Things did not immediately go back to normal. Obviously, Scootaloo hadn't really expected them to, but she still found the lingering wariness and awkwardness clinging to their little group extremely frustrating. For all her claims, Apple Bloom was still obviously uneasy about the sudden paradigm shift, and even Sweetie Belle seemed oddly frosty around her. This more than anything really concerned Scootaloo, since Sweetie Belle had been her best friend for over a decade, and she was terrified to lose that connection. She mentioned as much to Silver Spoon a few days later while they were lounging in her bedroom one afternoon after class, putting off their homework and their project.

Silver Spoon pursed her lips, idly flipping through the pages of one of Scootaloo's Wonderbolt scrapbooks. "Yeah, she does seem a little distant, I guess." She paused to read the inscription on the back of a glossy ticket stub, signed by Spitfire, the Wonderbolt captain. Scootaloo, any dream is within your reach, if you really work for it! ~ Spitfire The pegasus had replaced the dots over her "i's" with little flames. Embellishing signatures seemed to be a Wonderbolt mainstay. "But you have to admit, she's got a lot to digest, you know?"

"Yeah, but wasn't that what the last week was supposed to be all about? The two of them getting a grip and learning to deal with it?" Scootaloo's frustration colored her voice. "I mean, that's what I did."

Silver Spoon gave her a sharp look. "You didn't have somepony drop a bomb on you, though. I did, and I can assure you, it's harder to just 'cope' with it than you might think."

Scootaloo flushed and looked away. "Alright, I get it." She sighed. "I just hate it, is all. I want us to be the way we used to be." She paused, and her voice darkened. "I hate that I ruined everything."

Silver Spoon sighed. "Look," she said, climbing up onto the bed and settling down next to Scootaloo. "It was only a matter of time. You couldn't have hidden from yourself or your friends forever, and it's better that it happened sooner than later, right? The longer they think you lied to them, the more hurt they were going to be." She nuzzled the pegasus affectionately. "It'll all work out in the end. It's just going to take some time. So you have to be patient," she scolded gently, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Scootaloo smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I know." The smile widened into a grin. "You sound just like my mom."

"Hah," Silver Spoon scoffed. "I should be so lucky. She's smarter than you think."

"Oh, I know how smart she is," Scootaloo said. "That's why she drives me crazy. You'd think she'd understand where I'm coming from more often, being so wise and all."

"She might say the same about you, doofus," Silver Spoon teased, ducking an exaggerated attack from Scootaloo's wing. "Hey! Just the messenger!"

"A messenger who's about to lose her privileges to my help on her homework," Scootaloo groused.

"Speaking of," Silver Spoon said, sliding back off of the bed and unpacking her saddlebags. "We should get started, or we'll never get to work on the Dash."

Scootaloo yawned theatrically. "Nah, it won't take long. It's just more trig stuff and some basic chemistry." She rolled onto her back, spreading her wings across her comforter and closing her eyes. "Just ask the questions out loud and I'll tell you how to work them. Ow!" She suddenly sat up as Silver Spoon whapped her on the nose with a notebook. She turned around to give Silver Spoon a scathing look. "What the hay?"

Silver Spoon glowered at her. "That's not the deal. You said you'd help, not do it for me. I know this doesn't seem like much to you, but I'm still just barely keeping up. You start acting like Diamond Tiara, and I won't be anymore."

Scootaloo bristled. "I'm not acting like Diamond Tiara, I'm just--"

"You're just what? Saying the same things she used to say?"

"She didn't say--"

"She did," Silver Spoon insisted. "That's how it started. 'Help' turned into 'dictation', and then into 'copying'." She narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. "If you're running out of patience, just say so."

"No, no," Scootaloo said, righting herself and sliding off the bed. "I'm sorry, Silver Spoon, you're right. If we're gonna do it, we'll do it right."

"Good." Silver Spoon fumed for a moment longer, then said meekly, "I mean, I really do appreciate your help, I just--"

"No," Scootaloo interrupted her. "Don't apologize." She smiled. "You were totally right to get on my case. And I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself. That's not something the old Silver Spoon woulda done." She winked.

