Fixing a hole...

This text was never meant to be published. I'm still not sure if this is the right thing to do. But I believe that my master Hurdlus the Hardworking deserves his work to be placed among the history books of ponykind. This text outlines the unmodified notes and obsvervations of the stallion himself. But first, in this preface, I would like to tell his story.

One of the many students of the Great Starswirl the Bearded, Hurdlus was never anything special, being overshadowed by his peers and disadvantaged by the great blizzard. However, it is in this catastrophe that his work began. For you see, Hurdlus was one of the many Unicorns who believed that the blizzard was entirely the fault of the Pegasi. This belief was further strengthened by the theory of Exclusive Magic theorized by Starswirl himself. The theory stated that the domain of the sky (Pegasus),the domain of the Earth (Earth ponies), and the domain of magic (Unicorns), could never interact with each other under any circumstances. Thus, Hurdlus reasoned, only the Pegasi could have caused the blizzard and only they could stop it. Or maybe if he could study the ways of the pegasi...

So he studied the nature of clouds by risking his life by trepassing into the pegasi territory by climbing the highest mountains he could to breach the skyline. He spied on the pegasus desperately trying to manipulate the blizzard away. He bribed other pegasi with the little food he had to learn of their secrets. This period of observation and recording went on for years, a period which also contained the famous founding of Equestria.

But as the pony population slowly emigrated to the new land, Hurdlus stayed, studying the Windigos and trying to determine their true nature. Initially convinced that they were atmospheric in nature, he realised to his growing dismay that they displayed a great deal of traditional unicorn magic properties. It became a point of madness for him, for he insisted on continuing his studies. One by one, all of his assistants left him, to follow the other ponies that had left to go to the promised Equestria, until only he and I were left.

Finally, that fateful day happened. It was early morning when I heard him call my name. When I left our mountain shelter, I saw Hurdlus doing the most miraculous thing. He was walking on clouds.

And weeping.

He cried, "Starswirl is wrong. I, Hurdlus, am living proof of this. Unicorn magic and sky magic can interact with each other! I've proved the greatest magician of all, wrong!" And in this old land, the Windigos still reigned, and they started swooping around him, feeding on his self loathing. "And if he is wrong, what is right? What have I done? What is my fate now?"

"Sir!" I cried, "Come back to solid ground right now! You're freezing up!"

And he was. He looked down to see his legs slowly becoming frozen. "Yes," he said, "This is my fate."

"Tell me how to do the enchantment so I can get you!" I called. Hurdlus then turned to me and said in a voice colder than the blizzard, "No. Nopony should ever be cursed with my work. Take what little possessions I have left, and go to Equestria and make a new life. But burn my notes. Burn them. Let their burden be only mine to bear."

With these words, Hurdlus became fully frozen, his enchantment wore off, and he plummeted from this life to the next.

How horrible must you think I am, disobeying such a noble pony's last request! But his work must be remembered, as must his story. Thus his work is now in your hooves.

Intel shut the book, with some force. 'Committed suicide' didn't really cover it, really. He didn't expect it to be described so graphically, especially in a academic text.

Shaking his head trying to get rid of the uncomfortable images, Intel turned his gaze to the job at hand. Actually installing a steam engine on one of these things. The cold weather had made the traditional horse-drawn method unfeasible, so logic had to came in and provide the more efficient solution.

When Icarus got here, that is. Intel had got to the train a bit early, hoping to study Observations whilst waiting. There were a number of experiments that he would like to try out from the text, but work for bits came first. He had to eat, after all.

That being said, there was something upsetting about the text he held, but Intel didn't really want to admit it. Icarus had given it to him a day or two before, so Intel wondered if the mechanic had read it. Hurdlus the Hardworking, inventor of the cloud walking spell. The preface was just from some anonymous pony who refused to reveal his/her identity, out of shame or otherwise. The whole business could really disturb one's mind if a pony thought too much about it.

Unfortunately, until Icarus arrived, there was not much else to actually think about.

Biankha got off the train in Ponyville. So this is where Reel lives now" She thought. She went to check her bag for directions to his house but could not find them. "Maybe somepony around here knows where he lives. she looked around and saw a purple pony with glasses reading a book. She trotted over to him. "Hello" She said.

The first thing he noticed about the strange pegasus was, of course, her wings. He had never seen anything like the curious bat-like wings that he saw right now. After giving them a glance, quick enough not to be rude, he nodded to the pony.

"Good day," he said mildly, with a bored tone, "Can I help you?"

As long as this doesn't take too long, or require leaving this place. I've got a job to do, after all.

"Um-yes" She said nervously. She wasn't very good at talking to other ponies. "M-my name is Biankha." She lifted out her hoof to him.

"Intelligent. Call me Intel instead," Intel replied, shaking the hoof, "You needed help with what, exactly?"

Icarus Finally Walked toward the Trains, Saddlebags filled with Various Parts and Tools. "S-Sorry I'm l-late... J-Just had t-to make sure I g-got everything..." He said, Dropping the bags with a THUD.

Biankha saw the new pony. "Um h-hi." He said still nervous. "M-my name is Biankha."

