//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Tales of a Tinker Pony 
// by Tinkerton 
//------------------------------//


Prologue – An Introduction to Myself


There was a time in my life that I would have been happy to live the rest of my life in the small town that I have called my home. It’s still a nice place to live, a small close knit town that would do anything for each other. It has pretty much remained unchanged since I first left. That’s the problem though. It has not changed, but I have. I have experienced more things in a year than most of the townsfolk have experienced in their entire life, and there is still so much to do, so many places to discover, and many more ponies to help. While I still call Hillsdale my home, it is a home that I keep in my heart, not beneath my hooves.

Speaking of Hillsdale it is a small town with few citizens, located to the west of Fillydelphia. It was far enough to keep the city ponies out of our hair most of the year, but close enough to allow us to go and buy supplies when we need to without feeling cut off. I think that at any one time there were roughly 30 to 35 ponies, children included. The town had most of the necessities, a central square for markets and gathering, a library owned by an older pair of Unicorns who traveled here to get away from the city life, and a large farm that while it grew many varieties of crops, specialized mainly with asparagus. This farm was the prize of our town, without it, Hillsdale wouldn’t be thriving as it is today. And it was all thanks to the Lilystalk family. 

The Lilystalks came here from the west to find better soil for their asparagus. The family was composed of four Earth Ponies, Mr. and Mrs. Lilystalk and their boys. They also had a fifth member of their family but she was not an Earth Pony. Avis was her name and she was an orphaned Pegasus who the Lilystalks took in when she was very young. She was a good flier and was very loyal to her family, not knowing much about her real parents who had died while she was young. There was two things that I remember about Avis when I first met her. First was her bright jade colored fur, and her Cutie Mark, a single silhouetted wing. The strange thing about her Cutie Mark is not about what it looks like, but the fact that she got it when she was very young, before most get it, yet she nor her parents knew what special talent was attached to it. 

Besides her bright colored fur, I remember her Cutie Mark very well because at the time, I still did not have mine. I was a blank flank, and well past the age that most ponies received their mark. Part of me was jealous of her, not that she had it, or even had gotten it at such a young age, it was because she had a Cutie Mark that didn’t seem to reveal her talent. Since I was old enough to hold a hammer I knew I was destined to be a craft pony. After only a short amount of practice and learning I was able to build and repair things almost as good as my father who spent years perfecting his craft. I knew my Cutie Mark had to involve that, it was what I felt I was destined for. 

I should probably introduce myself. My name is Tinkerton Gusset. I live with my father Truss gusset and my mother Truffles Gusset, along with my older sister Tippy who is very nice and outgoing, but extremely clumsy. While my sister was outgoing and social, I was more quiet and shy, mainly keeping to my father’s shop that was both his workshop and store. While I was shy around other ponies, especially ones my age, when it came to my father’s customer I was open and straightforward. My mother always told me that I was very mature for my age, and it was probably the shop that helped with that. 

Like I said, I was a blank flank and while it occasionally saddened me when I looked into a mirror, I knew that building and repairing was my destiny and I figured eventually the mark would give up and show itself. Until then I did everything I could to improve my skills, often taking on more work than I could handle. At those times my father usually had to step in to help and gave me the same lecture that overwhelming oneself brings about exhaustion before skill.  

Much of my work was not simply trying to improve my skills, but also create new ones through the miracle of invention. Sure I built the usual things, furniture, tools, and other odd assortments of items, but I also tried to invent new things too. My first real invention was a simple one at best, a small cuff I could wear around my front legs that held tools so I could perform precise tool work while having my mouth free (and vision unobstructed from the tool itself). Most of my inventions were created out of necessity, something that could improve a pony’s life, even if only in the simplest of ways.

At the time I didn't think anything would change. I knew eventually I would get my Cutie Mark and that would be cause for celebration, but when it was over I would just go back to being a carpenters son, and maybe one day take over my father’s business. Until then I would simply go about doing what I loved, building and repairing things, and trying to create new inventions. How I viewed my life past, present, and future would change when I became friends with one jade colored Pegasus.