Research and Development

by Jigsaw

Chapter 1 - Impacting the Community

BANG!

A cluttered, steel wagon burst over the hill as several large chunks of metal spewed from its side. The rocket-propelled wagon carried two unicorns. Both running manically across the machine's surface, trying to keep it intact.

"WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?" screamed a bronze stallion at his counterpart.

"SHUT UP AND KEEP THIS THING FROM TEARING ITSELF APART," a green mare bellowed back as a massive piece of sheet metal ripped itself off the sizable machine.

"A SELF-PROPELLED WAGON WAS NOT OUR BEST IDEA."

"DO I NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF?"

The black-haired stallion struggled to hold the shattering contraption together. His eyes clenched shut as the lime-green aura surrounding his horn slowly crawled back from the less important parts of the machine and enveloped the more necessary sections. As soon as the aura around the unnecessary sections dissipated, they ripped themselves from the chassis of the vehicle, leaving four wheels, a pitiful steering system, and an engine large enough to move the entire city of Canterlot.

"WHOEVER WHO DECIDED THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE THIS BIG DESERVES A KICK IN THE TEETH," the stallion screamed while haphazardly strapping together sections of the frame, which were presently collapsing under the strain of the engine.

"THAT WAS YOU, IDIOT," the mare screamed back, using her own gold aura to remove a piece of metal from the steering gearbox.

"MY POINT EXACTLY," the stallion replied as he used the mare's plate to cover cracks in a tank of highly flammable liquid which had only just began to form.

The mare choked back a laugh, swept her grey hair out of her face, and crawled to the lower sections of the machine's frame.

The pair worked in tandem, tossing damaged parts the other could use, green and gold auras sharing the burden of the machine's damage. Both ponies were acting as one unit, jury-rigging the machine as they threw insults and screamed at each other. After almost ten minutes worth of bickering, the machine was pieced into a manageable state of repair, and the two unicorns turned their attention back to maneuvering the bestial machine.

The two of them continued to hold the wagon of death together until he stallion shouldered the burden and settled himself in the center of the once great machine. The mare slammed onto the brakes as hard as she could, which screeched and shattered as they hurtled toward the final hill of their journey.

---

"Did anyone hear that?" Rainbow dash asked as Pinkie Pie's tail shook violently.

"Hear what, dear?" Rarity replied to her friend.
"AAAAAAAAA"
"I think I can hear something," Applejack said as Pinkie looked toward a hill just north of them.
"AAAAAAAAAAA"
"Ooh, ooh, is it that big metal wagon coming right for us?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"EVERYPONY GET OUT OF THE WAY," a green mare yelled as her counterpart and their flaming machine plummeted, both wailing madly.

The six ponies each darted away from the metal comet as it crashed into the center of the road they had occupied moments ago. The wagon popped and fizzled as a few extra chunks of metal collapsed off its side. Down the road, several ponies took cover from the light hail of bolts, gears, and the two nuts who landed a few moments later.

"Are you two ok?" Twilight asked, a worried expression forming on her face as she saw the two scratched and bruised ponies lying on the ground.

Her look of worry subsided slightly as the mare slowly stood up and began to introduce herself, "Sorry about the mess. We'll get that cleaned up as soon as we can. My name is Short Circuit and this is my counterpart, Jigsaw," the charred bronze unicorn winced slightly, having just awoken after a knock-out punch from the ground.

Jigsaw began glancing between the shattered pile of rubble and the ponies which had until recently been standing in its place, "I'm real sorry, everypony, and I would like to help- AAAH." He tried to stand up, and a jolt of pain that shot through his left foreleg causing him to collapse back onto the ground, "So much for cleanup duty. Maybe if I..." His eyes clamped shut as he concentrated as much energy as he could into his magic, but the pain in his leg forced him out of his concentration.

Twilight motioned toward a pair of earth ponies gaping at the wreckage, "You two, get him to the hospital. In the meantime," Twilight glared at Short Circuit, "Before anything else, why did you come to Ponyville riding a flaming metal wagon?"

Short Circuit smiled awkwardly, glancing between Twilight and Jigsaw, who turned around a corner, out of view. "I admit it wasn't our best idea, and it was very poorly executed, but a self-propelled wagon was a good idea in theory."

Twilight facehoofed, "There is a train that can take you to Ponyville from anywhere you might be coming from."

"Well, if you're comparing this thing to a train, I'd say we made great time. By the way, I don't think I ever got your name."

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and... where's Pinkie?" Twilight gestured to each of the ponies in turn, stopping when she noticed a gap in the group where Pinkie Pie had been standing.

"She probably just went to start one of her 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties," Rainbow Dash said, "Those are always fun. Oh man, Twilight, remember when you drank a glass of hot sauce at your surprise party?"

"Yea, then ya locked yourself in your room for the night," Applejack added.

"That was before I figured out friendship is a good thing. At the time, I thought studying hard enough could solve all my problems."

"You still do," interrupted Rainbow.

"Alright, this was fun, but I should really be checking up on my friend," Short Circuit interjected, "Where is the hospital?"

"How 'bout we show you the way? That way, we could get to know each other better," Applejack offered.

"Lead the way," Short said as she followed Applejack, "By the way, where's the library?"

---

After a relatively short walk, and a conversation with the nurse at the front desk, Short Circuit walked into the waiting room, opening a book, just like she had a hundred times before. Unfortunately, most of her own books were either back in Manehatten or burned up during her move here, so she had to borrow a book on particle physics from Twilight to pass the time. Having a job that involves both power tools and slight mental instability generally means you are going to get sent to the hospital more than any pony ever should.

It's lucky neither of us has lost any limbs yet, Short Circuit thought to herself, both of us have had our fair share of broken bones, chemical burns, electrical fires, radiation sickness- ok, now that I think about it, it's lucky we're even alive, let alone healthy.

After waiting for Jigsaw to come out of the anesthesia, the two blue-eyed ponies were finally able to walk through town together, even though Jigsaw needed crutches, and there were still bandages covering his burns.

Finally, he said what was on both their minds, "It has certainly been an interesting first day, hasn't it?"

Author's Note:

This is the first story I've written, so please feel free to leave criticisms in the comments.

Comments

[TheAmazingMe]

A little clunky on Twilight's dialogue in one place.

"That was before I figured out friendship is a good thing. At the time, I thought studying hard enough could solve all my problems."

But I got a good laugh outta this line

Down the road, several ponies took cover from the light hail of bolts, gears, and the two nuts...

Well played.

The inclusion of canon characters, let alone the whole mane six, is ambitious. You have my applause. Of course it's in the execution and not just the inclusion that we tend to truly distinguish ourselves. I wish you well as you continue this story.

Your OC's have fairly good interactions with each other, but haven't yet established much of a personality. It'll be interesting to see them develop.

[Jigsaw]

6150305 Thanks for your advice. I'm planning on much more character development as the story progresses. Also, I'm fairly new to writing in general, so please forgive me for the clunky dialogue. I'll try to watch out for that in the future.