II: A Vapor-veiled Wonder
Sparks danced in the still air of the small warehouse, lighting the dark around them for their brief life spans before they died. Yet more and more flooded the area as the welding torch did its work, melding a seam that had previously been poorly sealed. 'Poorly' because its observer had found only a single defect, a single weak point that would never have undone the weld. Yet weakness in any form could not be tolerated; this work was his greatest achievement.
The light reflected off the lenses of his goggles, soot lining his face around them as he pressed it close to the heat to better examine the weld for the fifth time. With a satisfied smile, he grabbed a stiff, steel-wire brush, and gently swept at the surface of the still-molten metal as it cooled, giving it a pleasing pattern and hiding the ugly beads without damaging the integrity of the deeper bond of metals.
Magic dropped the brush on a nearby workbench and lowered the goggles past his scarred jaw line to hang comfortably around his neck. The steam-tinker looked over his work, eyes resting in two white patches amidst a mask of soot. It was the most beautiful piece of technology he had ever crafted. This machine had as much of a soul as any living creature, for he had poured his own into it willingly, minute by minute during its tedious, two-year long construction.
There had been very little in the way of blueprints and planning, at least officially. Much of his prototype work had simply been rough sketches, indecipherable musings of a creative mind converted to poorly-drawn images. He'd wasted no time on detailed sketches, for plans often failed; all that mattered were the calculations, the theories put to practice. Every piece was extensively tested, constantly disassembled and rebuilt to improve it. His mind was the blueprint, and after all of his manipulations with the machine he knew every bolt, down to the last thread turned.
He knew well the risks of thoroughly outlining something of this magnitude before building it. It limited the work, made things rigid that should be flexible, made average what could be masterful. His mind couldn't work within the limitations of diagrams and charts. Each part was specially designed for its sole purpose, its dimensions influenced by those that came before, and changing those that followed to create the more amazing whole. It was not random or wild; it was beautiful.
It was ready.
The unicorn laughed gently to himself, his deep chuckle fading quickly in the dusty air. "It's all you now," he said quietly, patting the metal exterior of his beloved work of art. "I built you, but you've got to do it. You're the one who has to show all of them just how wrong they were about me," he said quietly, pulling a bottle of whiskey close with his magic, and taking a deep pull.
With a clink of the bottle against the side of his masterpiece and one final drink, he cracked it over the mechanical wonder's solid frame, shattering the container to bits as if he were sending a ship off on its maiden voyage.
"Good luck, Nomad; give 'em hell."
Twilight sat up sleepily, her groggy eyes sweeping over the unfamiliar room, trying to register where she was as her brain did its best to kick-start itself. As she woke up a little more it finally connected that she was in her hotel room, and so with that mystery solved she dropped down onto her back again, sighing in comfort as she wiggled into the mattress.
She'd only had those two glasses of wine, so she hadn't gotten drunk or ended up with a hangover, but she had been out so late that the tired feeling was about as unpleasant. Looking at the wall-clock in the room, she noted with distaste that somehow she had woken up at her usual time, despite the dramatic change in her sleep schedule.
With a grumble she forced herself out of bed, realizing that if she went back to sleep she would likely miss the start of the festival. She wandered over to the mirror, knowing her hair was badly out of place just from the feel of things on top of her head. Sure enough it was a purple and pink explosion, some of it sticking out one way and some the complete other. Allowing herself a laugh at her catastrophic bed-head, she resolved to take a quick shower to sort it all out. She was dry and out the door fifteen minutes later, hair back in its usual, basic style. She'd never really gotten the hang of doing her mane, so she just opted to always keep things simple.
She wasn't sure what kind of 'festival' a steamtech convention was, but most things going by that term usually had souvenirs and such, so she took her bag along just in case as she made her way downstairs. Fliers were posted everywhere stating that the festival was hosted in Central Square, so she figured it would be easy enough to find once she got on Main Street. With that in mind, she reasoned she probably had time to grab a quick breakfast, so she snagged a muffin from the buffet on the first floor before making her way into the streets.
She chewed on the last few bits of the muffin, crumbs trailing all over the street behind her as she turned her head side to side, checking street signs. She headed down one she recognized, at last coming to Main Street. The stalls from the night before had all vanished like she had expected, and the big stores were back in business, though traffic didn't seem to be stopping for their wares. All the ponies on the street were heading north, with some clear destination in mind.
It wasn't hard to figure out where they were going, so Twilight joined up, meandering through the crowd where possible to get closer to her destination. A banner soon passed overhead with the now-familiar phrase '12th Annual Steamtech Festival'. Twilight felt her heart speed up in anticipation, and she reared up on her back hooves now and then to get a better look around.
