Sky Wing
Techorse series: #12
By Spirals95
It was a great day for a flight over Ponyville, especially if you didn't actually have wings. Techorse was such a pony, possessing a pair of turbofans in a robotic saddle on his back that let him fly without breaking a sweat. As the green colt flew over the colonial buildings of town, he looked down at the citizens and observed their daily activities. Most were selling wares from their stores or trying to get to work on time, but a few were simply enjoying the sunny day without many cares.
"After that week of rain, we really needed this sunny day!" said Techorse to himself, flying 200 feet above the ground.
A recent drought due to the lack of available rainclouds had brought the need for all the rain in the past week. Many of the weather pegasi had to pull a double shift just to move the clouds into place, and the task had required even Techorse to lend a robotic hand. But he was happy to help considering how much Ponyville did for him, including putting up with the occasional rouge invention. As Techorse continued his flight over town, his lack of attention to where he was going earned him a collision with a solid, but fluffy wall. His head was embedded in a very thick but comfortable white substance, and he could see nothing but what appeared to be cotton. Techorse shut off his turbofans and used his front legs to pull himself out of where he had run into. Falling backwards, he landed on a plateau made of concrete and cloud material. Apparently, he had run into a cloudhouse like Rainbow Dash's, but this one was very different. The design focused on the concept of clear plastic tubes filled with rainbow water spiraling around two columns which kept the roof of the single story home in place. The roof was very angular and built with crystal tiles which reflected the sun beautifully. The rest of the home was rectangular and plain, but this impressive frontal appearance certainly made up for that.
"This house wasn't here yesterday." said Techorse, "There must be a new Pegasus in town."
The hole in the side of the home repaired itself as the enhanced cloud structure replaced the material of the damaged wall with moisture from the plastic tubes. Techorse marveled for a second at the pseudo-technology before moving on to the front door. With a click, the panels on the sides of his saddle opened up, and his robotic arms extended. Techorse knocked on the wooden door gently and waited for a few moments in hopes that the occupant would at least greet him. A minute passed without any answer, so Techorse tried to open the door with his front leg. The door swung in gently, revealing the short hallway that led into the home.
"Whoever lives here sure doesn't have any concern for security." thought Techorse as he entered the building and walked through the white-painted hallway.
He wandered into the main living area of the house, a large central room featuring two soft blue colored couches in an L pattern. In front of these couches was a glass coffee table with gold ornate legs. Both of these pieces of furniture were sitting behind a fireplace, which was an oddity for a cloudhouse, but a nice touch. The internal red brick chimney featured a shelf on which a few framed pictures sat. The one thing Techorse couldn't tell about the room was whether the floor was wood, cloud, or carpet, for there were cardboard boxes scattered everywhere.
"The family must still be moving in."
Techorse waded through the masses of cardboard boxes in order to reach the other areas of the home. He exited the living room to the right and entered the kitchen, which was well stocked with an oven/stove combination, a refrigerator, and an automatic sandwich maker which the colt recognized as one of his own inventions he had recently put on the market. The inventor smiled when he realized that the owner of the house was a customer of his. Turning away from the boxy contraption, he saw that the kitchen was also littered with unopened boxes. They were lined up in a sort of trail, and the trail led right to the kitchen table. It was a small square one made of metal and plastic that could probably seat four. Techorse walked up to the table, making sure he didn't accidentally step on one of the moving boxes. He looked around the dining table to see if there was anything behind it. A Pegasus pony stood behind the counter, busy unwrapping one of the many boxes on the floor.
"Hello." said Techorse gently. The colt jumped and dropped the box he was holding, giving a startled yelp.
He spun around and panted for a moment before calming down and asking Techorse, "How'd you get in here?"
"You left your door unlocked!" explained Techorse, pointing a hoof back towards the front door, "Sorry to startle you."
"I'm fine." He replied, flapping his wings a few times to cool himself down from the shock. The male Pegasus pony had a tan coat, a brown mane which was a few shades darker than Techorse's, light blue eyes, and a cutie mark that resembled a bundle of three green feathers.
Techorse thought he recognized him, but new that he had seen many others like him before. But to be polite, he offered to help the new guy move in.
"Need some help with these boxes here?" he asked, looking at the scattered containers.
"Sure, thanks." He answered, picking up another one, "Just take out what's in them and put it on the floor. I'll get to it later."
"Alright." said Techorse. The panels opened up on the saddle again, and the robotic arms grabbed the nearest box and started to open it. The Pegasus pony looked at the robot arms and immediately he knew who was standing in front of him.
"Hey, you're Techorse!" he said with excitement.
"Yeah, that's me." He replied with a bit of confusion in his voice, "How did you know?"
The colt replied, "You led Cloudsdale against that army of robots that attacked us! I recognized you by that mechanical saddle you're wearing. You're probably the best earth pony alive!"
"Thanks." said Techorse with a laugh, busy taking silverware out of the box he had opened, "You know so much about me that it makes me a bit upset that I don't know who you are."
"My name is Sky Wing." He replied, "I used to live in Cloudsdale, but I heard there was a job opening here for cloud hunting."
"What's that?" asked Techorse, not sure what that job meant.
"Cloud hunting is when you go and find clouds which will provide exactly the right amount of precipitation for crops. Too little and they'll dry out, too much and they'll be washed away. I've gotten really good at picking the right clouds for the job." explained Sky Wing, smiling as he described his career.
"If your job's about finding the right clouds, why is your cutie mark like that?" asked Techorse.
Sky Wing looked back a bit at his own flank and answered, "It takes having the right wings to determine how thick the clouds are. I figured out when I was little that I have that kind of wings."
Techorse finished taking the forks and knives out of the cardboard box and turned his attention to the next one. When he opened the flaps, what was inside the box surprised him. A pump-action 12 gauge shotgun, with the barrel sawed to the pump and the stock all but missing, was lying on its side on a bed of orange packing peanuts. Techorse picked up the gun with his robotic arms and looked over the weapon with great curiosity.
