Love Made of Metal and Apples

by Gearsmash King

Chapter 9: Two Stars

WHAM! BOOM! CRASH!

"DARN IT!" Copper Finish yelled as a pipe fell from it's place.

He was settled into his new workshop/home, along with Fire Bolt and Pearlescent. It had taken longer than Copper Finish hoped, but they finally managed to get all their belongings down to Ponyville and in the proper places. It almost felt like home. But now Copper Finish was facing a different problem.

"What's wrong?" Fire Bolt asked, picking up the pipe.

Copper Finish looked at the pipe, then at the place it had fallen from and shook his head.

"The main keeps building too much pressure and the release valve isn't working." Copper Finish groaned, "Every time I try to reroute the pressure, something comes flying off."

Copper Finish had been working on steam powered mining equipment. Trying to build new designs for the mines and quarries of Equestria. Unfortunately, his latest creation was causing more trouble than it was worth. Which, in turn, caused him stress.

"I don't mean to change the subject, Coppa." Fire Bolt said, placing the pipe next to some other parts, "But didn't you say, after we moved here, you'd tell Applejack that you like her?"

Copper Finish shot a look at Fire Bolt, which meant, "That's not your problem, leave it alone."

"I'll tell her," Copper Finish replied, "when the time is right."

Fire Bolt rolled his eyes and sighed.

It had been three days since Copper Finish moved to Ponyville. But he still had so much to do, including, telling Applejack that he liked her. Working late into the night, wasn't helping him. If anything, it caused more problems and stress. Both were things Copper Finish would rather leave him alone.

"Look, Coppa," Fire Bolt yawned, "I'm going to bed. Just try to keep the noise down, alright?"

Copper Finish just nodded and went back to work. Fire Bolt turned and made his way to a door on the side of the work area.

Two hours had gone by and Copper Finish still couldn't fix the pressure problem.

"Alright, fine!" Copper Finish growled as he grabbed a bucket of water, "I'll deal with you later."

Psssstsssshhhh!

Copper Finish threw the water out of the bucket and into the firebox, extinguishing the fire inside. Then he put the bucket on the ground and made his way to some stairs that lead to the roof. Copper Finish climbed to the top and opened the door. As Copper Finish did, he felt a cool breeze rush passed him. He stepped into the moonlight and looked up at the stars.

"Princess Luna must be very proud of her work." Copper Finish said to himself.

"Indeed, I am." A voice said in a gentle tone.

Copper Finish whipped his head around in surprise and found Princess Luna sitting comfortably in a lawn chair, that he had left on roof.

"Your highness." Copper Finish bowed, respectfully welcoming his surprise guest.

Luna didn't say another word as her horn began to glow and a second chair appeared.

"Have a seat, my friend." Luna said, motioning for him to sit next to her.

"Did she just call me her friend?" Copper Finish thought, returning to a normal stance.

Copper Finish obeyed and sat in the chair. He looked at Luna, expecting to hear that she wanted something from him. But Luna wasn't looking back at him, because she was looking up at a group of stars.

"I wish to show you something." Luna said as her horn began to glow again, "Look up."

Cooper Finish looked up and saw several stars begin to move. Only two of them remained still, which made Copper Finish curious. Both stars were on opposite sides of the group, but Copper Finish couldn't understand why Luna would leave those two alone. After a while, Luna's horn stopped glowing and the stars stopped moving. From what Copper Finish could tell, the stars formed a big maze.

"Do you see that star, there?" Luna asked, pointing to the star on the right.

"Yes." Copper Finish said, looking at the star in confusion.

"Good." Luna replied, moving her hoof towards the star on the left, "Now, do you see that one?"

"Yes." Copper Finish replied, still confused, "Why?"

Luna's horn began to glow again and the star on the left began to flicker.

"This star wants to be with the one on the far end." She said, moving the star close to the entrance of the maze, "I'm going to move it and you shall direct me to the other star."

Copper Finish wanted to ask what she was trying to do, but instead, he chose to just follow along and direct her. The maze wasn't easy to beat, because every so often, Luna would block a path and cause Copper Finish to change course. But he managed to guide her to the end. After the two stars were beside each other, Luna started moving the stars back to where they had been. The two stars, however, remained exactly where they stayed in the sky. Then Luna's horn stopped glowing and the only light that remained was from the stars and moon.

"Forgive me for asking, princess," Copper Finish said in a humble voice, "but what was the purpose of all that?"

"Those two stars represent two ponies I know." Luna replied, still looking at the stars, "A mare and a stallion, to be precise."

Copper Finish turned and looked at the princess of the night, sensing that this was important.

