Hammer left Pumpjack to tend to Beanstalk, who seemed very tired after whatever ordeal she had just gone through. He decided to take a walk outside. He trotted quickly through the front door, and admired the morning beauty of the Everfree Forest.
"They really think this place is haunted by the ghosts of the dead? Give me a break." He kept walking, trying to clear his head. Beanstalk, Scooter, and Pumpjack were enough to cause his mind to fry right now, and he needed to think of other things. He came to a clearing, where it seemed sunnier than the other places he had passed on his way. In the middle of the clearing was a strange box. When he opened it, he found a strange book, entitled 'The Lightning of the Earth'. He picked it up, and sat down to read it. Just before he started, he heard a large sonic boom, followed by six more. The only thing he saw that seemed to be connected with those sounds was a pony zipping by at an incredible speed. Taking a look at the book, the first chapter was on the legendary 'Zap Ponies', or Earth Ponies that could move at incredible speeds. Watching the pony zip back and forth, he realized that whoever that was, he needed to talk to him. He walked carefully out of the clearing, and called out to the speeding pony. "Hey, wait a second!" The pony tried to stop, but tripped, and was sent flying head over heals for another ten feet, ending up sliding, with his head in a pile of dirt. Hammer laughed as the pony pulled his head out, and stared at him with a beard made of dirt.
"Hey, you might want to wipe your face off, ha!" The pony – it was clear now it was an Earth Pony – stared viciously at Hammer, and began speaking rapidly in a British accent.
"You bloody foal! You could'a killed me, you know? I've been getting be'er at me Sonic Rocket manuever, but your foolhardy stunt could have cost me!" Hammer fell back laughing. The pony wasn't very amused. "WHAT'S SO BLEEDING FUNNY! I'm talking to you, dang it! Listen to me!" It only served to make Hammer laugh worse. Eventually, Hammer regained enough self-control to be able to talk without laughing.
"Don't take it personally. I just wanted to ask you a question." He held up the book. The pony was absolutely shocked.
"My parents said that had been stolen! Where did you find it?!" Hammer pointed at the metal box in the middle of the clearing. "But why? Why would they get rid of me book in one of their strong boxes, and not tell me? I tell you, every bloody one of me relatives is bloody knackered! Bonkers! Nuts!" Hammer looked at him.
"Are YOU a 'Zap Pony'? From your speed, I'd think you were." The pony looked at him proudly.
"Yes, quite. I am Hermes, the Lightning Earth Pony!" Hammer looked at the pony. His yellow mane, and yellow tail, were positively pulsing with electricity. His dark yellow coat was a bit more normal, but the main thing that proved his statement was his eyes. They LOOKED like they were full of lightning.
"I'm Hammer. Pleased to meet you, Hermes. You're probably pretty hurt from the 'fall', so I guess you can come to the Wheelworks for a bit." Hermes looked a little bit dejected. Apparently he didn't like admitting he was hurt, or he might seem weak, but would accept a little help.
"Fine, then. Take me to your Wheelworks."
Hermes stood still in front of the Wheelworks, seemingly astounded at the construction. He stared at Hammer.
"Blimey, mate, you built this thing yourself? That's a right pain, if you ask me. But still, solid work. Can't argue with that." Hammer shook his head in amazement. This pony really had no idea what he was walking into. Hammer opened the door to Scooter and Pumpjack attempting to get Beanstalk down from a tall shelf. Hermes walked in, and shook his head. "Bleeding foals, if you ask me." Scooter turned around, and glared at Hammer.
"Stop standing there, and help us get Beanstalk down, Hammer!" At the mention of Hammer, Beanstalk flung herself off the shelf, right onto Hammer. She was positively bubbling with happiness, which, unfortunately, meant she was crushing the air out of Hammer's lungs. She started bouncing up and down.
"Big brother! Big brother! You're back! I don't really trust these two-" she motioned to Scooter and Pumpjack, who appeared very angry and exasperated. "-but I'm glad you're back! Oh, who's this? He looks * gulp * SCARY! Eep!" She ran behind Pumpjack, who just shook her head.
"I reckon he might have a story similar to y'alls. Name's Pumpjack. I build pumps, and I built that there pump on Hammer's cart thingomabobber." Hermes cantered up to her, held up her hoof, and kissed it. She drew it back sharply, slightly confused as to what the strange pony with electrified hair was doing.
