"Sure! Being a grease-monkey can make things messy, and I don't want to spoil my nice suit."

‘A what-monkey, now?’

Before she could wonder just what kind of simians existed on her VIP's home planet, she noticed the icon on his breast. An embroidered red-on-white patch read 'Royal Engineer' in a cursive font.

Technically, A Gizmonkey is a real concept in MLP that would come to mind here. Chimpanzee like creatures with a love of technology. However, they are quite more simple minded than humans and would find a cellphone to be worthless and uninteresting compared to a telephone made out of two cans connected to a piece of string.

Definitely curious that Honour feels inadequate and has self doubt when talking to a old friend who’s a higher rank than her yet does not feel the same way when talking to Anon, an alien who rocketed to the highest ranks in her society extremely quickly.

I mean she could justify working on the automobile as assisting in the development of mechanized infantry.

10592397
Tiny bodies and strong alcohol do not mix well...

10592711
I don't think he comprehends the possibility of any of them liking him like that.

"Hey Honor Bound what was that thump?" Ask Anonymous
"Just sir, Swift justest." Say's Honor Bound
Was The first thing that came to mind.

She could already hear the pleasant thump the wheels would make going over him.

(Pleasant sigh) yep, I can already practically hear them myself.

Seems like she's now seeing new paths to take and that is awesome and cute

Every mare in Anons service is focused on a specialty while i see Honorbound as a Jack of all trades with first grade commanding skills.

Nothing quite like premeditated murder to brighten up the morning.

10591318
No.
Because you also have Feudal forces- that are people who have to serve either due to the land they own, land they reside on (freemen owed on average 180 days, either military or civic works. Serfs were excluded from military service) or personal wealth which normally was tied to the land they owned anyway

Slave armies were also a thing, but uncommon because... well Slave Revolts were very common and it was better to have the slaves work in the fields/mines generating your wealth.

Like mentioned above, Freemen had to serve, but due to their unreliability they were used primarily on in more defensive roles and even then, only within a county or two from their home. They were only pushed to the frontline in a battle in utterly dire circumstances A medieval army would begin to rout with losses between 10-20%, plus they were the main economy & servants of a lord... so you have two reasons to avoid committing Freemen into the combat.

First ever car in Equestria: *gets invented*
Honour, literally the next day: "I'mma run over that now-featherless bastard"

10593349
That's true, though in MLP you can actually make more sense out of a lot of it.
They never went big into fossil fuels since they have alternative means of accomplishing 'work' and as a result they never refined oil well enough to produce plastics en-masse which means very few synthetic materials such as polyester or nylon.
Forgecraft can take a back seat if enchanting can make up for the differences in quality between bronze and steel.
Steelworks is only necessary when using machinery exposed to repeated high stress or high temperatures or you require tools which hold an edge better than bronze (arguably, bronze is better for armor in many circumstances (though I forget the reason why; I believe because it won't shear, but it deforms enough to better absorb impact instead of just transfering it all to the wearer).
You can get aluminum, however, without use of plastics or heavy machinery via chemistry and electro-plating, which can be accomplished via either a unicorn using lightning spells, or pegasus-made lightning.
Chemistry is a large part of pharmaceuticals and extends from more archaic alchemy with the scientific process added on.
Equestrian medicine is advanced due to a differing of priorities between warfare and well-being, due to GOD-EMPRESS OF THE SUN sort of dissuading war.
Electricity without fossil fuels is also possible (if you recall, the show had a one-off hydro-??? dam with what looked like a tesla tower beside it).

It's possible to reach this level of schizo-tech if you're willing to make allowances for suspension of disbelief, I think

grease-monkey very funny
Since pony kind seeing a human shaved monkeyhi
Anon somewhat a mechanic always get their hands oiled and dirty

10593662
“There is no wrong way to fantasize.”

But the next time Honour met him, that now-flightless bastard, she was going to run him right over with Anonymous' self-powered contraption.

Soon Equestrians will be introduced to car-related issues, like carjacking, car accidents and hit-and-runs.

10593632
Being a commandeer who is a jack of all trades sounds like a good match. Having diverse experience can allow one to more efficiently organize multiple specialists than one narrowed-focused individual trying to tell others how to do their jobs.

10593758
Indeed. A interessting team. Composition:
Teamleader - Jack of all trades
Magic user and anti air specialty
Heavy Armored flying combat Scout
Flying nimble Assasin best at nighttime

10593739
Imagine getting a cutie mark in carjacking. Or vehicular ponicide.

10593739
Anon should add a cow-catcher to the front of the car, just in case, I even got into an inner monologue yesterday about cow catchers and their uses on trains, despite Anon working on a car. What is this story doing to me lol.

10593428
Gizmonks, now THAT takes me back. That's some G1 shenanigans, lol

Haven't had cars for two days and they already wanna play GTA. We truly are a terrible influence on the universe.