"Sky Wing, where did you get this shotgun?" he asked.
Sky Wing told him proudly, "I saw the human's smashed robot several miles below Cloudsdale, and found that under his ejector seat. I kinda like to collect things from when those humans were attacking Equestria."
"This is General Schadenfreude's shotgun." Said Techorse in awe, not believing the artifact could have survived. He turned his attention to Sky and asked, "You don't have any ammo for this, do you?"
"Ammo?" he asked, not understanding.
"Shells." said Techorse, "These use plastic shells. You put them in this slot underneath, pump the gun, and then pull the trigger to fire it."
Sky Wing nodded, "I figured that's how it worked. Of course, those robots' lasers stopped working, so that thing shouldn't work anymore even if you found any shells for it."
Techorse didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't a nonlethal weapon. It was probably intended for Schadenfreude to hunt deer for meat in case his 'mech had gotten downed out in the forests of Equestria. But with his robot destroyed over Cloudsdale, Sky Wing had found the gun and kept it as a souvenir of the battle. The green colt stared at the weapon and wondered if it should be put in a museum of some kind.
"Do your lasers still work?" asked Sky Wing.
Techorse looked up at him and replied, "Yeah. Mine aren't teleporter cannons, so they can still fire." As he spoke, he placed the shotgun on the ground and switched to the laser cannons Sky Wing was talking about. The twin metal tubes pitched up and down to track Techorse's line of sight.
"I wish I had one of those." said Sky Wing in envy of the weapons, "But I wouldn't use them first. I'd want to make sure it was the only way to solve the problem."
"That's the right attitude to have when it comes to weapons." Said Techorse with a big smile, "There are too many colts out there who tell me my laser cannons are great. But I hate to have to use my lasers unless I absolutely need to. Every colt with a weapon should know how to show mercy."
"Ok, but remember that your lasers aren't the only cool thing you have. Your appliances rock!" said Sky Wing, pointing to the sandwich maker. They both laughed for a moment. After the laughter died down, Techorse decided to invite Sky Wing over for a soda.
"Hey, do you want to come over to the castle some time and hang out?" asked Techorse, "Once you get settled in here?"
"I'd love to." He answered, "But I have plans for this afternoon. Maybe later in the week."
"Alright then." said Techorse, understanding that his new friend would be busy moving in.
"Hey boys, what's going on in here?" came a familiar voice from behind Techorse. He spun around quickly and found Pinkie Pie standing amongst the cardboard boxes.
"Pinkie Pie?" he asked rhetorically, "How did you get up here?"
"I saw the new cloudhouse and knew I had to welcome the new guy in town!" she responded, "So I shot myself out of a cannon to get up here!"
Techorse chuckled a bit, but quieted down when he acknowledged that Pinkie Pie might actually be serious about that. Shaking his head to clear his mind out of the silly image, Techorse introduced his old friend to his new one.
"This is Sky Wing, Pinkie Pie."
"Nice to meet ya!" she said, jumping in front of Techorse and extending a warm hoof out to Sky Wing.
Sky Wing said to her, "Thanks, nice to meet you too."
"Now that we've met," said Pinkie Pie, "I wanna invite you to your housewarming party at my place!"
"You knew I was going to move in?" asked Sky Wing in surprise.
"No, silly!" she replied, "But I always throw a party for a new friend, especially a friend of Techie's! In fact, you're his first boyfriend. I mean, male friend!" Pinkie Pie laughed at her little slip of the tongue and skipped merrily out of the room, back to the bakery to begin planning for the party. After Techorse was sure she was gone, he apologized.
"Sorry about that Sky, Pinkie's a bit of a wild girl." He said to him, frowning.
"Don't worry about it. I'm actually happy that she wants to throw a party for me despite not knowing me at all." He answered, his expression becoming cheerful.
After a brief pause he added, "Wait, didn't she say I'm your first male friend?"
"Well, yeah." admitted Techorse, looking at the ground, "All my other friends are girls."
"Do you know any other Pegasus ponies?" asked Sky Wing.
Techorse said, "Yeah, there's Fluttershy, who lives at the edge of town, and Rainbow Dash, the only other one with a cloudhouse."
Sky Wing's expression changed to one of awe, "You know Rainbow Dash?"
"Of course I do, she's the town hero, and I'm the town mad scientist!" he laughed, taking a poke at himself in the name of humor.
"You don't understand!" shouted Sky Wing, "That's why I didn't want to go to your castle this afternoon. I was going to try and meet up with her!"
"I can introduce you to her." said Techorse, "I'd be glad to."
"I've already seen her before, Tech. I just wanted a chance to talk to her again. You see, back when we were fighting those robots, I saw Rainbow Dash nearly get hit by a teleporter beam and I threw myself in front of it to save her." said Sky Wing.
Techorse's mouth fell open a bit.
"That's right!" he exclaimed, "You were that tan Pegasus I saw in the factory. No wonder Rainbow Dash gave you a hug."
"Yeah." He said, letting out a loving sigh.
Techorse picked up on the emotion and asked him slowly, "Sky… Do you… like Rainbow Dash?"
Sky Wing stood there with no expression on his face for a few seconds before closing his eyes and nodding.
"I moved here to get a job, but I was hoping to get to know her better." He admitted. After a second, he asked with sadness, "Do you think I have a chance with her?"
Techorse wanted to say no, he knew Rainbow Dash would probably dislike Sky in that way due to his slower speed and introverted nature. But he didn't want to look mean, so he said, "I think she'll want to be friends. If you come to your party tonight, you can get the chance to talk to her again."
"Ok." He said, lightening up.
"Hey, I need to go home and get ready." Said Techorse, "I'll see you there, ok?"
"Alright Techorse. See you later." replied Sky. Techorse turned around and walked out of the kitchen, back through the hallway he entered in, and out to the edge of the cloudhouse. He jumped off the ledge and quickly deployed his turbofans, which carried him back towards his castle.
