Times Could Be Worse

by AgentHondo

The New Pair

Scootaloo and Twilight arrived at her library, which happened to have been built inside of a tree. The filly was accompanied by her two best friends, which refused to leave since they had plans for earning their cutie marks.

"Are you two sure you want to stay? " Twilight asked. "We may be a while."

"Of course we do!" Sweetie said.

"Yeah! After all she is our friend, she would do tha' same for us!" Apple Bloom barked.

"Okay, if you really want to then. Follow me." Twilight turned around to face the door of the library. Spike suddenly opened the door, as if he was expecting them to return on time.

"Hey Twilight! Hey girls!" Spike greeted. "Hey Spike. I'm going to need you to run downstairs and power up my machining tools."

"You do machining?" Scootaloo asked.

"I've begun to dabble in it a little, after a met a pony named 'The Doctor'. He's a strange pony, but he sure does know a lot! Anyways, I bet you're wondering how I'm going to help you with your wing problem?"

"You bet!" Scootaloo answered excitedly. "Well, with my machining lessons, I've been working on a design of a new pair of wings."

"A new pair of wings? There's no way anypony can just make a new pair of wings."

"But what if told you that these wings aren't flesh and bone? Wings made of metal! Machinery that has a steam generator on it!"

Well this is going to be fun, I hope Scootaloo thought. " Alright, I'll give it a go, but I won't lose my actual wings, will I?"

"Of course not! What a terrible waste of wings, that is. No, these wings will be built around your wings. The bigger ones should correspond to your wings actions."

"They should?" A hint of fear was in the orange filly's voice.

"Sure they should! I mean I'm not positive they will, but that's why your here!"

"Looks like I've got nothing to lose, so alright, hook me up!"

"Perfect! The tools should be ready now, so lets head to the basement!" Twilight happily trotted to the door which went down into the library's basement, the three fillies remained standing in the center of the foyer.

---

"Are y' sure you want to do this? I trust Twilight and all, but I've heard of this Doctor colt, ponies have been saying that he's a real nutcase. They usually see him walk into this tiny blue box, and just stays there! I mean what kind of sane pony hangs out in a box?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Oh come on, Apple Bloom, he must be called 'The Doctor' for a reason! Plus, Twilight's smart, she knows what she's doing!" Sweetie Belle retorted.

"Yeah, maybe he needs to see a doctor." The youngest Apple sibling grumbled.

"Alright, alright." Scootaloo had to raise her voice to talk over the arguing fillies. "This might be the only chance I'll ever get in maybe a long time to actually fly! I mean, I can be one step closer to Rainbow!"

"Alright Scoots, A'm not goin' against y' with this. It's your decision and I fully support y' go on ahead, we' right behind y'."

Scootaloo grinned wickedly as she ran to to lavender mare waiting at the door.

"Let's do this!" Scootaloo had a hard time keeping her elation to herself.

---

The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood in awe in the center of the basement. None of them had ever been inside of the library's basement. Instead of boxes, or shelves, or anything a normal basement contained, there were large sheets of brass, steel cogs and gears scattered everywhere, and large, intricate tools with indescribable qualities. Large saws jutted out from one spot of a machine, while a lathe spat out another.

"Alright then! Let's get started." Twilight said giddily.

Scootaloo felt uncomfortable standing with Twilight observing her, thinking of possibilities that would result in a new set of wings.

"First, let me get a few measurements of your wings." Twilight said as she prodded Scootaloo's wings with a measuring tape, being very careful, as if the orange filly's wings were made of glass.

"Okay! You girls can hang out with Spike until I'm finished with the base."

Spike showed the three back upstairs as he asked them if they wanted something to drink. The crusaders all politely declined, but all three well feeling guilty about overhearing Pinkie Pie and Twilight's conversation.

"Ah' think I have somethin' to get off of mah' chest." Apple Bloom explained, a large amount of guilt in her tone.

