• Published 17th Jun 2012
  • 2,116 Views, 72 Comments

Returning Survivor - Itchy



A pony returns as the sole survivor of a division of scouts, here is the story of his life after.

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Windy Night

“I can't believe they screwed up my order...” Mecha mumbled to himself, walking towards Ponyville. “I mean, how hard is it to make a giant block of metal!” The source of his discontent was being half dragged behind, attached to him via rope. “At least it's the right amount...” for the item was a giant eleven foot by eight and a half foot sheet of metal, about a sixteenth of an inch thick.

A rumbling in the distance made Mecha look up into the sky, to see dark clouds charged with lightning. “And now I walk into the storm, could this day get any worse!”

As if to answer his question, an extremely strong gust of wind caught the metal sheet, lifting them into the air, leading to Mecha screaming out, “I hate you fate!”

The wind blew Mecha into Ponyville... and into the upper branches of Twilight Sparkle's library/house, before slowing down.

“And now I'm tangled in a tree... great.” Sighing, Mecha was about to release his sword from his mechanical hoof when the wind picked up again, ramming him against another large branch, lodging it into a fork, as well as jamming it with smaller branches. “Wrath's dagger in Greed's treasure chest under Sloth's hammock reflected in Pride's mirror under Envy's gaze!” he swore, as the wind shifted directions, causing him great pain as it tried to pull him away from the branch his leg was stuck in.

When the wind lightened up a little, Mecha made a quick decision, and unattached his mechanical leg. “Well,” Mecha said, “that could of gone better.”

It was then that fate decided to try and throw him a bone, and let the wind swing him towards a near by window. Grabbing onto the ledge with his remaining front hoof, Mecha tried knocking on it with his head, hollering out, “Twilight! Help me! Please, the rope is starting to dig into my ribs!”

Unfortunately, it appeared that the bone that fate threw Mecha missed, as Twilight couldn't hear him, and at the same time the wind picked up, forcing him to let go of the ledge due to the force behind it, swinging him around the tree, and into it. “Ow... gonna feel that latter...” Mecha moaned.

LINEBREAKER

Half an hour later, and many injuries later, Mecha was once again near the window. Grabbing onto the ledge once more, Mecha was about to try shouting again, but stopped when he saw Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle all inside, and making s'mores. “S'mores? They're making s'mores and relaxing while I'm stuck out here!?! What the...”

Cut off mid-rant by the wind once more, Mecha began swinging in the wind, hitting his head on almost all of the branches.

LINEBREAKER

After several hours of swinging in the wind, and numerous head injuries, Mecha found that he didn't really mind being stuck in the tree, being swung around in the wind. “Wheeeeeee! So much fun! Why haven't I done this before?!” ...granted, he wouldn't really mind much of anything at this point. “Oh... shiny! Come here shiny!” he said, as he swung towards the window. At this point, the rope, which had held up fairly well until this point, snapped, sending him through the window.

“Wohoo!” he yelled, as he went through the window. “Do it again!”

At this point, the mares ran into the room to see Mecha laying on the floor, legs up in the air, small cuts all over him due to the glass.

“Are you okay partner?” Applejack asked, running up to him.

Giggling, Mecha said, “Purty ladies...”

Blinking, Applejack looked over to Twilight Sparkle and asked, “Uh, is he okay?”

Getting closer, Twilight Sparkle looked over Mecha, and asked, “What happened to you?”

Still giggling, Mecha replied, “I was swinging outside, and then I was here!”

Stunned by his apparent lack of concern for his condition, Rarity took a look at him, voicing her observations, “I think the poor fellow hit his head one to many times...”

Running a quick diagnostics spell on Mecha, Twilight Sparkle said, “That would explain the bruises on his head, as well as the concussion I'm picking up. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any major damage, as I don't have any medical spells besides the diagnostic spell.”

Ignoring the chatter around him, Mecha started to sing. “Oh I know a place, where no one gets hurt...” unfortunately, his recent head trauma lead him to decide that singing off-key was fun.

“Ugh,” Rarity said, “I don't think I can take much of this...”

“Well,” Applejack started, looking outside, “Ah don't think we'll have ta, as the storm's clearin' up. Should probably take 'im to the hospital.”

Glancing out the broken window, the other two agreed, with Twilight using her magic to safely move Mecha.

LINEBREAKER

Mecha opened his eyes, groaning. “What in Luna's name hit me?”

“A tree,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“And some branches,” Rarity added.

“And a window,” Applejack finished.

“Ugh... my head...” Mecha moaned, laying on the bed, trying not to move.

After a few moments of silence, Twilight Sparkle decided to break the silence by asking, “Um, Mecha? How'd you end up swinging into my home?”

Opening his eyes, Mecha looked at her and said, “I had the equivalent of a metal kite roped to me, caught the biggest gust of the storm, and flew into some branches. Branches jammed the mechanism to release my sword, and forced me to detach the leg. From there... well, you can guess.”

At this point, Doctor Stable walked in, saying, “Weren't you here the other day to get the all clear for your ribs?”

Sighing, Mecha just nodded.

“Well, it didn't take long to reverse that,” Doctor Stable told him. “You re-broke all the ribs that you broke in your fight with the manticore, in addition to another three ribs. You cracked the rest, and fractured your left hind leg, in addition to the small lacerations along your body from the glass. Finally, the head trauma you received left you with a concussion, which is going to keep you here for a least a week.”