Later that evening, Pinkie Pie had gotten her party in full swing. There were streamers, balloons, and housewarming gifts all over the room. In the center on a small table was the centerpiece cake, a massive chocolate confection with white and light blue icing in a lace pattern. The entire team had gathered to welcome Sky Wing to Ponyville under Pinkie's direction, and they waited inside the large party room for their guest of honor. Thirty minutes had passed since the official beginning of the party, and Rainbow Dash was getting very impatient with the new guy.
"Where is that colt?" she asked out loud, making sure everyone could hear her complain, "This is his party and he won't even show up for it!"
"Patience Rainbow Dash." encouraged Rarity, "I hear from Tech that he is a very shy fellow. He wouldn't even come out of his house all day today. We need to give him all the time he needs."
"I bet he's still gettin' unpacked." added Applejack, "It takes a while to get settled in."
"Has anypony seen Twilight?" asked Pinkie Pie, looking eagerly out of a round window, "She's a little late too!"
"She went with Tech to go get our guest." answered Rarity, "She'll be back."
While they talked about Sky Wing being late, Fluttershy sat by herself in a corner of the room on one of the large pillows Pinkie Pie had set down for chairs. She was a little worried as to what the new pony in town might be like, and wondered if he would be nice to her. Her head rested gently on the large white pillow, it cushioned her neck and made it comfortable to lie on the floor.
Fluttershy's head shot upwards though when she heard Pinkie shout, "They're here! I see them!"
The door to the party room opened, and Sky Wing was pushed inside by Twilight's magic. Apparently they had to drag him from his home to get him to go to the party. Sky Wing looked around the room at the smiling faces and began to sweat nervously. He was the exact opposite of Techorse, having only male friends and not much experience with women whatsoever.
"Hi. I'm Sky Wing, the guy Techorse told you about." He said shakily. Rainbow Dash recognized Sky Wing, and immediately her face went from twisted in impatience to shock.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Sky Wing." said Applejack, approaching him with a friendly smile. She pointed at the other ponies in the room and introduced Sky to each of them. Even Fluttershy was happy to say hello when she realized that Sky Wing was as timid as she was.
"It's very nice to meet you all." said Sky Wing, who was now standing in the middle of the room and shaking like a leaf, "Now I really should go." He turned around and made a mad dash for the exit.
"Don't go just yet!" said Pinkie Pie, shutting the door to make sure Sky couldn't escape so easily, "We haven't had any cake or presents yet!"
Twilight leaned over to Techorse and whispered to him, "I'm glad you made a new friend, Tech. But he's a nervous wreck."
"He's just new." Assured Tech, "Give him time and I'm sure he'll be ok around you girls."
The party proceeded very well for the team, but Sky Wing spent most of the time sitting on the pillows and talking with Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie tried to get him involved in all sorts of wild party games, but he wouldn't partake in any of them. The party drew to a close after a few hours, and the ponies left one by one to go home. Sky Wing waited patiently until he saw Rainbow Dash head for the door. He then got up from the pillow, bid Fluttershy goodnight, and followed Rainbow out the door. Twilight almost went after Sky Wing, but Techorse pulled her back and explained what was going on,
"Twilight, Sky has feelings for Rainbow Dash. We should give him the chance to talk to her alone."
Twilight Sparkle swished her tail vertically and replied, "I'm not sure about this, Tech. Rainbow Dash's not going to like what he tells her, and I don't want him to get crushed by her reply. Let me go and talk with both of them."
"Alright Twilight." Said Techorse, letting his marefriend leave his side and exit the building.
Outside, Sky Wing had caught Rainbow Dash with her wings spread, about to take off into the night.
"Wait!" he called out.
Rainbow Dash stowed her wings and looked back at him, "Yeah?"
Sky Wing approached Rainbow slowly and said quietly, "I have something to tell you. You might not remember me, but I was that pony who threw himself in front of that teleporter beam to make sure you made it out of that battle ok."
"I know that." said Rainbow, "That was pretty sweet of you. You know Sky, at first I thought you were just a slowpoke moving into town, but when I figured out it was you, I kind of changed my mind. You're a pretty cool guy."
"Thanks." said Sky Wing, this time not showing any nervousness at all.
Rainbow Dash took off into the air and left Sky standing there with a smile on his face. Although he really didn't get the chance to tell Rainbow his true feelings about her, he was content to know she at least wanted to be friends. Twilight reached him at this point and feared the worst.
"Hey Sky, are you ok?" she asked, "What did Rainbow say to you?"
Sky turned and said to her, "She just wanted to let me know that we could be friends."
Twilight smiled and thought to herself, "For once, Rainbow didn't hurt the feelings of someone slower than her."
"I need to go home now." said Sky, spreading his wings for flight, "Tell Pinkie Pie that I said thanks for the party."
"I will. Take care, Sky." he replied as he took off and flew straight for his house. Twilight turned around and started to head back for the library. She had a letter to write about Rainbow Dash's behavioral improvements.
When Rainbow Dash made it back to her cloudhouse, she opened the door and quickly stepped inside. With a reverse-kick she shut the door with a loud slam. The Pegasus pony made her way into the depths of her home and found a framed picture of Sky Wing taken during the victory celebration in Ponyville.
Staring at the picture, Rainbow Dash thought, "I'm so glad Sky Wing came to Ponyville. Ever since he saved me during that battle, I've fallen for him! But I can't let my friends know that, he's way too slow and shy for my style! They'll think I've gotten wimpy." Rainbow Dash turned away from the framed picture and walked slowly for her bed. It was going to be a long and sleepless night for her.
Techorse spent the entire next morning in his laboratory working on his latest creation. He didn't get Sky Wing a gift last night at the party. Instead, he chose to invent something that would be just as good. As he soldered together metal in his laboratory, his robot PAL entered with a glass of lemonade.
"I heard from Mistress Sparkle that you've made your first male friend." said the robot with great pride for his master, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks PAL" responded Techorse, not turning his attention away from his work. The machine set the glass of icy yellow liquid on the lab table next to the green colt. Techorse moved his lips sideways and took a long sip out of the glass while continuing to solder metal. Sparks flew from the table as the project neared completion.
