From the New World

by Grim Noire

Gears and Fears

Whatever worries the citizens of Ponyville might have had when Hugo's blustering machine first rolled into town were soon gone as his mirth was hard to resist and the prospects of other strange contraptions hidden away within his auto-carriage were even more difficult to turn away from. By 2:00 PM not a single pony in town was concerned with daily business. Town hall had emptied as the even the mayor looked on like a rank and file gawker.

"Hey Hugo!" said Rainbow Dash as if the two were long-time chums. "What else you got in there?"

"Suddenly in'trested in that en't yeh?" Hugo replied with a knowing grin as though he had planned the entire afternoon: the loud arrival and his delayed appearance.

"Hay yeah, dude! You must have all sorts of cool stuff!" Dash added expectantly, peering at the auto-carriage and trying to guess what goodies he might be hiding.

"Well, I do have quite a few things I've made o'er the years..."

"Like what!?" Dash interrupted.

Chuckling a bit over her excitement he continued. "All sorts o' things!" He said, digging through his trunk, opening up a few boxes before producing something. "Ever feel like having an extra set o' wings?" he said with a sly grin.

"No. Bucking. Way!" she exclaimed, eyes wide open in awe of what appeared to be mechanical wings, light, knife-like strips of metal connected to a series of gears and cables eventually merging together at saddle.

"Aye! Wings! The Peg-Assist I call it. 'Cause the sky's too nice to not explore. Thought so much 'bout how grand it'd be to have wings like a pegasus, so I made it a reality."

Rainbow Dash tore her gaze off the wings and looked back at Hugo. "So you're telling me that any earth pony or unicorn can put these on and fly?"

Hugo patted her on the shoulder. "Absolutely they can!"

And that was all the justification Pinkie Pie needed to bound over and begin strapping the wings to herself.

"Whoa! Whoa! That en't a toy yeh know! Though it's certainly fun like a toy. Eh, take that back. It pretty much is a toy, but a bit tricky to use."

"Aww please, Hugo! I gotta try it! I could hang out with Dashie all day long!" she said with sparkling eyes.

"You know what Pinkie? Maybe you shouldn't try to use it." Dash interjected.

"Please! Please! Please! Pleeeaaassseee!" She begged, her lower lip quivering.

"Well how could I say no to that face! I guess there's no harm in it. Unless yeh crash. Then there'd be harm."

Pinkie's face immediately flashed with happiness, and Hugo set to work teaching her the basics.

"Jus' make sure the straps stay tight, an' dun let go o' the cables in yer hooves. Good, okay. Now move yer shoulders like that. Yes! Se 'em 'em flap!" and before long Pinkie Pie was airborne. Though coarse and ungraceful at first, Pinkie soon had enough control to fly straight, weave and zig zag through the sky, and even perform little loops, awing the crowd as they tilted their heads to follow her movements.

"Hey uh, Hugo?" Dash said, nudging him in the side. "I think you may have created a monster."

"My apologies, miss Dash." he said with a slight bow.

"Aww it's okay! Anypony who can make earth ponies fly is okay in my book... even if it is Pinkie Pie... and as long as they don't fly faster than me! You can just call me Rainbow Dash, too!"

"So very nice to make yer acquaintance Rainbow Dash." said Hugo as he gave another little bow.

"Well Pinkie Pie might be your next best friend, that's for sure!" Dash said with a laugh.

"Got somethin' yeh might be int'rested in too!" He said, going back into his trunk as Dash quivered with expectancy like a filly on Hearth's Warming Eve.

The yellow stallion emerged, producing a pair of goggles similar to his own, though the lenses were green, and the frames were covered in small colored wires along with two nobs.

"Whoa, dude! What is that?" Dash exclaimed, eyeing the complexity of the ocular device.

"Specialized goggles. Been callin' 'em Super-Sighters fer the longest time. Turn that nob there, an' yeh can see at night. Now try turnin' th'other one."

Dash complied, putting on the goggles and turning the other nob. As she did so the lenses extended like binoculars from the frames, going forward and backward as she turned the nob right and left.

"No way! This is so awesome!" She said with a high-pitched crack.

"Well, go ahead! Get used to 'em. They're yers after all." he said with a warm smile.

"You're kidding! You're just gonna give them to me?" Said Dash as she pushed the goggles up and stared at him, dumbstruck.

"Why not? I've got no use fer 'em anymore. Got me own pair fer doin' stuff in the dark, an' I dun need anythin' wi' that level o' magnification anyway. A pegasus like yeh s'bound to enjoy 'em too. Just dun crash into Pinkie Pie there while yer testin' 'em out."

And with a squeal, Rainbow Dash took into the air to join Pinkie.

