>The sun greets your eyes like a SWAT battering ram says hello to the door on a crack house
>You respond by pulling the pillow down over your head
>Just a few more minutes...
>You try to drift back to sleep
>But ultimately, you fail
>Confound these thin pillows!
>After a few minutes, you feel you are ready to face the day
>So you sit up and grab your pants
>Twilight is still sleeping
>You gather up your remaining clothes and quietly head for the bathroom
>Once inside, you relieve yourself finish dressing
>Then you exit and head for the kitchen
>On the table, a note catches your eye
>"Gone to Rarity's.  -Spike"
>Huh
>Well good for him
>Time for...
>What time is it, anyway?
>Your watch says it's pretty late in the morning
>But you have just woken up
>Therefor, you will make breakfast food
>You hope Twilight likes pancakes
 
 
>Interesting
>The food is all organized by group
>Makes the ingredients easy to navigate, at least
>You light the stove and crack a few eggs
>First you make scrambled eggs
>Then you make hash browns
>You even remember to make the toast this time!
>You've started on the pancakes when you hear the noise of someone descending from the upper level
>Twilight trots into view
>Her mane is a wild mess, and she looks tired
Morning
>"Morning"
>She trots right past you and into the bathroom
>You don't blame her
 
 
>By the time she emerges from the bathroom, you have finished preparing the tube cakes and set the table
>She walks over and sits down at the table in front of you
>Her mane is back to its usual state and she looks a little less tired
>With her magic, she begins portioning food on her plate
>"Anonymous..."
>She's still looking down at her plate
>"About last night..."
>You reach across the table and take her jaw in your hand, raising her head
Twilight, I'm just glad you're alive, and I'm sure you are too.  Now, let's enjoy breakfast
>And with that, you retract your hand pour yourself some orange juice
>She seems to agree with you and takes the orange juice when you're done with it
>Everything quiets down...
>Until Twilight gets to her tube cake
>"A novel idea..." you her her murmur as she cuts a piece off
>Then she puts it in her mouth
>You've only seen her eyes this big once before
>And that was when you met her
>"These are quite possibly the best pancakes I've ever tasted..."
>"Can... Can I have the recipe?"
Sorry
>You tap your nose
Family secret
 
 
>You're glad you already had the tube cakes you wanted on your plate
>In the time it took you to consume your forkload of hash browns
>She inhaled the rest of her tube cake and the other one still on the serving plate
>Wow
>You continue eating your breakfast
>Then a purple glow catches your attention
>Twilight's horn is glowing, and she doesn't appear to be manipulating anything
>"What?"
Twilight, your horn is glowing
>"Is it?"
>She looks up at her horn
>The glow is steadily increasing in intensity
>"Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit-"
>Her eyes flicker, and suddenly glow with an unearthly white sheen
Twilight?
>She starts floating up out of her chair
>"Anonymous, help!"
>What
>She can't be serious
>What the fuck are you supposed to do?
>You don't know the first thing about magic
>"G-give me something to do!"
Really?
>"Uuuuunnnggghhhh"
Read my mind
>A purple beam shoots out of her horn and straight into your forehead
>Oh shit, she is serious
>The purple light grows to a blinding level
>It blanks out everything else
 
 
>When you open your eyes, Twilight is no longer floating
>She's not glowing either
>She just...
>Sits there
>On the table between you are three ammo cans
>Big ones, too
>Like the ones you keep .50 rounds in
>The one on the left is completely plain
>It even has the yellow stencil marks showing that it is, in fact, a .50 ammo can
>The middle can has no paint
>Instead it is a bright metallic color, it looks like titanium
>And the can on the right is purple, with a pink star and white speckles on the side
>Just like Twilight has on her flank
>On top of each can sits a small pile of M1911 mags
>The mags on the normal can are normal
>The mags on the titanium can are titanium
>And the mags on the purple can are purple, with the same star symbol on the bottom left corner
>"Anonymous, what were you thinking?"
I was just thinking about how I'd like to do some plinking...
>"What?"
I wanted cartridges for my pistol
>"Oh"
>You carefully move the piles of mags in front of their respective ammo cans
>Then you reach over and open the left ammo can
>It's full to the top with regular .45 cartridges
>You close that can and open the middle one
>It too is full of .45 cartridges
>"Those look different"
>These are...
>You would recognize these anywhere
These are my dad's handloads
>He showed you how to make them, but you've been rather low on supplies lately
>"Is that significant?"
They can put down bears Twilight.  I've seen it happen
>You close the middle can and open the final one
 