Four streets lead to the city's central area. True to its name it was a large square, at least three blocks wide and long, ringed in by tall buildings. The largest building was the town hall, a five-story architectural masterpiece of white marble with a golden dome resting atop it. A stage was erected in front of it with a podium in place, as well as chairs behind that where numerous city officials or ponies of importance were seated.
Wooden platforms lined the outer edges of the square, some larger than others and all on wheels. Near each of these large carts was a small booth where sat the engineer who owned the object on board. Each contest entry was covered in thick canvas sheets, regardless of size. Twilight came to the conclusion that they were each a secret, and realized that this was a true competition of intellect and creativity. No one contestant knew what the others had designed or built, everything had been brought here the same way; covered and carted.
There was one entry not on a wooden cart, and whatever it was was significantly larger than most of the others. She couldn't see underneath it from her angle, but it had to have wheels to have gotten here like everything else, especially considering its size. It was roughly as tall as a pony, and three times again as long. The machine was vaguely rectangular, but seemed to be missing all of its corners. The top wasn't level, and the sheets rose higher on the sides than in the center.
Most curious of all to her was the pony seated in the booth next to it. It was the same unicorn that had walked off with the bottle of whiskey from the night before! She vaguely recalled him having said something about a contest, and put a hoof to her face in frustration when she realized she had missed a perfect opportunity to talk with an actual steam-tinker. She'd been too caught up in things at the time to even think about it!
He was very pointedly looking at the main stage, which was only a short distance from his machine, whatever it was. A great deal of the other steam-tinkers were looking his way, and none of them appeared overly happy to see him, she noticed. She found that curious, but her train of thought was interrupted as somepony on stage magically amplified their own voice, drawing a hush over the crowd.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlecolts, and welcome to Manehattan's Twelfth Annual Steamtech Festival!" an elderly mare called out, most likely some city official. Her greeting was met with loud cheers, and when those finally died down she spoke again. "This year we have more contestants than any other previous, with many of last year's contenders coming back again! I know that previous shows are going to be hard to top, but I can say with certainty the brilliant engineers across Equestria have really geared up for this one! No pun intended," she added with a light chuckle, which the crowd shared.
"Now, to kick this thing off right, we'll get a word from last year's festival champion! Mr. Gearrick Tinkermane!" she said, bursting into applause as she backed away from the podium. The crowd applauded as well, and Twilight's jaw dropped as that same scarred unicorn stallion took the stage. His body language made it clear he wasn't quite comfortable with all of the attention, but he did look sincerely happy to hear people applauding him.
"Good morning, ladies and gents," he said, his voice free of any wavering. The discomfort in his body language was gone suddenly, and whether it was willpower or simple resignation that he would have to speak, Twilight couldn't say. Sporadic, echoing calls of good morning rang out from the crowd, widening Gearrick's smile on stage. "Hard to believe it's already been two years since I moved to this fine city; and what a two years it's been. I've seen some magnificent things since I came here, many of them wonders of engineering far beyond my level of skill."
"That said, I just want to encourage you all to give each of the steam-tinkers here today your avid support and vote for the machine you love the most. After all, we don't invent just to improve your lives; these machines are works of art. So treat them as such, and give them all a good, hard look before you decide. Thank you," he finished quietly, still smiling warmly.
The crowd applauded again as he left the stage, returning to his entry. The other tinkers refused to look at him now, it seemed; all of the hateful looks were gone, replaced either by confusion or guilt.
The official spoke up again, announcing the outline of the day's events. "As always, the first stage of the festival is the reveal. Each tinker will bring his creation to the center of the square and describe its purpose; the demonstrations will come later in stage two! As with every year we will start from the left of city hall, meaning that last year's winner will reveal his creation last," she explained.
Gearrick nodded in acknowledgement when she looked at him. Satisfied, she began to call off names. Each entrant came forward, explaining their device. Twilight saw and heard incredible things she had never even dreamed of. A device that could absorb clouds to convert them into electricity. Any pegasus weather team could turn a cloudy sky into a full day's worth of electricity for a town of Ponyville's size with such a thing!
Dozens of others came forward; a steam-powered drilling machine that could detect water to dig wells, a machine that could fold part of itself paper-flat and slide under heavy objects before expanding to lift them high enough to walk under.
Just by the descriptions alone Twilight was astounded. "Is this how it is every year?" she asked quietly, her excitement clear in her voice. A nearby older couple noted her rapt attention and laughed. Though she had just been talking to herself, they answered her question readily.
"It sure is, young lady," the older gentlecolt replied, his smile warm underneath his hat. "But only about a half of 'em will be left after the second stage. It's one thing to say yer machine'll do somethin'. A whole 'nother fer it to work. I don't expect the lifter machine'll make it," he said, posing an example. "Some folks even place bets on who'll win the prize. I've got good money on Gearrick this year. Wish I'd bet on him in the last one" he said with a chuckle.