"Mighty kind a' you to let Pinkie try out them wings a' yers!" said Applejack among the other voices in the crowd. "Though Ah gotta agree with Rainbow Dash in some part. Ah'm not sure Equestria's fully prepared for a winged Pinkie Pie. Good luck gettin' them things off her when you need 'em back." she finished and chuckled a bit.

"Who said I wanted 'em back? Made tons! Were one o' the first things what put me on the map as a real tinkerer! Would be a cryin' shame not to share the fun wi' others!"

"Ah gotta say, Hugo. That's dang generous! So what brings you here anyway, if you don't mind me askin'? Don't think Ah ever heard a' you."

"Well I travel here an' there, stoppin' in cities and towns 'cross Equestria. Yeh see there en't many ponies like me."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Of that we can all be sure." but Hugo took no notice, continuing his brief introduction.

"Most ponies rely on magic to get things done, but where I come from, there en't many unicorns around, so's we earth ponies have to make do."

"And where exactly are you from, Mr. Iron." Twilight asked, her tone a bit more blunt than she meant it to be.

"Equusburgh, miss. An' again... please call me Hugo." he said, winking at her.

"Equusburgh?" Twilight said with a dubious flat tone devoid of emotion.

"Aye." Hugo said, smiling.

"In Scoltland?" her tone persisted.

"That's the place." and for some reason this elicited some mild laughter from the crowd. "Don't suppose you've ever been there?" He asked her, but his tone was hard to place.

"No, I haven't, but I do know it's quite far away. North of Hoofington."

"S'right. No place like it in Equestria, tha's fer sure."

"Right." She said curtly. "And I suppose you drove that machine here from Equusburgh."

"That I did. Though it seems like yeh've got a problem wi' it." His eyes narrowed.

She returned the stare. "Only that you'd need a boat to cross the ocean, or does your machine float as well? It looks a bit too heavy."

"Uh, Twilight?" Applejack said with a nervous fake smile, nudging herself close to the unicorn before speaking low, "What the hay you doin'?"

"No! No! S'quite alright, me dear!" he said in obvious response to Applejack. "She raises a valid point." and at this his voice became somber, the smile vanishing off his face. "Yeh were quite right to prod deep, me little mare. I might've fooled ev'rypony here, but unfortunately yeh've seen through me." Now his face seemed dark and shadowed with ill intent, as the crowd stood puzzled at this ominous change in mood. "The truth o' the matter is..."

"What!?" Twilight barked.

"That... I did drive here..." his eyes shifted left and right, "after I loaded the auto-carriage onto a boat what sailed across the ocean. An' there yeh've done it! Uncovered me dark secret!" and with that he began howling with laughter along with just about everypony else in the crowd.

Twilight suddenly felt a strong heat form in her chest, partly from embarrassment but also from Spike's flames as he rolled around on the ground, chortling and coughing flames with the occasional letter from Princess Celestia.

"Spike!" Twilight scowled at the dragon.

"Geez Twilight! You just handed him that one!" He coughed out, still straining to not burst out laughing again.

This was followed by a hard smack on her back, causing her eyes to widen and pull the corners of her mouth back in surprise. Pinkie Pie had landed behind her.

"A boat! Ha! How'd you not see that one coming?" she giggled before hopping off and back up into the sky to rejoin Rainbow Dash.

In all the only other pony that didn't seem to be laughing was Applejack who seemed innately concerned. "What's got you actin' like this, sugar cube? Just a moment ago you was tellin' Rarity to calm down, an' now you're just as jittery."

Twilight looked long at her friend trying to think of some explanation when it dawned on here that there didn't seem to be any. For all she knew there was no reason whatsoever why she was suddenly so suspicious and angry.

"I... I really don't know, Applejack."

"You wanna talk about it?" Applejack edged closer, putting a supporting hoof on Twilight's back.

"No. I'm fine. I guess I was just being irrational, but there is something about that pony I don't like." She turned and sneered at Hugo as he opened up a trunk in the back of his auto-carriage, ponies gathering around to take a look.

"Well he is kind of a showoff, rollin' in here louder than a rodeo. Ah know Rarity agrees with you on that, so don't feel like yer alone an' all." She smiled and gave Twilight a friendly punch in the side. "Ah'm sure once you get over all that clamorin' he's probably not so bad. He aint even near as bad as Pinkie Pie on All-Sugar Saturdays, an' we still like her!" Applejack motioned a hoof over at Pinkie Pie who had just nose-dived into the crowd only to make her way to Hugo's trunk and start busily digging through boxes as the inventor desperately tried to stop her.

"Nope! Dun touch that! No! Not that one neither! That'll explode! No! That'll explode too!" A few pushed buttons later there was a snap, and a bolt of electricity shot up into the air. "Jus' be glad that one weren't pointed at yer face!"

Twilight gave a giggle, her fears put to rest. "You're right Applejack! Thank you!"

"Anytime, sugar cube."

Comments

[AtomicFetus1]

Yay, new chapter!