Title:           To Build a Boat Pt.1
Author:          CarpenterAnon
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/igaWAPq5
First Edit:      Tuesday 14th of March 2017 11:37:47 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Thursday 30th of March 2017 03:57:44 PM CDT

>It is wet.
>Very wet.
>You look around and find that you can't see anything beyond a few dozen feet.
>Why are you underwater? You don't remember jumping into the ocean. Whats going on?
You look all around you, and your lungs begin to burn. You need to get to the surface, and fast.
>But where is it?
>Before you are able to find your way, a shadow appears in the distance. A small faded circle that seems to be growing larger.
>Not larger, closer.
>Soon you are dwarfed by a large grey featureless cigar, only a few rivets giving way to the nature of this beast.
> A submarine has found you, and dread overcomes you as it doesn't change its course.
>Swimming away would be a great course of action if you could move, but fear had crept its way into your bones, and your muscles would not answer.
>Twenty feet
>Ten feet
>Five Feet
>One Foot
>Nothing
>....
 
 
 
>You awaken in cold sweat as you take into terms as to what the actual fuck your dream was about.
>You are Anon
>You were a carpenter by trade and dabbled in blacksmithing on the side.
>Were
>Currently you are a resident and guest of some purple pastel horse after you had made a wooden replica of the stargate from SG-1, and on a whim decided to use some tritium to light up the sigils.
>Turns out tritium can fuck with spacetime or some shit. You don't know, you're a fucking carpenter.
>Anyhow, You are now stuck on a world that seems to be inhabited by sentient horses.
>You don't mind all too much honestly.
>On Earth, it was getting pretty sketchy with the politics and shit. In a way, it's relieving to be away from it all.
>You do miss your family, but you're sure they will get along alright for now.
>All you have to do is build another stargate and get some triti-
 
>"I've never heard of this tritium before, anon. Is it a rock?"
>Fuck
>Well that's an obstacle if you ever seen one.
>"Well, kinda. Hey Twilight, have you heard of the term 'nuclear'?"
>Twilight furrows her brow for a sec then looks back at you."Can't say that I have. Are these magical things in your world?"
>"My world doesn't have magic. My species had to carve out their mark with their bare hands." You say with a little more heat than you meant to.
>Twilight was flabbergasted."No magic?! But you seem so... civilized."
>"What." That hit something deep. You may only be a carpenter, but you knew what man had accomplished, and to hear that just erked you to no end.
>"What I mean to say, anon, is that it's a bit hard to imagine a species that could become as advanced as you claim yours is. Just this morning you were raving about how your world had not only buildings higher than all of Manehattan, but that you had cities like that all across the land. Manehatten was a difficult job even with magic. How could a species like your ever hope to accomplish your claims without such powers?"
>While her look did convey a sense of superiority, there was genuine curiosity as well.
>Well you aren't leaving anytime soon anyway, so you might as well do something with your time. And if that means proving lil' miss Purpledrink wrong, how can you resist?
>"Tell you what, I'm a craftsman of sorts from my world. If I build something from my world, something that you say shouldn't be possible without magic, will you believe me?" gesturing to yourself as you speak.
>"Hmmm..... I don't know.....can it hurt anyone?"
>"Can't yours?" smiling knowingly.
>"No-ye-maybe.... ok.You got me there. BUT that's beside the point! I need to know if what you plan to make is going to get ponies hurt."
>"I don't actually know yet myself. However beyond getting supplies from the shopkeeper, I don't plan on involving anybod-pony. I can set up shop away from town if that would set your mind at ease."
>"It does make the idea... bearable. Ok you can do your project, but as this is a bet, I want to include my own rules as well. Actually,hold on a sec. SPIKE!!"
>A green a purple blur tumbles down the stairs and bolts to us, say slightly out of breath "Yes Twilight? Waddya need?" "Spike, get a pen and start writing this down."
>Spike pulls out a pen and paper from literally nothing and starts writing down everything Sparkle says.
>"I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, hereby engage in a wager with the human Anon... what is your last name? You never mentioned it."
>"O'Mus. Anon O'Mus. It's Irish."
>"Oh ok...wait what is a Ir... nevermind. Ok Spike, keep writing. ...The human Anon O'Mus to dispute the possibility of civilization rising without magic. He shall construct a device of his choosing that without a doubt proves his point. If he succeeds, he shall be given a substantial reward worth the value of what he creates. If I am right, Anon must reveal the true nature of his claims and refund the grant I have lent him."
>You narrow your eyes"What grant? I wasn't expecting money yet?"
>"Well of course, dummy. How else are you going to be able to afford this endeavor? I'm mostly likely right about all of this, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I figure if I gave you some money to give you a start, I wouldn't have to wait as long for you to either make your thing or come crawling back." She smirked at that last bit.
>Them be fightin' words
>"Ohohoh! Look at you being so high and mighty! Impatient are we? Don't worry, I plan to blow that mind of yours once you see what I'm capable of. Hand over that pen Spike. I got a paper to sign."
 
