and sucked it into its mouth. Steam poured from the creature's closed maw as it used a special heat generating organ at the back of its throat to superheat the stone to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It then spat the now white-hot projectile at Techorse, who dodged the burning magma glob. The laser cannons attached firmly to the sides of the robotic device tilted upwards towards the monster.

"I guess you've made up your mind."

Techorse opened fire, blasting away with his guns at the beast. The bolts splashed on the monster's bright orange colored body, bursting harmlessly on the tough scales and bony spines. Laser bolts couldn't possibly destroy the creature, but they wore down its stamina as it picked up another stone to shoot at Techorse. The green-colored colt turned 90 degrees to the right and started running in a circle around the monster, tilting one of his guns inwards to score more hits. Burning rock after burning rock was shot at the strafing pony, and unfortunately, one of the projectiles hit Techorse's right front leg at the joint. The molten stone exploded, burning the coat hair around it to a charcoal black and injuring the joint severely. The pony yelped in pain as he put his weight on his other front leg, forcing him to take his sights off the salamander. Techorse regained control of his saddle's guns and aimed back at the monster, firing while limping forward on his now-injured limb. More rocks continued to be inhaled, heated up, and spat out at him as he attempted to subdue the beast with another stream of energy bolts from his cannons.

One minute had passed since the lasers and stones started to fly back and forth, and it became obvious that Techorse was losing. Another missile struck his saddle directly, causing an explosion on top of the device, nearly pushing its owner to the ground. Now the weapon was on fire, something inside of it had caught fire, and the saddle spewed black smoke into the air. Techorse knew that the internal heat of his saddle would reach a critical point soon due to that hit, and as a result the weapon would shut down and refuse to fire. Then the magma salamander could take him as a much larger dinner than Diamond Tiara. The colt pushed that fate out of his mind, knowing he could still win if he just used the large brain he was blessed with. Techorse stopped shooting, and with a smile on his face, the twin metal tubes slid back into his saddle and disappeared.

"What's he doing?" shouted Apple Bloom as she watched the fight from inside the schoolhouse.

"I'm not sure," said Cheerilee. But in her mind, she believed she'd be forced to watch the salamander destroy him.

Back outside, the monster looked at the colt before it and knew that it had won. The painful and destructive magical tubes had been retracted, and the colt owning them was surrendering. Techorse took in and let out deep breaths as he lifted his right leg gently into the air to remove any weight on it.

He shouted to the monster, "Ok, you win."

The magma salamander gave a maniacal grin, then turned to the pile of colored rocks Snips and Snails had accumulated over the past few days. Extending its tongue, the monster scooped up the entire pile of rocks and engulfed them. Its mouth began to glow a furious red, the beast intended to spit the entire pile as a shotgun-like blast at Techorse. But this is what the inventor had in mind, having to charge all those rocks left the creature defenseless.

Techorse ran up to the magma salamander and jumped over his head. All four legs went into the air, barely clearing the razor sharp spines on the beast's back. The colt looked down with his dark blue eyes and spotted where he would land, the sand right behind the monster. Techorse touched down on the terrain and immediately regretted the jump, his weight impacted his injured leg, and he wailed as a jolt of pain shot through the joint. Spinning around, the colt looked straight at the salamander's large tail. Using his saddle's mental commands, Techorse extended a pair of robot arms, tipped with the articulated hands he used so often. The magma salamander's eyes widened as it felt the cold metal hands grab its tail like a club.

The green colt behind him picked up his front legs and began spinning around on his hind ones. Using the weight of the monster against itself, the salamander was lifted off the ground and began to be rotated along with the robotic arms. It spat out the pile of rocks in an attempt to lighten itself, but it was far too late. Techorse intended to throw the beast against the remaining section of fence in order to knock it unconscious. However, after rotating a few times at full speed, the base joints of the robotic arms gave due to the sheer weight of the monster. There was a sound of metal shearing followed by an electrical zap as the mechanical limbs tore free from the battle saddle. The magma salamander, with the robotic arms still firmly grasping its tail, flew over the tops of the trees beyond the smashed fence, and vanished without even an impact sound.

