When one entered this workshop, there were three things they could always expect to find. Scattered parts of machines not yet put together. A dinner from the previous night, left cold and unattended on a table to the side. And finally, a lone earth pony mare, sitting at her desk with her goggles on, focusing all her effort on her work. In this case, that work was getting the tiniest of screws into the proper hole of her current project. With her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth, she held her breath as she carefully tightened the thing. Then, when it was finally in, she slowly moved the joint that had been constructed. No squeaks, no strain on the material, the movement was as smooth as butter, and she smiled at her efforts. "Finally." Lifting her goggles to the top of her head, she placed the joint to one side, then reached over to the far end of her desk, grabbing hold of a blueprint for what had to be the end point of this mysterious creation. "Just a few more tweaks, a few more parts, and it'll all come together."

However, her focus was then interrupted by the sudden creaking of the door of her workshop, and she turned to see what was, in this town, a unique sight. A dragon, similar to her in colour, standing in the doorway with a look of disapproval upon his face. Folding his arms, he tapped his foot upon the ground. "Let me guess, another all-nighter?"

A blush came to the mare's face. "What? No! Whatever gave you that idea?" Arching his eyebrow, the drake pointed to the side, to the aforementioned abandoned dinner, and his companion chuckled nervously. "Hehe, oh, that. Well, I guess I might have left it alone a bit longer than you wanted."

The new arrival sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before stepping over to the nearby windows, opening the blinds and allowing the first rays of morning light into the workshop, illuminating the whole place. The mare briefly shielded her eyes, having been used to candlelight for some hours now, and after only a moment she grew used to the new brightness as her companion approached. "Twilight, how many times do I have to tell you not to get lost in 'the zone' like this?"

Twilight rolled her eyes before looking back to her blueprint. "Oh, I'm sure you'll tell me quite a few more times before you're done, Spike."

Now beside her, standing at a height maybe an inch taller than her, he looked down at her work, skepticism as clear as the daylight he'd just let in. "Your flying machine?"

Twilight turned to face him again, eagerly clapping her hooves together. "Imagine it, Spike! To soar through the air on wings I made with my very own hooves!"

Here at least Spike managed to crack a smile. "I know, I know. You've been talking about it for a while now. But, you know what they say. If earth ponies were meant to fly, they'd have been born as pegasi."

His friend seemed disappointed in that response. "Come on, Spike! You can't fly either. Haven't you ever dreamed of going up there? Feeling the rush of wind in your scales?"

Spike chuckled. "Well, funny thing about us earth dragons, Twilight. We tend to like things down here on terra firma." After a moment, he looked to the artificial wing with amusement. "Flying like a pegasus. Next you'll be telling me you'll try to replicate unicorn magic, and..." He paused, reflecting on his own words before slumping his shoulders. "You've already started trying to do that, haven't you?"

"Maaaaaaaybe," Twilight answered innocently.

Her adopted brother shook his head, having fully expected something like this. "For the record, let it be known that I told you so if things go south on all of that."

Twilight sighed to that. "Guess the loss is yours. I'll be sure to wave to you when I get up to the big, blue sky," she remarked with a smirk.

Spike nodded. "Uh-huh, sure you will. In the meantime, I'm going to get some groceries before I start helping out in town today. There's a lot to do and very little time to do it." Seeing Twilight blink to him, he continued. "The big visit? The princesses?"

Realisation came to her, and her head snapped in the direction of a nearby calendar on the wall, where a little crown had been drawn into today's date. "Wait, that's today?!"

Spike facepalmed. "I know you get lost in your work, but you can't have forgotten that. The royals visiting Ponyville for the first time? It's all anyone's talked about for weeks now!"

To that, Twilight face-planted herself right into her blueprints. "Ugh! But I have so much stuff to do!"

Reaching forward, Spike patted her on the back. "I know, but hey, that's the life you live when you're the towns' handymare."

Finally getting off her chair, Twilight took hold of her project and carefully carried it over to a large, open box, placing it inside before throwing a tarp over it. "Alright, what's the list?"

Spike started counting off his claws. "Well, the Mayor wants you to fix that street light outside the Town Hall. Then you need to go and help Bon-Bon with her guttering. And after that we've got Muffin's new oven that needs installing."

Twilight frowned. "All that and we need to prepare for the royals?" Taking a moment to calm herself, she glanced to her sibling with slyness. "Well, as long as you don't flirt with them when they get here, I'm sure it'll all work out."

Spike took on an almost offended look. "What? I'll have you know, Twilight, I don't get a crush on every visiting mare to the town. Heck, name three!"

Without missing a beat, Twilight granted his request. "Junebug, Avalon and Berry Frost."

"...Name three more."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You really wanna play that game with me, bro? Because I promise you, I can go all day."

After a while, Spike groaned in irritation. "Okay, fine, maybe I get a bit infatuated sometimes. I'll try and rein it in."

His sister nodded. "Good, because I'm pretty sure doing it with royalty is tantamount to treason anyway." Walking away, Twilight reached the door of her workshop, opening it up and looking out at the peaceful town of Ponyville beyond, causing her to smile. "Don't worry, Spike. We'll get the work done. Or my name's isn't Twilight Sprocket!"

Like many fans, I was eagerly awaiting any new information on what would eventually become the next generation of MLP. Leaks, news, concept art, you name it. And all sorts of stuff was floating about about whether the old cast would continue, whether it would be someone new, what animation style would be used, all that jazz. Eventually, we got A New Generation, and I want it on record that I really liked that movie.

However, I also really liked a lot of the ideas that came before, with alternate takes on the characters we knew and loved. Twilight as an earth pony inventor? Loved the idea, especially when the great art of the concept came out by professional MLP artist Imalou. So, I figured I'd try my hand at my own version of a new MLP generation, using not only ideas from the early concept, but also a few touches of my own 😊