"What are you making?" asked PAL as he looked at the device on the table.
"Something for my new friend." He responded, "He told me earlier that he has the same principles as I do about weapons, PAL."
"You're building him his own battle saddle?" PAL shouted in shock, "But I thought you said you wouldn't make another for any pony ever!"
Techorse finished the work on the device and turned to face PAL, "This one only has the robotic arms on it. The weapon itself will come separately, and I'm keeping that here at the castle. Try to relax."
PAL nodded thoughtfully and left his master to program the new saddle. He wasn't sure what would come out of another pony in Equestria having the device, but figured that if the weapon was kept under watch by his master, it would be safe. PAL's sensors picked up the doorbell ringing, and he rushed to the front gate of the castle to open it. As the large double doors opened up, Sky Wing stared at the towering robot above him.
PAL looked down at the colt and asked, "This is a long shot, good sir, but you wouldn't happen to be my master's new friend, would you?"
"That's me." He replied, "You must be the robot he talks about."
"Correct." responded the machine, "I am PAL, the personality and language unit. Please, come inside, my master is in the laboratory building you a gift."
"Techorse is making me a gift?" thought Sky Wing as he walked into the stone hallways of the castle. PAL led him back to the laboratory, where Techorse was busy attaching the gray cushion to the top of the machine. He noticed Sky out of the corner of his blue eyes and turned to face him.
"Hey buddy." He said, "I just finished your welcome present."
Techorse took out his robotic arms and grabbed the new saddle. Walking over to Sky Wing, he put the device on his back and strapped the black seatbelts over his middle.
Sky Wing looked back at the device and asked, "You want me to have a copy of your battle saddle?"
"Well, just the robot arms." Said Techorse, "Now that we're friends, I want you to be able to use the same technology that I do."
"Ok." Said Sky Wing uneasily, "How do I use this thing?"
"First we have to calibrate it so that it reads your brainwaves." He explained, "Just start thinking as if you really did have two arms coming out of that saddle."
Sky Wing thought hard about having arms, but the notion was silly to him, and nothing happened.
"It doesn't work, Tech." he said, frowning.
"It's still picking up on your unique mental frequency." said Techorse, "Just give it a few more seconds, ok?" Sky Wing nodded and kept staring at the sides of the contraption on his back. Eventually, he was able to open the metal slots on the side of the saddle, and slowly but surely, the arms came out of the machine. However, they fell limp on the ground. Sky Wing looked forward again and concentrated on moving the arms forward. After about an hour of practice with Techorse able to help him, they functioned perfectly, and soon Sky Wing was able to pick up and manipulate objects just as well as his friend.
"Wow!" said Sky Wing as he picked up a mug full of coffee, "Here I thought only unicorns could do this kind of thing. Thanks for this, Techorse, it's a great gift."
"There's a actually a part two to your gift." Said Techorse with a smirk, "But it has to stay here with me when not in use."
"Part two?" asked Sky Wing excitedly. After gaining a set of arms to help him with tasks annoying to do with hooves, any extra gadget would be appreciated as well. Techorse took a step backwards and pulled a red lever on the wall of his laboratory. A panel in the ceiling opened up, and a pair of metal tongs descended with a gun. It looked very similar to the shotgun Sky Wing had found earlier in the year, except for the fact that it had wiring and an energy pack underneath of the device.
"This is your new laser shotgun." Said Techorse proudly, "I designed it myself to refract laser beams in multiple directions. Every time you pump the gun and pull the trigger with your robotic arms, it will fire a burst of 10 beams in random directions."
Sky Wing picked up the weapon with his new robotic arms and held it with both hands, placing the left one on the pump and wrapping the right one around the handle and trigger.
He looked over the weapon in amazement and asked, "Why do you want me to have a weapon?"
Techorse explained, "A lot of colts come around my castle and ask me to give them a battle saddle too. I won't do it because all they want to do is go out and blast monsters with it without even giving a thought to making peace. You're the first one to agree with me that weapons are a last resort in this world, so you get the honor of being the first one besides me to have lasers."
"You think that together we can keep Equestria a peaceful place?" asked Sky Wing as he pumped the weapon, "Even with these?"
"I do." said Techorse, "But that being said, the shotgun will stay here with me in a time of peace until there's an emergency, such as a dragon attacking Ponyville."
"Like that'll ever happen." laughed Sky Wing. The serious look he promptly received from Techorse made him a bit nervous. Sky Wing retracted the robotic arms into his saddle and placed the shotgun in its' storage space. The lid closed with a click and sealed the weapon inside.
"Ok, let's go out into the country and practice with it." said Techorse, "Applejack told me that she has a bunch of tin cans set up we can use as targets."
"Should I come with you, master?" asked PAL.
"That's ok, you take some time off, buddy!" replied Techorse as he led Sky Wing out of the room. Once the two had exited the building and PAL was sure they were gone, he went back to reading a book in the castle library that had caught his interest. PAL picked up the text and sat down in a large red comfy chair sitting around in the spacious library. The robot quickly read one of the small book's pages and started laughing uncontrollably,
"Oh Asimov, you crack me up!" chuckled the robot as he flipped to the next page.
Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Sky Wing practiced with his new laser shotgun. At first, he missed the cans even with the spread of the weapon, and green laser bolts flew everywhere. But after a few tries, he started to hit the cans, and one by one they fell off the wooden fence.
"That's it, you're getting it!" said Techorse as the last can dropped from being hit. Applejack went behind the fence after seeing this and started to place the cans back up on the fence again. Sky Wing's gun poured steam out the end as the weapon's heat sinks worked to deal with the high amount of waste heat generated with each shot.
"Your turn, Tech." called Applejack as she finished placing the last can and ran away from the fence. Techorse thanked her and drew his twin laser cannons. Concentrating, he aimed at the cans and opened fire. Each shot he took found a can despite him firing at a fast rate, and within a few seconds every can had been hit with perfect accuracy.