Silver Spoon's chest fluttered with joy at the accolade. "Thanks," she said, blushing at the floor. "It's getting easier."

Scootaloo grinned. "Considering how often you probably have to do it to keep me from getting us both in trouble, I'm guessing you get a lot of practice."

The silver filly giggled. "Not as much as you might think. I mean, there are some things I probably should stop you from doing or making me do, but I'm kinda having fun just doing dumb stuff."

Scootaloo snorted. "Well, a big part of being a Crusader is doing dumb stuff, so you're still well on your way there, too. That is," she said, "assuming you still want to be one?"

Silver Spoon almost laughed at the unabashed hope in Scootaloo's voice. "I suppose. I think the plans might be on hold for a while, though, owing to recent events."

The pegasus nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Well, nothing we can do about it right now. How about we chill out with some math instead, huh?"

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes as Scootaloo settled to the floor next to her, nosing open their textbook. "Yeah...chill."

"You know," Scootaloo said, a note of wonder in her voice, "you're way better at chemistry than I thought you would be."

Silver Spoon had learned not to take Scootaloo's blithely backhanded compliments at face value anymore. "Thanks. I guess it just comes from all those years of watching my father work. He does a lot of alloying and such, and once I realized what all the symbols and numbers and stuff meant, it all kind of fell into place."

"Do...sorry, did you help him much with his work, or just sit and watch?"

Silver Spoon shrugged. "A little of both. I mean, he wouldn't let me actually do anything important on any of his business projects, but whenever he was experimenting or doing hobby work, he'd let me pitch in sometimes. After a while, all the specifics of the chemistry just kind of became second nature. I never really considered there might be a whole system to write it all out."

Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow at her. "Where were you when Miss Cheerilee was describing it all to us, then?"

Silver Spoon blushed. "Probably trying to figure out what I'd done wrong in the previous lessons." She paused, and then quietly added, "Being behind sucks."

The pegasus nodded and leaned into her side sympathetically. "Sounds like it. Well, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Silver Spoon smiled at her. "Yeah, I know you will."

For a long moment, neither pony could think of something to say that felt appropriate for the odd shift the mood of the room had suddenly taken. Silver Spoon couldn't tear her eyes away from Scootaloo's face, seeing all her features as she always did when they were this close together. Her lilac irises ringing pupils that darted across her face, so birdlike and yet so deep and intelligent, her soft lips, pursed in frustration and determination as she made her intentions as clear on her expression as in her voice, her shock of magenta mane, so many different lengths and yet still coalescing into a playful swoop, at once feminine and alluring, but still rakish and adventurous, faintly daring Silver Spoon to do something crazy, just to feel the rush of plunging into the unknown, fearless with Scootaloo by her side.

Scootaloo saw it. In Silver Spoon's face, so much she wouldn't say, probably couldn't say, and yet Scootaloo's heart raced with a dizzying hope that she might. There was so much she had learned about Silver Spoon already, and yet she could tell in every conversation they had that there was still so much more to discover. Her head spun at the potential, even as she despaired at being closed off from her new friend's true self. What more could she need to hide? Scootaloo had seen Silver Spoon at emotional lows so deep she had thought for sure there couldn't possibly be any secret too dark to share, but she could tell. It was etched into the worried scrunch between her eyebrows, in the slight frown of her lips that dominated her face whenever she thought nopony was looking. For somepony whose two best friends were relentlessly emotional at the best of times, it was especially frustrating to be at a loss to understand...to help.

She wanted to push the issue, to press Silver Spoon to trust her, to talk to her, let her in. Every single thing Scootaloo had learned about the other filly since they'd become friends had fascinated and enthralled her, and she was practically salivating at the realization that there was still more to uncover. At the same time, she knew Silver Spoon was skittish, understandably wary of sharing more than she had to, and this played havoc with Scootaloo's usual social methodology, which involved teasing, guessing, and...well, bullying, she had to admit. Silver Spoon was guaranteed to shut her out completely at the first sign of flippancy or spite, even if Scootaloo wasn't being disingenuous or mean on purpose. It was a puzzle, and she was at once relishing the challenge and constantly terrified of making a mistake.