"Charmed. My name is Hermes, the 'Lightning' Earth Pony. The moniker 'Lightning' refers to me mane being electrified and all." She nodded at him. Scooter walked up.
"Name's Scooter. I'd like to get to know ya, but right now, I'd rather CATCH A RIDE with Hammer in his motorized vehicle." When he finished saying that, he began bouncing around, saying 'motorized vehicle' over and over. Hammer rubbed his face with his hoof, and didn't respond. Beanstalk looked at Hermes, who offered a hoof in friendship. She hid even further behind Hammer. Hammer laughed.
"Guess you can't win 'em all, Hermes. She's a strange one, Beanstalk. Insists on calling me her 'big brother.' Don't even bother trying to sort THAT one out. Even I don't get it." Hermes stared at Beanstalk with a quizzical expression, as if he was trying to discern what kind of pony she was. He gave up after a short while.
'Strange, indeed. Now, if you would so kindly show me to an empty room? I'd like to have a room for me own." Hammer sighed and nodded.
"There's two that are not currently occupied. There's one upstairs, near Beanstalk's room-" Beanstalk gave out a strangled squeek at the thought of Hermes' room being next to hers. "-or you could just take the room available here on the ground floor." Hermes stared at Hammer, and then began to laugh.
"You know what? You're a right good friend, Hammer! No pony has ever let me have something to call me own! They usually ignore me and then bugger off somewhere. Thank you!" He hugged Hammer, who had had enough hugging for that day.
"Okay, okay, please, no hugs. Or Beanstalk will-" He turned around, and Beanstalk squeezed him in one of her incredibly tight hugs, crushing the breath out of him. Pumpjack and Scooter had to literally PRY her off of Hammer. Scooter pushed Beanstalk back and looked her in the eye.
"You're gonna kill Hammer by doin' that! Don't do it again, PLEASE?" She nodded, and sat down with her lower lip out, pouting. Hammer, coughing, stood up.
"Well, you're welcome, Hermes. You know, tell you what. I'll modify the motorized cart so it can fit six. Making it fit five would be kind of silly, and preparing for a sixth pony would be better. Well, I'll be back in a bit. Don't anypony try anything funny while I'm gone. I don't want to come back to the Wheelworks on fire!" He hefted his hatchet, and galloped out the front door. Everypony looked at each other in silence. Not one was ready to cross Hammer yet.
Hammer was about to start chopping trees when a mare about his size tapped him on the shoulder. Her mane and tail, brown like earth, seemed perfectly suited to the nature of the trees in the Everfree. Even though her hooves were muddy, her tan coat was not even soiled one bit. She was a curious unicorn. She walked past him, and held out her hoof. A squirrel jumped down, and ran off into the bushes. She turned back to Hammer, and began lecturing him in quite a loud voice.
"How dare you interfere in the natural workings of the Forest?! If I was inclined to fight, I would wipe the floor with you, you RUFFIAN!" She attempted to try to take the hatchet from Hammer, but he kept it just out of her reach. Her tone of voice and expression shocked him a little.
"Now just hold on there, miss. I'm not trying to interfere in anything. I'm just trying to get some lumber to fix up one of my inventions, Now, would you kindly move out of the way?" She stood between him and another tree. He was getting a little bit annoyed. "Would you GET out of my WAY?" She shook her head.
"I will not move out of the way!" Hammer was starting to lose his temper, and it could show. He could barely hold onto the hatchet while resisting the urge to bury it in this unicorn's face.
"Move, now, or I'll do something I'll regret later." She got the message, and quickly moved out of the way. He walked over to a fallen tree, which seemed just hours old, and began chopping it into even lengths of lumber. The unicorn watched him with intent, as she apparently had never seen a pony work with a hatchet before, and it fascinated her. She tapped him on the shoulder when he had finished two small stacks of planks.
"What's that?" She pointed at the hatchet. Hammer held it up for her to see.
"This? This is a hatchet. It's for chopping down trees. That's WHAT it's for, but I use it to fashion planks as well. DON'T grab it there, you'll cut yourself." He knocked away her hoof from the sharp blade of the hatchet. She stepped back, pulled out a small book, levitated a pencil out, and entered something in it. After she finished, she put the little book, and pencil away, and looked at Hammer.