Techorse stowed his guns again and said, "That's the best I've done all month!" Sky Wing's mouth hung open at how good of a shot his new friend was. Techorse noticed this and laughed.
"Sky," he said, "I know that was impressive, but it takes time to get good with these things. They're not meant for hooves."
"I know." He replied slowly, "I just wish I was as good as you are."
"I think you did good yourself, Sky." Said Applejack, "Of course, those arms Tech gave you help a lot."
"Yeah, I really appreciate them." said Sky Wing as he held his new gun tightly with the robotic arms, "Thanks so much Techorse."
"You're welcome." He answered with a smile. Suddenly, a light blue bag hit the ground near Sky Wing. Techorse knew who owned the bag and said to Sky,
"You might want to move over a bit. Incoming!"
Rainbow Dash landed next to them with a very loud thwack on the ground. The shockwave of air blew the cans on the other side of the fence a couple of feet away, annoying Applejack slightly.
"Hey Techie, Sky." She said as she looked up at them.
"Hello Rainbow Dash." Said Techorse, "I was just teaching Sky Wing how to use lasers."
"Cool!" responded Rainbow, "I was actually going to go talk to Fluttershy, but I dropped my saddlebags down here."
Sky Wing began to get a little nervous, but came up with an idea quickly.
"Say Rainbow Dash," He said to Rainbow, "I was about to go get a drink at the café. Would you like to come with me?"
Rainbow Dash frowned a bit. She would have loved to accept the cordial invitation, but Applejack and Techorse were here. In her faulty thinking, she assumed that they would make fun of her if she went out on a date with Sky Wing. Rainbow decided to reject the invitation as politely as possible in order to not look like a jerk.
"Nah, that's ok." She said to him, moving over to the dropped bag, "I really need to go talk to Fluttershy. It would just slow me down."
Rainbow Dash walked over to the bag and faced away from Sky Wing. She bent over in plain sight of Sky and picked up the bag in her teeth. Then she crouched and took off again into the air, leaving a rainbow colored jetstream behind. When the dust settled, Techorse noticed something about Sky Wing.
"Dude, your wings!" he said quietly to his friend, hoping Applejack wouldn't notice.
Sky Wing blushed and folded his fully spread wings back at his sides. Techorse heard Applejack laugh behind him and knew it was too late. The friends left Applejack's farm and started to walk back into town. As they walked along the cobblestone roads, Sky Wing kept on his face a sad expression.
"Sorry about that." He said mournfully, trying not to look Techorse in the eyes.
"It's ok." He replied, "Applejack won't tell anypony."
"I couldn't help it." said Sky Wing, "I just really love Rainbow Dash."
"Then you should let her know how you feel, buddy." said Techorse.
"But what if she says she hates me?" he asked with worry.
"Just pick the right time and she can't say she hates you. Maybe she'll want to just be friends, but it doesn't hurt to try."
"Say, where's your mare Twilight?" asked Sky Wing, curious as to why the purple unicorn had disappeared overnight.
"She left town for the day to go do some task she was talking about earlier." explained Techorse, "She should be back late this afternoon."
"She's a really good magic user." said Sky Wing, "I bet this town's near defenseless when you and she are away."
"Unless something attacks Ponyville with magic while she's gone, we're fine."
"LISTEN UP!" shouted a loud southern accented voice. All of the ponies in the town square turned their attention towards the newcomer, and Techorse stopped walking. Sky Wing flinched a bit at the loud voice, but had a good look at the screaming pony anyways.
He was an earth pony with an orange coat, a slick blonde mane, green eyes, a white ten gallon hat, and a cutie mark that resembled three oil rigs. He was flanked by two unicorn mares, each wearing a seat of ripped short jeans and a red checkered pattern shirt that gave them the appearance of Daisy Dukes.
The male boomed at all who could hear him, "I'm takin' over Ponyville here with some good 'ol fashion magic!"
Techorse half closed his eyes and said with a groan, "I really have to learn to shut up."
The male shouting at everyone approached Techorse and asked, "You Techorse, son?"
"That's me." He answered, "Are you looking to fight me?"
"Hardly." Said the pony with a smirk, "I actually want to give ya the chance to get back in your castle and keep quiet about this whole takeover. As a fellow industrialist like myself, I wanna make sure ya get the chance to hide."
"I'm not going to let you take over Ponyville, sir." Said Techorse sternly, "I'm going to give you the chance to leave before we have to make you, whoever you are."
"I know who that is." said Applejack as she entered the scene, "Cousin Appleoil."
"Hey Applejack." said the wealthy pony to his relative, "Good seein' you again."
"Hush up Appleoil. I know you want to take over Ponyville and shut down my farm. It ain't happenin!" she shouted.
"Wait!" said Techorse, "Explain all this to me, Applejack."
Applejack told him, "Tech, this is my cousin Appleoil. Unlike the rest of the Apple family, he went into makin' artificial apple flavorings instead of growing real apples. Now he's out to shut our farms down and make us work for him instead!"
"I told you cous," said Appleoil angrily, "artificial flavoring is the future of apples. I'm gonna give you a good price for your farm after I'm done with Ponyville."
"Wait a minute." said Sky Wing gently to the baron. Appleoil gave him a nasty look, causing him to shrink back a bit.
"Just how do you plan on taking over Ponyville anyways?" he asked Appleoil timidly.
"Ladies, let's show 'em my weapon!" he said proudly, stepping back. The unicorn mares giggled and levitated over a bale of hay tied up with red rope, placing it in front of the three. They looked down at the hay bale.
Applejack burst out laughing, "A hay bale? This is how you're going to take over Ponyville?"