The two fillies sat in silence for a long moment. Too long, they each realized to themselves. They both opened their mouths to break it at the same time, then stopped to let the other speak, resulting in more silence. Silver Spoon's pulse quickened. Scootaloo's wings fluttered anxiously. This silence was not as long, as Scootaloo's nerves snapped first and she said, "Anyway!" Her voice squeaked, and she cleared her throat before trying again. "Anyway, that's homework out of the way, so maybe we should do some work on the Dash."

it was all Silver Spoon could do not to react to Scootaloo's voice cracking. She wasn't sure exactly what that reaction would look like--laughter? a delighted "aww!"?--but she did know Scootaloo would not take it well. Instead, she clenched her jaw until the urge passed and then nodded. "Sure, I think that's a good idea."

Scootaloo got down off the bed and retrieved her notebook. "So the first thing we have to do is get all the parts, obviously. It's not too complicated, really; it's barely more than a hang glider, but obviously most hang gliders aren't pegasus-powered, so I made a few changes to take advantage of that."

Silver Spoon nodded. "You mean you're going to drive it just with your wings?" She glanced at Scootaloo's admittedly impressive plumage folded across her back. "I mean...not that I doubt you could..." Silver Spoon couldn't help but notice the muscles across Scootaloo's shoulders and down her sides rippling as Scootaloo unfurled one wing to smugly display its length, and she felt an unexpected shiver run down her spine.

"I mean, obviously I could." Scootaloo grinned. "But no, I'll be running and flapping to get off the ground. Once it's up, it's foal's play to keep it there with wingpower; any pegasus could. A lot of power is spent getting off the ground, but as long as you've got wind going over your wings, you've got lift." She indicated the long delta wing of the Dash. "But with this, all that lift comes from the shape of this wing, so I don't have to rely on my wings to give me any lift." Her expression faded a bit as she grumbled, "You know, since they don't."

Silver Spoon's eyes widened. "At all?"

"Well," Scootaloo said, tilting her head slightly, "they do, just not enough. I mean, they generate as much lift as any pegasus' wings, but without the magic that goes along with them, it's like putting wings on a cow." She smirked. "Or an earth pony."

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, very funny. So how does this cancel that out?"

Scootaloo joined Silver Spoon on the bed again and started a long lecture about the basic mechanics of heavier-than-air flight and the physics involved. Silver Spoon found herself swept up in Scootaloo's enthusiasm, enthralled by the depth of the pegasus' knowledge, and pleased to find she was able to keep up with very little difficulty. Scootaloo's mastery of the physics of flight meant she understood every element to the most basic degree, so no matter how foolish a question Silver Spoon thought she was asking, Scootaloo simply declared it a "good question" and dove into another lecture. She also made sure to pause every so often to ask if Silver Spoon was keeping up, and if the silver mare even hinted that she might be getting lost, Scootaloo would back up and repeat herself as many times as was necessary, even quizzing Silver Spoon on the topic to make sure she really understood.

"So if all it takes is a tilted surface and airflow against it to generate lift, why is that wing, you know, round?"

"That's a really good question," Scootaloo repeated for the hundredth time, beaming. Silver Spoon blushed, as she had every time Scootaloo had said it, still unsure of exactly why, and trying to ignore it. "The simplest explanation is that it's stronger and more efficient that way. Rounded edges are less fragile than sharp ones, and depending on how much weight it's carrying, a wing might need to be really strong. Adding interior support is most efficient in a round chamber. The more complicated explanation is a little above what you'd need to understand, and the most complicated explanation would require a couple of my books to describe." She nodded at her bookshelf, indicating the thick volumes looming there.

Silver Spoon shuddered theatrically. "I'm fine with the simple explanation." She paused, then corrected herself. "Actually, could you try the slightly harder explanation? I just want to see if I can, you know...understand it."