"Who is Gearrick anyways?" Twilight asked. She'd heard of many famous engineers from Fillydelphia and Manehattan since her childhood, but she'd never heard of him until today.
"Not many ponies know, really. He's a strange fella, but brilliant. Came all on his lonesome from out of town a couple years back and tried to join the steam-tinker's guild. I don't know all the details, but from what I heard they turned him down. That was his first year, before he started entering the contests. He keeps to himself mostly, though I don't know why. Seemed nice enough anytime I spoke with him," the gentlecolt replied, putting a hoof to his chin as he pondered that.
"What was his entry last year?" Twilight asked, intrigued by it all. How was it he'd won a contest this size and nobody knew anything about him?
"It was the most amazing thing," the stallion's wife gushed. "He invented a pair of mechanical wings! They weren't designed fer long flights, but rather short distances. He could fly about as high as fifty feet before the steam pressure got too low, but then he'd just glide back down."
"But here's the amazing part," the gentlecolt said with a smile. "When stage two started, nobody believed a word he said about his invention. Regular ponies just don't fly, they said. The other engineers laughed at him, claiming his wings would never work," he let his tone trail off, full of suspense and easily baiting a very curious Twilight.
"What happened?" she asked eagerly, inching closer to the couple to hear better.
The stallion grinned. "In his very first test flight, he jumped off town hall," he said, pointing to the top of the domed building directly behind the announcer's stage, nearly five stories tall. "Woulda killed him if it didn't work, but wouldn't ya know it, he flew. Flew like a bird."
Twilight was dumbstruck. In his very first test ever? "Why would anypony risk that? Is he crazy?" she asked, her tone sharp with disbelief.
"Prob'ly. After all, only a crazy pony would say he can make himself fly without wings of his own," he chuckled. "I think what it was was his pride. No stallion likes bein' told what he can and can't do. Them other engineers, the ones who turned him down from the guild, told him he couldn't fly, and he didn't just want to tell 'em they were wrong; he wanted to prove it. To him, it musta been worth bettin' his life on," the gentlecolt said quietly, trailing off as he remembered that daring leap a year ago, watching and fully expecting to see a madpony plummet to his death.
Twilight went silent also, unsure of what to say. It made sense; nobody would react well to being told that something they had spent so much time and energy on was pointless. Even so, who would willingly leap from such a height just on faith?
A short break for lunch was called around noon, but Twilight didn't leave. She was too excited now to be hungry, and so she had stuck around, inching her way closer to the main staging area at the center of the square. A few other eager ponies had shared her sentiments and stuck around, but not nearly enough of them to keep her from getting some prime real estate to see the remaining entries.
It was nearing three in the afternoon by the time they had managed to go all the way around the square to each of the engineers. At last the call came out for Gearrick, and Twilight realized that ever since that conversation with the older couple she'd been holding her breath for this moment. It was as much about knowing who he was now as what he had built. Was he a madpony? A genius? Was he so cocky that he would put his own life in danger, or was it something else?
She pressed herself right up against the low wall ringing the staging area, leaning out past it to get an even better look at this final entry. She figured the wall was in place to keep ponies from getting too close in case of a pressure accident, as well as to give the inventor some space to show off. Even so, she wished it wasn't there.
Gearrick had his back to her, walking in reverse and pulling his large machine behind him with his magic. He didn't seem to be struggling with it, despite its obvious mass, so Twilight assumed whatever it was was designed to be moved. At last he had it positioned, and so he turned to face her side of the crowd, where the front of his device presumably pointed.
"Ladies and gents, I give you the Nomad!" he called proudly, ripping the sheet off of the device in a flourish. The device began to rotate slowly as he moved it with his magic, panning it about on all sides so that everyone could get a clear view.
A collective gasp ran through the crowd as they beheld it. It was huge, all glass and bronze plates welded stylishly together, seams only visible where they were not distracting to the eye. It sported six wheels, with four in the back, two on either side of it. These were larger than the two in the front, and between the front wheels rested two objects starkly resembling the lights Twilight had seen atop the streetlamps all over the city. It had four seats inside of it, two in the front and two in the back, and two large 'doors' in the side that rose up instead of outward. Glass panes lined the top of each door, as well as along the nose of the vehicle, creating a barrier for the front seats.
In front of one of the seats was a small wheel stuck to a peg, reminding Twilight of the handles on a bicycle she had seen Pinkie Pie use once. Dozens of levers and buttons dotted a front panel, serving only Celestia knew which purpose. Twilight quietly doubted even the princess would have a clue, in all reality, but the expression held.
Pipes ran in symmetrical fashion all along the sides below the door and the tapered front of the metal behemoth. The back of the machine seemed to be where the majority of the work was done, for it contained far more piping and a good deal of space behind the seats where the amount of hidden machinery under its metal hide couldn't even be estimated.