 
>You don't even know any more
>You hold up one of the cartridges
>It's purple, just like the can
>The projectile itself glows a slightly lighter purple
>You shake it a bit
>It seems to be liquid filled
>On the end of the bullet is the star symbol
Twilight, you've been holding out on me
>"Hey, those are just as much a mystery to me as they are to you!"
>"After I ate your delicious pancakes, I was overcome with power"
>"I haven't experienced power like that since I was a filly"
>"What did you put in those pancakes, anyway?"
I can't tell you that
>"Oh come on"
It's a family secret Twilight, if I did they wouldn't taste nearly as good
>"Anonymousssss"
No means no
>She narrows her eyes
>"You haven't heard the end of this"
>You shrug and go back to your breakfast
>She can ask all she wants, you're not going to tell her
 
 
>After breakfast is finished, you help Twilight with the dishes
>"Y'know, you should talk to the mayor"
What?
>"From what you've told us, you have a lot of experience with living in cold weather, right?"
Yeah...
>"So you could give her advice on cold weather policy.  We've never had snow this deep"
>Now that she puts it that way, there are a few changes you can think of...
I think I might do that
>The dishes done, you head over to your cold weather gear
>You motion to the ammo cans
Mind if I take these?
>"Go ahead, I have no use for them"
>Putting it on, you stomp towards the ammo cans
>You take the regular and titanium can out to your truck
>Then return with three bags for the different mags
>"Hey Anonymous?"
Yeah?
>"Can I have one of the purple... Cartridges to study?"
Sure
>You open up the purple ammo can and toss her one
 
 
>After stowing the new ammo in your truck, you trek off towards the Town Hall
>It's your first day off, but what the hell
>Fixing the town's cold weather policy shouldn't take too long
>In the streets, p0nies actively wave at you and shout hello
>You guess word travels fast
>Entering the town hall, you stomp your boots out
I'd like to see the mayor
>You say to the secretary
>"Sure, go on in"
>You head past her and through the door to the mayor's office
>The mayor is looking out her window
>She turns around at the sound of your entry
>"Hello Anonymous.  You saved me quite a bit of trouble last night"
Did I?
>"Yes.  If you hadn't pulled that little trick, we would be in quite a deep hole indeed"
>"And that's why I need your help"
What?
>"Anonymous, I want you to go supervise the construction of a new fleet of plows"
>"You're the only one that knows the shape"
Well, I suppo-
>"Off you go then!  You can't miss the construction firm, it's the only buliding with the giant smoke plume!"
>She says as she practically pushes you back out the door
>You stop and consider for a moment
>You can always come back tomorrow
>Whatever has her worked up isn't something you can help with, or she would have asked
>You exit the Town Hall and look around
>Sure enough, you can see a smoke plume off in the distance
 
 
>You came past here last night
>This is the "Flamin' Filly Forge"
>Catchy name
>You push through the front door
>Inside, it looks just like a metalworking shop back home
>Electric forges
>Cauldrons of liquid metal
>Even welders
>A grey mare with a darker, charcoal colored mane greets you
>She wears a welding mask, currently flipped up
>And her coat is spotted with patches of soot and oil
>"Hi!  You must be Anonymous.  You can call me Inkie, pleasure to meet you!"
>Well isn't she just the perkiest little thing
Hello Inkie, I think you already know my name
>"The mayor put in an order for a whole new fleet of plows!  And you're supposed to help me design them!"
Yep
>"Come over here by the drawing board, and Let's get started"
Hey Inkie
>"Yeah?"
You wouldn't happen to be related to Pinkie, would you?
>She gives a dramatic gasp
"HOW DID YOU KNOW?"
I have my ways...
>You proceed to sketch the plow shape
>"Wow, that's a tough one!  I haven't had to make anything like that since Big Mac's plow broke!"
>She looks down at the ground
>"I could do it, but I'd have to make a really big one first"
>"To make sure I remember all the methods right..."
>"And that would be a waste of metal!  I can't waste metal!"
>You're fine with this
>You need a plow for your truck
Hey, if you make a really big one I can make use of it
>"Really?"
Yeah.  Can you make it about...
>You mark out tape on the floor to the width you need
This wide and...
>You stick some tape on the wall
This tall?
>"Yeah, I can do that!"
Do you know how long it will take?
>"I should have it done around... 5 O'clock!  Yeah, probably maybe!"
Alright, I'll be back to pick it up then
>Inkie turns into a roiling ball of activity as you walk out the door
 