Scootaloo grinned. "I'm sure you can, I just wasn't sure if you cared. So basically the shape of an airfoil--that's the cross-section of the wing," she indicated a drawing in the notebook, "determines how much lift it can generate at various airspeeds. Some shapes produce less drag, but because drag, as you might remember, is directly related to lift, they also produce less lift, which is fine when airspeed is high enough. For something like the Dash, which is a relatively low-speed craft, we need a pretty fat airfoil to stay airborne."

Silver Spoon nodded, pleased to realize she did actually understand what Scootaloo was explaining. "What makes them generate more lift than just a flat surface?"

Scootaloo smirked. "Well, that kind of strays into book territory. It involves fluid mechanics and the laws of motion and pressure differentials and some pretty boring math involving symbols that aren't numbers. Basically, an airfoil's shape makes air move faster on top of the wing than underneath it. The why is complicated, but the how is pretty cool. Oh, and I can even demonstrate!" Scootaloo flipped to the back of her notebook and tore out a page. She held it in front of her mouth with her wings. "See, when I blow on this page directly on the edge--" she did so, and the paper fluttered in the wind, but didn't quite become parallel with the floor, "--you get some lift, but I'd have to blow pretty hard to get it to pull all the way up. But if I hold it like this--" she tilted the paper so it curled away from her and blew on it again, more gently. This time, to Silver Spoon's surprise the paper jumped into the airstream, holding itself taut in Scootaloo's breath, completely parallel to the floor. Scootaloo grinned as she saw Silver Spoon's eyes widen. "See? Bigger curve means more lift. Angle of attack matters too, obviously, and control surfaces can change the shape of the wing, and that doesn't really take wingtip vortices or aspect ratio into account..." She trailed off and blushed as Silver Spoon slowly raised an eyebrow. "Never mind, that's all super nerdy stuff."

"I don't think it's nerdy," Silver Spoon said, smiling.

Scootaloo blinked at her. "You don't?"

Silver Spoon shook her head. "No, I think it's incredible. You know so much about this stuff that it's actually really intimidating. You're so smart and it just seems like you can pull this stuff out of your head without even trying." She sighed. "I wish I was that smart about anything."

"But you are," Scootaloo said. Silver Spoon gave her a skeptical look. "No, I mean it. Look, you may not feel like it, but you remember the first time you saw my trophy?" She indicated the RACE sculpture on her desk. SIlver Spoon nodded. "You guessed--no, you didn't guess, you knew the metals in it at a glance, without picking it up or anything. That's not something just anypony could do."

"I guess not."

"See?" Scootaloo beamed at her. "That's special. All this stuff I know, I got it from books and hours of studying and reading and practicing, but that...what you can do is incredible." She paused, then added in a slightly softer voice, "You're incredible."

The two mares' eyes met and then they immediately looked away from one another. Silver Spoon's face seared as the light blush she'd been nursing for several minutes intensified at the fawning praise. Her stomach and chest tightened and her heart fluttered. She's flirting with you, isn't she? Even though she had never really had anypony flirt with her before, Silver Spoon had seen enough sappy rom-coms to recognize the signs of somepony trying to make a pass at her. It was decidedly awkward, especially since Silver Spoon had no idea how to respond. After all she had already told Scootaloo she wasn't interested in a relationship, hadn't she?

But that was just it, wasn't it? Scootaloo had to know it was a futile effort, right? And while it definitely made her blush awkwardly, it was obviously harmless. Scootaloo probably didn't even mean it seriously. She was probably just teasing. Heck, maybe she was just saying it to boost her spirit. She had started to get maudlin, hadn't she? Scootaloo was just being a good friend. Silver Spoon was surprised and dismayed to realize that finding her way to this conclusion didn't make her feel any less uncomfortable or any calmer. Instead, it just added an odd streak of dejection to the swirl of emotion scattering her previously orderly thoughts, as though deciding that Scootaloo wasn't actually flirting with her was, well...disappointing.