"Oh, good. You're here," Intel said brightly to the new arrival. Putting the book away, he patted the train's soon-to-be engine carriage. "This thing needs a new engine in time for Hearth's Warming to transport our performers to Canterlot for the play."

Ah, yes. The annual Hearth's Warming play. Intel hadn't seen one for good while, since he knew the story and no matter how many spins and versions the various performers put on throughout the years, there was too many performances, and not enough creative interpretations. The last one he saw was three years or thereabouts ago, with the acrobats from Prance providing a quite spectacular performance of the story. It was even more amazing because of the tricks of the three races initially being quite separate, only to combine in one glorious combination at the play's climax. With no narration whatsoever, the performers managed to convey the well worn tale purely through action. Intel didn't watch another HW play after that, because he felt he would be let down a little.

"Are you going with them, like so many in this town? Or are you just staying here?" he asked curiously.

Icarus gave a nod. "S-Staying here... W-Which b-begs the Question..." He blinked. "O-Oh! Hey th-there... W-we're g-going t-to be b-busy, t-though..."

"Oh um" She said. "I was just trying to get help finding someone."

"Oh?" Intel asked, "Who is it? I can't say I know the pony in question, but between us two we might be able to point you in the right direction. That we can do, at least."

Icarus had a Question to ask Intel, but Decided to wait this one out.

"Oh...Um" She said. ."I am looking for my brother. He is an orange pony with green hair. His name is Film Reel. Do you know him?"

Intel looked at the pony for a good, long, while. Yes, he knew who the pony was. He didn't know where he ended up, but he knew who he was.

"Oh, good! You must be the one to take care of him and make sure he gets proper psychological help!" Intel said, secretly hoping that she wasn't as psychotic as her brother, "Not sure if he's still in Ponyville, I'm afraid. I did recommend him to go to Canterlot to seek medical advice about his past trauma, but he just...left."

Honestly, though? You should have stuck near him just to make sure he didn't do anything harmful. Which he did.

Icarus stayed Quiet, Preparing tools for the Job, Still a little Upset how things went down That day.

"Wh-what!!!!!" She said surprised. "What's wrong what happened? Is he ok? Did someone hurt him?"

"I...uh..." Intel looked to Icarus for some assistance, "You are aware that your brother has some...violent tendencies when provoked?"

Celestia, why was he in this position again? Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes in anticipation for the backlash, "He kinda...almost killed somepony."

Icarus stayed silent, except for a Slight grumble for a Wrench.

"Wait! Almost. Oh thank Luna!" She said relived. "But who provoked him? Don't you know not to hit the mentally disabled?

"Almost is still pretty bad," Intel grumbled, "And to be absolutely fair, he kicked me first, miss. My friend did it in my defence. And honestly? Someone who goes around kicking ponies for no good reason whatsoever should not be left alone like that, especially if they have a condition."

"First" She said. "His condition has nothing to do with his anger. That came from a rough life. Second, did he say why he kicked you? He doesn't do stuff without a good reason. Was there any fighting going on? Third, Almost is good because...well"

"Look, Ms Biankha, the simple fact of the matter is this. Rough life, mental condition, in the end he abused his magic and strangled a close friend, needing to send him to hospital. If he had decided to press charges, your brother would probably be in an institute for unstable ponies, at best," Intel said this whilst levitating his glasses off to look at the mare with his own eyes, "I don't mind that he kicked me, even if it was essentially for no good reason. I'm over that. But to use your magic to do something that horrible...that's something that goes back to the founding of Equestria days. Unicorns have power that can be so easily abused. It is therefore our utmost responsibility to make sure our magic is NOT abused. To strangle another pony requires a certain amount of awareness about what you are actually doing, so your brother was at least partially conscious about him strangling Indigo. Not only did he not cease immediately, he continued until Indigo was unconscious. That is a serious grievance."

Intel was aware that parts of his little speech was paraphrased from his magical studies. The 'we are teaching you potentially dangerous stuff, DON'T ABUSE IT' lecture, that is.

"I wish I can direct you to him, Ms Biankha, I really do. He surely needs another pony that understands him and can rein in his anger, but I don't know where he went. I sealed his magic so he can't use that to harm himself or any other pony, but he can still do harm physically. I wish you good luck in your search, Ms Biankha. Have a nice day."

With that, Intel trotted to Icarus, "Having a bit of difficulty, Icarus?"

Icarus shook his head. "N-Nothing I c-can't handle... T-That Reminds me..." He smiled, Turning his head to look at Intel. "How did your Date go?"

"Well" She said. "I have met some close-minded pony in my life but you are defiantly the most close minded one. You judge my brother without getting to know him at all. Sure your whole "Use your magic responsibly" spiel is quite a noble goal, but survival comes first. But I guess I shouldn't expect any less from a high class rich snob to understand that. Go get your self a reality check!"

Icarus' Mood went from Jolly to Sour in 10 Seconds Flat.

"Wot 'e Did was Choke Som'pony. I 'ad t'throw 'im int'a the Snow fer 'im to stop. Now, Would it bother y'ta move off from Th'Work Area, or You Cannae Do it?" He said coldly, His Accent betraying his mood.