Techorse stopped spinning around and made sure that this time he kept his weight off his wounded leg. He looked back and forth at the two bundles of wires left sticking out of his saddle from which an occasional spark would shoot.

"Aw..." he said in annoyance "now I have to repair those!"

Thunderous cheering and tapping of hooves interrupted his complaints as the school assembly and Cheerilee praised Techorse for his brave battle against the monster. He turned around, put a big smile on his face, and mentally saluted them. But of course, the robotic arms had been severed, so nothing happened when he tried to do this with the exception of a few sparks shooting from the wires.

Cheerilee approached Techorse and said with laughter in her voice, "You did it, Mr. Techorse! You saved the school!"

Techorse said to her, "Well, it's a good thing I was in the area when I heard the shouts and that I was wearing my battle saddle, otherwise that little pony would have been..."

"Oh my gosh, your tail is on fire!" screamed Cheerilee.

She pointed out the burning appendage, and Techorse quickly extinguished the flames on the end by whacking his tail on the ground repeatedly.

"Thank you!" he said in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

"Are you going to be ok?" she asked, noting the burnt leg.

He answered her with a joke, "Well, it's not like I need to run away now. That thing's miles from here by now!"

---

After that, each of the schoolfoals had a chance to say something about how amazing Techorse's victory over the creature had been. Some of the young mares formulated plans to write him a thank-you card. Although the Cheerilee might have liked to do something with the rest of the day, the scare and excitement of the attack had pretty much taken away any chance of academics being finished. So she let the youngsters enjoy their hero's visit for a while. But eventually, three in the afternoon came around, and it was time for the foals to go home.

"It's time to go home." called Cheerilee to her class, "Say goodbye and thank you to Mr. Techorse."

"For the last time Mrs. Cheerilee, I'm not Mr. anything yet. Call me Tech."

"Bye Tech!" came the foals cheerful cries as they left the school to go home with their parents.

Apple Bloom corralled her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and proceeded to try to leave the building with their backpacks.

"Hold on, you three are coming with me!" said Techorse.

"Really?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yeah. I came here because I'm supposed to watch you for a couple hours. The salamander was kind of just a coincidence."

"Why?" asked Sweetie Belle, giving the colt a curious look.

"Applejack and Rarity are cashing in on a favor I owe them, and Scootaloo's parents said it was fine if she tagged along. Twilight will be by too to help."

"Yay!", the three cheered as they dashed outside the open front door.

As Techorse stepped out to leave, he heard Cheerilee chuckle.

"What's wrong ma'am?" he asked.

She replied, "Let's just say you might find that monster easier to survive than those three."

Techorse shook his head and walked out the door to catch up with them. When he finally managed to, they were already halfway back to the stone castle at the edge of Ponyville.

"Oh hey, ya caught up!" said Apple Bloom as she looked back at him.

"Sure. I'm not as slow as you think I am." he responded with a teasing look.

"You're definitely not too slow." said Scootaloo, "You really showed that lizard who's boss!"

Apple Bloom added, "Yeah, but I wish you would've beaten it a couple seconds later. You should have let it get Diamond Tiara."

"Apple Bloom, that's a terrible thing to say!" scolded Techorse, "How would Diamond Tiara's parents feel about that?"

"Not too good." said Sweetie Belle, a little ashamed that she too had thought Diamond Tiara should have been consumed.

"That's right, so why would you joke about such a thing, Apple Bloom?"

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are always pickin' on us three 'cause we don't have our cutie marks yet." she answered. Techorse noticed the sad faces of the three friends and understood their pain.

"That's true." he said, "But do they really deserve to suffer for that?"

"Yes." said Scootaloo.

A nasty look from Techorse changed her mind rapidly.

"Oh come on, Techie. I've seen you talking with their parents. You hate 'em," said Apple Bloom.

"I do not!" he lied.

In truth, Techorse really did not like Silver Spoon's parents or Diamond Tiara's. They were only trying to befriend him so that he would join their fancy social clubs. Techorse may have had some extra money, but he also had a heart, and did not want to engage in conspicuous consumption as they did. Granted he lived in a castle, but most of that was dedicated to factory space for his business, and anyone who needed a place to stay for the night in Ponyville was welcome to knock on the front door.