"Both have very much in common," Luna continued, "but he is very shy and she is very stubborn. However, neither one of them know the meaning of defeat and do their best."

"Have they met before?" Copper Finish asked, eager to know about these two ponies that Luna knew.

"As a matter of fact," Luna replied, "they have. They met only a few weeks ago, but they don't see each other, often."

"Did they ever have a romantic moment?" Copper Finish asked, burning with curiosity.

"I've looked into their dreams." Luna said as a small grin formed on her face, "So far, the best moment that they have ever had, was sleeping in the driver's cabin of a small train. Along with that one time they danced at the Grand Galloping Gala."

Copper Finish felt his face blush the deepest shade of red after she said that. At that moment, Copper Finish realized who Luna was talking about and his eyes widened. The two ponies were him and Applejack, because that's exactly how their relationship was. If it had been Fire Bolt and Rainbow Dash, than he wouldn't be sweating. But he was and for a good reason. Luna caught onto this and looked at the shocked stallion.

"Why haven't you done what you said you were going to do?" Luna asked as her grin slowly faded away.

Copper Finish pulled himself together and leaned back on his chair.

"Because I'm afraid of what she'll think of me." Copper Finish sighed.

"You don't know what she'll think, unless you ask her." Luna said, "Why not do it tonight?"

"I can't ask her in the middle of the night." Copper Finish said, rubbing the back of his neck, "She's most likely sound asleep, by now. And it wouldn't look good for me to just wake her."

"What if she was already awake?" Luna grinned.

"If she was awake, sure." Copper Finish replied.

Then he turned to look at Luna again, only to see that she was levitating a pair of binoculars and looking at something in the distance. Copper Finish turned his head towards whatever she was looking at and saw a flickering yellow light. The light seemed to be somewhere near Sweet Apple Acres.

"Look and tell me what you see." Luna said, letting Copper Finish look through the binoculars.

Copper Finish adjusted the focus and looked at the flickering light. The light belonged to a lantern, but that wasn't all he saw. Next to the lantern, he saw Applejack sitting on the ground, under a big tree and looking up at the stars. Then Copper Finish felt his heart speed up.

"I can see Applejack." Copper Finish said, feeling his muscles tighten.

"And she appears to be awake." Luna replied, taking the binoculars back.

Copper Finish's ears drooped as he lowered his head.

"I guess I should go and tell her, huh?" Copper Finish gulped, feeling some regret.

"It is not my place to make that decision, 'tis yours." Luna replied, getting out of her chair, "I trust that you shall make the right choice."

Before Copper Finish could say another word, Luna spread her wings and took to the air. She disappeared into the dark night, leaving Copper Finish on his roof to decide what his next move should be.

---

"I've never seen the stars do that before." Applejack thought.

She had just seen several stars move and form what looked like a big maze. Then Applejack watched a star navigate it's way through and meet up with another star. After that, the stars went back to their original places, except two. Which were the two stars that were at the end of the maze.

"I'll bet Discord was tryin' to mess with Luna's night and got yelled at for it." Applejack chuckled to herself.

There were some nights when Applejack would come out to her parent's tree and think. But for the past few nights, she's been going out to it almost every night.

"I wonder if Copper saw that, too." She thought as her eyes dropped towards a very big building, near the railway.

From where she sat, Applejack had a good view of Ponyville. And the moonlight made it easy to see Copper Finish's workshop. The whole building was three structures, mashed into one. Applejack could see the roundhouse for locomotives, the steam stacks for the work floor, and a reasonable sized wing for living space. It was an interesting place, not to mention the biggest.

"Nah." Applejack said, shaking her head, "I'll bet he's already dreamin'."

"Who's dreaming?" A familiar voice asked.

Applejack turned her head in surprise, not expecting to see Copper Finish standing just outside of her lantern's light.

"What are ya doin' here?" Applejack asked, "I was just about gonna throw this at ya."

She held up her lantern, so she could see him better. Copper Finish just stood there, wearing only his hat and a nervous smile.

"In a way," Copper Finish replied, "I wish you did."

"Why?" Applejack asked, lowering her lantern to the ground.

Copper Finish lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"Because I came here to see you." He sighed, "And now I feel like an idiot."

Applejack had a curious expression on her face as she set the lantern down.

"You know what," Copper Finish continued, turning away to leave, "maybe I shouldn't be out here. I'm just gonna go back-"

"No!" Applejack protested, cutting off his sentence, "Don't go!"

Copper Finish turned back towards Applejack, somewhat surprised by her sudden outburst.

"I mean," she stammered, correcting her tone, "I didn't say ya'll had to leave."