Before she could recover from surprising herself, a knock at Scootaloo's bedroom door startled them both out of their respective thoughts. "Scootaloo, Silver Spoon, dinner will be ready soon. Please get yourselves together and come to the table."

Scootaloo cleared her throat and responded. "Ah, thanks mom. We'll be out in a bit." She listened as Octavia retreated down the hallway and then turned to look at Silver Spoon. "Look, when I said..." She grimaced and looked away, the blush on her face creeping up her ears. "I didn't mean anything by it, I just...I'm sorry, I know you said you weren't...you know..." She sighed. "I won't say stuff like that any more."

"No," Silver Spoon said, startling herself. Before she could even begin to unravel the subconscious motivation she had for the refusal, she found herself doubling down on it. "I mean, you don't need to stop. I...don't mind." Scootaloo's mouth actually fell open a bit, and Silver Spoon gave her a small smile. "I kind of like it." This was true, she realized. "I've never been flirted with before. It's nice."

"Was I flirting? Was that flirting?" Scootaloo sputtered. "I promise I wasn't trying to."

Silver Spoon smirked, surprised at her own actions and the thoughts that were motivating them. "Like I said, you don't have to stop. Unless you want to, that is," she added with a hint of concern.

Scootaloo was visibly struggling to find words now, caught so thoroughly off-guard by Silver Spoon's uncharacteristic boldness. Finally, she seemed to regain her nerves and smirked. "Well alright then. I won't." The smirk spread into a grin as she hopped down off the bed and started to make her way to the door. "Just be careful not to accidentally fall for me, then." She glanced over her shoulder and gave Silver Spoon a rakish wink as she disappeared into the hallway.

Silver Spoon exhaled sharply, suddenly aware that she'd been holding her breath. Her heart pounded and her hooves tingled. Well...that was weird, she thought, trying to quell the trembling in her legs. She had no idea where all that courage had come from, nor why it had been applied so coyly. It almost felt like she'd been flirting back with Scootaloo, but that didn't make sense, because she wasn't...

...was she?

Silver Spoon shook her head so hard she made herself dizzy. She didn't have time to sit and parse a million new thoughts and feelings. It was dinner time, and after dinner...well, she should go home. That was the plan, and it was going to stay that way, no matter what the tiny voice in her head was suggesting. She'd ignored that voice for years, and just because it was getting a little louder didn't mean that was going to change. Satisfied, she hopped off the bed and went to dinner.

"I never would have thought you'd be caught dead on this end of town," Scootaloo mused as she followed Silver Spoon down a broad thoroughfare flanked by tall, imposing warehouses and a cacophony of screeching machines, rumbling engines, and the ring of metal on metal. It was a few days later; Silver Spoon had promised to introduce Scootaloo to somepony who could provide all the parts of the Dash that were too big to fit in Silver Spoon's small metalworking setup and were not so complex that they required a jeweler's tools and hoof. She had also borrowed Scootaloo's notebook for a couple days, something Scootaloo had been loath to allow, but which she eventually admitted was necessary. True to her word, Silver Spoon had taken excellent care of the book, and had returned it promptly.

Silver Spoon gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's awfully...industrial."

Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. "What, you think I'm too prim and delicate for someplace this rough?"

Scootaloo smirked. "No, I just think you're too pretty to fit in here."

Silver Spoon's eyes widened a touch before she managed to deftly convert the reaction into an eye roll, but a blush crept across her muzzle just the same. Pleased with this result, Scootaloo tossed her mane triumphantly and glanced over through an uncovered window into one of the workshops. Inside she saw a unicorn wearing a heavy apron and a thick face shield that was rotated up and out of his face manipulating a few pieces of sheet metal into place. She slowed curiously.

Silver Spoon noticed her flagging pace and followed her gaze. "What are you..." She watched as the unicorn nodded his head sharply, causing the face shield to fall back into place. Alarmed, she suddenly reached out and forcibly turned Scootaloo's face away from the window. "Never stare directly at the arc!" she scolded.

"The...arc?" Scootaloo's eyes widened in comprehension. "Oh, he's a welder!"