 
>Well, you've got some time to burn
>Rarity mentioned your clothes will probably be ready today
>Your course of action decided, you head off towards
>Wait
>Another way to help the town occurs to you
>In all of your time here, you haven't seen a single pair of snow shoes
>And snow shoes are just the thing if you have, say, a remote residence that needs periodic resupply of food
>Rarity is the closest thing to a leatherworker you've seen as of yet
>Maybe she could make a few sets
>You change course and head for your truck
>Rarity will probably want an example, and you have your set in your truck
>Finally, you're at the front door of Carousel Boutique
>You open the door and then crouch through
>Then start shedding your cold weather gear
>After a few minutes, Rarity herself appears through the doorway
>"Oh, hello Anonymous!  You must be here for your order."
I am indeed.
>"Well, it's right over there on the table.  Spike and I were just sitting down to tea, would you care for some?"
>Uh oh
>You can be fancy schmancy for short bursts
>But you know your limits
>And you get the nasty feeling Rarity's teacups are of the tiny, easy-to-drop variety
I'm afraid I can't.  However, I do have something that could prove most useful to the p0nies of P0nyville
 
 
>"Do tell"
>You hold up a snow shoe
>It's an older style shoe, made of wood and leather
These are a snow shoes.  With these, I can walk on top of any snow, no matter how deep it is
>"And how exactly do you achieve that?"
Well, it's a matter of surface area.  Walking through the snow with just my boots, I sink all the way in because all my weight is on the relatively small area of my two feet.
When I put these on
>You slide it on your boot to demonstrate
The surface area becomes much larger, distributing the weight over more snow so I don't sink in so far
>"That actually makes sense.  Anonymous, that's brilliant!"
>Twilight would be proud
Don't thank me, thank the lucky Eskimo that invented the damn things
Anyway, I was thinking the p0nies around here could find some use for them in snow like this
If I left you these, do you think you could make snow shoes that would fit p0nies?
>"Well, I do love a good challenge..."
Great.  Where do you want them?
>"You can just put them on the table with your clothes, darling"
>You walk over to the table and set down your show shoes
Unless there's anything else...
>"No, that will do"
>You pick up your clothes and head out the door
 
 
>You glance at your watch as you trek back to your truck
>You still have an hour or two to burn before the plow gets finished
>Maybe you can go plinking
>No sense in getting rusty
>You should probably invite Twilight
>She seemed so interested in your pistol
>So you go back to Twilight's
>And knock on the door
>Twilight opens it
Hey Twilight
>"Hi Anonymous"
I'm going shooting, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along
>"Wait, you mean you're going to shoot your pistol?"
Yeah
>"I'd love to!  Just let me get a notebook!"
>Well alrighty then
>She's never seen a pistol shoot before, she must be curious
>She eventually returns with a notebook and pencil
>"I'm set"
 
 
>You drive out on one of the roads you cleared last night
>It hasn't snowed very much
>So the roads are still passable
>When you think you're a suitable distance from town, you stop
>You get out of the truck and motion for Twilight to do the same
>Then you crouch down
>Yep, they're still there, right next to the gun cases
>You grab your pair of shooting earmuffs, and your spare set of earplugs
Here, put these on
>You give the earmuffs to Twilight
>"Why?"
My pistol is extremely loud.  Without these, you might get hearing damage
>"Then what will you wear?"
Don't worry, I've got these
>You wave the earplugs at her
>"Alright"
>You turn back to your truck and remove a few empty soda cans from the cab
>They're no bullseyes
>But today, they will be your targets
 
 
>You toss the cans out into the snow, and then open your tailgate
>You want to test the magically produced rounds first and save your originals
>You open the plain can of ammo and load up a mag
>Then you remove your pistol from it's holster
>You pocket the mag of original ammo and insert the mag of the new stuff
>Time for trial by fire
>You walk back around to Twilight
Ready?
>She's got her notebook right up in front of her
>"WHAT?"
>Of course the earmuffs would be a novel experience for her
>You're not sure she's ever had to wear them before
READY?
>"WHEN YOU ARE"
>You turn the safety off and rack the slide
>Then take aim at a can and squeeze one off
>"Wow, that WAS loud!"
>Well, it sure kicks like a regular round does
>Now to see the results
>As Twilight scribbles furiously, you walk up to the can
>The hole size matches the hole size you remember
>Great
>As far as you can tell, these are the same as the regular stuff
 