>Well fuck.
>You are now officially homeless. After you signed the document, Twilight showed you the fine print she somehow snuck on there.
"Anon will seclude his work away from the populace to prevent serious injuries and disasters from occurring."
>Well you did mention it in the first place, so I guess you'd better suck it up buttercup.
>She may have kicked you out, but she wasn't completely heartless. She had given you a rather large sum of bits, along with a pack of supplies and a sealed letter she called your "Get out of Jail Free" card. Didn't even know they had that game.
"Well it's a start, but now I gotta find a good place to squat. I wonder if she gave me a map?"
>Turns out she did. It was a little generic, but it does the job. Your eyes are immediately drawn to a bay next to some mountains. It looked to be the perfect spot to set up shop, with a major city being (relatively) nearby and the railway being close as well. That will make importing stuff much easier.
>Looks like you're heading to Los Pegasus.
 
>You are Rainbow Dash.
>You were taking a nap after having shuffled some clouds over to the Pie's Rock Farm, giving them much needed relief from the heat of summer.
>This cloud was nice.
>It was the perfect firmness to hold you up, but soft enough to let you sink in just a bit.
>Ahh this is nic-
"OW FUCK!"
>You almost fall off your cloud. Who could be yelling at this hour?
>You look down and roughly make out the shape of the ape that Twilight had taken in.
>You thought he was pretty cool,being as weird as he was, you just wished he hadn't just woke you up.
>Well you're up now so you might as well see what mess he's in.
"Hey Anon, whats going on?"
>He had apparently tripped over a root and was busy dusting himself off.
"Hey you hurt?"
"Just my pride." he said, grinning in your general direction.
"Oh cool. Whats with the pack? Wait are you leaving already?!"
>But he just got here! Someone needs to start talking.
>He leaned back and rested himself on his pack.
"I may have made a bit of a bet with Twilight. You can learn more from her but basically I need to hermit myself away to protect everyo-pony."
"Uh-huh. From what? You going to 'explode' or something?"
>Somehow you knew Twi was involved with this. You'll have to interrogate her later.
"OH! You're a pegasus, what do you know about Las Pegasus?"
"Weelll, if your goal is to get as far from ponykind as possible, I can't think of a worse place to go. It's pack full of them."
"Oh well actually I was look-"
"And you gotta look after your wallet while there as well. Can't tell ya how many times I flew away from there a hundred bits lighter than I flew in."
"Actually I was thinking about this one spo-"
"OH and if you go you gotta try the cas-"
"DASH!"
>It was at this point you decided to shut up.
"Got your attention? Ok, like I was trying to say, I was thinking about setting up shop close to the mountain range there, and the perfect spot seems to be in that forested area next to Las Pegasus. I was wondering what you knew about the place?"
>Well he wasn't lying about the hermit thing. Wonder if this bet is about who can make the best Luneshine?
"You gotta map? I happen to know the area pretty good."
>A little too good, man you miss academy breaks.
>Anon grabs out his map and lays it on the ground.
"There wouldn't happen to be a pen in there too, would there?"
>There was. Twilight packed this bag, didn't she.
"Ok, so I happen to know about a small clearing right on the coast that seems to be what you are looking for." You mark an X on the map."This clearing is close to a path that goes from Las Pegasus into the mountains, but since only hicks live up there, no one uses it anymore. Its a great place to hide from the poli..er..society!" Nodding sheepishly.
"That sounds perfect! Are there alot of shops in Las Pegasus? A tool store perhaps?"
"Yeah! Because Las Pegasus has it's own dedicated railway, they have a lot of stuff brought in that normally wouldn't be possible. I'd check out Stears. They have everything there."
>You get the weirdest look from Anon. Was it something you said?
"Stears. Really?"
"Uh yeah. What about it?"
"Oh it's nothing. Forget about it."
"..."
"What?"
"Are you going to be gone for awhile? Not that I care or anything! Its just... Make sure to visit from time to time, alright?"
>Boop
"I wouldn't worry about that. Twilight has my stuff, so I will be back eventually. Hold the fort down 'til I come back okay?"
"O-okay.."
"Alright I gotta get to the station soon or I'll miss my ride. See ya around, Dash!"
"Remember to come back some time!"
"I will, you got my word."
 