With the crowd already speechless, Gearrick continued. "It's a vehicle, much like a bicycle or train, but it does not need any tracks or roads, my friends. The Nomad is aptly named, for it is designed to traverse even the most dangerous of terrain. Ice, sand, water, and even sheer vertical faces are no match for it... in theory, of course," he added with a laugh. Most ponies had recovered enough by now to be listening with rapt attention, and all shared his laugh when he said 'in theory'. After all, that was what stage one was all about, and after having had to choke on their words last year, few were about to say out loud they thought he was crazy.
But they were all thinking it.
"What a load of crap!" came a catcall from somewhere in the crowd.
"Oh great, here we go," one of the mares near Twilight muttered. "This is exactly what happened last year. Some idiot has to ruin a perfectly good speech."
Twilight watched with a slight feeling of guilt as Gearrick's smile shrank by a few teeth. She had been thinking similar thoughts, though not nearly as rude. How could something with just wheels, and something obviously that heavy, traverse water? Or scale a cliff?
He seemed to struggle regaining his speech after that, which only made her feel worse for sharing the rude pony's thoughts. Her guilt got the better of her, and so she felt the need to help him recover. "How does it work?" she called out, her tone clearly sincere and not mocking.
Gearrick locked eyes with her, and she immediately felt sheepish for having singled herself out like that. But his warm, confident smirk came back full force thanks to her question, and she could see the gratitude in his eyes.
"An excellent question, young lady!" he said with a warm laugh, and Twilight watched as he cast off what remained of that rude viewer's influence. It was a physical change as much as an emotional one, a complete shift in his demeanor as he regained his momentum.
"Many of you are aware how a steam engine works in a modern train. The steam pressure forces a set of pistons to drive the engine, which then creates the electricity to power the motors, lights, and other systems. Normally the steam engine takes up most of the front of the train, but I have succeeded in making a smaller, albeit less powerful, model of this engine. The Nomad has six such engines in it. But just because they're small doesn't mean they're light," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to massage an aching muscle.
The crowd laughed again, and Twilight shared a small giggle herself at his antics. He was by far the best showman yet.
"Where is the water stored for the steam?" someone else put in.
"There are six water tanks in the rear, each with their own heat sources. They can be disengaged from their individual engines by a set of levers, so the Nomad can be run with as much or as little electricity as it needs. For traversing the city streets, a single engine is more than enough, but to scale a cliff it would require the use of all six to fight the gravity," Gearrick explained, turning away from Twilight to address the new speaker.
Twilight felt an odd mix of relief and disappointment now that he was no longer talking to her specifically. She set that aside for now though, too caught up in the physics of his machine. Gearrick's speech kept right on going.
"Regardless of how many engines are running at once, the pressure, and thus the electrical output, can be controlled by the driver through a series of pedals. Coals in specially-shielded bins are raised or lowered to control the rate of heat transfer. A sizable supply of new coal resides in the very back to ensure that the heat source doesn't deplete, and if my calculations are correct, the Nomad can stay active for a full two-day's worth of travel even with all six engines running; that's twelve days if you only use one engine."
Twilight took advantage of a short lull in his explanation and lost herself in mental imagery as her mind tried to recreate the inner workings of the back of the machine. It seemed incredibly complex, and she couldn't think of any way that such a small space could contain that many engines as well as enough coal to power them for so long.
"The exhaust is condensed and redistributed into the holding tanks," was the first thing she heard when she came back to reality. It was easy enough to infer the question she had missed though, so she was glad she hadn't been left behind. "The steam gets vented to the front of the Nomad, where the air from its forward motion passes through this grate, cooling the pipes and turning the vapor back into liquid; it will cool over time regardless of whether the vehicle is moving or not, but this helps to accelerate the process. Pressure from the steam coming in behind it forces the liquid water back into the tanks," he said confidently, and it was clear that he had at least managed to test this much. "In the event that the pressure becomes too great, it can be vented through these pipes here, which run parallel to the pipes that vent the smoke from the coal," he finished, gesturing to two very large pipes obscured by the rear wheels on the bottom of the Nomad.
"Ladies and gentlecolts, I hate to cut your questions short, but stage one is coming to a close!" came the call from the announcer's podium. "The festival will remain open until seven tonight; until then feel free to browse the entries and meet the ponies who have brought out these wonderful inventions."
Gearrick made a hissing sound and scrunched up his nose, as if what the official had just said was the worst thing he could have possibly heard, garnering a few laughs. "I guess that's my cue to shut up, ladies and gents," he said with a disappointed chuckle. "I hope to see a few of you over by the Nomad later; I'm not nearly out of things to say about it," he finished, wadding the sheet up with his magic and stuffing it into the back seats. He stopped suddenly, a mischievous smile coming over his face.