Silver Spoon made a slightly exasperated noise. "Yes, and if you want to keep your eyesight, you need to be more careful. Although he really ought to have a curtain on that window..." She walked over to the window and tapped her hoof on it when the welder stopped. He glanced over at the window and started visibly before trotting over and drawing a heavy curtain across, giving Silver Spoon a thankful wave before he disappeared from sight.

"Huh," Scootaloo said, smiling at her companion. "You really do know a lot more about this stuff than I think anypony would give you credit for."

"Thanks...I think," Silver Spoon said.

"Well, I mean--" Scootaloo sputtered, "it's just that, you know, you're from a rich family, your grades...well, they're not awesome, and..." She trailed off.

Silver Spoon sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Anyway, it's their loss," Scootaloo said, still struggling to put the right words together to mitigate the backhanded nature of the compliment. "I bet most ponies don't even get to see this part of Ponyville."

"Get to?" Silver Spoon smirked.

Scootaloo looked around and pursed her lips. "Okay, so it's not exactly beautiful, but it is pretty cool."

Silver Spoon smiled. "Well I certainly think so."

"What in Equestria brought you out here in the first place?"

"Well, when I was a filly, my family used to do a lot more stuff together," Silver Spoon said. "My father still worked a lot, but whenever he had to come out here to meet with clients or suppliers, he'd bring me and my mom and my sister along with him, so that as soon as he was done with business, we could all go spend the rest of the day going to see a movie, or have a picnic, or go shopping or something like that." Silver Spoon's face fell a little as she considered the soulless concrete and metal facades around her. "Of course, this area wasn't nearly so...cold back then." Then it fell further as her ears folded back. "Neither was my father."

Sensing that the conversation was straying dangerously close to painful memories, Scootaloo scrambled for something else to talk about. "Well, you said you 'know a guy', so at least he's still here, right?"

Silver Spoon nodded. "Yeah, he's lived here for a long time. His shop was one of the first to open when this part of town got rezoned." The smile slowly waxed back onto her face. "Hasn't changed a whole lot, either. Or at least, it hadn't last I checked. It's been a while." She pursed her lips. "Diamond Tiara wasn't exactly enthusiastic about visiting the Ironworks."

Scootaloo barked derisively. "Yeah, I bet." She pulled up short as Silver Spoon slowed to a stop outside a smallish building near the far end of the street. It was decidedly more rustic than the hulking monstrosities they'd been passing, owing at least in part to the fact that it was attached to what was clearly someone's home. Apparently the proprietor lived right next to his business, which appeared to be a traditional blacksmith's shop. The giant open workspace had three enormous forges burning with a fierce orange flame licking at their mouths. Arrayed next to each forge was an anvil and a large bucket, and hanging on the wall behind them was a vast collection of tools, from several dozen different hammers to clamps to tongs and chisels, forks and awls and some things she couldn't begin to identify. On the other side of the workshop stood a dizzying collection of metal odds and ends, including partially finished pieces, giant sheets of rolled material, stacks of pipes and ingots, and buckets full of random detritus.

The shop itself was ringing with the sound of metal striking metal echoing from the three ponies working at the forges. They would intermittently bring their project to the forge, insert it into the flames, and then step rhythmically back and forth on a pair of hoof-based bellows at the bottom of the structure, watching the metal inside as it changed color under the relentless heat. Eventually they would extract the object, take it back to the anvil and abuse it for several seconds while its angry orange glow slowly faded to a dull umber. Then they would examine the result and either decide they were satisfied and move on to another step of their task or repeat the process until they were. It was a mesmerizing sight, and if Silver Spoon hadn't nudged her in the withers, Scootaloo could easily have lost herself in hypnotic fascination.

"Okay," she murmured. "I get it now."

Silver Spoon grinned and waved at the pony working the nearest forge. "Yoo-hoo, Featherstroke!" Scootaloo noticed that she was taking care to speak long enough to be heard on either side of a hammer blow, or to wait and speak between them. She was--as seemed to happen with increasing frequency the more time she spent with the filly--deeply impressed.