"Ok, so maybe I don't agree with what they and their parents say and think. But even if we don't like them, they're still ponies and I gotta help them," said Techorse.

"I guess you're right." said Sweetie Belle, "I'm glad you helped her."

"But what are we gonna do then?" asked Apple Bloom, "I'm tired of getting' picked on!"

"Hey, maybe tonight's the night we earn our cutie marks!" shouted Scootaloo, "If it's ok, Techie, can we try?"

Techorse frowned at the idea.

"I don't know," he said uneasily, "I mostly thought you'd just sit in the living room while I go work in the laboratory. Some parts of the castle may look like a lot of fun, but there's a lot of equipment there you could get hurt on."

"What about that robot of yours? Do you think he can help us?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"PAL might not be able to help them earn their cutie marks, but I know he'll keep them out of trouble." thought Techorse.

"Heh, of course he can help you!"

---

The four arrived at the wooden doors of the castle, which towered above them. Techorse laughed to himself as he watched the three crane their necks to look up at the roof. It was obvious that they were awed by the size of the castle, although they had seen the structure many times before.

Techorse walked over to a television screen embedded in the stone to the right of the door and pushed a red button beneath it. The monitor activated, and PAL's robotic face appeared.

"Oh, you're here! Hang on a second."

The television went dark, and the wooden doors slowly started to open outwards. Apple Bloom and her friends backed up a bit to avoid being pushed out of the way by the massive oak gateways. Once the doors were fully opened, the three young ones ran inside to go greet the robot.

"This place is so amazing!" said Sweetie Belle as she looked at the various decorations inside the castle.

"What are we going to do first?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well, as leader, ah think we should all think about the things we can do in the castle and do 'em one by one." answered Apple Bloom.

"Ok, but first, some ground rules." said Techorse, entering the castle with a stern look on his face,
"Don't go in the laboratory, the factory room, or the rooftop."

"Why not the rooftop? It's a big roof." questioned Scootaloo.

"Knowing you three you'd probably try base jumping off of it." he answered.

"Nah, we already tried that once." said Apple Bloom, causing Techorse to wince.

PAL entered the main hallway of the castle and let out a cry of joy. The humanoid machine ran up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and leaned over as if to pick them all up off the ground in one fluid motion. A robot can give a bear hug very well if he wants to, and Techorse was barely keeping him held back.

"Welcome! You must the siblings of Miss Applejack, and Rarity!" said PAL.

Techorse coughed and reminded the robot as he pressed against him, "Hey, don't crush them, PAL!"

"I know that." said the machine as he relaxed his posture, "I just get so excited when we have new guests."

"I've seen you before around the farm sometimes. You're good friends with my brother." said Apple Bloom to the robot.

PAL nodded his head, he enjoyed helping Big Macintosh harvest apples as his robot efficiency complemented the stallion's harvesting skills well. The Apple family was more than willing to look past the fact he was a machine if it meant honest help with the chores.

"Yes I am. I remember seeing you around the farm with your friends here, Apple Bloom." said PAL.

"This is Scootaloo, and this is Sweetie Belle." said Apple Bloom as she pointed at her friends.

"It's so nice to meet you two." said the machine, "I am PAL, the Personality And Linguistics robot!"

"PAL, you're watching these three tonight until Rarity and Applejack pick them up. I've got to go do some important things, like heal up a bit." said Techorse.

"Oh dear, I can see that. Did you get into another battle again?" asked PAL as he looked at his master's wounded leg.

"Yeah, I had to throw a magma salamander to save these three and the schoolhouse. I'm sure they'd love to tell you all about it."

Techorse left the room, careful not to step with his damaged limb as he made his way to the medical office.

"He does act quite casually about these things," said PAL to the Crusaders, "but nevermind that. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit." said Sweetie Belle.

"We can't eat yet." shouted Apple Bloom, "We haven't even tried one thing to earn our cutie marks tonight!"

"What?" asked PAL, not sure what Apple Bloom was saying to him.