"Now that I've unveiled this beast, there's room for one more to ride with me while I go park it. Anyone want to come along?" he asked. There was a moment of hushed silence while everyone processed what he had just said before a wave of shouting overwhelmed him.
He just smiled and laughed, clearly the reaction he had been looking to get from the crowd. He scanned around the edge of the staging area, a hoof to his chin as he went from face to face.
Twilight was calling just as loudly as anyone else, even though it wasn't her style. She did very badly want to get closer to the machine, and sitting in it was about as good as it could get. Aside from that, the setting and the situation just felt right, and so she cut loose like everyone else around her.
Gearrick stopped as soon as his gaze fell on her, raising a hoof and calling for silence. He got it begrudgingly as everyone waited to hear who would get to ride in this glorious and mysterious vehicle. "How about you, young lady?" he asked, pointing right at her.
"Me?" Twilight asked, getting that sick feeling as she realized once again that she was singled out. From that sea of faces and overwhelming calls to be picked, had he actually heard her? Her excitement threatened to overwhelm her as it began to sink in that she would get to sit in that machine, and meet first-hoof the stallion she had heard so much about since the start of the festival.
"Yeah, the lady in the purple," he said with a small laugh. After she failed to react for a second or two, he waved at her with a little more urgency. "Come on, it's not going to explode, I promise."
With an elated smile, Twilight hopped the two-foot wall and trotted over. He stood by while she climbed into the seat, and once she was situated he pushed a panel on the side of the door with his hoof, causing it to fall slowly and smoothly into place.
"Alright everyone, I hope to see you all later, but for now clear the way!" he called out, motioning between the Nomad and his booth. "I don't think anyone wants to get run over. I haven't run any tests for that yet, and I don't plan to today!"
Anypony behind the machine promptly cleared out with worried looks on their faces, and those observing them laughed. Gearrick climbed into his own seat across from Twilight, pushing a button on the inside of the door to close it. Before it was even fully shut, Gearrick threw a lever and pushed a button. The seat under Twilight hummed and vibrated as the back of the machine purred to life. She noted that the button was labeled simply as '1', so she assumed from his description that that meant engine one was on.
"Hey," he said, leaning over suddenly so she could hear him over the hammering of the pistons and the chatter of people moving away from the staging area.
"Yes?" she asked, smiling and leaning closer to hear him better also.
"Thanks for what you did earlier; saved the whole presentation. I figure I owe you the ride, but I had to make it look like I wasn't playing favorites. I'm sure you understand," he said with a laugh.
Twilight flushed in embarrassment, realizing that he had intended to pick her from the beginning. She was glad she had spoken up now, if just for the experience of being in the Nomad, and talking to its inventor.
"The name's Gearrick Tinkermane," he said, extending a hoof to her. "I know you probably heard it earlier, but it doesn't mean the same coming from someone else."
"Twilight Sparkle," she replied with a smile of her own, shaking it warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine. Good name, it's got a nice ring to it," he said, turning his attention away from her and to a mirror on the side of the Nomad's front end as he threw another lever up to a notch labeled 'R'.
"Alright, hold on," he cautioned. "I'm not completely sure about the gear-ratio in reverse. It could be a little fast, so we'll have to test it," he said, pressing a hoof onto a pedal on the floor, and pushing it all the way down.
"Wait, wha-" Twilight started to ask, but the words left her mouth as the Nomad shot backward, faster than she could run at full tilt. Her eyes went wide as she watched ponies zip past.
Gearrick just whistled a single high note as he kept his eyes on the mirror. "Good thing there's nobody behind us," he said evenly, as if it were no big deal.
"Are you crazy?" Twilight shouted over the rumble of the engine and the wind.
Gearrick just laughed, a smirk coming to his face as he hit the brakes, bringing them slowly into place beside his booth. "Yes. Yes I am."
Long shadows trailed out from their owners like roots as the sun continued to tick through its cycle. Seven o' clock had come and gone not long ago, and ponies were still filtering out and heading home for the evening. Stage two, the demonstration phase of the festival, would take place tomorrow. Many of the hopeful contestants were packing up their inventions and taking them home for the evening, though they would have to return tomorrow.
Twilight was still at Gearrick's booth, and had been since her first ride in the Nomad; anypony's first ride in it, she realized, for Gearrick couldn't have driven it around town before the reveal.
It had been exhilarating. She never would have guessed just how powerful the machine was, or how fast it could go. She had asked all sorts of questions about it, particularly interested in how it could scale cliffs or cross rivers. Nothing was apparent about it that would make such things possible, yet she knew she hadn't misheard.
To each of these questions, and similar ones asked by numerous others who had crowded his booth, Gearrick had only had one answer.
