Cars in Equestria

by Dudofall

Chapter Seven: Need Never Go Home

Oloy sighed dramatically as he brought the last brake to Twilight. It was a bulky machine, and heavily enchanted, judging by the purple glow emanating from it. "What's the magic on this thing do again?" he asked.

"I already told you several times, the spell converts heat into energy for a light spell!" she exclaimed.

Oloy rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He glanced over to Spike, who was attaching the second-to-last brake to the prototype, which had also gained a cushion in the front. He'd been gone in the morning for an errand. When asked who the errand was for, he'd deadpanned "She likes rocks." Now, the dragon gave him a thumbs-up, and he waved a hoof back. Twilight shook the brake around to check if it was fully attached. It didn't move too much, and she smiled.

"Ready for another test?" she asked.

Oloy hopped into the prototype. "You bet!" He couldn't wait to finish this last test and never be forced to talk to Spike ever again. The two had reached a truce at a secret overnight meeting. Twilight prepared the new safety measure, a magical mixture that would help his hooves stick to the floor of the cart.

"Test #15 starts now!" she shouted, pulling the lever. The engine failed to start. "Or...maybe in just a minute," she said, befuddled. Half an hour later, Oloy was getting really sick of being stuck to the cart floor.

"Could I take a look?" he asked. Twilight looked up from the engine.

"Sure! Come on down and see! You are here to learn, after all." Oloy tugged his hooves weakly. "Oh, right!" She cast the necessary spell, and the goop floated back into the mixing bowl. The student stretched out his legs and jumped down.

He looked at the engine. Everything seemed to be in place. Except..."Where's the coal?" he asked.

"What do you mean, coal? This prototype runs on something far better than coal!" Twilight said defensively.

"Well, if you're out of that something, I bet it won't work. Besides, what could be better than coal anyway?"

Twilight's horn glowed, summoning a chalkboard. She began to write complicated formulas on it. "To synthesize the best fuel, I first asked myself these basic questions. What makes trains go? How can I make something that's smaller than a train go? What kind of fuel do I need? Next, it was a fairly simple process to look over the available materials and devise the best solution to my problem."

Oloy Victorium tapped her on the shoulder. "Could you just skip to what's making this go? I couldn't care less about how you got there."

"Well," Twilight stiffened, "basically, it's got some of Princess Celestia's shampoo and a rare mineral I got from one of my generous friends. The ratio is about 3:14, if you must know."

"Thanks! I'll be right back with those!" Oloy started to run off, before returning slowly. "Um...where did you say your generous friend was?"

She smiled. "I think Spike knows exactly where to find her. Want to help Oloy out a little?"

Spike grinned. It was a grin that showed off a few too many of his dragon teeth. "I would love to!"

"Great! I'll see you two later!" Twilight waved as Oloy and Spike walked away. After a moment, she eyed a jittery set of bushes nearby. "I wonder if Pinkie is close by?" she said loudly. Said pony's head popped out of the greenery immediately.

"If you want to talk to me, just say hello! That's what everypony else does!" Pinkie pointed out.

Twilight nodded sagely. "Hello Pinkie!"

"Hi Twilight! Did you like the fireworks?"

"They were pretty good, but I've reworked my design a lot since then. Now this thing runs on Princess Celestia's shampoo and pectolite."

"How are other ponies going to get such rare stuff?"

"Other ponies?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, it wouldn't be much of an invention if you're the only one getting to my parties faster!"

***

Oloy banged on the door a couple of times. "Hello?"

Spike glared at him. "You're supposed to knock gently on a lady's door. Like this!" He tapped a single claw on the door with the strength of an inchworm.

"Coming!" Rarity sang from inside. She opened the door gracefully, careful not to let it slam. "Good afternoon, Spike! Who's your friend?"

Spike winced at the word 'friend'. "Just a student who's working with Twilight. He should be leaving soon."

"Well, I hope you take some time to enjoy Ponyville! It's a quiet town, but bristling with rustic charm!"