"We thought that since we're hanging out for a few hours, that there would be plenty of things to do to try and earn our cutie marks." said Scootaloo optimistically.

"I'm not sure what you mean." said PAL, puzzled by the statement.

"Y'mean you've never heard of a cutie mark before?" asked Apple Bloom in shock.

"I know what one is, master has one." laughed the robot, "But I don't really understand them."

"It's a special mark a pony gets on their flank when they know what they're going to do their whole life!" explained Sweetie Belle, "We're the only ones left in our class without ours, so we want to earn them as quickly as we can!"

"Are you sure you should be rushing that sort of thing?" asked PAL, "After all, it sounds like you're trying to decide what your career should be tonight!"

"We're sick 'n' tired of being teased for not having cutie marks." said Apple Bloom.

"I understand it's not fun to be teased, but I don't want you to get hurt."

"Is there anything we can do that's safe then?" asked Sweetie Belle.

PAL thought about it for a moment then said, "Well, I do have on idea..."

---

On the other side of the castle, Techorse was bandaging his wounds from earlier in the day. A gauze wrap filled with burn cream was now around the wound on his joint, and the cyan gel felt cool and refreshing on the injury. Standing sideways, the colt looked at himself in the mirror of the examination room. He examined his now burned tail and knew there was nothing he could do except wait for the hair to grow back in and replace the damaged sections. Turning from the mirror, the inventor viewed his prize machine lying on the floor, his saddle. The machinery had a large crater in it from the glob of magma that struck it that afternoon, the gray armor had been burned away, and the internal circuitry was all but ruined. Techorse weighed his options concerning the device; he could either repair the saddle or salvage what he could from it and build a fresh copy. Noting the gigantic hole in the device that exposed the inner wires and microprocessor, Techorse decided to repair the internal parts of the machine, but replace the metal saddle casing entirely.

As he prepared to drag the device back to his laboratory, a knock sounded on the door of the medical room.

"Come in."

The door opened, and in walked Twilight Sparkle with a smile on her face.

"Hey!" he said to her as he looked up from his machine.

"You're never going to believe this, but the mayor wants to give you a medal for what you did today!" she said with great excitement.

"Cool! She found out that quickly?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, "apparently Diamond Tiara told her parents about you rescuing her, and they of course had to speak with the mayor about it."

Techorse gave a cross look and shook his head, "I don't need them bragging about my skills."

"Look, I know you don't like her parents very much, and it's because you think they're stuck up." said Twilight, "But you shouldn't be so concerned about other ponies' actions. It only matters what you do."

"Well, it's not so much that as the fact that now, I'll always be known as the pony who fought things." he said with a frown, "Remember Twilight, I don't want to be seen as violent."

"You did what you thought was right. Besides, based on how desperate I heard the salamander was about to get Diamond Tiara, I don't think even Fluttershy could have stopped that beast peacefully." she said in an attempt to comfort him.

"I guess when I do go to accept the medal, I can tell the foals that violence isn't cool, and that it should be a thing used only as a last resort." he reasoned, bringing his injured leg up to make a thinking pose.

Twilight noticed the bandage wrap now and became concerned.

"Oh, your leg!"

Techorse said to her while extending the damaged limb, "It was hit by a molten rock. That magma salamander put up a real fight."

"I still want to know what it was doing in Ponyville." said Twilight, "Magma salamanders live in the mountains and hunt insects. Why would it come here?"

"I don't know." he replied, "But I hope after that battle, they'll stay away."

"Anyways, the ceremony's at ten in the morning tomorrow. Be there!" said Twilight.

"I'll be sure to, if Rarity and Applejack don't find me dead from their siblings' antics."

"Oh, that's right!" Twilight said, "Do you need my help?"

"You can if you want to, but I have PAL watching them right now." he said, "I think they like him."

"Ha, of course, it's PAL we're talking about," she said, "I guess I'll get back then!"

Techorse gave Twilight a hug, and then they parted for the evening.