10593854
I think you mean a glorious influence!

Besides, we should be giving credit to Corporal Bound for her spirit of innovation! Not even two days after the invention of the automobile, and she's invented the concept of vehicular homicide!

But the next time Honour met him, that now-flightless bastard, she was going to run him right over with Anonymous' self-powered contraption.

Now there was a goal worth training for.

She could already hear the pleasant thump the wheels would make going over him.

lol wow honor wow xD

nice

10593854
10593861

"... I really do appreciate your help on this. If you couldn't do this, I don't know who else I'd turn to; it'd be hard to do this with anypony else." He shrugged, with an awkward smile on his face. “We've only known each other for two weeks, but already it feels like we've been through quite a lot. I like to think we have a good working relationship as a result."

Crazy that it's only been two weeks. Feels like it's been so much longer.

But the next time Honour met him, that now-flightless bastard, she was going to run him right over with Anonymous' self-powered contraption.

Now there was a goal worth training for.

She could already hear the pleasant thump the wheels would make going over him.

[Evil chuckling intensifies]

10593861
Just two inventors combining their talents to revolutionize Equestrian society.

10593969
I love our community.

10593684

10593469
"I'm not sure Sir. Let me back up and check..."

*thump-thump*

"Isn't that-"
"Just some trash somepony left in the road sir, wouldn't worry about it."

*thump-thump*

10593456

And normally horses are much more resistant to alcohol than humans. I suppose it might've been a healthy dose of ehanol in those drinks; pretty sure Admiral Biscuit's research pinned that as a better horse inebriator.

10594161
Then we are in agreement that pony booze could floor an elephant?

10593846
Catrina was my all time favorite G1 pony villain. All others seemed one dimensional in personality by comparison.

What an honor, Kilfeather will go down in history as the first roadkill.

With the automobile being introduced, I started imagining the first race being held. After all, as a wise man once said: "Auto racing was born the moment that the second car was built."

So, Anonymous knows about the caste system and the Untouchables, yet is still willing to engage in such a society? Disappointing, I'll admit.

10594585
Indeed, disgusting. The best way to enact change in a society is to refuse to learn about or engage with it. It would probably also help if he had a condescending attitude when forced interact with bat pones.

10594606
Nice reach. Personally, I'd settle for him being a bit more bothered by it. At this point I am disappointed by his reaction or lack thereof, but I await the final product.

10594222

That. Or a pair of Bronzehorns.

10593689
We've also had the Flim Flam mobile for cars, which thinking back is probably not super far off from what we have here, it's just magic instead of steam.

Love this chapter, especially the end! Plus, who better to test and use and automobile than a Earth Pony!

Why did she always remember the really weird ones?

I wonder the same thing sometimes.

10593689 (A friendly PSA: If you reply on a different chapter than the comment, the commentee does NOT get a notification)
Not really. MLP is wholesale schitzo, the ponies have whatever they have without much rhyme or reason.
Your bit about the fossil fuels is also wrong. Ponies are shown to use Coal (Mmmystery on the friendship express). Also neither Nylon or polyester are produced from Oil.
Bronze is NOT a superior material for armor, or we'd still be using it. It does have some favorable properties that steel lacks, however, steel is leaps and bounds its superior.

Perhaps a setting like MLP could be made in a coherent manner, but MLP is not. The writers didn't care, it's a kids' show.

10595984
Just an addendum to your point about the bronze-steel argument, but you also have to remember the different processes involved in their production and how that relates to the level of industrialisation established by the author of the story (since it’s in the context of this story that this is being addressed and not MLP as a whole).

While you’re absolutely right in that bronze isn’t a stronger alloy than steel, it is however more easily produced and workable for a pre-industrial civilisation (which is what this story is trying to set Equestria up as), as can be seen in how long bronze lasted as the primary material of Western firearms OTL. There’s a host of industrial processes that underpin this that are probably implicit in that choice of bronze by the author (in that he’s picking interesting parts of OTL’s industrial revolution to introduce into the Equestria of his story) - like the ability to quantify and measure the material composition of steel during production; the precision machinery needed to produce and work steel in large enough quantities; the dissemination of that kind of specialist knowledge to the broader populace to create an industrial workforce, etc.. These are a lot more complex than the ‘craft’ industry of a blacksmith and are probably why bronze is the chosen material for the armour, rather than steel - since these (in the context of the story) have yet to be introduced to Equestria.

And I’m discounting the magic-industrial argument if the other commenter, mostly because we can’t quantify it’s effects on technological development (as we’ve just not been given enough details from the author).

10602135

Bronze died out in antiquity in usage for arms and armor for a reason: it made inferior weaponry and armor to earlier steels and untempered iron. As well as being both costlier and rarer than iron and steel. As well as being harder to work with.

