I had quill to paper. Let me tell you, that wasn't my usual style. Give me a keyboard and a screen and I could jam out words well enough, but the only keyboard or screen for an entire world was my phone, and whatever I made in there wouldn't be available to be read by much anyone but myself. What I wrote wasn't for myself.

I was transcribing knowledge. Dutifully copying human technology out in pony understandable ways, or so I hoped. The pipe was being hidden. The dogs were on the way. Water Lily seemed quite intent on planning the wedding. "A mare's job," she had insisted and then spoke nothing more to me.

That left me with time. And I decided to spend it giving back to Equestria. As much as I didn't want to think about it, there would be a day when I wasn't there. Even if I did defeat age through some magic or another, I certainly couldn't be everywhere at once. Ponies needed their own engineers solving their own problems and hopefully coming up with unique pony solutions to things even when I wasn't there.

I was penning the workings of a water ram jet, allowing water to propel itself uphill with sufficient amounts of water. We may even have need for such a design within the city, depending on where the water has to go. Sure, I paid the enchanter to handle it for the water towers, but we weren't made of money, and going to him for every time the water had to go uphill anywhere in Equestria, or even the city, would be unfeasible.

It sure would be nice to have electricity...

That would require them knowing what it really was first. Or would it? I was slowly copying a diagram off my phone as I pondered that. I could give them the hows without the whys, but that felt like cheating, and it could turn up poorly later. If they were going to be told about electricity, the magic of man, they should have some idea of what it was.

But what did they already know? Unicorns could make it, but they had no use for it. It was an attack, a deadly energy, or something to amuse others with when used properly. In no way was it a revolutionary power to change the world.

But were humans any different? Electricity used to be a curiosity too, unknown and unknowable. It took time and study and mostly time, multipled by many man-hours of study, to start figuring it out. I needed something small and easy they could hold in their hooves and see electricity working.

A little motor. A small thing that did nothing but spin around. Surely that would be enough to at least show it could be made to do work. First, the ramjet. I dutifully finished the notes there, keeping my burning sidetrack pushed where it belonged, to the side.

A knock had my head turning. "Who is it?"

"Sir?" came a female voice. "I was asked by Water Lily to ensure you paused your efforts about now. I have a snack."

I grabbed my phone and took a peek at the time. It was turning to evening. I had spent the entire day working on that one article. Still, it was basically done, something to be proud of. "Sure, thank you." The door opened as I began to put things away. "How is Water doing? She's basically hiding from me."

"She's not hiding, Sir." The maid trotted in, tray floating beside her. She placed it on my desk in the space I had just made available. "She's preparing. You are unusually aggressive, for a stallion, Sir. She has to prove she can handle a mare's business. Her pride is on the line."

Aggressive? "I wouldn't hurt a hair on her."

"Not violent, Sir, no... I would... protect her if I thought you were that." The maid smiled awkwardly up at me. "Aggressive... Mares are supposed to propose. You went and did it instead. She's... delighted, Sir, please know that. It's just made her eager to do her part."

The tray she had put down had a few butter cookies and a small cup of tea. I could smell the butter. Those cookies were as brand new as they could be if I didn't shove my hand into the stove to fetch them myself. Ponies knew how to cook and serve food, I can never deny. "Thank you... but since you're here, what do you think of me?"

She inclined her head faintly. "You're not my sort, Sir."

"Not like that," I laughed out, taking a cookie and giving it a soft bite. It almost melted on contact with my tongue. Very nice. "When you look at me, what do you see?"

"I see a half pony." Her eyes flicked between my top and bottom. "With fingers, missing fur, no snout to speak of... How do you breathe?"

"Pardon?"

"Breathe, Sir... Such a small nose, it must be terrible difficult, I would think..." She sat down, regarding me more fully. "No wonder you always wear clothes. I'd be cold too. How do you survive the winter? Oh dear, that's coming soon. Are you going to hide inside? Poor thing..."

That was going in directions I hadn't planned. "I more meant as a person."

"Oh! Oh... pardon." With blushing cheeks, she looked away a brief moment. "You're the talk of things lately. You're taking one of us away, but she seems... very happy about it, so I'm not angry at you, Sir. You just better treat her right." She thrust a hoof at me. "And I hope she invites me to the ceremony. Oh! Sir, do you have family? Will they be there?"

Any family I had was a world, possibly a universe, away... "None that could make it here on time."

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Sir. I've asked a bad question." Had I made an expression? She was acting like it. "Forget I even asked. You're marrying into family. Assuming you two continue getting along as well as you do, I'll gladly accept you as part of mine." She set a hoof on her chest. "And I imagine many other maids feel the same. We're all one big family."