The pegasus threw two more blows into the steel on his anvil before turning to glance in her direction, his sooty face immediately breaking into a grin. "Well hey there, Spoon."

Spoon? Scootaloo perked her ears curiously. How close did an adult pony have to get to a filly like Silver Spoon before she'd let them use a nickname? Silver Spoon didn't seem fazed, and smiled as she trotted up to the big stallion, taking great care to avoid the scorching length of metal clamped to the anvil. She leaned in to hug him, saying, "It's been a little while, huh?"

"Hah! Hell yes it has," he said. "I ain't seen you since your momma..." Silver Spoon's face suddenly fell, and the blacksmith looked away for a moment, embarrassed. "Ah, sorry 'bout that, Spoon." He quickly cleared his throat and said, "How've you been? You doin' alright?"

Silver Spoon seemed to recover her composure with grace. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry, it's okay. I've been..." She hesitated. "I'm doing alright, yeah." She smiled. "How about you?"

The pegasus dropped his hammer unceremoniously to the ground next to the anvil, grabbed a pair of tongs and used it to pick up the steel he'd been hammering, unclamping it from the anvil as he did so in one fluid motion. "With Star Shine gone...heh, it could be worse."

The filly nodded solemnly. "DT told me about that." She bit her lip lightly. "It wasn't my fault, was it?"

"Nah," he chuckled, brushing the soot and sweat out of his eyes with one wing and sticking the dull red steel back in the fire. "Was a long time comin'. Should'a come sooner, sez Big Mac, but it wasn' yer fault." He glanced back at Scootaloo, still standing at the entrance of the shop. "Say, where is Dee, anyway?"

Silver Spoon pursed her lips, looking over her shoulder at Scootaloo. "We're...a little on the outs at the moment." She shrugged. "Anyway, you know she hates the Quarter. Scootaloo here is a lot more open-minded."

"Mornin'." The garnet pegasus nodded at Scootaloo, affording her the briefest of glances before returning his attention to the forge. "Now, Spoon," he said, returning his attention to the other filly, "what brings you two down t' my little shop, huh? I know you must be too busy with school and stuff to just come for a friendly visit."

Silver Spoon's ears folded against her skull. "You know that's not true. I just...well, DT can be stubborn, that's all."

He chuckled as he extracted the piece and examined it with a critical eye. "I know. I'm jus' teasin'." He suddenly thrust the red-hot metal into a nearby barrel, eliciting a short gout of flame that was immediately followed by a huge cloud of smoke. Neither he nor Silver Spoon spoke while they waited for the angry hiss of the liquid in the barrel to die down. When it did, he pulled the dripping metal out of the barrel and continued. "Now, is this a friendly visit, or is there somethin' I can help you with?"

"Well...as much as I wish it was just friendly, we need your help with something." She paused, then added. "Something private."

Featherstroke raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her further. Instead, he simply put his unfinished project aside. "Alright, let's go inside." He led the two fillies back out of the shop and into the house standing next to it. The interior was basic and fairly utilitarian, while still maintaining some aesthetic of the owner. It had few decorations, and no pictures. The three ponies settled down in the living room. "Private enough for you?" Featherstroke teased.

"It'll do," Silver Spoon said. She glanced back at Scootaloo. "So we're working together on a big project for school. We're going to need a bunch of metalwork for it, and you're the only smith I trust."

The pegasus cocked his head curiously. "What about your dad?" Silver Spoon gave him a dirty look, and he held up a hoof defensively. "Alright, alright. So what can I make for you?"

Silver Spoon said, "We're going to need a ton of gear blanks, a bunch of custom forged and cast parts, and all of it in the lightest metal you can source."

Featherstroke's eyebrows raised slightly, but he followed her lead without much hesitation. "How light do you need it?"

Silver Spoon shrugged. "Alloyed aluminum for the most part. I was thinking dad's 6061 would be best. Some stainless parts, probably 15-5 PH."

The pegasus grunted. "That'd be pretty expensive, Spoon. You know I'd do anythin' for you, but that's a big ask."