Bronze didn't make a comeback until the gunpowder age due to it's superior ability to be cast more homogeneous than the steel at the time. The lower costs associated with making certain components of firearms of bronze led to the gunmetal* receivers and frames made famous by Henry's lever actions and Colt's cap and ball revolvers. Which is due, to mostly early industrialization.

*modern gunmetal is considered a just grey color. But gunmetal is actually bronze, specifically. Just a neat little fact.

10593433
Not too curious to me: Anon is an alien in multiple ways. Notably for one as religious as Honour Bound, he already had the blessing of the Princesses BEFORE she met him. At our core, we know all people were at one time helpless babies, but you don't think of that when you see a business mogul, you just see the mogul. She never saw him "rise up the ranks", unlike her would-be colt-friend who surpassed her... If you knew Notch, maker of Minecraft, BEFORE he was a billionaire, you'd react and treat him much differently than if you met him tomorrow morning.

But on top of that, he's not just alien as in "new", he's alien as in extra-equestrial. If Zorak of Betelguese-5 landed on Earth tomorrow, and said "hey, I may not be super knowledgeable about my people's tech, but I think I know enough about basic FTL to get you off the ground", it would first be treated with suspicion and over-diplomatic caution, but showing some positive outcomes in work would quickly become a VIP not just diplomatically but strategically. And there's nothing wrong with that, that's just what they are. Honour Bound isn't jealous of the minotaur couple for being more muscular than her, that's just what minos are. And Anon has more achievements because of his species and situation, that's all. But a fellow soldier, who joined at the same time, of the same species, with the same skillset, suddenly showing you up, that's going to hit closer to home. You'll never be as big as Brunhilda, so it's not a concern. I can't crush things with the force of a machine press, doesn't bother me none.

Corporal Honour Bound swore to Celestia she’d never drink again.

Yeah we heard that one befor xD

She was driving the Royal Engineer's automobile; except it wasn't an automobile. It was a flying carriage, somehow also powered by steam. Chasing her was Lieutenant Kilfeather, except he wasn't flying by himself; he was sitting in his own flying carriage, wearing Princess Luna's tiara, and commanding the pegasi pulling him to hurry up and catch her. Except one of them was a minotaur, and even Sparkshower was part of his team at first, though later it was just another pony in heavy armor, and she was flying alongside Honour.

Uhm...

Castlerook snuck into the mess somehow, as well. She’d had to stop the carriage to pick up more water and fuel, and he was there -- at some kind of roadside motel in the sky -- wearing a Captain's swank uniform and with Glamerspear fawning all over him.

What the hay... xD

Well, he started off sitting next to her, simple enough. But then he was running in the air, the carriage lashed to his back as he pulled it along the sky. Later still, while she’d just turned to glimpse back at her pursuer, he'd become the steam engine itself, pushing the pistons by squatting and standing up again. All while telling her how simple it all was, of course. And then she joined him, working the other piston, too!

Okay... this Mare needs a visit from Luna next time... there is something wrong xD

Work that would change the face of Equestria.

Yeah... typical human i guess xD

Honour smiled. "Yes, sir. I think so, too."

Naaaw how adorable... ^^

But the next time Honour met him, that now-flightless bastard, she was going to run him right over with Anonymous' self-powered contraption.

Honour Bound, First pony driving a Automobile, and First Pony planing a roadkill... thats... concerning... xD

She could already hear the pleasant thump the wheels would make going over him.

She is a madmare!

She was driving the Royal Engineer's automobile; except it wasn't an automobile. It was a flying carriage, somehow also powered by steam. Chasing her was Lieutenant Kilfeather, except he wasn't flying by himself; he was sitting in his own flying carriage, wearing Princess Luna's tiara, and commanding the pegasi pulling him to hurry up and catch her. Except one of them was a minotaur, and even Sparkshower was part of his team at first, though later it was just another pony in heavy armor, and she was flying alongside Honour.

Yup, that's how dreams be sometimes. Everchanging but consistently strange.

In their crowd, she was the odd pony out. Compared to those three ponies and their accomplishments, Honour was just a reasonably strong, reasonably skilled, reasonably experienced, and reasonably clever earth pony. If, perhaps, one with a nasty tendency to second-guess herself...

But isn't that what the military wants? I heard exceptions are just that, not the rule.

But the next time Honour met him, that now-flightless bastard, she was going to run him right over with Anonymous' self-powered contraption.

oh man, what an amusing thought. I just love seeing this part of Honour. She may have missed her true calling; that of a grease-mare (if that works.) I get the feeling that, by the end of this story, the quaternion will end their duty and go their sperate ways as what they want to be:
Sparkshower working for Percheron,
Glammer working as... Something, I'm not sure yet,
And Honour working as a technician.

I'm not sure what Ebon will do, or, really, Glammer for that matter, but I'm sure they'll find something.

10594323
Similarly:
"The moment God crapped out the third caveman, a conspiracy was hatched against one of them!"
-COL. Hunter Gathers