"I would guess that you live somewhere nearby, correct?" He nodded. He held out his hoof for her to shake. She didn't seem to get the gesture, and bowed her head slightly in response.
"I'm Hammer, by the way, miss. I didn't catch your name back there." She looked at him with a slight tilt of her head.
"Hammer? I think I've heard of you before." He froze. If she knew about his bad luck with his old workshops, then- "No, nevermind. I must be mistaken. I may have gotten confused with the old stories of Blast Hammer, the unicorn." Hammer smiled. At least somepony besides himself read the old stories. The legend of Blast Hammer hadn't been a PARTICULAR favourite of his, but to each his, or her, own. He began walking back to the Wheelworks, when the unicorn galloped up beside him.
"I'm Deepwood, by the way. Nice to meet you, Hammer!"
When they arrived back at the Wheelworks, Hammer saw that Beanstalk was waiting for him.
"Oh no, not again!" Just as he finished his sentence, Beanstalk leaped on him yet again, but didn't squeeze him. As he got up, he saw Pumpjack smiling through the front window. "Well, I guess, welcome to the Wheelworks, Deepwood." He opened the door, where Deepwood, and even Hammer, were introduced to an amazing sight. Pumpjack had apparently been busy. Scooter was setting up some device on the ceiling, and Pumpjack smiled at Hammer.
"I found these here plans sittin' out on yer workbench. I thought, what the hay, I'll try my hoof at it. Turns out I got some kinda eye for detail, that sort of thing." Hammer wasn't really listening; he was staring up at the device on the ceiling. It started up, and began spinning. Scooter turned the lights out, and Hammer realized what it was. He had drawn up plans a long while ago for a sort of miniature planetarium, which could be attached to a ceiling, and it would shine out the heavens for all ponies in the vicinity to see. He sat down, a small tear in his eye.
"This is just, well, amazing. There's really no words to describe it. You all, * sniff *, you all are my friends. Friends do this sort of thing for each other." He smiled an incredibly large smile. Even Beanstalk saw his smile in the darkness. Scooter turned the lights back on after about five minutes.
"Y'all know this is one cool machine! I'd like one for my own!" Hermes was apparently standing on the upper landing, on the second floor, as his voice could be audibly heard.
"Better than anything me blasted foals of parents could dream up. They were astronomer ponies, but they always left me to me own devices, really. That's a right piece of work, Pumpjack." Hammer looked at all of them, and laughed. He had friends, REAL friends, that showed they cared. Deepwood spoke up, but instead of her booming voice of before, it was a bit more quiet.
"Um, Mr. Hammer? What EXACTLY do you do here?" He turned around and faced her.
"I'm an inventor. See that motorized vehicle over there?" She looked where he was pointing, and her mouth opened in amazement. "Pumpjack helped me, but I mostly built it." Deepwood looked at Hammer.
"I'm a nature observer. Observe, but never interfere. That's the number one rule for me. I've seen all the animals in the Everfree, from the cute bunnies, all the way to the chimera-like Manticores." Hammer had to think for a second.
"What's a chimera?" Deepwood looked at him as one pony might look at another who has been in some dark place for many years without current information. She sighed, seeming exasperated, and continued on.
"A chimera is a creature that appears to be made of many creatures seemingly attached together, or at least, pieces of creatures." Hammer sat down.
"Like a dog with the head of a sheep, or something?" Deepwood nodded.
"Precisely, though many chimera are products of a strange power in the Everfree Forest. It doesn't affect ponies, but if there is any animal caught inside a field where such a power is present, it will combine with the next animal that wanders into the field." Hammer ignored the last part, and was over near the stairs, reading the calendar.
"Hey, you ponies know the Summer Solstice Festival is in about a day, right?" Everypony there except Deepwood nodded. She seemed absolutely confused.
"What's the Summer Solstice Festival?" They all looked at Deepwood as if she had just asked who moved the sun and moon.
"It's a celebration of the longest day of the year, and of the day that Solar Flare was defeated and imprisoned in the sun." Deepwood nodded.
"Sounds interesting! Can't wait!"