Silver Spoon smiled. "I know you would, but I'm not asking you to give it to me. I want to place an order."

"Oh, well," he said, smiling, "in that case, let's get to work. You have some specs for me, or are we wingin' it?"

Silver Spoon giggled. "Funny you should ask. No, we'll need to be pretty tight with the dimensions."

Again, the pegasus' expression registered surprise, but he made no comment. "Alright. Specs, then?"

"Better than that," Silver Spoon said, smiling back at Scootaloo. "We've got blueprints."

Silver Spoon dug a cardboard tube out of her saddlebag and trotted over to a nearby drafting table. She popped the lid off one end and poured out several rolled pieces of paper, unfurling, unfolding and flattening them one at a time, describing each drawing as she did. "The basic design and all the math is Scootaloo's; I just translated it all to print. Her specs all fit together, so we don't have to make any adjustments." She unrolled the last piece of paper and presented it to him. "This is the list of the parts we need from you. Everything else I can either make in the shop at home or get elsewhere."

Featherstroke stared at the drawings. "Spoon," he said, "this is a flyin' machine."

Silver Spoon nodded. "Yeah, pretty cool, huh?"

He gave her a wary look. "Cool, sure, but are you buildin' it to show, or use?"

Silver Spoon twitched an ear. "Well, obviously it'll look nice, but if Scootaloo's math is right, it should fly, yeah."

"If," the pegasus said. "If her math's right."

"It's right," Scootaloo interjected, speaking for the first time since they'd entered the shop. The blacksmith turned the skeptical look at her, but she didn't flinch. "My math is always right."

"You willin' to bet your lives on it?"

Scootaloo bristled. "Even if my math was wrong--and it isn't--the worst that would happen is it doesn't take off. It's not like it'd get us into the air and then ten minutes later the physics are all suddenly screwed up and we drop out of the sky. Take-off's always the hardest part. Even the big skyships that fly out of Manehattan have a tougher time getting off the ground than staying there."

The two ponies glared at one another for a few moments more before Featherstroke looked back at Silver Spoon. "You trust her?"

Silver Spoon blinked, apparently taken aback by the question. "Yeah," she finally said. "Yeah, I do."

"Hm," the blacksmith said, pursing his lips. "Alrigh' then, if you say so." He looked the list of parts over. "Most of this is pretty simple stuff. It'll take me a few days to get the material, but after that it'll just be a couple weeks of work. The design's pretty smart," he admitted. "Nothing too complicated to mess up or break." He looked at Scootaloo. "You designed this?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Yeah. Aeronautical engineering is kinda my hobby."

"Heckuva hobby," Featherstroke murmured, still examining the blueprints. "Anyway, gimme a few weeks to get everything done and I'll let you know when it's ready for pickup."

Silver Spoon beamed at Scootaloo. "Thanks, Featherstroke. You're the best."

"Hey, you know how you always say it sounds like gibberish when I start talking physics and such?" Scootaloo asked as they made their way home after leaving the Ironworks.

Silver Spoon nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, now I guess I know what that feels like." Scootaloo gave Silver Spoon a sheepish smile. "I didn't realize you were drawing up those blueprints when you borrowed my notebook the other day. How long did that take?"

"Oh," Silver Spoon smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, five hours over two days? Your notes were really detailed, so all I really had to do was copy them over with accurate specs and decide what materials to use."

"Speaking of materials, that's the gibberish I was talking about. What do those numbers even mean? I mean, 60-something, stainless 15?"

Silver Spoon giggled. "6061 is an aluminum alloy. Has magnesium and silicon in it, very strong, very light. Stainless 15-5 PH is just a very hard, very strong alloy of stainless steel. Pricey, but the alternatives are weaker, and as Featherstroke pointed out, if we get into the air, it's probably in our best interest that the Dash stay in one piece."

Scootaloo shook her head and smiled, incredulous. "I swear, Spoon, you get more awesome by the day."

Silver Spoon blushed. "If you say so." But for once, Silver Spoon dared to believe her.