Blanching at that last remark, Mecha yelled, “A WEEK!”

Ears ringing, Doctor Stable said, “Yes, a week. And please keep it down, we have other patients who need their rest. Any ways, do you have any questions about your current state?” At this, Mecha shook his head, to which Doctor Stable replied with, “Then I'll be on my way,” before leaving the room.

Sighing, Mecha looked at the mares in the room, before saying, “I suppose I have you three to thank for getting me here?”

“Eeyup,” Applejack said.

“Then thank you,” Mecha told them. “I do have a request though, if you three don't mind.”

Twilight answered for them, saying, “Not at all Mecha!”

Smiling lightly, Mecha said, Since I'm going to be stuck here for the week, I need a couple things done. First, would one of you tell Snips and Snails they have the week off?”

Nodding her head, Applejack said, “Ah'll go and do it now!” before leaving the room.

Smiling a bit more, Mecha then spoke once more, and said, “I'm also going to need my leg from the tree, in addition to some tools to fix any damage it might have taken.”

Twilight spoke, saying, “I can take care of that,” before walking off to do so.

Turning to face Rarity, Mecha asked, “And could you grab something for me to do while I'm here? After all, I've got nothing but time while I'm here.”

“But of course darling!” Rarity replied, trotting out of the room.

Sighing, Mecha said to himself, “It's going to be a long week.”

LINEBREAKER

Mecha was sitting in his hospital bed, reattaching his mechanical leg when his door opened. Looking up, Mecha was surprised to see Snips and Snails walk in, and asked, “What are you two doing here?”

Snips answer with, “We came to see how you're doing boss!”

Snails nodded his head, saying, “Yeah, after Applejack told you were hurt, we just had ta see how you were doin'!”

Smiling, Mecha told them, “Thanks. It means a lot to have someone other than my aunt come to see me.”

Smiling as well, Snails said, “We uh... also had something we kinda wanted to ask...”

Blinking, Mecha said, “Oh? And what's that?”

Snips spoke this time, saying, “We were kinda wondering if you'd be willing to let us keep working after we finish paying for the Ursa Minor incident?”

This stunned Mecha, as he'd never thought that they'd actually want to work for him, forcing him to ask, “Why?”

“We enjoy working,” Snails said.

“We get to meet ponies that we normally wouldn't even consider talking to! Not to mention, it feels great to work at something!” Snips said, adding his two bits.

Mecha gained a contemplating look on his face. While it would be interesting to keep the two working for him, there were a few things to consider, such as pay and whether or not it would be legal for them to work. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, which he knew was the easiest option. “I'll allow you two to keep working,” he said, to cheers from the two, “but there is a condition.” At this point, he had their rapt attention. “In order for you two to keep legally working for me, you'd have to become apprentices in metalwork. The only reason you can currently work for me is my aunt gave you two under-age work passes for the duration of your punishment. Is that okay for you two?”

Glancing at each other, they both simultaneously said, “Yes sir, boss!”

Enjoying their enthusiasm, Mecha told them, “Then let's cover some ground rules. Rule one, this is not going to interfere with your school work, got it?” Nodding their heads, Mecha took this cue to continue, “Rule number two, when at the forge, you listen to every order I give, period. It is a dangerous place to work if you don't know what you're doing, and I don't want you two to get hurt. And rule three, NO SLACKING! You two asked for this, so I expect the best you two can give! Got it?”

Nodding their heads rapidly, the two colts saluted him, saying, “Understood boss!”

Making plans and throwing them out in his head, Mecha told them, “Could you guys go and get Cheerilee then? I going to need to inform her of this arrangement.”

Giving a quick affirmative, the two left as Mayor Mare walked in. Quirking her head, she asked, “What's up with those two?”

Chuckling, Mecha replied, “Not much. By the way, I'm going to need two sets of apprenticeship forms.”

Not expecting that request, Mayor Mare looked at him, then at the door were the two foals just walked through, then back at Mecha, saying, “Those two?”

Nodding, Mecha said, “They enjoyed working at the shop, and wanted to continue. It was the only thing I could think of that would let them. Not to mention, it'd be nice to teach somepony how to forge as well.” Seeing his aunt's look, he added, “They have to keep up their school work though, and I'll make sure that it's as safe as possible. That work for you?”

Thinking for a moment, Mayor Mare nodded her head, telling him, “I'll get the paperwork then, so that you can get it down while you have nothing else to do.”

She then walked out, leaving Mecha to finish fixing up his leg, when Cheerilee walked in. “Oh!” she said, seeing him trying to re-attach his leg to his shoulder. “Do you need any help with that?”

Looking up to see her standing next to his bed, Mecha said, “Thanks, but I'm good. I just have to do one last thing...” after which, he quickly finished, flexing the leg to make sure it was working properly.

After watching Mecha flex his leg for a minute, Cheerilee spoke up, saying, “Snips and Snails said you wanted to talk to me?”

Blinking, Mecha looked away from his leg and towards Cheerilee, and replied, “Yeah, I did. You see, those two have agreed to sign up as my apprentices, and I agreed on the condition that their school work didn't suffer from it. I figured that I'd let you know, so that in case their work does, you can inform me.”

Surprised at this information, Cheerilee said, “That explains why they seemed so happy when they talked to me!”

Chuckling, Mecha said, “That sounds like them alright. So, you understand what's going on then?”

Cheerilee nodded, saying, “Oh yes. And who knows? Maybe they'll take their work more seriously now.”

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