A family I was being invited into. I hadn't planned on joining a family circle of maids, which made me curious. "I'm not a mare, as you know."

"We are all aware of that... Ian. May I call you Ian? If you're family, first name would be proper, rather than 'Sir sir sir.'" She was smiling easily, as if she were talking to a friend rather than anyone that could censure her for her behavior. "True, the maids are mares, but Lily isn't the first to find love, and the boyfriends and husbands of maids are just as much a part of this family. If they can't manage that... Usually a good sign they aren't a good fit."

Well, no pressure... "I will do my best. Now, before I go assuming, are pets allowed?"

She squinted at me. "Like a cat or a dog? They create more work, but well-mannered ones are a delight to have around."

"N-no. I mean..." I hovered a hand over her head.

"Sir! Ian, no..." She scurried back a few rapid steps. "Touching another mare like that. I will have to tell Water Lily, Ian. This isn't something we can keep a secret."

"Go ahead." I felt sure she would more likely laugh at my awkwardness. "I didn't mean anything untoward by it. It's a thing we humans do to adorable furry things."

She looked all the more perplexed. "Ian... I am a hardworking mare. While I appreciate you think I'm cute, I'm not a foal in need of headpats, and it sends confusing signals. You aren't my elder, or my lover, so I will gently rebuke that wish, and suggest you not try it with the other maids, please?"

I would be getting no maid petting done outside of Water Lily. A shame, but not the end of the world by far. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. That was my mistake. I owe you one."

She pointed to the tray. "Well, alright then. You get to bring that to the kitchen yourself, you naughty boyfriend, you." She turned on one hoof, swiveling away without moving from the spot. "Because I'm not taking it, so there." She trotted off, looking so confident in her terrible revenge.

That left me with cookies, tea, and a tray that all had to go away. There were worse fates. I had other things to do. I brought them all to the kitchen to be properly dealt with, much to their surprise, but they didn't ask why I was the one bringing them.

With that handled, I left the castle with one of my parchments. Not the ramjet, that had no business outside just yet. I made my way to a smith, the steady pounding of a hammer on metal the clear sign that the smith was around and working. When I opened the door to head inside, a bell rang out clearly. Had he, or she, made that? Good work by how clearly it had jingled.

"One moment," called a female from the back, the hammering pausing a moment. "One moment." A heavy-set mare came trotting into view. She was not fat, oh no. She was muscled, large and powerful, but also smiling. "Well, hello there. Aren't you a strange one. Strange with bits?"

"Strange with bits," I agreed, setting the paper down on the counter that separated us. "I need some metal pounded into some specific shapes. Can you help?"

"That happens to be my job." She leaned over the counter, peering at the drawing. She reached out a hoof and twirled the paper around to face herself. "You've made the metal all long and thin here. Is that for decoration?" Metal pounded like that won't be good for much else."

Not much else, except conducting electricity. "Do you have copper? I need that part to be made of copper."

"Copper, sure." She tossed her head towards some shiny brown pieces. "Work with that plenty. Steel too, but that costs more. Is it all copper?"

I got out that quill, dipped it and quickly put a big C next to the copper wires and and S on some of the others. "There you go. Can you do it?"

"Can I do it?" She pulled the diagram closer. "Of course I can. Just don't go hanging anything off those thin copper lengths. You knock the strength right out of them when you get them that thin."

"I understand that." I considered explaining what they were actually for, but that felt like a waste. She worked metal, that's what she did. "Thank you, miss...?"

"Smith. Miss Smith." She nodded once firmly. "And you're the langer man, ain't ya?"

"Ian," I corrected. "Ian Langerman."

"Close." She pulled the diagram off the counter. "Word has it you have a hoof in the council's coin purse, so I'll expect prompt payment when this is ready. You staying up at the castle?"

"I am." Having a reputation was a double-edged sword. I noticed she wasn't sweating the details. She knew she'd be paid. "Send word and I'll be back to collect, and pay."

"Glad you remembered that part." She inclined her head towards where the diagram had gone. "Rush job?"

"No." It wasn't an emergency by any means. "Moderate priority, just let me know when it's all ready."

"You got it," she said with some mild disappointment. I imagined she had been hoping she could charge extra to bump it to the top of her queue. "I'll have this hammered out soon enough. Think of me the next time you need some metal pounded into shape." She turned and left, apparently goodbyes said enough in her eyes.

Knowing a local smith wasn't a bad idea, really... Miss Smith was an easy name to remember.

Author's Notes:

Cheating by petting random ponies. What a way to go. Welcome to the family, Ian.

Written early for patreons who got this ahead of everyone else. Want to get early chapters, or even your own story written? atreon!

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