---

Walking back into the main hallway of the castle, Techorse carried the wrecked saddle by the two black straps on it. He had to use his teeth to hold the device, but the lab was only a short walk from the medical room, and he didn't really mind. Once Techorse reached the laboratory, he prepared to open the door when he heard a revving noise. The colt dropped the ruined saddle and jumped out of the way of a weird rover-like machine that zipped down the stone floor. The electric car crashed into a wall and crumpled up into a heap of loose parts and wire.

"Woo! New record!" shouted Scootaloo as she ran up to the destroyed vehicle.

She was wearing a tiny yellow hardhat on her head, and was preparing to look over the crashed machine.

"Scootaloo, what the hay is this?" asked Techorse angrily as he pointed at the wreckage.

"Oh, it's an electric dune buggy PAL helped us build!" she said, "We're trying to be Cutie Mark Crusader car designers!"

"PAL!" shouted Techorse.

The robot walked in and asked rhetorically, "Did I do something wrong?"

"I told you to pick something safe for them to do! Which one of them is buried in that wreckage?" shouted Techorse in rage.

"None of them, that vehicle's a remote-controlled drone. The others are behind a wall of plexiglass to keep them safe while we test the car."

PAL pointed down the hallway, where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood behind the clear safety material. They waved at Techorse with their front legs, hoping he was happy they invented something just as he liked to do.

"Oh, so you did take all safety considerations into account, I guess," said Techorse, "Sorry I snapped, but next time make sure to test those things outside!"

"Don't worry master Techorse, I'll clean this up, and then we'll take it outside."

The robot went over to the pile of car parts and picked up the wreckage, placing each piece in a black garbage bag. Techorse smiled and took his damaged saddle back into the laboratory for repairs. In retrospect, it was actually quite funny that the robot had helped the foals build the giant RC car

After collecting all the pieces and stuffing them in the bag, PAL brought Scootaloo back to her friends.

He addressed the three, "It looks like we can keep building these cars girls, we just have to take it outside."

"But it's dark out now." said Sweetie Belle with a timid frown.

"What, are you scared?" asked Apple Bloom.

"No." lied Sweetie Belle shakily.

Scootaloo looked at the bag of wrecked car parts and said, "You know girls, I really don't want to build another car unless one of us has earned our cutie marks for it. Let's check."

"Ok!" agreed Sweetie Belle eagerly. Unfortunately for the young ponies, not a single one of them had earned their cutie mark for learning how to build the remote controlled vehicle. PAL couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

"Perhaps there's something else you'd like to try?" asked PAL, "Let's not give up hope yet."

"Is there somethin' else we can do 'round here that Techie won't get mad over?" asked Apple Bloom of the robot.

"I don't think he'd mind if we went hunting in the woods." said PAL.

"Hunting?" screamed Sweetie Belle, "We don't eat meat!"

"Not for animals!" laughed PAL, "For exotic plants. The woods behind the castle are little bit tamer than the Everfree forest, so we can safely look for them."

"Lookin' at plants? Now what would that do for us?" questioned Apple Bloom.

"It's called botany. If it works for you, you'd be Cutie Mark Crusader Botanists!"

"That's hard to say." complained Scootaloo.

"Who cares?" reasoned Sweetie Belle.

PAL walked over to a nearby closet and took out a trio of flashlights. Using some straps, he attached a light around the middle of each of the three ponies, and then turned on the flashlights with the push of a button.

"These will let us see in the dark. I don't want you three getting lost without a light."

"I love it!" said Sweetie Belle as she looked back at the yellow plastic tube, "It's kinda fashionable."

"I'm glad you like it." said PAL, "Now let's get to those plants."

The four left the castle through the back door and headed out into the forest to hunt for the exotic plant life.

---

Meanwhile, Techorse was in his laboratory performing repairs on his battle saddle. Wearing a welding mask over his face, he attached two new robotic arms to the stumps left behind from the skirmish. With those repairs complete, it was now possible for him to work with the new arms using his thoughts. Techorse flipped a switch on the chunk of circuitry and used the mechanical hands to pick up a set of tools nearby. It wouldn't take very long from here to finish the internal repairs, and then the new metal casing could be fitted over the circuit boards.