Oloy smiled. "I sure will. I'm Oloy Victorium! Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too! Are you taking a tour, then?"

Spike shook his head. "We need some more of that rare gemstone you gave Twilight for the experiment."

"How official!" Rarity scratched her head. "But I don't recall giving her any gemstone. Unless you count the faux-amethyst on a dress I made for her, and even that was weeks and weeks ago!" Spike frowned.

Oloy thought for a moment. "Didn't you say you visited somepony earlier today who likes rocks?"

"Of course," the dragon replied flatly. "Let's go visit Maude again."

Rarity smiled. "I'm glad you know who can help you! Stop by anytime!" She closed the door behind them, and Oloy followed Spike.

"It'll be nice to see more of Ponyville!" he said, looking around and finding plenty of rustic charm.

"We're technically going to Ponyville Adjacent," Spike corrected. Oloy shrugged. As long as it wasn't more crystal, he was excited to see more of the town.

***

The cave was brimming with crystals. Oloy squinted a bit, trying to find something nice about the place. "I live in the crystal empire, but I've never seen this many crystals in one place before!"

Spike sighed. "Don't worry, this is just the entrance." The two soon found themselves in a less crystalline locale. Oloy didn't have any trouble complimenting this room.

"I love the water feature! It really gives this place a lovely ambiance! And the decorations are simply stunning! Oh, what I wouldn't give to be staying here instead of in that sterile castle."

A gray pony in a frock stepped forward to greet him. "Hi. My name is Maude. Nice to meet you."

"Hi Maude! I'm Oloy Victorium! Well, I guess we're not here to talk about your living conditions all day!" He paused to laugh. Maude blinked.

"We?" she asked. Spike stepped out from behind Oloy. "Oh. Hi Spike."

The dragon gave the slightest of smiles. "Hi Maude. We need some more of that rock for Twilight's experiment."

Maude widened her eyes a fraction. "You already used up what I gave you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll get some more." She turned around and walked over to a curtain, which covered a hole in the wall. Stone shelves were lined neatly with gems and rocks of varying shades. A moment later, Maude picked up a sea blue gemstone and brought it to Oloy. "I'm out of paper," she explained.

Spike gave a tiny shrug. "It's alright."

Maude glanced at Oloy. "I see. Goodbye." And with that, she grabbed a large sack, carried it behind the curtain, and closed it. Spike guided Oloy away. As soon as they had left the crystal entrance, the student was able to levy his numerous questions.

"Why did she act so weird? Why did you act so weird?"

"Hey, you didn't think the paint shop pony was weird!"

"That's completely different!"

"How?" Spike asked pointedly. Oloy raised a hoof, then slowly lowered it as he tried to come up with a rebuttal. "She likes rocks. Surely you of all ponies can understand that!"

"That's blatant prejudice! Not all crystal ponies like crystals!"

"You still build houses out of them, just like Maude!"

"Maude didn't build that!"

"You didn't build that!"

Oloy moaned. "That doesn't mean anything! I can believe her contracting a bunch of experienced ponies to make that cave for her, I can even believe that she helped plan the place out and fix their mistakes. But nopony could build that whole cave from scratch."

"I saw her make that closet earlier today."

"What?"

"Yeah! I said, 'Hey Maude, you shouldn't leave all these delicious gems on the ground!' Then, buddabuddabuddabuddaBOOM! She hammered away the rock until there were shelves and everything!"

"You're pulling my leg."

"Nope! My sister really is super strong!" said the bushes.

Oloy flew into the air. "Gah!"

Pinkie popped out of the bushes. "Gah! Yourself silly!"

"Maude is your sister?!" Oloy cried.

Pinkie grinned. "Yup! She's the best older sister ever!"

Oloy ran a hoof through his mane. "If she's your relative, I'll believe anything..."

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[AnObliviousAuthor]

Oloy ran a hoof through his mane. "If she's your relative, I'll believe anything..."

A wise decision.