Appleoil jumped on top of the bale and said, "Use the magic, girls!" The mares shot a pair of red-colored sparks at the hay, and within seconds the bale started to grow out of control. The individual pieces of dried grass moved around Appleoil in a tornado, wrapping around him. When the transformation was complete, a 40 foot tall object made entirely of hay and red rope stood before them. The thing had two thick reverse-jointed legs tipped with three claws, a huge central body with a forward-slung cockpit, and two blocky arms tipped with 5 pitchforks in an X pattern. Appleoil sat in the cockpit at the top of the "hay machine" and tied a pair of red ropes inside the canopy around his front two legs.
"This here's my hay golem!" he shouted, "A forty foot magic marvel!"
Appleoil pulled one of the ropes, and the machine's arm rose before launching a pair of pitchforks at a nearby house. The thatch roof home collapsed under the impact, and the occupant ran away screaming as the debris narrowly missed her.
"Either you surrender and close your farm cousin, or I'm destroyin' Ponyville!" demanded Appleoil.
Applejack gave Techorse a look of sadness and said, "Techorse, there's no way you're going to be able to beat this thing even with your lasers. I also don't wanna see you get hurt. Maybe I should just do as he says."
"Never!" responded Techorse with rage. He ran backwards from the machine and drew his twin cannons.
"Go ahead and try Techorse!" encouraged Appleoil, "There's no way those popguns of yours have got enough shootin' power to destroy this entire hay golem!"
Techorse aimed up at the giant hay machine and prepared to fire. He heard a metallic pumping sound next to him and looked over at Sky Wing, who had his shotgun out. They both opened fire on the golem, and bolts of destructive energy of both yellow and green impacted the machine, burning away hay and putting tiny craters in the monster. Pieces of scorched hay and rope flew off in tiny bits, but after a few seconds of concentrated fire, it was obvious that they were not doing much damage. Techorse and Sky Wing stopped firing and looked in disbelief at the tiny craters they had managed to deal in what had seemed like an eternity of shooting. Appleoil laughed at them and raised his machine's right arm, firing a full salvo of five exploding pitchfork missiles at the two. Sky Wing took off vertically, narrowly dodging the bombs, and Techorse had to roll out of the way due to the switch time between his gadgets. The hay golem turned away from the two and started walking deep into Ponyville, shooting at buildings and raising havoc. Within minutes the screams of the terrified citizens could be heard from miles away.
Techorse, Applejack, and Sky Wing regrouped in front of Rarity's Carousel Boutique. The hay golem was visible about half a mile away, shooting pitchforks and causing property damage. Applejack pounded on the door of the dress shop furiously, knowing that if Rarity was sleeping in and the golem came her way, it might flatten her.
"Open up Rarity, emergency! We gotta evacuate!" called Applejack, still knocking with a hoof. Rarity flung open the door, still wearing a pink bathrobe and her hair somewhat frizzy due to lack of time to brush it.
"What in Equestria is it Applejack?" she demanded in anger, "I haven't even had time to…" Applejack grabbed Rarity by the side and pushed her outdoors, then pointed up at the hay golem wrecking the town.
"Oh." said Rarity plainly, "So that's what woke me up." She then smiled and said, "Well I'm sure Tech will laser that beast and we can all relax."
Techorse stepped up to the door of the shop and said, "Rarity, I tried that already. My weapons are useless against that thing. Ponyville is doomed." Techorse watched Rarity faint on the ground in horror, and shook his head sadly.
"Now what?" asked Sky Wing, "We can't fight that thing."
Techorse said to him, "Sky, I'd normally just go back to the castle and get some high explosive weapon to reduce that golem to ashes. But I don't want to hurt Appleoil."
"WHAT?" shouted Sky Wing in shock, "He just tried to…"
"I know," interrupted Techorse, trying to keep his friend calm, "But he's a family member to Applejack, and somepony loves him."
"That's right." Admitted Applejack, "My uncle's a nice guy, and I don't really want him upset over his son gettin' hurt."
"There has to be something we can do though." said Sky Wing, determined to save his new hometown.
"I have something we can try, but we're gonna need Rainbow Dash for this to work!" said Applejack, getting an idea.
"Rainbow Dash is over at Fluttershy's house." said Techorse, "If we hurry, we can make it there before the golem does."
"And what happens if it reaches my store first?" asked Rarity, concerned about her property.
"You'll think of something." said Techorse with a wink and a nod.
The three made their way to Fluttershy's cottage on the edge of town and called out for Rainbow Dash without even knocking. Soon she emerged from the house and greeted her friends.
"Hey guys, what's up? Fluttershy and me were talking about…"
"We don't have much time to explain, Rainbow." said Techorse, deploying his turbofans, "follow me and Sky!" Rainbow Dash frowned as her two friends took off without her. It felt odd to be the one left in the dust for once. Flapping her wings quickly, she ascended and attempted to follow them.
Meanwhile, Rarity was on the roof of her store, staring at the approaching hay golem. Essentially a giant robot made of hay instead of metal, it scared her no less than any other monster in Equestria. Of course, this meant that she was absolutely terrified of it, but was willing to fight the weapon in order to save her home. The giant machine crashed through another townhouse and then turned its attention to the Carousel Boutique.
Appleoil saw Rarity hanging out on the roof. Although he intended on reducing Ponyville to rubble unless Applejack quit her job, he had a soft spot for unicorns as his two admirers indicated.
The mean spirited pony called out from the cockpit of the golem, "Excuse me M'am, but that's a very dangerous spot you're in. Why don't ya hop on my golem here and I'll get you down."
"I'd rather not." replied Rarity with a snobby tone, turning her head away from Appleoil, "I don't want anything to do with a beast like you, sir."
"Alrighty then!" said Appleoil, reaching for the trigger. Rarity saw her chance and jumped off the roof of her home towards the right arm of the golem. She drew a long and flat diamond from behind her to use against the beast. Using her magic, she swung the sharp and heavy gemstone in a downwards motion. When she landed behind the golem, a few seconds passed before the right arm of the machine severed and landed on the ground. Rarity heard Appleoil mutter some rather rude comments before he turned the hay based machine around and fired more pitchforks from the remaining arm. One of them went through Rarity's hair, picking her up and carrying her several feet through the air until it embedded on a stone wall. Rarity was unable to free herself, and was effectively pinned by her purple-blue curls to the obstruction.