 
>You pop off a few more rounds before something pokes your leg
>"Hey Anonymous"
Yeah?
>"I'd like to gauge just how much force that... projectile exerts"
And how do you propose doing that?
>"I can create forcefields, like this"
>A glimmering purple bubble forms in front of the two of you
>"You could shoot the forcefield, and I could gauge the force by how much energy it takes me to stop it"
I don't know Twilight
>"Why not?"
I don't want to run the risk of a ricochet
>"What?"
When shooting at things dense enough, it is possible for the projectile to be redirected back
>"Oh..."
>Damn, not those eyes
>If you don't do it here, she'll probably take it off you in your sleep and hurt herself with it
Oh, alright.  Here, come get behind the truck with me
>"Oh, goody!"
>She joins you on the far side of the truck, hooves up against the side so she can see over the hood
Now, make your forcefield
>She concentrates and a small purple sphere appears against the snow
>You take aim and fire
 
 
 
>Twilight comes down to four hooves next to you, then sits on her haunches
>She's panting
Twilight, are you okay?
>"Fine, fine..."
>You look back at the sphere
>It hovers over towards you
>Inside, you can see what's left of the projectile
>It even mushroomed like it was supposed to
>You place your palm out flat and the sphere disappears
>"That... That took quite a bit of effort to stop"
>"A less studied unicorn might have been overcome"
>You'd expect nothing less
Well, good to know these rounds are up to spec
>"What?"
I was testing them to make sure they worked like they're supposed to
>"Well, I'm glad they do"
So am I
>Having expended the last round of the mag, you head back to the tailgate of your truck
>You eye the purple ammo can
>No sense wasting them if Twilight can figure out what they do
>But you get the feeling you're just going to have to shoot something to find out
>You put the empty mag back and stick the original mag back in the pistol
>You can clean it tonight
>Then you slam the tailgate shut
 
>On your way back to P0nyville, you glance at your watch
>Inkie should be done with your plow about now
Hey Twilight
>She shakes her head and looks at you
>"What?"
Do you mind if I make a little detour?
>"No, I don't mind"
>Great
>You head for the Flamin' Filly Forge
>You pull up in your truck, then shut it off and hop out
>"What could you possibly want here?"
You'll see
>You enter the forge
>"Hi Anonymous!"
>It's Inkie
>And she has finished your plow
>A thing of beauty, it is
Inkie, I have one more favor to ask of you
>"Go on..."
Can you help me attach this to my truck?
>"I'd love to!"
>You eye the plow
 
 
>With Inkie on one end and you on the other, you manage to carry the plow out and set it in front of your truck
>You show Inkie the load bearing hooks on the front, where attachment points need to go
>She furrows her brow in concentration
>"Hmmmmmmm"
>Then she stamps her hoof on the ground
>"I got it!"
>She goes inside the forge
>First she brings a portable welder
>Then she brings a few metal struts and a lock swivel
>Finally, two concrete slabs
>"Help me prop the plow up a bit"
>You lift each end of the plow while she slides the concrete slabs underneath
>"You might want to go inside!  This welder isn't very easy on the eyes..."
>You you let Twilight out of the truck
Come on, let's go inside
>You both enter the forge just as she puts her welding mask down
>Inside, it's nice and toasty
>"What was that?"
That's the snow plow I had Inkie make.
I can't be pestering you every time I need to clear the streets, now can I?
>"Anonymous, that's... very thoughtful of you"
 
 
>After a bit, Inkie pushes the door back open, pulling her welder
>"It's done!"
>You and Twilight both walk outside
>Your truck now has a plow hanging off the front
>Clamps secure it to the anchor points
>And the lock swivel allows for variable height
>Right now, it hangs a few feet off the ground
>Inkie comes out behind you
Damn Inkie, you've outdone yourself
>"Aww, it was nutnin'"
>"Here, I better show you how to operate the swivel"
>You and Twilight follow her over to the front of the truck
>"You just loosen the nut like this, then give this end a wack..."
>She says as she demonstrates
>"And then you can lift the plow up and down, easy peasy!"
>You lift the plow
>It's heavy, but you can manage
Well, I think I understand
>"He can always ask me if he forgets!"
>Heh
>Good ol' Twilight
Well Inkie, you have my thanks
This plow allows me to clear the streets of P0nyville with ease
>She turns around and starts heading towards the door
See you around, Inkie!
>"See ya!"
 
 
>You drive back to P0nyville and drop Twilight off at her housebrary
>Then you head back to AppleJack's
>By now it's starting to get dark
>You arrive just in time for dinner
>After dinner, you show AppleJack the plow
>She has an... interesting reaction
>On one hand, it will make clearing the streets of P0nyville much easier
>On the other it could put p0nies out of a job
>You vow not to use it except in situations when the job can't be accomplished any other way
>This seems to satisfy her
>You spend your remaining time before bed cleaning your pistol
>When you finally get into bed, sleep comes easy to you
>As you drift off, you can't help but wonder what further surprises this place holds for you....