>Da-dump
>Da-dump
>Da-dump
>You awake to the dull thud of the train traveling across the tracks.
>The sun was setting in the distance but that made it easier to see it on the horizon.
>Pillars and boxes all silhouetted against the sky, with nothing but clouds as their foundation.
>You've made it through your first half of the journey to your new home.
>RD said that there was a part of town that was on the ground as well, but where is it?
>Everything goes dark as you are whisked through tunnel and out the other side.
>There it was.
>It looked like one of those old western boomtowns, but bigger. Much bigger.
>Everywhere you look there were saloons, stores, or casinos, each being unique and colorful in a variety of ways.
>HISSSSSSSSssssssss
>Looks like you're pulling into station.
>You pull your bag out from under the seat and rest it on your lap.
>The railcar lurches forward.
"WELCOME TO LAS PEGASUS! END OF THE LINE! PLEASE DISEMBARK AND TAKE CARE LEAVING THE TRAIN!"
>Well this is your stop. Time to get off.
>As you step off the train, you notice an inn close by.
>It looks like you just found a place to sleep.
>On the way over you file your way through the crowd and the stares.
"What is that?"
"What happened to that minotaur?"
"Where's its horns?"
>Well at least you aren't entirely alien.
>While you were listening to the murmurs of passerbys you accidentally bump into a light blue unicorn.
>It looked at you with a half-dazed look on its face before quickly coming to its senses.
>It bolted off in the opposite direction, seemingly out of fear.
>Can't win them all you guess.
>You head inside and ring the bell on the counter.
"Welcome! I'll be there just in a sec!" said a voice from behind the wall.
>A mare stumbled out from behind a door holding a rather large box. She sets it down and looks you over.
"Uh-hello! My name is Holly. Holly Day. Welcome to the Holly Day Inn. I've never seen a creature like you before. What's your name?"
"Anon O'Mus. I'm a human, and I am looking to stay the night. Do you have a room available?"
"Oh of course, considering your stature I'd recommend one of the taurus suites. They'd probably have big enough beds for you. Since you're a first time customer I always give the first night half off. 50 bits should do it."
"I'll take it."
>You take out 50 bits from your pocket and lay them on the counter. She hands you a silver key with a tag reading '#36'.
"The room will be up the stairs and to the left."
"Thank you."
>You start heading up the stairs before remembering something.
"Oh, before I forget, Do you know where Stears is?"
 
>You pack up your stuff and return the key to the hostess.
>The room was a nice change from the diamond encrusted bedsheets you had back at Twilight's.
>You just wish it didn't smell so strongly of cow.
>As you exit the inn you take a right and head down the already crowded street towards the shopping district.
>Holly said you'd know it when you see it.
>It didn't take long for you to know it.
>A large sign with horns and the word 'STEARS' was tacked onto a even larger storefront, with everything from carpet to saddles being on display in the windows.
>As you enter, you are greeted by a manbeast of bovine origin.
"Welcome to Stears, how may I help you?" he managed to wheeze out.
>He looked a bit under the weather, hopefully it isn't contagious.
"Hello, I'm looking for some tools and I was told you were the place to find them. Where would your woodworking tools be?"
"Ah, a car-*cough*penter I see. Follow me."
>He gestured to the rear of the store and lead the way to the tool section.
>You were impressed by the selection they had.
>Not only were there chisels and hammers and the like, but they were sorted out by species as well.
"These are all made locally by the smithy in the hills. His craftsponyship is second to non-*cough*!
"You ok? You sound a little under the weather?"
>He waves you off.
"Nah I'm fine. My throat is just a little horse."
>You make no attempt to acknowledge that pun.
"Looks like you have everything I need. How much one of each?"
>He looks at you and chokes on his words.
"*cough*Wha-*cough*"
"I need a full set. So how much?"
"Uh that would be.... carry the 5.....3500 bits! You sure?"
>His look was of pure bewilderment. Guess he never had any big orders before.
"Yup. I got a bet to win and I need tools to do it. I'll probably need a cart to carry them all as well, along with several of each clamp size. Think you can do that?"
"Y-yes sir! I can ring you out at the register!"
"Good. You just earned a very loyal customer."
 
>That minotaur was very quick at getting a cart loaded with what you needed.
>It wasn't that large of a cart, but you could tell this was still going to be on hell of a hike.
>It all cost you about 4000 bits, with the cart being a free gift for such a huge order.
>The poor guy almost fainted when you paid him.
>You probably need to budget yourself from now on.
"Than-*cough* you for your patronage!"
>You waved and headed for the mountains.
>It was about time you started on your new home.