"Ok, once I finish these repairs, hopefully Applejack and Rarity will be here," said the inventor, "It's getting pretty late."

A huge crashing noise was heard outside followed by hideous screaming. Fearing the worst, Techorse shot up from his invention and made a mad dash for the rear door, hoping that the three foals he was in charge of temporarily were still breathing. Once he made it outside, he scanned the night terrain for the four, looking to see what the cause of the screaming was. It wasn't long before he saw what had happened, while they were out in the woods, a large old tree had fallen when its roots gave due to age. PAL had saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders by pushing them out of the way of the heavy wood, but not without cost. The falling oak had decapitated the robot, and PAL's head lay comically severed on the ground in front on the fallen tree.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to you?" asked Techorse of his robot as he stared in terror at his servant's destroyed body.

"PAL saved our lives!" explained Apple Bloom, "He pushed us out from under this tree."

"But how did the tree fall in the first place?" asked the inventor.

"We were told to look for strange plants, and I saw this one by the base of this tree, so I dug it up." said Scootaloo, "I guess the roots were attached to the plant."

Techorse got extremely angry over the destruction of his robot and screamed at the three foals, "Ok, you three, inside, now!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders drooped their ears and walked slowly back for the door of the castle. Once he saw them go into the building, Techorse picked up PAL's severed head in his mouth and went back inside himself. The robot's body had been smashed by the tree, and would have to be repaired.

After tossing PAL's head onto one of the laboratory tables and hooking it up to an emergency power source, Techorse exited the room and found the Cutie Mark Crusaders looking glum inside his living room. The two green couches and fireplace looked just as dark and miserable as the room's occupants. They were staring at each other with shame, it was obvious that they felt guilty over what happened to PAL. Techorse, now without his saddle or his robot, wanted to really yell at the three friends for what they had done. But he knew he'd be overstepping his bounds, so he decided to act as calmly as possible.

As he entered the living room, he said to them, "Do you three understand what you've done tonight? PAL might not have made it if that tree hadn't cut so clean."

They nodded their heads, aware of their terrible mistake.

"All this was supposed to be was an after-school hang out for an hour or two, and it's become a mess. Look, I can repair PAL and he wouldn't blame you for a second. But if something happens because of these wild things you do..."

"You don't understand us!" complained Sweetie Belle.

"Maybe I don't, but listen, every pony earns their cutie mark at some point, Sweetie Belle. From what Twilight tells me, the later a pony gets theirs, the more sure they are of what they're going to do with their life. You don't need to work on this all the time," said Techorse, no pity in his voice whatsoever.

"Ah I understand it'll happen some day, it's just that we keep getting picked on," said Apple Bloom.

Techorse sighed and said, "Honestly, I don't know what else to say other than to stand up for yourselves."

"Like how you stood up to the reptile?" asked Scootaloo.

His eyes opened wide as he realized there was something he could do to help.

"Yes, actually, but with fewer lasers involved," he answered, "wait right here, I need to finish something."

"Really, what?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Just be patient!" he said as he left the room in a hurry.

Techorse re-entered his lab and passed by PAL's head.

"Fix me." begged PAL.

"Later... I promise," said Techorse as he walked by the remains of the machine and out the other side of the lab.

The inventor walked over to a closet and stared rummaging through the various discarded items in it. Coming across what he was looking for, he picked it up with his front legs and walked over to his workbench. While PAL's head watched, he began to weld and sodder wires on the device contained within the box, finishing off its construction before placing back inside carefully. He then added a handwritten note and brought it back to the living room.

Rarity and Applejack were already there, ready to collect the three, who were keeping themselves occupied quietly with one of the many board games stored on the bookshelf next the castle's fireplace.

"Oh hey Techie," laughed Applejack, "thanks for letting us get those chores done tonight, and congratulations on the award you're gettin' tomorrow!"

"Yes," added Rarity, "and I'd ask if there was trouble, but everypony appears to have stayed in one piece, right?"

The three young ponies laughed nervously and looked at Techorse, who refused to tell the two about PAL's accident. Techorse smiled and placed the box on the coffee table in the room, well within reach of the three.