"I'll be back for ya later, sugar!" laughed Appleoil as he turned the golem 90 degrees to the right and prepared to smash the boutique. A spray of laser fire from Techorse's cannons caught his attention just before he could give the order to do so.
"Back for more boy?" he asked out loud as the yellow bolts pockmarked holes all over his machine, "I thought you'd learned your lesson!" Techorse stood in front of the golem with his cannons blazing away, hoping to distract Appleoil long enough to save Rarity's home. Sky Wing squeezed off a few rounds with his shotgun, and clusters of green energy took wisps of hay away from the monster. But it still seemed like they were doing minimal damage to the massive device. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood next to the two boys and watched them attempt to damage the machine.
Applejack said to Rainbow, "Rainbow, fly around the golem and distract it while the guys fly up and pin down Appleoil!" But Rainbow Dash was too proud to accept the plan of another pony, especially one without wings.
"Applejack." She replied, "This thing is made of hay right?"
"Yeah but…"
"If it's made of hay, I can just shred it up with my rainbow tornado!" she declared. Rainbow then shouted at the two colts next to her, "Stop firing guys, I got this!" Both laser weapons fell silent.
Appleoil said, "Do ya give up now? I've got this battle in the bag, boys!"
"You won't think that once I vacuum up your hay golem!" shouted Rainbow Dash. She ran in place for a second, then spread her wings and quickly started flying just inches above the ground in a circle. A grey funnel of turbulence rose out from the cyan blur, and the opening of the tornado tilted towards the damaged golem. Pieces of hay and rope were drawn into the vortex and ejected out the other end in a neat pile. At first it seemed that Rainbow's plan would prevail, as the golem slowly moved forward towards the 5-foot wide cone of whirlwind. However, although hay is a lightweight material, there was enough of it that the golem would not fall apart or be completely sucked in. Eventually, Rainbow Dash ceased the tornado out of dizziness, and the golem was left undamaged by the attack. Rainbow stumbled around on the cobblestone road, confused and unable to see straight.
Appleoil decided to seize victory at this point and said, "Nice try flygirl, you had me worried for a moment. But now I'm gonna flatten ya!"
The Golem moved forward, and Rainbow Dash was too dizzy to run away like the others, who darted away in different directions. The multi-ton right leg of the machine lifted up over Rainbow Dash, casting a large rectangular shadow on the Pegasus pony. Sky Wing saw this and knew what he had to do. He ran as quickly as he could, then spread his wings and glided into Rainbow. The force pushed her out of the way, but the heavy leg came down on Sky Wing, and he disappeared underneath of the footpad with a sickening crunch.
Applejack's mouth fell open, followed by tears coming to her eyes. The thought of what just occured to Sky Wing happening to anyone else flooded her mind, and she lost hope.
"I give up Appleoil!" she wailed, "I'll shut down my farm!"
"Well finally!" said Appleoil as he tilted the torso of the golem slightly downwards, "See cous, it wasn't so hard!"
"Applejack, you can't!" shouted Rarity, unaware Sky Wing had been destroyed.
"I have to." She said, trying her hardest not to cry, "Appleoil, just take my farm and go."
"I'm glad we came to an agreement!" mocked Appleoil, "It's just too bad I had to squish one of your little pals to make ya change your mind."
Techorse's legs trembled in wrath. As the element of justice, Sky Wing's failure to exist had brought the anger of the green colored colt upon Appleoil.
"You're done, Appleoil! You'll pay for what you did to my friend!" he shouted with tears in his eyes, looking up at the golem.
"Aw man, I was so close to not havin' to do in another pony." He replied menacingly, aiming the remaining pitchfork cannon down at Techorse. Techorse drew his laser cannons and switched to solid beam mode. He was going to cut right through the cockpit and drag Appleoil out of it before pummeling him into the streets of Ponyville with his bare hooves. At this point, Rainbow Dash had regained control of her balance and realized what had happened.
"Sk-Sky?" she asked out loud, noticing he was missing after the impact, "Where is he?"
"Gone." replied Techorse dolefully, "He saved your life by pushing you out of the way of danger again. But he was caught by the leg that tried to crush you."
"Sky's dead?" she said, choking up as a lump began to form in her throat.
"I'm afraid so." confirmed Applejack, taking off her hat and placing it on the ground.
Tears ran down Rainbow Dash's face as her mind absorbed the loss of Sky. She started crying, a rare thing for her.
"No…." her voice trailed off.
Techorse prepared to fire his laser cannons and take down Appleoil. He would no longer dodge return fire or get out of the way of the giant. He only cared about getting back at Appleoil. Up in the canopy of the machine, the evil relative put a magically-projected crosshair over Techorse and locked on.
"Goodbye, Techorse." He said darkly.
Suddenly, the hay floor of the cockpit was torn open with a loud zap. Green light flooded the canopy, and Appleoil swung around in the spacious room to see what had happened. Sky Wing stood there, with a determined look on his face and a smoking laser shotgun in his robotic arms, one of which was half-crushed and sparking.
"Hello Appleoil. Remember me?" said Sky Wing, pumping the gun.
Appleoil moved away from the control ropes and took a swing with his hooves at Sky Wing. The Pegasus skillfully dodged the attacks, and then swung the gun as a club. Appleoil was knocked down and nearly out of the cockpit, but was luckily just sprawled on the floor. His hat fell off his head and away from the golem, where it landed on Techorse's head.
"You dropped your hat, murderer!" shouted Techorse as he opened fire at the golem's heart.
Two solid beams of yellow light penetrated the chest of the golem and emerged out the other side. But the lasers only cut two small holes, and did not do any further damage. Meanwhile, Sky Wing had Appleoil right where he wanted him, and pointed the shotgun straight at the blonder colt. The rouge shut his eyes and cowered in fear, waiting for the coherent light to enter his body. Sky Wing tightened his grip, and the trigger fingers started to close on the small piece of metal that would end Appleoil. But before he could pull the trigger, he remembered what Techorse had said earlier,
"Every colt with a weapon should know how to show mercy."