"So do I" Sweetie seconded.

"Same here." Scootaloo said.

"So we were at Sugarcube Corner" Sweetie started. "When we heard Twilight and Pinkie talking about this new kind of civilization! It sounded pretty freaky, just another city popping up right after the Crystal Kingdom."

"Yeah, and now the six of them are gonna have to go over there and talk peace!" Scootaloo picked up. "I mean, how awesome is that? If there are any guards that try to attack them, I bet Rainbowdash will kick the hay out of them! You know, I once heard when changelings attacked Canterlot, she beat a horde of them in a fight single-hoof-edly!"

"Yeah an' then Twilight even told us that this is a might secret and not to tell anypo-" Apple Bloom and her friends all had a look of shock register.

"Pony feathers!" Scootaloo yelled as she face-hoofed.

"Never fear! Your secret is safe with me!" Spike replied gallantly.

"Phew! I'm glad we know someone as trustworthy as you!" Apple Bloom said.

"Thanks! It does answer some questions for me, actually. Twilight sure has been acting strange lately. She's been packing a lot of stuff, like she'll be gone for a while. She's also been working on this carriage of hers, if it works, it will be a steam powered carriage that won't need any pony to pull it! How neat is that?"

Wow, that's impressive. What will she think of next? Scootaloo wondered. "Lemme guess, she got help from the Doctor?"

"Yeah, actually!" Spike answered. "He's real nice to! But I am a little confused by how he manages living in a box..."

I'll have to thank the Doctor for this, I guess. Scootaloo thought.

Spike and the girls chatted and played some games outside for another few hours, until they heard Twilight call from the basement.

"Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiike?"

"Oh, one sec guys, I'll be right back." Spike hurried back to the basement.

"I can't wait! This might be it!" Scootaloo squealed.

"And we're super happy for you!" Sweetie Belle said.

"You bet yer' apples we are!" Apple Bloom chimed.

Neither of Scootaloo's friends were entirely sure of whether or not Twilight's crazy new idea of a "new pair of wings" would be successful. But both still, being the friends of the one actually making the decision, they felt that it was important to stand behind a pony that could finally achieve her dream.

Spike stepped out from the basement door.

"She's ready for you!"

Scootaloo fluttered here wings with eagerness. She gladly followed Spike back down into the depths of the former tree. She turned back to see her two friends, unmoved.

"Are you guys coming, or what?" Scootaloo asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"I think I might hang around here with Spike," Sweetie said.

"Yeah after all, this is yer' destiny, I ain't gonna do any interferin'" Apple Bloom added.

"Alright, but you guys will wait out here for me, right?"

"Of course!" They both answered.

"Okay Spike lead the way!" Scootaloo never expected that the combination of a secret like that of Twilight's, and a new Invention would return with such bitter consequences, but how would you be able to tell? Giving no foresight to the situation, she strolled inside merrily behind the baby dragon

---

When Scootaloo entered the basement, there were drawers open tiny nuts and bolts strewn about everywhere. There was the sounds of steam being released from the large machinery and into the vents as the gears turned and joints flexed. A worktable against the wall had many small contraptions and gizmos on it, and Scootaloo had no idea what their purposes may be. And at that worktable, stood the lavender mare, her mane messy, oil smeared on her face, and was wearing goggles on her head that had many lenses, shrinking in size that slide over her eyes to magnify her sight.

"Good, you're here!" Twilight was beaming with an odd glint of passion in her eyes. "Okay, lets get started. Throw this vest for me," She grabbed a leather vest off of a hanger and gave it to the pegasus. "It should keep the steam operator from giving you any scratches or scrapes. Scootaloo put the vest on. The inside was very comfortable with a fleece lining.

Twilight must have had this made by Rarity she thought. I'll have to thank her to!