"I already told you, you'll see tomorrow," he said with a light chuckle, deflecting Twilight's latest question. He'd been kind enough to answer any general queries about the machine, but regarding any of its detailed functions, he remained secretive.
"No fair," Twilight grumbled, wishing that she could pout half as convincingly as Rarity.
"Oh come on, don't make that face," he said, turning to wave at somepony who called out to him before leaving his booth. "Let's be honest; if I told you, you wouldn't believe it until you saw it anyways. What's better, to see it yourself and be astounded, or hear about it and be skeptical?" he asked pleasantly, turning his attention back to her for a moment.
Twilight pondered that for a second. She had to admit, she hadn't even believed the thing could actually move at all until she had experienced it. "I suppose you're right," she conceded, her tone full of reluctance. Her curiosity wasn't an easy thing to curb, but when faced with an argument like that she didn't have much choice.
"There, you see?" He painted on a warm smile to match his tone. "Anyways, you sure stuck around late. I can't remember the last time someone was so interested in my work," he said, his words coming over his shoulder as he busied himself with some cleanup duties, taking down the sign on his booth and tossing it in the Nomad's back seat.
"It would be hard not to be interested," Twilight replied with a small smile. "That thing is amazing."
"It definitely is," he said, smiling fondly and patting its bronze exterior. The resulting clinking sound was almost melodic, or so Twilight thought. He turned back to her with that smile still painted on his lips.
"I'm going to venture a guess and say you're not from around here," he said suddenly, the topic change completely out of nowhere.
"What gave you that impression?" Twilight asked, rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious all along.
"The accent," Gearrick said, pointing to his throat. "Ya don't talk like everyone else 'round here." He threw on a nearly flawless Manehattan accent suddenly, catching her by surprise and causing her to laugh.
"Everyone here talks so fast," Twilight admitted, shaking her head as Pinkie Pie came to mind. "Anyways, I'm just in town to see the festival. I've heard about it ever since I was a filly, back when it first started. But I never got the chance to come and see it until recently."
"A lot of free time on your hooves?" Gearrick asked, wiping off the top of the booth while they conversed. It seemed like he was always busy doing something or fiddling with his goggles, so Twilight got the feeling he was a fairly energetic pony underneath his mellow exterior. Even if he was just talking he would gesture frequently just to keep himself busy.
"Yeah, lately. All of my friends are busy getting ready for the wedding," Twilight said, but her voice trailed off at the end as she realized this pony probably had no idea what she was talking about. She was so used to conversing with her close friends that she rarely had to consider context.
"Wedding huh? Whose wedding, if you don't mind?" he asked pleasantly, kicking one of the legs of the table hard when it refused to fold under, muttering various things under his breath until he finally had the stand completely collapsed. "Piece of junk..."
Twilight did her best not to laugh at his antics. It was as if half the time he fully acknowledged that she was there, and the other half he was somewhere else. Even so, he hadn't missed a word yet, so she went ahead.
"My friend Applejack," she said simply, expecting a big reaction after how her name had been plastered all over newspapers.
"Applejack? Cool name," Gearrick replied idly, turning around and dusting his hooves off by clapping them together as he picked up the table with his magic and loaded it into the Nomad. "How about her fiancé? Is he a decent guy?" he asked, clearly ignorant of the royal wedding.
Twilight had to fight disbelief. What, did he live under a rock? "Yeah, it's actually kind of big news. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it by now."
"What you just said explains everything," he replied with a wry laugh. "I don't follow the news. Anyways, you didn't answer my question."
A pony who didn't read the news. He got stranger by the minute. "Well, she's marrying the changeling king, Aurus Marz. He's a wonderful guy, honestly. The two are perfect for each other, they've been together for years," she said, half expecting him to say he didn't know what changelings were.
"That is big news," he said with honest surprise, eyebrows up high. His face settled in short order though as he coped with the gravity of the statement. "Well what about you? Not helping with the wedding?"
"Not right now. I'm not a dressmaker or anything like that; just a librarian. So unless they need a book on how to have a wedding, I'm just on standby," she said with a small laugh that wasn't completely sincere.
"I get ya," he said, slipping into that lazy, urban style of speaking so common in Manehattan for that short statement. "Well, sounds like as good a time as any to come and see the show. And what a show it's going to be," he said with a strange chuckle.
"What do you mean?" Twilight looked at him strangely, uncomfortable with his mischievous laugh.
"You know that lifting machine?" he asked slyly.
"Yeah, the one right before the lunch break," Twilight replied, knowing exactly the one.
"What would you say if I told you it was going to explode?" he asked suddenly.
Twilight's reaction was shock. Did he do something to tamper with it? "How would you even know that?" she asked, trying to remain skeptical instead of accusatory.