Copper Finish, being the gentlecolt he was, accepted her invitation and cracked a small nervous grin. They sat together, under the big tree and looked at the stars. The stars gleamed beautifully in the night sky.

"This is a very lovely tree." Copper Finish said, admiring the stars through it's branches.

"Thank ya. It was my parent's tree." Applejack sighed, lowering her head, "It's actually where my dad proposed to my mom."

"Is that right?" Copper Finish said, feeling nervous and expecting her father to jump out from the darkness, "It just occurred to me, I've never met your parents. I mean, I've met your brother, sister, and grandmother. But not your parents."

Copper Finish turned his head towards Applejack, but what he saw wasn't what he was expecting.

"The reason why ya'll have never met them," Applejack sniffed, tears forming in her eyes, "is because they died just a few months after Apple Bloom was born."

Feeling a sharp pain slice through him, Copper Finish took off his hat. Respectfully honoring the love and respect Applejack had for her departed parents. Then Copper Finish remembered his own father and how much he missed him. He moved closer to Applejack and put a hoof on her shoulder. Applejack felt his hoof and leaned in closer to him, letting Copper Finish wrap his hoof around her to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, I know how you feel." Copper Finish said softly, "I lost my father too."

"I'm sorry too. How'd it happen?" Applejack asked as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

Copper Finish told her the story of his father and the fire. As he told the story, Copper Finish noticed that it didn't hurt as much as before. And he knew why, because he was telling somepony who felt the same way. Which made him feel more confident inside and it felt odd.

"At least ya'll know how it happened." Applejack said as the tears slowly went away, "I was too young to know what happened to mine."

Then Applejack looked up at Copper Finish, who had tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"How can ya smile at all that?" Applejack asked, slightly confused, "Nopony should smile after a story like that."

Copper Finish looked into her green eyes and wiped away a tear in his.

"I'm smiling because of all the good times me and Dad had before he died." Copper Finish said, grabbing his hat and looking at the photo, "That's how I stay happy, when I should be sad."

Applejack grinned and placed her head back on his shoulder. Then Copper Finish looked up and focused on the two stars, that he and Luna had put beside each other.

"Hey, Applejack?" Copper Finish said, pointing at the stars, "Do you see those two stars?"

"Yeah." Applejack replied, looking at the two stars that he was pointing at, "Why?"

"There's an interesting and short story between those two stars." Copper Finish smiled, feeling braver.

"I suppose y're gonna tell me about it." Applejack said with a smirk.

Copper Finish started telling the story. But the story he told was altered slightly. Applejack listened carefully to the story and put the pieces together. Applejack was smart and she had a feeling, she knew where this was going.

"So, has he told her how he feels, yet?" Applejack asked, after Copper Finish stopped telling the story.

"No." Copper Finish sighed, "Because he's afraid of what she'll think of him if she doesn't like him."

Applejack took off her hat and put it next to his.

"What if she gave him a sign?" Applejack asked, turning to face him and moving closer, "To show that she did like him."

"That might work," Copper Finish said, turning towards her, "but what-mmph!"

Before Copper Finish could complete his sentence, Applejack kissed him right on the lips. Caught off guard, Copper Finish's eyes went wide in surprised. He could feel his heartbeat gallop and pound in his chest. But he didn't try to get away. Instead, he closed his eyes and embraced the best and most beautiful experience of his life. Then he felt Applejack pull away and opened his eyes.

"How does he feel, now?" Applejack asked, breathing softly as a smile crossed her face.

"Now, he feels like the happiest pony in the world." Copper Finish grinned as his heartrate slowly returned to normal, "Like somepony just started a fire in him and now he feels like nothing can stop him."

Applejack smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"You want to hear something interesting?" Copper Finish asked, "I've had this feeling since that moment I crashed into you."

"I'll tell ya somethin' interestin' too." Applejack smiled, "After we left the Gala, I felt a little empty inside. Because I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

"Well, you'll never have to say goodbye," Copper Finish chuckled as the fear left him, "because I'm planning on staying."

Applejack moved in closer ready to give him another kiss.

"I love you, Applejack." Copper Finish said before Applejack kissed him again.

"I love you, too." She said, locking lips with the engineer again.

Both ponies embraced each other, unaware that they were being watched. Behind some trees and hiding in the shadows, Princess Luna watched from a distance.

"I knew he would make the right choice." Luna whispered to herself.

Author's Note:

Story's not over yet, people. I've still got one more trick up my sleeve.

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Found your story and I really love it!

I guess it's almost over than?

[Gearsmash King]

>>PlatinumPony Sadly, yes. But, I'm planning on making a sequel, but I've got other stories in the wind. So, it'll be slow going, but it'll most likely happen.