"Oh, what's that?" asked Applejack.

"I heard about the problem they've been having with being teased at school," he said, "this machine I built is going to help them with that tomorrow, Applejack. That is, if you approve of it."

Applejack and Rarity opened the box and leafed through the instructions, before smiling and nodding together.

"Well, I'll think about it. Gotta ask Scootaloo's parents too."

"Oh of course," continued Rarity, "other than that this could be quite interesting!"

"What is it?" asked Sweetie Belle curiously.

"Just a little bit of harmless fun," chuckled Applejack, understanding Techorse's plan througouhgly.

After a quick goodbye, they left the castle together, leaving Techorse with a smile on his face and the evening by himself to tend to his ever-suffering robot friend.

---

The next morning brought a crowd of ponies around the town hall, eager to see Techorse receive his medal for his valiant fight against the magma salamander. The mayor had placed a podium with a microphone sticking out of the top of it for the guest of honor, and was standing by with the medal inside a small plastic box. The time was now 9:58, only two minutes were left before he was considered late for his own ceremony.

"Oh, where is he?" thought Twilight Sparkle as she looked nervously at the empty stage. She was certain that Techorse would not show up due to being either busy or forgetful. However, her fears were alleviated when he managed to arrive, fashionably late. He had fixed his battle saddle and was wearing the machine proudly on his back. She could also see Rarity, Applejack, and Scootaloo's family bringing along the Crusaders on the other side of the street. The three had beaming smiles and were wearing gray sweaters which covered up most of their bodies.

"Did I make it on time?" asked Techorse of Twilight as he ran up to her.

"Barely, now get up there before you actually are late!" she shouted in response, trying hard not to chastise him for cutting it close.

Techorse jumped up onto the wooden stage and was received with applause from the crowd. As he stood proudly on the deck, the mayor walked up to the microphone and hushed the crow down.

"Today," she said, "We honor Techorse for a great show of bravery against a monster which nearly caused harm to our students. Once again we thank him for his service to Ponyville, and ultimately Equestria as a whole. I shall now present him with this gold star for bravery, the highest award I am capable of giving."

Techorse turned to face the crowd as the mayor approached him, carrying the plastic box containing the medal. The now-repaired robot arms came out of the device, and Techorse saluted with them. He was overjoyed to receive the award for something he considered just his job. But looking down, he spotted Diamond Tiara and her parents, and once again was hit with a bit of annoyance. The mayor had reached him and had taken the medal out of the box. It had a beautiful crimson ribbon striped vertically with blue, on the end of which hung a small metal star plated with 24-carat gold. The mayor undid the pin on the ribbon carefully with her teeth, then moved the medal to her hooves and prepared to place it on Techorse. The colt yelped as the pin missed the straps of his battle saddle and pierced his flesh. All eyes were on the mayor, who blushed and quickly apologized for stabbing him. Techorse, eyes watering from the pain, carefully removed the medal from his body and placed it on the saddle in the correct position. As he fastened the medal to the black strap, he heard Rainbow Dash laugh at his misfortune.

"Congratulations Techorse!" said the mayor.

"SPEECH!" shouted Pinkie Pie, eager to hear some words of honor from her friend, and also because she enjoyed shouting that at every ceremony she attended.

Techorse laughed and said into the microphone, "All right Pinkie, I'll give a speech, and I'm sure you'll love it."

"What I did yesterday should be something we all can do. Not necessarily fight a monster, but be a good citizen..."

As he gave his 5 minute speech, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon snuck away from their parents to do some spontaneous teasing of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They walked up to the three and began spouting unkind words.

"Well look who brought their ugly faces out. It's the blank flanks!" said Silver Spoon.

"Blanks flanks? Not anymore!" said Scootaloo.

"What?" shrieked Diamond Tiara, "No way!" She was suspicious, after all, there had been plenty of times the three had appeared to have earned their marks falsely.

"Show 'em, girls!" said Apple Bloom.

They took off the gray sweaters, revealing the new cutie marks. Apple Bloom had a new single hammer on her flank. Sweetie Belle had three cookies for hers, and Scootaloo displayed a wrench proudly.
Diamond Tiara was a little upset, but she was still going to find a way to be superior to the three, even if they had earned their cutie marks.