"Okay, here comes the real parts. This might be a little heavy." Twilight levitated a large, brass contraption towards her. It was about the length of her neck stretching to the very tip of her flank. Twilight's magic slide the pack onto her back and guided leather straps through loops in the vest and buckled them snug around the filly. The weight wasn't too heavy, definitely worth being granted the ability to fly.

"How's that feel?" Twilight "It might feel a little snug at first, but I think you'll get used to it."

"Alright I think; so how about the wings?"

"Yes, yes, I'm on it!" Twilight ran to another workbench, cleaned up nicely, and pulled open a drawer. She levitated two metal works of art. They were, truly beautiful. The wings were slightly larger then an average ponies, but slightly smaller than a griffons. There was a long steel rod wrapped in leather that extended out and bent downwards at the end. From the rod came small, brass sheets appeared to pour out of the top and rounded to create the same basic shape of a pegasus wing.

Twilight connected the wings into two slightly larger holes in the operator on Scootaloo's back. There were slots were she could slide the joints of her wings into, making the larger wings wrap around hers. Twilight then flipped a switch on the generator's back and it whirred to life, exhaling steam every few moments.

"Don't worry, it should only steam as it warms up, I wouldn't want you to be a walking smokestack!" Scootaloo turned around to examine the apparatus as Twilight began to crack up at her own joke.

After Twilight calmed down, she explained how to use the new set of wings.

"Okay, so first, I'm going to have to use a spell to link this machine and your mind to act as it's an extension of your body. Ready?"

"Okay?" Scootaloo was interested, but then shocked when a magical field surrounded her head and the mechanism.

Twilight concentrated, and with her eyes closed, she completed the spell and looked up to face the filly. "Do you feel any different?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, no, not really..." Scootaloo was expecting a look of sadness to show on Twilight, but the exact opposite happened, actually.

"Good, it worked! You shouldn't feels any different since your brain thinks that your new wings are part of your organic wings. If the spell worked, then manipulating the wings should be the same as your others."

Twilight was right. She decided to unfurl the wings like she would normally, and the larger wings followed the exact motions. These new wings ran out from behind her head. Twilight had a look of satisfaction, her greatest success in her machining career.

"I think it's time we head back up and show your friends." Twilight said with a sheepish grin.

---

When Twilight and Scootaloo walked back up the stairs, Spike, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie all stood speechless.

"Wow." All three said in unison.

Everyone in the room had a wonderful conversation, all involving how amazing the wings were, until Sweetie asked, "When are you going to learn?"

"Hopefully I can start tomorrow with Rainbowdash! It'll be so exciting!" Her honorary sister would be able to train her with a unique set of wings soon, hopefully.

"Well I'm sure she would love to, but you know we've got some business to take care of." Twilight said.

"Oh right!" Spike voiced. "You mean how you guys have to go that other city!" Scootaloo face-hoofed again and Apple Bloom gave Spike a punch in the shoulder.

"You told him?" Twilight said. She sighed heavily as she started pacing the room. All of a sudden she stopped. "Well actually, I was going to tell him, and it does give some extra time on my schedule, so I guess that's okay. But just this time only. You girls lucked out." The Cutie Mark Crusaders all had poorly hid grins on their faces.

"Well, I should take my extra time to finish packing, after all, it is getting dark out."

"Alright, we'll see y' later then, Twilight!" Apple Bloom said

"Yeah! And you know, thanks for the wings." Scootaloo praised.

"No problem! It's my pleasure, I got to make a pony happy and work on my skills. I'll see you girls when I get back." The three fillies exited the library and began walking.

"We're going to follow her, aren't we?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"You bet." Scootaloo answered, a smirk adorning her face.

Author's Note:

Well I hope this works better as a longer chapter! I just didn't feel right packing so much information into so few words.

Thanks again to:
-PinkiesManeBrony
-Banjoman
-Raging Bonus

Comments

[TheRealDJ-Pon3]

Okay, mix between magic and steam punk? Hmmm....I like it! But when are you posting another chapter?