Sky Wing took the gun's sight off of Appleoil, who soon opened his eyes. He was rather surprised the Pegasus didn't finish him off; after all, he had nearly gotten him with his golem's weight. Sky Wing gave Appleoil a smile, and then aimed the shotgun down the hole he had created burrowing up through the golem to reach the canopy.
"I bet this hay's pretty dry after Rainbow's vacuum." He said, pulling the trigger.
10 green blasts went down the hole, and shortly thereafter a flame arose. Internally, the fire spread like crazy, burning the crisp hay and destroying the internal components. Techorse saw this and believed that his attacks had succeeded, so he shut off his guns and stowed them in his saddle. The 40 foot machine fell over backwards and was smashed on the ground, losing its robotic shape and becoming a lifeless pile of smoldering hay. Appleoil dug his way out of the pile and began to run for the outskirts of Ponyville, but a lasso thrown by Applejack caught his leg and put him on the ground. Techorse walked up and put his front legs on his body, making sure he wasn't going to get away.
"Alright Appleoil." He said with rage, "I'm turning you over to Celestia and telling her exactly what you did to Sky. You're going to the moon."
Appleoil said nothing in response because he was still shocked that he had been beaten by the "poor folks" of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash had freed Rarity from the stone wall, and now the team members stared at the tied up Appleoil. After a moment of silence, Rainbow Dash looked at the burning pile of hay and started to cry again.
"I know." Said Applejack, wrapping a leg around her friend's back, "I'm going to miss Sky too. We may have only known him for a day, but it was one of the best days of our lives."
Rainbow Dash sniffed and bawled, "I just wish I'd gotten the chance to tell him how I feel about him. To be honest, Applejack, I loved him but didn't want to admit it because I thought you guys would think I was getting soft!"
"So you loved Sky Wing?" asked Techorse, looking away from Appleoil.
"Yeah, I love him!" said Rianbow Dash, breaking down into tears again.
"I love you too, Rainbow." said a soft voice from behind them.
The team members grew wide eyed as they recognized the voice. They all turned and saw Sky Wing standing behind Rainbow Dash, scorched a bit but alive. Rainbow saw him and squealed in joy, then quickly embraced him and held the colt tight against her body.
"I thought you were gone!" she said, drying her eyes a bit.
"To tell you the truth, Rainbow, so did I." replied Sky Wing. Rainbow Dash laughed and continued to hug him.
"I don't get it!" said Techorse in awe, "I saw the hay golem step on you and heard the crunch. How did you survive, Sky?"
Sky Wing looked at him mid-hug and said, "That crunch was one of the robot arms on the saddle hitting the stone road. I was just embedded in the soft hay. So I dug my way up to the cockpit and stopped Appleoil."
Rainbow Dash released Sky Wing, and they put all four legs on the ground. Sky Wing removed his battle saddle and dropped it along with the shotgun. The damaged contraption shut down with a peaceful whirring sound.
"Now that I'm not dead." said Sky Wing to Rainbow, "Do you still feel the same way about me?"
Rainbow Dash thoughtlessly coughed and said, "Yeah right, I was just caught up in the moment. You're way too slow for me." Sky Wing's ears drooped, and he folded his wings gently. Although she had thought she had salvaged her pride, Rainbow looked at the disgusted expressions on her friend's faces and understood now that there was no way to change what was true.
"Aw who am I kidding?" she admitted, "Of course I do." Rainbow Dash moved in close to Sky Wing and made eye contact with him.
"I love you, Sky Wing."
Rainbow Dash kissed him quickly on the cheek. When it was over, Sky Wing backed up a step and sighed happily.
"Looks like it's a happy ending for everyone, thanks to you Techorse." said Rarity, "You've done a fine job again."
"I couldn't have done it without my new friend." He admitted happily.
"Hey!" came a Texan voice from underneath his hooves, "Sounds to me like that guy I thought I crushed is still breathing. Since I didn't hurt any others, does this mean I don't have to face the princesses?"
"No, you still do, but they'll probably go light on ya, cous." said Applejack with a teasing tone of voice.
"Are you sure?" asked Rarity, surveying the damage to Ponyville, "It seems like he did a lot of damage."
"I'm pretty sure." replied Applejack. She noticed that Twilight was entering town again, and said, "Hey, Twilight's back! Let's ask her what to do." Twilight Sparkle approached her friends with a worried expression on her face.
"Girls, what happened?" she asked, making a double take at the remains of Ponyville.
"Oh nothing, just fightin' a rouge relative of mine." said Applejack with a smirk.
"What happened exactly, Techorse?" Twilight asked of her closest friend.
He replied, "This guy attacked the town with a hay golem. You weren't here to undo the spell that created it, but with my friend Sky Wing here, we managed to stop it ourselves." Techorse took off Appleoil's hat and dropped it on the ground next to the defeated colt.
Twilight looked at the tied-up Appleoil and said, "Well, I'm glad you could handle it without my help, especially you, Sky Wing."
"Thanks!", came the Pegasus pony's happy reply.
"I'd better get back the library and brush up on my repair spells." said Twilight, "Ponyville's going to need as much help as it can get to recover from this!" She looked at Techorse and asked, "Coming with me, sweetie?"
Techorse replied, "Yes, I'll be there in a minute!"
Twilight turned around within inches of Techorse and began her walk back towards the library. Sky Wing looked at his new friend and noticed that his laser cannons were deployed and tilted 45 degrees upwards at absolutely nothing. He nudged Techorse with his right front leg and said,
"Dude, your laser cannons!"
Techorse blushed and retracted the guns back into his saddle. Applejack laughed at him this time, and shook her head. Rainbow Dash started to laugh as well at Techorse's expense, and soon even the inventor himself was having a good laugh. Soon life would be back to normal in Ponyville.
The end.