"Who cares?" she said to them, "So you earned them. Big deal."

"What's wrong?" asked Sweetie Belle without any mocking, "I thought you'd think we're cool!"

"Of course not!" she said, "You're cutie marks aren't as good as ours! Blank flanks or cutie marks, you three will always be a bunch of losers!"

Diamond Tiara noticed that her voice had sounded much louder than she had intended to. Looking up a bit, she saw to her horror that Techorse had used his robotic arms to position the microphone right next to her head without her noticing. The entire crowd had heard her verbally attack the three.

"... And this is where I conclude my speech," said Techorse with anger in his voice, "the easiest way to do good for community isn't to fight monsters, it's to do the right thing for your fellow pony. A great example would be to be nice to those who haven't yet gotten their cutie marks."

"But they have marks!" shouted Diamond Tiara's father.

"No they don't," said Applejack, jumping up to the microphone herself.

Rarity also approached with what looked like three ink-stained pieces of wax paper suspended in her magic, "Those are temporary tattoos printed by a machine Tech made! They'll come off."

Techorse pulled the mic back in front of himself and continued, "Since my friends' siblings were feeling bad about not yet earning their cutie marks, I asked if I could help out. It's more productive when we choose to work together, rather than let ponies pick on each other."

The crowd stared menacingly at Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara's parents. They drooped their ears, and left the crowd in shame. Techorse received a weird look from Twilight for setting up the two families, but he could see in her eyes that she half-approved of the action. Secretly, she agreed that the 'humiliation' the families had received was well deserved.

Techorse finished his speech, "So, citizens of Ponyville, if you want to be like me, you don't have to fight a monster. You just need to tell your family to be willing to help his or her fellow pony. Thank you!"

Techorse walked off stage to thunderous applause. As the crowd dispersed, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found their older sisters and gave them hugs. It seemed that after today they'd be freed from teasing after what Techorse did. The green stallion approached Rarity and Applejack with a smile on his face, the medal still firmly attached to the straps on his saddle.

"Excellent speech Tech!" said Rarity to him, "And thanks again for all your assistance last evening."

"It was easy, they just played some games in the living room while I worked," Techorse answered.

"So, any idea why PAL didn't show up to see ya get your medal?" asked Applejack as she rubbed Apple Bloom on the head.

"Oh, uhhh," Techorse droned, "he was a bit light headed since yesterday."

Scootaloo said to him, "Hey Techie, thanks for helping us stop Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Even though we don't really have our cutie marks yet, I'm sure we won't get teased anymore. Maybe they won't even talk to us at all!"

Twilight Sparkle caught up with them, having overhead, and said, "You know, if those two change, maybe you should consider trying to be their friends. Techorse's speech about helpfulness goes for everypony."

"Yes it does," agreed Apple Bloom, "and we're not gonna leave 'em out just because they were mean, right girls?"

"Right!"

"I say we all go back to the farm fer some cider!" said Applejack with a smile, "You comin', Techie?"

Techorse shook his head and laughed a bit, "Thanks, but I have a promise I made to a friend to fix him... I mean his problem. Take care you three!"

The colt's saddle opened up, and the twin fans he used to fly slid out. He lifted up into the air and flew off to return back home.

"Can we still have cider?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle!" scolded Rarity.

"No, it's ok, Rarity!" said Applejack, trying to calm her down, "Of course we're still goin' back to the farm."

"Why's that?" asked Rarity suspiciously.

Applejack chuckled, "Were ya paying attention to Techie's explanation as to why PAL didn't show? Him feelin' 'light headed'? A promise to fix his friend? I want to hear how ya'll managed to knock PAL's head off!"

Rarity laughed a bit at the thought, and agreed to come along. As the five headed back for the farm, Apple Bloom looked at her friends and knew that no matter what happened, they would always have each other for support. More importantly, after Techorse's speech, she knew that no matter how long it took to earn their cutie marks, whether just around the corner or in the future, they had less to worry about, and it put a happy smile on her face.