"I was looking over it during the lunch break and talking to its inventor. I pointed out that it has a poor weld in its main pressure tank, and tried to warn the owner. But he just called me a two-bit tinker and told me to mind my own business," he said with a less-than-happy expression.
Twilight's eyes went wide as she realized he wasn't joking. "It really is going to explode?" she asked. "Isn't that dangerous? Somebody could get hurt!"
"Yes, it's very dangerous; especially for him, he'll be standing right next to it. But I tried to warn him, and he told me off. I'm not saying I'm not worried about him, but what else can I be expected to do? I could warn the officials, but they'll just think I'm trying to disqualify him." Gearrick scowled as that thought came to light.
"Why would they think that? This is serious!" Twilight said with a growl.
"It isn't about serious or not; this contest has always been full of sabotage, so they have to be suspicious of my motives. Didn't you notice how everyone takes their machines home, instead of leaving them here? There's no telling what other contestants could tamper with," he said quietly, his tone grave.
"Why would anyone do that? Is the prize really worth that much?" she asked.
"The prize is fifty thousand bits," Gearrick said evenly, his tone firm. "In a city like this, where a steam-tinker's wage doesn't even cover the costs of his own materials, that money is invaluable. I spent every last bit I had just building the Nomad and paying my rent. A lot of ponies would do whatever they had to to get their hooves on it."
Twilight had to process that for a time. Fifty thousand bits was a very large sum of money. Regardless, cheating was so underhooved! How could anypony stoop so low? "Would you?" she asked, her tone carrying some of the disgust she felt with it.
"Hell no," Gearrick said with a scowl. "What good engineer has to ruin someone else's hard work just to make his shine brighter? I play fair, miss Sparkle."
Twilight felt a little taken aback at being called 'miss Sparkle', as if he had purposely refused to use her first name. It conveyed a deeper sense of seriousness and sincerity when he used that level of formality, yet it made her feel uncomfortable.
His expression softened as he watched her tense up. "Just trust me... I'm no cheat."
"I believe you," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I said it."
"Don't be, it's only fair to be cautious. In the end, it really just says a lot about your morals to worry if I'm a cheater," he pointed out. "Anyways, about the lifting machine... It might explode, it might not. I'm no master tinker, just like that other engineer said. But there's nothing I can do about it, and nothing I did to cause it. I'll still let the officials know, though."
Twilight nodded, having to understand that there was little else he could do to prevent it.
"Enough heavy talk, it just grinds the nerves," he said with a laugh to dispel the mood. "You hungry?" he asked suddenly.
Having skipped the lunch break, Twilight couldn't have lied if she wanted to as her stomach growled. She blushed deeply, putting a hoof to her stomach and forcing it to be quiet.
Gearrick just laughed, walking past her and climbing into the driver's seat of the Nomad. "I'll take that as a yes. I was going to swing by Old Jack's and show the codger where all his whiskey's been going to. Care to come along?" He patted the passenger's seat next to him with a friendly smile. "It's not quite eight yet, so we should be able to get there before the stalls take up the road too much to drive."
Twilight didn't know what to make of the invitation, but her stomach did. Belly rumbling once again, her train of thought became significantly shorter than usual. He was a nice enough guy, just being friendly. What harm could there be in riding along? Good enough for her, at this point. Without too much more deliberation, she climbed into the passenger seat, pushing the button on her door to shut it.
Throwing the starting lever and pushing the button for engine one, Gearrick put his typical smirk into place. He pushed another button and the headlights came on, illuminating the space ahead. All the way across from them the square was completely empty; nearly three blocks of open road.
"Gearrick..." Twilight began, her voice nervous.
Gearrick put his goggles up, smirk still active. "Relax, I have the gear-ratio for forward motion memorized for engine one."
"Oh thank Celestia," Twilight sighed in relief.
"It's much faster than in reverse," he said with a sudden laugh, stomping on the pedal.
Twilight's breath caught as the Nomad rocketed forward, pressing her into the seat tightly.
And all the while her madpony of a driver laughed and hollered.
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Second chapter cometh, and the OC gets some airtime as we edge closer to the point where the romance and the adventure really start. If you happen to know a great deal about how steam technology works/worked in actuality, please forgive any of my potential slip-ups in the story. I'm writing for fun, not accuracy.
I hope you enjoy the new character, the steampunk, and the ponies, my friends. Have a good read!
THE ENJOYMENT HAS BEEN DOUBLED! ...
(since you see, he released a chapter for two of his stories...)
dat steam car
pony steam punk? my life is complete
"Are you crazy?" "Yes. Yes I am."
I like this guy!
Hmm...
I was pretty hyped about this invention at first.
Then I realised that Flim and Flam made one first.
Honestly, the Nomad seems a bit of a downgrade too.
Sure, this one has multiple smaller engines, goes faster and is supposedly great off-road. But the Squeezy made Cider and was driven from a Couch. It's pretty hard to top that.
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It is also not powered by steam. Jus' sayin', but steam power is like... half the point of writing a steampunk story, lol.
Razorbeam happens to be an inconceivably magnificent bastard, I dare say.
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rlv.zcache.com/oh_stop_it_you_wrapped_canvas-r3370958182ed42b788dcef6fe1cb1542_29c92_400.jpg
A half-mad OC steam-tinker, explosions in the near future, more steampunk, and double updates.
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/207/484/1322277979335.jpg
"Twilight was happy to the bottom of her soul. But everything in her vision changed as she panned about. Here, Rarity too kissed her lover, then Fluttershy hers. Even Spike was kissing the girl of his dreams. Every couple at the wedding relished in that happy moment"
There! A huge implication that she will be his wife. Don't hide things from me.
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Implied and explicitly stated are two very different things. You're only going to torture yourself by inferring things.
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A talent of mine is thinking and inferring on most logical choices so do not try to throw me off, Mr. Beam.
Sweet! Two updates in a day! You do spoil us so. Now, if only I could get my writing to be half as good... hrm....
That is all!
Misuse if literally here, perhaps it's a word order mistake. Did you mean Twilight watched as he literally cast off...?
Great chapter, though. I'm looking forward to explosions and more mad genius time.
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Yeah, that's a word flop. Just mis-ordered, thanks for the catch!
"Sure enough it was a black and pink explosion, some of it sticking out one way and some the complete other."
Dude, either we're talking about a pony other than Twilight, or you need to get your television adjusted.
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Fair 'nuff man.
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No sweat. I'm really liking the story so far, and steam power really fits with what I've imagined Equestria's industrial/technology level to be.
Tinkermane is a likeable character. I can see Twilight falling for him.
You know, based on the synopsis ,I thought she'd be falling for a steam golem which she herself had built. Glad I was wrong. This Gearrick fellow seems like way more fun.
...great. you've put an idea in my head. now i won't stop till' i've built one.
another great chapter. im really enjoying where this is going. *hits a button, shoots off at lightning speed*
Right. Gearrick Tinkermane is awesome. I mean, how could a half-insane steampunk inventor not be awesome?
Great chapter! Can't wait to see what happens next(and Gearrick's reaction to the fact that Twilight is Celestia's student, eventually.)
Crazy, steam-punk tinkerer? Perfect
Something rather important occurs to me after reading this chapter.
Does the Nomad have seat belts?
I'm not saying it's a mistake on your part if it doesn't, but it would certainly be an oversight on Tinkermane's.
I like Gearrick, sounds like someone I could really get along with.
Dah i though he will build steam powered pony and Twilight will fall in love with it xD
But actually not bad looking for more
A half-insane pony steam engineer... words cannot describe the level of my exultation of reading this with breakfast, er lunch.
In short, you, good sir, have made my day.
steam or pressured air doesn't make all that much newton you know,and yeah trains don't count all the lift is distributed in all the wheels so..... ah fuck i forgot this is steam punk sorry........... i still want a love triangle
I love it
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Fun facts about mechanics, which is what love the most, what I study in, and do for a living? Check
Pony fiction which is what I do the most in my free time? Check
Pony fiction with Twi as main character? Check
Pony fiction with Twi as main character on a love story? Check
Good lord, what is there left to ask? You managed to include everything I love in a single fiction. You sir are a genius, and I thanks you for that. You bet I am enjoying this fic!
The descriptions aren't too complicated and easy to understand, which is a very good sign. I can't wait for more. I have read Visionary especially to read this fic right after, and I must say it was worth it. Nice work.
Gearik must really live under a rock if he doesn't know who the elements of harmony are. Also, Applejack is weird.
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Honestly I doubt many ponies know about who the Mane 6 are aside from the ponies who went to the award ceremony, and those who may have assumed it so based on the Princess's request at the wedding.
As for the wedding I will agree though.
This came to mind...
fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/096/d/3/steampunk_twilight_by_nastylady-d4v88wp.png
Reading this, there is 1 thing i am thinking.
Only Razonbeam could write this.
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Who is "Razonbeam"? I must thank him for a fine story!
Just another one of those "insert self into equestria hook up with Twilight" stories.
And I just realized there is great need for an eye-rolling emoticon.
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Oh no, whatever will you do without one?
1273305
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but see, at least IRL razorbeam is fucking halarious.
I know, there has been many a drunk rants worth of the internet
Edit, I am not going to change that to "worthy"
1271544 Tis your archnemesis! TO ARMS!
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It is done.
1273458 Lyra would be jealous.
1273458
So what about
advancedfoottexas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/foot.png
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Get out.
1273462
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Out.
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Si el los seniorita!
1273474
Comes un pene, puta.